“You are there!” the Habra reported suddenly. “It is between you, a meter or so to the left of the line connecting you. Its depth is about a meter — yes, draw together as you are now doing. You are right above it. A little digging should be all you need. We’ll stand by, though.”
Digging in loose snow and high wind, with no tools but their armored limbs, was easier than they had expected, since displaced ice dust blew away instantly. The hole they produced tended to fill almost as fast, but this time they did not have a hillside sliding down on them. Both pairs of hands met the tube of Naxian armor almost simultaneously.
Hugh raised one end, strongly relieved to find it not frozen rigid. A quick glance showed that he was not at the head, and they both hand-over-handed to the other end, raising it to look anxiously into the transparent helmet. A pair of gold-brown eyes looked back at them.
“You’re all right!” exclaimed Hugh for the second time in less than an hour.
“Quite,” came S’Nash’s calm response. “My armor is in perfect shape. My thanks for an efficient job of rescue; I was expecting it to take much longer.”
“You weren’t worried?” keyed Janice.
“Of course not. The wind would not last indefinitely; even if I were not found, I could easily dig out when it ended.”‘
“Unless a five-meter dune had stopped right over you,” keyed Hugh.
“I didn’t think of that. Neither did Janice, I perceive. The danger was worth the reward.”
The Erthumoi had no chance to get this remark clarified.
“Trouble!” roared the settlement’s danger horn.
Chapter Four
And Icy Death Can Come From Sunlit Night
The modulations giving details of the emergency were hard to make out over the wind, but listening carefully the Erthumoi read most of the message. Not the Pits this time,” keyed Janice. “No specific location-something or someone missing!” agreed her husband. He called Switch, presumably still overhead. “Where and what? Can you get in touch with Central Watch? Who’s on duty there?”
“Missing person. Reported from Supply Arrival by Third-Supply-Watcher. Naxian Th’Fenn is on watch, its companion was not identified.”
The distance to the supply warehouse on the other side of Pitville was over two kilometers. Hugh thought quickly.
“S’Nash, can you wrap around one of us so you won’t blow away again?” The Naxian coiled about his waist without verbal reply.
“Switch, or one of you, please steer us toward the town. We can find the warehouse once we’re among buildings.”
“You should not need our help for more than another minute or two,” the Habra replied. “The edge of the squall is almost here. Snow is settling very quickly only half a kilometer to your west. If you wait briefly, you can make the trip on your own, without having to listen to heading corrections.”
“Good. Thanks. We’ll wait. Is Rekchellet still with you up there?”
“Yes,” the Crotonite answered for himself. His own translator was also radio-equipped, as he had as much need as his chief to talk to the natives.
“Good,” keyed Hugh. “Please get over to the supply depot and learn what you can. Do whatever seems in order. I’ll head that way until I hear from you again, but if you can manage the whole thing by yourself I’ll be glad to take S’Nash back to the quarters first. Keep me posted, please.”
“I’ll be there as soon as the squall gets past the depot. I’m over it now, but can’t go down. I’m having the horn cut.”
Hugh acknowledged and stood waiting with some relief. The last few minutes had been fatiguing, and the alarm horn, whose howl ceased a moment after Rekchellet finished talking, carried subsonics designed to be disturbing to the Erthuma safety chief.
Supply vehicles from the port, where ice gave way to ocean, regularly parked by the largest of the settlement buildings, a half-kilometer-square, two-story structure used primarily as a warehouse. This was not quite a kilometer east of the Pits.
Most of its personnel were either Locrians, able to examine the contents of containers without opening them, or Erthumoi with their high gravity physical strength, recruited mainly for that quality. Hugh knew none of them very well personally, and hoped that Rekchellet would face no problems demanding tact by either party before he and Janice got there.
Another thought crossed his mind as the wind began to slacken.
“Switch, or whoever is up there?”
“It’s Ted, Hugh.”
“Fine. Have the sentries reported who is missing, or at least what sort of person?”
“No. I asked, and Th’Fenn replied that it, too, had asked and been told that the supply chief didn’t know.”
“That seems strange.”
“So I thought. I wanted to investigate myself, but you told Rek to go and I thought I’d better stay here in case you had further orders.”
“Good. Thanks. I think I’ll head for the warehouse anyway as soon as we can see. Janice can take S’Nash home.”
“I don’t need to go home. My armor is in perfect condition, and so am I. I have no duty scheduled for many hours and am as curious as you are about the disappearance. I will come with you, and Janice wants to come also.”
One did not question a Naxian’s reading of emotion, and Hugh knew his wife’s feeling anyway; assigning her to serpent care had been unavoidable, in his own opinion, and if she hadn’t shared it she would probably have spoken up even more quickly than S’Nash had.
It was some minutes before the air cleared, and many more before the trio reached the site, the Erthumoi’s diving fluid roaring in their ears, the other showing no signs of exertion obvious to its/his companions.
Rekchellet was already there. So were two other Crotonites, three Erthumoi, and three Locrians. Moments after Hugh, his wife, and S’Nash arrived, half a dozen natives including Ted settled out of the sky around them.
Beside the building, its power unit melting the snow beneath it and ice encrusting its hull and cabin windows, stood a tracked cargo carrier. Its doors and hatches all seemed to be sealed, at least on the side which Hugh could see.
“What’s happened? Who’s missing?” he asked of the world in general.
A Locrian gestured to indicate that she was the speaker, and answered. “This truck arrived a short time ago. It was not scheduled, but that’s not unusual. It was obviously on automatic control as it approached, which is not surprising, but it parked itself which, as you know…” the voice of the vaguely humanoid and less vaguely insectile speaker took on a perceptibly prim tone even through the translator…”is less usual. We waited for a minute or more. There was no communication from within, and no one emerged. We examined it closely and there is no person or other living being aboard. I therefore reported missing personnel to the Safety Watch.”
Hugh decided to face what was presumably going to be the music.
“Is there a robot?”
“No.” Hugh and Janice looked at each other; one of the other human beings, whose thoughts had apparently paralleled the Cedars’, gave a grunt of surprise. “Just the automatic controller, which I judge to be of Crotonite manufacture,” the Locrian concluded.
“But you know that someone has been there.” Hugh made it a statement; after all, the missing-person alarm had gone out.
“Yes. There are food containers which seem to have been recently used; at least, the traces they still contain have neither dried nor decayed noticeably. There are two sleeping units which appear to have been used and not repacked. Waste recyclers…”
“What species?” cut in Janice. She was not squeamish about waste receptacle contents, but felt that the Locrian had made her point. She wanted more useful information.