第59节

and two together

but they couldn't tell you the answer was four because the link between

the memory centre and the speech centre kept breaking down. In some,

the link was so intermittent as to be virtually nonexistent, in others

- like Three Degrees - the down-time on the memory link was minimal, or

limited to specific areas of knowledge. The old Mute had thus been

able to acquire his wood-working skills and - as he went on to

demonstrate recognise Steve on some days but not know who the hell he

was on the next. The limited specific memory facility enabled, for

example, the M'Call Bears to acquire and retain fighting and hunting

skills but even this, it appeared, was prone to the odd line fault.

Which, Steve imagined, could be bad news if it happened in the middle

of a rumble over your home turf.

There was a third memory factor which Steve had noticed but did not

fully understand. When he had watched Three Degrees make the pair of

crutches, he had noted how Cadillac's presence had aided the old

lumphead in his task.

Somehow, through the odd spoken word or his physical proximity,

Cadillac had helped complete the memory circuits when Three Degrees

hands had faltered. Steve had already seen enough to convince him that

the clan could interreact without the need for words. He had ascribed

this ability to a sense of awareness - a word-concept that had come to

him out of the blue. When he had smoked grass with the two wordsmiths

his vision had been affected to the point where he began to think he

could see some kind of aura, or higher self, extending beyond the

limits of their physical bodies. Steve's brain began to flounder among

such unfamiliar concepts. Hallucinogenic drugs, heightened states of

consciousness and sensory distortion were totally unknown within the

Federation. Did the two wordsmiths play some shadowy role in which,

with their superior intelligence, they acted as a kind of control

mechanism for the clan? A group memory. A ... Steve searched for the

word, trying to reach for something he had been aware of during his

trip along the rainbow road. A kind of...

overmind? Or were they merely the channel for a power that came from

somewhere else?

Interesting ideas but also dangerous ones. He would have to observe

his principle captors more carefully; more clinically. It would not

enhance his career prospects to peddle such half-baked notions on his

return to the Federation. Facts, Brickman. That's what they need back

home. That's all that counts. Stay alive, note everything you see,

score a few points for the guys that powered down, then hit the road.

But only after you've found that blue-eyed Mute...

In the middle of all this, Steve woke one night to find that Cadillac's

sleeping furs were empty. The next night, the young wordsmith again

slept elsewhere but joined him for breakfast in the morning as usual.

Steve waited for Cadillac to say something but the young Mute made no

reference to the change in his sleeping habits. His silence on the

subject merely served to arouse Steve's curiosity.

On the third evening Steve received his second invitation to smoke some

grass with the two wordsmiths. Later, after his mind had roamed the

rainbow world, and he had heard the same distant voices yet again and

understood many things, Cadillac helped him stagger back to the hut

they shared.

Steve mumbled his thanks as the young wordsmith rolled him into bed

then opened his eyes just in time to see Cadillac slipping out of the

hut. Pushing aside his furs, Steve shuffled quickly on his hands and

knees over to the doorway and pushed his head out of the flap. He saw

Cadillac lit briefly by the glow from the dying fire, walking in the

opposite direction to that in which Mr Snow's hut lay.

Summoning up his powers of concentration, Steve willed his brain back

into one piece, rose unsteadily to his feet and headed after Cadillac

as he was swallowed up by the night.