Travis, one against the red earth, as he a screen of tall rust-brown with to look out into a where most of the landscape. His with persistence, the pain in some way by his own bewilderment. To study the land ahead was like trying to see through one picture over another and different one. He what ought to be there, but what was him was very dissimilar.
A buff-gray shape through the tall grass, and Travis tensed. Mba'a—coyote? Or were these of his actually ga-n, who choose their shape at will and had, oddly, this time the of man's enemy? Were they ndendai—enemies—or dalaanbiyat'i, allies? In this world he did not know.
Ei'dik'e? His mind a word he did not speak: Friend?
Yellow met his directly. Dimly he had been aware, since in this with the of light, that the four-footed ones with him as he walked had traits. Not only did they him eye-to-eye, but in some they appeared able to read his thoughts.
He had for water to the in his throat, the ever-present pain in his head, and the had him in another direction, him to a where he had mouthed liquid with a sweet, but not taste.
Now he had them names, names which had come out of the of which his across this country.
Nalik'ideyu (Maiden-Who-Walks-Ridges) was the female who to him along, too from his side. Naginlta (He-Who-Scouts-Ahead) was the male who did just that, at long and then returning to the man and his as if some report necessary to their journey.
It was Nalik'ideyu who out Travis now, her red from her mouth as she panted. Not from exertion, he was of that. No, she was and ... on the hunt! That was it—a hunt!
Travis' own ran across his as an him with force. There was meat—rich, fresh—just ahead. Meat that lived, waiting to be killed. Inside him his own roused, him out of the dream.
His hands to his waist, but the did not what memory told him should be there—a belt, with knife in sheath.
He his own with attention to he was by of a smooth, material which well with the about him. He a shirt, in at the narrow by a of cloth, the ends of which free. On his were tall moccasins, the leg pieces some up his calves, the up in points.
Some of this he familiar, but these were of memory; again his mind one picture above another. One thing he did know for sure—he had no weapons. And that home with a of and terrible which away more of the his mind.
Nalik'ideyu was impatient. Having a step or two, she now looked at him over her shoulder, yellow slitted, her on him as and as if she had words. Meat was waiting, and she was hungry. Also she Travis to in the hunt—at once.
Though he not match her in moving through the grass, Travis her, to cover. He his vigorously, in of the of pain the motion cost him, and paid more attention to his surroundings. It was that the earth under him, the around, the of the haze, were all real, not part of a dream. Therefore that other which he in a fashion was a hallucination.
Even the air which he into his and again, had a smell, or was it taste? He not be sure which. He that hypno-training produce effects, but ... this....
Travis paused, him at the still from the coyote's passage. Hypno-training! What was that? Now three pictures to focus in his mind: the two which did not match and a third. He his again, his hands to his temples. This—this only was real: the ground, the grass, the valley, the in him, the waiting....
He himself to on the present and the of world he see, feel, scent, which here and now about him.
The as he in Nalik'ideyu's wake. But the was not thinning. It to in patches, and when he through the of a it was like through a of golden, dancing with here and there a and like a thing. Masked by the stuff, Travis a line of and sniffed.
It was a warm scent, a odor he not identify and yet one he with a creature. Flat to earth, he pushed and under the low of the to look ahead.
Here was a space where the did not hold, a pocket of earth clear under the sun. And there were three animals. Again a of Travis' brain.
They were about the size, he thought, of antelopes, and they had a to those in that they had four legs, a body, and a head. But they had features, so as to him in open-mouthed amazement.
The had here and there, and of creamy—fur? Or was it which in strips, as if the had been in a careless fashion? The necks were long and moved about in a motion, as though their were as as reptiles'. On the end of those long and necks were which also appeared more to another species—broad, flat, with a look—but with set the nose, which in a single and then into two points.
They were unearthly! Again Travis blinked, his hand up to his as he to view the browsers. There were three of them: two larger and with horns, the other a smaller with less of the and only the of a on the nose; it was a calf.
One of those from the his absorption. Nalik'ideyu was not in the odd of the creatures; she was upon their usefulness in another way—as a full and satisfying meal—and she was again with him for his response.
His took a more practical turn. An antelope's defense was speed, though it be into range through its curiosity. The of these a like of speed, and Travis had no at all.
Those nose had an look; this thing might be a than a runner. But the which had from to him had taken root. Travis was hungry, he was a hunter, and here was meat on the hoof, as it looked.
Again he a message. Naginlta was on the opposite of the clearing. If the on speed, then Travis they not only him but the as well—which left and some of plan.
Travis at the where he Nalik'ideyu and from which had come that of agreement. He shivered. These were no animals, but ga-n, ga-n of power! And as ga-n he must them, to their will. Spurred by that, the Apache gave only of attention to the while at the same time he the part of the by mist.
Without or speed, they must a trap. Again Travis that agreement which was ga-n magic, and with it the him to the right. He was making progress with skill he did not and which he had been of learning.
The and small, droop-limbed trees, their not with from proper but with a directly from their surfaces, a for the pocket-sized meadow. That screen a where the in a long through a twice Travis' height. If the be into taking the path through that cleft....
Travis about him, and his hands closed upon the of his species, a from an earth pocket and in the of his hand. It was a long but his best one.
The Apache took the step on a new and road. These ga-n had put their thoughts—or their desires—into his mind. Could he so them in return?
