How long had that sleep been? He opened his mouth to ask but he hadn’t quite the brashness to inquire of a Thek how much time had elapsed between the sending of the emergency signal and Tor’s response. One rarely asked Theks a question involving time since the long-lived silicon life-form counted in sidereal years of their planet of origin, which generally amounted to centuries of more ephemeral species—such as Kai’s.
His wrist! Tardma had taken such delight in breaking it when she and Paskutti burst into the pilot’s compartment. Once they’d escaped from the mutineers, Lunzie had set the bones. Kai wriggled the fingers of his left hand experimentally. Wrist bones could take about six weeks to heal. He rotated his wrist. It was stiff but no more so than his right. Six weeks? Or more?
However long, it gave him some satisfaction to realize that the mutineers had not found the space shuttle. He smiled as he thought of the frustration that the loss would have caused Paskutti! The mutineers would have searched as long as they had one operative lift belt. The mutineers—Paskutti, Tardma, Tanegli, Divisti … Kai paused before adding Berru and Bakkun to that infamous roster. He couldn’t understand their reason for participating in a mutiny; particularly one generated on the flimsiest of pretexts.
He rolled his head cautiously to the left, toward the row of sleeping figures: the remnants of his team of geologists and Varian’s xenobiologists. Varian had a lovely profile. Beyond his co-leader was Lunzie, the medic, and Kai could just make out in the gloom the long sturdy figure of Triv.
The four Disciples had been the last to go into cold sleep.
A series of curious deep mumbles made Kai turn his head to the right, toward the small pilot compartment of the space shuttle. Kai had seen one or two Thek extremities in evidence before, but Tor seemed to have lengths of itself draped in, under, behind, over, and through places in the shuttle’s structure that Kai could not himself see. He blinked to relax his eyes. When he looked again, most of Tor was again within the creature.
That show of quick motion from a member of a species notorious for its imponderable silences, decades-long contemplation’s, and brevity of speech stunned Kai.
“Daaammaaggggedddd.”
In that one word the Thek managed to convey to Kai that not only was the damage extensive but also Tor could not effect repairs, a condition which annoyed the creature. Kai marveled then that Portegin’s contrived beacon had managed to lead Tor to the shuttle.
“Exploration Vessel returned?” Kai asked after long consideration. It was a rather vain hope that the Exploration Vessel which had deposited the three separate units in-system was on its way to collect them.
4
Anne McCaffrey – Dinosaur Planet II – The Survivors
“Nnnnoooo.” Tor’s response was neutral. Certainly the non reappearance caused it no concern.
Kai sighed with resignation and found himself wondering if, out of all impossibilities, Gaber had been right: their little group had been planted. Gaber certainly was, since he’d been killed at the outset of mutiny. But the third group, the avian Ryxi who planned to colonize their planet, surely they must have wondered at the silence from the Iretan group? Immediately Kai was reminded that in his last contact with the Ryxi’s temperamental leader, the creature had flown into a rage at Kai’s innocent disclosure that Ireta had an intelligent winged species. But the Ryxi colony ship would have been piloted by another species, probably humanoid. Surely … “Ryxi?” asked Kai hopefully.
A long silence ensued while Tor sent a single tentacle into the control console. Such a long silence that Kai was nerving himself to repeat the question, thinking Tor had not heard him.
“Nnnooo connntaaaact.”
The inference was plain to Kai: the Thek did not care to keep in touch with the highly excitable, and by Thek standards, irresponsible winged sentients.
Kai was relieved. It was embarrassing enough to call the Thek for aid, but to have to apply to the Ryxi would result in considerably more humiliation. The Ryxi would thoroughly enjoy spreading such a grand joke throughout the universe at the expense of all wingless species.