him in the blanketing fog.
Penger was wrong! He wouldn't die in here. Latham knew where he wasgoing. Kueelo had told him of the gweel village a mere few miles away,where the foothills came down to touch the jungle edge. Kueelo and theJovian had undoubtedly headed for there and planned to lie low for awhile; when the time was propitious, they would sneak back to theoutpost and make a deal with Penger for the Josmian.
The route was long and circuitous, hugging the fringe of jungle. Thegweels traveled it every day. But Latham had a better plan. By cuttingdirectly through the morass, he might just arrive there ahead of them!
He would arm himself somehow and wait ... the element of surprise ...that's all he could hope for now.
He left the glutinous path, and to his surprise it wasn't so bad. Thegrowths towered many times higher but were not so dense. Occasionallythe sun evidenced itself against the paling of mists hundreds of feetabove. Lusty, primeval odors were almost an opiate to his senses.
He plunged on for some ten minutes before he began to doubt. Graduallythe gloom came alive with motion and sound and unseen terrors. Hetried to segregate those that might mean danger. There came first agentle whirring of wings through the mist, sweeping close above himand away. There came a gentle ripple through the foliage beside him, aslither of sound that kept pace endlessly.
Was this what Penger meant? Still Latham had seen nothing. He wishedhe had his dis-gun, though.
He wished it desperately, as a heavier sound came near. A grayish bulkcharged directly across his path. It was monstrous, semi-reptilian,with wings arched sinuously along its spine as it half reared towardhim. Latham fell back against a tree bole and stood motionless,staring into glittering feral eyes. The beast coughed raucously andwent thrashing back into the welter of jungle and mud.
Latham stepped away. His foot caught in a root and he fell headlong.Instantly, tiny spheres of diaphanous substance showered about hishead, to burst in a scatter of violet spores. Those that touched hisskin turned instantly blood-red, and seemed to grow, burrowing deep.Frantically he pulled them from his flesh, leaving raw red sores.
There was no trail to guide him now, but he did not immediately mindthat. He trekked the South Mars Desert and he had weathered thejungles of Io. Tsith hound or no, he had an unerring instinct fordirection. He was sure the foothills couldn't be far ahead. But hemust have a weapon!
* * * * *
A silent dark shadow floated down. He glimpsed a razor-clawedreptilian body, ten feet from wing to wing, its serpentine neckdarting wickedly. Latham threw himself aside as the tremendous whirrof wings beat the air above his head. Close upon it came three others,and Latham hit the mud. Looking back, he saw that one of the creaturesin its mad rush had hurtled into a giant fern, impaling itself upon afour-foot thorn where it hung, screaming raucously as its life-fluidebbed away.
Latham crawled from the spot. Reaching another fern, he managed toclimb high enough to tear away one of the thorns. It was crude, but itwould serve as a weapon!
He was realizing his error now. He should have gone by the outerroute. He would never reach the gweel village ahead of Kueelo and theJovian, if indeed he reached it at all! Danger and death layeverywhere about him. Time and again those serpentine shapes wingeddown, silent and unwarning. He fended them off. Twice he speared them,saw ocherous blood spill from their shiny integument. Other times hewasn't so lucky, as sharp claws left a row of furrows in his back. Themiasmic yellow fog bit deep into his wounds.
Hours resolved into a nightmare of mud and heat and battle. Othercreatures crossed his path or curved at him from out of the tangledfronds. He was becoming awfully weak, but a terrible madness layacross Latham's mind like a patina, driving him on. Through feverishturmoil, through waves of heat and pain and nausea that encompassedthe universe, Joel Latham pursued his course.
He never remembered the end. He never remembered coming out of thatdeadly jungle. He pressed with his palms against moist earth, andthought he must have been lying there for some time. His left arm wasshredded. His back was shredded. Inside his clothes he felt the warmstickiness of his own blood. Outside his clothes was other substancewhich he knew wasn't his blood.
Something long and shiny lay beneath his hands. The thorn! He clutchedat it frantically.
He felt if he could just lie there a moment, strength would come backto him. But he didn't lie there. He tottered to his feet, and just afew yards ahead the foothills sheered up and away from the jungle.
