Kyr looked into the deep gorge. "Compared to the rift valleys of Ovs, it is nothing."
"You aren't suggesting we try to climb down there and back up the other side, are you?" Spence was incredulous. He gazed down into the dizzying depths to the swirling water below and then back up the sheer, jagged rock face of the other side. The gap was a good twenty or thirty meters across. "Without a good rope, I wouldn't dare try it."
Gita rolled his eyes in mute terror at the thought and threw up his hands. Adjani looked from one to the other of the group. "Well, there's only one way to find out, I suppose. We can buy some rope from the villagers. Perhaps they'll even help get us across."
Spence swallowed hard. "Kyr and I will stay here. You and Gita go and see what you can find. We'll scout out the best place to climb and meet you back here."
Gita left with Adjani, protesting that it was no use, that he would not mind being left behind in the least, that climbing always made him sick to his stomach. His protests diminished as he and Adjani returned back along the winding path and were soon out of sight.
Spence stood looking at the patch of forest which for the most part hid the palace from view-all but the gleaming hemisphere of the domed stupa in the center and the spike of the thin tower beside it. Nothing stirred that he could see. The place looked overgrown and deserted, a habitation of monkeys and parrots-the same fate suffered by ruins the world over.
But he also sensed a power in that place which exerted a hold on him. He could feel it drawing him, its pull almost a palpable force. Was it outright foolishness to presume that they could accomplish anything by going there-the four of them, weaponless and very much at disadvantage? Was this a fool's errand? Was it part of the Dream Thief's plan from the beginning?
As if reading Spence's dark thoughts, Kyr turned to him and said, "Do not allow despair to eat at your heart, Earthfriend."
"I'm afraid, Kyr. What can we do against him?"
"Do not be afraid. Dal Elna has not brought us this far only to fail."
"I'm not so sure. Why did he let any of this happen in the first place?"
"Why? That no one can know-the answer is beyond our highest thoughts."
"We have no weapons. Nothing to fight with."
"We are far from helpless. You had nothing when you were lost on Ovs, yet you survived; more, you increased in strength and wisdom."
"That was different."
"How was it different?" Kyr looked at him intently with his great yellow eyes. Spence had no answer and so turned away. He began walking along the edge of the precipice in search of a likely spot to descend. He tried to shrug off the feeling of deep foreboding that had begun to swarm over him-as if the close proximity of the palace and its occupant increased his sense of helplessness and dread. But the oppression would not be shaken off. If anything, its grip on Spence was tightening. The fact that Ari also was held in its grasp-a thought which was never far from his mind-made it that much more potent.
After searching along both sides of the pathway for some distance, they found no better place to make a crossing than the spot where the bridge used to be. So, they returned to wait for Adjani and Gita to come back.
They did not have long to wait. No sooner had they settled themselves beside the old bridge post than they heard a commotion coming up the hillside. Soon Gita's blue knob was seen bobbing toward them with Adjani's slim form beside him. But behind them marched what appeared to be the entire population of Rangpo and surrounding countryside. All were babbling at once and shouting, as if they were on their way to a major sporting event, which they were, they were coming to see the foreigners cheat death on the rocks. Bets were laid and wagers had already been made on the improbable outcome of success.
Spence looked aghast as Adjani and Gita came strolling up. He glanced quickly at Kyr-there was no way to hide him now, no way to disguise his alien appearance.
"Sorry," said Adjani. "We tried to discourage them, but…" He gestured to the crowd around him, who had fallen strangely silent in Kyr's presence. "They had to come. We're stuck with them, I'm afraid."
Black eyes sparkled, whispers buzzed through the throng as the villagers beheld the alien. Kyr gazed back at them calmly and the awestruck hillfolk became reverently quiet, apparently believing themselves to be in the presence of a god, or at least a very powerful spirit of some order unknown to them. They watched in wonder as he stood and came forward to take the ropes they carried.
Gita turned to the crowd and said something quickly. "I told them not to be afraid, that he is our friend, and theirs."
Kyr took a coil of handwoven hemp rope and slung it over his shoulder.
"Kyr, what are you doing?" said Spence.
"Watch and you will see." He stepped to the edge of the gorge and lowered himself over.
"Wait!" said Adjani. "Let us tie a safety rope around you."
Gita closed his eyes. "Oh, merciful heaven!"
"There is no need. This is one skill all on Ovs possess from the time they are very young. It is a game."
With that he threw himself over the edge, much to the chagrin of the onlookers. The crowd rushed forward, most expecting to see his tumbling body smash against the stones. Instead they saw the strange being lightly skittering down the face of the chasm, as deftly as a spider, his long arms and legs spread wide, gripping the rock in impossible handholds. Down and down he went, as easily as a man descending a staircase.
Spence and all the rest marveled at Kyr's swift, sure movements. In no time the Martian reached the bottom of the chasm and began propelling himself across the surface of the thrashing cataract. Like some kind of great gangly waterbug the alien skipped across the churning waves in a manner that defied description. Once across, he raised his head to regard his audience crowded over the edge of the precipice, and then reached up and started climbing the opposite face as swiftly as any lizard scaling his favorite sunning rock.
Then he was standing across from them, weaving his head from side to side, smirking as if to say, It's easy, just do what I did.
"Well done!" cried Adjani. And immediately the crowd went wild with shouts and cheers. Spence just shook his head in disbelief and grinned.
Kyr proceeded to tie one end of the rope to one of the bridgeposts on the other side of the gorge. He then heaved the coil back across to the other side. It took several attempts, but they finally caught it and made it fast to the opposite bridgepost. The villagers then took over.
Another rope was passed across and tied to the second bridgepost. They then had two parallel lines stretched taut across thechasm. Spence didn't see how that could possibly help them, buthe kept quiet and let the men from the region work. He and Gitasat down on a rock nearby and watched the new bridge take shape.The sun was a murky yellow ball low in the sky when thethird rope was tied off. This one was actually made up of fourseparate lines braided together and slung between the first two.There were workers on both sides of the gorge now, a group having shimmied over on the first lines, pulling themselves across hand over hand with their legs entwining the rope.
Next, more ropes were woven from the two upper strands to the bottom one to form a vee-shaped trough. And though the work went quickly enough, Spence was acutely conscious of the passing of time-the day was almost gone. Night came on quickly in the high hills. Once the sun had slipped behind the curtain of mountains, darkness crawled across the high places and valleys, though the sky might stay light for hours.
The sun's last rays were already shining on the peaks, turning their snowy caps into golden crowns, and Spence felt the night chill seeping into the air when the new bridge was finished. And even though he had witnessed its construction from the first moment to the last, the rope bridge still appeared a thing of miraculous invention, as if it had suddenly appeared and spun itself across the void like a magical spider web.