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The Stars My Destination ( Tiger! Tiger! ) :: Bester Alfred
Страница: 54 из 164They climbed into a forest of stone saplings that were stalagmites and stalactites thrusting up from the jagged floor and down from the ceilings. The vibrations of every step loosened the huge stalactites; ponderous stone spears thundered down from overhead. At the edge of the forest, Foyle stopped, reached out and tugged. There was a clear metallic ring. He took Jisbella's hand and placed the long tapering cone of a stalagmite in it.
«Cane,» he grunted. «Use it like a blind man.»
He broke off another and they went tapping, feeling, stumbling through the darkness. There was no sound but the gallop of panic. . .their gasping breath and racing hearts, the taps of their stone canes, the multitudinous drip of water, the distant rushing of the underground river beneath Gouffre Martel.
«Not that way, girl,» Foyle nudged her shoulder. «More to the left.»
«Have you the faintest notion where we're headed, Gully?»
«Down, Jiz. Follow any slope that leads down.»
«You've got an idea?»
«Yeah. Surprise, surprise! Brains instead of bombs.»
«Brains instead of…” Jisbella shrieked with hysterical laughter. «You exploded into South Quadrant w-with a sledge hammer and th-that's your idea of b-brains instead of b-b-b-…” She brayed and hooted beyond all control until Foyle grasped her and shook her.
«Shut up, Jiz. If they're tracking us by C-phone they could hear you from Mars.»
«S-sorry, Gully. Sorry. I . . .» She took a breath. «Why down?»
«The river, the one we hear all the time. It must be near. It probably melts off the glacier back there.»
«The river?»
«The only sure way out. It must break out of the mountain somewhere. 'W'e'll swim.»
«Gully, you're insane!»
«What's a matter, you? You can't swim?»
«I can swim, but…”
«Then we've got to try. Got to, Jiz. Come on.»
The rush of the river grew louder as their strength began to fail. Jisbella pulled to a halt at last, gasping.
«Gully, I've got to rest.»
«Too cold. Keep moving.»
«I can't.»
«Keep moving.» He felt for her arm.
«Get your hands off me,» she cried furiously. In an instant she was all spitfire. He released her in amazement.
«What's the matter with you? Keep your head, Jiz, I'm depending on you.»
«For what? I told you we had to plan . . . work out an escape . . . and now you've trapped us into this.»
«I was trapped myself. Dagenham was going to change my cell. No more Whisper Line for us. I had to, Jiz . . . and we're out, aren't we?»
«Out where? Lost in Gouffre Martel.
«Cane,» he grunted. «Use it like a blind man.»
He broke off another and they went tapping, feeling, stumbling through the darkness. There was no sound but the gallop of panic. . .their gasping breath and racing hearts, the taps of their stone canes, the multitudinous drip of water, the distant rushing of the underground river beneath Gouffre Martel.
«Not that way, girl,» Foyle nudged her shoulder. «More to the left.»
«Have you the faintest notion where we're headed, Gully?»
«Down, Jiz. Follow any slope that leads down.»
«You've got an idea?»
«Yeah. Surprise, surprise! Brains instead of bombs.»
«Brains instead of…” Jisbella shrieked with hysterical laughter. «You exploded into South Quadrant w-with a sledge hammer and th-that's your idea of b-brains instead of b-b-b-…” She brayed and hooted beyond all control until Foyle grasped her and shook her.
«Shut up, Jiz. If they're tracking us by C-phone they could hear you from Mars.»
«S-sorry, Gully. Sorry. I . . .» She took a breath. «Why down?»
«The river, the one we hear all the time. It must be near. It probably melts off the glacier back there.»
«The river?»
«The only sure way out. It must break out of the mountain somewhere. 'W'e'll swim.»
«Gully, you're insane!»
«What's a matter, you? You can't swim?»
«I can swim, but…”
«Then we've got to try. Got to, Jiz. Come on.»
The rush of the river grew louder as their strength began to fail. Jisbella pulled to a halt at last, gasping.
«Gully, I've got to rest.»
«Too cold. Keep moving.»
«I can't.»
«Keep moving.» He felt for her arm.
«Get your hands off me,» she cried furiously. In an instant she was all spitfire. He released her in amazement.
«What's the matter with you? Keep your head, Jiz, I'm depending on you.»
«For what? I told you we had to plan . . . work out an escape . . . and now you've trapped us into this.»
«I was trapped myself. Dagenham was going to change my cell. No more Whisper Line for us. I had to, Jiz . . . and we're out, aren't we?»
«Out where? Lost in Gouffre Martel.