Higher and higher they climbed the mountain slope. The cave where they had rested now lay hundreds of feet below. The fog thinned and the glow of the swollen sun was a brighter blur above them. They could see for more than a hundred feet on either hand and above.
"Spacer should find us easier up here," Onin said. "If we can only find a plateau or wide bench where they can land. And the two rocket flares I brought along should help."
"We might even find an abandoned trading station," Jay told him. "Before the Frogs became hostile several hundred of them were built in the uplands. A few of them are still in operation, or were at the period I seem to recall."
"I hope," said Onin fervently, "we'll find a fort or spaceport."
"Could be, but we haven't stumbled across any discarded plastin cartons," was Jay's dry rejoinder. "They're stacked buckle-high around most settlements on Venus."
The little man, Desix Owun, came breathlessly up from the rear of the straggling party.
"I saw Frogs on our trail," his high voice shrilled, "hundreds of 'em. Gimme a stitcher."
Jay chuckled at Onin's raised eyebrows.
"Means an expoder," he explained. He turned to the ex-animat. "Ina has an extra gun, the one Thela had. Tell her I said to give it to you."