t God's own breath, the air?"

* * * * *

He swung down inside and now she could see he was tall. Turning, he
snapped his fingers and called, "Come, puss."

A black cat with a twisted stump of a tail and feet like small boxing
gloves and ears almost as big as rabbits' hopped clumsily in view. He
lifted it down, gave it a pat. Then, nodding familiarly to Effie, he
unstrapped a little pack from his back and laid it on the table.

She couldn't move. She even found it hard to breathe.

"The window," she finally managed to get out.

He looked at her inquiringly, caught the direction of her stabbing
finger. Moving without haste, he went over and closed it carelessly.

"The shutters, too," she told him, but he ignored that, looking around.

"It's a snug enough place you and your man have," he commented. "Or is
it that this is a free-love town or a harem spot, or just a military
post?" He checked her before she could answer. "But let's not be
talking about such things now. Soon enough I'll be scared to death for
both of us. Best enjoy the kick of meeting, which is always good for
twenty minutes at the least." He smiled at her rather shyly. "Have you
food? Good, then bring it."

She set cold meat and some precious canned bread before him and had
water heating for coffee. Before he fell to, he shredded a chunk of meat
and put it on the floor for the cat, which left off its sniffing
inspection of the walls and ran up eagerly mewing. Then the man began to
eat, chewing each mouthful slowly and appreciatively.

From across the table Effie watched him, drinking in his every deft
movement, his every cryptic quirk of expression. She attended to making
the coffee, but that took only a moment. Finally she could contain
herself no longer.

"What's it like up there?" she asked breathlessly. "Outside, I mean."

He looked at her oddly for quite a space. Finally, he said flatly, "Oh,
it's a wonderland for sure, more amazing than you tombed folk could ever
imagine. A veritable fairyland." And he quickly went on eating.

"No, but really," she pressed.

Noting her eagerness, he smiled and his eyes filled with playful
tenderness. "I mean it, on my oath," he assured her. "You think the
bombs and the dust made only death and ugliness. That was true at first.
But then, just as the doctors foretold, they changed the life in the
seeds and loins that were brave enough to stay. Wonders bloomed and
walked." H