“I likewise,” she replied. “And, in fact, the plans for a pulsar expedition include several Tahirians. But we — naturally, we see the most those who are interested, who’re glad of us.” Her voice sank. “I have a feeling that other Tahirians wish we’d never come to rouse forgotten emotions from their graves.”
“An expedition, why? There are space observatories. I’ve seen them.”
“Well, Hanny and Tim say the system, neutron star and planets both, must be in very fast, early evolution, and the instruments here aren’t adequate to track it properly. At least, a close look should provide data that’ll make the local observations a great deal more meaningful.”
Ruszek grinned. “Mainly, they want to go see.”
“Scientific passion.” Mokoena lowered her voice further. She gazed ahead, in among the bare, tossing boughs. “Also, what better have they to do?”
If flared in Ruszek. “Isten, what a jaunt!”
Mokoena laid a hand on his arm for a moment, the merest touch. “I’m afraid you shall have to forego it, Lajos,” she said gently. “The captain would never let both our boat pilots go, and Jean has already spoken for that berth. Hanny, the physicist; Tim, the planetologist; Al, the engineer and general assistant — it cannot be more. We don’t dare.”
Ruszek’s mouth twisted. “I wasn’t alert enough. Ah, well.”
“Besides,” Mokoena said, “perhaps you didn’t understand it in all the cross talk, but the captain opposes the idea. He says it can’t justify risking our ship.”
Ruszek narrowed his eyes against the bitter air. “Hm. I should think — we do know a lot about pulsars, this one especially, don’t we? — we could program Envoy so she can’t endanger herself.”
“We don’t know everything. We can’t foresee every hazard.”
“Nor can we here. I’ll speak to Nansen when he returns. He should at least let us vote on it.”
Mokoena gave Ruszek a long look. “Although you can’t go?”
He shrugged. “I am no dog in the manger. And I do now have plenty to keep me out of mischief.”
The wood opened on a glade where turf grew thick and soft, still deeply red-brown. A spring bubbled forth near the center, to rill away into the forest. In summer it was a favorite spot for humans to seek peace and, sometimes, human closeness. Man and woman stopped. Slowly, they turned toward one another.
“You’ve become a happier man than you were,” she said.
“I’m doing something real again, and enjoying it,” he replied. “Like you.”
“I’m glad, Lajos.”
Her eyes were very bright in the dark face. His words began to stumble. “You — us — I asked if we could go for this walk so we could talk alone —”
“I know.” Sudden tears glimmered. “I’m sorry, Lajos.”
His countenance locked. He spoke as nearly matter-of-factly as he was able. “You don’t want to try again, we two?”
“I —” Mokoena swallowed. “Lajos,” she said in a rush, “I am not casual. Whatever you may have supposed, I am not.”
“You mean you have somebody else in mind.”
“I mean only — No, Lajos, we’ll be friends, God willing, but only friends.”
After a bit, he shrugged again. “Well, I said I have enough to keep me busy.”
Impulsively, she caught his hands. “You are more than a man, Lajos. You’re a gentleman. I could almost wish —”
He disengaged. “No harm if I hope, is there?”
With the suddenness of the seasons in these parts, the first snow fell soon afterward and the land lay white when Nansen returned. He had stayed in radio contact; his folk were waiting to greet him as he stepped out of the Tahirian aircar. One by one the men shook his hand, then one by one the women embraced him — Yu shyly, Mokoena heartily, Dayan with eagerness and a long kiss while Zeyd went impassive, Kilbirnie unwontedly hesitant. As they left the landing field, the car took off.
A banquet was ready in the common room, as there had been for Ruszek earlier. Any occasion for a celebration was to be seized. Business could wait. News took over the conversation, gossip, small talk, babble and cheer, drinks clinking together. After dinner they set music playing and danced for a while. As she swayed in Nansen’s arms, Kilbirnie whispered, “Could we talk alone later?”