Free The Complete Stories of Philip K. Dick Vol. 2 by Philip K. Dick Page B

want to know why I brought you out? I could have left you. I could have left you there."
    "Why did you bring me out?"
    "Because we have to get away from here." Tasso stirred the fire with a stick, peering calmly down into it. "No human being can live here. When their reinforcements come we won't have a chance. I've pondered about it while you were unconscious. We have perhaps three hours before they come."
    "And you expect me to get us away?"
    "That's right. I expect you to get us out of here."
    "Why me?"
    "Because I don't know any way." Her eyes shone at him in the half-light, bright and steady. "If you can't get us out of here they'll kill us within three hours. I see nothing else ahead. Well, Major? What are you going to do? I've been waiting all night. While you were unconscious I sat here, waiting and listening. It's almost dawn. The night is almost over."
    Hendricks considered. "It's curious," he said at last.
    "Curious?"
    "That you should think I can get us out of here. I wonder what you think I can do."
    "Can you get us to the Moon base?"
    "The Moon base? How?"
    "There must be some way."
    Hendricks shook his head. "No. There's no way that I know of."
    Tasso said nothing. For a moment her steady gaze wavered. She ducked her head, turning abruptly away. She scrambled to her feet. "More coffee?"
    "No."
    "Suit yourself." Tasso drank silently. He could not see her face. He lay back against the ground, deep in thought, trying to concentrate. It was hard to think. His head still hurt. And the numbing daze still hung over him. "There might be one way," he said suddenly.
    "Oh?"
    "How soon is dawn?"
    "Two hours. The sun will be coming up shortly."
    "There's supposed to be a ship near here. I've never seen it. But I know it exists."
    "What kind of a ship?" Her voice was sharp.
    "A rocket cruiser."
    "Will it take us off? To the Moon base?"
    "It's supposed to. In case of emergency." He rubbed his forehead.
    "What's wrong?"
    "My head. It's hard to think, can hardly – hardly concentrate. The bomb."
    "Is the ship near here?" Tasso slid over beside him, settling down on her haunches. "How far is it? Where is it?"
    "I'm trying to think."
    Her fingers dug into his arm. "Nearby?" Her voice was like iron. "Where would it be? Would they store it underground? Hidden underground?"
    "Yes. In a storage locker."
    "How do we find it? Is it marked? Is there a code marker to identify it?"
    Hendricks concentrated. "No. No markings. No code symbol."
    "What, then?"
    "A sign."
    "What sort of sign?"
    Hendricks did not answer. In the flickering light his eyes were glazed, two sightless orbs. Tasso's fingers dug into his arm.
    "What sort of sign? What is it?"
    "I can't think. Let me rest."
    "All right." She let go and stood up. Hendricks lay back against the ground, his eyes closed. Tasso walked away from him, her hands in her pockets. She kicked a rock out of her way and stood staring up at the sky. The night blackness was already beginning to fade into gray. Morning was coming.
    Tasso gripped her pistol and walked around the fire in a circle, back and forth. On the ground Major Hendricks lay, his eyes closed, unmoving. The grayness rose in the sky, higher and higher. The landscape became visible, fields of ash stretching out in all directions. Ash and ruins of buildings, a wall here and there, heaps of concrete, the naked trunk of a tree.
    The air was cold and sharp. Somewhere a long way off a bird made a few bleak sounds.
    Hendricks stirred. He opened his eyes. "Is it dawn? Already?"
    "Yes."
    Hendricks sat up a little. "You wanted to know something. You were asking me."
    "Do you remember now?"
    "Yes."
    "What is it?" She tensed. "What?" she repeated sharply.
    "A well. A ruined well. It's in a storage locker under a well."
    "A well." Tasso relaxed. "Then we'll find a well." She looked at her watch. "We have about an hour, Major. Do you think we can find it in an hour?"
    "Give me a hand up," Hendricks said.
    Tasso put her pistol away and helped him to