He moved deeper into the room, hiding behind the boxes though there was no one to see him. At the far end he discovered a closed door. He approached it cautiously. He touched the strange knob- and heard footsteps.
Var started for the tunnel, but realized almost immediately that he could not get through the small aperture unobserved in the time he had. He ducked behind the boxes again as the knob rotated and the door opened. He could wait, and if discovered he could kill the man and be on his way. He hefted his two sticks, afraid to peek around lest he expose himself.
The steps came toward him, oddly light and quick. To check the poison, he realized suddenly. The food would have to be replaced every few hours, or the rats would foul it and ignore it. As the person passed him, Var poked his head over between shielding flaps and looked.
It was a woman.
His grip tightened on the sticks. How could he kill a woman? Only men fought in the circle. Women were not barred from it, specifically; they merely lacked the intelligence and skill required for such activity, and of course their basic function was to support and entertain the men. And if he did kill her what would he do with the body? A corpse was hard to conceal for long, beoause it began to smell. It would betray his presence, if not immediately certainly within hours. Far too soon for the nomadS to enter secretly.
She was middle-aged, though of smaller build than the similarly advanced woman he had known, Sols. Her hair was short, brown and curly, but her face retained an elfin quality and she moved with grace. She wore a smock that concealed her figure; had her face and poise not given her away, Var might have mistaken her for a child because of her diminutive stature. Was this what all underworiders were like? Small and old and smocked? No need to worry about the conquest, then.
She glanced at the bread, then beyond-and stopped.
There, in the scant dust, was Vat's footprint. The round, callused ball, the substantial, protective, curled-under toenails. She might not recognize it as human, but she had to realize that something much larger than a rat had passed.
Var charged her, both sticks lifted. He had no choice now.
She whirled to face him, raising her small hands. Somehow his sticks missed her head and he was wrenched about, half-lifted, stumbling into the wall, twisting, falling.
He caught his footing again and oriented on her. He saw her fling off her smock and stand waiting for him, hands poised, body balanced, expression alert. She wore a brief skirt and briefer halter and was astonishingly feminine in contour for her age. Again-like Sola.
He had seen that wary, competent attitude before. When the Master had captured him in the badlands. When men faced each other in the circle. It was incredible that a woman, one past her prime and hardly larger than a child, should show such readiness. But he had learned to deal with oddities, and to read the portents rapidly and accurately.
He turned again and scrambled into the tunnel.
On the dark side he rolled over and waited with the sticks for her head to poke through the narrow aperture.
But she was clever: she did not follow him. He risked one look back through and saw her standing still, watching.
Quickly be retreated. When he deemed it safe, he began to run, retracing his route. He had a report to make.
CHAPTER EIGHT
The Master- listened with complete passivity to the report. Var was afraid he had failed, but did not know quite how, for he had found a route into the mountain. 'So if she tells the mountain master, they will seal up the passage. But we could reopen it-'
'Not against a flamethrower,' the Nameless One said morosely. Then, amzingly, he bent his head into his hands. 'Had I known! Had I known! She, of all people! I would have gone myself!' -
Var stared at him, not comprehending. 'You recognize the woman?'
'Sosa.'
He waited, but the Master did not clarify the matter. The name meant nothing to Var.
After a long time, the Weaponless spoke: 'We shall have to mount a direct frontal attack. Bring Tyl to me.'
Var left without replying. Tyl was no
