interrupted sharply, “how come you to be here like this?” And he kicked the blue skin of the skimmer.
The giant called Kimi smiled. “He’s got you there, Jan.” The man uttered another disgusted sound and made a related gesture. But he didn’t call Born ignorant again.
“Now then,” the woman said formally, “I think introductions are in order. First off, we’d like to thank you for saving our lives, which you most surely did.” She glanced at the man. “Wouldn’t we, Jan?”
He made a muffled sound vaguely intelligible as “yes.”
“My name,” she went on, “is Logan … Kimi Logan. This sometimes buoyant, occasionally depressed associate of mine is Jan Cohoma. And you?”
“I am called Born.”
“Born. That’s a fine name. A fitting name for one so brave, for a man who’d tackle a meat-eater like that winged monster single-handed.”
Born expanded with pride. Strange the giants might be, but this one at least could be properly admiring. Maybe one day Brightly Go would regard him as well as this peculiar giant did.
“You mentioned a village, Born,” she continued.
He turned, pointed up and southwest. “The Home lies that way, a fair walk through the forest and two levels higher. My brothers will greet you as friends.” And admire the hunter who had braved the sleeping blue demon and killed a sky-devil to rescue them, he thought to himself.
He jumped up and down several times on the blue metal, then noticed that both giants had drawn away and were watching him. “I’m sorry,” he explained. “I mean you no harm. Of all who came here only I had the courage to descend and find you out. I guessed this … thing … was not alive, but something carved.”
“It’s called a skimmer,” Cohoma told him. “It carries us across the sky.”
“Across the sky,” Born repeated, not really believing the words. It seemed impossible that anything so heavy could fly.
“We’re glad you did, Born. Aren’t we, Jan? Aren’t we?” She nudged him and he muttered assent. His initial antagonism toward Born was weakening rapidly as he realized that the small native posed no threat to them. Quite the contrary, it seemed.
“Yes, it certainly was a brave act. An extraordinary act, now that I think of it.” He smiled. “You’ve come this far, Born. Maybe you could help us at least try to get back to our station—our home on this world.”
“We got a last fix before we went down,” Logan told him. She hesitated, then pointed in a direction toward the Home tree. “It’s in that direction, about … let’s see, how can I get some idea of the distance across to you?” She thought a moment. “You said something about levels in the forest?”
“Everyone knows the world is made of seven levels,” Born explained, as though lecturing a child, “from the Lower Hell to the treetops.”
“Figure the average height of one of the big emergents,” she murmured. “Say a little over seven hundred meters.” She engaged in some mental computation, translating meters into levels, and told Born how far away the station lay.
Now it was Born’s turn to smile; he was too courteous to laugh. “No one has ever traveled more than five days’ journey from the Home,” he told them. “I myself only recently went two, and that proved dangerous enough. Now you are talking of a journey of many seven-days. It cannot be done, I think.”
“Why not?” Cohoma objected. “You’re not afraid, are you? Not,” he added quickly as Born took a step toward the bigger man, “an exceptional hunter like yourself?”
Born relaxed slightly. He had already decided that of the two giants, he liked the man far the less.
“It is not a question of fear,” he told them, “but of reason. The balance of the world is delicate. Each creature has its place in that balance, takes what is needed, and returns what it can. The further one moves from one’s own niche, the more he disrupts the order of things. When the
The giant called Kimi smiled. “He’s got you there, Jan.” The man uttered another disgusted sound and made a related gesture. But he didn’t call Born ignorant again.
“Now then,” the woman said formally, “I think introductions are in order. First off, we’d like to thank you for saving our lives, which you most surely did.” She glanced at the man. “Wouldn’t we, Jan?”
He made a muffled sound vaguely intelligible as “yes.”
“My name,” she went on, “is Logan … Kimi Logan. This sometimes buoyant, occasionally depressed associate of mine is Jan Cohoma. And you?”
“I am called Born.”
“Born. That’s a fine name. A fitting name for one so brave, for a man who’d tackle a meat-eater like that winged monster single-handed.”
Born expanded with pride. Strange the giants might be, but this one at least could be properly admiring. Maybe one day Brightly Go would regard him as well as this peculiar giant did.
“You mentioned a village, Born,” she continued.
He turned, pointed up and southwest. “The Home lies that way, a fair walk through the forest and two levels higher. My brothers will greet you as friends.” And admire the hunter who had braved the sleeping blue demon and killed a sky-devil to rescue them, he thought to himself.
He jumped up and down several times on the blue metal, then noticed that both giants had drawn away and were watching him. “I’m sorry,” he explained. “I mean you no harm. Of all who came here only I had the courage to descend and find you out. I guessed this … thing … was not alive, but something carved.”
“It’s called a skimmer,” Cohoma told him. “It carries us across the sky.”
“Across the sky,” Born repeated, not really believing the words. It seemed impossible that anything so heavy could fly.
“We’re glad you did, Born. Aren’t we, Jan? Aren’t we?” She nudged him and he muttered assent. His initial antagonism toward Born was weakening rapidly as he realized that the small native posed no threat to them. Quite the contrary, it seemed.
“Yes, it certainly was a brave act. An extraordinary act, now that I think of it.” He smiled. “You’ve come this far, Born. Maybe you could help us at least try to get back to our station—our home on this world.”
“We got a last fix before we went down,” Logan told him. She hesitated, then pointed in a direction toward the Home tree. “It’s in that direction, about … let’s see, how can I get some idea of the distance across to you?” She thought a moment. “You said something about levels in the forest?”
“Everyone knows the world is made of seven levels,” Born explained, as though lecturing a child, “from the Lower Hell to the treetops.”
“Figure the average height of one of the big emergents,” she murmured. “Say a little over seven hundred meters.” She engaged in some mental computation, translating meters into levels, and told Born how far away the station lay.
Now it was Born’s turn to smile; he was too courteous to laugh. “No one has ever traveled more than five days’ journey from the Home,” he told them. “I myself only recently went two, and that proved dangerous enough. Now you are talking of a journey of many seven-days. It cannot be done, I think.”
“Why not?” Cohoma objected. “You’re not afraid, are you? Not,” he added quickly as Born took a step toward the bigger man, “an exceptional hunter like yourself?”
Born relaxed slightly. He had already decided that of the two giants, he liked the man far the less.
“It is not a question of fear,” he told them, “but of reason. The balance of the world is delicate. Each creature has its place in that balance, takes what is needed, and returns what it can. The further one moves from one’s own niche, the more he disrupts the order of things. When the
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