Presence of the lizards was no respite from the other perils. The bloodsucker plants were more numerous, and the camouflage-moss made deceptively inviting paths through the red gloom. By dark, everyone was nearly exhausted, nerves worn to rags. Garth knew it would not take much for the men to explode into furious resentment against him.
Luckily, an hour after they had made camp, Captain Brown woke from his drugged trance, perfectly normal. But it took a while to make him understand what had happened.
For the first time Garth saw Brown lose his iron self-control, and then it was only for a moment. A flash of stark horror showed on the Captain's lean, hard face, to be gone instantly.
He lit a cigaret, his eyes brooding on Paula and Garth. Briefly he glanced past them to the men, preparing their rations.
"Uh-huh. Not so good. I suppose it's useless to think of traveling by night."
"It's impossible," Garth told him.
"You can make more antitoxin?"
"Sure—but not here. It's too dangerous. We've been safe so far because we've moved fast, camping at a different spot every night. If we holed up, we'd have a gang of monsters down on us in no time."
Brown considered. "It's a nasty business, having my own body go back on me. A bit of a shock. Well—" He let smoke drift from his nostrils. "Two more days ahead of us, eh? Then we reach the lost city."
"If it is a city. We don't even know that."