Virginia Hamilton (4 page)

Make capture before another Nolight, she thought. Maybe. But surely I would suffer the heat, and collapse out here all alone.

Miacis had the sense to hold herself in. She trotted southward on the course she had been on since she’d taken off in Nolight. Graylight was still some time-distance off. Steadily she closed the gap between herself and Thomas, the prey.

Miacis set her mind free to range ahead, scanning objects at a great distance which were hidden from ordinary sight. Soon she made contact with something that leaped in her mind. It shimmered there as with a strong pulse. Miacis homed in on the prey without Thomas ever knowing.

In the high heat of dismal light, she lowered the level of her energy and slowed down. She was aware that others came into her range. Off to her left, she sensed a group moving in her direction. Their shallow, confused thoughts—fears, mostly—flowed over her like a bad odor.

Will they never learn to keep their minds to themselves? she wondered. She reached out to give them a thought or two of her own.

Do not approach,
she mind-traced to them.
Nothing is here for you. Death and hunger be on my course. I am Miacis and I do not lie.

She heaved her massive chest, proud of her formal mind-talk. She knew the group would obey her anyway, but she did enjoy having them know that her name was Miacis. When she howled at them, the group turned. With their last strength, they moved off in a run.

She was not cruel. She did not hate these helpless groups. Some creatures known as Slakers Miacis did despise, but not these groups of poor, weakling humans. And now she telepathed to them what she knew:
Once I have passed out of range, head across my trail
.
I saw yallows not far off. Dig beneath in the shadow of the surface vine to the roots. You humans, suck the roots.

Human minds recoiled from hers.
Poison!
They feared making deep contact with so powerful an animal.
Poison!

Not poison, not,
Miacis traced, as simply as she knew how.
Make hurt you in arm and knee bends. But not kill you. Very nourishment. Humans, suck yallow root. True thought from Miacis.

She was aware that some groups were more alert than others, the kind that knew to fear her. These were such a group. They waited until she had passed far beyond them before they moved again.

Ranging, ever ranging, it seemed to Miacis that her hind and fore feet no longer touched the ground. Even the hip and back aching that came with a long pursuit had worked itself out of her system. She felt wonderful moving with her easy grace. Knew how she must look, with muscles so loose and smooth they made hardly a ripple under her burnished fur. Her fur turned a dark orange-yellow when she had meat. But most often she ate graygrowth for months at a time; her coat would seem a deeper hue as she licked it.

Thoughts of the prey returned to her. Her mind might stray, but it would quickly return to the pursuit. The prey would surely be half dead by the time she reached him. And half starved.

Likely, she thought, he’ll scream cursing at me. He’ll not take warmfood I cast up for him from my own stomach. Such a one!

Part of her mind concentrated on the range far ahead around the prey. She allowed that part to measure the drag of the prey’s exhaustion. For the first time on this pursuit, she let it probe, sliding up Thomas’ back and into his brain.

The prey convulsed with fear. As if hit with a club, Thomas was struck with the knowledge that Miacis was with him. He knew now, for sure, that she had tracked him down.

Miacis touched along the prey’s pain centers. She suggested to him that he quit his futile attempt to outrun her and give up.

Take the route of least suffering,
she traced to him.
Let Miacis take you back as fast as I can.

But the prey also had power. Thomas ripped her probe to shreds and flung it back at her. He had bound the shreds in his deepest feelings, flinging the sorrowing bundle at her before she could properly shield against it. Miacis bowed down under the pressure of his terrible longing for home. For the first time, she felt sympathy for the prey.

Was not she free to range as she pleased? Even though she knew a master, the Watcher, was not she still free to be where she liked?

Thomas traced in her mind:
As long as you stick around Justice, you’re caught by the Watcher the same as me. You don’t know it, but you’re never going to be free again.

Thomas’ mind-signal had come like a feeble whisper on fading strength.

She was touched by the prey’s longing.

She trotted lightly, her huge ears held high, which made thought transference from a mind such as the prey’s much easier.

You’ll have to take me,
traced the prey.
I’m ready for you. I’ll not give up. I still have my weapons.

