The Lani People Page 14

  He smiled. Whatever the other Lani might be, Copper was different.Quick, volatile, intelligent, she was a constant delight, a flashingkaleidoscope of unexpected facets. Perhaps the others were the same ifhe knew them better. But he didn't know them--and avoided learning. Inthat direction lay ulcers.

  "We'll go to Olympus," he said.

  Copper looked dubious. "I'd rather not go there. That's forbiddenground."

  "Oh nonsense. You're merely superstitious."

  She smiled. "Perhaps you're right. You usually are."

  "That's the virtue of being a man. Even if I'm wrong, I'm right." Hechuckled at the peculiar expression on her face.

  "Now off with you--and get that lunch basket packed."

  She bowed. "Yes, master. Your slave flies on winged feet to execute yourcommands."

  Kennon chuckled. Copper had been reading Old Doc's romances again. Herecognized the florid style.

  * * *

  Kennon landed the jeep in a mountain meadow halfway up the slope ofthe peacefully slumbering volcano. It was quiet and cool, and the lightbreeze was blowing Olympus's smoky cap away from them to the west.Copper unpacked the lunch. She moved slowly. After all, there was plentyof time, and she wasn't very hungry. Neither was Kennon.

  "Let's go for a walk," Copper said. "The woods look cool--and maybe wecan work up an appetite."

  "Good idea. I could use some exercise. That lunch looks big enough tochoke a horse and I'd like to do it justice."

  They walked through the woods, skirting scant patches of underbrush,slowly moving higher on the mountain slopes. The trees, unlike thoseof Beta, did not end abruptly at a snow line, but pushed green fingersupward through passages between old lava flows, on whose black wrinkledsurfaces nothing grew. The faint hum of insects and the piping calls ofthe birdlike mammals added to the impression of remoteness. It was hardto believe that scarcely twenty kilometers from this primitive microcosmwas the border of the highly organized and productive farmlands ofOutworld Enterprises.

  "Do you think we can see the hospital if we go high enough?" Coppersaid. She panted a little, unaccustomed to the altitude.

  "Possibly," Kennon said. "It is a long distance away. But we should beable to see Alexandria," he added. "That's high enough and big enough."He looked at her curiously. "How is it that you're so breathless?"he asked. "We're not that high. You're getting fat with too much softliving."

  Copper smiled. "Perhaps I'm getting old."

  "Nonsense," Kennon chuckled. "It's just fat. Come to think of it youare plumper. Not that I mind, but if you're going to keep that sylphlikefigure you'd better go on a diet."

  "You're too good to me," Copper said.

  "You're darn right I am. Well--let's get going. Exercise is always goodfor the waistline, and I'd like to see what's up ahead."

  Scarcely a kilometer ahead they came to a wall of lava that barred theirpath. "Oh, oh," Kennon said. "We can't go over that." He looked at thewrinkled and shattered rock with its knifelike edges.

  "I don't think my feet could take it," Copper admitted.

  "It looks like the end of the trail."

  "No--not quite," Kennon said. "There seems to be a path here." Hepointed to a narrow cleft in the black rock. "Let's see where it goes."

  Copper hung back. "I don't think I want to," she said doubtfully. "Itlooks awfully dark and narrow."

  "Oh, stop it. Nothing's going to hurt us. Come on." Kennon took herhand.

  Unwillingly Copper allowed herself to be led forward. "There's somethingabout this place that frightens me," she said uncomfortably as the highblack wails closed in, narrowing until only a slit of yellow sky wasvisible overhead. The path underfoot was surprisingly smooth and freefrom rocks, but the narrow corridor, steeped in shadows, was gloomy anddepressingly silent. It even bothered Kennon, although he wouldn'tadmit it. What forces had sliced this razor-thin cleft in the denserock around them? Earthquake probably. And if it happened once it couldhappen again. He would hate to be trapped here entombed in shatteredrock.

