For Love of Mother-Not - Alan Dean Foster [67]
He had no answer for her.
They dropped until the skimmer was rising and falling in concert with the treetops. So intent were they on the actions of the dot performing on the tracking screen that neither of them noticed that not only had the rain stopped but the cloud cover had cracked. Overhead, one of the wings of Moth, the interrupted ring which encircled the planet, shimmered golden against the ceiling of night.
“What makes you so sure they’re stopping here instead of just slowing down for a while?” he asked Lauren.
“Because a skimmer operates on a stored charge, just like a mudder. Remember, they had to come from here down to Patra. Our own charge is running low, and we’re not on the return leg of a round trip. I don’t know what model they’re flying, but I saw how big it was. It can’t possibly retain enough energy to take them much farther than we’ve gone the past several days. They at least have to be stopping somewhere to recharge, which is good.”
“Why is that?” Flinx asked.
“Because we’re going to have to recharge, also.” She pointed to a readout. “We’ve used more than half our own power. If we can’t recharge somewhere around here, we’re going to have some hiking to do on our way out.”
Flinx regarded her with new respect, if that was possible; his opinion of her had already reached dizzying heights. “Why didn’t you tell me when we reached the turnaround point?”
She shrugged slightly. “Why? We’ve gone to a lot of trouble to come as far as we have. You might have argued with me about turning back.”
“No,” Flinx said quietly, “I wouldn’t have done that.”
“I didn’t think so. You’re almost as determined to see this through as I am, and at least as crazy.”
She stared up at him, and he stared back. Nothing more needed to be said.
“I vote no.”
Nyassa-lee was firm in her disagreement. She sat on one side of the table and gazed expectantly at her colleagues. Brora was thoughtfully inspecting the fingernails of his left hand, while Haithness toyed with her eyelashes.
“Really,” the tall black woman murmured to her compatriot, “to show such reluctance at this stage is most discouraging, Nyassa-lee.” Her fingers left her eyes. “We may never have the chance to manipulate another subject as promising as this Twelve. Time and events conspire against us. You know that as well as I.”
“I know.” The shorter woman leaned forward in the chair and gazed, between her legs at the floor. Cracks showed between the panels; the building had been assembled in haste. “I’m just not convinced it’s worth the risk.”
“What risk?” Haithness demanded to know. “We’ve still seen nothing like a demonstration of threatening power. Quite the contrary, I’d say. Certainly the subject had the opportunity to display any such abilities. It’s evident he does not possess them, or he would doubtless have employed them against us. Instead, what did we see? Knife.” She made it sound disgusting as well as primitive.
“She’s right, you know.” Brora rarely spoke, preferring to let the two senior scientists do most of the arguing. He stepped in only when he was completely confident of his opinion.
“We don’t want another repeat of the girl,” Nyassa-lee said. “The society couldn’t stand another failure like that.”
“Which is precisely why we must pursue this last opportunity to its conclusion,” Haithness persisted.
“We don’t know that it represents our last opportunity.”
“Oh, come on, Nyassa-lee.” Haithness pushed back her chair and stood; she began pacing nervously back and forth. Behind her, lights shone cold green and blue from the consoles hastily assembled. “Even if there are other subjects of equal potential out there, we’ve no guarantee that any of us will be around much longer to follow up on them.”
“I can’t argue with that,” Nyassa-lee admitted. “Nor can I argue this Number Twelve’s statistical promise. It’s just those statistics which frighten me.”
“Frighten you?’ Haithness stopped pacing and looked over at her companion of many hard years. The tall woman was surprised. She had seen Nyassa-lee wield a gun with the cold-blooded