{"id":4070,"date":"2026-01-04T00:05:43","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T00:05:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/founding-of-the-commonwealth-03-diuturnitys-dawn-foster-alan-dean\/"},"modified":"2026-01-04T00:05:43","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T00:05:43","slug":"founding-of-the-commonwealth-03-diuturnitys-dawn-foster-alan-dean","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/founding-of-the-commonwealth-03-diuturnitys-dawn-foster-alan-dean\/","title":{"rendered":"Founding of the Commonwealth 03 – Diuturnity’s Dawn – Foster, Alan Dean"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Book Preview<\/h3>\n
\n

\nDiuturnity’s Dawn <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n1<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nBugs.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nHundreds of bugs. Thousands of them, many nearly as tall as she. All chittering <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nand clicking and waving their feathery antennae at one another as they went <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nabout their daily business. Magnified by the heat and the more than 90 percent <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhumidity they favored, the atmosphere in the teeming underground avenue was <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsaturated with the natural perfume emitted by their massed bodies. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nUnderstandably, they stared at her, their gloriously red-and-gold compound eyes <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ntracking her progress. When she felt it necessary, she would respond to their <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ninquiring gazes with acrr!lk of acknowledgment. Astonished to hear a human <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nspeaking High Thranx, their multiple mouthparts would invariably twitch in <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nstartled response. Such moments made her smile\u2014though she was careful not to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nexpose her teeth. Through such small diplomacies were relations between species <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nimproved for the better.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThey were not bugs, of course. Though commonly used to describe the highly <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nintelligent insectoids, that word was typically insensitive human shorthand. The <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthranx were arthropods, insectlikebut internally very different from their <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nprimitive Terran look-alikes. Four-armed and four-legged, or two-armed and <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsix-legged\u2014depending on the needs of the moment\u2014they had helped humankind <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nfinally defeat the invidious Pitar. That notable achievement was now more than <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthirty years in the past. Since then, relations between the two victorious <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nspecies had improved considerably over the suspicions and uncertainty attendant <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nupon First Contact.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nStagnated would be a more accurate description, she mused. In certain specific <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ninstances, it could even be argued that they had decayed. As a second-level <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nconsul attached to the human embassy on Hivehom, it was the job of Fanielle <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nAnjou and her colleagues to see that they did not worsen any further. Those who <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nentertained higher hopes found themselves frustrated by the sluggish pace of <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndiplomacy on both sides.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe electrostatic wicking of the shorts and shirt she wore reduced the effect of <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthe oppressive humidity by more than half, and the electronic cooler integrated <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ninto her neatly cocked cap did much to mitigate the heat, but there was no way <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nto pretend she was comfortable. It had been worse on the transport capsule that <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhad brought her into the inner city, even though the commuting thranx had <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\npolitely allotted her more space than they would have one of their own. As she <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwiped at her face, she reflected on the eternal low-tech usefulness of an <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nabsorbent handkerchief.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nDiplomatic offices were on this level, but another half quadrant forward. She <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\npassed a nursery, where larval thranx were cared for and educated while awaiting <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nmetamorphosis; an eating establishment, with its rows of padded benches on which <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\na tired thranx could stretch out on its abdomen, legs dangling comfortably on <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\neither side; and a large public information screen. The activities it proffered <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwere utterly alien to her. Despite nearly ninety years of casual contact, and <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nmuch closer interaction during the Humanx-Pitar War, humans still knew all too <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nlittle about the enigmatic eight-limbed acquaintances with whom they shared the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nOrion Arm of the galaxy.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe public announcements that periodically echoed above the constant clacking of <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbusy mandibles were all in Low Thranx. She had not mastered either language, but <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nfor a human, she was considered fluent\u2014at least by her colleagues. What the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthranx thought of her attempts to speak their complex language she did not know. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nNo doubt they considered soft lips and a flexible tongue poor substitutes for <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhard mandibles.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nAt least, she thought, I can make myself understood. That was more than many of <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nher click-challenged coworkers could claim.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nAn adult female with two adolescents in tow passed close by. Unlike human <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\npostpubescents, the pair of youngsters were perfect downsized versions of the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nadult. They were in the premolt stage, preparing to shed their hard exoskeletons <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\npreparatory to growing into another size. Both had their antennae pointed <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nrigidly and impolitely in the direction of the bizarre biped coming in toward <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthem. As she strode past, Anjou overheard one chitter excitedly.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cBut Birth Mother, it\u2019s so soft and pulpy! How can it stand upright like that? <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nAnd on onlytwo legs!\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nAnjou did not hear the birth mother\u2019s answer. From what the diplomat knew of <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthranx culture, the reply was most likely in the form of some mild chastisement <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncoupled with an attempt at explanation. What the latter would consist of would <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nprobably be highly imaginative. The average hive dweller knew as much about <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhuman physiology as a hydroengineer whose business it was to work on the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nvenerable water system of London knew about a thranx\u2019s internal plumbing.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe particular burrow complex she was traversing was home to, among other <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsegments, the Diplomatic Contact section. Its sub-burrow loomed just ahead. The <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nmain entrance, with its impressive portico of anodized metal and floating holoed <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nworlds, presented no problem. Entering the lift and hallway that lay beyond, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhowever, forced her to watch out for low-hanging appliances. Here her short <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nstature was a positive advantage. Her male colleagues dreaded having to visit <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nanything smaller than a main burrow corridor. If Jexter Henry, who stood a shade <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nunder two meters tall, wanted to spend some time in a city like Daret, his <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ntravels would be restricted to the main corridors. As a consequence, he was <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nessentially confined to the human outpost at Azerick.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThoughts of that establishment, of its comfortable surroundings on the temperate <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nMediterranea Plateau on the largest of Hivehom\u2019s four continents, did not <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nimprove her mood. At least, she reflected as she turned into a tertiary access <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ntunnel, the Contact facilities were located in a brand-new section of the city. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nBeing the capital not only of Hivehom but of the entire thranx expansion, Daret <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhad been among the first burrows to transform itself from a traditional hive <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ninto a real city. As a diplomatic representative, she had been allowed to visit <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthe older, archeologically important sections of the metropolis, with their <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nearly nurseries, food storehouses, and primitive arsenals. She had maintained a <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsmile\u2014tight lipped, of course, so as not to expose her teeth\u2014throughout, but had <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nno desire to repeat the tour. Even to a nonclaustrophobe, the ancient quarter of <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthe city was oppressive.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nAs she passed through the unobtrusive security scan, the male thranx of midage <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwho had been following her ever since her arrival in Daret was at last compelled <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nto abandon his pursuit and continue on past the entrance. He was not <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndisappointed. Though he possessed within his backpack the means for evading the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsecurity system, now was not the time to employ it. That would come later, when <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthe fractionated time-part was deemed right by himself and his compeers.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nEven fanatics have a sense of timing.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nUnaware that she had been followed, Anjou presented her thranx security chit to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\na series of scanners. It took her longer to gain entrance to the facility than <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthranx who ambled up from behind and passed her, since the automated security <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsystem had to not only verify that the pass she carried was indeed a match to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nher particular cerebral emissions, but that she was of the species claimed by <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthe embedded photons. The eye scan that served to pass most thranx was of no use <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nin identifying humans, with their oversized, single-lensed oculars.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nEventually she reached the corridor that led to Haflunormet\u2019s office. He greeted <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nher with a cheerful click and whistle, to which she replied to the best of her <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nincreasing fluency in Low Thranx. He also inclined his head slightly forward, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\npresenting his feathery antennae. Bowing in turn, she reached up and flicked <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthem gently with the tips of her index fingers before allowing them to make <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncontact with her forehead. Formalities concluded, he employed both a truhand and <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nfoothand to direct her to one of the three benches that fronted the freeform arc <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nof his workstation. Composed of a wondrously light yet strong beryllium-titanium <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nalloy, it was anodized with a flux that gave it the look of a dark, fine-grained <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwood.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThere were no windows in the chamber because there was nothing to look out upon. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nDwellers within the ground throughout most of their history, the thranx were <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nequally comfortable on the surface, but a complex assortment of reasons kept <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ntheir communities underground. A human forced to work every day in such <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nconfinement would have found it suffocating, despite the excellent simscene of <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nluxuriant jungle that filled one wall with color, depth, and a farrago of <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nfragrance.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cI bid you good digging, Fanielle.\u201d The Terran diplomat and her thranx <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncounterpart had been on a first-name basis for several months now. As he settled <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhimself back on his elongated seat, she retired to one of the low visitors\u2019 <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbenches. Instead of lying prone on her chest and stomach while straddling it <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhead-forward in the thranx manner, she simply sat down on the soft artificial <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\npadding. It made for a perfectly comfortable perch, if one discounted the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nabsence of any back support. It was certainly preferable to sitting on the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nfloor.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nShe did not need to see Haflunormet to recognize him. Every individual thranx <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nemitted a distinctive personal perfume, each more aromatic and sweet-scented <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthan the next. A visit to a city the size of Daret could easily overpower the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nolfactory sensitive. To her, entering a thranx hive was like plunging into a sea <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nof freshly plucked tropical flowers. Even those humans who disliked the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nappearance of the thranx were hard put to remain hostile in their astonishingly <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nfragrant presence.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nUnfortunately, she reflected, a way had yet to be found that could effectively <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ntransmit true smell via tridee. It was too bad. If every human could meet a <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthranx face-to-face, the continuing uncertain and unsettled state of relations <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbetween the two species might be at least partially alleviated.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe improvement in Haflunormet\u2019s Terranglo had kept pace with her growing <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nfluency in both Low and the more difficult High Thranx. \u201cI trust you had a <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\npleasant journey from Azerick?\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThe flight was smooth enough, if that\u2019s what you mean.\u201d She shifted her rear on <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthe near end of the long, narrow cushion, wishing for something to rest her <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nspine against. \u201cThe tube transport from the port into Daret was a little slow.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cIt\u2019s a busy time of year. Fourth cycle of the Dry Season here.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nShe chuckled softly. \u201cYou have a dry season?\u201d It had rained hard and steady ever <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsince the atmospheric shuttle had begun its descent into Daret Port East.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cTaste in atmospheric conditions is relative.\u201d Haflunormet gestured expressively <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwith both truhands. \u201cI don\u2019t see how you humans stand that high, cold desert you <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncall the Med\u2019ranna Plat\u2019u.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nAnjou tried not to think of the pleasant, temperate hillsides where the human <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\noutpost was situated. Despite the best efforts of her specialized attire, she <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwas sweating profusely. Though she had grown personally fond of Haflunormet, she <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncouldn\u2019t wait to get out of the chamber, with its low ceiling and windowless <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nenvironment, and back onto the surface.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cI see that you are uncomfortable.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nHis observation startled her. \u201cI didn\u2019t know you had become so adept at <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ninterpreting human expressions.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cIt is difficult.\u201d He gestured casually. \u201cIt takes continuous effort for us to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nrealize that those species equipped with flexible epidermi utilize them to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nconvey the same kinds of meanings that we do with our hands. And your skin is <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nmore elastic than that of the AAnn, the sentient race you most closely resemble <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nphysically. I have had to work hard with my study visuals.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cYou watch my face; I observe your limb movements.\u201d She gestured decorously. \u201cBy <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsuch studies do we learn from each other.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nHe rose from behind the workstation. \u201cEnough to know that you would be more at <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nease outside the city.\u201d Approaching until he was standing next to her on all <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nfour trulegs, he reached up with a foothand and gently urged her in the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndirection of the portal.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cLet\u2019s take a riser to the surface,keerkt . It will be just as hot and humid, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbut I know that your kind respond with favor to the unrestricted flow of open <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nair.\u201d He made a short gesture of curious indifference. \u201cA peculiar affectation, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbut a harmless one.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nShe was more than tempted. \u201cWhat about security?\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nCompound eyes flashing golden beneath the overhead illumination, he indicated <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nreassurance. \u201cWe can talk freely in the Park. There are many secure places.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nShe did not need further convincing. Together, they exited his work chamber and <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nretraced her steps as far as the main corridor. Instead of continuing on past <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nSecurity, they turned down another narrow passageway that terminated at a bank <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nof oval gateways. Her head just did clear the entrance to the one he selected, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbut she had to bend slightly at the waist to avoid bumping it on the ceiling of <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthe internal transport motile. Nearly all her male and most of her female <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncolleagues would have been forced to sit on the floor.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nHaflunormet coded in a destination, and in seconds they were ascending at a <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nrapid rate of speed. When the riser halted and the portal reopened, she was <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ngreeted by a vista of tangled alien rain forest, wondrous aromas, and ferine <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nscreeching. The ostensible wildness was illusory. The bulk of the terrain that <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nlay directly above the subterranean capital consisted of carefully tended <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nparkland. The filtered water sources, holoed directions that appeared at the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwave of a truhand, concealed emergency communications devices, artfully <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndisguised food-procuring facilities, and other technologically inconspicuous <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nparaphernalia scattered strategically along the path Haflunormet chose pointed <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nto the highly domesticated nature of the \u201cjungle track\u201d down which they began <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nstrolling. In appearance, the forest they were entering was little different <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nfrom those undomesticated tracts that survived elsewhere on Hivehom. But this <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\none had been tamed.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nNot only did the heat and humidity not assault her as they exited the riser, it <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwas actually cooler and drier on the surface than in the vast hive conurbation <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbelow. Repressing a smile, she hoped it was not too chilly out for Haflunormet. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nTheir divergent preferences in climatic conditions provided numerous <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nopportunities for amusement. In contrast to their weather, the thranx sense of <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhumor was noticeably drier than that of humans. The intent of traditional human <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nslapstick, for example, escaped them completely. To a thranx, a pie in the face <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwas food wasted; nothing more. In contrast, whistling thranx were often clearly <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\namused by conflations that humans found nothing more than common coincidence.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nWe still, she reflected as she strolled down the path alongside the thranx <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndiplomat, have so very much to learn about one another.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nA quartet ofqinks bobbled past over their heads, gyrating from one tree to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nanother. Both mating pairs capered around each other, performing an intricate <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nmating dance in the air. As she understood it from the Biology Department, qinks <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nonly mated in fours, the twofold coupling bolstering the chances of producing <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nviable offspring instead of unsettling it. Like little helicopters, the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nmultiwinged qinks whirled overhead in tiny, tight circles. This meant that at <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nany one time, one or two of the participants was actually flying backward. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nOrdinarily, it would put that individual at risk from lurking predators. But <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsince qinks only flew the mating dance in tetrads, two of them were always <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nkeeping an eye on the sky ahead at all times.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nShe lengthened her stride, not wishing to be standing directly beneath the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwhirling aerialists when the time came for them to consummate their performance. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThough his legs were markedly shorter than hers, Haflunormet had six of them at <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhis disposal and had no trouble matching the pace. In a sprint, she knew, she <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncould easily outrun him and most other thranx. With his three sets of legs and <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ngreater endurance, over a distance he would catch up to and surpass her.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nQinks and sprints, witticisms and woes, she reflected. All grist for the mill of <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndiplomacy. Haflunormet felt similarly, though he was inherently more pessimistic <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthan his human counterpart. Or maybe it was patience, she decided. Humans <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nfrequently mistook the immoderate patience of the intelligent arthropods for <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\npessimism.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cHow are you coming with arranging that meeting we spoke about?\u201d she asked him. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nIn presenting the question, she employed a combination of human words and thranx <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwords, clicks, and whistles. This useful and informal shorthand manner of <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nspeaking was gaining increasing favor among not only the diplomatic but the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nscientific staff at Azerick. Combined with thranx gestures and the resident <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhumans\u2019 best attempts to imitate these utilizing only two hands instead of four, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nit formed a kind of casual symbolic speech. This allowed thranx to practice <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ntheir Terranglo and humans the opportunity to train their throats in the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nelaborate vocalizations of the thranx.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cKrrik,it is proceeding slowly. Discouragingly so. I think the physicists are <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nnot the only ones who are absorbed in the study of inertia.\u201d He glanced over and <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nup at her to make sure she understood the last term correctly. As she did not <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nimmediately laugh in the human manner, he could not be certain she had <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nunderstood his attempt at humor. Of all the humans he had met\u2014admittedly this <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwas not a large number\u2014Anjou was the most consistently serious. Perhaps, he <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nruminated, this was why she got along so well with the thranx. To Haflunormet it <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nappeared she sometimes acted in this manner to the detriment of her relationship <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwith her fellow mammals.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nWatching her step easily alongside him, he tried to admire the play of her <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nmuscles, obscenely visible beneath the semitransparent epidermis. Diplomat or <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nno, he found he could not do it. There was simply too much movement, too much <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nvisible play within the anatomical structure. In this it resembled that of the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nAAnn, but the reptiloids\u2019 internal composition was concealed by tough, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nreflective, leathery scales. If a person peered closely at a human, individual <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nblood vessels could be seen not only beneath the skin but forming rills and <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nridges above it. Their entire corporeal structure was, inarguably, turned inside <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nout.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nHe forced himself not to look away. It would be impolite. This female was his <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhive counterpart. Much as the sight unsettled his stomachs, he was determined to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nmaintain visual contact. As to the sharp, distinctive, and wholly unpleasant <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsmell that emanated from the biped, he steadfastly refused to dwell on it. No <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nmatter how their future relations evolved, he realized that there were some <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthings that could not be changed through negotiation.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nHe worked to pay attention, realizing that the tottering upright stinking blob <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwas speaking. No, he corrected himself resolutely: It was a graceful, fluid <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbiped who was addressing him. Formal diplomacy aside, the thranx were <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nexceedingly polite: a consequence of having evolved in surroundings so confined <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthat humans could not even conceive of the social forces that had been at work. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nTo the thranx, of course, they did not seem confined at all, but perfectly <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nnormal and natural. It was wide-open aboveground spaces that tended to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\noccasionally make them nervous. Consequently, their conquest of space had been a <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nmore impressive feat than that of humans. Psychology was harder to engineer than <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nspacecraft.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nAnjou was deep in thought as they turned a bend in the trail. Eint Carwenduved <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwas Haflunormet\u2019s superior. Because of the rigid thranx chain of diplomatic <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncommand, only she could properly accept a formal proposal from the Terran <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ngovernment and pass it on to the Grand Council for discussion and consideration. