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“Eons ago the Thek cored this planet?” Sassinak asked.

“If not the Thek then some other—”

“Not the Others again!” Sassinak humorously negated that possibility. “I don’t wish to lose god and nemesis in the same day.”

“Couldn’t have been the Others,” Kai said, shaking his head vigorously. “That old core was of Thek manufacture. Undeniably. We’re using recent cores of the exact same design. Until today I never appreciated just how good the design was. The screen blips were faint, but they were there!”

“Are we not forgetting that planets visited by the Others are invariably lifeless, reduced to barren rock? Stripped. Lifeless!” Anstel spoke with the distaste of one who values life in all its forms.

“Then why have we been visited by this Thek delegation?” Sassinak asked.

“Someone forgot that this planet had been explored and classified,” Fordeliton suggested, “and they intend to repair that oversight. Your friend Tor did say ’verifying’ in its distinctive fashion.”

“How will they verify that,” Anstel asked, “when Thek have disposed of the evidence of the old cores?”

“Perhaps,” and there was a wicked gleam in Sassinak’s sparkling eyes, “they had to digest them to find out?” She leaned forward and tapped instructions into her console. Immediately the screens came to life: the Great-Big Bears had not moved, nor had the Medium-Size ones. The three small ones had disappeared. The fourth screen showed the site on which the Thek had been attacked by the fringes. It was unoccupied. Just then a buzzer alerted Commander Sassinak. “Yes? Oh, really?” She made another adjustment, and Kai half rose from his seat in astonishment. A myriad of Thek forms inhabited the plain below the campsite.

“Muhlah! Every fringe on Ireta will be homing in on us.”

“I doubt it. Nor would they pose you a problem if they did. Between Thek and the globe, you couldn’t be better protected.”

“But what are they doing there? I’m here. Tor knows that. Muhlah!” Kai’s startled reaction was shared by everyone in the room. For the Thek were spinning off in all directions, nearly thirty small Thek pyramids were hurtling skyward and disappearing with astounding speed. “Now what?”

“Now what, indeed?” Sassinak’s expression sparkled with amusement and speculation.

17

SASSINAK adjourned the discussion to the wardroom where off-duty officers were enjoying a noon meal. When Sassinak apologized that the lunch was made of processed foods, Kai, mindful of his praise for the previous night’s dinner, forbore to mention that he was better suited to it. But after his first mouthful of the protein, he wondered if his eating preferences had been undermined by circumstance. While the cruiser’s mess was appetizing and well served, Kai for the first time recognized the faint aftertaste that Varian had always complained of.

“I suppose you were too busy with the geological aspects of the mission,” Anstel was saying, his gaunt face animated as he addressed Kai across the table, “to have much time for the dinosaurs?”

“Unfortunately, I was,” Kai said as he belatedly caught the end of Anstel’s comments and realized that some response was due. “We did have an orphan hyracotherium for a pet—” Kai broke off, then finished as if his pause had been to swallow, “but that was before we went cryo.”

“A hyracotherium?” Anstel’s eyes bulged with excitement. “Really? You’re certain? Why, that creature evolved into the equine species on Old Terra. Did you know that?”

Feeling unequal to a lecture on the matter, Kai tried a diversion. “We also have furred avian creatures. . . .”

“Furred?” Anstel was entranced.

“Actually,” Fordeliton began with so bland an expression that those who knew his ways become alert, “Varian, whom you must concede is a reliable source, said that most of the dinosaurs she observed suffered from overweight, bad nutrition, parasites of remarkable tenacity and variety, and were not affectionate by nature.”

“One does not expect dinosaurs to be lovable,” Anstel said with quiet dignity. “They fascinate by their size and majesty. In their diverse species,