The Secret of Spring (32 page)

Spring struggled to free herself from Herb's arms. "Don't. I don't want you to be hurt."

"Whatever happens,
Spring
, we'll face it together," he said.

Elton rolled his eyes to the ceiling. "Oh please. Spare me. What is this power you have,
Spring
? One at a time, or two, it makes no difference to me. As long as you die." He raised the weapon again and took careful aim. They knew this was the end. He had only been playing with them before, making them suffer, but knew better than to delay too long.

The vapor gun fell harmlessly to the floor as a huge cockroach went scurrying away. The foot of the giant came down to smash it with a horrible cracking sound.

Zygote stood behind him. "A fitting end. He was always an insect at heart," he said coldly.

The others stood looking on in shock. Zygote had turned Elton into a bug? There was only a greasy smear on the floor where he had stood moments before. Hideous. And yet, he would have left even less of them.

Herb came suddenly to life. Grabbing for
Spring
, he bolted toward the stairs and down into the darkness. Cling Ling rolled shakily behind, the loss of his leaves throwing him off balance for the moment.

"There's no escape!" Zygote called out from behind them. That might very well be, but they would elude him for as long as possible, Herb thought. He was grateful for Zygote's intervention, but knew it was only to further his own vile purpose. To obtain
Spring's
secret.

Down past the cells they raced with the slower giant lumbering a small distance behind them. Zygote seemed to have told the truth, however. There were no more doors at this level. Cling Ling had rescued the giant's torch and used it to illuminate the dead end before them. The goon's footsteps grew nearer.

Herb spied a narrow cleft between the two walls at one side. Probably just bad construction, but if they could squeeze between, they might be able to hide for a while longer. Spring tried it first. It was a tight fit, but pressing as flat as possible, they edged inward, one behind the other.

"Oh!" Spring said, tumbling through and out into the other side. A hidden room. Herb entered, followed by Cling Ling. They stood holding their breath as the heavy footsteps of the guard stomped outside. More footsteps joined his. More guards? They did not notice the slit in the wall, so far. Because they were so large, it probably didn't occur to them that anyone could fit through it. After a bit of grumbling around, they heard the giants retreating in the opposite direction. They had bought time.

Cling Ling crept around the walls feeling for secret doors as another exit. His wound was not serious. He had lost leaves and tendrils before and they would grow back. It only hurt a little and the sap had already ceased to ooze out.

"I can't find another way out," he reported. "It would appear our respite is only temporary. Perhaps the guards will conclude we doubled back. While they search elsewhere we could attempt to slip back into the castle." But from his tone, it didn't sound as if he had much conviction of it working.

"It's worth a try," Herb agreed. They couldn't give up hope. He guided
Spring
toward the dim slit of light in the other room where they had dropped the torch, but stopped short as more footsteps pounded toward them across the dungeon, stopping outside the wall. The pursuers had posted a guard. Then they heard lighter footfalls. It was Zygote!

"I don't know where you are hiding, but it's only a matter of time until we find you," the chillingly familiar voice called. "You may elude us for now, but consider. You have no food or drink, and are weakened from the exertion of this futile escape attempt. I know your gifted friend has overpowered my guards on two separate occasions, but he is wounded. Even if he were not, I seriously doubt he could handle two or three. Think it over. Oh, and
Spring
, I promise you this. I will be as gentle with you as I would with my own love." With that, he departed. The guards did not.

"Gentle!" Spring scoffed, leaning against Herb's chest. His hand touched her face, finding wetness.

"It will be all right," he said softly, enclosing her in his arms, offering whatever small comfort they could afford.

"I'm sorry to be a crybaby," she sniffed.

"Shhh," Herb whispered, burying his face in her hair. She had been so brave throughout her ordeal, but emotions could not be blocked forever. Herb didn't want her to cry, but it felt good to have an excuse to hold her. She seemed to melt inside his arms naturally, as if she were where she truly belonged.

"
Spring
, this is impossible," he whispered. "If we give up now, he may keep his word. He may treat you kindly. Perhaps even release Lily. There's no way to prevent it now. You know I would give my life if I could." He released her and moved to the opening to call out for the guards.

"No!" Spring hissed, grasping him. "We can't let him have the secret! I know that now. Even Lily was willing to sacrifice herself to prevent it, and she was right. It isn't just me. If he gets that secret, everyone will lose."

Herb took her gently by the shoulders. "Spring, you know I despise the thought of him touching you, that way, but-"

"It's not that. If it would appease him and free the rest of you, I'd do anything with him he wanted. Only, I can't because there's the secret to protect. He can't get it Herb, he just can't!"

"There's no other way,
Spring
," Herb said in despair.

"No, you're wrong. There is one."

He was horrified. "You mean death? Oh,
Spring
, I could never-"

She smiled, somewhat quizzically; he could tell the expression by the tone of her voice. "A fate said by some to be worse."

"Worse? But that's what Zygote means to-"

"With you, Herb. I know it's a gross imposition, considering your relationship with Lily, but perhaps she would understand. I want
you
to have my knowledge."

"To-?" He stared at the place her face should be. "Surely you can't mean-"

"That is exactly what I mean. So as to make it impossible for Zygote to get it. Since it seems I shall have to give it to someone very soon, I want it to be to a good man, and you are that man."

