ily, using Beaker speech. "Ashe is out
of his head some of the time. That hole in his shoulder is worse than we
thought it was, and there's always the threat of infection. This whole
wood is full of people flushed out of that blasted village! Most of
them--all I've seen--are natives. But they have it firmly planted in
their minds now that there are devils after them. If they see you
wearing that suit----"

"I know, and I'd strip if I could," Ross agreed. "But I'll have to get
other clothing first; I can't run bare in this cold."

"That might be safer," McNeil growled. "I don't know just what happened
back there, but it certainly must have been plenty!"

Ross swallowed a very dry mouthful of grain and then stooped to scoop up
some leftover snow in the shadow of a tree root. It was not as
refreshing as a real drink, but it helped. "You said Ashe is out of his
head. What do we do for him, and what are your plans?"

"We have to reach the river, somehow. It drains to the sea, and at its
mouth we are supposed to make contact with the sub."

The proposal sounded impossible to Ross, but so many impossible things
had happened lately he was willing to go along with the idea--as long as
he could. Gathering up more snow, he stuffed it into his mouth before he
followed the already disappearing McNeil.

CHAPTER 14

"... that's my half of it. The rest of it you know." Ross held his hands
close to the small fire sheltered in the pit he had helped dig and
flexed his cold-numbed fingers in the warmth.

From across the handful of flames Ashe's eyes, too bright in a
fever-flushed face, watched him demandingly. The fugitives had taken
cover in an angle where the massed remains of an old avalanche provided
a cave-pocket. McNeil was off scouting in the gray drizzle of the day,
and their escape from the village was now some forty-eight hours behind
them.

"So the crackpots were right, after all. They only had their times
mixed." Ashe shifted on the bed of brush and leaves they had raked
together for his comfort.

"I don't understand----"

"Flying saucers," Ashe returned with an odd little laugh. "It was a wild
possibility, but it was on the books from the start. This certainly will
make Kelgarries turn red----"

"Flying saucers?"

Ashe must be out of his head from the fever, Ross supposed. He wondered
what he should do if Ashe tried to get up and walk away. He could not
tackle a man with a bad hole in his shoulder, nor