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nIt had taken a select group of forward-thinking statespeople from half a dozen <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhuman settled worlds almost two years to finally hammer out a preliminary <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nproposal for establishing closer ties between their respective species. This had <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nnot even been voted on by the Congress on Terra, yet the signatories felt that <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nopening negotiations with their thranx counterparts at the same time as the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndetails were being debated on the human homeworld would, if nothing else, serve <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nto accelerate mutual consideration of the delicate issues involved.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nIt was an acknowledged diplomatic ploy, a means of forcing reluctant individuals <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\non both sides to consider politically highly sensitive issues they might <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\notherwise prefer to ignore. Easy enough for the executive director of the colony <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nworld of Kansastan to ignore the question of closer human-thranx relations\u2014but <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nnot if he felt that his thranx counterpart on Humus was ready to vote on the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nmatter. Merely having the proposals presented for contemplation forced those to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwhom they were delivered to deliberate their possible ramifications. A good deal <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nof the work of real diplomacy consisted of engaging such individual <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nuncertainties.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nJust agreeing on what was technically a compilation of informal suggestions was <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\na triumph for those thranx and humans involved. Others, they knew, were actively <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nworking to discourage the implementation of even one of the proposals. One way <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nto do this was to persuade those in positions to actually make decisions to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsimply ignore anything relevant that crossed their desks. Hence Anjou\u2019s intense <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndesire to have a face-to-face meeting with Eint Carwenduved. Haflunormet\u2019s <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsuperincumbent could not only present proposals to the Grand Council; she could <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ngo so far as to make recommendations.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThrough Haflunormet, Anjou had been trying to arrange such a meeting for more <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthan six months. Patience or pessimism, whatever one chose to call it, the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nseemingly endless procrastination was driving her crazy. She could not give vent <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nto her true feelings, however\u2014not in front of Haflunormet. The xenologists had <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbeen firm on that from the beginning. She had yet to meet a thranx who would not <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nrecoil in distaste at what was to them an often explosive human outburst of <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nemotion.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nAnyway, she told herself, diplomats do not do that sort of thing. So the fact <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthat she wanted to stop right there and then in the middle of the domesticated <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nalien jungle and scream out her frustration to curious qinks and any other <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nexotics within range of her voice had to remain nothing more than a passing <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nfancy. But the desire did not wane quickly, she realized.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe delay was not Haflunormet\u2019s fault. She knew that. Thranx diplomacy made the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhuman equivalent appear to progress at lightning speed. There was nothing to be <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndone about it but persist, stay polite, and keep her hopes up.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cWhy the continuing reluctance?\u201d She gazed over at glittering compound eyes that <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwere more advanced than that of any terrestrial insect. \u201cIt\u2019s just a meeting. It <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nneedn\u2019t even last very long.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nHaflunormet stepped, one set of legs at a time, over an artfully positionedzell <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nroot. \u201cEint Carwenduved continues to study the proposals.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cI know that\u2014she\u2019s been \u2018studying\u2019 them for the better part of a year.\u201d At once, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nAnjou regretted her tone, even though it was unlikely that Haflunormet was aware <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nof its significance. His knowledge of human gestures, facial expressions, and <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nlinguistic peculiarities was improving rapidly, however, so she was more <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nconcerned than she would have been a few months ago.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nHe did not react as if he detected any bitterness, however. \u201cYou must <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nunderstand, Fanielle, that such things take more time to be resolved among my <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nkind than they seem to among yours. Carwenduved must be certain of herself <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbefore she commits to any course of action because she will inevitably be held <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nresponsible for relevant consequences.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nWhich was a fancy and not altogether alien way of saying that the eint was <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nstalling, Anjou knew.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThe eint marvels at your earnestness,\u201d Haflunormet continued. \u201cShe sees no need <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nfor a \u2018face-to-face,\u2019 as you call it.\u201d As the thranx diplomat spoke, he absently <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nemployed a truhand to preen his left antenna.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cMy people believe strongly that personal contact is an important component of <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndiplomacy.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nHaflunormet indicated understanding. \u201cYou do realize that not all my kind take <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\npleasure from being in your physical presence.\u201d He hastened to qualify his <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncomment. \u201cI did not mean you personally, of course! I meant humans in general.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cI know what you meant.\u201d Anjou was not na\u00cfve. She was fully aware that most <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthranx, especially those who had experienced little or no contact with humans, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nfound the presence of her kind physically unappealing. It was something she had <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nworked hard to overcome, in everything from her attire to her manner of <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nspeaking. \u201cBut as a diplomat, I am entitled to certain accommodations.\u201d This <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ntime her tone was firm. \u201cEint Carwenduved realizes this as well.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cI know that she does.\u201d Haflunormet sighed, the air wheezing gently from the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbreathing spicules that lined his b-thorax. \u201cYour patience gains you merit in <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nher eyes as well as in mine, Fanielle.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nWhat patience? she thought. I\u2019m going crazy here, hanging around up at Azerick <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwaiting for your mommy bug to deign to see me. She promptly shunted the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nundiplomatic and very unthranxlike thought aside.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nInstead of thinking antithranx thoughts, what might she make use of that the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthranx themselves would react to? Perhaps she had been stalking the impasse from <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthe wrong direction. Perhaps she had been thinking too many human thoughts.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nHow would a thranx diplomat gain speedier access to a counterpart? It would have <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nto be something informal, she knew. The delicate intricacies and involved <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ntraditions of thranx hive government were still largely a mystery to the human <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nresearchers charged with interpreting them. More was known about thranx culture <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nand society in general. Mightn\u2019t there be something there she could apply?<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nShe halted so suddenly that Haflunormet was momentarily alarmed. Both antennae <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nfluttered in her direction. \u201cIs something the matter, Fanielle? If you are <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nfeeling stressed by the local conditions, we can find you a climate-controlled <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nchamber in which to revitalize\u2014though I personally find the weather outside <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ntoday a bit on the cool side.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cYes,\u201d she told him. \u201cYes, I am feeling a little\u2014a little faint.\u201d She put the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nback of one hand to her forehead in a melodramatic gesture any human would have <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nfound amusing, but which the anxious thranx could only view as potentially <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nalarming. \u201cIt happens to us\u2014at such times.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nHe indicated confusion. \u201cOf what \u2018times\u2019 are you speaking?\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cOh, that\u2019s right. You don\u2019t know. I haven\u2019t told you before now, have I? An <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\noversight on my part. You see\u2014I\u2019m pregnant, Haflunormet. With, um\u2014\u201d She thought <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nof the dancing qinks. \u201c\u2014quadruplets.\u201d Unfamiliar with the nature or frequency of <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhuman birthing, the anxious diplomat ought to accept her admission at face <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nvalue. He did.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cSrr!lk!You should have told me!\u201d Setting aside his instinctive distaste for <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsuch contact, he took her free hand in both his foothands. \u201cDo you want to lie <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndown? Can I get you fluid? Do you wish an internal lubrication?\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cUh, no thanks,\u201d she replied hastily, dropping the hand from her forehead even <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nas she wondered what an on-the-spot internal lubrication meant to a thranx <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nfemale.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nIn a determined gesture of interspecies concern, Haflunormet continued to hold <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nher hand, doing his best to ignore the unnatural warmth that radiated from the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\npulpy flesh. He realized how much he had come to like this particular human. If <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsomething were to happen to her while she was in his company, not only would it <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nreflect on his individual and family history, he would regret it personally.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cHow are your eggs? Excuse me,\u201d he corrected himself, \u201cyour live feti. Fetuses?\u201d <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nDespite his disquiet, he could not bring himself to contemplate the wriggling, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nunshelled larvae that must even now be jostling for room within her womb. He <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ntried to lighten the moment. \u201cAs you possess no ovipositors that I could observe <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ngoing into pre-laying spasm, I had no visual clue to your condition.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cIt\u2019s all right. I\u2019ll be fine.\u201d Meeting his gaze, which she assumed reflected <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhis concern even though his compound eyes could not convey anything like such a <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncomplex emotion, she announced firmly, \u201cTell Eint Carwenduved that the pregnant <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhuman Fanielle Anjou is making a formalBryn\u2019ja request.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nHaflunormet started, his antennae twitching. Then he simultaneously whistled his <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\namusement and understanding. \u201cThe news will place the eint in a difficult <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nposition.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThat\u2019s the idea, she thought, wincing perceptibly for effect. If she understood <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthe pertinent aspect of thranx culture correctly, no adult could refuse a first <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nBryn\u2019ja request from a female who was about to lay. Such a compunction applied <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nequally to ordinary citizens, respected poets, noted teachers, and everyone <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwithin the hive irrespective of function. It even applied to diplomats.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nOf course, it was a blatant lie. Surely, she told herself, the first time in <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhistory one had been employed in the service of diplomacy. She would have to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nmake sure her colleagues at Azerick were informed of her \u201ccondition\u201d lest the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nalways thorough thranx decided to check on it with a second source. Once her <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nrather abrupt pregnancy was verified, it would be interesting to see how the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthranx would react. Time would at last become a factor. To refuse a first <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nBryn\u2019ja request from a gravid female until after she laid her eggs would earn <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthe refuser significant opprobrium. Her only real concern was whether or not the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncustom would apply across species lines. And if it did, would it be subject to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthe same onerous, lingering deliberation as every other communication she had <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nasked Haflunormet to pass along to the chamber of the eint? Could any thranx <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nauthority move at more than a sluggard\u2019s pace, no matter the incidental <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncircumstances?<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe official response was as revealing as it was gratifying. So much of <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsuccessful diplomacy was not about knowing how to do something, or when, but how <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nto step just ever so slightly outside the boundaries of traditional, formal <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nnegotiation without falling into the pit of cultural transgression.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nWithin thirty-two hours, she received acknowledgment of her long-sought-after <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nappointment.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u00a0<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n2<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe Bwyl were furious. They had been ever since the revelation of the presence <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\non Willow-Wane of the covert human outpost there, with its clandestine attempts <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nto bring humans and thranx closer together, had been divulged to an unknowing <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhive public more than eighty years earlier. It was bad enough, from the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nstandpoint of the Bwyl, that humans and the thranx had cooperated in a war <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nagainst the Pitar that was no hive\u2019s business. The disclosure that the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsoft-bodied, bipedal mammals had been allowed to establish what amounted to a de <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nfacto colony on a developed thranx world amounted to cultural sacrilege. The <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\npurity of the Great Hive had been defiled.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nWorse still, the vast majority of thranx had reacted indecisively at best, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nindifferently at worst, to the announcement. Now that the war against the Pitar <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nlay nearly in the receding past, where humans were concerned the average <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nburrower seemed to hold little in the way of strong opinion. So long as the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhumans posed no overt threat to the Great Hive and did not ally themselves with <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthe bellicose AAnn, the typical worker was content to ignore them. And if the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nrespective life tunnels of the two species happened to intersect now and then, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwhy, it would only be polite to pause and allow those traveling crosswise to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\npass without confrontation.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nIt was all very bewildering to the Bwyl. What about the sanctity of the hive? <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nWhere was traditional deference to poetic purity? Bad enough to allow these <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nred-blood-pumping creatures access outside the usual restricted diplomatic <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nmissions. To allow ordinary citizens to mix with them at will, without proper <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsafeguards or preliminary acculturation, was to invite cultural degradation and <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nworse. What was a newly metamorphosed adolescent to think when confronted with <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsophisticated sentients who wore their skeletons on theinside and peered at the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nuniverse out of single-lensed eyes?<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nIt was not to be tolerated. But the Bwyl, though a multihive fellowship, were <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nfew in number. They could not influence the councils proportionately. They did <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhave many who were sympathetic to their aims, but who were afraid to express <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ntheir beliefs openly. The Bwyl base of support was large, but diffuse.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nIt did not matter. They could wait no longer. Already, there was talk at <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsignificant hive levels of formalizing a much closer alliance with the humans. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nTrue, such talk had been rampant since the end of the Humanx-Pitar War. Lately, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthough, it had taken on a certain urgency. Important eints who believed they <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncould make use of the humans as a bulwark against the adventurism of the AAnn <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhad been pressing for more than talk. Regrettably, they found sympathetic <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhearing organs among traitorous members of the lower councils. Now dialogue <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthreatened to become action, and action, decision. For the sake of the Great <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nHive, this had to be prevented.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nWhich was why the Bwyl had called the meeting on Willow-Wane. Its members were <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nnot alone in their stand. There were two other interhival societies that had on <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nmore than one occasion expressed similar sentiments. Representatives of the S!k <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nand the Arba had arrived on Willow-Wane only days before to participate in the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncritical discussion.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nNow the twineight gathered on the shore of the River Niivuodd, chattering <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\namiably among themselves. To passersby they looked for all the world like a <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ngroup of taskmates out for a day\u2019s relaxation. They carried food and drink and <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhumming amusements, and talked of inconsequentialities. But their intentions <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwere far more serious than an afternoon\u2019s casual distraction. They had not <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\njoined together beneath Willow-Wane\u2019s searing sun for purposes of frolic.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nWhen all had assembled by the river\u2019s shore and settled themselves in a half <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncircle facing the water and one another, and when assurance came from posted <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsentries that no patrollers, first class or otherwise, were lingering in the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nvicinity, Tunborelarba of the Arba waved all four hands for quiet and proceeded <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nto open the solemn convocation with a pugnacious, if not downright martial, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\npaean to the virtues of the Great Hive. His fine words and whistles encompassed <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthem all, from outworld visitors to their resolute Willow-Wane hosts.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThen Beskodnebwyl of the Bwyl rose on his four trulegs and declaimed what all of <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthem were thinking. Overhead, a flock of silvertaiax flew past, dipping and <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nlooping to snap in unison at the smaller arthropods that filled the steamy <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nafternoon air. Their sedateke-uk ,chitt-chitt ,ke-uk-uk did not interrupt the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nflow of the charismatic speaker\u2019s words.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cWe are gathered here because we agree that anything deeper than the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ntraditional, polite, formal relations that exist between sentients of different <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nspecies is an abomination that is not to be tolerated.\u201d Attentive antennae and <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nglittering compound eyes were focused in his direction. Near the back, the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\novipositors of a young female S!k as fanatical as she was attractive contracted <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nin response to the forcefulness of the Bwyl\u2019s words.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThere are those among the hives of several of the burrowed worlds who believe <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthat a stronger relationship can be forged with these humans. These fools dwell <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nin the nursery of delusion. The bipeds are too different\u2014not only in appearance, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbut in culture, actions, psychohistory, and every other standard that is used to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ntake the measure of another species. Our alliance with them for the duration of <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthe latter part of the Pitarian War was superficial and designed to achieve <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nmaximum diplomatic benefit in a limited period of time.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cPrincipally to forestall the designs of the AAnn,\u201d an Abra could not refrain <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nfrom pointing out.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nBeskodnebwyl did not upbraid his impassioned listener for the discourteous <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ninterruption. All were allies in this place: supporters of a similar philosophy. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nHe had no intention of alienating a collaborator over a point of etiquette.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThat is so. Yet despite what appears to us to be the obvious, there are among <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nour own kind those who are sufficiently deluded to desire to place the security <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nand sanctity of the Great Hive itself at risk. They intend to do this by forging <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nties with these humans of a nature so intimate I can scarcely bring myself to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncontemplate it. You will understand my feelings when you receive the detailed <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nreports that will be provided to all of you at the close of this gathering. All <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nI can say without going into further particulars is that there are varieties and <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ntypes of corruption not even new larvae can dream of.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThey must be blind!\u201d someone chirruped above a chorus of lesser clicking.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nFor a second time, Beskodnebwyl deferred his right to criticize an outburst. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThere are all kinds of blindness, many of which have nothing to do with the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsense of sight. It is these we must correct, even at the risk of carrying out <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbitter antisocial behavior. The very ancestral integrity of the Great Hive is at <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nstake.\u201d Reaching back into a thorax pouch, he withdrew a compact projector and <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nspurred it to life. Immediately, a semitransparent globe appeared before the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbody of thranx assembled by the river. It was a representation of an attractive <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nworld even the most galographically sophisticated among them did not recognize.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThe planet Dawn, as the humans have named it. A fetching place, by all <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndescription. Newly settled and growing rapidly. There is also, in this <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsubversive spirit of specious cooperation that presently exists between our <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nrespective species, a sizable burrow located beneath the swamps and savannas of <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthe minor southern continent.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cWhat has this to do with us and our avowed purpose?\u201d a female S!k inquired <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nreasonably.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nManipulating the projector, Beskodnebwyl increased the magnification <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsubstantially, until they found themselves eying one of the distorted, sprawling <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\naboveground conurbations that had become more and more familiar recently in the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ninformation media. Frivolously tall, slim edifices, not only unaesthetic but <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nimpractical, thrust absurdly all the way up into the weather. Extensive <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nagricultural facilities bumped up against a surprising amount of undeveloped <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ngreen space. Free-standing bodies of water were spotted with fishing craft. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nClearly visible were all the mysterious accouterments of a characteristic <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\naboveground human hive.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThere is to be a fair held on Dawn, to be situated not far outside the capital <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncity of Aurora.\u201d Beskodnebwyl continued to manipulate the details of the holo as <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhe explained. \u201cA cultural fair, exhibiting the best and newest of human music <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nand arts.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cIs that not a contradiction in terms?\u201d someone ventured. Amused whistling <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nspilled from the assembled to drift across the river.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cObviously, not to humans, it isn\u2019t,\u201d Beskodnebwyl observed when the laughter <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhad died down. \u201cThis gathering will also present contributions from the local <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthranx of the southern continent.\u201d He leaned forward, stretching his b-thorax, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhis antennae quivering with barely concealed passion. \u201cIt is to be a wholly <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncross-cultural, cross-species event\u2014the first of its kind on Dawn. In addition <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nto presentations by the locals, a number of important artists from nearby <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsettled worlds, both human and thranx, are also to participate. For so young a <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncolony, it promises to be a most prestigious and important convocation, a <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwatershed in the settlement\u2019s evolution.\u201d He drew himself back, pausing and <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ngesturing for emphasis.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cWe of the Bwyl also intend that it shall be so, and in a manner that will leave <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\na deep and lasting impression on perceptive sentients everywhere. We hope that <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nyou of the S!k and the Abra will join us in making our own presentation at this <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nfair.