Lost and found_ a novel - Alan Dean Foster [59]
Walker sat down opposite the splay of limbs, saw a distorted image of himself reflected in silvery eyes. “You told me before that there’s no way out of here, no chance of escape. I argued that no matter what, I was going to get out.”
“There would seem to exist a bit of a contradiction in our respective opinions,” she murmured placidly.
He nodded, conscious of George’s eyes on his back. As for Braouk, the Tuuqalian was interested in the byplay in spite of himself. “You may be smarter than me—”
“The term ‘may’ does not apply here,” she interrupted him.
“All right. You are smarter than me. You’re smarter than anyone. Smarter even than the Vilenjji.”
Tentacles gestured. “At last. A modicum of intelligence rears its bone-imprisoned head. I feel a faint hope.”
Walker continued. “And since you’re smarter than anyone, you’re going to help us get out of this.” He took a deep breath. “Otherwise, you and all the K’eremu are nothing but big bags of rope-flailing water and hot air, too enamored of their own snobbery and arrogance to admit to the truth.”
George tensed. Braouk looked on expectantly. In front of Walker, the middle two-thirds of the K’eremu’s body swelled alarming, turning in color from a warm maroon to a dull carmine that bordered on bright crimson. The recessed eyes bulged forward so far that the pupils were nearly flush with their sockets. This disquieting demonstration lasted for several seconds. Then the swelling began to subside, the skin to blush a less livid hue.
“Your impertinence exceeds your ignorance—something I would not have thought possible. Do you really believe you can induce me to participate in some as-yet-unquantifiable suicidal scheme by irritating me with infantile name-calling?”
Walker nodded, wondering if the gesture would be properly interpreted. “Yes, I do. Either you’re as smart as you say or you’re not. Prove it. You talk the talk, now walk the walk. Or squirm the squirm. Pick your own analogy.” Inside, he was on edge. Such in-your-face challenges had worked wonders when trading raw materials. Would they have any effect on a sophisticated alien?
“You would not be partial to the one on which I am presently ruminating,” she told him curtly. Silence followed. Walker could hear George panting expectantly behind him. A dull rumbling emerged from Braouk, though whether an untranslatable comment or mild intestinal upset Walker could not be sure.
Eventually, damp tentacles gestured through the enveloping mist. “I must be in need of additional joqil. Otherwise, I would react rationally and retire to my abode. In lieu of that, I am made curious as to the unreasonable and unfathomable workings of your primitive mind. How would you propose initiating such an investigation?”
Walker let out a long, slow sigh of relief. “As clearly the most intelligent among us, everything must start with you, Sque. So I tell you by way of beginning that there’s an old saying among my people: ‘Know thy enemy.’”
Behind him, George muttered softly, “I usually hear ‘watch where you’re stepping.’”
Walker ignored the dog. “You say that you’ve spoken with the Vilenjji.” He leaned forward eagerly. “Are they always watching? Always listening?” He gestured at their immediate surroundings. “What about when vision is obscured, as it is now by the mist and fog that dominates your enclosure’s restricted atmosphere?”
Sque emitted the equivalent of a sigh. “Poor biped. Your consuming ignorance almost draws forth my pity. Do you know nothing of physics? Like any species, the Vilenjji suffer from a range of characteristic physical limitations. Also like any advanced species, they have developed technology that allows them to overcome these. Be assured they are watching us even now. Surely you do not think a little water vapor in the atmosphere can mask our presence here?”
“Uh, no, I guess not,” Walker mumbled.
Gray eyes turned toward the empty corridor, barely visible off to his right. “I would be surprised if in addition to simple visuals they did not also have in use the most basic devices for sensing and interpreting heat