Miacis whined. She panted, then clamped her muzzle shut. She wouldn’t allow herself to think to the prey and risk having him see into her plans. Trotting faster, she noticed that she raised dust with each step, for it tickled her nostrils. She made no sound.

She was aware. Distinguishing the slight but steady rise of land by the heightened tone of her muscles and the gradual changing of the dustland to a more rocky terrain. All around her like a second coat over her fur was the absolute darkness of the land. There was no brownscape. No tinges of red of fading Star. For Star had gone and would come again only with Graylight.

She was aware. She talked to Star, but had never seen It. Aware that her coatfur color and the color of Star were often the same intensity. Behind all in Dustland was Star. When Nolight was near, Star began to fade. Finally It slept, as now—as Miacis would have, save for the chase. All things slept; even the Master, Justice. But the Master with her unit did mostly as she pleased.

The terrain now revealed boulders and broken slabs of rock. Even in the dullness the boulders glinted, for they were made smooth and shiny by ferocious, gritty Roller storms. The Rollers came without warning. They came vivid with lightstreaks and rolling noise. They did not frighten Miacis. It was by means of them that she was delivered unto Star.

Living beings sensed it was best to stay out of Miacis’ territory. The trouble was, she changed her territory at will. Groups in her path had no sense of her power unless she let them know it. Only her discipline kept her from cutting a part from its group, knocking it down and stunning it with poison from her dewclaws. With the drug paralyzing it, Miacis would begin nibbling at it and end by feasting on it. But such meals were rare for her because of their side-effects. Awful dreams came as she lay digesting. Graylights of waking with an urgent tail-pounding as she lolled stupidly. Only hours later was she able to heave herself up, feeling weak, tail aching, and with an awful taste in her mouth.

Miacis ceased trotting and scanned the area around her for a
dark.
To her right was an outcropping of rock. She sensed along its rise, up and up into gritty Nolight.

A good place beneath the rock, she thought, feeling somewhat tired herself. A good, safe
dark.

She glided over there, panting slightly. Tiny tremors flowed down her back into her legs. She was aware and sensed that all was well around her. Soon she was burrowing into cool dust at the base of the rock. Under the surface she hit dry dirt and began digging with hard, strong thrusts of her back and front paws.

Digging was never easy work, but within what the Master called half-hour she had made a
dark
to a good, safe depth. Exhausted now, she crawled in on her stomach and twisted over onto her back. She worked her hindquarters, pushing and scraping with her paws until she had dirt and dust covering her over. Only her muzzle and lip were left uncovered to the Nolight. The bright orange membrane behind each of her ears that separated dust and monoxide from the air she breathed, she kept covered completely. She was aware that, even when she was worn out, the membrane glowed, revealing her hiding hole. With the membranes closed, she sucked air through her nose and began using her undeveloped lungs as breathing organs for as long as she was at rest.

Lying on her back the way she was, she would have been open to attack if she had not concealed herself so well. She was aware of her bulk and heaviness in her cramped quarters; but she was totally invisible in her
dark.

Miacis was huge for an animal of her realm and larger than any of the human groups, save for Slakers.

But what are Slakers? They are nothing, she thought.

She weighed more than two hundred pounds, so the Master estimated. Yet she remained alone, with no unit, out here in the open. Therefore she had to hide herself well from any who might pass her way and attempt to trap her.

Fear. Miacis knew it. She feared being trapped, although, as far as she could reckon, she never had been. But once confined, she realized, there would be no one to come to her rescue. There were no others of her kind anywhere in Dustland. She had told Star this fact, but had not found the courage to ask Star to do anything for her.

And Star has done nothing, she thought. Perhaps it is not Its place to. Oh, but now my Master would come if I were trapped, she thought. I know she would! The Master would search and search for me. She would find me and lead me to safety.

To the Master, Miacis admitted she could barely see. She was aware that her near-blindness had always been so. Yet she noticed forms, shapes, the instant they moved. She could recognize Star color, and natural growth by scent; and rock, landrise and fall by telepathic second sight. She and the Master kept her lack of first sight their secret. The Master teaching that if the prey, Thomas, discovered her blindness, he might find a way to hurt her.

