“Where?”
“You know we were to follow the south-eastern track of the old cores, pick it up where it faltered? Well, where it faltered was at the edge of a geosyncline, the orogenesis is much later than this area. It was Aulia who noticed the vein, the brown lustre in the one sunny interval we had. We planted seismimics on a rough triangulation and this is the reading we got.” Dimenon brandished the print-out as one proferred a treasure. “Rich – high up on the scale. Why, this one find alone justifies the entire expedition. And with all those new fold mountains, I'll bet this is the first of many. We struck it, Kai. We struck it!”
Kai was pummelling Dimenon and Varian was hugging Aulia with complete lack of inhibition while the rest of the geological team began to crowd into the compartment to add their congratulations.
“I was beginning to wonder about this planet. There were traces, yes, but there ought to have been more ore deposits . . .” Triv was saying.
“You forget, Triv,” Gaber said, inking smears on his face which was for once wreathed with genuine good humour, “we're on old continental shield, not likely to have been much anyway.”
“All we had to do was get beyond the shield, and look what we've got already . . .” Dimenon again did his triumphant dance, waving the print-out tape like a streamer until it caught on Portegin's shoulder and began to tear. He ended his physical gyrations and carefully began to roll up the all-important tape which he stowed in his chest pocket. “Over my heart forever!”
I thought I was there," Aulia teased him.
“This would seem to call for a celebration,” Lunzie said, putting her head round the door.
“Don't tell me you've got some joy juice hidden away somewhere?” cried Dimenon, waggling an accusatory finger at her.
“There's no end of ways to serve that fruit, you know,” she replied, her manner so blandly innocent that Varian whooped.
“Wouldn't you know Lunzie would come through?”
“Three cheers for Lunzie! The distilling dietician!”
“And how would you know it was distilled?” asked Lunzie suspiciously.
“Why else was Trizein rigging up a fractional distillation column?”
That warranted more laughter and congratulations which was why Varian noticed the solemn heavy-worlders were absent. She said nothing about it, though she wondered. Surely Dimenon had made no secret of the find on his way up from the sled park. Where were the heavy-worlders that they wouldn't join in the expedition's first real triumph?
Lunzie was saying that she wasn't certain how good the brew would be. The product had had no time to settle or age but surely, Dimenon said in a wheedling tone, there'd be something to take the edge off the taste of it. The group began to file out of the shuttle, moving towards the general purpose dome. Varian saw no sign of the heavy-worlders but there was a light in the quarters they shared. Passing the central standard, she rang the alarm bell in alert sequence. The iris opening of the heavy-worlders" quarters widened slightly and massive shoulders and a head appeared, outlined by the light.
“Yes?” It was Paskutti.
“Didn't you hear, Paskutti? A massive find of pitchblende. Lunzie's distilled a beverage from the fruit. We're going to sample it by way of celebration.”
A huge hand waved and the iris closed.
“They being aloof again?” asked Kai, pausing in his progress to the large dome.
“They do have different enthusiams, it's true . . .” And abruptly Varian remembered the glimpse she'd had of Paskutti's intense reaction to the predator's attack on the herbivore.
“All work, no play . . . c'mon, Paskutti,” roared Kai. “Tardma, Tanegli, Bakkun . . . you lot . . .”
The iris opened again and the heavy-worlders sedately crossed the compound to join the celebrants.
CHAPTER FIVE
By the time he had finished the first beaker of Lunzie's brew, Kai had considerably more respect for the versatility of the fruit and for Lunzie's resourcefulness which was already legend in the expedition. He might almost become a fruit-freak. His taste ran to a tart flavour in beverages and this had a jolt that was satisfying as well as to his liking.
He was startled to see Lunzie gravely pouring small beakers for the three youngsters but when he half-rose in protest, she gave him a placid nod. Kai watched as Bonnard sipped warily and then made a disappointed grimace.
“Aw, Lunzie, it's just juice.”
“Certainly. What else did you expect to get from me at your age?”
“You've added something, though, haven't you, Lunzie?” said Cleiti, smiling to make up for Bannard's complaint.
“Yes, I have. See if you can determine what it is.”
“Probably something good for us,” said Bonnard in a mumble which Lunzie might not have heard for she was turning away.
Kai, thoroughly amused by the incident, moved to the dinner table and began to fill a plate. There was a mixture of synthesized and natural products, including a patty made of the algae Trizein had been cultivating. It tasted faintly of the hydro-telluride that permeated everything on this planet. Kai thought again that were it not for that stink, Ireta would be a wonderful assignment.
He stood a little apart as he ate, watching the other members of his teams, to gauge the general reaction to Dimenon's and Margit's find. A strike automatically increased the team's expeditionary earnings and there could be some resentment. Of course now that they knew the shield lands were stripped, they'd go right into the nearest orogenic zones. Finds would be the rule, instead of the exception from now on.
And that would mean Kai would have to report the finds to EV. How long would he and Varian be able to suppress the fact that the expedition was no longer in contact with EEC? The teams would be expecting some sort of acknowledgement of their endeavours from the mother ship. Well, Kai thought, he was within standard procedural methods to wait until they'd done a thorough survey of the site and assayed the yield. That would give him a few days' grace. Then it was entirely within the realm of operations that EV might not strip the message from the beamer for another eight to ten days. After that, he and Varian might be forced to admit to the lack of communication. Of course, by that time, maybe the vessel would have passed beyond the interference of the storm and have picked up the backlog of reports. Kai decided not to worry about that problem right now. And took a good swig of Lunzie's brew. It did go down smoothly, with only the faintest trace of hydro-telluride.
Glancing around the room, Kai noticed that Varian was intently watching the heavy-worlders, her brows contracted in an expression of mild bewilderment Paskutti was laughing, which was unusual enough, at something Tanegli had said. Could Lunzie's brew be having a loosening effect on the heavy-worlders? That shouldn't puzzle Varian. He went over to her.
“Never seen Paskutti laughing before?”
“Oh, you startled me, Kai.”
“Sorry, but they're . . . they're not drunk on the stuff, certainly . . .” She held her own beaker out, peering at it quizzically. “They've had just as much as I have but they're . . . they're different.”
“I don't see any difference, Varian. Except this is only the second time I've ever seen Paskutti laugh and I've worked three standard years with the man. That's nothing to get upset about . . . or,” and he stared at her intently a moment, “did something happen today?”
“Yes and no. Oh, just a rather brutal incident . . . a predator attacking one of Mabel's types. Nasty piece of work.” She gave herself a shake and then smiled with resolute good humour at him. “I'm too used to domesticated animals, I guess.”
“Like the Galormis?”
She shuddered. “You do know how to cheer me up.” She stuck her tongue out at him and then laughed when he did. “No, the Galormus were clever, in their own way. They had the wit to act appealing, like the beasts we have all come to know and love through the medium of the three-d tapes. My old practical vet instructor always warned us never to trust any animal, no matter how well we knew, liked or trusted it. But . . . oh, well. I have been with that dour bunch a lot, and I guess I'm imagining things. This is a happy occasion. So let's make it one. Tomorrow's going to be very busy. And,” she added, turning her body to shield her words from anyone nearby, “what are we going to do about a message to EV?”