developed for it.
The divorce was not absolute. Seas were less affected than land, and
many shore-based animals that ate marine species neither hibernated nor
estivated. Seeds and other remnants of a season contributed to the diet
of those which did. The Merseians had hardly begun to comprehend the web
of interactions–structural, chemical, bacteriological, none knew what
more–between hot-weather and cold-weather forms. As an elementary
example: No equivalent of evergreens existed; summer’s wild growth would
have strangled them; on the other hand, decaying in fall, it provided
humus for winter vegetation.
The tundra reached in crisp dunes and a glimpse of wind-scoured frozen
lake. But it was not empty. Black among the blue shadows, leaves thrust
upward in clumps that only looked low and bushy; their stems often went
down through meters of snow. The sooty colors absorbed sunlight with
high efficiency, aided by reflection off the surface. In some, a part of
that energy worked through molecular processes to liquefy water; others
substituted organic compounds, such as alcohols, with lower freezing
points; for most, solidification of fluids was important to one stage or
another of the life cycle.
North of the mountains, the glaciers were becoming too thick for plants.
But south of them, and on the islands, vegetation flourished. Thus far
it was sparse, and it would never approach the luxuriance of summer.
Nonetheless it supported an animal population off which other animals
lived reasonably well–including the Ruadrath. Still, you could
understand why they had such intense territorial jealousies …
Flandry’s breath steamed into air that lay cold on his cheeks; but
within his garments he was sweating a trifle. The day was quiet enough
for him to hear the shuffle-shuffle of his walking. He said carefully:
“Rrinn, I do not ask you to follow my counsel blind. Truth indeed is
that I could be telling you untruth. What harm can it do, though, to
consider ways by which you may prove or disprove my speech? Must you not
as leader of Wirrda’s attempt this? For think. If my folk and Merseia’s
are in conflict, maneuvering for position among the stars, then harbors
are needed for the sky-swimming craft. Not so? You have surely seen that
not every Merseian is here to gather knowledge. Most come and go on
errands that I tell you are scoutings and attacks on my folk.
“Now a warlike harbor needs defense. In preparation for the day the
enemy discovers it, a day that will unfailingly come, it has to be made
into more than a single small encampment. This whole world may have to
be occupied, turned into a fortress.” What a casuist I am! “Are you
certain the Merseians have not been staring into your lives in order
that they may know how easiest to overwhelm you?”
Rrinn growled back, “And am I certain your folk would leave us be?”
“You have but my speech,” Flandry admitted, “wherefore you should ask of
others.”
“How? Shall I call Ydwyr in, show him you, and scratch for truth as to
why he spoke nothing about your kindred?”
“N-n-no, I counsel otherwise. Then he need but kill me and give you any
smooth saying he chooses. Best you get him to come to Wirrda’s, yes, but
without knowledge that I live. You can there draw him out in discourse
and seize whether or not that which he tells runs together with that
which you know from having traveled with me.”
“S-s-s-s.” Rrinn gripped his vocalizer as if it were a weapon. He was
plainly troubled and unhappy; his revulsion at the idea of possibly
being driven from his land gave him no peace. It lay in his chromosomes,
the dread inherited from a million ancestors, to whom loss of hunting
grounds had meant starvation in the barrens.
“We have the rest of the trek to think about what you should do,”
Flandry reassured him. More accurately, for me to nudge you into
thinking the scheme I hatched in the cache house is your own notion.
I hope we do feel and reason enough alike that I can play tricks on you.
To himself: Don’t push too hard, Flandry. Take time to observe, to
participate, to get simpâtico with them. Why, you might even figure out