“Ready when you are!” he said.
Varian nodded and took the sled out of the cave into the still misty morning. The passage of the sled swirled the yellowish fog about and she used instruments rather than visual guidance in such a pea soup.
“So much for an outbound record,” she said in disgust. “Nothing will filter that.”
The telltagger sputtered. “Well, life-forms are coming in at seven o’clock,” Kai said with a semblance of a grin. “You’ve got your escort.”
“How do they see through this murk?”
“Why don’t you ask them?”
“Funny fellow! When do I have the opportunity?”
“I know the feeling!”
Whatever tension had existed between them dissipated at this exchange. They traveled on in the murk, Kai silent in deference to the concentration Varian required to fly in such conditions. They had been airborne for over an hour when the mist began to disperse.
“Kai, why wouldn’t Tor be here?”
“That has puzzled me. Especially since Tor took the trouble to rouse the Ryxi and get Godheir down here to help us.”
“Isn’t it unusual for so many Thek to gather?”
“Highly. I’ve never heard of it before. I wonder if Commander Sassinak would give me a little time on the cruiser’s memory banks.”
Varian grinned to herself. “She seems to wish to cooperate in anyway she can. Oh, turn that thing off,” Varian added, for they were having to raise their voices to be heard above the telltagger. Kai flicked it off mid blip.
Just then they emerged from the mist into a brilliantly clear sunlit band, over tree-dotted plains; not too far from their original site. Varian craned her neck and saw the three escort giffs emerge from the fog, the sun gilding their fur.
“Why would Sassinak want us at a meeting?”
“I could think of half a hundred reasons.”
103
Anne McCaffrey – Dinosaur Planet II – The Survivors
“Maybe she’s had a report about the ARCT-10 that she won’t commit to a broadcast?”
Varian shot her companion a quick look but his face gave away no internal emotions. The fate of the ARCT-10 would be of primary importance to Kai: his family had been ship-bred for generations. The ARCT-10 was his home far more than any planet had ever been hers.
“Could be,” she replied noncommittally. To dismiss the idea out of hand would be unkind, no matter how she wished to reassure Kai. “Sassiness’ not the sort to sugar-coat a pill—”
“And she’d be aware of the morale factor for most of us.”
“Kai, how long does an update take to reach a cruiser this far from a sector headquarters?”
Kai’s breath hissed as he inhaled and then he gave her a slightly sheepish grin. “Not by this morning if the first asking was yesterday.”
“And as Captain Godheir said, he’d’ve heard something if the ARCT-10 was known to be lost.”
“Hmmmm.”
“Scant reassurances I know, but a time when no news can be good news. Say, I haven’t had a chance to tell you, but Sassinak is Lunzie’s great-great-great-granddaughter!”
“No!”
“That was Sassiness’ parting remark to me yesterday. Took me the entire flight back to get over the shock. To cushion the shock she sent Lunzie a bottle of Sverulan brandy.” Varian gave Kai a very gentle nudge in the ribs. “Now, I know you don’t appreciate planetary brews, but this stuff is gorgeous. Get on Lunzie’s good side and she might just give you a sip—if she hasn’t already finished the bottle on the sly. No, she couldn’t have, no one could drink that much Sverulan brandy and function the next day!”
“I just can’t imagine Lunzie as a mother.”
“I can. She mothers us in her fashion. It’s the ancestor part that stuns me. That original child is probably long since dead, and the next four generations as well, and here is Lunzie, motoring along in fine shape. And younger than Sassinak.
“Ship-breds like me don’t usually run into this sort of anomaly.”
“Ireta’s full of them.” All kinds, why not a human paradox! I wonder if Lunzie will ever tell us how long she’s cold-slept. One thing, it hasn’t affected her wits at all.”
The patch of clear sky abruptly gave way to a fast-moving heavy squall and managing the sled took all Varian’s attention. They rode it out and the weather cleared to lowering clouds scudding across the sky just as they reached the plateau, so Kai had a good view of the area. Varian came in above the grid so that Kai got the full effect of the two space vehicles, the smaller one, lean and dangerous, the other gross and brooding. From that vantage, Kai could also see the settlement, the foundry, and the unoccupied length of the grid.