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jet exhaust to rocket backward off the table, across the room, and through the
open rim window through which it had entered. It was able to see where it was
going because, to Pulickel's astonishment, its eyes had crawled up its spine
and onto its back. It soared over the clearing and into the trees beyond,
leaving him to eye the dining table distastefully.
"You've made sure, of course, that this charming regu-lar visitor doesn't
carry any kind of parasites or commu-nicable diseases?"
"As a matter of fact, I haven't." She proceeded to make a show of scratching
her sides and arms.
"Very funny," he commented dryly, less than amused.
She lowered her hands. "You don't really approve of me, do you?"
He didn't meet her gaze. "It isn't you so much, Fawn," he replied, neither
confirming nor denying her accusa-tion. "We just have a different outlook on
certain proce-dural matters."
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"I hope you have a better opinion of my work. You haven't seen any of that
yet, except for my picking you up, bringing you here, and saving your life
along the way." She sighed resignedly. "If it really means that much to you,
I'll make an effort to clean the place up, even though we're really out of
sight, out of mind here."
"I would greatly appreciate it, and I will do more than my share to help."
"Agreed. You hungry?"
He eyed the table uncomfortably. "No thank you. I rarely eat in the morning.
What I would like is to get started."
"Just arrived and already you're anxious to leave."
He nodded. "Just because I've done a lot of fieldwork doesn't mean I
particularly enjoy it."
"I'll bet you don't like having to rely on others, either." She disappeared
into a back storeroom and returned mo-ments later with a thin belt. Hanging
from the belt was a qwik holster holding a compact needler. Extra power cells
occupied the other side of the belt, balancing out the modest weight of the
weapon.
"I think this one'll fit you." She tried to hand him the belt and gun.
He demurred. "Why give me this? Except for what's in the already outdated
study file, I wouldn't know what to pet and what to shoot."
"I'll take care of the flora and fauna. This is in case we run into any AAnn.
Their base is only thirty minutes away by fast skimmer. I haven't had any
serious run‑ins with them, but other outposts have. When they think they
can get away with it, they're not above taking potshots at the competition,
especially when it's isolated and alone out in the local woods."
"Meaning us?" Reluctantly he accepted the belt and began strapping it on.
"Meaning you, anyway. I've been so quiet here for so long I'm not sure they
regard me as much in the way of competition. That suits me just fine. I've had
a couple of chats with their local chief of operations, an oily type named
Essasu.
Everything very formal and polite. But if I didn't keep rigorous, recoverable
recordings of my movements, I'm sure he'd cheerfully have one of his
un-derlings slap an explosive shell into my spine the first time I wasn't
looking. Traveling armed lets him know that I'm neither naive nor helpless.
I'm a firm believer in discouraging temptation right from the start."
The needler was virtually unnoticeable on his hip. "Competition for the hearts
and minds of the natives is supposed to be on a friendly basis."
She made a rude noise. "Sure it is. And the AAnn are
happy‑go‑lucky comedians who'll gather 'round at every opportunity
just to tell you the latest jokes from
Blas-susar." She patted the weapon that rode high and wide on her left hip.
"That's why I'm always careful to carry my critic with me.
"Plus, there's always the chance that a gribiwith or a cochco vine will take a
leap at you when I'm not in a position to help. Think of your needler as a
prophy-laxis." She nodded in the direction of their living quarters. "Any
other gear you want to bring? I have my recorder with me."
He shook his head. "Not on the first visit. I need to ac-climate myself
first."
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She nodded and turned in the direction of the central elevator shaft. Once he
had joined her, she thumbed the single switch and the cylindrical conveyor
started down. It squealed and whined outrageously, suggesting that it, too,
had been the subject of less than assiduous maintenance.
"Why didn't they site the skimmer shed closer to the station and connect it
with a sealed walkway?" he won-dered aloud.
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She shrugged. "Probably cheaper this way. I don't mind. I like being outside.
Later I'll show you my fa-vorite swimming hole. It's a deep pool fed by a
five-
meter‑high waterfall. Smooth rocks on the bottom, clean sand around the
edges.
I'd call it Eden, if I were inclined to nacre things. When I'm bored or just
hot
I'll walk in to it on the little trail I've cut, take everything off, and just
float or lie on the fronting beach."
Pulickel manfully turned his thoughts from the image thus conjured up. "The
natives leave you alone at all times?"
She nodded. "They have plenty to do and as you know from your prep, the
nearest village is a ways from here. I very rarely see them unless I go
looking for them. They never bother the station."
The lift bottomed out with a grinding sound. When after a suitable pause the
door refused to open, Fawn kicked it into compliance. She smiled
apologetically.
"Damn thing's supposed to be permanently lubricated, but you know what a
tropical climate can do to even the best machinery."
"Which is why," he observed as they stepped out of the shaft into the
oppressive heat and humidity, "even sup-posedly permanently lubricated doors
and glides need to be checked as part of a weekly routine."
"I agree," she confessed readily. "And now that you're here and I'm not
expected to do everything myself, you can make that your responsibility,
Pulickel. I'm sure you're much better at it than I would be."
They made their way toward the skimmer shed, the magnificent bay glistening in
the morning sun as if it had been coated with powdered diamond.
"I think I'll be able to communicate without any trouble." At her mild urging
he avoided a plant with thorny leaves that was growing over the edge of the
path.
"For alien vocalizations, the language's of Senisran are fairly simple, and
the
Parramati dialect seems to present no unique difficulties."
"Glad all those recordings I made proved useful. Of course, I could've been
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