Uhura slammed her hands against the blank, unmoving mass of rock. Tears streamed down her cheeks. "Mr. Spock!" she said, and he knew from her voice that she asked a miracle of him. Jinx beat at the stone with the end of her spear.
"What do we do now, sair?" Too exhausted to demand more, Chekov asked only for orders.
"We shall be forced to go around, Mr. Chekov," he said, although it was stating the obvious. He knew from experience that his unwillingness to mourn their situation invited their anger but he had no time to invest in their morale. He scanned the obstruction for the shortest, easiest way around, then he turned to inquire of Jinx-
Teeth bared, ears laid back, Jinx stood poised to strike him, but Uhura clung to her upraised arm, forcing it down. It was clear that Jinx had no wish to hurt Uhura but, to Spock's surprise, Uhura slapped Jinx sharply across the side of the jaw. Equally surprised, Jinx blinked at her. "He doesn't care!" Jinx wailed; this seemed to be an explanation.
"He does!" Uhura said. "The captain is his friend! He hurts, Jinx, as much as we do!"
"He doesn't-"
"He can't show it," Uhura said. "He's trying to find a way we can help. You're delaying us, Jinx!" At that, Jinx lowered her arm. Uhura released her hold and, panting from their efforts, the two of them stared at each other for a long moment.
At last, still bristling, Jinx pointed and said, "That way, Mr. Spock, if we go that way, we can get around it."
Spock nodded. "Mr. Chekov," he said, "are you able to continue?"
Chekov was slumped back against the rock. Gasping for breath, he nodded without wasting any on words.
"Jinx, will you please assist Mr. Chekov?" Jinx gave Spock a last glare, lashed her tail, then went to Chekov. The moment she reached his side, her manner changed: her fur smoothed, her tail stilled. Spock thought, How like Dr. McCoy- all other considerations fade when a patient needs his help.
Jinx got Chekov to his feet but, once steadied, he waved her away and staggered on without her help. Spock in the lead, they set off along the route that Jinx had indicated, over and around the obstructing rock. Jinx, keeping a close watch on Chekov, brought up the rear.
Uhura climbed with Spock. Together they tried to smooth the way for Chekov. As they pushed on, Spock said to Uhura quietly, "Thank you for your assistance, Lieutenant. Such a blow, even from a smaller Sivaoan, might have been fatal."
Lieutenant Uhura smiled slightly. "I'm rather glad she attempted it, sir. If she hadn't, I probably would have. And no one would have stopped me." She smiled again. "You needn't worry about being struck from behind. What I said convinced me as well as Jinx."
"That is hardly logical, Lieutenant...nor were your arguments."
"We agreed that I wasn't, remember?" Then she added, "But, Mr. Spock, I do know how you feel about the captain. I feel the same." He nodded; that was all he could do to confirm her assessment. It seemed to be enough. "We'll find him," she said, as if to reassure him. "We'll find them all. We must."
"Mr. Spock!" Jinx called from behind. "I smell slashbacks! We must find a place of safety for Mr. Chekov!"
Spock turned, saw that Chekov had fallen. Jinx struggled to pull him to his feet. Showering loose rock, Spock scrambled his way back to the two. Without a word, he reached down, caught Chekov around the waist and pulled him up- ignoring the mental charge of the contact. "Find us a place of safety, Jinx," he said.
Jinx led them upward. Nose wrinkled, she kept a constant check on the air, trying to pinpoint the slashbacks. They continued to climb. The pitch of the slope softened, and Spock was able to carry Chekov, speeding their ascent. Spears held ready, Uhura and Jinx stayed close, one on either side when the terrain permitted.
"No time," said Jinx suddenly. She pointed to a rift in the rock. "Put Mr. Chekov in there." Spock followed her instructions.
Chekov, barely conscious now, managed to crawl into the rift; there he pulled his knife. "I will be all right, Mr. Spock. I em just tired, sair," he said.
He was still muttering assurances when Jinx said, "They're coming!"
