the anthrovac paused a dozen yards from steve. there had been nothing hostile in its movements to begin with, and now it might have been a statue for all the activity it displayed. from crown of head to small, hand-like feet, it stood almost a yard taller than steve, but it did not have the great-muscled girth of a gorilla. instead, it looked quite manlike, except for the incredibly broad shoulders, the thick, matted hair covering its entire body, the too-long arms, the nine feet of height.
did the voice emanate from it?
now that the creature had approached him, steve wasn't sure. the voice continued, pulsing and throbbing in his ears like the ganymede-fear itself—but in his ears. not from the bleak terrain around him, and certainly not from the anthrovac.
"i'm going crazy," he said, aloud, driving the voice away temporarily. "no. no, i'm not, because i realize it too soon. a crazy man doesn't realize it and doesn't warn himself about it—certainly not at the outset." but did that mean the voice had any real existence? how could it?
i am charlie stedman....
smiling bleakly, steve picked up a loose chunk of rock, tossed it at the anthrovac. the creature merely swung its huge body gracefully at the hips, avoiding the missile. then it stooped, found a stone for itself, hurled it at steve. he ducked, feeling completely and tremendously foolish. he should have been prepared, for the anthrovacs are playful and can mime almost any human action.
he did not duck in time. he felt the stone thunk against his helmet, peered with horror at the glassite inches from his face until he saw that it hadn't cracked. grinning now, he shook his fist at the creature, watched it duplicate the motion with its great hairy hand. it was a game, steve told himself, a lot like the meaningless conversation teejay and kevin had had to dispell the ganymede-fear.
but if the anthrovac could mime human actions, perhaps the anthrovac could also mime voices! that would necessitate telepathic powers, naturally. but the anthrovac, like many denizens of terrestrial forests and tundras, changed its habits immensely in captivity. a captured anthrovac, one which had been reared with one of the circus troupes, could never tell you what a wild anthrovac was like. and a wild anthrovac, somehow living on airless ganymede and taking its energy directly from cosmic and solar radiation, might be able to do anything.
i am charlie stedman....
steve carried the thought to its logical conclusion. suppose an anthrovac—this anthrovac which faced him now—had somehow heard charlie speaking. charlie might have been introducing himself to someone: "i am charlie stedman."
but the hypothesis wasn't much more than a bubble, and it burst completely when steve remembered he was the only one who could hear the voice.
"hey, stedman! you trying to kill yourself?"
steve whirled, looked up. two figures, no more than vaguely human in their cumbersome vac-suits, hovered over him, jetting around in circles. the anthrovac had seen them too—and now, apparently alarmed by the twin forms floating just out of reach, the creature turned and bounded away over the uneven terrain.
"what gave you that idea?" steve called into his intercom. "the anthrovac wasn't looking for trouble."
"i don't mean that, stupid." teejay had a way of jarring him back to reality with a few words. "i mean, how much air have you left?"
steve looked at the gauge. "enough to return to the gordak, provided i get on my horse."
"we'll walk with you, then," said teejay, and dropped to the ground at his side. "i think i'll hold onto your arm, too. you're liable to go wandering again, and we might not be able to find you."
kevin alighted, switched off his jets. "how about the voice, boy? do you still hear it?"
"why—no! but i did a minute ago, until the anthrovac ran away."
"that's peculiar."
"there's a lot that's peculiar out here on ganymede, kevin. i think—"
"stop thinking and start walking," teejay told him.
less than two hours later, they reached the gordak. a vac-suited man met them at the airlock, and steve saw leclarc's face through the glassite helmet.
"i'll bet you were worried," said teejay.
"sure," leclarc answered, drawing a neutron gun from his belt. "see, my captain, i'm so worried i can hardly think straight. will the three of you please turn around and march over to the frank buck?"
they were too stunned to do anything else.
