The question was, when should they return to the Virtual Mode? They had no way of telling in advance whether the mind predator remained lurking, but judged that it should have given up by this time. They had less concern about the hivers by the Mode anchor: they did not understand its nature well, and after a few days had stopped watching it. Nona had learned this by sending the shear there to spy. However, the moment their party returned to the main plain and headed for the anchor, the hivers would be alerted and would try to intercept them. This was no good; they didn’t need Burgess’ warning to advise them that they would get stoned to death in short order.
The answer, they agreed, was to go to the anchor at night, when the hivers would be sleeping within their ramparts. But that had its own problems, because of the terrain and the nocturnal predators. They wouldn’t be able to use fire, because that would alert the hivers, who might then come out; Burgess remembered examples of hive action at night, when there was a threat. Floaters did not like to travel at night, but could do so in familiar territory. How, then, could the party make a quiet, safe transit at night? They held several communal sessions, the three humans holding on to Burgess’ contact points while also being in telepathic communication. As a linked group, with some practice, they became a fairly powerful hive mind themselves. They decided on two things: to move by day to the edge of the wilderness closest to the anchor place, so as to have a relatively short journey the rest of the way by night; and to try to capture a night creature for Nona to tame, who could help them see in the darkness. That combination should enable them to reach the anchor safely.
But what night creature could they catch? Burgess had little information on that, because night predators were things of mystery and horror to hivers, to be kept constantly at bay. Some were creatures of the ground, some of water, and some of air. Other predators quickly hauled away the bodies of those brought down by stones, so that there was nothing to examine in the morning. Of one thing Burgess was sure, however: there were quite a number of creatures of the night. More than there were by day, perhaps because the hivers had eliminated most of the serious day predators of the plain. So they would have to have good information before they made that final trek for the anchor.
The trouble was, they couldn’t decide the kind of night creature they could catch, because of their ignorance. It was likely to be dangerous to go hunting for one.
Then Colene had one of her bright notions. “Armor!” she exclaimed. “We can put on armor, so nothing can get at us. No predators, no sand, no stones. Then we won’t have to worry what’s out there.”
“Where would we get armor?” Darius inquired, amused.
“We’ll make it, silly! Out of wood.”
He shook his head. “That could be a great deal of work.”
“Not if we do it small, and have Nona expand it to fit.”
He stopped being amused. She was right: they could be armored. If the panels were solid enough, they would be proof against the stones the hivers could hurl.
“In fact,” Nona suggested, “we might even make an armored wagon, with wheels, for the plain.”
“Wheels!” Colene exclaimed, thrilled. “Big ones, so it can’t get bogged down in the dirt. Seqiro can pull it. He’ll have armor too, of course. Then we can travel there by day.”
Burgess demurred. The hivers would not know what was happening, but they could hurl so many rocks and pile so much sand that it would be impossible to get through.
“At night, then,” Colene said. “An armored wagon at night, to stop the predators without stirring up the hivers.”
They discussed it, and concluded that it was worthwhile. Darius started carving solid wood chips for the protection of arms, legs, and torso, while Colene set about designing panels for a wagon that could be assembled to make a solid container at the edge of the plain. Because they would not be able to fit that wagon through the forest full-sized, and it wouldn’t be much use undersized. With panels, they could use the wheels and base of a reduced-size wagon to carry full-sized panels, then have to enlarge only that base when they got there. Efficiency was the keynote; once they started moving, they didn’t want to delay.
Nona enlarged Darius’ body-armor sections, and he did some additional carving. They used cord enlarged from thread to tie them to his body. When he stood in his full armor, Colene looked at him and laughed. “You look like the Tin Woodman of Oz!” she exclaimed.
“The what?”
“It’s a fantasy story,” she said, making a mental picture. “Never mind. I guess you’re more like a wooden tinman, anyway. I pity the poor monster who tries to eat you!”
“I hope to be too tough a morsel for a monster to swallow, in this armor,” he agreed. But he realized that he must look strange indeed. The curved wooden sections covered his calves, his thighs, his torso, his forearms, his upper arms, and projected up behind his head. There were no joints; the sections simply didn’t connect directly with each other. But they overlapped enough so that no part of him was badly exposed. The wood was not unduly heavy, but he would be glad when he no longer had to wear such equipment.
They agreed that Darius and Seqiro would have armor, while the others rode in the wagon. Even Burgess, who could travel well on the plain but would be exposed. Also, if he were hidden in the wagon, the hivers might not realize he was there, and wouldn’t pay much attention.
Darius carved miniature panels for Seqiro, which Nona expanded. There was a problem, since the horse was already covered with bags and items attached to his harness. They decided to cover every section not already protected to some degree. So Seqiro got neck panels and head protection. He preferred to leave his legs exposed, because armor would interfere with his walking.
Meanwhile Colene completed her wagon design, and demonstrated how the little panels had projections which poked through holes around the edge of the base so that they would be firm. The roof panel had holes which held the upper projections, so that it too was firm. Of course the wagon was larger, now, but the panels would be expanded to fit it.
The wagon itself had four fairly nice wooden wheels on wooden axles lubricated by grease expanded from a drop they had in the supplies. It was crude, but it should work for the two hours or so required. Colene was pleased with what she called her technology, and Darius was pleased too.
They set a day for their travel, when everything was prepared. They started at dawn, hoping to retrace their path through the forest, cross the river, and get past the crab section without stopping, in one day. After all, the way was familiar, and the path had been prepared. The sledge had become the base for the wagon, but still served to carry Burgess.
They started backwards, because the wagon had no brakes. Seqiro was harnessed to it, and he then backed it over the edge of the mesa and strained to prevent it from drawing him down after it. Darius, in his armor, stood at the horse’s head, watching the wagon and track closely, so that the horse could draw both the picture and the best way to react from his mind. Colene and Nona stood at either side of the path, holding poles which they used to block the progress of the wheels. It was a clumsy process, but they were well coordinated by the mental linkage and did manage to get the wagon down the slope without mishap.
Then Darius led Seqiro around a circle they had prepared, and they got moving forward. Their path led between escarpments at the base of the mesa, before bearing away toward the river.
“Okay, we’re ready to move,” Colene said. “But we’d better check for bogies. Anything to worry about, horseface?”
There is a predator near, Seqiro thought as he checked for minds. His concentration on the tricky descent had distracted him from this check before.