Serpent's Gift (17 page)

"I know it's a long way, but I'm sure I'm reading correctly!" Heather insisted, jiggling with impatience. If Kaross refused to believe her, would anyone?

"Please, Esteemed Kaross, we have to get help out there!"

"Your record shows a history of what humans call 'pranks,' " Kaross said quietly, using the English word. "We trust this is not one of them."

Frustrated and furious, Heather hurled a wordless message at the alien.

Damn you, I'm not screwing around this time! It's real! Do something!

The Shadgui regarded her for a long moment, the little Gui's eyes as bright and unblinking as a doll's. Then the alien abruptly turned to the terminal built into the desk of the study cubicle. "Connect us with Administrator ch'aait immediately," the symbiont commanded. "It is an emergency."

Time slowed, s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-d, thinning like pulled taffy, and it seemed to Hing that hours had passed since she had helplessly watched Professor Greyshine disappear over the edge of the crevasse. She crouched in frozen horror, unable to think, speak, or move, hearing herself whimpering like an injured puppy, but unable to stop. Her mind felt encased in plas-steel.
Did I
imagine it?
she wondered numbly.
Did it really happen? Oh, God, let it not
really have happened! Let me be dreaming!

Greyshine, she thought sickly, must already be dead. The Heeyoon hadn't been wearing his helmet, and without it, the alien would have literally burst the moment he plunged through the protective field that kept the air and gravity within the small cavern from escaping into the asteroid's natural vacuum. The Mizari field, designed to contain air, would never stop a hurtling body.

Dehydrated blood and fur must now coat the sides of the crevasse, freeze-dried instantly in place. The body would be--

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"Hing! Are you hurt? Hing!" A hand grabbed her arm, shook her violently.

Hing looked up dazedly to see Serge beside her. "Are you hurt?" he yelled, having to shout so she could hear him through her helmet. Slowly she shook her head from side to side, unable to speak.

'Then get up. I need your help!"

The student's mind teetered on the edge of total mindless panic, much the way Professor Greyshine had hung on the brink of the crevasse for that endless, heart-stopping instant. She stared up at Serge, then slowly she drew a deep breath .. . another. .. and forced back the horror, steadying her mind the way she did before she walked out onstage on opening nights.
If I
can't be cool and collected, at least I can
act
that way, she told herself. "The Professor's dead." Her own voice was flat and toneless as it reverberated within the confines of her helmet.

Serge nodded grimly. "But we have a responsibility to make sure the students are safe." Tugging at her arm, he helped her up.

Hing's legs trembled so hard that Serge had to steady her, but a second later she was able to stand on her own.

The radiation warning sounded in the cavern again, jerking her back to reality. "Serge," she yelled, pointing at his head, "you need to put on your helmet! You could be inhaling contaminated air with every breath!"

Quickly Serge placed his helmet on his head, clicking it into place.

"Attention, everyone," he addressed his class, who stood clustered near the airlock, frozen with shock. "We are in the midst of a crisis, but we must all stay calm. I want all of you to leave this cavern immediately, for your own safety, and wait for us in the main cavern."

"Where are you going to be?" demanded one of the students, a young, bearded fellow who was standing with his arm around a girl.

"Hing and I will stay behind to recover the Professor's . . ." he broke off and amended, "to attempt to recover the Professor. Quickly now, into the airlock, all of you."

A chorus of volunteers to stay and help filled their radios, but Serge was adamant. "No, and that is final. You can help best by going back to the main cavern. There is a communicator there, and you will be able to call the school and request assistance."

Serge hesitated for a second, and Hing heard him muttering to himself. "...

quinze.. . seize, dix-sept, dix-huit... L'un nous manque--
has anyone seen
Khuharkk'?"

The students shuffled and muttered. Hing swallowed. "He fell,"

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she said, her voice thin and shaky. "He was falling toward me. Do you think he--" She broke off, unable to voice the thought aloud.

Serge turned slowly, surveying the small cavern, but there was no sign of the Simiu student. "Did anyone see him fall over the edge?" he demanded.

