Edmund Cooper: A Far Sunset

Suddenly, he realized that he had stopped talking and that Ann had opened her eyes and was looking at him.

‘Yes, I think you’re right,’ she said faindy, ‘It’s been worthwhile … I—I’m not sure I’ve got it all clearly in my head— my min d isn’t working too well. But if the part about the Aru Re means what I think, you’ve made the most wonderful discovery in all the ages … Oh, Paul… I’m so—so …’ her voice trailed away.

There were tears running down his face. ‘But I’ve got no one to tell it to,’ he burst out desperately, ‘no one, but ’ he stopped.

‘But a dying woman?’ Ann smiled. ‘Stay alive, Paul. Just stay alive … I’m afraid you’ve got the harder job.’

He bent and kissed her forehead. Great beads of sweat were forming on it. But the flesh was sadly cold.

‘I wish—oh, God, I wish I knew what happened to the others!’

If Ann had survived—at least until his stupid Galahad act —why could not some of the others have survived? If he could find them, no matter what happened afterwards, at least he would have human company. No! That was a bloody silly thing to think. He already had Zu Shan, Nemo, Shon Hu. All good, very good, human company. But still alien. Human but alien. Strangers on the farther shore…

‘You have accounted for three,’ said Ann in a weak voice. ‘I’m … so—so sorry, Paul. But I can account for the rest … It was on that very first night after we left the Gloria Mundi She laughed faintly, but the laughter degenerated into a fit of coughing that hurt her badly; and it was some time before she could continue. ‘You remember we went to look for the Swedish, French and Dutch pairs … It was a long time before I found what happened to them, but I’ll tell you about that in a minute … Oh, God, Paul! We were so sure of ourselves—so clever! We were scientists. We had weapons. We had intelligence. The only thing we didn’t have was the thing we really needed—forest lore … We were so confident—such easy game … The three of us walked straight into a hunting party of these forest people—they call themselves the Lokh. We didn’t even fire a shot. They had us stripped of everything—all that lovely equipment just tossed away by savages—and trussed like turkeys in a matter of seconds … The Italian girl wouldn’t stop screaming, so they killed her … They weren’t being brutal. It was just their idea of self-preservation. They didn’t want to attract our friends, if any, or dangerous animals … Lisa—you remember Lisa?—she was very calm. But for her, I’d have probably gone the same way as Franca. But she made me keep still and quiet—no matter what they did to us … They weren’t cruel, just inquisitive … We must have really baffled them … Anyway, they took us back to the village. They kept us prisoners for a while. Then we began to pick up some of the language. We tried to explain to them how we had come to Altair Five. But it was no use. They just refused to believe it … After a time, they let us have our freedom—more or less. After all, there was nowhere to go. We just didn’t have enough strength or knowledge … Poor Lisa. She poisoned herself … She just went round eating every damn fruit, flower or root she could find until she got something that did the trick. The Lokh didn’t know what she was up to. They thought it was very funny. She was the joke of the village … As for me, it seems ridiculous now, but I still found life very dear. So I just tried to make myself useful about the place … I began playing doctor—treating wounds, setting bones, that sort of thing … I think they got to like me … And that’s how it was until you came. The days just ran into one another. And there wasn’t any past, and there wasn’t any future. At one time, I thought I was going mad … But I wasn’t… And that’s all… And now it’s ending like this.’ She smiled. ‘Finagle’s Second Law—remember?’

Paul lifted her hand and kissed it. ‘Oh, my love. My poor love.’

‘Oh, yes, I was going to tell you about the others,’ she said. ‘The Stone Age got them. Isn’t that a joke? They had enough fire power to destroy an army, and the Stone Age got them.’

He looked at her, puzzled.

‘I’m sorry,’ murmured Ann. ‘I’m not being very coherent … There are some pretty dreadful beasts in the forest, and the Lokh protect their village by digging a ring of camouflaged pits around it. The camouflage is very good. I’ve nearly fallen into the damn things, myself … They have these pits, with sharpened stakes sticking up in them, in various parts of the forest. Every now and then they go out to inspect them and see what they have caught… They took me out to one of the pits one day. There was some plastic armour, sweeper rifles, transceivers and—and six skeletons at the bottom … The twenty-

first century defeated by the Stone Age … The Lokh thought they were being kind showing me what had happened to my companions … That was when I thought I might go mad.’

‘Ann,’ he said, gently wiping the sweat from her forehead and feeling the terrible coldness again. I’m a fool—an absolute fool. I shouldn’t have let you talk. Please, please rest now.’

‘Sooner than you think,’ she murmured. ‘Much … sooner than you think… Don’t reproach yourself, my dear.’ Her eyes were half-closed, and there was a faint smile on her lips. ‘It was worth it to see … my husband … again … Caxton Hall, ten-thirty … A red rose .. You looked rather sweet—and a bit frightened.’

She began to cough, and this time there was some blood. The paroxysm exhausted her, but there didn’t seem to be pain any more.

‘Not long now,’ she said thickly. ‘I didn’t expect to see it up top so soon … The blood … Hold me, Paul. Hold me … It’s such a lonely business … Afterwards, the river … It’s so lovely to think of everything being washed away … Washed clean.’

He lifted her body and held it close against him, stroking her hair—the soft white hair—mechanically, while the tears trickled down his face and mingled with the cold sweat on hers.

‘My dear, my love,’ he sobbed desperately. ‘You’re not going to die. I’m not going to let you go … I’m not going to let you … I must think. God, I must think … A dressing— that’s it. A decent dressing. Then when we get to Baya Nor I’ll’ he stopped.

There had been no sound, no sigh. No anything. She just hung slackly in his arms. He was talking to a dead woman.

For some time, he sat there motionless, holding her. Not thin king. Not seeing.

Presendy, he was aware of Shon Hu’s arm on his shoulder.

‘Lord,’ said the Bayani gendy, ‘she travels to the bosom of Oruri. Let her go in peace.’

Presendy, they made a shroud of skins for her, and weighted it with stones.

Presently, as she had wished, Ann Victoria Marlowe, nee Watkins, native of Earth, slipped back into a dark and cleansing river on the far side of the sky.

Paul Marlowe stared down at the sodden ashes of what had once been his home, and felt nothing but a great emptiness inside him. It was like a cold black void that mysteriously seemed to swell without exerting either pressure or pain. Too much had happened in the last few days, he supposed, for him to feel anything now. Later, no doubt, the numbness would go away and he would be able to assimilate this final tragedy. He wondered, curiously and clinically, if the feeling would be deep enough to move him to tears.

The journey back along the Watering of Oruri and then the Canal of Life had been accomplished safely without any further interference from man or beast—at least, he supposed it had. For after Ann’s death, he had been too traumatized to pay much attention to what was going on. He had sat calmly on the barge, staring at and through the impenetrable green walls of the forest, while day merged into night and night merged into day once more. Shon Hu had taken command of the party, deciding when to rest and where to make camp, and Paul had been as obedient and docile as a child.