She did not expect Jack to show up and practically drag her away from work.
“Where are we going?” He had hardly given her time to don her rain cape. A heavy downpour was in progress and some of the tepid water leaked through a small gap in the hydrophobic charge to run down her back. She struggled to seal the opening. “What’s the hurry?”
“You’ll see soon, love.” He led her toward the Administration complex’s small skimmer hangar.
“It must be something special, for you to haul me out of the office like this.” She studied his face. “I haven’t seen you this excited since Andrea agreed to stop visiting the forest with that intern from Hydrographics.”
“It’s special squared.” Once inside the hangar, she was able to properly fasten her rain gear. “I had a visitor this morning. He showed me something. I could just tell you about it, but I think you should see it for yourself.”
“Well, what is it?” Despite the press of her own work, she knew how important it was to show an interest in her mate’s vocation.
When he turned back to her, his eyes were alive with the childlike delight all scientists express at times of great discovery. “A mushroom.”
She started to say something, closed her mouth. There were no mushrooms on Fluva. A mushroom was a terrestrial growth. But there were innumerable analogs among the flourishing fungi of the endless forest. “Mushroom” was Jack’s way of preparing her to see something familiar.
It better contain a genetic chain for curing something significant, she decided firmly. Or taste like Kansastan veal. She didn’t like having her time wasted, even by her husband.