Not me,
Miacis had traced to the Master.
He come near me, I feel it all over. Sock that buddy down, too, oh, yes!

“Miacis, you won’t hurt anyone,” Justice had told her. “I’m telling you not to.”

So the Master had spoken to Miacis.

Oh, wish I could go home with the Master, too! Miacis thought now.

But she was of this place the Master called the future. The Master and the others were of the place called past. None of them could enter the future alone. The four entered the future as a unit only. And Miacis could not ever enter the past. In the past, she had not existed.

She had been so informed by the Master. And the Master called herself human and called the other three human. Miacis knew better than that. She knew humans of her land. She was aware that the Master was like Star and was greater than all others. Was glorious.

Master might be Star in disguise. Find out how good I be.

Miacis knew of good and bad from the unit. She cared nothing about them, but she would try caring in case the Master was indeed Star.

Concealed in her
dark,
Miacis thrilled at being so informed about so much by her Master. Slowly she relaxed her bulk in the tight place. She had a single sense-stream, like a fluttering ribbon of sensation, connected to the feelings of Thomas, the prey. She would loosen the ribbon, pulling it back, as soon as he fell asleep. She allowed herself a moment of emotion so that she might be touched by the prey’s desires.

She was aware. Thomas shivered with cold, although the Nolight was stifling.

Dig,
Miacis traced along the sense-stream.
Dig in the dust. Your body losing moisture. Exposure will cause fever. Nothing lives in the open. The open will shorten your flight and the chase unduly.

Thomas marveling at her knowledge of his slightest discomfort. This came to her along the sense-stream. He was furious that she should attempt to help him. And there was wonderment from him at the vastness of Dustland. Its dismal emptiness, he called it.

Not so, thought Miacis.

What’s happened? It was the question that wove in and out of Thomas’ mind, even when he was thinking about something else. This question and other thoughts flowed back along the sense-stream to Miacis.

Where are the trees? came from him.

What are trees?
Miacis tracing, telepathing. The prey refused her question. Then she remembered Justice showing pictures of the past and the
hedgerow
of trees.

Has there been a war? Thomas was wondering.

What is war?

This … this awful, fantastic, smelly dust—is it a season? He wondered. Will things change and grow? Where are all the people? Where are the cities? What kind of place is this?

I know cities.
Why did she say that? Once she had told Justice she knew cities, too. Why did she lie? She didn’t know or care.

But the prey had traced the thought.
You know cities? Miacis!
Tracing to her. She had got his attention for sure.
Then where are they? Why didn’t you tell us, Miacis? Justice said there were no structures here.

The Master is truly right,
traced Miacis.
What are cities? There are no cities. Now, please dig in the ground. You know what little fighting beasts will do to you if they find you. Oh, but I leave from knowing. You are not here, Thomas, the prey, not really here. Not in what is
body,
is that not so? I cannot keep it straight. Nothing like you, the unit, has occurred here. You seem … real. I have sensed … seen you move through the space around you. Seen you move objects. I have come in contact with your weight. Therefore you are here, are you not?

Dustcreep!
traced Thomas, the prey. She felt him pull his forces in from her. He raised mental shields, hiding himself.
Good night, Dustshit,
he traced evenly.

Whatever is good night?
she traced. She had heard and scanned his curses before and had a growing collection she kept to herself.

I’ll not teach you anything, you stinking dustkeeper!
And then:
You’ll never catch me.

In this way, the prey signed off for the remaining time of Nolight.

Miacis moaned and sighed. So insulting he was to her. Dustkeeper! His last jape at her before he covered himself over with dust and dirt and fell into a deep slumber. It took him time to dig his
dark
—he made it very wide (Ha! thought Miacis, I wonder!)—and it took him time to settle in. But at last, with his retreat from her, she emptied her mind of his feeling and loosened and pulled back the sense-stream. So good to be no longer connected to the prey’s mournful pain and loneliness. Yet she moaned continually at his breaking all contact with her and his lack of caution in the Nolight.