They held hands to keep from becoming separated. Voices reached them out of the fog. Footsteps passed and faded away. At length they found a stair leading to the top of the sea wall, felt their way upward.
It seemed like hours to Jupiter before they reached the top. He lay flat on his belly, felt for the edge. He could see nothing below, but a faint lap-lap of wavelets against the base of the wall came up to him.
"How deep is the water here?"
"D-deep enough," Tabak whispered in a frightened voice.
"All right, we'll jump."
Lete gasped. There was a startled, protesting growl from Reiloc.
"Jump blind, from here—from the top of the wall into the sea?" the Nehogan said. "Are you mad, Jupiter?"
"Can you think of any other way to escape?"
Tabak said in a queer, strained voice: "I'll jump. I'm not afraid—not too afraid."