But Dane wished they were clear
on the mountain side again.
Time had little meaning in that green gloom. But when they worked
through to meet rock walls again, the sun said it was well into the
after part of the day. They sheltered for a breather under the drooping
limbs of one of the last trees.
"Amazing!" Jellico, his torn arm in a sling across his chest, came
down-slope from the higher point where he had been using the distance
lenses. "We struck straight across and cut off about ten miles by that
jungle jog. Now I believe all that I've heard of your people's ability
to cross wilderness and not lose their built in 'riding beams,' sir.
With the compasses out, I'll admit I've been nourishing a healthy set of
doubts."
Asaki laughed. "Captain, I do not question your ability to flit from
world to world, or how you have learned to set up trade with strange
humans and non-humans alike. To each his own mystery. On Khatka every
boy before he becomes a man must learn to navigate the jungle, and with
no instruments to help him, only what lies in here." He touched his
thumb to his forehead.
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