Nobody had, but the crevasse was over ten meters long; it extended across half of the cavern floor. And everyone's eyes had been fastened on the Professor. "We will look for Khuharkk', also," Serge promised bleakly. "At the moment, I would like you, Sarrhezz"--he pointed to the oldest student, a Mizari senior--"to make yourself responsible for escorting the group back to the main cavern and seeing that they stay there. Okay?"

Behind his protective glow, the alien inclined his tentacled head. "I will see them to safety," he promised.

"Susan and Howie." Serge nodded to the human students who stood close together, the young man's arm around the girl. "You will please make yourselves responsible for contacting the school and giving them the Mayday," he said, giving the slang term its original French pronunciation.

"Okay?"

Together, they nodded.

"Now, please go," Serge ordered. "Into the airlock, everyone!"

As if to speed the response to his order, the radiation warning blared out again. With Sarrhezz leading the way, the students headed into the airlock and the first group cycled through.

Serge turned back to Hing and clicked back to their private frequency. "The Professor and I scanned that crevasse when we first explored this cavern, and it is at least thirty meters to the bottom. In all probability, we cannot recover him, but at the least we must look. Would you rather I check the crevasse, while you search the cavern for Khuharkk'?"

"No, I'll go with you," Hing said, bracing herself for what she was certain she was about to see. "Let's hang on to each other, okay? No sense in someone else falling over the edge." Linking hands, they began shuffling toward the drop-off.

"Radiation warning! Radonium-2 levels dangerous to most life- forms detected in this area! Evacuate immediately!"

"Silence!"
Serge snapped, his voice for the first time betraying the strain he was under. "I wish I could turn that warning off," he added.

"Well, we can't, so we'll just have to live with it," Hing said, wishing her suit had a clear chin-plate so she could see where she was stepping. It was unnerving to approach a precipice and not be

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able to watch one's feet. "The levels can't be
too
high, yet, or our suits would be warning us, too."

"That's true ... which is odd," Serge allowed, but by now they were almost at the edge of the crevasse--there was no time to think of anything but the danger they faced.

When they were within a meter of the drop-off, both humans awkwardly knelt. Bracing their gloved hands carefully on the rocky lip, they peered over.

Hing heard Serge gasp, then a moment later she was barely able to hold back a yelp of mingled terror and jubilation.

Professor Greyshine's still form lay about five meters below them, precariously resting on the narrow ledge where the Mizari field generator was installed! If the fall hadn't killed him, he was still alive, because he was still within the pressurized portion of the cavern!

"Serge, if he moves--" Hing began.

Her companion was already wrenching off his helmet. "Professor Greyshine!

If you can hear me,
stay still!"
he yelled, using the alien's native tongue. The Mizari voder Hing had placed on her ear before coming on the field trip (standard procedure when dealing with large groups at StarBridge

Academy) automatically translated his warning. "Greyshine! Can you hear me?"

The Professor did not reply, but a moment later his left leg twitched, inching a perilous few centimeters closer to the edge. Hing's heart contracted painfully. If the Heeyoon thrashed with pain, or turned over, he'd fall again, only to die the moment he plunged through the pressure-containment field into hard vacuum!

"We must bring him up before he falls," Serge yelled to Hing, and she nodded. Quickly he snapped his helmet back on so they could speak without screaming at each other. 'There is a powered winch over in that corner--we used it to move rubble and fallen boulders out of the way. We can use that to lower a rescuer. We will need to make a climbing harness, and fashion a sling to wrap around the Professor so he can be lifted as safely as possible."

Hing nodded as she gauged the distance between the stony walls of the crevasse, biting her lip as she noted the sharp edges of protruding rocks. "It's awfully narrow down there . .." she muttered. Below the shimmer of the Mizari field, the crevice continued down into utter blackness. Hing sucked in a deep breath. "I'll go down," she announced, and was proud that her voice emerged without a quaver.

Serge gave her a long look. "I am afraid that you will have to,"

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he said quietly. "I mass nearly twice what you do, and the line on the winch is only four meters long. We will have to extend it by some means, and do some of the lowering and raising manually. You wouldn't have a hope of lowering me, much less pulling the Professor up."

