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assorted fruit-bearing brush - the likes of which, Zolan concluded, the boy must have survived on for the past several weeks.  The cavern, Zolan surmised, was probably an access way to a much more extensive tunnel system lying beneath the sands.  A vast network of these subterranean portals channeled out for miles around the Redeye City, extending as far as the border deserts and nearby sea.  They had been constructed by the ancient civilization of Man for transportation and waste-flushing purposes; connected, they comprised several thousand miles of chamber space.  Long ago, this tangled web of emptiness had provided mass-efficient transit for millions of human beings.  Today, the only things that occupied the abandoned subways were salt water and fetid nothingness.
    It was clearly impossible that the boy could have made his way through the tunnels alone.  For one thing, the Redeye City was fifty miles away; for another, the subways were completely darkened.  Only Thalick, Jumpers and Redeyes could safely navigate through their stale interiors.  Escaping the vampires and the rat-slaves had been an extraordinary feat; but to wander through the catacombs for miles in darkness and to resurface unscathed was simply too much for the boy to have accomplished.  There was obviously more to his explanation than was immediately discernible.
    "You're very lucky," Zolan said magnanimously, "Did you stay down there all the way from the City?"
    "Yes."
    "And you could see where you were going?"
    "Yes, Grizz."
    Zolan relayed a quick message to Thalick.
    That's impossible, Bug.  He must be lying.
    NEGATIVE, ZOLAN.  BOY SPEAK TRUTH
    But how? Zolan transmitted again.
    NOT CLEAR, ZOLAN.  BUT STRANGE STRANGE
    "You're damn right it's strange:" Zolan bellowed out loud, making the boy jump.  Zolan chewed his gums and began to bluster.  "Now, listen, Tom.  How could you come through those tunnels alone without any light or anything?"
    "I wasn't alone, Grizz," Tom said nervously.  Zolan sputtered and fought for words.
    "What?"
    " She helped me, Grizz," the boy said
    "She? You mean there was someone else down there with you?" Zolan asked astonished.
    Tom nodded shyly, not quite sure what to make of the old man's sudden shift of mood.
    Zolan began looking around the glade, shaking his walking stick in all directions.
    "Another survivor, Thalick," Zolan announced excitedly, "Female, I guess." Thalick rose out of the sand and again approached the glade entrance.  Tom's eyes grew large and afraid, and he moved up against the face of the boulder behind him.
    "Where is she, Tom?" Zolan asked quickly, "Is she hiding? She doesn't need to be afraid of us.  We want to help." Tom looked confused.
    "She's not here, Grizz.  She went away." he said.  Thalick had reentered the oasis and was immediately involved in performing a sensor scan of the entire glade.  But aside from Zolan, himself and the boy, there was no evidence that anyone else had ever set foot in this place before them.  The Stinger hissed in frustration, then informed Zolan of his findings.
    "Where, uh, did she go then, Tom? How long ago did she leave?" Zolan asked, bewildered.
    "When I came here first day, she went away."
    "Hell, that was weeks ago.  She probably tried to get back to Zolansville," Zolan mused to himself.  "But why didn't you go with her, Tom?"
    Tom shook his head emphatically.  "No, no, Angel no go back to the city, Grizz.  She just," he paused, trying to find the best way to explain what he had seen.  Finally, he settled for a shrug, "She just went away." The boy could tell that this answer was very unsatisfying for Zolan, so he added quickly, "But she say that she will come back."
    "She did, eh? And her name is Angel?" Zolan asked cautiously.
    "No, Angel has no name," Tom said quickly, then added, "I call her Angel."
    WHAT IS ANGEL? Thalick interrupted with a rude, ugly hiss that caused Tom to sink against his rock in a terrified squat.
    Zolan stared at