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cWhich will consist of?\u201d The senior Abra present waved an antenna inquiringly.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nBeskodnebwyl did not hesitate, nor did his tone change. \u201cWe hope to disrupt the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nfair, and in doing so push the course of human-thranx relations back onto a <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nproper level, by killing as many of the participants as possible. Operating <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nunder the guise of the ancient Protectors, we hope to make our case so <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nirresistibly to all citizens of the Greater Hive that they will have no choice <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbut to see the correctness of our doctrine.\u201d He indicated first-degree <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nconfidence.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThe humans will respond immediately to our actions, of course. Once word of our <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ninvolvement and efforts is disseminated, they will enter the fair and kill us as <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nquickly as they can. With luck, some of us will escape to carry on the necessary <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwork. Those of us who do not will be recycled knowing that they gave their <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nessence to preserve the Great Hive, much as our ancestors did in the course of <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthousands of ancient battles. This cause is nobler than any of those, because it <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nis carried out on behalf of the entire Great Hive itself.\u201d He switched <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndeliberately to the rougher but more straightforward Low Thranx.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cMales and females of the S!k and the Abra: Will you join with your hive mates <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthe Bwyl in this great and noble undertaking?\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nAnimated discussion followed, lively but by no means uniform. Clearly, there <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nremained among the disputants considerable difference of opinion. Having chosen <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndirectness over diplomacy, Beskodnebwyl had no leeway for hesitation. Nor had he <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nintended to leave any.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cHow would you intend to do this thing?\u201d Velhurmeabra of the Abra was clearly <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ntaken aback by the proposal and not afraid to say so. \u201cWill the humans have in <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nplace no precautions against such an eventuality, no guards?\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cWhy should they?\u201d Beskodnebwyl replied expansively. \u201cIt is a cultural fair, not <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\na military caucus. As to the actual methods to be employed in the carrying out <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nof our intentions, we have already spent much time refining our options.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cWhat about introducing into the atmosphere of the gathering a powerful <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncyanotoxin?\u201d one of the more enthusiastic S!k proposed.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cFor the same reason that we cannot spread a lethal hemolument.\u201d This time the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nimages generated by Beskodnebwyl\u2019s hand-held projector were more detailed, full <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nof charts and sketches that floated in midair before the assemblage. \u201cHuman <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nblood binds oxygen through the use of iron, not the usual copper. I am assured <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthat given enough time and resources, suitable poisons could be engineered for <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nuse against them. We have neither. By the same token, biological agents that <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwould devastate us are just as likely to pass harmlessly through their systems. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nFor example, thegin!gas wasting disease for which no cure has yet been <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndiscovered degrades chitin. I am told that malignant as it is, it might at most <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncause the hair and fingernails of some humans to fall out. That is hardly the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbold statement we wish to make.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThen what do you propose to do?\u201d Uhlenfirs!k of the S!k asked, then waited <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nquietly.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nBeskodnebwyl underlined his response with deliberate movements of antennae and <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ntruhands. Behind him, an aquatichermot splashed in the river, pursuing a school <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nof hard-shelledcouvine , predator and prey alike oblivious to the convocation on <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthe nearby bank vigorously contemplating mass murder.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cExplosives have the advantage of not discriminating between species. Volunteers <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhave already been chosen. They will infiltrate this detestable fair and wreak <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsuch havoc as cannot be imagined. The fact that individuals will be free to do <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ntheir work independent of any central control ensures that even if one or more <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nare detected and forced to abort their mission, the others will be able to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nproceed unimpaired. Additionally, every operative will enter adequately armed <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nfor their personal defense.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe nominal leaders of the S!k and the Abra conferred, supported by their most <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nable aides. When they were through, Velhurmeabra of the Abra faced his expectant <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncounterparts across the semicircle.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cWhile we of the Abra and the S!k feel much as you do with regard to this too <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nrapid and too intimate mixing of species, we have decided not to participate in <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nyour plans to disrupt the cultural fair on the world of Dawn. While we are not <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nentirely opposed to the use of violent means of dissuasion, indiscriminate <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbombing of so large a gathering will inevitably slay or injure numerous artists <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nas well as ordinary visitors.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nOne of the S!k spoke up. \u201cThe killing of an artist is an abomination unto <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nitself. The stifling of any fount of creativity, however modest, diminishes us <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nall.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nBeskodnebwyl gestured understanding. He had expected this line of objection. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cHumans feel otherwise. They make no such sharp distinctions between, say, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncomposers of music and purifiers of water. It is further proof of their degraded <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nculture.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cBut you cannot guarantee,\u201d Velhurmeabra continued inexorably, \u201cthat only human <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nartists will die.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cUnfortunately,\u201d Beskodnebwyl responded, \u201cexplosives are notoriously <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nundiscriminating. It is conceded that thranx will also perish in the making of <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nour statement. It is unavoidable.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThen we cannot participate actively,\u201d the Abra concluded.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nBeskodnebwyl pounced on an inflection. \u201c \u2018Actively\u2019?\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe leader of the S!k spoke up. \u201cWe have no legs to provide you, no antennae to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\naid you, no eyes to share. But\u2014\u201d He hesitated only for emphasis. \u201c\u2014we wish you <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwell in the enterprise, which seems almost certain to accomplish the goals you <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhave set out for it. While not participating directly, we can perhaps provide <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsome small encouragement.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cIn any event, we will do nothing to discourage you from burrowing in this <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nchosen direction,\u201d the Abra concluded.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nIt was not all that Beskodnebwyl had hoped for. But logistical support would be <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nuseful and would free up the dedicated members of the Bwyl to carry out the more <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nactive components of the scheme. The Abra and the S!k could not overcome the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndeep-seated cultural prejudice against the killing of artists. Only the Bwyl had <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nprogressed far enough to do that. But the support of the others would be <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwelcomed. They wished to share in the credit for the ultimate disruption of <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhuman-thranx integration, but not in the ultimate risk.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nIt was better than outright dissension, Beskodnebwyl knew. The Abra and the S!k <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhad access to materials and contacts and useful facilities that were denied the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nBwyl. When the deed was done, the truth would come out. Credit would be <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\napportioned where due. Beskodnebwyl was not concerned with the refining of such <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nmatters. He carried nothing for credit. He wanted only to put a halt to this <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nabhorrent, noisome mixing of species.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nIf the Burrow Master was with them, they would do precisely that\u2014once and for <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nall time.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n
\n\u00a0<\/span>
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nElkannah Skettle stepped off the shuttle and examined the world spread out <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbefore him with great interest. Ahead, he saw Lawlor and Martine passing rapidly <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthrough Customs. Pierrot, Botha, Nevisrighne, and the others were somewhere in <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthe crowd behind him that was still filing off the transport vehicle. They had <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ngrown used to traveling together yet keeping their distance from one another.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe port facilities were efficient, the port\u2019s equipment spotless, the smiles on <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthe faces of the local officials almost painfully welcoming. And why shouldn\u2019t <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthey be? he mused. Dawn was a new world, bursting with opportunity, unclaimed <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nlands, fortunes yet to be made. The climate was salubrious, the terrain <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ninviting, the local flora and fauna reasonably pacific. A fine place to live and <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nan enchanting place to visit.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nProvided, he knew as he smiled pleasantly at the young woman who passed him <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthrough the body scanner, it could be kept free of bugs.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nNot that there was anything inherently wrong with the bugs, he reflected as he <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\npresented himself to Customs. Or with the Quillp, or the AAnn, or any of the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndiverse other intelligent races with whom humankind shared this corner of the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nOrion Arm. He had reason of his own to be grateful to the bugs. Without the aid <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthey had rendered to humankind in the Pitarian War, a favorite grandniece of his <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nmight not have survived the fighting. Military assistance in the midst of <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nconflict was always welcome.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nBut the idea that relations should proceed beyondthat was simply intolerable to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\none who loved his kind. The thranx might be all twirling antennae and sweet <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsmells on the surface, but they were as alien as any sentient species humanity <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhad yet encountered. The revelation that they had an actual colony in the Amazon <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nBasin had been enough to trigger simmering outrage not only in men like himself, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbut in many who previously had given little thought to the problem.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nAnd itwas a problem. How could humankind ever be certain of its safety, of its <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nvery future, if empty-headed authorities allowed aliens to expand beyond the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncustomary, restricted diplomatic and commercial sites where they were allowed? <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe notion that such growth should not only be permitted but encouraged and <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncodified was sufficient to prod Skettle and those of like mind to move beyond <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nprotest to action. Negotiations, he knew, were presently at a delicate stage and <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncould go either forward or back. A well-timed statement might be enough to put a <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nstop to foolishness that bordered on the seditious.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nUnlike others who felt similarly, Skettle did not think those humans who blindly <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nadvocated intimate ties with the thranx were traitors. They were simply <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nignorant. The bugs had deceived them. They were very clever, the thranx. Polite <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nto a fault, ever conscious of the feelings of others, they had lulled supposedly <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nastute people into a false sense of security the likes of which humankind had <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nnever before experienced.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nBut not all of us, he thought resolutely as he presented his travel case for <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ninspection.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nHe waited while it passed beneath the Customs scanner. His corpus had already <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbeen cleared. Now it remained only for his luggage to do the same. Lawlor was <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthe only potential weak link in the group, he knew. The man tended to exhibit <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nunease even when no threat was apparent. That was why Skettle had chosen to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncarry this particular case. Old men were not usually the first to be suspected <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nof smuggling.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nWith a tip of his cap and a practiced smile, the earnest young inspector passed <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhim through. Picking up his case on the other side of the scanner, Skettle <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nresumed his trek through the terminal, staying in the middle of the stream of <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndisembarking passengers. Compared to those on major worlds like Terra or <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nAmropolus, the terminal was not large. The scanner had detected nothing inside <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhis case beyond the expected: clothing, vacation gear, personal communicator\u2014the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nusual unremarkable assortment of travel goods.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nIt had not, however, performed a detailed analysis of the luggage itself. Even <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhad it undergone that thorough an examination, the local authorities would still <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhave been hard pressed to prove anything. Had they noted the composition of <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nLawlor\u2019s case, and Martine\u2019s, and subjected them to observation by a trained <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nphysical chemist, however, they would no doubt have been persuaded to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ninvestigate further.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nEach of the three cases was composed of a different set of materials. When <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncertain specific sections of the trio were cut up and then layered together in <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthe appropriate proportions, then treated with a commonly available binding <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nfluid, the result was neat little squares of an extraordinarily dynamic <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nexplosive. Utilizing this product, Elkannah Skettle and his colleagues intended <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nfor the widely advertised Dawn Intercultural Fair to give off even more heat <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthan its organizers intended.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nEverything had been carefully prepared in advance. It was meant for the deadly <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nconsequences to be blamed on unknown provocateurs working together with renegade <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthranx elements, but the apportionment of blame was not really crucial. What <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nmattered was the disruption, and preferably the destruction, of the fair itself. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nIf nothing else, it would put an end to what was supposed to be an exchange of <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cculture\u201d among the races. What nonsense! Skettle chuckled to himself. The idea <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthat humans and bugs should create art in common, that thranx culture should be <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nallowed to contaminate human painting, music, song, or sculpture, would have <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbeen laughable if it was not so dangerous. Such aesthetic degradation could not <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbe allowed. Were no one but Skettle and his associates thinking of the children <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nas yet unborn? He thought, as he had so very many times, of the brave forebears <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nof his own organization who had given their lives in the attempt years before to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwipe out the foul thranx colony located in the Reserva Amazonia. Their sacrifice <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwould not go unavenged.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe Preservers took separate transport to the small hotel they had booked. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nLocated on the outskirts of Aurora, capital of the semitropical colony, the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nestablishment overlooked a small natural lake and was within easy commuting <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndistance of the fair. Following a suitable pause after checking in, they <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nassembled by ones and twos in a prereserved commons room. There they bantered <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ntrivialities while Botha checked for hidden sensors and erected an <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nindustrial-strength sound envelope. There was no reason to suspect the presence <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nof the former and no demonstrated need for the latter, but they were taking no <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nchances\u2014especially when the hand weapons they had contracted for were due to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\narrive with their local contact later in the day.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nFeeling secure, they activated the tridee and waited the necessary few seconds <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nfor the room unit to warm up. As soon as the menu appeared in the air on the far <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nside of the room, Pierrot directed it to provide them with as much local <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbackground on the fair as was available for viewing, commencing with material <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nrecorded as recently as ten days prior to their arrival.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe site was expanding impressively. Portable structures had been raised on the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nfar side of the main lake, facilities for transport vehicles had been prepared <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nunderground, a high-speed transport link with the city continuing on to the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nshuttleport had been constructed and tested, and the usual virtually invisible <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nmolegel had been suspended in place above the entire site to shield it from any <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nadverse weather, since Dawn did not yet possess the advanced climate-moderating <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nfacilities of more technologically mature worlds. Most of the larger exhibits <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwere already in place and undergoing final checkout.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cShow us the thranx pavilions,\u201d Skettle ordered the tridee. Obediently, it <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsupplied perfectly formed floating images on one side with a running printed <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncommentary, in addition to the accompanying audio, on the other. Cerebral <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nplug-ins were available, as was to be expected in any decent hostelry. Skettle <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndisdained their use in favor of group observation.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cLook at that grotesquerie.\u201d Pierrot called for magnification, and the tridee <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nunit complied. \u201cWhat can that abomination possibly be?\u201d She was shaking her head <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndisdainfully.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cSome kind of organic sculpture, I would guess.\u201d Botha possessed more <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nimagination than most of them, Skettle included. \u201cIt\u2019s not so bad, if you ignore <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthe color scheme.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cRemember,\u201d Skettle announced, \u201cit\u2019s not the content of the fair that we\u2019re here <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nto terminate. We\u2019re not art critics.\u201d A few laughs rose above the ongoing <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncommentary from the tridee. \u201cIt\u2019s the possibility that such content may lead to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\na freedom for thranx on human worlds that will let them infiltrate and <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\neventually dominate our very lives, from the way we create to the way we live.\u201d <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThis time his words were greeted not with laughter, but with grim muttering.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThey watched for more than an hour, until Nevisrighne could take it no more. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nRising, he walked over to the room\u2019s food service bay and ordered a chilled <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nalcoholic fruit drink. \u201cI\u2019m sorry, but I can\u2019t watch anymore. Too many bugs for <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\none morning.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cTime we finalized more than observations, anyway.\u201d Botha looked expectantly to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nSkettle.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe old man nodded, his fine gray beard bobbing prominently. \u201cAll right. I know <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nyou\u2019re all anxious to begin the actual work, but we must be careful not to rush <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nmatters. Now that the time for action is so near, it is all the more imperative <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthat we exercise restraint and caution. The last thing we need is to attract the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nattention of local authorities.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nPierrot made a rude noise. \u201cSecurity here is primitive compared to even New <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nRiviera.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cGeneral security, most likely,\u201d Skettle agreed. \u201cBut because of the sensitive <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nnature of the fair, more than local government is involved. As a consequence, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthere will be extra precautions in place. Not only those of Earth, but from <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nHivehom as well.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nNo one followed Skettle\u2019s observation with any abrupt, disparaging comments. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThey had a healthy respect for thranx technology. But technology only added to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthe challenge. As to the eventual success of their mission, none among them had <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthe slightest doubt. They were each of them well and truly dedicated to their <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\navowed cause.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nFrom his luggage Botha produced a purpose-built three-dimensional diagram of the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nfair site. It was exceptionally thorough. As well it ought to be, Skettle <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nreflected, since he and half a dozen sympathetic associates of the Preservers <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhad worked at refining and improving it almost constantly ever since the idea of <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthe fair had been proposed and acted upon. It was safe to say that even the fair <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\norganizations themselves did not possess a schematic any more detailed than the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\none that presently floated before the oddly hushed crowd in the commons room.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nEverything from food service to sewerage to controlling electronics to items as <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsimple and straightforward as disposal bins were reflected in the diagram. There <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwas nothing that could not be expanded and rotated so that the finest detail of <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nconstruction and integration could be analyzed. Though not of a technical mien <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhimself, Skettle could admire the artistry that had gone into the compilation of <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthe schematic. It was a most beautiful diagram of destruction.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nFanning out to preselected locations throughout the fair, at the height of <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ngeneral festivities, he and his companions would install and try to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsimultaneously detonate the blended explosives. An impartial, emotionless <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbeholder might have observed that among the myriad devices intended to be <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nplanted throughout the fair, not one was designed to impact upon the integrated <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nfire-control facilities. With a cutting-edge emergency plant designed to cope <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ninstantly with even a minor blaze, the destruction of such facilities would seem <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nto an outside observer to be a priority for a group of terrorists planning <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwholesale destruction. That such a contingency was nowhere in evidence was a <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ntribute not to oversight or ignorance, but to the skill of Botha and the team he <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhad worked with back on Earth.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nIt was astonishing, Skettle mused as he admired the schematic, how few people <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\never gave a thought to the fact that the time-proven, complex, fire-fighting <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nchemicals used to put out unwanted blazes were composed of a precise chemical <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nmixture that could also, in combination with certain laboriously engineered <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nadditional elements, stimulate instead of suffocate the very flames they were <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndesigned to extinguish. The anticipated, indeed hoped-for, attempt of the local <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nemergency command to fight the blazes to be fomented by the Preservers would <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nresult not in a smothering of those conflagrations, but in their enhancement. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nSkettle smiled inwardly. The resulting chaos and confusion should contribute <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nnicely to the blossoming cataclysm.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nBotha assured him that upon contact with the materials to be spread by the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nmultiple explosions, foams and liquids intended for combating out-of-control <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nblazes would themselves be turned into a substance suitable for supplementing <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthe very conflagrations they were designed to quench. By the time a sufficiency <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nof nonreactive chemical retardants and suppressants could be brought from Aurora <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nCity, much of the glorious but debauched fair should be reduced to wind-blown <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncinders among which would drift the carbonized components of as many baked bugs <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nas possible.