"But you and I aren't-"

"We aren't a couple," she agreed. "But we are united in our desire to keep Zygote from getting this power. Herb, I don't think you would abuse it. I think my father would have approved of you, of your having it, in the circumstances. So, perhaps, if you could just think of me as a-a passing fancy, then we can stop Zygote. I wouldn't suggest this if there were any other reasonable alternative, and I apologize for imposing on you like this, but desperate straits require desperate remedies. So if you can force yourself to-"

"Stop talking as if you're a loathsome creature!" he cried. "You're not. You're a lovely person, in spirit and in body. It would be easy to-in fact, too easy to-if things were otherwise. But-"

"Pretend they are otherwise," she said. "Please."

"But I have no desire to become a
superbeing
. I want no power."

"That is precisely why I feel I should release it to you," she explained. "It would be safe with you, though for your sake, I wish there were some other way. There isn't."

He realized that she was right: this was the best way out of their dilemma. He had to do it. "I will pretend you are-Holly, my playmate on Avocado. My only interest in her was-this."

"Your only interest," she agreed. "And mine is to stop Zygote." She moved in close to him, and kissed him.

Suddenly he was very much aware of what he had tried to ignore: she was a beautiful creature and a desirable one, in more than one respect. In more than several respects. She was, in a sense it wasn't proper to dwell upon, his ideal woman. But he had to tune that out, and focus only on her purely physical presence. To pretend that the marvelously sexy creature he had discovered one day emerging from his shower was an Avocado playmate fresh from an invigorating victory in ten nets, to be enjoyed and let go.

But that didn't quite work. It was not his way to dally with a mere body; he had to know the whole person. He had mentioned Holly, who had been but a passing dalliance-but she had also been a complete person of her type, enthusiastic about netball, in fact enthusiastic about everything. But
Spring
was not Holly, and his effort to pretend she was fell flat. In more than one respect, perhaps appropriately.

"Herb, I don't want to rush you, but we haven't much time," she whispered in his ear. "Is there anything I can do to encourage your interest? I-I am not experienced in this."

"The fault is not yours, it's mine," he said. "I was trying to pretend that you are Holly, and it just isn't-"

"I know. Maybe-Lily?"

He tried to pretend she was Lily, with no better success. Meanwhile he heard the sounds of the pursuit-search coming closer. She was right: they had very little time.

"I wish I could help you,"
Spring
said. "You're such a decent person, you don't like doing this, and I understand that, but-"

"You're decent, too," he said quickly. "And you are you, no matter what I try to imagine. That's the problem."

"I'm sorry," she said, her tears beginning to flow. "It was a bad idea."

"It's a great idea. And you're great, too. I'm the one who is fouling up."

"Maybe-I hate to ask this-maybe if you just, well, pretend it's me. I mean, that you and I really care for each other, as we would if we were a couple."

"I'll try." She had given him leave to involve her directly in his pretense. He thought about how it would be to truly love her, without having to pretend he didn't.

Suddenly everything was there, including a passion so great it was as if it had been damned for weeks. He kissed her, and paradise was on her lips. The oddest thing was that there seemed to be just as much emotion on her part, as if she felt exactly the same about him. She was saying and doing all the right things, with the ring of conviction, just as if they stemmed from wildly overflowing love. Then the dam burst around her and within her, making a tremendous flow that wasn't merely emotional, and it was done.

26

Secrets

Herb released
Spring
and moved away, his face flushed from exertion and shame. Under other circumstances he would have rejoiced, but this-this was an abomination.

He could hear
Spring
breathing beside him in the darkness. He put out a hand to brush away the locks of hair that had tumbled over her face during their encounter.

"Thank you, Herb,"
Spring
said primly as she reassembled her clothing. "Do you-feel anything yet? What's it like?"

What was it like? The greatest experience of his life! But that was the wrong aspect. "I don't know. I don't feel any different. I don't feel anything." That was true enough; his senses seemed numbed at the moment. "Except for my overwhelming wish that it could have been-" But he could not continue, because it was no proper thing to say to her.

"I, too, wish that, well, that it could have been for love instead of for business. Your pretense was most convincing. But you're right; that's not what we're looking for at the moment. There's nothing else?"

Perhaps he was afraid to let himself feel for fear of what it would be. "It might take a few minutes to start?" he suggested.

If the information was as powerful as everyone thought, they could use it somehow to escape and bring Zygote to a well deserved justice for his crimes. It had been the only reasonable solution to their problem. Spring knew that Herb was a good man, and would never abuse the power, whatever it might be. She knew it was the right choice, so why did it feel so wrong?

Cling Ling had made
himself
as scarce as possible under the conditions of their confinement. He had squeezed back into the thin crevice as far as he could to give them privacy, his body blocking the opening to leave them in a blanket of darkness. It was a courtesy.

Even if Zygote destroyed them, the secret would die with Herb. He had gone through the motions of lovemaking as quickly as he could to accomplish the deed before they were discovered. What had gone on in his mind wasn't relevant. Already the guards were banging on the walls, possibly looking for secret panels or hollow spots at Zygote's command.

Now Herb lay awaiting the revelations of the secret, whatever it was. And he felt nothing of that nature. That was not strictly true. He felt an abject emptiness. Was it because of the way they had approached it? Sex without love was nothing new to him. How many times had he raised his stalk with a strange flower? Could he ever find pleasure in such an act again? He had changed, but not in the way either of them expected.

Spring sat up in frustration. "I don't understand it. My father said the transfer would happen the first time I made love. You should be bursting with knowledge. I know my father wouldn't lie to me. Not about this."

"Stand back," cried the
Vinese
, thrusting himself inside just as the outer wall crumbled.

The giants had finally discovered their hiding place and battered down the wall. They stood huddled at the back as one giant threw the light of his torch upon them. There was no escape.