Read Online The Caterpillar's Question by Piers Anthony and Philip José Farmer - Free Book Online
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rows.
"What the hell!"
He seemed to have been saying that a lot lately.
Only a baby's fingers could have pushed one button without pushing another next to it. He said, "We got something here, Tappy. Just what I don't know."
He took one of the pencils from the leather holder in his jacket pocket. Holding the pencil in his right hand, he gripped the brace in the middle, and he pointed one end at a nearby tree but away from his body. He made sure that the other end did not point at Tappy.
"Maybe I shouldn't," he said. "Do I know what I'm doing? No. But I'll do it, anyway."
Using the eraser end of the pencil, he pressed on the larger, scarlet button. Nothing happened. Had he really thought that it would?
He paused to tell Tappy what he was doing. She looked surprised but not as much as he had expected.
He said, "It can't be a weapon, Tappy. It'd be too awkward to use as such, unless..."
Perhaps it was a weapon, but the designer had been forced to camouflage it as a leg brace and, hence, could not avoid cumbersomeness in its handling.
He placed the pencil end on one of the orange buttons nearest to the scarlet button.
The tree the brace was aimed at split soundlessly, though the crash of the upper part on the ground certainly was noisy enough.
The tree had been neatly sheared off.
Shouts filtered through the forest, human voices. The blaring of honkers also came through. He paid them no attention.
Where the upper part of the tree had been, extending from the stump, was a shadowy but clearly visible replica of the part that had fallen off. It was the ghost of the sheared-off part.
Chapter 3
Tappy's touch on his arm jogged him back to their immediate predicament. The sounds of pursuit, if that was what they were, were drawing erratically closer. Jack did not know what was going on, but he was pretty sure they did not want to fall into the hands of whatever might be after them. Tappy's urgency indicated that she felt the same.
But the great ring of the base of the ship surrounded them. The thing had come down on them like a monstrous cage-- which was what it probably was. Somehow it had known where they were, approximately, and enclosed them so that its personnel could canvass the limited region and make them captive. Exactly as he would have done to capture a moving bug he did not want to squish: set a jar over it first.
So how could the bug get free before the end? Tunnel under the rim of the jar? Fly up into the center? Surely not!
He looked again at the brace in his hand. The scarlet button was faintly glowing; he had not noticed that before. That could be the on/off switch-- and the device was still on. Ready to fire again.
That notion made him freeze. He pointed it upward and used his pencil to touch the largest button again.
The glow faded. Right: now it was off. He resumed breathing.
Tappy was tugging at his arm again. He looked the way she was facing. "But that's toward the rim!" he protested, keeping his voice low. "You haven't seen it, but take my word: that thing is two hundred feet thick! No way we can get by it without mountain-climbing gear. We'd be better off dodging them in the center, and using this thing if we have to. It just sheared off a tree!"
She knew; she had heard the tree crash down. She pointed toward the rim and touched the brace he held.
"Wait, wait, Tappy!" he protested. "I guess you know what this thing is-- did you always know?" She shook her head no. "You remember now? Our entry into this world jogged your memory?" She nodded yes. "So now you know how to control it? You know how dangerous it is?" Yes.
"Then you will have to show me," he said. "This thing is so powerful I don't dare use it ignorantly. It was just luck I didn't have it pointing toward one of us instead of that tree!"
He got down and scraped the leaves and twigs away from a section of the ground. "Here's a diagram of the buttons on this thing," he said, taking her hand and using her
"What the hell!"
He seemed to have been saying that a lot lately.
Only a baby's fingers could have pushed one button without pushing another next to it. He said, "We got something here, Tappy. Just what I don't know."
He took one of the pencils from the leather holder in his jacket pocket. Holding the pencil in his right hand, he gripped the brace in the middle, and he pointed one end at a nearby tree but away from his body. He made sure that the other end did not point at Tappy.
"Maybe I shouldn't," he said. "Do I know what I'm doing? No. But I'll do it, anyway."
Using the eraser end of the pencil, he pressed on the larger, scarlet button. Nothing happened. Had he really thought that it would?
He paused to tell Tappy what he was doing. She looked surprised but not as much as he had expected.
He said, "It can't be a weapon, Tappy. It'd be too awkward to use as such, unless..."
Perhaps it was a weapon, but the designer had been forced to camouflage it as a leg brace and, hence, could not avoid cumbersomeness in its handling.
He placed the pencil end on one of the orange buttons nearest to the scarlet button.
The tree the brace was aimed at split soundlessly, though the crash of the upper part on the ground certainly was noisy enough.
The tree had been neatly sheared off.
Shouts filtered through the forest, human voices. The blaring of honkers also came through. He paid them no attention.
Where the upper part of the tree had been, extending from the stump, was a shadowy but clearly visible replica of the part that had fallen off. It was the ghost of the sheared-off part.
Chapter 3
Tappy's touch on his arm jogged him back to their immediate predicament. The sounds of pursuit, if that was what they were, were drawing erratically closer. Jack did not know what was going on, but he was pretty sure they did not want to fall into the hands of whatever might be after them. Tappy's urgency indicated that she felt the same.
But the great ring of the base of the ship surrounded them. The thing had come down on them like a monstrous cage-- which was what it probably was. Somehow it had known where they were, approximately, and enclosed them so that its personnel could canvass the limited region and make them captive. Exactly as he would have done to capture a moving bug he did not want to squish: set a jar over it first.
So how could the bug get free before the end? Tunnel under the rim of the jar? Fly up into the center? Surely not!
He looked again at the brace in his hand. The scarlet button was faintly glowing; he had not noticed that before. That could be the on/off switch-- and the device was still on. Ready to fire again.
That notion made him freeze. He pointed it upward and used his pencil to touch the largest button again.
The glow faded. Right: now it was off. He resumed breathing.
Tappy was tugging at his arm again. He looked the way she was facing. "But that's toward the rim!" he protested, keeping his voice low. "You haven't seen it, but take my word: that thing is two hundred feet thick! No way we can get by it without mountain-climbing gear. We'd be better off dodging them in the center, and using this thing if we have to. It just sheared off a tree!"
She knew; she had heard the tree crash down. She pointed toward the rim and touched the brace he held.
"Wait, wait, Tappy!" he protested. "I guess you know what this thing is-- did you always know?" She shook her head no. "You remember now? Our entry into this world jogged your memory?" She nodded yes. "So now you know how to control it? You know how dangerous it is?" Yes.
"Then you will have to show me," he said. "This thing is so powerful I don't dare use it ignorantly. It was just luck I didn't have it pointing toward one of us instead of that tree!"
He got down and scraped the leaves and twigs away from a section of the ground. "Here's a diagram of the buttons on this thing," he said, taking her hand and using her
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