ilely filed away to her coffin. But she had never been
indoctrinated. If she went into the dreams, it would be against her
will. But he had to admit that he had some reservations....

He moved close to her.

"Maybe some day we can live in a castle. Or go into space to some
planet where men live in castles." He stared at the stars. "Out there
they must be like gods," he said and his voice sounded strange, even
to him.

He looked down at Glynnis. The moonlight was full on her face; she
looked fit to be a goddess to those gods, he thought. She was staring
off and around at the wilderness; she was saying, "Out here there's
trees. And air. I like to look at the trees." He reached over and
pulled her face around to him and kissed her. She was startled, but
returned the kiss warmly.

She pulled away just far enough to look into his face. She was
smiling. "I think I like you better than I did Frank," she said.

* * * * *

Nelson lay awake for a few moments, trying to identify the noise. It
was a low humming sound off in the distance. He could feel Glynnis,
breathing evenly with sleep beside him. The sky was just beginning to
color with sunrise in the east. As quietly as possible, Nelson eased
himself erect, still trying to place the noise. He placed it, and
realized that he had not really wanted to identify it.

"Quiet," he said as he roused the girl. She opened her eyes wide, and
stared at him, confused and uncomprehending.

"What's wrong?"

"Hear that noise?"

"Yes," she said after a second.

"One of their search machines. Probably they've adopted a loose search
pattern, or maybe we left some kind of sign somewhere. It's not coming
closer, but we'd better get out of here."

They ate hastily, in the awakening light of sunrise. They ran away
from the sound of the machine, and it lessened in the distance.

It was the middle of the morning when they heard it again. Nelson
judged it to be roughly a mile away and to the west. He waited a
minute, listening. It seemed to be describing a search pattern curve
that swung in front of their path. He decided to double back and
around to miss it.

The undergrowth was thick in this part of the forest. They made their
way through the bushes and waist-high grasses, being as careful as
possible not to leave too many signs of their passing. Glynnis' shorts
and thin blouse weren't much protection against the thorns or the
recoiling limbs of bushes