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe consequent reaction among the human populace of this portion of the galaxy <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nupon learning that the destruction had been cosponsored by thranx opposed to any <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndeeper alliance among their respective species ought to put a clamp on any <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nenthusiastic treaty making for some time to come, Skettle knew. Which thranx? <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nSkettle\u2019s associates back on Earth had spent much time devising a complete bug <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nterrorist hierarchy, the veracity of whichmight eventually be disproved. But by <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthat time, the delay in negotiations that would result would give him and the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nrest of the Preservers ample time to spread their message to a more alerted <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\npopulation. Relations between human and thranx would progress no farther than <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhumankind\u2019s relations with any other intelligent species.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThat was as things should be, he mused. But education required time. This they <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwould gain from the chaos that would be bought by the destruction of the fair. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nIt would have the added beneficial effect of destroying the viability of any <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nfurther such profane convocations. The Humanx Intercultural Fair on Dawn would <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbe the first and last of its kind.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe fire in his eyes and those of his companions was a precursor to the greater <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nconflagration that within a few days would engulf thousands of unsuspecting <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nvisitors.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nIt was not a blaze that was amenable to reason.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u00a0<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n3<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nCullen Karasi stood on the edge of the spectacular escarpment that overlooked <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthe Mountain of the Mourners and reflected that he was a very long way from <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhome. Comagrave lay on the rim of the bubble of human exploration, more parsecs <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nfrom Earth than was comfortable to think about. If not for the well-established <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncolony in the nearby system of Repler and the discovery of valuable mineral <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndeposits on Burley, it was doubtful humankind would have pushed so far so <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nquickly into this section of the Arm. By KK drive, the capital of the AAnn <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nEmpire, Blassussar, was closer than Terra.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThis latter fact was not lost upon the AAnn, who freely coveted Comagrave. A <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsemidesert planet whose ecological parameters all fell near the center of their <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhabitable paradigms, it was ideally suited to their kind. To survive on its <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsurface, humans had to exercise caution. In this regard, however, it was no <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nworse than many desertified parts of Earth itself and was more accommodating <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthan others. Survey after survey revealed a wealth of mineral and biological <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\npotentiality\u2014not to mention additional archeological treasures yet to be <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nunearthed. With proper preparation and development, humans would do well enough <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhere.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nHumankind\u2019s claim was clear, indisputable, and grudgingly recognized by the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nAAnn. In return for permission to establish a limited number of observational <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\noutposts, strictly for purposes of study and education, the reluctant reptiloids <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhad offered to put their knowledge and expertise at the service of the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncolonists. Despite certain reservations within the Terran government, it was an <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\noffer that could not be denied. The AAnn had forgotten more about surviving on <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndesert-type worlds than humans had ever known, and the government on Earth was <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nfar, far away.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nCertainly, Cullen reflected, the assistance his team had so far received from <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthe AAnn had been a great help. It was they who had provided material aid when <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nfunds from his supporting foundation had been temporarily reduced. It was they <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwho had saved thousands of credits by knowing the best places to establish safe <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncamps. AAnn geologists invariably knew where to locate the deep wells that were <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nnecessary to tap Comagrave\u2019s elusive aquifers, which made settlement expansion <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nas well as long-term scientific work in the field possible. And it was his AAnn <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\npeer, the scientist Riimadu CRRYNN, who had been the first to descry the secret <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nof the Mourners.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThat was why a base camp had been set up near the edge of the great escarpment. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nBelow him, the sheer sandstone wall fell away more than a thousand meters to the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nflat valley floor below. Only the narrow and intermittent River Failings <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nmeandered through this desiccated vale, an echo of the immense watercourse that <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhad once dominated this part of the continent. Already, field teams had gathered <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nample evidence that Comagrave had once enjoyed a much wetter and greener past. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nWhether this was the reason, or one of the reasons, for the demise of the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nComagravian civilization and the highly advanced people who had called <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthemselves the Sauun had yet to be determined.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nAlready, human exoarcheologists had accomplished much. Ruins of sizable cities <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwere to be found on every continent. There was evidence of extensive <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nagriculture, mining, and manufacturing\u2014all the detritus of an advanced culture. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nAnd yet, tens of thousands of years ago, it had all perished. Nor was there any <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nproof that the Sauun had achieved more than rudimentary space travel. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nPreliminary surveys of the planet\u2019s three moons revealed the ruins of only <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nautomatic stations, with no provision for habitation or development.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThis did not jibe with the level of scientific achievement visible in their <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nabandoned cities. There were gaps in technological evolvement where none ought <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nto exist. It was the presence of such gaps in the Comagravian historical record <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nand the desire to fill them in that drew researchers like Cullen to a world so <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndistant.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nBehind him, portative digging equipment hummed softly as fellow team members and <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nadvanced students strove to bring to the light the answers that hopefully lay <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nburied beneath the hard, rocky surface of the escarpment. A vanager cried as it <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndipped and soared above the valley floor. With a leathery wingspan equal to that <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nof a small aircraft, the indigenous scavenger could stay aloft indefinitely, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncarrying its two offspring in a pouch beneath its neck. Vanagers lived in the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nclouds, mated while aloft, and raised their progeny without ever touching the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nground. To feed, they dove and plucked what they could from the surface or <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsnatched it out of the air. Long ago they had lost all but rudimentary evidence <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nof legs and feet. A vanager caught on the ground could only flop about clumsily, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nits great wings useless until a gust of wind sent it aloft once more. Or so the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbiologists insisted.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nFar across the valley, the Mountain of the Mourners stared back at him. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nLiterally. Hewn from the solid green-black diorite of the mountain from which <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthey seemed to be emerging, the Twelve Mourners were at eye level with the top <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nof the escarpment. Counting elaborate headdresses whose significance had yet to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbe interpreted, they averaged some fifteen hundred meters in height. How they <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhad been carved, when and with what tools, was another of the many mysteries <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthat Comagrave proffered in abundance.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nWith such gigantic representations of their kind available for study, there was <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nno wondering what the Sauun had looked like. Tall and slim, with long, humanoid <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nfaces and horizontally slitted eyes, the colossal carvings were clad in flowing <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nrobes embellished with elaborate decorations and intricate designs. Despite <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ntheir immense size, the Twelve had been depicted with extraordinary care and <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndetail. Who they had been, no one yet knew. Knowing that the Sauun had <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nprogressed beyond kingdoms to a modern, planetwide government, all manner of <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\npossibilities had been proposed. The Twelve could be famous artists, or <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nscientists, or the carvers themselves. Or politicians, or criminals, or <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nindividuals chosen at random, or composites of a theoretical species ideal. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nCullen and his colleagues did not know, and they burned to find out. On one <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nverity they were pretty much agreed: It seemed unlikely any civilization would <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ngo to the trouble of chiseling fifteen-hundred-meter-high images out of solid <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nrock, finishing and polishing them with extraordinary care, to perpetuate the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nmemory of a dozen nonentities. Whoever the Twelve were, they represented <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\npersonages of some importance in the history of Comagrave.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nIt was the AAnn Riimadu who had first noticed that the enormous, solemn eyes of <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthe graven icons were aligned on a level with the top of the escarpment. It was <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhe who had theorized that the pupilless orbs were each and every pair subtly <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\npositioned so that they all focused on approximately the same spot\u2014the one where <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nCullen\u2019s crew was presently engaged in exploration. Cullen owed the AAnn a debt <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthat would be hard to repay. At the very least, they would share in the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsubsequent fame and profit of any discovery.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nRiimadu was the only AAnn attached to the project. When he was not on site, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nCullen missed the alien\u2019s expertise. Like all his kind, the AAnn exoarcheologist <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndisplayed an instinctive feel for the makeup of the ground. Adopting his <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsuggestions had already saved the team days of hard work. With most of the busy <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncrew untroubled by the AAnn scientist\u2019s presence from the start, one concern of <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nCullen\u2019s had been removed early in the process of excavation.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nHe did have to be careful to keep Riimadu and Pilwondepat apart. Though <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndiplomacy was not a province of his expertise, Cullen knew enough of the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ntraditional enmity that existed between AAnn and thranx to see to it that the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ntwo resident alien researchers encountered one another as infrequently as <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\npossible. Unlike the AAnn, who took an active part in the excavation, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nPilwondepat was present as an observer only, on behalf of several thranx <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ninstitutes. They had as much interest in ancient races as did humankind, but <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nComagrave was not to their liking. Though humans could survive and even prosper <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\non a desert world, to the thranx it was an exceedingly uncomfortable place to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbe.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nWhile humans had to worry only about sunburn because of Comagrave\u2019s <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncomparatively thin atmosphere and take an occasional slug from a bottle of <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsupplemental oxygen, and while Riimadu strolled around in perfect comfort, poor <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nPilwondepat lumbered about burdened by all manner of gear designed to supply him <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwith the extra oxygen thranx required, as well as special equipment to keep his <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbody properly moist. To a creature who thrived in high heat and even higher <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhumidity, the climate of Comagrave was withering. Unprotected and unequipped, a <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthranx like Pilwondepat would perish within a few days, shriveled like an old <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\napple. That was assuming it could keep warm at night, when surface temperatures <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndropped to a level tolerable to both humans and AAnn but positively deadly to a <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthranx.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nSo Pilwondepat was not comfortable with his assignment. He kept to his specially <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nequipped portable dome as much as possible and only emerged to take recordings <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nand make notes. When he spoke, it was with difficulty, through a special unit <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthat covered his mandibles and moistened the air that flowed down his throat. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nCullen felt sorry for him. The eight-limbed exoarcheologist must have done <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsomething unpopular to have come to a world so disagreeable to his kind.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nAs he turned to head back to camp, Cullen could feel the immense green-black <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbulges of the eyes of the Twelve drilling into the back of his neck. If only <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthey could speak, he thought. If only they were not made of stone. And if only <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthe Sauun had left some surviving record of what had happened to their <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncivilization. It was such riddles that drove curious men and women to willingly <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nendure harsh conditions on isolated outpost worlds. It was what had driven <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nCullen Karasi from a successful family business to the study of ancient alien <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncivilizations.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe resolution to all the great unanswered questions lay somewhere on Comagrave, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhe was certain: buried in an abandoned city, secreted within a protected metal <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nvesicle, locked in the overlying lines of incredibly complex Sauun code that <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nCullen\u2019s colleagues working elsewhere on the planet had not been able to fully <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndecipher. The first requirement of a good archeologist was curiosity, but the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsecond was patience. Just as one could not hurry history, so too could the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nunveiling of its mysteries not be rushed.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nBut waiting for the key was hell.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nMeanwhile, each individual science team hoped theirs would be the one to bring <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nto light the Rosetta that would unlock the enigma of the Sauun. While Cullen\u2019s <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhopes were as high as those of any of his colleagues, realistically he knew he <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwas not likely to be the one to make the meaningful breakthrough. As others <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nlabored to interpret the riddles of the abandoned Sauun cities, he was stuck on <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\na distant plateau whose isolation was notable even for an empty world like <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nComagrave. More than he cared to admit, he was relying for direction on the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nunofficial counsel and expertise of a visiting alien.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cI would not sstep there.\u201d As he spoke, Riimadu underscored his words with a <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsecond-degree gesture of admonition.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe AAnn\u2019s Terranglo was remarkably proficient. Seeing nothing but a few bumps <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nin the ground ahead of him, Cullen nonetheless eased to his left before resuming <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhis advance. He had come to trust the alien\u2019s instincts.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cI don\u2019t see anything,\u201d he commented as soon as he had drawn alongside the other <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbiped. Unlike the insectoid thranx, the anatomy of the scaled, sharp-eyed AAnn <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwas fairly similar to that of humans. The AAnn had evolved from a reptilelike <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nancestor, and they shared with humans the same upright bisymmetrical build and <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthe same large single-lensed eyes, though their hands and feet each boasted one <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nless digit than their human equivalents. They had no external ears, vertical <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\npupils like cats, and highly flexible, prominent tails that they used to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsupplement their serpentine, courtly language of gestures. But for these details <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nof design, and the bright, iridescent scales that covered their bodies, they <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nmight pass at a distance for wandering bald primates. In build they were slim, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nslightly shorter on average than humans, and muscular. Sexual dimorphism was <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nmore subtle than in primates, so that Cullen had to be certain who he was <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ntalking to before addressing individuals of the species as male or female.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nRiimadu had established himself as male from the day he had first been allowed <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nto visit and conduct observations of the human archeological team. Now he <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nunslung a small, painstakingly embossed leather pouch from around his neck and <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nright shoulder. Despite the dry heat that radiated from the rocks atop the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nplateau, he was not panting, and AAnn did not sweat. While Cullen and his <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncoworkers perspired profusely, Riimadu was very much at home in the hot, arid <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nclimate.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cLook and learn,\u201d the alien hissed softly as he tossed the pouch.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nIt landed atop one of the slight bumps in the ground. Soundlessly, it was jolted <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhalf a dozen centimeters into the air, fell to the ground nearby, and lay <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nmotionless. Striding forward, his limber tail flicking from side to side, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nRiimadu recovered the pouch. Cullen noted that this time the AAnn handled it <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwith extra care.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nBringing it back, he held it out for the human to inspect. Three small brown <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nspines had pierced the bottom of the pouch. One went all the way through the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nfine leather to emerge from the other side.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cDefenssive mechanissm for an endemic ssoil-browsser. Not a predator.\u201d Using his <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nclawed fingers, Riimadu slowly extracted one of the spines from the pouch. Its <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ntip was so sharp it seemed to narrow down to nothingness.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cPoisonous?\u201d Cullen examined the needlelike implement respectfully.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cAnalyssiss will be required. With your permission.\u201d Removing the other pair of <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nspines one by one, the AAnn carefully placed them within the pouch\u2019s padded <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ninterior.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cI wonder if they would have gone through the sole of my boot.\u201d Turning away <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nfrom the no-longer-innocuous, quiescent mounds, Cullen continued back toward the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsite.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cWhile I am a firm believer in dynamic experimentation in the field,\u201d Riimadu <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nresponded, \u201cI did not feel it would be entirely ethical to utilize you for ssuch <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\na purposse without firsst sseeking your conssent.\u201d He hissed softly, an <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nexhalation that Cullen had come to recognize as AAnn laughter. While the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nreptiloids were by nature more solemn than the thranx, and positively wooden <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nalongside the Quillp, that they possessed and displayed a sense of humor could <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nnot be denied. It was the subject matter that was occasionally off-putting.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cI appreciate the consideration,\u201d he told the alien dryly. \u201cMy feet hurt plenty <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nas it is.\u201d The AAnn did not react, taking the comment at face value. Well, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nCullen mused, one couldn\u2019t expect every witticism to make the whimsical jump <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbetween species.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe ability to espy hazardous camouflaged fauna was something he had come to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nexpect from Riimadu. He told the AAnn so as he thanked him more directly.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cYou humanss are alwayss looking up, or ahead,\u201d the exoarcheologist commented. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cAnywhere but where you sshould. On a world like Vussussica you need to keep <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nyour attention focussed much more often on the ground in front of you.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nVussussica was the name the AAnn had given to Comagrave. It was rumored that <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncertain elements among the Imperial survey services had never fully relinquished <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ntheir claim to the distant world humans had begun to explore long before the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nfirst AAnn ships had arrived in orbit around its sun. Subsequent to the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nconclusive imprinting by both sides of the formal agreements regarding <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nComagrave\u2019s future status, it was presumed that these dissident elements had <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbeen suppressed. Certainly no one had mentioned them to Cullen or to any of his <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nstaff. To Riimadu they were of no consequence. \u201cA hisstorical footnote,\u201d he had <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncalled them when asked to expound his own feelings on the matter.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nOn an entirely practical level, Cullen did not know what he would have done <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwithout the AAnn\u2019s help. It was Riimadu who had suspected that the eyes of the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nMourners held a secret, and it was he who had triangulated the gazes of the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ntwelve monoliths and chosen this site for excavation. That they had so far <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nfailed to find evidence of anything more significant than local subsurface <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nlife-forms like the spine shooter did not mean the site was barren of potential <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndiscovery, only that they had more work to do and deeper to dig. Certainly the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\npreliminary subterranean scan had generated some interesting anomalies highly <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsuggestive of the presence of unnatural stratification. Digging proceeded by <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhand only to protect the topmost layer of whatever they might uncover. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThereafter, once they knew what they were dealing with, more advanced excavation <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ntools could be brought into play according to the fragility of the site. They <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nknew they were ontosomething . They just did not, as yet, know what.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nPatience, he reminded himself.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nA thickly bundled figure was lurching clumsily along the western edge of the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nmain excavation. Setting his hopes of discovery aside, Cullen spared a brief <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nrush of sympathy for the awkwardly garbed Pilwondepat.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nDespite making use of all six legs for locomotion, the thranx scientist was <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nstill tottering. The humidifier that was wrapped around his b-thorax covered his <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbreathing spicules completely. It was not quite silent and made him sound like <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhe was wheezing even though the source of the sound was entirely mechanical. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThough the device drew moisture from the air, there was not enough in the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\natmosphere of Comagrave to satisfy even the hardiest thranx. The humidifier\u2019s <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndraw had to be supplemented by the contents of a lightweight bottle that rode on <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthe scientist\u2019s back. Coupled with leg and body wraps that helped to retain body <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nmoisture, Pilwondepat resembled a child\u2019s toy engaged in a clumsy and <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nineffectual attempt to break free of its packaging.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nOnly the scientist\u2019s head was completely unprotected, allowing him to observe <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwithout obstruction. The chafing of his chitin from the dryness of the air was <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nplain to see, even though Cullen knew the exoarcheologist employed several <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nspecially formulated creams to maintain his exoskeleton\u2019s shine and character. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe site administrator had often wondered what awful blunder the thranx had <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncommitted to get himself assigned to Comagrave. He had been shocked to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\neventually learn that Pilwondepat had actually requested the assignment.