Spock turned and straightened. Uhura and Jinx had deployed to protect Chekov, Jinx with her spear gripped in unsheathed claws, Uhura bracing hers with both hands. Taking their example, Spock leveled his own spear and watched the jagged ridge beyond and above.
"Two," said Jinx, in an undertone, "one male, one female. Take the female first if you can- the males don't hunt without an escort." To prompt their memories, she added, "The females are usually darker colored. And don't let them get behind you, whatever you do!" She flicked up her tail to cover Uhura's mouth in a gesture for silence.
The three waited.
There was a slight stirring of bushes that crowned the escarpment, as if a breeze had ruffled them- then two creatures stood silently looking down at Spock. They were felinoid, perhaps distant cousins of the sentient species, but quadripedal. The larger and darker of the two- the female?- he estimated to be about five feet in length, excluding the tail, and to weigh some three hundred pounds. It sniffed the air cautiously. Jinx said, "She doesn't recognize your smell. Maybe she won't attack...." It thrust its head forward, sniffing again, then it crept into the sunlight.
"Saber tooth!" said Uhura. Spock did not correct her; the resemblance of the slashback to reconstructions of the ancient Earth creature was striking, and all the more so when the female opened her jaw and two foot-long canines came into sharp focus.
With a barking roar, immediately echoed by the male, the female slashback launched herself at Uhura. Uhura took one step forward to meet the charge with her spear, catching the creature in the chest. The impact threw her back against the stone embankment, but she kept hold of the spear, forcing the creature away from Chekov's refuge.
The male sprang at the same moment. Spock caught it a glancing blow with the tip of his spear. It leapt aside.
Jinx rammed her spear into the belly of the female that thrashed and flailed at the end of Uhura's spear. It howled and twisted, ripping the spear from Jinx's hands.
The male charged Spock again and, for a moment, his entire concentration was on the creature. His spear broke at the impact, head buried in the slashback's side. With all his Vulcan strength, he thrust at the creature with the splintered end of the shaft and swept the slashback up- into the air- and down the hillside. It struck rock with a sickening crack, convulsed once and lay still.
Spock drew his knife and turned to aid Uhura and Jinx. Uhura had her foot on the slashback's nose, forcing its mouth closed, and keeping it pinned with foot and spear. Jinx had thrown aside her ruined spear and was on the creature's back, tooth and claw sunk into its spine.
Circling around behind, Spock reached in, grasped the creature by the ear, and slit its throat. Blood gouted, spattering them all. A moment later, the slashback went limp.
Jinx, growling deep in her throat, gave the carcass a few final shakes to assure herself the slashback was dead. Then she rolled away and sat up, licking its blood from her shoulder. Uhura had a dazed expression on her face. She looked up at Spock, then focused again on the slashback. She took her foot from the slash-back's nose and planted it next to her imbedded spear. It took all her effort to remove the spear- intact- From the animal's chest.
"Lieutenant Uhura? Are you injured?"
"I'll tell you in a moment, Mr. Spock. I can't...quite think right now, sir." She looked at him in a puzzled fashion and added, "I've never done anything like this before."
Spock understood. To give her the time she requested, he knelt to examine the slashback, working the jaw to see how it was hinged. The design was elegant in its efficiency.
"Mr. Spock?" Jinx sat beside Chekov, his wrist delicately encircled in her fingers. "We can't go on," she said, "at least, he can't at the moment. He needs rest. And we must make camp before dark."
Spock surveyed the three of them. They were his responsibility, and he could not leave them to search for Jim and the others. "Would you advise we camp here, Jinx?"
She shook her head. "There may be more. You don't ordinarily find slashbacks on this side of the river but -" She gestured at the carcass.
"Understood," he said. "Choose according to your own best knowledge, Jinx. I will carry Mr. Chekov."
Uhura said suddenly, "The captain-"
"We can do nothing for them at the moment, Lieutenant. Our own survival is now our primary concern." He held her eyes. "I believe you understand that."
"Yes," she said, her voice barely audible; then with visible effort she resumed her professional manner. "I am only scratched, Mr. Spock. Are you all right?"
