“Rule number one in recording animals of unknown habits and custom—approach cautiously from any direction.”
“Hey, Varian, the three who were here have gone to roost but there’s a whole flotilla of ’em disappearing southeast, down the sea.”
Nervous reaction forgotten, Varian sprinted to the entrance, hanging onto a vine to swing out past the lip, craning her head upward. The earlier squall had departed and in misty sky she could see the golden fliers on their daily rounds, fish nets trailing from their feet.
“Hope you have plenty of footage left, Kenley, because we’re going fishing! C’mon!” He joined her in the sled. Thanks be to Krims, but it was great to be doing what she’d been yearning to do ever since she woke up.
124
Anne McCaffrey – Dinosaur Planet II – The Survivors CHAPTER FIFTEEN
When Kai’s group reached the campsite, they found four vehicles of various sizes from the Zaid-Dayan already awaiting them. A work party was busy tearing out the old forcescreen posts. The replacements, thicker by half again, lay to one side alongside the control mechanisms.
As Kai glided in to land by the vehicles, Fordeliton emerged from the largest and waved to him.
Then both men turned to watch Triv bring the shuttle down in a deft landing on the exact spot it had occupied forty-three years earlier. Experiencing deja vu, Kai found that he had to turn away from the spectacle and so engaged Fordeliton in conversation.
“I think you’ll find that everything you ordered through Mayerd is here,” Ford said, waving expansively at the three sleds and the sleek pinnace. “A few incidentals were added by our commander.”
“A bottle of the Sverulan brandy I’ve heard so much about?” Kai asked, with a grin.
“That would surprise me. She guards the vintage like the destruct codes. However, she was looking quite pleased with herself and there hasn’t been a hair seen of the hide of that Dupaynil.
Lunzie have anything to say for herself?”
“I haven’t had time to ask her,” Kai said, having forgotten all about that aspect of the previous evening’s events. “Lunzie never makes gratuitous admissions.”
“Takes after her great-great-great then.” Fordeliton compressed his lips in exasperation.
“However,” and he changed moods, “let us not prod imponderables. I have here the little device which Commander Sassinak mentioned. I have coded it with information from our various tapes and files about this planet. Even fed it that tape from Dimenon about the fringes. So it only needs to be set in place.” He beckoned Kai after him to the pinnace, where he laid hands on a small black plastic traveling case. Kneeling, he opened it and lifted out an opaque globe. He rose, displaying the object to Kai, a big grin on his face. “This is quite a device.” Opening a small compartment, he made a few minute adjustments and closed it. “Now, we just let it sail.”
“Sail?”
“Well, we give it a bit of upward impetus,” Fordeliton amended, beckoning Kai to follow him out of the pinnace. He spotted and then walked quickly to a small cairn of stones. “This was adjudged the exact center of the area enclosed by the forcescreen. So,” and flexing his knees, Fordeliton gave a leap, heaving the globe upward at the top of his jump. The globe continued up and then paused, spinning in a leisurely fashion, a pale light coruscating from it. Fordeliton dusted his hands together. “Now, nothing small, large, medium, programmed or unrecognizable can approach this site without you knowing, and the intruder, if on the unwanted list, being stunned senseless. Feel safer?”
“If you say so.”
“I do.” Fordeliton gripped Kai’s shoulder in a firm but understanding grasp. “Now, what else can we do for you?”
Just then the forcescreen came on and a cheer went up from the survivors as well as the volunteers from the Zaid-Dayan.
“Now we can get back to the business interrupted forty-three years ago.”
“Once the domes are up,” Ford amended. Kai nodded agreement.
This time, Trizein elected to have a dome instead of quarters in the shuttle. He also volunteered to supervise the three youngsters so one of the larger units was erected, providing him with a large 125