Were Miss Anspacher and adventure worth it? At the moment, hethought not. But he was on Venus and it was too late to change his mind.
Jrann-Pttt followed him into the jungle, keeping some distance behind,for he had good reason to suspect that Greenfield would take his warminterest in terrestrial technology for plain spying. Or, worse yet, hemight try to press the lizard-man into service; Jrann-Pttt felt he haddemeaned himself quite enough already.
"Have you noticed," Miss Anspacher asked, pushing the mass of damp brownhair off her neck as she came alongside him, "how the--the smell--" _ascientist does not mince words_--"of the swamp has grown stronger?"
Jrann-Pttt halted. He had a good idea of what the captain's reactions tothe sight of himself and Miss Anspacher arriving hand-in-hand would be."Yes, it is getting rather overpowering. Perhaps, for a lady of yourdelicate sensibilities, it would be best to--"
"I can stand a bad smell just as well as a male--any male!"
"Perhaps even better," Jrann-Pttt said, "for I was on the verge ofturning back myself."
"Oh," she said, appeased. "Well, in that case, I'll go back withyou ... how quiet everything is!"
He had not noticed. For him, it would never be quiet because of thestream of jangled thoughts constantly pouring into the back of his mindfrom everything sentient that surrounded him.
For a moment, he wondered what it would be like to be non-telepathiclike the terrestrials, to have peace from the clamor of confusedimpressions, emotions and ideas that persistently beat at his mind. Butthat would be wondering how it was to be deaf to avoid discord, or blindto shut out ugliness.
"The lull before the storm, I suppose," she said brightly. _Now is hisopportunity to kiss me--only perhaps they don't have kissing in hissociety. His mouth does seem to be the wrong shape. And if I kissed him,it might violate a taboo._
During their short absence, the citrine clouds that closed off the skyhad changed to a sinister umber. It was now almost as dusky in theclearing as in the jungle itself, when Jrann-Pttt and Miss Anspacherreturned and joined the others.
Professor Bernardi stood looking up with sharp gray eyes at a sky hecould not see. "I hope Greenfield can finish the blasting more quicklythan he estimated," he muttered.
"Will we hear the noise way out here, Carl?" his wife worried nervously.
"Only two kilometers away? Of course we'll hear it. I do wish youwouldn't always be asking such stupid questions."
She shivered. "Well, I hope they get it over with right away. If we justhave to sit here waiting and waiting and waiting, I'll go mad. I know Iwill."
"You should try to keep your nerves in check, Louisa," Miss Anspachersnapped. _Silly little fool._
"At least I can control my glands!" Mrs. Bernardi flared back._Sex-starved spinster._
"I shall make some tea, ladies," Jrann-Pttt interposed. "I'm sure wewill all feel the better for it."
Mrs. Bernardi smiled at him feebly. "You're such a comfort, Pitt. Idon't know why you of all creatures should be the one to remind me ofhome."
"Home," remarked Mortland, emerging from the airlock, "is where theheart is. Did I hear someone say 'tea'?"
* * * * *
As Jrann-Pttt hung the kettle over the fire, suddenly the air erupted instunning violence of sound. The ground undulated under their feet andwater slopped out of the kettle, almost putting out the fire that rosehigh to claw at it. Rivulets of thick, muddy liquid welled out of theground and drabbled their feet. The women turned pale. Algol gave afaint cry and hid under Mrs. Bernardi's skirts, trembling, while themosquito-bat tried to lift Mortland's toupee and hide in his hair. Theship itself quivered and seemed to jump slightly in the air, thenreturned to its resting place.
All was quiet again, quieter than it had been before. Mortland anxiouslygnawed his light mustache. "Better hurry with that tea, there's a goodfellow. I'm violently allergic to loud noises."
"They'll probably continue all day," the professor said with almostmalevolent cheerfulness, "so you might as well get used to them." _Whois he to have nerves? I am easily the most sensitive person here, but Imanage to control myself._
"I don't know how I'm going to stand it!" Mrs. Bernardi shrieked. "Ijust know something terrible is going to happen."