"I am uninjured. However, yours is the only remaining spear. I suggest we recover our spear points, as Mr. Chekov is in no condition to fashion more."
"I'll see to that. Yours is somewhere in the other slashback?" At his nod, she went to cut his point from the dead male.
Jinx returned from her examination of Chekov and knelt beside the female slashback. She drew her knife and began to slice into it. "Mr. Chekov- and the rest of us," she said, "will need food. Slash-back's not tender but it will do." She found her own spearhead, handed the bloodied object to Spock and paused as she did to add, "We'll pick fruit as we go along." There was something more in her eyes. He waited, and she said at last, "Mr. Spock, can Captain Kirk and Dr. Wilson swim?"
"The captain is skilled at the art. As to Dr. Wilson, I should estimate her abilities above the average." The last was no lie: if Wilson could swim she would swim the way she did everything else. He did not add that even a strong swimmer might fail against such a current, nor did he inquire about the possibility of waterfalls further downstream.
Jinx said, forcing the words out, "Mr. Spock, Brightspot can't- any more than I could. We've lost Brightspot."
Uhura held out a second bloodied spearpoint, still attached to a short length of broken wood. She said, "Evan knew that, Jinx. That Brightspot couldn't swim, I mean. If they had any chance at all, Captain Kirk and Evan Wilson would save her too."
"Oh," said Jinx, "please let it be true!" And, without a further word, she threw herself back into her task.
Chapter Fifteen
Jim Kirk burst to the surface, spitting muddy water. He made no attempt to fight the current, knowing it swept him in the same direction as Wilson and Brightspot- and Brightspot couldn't swim. He caught a flash of something white. His first thought was that it was too small to be Brightspot, then he recalled the childhood memory of a soaked cat. He drove toward it, kicking powerfully. Ahead and to his right, Wilson splashed fiercely in the same direction. His more powerful strokes brought him to her side.
"Brightspot!" she gasped. "Get Brightspot!" She dived to avoid debris and came up still swimming toward the Sivaoan. Kirk hesitated only long enough to assure himself she could hold her own, then swam past. A branch struck him hard in the side, but he ignored the pain. He had to reach Brightspot-
He could see her clearly now. She must be unconscious- perhaps she'd been struck by the tree trunk as it hit the bridge- for she made no movement. The current raced along, carrying her limp body wherever it went. A momentary surge flung him forward and flipped Brightspot face down. He redoubled his efforts- caught her by the tail, flipped her back. Holding her face out of the water, he swam for shore.
The current ran faster now, and crossing it, especially with a burden, was exhausting. The chill of the water was rapidly draining his strength. He focused on the shore, tried to ignore the ringing in his ears. The next time he looked back, Wilson had Bright spot's other arm.
The river made a sharp turn to the left, and they were forced to swim once more for midstream, for fear of being smashed against a vast wall of rock. Debris caught, spun, splintered against it. Evan Wilson went under to avoid a ricochet and came up gasping. He saw she still held Brightspot's tail in one hand.
He knew they had to get to shore. They were both tiring rapidly-soon they would be unable to fight the current to reach any shore. The ringing in his ears grew louder, and he suddenly recognized the sound for what it was: there was another waterfall ahead. "Shore, Evan," he gasped. "Now."
The two of them put forth all their effort and- after a time that seemed to last forever- Kirk caught the thick branch of a tree that overhung the water. Wrapping his legs around Brightspot's torso, he pulled her, hand over hand, to shore, and heaved her bodily onto the bank. He reached for Evan, just as her grip on the tree gave way. Had she not been holding Brightspot's tail, she would have been torn away by the current. He caught her by the wrist and landed her in a heap on Brightspot.
Evan pushed herself up on all fours, stared at Brightspot, then ripped the sodden pack from the muddied youngster and flung her onto her back. Turning Brightspot's face to one side, Evan straddled her and laid her hands one over the other at the base of her diaphragm. She gave a sharp upward thrust. Heimlich maneuver, Kirk recognized, modified to prevent the water from returning to Brightspot's lungs.