With the in his fist, his against the not too from the opening, Travis to think out, and simply, this plan of his. He did not know that he was the way scientists space away had he might. Nor did Travis that at this point he had already the of the men who had and the two coyotes. He only that this might be the one way he the of the two he more powerful than any man. So he pictured in his mind the cleft, the creatures, and the part the ga-n play if they so willed.
Assent—in its way as loud and clear as if shouted. The man the stone, it. There would be just one moment when he use it to effect, and he must be ready.
From this point he no longer see the small where the were. But Travis knew, as well as if he the scene, that the were in, to earth, adding a and patience to their own cunning.
There! Travis' jerked, the had come, the drive was beginning. He tensed, his stone.
A was answered by a he not describe, a noise which was neither but a of both. Again a yap-yap....
A toad-head through the screen of brush, the on its nose with a length of up by the roots. Wide eyes—milky and to be without pupils—fastened on Travis, but he not be sure the thing saw him, for it on, up speed as it approached the cleft. Behind it ran the calf, and that was from its lips.
The long of the adult writhed, the frog-head closer to the ground so that the points of the were at a slant—aimed now at Travis. He had been right in his at their deadliness, but he had only a to that as the thing down, its whole the of him.
He his and then his to one side, and into the where he to his feet, at any moment to and horns. There was a crash to his right, and the and were shaken.
On his hands and the Apache retreated, his to watch him. He saw the of a flap-tail in the mouth of the cleft. The had escaped. And now the in the stilled.
Was the thing him? He got to his feet, for the time the yapping, as if a was in progress. Then the second of the adult came into view, and turning, trying to keep with always pointed to the dancing a teasing, circle about it.
One of the up its head, looked upslope, and barked. Then, as one, the beast, but for the time from the same side, it a clear path to retreat. It a which they easily, and then it with a speed and grace, which did not fit its ungainly, ill-proportioned body, and jumped toward the cleft, the making no to its escape.
Travis came out of cover, the which had the crash of the other animal. The of the had him that there was no now; they would have allowed the of their had the not been in difficulties.
His with the stone, the Apache as he moments later the body, must have the thing in the head, it. Then the of its had it full against the to kill it. Blind luck—or the power of the ga-n? He as the came up to to the kill. It was more theirs than his.
Their not only food but a for Travis. Instead of the knife he had having, he was now with two. The had been easy to free from the skull, and some work with had off one at just the he wanted. So now he had a and a longer tool, defense. At least they were than the with which he had entered the hunt.
Nalik'ideyu pushed past him to at the water. Then she sat up on her haunches, Travis as he the with a stone.
"A knife," he said to her, "this will be a knife. And—" he up, the value of the by trees and bushes—"then a bow. With a we shall better."
The yawned, her yellow closed, her whole one of and contentment.
"A knife," Travis repeated, "and a bow." He needed weapons; he had to have them!
Why? His hand stopped scraping. Why? The toad-faced had been quick to attack, but Travis have it, and it had not him first. Why was he by this that he must not be unarmed?
He his hand into the of the and the water to his face. The moved, around in the grass, the into a in which she up, on paws. But Travis sat on his heels, his now hands his knees, and himself to the of out memories.
This was wrong—totally what it should be—but it was real. He had helped kill this creature. He had its meat, raw. Its touch now. All that was and unchangeable. Which meant that the of it, that other world in which he had with his kind, horses, men of another race, that was not real—or else far, from where he now sat.
Yet there had been no line those two worlds. One moment he had been in the place, returning from a successful against the Mexicans. Mexicans! Travis at that identification, to use it as a to closer to the of his mystery.
Mexicans.... And he was an Apache, one of the Eagle people, one who with Cochise. No!
Sweat again his where the water had it. He was not of that past. He was Travis Fox, of the very late century, not a of the middle nineteenth! He was of Team A of the project!
The Arizona and then this! From one to the other in an instant. He looked about him in fear. Wait! He had been in the dark when he got out of the desert, in a box. Getting out, he had a passage to moonlight, moonlight.
A box in which he had lain, a passage with walls, and an world at the end of it.
The coyote's ears twitched, her came up, she was at the man's face, at his with their of fear. She whined.
Travis up the two pieces of horn, them into his belt, and got to his feet. Nalik'ideyu sat up, her a little to one side. As the man to his own she along in his wake and for Naginlta. But Travis was more now on what he must prove to himself than he was on the of the two animals.
It was a trail, and now he did not question his skill in being able to it so unerringly. The sun was hot. Winged from the bushes, small from him through the tall grass. Once Naginlta a which them all to a detour, and Travis might not have up the proper again had not the him to it.
"Who are you?" he asked once, and then it would have been said, "What are you?" These were not animals, or they were more than the animals he had always known. And one part of him, the part which the where Cochise had ruled, said they were spirits. Yet that other part of him.... Travis his head, them now for what they were—welcome company in an place.
The day on close to sunset, and still Travis that trail. The need which him him going through the country of and ravines. Now the above of very near him, yet not the of his memory. These were brown, with a look, like sun-dried teeth in against all comers.
With great difficulty, Travis a rise. Ahead against the coyotes. And, as the man joined them, one and then the other its and the sobbing, which had been a part of that other life.
The Apache looked down. His puzzle was answered in part. The on the was identifiable—a spaceship! Cold him and his own back; from his tight came a as and as the one the animals had voiced.
