practical man and know you are, also. What if rescue does not arrive?'
'We live.'
'Of course, but how? I mean in what manner? Three men and only one woman-you recognize the problem? The captain, I think, can be left out of the equation, but there is still you and me. Frankly, the need of a woman is, to me, only a minor irritation, but there is a question of principle. Of precedence. You understand?'
Dumarest remembered the cry he had heard-death sending its warning. Was he listening to another? Had he received it?
Against the glow of the fire the hunter's face was in shadow, the light which delineated his stance masking his expression, but there were things the shadows couldn't hide. The scent which came from him; the odor born of released adrenalin, of pulsing blood, of muscular tension and glandular secretions all designed to lift and hold the body to a fighting pitch. Odors Dumarest had smelled before when facing men in the arena. The stench which came through oil and sweat and which usually held the taint of fear. A taint now absent.
Bochner said again, 'You understand?'
'Yes,' said Dumarest. 'I understand.'
'And the woman?'
'Will make her own choice.'
'I don't think so.'
Dumarest looked at the shape limned in the firelight, the shadowed face in which reflected starlight betrayed the eyes. 'I can't agree.'
'So?'
'I think that as you're so wakeful you can take over the watch. Arguments can wait until later.' He added dryly, 'And don't worry, I won't creep up on you in the dark.'
Dawn came with splinters of light and a wind which dropped as the day grew older. Dilys, refreshed by her sleep, tried to wash her face and hair in the dew which assuaged their thirst. Too little and too hard to collect, tantalizing rather than satisfying. When she complained, Dumarest waved at the savannah.
'We're too high for water up here. It's all running to lower levels.'
'Why can't we wait down there?'
'Smoke.' He looked at the fire. 'Down lower it will be masked against the hills. Up here, it can be seen for miles.'
The obvious, which she had overlooked. Irritably, she began to pile the remaining fuel on the embers.
'Save that until later,' advised Dumarest, 'until the morning winds have died. And if we're going to keep it fed, we'll need more fuel.'
They descended to find it, dropping down the landward slope to gather and haul ferns and branches, twigs, roots, dried stems and saplings to be piled beside the fire. Dumarest downed a scurrying shape with his thrown knife and Bochner tried to emulate the feat. His blade pierced a leg and sent the rodent, screaming, to bite at the steel. Screams which died as he broke the creature's neck, but he was not pleased. Dumarest had killed clean at twice the distance.
'A dangerous man, that,' said Egulus when, later, he watched with Dumarest beside the fire. Fed with the remaining scraps of available plastic, it threw an ebon column into the sky. 'I saw his face when he realized you had bested him. He can't stand to be beaten at anything. I've known men like that before. I suppose, in a way, I was one myself. What I wanted, I had to get. I did, too-but that's over now. The Entil is gone.'
'What do you know of him?'
'Leo Bochner?' The captain shrugged. 'Nothing. He wanted passage and could pay for it. What else was there for me to know? You must have learned more about him than I did?'
A man who had boarded with expensive equipment; weapons and items of price, to be expected from a successful hunter and the representative of a wealthy consortium. His luggage was gone now, dumped with the rest of the jettisoned weight, and he had not protested. That, in itself, was unusual. In Dumarest's experience, the wealthy hated to lose their possessions; few were realistic enough to accept the necessity for sacrifice.
He said, 'Anything on the radio?'
'Nothing.' Egulus picked it up and tripped a switch. 'I've been saving power. It's on to receive now. I-' He broke off, grunting with surprise. 'I think-yes, by God! A signal!'
Dumarest listened to the sharp series of blips, the silence, the blips again.
As the following silence dragged he said, 'Direction?'
'Hard to tell with precision.' Egulus scowled at the instrument. 'From land, though. Somewhere over there.'
His hand pointed over the savannah, aimed above the heads of Bochner and Dilys as they searched for edible grasses lower down the slope. Looking at her, the captain shook his head.
'Jumoke was a fool, Earl. He had no patience. I told him that your association with Dilys wouldn't last but he refused to listen. He even wanted to share. The bastard!' His hands tightened on the radio. 'The crazy bastard! The work of a lifetime thrown away because he became obsessed with a woman!'
'It's over.' Dumarest could appreciate the man's anger. 'It's all in the past now, Captain.'
'Yes.' Egulus looked at his hands and eased their pressure. 'Yes, Earl, but the woman is still with us. She still could be a source of trouble. You and Bochner-if she favors him, will you let her go?'
'I don't own her.'
'Maybe she wishes you did. Maybe she'd want you to fight over her. You and Bochner like a couple of rutting dogs, with her watching and willing to mate with the one who wins.' Egulus ended bitterly, 'You and Bochner-I don't count.'
Dumarest said quietly, 'You're wrong, Yarn. You and she have more in common than you think. You belong to the same world. Before Jumoke-were you close?'
'Yes.'
'And she left you for the navigator?'
'She's her own master, Earl. You know how it is in space. We have our own customs and a captain has to respect them. And we were all partners, don't forget. Each of us technically equal to the other-hell, why waste time talking about it!'
'Check the radio,' said Dumarest. 'See if there are any further signals.'
He added more fuel to the fire as the captain obeyed, damp leaves, mosses and green twigs which thickened the column of smoke into a brown-gray pillar against the sky. Turning, he stared toward the distant range of mountains. They were too far for him to make out other than general detail, but there could be mines and men working them and passes leading to farms beyond. Even a lone prospector, sending in a report, could have accounted for the signals.
An hour later they spotted the raft.
Chapter Twelve
Dilys watched as it came towards them, conscious of a tremendous relief. Soon, now, she would be on her way to houses and people. To the field and ships and the warm comfort and security of familiar things.
'They've come!' Her voice carried gladness. 'They've come to rescue us!'
Egulus said, 'They must have picked up our signals and come to investigate.'
He was more cautious than the girl, and with reason. Investigation did not assume rescue; that implied payment and they had little to offer. A caution Dumarest shared.
'Spread out,' he said. 'Bochner, you take the left and I'll take the right. If they move against us, don't hesitate to act.'
Orders which, for once, the hunter didn't object to obeying. He took up his position, looking at the advancing raft, head tilted, eyes narrowed.
'Small,' he commented. 'It could belong to a lone prospector or hunter.'
'It's seen us,' said Dilys. 'It's heading directly toward the smoke.'
Words spoken for reassurance-it had been obvious from the first that the raft was making for the peak on which they stood. Dumarest watched as it lowered its line of flight. Small, as Bochner had said, a hollow shell
