“Who, Trizein, rescued the dinosaurs from Earth and put them here to continue in all their savage splendour?” asked Varian.
“The Others?”
Bonnard gasped.
“Trizein, you’re teasing. The Others destroy life, not save it.”
Varian spoke sternly.
Trizein looked unremorseful. “Everyone is entitled to a bit of a joke. The Theks planted them, of course.”
“Have the Theks planted us, too?” asked Bonnard, scared.
“Good heavens!” Trizein stared at Bonnard, his expression turning from surprise at the idea to delight. “Do you really think we might be, Varian? When I consider all the investigatory work I must do …”
Lunzie and Varian exchanged shocked glances. Trizein would welcome such a development.
“To prove my conclusions of warm-bloodedness. I wonder, Varian, you didn’t show me any true saurians, that is to say, any cold-blooded species because if they did develop here as well, as a specialization, of course, it would substantially improve my hypothesis. This world appears to remain consistently hotter than old Earth … Well, Varian, what’s the matter?”
“We’re not planted, Trizein.”
Daunted and disappointed, he looked next to Lunzie who also shook her head.
“Oh, what a pity.” He was so dejected that Varian, despite the seriousness of the moment, had difficulty suppressing her amusement. “Well, I serve you all fair warning that I do not intend to keep my nose to the data disc and terminal keyboard any more. I shall take time off to investigate my theory. Why didn’t anyone think to show me a frame of the animals whose flesh I’ve been analyzing so often? The time I’ve wasted …”
“Analyzing animal tissues?” Lunzie spoke first, her eyes catching Varian’s in alarm.
“Quite. None of them were toxic, a conclusion now confirmed by our mutual planet of origin. I told Paskutti that so you don’t need to be so particular about personal force-screens when in close contact. Where are you keeping the other specimens? Nearby?”
“No. Why do you ask?”
Trizein frowned, having started and diverted himself from any number of lines of thought, and was now being brought up sharp.
“Why? Because I got the distinct impression from Paskutti that he was worried about actual contact with these creatures. Of course, not much can penetrate a heavy-worlder’s hide but I could appreciate his worrying that you might get a toxic reaction, Varian. So I assumed that the beasts were nearby, or wounded like that herbivore when we first landed. Did you ever show me a frame of that one?”
“Yes,” Varian replied, absently because her mind was revolving about more pressing identities, like the name of the game the heavy-worlders were playing. “One of the Hadrasaurs. I think that’s what you called it.”
“There were, in fact, quite a variety of Hadrasaur, the crested, the helmeted, the …”
“Mabel had a crest,” said Bonnard.
“You know, Varian, I think that Kai would be interested in Trizein’s identification of Dandy,” said Lunzie.
“You’re quite right, Lunzie,” said Varian, moving woodenly towards the lab’s communit.
She was relieved when Kai answered instead of Bakkun, though she’d prepared herself to deal with the heavy-worlder, too. She was conscious of Bonnard holding his breath as he wondered what she was going to say, and of Lunzie’s calm encouraging expression.
“Trizein has just identified our wild life, Kai, and explained the anomaly. I think you’d better come back to base right now.”
“Varian …” Kai sounded irritated.
“Cores are not the only things planted on this stinking ball of mud, Kai, or likely to be planted!”
There was silence on the other end of the communit. Then Kai spoke. “Very well then, if Trizein thinks it’s that urgent. Bakkun can carry on here. The strike is twice the size of the first.”
Varian congratulated him but wondered if he oughtn’t to insist that Bakkun return with him. She’d a few questions she’d like to put to that heavy-worlder on the subject of special places and the uses thereof.
CHAPTER TEN
Bakkun made no comment on Kai’s recall. He was apparently too engrossed in the intricacies of setting the last core for the shot that would determine the actual size of the pitchblende deposit.
“You’ll come back to the base when you finish?” Kai asked as he placed the life-belt for the heavy-worlder by the seismimic.