Dinosaur Planet

“That's bad?” Bo

“Not bad, Bo

I saw flying longies once," said Cleiti in a bright helpful voice. "They were a metre long and they undulated. No feet at all, but they could ripple along in the air for kilometres."

“Light gravity planet?”

“Yes, Varian, and dry!”

The sun had slunk behind the clouds again and the thin noonday drizzle settled in so that the others laughed at her sour comment.

“Digits are important in evolution, aren't they, Varian?” asked Bo

“Very. You can have intelligent life, like those avians, but until a species becomes a tool user, they don't have much chance of rising above their environment.”

“The fliers have, haven't they?” asked Bo

“Yes, Bo

“I heard about them being in the rift valley, with grasses?” Bo

“There was a lot of thick tough grass around the place where we saved Dandy, and that was a lot closer for them,” said Cleiti.

“You're right there, Cleiti. I've thought the fliers might need the rift valley grass for some dietary requirement.”

“I have some of the vegetation from the grove of fruit trees, Varian,” said Terilla.

“You do? That's great. We can do some real investigation. How clever of you, Terilla.”

“Not clever, you know me and plants,” said the girl, but her cheeks were flushed with reaction to the praise.

“I take back what I said about your stupid plants,” said Bo

“I'll be very keen to see how mature their young are?” Varian said, having quietly considered the curious habits of the golden creatures for a few minutes.

“How mature? Their young? Isn't that a contradiction?” asked Bo

“Not really. You are born very young . . .”

Cleiti giggled. “Everyone is, or you wouldn't be young . . .”

“I don't mean age, I mean ability, Cleiti. Now, let's see what comparisons I can draw for you ship-bred . . .”

“I lived my first four years on a planet,” said Terilla.

“Did you? Which one?”

“Arthos in the Aurigae section. I've touched down on two more and stayed for months.”

“And what animals did you see on Arthos?” Varian knew but Terilla so seldom volunteered any information, or had a chance to with such aggressive personalities as Cleiti and Bo

“We had milk cows, and four-legged dogs, and horses. Then there were six-legged dogs, offoxes, cantileps and spurges.”

“Seen any tape on cows, dogs and horses, Cleiti? Bo

“Sure!”

“All right, cows and horses bear live young who are able to rise to their feet about a half hour after birth and, if necessary, run with their dams. They are therefore born mature and already programmed for certain instinctive actions and responses. You and I were born quite small and physically immature. We had to be taught by our parents or guardians how to eat, walk, run and talk, and take care of ourselves.”

“So?” Bo

“So, the horse and cow don't learn a lot from their parent's: not much versatility or adaptability is required of them. Whereas human babies . . .”

“Have to learn too much too soon too well and all the time?” said Cleiti with such an exaggerated sigh of resignation that Varian chuckled.

“And change half of what you learn when the info gets up-dated,” she added, sympathetically. “The main advantage humans have is that they do learn, are flexible and can adapt. Adapt to some pretty weird conditions . . .”

“Like the stink here,” put in Bo

“So that's why I'm curious about the maturity of the fliers at birth.”

“They'd be oviparous, wouldn't they?” asked Bo

“More than likely. I don't see that they'd be ovoviviparous . . . too much weight for the mother if she had to carry her young for any length of time. No, I'd say they'd have to be oviparous, and then the eggs would hatch fledglings, unable to fly for quite some time. That might account, too, for the fishing. Easier to supply the hungry young if everyone cooperates.”

“Hey, look, Varian,” cried Bo

“Quite likely but don't jump to any conclusion. We've barely begun to explore this planet.”

“Are we going to have to go over all of it?” Bo

“Oh, as much as we can while we're here,” she said in a casual tone. What if they had been planted? “Apart from its odour, Ireta isn't too bad a place. I've been in a lot worse.”

I don't really mind the smell . . ," Bo

“I don't even notice it anymore,” said Terilla.

“I do mind the rain . . .” Bo

At which point the sun emerged.

“Can you do that again whenever we feel the need of sunlight?” asked Varian as the girls giggled over the opportuneness.

“I sure wish I could!”

Once again the angle of the sun projected a distorted shadow of the sled on the water and the fish, large and small, shattered the surface in vain attempts to secure the reality of that shadow. Varian had Bo

“I sailed once on shore leave at Boston-Betelgeuse,” said Bo

“You wouldn't catch me sailing on that!” said Cleiti, pointing to the water.

“I wouldn't, but something else would, wouldn't it?”

“Huh?”

“Catch you, silly face!”

“Oh, you're so fu

Additional fliers emerged from the clouds to relieve the net carriers who sped up and away, as if pleased to be free of their chore. The convoy, strengthened by the reinforcements, picked up speed, veering slightly east, towards the highest of the prominences. They were not, as Varian had assumed, going to have to cross the entire sea to reach a home base.

“Hey, That's where they're heading. I can see other fliers on the cliff top, and the front is all holey, with caves!” cried Bo

"They live in caves to keep their furs dry, and their fledglings safe from the sea creatures," said Terilla with unusual authority." Birds have feathers, stupid."

“Not always,” Varian replied. “And those fliers appear to have fur which is, sometimes, a variation of a feather, in some beasts.”

“Are we going to land and find out for sure?” asked Bo

“No, we're not landing now. It's dangerous to approach animals when they're feeding. We know where the fliers live now. That's enough for one day.”

“Couldn't we just hover? That won't disturb them.”

“Yes, we could.”

More of the golden creatures emerged from crevices and caves in the cliff, and gracefully swooped up to the summit which Varian could see was relatively flat for about five hundred metres where it dropped off into very rough and boulder-strewn slopes.

“What're they going to do now?” asked Bo