Too much of anything, no matter how good it was, could be a bad thing.
Just now, he and Tappy were in the isolation ship, which was inside the monitor ship, which was now orbiting a huge gaseous planet of a G-type star. The crew was under the influence of the empathy. Undoubtedly, the Gaol were aware that both vessels had disappeared along with the Imago host. They would be furious but, at the same time, frightened. They would be even more disturbed, Jack thought, if they knew what had actually happened.
Garth rolled through an airlock. He halted by the table. Candy said, "Garth wishes to report."
"Tell him to report," Jack said.
When Garth had quit whistling, Candy said, "He reports that the sensors indicate that the Gaol probes will probably locate the general location of this vessel within an hour. Once that is done, the Gaol won't take more than an hour to pinpoint its location."
"Tell him thanks," Jack said, though he felt it was wasting time to inform a Gaol of his gratitude. But maybe it wasn't. Who knew how deep the empathy effect went? He turned to the girl.
"Tappy, I've been thinking about where we should go next. It's useless to just keep on dodging and ducking. We should go back to the honker planet. I have a hunch that there is where we'll find the key to defeating the Gaol, if there is a key. Anyway, the honkers'll help us. They probably have a lot of information we need. For instance, the honker who sneaked in at night and deposited the egg in you. What does he know? Who ordered him to do that? Would he and others help us hide someplace where the Gaol can't detect us, if such a place exists. What do you think?"
She did not hesitate. "It seems to me it's the only way we can go. I was just waiting for you to suggest it."
"Fine! But don't defer to me from now on. Don't wait for me to suggest something. If you've got a good idea, spill it."
She embodied, literally, the greatest force in the world of sentient beings. Yet, she looked up to him as her leader. This would have flattered him if he had not felt so puny and helpless. But he was not going to let her know that. She needed someone she could depend upon. Or thought that she could. She was under enough stress without having to assume leadership. But she should think of herself as a junior partner for now.
He reached across the table and squeezed her warm hand.
"We've kept ahead of the ratcages so far," he said. "But until now, we've mostly just been running away. It's time to take the offensive." Just how they could do mat, he had no idea.
"Candy, tell Garth we're returning to the honker planet. I know he's never been there, but he'll find it in his star charts, and he'll get us there toot sweet."
"Toot sweet?"
"Immediately. Now, the exact spot where we'll land and what we'll do after that..."
Having finished the instructions, he rose from his chair, went to Tappy, lifted her up, and held her tightly. The hatchling, which he was also now calling the Imaget, moved from her shoulder to her hair. It changed color as it did so and became practically invisible. Jack did not worry about accidentally crushing it with his hand or stepping on it. It was so quick that it seemed to anticipate any movement threatening it. Which, indeed, it could be doing. Its telepathic powers could include more than transmission of the thoughts of others.
Chapter 13
Jack, Tappy, Candy, and Garth stood on the floor of the crater. About ten miles away, the gigantic icons and symbols on the crater wall moved very slowly in their never-ending parade. Now that Jack was close to the wall, he could see that the figures were on a smooth band made of some kind of material— certainly not of stone. The band or ring was set halfway up the wall. Its lower edge was at least three thousand feet above the crater floor. Its upper edge was about five thousand feet from the floor. Thus, tile ring was two thousand feet broad. Above this, the crater wall extended upward for an estimated three thousand feet.
Who were the makers of this Brobdingnagian ring? What did the images and symbols mean? What could be rotating the mind-reeling gigantic artifact? What... ? Jack quit thinking about it. Or tried to do so. He had a much more urgent problem to consider— survival.
The Gaol ship had left after Garth had given it instructions. It would be in orbit now, ready to return if Garth radioed a command. If other Gaol ships came while it was still in orbit, it would transfer to the system of another star. And it would move again if it were again located.
Jack led the others toward the wall. Between it and the place where the ship had departed was a tiny camp of honkers. Jack wanted to give the honkers plenty of opportunity to be alerted to the presence of the intruders. If the honkers were caught unawares, they might scatter in a panic or, perhaps, attack the strangers.
But if Jack could get friendly with them, he might get them to hide the refugees, maybe even direct them to the leader of the secret organization Tappy said existed among the honkers.
Beyond that, though, she did not know much about it.
Jack had to work fast. The Gaol would find Tappy and her companions very soon if they did not get to a hiding place. Garth had told him that it would be at least three hours before the Gaol's vessels would appear above the planet.
The sun was just descending from the zenith. The refugees were on the bank of a large creek. The vegetation on the plain was somewhat like that on an African veldt— now and then. But there were distinctly non-Terrestrial plants here. Like those that resembled thirty-foot-high croissants with one end stuck in the ground and with many large-headed red pins stuck in them. A moldy blue-green moss dripped from the pins, which were probably just exotic-looking branches. The ends of the pin-branches had knobby growths with holes in the center. Very tiny reptiloids stuck their shiny plated heads out from the holes.
These trees and others lined the creek. Beyond these, yellowish grasses as high as Jack's waist grew thickly. Their expanse was broken here and there by plants twenty feet high, their puce trunks ascending in a zigzag fashion to topknots of thick scarlet and lemon fronds.
Far to Jack's right, some enormous blue piglike beasts with huge round ears and elephantlike proboscises munched on the grass.
Somewhere, an animal roared.
Jack ordered Garth to take the lead. His big wheels pressed the grass down to make an easier path for the others. If they encountered a large predator, Garth could cut it down with his built-in beamer. But Garth's presence would make access to the honkers difficult. These always fled if they saw a Gaol. On the other hand, Jack was betting that the honkers knew that Tappy was the host for the Imago. If they watched the strangers long enough, they would conclude that Garth was not your run-of-the-mill Gaol.
They had walked a mile when Garth halted. His whistles were low, and Candy, replying, also whistled softly. Then she spoke in English. "He says he detects middle-mass life-forms ahead about twenty meters. Also on both sides of us and behind us. He can hear them move and see their body heat. He cannot hear them speak."
"Tell him to proceed very slowly," Jack said.
Tappy came to his side and took his hand. She looked wary but not frightened. She certainly was much tougher than when he had met her. Her scary experiences might have destroyed the nerves of many, but she was basically courageous and resilient.
She had held his right hand briefly as if a touch could give her strength. Or did she think that she was giving him the strength? Though the Imago seemed to be sleeping, some of its power could be leaking from it to her. And she was unconsciously transmitting that to him.