sleepily up the wall toward the light switch.
"It's a little higher and to the right," he said.
"You can see?" There was puzzlement in her voice. Her hand stopped its groping and found the switch. Brilliance washed the room. He sucked a deep breath, let it out slowly and rubbed his eyes. The light hurt him all the way out to the temples.
Scudi sat upright on her bed, the blankets pulled loosely around her breasts. "You can see in the dark?" she persisted.
He nodded. "Sometimes it's handy."
"Then modesty is not as, strict with you as I thought." She slipped from the covers and dressed in a singlesuit striped vertically in yellow and green. Brett tried not to watch her dress, but his eyes no longer would obey.
"I check instruments in a half-hour," she said. "Then I ride outpost."
"What should I do about ... you know, checking in?"
"I have reported. I should be finished in a few hours. Don't go wandering; you could get lost."
"I need a guide?"
"A friend," she said. Again, that quick smile. "If hunger strikes, there is food." She pointed toward the alcove end of her quarters. "When I get back, you will report in. Or they may send someone for you."
He glanced around the room, feeling that it would shrink without Scudi here and with nothing to do.
Chapter 13
"You did not sleep well?" Scudi asked.
"Nightmares," he said. "I'm not used to sleeping still. Everything's so ... dead, so quiet."
Her smile was a white blur in her dark face. "I have to go. Sooner out, sooner back."
When the hatch clicked shut behind her, the stillness of the little room boomed in Brett's ears. He looked at the bed where Scudi had slept.
I'm alone.
He knew that sleep was impossible. His attention wouldn't leave the slight impression left by Scudi's body on the other bed. Such a small room, why did it feel bigger when she was in it?
His heartbeat was fast, suddenly, and as it got faster he found a constriction of his chest whenever he tried to take a deep breath.
He swung his legs off the bed, pulled on his clothes and started to pace. His gaze moved erratically around the room - sink and water taps, the cupboards with conchlike whorls in the corners, the hatch to the head ... everything was costly metal but plain and rigid in design. The water taps were shiny silver dolphins. He felt them and touched the wall behind them. The two metals had entirely different textures.
The room had no ports or skylights, nothing to show the exterior world. The walls with their kelplike undulations were breached only by the two hatches. He felt that he had an unlimited amount of energy and nowhere to use it.
He folded the beds back into their couch positions and paced the room. Something boiled in him. His chest became tighter and a swarm of wriggling black shapes intruded on his vision. There was nothing around him, he thought, but water. A loud ringing swelled in his ears.
Abruptly, Brett jerked open the outside hatch and lurched into the passageway. He only knew that he needed air. He fell to one knee there, gagging.
Two Mermen stopped beside him. One of them gripped his shoulder.
A man said, "Islander." His voice betrayed only curiosity. "Easy does it," another man said. "You're safe." "Air!" Brett gasped. Something heavy was standing on his chest, and his heart still raced inside his straining chest.
The man gripping his shoulder said: 'There's plenty of air, son. Take a deep breath. Lean back against me and take a deep breath."
Brett felt the tension clawing at his belly lift a bony finger, then another. A new, commanding voice behind him demanded: "Who left this Mute alone here?" There was a scuffling sound, then a shout: "Medic! Here!"
Brett tried to take a fast, deep breath but couldn't. He heard a whistling in his constricted throat. "Relax. Breathe slow and deep."
"Get him to a port," the commanding voice said. "Get him somewhere he can see outside. That usually works."
Hands straightened Brett and lifted him with arms under his shoulders. His fingertips and lips conveyed the buzz and tingle of electric shock. A blurred face bent close to him, inquiring, "Have you ever been down under before?"
Brett's lips shaped a silent "No." He was not sure he could walk.
"Don't be afraid," the blur said. "This occasionally happens your first time alone. You'll be all right."
Brett grew aware that people were hurrying him along a pale orange passageway. A hand