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cWhat are you?\u201d he had asked in an unguarded moment. \u201cSome kind of masochist?\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nPilwondepat had clicked to the contrary. \u201cThe love of self-suffering is a human <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ntrait. I simply felt the opportunities here too intriguing to eschew. Like you, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nI want to know what happened to these people\u2014to their cities, and to their dream <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nof space travel that was never fulfilled despite their having apparently <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nachieved an equivalent level of technology in all other aspects of science.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cBut to volunteer for duty on a world so blatantly inhospitable to your kind . . <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n. ,\u201d Cullen had continued.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe visiting scientist had responded with a cryptic gesture the human had been <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nunable to access in his pictionary of thranx gestures. \u201cThis is the world where <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthe Sauun lived. As a field researcher, you must know yourself that recordings <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nand records are no substitute for working on site.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nCullen recalled the brief but instructive conversation as he watched the thranx <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ntotter to the edge of the excavation. If the eight-limbed academic\u2019s dedication <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndid not exceed his own, it certainly matched it. Despite the appalling <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nconditions, his hard-shelled counterpart rarely complained. As he put it, the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nfascination of the Sauun enigma helped to moisten more than his curiosity.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nAdvancing in front of Cullen, Riimadu approached the thranx from behind and <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\naddressed the scientist in his own language. \u201cSrr!iik,you musst be careful here, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nor you will fall in.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nPilwondepat looked back and up at the AAnn, who loomed over him, though not by <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nas much as would the average human. \u201cI have six legs. Have a care for your own <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nfooting, and don\u2019t worry about mine.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cI worry about everyone\u2019ss footing on thiss world.\u201d Leaning forward, Riimadu <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\npeered into the excavation. Neatly partitioned with cubing beams of light, the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhole was now some thirty meters in diameter and seven deep. At the bottom, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhumans labored in thin, lightweight clothing, exuding salt-laden body water as <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthey worked. Their skins, in a variety of colors, rippled unsettlingly in the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nlight of Vussussica\u2019s midday sun. Unlike AAnn or thranx, their epidermal layers <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwere incredibly fragile. Why, even a feeble thranx could split them from neck to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nankle with a single sharpened claw!<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThey were very quick, though. Agility was their compensation for lack of <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nexternal toughness. To an AAnn or thranx, the human body seemed composed of <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nlumps of malleable material, stretching and squashing unpleasantly in response <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nto the slightest muscular twitch. Their anatomy had no gravity, no deliberation. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe AAnn would have found them amusing, had they not been both gifted and <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nprolific. And dangerous. The Pitarian War had revealed their true capabilities. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nTo the AAnn, who had remained neutral throughout the conflict, the war had been <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nexceedingly instructive.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nLurching forward, he leaned his body weight against the thranx\u2019s right side. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nPilwondepat\u2019s foothands slid over the edge of the excavation, dirt and gravel <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsliding away beneath them as he scrambled to retain a foothold. Under such <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\npressure, a biped would have taken a serious tumble into the open excavation. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe thranx\u2019s four trulegs kept him from falling.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nTurning his head sharply, the thranx\u2019s compound eyes glared up at the AAnn. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThat was deliberate!\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cI kiss the ssand beneath your feet if it wass sso.\u201d Gesturing apologetically, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthe AAnn exoarcheologist stepped back. Sharp teeth flashed between powerful, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nscaly jaws. \u201cWhy would I do ssuch a thing? Esspecially to a fellow sstudent of <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthe unknown.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cWhy do the AAnn strike and retreat, hit and retire?\u201d As he regained his <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncomposure, Pilwondepat held his ground, determined not to give the AAnn the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsatisfaction of seeing him flee. \u201cAlways testing, your kind. Always probing for <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nweaknesses\u2014not only of individuals, but of worlds and alliances.\u201d The thranx <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ngestured with a truhand. \u201cI don\u2019t even blame you, Riimadu. You can\u2019t help <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nyourself\u2014it\u2019s your nature. But don\u2019t push me again. I may not be as strong, but <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nI have better leverage than you.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe AAnn was visibly amused. \u201cColleague, are you challenging me to a fight?\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cDon\u2019t be absurd. We are both here as guests and on sufferance of the human <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nestablishment,crrllk . They are not fond of either of us, and must regard our <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\npresence here as an imposition and distraction from their work.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cNot the human Cullen.\u201d With the tip of his highly flexible tail, the AAnn <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ngestured to where the human in charge was descending the earthen steps that had <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbeen cut into the side of the excavation. \u201cHe knowss that it wass I who found <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthiss ssite, and I can assure you that he iss properly grateful.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nPilwondepat turned away. He knew the AAnn was right. The human Cullen Karasi <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nowed the AAnn his gratitude. Pilwondepat possessed no such leverage with the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhuman, or with any of his coworkers. Stumbling to and fro among them, weighed <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndown by the humidifying equipment that kept him alive if not entirely <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncomfortable, he noted their sideways stares and heard their murmurings of <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndisapproval. The archeological team represented a cross section of humanity, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthough a well-educated one. There were among them some who actively espoused <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncloser ties with the thranx. They were opposed by those who fervently desired <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthat the two dissimilar species keep their distance from one another. The <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nmajority listened to the diverse arguments of their fellows and tried to make up <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ntheir as-yet-undecided minds. Pilwondepat feared that his personal comportment <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nunder trying circumstances was insufficient to elevate the status of his people <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nin the humans\u2019 eyes. At every opportunity, he did his best to counteract the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsorry image he was certain he was presenting.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nIf only he could get rid of the awkward, encumbering survival gear! Within his <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nprivate dome he could do so, and actually relax. But those few humans curious <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nenough to pay him a visit did not linger. Coupled with the temperature on the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nplateau, the 96 percent humidity Pilwondepat favored within his living quarters <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsoon drove them out. There was nothing he could do about it. If he lowered the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhumidity in the dome to a level humans would find comfortable, that would leave <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhim miserable all of the time, instead of just when he was working outside.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nSo he tried to learn their language, a form of communication as slippery and <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nfluid as their bodies, and make friends where he could. Meanwhile he was forced <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nto watch as Riimadu strolled freely about the site, interacting effortlessly <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwith the humans, sharing the same basic body structure and single-lensed eyes, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nand positively luxuriating in what for the AAnn was an ideal climate.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nHadthe reptiloid deliberately nudged him in an attempt to send him tumbling over <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthe edge into the excavation, or had it been an accident? One could never be <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsure of anything except their innate cunning where the AAnn were concerned. They <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwould gesture first-degree humor while cutting the ground out from beneath you. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nYet he could not complain. The humans, who had far less experience of the AAnn <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthan did the thranx, continued to remain ambivalent in their attitude toward <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthem. Humans, Pilwondepat had noted in the course of his studies, had a tendency <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nto react against assertions they themselves had not proven. Accuse the AAnn, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ninsult them, insist on their intrinsic perfidy, and well-meaning humans were <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nlikely to leap to their defense.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nIt was infuriating. The thranx knew the AAnn, knew what they were capable of. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nHumans did not want to hear it. So the insectoids had to proceed discreetly in <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nall matters involving the scaled ones, whether in personal relationships or at <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthe diplomatic level. Humans would have to learn the truth about the AAnn by <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthemselves. Like others of his kind, Pilwondepat only hoped this education would <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nnot prove too painful.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nFor their part, the AAnn were being more patient and proceeding more slowly in <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ntheir developing relations with humankind than the thranx had ever known them to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndo with any newly contacted species. This knowledge allowed Pilwondepat to smile <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ninternally. Having to proceed with such unaccustomed caution must be causing the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nAAnn Imperial hierarchy a great deal of discomfort. He certainly hoped so.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nMeanwhile, he was but one representative of his family, clan, and hive, isolated <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\non a world of great mysteries, dependent on the unpredictable humans for <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncontinued permission to work among them and, indeed, for his very survival. That <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nmany of them viewed his presence among them with suspicion and xenophobia he <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncould not help. He could only do his work and try, when the opportunity <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\npresented itself, to make friends. For some reason he enjoyed greater sympathy <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nfrom human females than from the males. This, he had been told before embarking <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\non his assignment, was a likely possibility, and he should be prepared to take <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nadvantage of it.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nIt had to do, he had been informed, with the thranx body odor, which nearly all <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nprimates found exceedingly pleasant. More than once, human workers had commented <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nupon it, and he had been forced to resort to his translator to ascertain the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nmeaning of strangely emollient words likejasmine andfrangipani .<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nWith a sigh, he started around the edge of the excavation. It was time to do <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsome work among the human field staff. That meant making his way to the bottom <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nof the excavation. In the absence of a familiar ramp, he would have to cope with <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhuman-fashioned \u201csteps.\u201d It was uncivilized and awkward, but he dared not ask <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nfor help. Special treatment was the one thing he was determined not to request. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nMany humans did not realize that thranx, built low to the ground, were terrible <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nclimbers despite boasting the use of eight limbs.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nA young worker named Kwase saw the scientist struggling at the top of the first <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nstep. Putting down his soil evaporator, the young man turned and vaulted up the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nearthen staircase to confront the alien. Smiling encouragingly, he made a cup of <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nboth hands in front of his own legs. Quickly discerning the sturdy biped\u2019s <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nintent, Pilwondepat gratefully dipped both antennae in the mammal\u2019s direction <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbefore carefully placing one foothand in the proffered fleshy stirrup and <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nresuming his descent.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nBrr!!asc\u2014we make progress! he told himself with satisfaction. The annoyed look <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\non Riimadu\u2019s glistening face as he observed the human voluntarily assisting the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthranx was even worth a few deep breaths of inadequate, desiccated air.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe bottom of the excavation was no familiar homeworld burrow, he mused when he <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nfinally hopped down off the last step, but it was far more calming than the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwind-blown, lonely surface.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u00a0<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n4<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nFanielle watched the Hysingrausen Wall slide past beneath the aircar\u2019s wings. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nRunning east to west across this portion of the central continent, the immense, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nforest-fringed limestone rampart was interrupted only by a succession of <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nenormous waterfalls that spilled over the three-thousand-meter rim. Despite the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nheavy flow, most evaporated before they reached the ground. Only a very few, the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\noffspring of mighty rivers that arose in the northern mountains beyond the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nMediterranea Plateau, thundered against rocks at the base of the wall.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe majestic geologic feature had kept the thranx from making anything more than <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncursory explorations of the high tableland. Humans were delighted to be allowed <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nto establish themselves in a sizable region the thranx had ignored, and many <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthranx were pleased to see humans making use of an uplifted portion of their <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nplanet that was to them the perfect picture of a half-frozen hell.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nShe sealed her field jacket as the aircar, once clear of the strong downdrafts <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthat raked the wall, commenced a gradual descent. The afternoon temperature at <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nAzerick Station was sixteen degrees C. Bracing to a human, unbearably frigid and <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndry to a thranx. Azerick did not receive many visitors from the heavily <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\npopulated lowlands. Most of the thranx who were assigned to help facilitate the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nstation\u2019s development stayed down in Chitteranx, in the rain forest, where the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhumidity and heat were pleasantly overpowering. A few unlucky souls were <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nassigned permanently to the human outpost. Being thranx, they rarely gave voice <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nto their displeasure. Only someone like Anjou, who had learned to interpret many <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nof their gestures, could tell how unhappy they were.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nIn less than two weeks she would have her meeting with the eint. She intended to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbe forceful but congenial. There were years worth of particulars that needed to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbe discussed, lists of individual items that needed to be addressed in detail. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nShe would have to pick and choose carefully so as not to offend, or bore, or <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nisolate her estimable audience. Haflunormet was a good soul, but during the time <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthey had worked with each other he had been able to offer little more than <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsympathetic encouragement on issues of real import. Working at last with someone <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwho could actually make decisions promised to be enlightening as well as <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\neffective.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThere was so much to prepare. She worried about overwhelming the eint with <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nminutiae before paradigms could be agreed upon.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe aircar set down gently amid the quasi-coniferous forest that covered the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nplateau. While the trees resembled nothing arboreal on Earth, at least they were <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ngreen. Jeremy was waiting for her. They embraced decorously. Other moves would <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhave to wait for greater privacy.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nHe took her bag as they walked through the terminal. \u201cI hear you finally got <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nyour meeting with a higher-up. Some of us were beginning to wonder if any of the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndiplomatic staff here ever would.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cYou know the thranx.\u201d They turned a corner, squeezing past chattering travelers <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\noutbound on the aircar that had just arrived. \u201cCaution in everything.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nHe made a rude noise. \u201cIt\u2019s more than that. It\u2019s deliberate. They\u2019re trying to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nstay friends, close friends, without committing themselves to anything definite. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe Pitarian War was an exception, brought on by exceptional circumstances. Now <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthey\u2019ve reverted to the hive norm.\u201d Outside, he placed her bag in the transport <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncapsule. In seconds, they were racing along a grassy trail split by the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nglistening metallic strip of a powerguide.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cI don\u2019t think that\u2019s the case at all, Jeremy.\u201d Leaning back in the seat, she <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwatched the forest whiz past. At this speed, details vanished in a green blur, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nand travelers could almost imagine they were speeding through the far more <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nfamiliar woods of Canada or Siberia.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nHe shrugged diffidently. \u201cWell, if anybody should know, it\u2019s you, Fannie. You\u2019ve <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nspent more time among them than anyone else on staff. Personally, I don\u2019t see <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhow you stand the climate and the crowding inside their hives.\u201d Reaching out, he <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ntook one of her hands in his and with a fingertip began to trace abstract <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndesigns on the back. \u201cI\u2019d rather have you spend more time here, you know. It\u2019s <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nnot real great for my ego to think that you prefer a bug\u2019s company to mine.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nShe smiled and let him toy with her hand and fingers. Little sparks seemed to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nmaterialize with each contact. \u201cUnfortunately, while humankind has conquered <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndeep space, cured the most serious primitive diseases, and spread itself across <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\na small portion of one galactic arm, we have yet to solve the unfathomable <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncomplexities of the male ego.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nHis fingers jet\u00e9ed up her arm. \u201cChaos theory. That\u2019s the ticket.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe darkened capsule arrived at Azerick with both passengers considerably <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nrelaxed in mind and body. Jeremy bid her a reluctant farewell, leaving her to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncompose the report she would present in person to the ambassador. Upgrading the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nembassy here to full settlement status was one item on the crowded agenda. The <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhumans wanted it\u2014for one thing, it would mean promotions all around\u2014but the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthranx were reluctant. Granting such status implied recognition of a condition <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nexisting between the two species that they were not sure they were prepared to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nacknowledge.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nShe showered and redressed, leaving off the field jacket since the station was <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nheated to an Earth-ideal standard of twenty-two degrees, with humidity to match. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nAmbassador Toroni was anxious to hear her preliminary report. Details could come <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nlater.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nSmiles and congratulations awaited her in the main conference room. Outside, the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nforest of the Mediterranea Plateau, as the resident humans had come to call it, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nmarched away toward distant high mountains. A smattering of applause greeted her <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nrising. She did not blush, was not uncomfortable. The acclaim had been earned.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nSpreading a brace of viewers out before her, she folded her hands and waited as <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthe ambassador rose. There were eight other people in the room, most of whom she <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nknew well. Living in an outpost on an alien world left little room for people to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbe strangers.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cFirst,\u201d he said, \u201cI want to extend my personal congratulations to Fanielle <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nAnjou for securing what we had come to believe might never come to pass: an <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nappointment to discuss, and to present, multiple items of diplomatic importance <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\non which we have all been working for years. While the method of finally <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nobtaining this long-sought-after meeting may have been unorthodox, I think I can <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsay safely that no strenuous objections will be raised at higher levels.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cEspecially since \u2018higher levels\u2019 have no idea what a Bryn\u2019ja request is,\u201d Gail <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nHwang observed tartly.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cFunny, you don\u2019t look pregnant.\u201d From his seat next to the ambassador, Jorge <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nSertoa grinned down at her. \u201cWho\u2019s the father?\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cProbably that thranx she\u2019s been seeing so much of,\u201d someone else put in <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nquickly. Laughter rolled the length of the table.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cI don\u2019t think so.\u201d Aram Mieleski pursed his lips as he rested his chin <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthoughtfully on the tips of his fingers. \u201cThe delivery mechanism involved is so <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndifferent that . . .\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cOh, shut up, Aram,\u201d Gail chided him. \u201cI swear, if ever anybody needed a humor <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ntransplant . . .\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cEmotional conditions cannot be transferred between individuals,\u201d an unruffled <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nMieleski calmly observed, by his words confirming the necessity of her <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nobservation.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cWhat will you do,\u201d Enrique Thorvald asked seriously, \u201cif the thranx continue to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ninquire as to your condition?\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThey\u2019ll be informed that I lost the multiple larvae prior to giving birth.\u201d <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nAnjou held one of her readers before her. \u201cI\u2019ve worked it all out. If anything, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthat should gain me even more sympathy. And it doesn\u2019t hurt that Eint <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nCarwenduved, with whom I am to meet, is female.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cYeah,\u201d Sertoa muttered. \u201cYou can compare the glaze on your ovipositors.\u201d While <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbasically a good guy, Jorge Sertoa was among several outspoken members of the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\noutpost staff who were less than enthusiastic about cementing deeper relations <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwith their hosts.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cAnd I bet you\u2019d like to be there to see that.\u201d Her rejoinder prompted more <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nlaughter and defused what could have been an awkward moment. Putting the jovial <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbanter to rest, she hefted the reader and commenced delivering her formal <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nreport. They would all receive copies in due course, but this way questions <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncould be asked as soon as they were formulated. Ambassador Toroni was a firm <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbeliever in encouraging staff interaction.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nWhen she concluded, less than an hour later, there were fewer queries than she <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhad anticipated. Her accomplishment in securing the official meeting was duly <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\napplauded once again, but most of the questions thrown her way concerned <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nmaintaining the security of the ruse she had invented to gain the appointment <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nrather than what she was actually going to discuss when it finally came to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nfruition.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cIt all depends,\u201d she commented by way of summation, \u201con how much authority I\u2019m <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ngiven going into the meeting.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nAll eyes shifted to Toroni. Running a hand through his shock of white hair, he <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nleaned back in his chair and considered. For an ambassador appointed to what was <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\narguably the most important nonhuman populated world known, he was casual in <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nmanner and laid-back in his work habits. It was an attitude much appreciated by <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthose who labored under him. Azerick was a lonely enough place to be stationed <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwithout being forced to toil for some inflexible martinet.