"Please try to restrain yourself, Louisa," her husband ordered. "Afterit's over, you'll find we'll be much more comfortable and secure withthe ship resting on rock."
"If you ask me, that blast made it sink a little," Mortland said. "Iwonder whether--"
He was interrupted by a thrashing in the bushes. Dfar-Lll burst forth,shedding scales. _Do not despair, Jrann-Pttt. I am here, ready to saveyou or die at your side._
The women clutched each other, Miss Anspacher praying silently andfervently to Juno, Lakshmi, Freya, Isis and a host of other esotericfemale deities she had picked up in the course of her avocationalresearches.
"He seems to be one of Jrann-Pttt's people," Bernardi observed, "sothere should be nothing to fear."
_Dfar-Lll, you fool!_ Jrann-Pttt ideated angrily. _Nothing's wrong.They're just blasting out a better berth for their vessel. And nowyou've spoiled my plans._
"What did you think at that poor little creature!" Mrs. Bernardi blazed."He's crying!" And, sure enough, amethyst tears were oozing out of theyoung saurian's large, liquid eyes.
_I du-didn't mean any harm._
"Monster!" Mrs. Bernardi accused Jrann-Pttt. "All men are monsters,whether they're aliens or not."
"You're so right, Louisa!" Miss Anspacher exclaimed, regarding theyounger creature in an almost kindly manner.
_I'm sorry, r-Lll_, Jrann-Pttt apologized. _I was upset by that noise,too. How could you possibly know what it was? Come, let me introduce youto the creatures._
Dfar-Lll stepped forward diffidently. Jrann-Pttt put a hand on themoss-green shoulder. "Allow me to introduce my companion, Dfar-Lll," hesaid aloud.
The youngster looked at him.
Mrs. Bernardi thrust out her hand. "I'm very glad to meet you, Lil."
_Agitate it with one of yours. It's a courtesy. Don't let her see howrepulsive she is to you. Remember, you're just as repulsive to her._
Dfar-Lll offered a shy, seven-fingered hand. "Pleased ... to meetyou ... ma'am," the young lizard squeaked.
"Why, he's just a baby, isn't he?" Mrs. Bernardi asked.
_I am not a baby!_ Dfar-Lll thought indignantly. _At the end of thisyear, I shall celebrate my pre-maturity feast, or I would have. Andfurthermore--_
There was another thunderous blast of sound. After the ground hadstopped trembling, the six found themselves ankle-deep in muddy water.Algol, who was in considerably deeper than his ankles, mewed fretfully.Mrs. Bernardi picked him up and comforted him.
"Perhaps blasting wasn't such a good idea," the professor muttered."Maybe I should tell Greenfield to call a halt and we'll take ourchances with the storm. As a matter of fa--"
"The ship!" Mortland cried. "It _is_ sinking!"
And the big metal ball slowly but visibly was indeed subsiding into themud.
"Stop it, somebody!" Miss Anspacher snapped in her customary schoolroommanner.
The professor was pale, but he held on to his calm. "What can we do?Even if we could get the captain back in time, there's no way we canstop it. It's too heavy to pull out manually, and the engines, ofcourse, are inside."
As they watched in horror, the ship sank deeper and deeper, picking upmomentum as more of it went under. With a loud, sucking sound, itvanished into the ooze. Muddy water gurgled over it and, where the shiphad been, there was now a small lake.
"This could be the beginning of a legend," Miss Anspacher murmured. "Orthe end."
There was another vibrant detonation. "Someone ought to go tell thecaptain there's no use blasting any more," Bernardi said wearily. "Wehave nothing to put on the rock when he smooths it off." He began tolaugh. "I suppose you could call this poetic justice." And he went onlaughing, losing a bit of his former self-control.
_There goes
Plan B_, Jrann-Pttt thought.
A star of intensely bright green lightning split the clouds and widenedto cover the visible expanse of sky. There was a planet-shaking clap ofthunder that made Greenfield's puny efforts sound like the snapping oftwigs in comparison and it began to rain hard and fast.
* * * * *
"If only I hadn't gone and blasted that damn rock," the captaingrumbled, squeezing water out of his shirt-tails, "we'd have been allright. Probably the storm