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"If you will pardon me, Lieutenant," Kimmer said unctuously as he and Jiro entered the craft, "I think we can easily reach Karachi Camp today, stopping at Suweto and Yukon on the way. Karachi is a real possibility because, now that Thread is gone, they'd want to activate the mines."
Surprising himself, Benden gestured with an open hand to the pilot's seat. "You have the com, Mr. Kimmer." It was as good a way as any to see just how competent the old man had been: if he had actually done what he'd said he'd done. "After all, you're more familiar with this model sled than I am, and you know where we're going." It would also be easier to keep the old man occupied.
So Benden seated himself behind Kimmer while the sergeant, giving his officer only a mildly reproachful look, took the seat next to Jiro on the starboard side.
The old sled purred along as if delighted by its release from long imprisonment. It answered the yoke with the smoothness of a well-maintained vehicle as Kimmer swung it to port. Kimmer wasn't all bad, Benden thought to himself, and wondered again why the old man had insisted on this search. Was it really to prove to Benden that his folk were the only ones left? Or had Kimmer some ulterior motive? And would Kimmer be surprised if they did find anyone? After overflying the snowy waste of the northern continent and the devastation of the southern lands, Benden could only be surprised that anyone had survived. It was certainly most unlikely that his uncle, who'd be well into his twelfth decade, would still be alive.
They came down from the foothills across the river obliquely to port of Ni Morgana and her group, and then across a lifeless plain of circles in the dust. There were spots here and there of struggling plant life, and Benden wondered if the wind would scatter the topsoil before vegetation could reestablish itself and prevent further erosion. And that was the pattern for the next few hours: broad uneven-edged ribbons, about fifty klicks across of ravaged land, then broader belts of grassland or forest, even thick vegetation that was neither shrub nor jungle, with the glint of hidden water in rivers and ponds.
The old sled purred along at about 220 klicks per hour. Benden broke out rations and passed them around. Kimmer altered the course and, over the sloping nose of the sled, a large and brilliantly blue lake could be seen. As they neared it and Kimmer obligingly skimmed low, they saw the vegetation-crowned mounds that indicated the ruins of a considerable settlement.
"Drake's Lake." Kimmer gave a sour laugh. "Damned arrogant fool," he muttered to himself. "No signs of anyone, but there may be at Andiyar's mines."
They overflew more deserted housing and startled a herd of grazing animals, which plunged wildly away from the muted sound of the sled.
"Livestock seems to have survived," Benden remarked. "Will you turn yours loose?"
"What else?" Kimmer barked a laugh. "Though Chio's moaning about her pet fire-dragon having to be left behind."
"Fire-dragon?" Benden asked in surprise.
"Well, that's what some people thought they looked like," Kimmer explained diffidently. "They look like reptiles, lizards to me. It's an indigenous life-form, hatches from eggs, and if you get one then, it attaches itself to you. Useless thing as far as I can see, but Chio's fond of it." He glanced over his shoulder at Benden.
"It wouldn't take up much room," Juro said, speaking for the first time. "It's a bronze male."
Benden shook his head. "Humans, yes; creatures, no," he said firmly. The captain was still likely to question his foisting eleven human survivors on her, but she'd blow her tubes if he tried to impose an alien pet.
They reached the mine site and landed near the adits. Within was cocooned equipment-ore carts, picks, shovels, all kinds of hand tools, as well as an array of tough plas props for tu
"You really had gone back to the lowest level of useful technology, hadn't you?" Benden said, hefting one of the picks. "But if you had stonecutters, didn't you—"
"When that damned Thread started falling, your uncle called in all power packs for use in the sleds. That was Benden's priority, and we couldn't fight it."
The living quarters, unlike those at the lake, had been cocooned. Peering in through the thi
"See what I mean, Lieutenant? This place is all ready to be started up again. It's nearly two years since Thread stopped falling. If they could, they'd be back here."
They spent the night there at Karachi, setting up a rough camp. While Kimmer started a fire—" to keep the tu
Just as Benden was signing off, Juro came to the sled for a coil of rope and walked off into the forest. He returned not too much later with a fat, squat avian, which he had roped off a branch and strangled. He identified it as a wherry, as he neatly ski
"Forest wherries are better than coastal ones," Kimmer said, slicing himself another portion. "Those have an oily, fishy taste."
Greene nodded appreciatively as he licked his fingers clean of the juices. Then he excused himself and disappeared into the woods. Just about the time Benden was becoming apprehensive about his long absence, he reappeared.
"Nothing moving anywhere, except things that slither," he reported in a low voice. "I don't think we need to set a watch, Lieutenant, but I always sleep light."
As Benden saw Kimmer already asleep and Jiro settling down on their side of the fire, he decided a watch would be superfluous tonight. The enemies of this deserted world had retreated into space.
"I sleep light, too, Greene." And he did, rousing often during the night at slight unaccustomed sounds, Kimmer's intermittent snores, or when Jiro added more wood to the fire.
In the morning, Benden contacted Honshu and spoke with Ni Morgana, who said that her expedition had been entirely successful from a scientific point of view. She would spend the day with the women, cataloging the medicinal plants and their properties. Benden gave her the day's flight plan and signed off.
They doubled back east and slightly north of the mining site and Drake's Lake, then followed a fairly wide river as it flowed down to the distant sea. At last they came upon the stout stone houses and barns that had housed the inhabitants of Thessaly and Roma. They observed herds of beasts, cattle, and sheep in nearby fields, but the houses and barns had been cleared of all effects. Dead leaves and other debris littered the spacious rooms where the shutters had fallen from rusted hinges.
"Lieutenant," Greene said, motioning for him to step a little away from the other two men. "We haven't seen any of the sleds Kimmer said they used. Nor those three missing shuttles. So, if we find them, wouldn't we find the people?" "We would, if we could, Sergeant," Benden said tiredly. "Kimmer, how long did your sled have power?"
Kimmer's eyes gleamed as he appreciated what Benden did not ask. "Once I reached Honshu, I didn't use the sled at all, except as a power source for the comunit, for maybe five-six years. Ito got very sick and I went to Landing to see if I could get a medic out here. They'd all left and taken everything with them. I tried some other stakes, as I told you, but they were deserted, too. Ito died, and I was too busy with the kids and then Chio's to go off. Then I made one trip to Bitkim, and four years later, as I'd no way to recharge the pack, I made that last trip. But," he added, holding up a gnarled finger, "like I told you, just before I lost all contact, I heard part of Benden's message to conserve all power. So they couldn't have had many operational sleds. I think…" Kimmer paused to search his memory. His eyes met the lieutenant's. "I think they didn't have enough power left to go after Thread anymore, and they were going to have to wait." He sighed. "That'd be forty years they'd've had to wait for the end of Thread, Lieutenant, and I don't think they made it."