“If they got to sleep . . .” Kai replied grinning.
Varian dropped her jaw in surprise and then she giggled.
“I tend to forget they must have a sex drive. It's a weird cycle, compulsive in the rut, so to speak, on their own planet. Generally, they don't when they're on a mission.”
“There isn't a law against it for them, is there?”
“No, it's just they don't . . .” She seemed to find it mystifying. “Well, they'll sweat it out on those slopes this morning?” she added, looking at the foothills that folded higher and higher until the overthrust mountains dominated the skyline. They were standing at the base of the saddle ridge of pitch-blende, looking down the fold limb. The brown lustrous vein was visible where dirt had been blown clear. “This is a fantastic deposit, Kai. And so is its location. Why one of the big mining ships can just squat right down and crunch up all of it without moving again.” She had emphasized her words by rolling her r's, and gesturing graphically with her fingers in claw-like attitudes.
“I didn't realize you'd worked with a geology team before.”
“Galorm was explored for its minerals, not its wildlife, Kai. Admittedly the wildlife made the beamlines but we xenobs were just along to catalogue another variation of Life.”
“Do you ever mind?”
“What? Being second?” She shrugged and smiled to reassure him. “No, Kai. Energy is a lot more important than wildlife.”
“Life,” and he paused to stress the inclusiveness of the word, “is far more important than any inanimate object . . .” he gestured to the pitchblende.
“Which just happens to be essential to sustain life – on other planets, and in space. We have to sustain, protect and investigate. I'm here to inspect the life that exists on Ireta, and you're here to insure that life elsewhere can continue on its grand and glorious scale. Don't fret on my account, Kai. The experience I gain here may just one day put me where I really want to be . . .”
“Which is . . .” Kai was also trying to see what Paskutti and Tardma were doing with a seismograph.
"Planetary preserver. Now," she went on, noticing his diverted attention, I'd better enhance the reputation needed to be one by studying those fliers of yours. I can survey this area first."
They both caught in their breaths as Tardma faltered, struggled to regain her balance and the backpack of delicate instrumentation which she was bringing up the far slope.
“What the fardles did Lunzie put in that joy juice of hers to queer them up so?”
“It's Ireta that's doing it to them! The drink didn't affect us that way. I'm off now, Kai. I've only to gather the youngsters.”
“I'll need the big sled back here, you know.”
“Yes, by sundown! Shout if you need it sooner,” she said, gesturing to her wrist comunit.
Bonnard was disappointed to be dragged away before the first seismic shot but, when Dimenon told him it would take several hours to set up, he went willingly with Varian.
Terilla had been enchanted by unusual flowering vines and, carefully wearing her thick gloves, had gathered different types which she had placed in the bags Divisti had given her for the purpose. Cleiti, who tended to be Bannard's aide and assistant, regarded the younger girl's activity with supercilious disdain. Varian shooed them all towards the big sled and told them to settle in and belt up. She was checking the flight board when she was struck by the sled's elapsed hours of use. Surely she hadn't put twelve hours flight time on it yesterday? Even subtracting the two hours needed to reach these foothills, she couldn't have racked up more than six hours the day before. That left a huge whack unaccounted for – and made the sled due for a recharge and servicing.
She'd ask Kai about it when she returned. Maybe she simply hadn't recorded accurately, or the sled had been used here when she'd been busy elsewhere.
She showed Bonnard how to operate the tagger, Cleiti how to read the life-form telltale, and Terilla how to be sure the recorder was functioning as they'd be passing over relatively undetailed terrain. The youngsters were delighted to have some responsibility and listened attentively as Varian explained the quartering pattern she would follow as they surveyed the general vicinity for dangerous life forms. Although Varian was sceptical about the duration of their enthusiasm once the tasks had settled into routine, their exuberance made a nice change from the sober company of the heavy worlders.
The three young people hadn't had that much occasion to see the raw life of a virgin planet, and had had only the one trip since they'd landed on Ireta. They chattered happily as Varian lifted the sled and circled the geological site.
At first there wasn't much to telltale or tag. Most of the animal life was small and kept hidden from sight. Bonnard was jubilant when he tagged some tree-dwellers which Varian thought must be nocturnal since they didn't so much as move from their tree boles when the sled overpassed them. Terilla periodically reported the recorder functioning but the ground cover would make details of the area difficult to read. In the low foothills, as they quartered back towards the pitchblende saddle, the sled's noise flushed a group of fleet little animals which Bonnard gleefully tagged and Terilla triumphantly taped. Slightly put out by the success of the others, Cleiti's turn came when she read telltales of a cave-dwelling life form. They did not show themselves but the readings were low enough on the scale to suggest small creatures, burrowers or timid night beasts that would be unlikely to cause problems for any secondary camp.
In fact, Varian had to conclude that nothing of any potentially dangerous size could be found in the foothills surrounding the pitchblende discovery. Nonetheless, size did not, as she pointed out to the children, relate to the potential danger of a creature. Some of the smallest were the most deadly. The one you could hear coming was the safest: you could take evasive action. Bonnard snorted at the notion of running away." I like plants better than animals," said Terilla.
“Plants can be just as dangerous,” replied Bonnard in a repressive tone.
“Like that sword plant?” asked Terilla with such innocence that Varian, who was suppressing her laughter at the girl's apt query, could not consider the child guilty of malice.
Bonnard growled at the reminder of his painful encounter with that particular plant and was patently trying to think of a put-down for Terilla.
“Your instruments are transmitting,” said Varian, to forestall a quarrel.
The sled was passing over an area of squat trees and thick undergrowth which triggered the telltale at a large enough scale and sufficient concentration to warrant some investigation. The terrain was rocky and steep which suggested the inhabitants were not ruminants. However, after circling without flushing the creatures, Varian decided that the area was far enough from the ore deposit to be a negligible danger. She marked the co-ordinates for later study when a group expedition could be mounted. Despite the general high level of violent life and death on Ireta, one could be too cautious. If Kai sited the secondary camp high enough up in the foothills to avoid the worst predatory life, the force-screen would be sufficient to deter poisonous insects and dangerous smaller animals. It wasn't as if a herd of Mabels was likely to come rampaging up the slopes and stampeding through the force-screen.
She finished her survey, cautioned the youngsters to check the seat belts they had loosened to attend to their instruments, and, tapping in the co-ordinates for the inland sea, gave the sled full power.
Even so it took a good hour and a half to reach their destination. She wished that Divisti had had a chance to run an analysis of the grasses which Kai and Bakkun had collected at the Rift Valley. The report might have given Varian some insight to the habits of the fliers but, perhaps it was wiser to observe these fascinating creatures without preconceived notions.