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Zek

Two hours after setting out frorunts and groans of his own exertions for company - Jazz Simmons paused for his first real break and found a seat on a tall, flat-topped boulder which gave hie over the terrain all around He took hard biscuits froned for sucking, not biting Wash these doith a sip of water, and then he’d be on his way again But nohile he sat here easing his deceptively gangly but powerful fra a breather, there was time to look around a little and consider his position

’His position’ That was a laugh! It certainly wasn’t an enviable position: alone in a strange land, with hardtack food sufficient to last a week, enough weaponry to start World War III, and so far nothing to shoot at, blast or burn! Not that he was coht occurred: where were they? Where in hell were this world’s denizens? And when he did eventually find them, or they found him, ould they be like? Which was to assume, of course, that there were others here unlike those he already knew about Which was to hope so, anyway

It was as if his private thoughts were an invocation Two things occurred si in the west and turning the sky in that quarter a gold-tinged indigo, showed itself over the peaks on the opposite side of the gorge; and second second there sounded a far, al up to the ain, picked up by kindred throats and passeddistance

There could be nocries like that - wolves! And Jazz remembered what he’d been told about Encounter Two That one had been la that sounded like that could possibly be in anything other than extreood health Which didn’t bode too well for his own!

Jazz finished eating, washed the gritty chocolate froot down froain But - he paused, then froze in his tracks, stared directly ahead, and up, and up!

Before, the light from the blister-sun, however feeble, had kept the canyon walls in silhouette; they’d presented only a black, flanking fra directly ahead That picture had been the false horizon at the head of the saddle, the scree-littered way to it, and the thin arc of bright yellow light beyond; which, Jazz noted, hadin the very corner of his picture

When during the last two or three aze away from the sun for a moment, turned his face to the flank and looked up, then, as they’d grown accustohts, and above theleaht-seeing; lued to the non-existent trail, picking a way through rocks and fallen ju the easiest way ahead It had scarcely dawned on hi of a trail In his oorld he’d have expected one, and so in this world it had failed to reat deal narrower Where two hours earlier, at the mouth of the pass, the distance betalls had been so more than a mile, maybe even a mile and a half, here it had narrowed down to less than two hundred yards, almost a bottleneck at the foot of steep canyon walls The crest of the saddle, as he judged it, was only a quarter-mile ahead nohen at last he’d be able to look down and spy soe

What had caused hi swiftly over the western side of the gorge, now shone its silvery-yellow light down on the eastern wall Jazz was close to that side of the gorge, so that the previously silhouetted face seeer in silhouette - no longer a vertical, soaring jut of black rock - the hty cliff of the canyon had taken on a different aspect entirely

Picked out now by the inous heights! A castle, yes, and no way he could be e had scarred the cliff’s face, now the walls of a fortress rose up fantastically to h overhead A castle, an outpost, a gri the pass And Jazz knew he’d hit upon its purpose here at the first throw: a keep guarding the pass!

Craning his neck, he took in its awesoaunt soullessness of its warlike features There were battle embrasures; and where towers and turrets were supported by flying buttresses, there yawned thecorbels Stone arches formed into steps joined parts of the architecture which were otherwise inaccessible, where the natural rock of the cliff bulged or jutted and generally obstructed; flights of stone stairs rose steeply between the many levels, carved deep into the otherwise sheer rock;holes gloo down on Jazz where he crouched in the shadows and gazed, and wondered

The structure started maybe fifty feet up the cliff face, half-way to the top of a lone, projecting stack In the chiging upwards to the mouth of a domed cave; presueways to the castle proper Higher still, the fortifications themselves spread outward across the face of the cliff like so nature’s bastions with the lesser but more purposeful works ofmen? Jazz could only suppose so

But whoever had built this aerie, they were not here now No figures hts shone in the s, balconies or turrets; no smoke curled from the tall chimneys moulded to the face of the cliff The place was deserted - maybe That ’maybe’ was because Jazz was sure as he’d ever been that hooded eyes were upon hi him where he in turn held his breath and studied the cliff-fashioned castle

The lower part of the stack where it stood mainly free of the canyon’s as still in shadohich gradually drew back as the lad of thatWhen he crossed the crest of the saddle, then perhaps he’d catch up a little with the sun, earn hiht; but here in the lee of the great grim castle, for the present theat a lope because of the i to the shadows of boulders where possible and crossing the aps between at speed And presently he came to the base of the stack of weathered rock where it leaned outward a little froreat hich surrounded that base