Every step was an agony. He followed along the foothills, trying tofind the gweel village. He had to find it! That much he remembered. Atiny Martian and a brute of a Jovian were there, and they hadsomething that belonged to him. He had quite forgotten now what itwas, but it meant something to him, he knew, it meant a great deal.
He came upon the village, a cluster of clay huts high upon anescarpment. Latham began climbing. He had to be careful now, somethingpounded that warning into his brain. He saw groups of frail,pallid-faced gweels moving about. They were harmless enough, Lathamknew that; but if those other two were here--
He reached the level of the village and moved nearer, staying behindrocks and clumps of growth. Then he saw Kueelo! The Martian huddledbeside an open fire, stirring some substance in a huge gourd. AsLatham watched, Kueelo opened a leather pouch at his waist and tooksomething out. The Josmian! He held it up to the flickering firelight,and the purple sheen of the gem was no more brilliant than the gleefullook that appeared in Kueelo's yellowish eyes.
In that instant Latham almost leaped forward, but a tightness in histemples stopped him. The distance was too great. And the Jovian mustbe somewhere about! Quick surprise was his only chance. His gaze rovedup to the steepening cliff behind the village, and he saw the way.
Still clutching the thorn-weapon, he followed a little ravine up to arocky abutment. Thence along a ledge, to a spot just above the hutnear Kueelo. He judged the distance, decided he could make it in twoleaps; first to the roof of the hut, then to the ground.
Latham paused the merest instant, then launched himself downward. Hestruck the roof with a force that jarred him to the teeth. He sprangagain, and that's when luck deserted him. His feet tangled in thecoarse thatchwork. He felt himself going over the edge, spinningwildly off-balance, plunging headlong into the ground as thethorn-weapon was flung far out of his grasp.
With a startled oath, Kueelo whirled about. Latham had a vision of theman's ludicrous face. Then a tiny, shiny tube appeared like magic inthe Martian's hand. A power-rapier. Latham had heard that Martianscarried them always. Tiny and easy to conceal. A press of a studreleased a rapier-like shaft of electronic power that reached perhapsfive feet.
This occurred to Latham in a mere kaleidoscopic instant, then he waspropelling himself forward. His shoulder took Kueelo squarely in themiddle. Kueelo screamed as he went back. He tried to get the shinytube up. Latham got hold of the Martian's wrist and jerked it sharplyagainst his knee. Kueelo let out another yell and dropped thepower-tube.
* * * * *
The Martian was small, but possessed of a wiry strength. He wassquirming like an ocelan, bringing his knees up into Latham's groin.Latham felt fainter every moment. He let go of the wrist and tried tofind the power-tube. Kueelo smashed a fist into his face.
"I'll kill you, Earthman, I swear it! I've got to kill you!" TheMartian kept yelling that, his little voice going shrill. Then heyelled, "Kraaz! Kraaz!" Latham got a hand around Kueelo's throat andhe didn't yell any more. The place was very still. Then Latham heard asloughing sound of heavy footsteps coming up the slope. Kraaz was theJovian! That's when the real panic hit Latham and he knew he had toget the power-rapier.
He fumbled and found the power-rapier. Kueelo brought a knee into hisstomach and Latham felt sick. He couldn't get the weapon around.Kueelo had hold of his wrist and was bending it backward. Lathamthought: _Kraaz is coming! If I don't_--
They twisted and rolled and Kueelo was trying with both han
ds for theweapon. Latham held onto the weapon. Kueelo was using his knees tokeep him down and Latham kept feeling weaker. Kueelo kept comingforward and making noises in his throat and he seemed big and heavy.He kept going forward until he got a knee against Latham's throat.Latham thought: _the Jovian's running now, he's almost here_--
Kueelo pressed with his knee and Latham's head went back. His throatwas hurting and blocking the air. The knee pressed harder, and it wasbad. Then it was very bad. But he wouldn't let go of the power-rapier._The Jovian'll be here! I've got to_--
Latham moved his hand beneath him. The hand twisted and brought up thetube and his fingers touched a tiny stud. He didn't know which way itwas pointing, it was too late to wonder. His finger pressed the studand Kueelo was screaming. Then the pressure in his throat went away.
He was on his feet as the Jovian came ploughing through the huddle offrightened gweels. Latham tried to get the