More rafts, deeper in, scanning with electronic sensors.
'A party has been spotted moving toward the west, sir. About thirty men, as far as can be determined.' His voice hardened. 'They could have been responsible for the recent attacks.'
'Any other signs of movement?'
'No, sir. That party, sir, do you wish it destroyed?'
'No.' Dumarest's voice was harsh. 'My orders are plain-no firing for any reason unless I give the command. Any man disobeying will be shot. Our objective is to contact the Ayutha. If we start shooting, they will run.'
Run and attack in turn, and the column he commanded was too vulnerable for his liking. As they settled, one of the men complained, 'A hell of a thing. Why couldn't we have used rafts to drop us right in the hills? All this walking seems crazy to me.'
His companion, more logical, said, 'Use your head, man. Suppose you were one of the Ayutha. You could see a raft coming for miles, right? You'd see it land and armed men get out, and then what? I'll tell you, you'd run and get help and set up an ambush. The marshal knows what he's doing.'
A blind confidence that Dumarest hoped would be justified. Squatting, crouched over a map, he studied the terrain. They were close to the foothills, where a shallow gully wound into the higher regions, heading, so Ven Taykor had said, to one of the Ayutha settlements. It would be deserted now; even primitives would not have remained massed together to offer an easy target, but equally so, they would have remained scattered in the vicinity. If he could reach the area without being attacked, if they were a little curious and held their fire, if the men behind him would control their nervous tension, it was possible that his mission could be a success.
He said, 'Ven, come over here.'
Taykor made no reply. Looking up, Dumarest saw him standing beside one of the lofios plants. He had dropped his respirator and was digging with his thumbnails into one of the blooms. He turned, grinning, oil gleaming on his thumbs.
'Here, Earl, come and smell what this is all about.'
The scent was incredible. It rose from the oil, catching at the senses, filling the mind with sensations of warm suns and sultry days, of fields of flowers and silken skin. A gourmet would have found in it the succulence of favorite foods, a lover the impact of his woman's flesh. For a moment he stood, confused with a variety of impressions; then Ven Taykor dropped his hands, wiping them on his faded tunic.
'It gets you, doesn't it? I've known men to become so hooked on the stuff they spend their lives among the lofios just collecting, smelling, drifting into a private world all of their own. Not many, but it happens.' He added grimly, 'You find them sometimes. Mostly bones. With fruit all around, they sit and starve to death.'
'A narcotic?'
'No. It isn't habit forming in the sense that it creates a dependency. It's just that a few men like it so much they haven't the will to leave it alone. Mostly you build a tolerance toward it. The marketed stuff, of course, is diluted and refined.' Taykor reached up and jerked a fruit from its branch. 'Try it, it's good.'
The fruit was round, the size of a clenched hand, the rind easily peeled from the juicy pulp beneath. Dumarest lifted his mask and buried his teeth in the flesh. It held a cool, refreshing tang, tart and yet sweet, devoid of seeds.
He said, 'How do the plants propagate?'
'By cuttings. They are all from one original hybrid. Even so, the blooms still need pollinating.' Taykor lifted his hand and rested it on one of the swollen pods. 'See?'
As he rapped it, the pod opened in a gush of golden grains, tiny motes rising, to drift high into the air, a smokelike cloud which hung over the guide as if a mist.
Dumarest snapped, 'Be careful!'
'Why?' Taykor frowned. 'They're harmless, Earl. The dust is only pollen. It might sting your eyes if you stood too close, and maybe make you sneeze, but that's all.' He reached out to gather more fruit. 'You'd better let the men eat while they have the chance. From now on the going gets rough.'
Eat and recharge the air tanks and get ready for the next stage of the journey. Dumarest moved softly around the camp, watching the shadows beneath the plants to either side. He saw nothing, but that meant little. Their progress had been not as silent as he wished; a stray Ayutha could have spotted them, be even now keeping watch. But if so, there was nothing he could do.
Two hours later they saw the skull.
It was the fleshless head of some beast mounted on a short stick, facing them with fanged jaws. Ven Taykor looked at it, hand rising to his mask in conditioned reflex as he tried to scratch his jaw.
'Well, now,' he said. 'This is something new. I've never seen anything like it before.'
Dumarest looked to either side. The lofios had given way to scrub, matted vegetation covering torn ground. A few of the plants stood in sheltered places, thin and with dulled leaves, ragged beneath the sun, their roots driving deep for the specialized minerals they required. Spined vines pressed against them, yellow flowers bright among the thorns,, red berries hanging in clusters beneath orange leaves.
He looked again at the skull. It was old, the bone yellowed, fretted, patches of lichen clinging to the underside of the jaw like scales of dried blood.
A warning. It could be nothing else.
To Ven Taykor he said, 'How much longer before we reach the settlement?'
'A few hours.' The guide was uneasy. 'That's if they let us get anywhere near it. If they want to stop us, it would be easy. The ground ahead is full of crevasses-a perfect spot for an ambush.'
'Can we bypass it?'
'I'm not sure.' Taykor scratched at his mask. 'One man could do it easy, but not if he's a target. A file of men would be conspicuous every step of the way. If you want my advice, Earl, you'll call it a day. Radio up a raft and get out of here.'
'I won't do that.'
'No,' said Taykor. 'I didn't think you would. But if the Ayutha are gunning for us, you'll wish you had.' He glanced up at the sky, where tiny motes drifted, almost lost in the distance. Watching rafts containing enough power to wash the area with destruction. 'Maybe you should bring them in close-just in case.'
'No. Is there any sign of peace the Ayutha recognize? If a stranger comes up to others, what does he do?' He said sharply, as Taykor hesitated, 'What did you do when meeting them? Hold out your hands? What?'
'I didn't do anything special. Just walked in slow and quiet and normal. They didn't bother me, and I didn't bother them. They didn't used to be warlike then, remember. Things have changed.' Taykor shook his head, baffled. 'I just don't know, Earl. From here on, anything can happen.'
A quiet, primitive people suddenly turning to violence, old customs revived, perhaps, memories of other days when life had been hard and only the strong could hope to survive. How would such a people react to the presence of armed men? He could guess, but the chance had to be taken.
'Take the lead,' he said to the guide. 'Walk with your hands empty and in full view. If you see anyone watching, do nothing. Captain!' Dumarest turned to Conn. 'Single file, rifles slung, hands exposed. You understand?'
The captain was a tough farmer who had lost his family during the first attack. Scowling, he said, 'I don't like it, marshal. You're turning us into sitting targets. If the Ayutha attack, well all be wiped out.'
'You heard my orders, captain!'
For a moment the man hesitated, on the brink of disobedience; then he shrugged. 'Yes, sir, but God help you if you've made a mistake.'
'A threat, captain?' Dumarest didn't pursue the matter. 'Never mind. Have the men maintain constant observation. One to look ahead, the two behind him to left and right alternately. Anything seen to be reported immediately. Right, Taykor? On your way!'
The gully narrowed, widened into a shallow valley, the walls lifting, to close again as they climbed upward. The vegetation grew thicker, thorns tearing at clothing, rubble underfoot making progress difficult. Aside from the rasp of boots and the sound of harsh breathing, there was no sound. The column seemed to be moving into an infinity of emptiness, nothing but the hot sun above, the encroaching scrub, the rocks beneath. An hour later they found a second skull, human this time, and the men skirted it, eyes wary, hands gripping their slung rifles. A crest rose, gave way to a narrow declivity, the ground rising beyond to a steeper gradient.
