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They saw the town for themselves a few days later, when they went with Del to pick out the land he wished to claim. Kadi shuddered as they passed the Pens on' the outskirts, where dispirited Gens watched them pass, not even curiosity showing in their eyes. The town was a shabby place indeed, a block-long street of mud bordered with ramshackle buildings. There was a general store, stocked only with goods one might require on the trail, all grossly overpriced. Loud voices and music coming from some of the other buildings told where they might encounter trouble.

In the store, the two men flanked Kadi as she chose a few supplies. Noticing the outrageous price of trin tea– not even a good brand—Rimon hoped that the a

The proprietor zli

Rimon bristled. "I can take her anywhere. She's my—"

"She's his property," interrupted Del, "and he can do what he wants with her. You know the law."

"Law!" She laughed. _"No law out here but what we make for ourselves. I know what you are—couple of fine, high-minded lawbreakers yourselves, takin' little sister to the border! Got no tags for her, do you, boys?"

"As a matter of fact," said Rimon, "I have." He pulled Kadi's tags and papers from his pocket. "Not that it's any of your business, but in case you were thinking of sending the sheriff chasing after us, don't bother."

"Sheriff? Got no sheriff here, an' don't want none. You goody-goodies better keep on goin', 'fore someone takes that pampered Gen away from you."

Rimon wanted to lash out, but Kadi's discomfort faded as she looked at him… and suddenly the whole scene was vastly amusing. His anger evaporated. "No one would want this Gen," he said. "She doesn't know how to be scared."

The Sime woman broke into helpless laughter. "Oh, that's a good one!" she gasped. "A Gen that doesn't know how to be scared!" Rimon felt Kadi's amusement go from forced to real—and realized she was using her own emotions to affect the Simes. The atmosphere in the store remained one of high good humor as Rimon paid for their purchases, the Sime woman wiping tears of laughter from her cheeks as she took his money, still muttering, "Oh, that's a good one!"

They left, got on their horses, and rode to the edge of town before Rimon reached over and took Kadi's hand. He was laughing now from his own genuine relief. "Kadidid, that was beautiful!"

"I can't believe it," said Del. "I saw it, and I can't believe it! Kadi, you're safe from Sime attack. You can make an attacker laugh himself to death!"

"It's more than that, Del," said Rimon. "Kadi protected us! We could have ended up in one shendi-fleckin' fight back there if she hadn't turned the whole thing into a joke. But Kadi," he continued, "be careful. That woman was pre-turnover. I'm not sure what would have happened if she'd been in need."

"Or if she'd reacted like your father," said Kadi. "Don't worry, Rimon. I'm not going to take any foolish risks."

As they left town, they splashed through a small creek, following a well-worn trail across the ford, and came to another small settlement. "What's this?" asked Kadi. "Del, you didn't say there were two towns."

"I wasn't over here," he said. "I remember now, though—somebody said some out-Territory Simes had settled here."

There were a number of homes clustered together behind a stockade. Although the gate was open, the place did not appear inviting to strangers. Rimon and Kadi peered in as they rode past, seeing neat houses with gardens, and children playing in the central green. Around the community lay carefully tended fields, a few Simes working in them.

Feeling a wistful envy in Kadi, Rimon said, "If they're from out-Territory, they grew up with Gens, expecting to be Gens. It makes sense that they'd want to learn not to kill Gens."

"You'd better wait until you know how you do it, Rimon," said Del.

"I think—Well, I guess we don't have the answer for sure, yet," Rimon admitted. "But I am going to find out exactly how Kadi and I do it!"

They did it again at the end of the, month, easily this time, with the same deliciously inevitable transition from transfer to lovemaking. This time they did it indoors, in their own house, in their own bed—the one piece of furniture Rimon had gotten built so far. Resting contentedly, aglow with the joy of their double celebration of life, Rimon looked around at the home they'd built, with Del's help. It was a small cabin, just one room, but well made and weatherproof. A barrel Del had brought from town served as table and lamp-stand. Since there was as yet no storage space, most of their belongings were stored in the root cellar, as Kadi preferred to speak of the hole in the side of the hill. They had built their cabin flush against the hill, using the hill as one wall of the cabin.

Del and Rimon had dug the root cellar as a hiding place for Kadi. The packed dirt walls were insulation enough of her selyn field, and they had spent several days working with the doors, shooing her in and out, zli

Some hours after their transfer, Kadi finally fell asleep, and Rimon soon joined her. When he couldn't zlin for a day or two after their transfers, he seemed to sleep undisturbed by the world of shifting selyn fields he was accustomed to, unaffected by the physical stimuli that were of secondary importance to a Sime.

"Rimon! Rimon, wake up! Someone's coming!"

He was awake instantly—nothing wrong with that Sime faculty—to find Kadi dressed. Pulling on his clothes, he found he could still not zlin, but he could hear Wolfs barking in the distance turning from curious to challenging to angry, charged with growls and snarls as he came back toward the cabin. His retreat was accompanied by the sound of a large number of horses, riding hard from the border.

Kadi edged up to the side of the window and peeked out the crack between the curtains. Ten or twelve Wild Gens galloped into view, Wolf trying unsuccessfully to drive them off. Kadi asked, "What do we do?"

"Stay low. They can't zlin us. Pretend there's no one home." Rimon whispered.

The Gens were all carrying guns. Rimon watched anxiously as they looked around, shouting to one another. The only word he could make out was "Sime."

Then, suddenly, all the guns were pointed at the cabin. Rimon thrust Kadi to the floor, falling on her as bullets raked through their house, making the curtains wave as if blown by a brisk wind. All went over their heads. Wolfs growling became a roar—punctuated by a sharp yelp, a howl of pain… and silence.

"Wolf!" cried Kadi. "They've shot him!"

"There's nothing we can do," Rimon said grimly, holding her down. "They'll shoot us if they figure out where we are'"

The rain of bullets continued for a few moments more, then stuttered to a halt. There was more shouting, followed by footsteps cautiously approaching the door. It was barred, and in the noise of the Gens shaking it, Rimon and Kadi scuttled into the root cellar and pulled the door shut behind them. They had insulated the door so well that they could barely hear what was going on outside—except the slam of their front door being battered down.

"The worst they can do is steal what's out there," Rimon murmured.