Genellan: Planetfall

"A salt mission, eh?" MacArthur said, looking up from the drawings.

"We'll miss our friends," Lee said.

"But it will be good to see Mr. Hudson and Chief Wilson again," Dawson said. "I bet they'll have a million sea-stories."

"After two weeks with the bugs," Sha

"I don't know," Buccari said. "The way Hudson went on about how warm it was there, neither one may ever come back."

"Finished," MacArthur said, handing Lizard his message. The cliff dweller sca

"That's it!" MacArthur shouted. "Look at this! This is what I saw!" He held the drawing up for the others to see, then abruptly sat down and began adding to the message. Buccari watched over his shoulder, quickly grasping MacArthur' s intention.

"They certainly must have thought of it before," she said. "There must be a reason why they haven't used horses to carry salt bags."

"They aren't strong enough to control a horse," MacArthur said, handing Lizard the message.

Lizard looked at the sequence of icons thoughtfully. He communicated with Captain for several minutes, and the hunter became very excited, unusual for the stolid warrior.

"What's his problem?" Fenstermacher yawned.

"We're going to catch us some horses," MacArthur said.

Chapter 34. Discoveries

Two abats banked over the settlement. Standing under the big solitary hardwood tree next to the tombstones, Buccari watched the aircraft. She turned and walked up the hill, away from the cove. This arrival was special: Hudson and Wilson were returning. She dispatched O'Toole and Petit up the steep trail to the landing area to greet the two men and to escort their alien visitors. Two hours later all had returned to camp.

"Welcome back, Chief!" Goldberg cried, rushing to hug the portly man.

"You're still ugly, Gu

"Ohh!" Wilson groaned. "Now I know why I liked being away so much."

The returning men were surrounded. The visiting kones waited patiently, content to let the greetings run their course. Buccari, acknowledging her duty, walked around the knot of people and up to the towering kones, bowing. Et Silmarn removed his helmet and graciously returned the gesture.

"Welcome back…to our settlement," Buccari said slowly.

"Thang yew, Sharl," Et Silmarn responded passably. "Yew have-ah done much." His prodigious arm lifted and swept over the construction, sausagelike fingers pointing at the main lodge. Stone walls and chimneys were capped by a sturdy rafter frame for a high-pitched roof. A corner section and a long run of the pine log palisade were in place, and a plot of vegetables flourished in dark green abundance. Chips of wood lay thick underfoot, and odors of pine resin and sawdust permeated the air. The humans had made their mark.

"We must prepare, Et Silmarn," she replied. "Winter is unforgiving."

Et Silmarn looked to Kateos for help. The female translated quickly.

"Yes! B-berry unfork-ah…even. Wi

Buccari nodded, smiling inwardly, for it was a warm day. She turned to Hudson. "Welcome back—yet again, Nash. You must be getting used to the trip."

"The lodge looks terrific!" Hudson exclaimed.

"O'Toole and Fenstermacher are first rate carpenters, and MacArthur's friends have been a big help," Buccari replied cryptically, referring to the cliff dwellers. Buccari noticed Kateos's questioning expression.

Hudson quickly continued. "The trip's a grind, but they let me fly. It's a big, wild planet, Sharl. It's beautiful…." He paused, his expression speaking for itself.

"I envy you," Buccari said. "You'll have to take me up."

"You bet. The kones want us all to fly south. They're friendly, Sharl," he continued, "and Kateos will be speaking Legion better than you or me pretty soon. She's programming a voice recognition system that translates in real time. It doesn't work too well yet, but wait a few weeks." The konish female's face dropped demurely.

"She's an expert," Hudson continued. "She's asks questions about tenses, grammar, nouns, verbs, sentence structure— everything. It was good to have Chief Wilson along just to give her a new subject to study and give me a break from all the questions."

"I'll bet he taught her some choice words!" Fenstermacher joked.

"Watch it, Fensterman!" Wilson shouted. "Or I'll tell the Lieutenant not to let you go south." Wilson turned to Buccari. "Oh, man, Lieutenant, it's wonderful! Rains a bit, but the place is beautiful—turquoise-blue ocean with wide, sandy beaches. And islands with lagoons. Trees with fruit—we brought some back for the mess. To be honest, I'm looking forward to going back."

Buccari looked at the sun-burnished, unworried face, the clear hazel eyes beseeching permission to return with the kones—a powerful testimony to the allure of the south.

"We missed you, Chief," she said. "Go check out the lodge. Help Tookmanian decide how to lay out the galley—er, the kitchen."

Wilson's face flickered with disappointment as he moved away, taking the bulk of the chattering crew with him. Assisted by Chastain, the kones migrated to their campsite and set up their huge tents, leaving Sha

"Hey, Sharl," Hudson said quietly. "Kateos started hitting me up for ski

"What did you tell them?" she asked.

"Nothing worth knowing," Hudson snorted. "Give me a little credit. And watch out, they're recording everything. I mean, they're friendly, but they're damn serious about it."

She pondered the implications of Hudson's information. "Gu

"It really is," Hudson said softly. "Chief Wilson has found a home. I practically had to tie him down to get him in the abat. You should see him walking bare-assed naked down those beaches, bald head sunburned and his gut hanging out. You know, Sharl, before we got out of the 'vette, Virgil Rhodes said Wilson would die on a tropical island. Gu

"Well, I'm not ready for him to die," Buccari said impatiently. "We need all hands working—maybe even you, Nash. Winter will be here before we know it, and I'm—we're going to be ready."

"Why not move everyone south?" Hudson asked. "Like the kones want."

Buccari remained silent. She looked past the camp, surveying the verdant valley with its clear lake and frothy waterfalls.

"Welcome back, Nash," she finally said. "Sarge, take Mr. Hudson down and show him what the boys have done." She grabbed Hudson's arm and gently pushed him down the path. Sha

Hudson's unanswered question had struck a nerve. She thought of Commander Qui