Unearthly Neighbors by Chad Oliver Read Free Book Online Page A

gingerly in his mouth, not eating it.
    Very slowly, the man stepped out and scooped up the berries with his right hand. He stared at Monte, his dark eyes fearful.
    Monte took a deep breath. It was now or never. He pointed to himself. “Monte,” he said distinctly. He pointed to Charlie. “Charlie,” he said.
    The man stood there with the berries in his hand. He made no response. His eyes began to shift from point to point, not looking at either of them directly. He seemed very tense and nervous. Once, he glanced up at the gray sphere hovering in the sky.
    Monte tried again. He pointed to himself and repeated his name.
    The man understood; Monte was certain of that. The dark eyes were quick and intelligent. But he said nothing. He looked like he was trying to make up his mind about something, something terribly important…
    Quite suddenly, with no warning at all, the man turned on his heel and walked into the forest. In seconds, he had disappeared from view.
    “Wait!” Monte called uselessly. “We won’t hurt you, dammit!”
    “Try a whistle,” Charlie said sarcastically, lowering his rifle.
    Monte clenched his fists. Somehow, he felt very much alone now that the man was gone, alone on a world that was a long, long way from home. His skin itched horribly.
    He looked up. Great dark clouds filled the sky, and the rumble of thunder sounded closer. He saw a jagged fork of white lightning flicker down into the forest. There was a heavy smell of rain in the air.
    Monte made up his mind rapidly. He was not going to let that man get away. He called the sphere and dictated a fast report of what had happened. “What’s the extent of that forest, Ace?”
    “It isn’t very wide, sir—not over half a mile. But it stretches out lengthwise a far piece in both directions—maybe two or three miles before it thins out any.”
    “We’re going in after him. I want you to come down low, just above the trees. Let me know at once if he comes out the other side. Keep a fix on us, and if we holler you know what to do.”
    “You’re the boss. But there’s a bad storm coming up—”
    “I know that. Stand by.”
    Monte cut off the radio and wiped at his beard with his hand. “He was walking, Charlie. That means there must be a path.”
    Charlie Jenike eyed the gathering rain clouds without enthusiasm. “What if he takes to the trees?”
    “What if he does?” Monte asked impatiently. “Didn’t you ever play Tarzan when you were a kid?”
    Charlie put his hands on his ample hips and tried to figure out whether or not Monte was seriously considering taking to the trees after the man. He couldn’t decide, possibly because Monte himself wasn’t sure at this point of what he would or would not do.
    Monte picked up his rifle and pushed his way into the forest where the man had vanished. He thought for a moment that he heard the whine of an animal, but that was probably his imagination working. It was hot and breathless among the trees, and the subtly wrong shapes of the ferns and bushes gave the whole thing the improbable air of a make-believe world. The woods were dark with shadows. He felt cut off, as though he had stepped behind an invisible wall.
    Thunder boomed high above them and the blue-black limbs of the tall trees stirred fitfully.
    “Look there,” he said. “There is a path.”
    It was just a narrow, twisting trail through the forest. In one place, where the leaves had been scraped away, there was a fresh print—the mark of a naked man-like foot, with the big toe sticking out at an angle like a human thumb. The path looked like a trail through the woods back home; there was nothing sinister about it.
    But it was quiet; too quiet. Even the birds were silent at their approach, and no animal stirred.
    Monte thought of nothing at all and started down the path.
     
    The storm hit with a cold wet fist before they had gone two hundred yards.
    A wall of wind smashed through the trees and a roar of metallic thunder exploded