  Gradually the passage widened, then abruptly it ended. A bleak vista ofvolcanic ash dotted with sputter cones opened before them. It was aflat tableland, roughly circular, scarcely half a kilometer across,a desolation of black rock, stunted trees and underbrush, and grayvolcanic ash. A crater, somewhat larger than the rest, lay with itsnearest edge about two hundred meters away. The rock edges were firepolished, gleaming in the yellow sunshine, and the thin margin of treesand brush surrounding the depression were gnarled and shrunken, twistedinto fantastic shapes.

  "Hey! what's this?" Kennon asked curiously. "That crater looks peculiar,like a meteor had struck here--but those stunted plants--hmm--theremust have been some radioactivity too." He looked at the craterspeculatively. "Now I wonder--" he began.

  Copper had turned a sickly white. "No!" she said in a half-strangledvoice--"oh, no!"

  Kennon looked at her. "You know what this is?" he demanded.

  "No," Copper said. But her voice was unsteady.

  "You're lying."

  "But I don't know." Copper wailed. "I'm only guessing. I've never seenthis place before in my life! Please!--let's get out of here!"

  "Then you know about this," Kennon demanded.

  "I think it's the Pit," Copper said. "The redes don't say where it is.But the description fits--the Circle of Death, the Twisted Land--it'sall like the redes say."

  "Redes?--what are redes? And what is this business about circles ofdeath? There's something here that's peculiar and I want to know what itis."

  "It's nothing. Truly. Just let's go back. Let's leave this place. It'sno good. It's tabu."

  "Tabu? You've never used that word before."

  "Forbidden."

  "Who forbids it?"

  "The Gods--the Old Ones. It is not for Lani. Nor for you." Her voice washarsh. "Come away before it is too late. Before the Silent Death strikesyou down."

  "I'm going to have a look at this."

  "You'll be killed!" Copper said. "And if you die, I die too."

  "Don't be foolish. There's nothing here that can hurt me. See thosetrees and plants growing right up to the crater's edge. If they cantake it permanently, I can stand it for a few moments. If there's anyradioactivity there, it's not very much."

  "But the redes say--"

  "Oh, forget those redes. I know what I'm doing. Besides, I'm a Betan andcan stand more radiation than most men. A brief exposure isn't going tohurt me."

  "You go and I go too," Copper said desperately.

  "You'll stay here where it's safe," Kennon said flatly.

  "I'm going with you," Copper repeated. "I don't want to live withoutyou."

  "I tell you I won't be hurt. And one quick look isn't going to botherwhatever's down there."

  "That's what Roga the Foolish said when he opened Lyssa's tower. Buthe brought men to Flora. And your little look may bring an even greatercalamity."

  Kennon shrugged, and started Walking toward the crater's edge.

  Copper followed.

  He turned to order her back, but the words died on his tips as he sawthe terror and determination on her face. Neither commands nor pleaswould move her. If he went she would follow. The only way he could stopher would be with violence, and he didn't want to manhandle her. He feltan odd mixture of pride, tenderness, and admiration for her. Were theirsituations reversed, he doubted whether he would have the courage shewas showing. He sighed. Perhaps she was right. Perhaps he did need anantiradiation suit.

  "All right," he said. "You win. I'll get some protective clothing andlook at it later."

  Her knees sagged, but he caught her before she fell, and held her erectuntil her strength returned. Belatedly he understood the emotionalstrain that had been gripping her. "If you come back later, sir, you'lltake me with you." The words were a statement, not a question.

  He nodded. "Providing you wear a radiation suit," he said.

  She grimaced with distaste and he chuckled. Clothing and Copper simplydidn't get along together
.

  "Well?"

  "All right," she said unhappily.

  "And there's one more condition."

  "What's that?" she asked suspiciously.

  "That you tell me about this place. You obviously know something aboutit, and with all your talking, you've never mentioned it to me."

  "It is forbidden to talk of these things to men," Copper said--and then,perversely, "Do you want me to tell you now?"

  "No--it can wait. We have come a long way and I am hungry. I listenpoorly on an empty stomach. Let's go back to the jeep and you can tellme later."

  Copper smiled. "That's good," she said. "I'd feel better away from thisplace."