第4节

oldier.

He was still enamoured by the gadgets and the hardware and the power

they conferred.

The lack of such things had proved irksome. He did not understand that

the two states were incompatible. It was the technology developed by

man in search of a more comfortable existence which had alienated him

from his natural environment. In attempting to master it, he

had-through a mixture of greed and ignorance - destroyed it.

Roz could see this because she had been trained as a doctor, not a

uniformed assassin. Her studies had led her to a greater understanding

of the human organism, its incredible complexity and the miraculous,

unfathomable nature of the force that animated every living thing; the

force that, when you had reduced an organism to its smallest chemical

component and its most elusive subatomic particle, still remained

tantalisingly out of reach.

It was this knowledge, this awareness of the mystery that lay at the

heart of all creation, that enabled her to merge the totality of her

being with the blue-sky world.

Her kin-brother - for that was how she still thought of Steve - had

only managed to go part of the way. He had been told he was a Mute, he

knew he was a Mute, yet he was unable to accept it unreservedly. He

was not content to know. He had to know why. There was nothing Roz

could do to change him. She could only hope and pray he would not

destroy himself before he finally found his way.

With no one but themselves to look after, Cadillac decided to leave the

flat land above the bluff which, since Steve's escape on Blue-Bird, had

seen so much death and sorrow. The scarred, empty space brOught back

too many bitter-sweet memories.

The first move did not involve a long journey. Carrying their worldly

goods on trucking poles, Cadillac led Roz to the small forest glade

where Clearwater had been hidden on the orders of Mr Snow. The

rock-pool in which she and Cadillac had washed off their body-markings

was fed by the same stream that snaked its way down over a series of

rock steps and fern-covered banks before launching itself into space

over the tongue-stone.

Here, surrounded by an endless supply of firewood and with fresh, clear

running water close at hand, they would be sheltered from the

attentions of any' hostile hunting posses. There was also a plentiful

supply of game, but it was all small stuff. With only a limited amount

of ammunition, Cadillac did not intend to waste it on anything less

than a tusker - the MUte name for a wild pig.

Swallowing his pride, Cadillac led Roz down the face of the bluff in a

dawn raid on a swift flowing river where he showed her how to catch the

plump, brown-speckled fish with her bare hands.

It was a rarely-used skill he had acquired from Clearwater.

He had been a reluctant pupil but she had persevered. Male She-Kargo

Mutes were renowned hunters of buffalo, fast-foot and bear; fishing was

rated on a level with grinding bread-stalks - women's work.

This disdain had its roots in the warrior/hunter-ethic, the prowess

displayed in battle which made the Plainfolk superior to the riverfolk

such as the Clan Kojak who lived on the shores of Me-Sheegun.

Fishermen with cold water in their veins.

Cadillac knew from personal experience that this wasn't strictly

true.

The Kojak had fought well. On the other hand, they hadn't had much

choice. It was either kill or be killed. And it's not too difficult

to be brave when your enemy is staggering ashore half-drowned onto a

dark, booby-trapped beach and you have promise of Clearwater's magic to

stiffen the sinews.

Back at their hidden campsite, they gutted and boned the fish, stuffed

them with a mixture of dried herbs, pinned them round long skewers with

thin slivers of wood, then roasted them over the glowing embers of a

fire made with larch wood. When the fish were ready, they cupped them

in several broad leaves and bit hungrily into the steaming flesh.

It tasted good. And as Roz juggled the juicy morsels around her mouth

to avoid burning her tongue, she thought back to the time when she and

Steve had watched the same dark brown shapes gliding beneath the

rippling surface of the pool surrounding the base of Santanna Deep.