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By Root 698 0

method of curing mental trauma. The Iretan expedition had been considered a straightforward search for transuranics which was why, Kai was certain, two relatively young people were given the coleadership. He thought grimly of the counts against himself and Varian: mutiny and a minority group all but established on what should have been an extraordinarily rich FSP planet. Exploration and Evaluation Corps wouldn’t like that, much less the FSP, who preferred to keep all transuranics under their control, leasing them only to stable corporations.

He supposed they should have remained awake and done their utmost to thwart the heavy-worlders, though how they could have accomplished anything significant without equipment or weapons he was incapable of imagining. A leader’s prime responsibility was to bring back the full complement of his expedition, preferably having completed his assignment. A resigned sigh escaped his lips.

“You were awake, Kai?” Lunzie’s voice was soft and Kai realized that she had moved beside him with a bowl in her outstretched hand.

“So, you fixed some fruit?” he asked, opening his eyes and looking at her.

She nodded. Odd that he had never noticed before what beautiful and compelling eyes she had.

Kai lifted the neglected shell in gentle salute and drank the juice before he began to eat the fruit.

“I wasn’t hungry. But I’m awfully glad you can give them more protection, Lunzie.”

“Yes, it’s always easier to lie if you think you’re telling the truth.”

“I won’t worry so much about that meeting tomorrow.”

“I’m sure you won’t.” The medic’s low voice was tinged with amusement. She took the emptied shell from his hand.

Whatever Lunzie had added to the innocent fruit was potent. He swam down into darkness, completely aware that in the morning, he would not remember that Lunzie was an Adept.

7

RIANAV wished that they had a squad of troopers with them. Titrivell and Portegin were good men; she’d been in several tricky situations with them but, if her commander’s suspicion should prove valid, three troops in a four-man sled, equipped with only forcebelts and stunners, were woefully insufficient.

Still, until a colony ship did somehow slip through the commander’s surveillance, three veterans could cope. She doubted the survivors had any sophisticated weapons if that Aygar had been hunting with a crossbow and lance. Not that such a primitive weapon was ineffective: bolts from a crossbow could penetrate thick metal and, at close range, probably knock fragments from the ceramic hull of the sled. The original landing party’s stunners would by now be inoperative. She’d match herself and Titrivell against any two or three of Aygar’s size so she really had no reason to be apprehensive about the meeting. Except Aygar’s insistence that it be held away from his current living area.

Once she had set the course for the secondary camp, she gestured to Portegin to take the controls. She must be fresh for the conference. Titrivell took the starboard observation post while she settled herself to port. Not that there was much to see except huge trees festooned with climbers and swaths of damaged vegetation where large beasts had broken trails through the dense jungle. She didn’t fancy any ground work there.

“Lieutenant?” Portegin interrupted her, and she followed the direction of his point.

“The size of the creatures! Recorder going, Portegin? I want the captain to believe this!”

“Aye, aye, ma’am.”

Titrivell leaned amidships, to see past Portegin’s shoulder. “They must weigh megatons. Glad we’re up here instead of down there.”

“Bet they give the heavy-worlders a tussle.” Portegin glanced over his shoulder as they passed the herd of creatures, eating whatever was within the reach of their long sinuous necks.

“We’ll have no jokes here, Portegin.” Rianav’s tone was stern. One couldn’t permit even subtle hints about sentient carnivores. Any member of the Federation that defied the civilized edict forbidding consumption of living creatures did so at the peril of its FSP membership.

“Well, Lieutenant,” said Portegin