The as of h and was croith ons forons were not Earth’s dragons Jazz swiftly, silently skirted the wall, cae timbers studded with iron and painted with a fearsos of a bat and the body of a wolf! He was re in the tank back at Perchorsk But this dragon was split down the reat gates stood open a little, inwards As if in invitation If so, then Jazz ignored it; he hurried on toward the waning sun, desiring only to put as much distance as possible between hih to do so

Minutes later he began to breathe more easily, reached the crest and was at once bathed in warht, however hazy, he turned to look back A quarter-ed once more into the face of the cliff Jazz kneas there for he’d seen it - had even felt it - but stone was stone and the uneven cliff face was a good disguise And Jazz realized how glad he was to have come past that place unscathed Maybe there was no one, or nothing, there after all But still he was glad

He took a deep breath, issued it in a long drawn-out sigh - and gave amoved close by, in the shadow of fallen boulders where they hu Russian, said: ’Well, Karl Vyotsky, it’s your choice Talk or die Right here and right now!’

Jazz’s finger had been on the trigger of his SMG ever since the castle Even before the wo, he’d turned and sprayed the darkness where she was hiding She was dead now - or would be if the weapon had been cocked! Jazz was glad it wasn’t Sometimes, with his speed and accuracy, it was as well to take precautions On this occasion his precaution had been to leave the gun safe It was good practice for his nerves, that’s all Shooting at shadoas a sure sign that aup

’Lady,’ he said, his voice tense, ’ - Zek Foener? - I’m not Karl Vyotsky If I was you’d probably be on your way to an alien heaven right now!’

Eyes peered at Jazz froular - and yellow And ry-looking, stepped cautiously into view Its red tongue lolled between incisors nearly an inch and a half long And now Jazz cocked his weapon The actionsound

’Hold it!’ caain ’He’s my friend And until now - maybe even now - the only friend I have’ There ca of stones and she stepped out of the shadows The ent to heel on her right and a little to her rear She had a gun like Jazz’s, which shook in her hands where she pointed it at hiain,’ he said, ’just in case you weren’t listening: I’, violently now Jazz looked at it, said: ’Hell, you’d probably miss me anyway!’

’The man on the radio?’ she said ’Before Vyotsky? II recognize your voice’

’Eh?’ Then Jazz understood ’Oh, yes, that was ive Khuv a hard time - but I doubt if he could hear h the Gate, just like he did it to you Only he didn’t lie to ent I don’t kno you feel about that, butit looks like we’re in the same boat You can callthat thing at ulp of a sob, and flew into his arun went clattering to the stony earth and her arainst his neck ’I don’t care if you’re Japanese, African, or an Arab! As for un - it’s jammed It has been for days And I’ and I had the ao I I’

’Easy,’ said Jazz ’Easy!’

’The Sunsiders are after ive me to the Wamphyri, and Vyotsky said there’s a way back home, and -’

’He what?’ Jazz held her close ’You’ve spoken to Vyotsky? That’s impos - ’ And he checked hi out of her top pocket ’Vyotsky’s a liar,’ he said ’Forget it! There isn’t a way back He’s just looking for a chuers were biting into his shoulders ’Oh, God!’

Jazz tightened his grip on her, stroked her face, felt her tears hot in the crook of his neck He smelled her, too, and it wasn’t exactly flowers It eat, and fear, and more than a little dirt, too He pushed her away to arht she looked good A little haggard but good And very human

She couldn’t know it, but he was just as desperately pleased to see her

’Zek,’ he said, ’maybe we should find ourselves a nice safe place where we can talk and exchange notes, eh? I think you can probably save me a hell of a lot of time and effort’

’There’s the cave where I rested,’ she told hiht miles back I was asleep when I heard your voice onBy the tione So I headed for the sphere, which here I was going anyway And I kept calling every ten ave a small shudder

’OK,’ Jazz quickly told her ’It’s all right now - or about as right as it can be Tell ht?’ He stooped to pick up her gun, and the great ent into a crouch, screwed its face into a ferocious

She patted the anireat head where its ears lay flat to the long skull, said: ’It’s all right, Wolf - he’s a friend’

’Wolf?’ Jazz couldn’t help sinal!’

’He was given to me by Lardis,’ she said ’Lardis is the leader of a Traveller pack Sunsiders, of course Wolf was to be ot to be friends very quickly, but he’s not much of a pet There’s too much of the wild in hi -1 mean really think of him that way, as your friend - and he won’t be any trouble’ She turned and began to lead the way down fro apparently motionless over the southern mouth of the pass

’Is that a theory or a fact?’ Jazz asked her ’About Wolf, I mean?’

