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engulfed him, Varian might be able to rescue something positive.
He heard the bleep of the globe, a friendly warning of arrivals. Wearily and
with considerable effort, Kai rose from the pilot s seat. He dismissed the
data he had retrieved and went to see who was returning. It was with a sense
of reprieve that he recognized the big sled with Trizein s group coming in to
land in the vehicle park. But he realized that he must warn his team of his
reflections, if only to cushion a subsequent shock. And if he had put the
facts in the wrong configuration, one of the others might refute his
conclusion or suggest an alternative operation so that they could rescue some
gains.
 Oh, I am glad you re here, Kai, Trizein said, his face suffused with
excitement as he jogged up to the veil opening in the forcescreen. Behind him
Bonnard was laden with record disks, his face wreathed with a smug smile.
Terilla and Cleiti followed, chatting animatedly.
 We have had the most incredible encounter with the Thek. They are here in the
most incredible numbers.
 A horde, Kai, a real horde of them! Bonnard confirmed.
 What were they doing? Kai tried to keep his voice even but his level of
depression increased in direct proportion to their enthusiasm.
 Looking! Bonnard said triumphantly.
 No, my dear boy, they must have been surveying.
 No, they were looking because they were keeping an awfully close line to what
I think is the shield rock area. Bonnard looked to Kai to support him.  We
can use the shuttle s data banks again, can t we? I ll show you what I mean
because I took coordinates of the positions and angles of flight of the Thek
to back up my observations. He gave a decisive nod of his head in Kai s
direction, again seeking reassurance.
 Let s check then, Kai said with a heartiness he did not feel. He did manage
to keep his voice calm and maintain a composed expression, despite a sensation
bordering nausea for this crushing disappointment.
Thus does Muhlah reward the doubter! he thought as he retraced his steps back
to the shuttle.
Once Kai had called up the required maps, he had little to do for Bonnard,
cheerfully but firmly arguing with Trizein, proved his coordinates, and his
theory, that the Thek were searching the edge of the shield rock.
 And it was a search pattern, Kai, Bonnard said firmly.  I mean, they were
hovering ground level, and
Bonnard showed the distance with his hands,  and scouring, back and forth and
back and forth. I thought they d been sitting on old cores, or something. What
could they be looking for now?
 An ancient Thek, Kai said.
 An ancient Thek? Trizein turned to frown at Kai, concern and surprise on his
seamed face.  Our telltagger has never registered that sort of heat mass, now
has it, Bonnard?
 Nope, replied the boy cheerfully.
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The globe s cheerful bleep penetrated to the shuttle s interior and Kai
gratefully used it as an excuse to escape Trizein s saurian enthusiasms and
Bonnard s innocent confidence in Thek infallibility.
 Kai! Bonnard came after him.  Kai.
Reluctantly Kai paused, turned, saw the boy removing an antiseptic wipe from
his first-aid pouch.
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Bonnard extended it to him with a bashful grin.
 You ve got a trickle of blood on your chin. I don t think it would do to let
Varian or Lunzie see that.
Bonnard turned on his heel and ran back into the shuttle.
Dabbing at his lower lip, Kai felt a warmth suffuse the tight knot of despair
that had taken up residence in his chest. Then he continued to the veil.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
If Varian had come back to the main camp that evening; If Triv, Aulia, and
Portegin had arrived back for the evening meal; If Dimenon and Margit had, for
any reason, visited the camp, Kai might have felt obligated to air his
pessimistic speculations about Thek and Ireta. Instead the dinosaur buffs from
the
Zaid-Dayan and the Mazer Star convened an informal enthusiasm session,
matching unusual specimens with Trizein and the three children. Kai was torn
between the social obligations of raising his spirits to the level of the
others and the need to worry privately about his new anxieties. He was
apparently dissembling well enough so that not even Lunzie noticed. The medic
was examining Terilla s detailed sketches, pinning the more colorful ones on
the walls of the dome,  to brighten things.
More out of a wish to distract himself, Kai approached Perens, the Mazer
Star s navigator.  Why do dinosaurs fascinate you and these others so much?
They are smelly animals, crawling with vermin, not very intelligent, and I
can t give them any marks for beauty. To me they are nothing but mammoth
walking appetites. If Ireta wasn t also blessed with a vegetation explosion,
they d ve died out long ago of starvation.
Perens, a dapper little man with a pencil-thin mustache, which he stroked
lovingly, grinned at Kai.
 Didn t you get the capsule history of Old Terra in your tutorials? when Kai
nodded, Perens continued.
 Well, the only thing I remember about it in any detail was the chapter on
prehistory. The rest was sort of wars and power struggles, no different from
what we have today in the Federated Planets, only more intense because it was
limited to the one small planet and, generally, to one or two continents. But
I
remembered the dinosaurs and the Mesozoic age. I remembered because they had
lasted, as a viable life-form, for more millions of years than we have!
Perens smoothed his mustache absently.  I ve always wondered what kept the
dinosaurs going for so long on Old Terra, when Homo Sapiens, operating in a
much shorter time scale, came so close to pulling the plug on itself. Then he
shrugged and grinned ingenuously at Kai.  Dinosaurs are big, they re ugly, and
they re fascinating. Raw power, a force of nature, majestic!
Just then, Lunzie appeared beside them, in her hand a tray filled with glasses
with her special Iretan brew. Nothing could have been more welcome.  Muhlah! [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]