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The curtain gathering above the surface of the water did not hamper the swimmers beneath its surface, and Ross felt relief. He turned his head to speak to Loketh. "How near are we?" The mist had thickened to the point that, close as the native was, the lines of his body blurred. His clicking answer seemed distorted, too, almost as if the fog had altered not only his form but his personality.
Unless maybe the shaking his body had received during the past few moments had sharpened his thinking unless the Foanna had their own means of protection at the sea gate and this was the result. The dolphins.... What had made Tino-rau and Taua react as they did? And if the Rover ship was out of control, it would be a good time to attempt escape. "Loketh!" Ross dared to call louder. "Loketh!"
Then Karara drew a gagged breath which was a gasp of horror. "Sacrifice! Ross, he must mean they are going to use Gordon for a sacrifice." Ross stiffened and then whirled to catch Loketh by the shoulders. The inability to question the native directly was an added disaster now. "Where are they taking him? Where?" He began that fiercely, and then forced control on himself.
His eyes, grave and measuring, studied Ross, then Karara, then Ross again. "There is a way ... discovered by this useless one." Ross did not pay attention to the odd adjective Loketh chose to describe himself. He pressed to the important matter. "Can and will he show me that way?" Again that long moment of appraisal on the part of Loketh before he answered.
You have a magic which is not our magic, since the Stone of Phutka did not reveal it on you. Are you from the Shades?" His fingers moved in the same sign Loketh had once made before Karara. Ross gave his chosen explanation. "I am from the sea, Captain. As for the Foanna, they are no friend to me, since they hold captive in their keep one who is my brother-kin." Torgul stared him up and down.
His gamble had paid off; by the present signs he had won his freedom. "And my swordsman?" As he buckled on the belt Ross nodded at Loketh still lying bound where they had pushed him at the beginning of the fight. "He is sworn to you?" Torgul asked. "He is." "Loose the coast rat then," the Rover ordered. "Now tell me, stranger, what manner of man are you? Do you come from the Foanna, after all?
The hold which had been on his wrist shifted to his shoulder, and with a surprising strength Loketh hauled the Terran to his feet. The passage in which they stood was a slit extending in height well above their heads, but narrow, not much wider than Ross's shoulders. Whether it was a natural fault or had been cut he could not tell.
The lean Hawaikan arms, the thin Hawaikan face, drawn of feature, painfully blank of expression Loketh under the same dread spell as had held the warriors in the citadel courtyard. Could the aliens be using this Hawaikan captive as a defense shield, moving up behind him? Loketh's head turned, those blank eyes regarded Ross. And their depths were troubled, recognition of a sort returning.
There were symbol lines on the vista-plate in accordance, and some of them made sense! Ross was elated. "Ask him: Can one enter the castle unseen to check on the slaves?" "For what reason?" Ross was sure he had read those symbols correctly. "Tell him that one of our kind may be among them." Loketh did not reply so quickly this time.
"Your paddles " Ross schooled his voice to a whisper, "hold them don't use them. Let the dolphins take us on. In the fog, if we make no sound, we may get by the ships." "Right!" Karara agreed, and he heard an assenting grunt from Loketh. They were moving very slowly. Strong as the dolphins were, they dared not expend all their strength on towing the skiff too fast. Ross thought furiously.
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