Theodore Sturgeon - More Than Human

A deep excitement began to grow within him. She’d said ‘Go back,’ and he had said no, it takes too long. How long for this step, this rediscovery of the cave and its treasures?

He glanced at the window. It couldn’t have been more than thirty minutes—forty at the outside. Yes, and while he was all messed up, exhausted, angry, guilty, hurt. Suppose he tried this going-back business head-on, rested, fed, with all his wits about him, with—with Janie to help?

He ran to the door, threw it open, bounded across the hall, shoved the opposite door open. ‘Janie, listen,’ he said, wildly excited. ‘Oh, Janie—‘ and his voice was cut off in a sharp gasp. He skidded to a stop six feet into the room, his feet scurrying and slipping, trying to get him back out into the hall again, shut the door. ‘I beg your—excuse me ’ he bleated out of the shock which filled him. His back struck the door, slammed it; he turned hysterically, pawed it open, and dove outside. God, he thought, I wish she’d told me! He stumbled across the hall to his own room, feeling like a gong which had just been struck. He closed and locked his door and leaned against it. Somewhere he found a creaky burst of embarrassed laughter which helped. He half turned to look at the panels of his locked door, drawn to them against his will. He tried to prevent his mind’s eye from going back across the hall and through the other door; he failed; he saw the picture of it again, vividly, and again he laughed, hot-faced and uncomfortable. ‘She should’ve told me,’ he muttered.

His bit of tubing caught his eye and he picked it up and sat down in the big chair. It drove the embarrassing moment away; brought back the greater urgency. He had to see Janie. Talk with her. Maybe it was crazy but she’d know: maybe they could do the going-back thing fast, really fast, so fast that he could go find that half-wit today after all. Ah… it was probably hopeless; but Janie, Janie’d know. Wait then. She’d come when she was ready; she had to.

He lay back, shoved his feet as far out as they would go, tilted his head back until the back of the chair snugged into the nape of his neck. Fatigue drifted and grew within him like a fragrant smoke, clouding his eyes and filling his nostrils.

His hands went limp, his eyes closed. Once he laughed, a small foolish snicker; but the picture didn’t come clear enough or stay long enough to divert him from his deep healthy plunge into sleep.

Bup-bup-bup-bup-bup-bup-bup-bup.

(Fifties, he thought, way off in the hills. Lifelong ambition of every red-blooded boy: get a machine gun and make like a garden hose with it.)

Wham-wham-wham-wham!

(Oerlikons! Where’d they dredge those things up from? Is this an ack-ack station or is it a museum?)

‘Hip! Hip Barrows!’

(For Pete’s sake, when is that corporal going to learn to say ‘ Lieutenant’? Not that I give a whistle, one way or another, but one of these days he’ll do it in front of some teen-age Air Force Colonel and get us both bounced for it.)

Wham! Wham! ‘Oh… Hip!’

He sat up palming his eyes, and the guns were knuckles on a door and the corporal was Janie, calling somewhere, and the anti-aircraft base shattered and misted and blew away to the dream factory.

‘Hip!’

‘Come on,’ he croaked. ‘Come on in.’

‘It’s locked.’

He grunted and got numbly to his feet. Sunlight poured in through the curtains. He reeled to the door and opened it. His eyes wouldn’t track and his teeth felt like a row of cigar butts.

‘Oh, Hip!’

Over her shoulder he saw the other door and he remembered. He drew her inside and shut his door. ‘Listen, I’m awful sorry about what happened. I feel like a damn fool.’

‘Hip—don’t,’ she said softly.’ It doesn’t matter, you know that. Are you all right?’

‘A little churned up,’ he admitted and was annoyed by the reappearance of his embarrassed laugh. ‘Wait till I put some cold water on my face and wake up some.’ From the bathroom he called, ‘Where you been?’

‘Walking. I had to think. Then… I waited outside. I was afraid you might—you know. I wanted to follow you, be with you. I thought I might help… You really are all right?

‘Oh sure. And I’m not going anywhere without talking to you first. But about the other thing—I hope she ’ s all right.’

‘What?’

‘I guess she got a worse shock than I did. I wish you’d told me you had somebody in there with you. I wouldn’t’ve barged—‘

‘Hip, what are you talking about? What happened?’

‘Oh!’ he said. ‘Omigosh. You came straight here—you haven’t been in your room yet.’

‘No. What on earth are you—’

He said, actually blushing, ‘I wish she’d told you about it rather than me. Well, I suddenly had to see you, but bad. So I steamed across the hall and charged in, never dreaming there would be anyone but you there, and here I am halfway across the room before I could even stop, and there stood this friend of yours.’

‘Who? Hip, for heaven’s sake—’

‘The woman. Had to be someone you know, Janie. Burglars aren’t likely to prance around naked.’

Janie put a slow hand up to her mouth.

‘A coloured woman. Girl. Young.’

‘Did she… what did she…’

‘I don’t know what she did. I didn’t get but a flash glimpse of her—if that’s any comfort to her. I hightailed right out of there. Aw, Janie, I’m sorry. I know it’s sort of embarrassing, but it can’t be that bad. Janie!’ he cried in alarm.

‘He’s found us… We’ve got to get out of here,’ she whispered. Her lips were nearly white; she was shaking. ‘Come on, oh, come on! ’

‘Now wait! Janie, I got to talk to you. I—‘

She whirled on him like a fighting animal. She spoke with such intensity that her words blurred. ‘Don’t talk! Don’t ask me. I can’t tell you; you wouldn’t understand. Just get out of here, get away.’ With astonishing power her hand closed on his arm and pulled. He took two running steps or he would have been flat on the floor. She was at the door, opening it, as he took the second step, and she took the slack of his shirt in her free hand, pulled him through, pushed him down the hall towards the outer exit. He caught himself against the doorpost; surprise and anger exploded together within him and built an instant of mighty stubbornness. No single word she might have uttered could have moved him; braced and on guard as he was, not even her unexpected strength could have done anything but cause him to strike back. But she said nothing nor did she touch him; she ran past, white and whimpering in terror, and bounded down the steps outside.

He did the only thing his body would do, without analysis or conscious decision. He found himself outside, running a little behind her. ‘Janie…’

‘Taxi!’ she screamed.

The cab had barely begun to slow down when she had the door open. Hip fell in after her. ‘Go on,’ said Janie to the driver and knelt on the seat to peer through the rear window.

‘Go where?’ gasped the driver.

‘Just go. Hurry.’

Hip joined her at the window. All he could see was the dwindling house front, one or two gaping pedestrians.’ What was it? What happened?’

She simply shook her head.

‘What was it?’ he insisted. ‘The place going to explode or something?’

Again she shook her head. She turned away from the window and cowered into the corner. Her white teeth scraped and scraped at the back of her hand. He reached out and gently put it down. She let him.

Twice more he spoke to her, but she would not answer except to acknowledge it, and that only by turning her face slightly away from him each time. He subsided at last, sat back and watched her.