Deathstalker 07 - Deathstalker Return

something, but don't ask me what. It's like trying to see something out of the corner of your eye… What is it?"
    "It's a song," said Jesamine. "A song that is more than a song. It's coming from… everywhere.
    Everything. Lewis, I think the trees are singing…"
    "I think you've been at the medicine cabinet as well," said Brett. "I can't hear any song. I can't hear anything. Just as well, really; the only songs I know all have mucky words. This whole place is quiet as a tomb, and I do wish I hadn't said that. Come on, people, snap out of it. This is a seriously weird place we've come to. No wildlife, no birds, not even any insects. Nothing but us and these oversized coffin nails. This isn't natural; no wonder no one ever wanted to live here. I am feeling nervous, upset, not even a little bit happy, and more than a little threatened, and I say we get the hell out of here right now.
    Please."
    "Shut up, Brett," Lewis said automatically.
    Brett scowled about him. He could hear something. He wasn't sure whether he was hearing it with his ears or his esp, but either way, it didn't sound at all like a song to him.
    "Trees," said Rose. "Quiet. Hot. Boring. Bring on the Ashrai."
    "They're not far away," said Saturday, his long spiked tail lashing slowly behind him. "I can feel their presence. Their watching eyes."
    "Then why doesn't someone drop in and say 'Hello, and welcome'?" said Jesamine, just a little tartly.
    "We're the first human visitors they've allowed in centuries. I didn't expect a welcoming committee, but…"
    "They know we're here," said Lewis. "They're still deciding what to do about us."
    Brett looked at him sharply. "I didn't know you had a touch of esp, Sir Deathstalker."
    I don't," said Lewis. "It's just warrior's instinct. Watch your step, people. Be polite. Don't break anything. We're only here on sufferance. Base Thirteen should be about thirty minutes' walk… that way.
    Let's go."
    Shouldn't someone stay to guard the ship?" Brett said immediately. "I'll volunteer."
    "You want to stay here all on your own?" said Lewis. "You're braver than I thought. Anything could happen here, while we're all gone."
    "I think I'd better stick with you," said Brett. "God knows what kind of trouble you could get into without my devious, suspicious instincts there to protect you."
    "You're so good to us," said Jesamine.
    They set off through the narrow, unerringly straight pathways that led between the endless rows of thick-boled trees. Lewis led the way, with Jesamine at his side. Rose strolled casually along behind them, with Brett tucked in close beside her. Saturday brought up the rear. The reptiloid seemed cheerful enough—not all that interested in the metallic forest, but looking around hopefully, on the off chance that something small and defenseless might turn up so he could hunt and kill and eat it. Above or perhaps behind the relentless quiet, the unheard song—if song it was—faded away, and the only sound now in the metallic forest was the quiet rasping of boots on the dull gray forest floor.
    The heavier gravity pulled painfully at their muscles, and the sticky heat grew more oppressive the longer they walked. Lewis had a growing feeling that coming to Unseeli had been a serious misjudgement on his part. The metallic forest was a spectacular sight, but so far he hadn't seen anything that would serve to refill their seriously depleted stores. Nothing to eat and nothing to drink. And yet you couldn't call this a dead world, like some he'd visited. The whole planet pulsed with vital energies. If Owen really had recreated this world, he'd done a hell of a job. The sensation of being watched by unfriendly eyes continued to nag at him, like an itch he couldn't scratch. And it bothered him that he couldn't see the sun or the sky. The overhead cloud layer was too thick, allowing only an eerie general diffused illumination. It made judging distances and directions acutely difficult, and only his comm link with the yacht's sensors kept him on course. All around him, the towering trees glowed brightly, like so many multicolored suns. It was like walking in a dream.
    After a while, they all walked in silence. None of them had anything particularly vital to say or report, and the eerie nature of the place discouraged casual conversation. It felt as though they were walking through some immense work of nature, writ large and triumphant, and man was a very small thing indeed.
    The heavier gravity weighed down even