"So what?"
"So Chaka said they're at the mercy of their building materials. The web is no stronger than the plant material underneath it."
"How does that help... never mind," she said. "If you've got an idea, you'd better use it fast. ‘For the beauty of each hour, of the day and of the night. Hill and vale and tree and flower, Sun and moon and stars of light—‘ "
The spider devils crawled toward them. Their humming changed. "They're keeping harmony with us!" Jessica shouted.
"Change the tune! ‘The knight came home from the quest! Muddied and sore he came. Battered of shield and crest, bannerless, bruised and lame!' "
"That's a cheerful one!"
"Sing, damn it! ‘Here is my lance to mend. Here is my horse to be shot! Aye they were strong, the battle was long but I paid as good as I got!' " Justin tugged at the vine.
"I don't remember the words!"
" ‘My wounds are noised abroad. Theirs my foemen cloak. You see my broken sword, but never the blades that she broke!' "
Justin returned to the vine he had been unable to break, and examined it soberly. "I hope to God that you're as strong as you look," he said. It was five times thicker than any of the vines used in the web itself. How old were the web's supporting fibers? How long had they been in place? What was the average size and weight of the animals these creatures fed upon?
He wrapped both arms around the vine, and set his weight, pulling it toward the web.
The spider devils changed their tune again.
"Hurry!" she screamed. She tossed her whole body violently, and for an instant the spider devil scampered back up into the shadows. " ‘Here is my lance to mend! Here is my horse to be shot! Aye, they were strong, the battle was long, but I paid as good as I got!' "
With an effort that racked her spine, she turned to see Justin pulling the branch after him, forcing it to bend a few inches at a time. The soil provided little traction, taxing Justin's knotted, wiry body to the breaking point. He grunted and pulled, lost ground, pulled again, and couldn't quite make it reach.
Jessica sobbed. "No use! Get the—"
And then insanity. Justin braced himself on one foot, and took his left foot and reached up, jammed it between the strands of the web.
"Are you crazy??!"
"Fuck, yes," he gasped. Using the left foot, the stuck foot, for a brace, he jumped up with the right and jammed it through likewise. He was now suspended almost parallel to the ground, holding on to the vines with his arms, his feet entwined in the web. "Think about it!" he gasped. "We've probably got five times more stress on this web than it was ever meant to hold. Fight, damn it! We can tear this thing apart!"
Jessica was certain he had lost his mind. There was nothing to do but match his insanity. " ‘Oh, I am a cook and a captain bold, and the mate of the Nancy brig—‘ "
" ‘And a bo'sun tight, and a midshipmite, and the crew of the captain's gig!' " Justin continued.
Her leg. One leg was almost free of the web—it had never collided. She pulled herself back, and the whole jury-rigged mass shifted. She ignored the chittering sound from the trees. Something scampered down, darted at her with open jaws. She lurched violently and shivered the web.
The spider devil retreated a foot. " ‘0 elderly man, it's little I know of the duties of men of the sea, and I'll eat my hand if I understand how you can possibly be—‘ "
She stretched out desperately with her leg, but couldn't reach Justin's vine. Too late, she saw the second spider devil. It crawled down from Justin's side, and bit his thigh.
He screamed, cursed, convulsed so violently that for a moment she thought he would rip himself free. No such luck, but the monster scuttled back up to safety.
Justin groaned, and his eyes rolled up in his head. His face was dark with effort, and blood drooled from the leg wound.
"Justin!" Jessica screamed, but was distracted by a pain in her hand. A bite, and a spider devil vanishing into shadow. Flaming agony spreading up her arm.
Pain and mortal fear gave her what muscular strength could not. Or maybe Justin's struggles had finally pulled the branch close enough. Jessica contorted, and hooked her leg over the branch.
The two of them, together, pulled now. Justin's mad eyes met hers, and he swallowed. "Come on, Jessica. One, two three—pull! ‘Says he, dear James, to murder me, were a foolish thing to do, for don't you see that you can't cook me, and I can—and I will—cook you!' "
They heaved with every ounce of strength they possessed, screaming verses to send the spider devils scurrying back up into the trees—momentarily. But now the entire nest had awakened. Five more spider devils, curious, worried perhaps, crawled back out of the shadows. They descended delicately along the ropy, gummy vines. They'd already picked up the tune of "The Ballad of the Nancy Bell."
" ‘For the joy of human love! Brother, sister, parent, child, friends on earth and friends above, for all gentle thoughts and mild—‘ "
" ‘Source of all—‘ " Jessica stopped singing as the devils joined in harmony.
Justin screamed as another monster bit him, and she barely jerked her face aside as a pair of jaws clacked shut an inch from her cheek.
"Heave!" he screamed, and they did, both of them, and the vine creaked, and their spines creaked, and the web creaked—
The web ripped. They pulled on the vine and a big piece of web came down. Old bones tumbled out from somewhere above.
" ‘To thee we raise, this our hymn of grateful praise!' "
Riiiiip. The spider devils shrieked and clambered over one another to get back up into the trees. The web was coming apart rapidly now. More of the vines began to break. Now they were supported by the mucilage alone, and that wasn't strong enough. Justin hit the ground on the side of his head. Jessica ripped half free, and screamed with laughter as a big chunk of web came with her. Her arm and both legs were free, and she had the leverage to pull the other arm free of the main web. A huge patch of gummy vines still covered her. She turned and tugged at Justin's legs until she had them free, and dragged him back away from the vines. His legs were swelling, black and red. Her arm was swollen too, and numb.
"Justin," she said. "Are you all right?"
"I think l can walk."
He stumbled a couple of feet, and Jessica put her arms around him, helping him back to the water. She snatched up their comm cards. "Cassandra," she called. "We've been bitten by spider devils. Need medical attention fast."
Justin's hands shook as he pulled his shirt on. He tried to get his pants on. When his hands touched the bruised flesh of his thighs, he howled, and had to abandon the attempt.
She studied his eyes. No dilation. The swelling didn't seem to be any worse, but that told her little.
"We're about ten minutes away," Little Chaka's voice said. "Was this the same type of spider we captured on the march?"
"Appears to be," she said.
"Then it should be no problem. Use antibiotic paste. The bites aren't lethal. Even the paralytic effect isn't that strong. They need a whole colony to subdue something maybe twice their size. How many bites?"
"Justin took two, maybe three."
"All right. Keep him warm. We'll be there in two shakes. "
Jessica unrolled a blanket from her backpack and wrapped Justin in it.
His teeth chattered. "I'm not going to die, huh?"
"Only if you pull another stupid stunt like that," she said.
"You. How are you?"
She held his face with both of her hands. "Have I ever told you," she said, "that I love you?" And she kissed him, very softly. Then the venom hit and she started to shake. She let go of him before he could notice.