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cIf it were up to me, Fanielle, I\u2019d give you permission to vet and sign <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ntreaties. But you know I can\u2019t do that. I don\u2019t have that capability myself. As <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsoon as we adjourn here, I\u2019ll get on the deep-space communicator and find out <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\njust how far the authorities on Earth are prepared to let you go. One thing you <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncan be sure of: You won\u2019t be allowed to negotiate anything controversial.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cI already know that,\u201d she responded.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cBut we might be able to procure more authority for you than you think, by <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ntrumpeting the importance of this meeting, how it\u2019s likely not to be repeated <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nfor some time, the sensitive nature of relations between you and this Eint <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nCarwenduved\u2014I intend to call in every favor and promise I\u2019ve been stockpiling.\u201d <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nHe leaned forward. \u201cI want you to have as much autonomy going in as we can <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nmanage. This is the first real breakthrough we\u2019ve had in months, and I don\u2019t <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwant to squander it.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cEven so, sir,\u201d Sertoa began, \u201cwe don\u2019t want Fanielle to agree to anything <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhasty.\u201d He smiled deferentially at her. \u201cCareful perusal and dissection of any <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\npotential covenant is demanded before the authority to sign can be conferred.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cLoosen up, Jorge,\u201d she told him. \u201cNo matter what I manage to get the eint to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nagree to, I don\u2019t think you have to worry about some thranx sharing your <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbathroom anytime soon.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nIt was an exceedingly mild put-down, but whether for that reason or one unknown, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nSertoa said nothing more for the duration of the meeting.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cI\u2019ve been working on proceeding to the next step in securing a stronger <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nalliance among our respective species.\u201d Holding up her reader, she touched a <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncontact and waited the couple of seconds necessary to transfer the relevant <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndocumentation to everyone else\u2019s handheld. \u201cIf the eint doesn\u2019t dismiss it out <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nof hand, I intend to at least broach a number of possibilities for future <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndiscussion.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cSuch as what?\u201d Hwang asked with obvious interest.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cA lasting, permanent alliance. Nothing held back. Military presence on one <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nanother\u2019s worlds, mutual command of tactics and weaponry, joint colonization of <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwhich this plateau and the Amazon Basin are only the most preliminary sorties.\u201d <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nSomeone whistled.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cYou don\u2019t want much, do you, Fanielle?\u201d Genna Erlich observed.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cYou\u2019re talking about the kind of treaty that would require not only a vote of <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthe full Terran Congress, but approval by majorities on all the settled worlds.\u201d <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nMieleski\u2019s tone was somber. \u201cIt\u2019s a very adventurous program.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cWhat are we here for, if not to press for closer relations?\u201d Toroni smiled <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\npaternally. \u201cThough you\u2019ve certainly chosen an ambitious agenda for yourself, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nFanielle.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cEverything depends on the eint\u2019s reaction to my prefatory suggestions,\u201d she <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nreplied a bit defensively. \u201cDepending on how things go, I might not even have <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthe chance to make known my more elaborate proposals.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cQuite right.\u201d Rising, Toroni indicated that the conference was at an end. \u201cI <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nlook forward to reading all the details of your report, Fanielle. With luck, we <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nshould within a couple of days have some guidelines from Earth detailing how you <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwill be allowed to proceed. I myself am optimistic, and intend to frame the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nrequest for those guidelines in the most anxious manner possible.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cIn the meantime, we all of us have much to study, and to digest. I take it you <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nare amenable to criticisms and suggestions, Ms. Anjou?\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cAlways,\u201d she replied, at the same time hoping there would not be too many. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nPutting what had previously been an informal succession of guidelines into <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\npresentation format was going to take most of the time she had remaining until <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nher meeting with the eint. The last thing she needed was a flood of well meaning <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbut essentially superfluous advice.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nOnly when word came back from Earth that she was to have essentially a free hand <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nin making proposals\u2014though she could not commit to anything more significant <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthan, for example, the Intercultural Fair about to get under way on the colony <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nworld of Dawn\u2014did she realize how truly important the encounter would be. Though <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nusually an island of calm amid her often frazzled colleagues, she finally had to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ntake some minor medication to still her nerves.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nI am going to go in there, she told herself, as the chosen representative of my <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nentire species, knowing that I have gained that access on the back of a lie. But <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwhile the burden was making her increasingly uneasy, she would not have turned <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthe meeting over to one of her colleagues for all the suor melt on Barabbas.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nAs the time for her to return to Daret drew near, she found herself relying more <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthan ever on Jeremy\u2019s strong, self-assured presence. A microbiologist, he had no <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndiplomatic ax to grind, nothing of a professional nature to gain from her <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsuccess or failure. He was interested only in her and their future together; not <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nin her mission. It was a gratifying change from the characteristic infighting <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nand arguing that took place within the highly competitive diplomatic hierarchy.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nWhen the day scheduled for departure finally did arrive and she had little to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ntake with her but her hopes and anxieties, he took time off from his lab work to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\njoin her for the brief journey in the transport capsule that would convey her to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthe settlement airport.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nOnce more, the great green forest of the Mediterranea Plateau was rushing past <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\noutside the transport\u2019s port. To the thranx, it was their deepest jungle, the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nmost biologically mysterious region left on their homeworld. Visiting human <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nresearchers, strolling about comfortably in pants and shirts, were making <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nvaluable reports and passing on the results of their research to their thranx <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncounterparts, who would have required special gear and attire simply to survive <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nin the temperate-cool lower oxygen environment humans found perfectly amenable. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nSimilar revelations were being made by thranx researchers stationed in the deep <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nAmazon and Congo Basins on Earth. Of such serendipitous exchanges of data and <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nknowledge were scientific alliances, if not diplomatic ones, strengthened.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nDuring the high-speed commute they held hands and talked. Jeremy\u2019s research was <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ngoing exceptionally well, and everyone at the outpost was talking about <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nFanielle\u2019s breakthrough in securing a meeting with a thranx who ranked high <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nenough to actually make decisions as well as recommendations.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cI\u2019m not going to be able to get near you when you get back,\u201d he told her <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nteasingly. \u201cYou\u2019ll be blanketed by representatives of the media.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cIf this visit is a success,\u201d she reminded him.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThere are noifs where you\u2019re concerned, lady-mine.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cMaybe not where I\u2019m concerned, but diplomacy is something else again.\u201d Why, she <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwondered, did someone who was perfectly comfortable trolling the corridors of <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ninterstellar power suddenly and so frequently in this man\u2019s presence devolve to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthe maturity level of a sixteen-year-old? She had long ago become convinced it <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwas due to a recessive gene on the Y chromosome.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cJust like you\u2019re something else again.\u201d Leaning forward, he kissed her as <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\npassionately as the time remaining to the airport conveniently allowed, then <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nrose. \u201cI could use something to drink. Do you want anything before\u2014?\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n
\n\u00a0<\/span>
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nShe became aware of the pain as vision returned. It seemed to increase in <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nproportion to the intensity of the light that splashed across her retinas. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nMemory loaded in increasingly large chunks: who she was, where she ought to be, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwhat she was supposed to be doing. Too much of it failed to jibe with what she <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwas feeling and seeing. Though the first words she heard were in themselves <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nentirely innocent, their import was uncompromisingly ominous.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cShe\u2019s awake.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nShe recognized the voice. Ambassador Toroni had a distinctive, measured way of <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nspeaking, slightly nasal but memorable. It matched his face, which moments later <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwas smiling down into her own. There was relief in his countenance, but no <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhumor.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nA voice she did not recognize said, \u201cI\u2019ll leave you alone with her for a while. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nHer vitals are fine, but she\u2019s liable to be less than completely coherent until <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthe comprehensive neural block has fully worn off. The aerogels will keep her <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncomfortable. If anything untoward occurs, or something doesn\u2019t look right, just <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhit the alert.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThank you, nurse.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nNurse.Anjou liked the sound of that even less than the absence of humor in her <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsuperior\u2019s expression. She struggled to sit up. Reading the relevant cerebral <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncommands from the patch fastened to the back of her skull and ascertaining that <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nrising did not contradict her medical profile, the bed complied.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nSitting up, she found that the light did not hurt as much. In addition to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nToroni, Sertoa was also present. He did not even try to fake a smile. \u201cHello, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nFanielle. How\u2014how are you feeling?\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cSleepy. Confused. Something hurts. No,\u201d she corrected herself, \u201ceverything <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhurts, but something is muting it.\u201d Looking past them, searching the hospital <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nroom, she did not see a third face. Especially not the one she sought. \u201cI\u2019ve <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbeen in an accident.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nToroni nodded, very slowly. \u201cWhat\u2019s the last thing you remember, my dear?\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cPacking to go to Daret. No,\u201d she corrected herself quickly, inspired perhaps by <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ntheir stricken looks. \u201cI was already on my way there. On the transport to the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nairport. With\u2014\u201d She looked past them again. \u201c\u2014Jeremy Hyguens.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cHe was a good friend of yours,\u201d Sertoa commented softly.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cYes. We are\u2014\u201d She broke off as Toroni threw the other man a look of quiet <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nexasperation.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nHe was. That was what Sertoa had said.He was. She sank back into the cushioning <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\naerogel, wishing it was solid enough to smother her. When she had finished <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncrying, when the tears had subsided enough for her to form words again, she <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbelieved that she heard herself whispering, \u201cWhat . . . happened?\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nBernard Toroni sat down on the edge of the bed, the transparent aerogel dimpling <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nunder his extra weight. He wanted to take this exceptional young woman\u2019s hand, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nto hold it tightly, to make things better. But that was not a procedure allowed <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nfor in the diplomatic syllabus, and circumstances dictated that he keep a <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncertain distance. He did not want to keep his distance, though. He wanted to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhold her the way he had once held his own children back on Earth, before he had <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbegun to receive assignments to other worlds.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cYou were on a transport capsule in line for the airport. There was an empty <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncargo carrier on the strip ahead of you. No one knows exactly how it happened, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbut there was a program failure. The cargo unit\u2019s drive field reversed. The two <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncapsules hit very hard.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThe kinetic energy released\u2014\u201d Sertoa started to say before a look from Toroni <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsilenced him.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cOnce engaged, transport capsule fields don\u2019t \u2018reverse.\u2019 The programs are <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndesigned to be fail-safe. At worst, onboard in-line safeties should have cut its <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndrive. Had that happened, your capsule\u2019s onboard sensors would have had time to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndetect the failure ahead and bring it to a stop prior to impact.\u201d He paused for <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nreflection. \u201cThere were a total of twelve people on board the capsule you were <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ntraveling in. You and a fellow named Muu Nulofa from Engineering were the only <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsurvivors.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cJeremy\u2014\u201d She did not swallow particularly hard, but her throat was on fire.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nToroni shifted his position on the edge of the bed. No one else had been willing <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nto pay this first visit. \u201cThe lifesavers who extricated you from what was left <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nof the capsule found his body sprawled across yours. They theorize that the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nextra . . . padding . . . is what saved your chest from being crushed when the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nfront wall of your cubicle caved in. There was nothing they could do for him. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nCerebral and internal hemorrhaging.\u201d He hesitated. \u201cI did not know the man, but <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nI have since spoken to some of his colleagues. They all describe him as a fine <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhuman being who was dedicated to his work. And to . . . other things.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nHer eyes rose to meet his. He did not enjoy the experience, but he respected the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwoman in the bed far too much to look away. \u201cDid they also tell you we had been <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndiscussing marriage?\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cNo.\u201d The ambassador\u2019s lips tightened. \u201cNo, nobody mentioned that to me.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nShe relieved him by turning her head to one side, letting the warm aerogel <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsupply the support her muscles no longer cared to provide. \u201cWe didn\u2019t talk about <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nit much except among ourselves. There were too many other distractions. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nProfessional\u2014\u201d She choked softly on the word.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nIt was quiet in the room. No one spoke for many minutes: the two men remaining <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsilent out of respect, the woman because she no longer had anything to say. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nBehind her eyes, something had gone away.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cIt\u2019s very interesting,\u201d Toroni finally murmured. When she failed to react, he <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nadded, \u201cUnprecedented, certainly.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nMoving with a slowness that had as its source something deeper and more profound <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthan medication, she rolled her head back in his direction. \u201cWhat is?\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThe expression of concern. On a personal level. From our hosts.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nShe frowned ever so slightly. \u201cI don\u2019t understand.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cSome of the recently communicated terminology is unique to our translator\u2019s <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nexperience. I am told there are nuances involved they have never before seen <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nexpressed.\u201d He mustered a fatherly smile. \u201cThere are several from your contact <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nHaflunormet, as well as from other contacts you have made among the locals. Of <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nparticular note is the one from Eint Carwenduved. Not only are deepest regrets <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nexpressed, but she wishes to assure us that as soon as you are able to resume <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwork, she looks forward now more than ever to making your acquaintance.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cYour meeting is still on.\u201d Sertoa looked pleased. \u201cYou\u2019ll carry into it with <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nyou the extra benefit of added sympathy.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nHer mind stirred, roiled, thoughts and emotions crashing into one another before <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nslipping away in opposing directions. \u201cNo I won\u2019t,\u201d she responded tersely.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nToroni blinked. \u201cI\u2019m sorry, my dear?\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe look in her eyes was very different from the one that had commanded her <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncountenance only moments earlier. \u201cI won\u2019t be carrying sympathy or anything else <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ninto that meeting because I\u2019m not going to be in attendance. I\u2019m not going, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nBernard. I\u2019m finished here. Finished with Hivehom, finished with the bu\u2014with the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthranx, finished with everything.\u201d She turned away, until all she could see was <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthe aerogel support. The portion in front of her face opaqued when she closed <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nher eyes. \u201cI want\u2014I need to go home.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe ambassador considered. In the course of his distinguished career he had been <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nfaced with similar situations before. Some had even been inflected with highly <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nemotional overtones. But never before anything like this. Never. That did not <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nkeep him from pressing forward as he knew he must.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cFanielle,\u201d he told her as tenderly as he could, \u201cyouhave to do this. No one <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nelse here at the mission has managed to achieve as intimate a rapport with our <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhosts. No one else is as facilely comfortable with their ways, with their habits <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nor mannerisms.You are the best qualified to take this meeting. That\u2019s why you <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwere given the assignment of trying to secure it in the first place. It\u2019s your <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nmoment of triumph. You have to take it.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nFrom the vicinity of the aerogel came the agonizingly stillborn response. \u201cI <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndon\u2019t want it anymore.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nHating himself, Toroni refused to let it, or her, go. Both were too important. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cIt\u2019s not a question of you wanting or not wanting it. You have to do it because <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nno one else can do it as well. This is a highly sensitive moment in the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndevelopment of relations between our species and the thranx. Perhaps even a <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nmilestone. We won\u2019t know until we see the fruits of our labors begin to blossom. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe fruits of your labors, Fanielle. Do you really want to cast aside everything <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nyou\u2019ve worked for here?\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cI\u2019ve already cast it, Bernard. Find somebody else to go. Find somebody else to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ntake my place.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nSwallowing determinedly, he leaned toward her, careful not to initiate a <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsignificant disturbance within the highly responsive aerogel. \u201cDon\u2019t you think, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nFanielle, that if I felt someone, anyone else, was sufficiently qualified I <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwould have assigned them to the task already? Before coming here to see you?\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nDeep within, a certain component of her shattered self was pleased by the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsincere words of a man she greatly respected. But like so much else that was <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nFanielle Anjou, that part of her was hiding now, isolated and shunted aside by <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthe nightmare that had overwhelmed her life.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cI told you, Bernard. I don\u2019t care. It\u2019s not important anymore.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nHe nodded slowly, even though she was not looking at him. Or at anything else. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe ensuing silence lasted longer than its predecessor. Once again, it was the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nambassador who broke it.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cProgram failure. Transport capsule drive fields just don\u2019t go into reverse. The <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsystem is replete with fail-safes\u2014every one of which failed. The engineers are <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nworking on it, working hard. They\u2019re good people, but they\u2019re baffled. They <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncannot afford to be, because we must know what caused the accident. If we don\u2019t <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nknow, then we cannot with any certainty prevent a repetition. Of the accident. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nIf,\u201d he concluded concisely, \u201cit was an accident.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nIt was enough to turn her head. \u201cBernard?\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nSertoa took his turn. \u201cFanielle, you know as well as any of us that there are <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nelements, some of them with substantial backing, both among the thranx and our <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nown kind who will do anything to prevent the kind of union between our species <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthat the enlightened among us seek. I\u2019m not talking about the great mass of <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nundecideds on both sides. I\u2019m talking about the kind of blatant, old-fashioned <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nfanaticism we thought we had evolved beyond.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nSlowly, she digested what her colleague was saying. Contemplated it from an <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nassortment of viewpoints. In the end, every one of them was equally ugly.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cYou think someone deliberately reprogrammed that cargo capsule to reverse and <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsmash into the one that was taking me to the airport?\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cWe don\u2019t know that.\u201d Toroni was relieved to see some small flicker of alertness <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nreturn to his junior colleague\u2019s expression, even if it was thus far focused <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nentirely on concern for something unconnected to professional interests. \u201cAt <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthis point it is only speculation. But I am not the only one to have considered <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nit. Azerick Authority is pondering the possibility with utmost seriousness. If, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nand I caution if, the hypothesis should turn out to have any basis in fact, it <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwould mean that our entire modus here will have to undergo the most strict <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nreview. We will continue to press forward with our work, of course. More <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nfiercely than ever. But we will have to do many things differently.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nShe heard everything he said, but in manner muted. Her own thoughts were <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nchurning. \u201cSomebody would kill a dozen innocent people just to get to me, to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nkeep me from a stupid meeting?\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cNot stupid.\u201d The strength of her response allowed the ambassador to employ a <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nstronger tone of his own. \u201cHighly important. Possible milestone.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cAnd maybe it wasn\u2019t someone,\u201d Sertoa added. \u201cMaybe it was some thing.\u201d He eyed <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nher sternly. \u201cThe thranx have their own fanatics, remember.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cBut to resort to killing a diplomat . . .\u201d Her voice trailed away into <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndisbelief.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cWhy not?\u201d Turning, Sertoa began pacing slowly, waving his hands to emphasize <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhis words. \u201cIf successful, they set back our efforts until we can find someone <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nelse capable of achieving your kind of personal rapport with their kind. If <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndiscovered, word reaches Earth that thranx have carried out a mass killing of <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhumans here on Hivehom. Either way, they achieve at least one of their ends.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cWhich is why,\u201d Toroni went on, \u201cno word of our suspicions is being allowed to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ngo beyond Azerick. Officially, there was a programming failure. A transport <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\naccident. Nothing more. Unofficially, desperate unease is being bounced between <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nworlds at high speed and without regard to the cost.