The day was waning, the light dropping out of the sky.494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0FnKs6Xxw7
Pike was making his way along a ridge---weaving, staggering, wobbling. He fell to one knee, got up, and tottered on.
"Talk to me," he urged himself out loud, his wheezing voice coming out through dry and blistered lips. "Tell me----jokes----keep me company...."
The sun seemed to be falling down through the darkening sky.
"Have you heard the one about---guy takes a trip to Europe?"
Pike fell hard, on both knees this time. Clutching at rocks, he pulled himself upright.
"Where was I----takes a trip to Europe----see, it's his first vacation----in a long time and..."
The ground all around him was fading, turning gray.
"So---anyway----it's his first vacation in----long time----he sees the----"
He lost his footing, went sliding down the rocky side of the ridge. He tried to halt his slide, grabbing out with his hands. That only made them bleed more. At last he came to a halt against a clump of prickly shrubs.
Flat-out facedown, he stayed there. Breathing in and out, slowly and carefully, through his open mouth.
"So this guy---he has a real good time----and---after a while he decides to call home...."
With a little luck, he figured, he could make his way down to what looked like a gully some ten feet below. Climbing back up to the ridge wasn't going to be possible. He'd rest here a moment first, though.
The day was totally done. Darkness was filling up the gully.
"Okay, so he gets his---his brother on the phone....asks him, "How's everything at home?" Brother says, 'Your cat died.'"
Pike, crawling on hands and knees, worked his way around the brush. He struggled to his feet, tripped, and went rolling and tumbling the rest of the way down the hillside.
He hit bottom on his back, sprawled out. He waited for a minute, then decided he was still conscious. Stay like this for a bit, rest before going on.
"Stop me if you've heard this----one----Guy tells his brother, 'You shouldn't tell me bad news so----bluntly----I'm all the way over here....in Europe, for Chrissake!' His brother asks him, 'What the hell should I say then?'"
He saw lights in the now-black sky. Red and green lights.
" 'You should break it to me---gently----you know---like----you say something like, The cat crawled out on the roof---chasing a squirrel---and got stuck----so we had to call the fire department....It took them an hour....'"
The lights were getting bigger and brighter. And there was noise now.
" 'The fireman who climbed up the ladder----he got hold of the cat----except on the way down he----slipped---slipped and fell---and the cat dropped to the ground....'"
A new kind of light. Bright yellow, a beam of it sweeping the ridge. Pike sat up, with considerable effort, and shielded his eyes with one bloody hand.
" 'We took your cat to the vet---but they couldn't save it.' See? That's how---you ought to break bad news to me.'"
The yellow light had caught him, was shining on him from directly above.
"Then the guy asks---asks his brother, 'So how's mom?' And his brother---says, 'She's on the roof.' Get that? He says....."
The helicopter was about thirty feet above him now, the beam of light watching him.
"I guess," said Pike, trying to stand, "the scavenger hunt is over."
Roddenberry crossed his office to look again at the air conditioner. It was set on low. Room felt awfully chilly for a setting like that. He turned the thing entirely off, and went back to his desk.
The phone rang.
"Hey."
"Found number two, Dr. Roddenberry."
He stiffened. "Who? Was it...."
"Pike. It's Pike."
"Alone?"
"Yes, all by himself. Heading south, sir."494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi8MLsLJjGN
"Okay, that means Kirk went west. Put everybody in that direction," ordered Roddenberry. "Two out of three isn't good enough."494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaOhKWOOevH
"We don't anticipate any trouble, sir."
Roddenberry hung up. "No trouble," he said softly.
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