“Sorry it took me so long to get here,” she said to Sassinak. “I see the Thek found you?”
“It was Kai they wished to find and addressed in their inimitably succinct fashion.”
“So, what has happened? Or …” Varian glanced around her, mindful of discretion. Only a few officers remained, most chatting quietly at a wall table on the far side of the mess hall.
A gesture of Sassiness’ hand gave Varian immediate reassurance and the commander’s glance gave Kai the office to explain.
“Tor has returned.”
“With company to ward off our great big beasties?”
Kai grinned. “Tor has returned. It and the other Thek are in the process of verifying.”
“Verifying what?”
“They did not specify.” Sassiness’ dry tone put Kai and Varian strongly in mind of Lunzie.
“Oh.”
“They dismissed us, in a word,” Sassinak went on, “and ‘will contact’.”
“They do have a way with them, don’t they?” Varian turned to Kai. “Not one of us thought to dismantle that old distress beacon Portegin rigged. Kenley has it down now. I’d rather not subject the giffs to further invasions especially ones conducted by the Thek. I didn’t know there were that many of the critters. And thanks be to Krims, they didn’t attempt to land on my cliff, considering what they’ve done to Aygar’s landing grid.” Varian giggled then.
“It’s entirely possible,” Fordeliton said into the thoughtful pause that followed, “that the Thek have made a mistake.”
“Thek? Making mistakes? How refreshing!”
Kai felt compelled to set the problem out properly in simple justice to the Thek, who were so very seldom mistaken in their dealings with other planets and sentient species. “Now, Varian, that old core is of Thek design. It’s got them in a scramble. You know how Thek transmit knowledge, from generation to generation—”
“And there’s been a generation gap?” Varian asked, her voice bubbling with a laughter shared by the others at the table.
“Evidently. Though the Thek way is supposed to prevent the total loss of knowledge in any line.”
“Well, Ireta would be the right place for that, wouldn’t it?” Varian quipped, then became thoughtful. “Though, I can’t see why that would call for the presence of so many heavy-duty Thek.
I mean, Ireta is extremely rich in the transuranics but … Or have they been monitoring planet piracy, too?”
Sassinak cleared her throat. “Not that we know of.”
135
Anne McCaffrey – Dinosaur Planet II – The Survivors
“Then why are the big Thek squatting about the transport like they mean business?”
“The biggest Thek landed beyond the transport because of the grid.”
“Grid didn’t do much for ’em, did it?” Varian said with another malicious grin. “Now what?”
“My precise words,” Sassinak said. She gave a deep sigh. “However, since the Thek are here and the Fleet enjoins its officers to cooperate with those entities, I suppose we must be dismissed until such time as we are recalled to notice. How many years did it take them to answer your distress call, Kai?”
“Forty-three.”
“But only three days to answer your query about Tor’s whereabouts,” Sassinak added. “A noticeable improvement.”
“Look what it brought us, though,” Ford said, waving his hand aft toward the Great-Big Bears.
“Commander I am not on the duty roster and I did request permission to join a shore-leave party, Anstel began, rising from his chair and putting it back under the table in the habit of a person inherently tidy. When Sassinak inclined her head, granting permission, he executed a slight bow in Varian’s direction. “Kai mentioned that you had found a hyracotherium before you went cryo. Is there any chance that your travels today will take you near their habitat? I would dearly like to observe those creatures alive. We dinosaur buffs, I’ve discovered, all have a favorite species. The equine types are mine.”
“I don’t see why not,” Varian said with a wide, encouraging smile. She rose. “Kenley and I got some superb footage of the giffs fishing. The aquatic life performed some acrobatics—scared Kenley out of his wits when some fringes nearly reached us.” She paused. “The aquatic fringes are a great deal smaller than the land ones. I should get some more records of them, I suppose.”