Then she surprised him. “Music is an art. You are an artist.”
“Oh, I just play what I like,” he protested. “I’m no musician. I don’t compare to the real musicians we have.”
“I am an artist too. It is my shame.”
He thought he had misheard. “Your what?”
“I made a sand picture, with colored sands,” Veee said. “Knowing it was not allowed. Only men can be artists. But I simply had to express myself. I was alone; I did not know anyone was watching. I meant to erase it before I left, so no one would know. But a man was suspicious, and he hid himself near that sand place, and watched until I came. So they caught me. They banished me from the village for a week. I knew if I ever did it again, they would cut off my hands and leave me to die. So I did not do it again. But after that, no man would marry me. They tolerated me, they spouted their hard penises into me, but I knew I had to leave.”
“Oh, Veee! That is horrible!”
“Yes, I should never have made that sand painting. I have been ashamed ever since. But I had to tell you, before you came to like me any better.”
“I meant what they did to you! Punishing you like that for expressing yourself.”
She glanced sidelong at him with no trace of coquetry. “You can forgive me that?”
“Forgive you! Veee, in my world we are proud to have artists, male and female. You were never at fault.”
Still she was cautious. “You are not repelled?”
“Veee, no, never! Please, make a sand painting for me. I want to see it.”
She nodded as if being asked to do something repulsive. Then she cleared a place on the trail, fetched handfuls of sand, and made a flower pattern. There were only two shades of sand available, so it was in effect monochrome, but it was lovely and realistic regardless.
“Veee, it’s beautiful. I want to kiss you.”
“If you kiss me, I will know whether you mean it.”
“You sure will,” he agreed. He embraced her and kissed her passionately.
She melted against him. “You do mean it,” she breathed.
“Oh, yes. Veee, we are similar, again: my music, your painting. Guilty secrets that don’t have to be secret any more.”
“Yes,” she agreed gladly. “Oh, Tod, I think I am ready to give you what you want.”
“Maybe it’s time,” he agreed, as gladly.
And felt the first tinge of queasiness. “Uh-oh.”
“But it’s safe!” Veee protested. “I have no sickness.”
“Maybe for you. But me—” He lurched away, leaned over, and puked out a red stream.
“How can this be?” Veee asked plaintively. “I tested them.”
Todd continued heaving until his gut was satisfied that nothing worth puking remained. He drank from his canteen and vomited again. Then a surge of weakness came, and he sat down.
“I am so sorry!” she said, putting a hand on his shoulder. “I thought it was safe.”
“At least I didn’t eat much.”
“The weakness is upon you. Then comes the shivering. Then health returns. You are weak sooner than I was, so you should get better more quickly.”
“That is reassuring to know.” Already he was experiencing the first chill.
“I will warm you.”
“There is no need.”
But there was a need, and it was evident. He was starting to shiver violently. It was the heat of day, but he was in sudden misery.
Veee efficiently unpacked and set up the tent and put the blanket in. She had learned very quickly. She was from a primitive culture, but was clearly quite smart.
She helped him crawl into the tent. She worked off his shirt and trousers. Then she doffed her own, got in next to him, and wrapped them both in the blanket. Her body was soft and hot, and a great comfort as its heat spread to him.
“No hardness,” she murmured, smiling.
He realized it was true: he had no erection. He was simply too miserable for that.
“Are you sure it wasn’t my confession of shame that sickened you?”
“Veee—” Then he realized she was teasing him. She now had the confidence to do that.
She held him close, and gradually his coldness eased. He slept, warmed and comforted by her embrace.
He wasn’t sure how much time passed before he woke. She was immediately aware of it. “You are better.”
She was right, but he wondered how she knew so soon.
“Hard,” she said. Now he understood: He had his erection back. He had to laugh. But his lingering weakness vitiated any real desire he might have had for sex. He might have an erection, but he knew he would not be able to climax.
“Thanks for taking care of me,” he said.
“I did what you did, desiring you in your closeness.”
“But you never got hard.”
“I got soft,” she said. They laughed together.
It turned out that he had slept less than an hour, by his watch. He had recovered much faster than Veee had. That made sense, because he had eaten much less, and far more slowly. Still the mystery remained: “Why did I get sick, when you didn’t?”
She considered. “The colors. Maybe blue makes me sick, and red makes you sick.”
“Gender related? That’s odd.”
“Try a blue one. A little.”
His appetite was returning. He picked a blue berry and at it with extreme caution. He had no reaction, even after time passed. He ate another. He did not get sick. “Apparently that’s it. Men can eat the blue ones, women the red ones. Now we know.”
“We will stay with our own kind.”
Could it really be that simple? Yet they had the evidence of the sickness—and non-sickness.
Tod’s normal vigor came back. He was ready to travel again.
They walked on along the trail. “You have seen my residence,” Tod said. “Where is yours?”
“Down the side trail. I got sick at the intersection.”
“I mean where geographically? In what section of the world?”
“Our legends tell of a great warm land we left, and of boats across water, and a great new land, but colder. That is all I know.”
“You have no maps?”
“Hunting maps, to track the prey? Only men can see them.”