"Are
you
strong enough?" she asked, remembering the alien's bulk.

"I will have to be," Serge said simply, scanning the supplies stacked in a corner. A moment later he pointed excitedly. "Voila! We can use that spool of grid-marker cord to extend the cable!"

Hing eyed the thin, colorful strands doubtfully. "Will it be strong enough?"

"It is made of plas-steel. If we double it--"

"Better yet, we'll braid it!" she broke in, inspired by the feel of her own braid touching the back of her neck.

Serge nodded approval. "That will work! Let's get--"

He broke off as Hing gasped sharply and jumped. Something had grabbed her ankle! Turning as quickly as possible while encumbered by her suit, she let out a glad cry as she saw the four-legged form crouched behind her.

"Khuharkk'! We thought you'd gone over the edge, too!"

The Simiu braced himself against the wall of the' cavern before he put on his suit helmet. A moment later, they heard him over the radio. "I fell behind those rocks over there," he said, pointing. He sounded clearheaded, but pain roughened his voice. "I only just regained consciousness."

"Are you injured?" Serge asked, and Hing noticed that the Simiu held his hind leg at an awkward angle.

"My head aches, and my foot is either broken or sprained, but otherwise I am unhurt." A touch of typical Simiu arrogance reentered his tone as he added,

"My strength is unimpaired. I will assist you in pulling the Professor up."

"I believe I can manage alone," Serge said. "It could be dangerous to stay here with the radiation alert." As if on cue, the warning blared forth again.

"The other students have--"

The human broke off as Khuharkk' drew himself up with an affronted air.

"Honor demands that I stay and aid you in the rescue," Khuharkk' stated in a tone that brooked no argument.

Hing was ready to nudge Serge if he'd continued to argue, but the instructor knew better than to dispute with a Simiu over what constituted honorable behavior. "Thank you, Honored Khuharkk'. I will be grateful for your assistance."

Under Serge's direction, Hing and Khuharkk' worked together

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to braid long strands of the plas-steel cord together into a five- meter length, while the instructor dragged the winch over to the lip of the chasm and tested it. "It is working fine," he said, scant minutes later. "Have you finished?"

"Just a second..." muttered Hing, braiding furiously while Khuharkk' held the ends to keep them from tangling. Quickly she made the final crossovers, then tied both ends tightly. "Got it!"

Serge pulled off his helmet, then leaned over to shout, "Professor Greyshine!

We are coming for you! Do not move!"

He listened intently for a reply, then bleakly shook his head and redonned his helmet. Khuharkk' was busily rigging a sling out of a sheet of solar-reflecting material Hing had retrieved from the emergency first-aid kit that was stored inside every airlock. It wasn't large enough to cradle the Professor's entire body, so Hing would have to tie him into it.

Hampered by her suit gloves, the student clumsily looped the end of the braided cable beneath her armpits. "No, that's not it. Like so," Serge said, taking the cord away from her. Quickly, deftly, he rigged a climbing harness, running the cord behind her, passing it between her legs, over her left thigh, then behind her so it cupped her buttocks. Winding a loop around her waist, he finished up by passing a last length beneath her arms and cutting the cord, so she could keep the climbing harness on while the Professor was being hauled up and not have to retie the entire thing.

Serge carefully tied the braided end in a knot, then fastened it onto a snap.

He hooked it onto the front loop of the climbing harness. "Lean back, bend your knees, and 'sit' down. Like this," he instructed, miming a demonstration.

"That way, you can make use of handholds or footholds."

"Thanks," Hing said. "I'm glad one of us knows what he's doing."

"I went rock climbing in the Alps when I was younger," he said abstractedly, giving each of the knots a final check. "Naturally,
Maman
hated the idea.

She was always concerned that I would hurt my hands. .." Behind the transparent faceplate, his mouth quirked sardonically. "There," he added, all business once more, "you are ready."

Hing stepped toward the edge, prepared to swing over, but Serge stopped her. "One moment. I want to check in with the students." He clicked over to the common frequency. "Susan . . . Howard. Serge here. Do you read me?"