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nShe was silent for a moment, wrapped in a cocoon of conflicting concerns. \u201cWhat <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwill you do if the investigating authorities determine that the crash was no <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\naccident, and that thranx were responsible?\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nBernard Toroni had been in the service all his professional life, had ridden the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncurrents of diplomatic ebb and flow until all the rough edges had been knocked <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\noff him long ago, leaving him polished and smooth. Nothing surprised him; <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nnothing could crack his learned demeanor; nothing could get a grip on his <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nemotions. For the first time since he could remember, maybe for the first time <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\never, he was shaken.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cI don\u2019t know, Fanielle. I don\u2019t think anybody does. The reaction on Earth, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\namong the colonies . . .\u201d He swallowed hard. \u201cIt would result in . . . a <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsetback.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nShe nodded, the movement a barely perceptible stirring against the aerogel. \u201cIf <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nit\u2019s true, then someone\u2014\u201d She glared disapprovingly at Sertoa. \u201c\u2014someone, will <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ngo to any length to keep me from meeting with Eint Carwenduved.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nToroni\u2019s face betrayed nothing. \u201cTo keep you from doing so, yes. You <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nspecifically, Fanielle.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nShe gazed back at him evenly, more awake now than at any time since the two men <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhad first entered the room. \u201cYou\u2019re a very cunning man, Bernard Toroni.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nHe shrugged, his face a perfect blank. \u201cI\u2019m a professional in the diplomatic <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nservice, Fanielle. Nothing more.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nShe turned her gaze to the ceiling. It displayed a soundless, peaceful holo of <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndrifting clouds. In the distance was a small rainbow. She did not see it, just <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nas she no longer saw peace. That had been taken from her. Forever? She chose not <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nto think about it. Forever was a very long time.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cHow soon will they let me out of here?\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe ambassador\u2019s tone was glib, controlled. \u201cIn a day or two, if you like. Then <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthere will need to be a period of rest. You are one bipedal contusion from head <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nto toe. But nothing significant was damaged. Nothing was broken.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cI wouldn\u2019t say that,\u201d she whispered wearily. \u201cSo . . . I will follow through <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwith the lie, and make the meeting. You must be pleased, Bernard.\u201d Seeing the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nlook on his face finally gave her the means to again consider the feelings of <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nothers. \u201cI\u2019m sorry. That wasn\u2019t fair.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter.\u201d He rose from the side of the bed. \u201cI\u2019m used to it. It\u2019s <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\npart of my job.\u201d He hesitated briefly before continuing. Noting his superior\u2019s <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nexpression, Sertoa nodded solemnly and left the room. \u201cThere is one other thing. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nAt least you will no longer have to worry about lying when you refer to the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nBryn\u2019ja request.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nShe did not reply: just stared up at him.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThe staff here knows nothing is broken or damaged because when you were brought <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nin from the wreck you underwent the most thorough medical scan the facilities <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhere are capable of rendering. I am more sorry than I can ever say, Fanielle, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbut there is no point in keeping it from you. Truth always seems to emerge <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbefore it is convenient for us to have it do so. When you meet with Eint <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nCarwenduved you will be able to do so as someone who has not obtained an <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nencounter on the basis of a prevarication.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nShe examined the implications of his words from a distance. It only made her <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthat much more determined to confound those who might have done this to her. To <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nher, and to one other, and to a future that now would never have the chance to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbe.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nHer voice as taut as duralloy stressed to the point of destruction, she gazed up <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nfrom the bed out of damp eyes and asked him softly, \u201cDo they know how long I\u2019ve <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbeen pregnant?\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u00a0<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n5<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nIt certainly was a lovely world, Elkannah Skettle reflected as he and Botha took <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ntheir ease along the shore of City Lake. New pathways had been laid to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\naccommodate the anticipated tide of guests. Transparent lobes thrust out over <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthe lake\u2019s surface so that visiting children could experience the illusion of <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwalking on water while delighting in the play of native and introduced aquatics <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nswimming just beneath their feet. A multitude of chromatic-winged flyers swooped <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nand darted above the shimmering splay of water, making fearless dives to pluck <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsmall, wriggling creatures from the depths. They filled the air with an <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nunexpectedly sonorous honking, surprisingly tolerant of the increasing numbers <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nof visitors who had begun to throng the lakeshore prior to the official opening <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nof the fair.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nToo bad it all had to be marred by the presence of thranx.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nFor all that he had devoted much of the previous decades to decrying humankind\u2019s <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nintensifying relationship with the insectoids and then taking his philosophy and <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nintentions underground, Skettle had seen very few thranx in person. Observing <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthem on the tridee was no longer a problem. The disgusting creatures were all <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nover the media. You could hardly find one delivery source out of the thousands <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\navailable where they were not eventually to be encountered; all bulging compound <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\neyes, wriggly antennae, and obscene multiple mouthparts. If anything, meeting <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthem in person was even worse.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nHe could sense the same robust revulsion in the shorter, darker man who matched <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhim stride for stride. Botha was not especially talkative, ill at ease in <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nget-togethers even of his own kind. But there was nothing subdued about his <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndislike of the bugs. Equipped with poor social skills, he had to be watched over <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nconstantly lest his deeply felt feelings manifest themselves in ways that could <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbe dangerous to his friends as well as to himself. Skettle had taken it upon <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhimself to do this, which was why he had insisted that the engineer be paired <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\noff with him today. Hatred is healthy, he had assured Botha on more than one <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\noccasion. But it must be moderated by wisdom. To be effective, ruthlessness must <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbe appropriately timed.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nSo when they passed a mated pair of the creatures, all suffocating scents and <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\npearly aquamarine exoskeletons, he shifted his weight just enough to nudge Botha <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\noff stride. Wearing a hurt look, the stumpy engineer blinked up at him in <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nconfusion.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cWhat was that about, Elkannah?\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cKeep walking. Keep looking at the wildlife on the lake. That\u2019s better.\u201d When he <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwas certain they were well out of earshot of any other visitor, and after <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nchecking to make sure that his individual privacy field was at full strength, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nSkettle absently placed an open palm in front of his face to confound any <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\npossible distant lip-readers and proceeded to explain.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cHow often must I remind you, friend Botha, to conceal your true feelings toward <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthe bugs?\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe smaller man\u2019s expression changed to one of honest surprise. \u201cI wasn\u2019t! . . . <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nWas I?\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cYour face is pure plastic, Piet.\u201d The older man stroked his beard. \u201cI at least <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncan rely on these long gray whiskers to hide emotions that might otherwise <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nescape. If you will persist in using a biannual depilatory, you must be prepared <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nto monitor every wrinkle of your lips, every arch of your brow, every twitch of <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nyour cheek muscles.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nBotha replied while considering something on the ground\u2014which also allowed him <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nto conceal his lip movements from potential far-seeing viewers. \u201cI\u2019m sorry. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nYou\u2019re right\u2014I need to be more aware. Especially now, when we are so close to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\naccomplishing something really important. But is it really necessary to be so <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncareful, every minute? We\u2019ve both seen non-Preservers who obviously feel as we <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndo yet aren\u2019t afraid to express themselves visually.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThat\u2019s because it doesn\u2019t matter if somebody confronts them, or questions <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthem.\u201d Raising a hand, Skettle waved at a passing couple. Charming little girls <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthey had with them, too. \u201cWithout appearing effusive, we must seem to be among <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthose in favor of closer, not more distant, ties to these bug beings. We must <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nnot merely deflect suspicion; we must embrace it, engulf it. Then it can be <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsafely disposed of, the way targeted eukocytes kill cancer cells.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nBotha nodded understandingly. Except for the thranx presence, which would not <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbegin to become truly onerous for another day or two until the full panoply of <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthe fair was thrown open to the public, he was quite pleased with how things had <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbeen going. The weather, the freshness of the unspoiled atmosphere, the subtle <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ntingling tastes and aromas of a new world: all were meant to be enjoyed.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nSeveral times that day they tarried to eat something, or sit and have a drink. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThese many pauses allowed time for reflection. They also allowed Botha, through <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthe sophisticated instrumentation woven into his attire, to coordinate the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nactual final layout of the fairgrounds with the multiple schematics he had spent <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nnearly a year preparing. The inconspicuous display that occasionally flashed <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nonto the organic readout that floated atop his left pupil would have gone <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nutterly unnoticed by anyone but a very attentive lover.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nBy late afternoon they had covered a good deal of ground. Having studied stolen <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndiagrams of the grounds for months prior to actually arriving on Dawn, they were <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nable to avoid dead ends and cover only those areas it was absolutely necessary <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nfor them to visit and confirm in person.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cWe could do another quadrant.\u201d Botha had perfected the art of reading the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\noptical display without squinting. \u201cThey won\u2019t close for another hour yet.\u201d When <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthe fair opened officially, they both knew, the grounds would remain accessible <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nto visitors around the clock. This was very convenient for their own purposes, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwhich did not include nocturnal sight-seeing.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cNo need to rush things.\u201d Skettle was sitting in a chair floating above a small <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\npond. Trained leeshkats, local amphibians, popped up in cleverly choreographed <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nrhyme-time to spit sparkling fountains into the air. Despite the seeming <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nrandomness of their alien exertions, not a drop of water fell on giggling, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nappreciative patrons of the small snack bar. Flowers flush with streaks of pink <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nand vermilion swayed atop flexible aqueous roots. \u201cWe\u2019ll come back and finish up <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ntomorrow.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cFine with me. Everything matches up with the charts we\u2019ve been using. I haven\u2019t <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nseen anything yet that will complicate our planting of charges.\u201d Frowning <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nabruptly, Botha spun in his seat. His chair rocked playfully with the sharp <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nmovement. \u201cWhat is that awful screeching?\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cPoetry reading.\u201d As he pointed with one hand, Skettle took a sip from the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nself-chilling glass of his tall, teal fruit drink. \u201cWatch your expression, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nPiet.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nFrom atop a rotating mobile platform drawn by picture-perfect simulacra of <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\neight-leggedcovuk!k from Willow-Wane, an ornately attired thranx was declaiming <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nmelodiously. Enchanted by his exotic appearance, quaint mode of transportation, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsilvery clicks and whistles, and a wafting fragrance redolent of crushed <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\norchids, a sizable crowd trailed behind. They hung on the poet\u2019s every gesture <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nand sound. Though the majority of the entranced entourage was human and could <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nunderstand little of the actual meaning of what was being said, they were <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nfascinated nonetheless. The few thranx tourists in the procession endeavored to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ntranslate as best they could, and to convey some sense of the trenchant artistry <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthat underlay the courtly performance.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cLook at those people, slavishly hanging on that filthy bug\u2019s wretched <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncroakings!\u201d Botha had to turn away from the noisome spectacle, so repellent did <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhe find it. \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong with them?\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThey have not been educated.\u201d Far more in control of himself than his companion <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwas, Skettle took a longer swallow of his drink, then eyed the nearly empty <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nglass appreciatively. \u201cThis is very good. We will have to try and take some <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nconcentrate back with us. It is the task of such as ourselves, Piet, to educate <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthem. That is why we are here.\u201d He listened for another moment as the procession <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwandered out of earshot. \u201cDesvendapur.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cWhat?\u201d Botha blinked at him.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThat was the thranx poet who escaped from their treacherous outpost in the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwestern Amazon. Before your time, really\u2014but I remember it quite well. I spent <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nmore time than it was worth trying to see what even a few disoriented, misguided <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhumans found in his so-called poetic random barks and gargles. None of it ever <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nmade the least sense to me. Absolutely worthless drivel.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cApparently not to a bug,\u201d Botha commented.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nSkettle emancipated his empty glass, watched as it carefully negotiated a path <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbetween diners and drinkers on its way back to the kitchen. \u201cWho knows what a <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbug thinks? Who cares? Let\u2019s get back to the hotel and find out how the others <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndid.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nBotha slipped out of his chair. It rocked briefly in his absence, then steadied <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nto await the next set of perambulating buttocks. \u201cHopefully, Pierrot hasn\u2019t <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nblown up anything prematurely.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cIf she has, she better have included herself.\u201d Skettle did not look in Botha\u2019s <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndirection, for which the smaller man was grateful. He admired, even revered, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nElkannah Skettle as much as any member of the cause. But the old man could scare <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nyou sometimes, without even intending to. Something in his manner, in his mental <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nmakeup, was skewed: a powerful ego skimming swiftly across the ice of the mind <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\non skates fashioned of parallel psychoses.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThat did not make him any less of a leader in Botha\u2019s eyes. You just had to be <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwary of his occasional . . . moods.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n
\n\u00a0<\/span>
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nLike his companions, Beskodnebwyl found Dawn unappealing. Had the authorities in <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncharge not decided to hold this misconceived melange of a fair in the middle of <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthe hottest month on the northern continent of the colony, he did not think he <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncould have stood being outside for very long without proper survival gear. The <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nidea of spending a winter on such a world . . .<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nAs it was, it was near noon and he was still chilly. Afternoon would be better. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe local temperature tended to reach its most intense just before sunset. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nNothing could be done about the dryness of the atmosphere, however. Like the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ntemperature, the local humidity fell just within the limits of what was <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ntolerable. He felt some sympathy for the thranx who were actually participating <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nin the fair. They did not have his flexibility, could not always come and go <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwhen the weather suited them best.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nIt was not enough sympathy to keep him from watching them die, however.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nFlanked by Sijnilarget, Meuvonpehif, and Tioparquevekk, he wandered in <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\napparently incessant spirals that in fact were designed to carry him and his <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsquare of four to a specific destination. Not one of the many clever amusements <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthat had been constructed by the resident humans, nor any of the engagingly <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nfamiliar displays that had been erected by the invited thranx, distracted the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nBwyl from their chosen course. The four resisted all such blandishments, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nignoring lights and music, recitations and performances, disdaining to sample <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\neven the finest examples of thranx foodstuffs imported by invitees from Hivehom, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nWillow-Wane, Eurmet, and elsewhere. They had no time to partake of such <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndiversions. The truly dedicated are not easily swayed from their intendment.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe closer they got to their destination, the more edgy they became. It was not <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nnecessary to conceal the emotions running through them, however, because certain <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nmovements of limbs and antennae that would have been highly suggestive to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nanother thranx meant nothing to the humans among whom they passed, and all other <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthranx were busy operating exhibits. The fair infrastructure had been designed, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nlaid out, and was being run solely by the hosting humans of Dawn.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nEven if they were confronted at the wrong time or in the wrong place, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nBeskodnebwyl knew, they could easily plead ignorance.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nNo one challenged them as they reached the building that had been constructed on <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthe shore. A large portion of it extended out over the lake. This bulky <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\napparatus was to be expected, since the building\u2019s task was to integrate <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncommunications within the fairgrounds, both private and public. Concessions, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nrestaurants, exhibits, and most of all, Security\u2014all depended on the gleaming <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nnew transmission and relay system to supply their needs. This it did admirably, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nin manner mostly automated.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nWorking with data extracted from restricted reports, a mated pair of renegade <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nscientists sympathetic to the Bwyl cause had developed a wonderful set of <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nminiaturized explosives easily deliverable by hand. At their chamber in the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ntemporary hivelike structure the humans and their thranx advisors had built to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nprovide comfortable climate-controlled lodgings for thranx visitors to and <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nworkers at the fair, the Bwyl had left a small packing case containing an <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nassortment of favorite drinks. One drink container held enough of the explosives <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nto kill a significant number of people.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nUtilized throughout the fair, they would quickly cause widespread havoc. When <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthe source of the havoc was identified as thranx, it should not be enough to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nstart a war, but should prove more than sufficient to place a freeze on the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nupgrading of diplomatic relations that would last for years at a minimum.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThey located and memorized several entrances to the structure, which was to be <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\none of their principal targets. All were secured, as Beskodnebwyl and his <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncompanions knew they would be. Beskodnebwyl and Tioparquevekk kept watch while <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nSijnilarget and Meuvonpehif inspected the security arrangements.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cDifficulties?\u201d Beskodnebwyl asked as soon as they returned. Few humans had <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\npassed their way. Those that glanced in the direction of the four thranx had <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nassumed they were part of the fair maintenance staff. A reasonable, if totally <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nincorrect, assumption.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cNot many.\u201d Sijnilarget was peering through a device that no human would have <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nrecognized. \u201cThough important to the smooth functioning of the fair, this is not <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\na military installation. I would estimate less than ten time-parts to gain entry <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwithout setting off any alarms. Admittedly, I have not had as much time as I <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwould like to study human designs of this nature, but I see nothing <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ninsurmountable. Regardless of the sentient species that designs them, security <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsystems for oxygen breathers adhere to certain fundamental patterns.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nBeskodnebwyl gestured his understanding. \u201cGaining entrance is the difficult <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\npart. Once inside, it becomes a simple matter of setting and timing a couple of <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncontainers. In the absence of communications, the chaos we will create will only <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbe magnified.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThere may be human guards inside,\u201d Tioparquevekk cautioned. \u201cOr at least <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nmaintenance workers we may have to deal with.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nMeuvonpehif flicked her truhands sharply forward, producing a small cracking <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsound as chitin snapped against chitin. \u201cYou concern yourself with getting us <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nin. The rest of us will handle matters should any unfortunate humans decide to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ntry and intercede.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cAnyone observing our activities must be silenced.\u201d Sijnilarget deliberately <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nspoke in Low Thranx to emphasize the crudity of his response. \u201cThey must not be <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nallowed to raise the alarm.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cWe don\u2019t even know if there will be any humans to be encountered in what must <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsurely be a largely automatic operation.\u201d Beskodnebwyl continued to shield <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nTioparquevekk\u2019s instrumentation with his body. \u201cNo one enters a strange burrow <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nlooking for trouble. How are you coming?\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cAlmost finished.\u201d Tioparquevekk hovered over his equipment. \u201cI have analyzed <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nand ascertained the requisite patterns. All that remains is to record them and <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthen run a phantom, to ensure that everything will work on the day we choose to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nact.\u201d He went silent, busy with all four hands and sixteen digits.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cHey!\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nBeskodnebwyl, whose knowledge of human speech forms verged on fluency, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nrecognized the word as an exclamation of accusation. What mattered, he knew from <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhis painstaking studies, was the intensity with which it was delivered, and <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwhether querulousness was implied. It struck him that in this instance all the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nrelevant ingredients were involved.