neglect the possibility of creating a new unit of life.» He let slip his foolish hopes and Rack grinned inwardly as he saw pictures of speculation. It would indeed be ironic if a disgraced Healer should be the sire of the New One. «I am not speaking merely of my condition,» Rack said. He slowly produced the object, holding it on the palm of his hand. He stood directly in front of Red Earth. The bare dome of Red Earth's head did not move, but Rack could feel the push and probe of the Far Seer's senses. He was gratified when Red Earth expressed interest and surprise. He extended the object, and Red Earth took it in his hand. For long moments the Far Seer examined the object, then with an explosion of emotion, threw it from him. It hit the soft, yielding wall and fell to the floor. «From the subsurface!» Red Earth flared. «True,» Rack admitted. A blast of anger and shock poured into his mind, but he stood his ground. «You dug,» Red Earth accused. «Not true,» Rack answered. «I sensed the taint of soft earth, the deadliness of the earth.» Waves of anger, fear, and sorrow emanated from the Far Seer. . Rack began to be seriously concerned. He was well aware of the law against digging. It was a law so absolute that even in the mind of the oldest Keeper there was no record of its having been broken. «If you will listen—» he said. «Not I.» Red Earth sent sadly. «No, I will not listen. There will be a council. Then we will listen.» «That will take time,» Rack said desperately, remembering the flowering of the delicate scales on Beautiful Wings' chest bulges. He sent a powerful picture of his need, his love for Beautiful Wings, the pull of nature, the necessity of proper timing. His russet tint would deepen to flame red. The flowering of Beautiful Wings' chest bulges would become involuntary and expose the soft flesh underneath her scales. And there would be other changes, changes the mere thought of which left him weak. His plea was rejected coldly. Red Earth's mind was tightly closed. In the whole of civilization there were only a small picture of unbreakable laws and Rack had broken the most severely enforced one. It was unthinkable. Yet it had happened. In the face of that fact, nothing mattered, not even the chance for new life, the most desired event in the life of man. «Please, you must listen. I myself did not dig.» «I will keep the evidence of your folly,» Red Earth said sternly. «You will not be given the opportunity to cleanse it further, although you have, obviously, already tried to erase the traces of the subsurface from it. You will return to your establishment. There you will stay until a council can be arranged.» A picture of time, extending past the time of storms into the new beginning. By then Rack's tint would have long since faded. The moment would have passed. «You will not listen?» he asked. «I am but one. The serious nature of this crime demands a council.» «And my readiness?» Rack asked. «Wasted.» And over Red Earth's anger and shock and fear hung a shroud of sadness. «Go.» Rack picked his way back to his establishment, paving no heed to the waste of his energies and forces. Once inside, he fell into his rack. He felt unjustly used. He had not dug. The water had dug, not he. His innocence was proved by the fact that he had suffered no ill effects from his experiment, but had instead discovered an amazing object. To his astonishment, the object had not even aroused Red Earth's deepest curiosity. Even a Power Giver—Beautiful Wings, oh, Beautiful Wings—had been impressed. Any Healer would have been beside himself with excitement. But to a cold-blooded Far Seer the suspected breaking of an ancient law was the issue, not the mind-boggling presence of the obviously crafted object. The situation was completely without logic. Rack's world was an orderly one. It ran on age-old principles that had been proven with time. In his world such a misunderstanding was not possible. It was unbelievable to him that he was to be robbed of his chance to contribute to the scant life force of the planet. Who indeed was breaking the law? Not he. The law-breaker was clearly Red Earth, who was trying to negate one of nature's most elemental forces. Beautiful Wings. Ah… He opened his mind and sent. The distance was far too great. But in his state of openness he intercepted Red Earth's message, directed over Rack's establishment to a northern Far Seer—the call for council. The urgency in Red Earth's thoughts made a cold chill run down Rack's spine. Hearing Red Earth's charges, he began to realize the seriousness of his predicament. In a world that revered life he did not fear death as a punishment, but in outlining the crime Red Earth touched on possible punishments that chilled Rack's mind. Banishment. To the far southland with its burning earth that dealt a slow, lonely death amid choking gases belched up from the earth's bowels. Or to a lonely station where the frost sheet never melted. He closed and considered. In all fairness he was due to be questioned, for his actions in the small, pure valley had been out of the ordinary. His use of running water to cut through the shallow layer of soft earth was, at best, a daring innovation, and