“Do you have any written histories?”
“Written?” she asked blankly. “Histories?”
Evidently not. Her society was primitive. He was surprised that it still existed; he thought all the obscure corners of the Earth had been explored. He decided to let it go.
The trail wound around low hills, then reached larger ones, and finally mountains. They followed it as it became a ledge in the slope of a snow-covered peak, awesomely high above the valley.
There at another intersection stood a form. It resembled a child’s humorous statue, being blob-shaped and candy striped. What was it doing here?
They approached it and paused. Had it somehow been brought up the other trail? That trail led steeply down into the obscurity below. Why had it been left here?
The statue whistled from a vent just below a knob that might be its head. “Greeting, alien travelers.”
It spoke! Or whistled, and Tod understood the meaning.
“Greeting, creature,” Tod said, surprised. It seemed Veee deferred to him, honoring her female place, so had not spoken.
“I am Beobrumemmik, of Snalliverti,” the creature said, a faint band of color traversing its knob.
That was too much for Tod to assimilate. “May I simply call you Bem? This is generic for—never mind.”
“As you wish.”
“I am Tod, and this is Veee. We are traveling together, exploring this mysterious trail.”
“And my greeting to you, Veee,” Bem said, more color showing around the knob. That might be a smile. Evidently it could see and hear them, maybe via the knob.
“Hello, Bem.”
“Are the two of you of a multi-gendered species? I
inquire not to give offense, but to clarify, noting minor distinctions in your forms. My own species is single-gendered.”
Tod and Veee exchanged a glance. “Yes, we are human beings, of male and female genders. So you are asexual?”
“I am, as the more efficient species generally are, again no offense intended.”
“None taken,” Tod said, smiling. “How did you come here?”
“I spied a trail. I am of an inquisitive disposition, so I followed it. It led here. I am uncertain which fork to take, so I wait for illumination.”
“We come from our homes at the ends of this branch, and it seems that no other creature on the trail can share our homes,” Tod said. “So we are exploring forward, as it were. You are welcome to join us, if you wish. We ask only that you not seek to harm us, and we will not seek to harm you.”
“This is reassuring, and I agree. Your forms are quite alien to me, though humanoid animals do exist in my frame, but your speech is familiar.”
Now Veee spoke. “That is because here in the trail different folk can communicate, though their home languages are completely different. When I visited Tod’s home, he became totally unintelligible.”
“And she became ghostlike,” Tod said. “We can truly associate with each other only here on the trail.”
“That is interesting. It seems this trail is remarkable in diverse respects.”
“It is,” Veee said. “Be very careful what you eat here; some fruits are sickening. I can eat only red berries, and Tod can eat only blue berries. We think that is gender-related. We do not know what you might safely eat.” She paused, “Assuming you do eat.”
“I do eat, yes, in my fashion,” Bem agreed. “I heed your warning.”
“You came up this steep trail?” Veee asked, looking dubiously down it.
“Yes. It was no problem. That might be more of a challenge for your type, however.”
“Yes. We would have trouble remaining on it without falling,” Veee said.
“I have excellent traction,” Bem said. “I will demonstrate.” It slid to the edge and down the steep slope, remaining vertical. Its bottom surface seemed glued to the rock. Then it slid back up, with no motion of legs.
Tod and Veee stared, amazed. “What makes you go?” Tod asked.
“I have internal caterpillar treads.” That was surely not the terminology, but the trail translated it to an approximation Tod could understand.
“Dry snail motion,” Veee said, evidently hearing it in her own terms. “Remarkable.”
“Just how far does it go?” Tod asked, intrigued. “Could you climb a vertical slope?”
“Of course. My land is challenging in spots.”
“If there should be such a challenge ahead on the trail, would you help us to pass it?”
“Yes. That would initiate an exchange of favors.”
Ah. “We will try to safeguard you if you eat and become ill, if we know how.”
“Merely ensure than no predators attack me when I am unable to defend myself.”
“We can try. We have as yet seen no predators here.”
“If I comprehend correctly, the two of you are amenable to traveling with me to explore the trail.”
“Yes,” Veee said. “We do not know why we were summoned here, but we are interested, and wish to discover where the trail leads before we return to our homes.”
“That aligns with my position. Let us then proceed.”
They resumed motion along the trail, now walking on either side of Bem. Its internal tractor treads moved it along quite efficiently, the hide stretching smoothly to move back on the ground and forward where not in contact.
“May I make an observation?” Bem asked.
Tod smiled. “Feel free.”
“The two of you are humanoid in form, yet you seem sapient. This strikes me as remarkable.”
“There are humanoids in your world, but they are not intelligent?” Tod asked.
“They are animals. They forage and feed and mate without much organization. They do not converse linguistically, in the manner you do.”
“Monkeys,” Tod suggested.
Bem considered. “Yes, your term applies. I apologize for mistaking you for them.”
Tod laughed. “We mistook you for a bug-eyed monster.”
“Is that species sapient?”
“It is not generally considered to be so,” Tod said.
“Then it seems we are equivalent in our misapprehensions.”
