Страница 31 из 45
“So we're staying around to see what they bring home?” asked Kai.
“If you don't mind?”
“No.” He inclined his head towards the juveniles, some of whom had indeed lost interest and were bumbling about the summit at the far side. “I'm enjoying the reversal of roles.”
“I wish I could get into a cave currently in use . . .”
“All in one day?”
“Yes, you're right, Kai. That's asking too much. At least, we've experienced no aggressive action from them. The adult construed my action as helpful rather than dangerous. It did accept the grass . . .”
They all glanced upward as an unusual note penetrated the sled's roof, a high pitched, sharp sustained note. The juveniles on the summit came rigidly to attention. Varian gestured to Bo
A mass of fliers fell from the caves, gained wing room and flew with an astonishing show of speed off into the misty south west.
“That's the direction of the sea gap. The net fishers?”
“The juveniles are clearing away,” said Bo
Out of the mist now appeared wing-weary giffs, barely skimming the water, rising with obvious effort to ledges where they settled, wings unclosed and drooping. Varian was certain she'd seen grass trailing from the rear claws of one. They waited, and so did the juveniles, occasionally poking at each other. Bo
“Don't move a muscle, Bo
The adult watched, its eyes never moving from the sled.
“Now move slowly back from the exit,” Varian told him and when he had completed the manoeuvre, she let out a deep sigh of relief. “What did I tell you the other day? You don't bother animals with their food. You sure as rakers don't bother creatures waiting for lunch, if you want to stay in good with them.”
“I'm sorry, Varian.”
“That's all right, Bo
Never taking his eyes off their guard, the boy sank to the floor of the sled.
They waited another three-quarters of an hour before Kai, remembering to keep his gesture slow, alerted them to the returning giffs. Cries raised from every quarter and so many giffs were airborne that Bo
Bo
“I got that on tape, Varian,” Bo
Gradually the supply dwindled, the juveniles losing interest and disappearing from the summit. Soon after, Varian noticed that no giffs were to be seen. They waited patiently until Kai became so restless with inactivity that Varian could not ignore the fact that they were not furthering their study of the giff by remaining either in the sled or on the terrace.
It was well past midday now. She'd enough on tapes for hours of study. Her a
As she took off, she circled once more over the summit, noting that small fringes were left to bake and deteriorate on the summit. She'd answered a few of her questions, but more had been raised by the day's happenings. She was reasonably pleased with the excursion, if only because it had been something she'd wanted to do.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Kai noticed the absence of the sleds as they circled an encampment strangely motionless. Only Dandy was visible, half asleep in his pen, one hind leg cocked at the ankle. For some reason, that reassured Kai. Dandy had shown a marked tendency to react to any tension or excitement in the compound by cowering against the fencing of his pen.
“Everyone is indeed resting,” said Varian who was piloting the sled.
“My teams must have made an early return to their camps.”
“Yes, but where are my heavy-worlders? Not all the sleds should be gone.”
“Bakkun said something about going to his place,” said Bo
“His place?” Kai and Varian asked in chorus.
“Yes. North,” said Bo
“What sort of special place?” asked Varian, signalling Kai with a quick glance to let her do the questioning. “Have you been there?”
“Yes, last week when I was out with Bakkun. It's not what I'd call special, just a clear circular place among the trees, closed off at one end by a rock fall. There's a bunch of the big grass-eaters, like Mabel, and some other smaller types. They've all got hunks out of their sides, Varian. Bakkun told me Paskutti was interested in them. Didn't he mention it to you?”
“Probably hasn't had time,” said Varian in such an off-handed ma
“Time? That was a week ago.”
“We've all been busy,” said Varian, frowning as she slipped the sled into hold and landed it lightly on the ground.
Lunzie was at the veil lock now, waiting to open it for them.
“Successful trip?” she asked.
“Yes, indeed. Everyone enjoying a quiet restful day here, too?” asked Varian.
Lunzie gave her a long searching look.
“As far as I know,” said Lunzie slowly, her eyes never leaving Varian's as she closed the veil lock. “Terilli's working on some drawings in Gaber's dome, and Cleiti's reading in the main dome.”
“Could I show Cleiti the tapes, Varian?”
“By all means. Just don't erase 'em by mistake!”
“Varian! I've been handling tapes for weeks with no blanking.”
Kai could sense that Varian wanted Bo
“My teams get off all right?” Kai asked Lunzie to cover the conspicuous silence as Bo
“Yes, all except Bakkun, who went off with the heavy-worlders on some jaunt of their own.” Lunzie gestured towards the shuttle and they moved that way. “Remember asking me about the stores, Kai?” she said in a low voice. “Someone raided our hold of a selection of basic medical supplies. Also, the synthesizer has been used enough to drain a power pack. Now the synthesizer may be heavy on power but I hadn't used it that much on the new pack. So I had Portegin check it out this morning before he went off, and there's no malfunction. Someone's been using it. What was synthesized I couldn't say.”