Far Seers were affected strongly by any hint of innovation. Life's balance was so precarious that experimentation was to be carefully considered before being undertaken. But he had done no harm in the valley. His only crime was greed; he had stayed too long, and had had to use some of the life force of Beautiful Wings to extricate himself from his self-created crisis. For that error he would gladly accept a punishment tour in the far north, provided the tour began after his joining. Such a sentence was not the wishful thinking of a guilty individual—such punishments had been meted out in the past. He would not, could not, accept the punishment being suggested in advance by Red Earth, for banishment was worse than death. Not only would he himself die a slow, lingering death, but his offspring would remain unconceived. Thus, the planet would be deprived of two life units. Could not the Far Seers understand that? If he had indeed dug in the earth, then he would have expected the most severe punishment. Or would he? Guilt was a matter of degree. If he had willingly dug in the soft earth with his hands—a dark thought—he would have deserved punishment. Or… An entirely new line of thought occurred to him. Even if he had dug in the valley by hand he would have, according to his measurements, suffered no bodily damage. So where was the crime? Red Earth would have been shocked to find a Healer seriously questioning the laws. It didn't happen. All forms of life were involved in the struggle for existence and it was imperative that all forms obey the proven laws. But here was a Healer with serious questions. Here was a Healer who had seen the layer of soft earth being cut, washed away by running water. Here was a Healer who had thrust his hands into the disturbed mud, not digging, but feeling the subsurface material. Here was a Healer who had broken the spirit of the law, if not the letter of the law, and here was a Healer who had survived and had proven to his own satisfaction that at least one of the laws had no basis. Rack had no doubt that to dig in most sinkholes would mean death. He could feel the deadly hard projectiles on his scales when he merely walked close by a sinkhole. But if the law was not in total error, it was at least subject to exceptions, for in that wonderful, pure-aired valley, he had seen and felt the subsurface and had found there a piece of material that brought to mind other serious questions about the wisdom of his civilization. Rack prowled his establishment, breathing carelessly. He slept little, and awoke to find his russet loins turning a pinker, brighter shade. He pictured Beautiful Wings the Power Giver and the image was unbearably sweet. He remembered her response when he suggested that he would return, and he contemplated the loss of his only readiness, for to have more than one change in life was rare. He was young. He felt that he was in the right. «If I am a law-breaker,» he told himself, «then I am lost. But the sins of the father should not be extended to cover his seed.» With his loins pink and bright, such thoughts seemed natural. Nature moved in him, making chemical changes in his body, sending delicate urges into his brain. By the midpoint of the day, he had made his decision. Red Earth, in his intercepted thoughts, had indicated that he would contact every Far Seer east of the river. Such an endeavor would take time and energy and would, Rack estimated, cover the period of this day, another day and possibly still another. The establishment of Beautiful Wings the Power Giver was a quick jog away. If he were a criminal, then he was not responsible for his actions. Moreover, he could be punished only once. And once implanted in Beautiful Wings' body, his seed would be life, and thus sacred. He stored a maximum quantity of air, packed his winter's supply of broth and a sealed container of closely crowded Breathers to add to Beautiful Wings' colonies. He marched swiftly, heavily burdened, not able to breathe in the fierce storms that had now reached their peak of deadliness. She was waiting, sensing his coming from afar, meeting his mind and discussing the situation as he jogged through the atmosphere-darkened emptiness. At first she was shocked and reluctant to grant him entrance, but his emotion-filled thoughts found an echo in her own feelings. The emotions of a Power Giver at joining time were nature's strongest force, and she had witnessed Rack's beginning tint, had felt the strength and power of his personality, and had seen the beauty of his body. She stood inside the establishment, unable to control the flowering of her chest scales as he entered. They opened out delicately, flaring in a curling sheet, forming a ring around delicate pinkness of the flesh of motherhood, the flesh from which the offspring would feed. The first sight of her sent a blast of fierce heat through Rack's loins and he felt his own scales stir. He sent beauty, beauty, love. And she answered with a sweetness that made his knees weak. Quickly he joined his container of Breathers with her colonies, making the colony sufficient for two. Then, his gills having been vented in the lock, he loosed stored air from his