"I suppose I'm as curious
as you are--to get one glimpse of what's beyond it!
He rose with alacrity. "We can leave everything but the canteens here," he said. "It is an easy enoughclimb--not a climb at all, really; just a steep sort of scramble." He felt light-hearted, joyous at her suddensharing of his mood. He went ahead, searching out the easiest route. showing her where to set her feet. Common sense told him that this climb, based only on curiosity to see what lay beyond and not on theirmission's needs, was a little foolhardy--who could risk a broken ankle?--but he could not contain himself. Finally they struggled up the last few feet and stood looking out over the peak. Camilla cried out insurprise and a little dismay. The shoulder of the mountain on which they stood had obscured the realrange which lay beyond; an enormous mountain range which lay, seemingly endless and to the very edgeof their sight, wrapped in eternal snow, enormous and jagged and covered with glaciated ridges andpeaks below which pale clouds drifted, lazily and slow.
Rafe whistled. "Good God, it makes the Himalayas look like foothills," he muttered.
"It seems to go on forever! I suppose we didn't see it before because the air wasn't so clear, with
clouds and fog and rain, but--" Camilla shook her head in wonder. "It's like a wall around the world'!'
"This explains something else," Rafe said slowly. "the freak weather. Flowing over a series of glaciers like that, no wonder there's almost perpetual rain, fog, snow--you name it! And if they are really as high as they look--
46
I can't tell how far away they are, but they could easily be a hundred miles on a clear day like this--itwould also explain the tilt of this world on its axis. They call the Himalayas, on Earth, a third pole. This is
Page 34
a real third pole! A third icecap, anyway."
"I'd rather look the other way," Camilla said, and faced back toward the folds and folds of green-violet valleys and forests. "I prefer my planets with trees and flowers--and sunlight, even if the sunlight is the color of blood."
"Let's hope it shows us some stars tonight and some moons."
Chapter
FOUR
"I simply can't believe this weather," Heather Stuart said, and Ewen, stepping to the door of the tent,
jeered gently, "What price your blizzard warnings now?"
"I'm glad to be wrong," Heather said firmly, "Rafe and Camilla need it, on the mountain." An expression of disquiet passed over her face. "I'm not so sure I was wrong, though, there's something about this weather that scares me a little. It seems all wrong for this planet somehow."
Ewen chuckled. "Still defending the honor of your old Highland granny and her second-sight?"
Heather did not smile. "I never believed in second sight. Not even in the Highlands. But now I'm not
so sure. How is Marco?"
"Not much change, although Judy did manage to get him to swallow a little broth. He seems a little
better, although his pulse is still awfully uneven. Where is Judy, by the way?"
"She went into the woods with MacLeod. I made her promise not to go out of sight of the clearing, though." A sound inside of the tent drew them both back; for the first time in three days, something other than inarticulate moans from Zabal. Inside he was moving, struggling to
47
sit up. He muttered, in a hoarse astonished voice, "Que pasõ O Dio, mi duele--duele tanto--"
Ewen bent over him, saying gently, "It's all right, Marco, you're here, we're with you. Are you in
pain?"
He muttered something in Spanish: Ewen looked blankly up at Heather, who shook her head. "Idon't speak it; Camilla does, but I only know a few words." But before she could muster any of them, Zabal muttered, "Pain? You'd better believe! What were those things? How long--where's Rafe?"
Ewen checked the man's heart-rate before he spoke. He said, "Don't try to sit up; I'll put a pillow
Page 35
behind your head. You've been very ill; we thought you weren't going
as you are--to get one glimpse of what's beyond it!
He rose with alacrity. "We can leave everything but the canteens here," he said. "It is an easy enoughclimb--not a climb at all, really; just a steep sort of scramble." He felt light-hearted, joyous at her suddensharing of his mood. He went ahead, searching out the easiest route. showing her where to set her feet. Common sense told him that this climb, based only on curiosity to see what lay beyond and not on theirmission's needs, was a little foolhardy--who could risk a broken ankle?--but he could not contain himself. Finally they struggled up the last few feet and stood looking out over the peak. Camilla cried out insurprise and a little dismay. The shoulder of the mountain on which they stood had obscured the realrange which lay beyond; an enormous mountain range which lay, seemingly endless and to the very edgeof their sight, wrapped in eternal snow, enormous and jagged and covered with glaciated ridges andpeaks below which pale clouds drifted, lazily and slow.
Rafe whistled. "Good God, it makes the Himalayas look like foothills," he muttered.
"It seems to go on forever! I suppose we didn't see it before because the air wasn't so clear, with
clouds and fog and rain, but--" Camilla shook her head in wonder. "It's like a wall around the world'!'
"This explains something else," Rafe said slowly. "the freak weather. Flowing over a series of glaciers like that, no wonder there's almost perpetual rain, fog, snow--you name it! And if they are really as high as they look--
46
I can't tell how far away they are, but they could easily be a hundred miles on a clear day like this--itwould also explain the tilt of this world on its axis. They call the Himalayas, on Earth, a third pole. This is
Page 34
a real third pole! A third icecap, anyway."
"I'd rather look the other way," Camilla said, and faced back toward the folds and folds of green-violet valleys and forests. "I prefer my planets with trees and flowers--and sunlight, even if the sunlight is the color of blood."
"Let's hope it shows us some stars tonight and some moons."
Chapter
FOUR
"I simply can't believe this weather," Heather Stuart said, and Ewen, stepping to the door of the tent,
jeered gently, "What price your blizzard warnings now?"
"I'm glad to be wrong," Heather said firmly, "Rafe and Camilla need it, on the mountain." An expression of disquiet passed over her face. "I'm not so sure I was wrong, though, there's something about this weather that scares me a little. It seems all wrong for this planet somehow."
Ewen chuckled. "Still defending the honor of your old Highland granny and her second-sight?"
Heather did not smile. "I never believed in second sight. Not even in the Highlands. But now I'm not
so sure. How is Marco?"
"Not much change, although Judy did manage to get him to swallow a little broth. He seems a little
better, although his pulse is still awfully uneven. Where is Judy, by the way?"
"She went into the woods with MacLeod. I made her promise not to go out of sight of the clearing, though." A sound inside of the tent drew them both back; for the first time in three days, something other than inarticulate moans from Zabal. Inside he was moving, struggling to
47
sit up. He muttered, in a hoarse astonished voice, "Que pasõ O Dio, mi duele--duele tanto--"
Ewen bent over him, saying gently, "It's all right, Marco, you're here, we're with you. Are you in
pain?"
He muttered something in Spanish: Ewen looked blankly up at Heather, who shook her head. "Idon't speak it; Camilla does, but I only know a few words." But before she could muster any of them, Zabal muttered, "Pain? You'd better believe! What were those things? How long--where's Rafe?"
Ewen checked the man's heart-rate before he spoke. He said, "Don't try to sit up; I'll put a pillow
Page 35
behind your head. You've been very ill; we thought you weren't going
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