The three makutos lumbered out of the forest and set off in pursuit. Seven others—two adults and five young of various sizes—erupted from the woods and joined the chase. Steam car and makutos vanished around a bend in the road.
The Patelians stood on the field or sat in the dirt, breathing heavily. Tchitchagov, who had lost his hat in the flight, shaded his eyes against the sun and peered along the road to the west.
"Here comes our wagon," he said, glancing at his poignet. "Right on time. Damn it, George, if you did not have that hurt ankle, I would leave you to walk back to Sungecho."
"Then my ankle's a blessing in disguise," said Cantemir with a naughty-boy grin.
"You may find it funny, almost getting us killed," said Tchitchagov. "Next time ..." He waved to the wagon driver and shouted: "Zaiye! Koko!"
As the watchers straggled back to the road, the driver asked in Sungao: "What do you out in yon field?"
Tchitchagov told briefly of their adventure. Zaiye said: "I always knew that Terrans were crazy. I saw his Highness go past. But I am not fain to proceed toward Sungecho, honorable Tchitchagov. We might meet those monsters coming back."
"We cannot remain here," said the director. "I do not think they will long stay out in the midday sun. So go ahead; I will scout at bends in the road so that we shall not encounter makutos unawares."
"And if we do encounter them, what then?"
"Then we shall turn the wagon around and speed away."
"I hope the road prove wide enough," said the driver. Nevertheless, he flicked his animals, which set off pulling the now-laden wagon.
On the tailboard, Cantemir craned his neck to speak to Salazar: "Now, Kirk, maybe you'll understand why we've got to get rid of those things to develop the area for human settlement. They're not only a danger to any people who come near them; they're migratory. They need a huge area to roam over."
"I know," said Salazar. "We were lucky to catch that herd where it could easily be reached from Sungecho."
"Ah, but that herd will clean out everything green in that territory, then move on to another and eat it bare while the first area recovers. So you can't preserve them in a small park or refuge, because they'd soon eat it barren. So there's nothing to do but kill them. There won't be room on Sunga for us and them both. If we're going to kill them anyway, why not get some fun and profit out of it?"
"Your idea is to make Sunga into just one more Terran suburb."
Cantemir grinned. "Sure; why not? It's at least as natural a process as the makutos' migrations. At least I know what species I belong to." He turned away and engaged Fetutsi, beside him, in low-voiced conversation in Sungao.
Salazar thought: That Lothario will try to make time with anything female, regardless of race, age, or even species. He whispered to the Ritters:
"What'll this do to the zuta watching?"
"Can't tell," murmured Hilbert Ritter. "Depends on whom Yaamo blames for his scare—assuming he made it back to Sungecho."
As in late afternoon the wagon rumbled into Sungecho, Fetutsi dropped off the tail. She said: "I go report. Good-bye, honoraber George."
Off she went at a run, with her rifle slung across her back. Cantemir squirmed around to say: "Hey, Igor!"
"Yes?"
"Why didn't anybody take a shot at the makutos when they started for us? Neither Miss Fetutsi nor the chief's guards fired a shot. What was it, buck fever?"
"Shooting them with rifles would merely annoy them," said Tchitchagov. "They're too big for anything but a real cannon. And how is it that Fetutsi said goodbye to you and ignored the rest of us?"
Cantemir grinned. "Guess I just can't help bein' nice to the ladies. I was explaining how our little mix-up occurred. "
The wagon creaked to a stop in front of Levontin's Paradise Palace. Guided by Tchitchagov, Cantemir limped away toward Doctor Deyssel's to have his ankle strapped, followed by a gaggle of Patelians who had sustained minor injuries in the flight or thought they should have their hearts medically checked after their extreme exertions. As the passengers dispersed, Salazar heard a mutter from the sultry-looking Miss Dikranian beside him. Glaring at Cantemir's receding back, she said:
"Somebody ought to shoot that man!"
"Somebody probably will, sooner or later," said Salazar.
"Wouldn't do any good," said Hilbert Ritter. "He has a foreman or second in command, Dhan Gopal Mahasingh, every bit as hard-nosed as he. The Adriana Company has lots of tentacles. Besides, if you said that where people could hear you and then George was found shot, whom do you think they'd suspect?"
Shakeh Dikranian gave a sound between a sniff and a snort. "You're one of those cold north European types, always calculating results a year in advance. Like a Kook!"
"Thanks for the compliment," said Ritter. "I try to use what brain I have."
As Salazar neared the entrance, a Kook stepped forward. "Prease, which of you is honoraber Sarasara?"
"I think you mean me," said Kirk Salazar in Sungao. "Are you that cousin of the student Hakka?"
"Aye. I am clept Choku. My cousin wrote me, telling me I could perhaps get a post as assistant to you. Spake he the truth?"
"Aye, if we can come to terms."
Half an hour later Salazar was in his room explaining to Choku the purpose of each piece of equipment in his duffel bag. He held up an empty plastic case with a closure having a combination-number lock.
"This will be used for keeping all records, notes, exposed film, and the like. When the job is finished, it will be our most important—"
A knock interrupted. When he opened the door, Ilya Levontin, the stout innkeeper, said: "Mr. Salazar! High Chief Yaamo is calling a conference with the leading Terrans of your group in half an hour. He commands you to attend."
"Huh? Where?"
"In the conference room—that room on the left at the end of the corridor."
"Why me? I'm not a leader of anything."
Levontin shrugged. "He has not told me. He also demands the presence of Mr. Cantemir, the Doctors Ritter, the Reverend Dumfries, and Mr. Tchitchagov."
"All right, I shall be down as soon as I have cleaned up." Knowing the Kooks' formality, Salazar thought it inexpedient to go directly to the conference in dirty khakis. To Choku he said: "I suspect that this has to do with our being chased by makutos today."
"Indeed, sir? Methinks that a tale well worth hearing."
"Tell you later," said Salazar, washing his face.
Leaving Choku, Salazar sought the conference room, which doubled as a game room. The card tables and roulette wheel had been put away, and six of Levontin's better-upholstered chairs were set in a row.
Tchitchagov and the Ritters were already seated; Dumfries and Cantemir came in after Salazar. Across the room, standing, were Chief Yaamo, one Terran, and four Kooks. Salazar recognized one Kook as their erstwhile guide, the female Fetutsi. Two of the others he assumed, from the rifles slung across their backs, to be the chief's bodyguards.
When Salazar sat down beside Hilbert Ritter, the latter leaned over and whispered: "Yaamo's in a bad mood. That's why he brought interpreters instead of struggling with English."
Chief Yaamo spoke to his human interpreter. Although Salazar was fairly familiar with Sungao, a dialect of Feënzuo, the chief spoke so fast and with such a pronounced local accent that Salazar caught only an occasional word. Then the interpreter said:
"His Highness commands that this meeting come to order."
The six Terrans sat in silence. Yaamo spoke some more, in bursts of a sentence or two each, to give the interpreter time to translate. The interpreter said: