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Bradley smiled briefly at him. "Insects." He explained. "Like you two, we found a lot. Seems to me to be almost what you'd expect. Insects can recover from catastrophe quicker than anything, they can produce numbers like a mad computer but too many and there's a problem."

  "Birds." I nodded.

  "This has got to be radiation!" Hilary burst out. "Nothing else makes any goddamned sense."

  "Found tubers." Mike said. "Dug some up. There's wild cabbage, cress in that stream, fruit."

  "I saw a fox." Mary said miserably, as if it was bad news.

  "Earth burrowing animals." Bradley nodded. "OK, fella, we got knowledge and we can forage. Ain't no fish I found yet but there will be if we get to a big river, so where do we go?"

  I fished in my pack for the area map Linda and I had been using. "Only one place we can head for." I laid it down and used precious battery power to provide a light from my emergency torch. "Where we were going anyway. You see?" I ran a finger over the lines on the map. "It's up hill and downhill but this place, Quissac, is only a couple of miles from the entrance."

  "Over thirty kilometres." Jules pointed out. "And that is as the bird fly, eh?"

  "If we can find the bloody entrance." Mike said morosely.

  "Anyone got a better idea?" I looked round at them, trying to boost a sense of purpose into them that I didn't have myself.

  "We go through Nimes?" Linda stared at the map.

  "The forest of Coutach." Hilary read off the name and sat back.

  "Jules and I will not be going with you." Marie said quietly. "We will meet you there."

  A babble of protest and argument broke out, but they were adamant. Jules was a Parisian but Marie had come from Nimes. I didn't think she would recognise it, but she obviously had ghosts to lay and no amount of passionate appeal would move her, or Jules.

  "If that's what you want." I agreed quietly. "Anyone else want to leave and do their own thing?" The silence and stricken looks were my answer so I leaned over the map and put a hand on Marie's. She looked at me, startled. "Don't get lost." I told her earnestly. "We need you and Jules. You're a quarter of the population of the Earth and we can't lose you."

  Her eyes grew misty and she gripped my hand. "We will join you, we will not be away from you for long." She hesitated. "It is too lonely."

  Thirty kilometres was twenty odd miles through virgin forest with assorted difficulties on the way. We had survival equipment plus guns and we all had a load to carry. I reckoned six days, minimum. Linda synchronised her crystal time recorder with Marie's and we agreed on a rendezvous. Where the town was, or had been, there was a cross roads that Linda put a finger on and fed the co-ordinates into Marie's data box.

  The fire crackled as we kept watch in turns, sparks rising to a dark sky. Linda and I cuddled together, but, like the others, we could not sleep. Presently, a shifting light shone down as the Moon emerged from thin cloud. I felt her shiver as she gazed at the silvery disc.

  "You were right." I whispered in her ear. "We're under the stars."

  Chapter 6

  A WALK IN THE FOREST

  That night we had heard rustles and squeaks and the unmistakable flapping of wings. Camped by the edge of the tall trees, looking up at the hazy moon, dark shapes had flown across the sky.

  Careful examination of the lander wreck next morning didn't give us any useful extras. The thing was burnt to ash almost so there was nothing for it but to go from there, leaving in peace the mound of earth that had been Elizabeth. Mary and Mike trailed behind but Bradley and Hilary led off, his low-voiced rumble of comment about woodsmanship was not complimentary to my skills but Linda and I followed them without protest. I always believe in letting volunteers do their stuff. After all, they'll get the first bullet.

  It could have been worse, but not much. We had an automatic rifle each with two hundred rounds and I had a sidearm. Wicked looking combat knives dangled from our belts. Ten days basic rations plus very limited change of clothes were in the back packs. Linda and Marie had the data packs which included the all-important interrogators, the links with the ship's data banks. All the other vital bits we had brought down had been reduced to smoke in the lander. Plodding after Linda's trim figure in her one-piece jump suit, I pondered over our chances. When the clothes were worn out and the ammunition was gone, where were we? Looking for a comfortable cave somewhere?

