Donald Moffitt - Genesis 01

jugs of biolights that still had some life in them. He picked one up, peeled back enough of the hood to cast some light without giving him away, and moved on.
    He chose a branching passage that seemed to slope slightly upward. Since he didn’t know his way around the tree, it was the best course of action he could think of for the moment. If he kept climbing, he would eventually have to reach the Nar sector, closer to the center of spin. The problem was that it was miles and miles above his head. He’d never be able to reach it on foot—not in the time he had available. But there was no alternative. The tunnel moved laterally, too, and perhaps he might luck into some kind of transportation.
    The passage got steeper. He did not know how long he had been climbing, but his legs ached and his breath was short. He paused to rest and heard his pounding heart—and then he heard a sound in the tunnel behind him.
    He covered the jug of light and listened. The footsteps had stopped when he doused the light, and now they came forward again, cautiously. Whoever it was, he was feeling his way along in the dark and making better progress than Bram was.
    Bram stumbled along, not daring to use the light again. He kept close to the tunnel wall, feeling his way with one hand. After a while it came to him that he was betraying his progress as much by sound as he would have done by sight. He paused again and heard the footsteps gaining on him. There might be more than one; it was impossible to tell.
    He groped his way along the resinous wall for a few more feet, and his hand suddenly slipped off into nothingness. Another side passage. Or an alcove. It didn’t matter. He edged his way inside, careful to be quiet, and stopped a few steps from the entrance.
    If his pursuer was armed with one of the electrical devices, Bram would be finished at the first touch. Even someone with a club or a pole would have an edge over him; the Penserites were used to using such weapons, and he was not.
    Bram had his makeshift spear—a spear not meant for stabbing—but he didn’t know if he could bring himself to use it against another human being. He had never consciously tried to injure anyone before. The thought of using the blade against flesh revolted him. His best bet, he decided, was to wait until he heard the small sound that would mean that his pursuer had reached the side passage. There would be an indrawn breath as a groping hand encountered empty air. A small scuff or the sound of hesitation. Then Bram would snatch away the cover of the biolight jug and in that moment of surprise swing the haft of his spear. Perhaps he could knock the breath out of the other or knock aside whatever weapon he might be carrying.
    He put the jug down on the smooth floor and waited. After a while he heard labored breathing that somebody was trying to suppress. It had been a long climb so far. But the person was not taken by surprise by the side passage as Bram had been. He came to a halt, as far as Bram could tell, just short of the opening, and then the breathing stopped. Bram’s nerve broke; in the dark the man might be coming in after him, holding his breath. He whipped the cover off the lightjug and in the same instant swung his spear, haft end first, at what he thought was rib level.
    In the sudden burst of light he saw a startled redbearded face poking itself around the corner, and then Jao ducked his head back in time to avoid getting brained. The pole smacked against the edge of the entrance with a smart crack that left Bram’s hands tingling.
    “Hey, hold it!” Jao yelped.
    The covered jug he had been carrying shattered against the floor, spilling luminescence that ran quickly downhill and faded out.
    “Jao!” Bram exclaimed in relief. “I thought they were after me.”
    “I don’t think they know we’re gone,” Jao said. He grinned widely. “You’re pretty good with that thing. Maybe you ought to join Penser’s militia.”
    “What—how—”
    “I saw you slip out. I sneaked away too in all the confusion. For about five minutes there, there wasn’t a guard in sight anywhere near the tunnel entrance.” He looked at Bram more soberly. “I figured out what you were up to. From the way you were talking before. I thought you might try something like this. I lost you at first, but I took a chance on this side tunnel, and I saw your light way ahead. I didn’t want to use my own light in case a search party followed, and I was afraid to