"I said that was no dream, the desert cabbage-nor any of the rest of it. Do you know where we are?"
"That's what I was asking you."
"We're in Cynia, that's where we are. We-"
"Cynia?"
Jim tried to give Frank a coherent account of the preceding two days. He was somewhat hampered by the item of their sudden translation from far up the canal back to Cynia, because he did not understand it clearly himself. "I figure it's a sort of a subway paralleling the canal. You know-a subway, like you read about."
"Martians don't do that sort of engineering."
"Martians built the canals."
"Yes, but that was a long, long time ago."
"Maybe they built the subway a long time ago. What do you know about it?"
"Well-nothing, I guess. Never mind. I'm hungry. Anything left to eat?"
"Sure." Jim got up. In so doing he woke Willis, who extended his eyes, sized up the situation, and greeted them. Jim picked him up, scratched him, and said, "What time did you come in, you tramp?" then suddenly added, "Hey!"
"'Hey' what?" asked Frank.
"Well, would you look at thatT' Jim pointed at the tumbled silks.
Frank got up and joined him. "Look at what? Oh-"
In the hollow in which Willis had been resting were a dozen small, white spheroids, looking like so many golf balls.
"What do you suppose they are?" asked Jim.
Frank studied them closely. "Jim," he said slowly, "I think you'll just have to face it. Willis isn't a boy; he's a she."
"Huh? Oh, no!"
"Willis good boy," Willis said defensively.
"See for yourself," Frank went on to Jim. "Those are eggs. If Willis didn't lay them, you must have."
Jim looked bewildered, then turned to Willis. "Willis, did you lay those eggs? Did you?"
"Eggs?" said Willis. "What Jim boy say?"
Jim set him down by the nest and pointed. "Did you lay those?"
Willis looked at them, then figuratively shrugged his shoulders and washed his hands of the whole matter. He waddled away. His manner seemed to say that if Jim chose to make a fuss over some eggs or whatever that just happened to show up in the bed, well, that was Jim's business; Willis would have none of it.
"You won't get anything out of him," Frank commented. "I suppose you realize this makes you a grandfather, sort of."
"Don't be funny!"
"Okay, forget the eggs. When do we eat? I'm starved."
Jim gave the eggs an accusing glance and got busy on the commissary. While they were eating Gekko came in. They exchanged grave greetings, then the Martian seemed about to settle himself for another long period of silent sociabilitywhen he caught sight of the eggs.
Neither of the boys had ever seen a Martian hurry before, nor show any signs of excitement. Gekko let out a deep snort and left the room at once, to return promptly with as many companions as could crowd into the room. They all talked at once and paid no attention to the boys.
"What goes on here?" asked Frank, as he crowded against a wall and peered through a thicket of legs.
"Blessed if I know."
After a while they calmed down a little. One of the larger Martians gathered up the eggs with exaggerated care and clutched mem to him. Another picked up Willis and they all trooped out.
Jim stood hesitantly at the door and watched them disappear. "I'd like to find Gekko and ask him about it," he fretted.
"Nuts," said Frank. "Let's finish breakfast."
"Well... all right."
Once the meal was over. Frank opened the larger question. "Okay, so we are in Cynia. We've still got to get home and fast. The question is: how do we go about it? Now as I see it, if these Martians could bring us back here so fast, they can turn around and put us back where they found us and then we can head home up the east leg of Strymon. How does that strike you?"
"It sounds all right, I guess," Jim answered, "but-"
"Then the first thing to do is to find Gekko and try to arrange it, without fiddling around."
"The first thing to do," Jim contradicted, "is to find Willis."
"Why? Hasn't he caused enough trouble? Leave him; he's happy here."
"Frank, you take entirely the wrong attitude toward Willis. Didn't he get us out of a jam? If it hadn't been for Willis, you'd be coughing your lungs out in the desert."
"If it hadn't been for Willis, we wouldn't have been in that jam in the first place."
"Now that's not fair. The truth is-"
"Skip it, skip it. Okay, go find Willis."
Jim left Frank to clean up the litter of breakfast and set out. Although he was never able thereafter to give a fully coherent account of just what happened to him on this errand, certain gross facts are clear. He started by looking for Gekko, asking for him of the first Martian he met in the corridors by the barbarous expedient of voicing the general inquiry followed by Gekko's name.
Jim was not and probably never would be a competent linguist, but his attempt worked. The first Martian he encountered took him to another, as an Earthly citizen might lead a foreigner to a policeman. This Martian took 'him to Gekko.
Jim had no great trouble in explaining to Gekko that he wanted Willis returned to him. Gekko listened, then explained gently that what Jim wanted was impossible.
Jim started over again, sure that his own poor command of me language had caused misunderstanding. Gekko let him finish, then made it quite clear that he understood correctly what it was that Jim wanted, but that Jim could not have it-could not have Willis. No. Gekko was sorrowful to have to refuse his friend with whom he had shared the pure water of life, but this thing could not be.
Under the direct influence of Gekko's powerful personality Jim understood most of what was said and guessed the rest. Gekko's refusal was unmistakable. It is not important that Jim did not have his gun with him; Gekko could not inspire the hatred in him that Howe did. For one thing Gekko's warm sympathy poured over him in a flood; nevertheless Jim was thunderstruck, indignant, and quite unable to accept the verdict. He stared up at the Martian for a long moment. Then he walked away abruptly, not choosing his direction and shouting for Willis as he did so. "Willis! Oh, Willis! Here, Willis boy -come to Jim!"
The Martian started after him, each stride three of Jim's. Jim ran, still shouting. He turned a comer, came face-to-face with three natives and darted between their legs and beyond. Gekko got into a traffic jam with them which required the time-wasting exercise of Martian protocol to straighten out. Jim got considerably ahead.
He stuck his head into every archway he came to and shouted. One such led into a chamber occupied by Martians frozen in that trancelike state they call visiting the "other world." Jim would no more have disturbed a Martian in a trance, ordinarily, than an American western frontier child would have teased a grizzly-but he was in no shape to care or notice; he shouted in there, too, thereby causing an unheard-of and unthinkable disturbance. The least response was violent trembling; one poor creature was so disturbed that he lifted abruptly all of his legs and fell to the floor.
Jim did not notice; he was already gone, shouting into the next chamber.
Gekko caught up with him and scooped him up with two great hand flaps. "Jim-Marlowe!" he said. "Jim-Marlowe, my friend-"
Jim sobbed and beat on the Martian's hard thorax with both his fists. Gekko endured it for a moment, then wrapped a third palm flap around Jim's arms, securing him. Jim looked wildly up at him. "Willis," he said in his own language, "I want Willis. You've got no right!"
Gekko cradled him and answered softly, "I have no power. This is beyond me. We must go to the other world." He moved away. Jim made no answer, tired by his own outburst. Gekko took a ramp downward, then another and another. Down and down he went, much deeper than Jim had ever been before, deeper perhaps than any terrestrial had ever been. On the upper levels they passed other Martians; farther down there were none.