huge body and felt his storage cells give gladly to share with his love. In a sweet, rich plenty of air they stood gazing at each other, inner lids wide. Rack's vibrant blue eyes sparkled with his energies. He could see far into Beautiful Wings' soul, and it was open to him, sending potent, beautiful thoughts of submission and love. «You, too, may be punished,» he told her. «No punishment could take away the memory of this,» she answered. «We have"—he sent a picture of the time remaining before Red Earth could complete his contact with the eastern Far Seers. «Then he will notice that I am not in my establishment.» «When I first saw you, when I was a child, I dreamed of this day,» she said. «Our time could be shortened if he discovers me here. You would, thus, be robbed of your heritage.» «But we will have created life.» she said. Life cannot be destroyed. The picture of incredible passion she sent made him gasp. The beauty of her tender, exposed chest buds sent a rich, red glow moving up from his loins. He felt his scales spread wide. «Before I throw aside my covering,» he said, «be sure, Beautiful Wings.» «I will be content with one night, if that is all fate will allow. My only fear, my only regret, is for you. For as you know, the mind of a Far Seer is powerful.» «In all of history there has been no record of a Far Seer destroying life.» «But he is agitated. In all of recorded history no one has dug.» She sent the last picture regretfully. «I think not of myself,» he sent. «But of you.» «For me the mere throwing aside of your covering will open a world of delight,» she said. Slowly he drew aside the opaque covering. His maleness was fiery red, his scales folded back on themselves to reveal the never-before exposed beauty. She made an audible purr of pleasure and drew aside the belt of fashioned Material to show that she, too, was at the height of her readiness. He knew then the full picture of her name, derived from an age-old picture of wing-like organs, fragile, brightly colored, delicate. He had never seen such loveliness and his entire being vibrated as she moved languidly toward him. «They tremble and hunger for your touch,» she sent in softness. His eyes caressed the pink, exposed breast buds, his fingers trembled as they touched them and slid down her soft body. The red tint of his sex grew and sent scales folding back as his maleness fully emerged. She, in trembling wonder, touched it with her hand. «Now we will join,» he whispered, leading her to the rack. She sat down, legs crossed and he duplicated the position, looking deep into her brown eyes, letting himself swim there, fall, merge. He knew the fullness of her mind, let his mind lose its individuality as she came into his and locked. He knew her most basic thoughts as she knew his and a rapture lifted them out of time and space. Their limbs, bent under their bodies, felt the strain but did not register discomfort as the night fell and the planet spun on its axis and swam toward the new beginning. They required neither food nor air. They fed on themselves and on each other. Throughout the long, dreamy night, as the storm raged and the survival factor reached its lowest point in the sun circle, they caressed minds, and when at last the sun glowed through the poisons of the outside they reached a state of pure ecstasy and not even the force of Red Earth's anger could have broken their locked emotions. She came to him with the sinking sun. Her swollen chest buds were a delight under his fingers. Her exposed, ruby red femininity drew him, and the union began, sweet and true and of such a totality that the Breathers, half-life that they were, stirred uneasily in their colonies. He breathed pure air into her open mouth and merged with her. Softness met softness—his penetration joined them and their two locked minds heard her purring audibly as the day passed without notice. Another night found them poised on the brink of the ultimate experience, and as it happened she cried out, her expelled breath sweet. VI In rare cases, when love was strong, the joining urge was not satisfied with one experience. Thus it was with Rack and Beautiful Wings. So perfect had been the preliminary union of their minds, so sweet was the seed planting, so devastating the pleasure, that his tint become only more fiery and her ruby femininity did not fade. True, her chest buds were covered, and her scales folded, as were his, but their powerful emotions continued to rage. Had they not been in the grip of nature's most powerful force neither of them would have considered the desperate measure suggested, at the height of their joining, by their combined minds. It was a suggestion so desperate that both, the total unit of them, knew that it was unthinkable. And yet that unit, that combined thing, had also predicted that their urges would not be cooled with one experience. That rare miracle had happened and they were to be given another experience. But time, they knew, minds separated now, was running out. Both were still aware of the suggestion. Both rejected it. Yet both knew that time would be required for the scales to open again, for her to flower. Time they did not have, for Red Eart