“Yes,” Tod agreed, smiling.
The mountainous terrain leveled out, and became a dense jungle of snakelike trunks interspersed by patches of multicolored moss. Tod wondered whether the same rule applied to that: blue edible for males, red for females. They might have to experiment, in due course.
“There is something aware of us,” Bem remarked. “Several.”
Tod felt a nervous chill. He had been able to accept the odd alien creature, as it was openly displayed and communicative, but the thought of something unknown bothered him. “Animals?”
“They seem to be of your general type,” Bem agreed. “Four projecting limbs, a head knob, orifice with teeth. Also a tail. They proceed on the ground, through the brush on either side of the trail.”
Veee lifted her nose and sniffed. “Now I wind them. Wolves or monkeys.”
Tod saw and smelled nothing. Evidently the others had better senses than he did. Now he was glad he had the gun, though he would not use it except in real emergency.
Bem slowed. “I am feeling less sanguine,” it said. Indeed, its colors were fading.
“It’s the sickness,” Veee said immediately.
“But you haven’t eaten anything,” Tod protested.
“I have been feeding,” Bem said. “My skin attracts small particles from the air, absorbs the edible ones, and sloughs off the dust. It is a continuous process, which I can enhance by spreading my mantle.” It spread small wings of skin from its shoulder region.
“Then you haven’t eaten much,” Veee said. “With luck you won’t get very sick, and it will pass in a few hours. But you must stop eating now.”
“I eat automatically as food touches my surface. That must be washed off with clean water.”
“I hear a stream ahead,” Veee said. “Can you make it there?”
“No.” Bem turned gray and sank into the shape of an amorphous blob.
Now Tod heard the predators coming closer. They sensed meat. He quickly unpacked the canvas bucket. “I will fetch water.”
“But we must guard Bem from the wolfkeys,” Veee said.
Wolfkeys? Maybe that fit. “All right. I’ll guard Bem while you use this to fetch clean water.” He paused. “Do you have a weapon?”
She showed a stone blade with a wickedly sharp edge. She had to have had it with her all along, yet he had never seen it before. He was glad that he had treated her courteously when they slept together; she was obviously not helpless. Then she was off with the bucket, running fleetly.
Tod got out his own knife. Then he dug out the gun, just in case. He made sure the clip was in place and it was functional. “If the wolfkeys attack, I may make a loud noise,” he warned Bem. “Do not be alarmed; it is to defend us.”
But Bem was now a puddling gray mound on the trail. It was sick, all right.
The predators came closer, showing themselves. They did indeed resemble wolves and monkeys, with large front teeth and what looked like prehensile tails. They did not approach closely, yet, evidently assessing the situation. Could this prey be overwhelmed?
Tod flashed his knife. This was his favorite: open oval shaped handle with finger ridges to protect his hand, four inch blade with a straight edge on one side and sharp serrations on the other. He had never used it in combat, but knew that it could do enormous damage to flesh in a hurry. And if that wasn’t enough, the gun.
The predators, evidently impressed by his stance, stayed back. They clearly preferred helplessness in prey.
Veee return
ed, toting the filled bucket. It was heavy, but she was strong. He remembered those muscles she had. The wolfkeys had evidently been wary of her too, surely for good reason.
“Splash it on Bem,” Tod said.
She let fly with the water. It inundated Bem and flowed across the trail. Bem’s hide looked cleaner, and its colored stripes showed faintly.
“I think that helps,” Tod said. “I’ll fetch a second bucket, to be sure.”
“Keep your knife handy,” she said, gazing at it with open admiration. She knew a good weapon when she saw it. Hers was good too, but stone was no match for steel.
“Stay alert,” he told her. “If they attack, scream and I’ll run back.”
“They won’t attack.” She glared at the closest wolfkey, and it backed off a step. Veee must have had experience with wild animals, and they knew it.
Tod hurried to the river where it crossed the trail, dipped out a bucketful, and hurried back. Veee remained on guard, her hair wild, her stone knife menacing. The predators were still lurking, but still not daring to attack. Had they charged in a mass, they might have won the day, but they did not seem to realize that. Unless they knew that the attempt would bring Tod charging back, making the effort more dangerous.
He sloshed the water on Bem, and it seemed to help further. The colors brightened, and the shape became closer to the original one.
They waited for the healing process to progress. “You are doing well,” Tod told her. “I like that.”
She glanced sidelong at him. He realized that her brown eyes matched her hair perfectly. “Are you trying to make me want it sooner?”
He laughed, not pretending to misunderstand. “No, my appreciation is honest. I am merely gaining respect for you.” But he did regret that his illness had preempted what might have been the right moment before.
“The men in my land do not like women who stand up for themselves.”
“Actually, there are men in my land with a similar attitude. But we are in a mysterious and sometimes dangerous place, and we all need to stand up for ourselves and each other. You are the kind of woman I prefer to have here.”
“You are close to succeeding.”
“I wasn’t trying to—” He broke off. “Are you teasing me?”
Veee considered. “I thought I was merely informing you of my state, but maybe I was flirting. I am not good at this sort of thing. I apologize.”