_Is he distraught?_
_Not especially. He is always very quiet when he works. He is--occupied. You have done nothing to disturb him_.
_You have known him for a long while?_
_Over twenty Earth years. I was his personal translator during the war_.
_And you fight with him still, for the DYNAB. From among all his command, you stayed with him to continue the battle_.
_I am sometimes helpful to him_.
_It is good to hear of such loyalty to the cause_.
_One cannot long share thoughts as we have done without either going insane or coming to love. Mine is a personal feeling toward Malacar. The DYNAB is only incidental. I serve it because it still means something to him_.
_You love him? You are a female?_
_As a matter of fact, I am a female of my kind. But this, too, is only incidental. It would take months to teach a human the way a Darvenian thinks... and feels. And it would serve no useful purpose. Call it love_.
_I did not realize this, Shind_.
The mental equivalent of a shrug followed.
_You say that you are good with a gun_.
_Yes_, she replied.
_Then keep it ready whenever you are near him and be prepared to use it instantly, should he be threatened_.
_Threatened?_
_I have had many misgivings concerning this expedition. I feel that there is danger, though I do not know how or why it will arrive_.
_I will be ready_.
_Then I shall rest more easily. Good night, Jackara_.
_Good night, Shind_.
She moved her pistol to a position from which it could be fired quickly, and she slept with her hand upon it.
As they worked their way through the third day, Malacar heard a faint sound from above and scanned the sky. A jumpbuggy was moving from the south toward the northwest. Jackara stopped her work and stared at it also.
It seemed to grow as they watched it.
"It's coming this way. It may pass overhead."
"Yes."
_Shind. Can you--?_
_No, the distance is too great for me to read anything_.
_If it goes overhead ... ?_
_I will see what I can do_.
Within a matter of minutes it had reached the mesa. It cruised slowly, several hundred feet above the ground, and began to pass over the ruins. When it reached a position where the pilot could not but have seen them--looking groundward as he must have been--it came to sudden life and sped on to the northwest, gaining altitude as it went. Soon it was gone from sight.
_It contains one occupant, a man_, Shind said to both of them. _He was curious about the ruins. This is all that I was able to read_.
"Sight-seeing, perhaps."
"Then why did he run when he saw us?"
"No way of telling."
Malacar returned to the camp and unpacked a laser subgun, which he strapped to his shoulder. Jackara checked her own weapon when she saw what he was doing.
They moved back to the square they had been working.
"I have an idea," she said.
"Tell me about it."
"The Pei'ans are Strantrians, and Strantrian shrines are nearly always underground. We have not come across one yet. If, as you guess, your H was an amateur archaeologist--"
He nodded vigorously and studied the map again.
"I'm going to climb that wall once more," he said, looking over his shoulder. "An underground chamber the size of a Strantrian shrine might be partly caved in after all these years. I'll look for sinkholes."
He mounted the wall and turned his head slowly, from left to right. Then he withdrew the map, marked it, checked it against his observations once more.
He climbed down and moved to Jackara's side.
"I saw six dark places," he said, exhibiting the map. "We will probably come across more holes, but those six were the only ones I could make out from up there. So we will start with them. Pick one."
She did, and they moved off in that direction.
The fourth cavity they investigated was a Strantrian shrine.
Lying spread-eagled, he flashed his light downward through the gloom. It had once been a five-sided chamber, he saw. Below, ahead and to his left lay the remains of what must have been the central altar. An enormous mound of rubble blocked his view to the front and the far left. Edging forward and turning to his right, he saw the low archway and a portion of the foyer that lay beyond it. From there, a flight of steps normally led upward to ...
He estimated the approximate aboveground position, crept back from the hole and went to the shattered building. He pulled on his gloves, stooped and began throwing pieces of masonry aside.
"This is the way," he said. "It shouldn't be too difficult to clear. This stuff is fairly loose."
"What about lowering ourselves through the hole?"
"It collapsed there once. It's weak. We'll go the safe way."
She nodded, donned her own gloves and joined him.
By nightfall, they had cleared the surrounding area and, he estimated, about two thirds of the stairwell.
"Sit on the top step and hold the light for me," he ordered; and he worked for another two hours.
"You must be getting tired," she said.
"A bit. But I've only a few more feet to go."
He passed her with a melon-sized stone in his arms.
_There is somebody else on this plateau with us_, said Shind.
_Where?_ asked Malacar, dropping the stone onto a heap.
_I cannot say for certain. It seems to be to the northeast of here. It is a general sense of presence that I have. Nothing specific_.
_Could it be some animal?_ asked Jackara.
_This is an intelligence of a higher sort_.
_Try to read it_.
_I am trying, but it is too distant_.
_Well, keep on with it and let us know when you succeed_.
Malacar moved near to Jackara.
"Turn off the light," he said.
She did, and he unslung his weapon and held it in one hand.
"Let's wait here awhile," he said, seating himself beside her.
_There is only one_, said Shind.
_Could it be the same one who passed us in the jumpbuggy this afternoon?_ asked Jackara.
_I cannot tell_.
"The jump-buggy could have returned at a low altitude," she said, "and landed in one of the canyons near here."
_Is it moving in this direction?_ he asked.
_It seems to be stationary_.
They waited.
After a quarter of an hour, Shind said, _It still has not moved. It may have made camp_.
"What are we going to do, Malacar?"
"I am deciding whether I should go have a look, or try to break through here tonight."
"He has no way of knowing where we are. If it is the jumpbuggy man, we are nowhere near the place we were when it passed. Why go looking for trouble?"
"I'm curious."
"Shind can tell you if he moves. If I go farther down the stairway, the light will not be visible above the ground. We could probably be inside in an hour or so. If we locate what you are looking for, we can move out tonight and let him camp here as long as he wants."
"You are right, of course--tactically."
He rose.
"Careful on those steps."
_Shind, tell us immediately if he moves. Have you any idea how far away he is?_
_I would judge about two miles. If I were to advance a few hundred yards, I might be able to obtain stronger impressions_.
_Go ahead_.
Malacar stood ten feet beneath the ground and Jackara was to his left and above him. He reslung his subgun and renewed his assault on the rubble. Perhaps ten minutes passed before a gap appeared near the top of the archway.
_Commander, I am still advancing. The impressions are stronger. It is a masculine mind. It seems to be about the business of bedding down for the night_.
_Good. Continue to monitor_.
He enlarged the opening he had made. He cast the stones beside him on the stair. Jackara leaned her back against the wall, holding the light in her left hand. Her right hand rested upon the butt of her pistol.