  Bradley led us in a zigzag, twisting path, taking the line of least resistance among the tree trunks. Here, deeper in the forest, the undergrowth was less because the light was dimmed by the canopy, but ferns, grasses and bushes grew in profusion. I was idly scrutinising bushes for fruit and berries when the brown animal streaked across our path. Linda jumped and let out a yelp of alarm as the creature emitted a growl like an angry sneeze. For an instant I caught a glimpse of a low, powerful body with coarse brown hair.

  My rifle seemed to go off of its own accord, the tracer rounds streaking like bars of white light. A cloud of dust billowed up, accompanied by a squealing noise before the silence slammed down again. Slowly, I walked to the corpse, aware of Linda's startled expression and Bradley's lumbering approach. Soon, we were all gazing down at the body.

  "It's a boar, a pig." Bradley said, kneeling down. "How the hell did that survive?"

  "It didn't." Mike said, glancing at me. "Christ, I never saw anything like it." He didn't seem too happy. "Where did you get to shoot like that?"

  It was question that they all wanted answered, even Linda who stared at me with slightly shocked eyes. "It's just a knack." I said easily. "Like shuffling cards." I grinned at Bradley who could make a deck of cards get up and walk. "Doesn't matter, we have to get our supper ready for transport." I added and fished out my knife. "Somebody cut down a long straight branch, eh?"

  Receiving no answer, I cut the animal’s throat and proceeded to sever the head. The pig family have to be bled quickly or the blood speeds up decay. Presently, Linda squatted down by me and helped daintily, with compressed lips. Hacking noises proclaimed the forest being chopped about. Mike and Hilary lifted the carcass with an effort to let the blood flow out. "Should hang it for hours." Bradley's voice in my ear made me turn to regard his large dark eyes. "But you know all about that, soldier. You know a lot, that right?"

  It wasn't a time for discussion of military skills, we tied the headless corpse, legs up, on to the branch they had cut off. "You and me carry it, OK?" I looked at Mike who shook his head.

  "No, David. Me and Bradley will carry the dinner." His expression was neutral but reserved. "You're the point man. Bradley knows the woods, but you know things he doesn't."

  They all stood in a circle regarding me like a murderer. I shrugged, tucked the rifle under one arm and moved off, Linda scuttling alongside, giving me sidelong glances. "OK, that's the way you want it, let's go." I said evenly.

  I was following a compass course but the country was hellish hilly and bloody hot. Fortunately, streams appeared with convenient regularity although I wasn't too happy drinking the water. Bradley, panting behind me, pointed out a few useful plants and the women gathered leaves and berries in their spare shirts. As the day wore on, the forest became more even, less crowded in one place and scattered in another, and now and again clearings, small areas of high grasses appeared. Linda, ever efficient, had set her pace counter and announced after four hours of steady progress that we had walked two thousand three hundred paces.

  Turning around, I decreed a halt. Bradley and Mike, looking hot and sweaty, let the hog's carcass sink to the ground but I signalled Linda to help and we took it to the nearest conveniently shaped tree where I hung it from a high branch. "If there's bears around, they'll come and see what the smell is." I told her, seeing the alarm spring into her eyes. "But mister bear ain't going to have our supper." I added cheerily as we strolled back to where they were all sitting with glum faces except Bradley who was peering at a large beetle he had found. "We've done maybe a couple of miles." I pointed up at the sun. "We'll take a couple of hours a
nd then move on."

  "We'd better eat." Mary said, rummaging in her pack. "Unless you want to suck raw meat." She added grumpily.

  "Tonight, we'll have a big fire and roast boar." I announced, a thought that certainly made Mike lick his lips. They had done less than two miles, I knew that, but it was prudent to boost their morale and get them into the routine of cross country movement slowly. We couldn't afford accidents or injuries and any small sprain or cut meant serious problems.

  "Where are you going?" Linda looked up as I buckled on my belt and picked up the rifle.

  "I'm going to scout ahead, find the easiest path." I told her. "Lend me that data pack thing."

  She gave me a quizzical look but obeyed. "What are you checking?" Mary cut in, frowning.

  "Contours." I said easily, "See if the map is still good." I waved the chart at her before folding it up. "Set a watch, yes? We don't want wandering cave men to pinch our larder, eh?"

