Soli, so brave until this point, suddenly gave out. She laid her head against Var's shoulder and cried. She had not done that for many months.
The wind was colder now and night was coming.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
It was an uncomfortable night. Solis pack contained food and some clothing, so Var was able to fortify himself somewhat internally and externally. But the hardness and narrowness of the beams, the cutting edge of the intermittent wind, their several flesh wounds, and the general hopelessness of their situation made sleep a misery.
They clung together as they had done on the mesa of Muse, and they talked. 'Does your head hurt?' Var asked, trying to make the inquiry seem more casual than it was.
'Yes. I think I banged it. How did we get out of the tunnel?'
Var told her.
'I think I started to wake when you made me stand,' she said. 'I heard voices, and something shook me, but it was all very far away, maybe a dream. Then I woke again and saw water, but I didn't know what was happening so I didn't move. I was pretty much alert when you carried me into the hive but then I knew I had to stay out of trouble. I kept my eyes closed, so I didn't really know what it was.'
That explained how she had been able to function almost normally once she woke up officially. She had been smart enough to play dead until she knew more. It had been hard on Var, but he knew that it would have been worse any other way. The amazons had treated him more carefully because they knew he was not much of a threat while he held the unconscious girl.
'Those men,' she said. 'They were almost like my father Sol, except that he's no weakling.'
Var was aware of that. 'They're castrates.'
'No. They had part. Like you. But'
He realized she was right. He had seen testes but no members. They were only partial castrates as he would have been, had the breed queen's thrust at him scored.
'I've seen animals since we've been outside,' she said.
'I know what happens, I think. They breed by putting it there.' She touched her rear. This was, as it happened in their present circumstance, nestled firmly against his groin. Var visualized the way the four-footed animals performed and understood her inference. She did not really comprehend sex, yet. 'But those hive men how could they?'
He didn't know, and did not want to conjecture. It was an awkward subject to discuss with any female, particularly a nine, almost ten year old child.
'What are we going to do, Var?' she asked after a while.
'When it gets light, we can climb down to the water and swim. Maybe we can get around the radiation.'
'I don't know how to swim.'
She had been brought up in the mountain. She would never have had the chance to sport in open water, he realized. And in the summer and winter and summer they had traveled together, they had never had occasion to swim. What were they to do now?
'Will you teach me, Var?' she asked shyly.
Again she bad provided the answer herself. 'I will teach you,' he agreed.
Finally they did sleep. The wind died down and that was better.
The amazons, as though confident of their quarry, were not on watch in the morning. Var and Soil descended to the water with some difficulty, as the girders merged into isolated smooth pylons and plunged into the sea. He showed her the motions of swimming in the cold water and told her to keep her head up. She mastered the art quickly, though she splashed a good deal and stayed very close to him. 'It's so deep!' she explained. They set out west along the bridge.
The radiation came, and they veered out into the ocean. This frightened Soli, but they both knew there was no other way. After a time he treaded water while she clung to him, exhausted. He could not tell whether the droplets on her face were from the sea or her eyes. Certainly