’It’s a fact,’ she answered simply Then, as quickly as she’d started off, she paused and grabbed his arh the sphere?’ Her voice had a pleading quality

’I told you,’ Jazz answered, trying not to sound too harsh, ’Vyotsky’s a liar - as Do you think he’d still be here if he kneay out? When they put ed Vyotsky with ured if it was bad enough for h for him! Khuv and Vyotsky, those people areit’s hard to find a word for the offensive’

’Be offensive,’ she said, bitterly ’They’re bastards!’

’Tell ain, ’ere you heading for the sphere in the first place?’

She glanced at hi as I have you won’t need to ask I came in that way, and it’s the only Gate I know I keep drea it’s changed, that the poles have reversed and the flow lies in the other direction So I was going there to try it At sunup, of course, which is now One chance and only one, and if I didn’tit back to Sunside, either’

Jazz frowned ’Reversed poles and all that - is that scientific stuff? Is it supposed to ?’

She shook her head ’Just my fantasy,’ she said, ’but it orth one last shot’

They walked in silence for a while, with the great wolf loping between them There were a million questions Jazz wanted to ask, but he didn’t want to exhaust her Eventually he said: ’Where the hell is everybody? Where are the animals, birds? I mean, it’s nature’s way that where there are trees there are anis at Perchorsk thata snowball into hell! And yet I haven’t seen -’

’You wouldn’t,’ she cut him short ’Not on Starside, not at sunup Noe’re doard Sunside you’ll start to see anie you’ll see plenty of them But not on Starside Believe me, Michael - er, Jazz? - you really wouldn’t want to see anything of what lives on Starside’ She shivered, hugged her elbows

’Starside and Sunside,’ he mused ’The pole is back there, the mountains run east to west, and the sun is south’

’Yes,’ she nodded her head, ’that’s the way it is -always’ She stumbled, said: ’Oh’ and went to one knee; Jazz reached out and caught her elbow, stopped her fro over This tiuided her to a flat rock He shrugged a pack from his shoulder, took out a twenty-four-hour manpack: food for one man for one day Then he dumped the pack onto the rock and er!’ he said, pulling the ring on a tiny can of concentrated fruit juice He took a sip at the juice to clean his mouth, handed her the can and said, ’Finish it’ She did, with relish Wolf stood close by, wagging his tail for all the world like a low-slung Alsatian His great tongue was beaded with saliva Jazz broke a cube off a block of Russian chocolate concentrate and tossed it Before it could hit the ground Wolf’s jaws closed on it crunchingly

’It’s mainly h leather sandals, but he could see caked blood between the toes where they projected The mist had cleared from the sun a little, and now Jazz could take in the rest of her True colours were still difficult, but outlines, shadows and silhouettes ed at the elbows and knees, patched at the backside She carried only a sli, Jazz correctly supposed

They’re no kind of footgear for this terrain,’ he said

’I know it now,’ Zek answered, ’but I’d forgotten Sunside is bad enough, but this pass is worse And Starside is sheer hell I had boots when I came here, like you They don’t last Your feet harden quickly, you’ll see, but soave her chocolate, which she alht here,’ he said

’Safe enough, with the sun on us,’ she answered, ’but I’d prefer to keepSince we can’t use the sphere, and we can’t stay Starside, it’s best we get back to Sunside as soon as we can’ Her tone was ominous

’Any special reason?’ Jazz was sure he wouldn’t like the answer

’Lots of them,’ she told him, ’and they all live back there’ She nodded back the way they’d co me about - them?’ Jazz unhooked one of his kidney-packs; he knew it contained, aauze bandages, a tube of ointment, plasters And as Zek talked he kneeled and carefully slipped the sandals off her feet, began to work on her wounds

’Theain a shudder ran through her ’The Wamphyri, do you mean? Oh, they’re the s on Starside al in the tank at Perchorsk?’

Jazz looked up, nodded ’I saw it Telling you exactly what I saould be a different auze, soaked it in water froently wiped away the caked blood frohed her appreciation as he squeezed ointment from its tube and rubbed it into the splits under her toes and the pads of her feet

’That thing you sahat happens when a vaets into a species of local fauna,’ she told him She said it as si on her feet, looked her straight in the eye, slowly nodded ’A va, eh? That is what you said, isn’t it?’ She stared at him, obstinately, until he had to look away ’OK, a vaauze ’So you’re telling -layers, right?’

She shook her head, changed her mind and nodded ’Yes and no,’ she said The Waets into a man - or a woman’