  Bradley seemed startled at the idea, but Mike nodded as I trudged off. According to our map, this infernal underground installation was still miles off, but it originally had a beacon perched on top where all the antennas had been set up. The antennas were long gone and the whole area was a green carpet, but that beacon was nuclear powered and should last for a thousand years. I had the interrogation code in my head and wanted to see if I could make it talk to me. It seemed prudent not to tell the others this as it might engender suspicions that were best left unvoiced.

  That complex was Pandora's box. It had much more than archives and orbital control equipment, I knew, I was one of the security officers who had guarded the place. Pondering over puzzles I couldn't solve I struggled up a steep rise in the ground just as the rain started. Virgin forest is littered with fallen trees in various stages of decay not to mention dense undergrowth, so it was with sweat stained effort that after an hour I finally panted to the summit. The rain arrived with pattering noises on the leaves which released a deluge at alarming intervals, usually when I was right underneath. The summit was like everywhere else, crowded with mature trees, silent and claustrophobic.

  Twiddling the controls on Linda's data box, I set it to receive the burst transmissions that should be sweeping the area. We hadn't found any trace of radio emissions from the ship, but I knew this was designed to parallel the ground and was shielded.

  Nothing. The receiver was showing a flat line. Tinkering with the box made no difference so I sighed and began to retrace my steps. It had been a long shot but worth trying. The power source might still be intact, but the transmitter obviously wasn't. Veering slightly off course I found that the hill descended much more steeply, finishing in a flat valley that had lighter trees. Peering at the map under thick leaf cover I considered I had found the course of the highway that long ago had snaked its way between the hills.

  The news was received with muted enthusiasm by the party when I scrambled back. No bears had arrived, but the rain had certainly deepened the depression settling on them all. That afternoon was bad, the rain never stopped and the clouds made the light murky in the forest. We had to climb over innumerable obstacles and slither down wet leaf mould until we all resembled survivors from a picnic party attacked by bears which, incidentally, were around. The signs weren't frequent but they were there, Bradley staring down at them and raising a disapproving eyebrow at me as if I was responsible.

  The road, if that was what it was, eased matters after a time but it was still an energy sapping struggle. Five hours passed and it was clear that Mary, at least couldn't go much further so we halted while I scouted around, finding a pile of stones that might have been a house once or maybe a bus stop, anything, wildly overgrown. Mike and I cleared it as much as possible while Bradley and Hilary cut down branches for a shelter.

  In an hour we had cover which would have gladdened Neolithic man's heart. Bradley fetched stones with Linda's help while Hilary and I butchered the meat. The fire was difficult but an exhausted party put their dirt stained hands to a blaze eventually. Roasting on an ingenious spit our porcine friend looked good and tasted better. As the light faded the rain stopped and dripping quietness settled on the dark forest. We all stayed huddled near the fire, now built up to gargantuan proportions. Very little was said because there wasn't much to say but Bradley, after picking bits of meat from his teeth with a twig, muttered to Hilary who shook her head.

  "Odd." He said to the fire.

  Mike stirred, rearranged his steaming socks in front of the blaze and glanced at him. "What's odd?"

  "Trees, man." Bradley said gloomily as if that explained everything.

  Linda grinned at me and prodded Bradley in the ribs. "Explain. We see trees and they don't look odd. What's the matter with them?" She enquired sweetly.

  He sat up and sighed. "I know you're gonna think I'm nuts." He poked the fire with a long stick. "But they're too damned big."

  Everyone was sitting up now, listening, even Mary. "Why are they too big?" I asked him curiously.

  "It's like this," he began. "Hilary's telling me the big wipe out was caused by radiation, right? All you physics boys agree, right? Gotta be. Now the time was four hundred ten years as near as makes no difference." He looked around at all our expectant faces. "Maybe the vegetation was hit, maybe not but this part of France had woods on the hills, some woods elsewhere but sure as hell no woods near where we went past Nimes." He gazed at me but I didn't catch on.

  "Plenty there now." Mike pointed out.

  "Yeah, and some are oaks. There's a heap of other species but I pick oaks because you all know oaks when you see one, right? How long do you think it takes to grow a mature oak? We got all kinds around here, English oak, Sessile oak, Hungarian oak but I tell you I was looking real hard at them all especially in places where we know there weren't any trees four hundred years ago."

