been barbered, he remembered. The man, too, was hairless in that region, adding to his indignity. But that was superficial. Var's main question was how any effective connection between these two could be possible.
He looked across at Soil, wondering what her thoughts were. Her face Was concealed in the shadow.
'There will have to be a new Queen,' the Amazon murmured, leading the man to the worn mattress Var had slept on. 'I have borne four healthy girls. One more and I will be in contention as a breedleader, and can claim the Queenship-after I kill the others. You, my pretty, have given me two of those girls, and you shall be well rewarded if you give me another.'
'Yes,' said the man unenthusiastically.
'Of course, if you disappoint me with a boy, it will go hard with you.'
The man nodded.
Var, to his dismay, felt a surge of sexual excitement as he craned his head to see what transpired. This was perverted, it was awful but compelling.
The amazon lay down and raised her knees. The man squatted between them. Her hands reached down. Var, overbalanced at last, fell into the room.
Then it was rapid. Committed, Var and Soil had to strike. Almost before Var realized what had happened, the amazon pair lay sprawled unconscious, and there were shouts from the boat and other cabins in response to the noise of the brief battle. Var took up the amazon's bow and arrows, and Soil her spear; they grabbed their own possessions as well and ran out the shack.
Despite the strait his guilty curiosity had brought them to, Var regretted that he had not learned how the amazons mated. Would he ever know?
Armed women were charging from the boat and emerging from houses. Five of them were headed toward Var and Soli, while the men milled uncertainly on the shore. Three were closing in on the house just vacated. Two split off to cover the path to the bridge. Var saw that that route was hopeless. In fact, now that the hornets had been aroused, the entire island was hopeless. The women were tough, and odds of five to two in daylight were prohibitive. And the men would naturally assist their females.
'The boat!' Soil whispered piercingly. 'This way!'
Var knew that direction to be the very height of folly. But she was already running at right angles to the path of the approaching trio, and he had either to follow or to let her go alone. He could not call to her, for that would pinpoint their location immediately. So he followed.
She circled toward the boat. The amazons, not suspecting this maneuver, remained in the village. He could hear them exclaiming over the fallen couple and banging through the houses in that section. Soil stopped just before they came in sight of the men.
'They're weaklings,' she gasped. 'The men don't fight. If we run at them and yell, they'll flee.' And she set off again, running and yelling and waving her arms.
Var had to follow once more.
The men did scatter, though there were four of them here, all full grown. Var marveled.
'Now the boat!' Soil said, clambering in.
As Var settled beside her, the amazons realized what had happened and gave hue and cry.
'Start the motor!' Soli yelled at him.
He looked at her blankly.
'The pull cord!' she cried. She grabbed a handle on the engine and jerked. It came out on a string, and there was a bang. Var remembered that he had seen amazon do this on the other boat that took them to the hive.
He took hold and gave it a tremendous yank. The cord came out a yard and the motor roared.
'I'll steer!' Soil screamed over the noise. She grabbed the wheel in the middle of the boat and began doing things with handles there. To Var's amazement, the craft began to move. She knew what she was doing!
Under Soil's guidance, it nudged out from the bank and swashed into deeper water. The amazons ran up, brandishing their spears, but there was twenty feet of water separating them from the boat. Then
