The Lovers   ::   Фармер Филип Хосе

After that, with the gig hedgehopping, he could hope to be free until daybreak. Then, he'd submerge in the nearest lake or river deep enough until nightfall. During the darkness, he could rise and speed toward the tropics. If his radar showed any signs of pursuit, he could plunge again into a body of water. Fortunately, there was no sonar equipment on the Gabriel.

He left the long needle-shaped gig parked by the curb. His feet pounded the stairs. The key missed the hole the first two tries. He slammed the door without bothering to lock it again.

'Jeannette!'

Suddenly, he was afraid that she might have gotten up while delirious and somehow opened the doors and wandered out.

A low moan answered him. He unlocked the bedroom door and shoved it open. She was lying with her eyes wide.

'Jeannette. Do you feel better?'

'No. Worse. Much worse.'

'Don't worry, baby. I've got just the medicine that'll put new life in you. In a couple of hours you'll be sitting up and yelling for steaks. And you won't even want to touch that milk. You'll be drinking your Easyglow by the gallon. And then–'

He faltered as he saw her face. It was a stony mask of distress, like the grotesque and twisted wooden masks of the Greek tragedians.

'Oh, no... no! ' she moaned. 'What did you say? Easyglow?' Her voice rose. 'Is that what you've been giving me?'

'Shib, Jeannette. Take it easy. You liked it. What's the difference? The point is that we're going–'

'Oh, Hal, Hal! What have you done?'

Her pitiful face tore at him. Tears were falling; if ever a stone could weep, it was weeping now.

He turned and ran into the kitchen where he took out the sheath, removed the contents, and inserted the needle in the tube. He went back into the bedroom. She said nothing as he thrust the point into her vein. For a moment, he was afraid the needle would break. The skin was almost brittle.

'This stuff cures Earthpeople in a jiffy,' he said, with what he hoped was a cheery beside manner.

'Oh, Hal, come here. It's – it's too late now.'

He withdrew the needle, rubbed alcohol on the break, and put a pad on it. Then he dropped to his knees by the bed and kissed her. Her lips were leathery.

'Hal, do you love me?'

'Won't you ever believe me? How many times must I tell you?'

'No matter what you'll find out about me?' 'I know all about you.'

'No, you don't. You can't. Oh, Great Mother, if only I'd told you! Maybe you'd have loved me just as much, anyway.