[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

"A Squam, yes; this Squam, no."
"We shall have to use lines to anchor our vehicles to each other, to navigate rough terrain," the Squam
communicated, "Shall we agree to resume the race in the same order we reached the bridge, at such
time as we achieve crossing?"
That left Heem's tractor last. Still, it seemed fair. 'No, it isn't fair!' Heem protested. 'All three of us
will be well behind the pace.'
"That's not the Squam's fault," she reminded him. Then, to the Squam: "Agreed."
There was a brief dialogue between the Squam and the other HydrO, determining who was first. Then
the quest for the natural crossing commenced. They all knew that speed was of the essence.
Off the path, progress was a challenge. The ferns crowded in as close to the lava channel as the heat
permitted, leaving little room for the tractors. They proceeded single file, slowly.
Then the channel became shallow. The lava overflowed in disciplined fashion, thinning and slowing
and hardening. Flood plains had formed and turned to solid stone and been overrun by new floods, so
that there were many step-layers. Several new channels had been cut through this landscape, but even
the cool rock was extremely irregular. The Squam's tractor halted. "We must survey," the Squam
communicated.
All three occupants dismounted from their tractors. The two HydrOs met the Squam. Now no
linguistic communication with the Squam was possible, but it wasn't necessary. They knew what they
had to do.
They spread out, surveying the lava-beds. The rock was warm in places, hot in others; they had to
discover a route that was cool enough and stout enough to be firm under the weight of a tractor.
In one place the lava formed a veritable mountain, as though it had made a vast bubble when hot,
which firmed and was overlaid with subsequent lava. The far side of this dome was across the original
channel; Heem could taste the vegetation beyond. The burningly hot lava flow plunged out of
perception somewhere beneath this dome. This was a giant bridge!
They returned to their vehicles, consulted, and agreed: they would try to cross this dome. It seemed
a
a
T
T
n
n
s
s
F
F
f
f
o
o
D
D
r
r
P
P
m
m
Y
Y
e
e
Y
Y
r
r
B
B
2
2
.
.
B
B
A
A
Click here to buy
Click here to buy
w
w
m
m
w
w
o
o
w
w
c
c
.
.
.
.
A
A
Y
Y
B
B
Y
Y
B
B
r r
firm enough to support the weight. But its sides were steep.
"A winch," Jessica said. "One tractor here, pulling, the cable guided over the curvature. The other
tractor there, pushing the third. Once the third is over the hump, it can winch the others up the
incline." She returned to their tractor's communicator so she could make this clear to the Squam.
The Squam agreed. Since Jessica had suggested it, she and Heem had the privilege of making the first
attempt. Each tractor had a winch-they were multi-purpose vehicles-but the reach was not long
enough. They had to hook two cables together end to end. Then the Squam parked as close to the hot-
lava flow as possible, and used his pincers to string the linked cables over the dome, catching them in
a crevice so they would not slip off side-wise. The other HydrO, a female, nosed her vehicle forward
to push.
'If this does not work,' Heem sprayed morbidly, 'we shall be first into the flow, after all.'
"Or stuck on top of this dome," Jessica said cheerfully.
Push and pull. Heem put his treads in motion. They skidded, for the incline here was almost vertical.
Then the cable carried the front end up. The tractor tilted alarmingly and tried to skew to the side;
then the treads caught and helped it lift up the slope. The angle would have been impossible without
the winch.
Heem stopped at the top, where the bubble was level. The Squam, the only creature facile at this sort
of thing, slithered up to disconnect the winch. Then Heem turned his vehicle around, on top of the
dome, while the Squam drove around to the spot Heem's tractor had started from. They reconnected
the winches, and Heem backed his tractor down the far slope until the rear treads struck the ground.
He was across!
Now the other HydrO nudged up to push the Squam, while Heem started winching in. The Squam's
tractor-nose came up. The stiffest haul was while the vehicle's treads were skidding, for the cable now
went entirely over the dome, with a fair amount of friction. Almost, it seemed Heem's own tractor was
about to be hauled up instead, though he had his treads locked. Yet the powerful winches kept
drawing in. Heem worried about the fuel expenditure.
Then, abruptly, the cable went slack-and taut again, yanking Heem's tractor momentarily off its back
threads. Then the cable snapped, and the tractor dropped. Jessica screamed.
"Don't do that!" Heem sprayed, trying to damp down the searing emotion. He shut off the motor and
rolled out of the tractor. He found a channel and moved up the slope of the dome with almost the
dispatch of a flatfloater. The Squam's tractor had broken through a portion of the dome and fallen
below. Now it lay in what Jessica's picture showed as a pool of light from the hole, overturned.
"One Squam departed," Heem remarked, not unduly disturbed.
'We don't know that!' Jessica said. 'Get down there and check. It's a living creature who helped us; we
must help it.'
"But it's hopeless. Even if the monster lives, the tractor is defunct." [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]