Chapter 7: In the Jungle

They had progressed not more than twenty paces into the dense undergrowth when the gleaming wall of the Tritu Anu was entirely hidden from view. The artificial sunlight seeped through the mass of vegetation overhead, a ghostly green twilight that made death masks of their faces. But of the lights themselves, of the great latticed columns, of the enormous sponge-like blossoms of the upper surface of the jungle sea, nothing could be seen. They were deep in a tangled maze of translucent flora that was like nothing so much as a forest of giant seaweed transplanted from its natural element. The moss-like carpet beneath their feet was slushy wet and condensed moisture rained steadily from the matted fronds and tendrils above. The air they breathed was hot and stifling; laden with rank odors and curling mists that assailed throat and head passages with choking effect.

Weird whisperings there were from above and all about them. It seemed almost that the uncanny, weaving green things were alive and voicing indignant protest over the intrusion of the three humans.

Ankle deep in the rain-soaked moss, their clothing drenched and steaming, they pressed ever deeper into the tangle. All sense of direction was lost.

“Guess we’d better rest now,” said Blaine, seeing that Ulana was gasping from her exertions, “They’ll never trail us here.”

“How about this crystal thing--the searching ray?” Tommy ventured.

“It can not follow us,” the girl explained, “Certain juices of the plants provide an insulator against the ray. In fact, it was an extract of these that was used in protecting the underground laboratory we just left. We are safe now and I am very tired.”

So that was the reason Tiedus had been so certain they would be safe in the jungle! Blaine had wondered about that searching ray, and now Ulana’s statement had stilled his doubts. Poor kid--she was all in! Her shoulders drooped and she leaned on his arm for support. His conscience troubled him for having forced the pace in the difficult footing. They need not have come so far in.

A glint of light through the close packed stems caught his eye; something phosphorescent it was, shining there in the green twilight. A giant mushroom! Towering seven feet from the ground, the great umbrella-like top was aglow with sulphurous light on its under side. And, beneath its ten foot spread, the mossy carpet was dry. An ideal shelter. Here Ulana might find the rest she so sorely needed, and in comparative comfort.

She curled up beside the huge stem and, half buried in warm, dry moss, immediately fell asleep. The Earth men sat gazing solemnly at each other; speechless. In the dim distance the roar of a monorail car rose faintly at first, then grew louder and louder, only to fade away once more into the whispering silence. A steady patter of jungle rain drummed on the mushroom top.

“God!” Tommy muttered, after a while. “I’d give my right eye for a cigarette.”

“Me too.” Blaine was hugging his knees, nodding drowsily. “A nice rare steak with mushroom sauce wouldn’t go so bad, either,” he drawled.

“Aw, have a heart. I’m so sick of these vitamin pills of theirs I never want to see one again.”

“Yeah, but they’re better than nothing. We haven’t any of those even.”

“Say!” Tommy jumped to his feet in sudden remembrance. “I saw a bush, back there about fifty feet, with bunches of big red berries on it. Like grapes, they looked. May be good to eat.”

“Sure, they may be. And then again they may be poison. We can’t take any chances like that. Leave ‘em alone.”

Tommy growled unintelligibly and fell to walking around their shelter with nervous strides, keeping just within the dry area and glaring savagely into the steaming jungle. Blaine smiled grimly. Nerves! Tommy always was like that; always had to be on the go and doing something. His own nerves were jumpy to-day. They were in hot water this time, for sure. Had to keep on though; they were still alive, or at least half alive; and the solar system was intact as yet. If only Tom Farley would quit his infernal tramping!

“Cut it out!” Blaine snapped peevishly. “You’ll have us both bughouse. Can’t you sit down and take it easy?”

Tommy stopped in his tracks. “Sorry, Blaine,” he said. But he remained standing, staring off into the jungle. Then, suddenly he exclaimed, “Say, I’m going for some of those grapes, or whatever they are. I’ll bring a mess of them back and we can wait till Ulana wakes up. She’ll know whether they’re poison or not.”

“Oh, go ahead. But don’t get yourself lost. Yell out if you can’t find us and I’ll answer.”

“Okay. Don’t worry about me.” And in three steps Tommy was swallowed up in the undergrowth.

Blaine stole a glance at the girl and something caught at his throat. God, she was beautiful! There must be some way of getting her out of this mess. Dantor, perhaps, might show the way. He ought to be sending that message soon--a mental one, Tiedus said. Poor kid, Tiedus; gone to the happy hunting grounds now, no question of that. And he intended to advise Dantor from the spirit world. As simple as that, it was. They were game, these Rulans. Fatalists, though, and resigned to the inevitable; hopeless. But a wonderful people in a rotten world.

Soon he felt his head droop and in a moment he began to doze.

When he awoke it was to the touch of Ulana’s soft fingers on his arm. “We are alone?” she asked.

“Lord!” he exclaimed, rising stiffly and rubbing the sleep from his eyes. “How long have I napped? I shouldn’t have.”

A swift look around the small clearing disclosed the fact that Tommy was missing. He shouldn’t have let him go. A sudden panic gripped him.

“Tommy! Tommy!” he called out.

There was not even an echo in reply. Only the whispering of the jungle overhead and all around them. His friend was gone.

“Ulana,” he said, his voice trembling, “we are alone. Farley is lost; swallowed up in this terrible forest.”

And then, suddenly, she was in his arms. Those wondrous blue eyes, swimming in tears, looked into his own. Soft red lips, upturned, met his lips; clung there.

“I am sorry, my Carson,” she said softly, when he had released her: “sorry that your good friend is lost. But perhaps,” more brightly--”he has but strayed away. When the mental message comes you will be reunited. He will hear it as well as you.”

Blaine shook his head. In his own heart he knew he would never see Tommy again. He had wandered too close to the Tritu Anu and had been overpowered by the green-bronze guards. Their ray pistols--he shuddered at the thought.

“I have you now, my Carson,” the girl was saying. “Only you.”

In a daze of pain and happiness intermingled, he knew he was holding her close, drawing her fiercely to him. And then, raising dull eyes to stare over the precious head and into the jungle that hid his friend, he froze with horror.