“We should blaze a trail to help us find our way back,” Jan said. He used his sword to slice an area of bark off a tree, revealing a patch of white, but within seconds the bark was visibly spreading inwards to repair the wound.
“The books didn’t mention anything like that,” he grumbled. “I guess we’ll have to rely on our sense of direction.”
“It’s a pity you didn’t bring the silly books with you,” Petra said. “You could have torn them up and left a trail.”
Their progress was aided by the fact that Verdia’s gravity was slightly less than that of Earth, but the heat and humidity were such that within minutes their clothes were soaked with sweat. The air was filled with the buzzing of insects, and at almost every step small rodents and scorpion-like creatures darted out of their path. Praying that none of the latter were poisonous, they went onwards at a steady pace, the deceptively dull grey swords at the ready.
They had travelled only a short distance when an unpleasant and unnerving idea occurred to them—they began to suspect they were not alone.
Petra was the first to acknowledge her growing sense of alarm. Her suspicions had developed gradually as she began to notice stealthy, shadowy flickers of movement at the edges of her vision. For a while she was almost able to convince herself that her nerves were playing tricks. Every time she glanced around, sword poised to strike, there was only the wall of vegetation and watchful pockets of darkness. She was torn between the desire to utter a warning to Jan and the possibility of causing a needless alarm, but the dilemma was resolved when Jan came closer and nudged her arm.
“Do you think we’ve got company?” he whispered.
“I didn’t want to mention it until I was sure,” she replied, “but I think we have.”
“I wonder what it is.”
“There’s no way to tell—but we’d better be ready to give it hell if it comes too close.”
They pressed ahead through the dripping greenery, during which time the silent follower gradually became bolder. It came closer and its movements became more leisurely, and finally Jan and Petra got a good view of a manlike figure covered in long black hair. Much lighter in build than a gorilla, the creature moved with disturbing speed and agility. It disappeared silently into the gloom ahead of them.
“Christ!” Petra exclaimed. “What a nasty-looking brute!”
“I know,” Jan said uneasily. “I only hope it’s hanging around out of curiosity—and not hunger.” He picked up a mossy stick and threw it towards where the skulking figure had last been seen. There was no response other than the patter of water droplets falling from disturbed leaves. The lack of reaction strengthened his hope that the creature posed no threat to them, but he remained on the alert and kept his sword at the ready, just in case. And without being too obvious about it he tried to make sure their rate of progress did not slacken off. It may have been his concern about keeping up speed which brought it to his notice that Petra was limping slightly.
“Have you hurt your ankle?” he said, trying not to sound worried.
Petra signalled for him to keep moving. “A thorn came through my boot. It isn’t too bad, though—I’ll pull it out as soon as we reach a good clear space.”
“It would be better if we do keep going, but maybe your foot should be looked at before it gets worse.”
Petra shook her head. “Not while we’re hedged in like this. Not with that rotten Abominable Snowman about.”
“Okay—it’s up to you,” Jan said, resuming the task of clearing vines and creepers out of their way with his sword.
About fifteen minutes later they came to an area where the jungle abruptly thinned out and they saw ahead the ruins of buildings. The tumbled columns and broken wails were extensively covered with vines, but it was evident that they were made of polished marble and had been sculpted to a high standard of craftsmanship.
“Hey! This must have been quite a place in its day,” Petra exclaimed. “It must have been a bit like ancient Athens or Rome. Gosh, who’d have expected to find anything like this on a jungle planet?”
“The Verdians must have been really civilised…really advanced…” Jan surveyed the enigmatic, mist-shrouded remains of once-proud buildings. “I wonder what happened to them. The place looks like it was flattened by a nuclear bomb.”
“Or an earthquake.”
“Whatever it was, I’m glad I wasn’t here at the time,” Jan said, his voice hushed with awe. “I wonder if we’ll find any clues about what happened.”
“I’m not even going to think about that until I get this damned thorn out of my foot.” Petra sat down on a block of masonry and began to ease off her left boot.
Jan scanned the area in all directions, satisfying himself that there was enough open ground to ensure they could not be surprised by any wandering wild beasts. And then, fascinated by the mystery of the place, he walked towards the nearest of the ruined buildings. He had to pick his way around several large clumps of purple-flowered shrubs which were growing up through a layer of yellow moss. He then found that his path was barred by some sizeable boulders, but they were not high enough to form any real obstacle. His gazed fixed on the intriguing ruins, he placed his left hand on a boulder and vaulted over it—but the leap was never completed.
His hand sank into a yielding wetness which felt exactly like a cold mouth.
Horrified, Jan fell sideways and saw that what he had taken to be a boulder was actually a huge slug-like creature. No, no, NO! he thought in panic as he saw that his hand had sunk deeply into the glutinous tissues of the monster. He had been deceived by one of Nature’s oldest tricks—the mimicry by which slow-moving carnivores capture their prey. He tried to pull his hand away and made the terrifying discovery that the slug-monster was too strong for him. It was exerting powerful suction on his hand and wrist—ripples coursing over its surface as it did so—and his arm was inexorably being drawn farther into its interior.
His face distorted by fear and revulsion, Jan tightened his grip on his sword and struck at the monster’s grey body. The keen blade went deep into the rubbery tissues, but the wound closed up immediately, clamping the sword in a pliant but relentless hold.
Jan struggled with all his strength to pull it free, but to no avail. His left arm was now engulfed up to the elbow and was being drawn farther in with each passing second. As he fought to withdraw the sword he raised his eyes and saw that the situation was even worse than he had realised.
The black-gorilla creature—no longer timid or elusive—had appeared on the scene and was advancing on him, obviously emboldened by the fact that he was a helpless prisoner. Now that he could see the alien properly, he was aware that its mouth was a vertical gash lined with razored yellow teeth. Saliva dripped from its jaws as it drew closer. Jan released his grip on the sword and reached for his knife, then came the realisation that it would be even less effective. He writhed and twisted as he tried to pull his left arm out of the slug-monster’s greedy maw, but all that happened was that his arm was sucked in deeper. A burning sensation in his hand told him that the monster’s acidic digestive fluids were beginning to eat into his skin.
The gorilla-creature, now capering and snuffling in its eagerness, leapt forward and dug its clawed fingers into Jan’s shoulder. It raised its head in preparation for a lunging bite, and the sickening stench of its breath wafted around him—then Jan heard a peculiar sound. It was a combination of an explosive hiss and a thud like an axe being driven deep into a tree stump.