Fair enough, but do nothing on your own, co-leader. I want heavy-worlders with you at all times.
You're a friend! Did they improve with the day?
"I've never seen them so clumsy: slow, yes, but never plain raking grease-fingered. Paskutti and Tardma dropped one of the seismimics down a crevice. I don't have so many that I can spare one," said Kai, "not if I'm to complete my survey." He shook his head again over the loss. I'm not blaming you, or them; but it is a nuisance. And what are we going to do about that fruit distillation? I don't understand why it should have affected them so adversely when we weaker types had no trouble?"
It might not have been the drink.
What do you mean?
Varian shrugged. Just a notion. Nothing specific.
Then let us find a specific, and have Lunzie run a few tests. It might be a mutational allergy. Say, did you send the heavy-worlders on any errands today? In the north?
North? No. They were at your disposal today. Now, about the pitchblende site? You'll be working from there again tomorrow? Okay, then I'll send a team in for a ground check. There seem to be only smaller animals not, as I've told the youngsters, that size is any indication of potential danger. What other area do you want us to check out xenobiologically as a possible secondary base?
Kai tapped out of the computer the print of Gaber's chart, updated now with the pitchblende site and the old cores.
The shield edge is only two hundred kilometres from here in the north-west so we won't need a secondary camp there yet. But Portegin and Aulia want to examine these lakes and go further into this flatland area. Berru and Triv are scheduled to go due west where there appears to be a wide continental basin. Might have petroleum pools: not as rich an energy source, naturally, but crude oil has uses. We might be able to refine enough to use as an auxiliary fuel for the . . .
Kai did anyone use the big sled for any length of time this morning?
Just to reach the site. Then it was turned over to you. Why?
Because its elapsed flight time is longer than it should have been. Damned thing's due now for a power change.
"
I dunno. Just that I don't usually make errors in my figures.
We've enough worries, Varian, without imagining more.
Varian grimaced. Like no contact with EV. Your teams'll be expecting some acknowledgement . . .
We've got some leeway, and I'll use every day of it.
Yes, we do have stall time, don't we. By the way, those youngsters were very useful to me. I think I'll opt them again when I don't need to land, she hastily added as she saw the objections forming in Kai's startled face. You might even consider, and she grinned slyly, taking Bonnard with you on a coring expedition.
Now just a minute, Varian . . .
They do say that over-exposure cures a lot of fancies.
True. How about helping me with that message to the Theks?
"Sorry, Kai, I've got to release Mabel, check with Lunzie and get a wash before eating." Varian quickly opened the iris." But I'd be happy to look over what you plan to say."
He made as if to throw something at her but she scampered away, laughing.
An hour later, he was certain that Varian at her worst could have constructed a better message to the Theks. It covered the main points, and requested the return information required.
He beamed the message, confirming a contact hour two days' later. It didn't give Theks much time to meditate their answers but he had specified only yes, no or deferred answers.
The next day went as scheduled, the heavy-worlders restored to operating efficiency. Tardma and Tanegli did a ground survey of the densely vegetated area where small life forms had been telltagged by Varian and the youngsters. The creatures had maintained their anonymity but skeletal remains not yet disintegrated by insect and carrion eater indicated that while carnivorous, the creatures were probably nocturnal hunters and not large enough to constitute a real danger. Further, they were unlikely to be caught so far from their own territory as the secondary camp. Kai spent the afternoon with Dimenon and Margit choosing a site. It was decided that Portegin and Aulia could also use the camp for their westerly investigations.
Lunzie told Kai and Varian confidentially that the heavy-worlders ought to have had a higher tolerance for the fruit drink than the light grav or ship-bred. She couldn't understand their reactions. However, she did not recommend rationing or watering the potion. She could bring the heavy-worlders in for a routine physical, which, she allowed, was a good idea for every member of the expedition, to check on any allergenic tendencies or subtle infections acquired since planetfall.
That evening Lunzie supplied enough of the fruit drink to make the evening extremely convivial. The heavy-worlders drank no more than anyone else, laughed infrequently as was their habit and retired when everyone else did. The following day there was no impairment of their efficiency which increased the mystery of their behaviour that first evening.
The contact hour with the Theks was duly kept by Kai. Varian arrived half-way through the ponderous and slowly delivered reply.
No was the answer to his questions about messages being stripped from the satellite and contact with the EV. He received the expectable deferred answer concerning any knowledge of previous survey and the discovery of the old cores. Excellent was their response to news of the pitchblende deposit, with continue added. To his comment that he had heard from the Ryxi he got an acknowledgement. The Theks were reputedly tolerant of all species in a benevolent, impartial way but Kai was left with the feeling that the Theks couldn't care less if the Ryxi maintained contact.
He was of two minds about their deferred answer on a previous survey. On one hand, he'd half-hoped they could find a previous reference, though how they could, out of contact with their own kind and EV's data banks, he didn't know. On the other hand, he would have been obscurely relieved if they had proved their fallability. Yet, if this case did shatter their reputation, something stable and secure would be lost forever to him." So they don't know," said Varian, blatantly pleased.
Not actively at any rate, he replied, quite willing to take the Thek part to offset his mental disloyalty. Of course, there are only several million planets in the universe on which life of some sort has evolved . . .
So we're constantly informed but our sphere of interest is currently limited to this one stinking ball of earth. By the way, in order to set you up a secondary camp, we're going to have to formulate a few plans, said Varian. According to the old core pattern, the shield runs about two thousand kilometres in a long point to the south-east. That makes commuting back here unfeasible. I want to take Tanegli, Paskutti, Tardma and Lunzie and check out that area. She unrolled area charts some of the topographical features already marked out in Gaber's neat draftsmanship. Over these were wash colours, the key at the side. I've keyed it here to territorialities of the beasts we've tagged. I think the guide is adequate but there is so much animal life in this area, and she indicated the plateau and rain forest just beyond the dead parameters of the camp, that I've only bothered with the big and dangerous ones. Here's a spot frame of each type we've observed enough to identify as herbivorous, carnivorous or omnivorous. As you can see, we've a way to go before we've done even the most superficial cataloguing. She tapped vast areas of the outlined land mass which were pristine. Here there be dragons! she added in a fruity voice.
Dragons?
Well, That's what the antique cartographer would say when they didn't know a binary bit about the indigenous life.
Any more news on which species is which here? asked Kai.
She shook her head, handing him several copies of the maps. That's not as urgent as your geological work, and you needed some sort of a guide.