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cWhat are you doing there?\u201d The human who had spoken now adopted a tone more <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbelligerent than curious. Beskodnebwyl did not panic. There were only two of the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbipeds, and they were not clad in the attire of the several maintenance teams <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthat serviced the fair. That meant they were only casual fair-goers, not unlike <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhimself and his three companions. Behind him, he could sense Tioparquevekk <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nconcluding his work and hastily downpacking his equipment. Despite a rising <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsense of anxiety, the other three thranx worked smoothly and efficiently. With <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nfour hands, they were not prone to fumbling.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nIf this human did not occupy an official position, what right did it have to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbark accusingly at Beskodnebwyl and his companions? Assuming a defensive stance, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhe moved forward to confront the human. It was rangy, even for its kind. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nStanding tall on his four trulegs, Beskodnebwyl could not have raised his head <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nto the level of the biped\u2019s chest. Nonetheless, he was not intimidated. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nProximity to the lumbering, lurching mammal brought on feelings of disgust and <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nmild nausea, not fear.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cI will tell you as soon as you have shown me your license.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nLooking bemused, the two men halted. The taller one continued to do all the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ntalking. \u201cWhat license?\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThe one that gives you the authority to challenge peaceful visitors to this <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nfair.\u201d Behind him, Beskodnebwyl sensed his companions shifting their stances to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nform the rest of a traditional defensive four-headed square. Whatever happened <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nnow must be resolved quietly, he knew, lest the confrontation draw unwanted <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nattention.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe smaller of the pair spoke up, speaking to his friend. \u201cNot only talkative <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbugs, but sarcastic ones.\u201d His hand, Beskodnebwyl noted, was hovering over a <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nslight bulge in the garment that covered his lower body. The Bwyl was not <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nworried. If the human flourished a weapon, Sijnilarget, Meuvonpehif, and <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nTioparquevekk would be ready to respond with firepower of their own. Though <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndiffering greatly from thranx in their physical makeup, human bodies reacted <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsimilarly to an encounter with high-velocity explosive pellets.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe taller one\u2019s tone became slightly less combative. \u201cI asked you what you were <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndoing here.\u201d His head bobbed in a gesture Beskodnebwyl knew was meant to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nindicate the building behind them. \u201cThis isn\u2019t part of the fair exhibit. There\u2019s <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nnothing here for the public to see.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cWe know,\u201d Meuvonpehif commented readily in her heavily accented Terranglo. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cIt\u2019s the central communications facility.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nBeskodnebwyl was furious enough to reach back and snap one of the female\u2019s <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nantennae. By her physical reaction, he could see that she recognized her error <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nalmost as soon as she made it. Perhaps, he hoped agitatedly, the humans would <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nfind the comment innocuous.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThey did not.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe tall man chose to continue to direct his words to Beskodnebwyl. \u201cIs it <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nreally? That\u2019s interesting. How do you know that? It isn\u2019t marked as such on the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\noutside.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cIt\u2019s function is quite obvious,\u201d Beskodnebwyl replied a bit too quickly. \u201cThe <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nnecessary apparatus for the transmission of information dominates the roofline.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe human nodded again. Beskodnebwyl thought his expression now indicated <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthoughtfulness, but it was difficult to tell. Mastering the range of human <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nfacial expressions took time and patience. \u201cSo you\u2019ve been studying the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncommunications center from other vantage points besides this one. That\u2019s even <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nmore interesting. I wonder what the Dawn police would make of your interest?\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe biped was preternaturally perceptive, Beskodnebwyl thought tightly. This was <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthreatening to get out of hand. He could feel his companions shifting their <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nstances behind him, preparatory to . . .<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nHe was contemplating how best to dispose of the humans\u2019 bodies when the short <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhuman appeared to lose control of himself. Drawing the bulge from his shirt, he <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\naimed a device that was as lethal-looking as it was compact directly at <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nBeskodnebwyl\u2019s head.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cGoddamn dirty bugs want to get their filthy claws on everything!\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nReacting almost instantaneously, the trio of thranx behind Beskodnebwyl <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nextracted from their thorax pouches weapons of their own. Confronted <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nunexpectedly by thrice his number, the stocky biped hesitated, unsure now how to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nproceed, his initial bravado much reduced by the revelation that his intended <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nvictims were armed. He stared at them, glanced up at his companion, then back at <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthe thranx. Like the rest of him, the muzzle of his weapon wavered.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nAdmirably calm, the tall human stepped between his friend and the armed <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndefensive square. \u201cNow, this I would not have expected. Piet is quite right: It <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nis unthinkable to have disgusting, germ-ridden quasi-insects such as yourselves <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nstumbling about this close to a vital human installation. It inevitably raises <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthe question of why you would want to do so. The presence of concealed weapons <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nat a peaceable venue like this fair greatly enhances those questions. As does <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthe undeniable skill and readiness with which they have just now been deployed. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nYet you are not members of an officially recognized organization.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cI dispute nothing you say, but what does it prove save that thranx are always <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nready to defend themselves from reasonless attack?\u201d Beskodnebwyl was watching <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthe tall human carefully. The man\u2019s stocky companion he had already dismissed as <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nunimportant, despite the fact that he was the one holding the weapon.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cIt may prove a very odd thing indeed.\u201d The human smiled, fully exposing his <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nteeth. Beskodnebwyl had to force himself not to turn away from the distasteful <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsight. \u201cIt suggests that you and I may be here for the same purpose.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nBeskodnebwyl had nothing to frown with, and the human could not understand the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthranx\u2019s gestures. It was left to inadequate words to convey subtleties of <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nmeaning. \u201cAnd what purpose could that possibly be?\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cElkannah?\u201d the shorter man murmured uneasily. \u201cAre you sure about this?\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cI always trust my instincts, Piet. If there\u2019s another explanation, we\u2019ll divine <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nit in short order.\u201d Turning his attention back to Beskodnebwyl, he continued as <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncalmly as if requesting a change of shuttle seat assignment. \u201cYou and your <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndirt-dwelling friends are here to disrupt this fair, aren\u2019t you? You\u2019re planning <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nto do something to, or with, local communications. You are here to cause <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ntrouble.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThis was it, Beskodnebwyl reflected. They would have to kill both bipeds, and <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nkill them quickly. All it would take would be a gesture from him. The humans <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwould not recognize it, and so the one holding the gun would not have time to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nreact. But . . . he was curious.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThat\u2019s the kind of observation that could get an individual killed. Why <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nshouldn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cBecause my friends and I are here for the same reason. From civility, we plan <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nto bring forth chaos. We don\u2019t like your kind, you see. Among us are many, too <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nmany I fear, misguided people who think we should cuddle up to you bugs, make <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nyou part of our cultural and political lives, let you set up your teeming, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nodious colonies on our own worlds. That sort of thing is reprehensible, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nunnatural, and must be prevented at all costs.\u201d He stopped, waiting while the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbugs digested his words.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cHow very astonishing.\u201d At a gesture, the trio behind him lowered, but did not <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nput up, their weapons. Somewhat reluctantly, the shorter human did likewise. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cYour speech is admirable, except that for sake of veracity the word phrase <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nforstinking soft flesh should be substituted for the derogatory termbugs .\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe biped smiled again. Beskodnebwyl found he was better able to tolerate it <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthis time. \u201cI think we may be able to come to an understanding. If we do not <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncooperate, our natural antipathies will surely undo our respective plans. Ours <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndo not especially involve the communications facility. Your plan is just to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndestroy it?\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cYes,\u201d Meuvonpehif replied before Beskodnebwyl could silence her.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe biped looked in her direction. \u201cYou are lying. Such as you would not come <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nall this way, smuggling in weapons as well as intentions, just to render the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nvisitors to and promoters of this abomination of a fair unable to communicate <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwith one another. You must have something more extensive planned.\u201d He returned <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhis gaze to Beskodnebwyl. \u201cI will reiterate: If we do not cooperate, we will end <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nup at cross-purposes, when what we both want is the same result.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nBeskodnebwyl nodded, an absurdly easy human gesture to imitate. \u201cWe intend to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nset off explosives not only here but throughout the length and breadth of the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndepravity.\u201d Behind him, he heard Tioparquevekk and Sijnilarget inhale sharply in <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndisbelief. \u201cThe more fair-goers\u2014human and thranx alike\u2014that we can kill or <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nincapacitate, the stronger will be the reaction among your kind.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nAgain the human nodded\u2014approvingly, Beskodnebwyl thought. \u201cWe plan to make use <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nof some custom-built explosive devices. As I understand it, the more creative <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ntypes we execute, the angrier will be the response from your infernal hives.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cQuite correct.\u201d Beskodnebwyl found himself staring up at the human. Used to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndwelling underground, the human\u2019s greater physical stature did not intimidate <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhim. That sort of psychological positioning was for open-air dwellers only. \u201cYou <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nconfirm what we already believe: that your kind are inherently violent and <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nmurderous, and must be kept as far away as possible from a truly civilized <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsociety such as our own.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cWe want nothing less. Back on Earth, you know, we step on bugs all the time. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nHave been doing so since the beginning of our recorded history.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cWhat more can be expected,\u201d Beskodnebwyl responded, \u201cfrom a species that flops <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nabout like ambulatory sacks of iron-based blood and loose meat?\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nSkettle\u2019s smile faded slightly. \u201cWe understand each other, then. We will not <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ninterfere with whatever it is you intend to do, and you will not interfere with <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nus. Working separately but with the same goal in mind, we will with our <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nendeavors here succeed in putting relations between our species where they <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbelong: at a distance sufficient to ensure that we have to do no more than <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ntolerate your presence in the same galactic arm as ourselves.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cI could have put it better,\u201d Beskodnebwyl replied, \u201cbut your words will do. It <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nmay even be that we will, over the next several days, find reason to cooperate <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nmore closely in carrying out our respective efforts, and might even try to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsynchronize our operations in hopes of achieving maximum outcome.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThat\u2019s a fine idea.\u201d Skettle started to retrace his steps. At no time did he <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nturn his back on the bugs. \u201cWe should arrange for some of us to meet daily to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncontinue this exchange of information. How about at the Syxbex Restaurant, on <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthe lakeshore?\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThat location will be eminently satisfactory.\u201d Beskodnebwyl maintained the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndefensive square, watching as the pair of bipeds retreated. \u201cWe want to be sure <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nto avoid any misunderstandings.\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nWhen we have done what we came for, he mused, we will also find a way to kill <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nyou. Loose antennae could not be allowed to flutter about. Besides, it would <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ngive him pleasure to preside over the demise of so forthrightly antagonistic a <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhuman. He raised a foothand in the human gesture of farewell.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nSkettle waved back, thinking as he and Botha turned the first available <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsheltering corner that he was going to delight in seeing this particular bug\u2019s <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nskull cracked and its brains oozing out over the colorful pavement that had been <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nlaid down for the fair.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThere is nothing in art, in philosophy, or in politics to match the fervor of <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nmutual cooperation among discordant bands of fanatics.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\u00a0<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n6<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe supply station had a spectacular setting. Located on a low rise overlooking <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\na vast salt pan smoking with geysers, mud pools, and hot lakes, it doubled as a <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ngeothermal research station for the score of scientists and their support teams <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nstudying the wonderfully bewildering variety of silicate and sulfuric minerals <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthat gushed forth from the bowels of the planet. These often differed markedly <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nfrom their terrestrial analogs. Every week of exploration, sometimes every day, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nelicited new cries of discovery from delighted geologists.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nIn addition to being crammed full of mineralogical revelations, the thermal <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwilderness was awash in beauty. While yellow and its variations were the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\npredominant colors, there were also rich varieties of blue, green, and red <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthanks to the presence of the tough, active, endemic bacteria that thrived in <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthe thermal pools. Occasionally, a brisk south wind would sweep through the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nvalley, brushing away the clouds of steam to expose kilometer after kilometer of <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nroaring geysers, gurgling hot springs, plopping mud holes, and steaming rivers. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nA certain species of thermotropic eel-like creature nearly two meters long had <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbiologists almost coming to blows over its taxonomy. Was it a highly advanced <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nworm or an exceedingly primitive fish? Or something entirely new to science?<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nOn the rare occasions when it rained, the combination of steam, fog, and drizzle <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nmade it impossible to see more than a meter in front of one\u2019s face even at high <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nnoon. At such times fieldwork was restricted. Unseen, the tentative network of <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhastily laid prefab pathways could not be negotiated in safety, and even aircar <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwork was halted. The resident scientists would cluster in frustrated, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nargumentative knots inside the air-conditioned labs and living quarters, anxious <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nto be released from regulations even though they knew these had been drawn up <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwith their own safety in mind. But when was there ever a scientist who paid <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nproper attention to personal safety when a host of new discoveries lay close at <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhand?<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nBrockton was working on a robot probe designed to take samples from the hottest <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nvents when he felt the first vibration. It was accompanied by a muted rumble, as <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nif one of the back doors had been opened. A glance showed that both of the big <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nservice bay barriers were still shut. With a shrug, he returned to his work. He <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwas alone in the shop except for the automatics, Norquist and Oppervann having <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndecided to take a long lunch. They did not have many opportunities to interact <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwith the scientific staff and took every chance to do so. To improve their <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\neducation, both men insisted. To try to put the make on one of several <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nattractive unattached ladies among the staff, Brockton knew.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nNothing more than casual flirting for him. He had a wife and two kids on Tharce <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nIV. He was here because he didn\u2019t mind the desert, and because in a year on <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nComagrave he could make the equivalent of three years\u2019 salary back home. His <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nfamily understood. When his contract was up, he would be able to take a whole <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nyear off doing nothing but watching his kids grow.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThough considered a party-killer, he got along well with his workmates. His <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nskills, honed through fifteen years of experience, were greatly appreciated by <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nboth his colleagues and his employers, and he did not try to play the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndisapproving father figure to his predominantly younger coworkers. Removing his <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhands from the interior of the probe, he shut the access panel, picked up the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nnearby magnetic welder, and began to reverse the polarity on the interior <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nlatches. Once flopped, they would hold the panel shut as securely as if it had <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbeen melted into place.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThere it was again. A second tremor, stronger than the first. He had picked up <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nenough geology from hanging around the station\u2019s scientists to know that where <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ngeysers and thermal pools are present, stronger seismic activity was to be <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nexpected. But this didn\u2019t feel like one of the numerous minor temblors he had <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nexperienced many times during the preceding months. It had a different feel to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nit\u2014more of a bump than a rumble.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe station was constructed on a flexor foundation that was designed to <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndistribute any shock evenly across its base. Anything short of a tectonic <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nconvulsion would be dissipated by the integrated flexors before it could cause <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nany damage. The contractors had known what they were doing. Though he had not <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nworked in construction, Brockton had seen enough to know good work from bad. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nUpon arriving, he had taken an off day to make his own inspection of the station <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nand its outlying structures. Everything had looked reassuringly solid.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThat was when the ground fell away and the roof started to come down on top of <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nhim.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe roar that accompanied the collapse was frightful, a caustic clamor in the <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nears that masked the screams of those crowded into the central dining area for <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nlunch. Feeling the floor fall away beneath him, he grabbed wildly for the probe. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nIt was plunging downward as well, until he managed to hit the open programming <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\npanel. Bluish light emerging from its flat underside, the probe rose and <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsteadied on its tiny repulsion field. Brockton\u2019s terrifyingly rapid descent <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nslowed. Kicking the field up to full power, he found that the probe could muster <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\njust enough lift to keep them both aloft. For how long he did not know.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThen the rest of the roof came down.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nGuiding the probe, he made a mad dash for the nearest crumpled doorway. He just <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndid manage to slip through a rip in the crumpling, warping fabric. Outside in <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthe glare and steam of the day, he turned his head to look back in the direction <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nof the station. Keeping both arms and legs wrapped tightly around the laboring <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndevice, he tried to make some sense of what he was seeing.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe entire station\u2014central hub, communications tower, living quarters, lab <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nmodules, service departments, hygienics plant\u2014was collapsing in upon itself. No, <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nnot upon itself, he saw through the rising, swirling mists. Into a gaping <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ncauldron. A roaring river of boiling water had suddenly manifested itself <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ndirectly beneath the station. With nothing to support it, the advanced flexor <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nfoundation was no more useful than a row of wooden pilings.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nDespite the damp heat, he was having chills. Rising above the groans and <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\ngrindings of imploding buildings were the screams of those trapped inside. A few <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nwho had been near the front exits had tried to escape that way, only to find <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthere was no place to escape to. Like those they had left behind, they died <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nbefore they could reach solid ground, crushed beneath the subsiding structures <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nor boiled alive in the torrent that had burst forth beneath their feet.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nIn less than an hour there was nothing left of the supply station. It had been <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nswept away, down the steaming cataract that now gushed from the side of the rise <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nand into the nearest expanse of hot lake. A couple who had been out all morning <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nstudying cyanotic bacteria returned in their aircar and pried his cramped arms <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nand legs off the probe that had saved his life. Another researcher returned <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nlater that evening. He was accompanied by the resident AAnn advisor. Decamping <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\non a mound of solid, well-vegetated ground half a kilometer away, the numbed <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nsurvivors tried to make sense of what had happened.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nBrockton knew what had happened. He had survived to feel his wife next to him <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nonce more, and to hold his children. As soon as rescue teams arrived, he was <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nputting in for a pysch dismissal. He doubted he would have any trouble getting <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\none. Not after what he had seen.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nNorquist, Oppervann, all those other fine men and women\u2014all gone. If the rescue <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nteams were really lucky, they might be able to recover some bones. Sitting on <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nthe ground beneath an orgthic bush, he hardly heard what the others were saying. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nIt was starting to get dark, and he was cold. Surrounded by hell, he was cold. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Read the full book by downloading it below.<\/p>\n

DOWNLOAD EPUB<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Book Preview Diuturnity’s Dawn 1 Bugs. Hundreds of bugs. Thousands of them, many nearly as tall as she. All chittering and clicking and waving their feathery antennae at one another as they went about their daily business. Magnified by the heat and the more than 90 percent humidity they favored, the atmosphere in the teeming … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4069,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[245],"class_list":["post-4070","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-alan-dean-foster"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4070","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4070"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4070\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4069"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}