  "Warm here, lots of rain." Linda said, frowning.

  "You tell the age of a tree roughly by the girth, it ain't precise but it's good enough. Now I seen some growing on ground where we know, we know," he slapped his hand on his thigh in emphasis. "There were no trees at all. First you had detritus, leaf litter, slowly, over tens of years, the ground gets changed, gets firm enough to support roots. Maybe fifty, a hundred years go by before whatever was under there, concrete maybe, whatever is broken up and covered real deep and then," he slapped himself again, the sound loud in the rich firelight. "Then you get a sapling and it's gotta grow on ground that's not real good." He picked up his branch and stared at the fire. "I walked around two oaks yesterday that I bet my pension are more than four hundred years old, nearer five, I'd say."

  A pregnant silence descended after his explanation. Staring at my fingertips didn't give me any answers so I nudged Mike, sitting on my other side. "You're the biology man. What's the solution?" I demanded.

  He shrugged. "Water life, plankton, phytoplankton, that's my speciality. I don't know much about bloody trees." He said morosely but looked at Bradley who was nodding sagely. "It's kind of damned unspecific, isn't it? Walking round a tree? Linda's got a point, hell of a lot of rain and sun here, more than England. And," he looked sharply at Bradley. "You're not Jules, he's the tree man, right?"

  "Yeah." Bradley seemed unconvinced himself. "But look, man, they picked me because I know more about insects than any other Goddamned egghead, right? Insects live on plants mostly, and a hell of a lot of plants are trees. No, I can't prove nothing but when you been looking at trees all your life, you get to know."

  "We checked with the data box." Hilary explained. "We made sure that when we left the Earth no trees were standing on that spot." She glanced at Bradley. "They were big, real big."

  No one seemed prepared to argue with him but that left an even bigger puzzle than we had before and that was big enough. Linda rubbed her hands together slowly and leaned forward to gaze into the fire. Her hair was a mess, tangled and dirty, her jump-suit marked with mud, her feet covered in grime like the rest of us, but she looked beautiful, the curves of her br
east making the suit strain and the line of her lips twitching in a way that I knew so well and loved. "Nothing makes any sense." She said quietly. "Four hundred years? Did that computer tell us the truth? If not, why not? We passed through what must have been the outer suburbs of a large town and we didn't see anything, nothing except trees and shrubs."

  "Four centuries, that's a heck of a long time." Mary said. "Isn't there a question we can ask the ship? Maybe it can scan the Earth and tell us different?"

  "Does it matter?" Mike put a hand on her arm. "Mary, everything's dead and it doesn't matter if it happened four hundred years ago or five hundred."

  "Polar caps? Glaciers? Land erosion? There must be something we can check." Hilary frowned. She huddled close to Bradley and shivered. I began to wish we hadn't started this gloomy conversation but there was no stopping it now. Bradley had sowed a seed and it grew but no one could tell what the plant was going to be like except it threw more uncertainty into a small band of hopeful survivors.

  Switching on the night sights, I hefted my rifle and started a pre-settling down for the night prowl. The ground was squelchy after all that rain, but a moon swam in clear skies and soon Linda came out to join me as I stood in a small clearing and gazed at the dark forest. "No bears?" She whispered, smiling in the near darkness, the silvery light making her look like an unwashed goddess.

  "They're probably sniffing our scent this very moment."

  She laughed quietly. "How did they pick you, David? You seemed to know about rocks but there must have been plenty better than you. You had other orders, didn't you?"

  This was what had been simmering inside her ever since my energetic behaviour on the ship and my demonstration of gun play had started all those wheels in her head turning again. I kicked the ground idly, considering what to tell her, but there were no secrets left to keep now. "This was an international crew. American Captain, French, British, Russians, all of us from different countries." She nodded. "But the ship was funded by the American Federation and Europe, remember? The Chinese refused to come in because we wouldn't agree to use their launch complex and the Japs were going to build their own. You remember the squabbles with the Yanks? Right, well the European Union has always had a built-in suspicion of America, jealousy I suppose and the French in particular wanted insurance that the Yanks didn't steal all the glory and the results."