Three Survived

Chapter 13

Rand was baffled. He did a double take, blinking in surprise, then stared at Leswick. The little man seemed mysteriously changed. His weak eyes were bright, his hands were outspread, his fingers were trembling nervously.

“What did you say?” Rand asked.

“Hush,” Leswick muttered. To the aliens he said, “Did you hear me? We have become cut off from our hive. We ask you to let us go back to it.”

The aliens were strangely silent for a moment. Then they turned to face each other, and they buzzed and hummed in low tones, talking things over. The converter wasn’t able to pick up their words.

Rand realized in that moment what the world of Bill Dombey must be like. Just now, Rand was as bewildered as the big jetmonkey usually was. His mind was blank. He couldn’t begin to figure out what Leswick was up to.

All he knew was that Leswick and the aliens seemed to understand each other.

The aliens continued to confer. Leswick kept on watching them tensely. The sound of his breathing was harsh and rasping.

Finally one of the aliens hopped forward. “It is all different now. We did not understand your trouble,” the creature said to Leswick. “We will talk to the Mother again. We will see if she will let you speak with her.”

The alien went back into the great house. It was in there about five minutes. Then it came out and announced, “You may enter. The Mother will see you.”

Rand started forward. But Leswick reached out and caught his arm.

“No—I’ll go in alone. You stay out here and keep Dombey company.” Leswick took the converter from him.

“But—“ Rand let the word trail off. He saw that he was out of his depth, now. Without argument, he let the Metaphysical Synthesist enter the building. The ring of guards closed tightly around Dombey and Rand after Leswick went in.

Again time passed with terrible slowness. It began to rain again, but only for a few minutes. Insects circled Rand’s head and he shooed them away. Now and then the aliens exchanged words. But without the converter Rand could understand nothing.

He looked at Dombey. The huge man stood with his arms folded. He didn’t seem to be thinking about anything at all. Dombey wasn’t bothered by the mystery of what was going on. Dombey didn’t even try to figure out such things. Life is simpler that way, Rand thought.

But he couldn’t act that way himself—not with his life at stake. He wanted desperately to know what Leswick was trying to do. Why was he pulling that business about returning to their hive? What hive? Where?

From inside the great house, Leswick called, “Rand, will you come in here now? Better bring Dombey, too.”

“Coming,” Rand called back. He nudged the jetmonkey. “Let’s go in, Tarzan. And remember, stand still, don’t touch anything, don’t make any trouble.”

Dombey grinned. “Sure, boss.”

They went in.

The great house was as dark as a tomb inside. The only light came from three small openings in the roof. Faint beams of brightness slanted into the building.

The air had a stale, musty smell. Rand stood just within the entrance until his eyes grew used to the dimness. Then he saw Leswick in the middle of the room. Leswick pointed to something against the far wall.

“This is the Mother of this tribe, Rand,” he said.

From the rear of the great house came a dull booming sound. The converter translated it: “Welcome, strange ones.”

Rand looked up and back. At first he saw nothing. Then he spied the Mother, high on the wall. She sat on a wide, deep shelf eight or nine feet above the floor, peering down at them.

She was a strange sight. He had never seen anything so weird before.

The Mother was at least twice the size of the ordinary aliens. Her body was a pale greenish-white color, and it was tremendously swollen. She might have been barrel-shaped like the others, once. But now she hardly had any shape at all. She was just a great mass of wrinkled and bloated flesh.

Her legs were tiny, flimsy things. They could never hold up her immense weight, Rand knew. Her eyes, round and bulging, were the size of dishes. Her mouth was an enormous slit in her huge body. She seemed to be terribly old … hundreds, thousands, millions of years old.

The aliens who were guarding the three Earthmen bowed before her. Leswick signaled, and Rand bowed too. Even Dombey got the idea and touched one knee to the floor.

The Mother said, “I am the Mother. You are welcome here, you strangers from another hive. How different you are!”

Rand was tongue-tied with awe. He tried to say something, but no words would come. What could you say to a creature like this? She was like something out of a dream.

“Tell the Mother about our Mother,” Leswick urged him in a dry, insistent voice.

“Our—Mother?” Rand repeated.

“Go ahead, Rand. Tell—her—about—our Mother. Describe our Mother’s wonderful metal body. Speak of our Mother’s marvelous thirty-megacycle carrier beam.”

Rand felt like he was sinking in a quicksand swamp of bewilderment. But only for a moment. Then he caught on and took the hint.

“Yes,” he said. “Our Mother is located to the east, many days’ journey from here. She is taller than we are, and does not move from the place where she stands. Set in her forehead is an eye of great beauty.”

He went on to describe the signal beacon with the most complete details he could supply. As he spoke, his mind protested against the sheer madness of what was taking place. What was the point of making believe that the beacon was their “Mother”? How—

He kept talking until he had run out of things to say.

Then the huge alien being said, “Yes. We know the place and we have seen your Mother. We know her and we have wondered for a long time where her children might be.”

“We wish to return to her,” Leswick said anxiously. “We did not mean to enter your hive, but we became lost in the jungle. We want nothing more than to finish our journey toward our Mother.”

“We understand,” came the solemn reply.

“Then you will help us?”

“Yes,” the Mother said. “Yes, we will cause our people to guide you to your Mother. We know your sorrow and we take pity upon you, strange ones from another hive.”

Leswick dropped to his knees. Rand did the same. Only Dombey remained standing. And then even he, overcome by superstitious awe, lowered himself heavily to the floor.

“We thank you for this kindness, Mother of this hive,” said Leswick with great solemnity.

“Yes, we thank you,” Rand added.

And Dombey chimed in, loud and clear and deep. “Yeah, thanks, Mother. Thanks.”