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kept silent. "This& phenomenon is right in your special field of knowledge.
You'll solve the problem and earn Home's undying gratitude. Then, once we're
on the way, more contracts, more deals, maybe a second ship, an exclusive
contract for perfumes or
Pharmaceuticals "
Shona giggled at the golden future he painted. "But seri-ously," she said,
schooling her face, "it could
happen to us. We've been exposed."
"Grow old along with me," Gershom said, reaching for her. "The best is yet to
be."
Shona reached for the fastening of her shipsuit, then stopped. "But I don't
have my birth control with me.
It's my fertile cycle." She ducked her head apologetically. With a warm,
indulgent smile, Gershom shook his head.
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"Let's take our chances on the future. All of them." He took her hand and
kissed the back of it, kissed the fingertips, upturned it, and kissed the
palm. His free hand lingered on the closure of her suit, then started to undo
it very slowly.
She looked into his warm, dark eyes, and smiled. She tilted her mouth up to
his and felt his hands smooth their way up the muscles of her back. She wanted
to tell him that he made her feel like purring, but she didn't want the long,
sweet kiss to end.
Afterward, she lay on the smooth poplin of the bedroll, staring at the top of
the tent, drifting in a sea of contentment. "Listen, it's still raining," she
managed to say as sleep washed over her consciousness, pulling her under.
The warm mound next to her that was Gershom replied with a dreamy, "Hmmmm?"
She let the next relaxing wave take her away.
The sound of an explosion yanked her out of a sound sleep shortly before dawn.
Shona found herself sitting bolt upright in the tent. "What was that?" she
demanded.
Gershom was sitting up next to her. "I don't know," he said, pulling on his
shipsuit a leg at a time. He shouldered into the long garment and got to his
knees to fasten the front. Cau-tiously, he extinguished
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With Shona sitting nervously at the far end of the tent, he peered out into
the silvery half-light. Droplets flew in on an errant breeze and sprayed her
in the face. It took a moment before Gershom stopped squinting, then leaned
back to report.
"It's a big branch. That last lightning strike must have downed it. I can
smell burning. It fell right next to the tent." Another explosion of thunder,
then a blinding show of light-ning, made Shona jump twice.
Gershom hastily closed the tent and crawled back to sit with her. "It's still
pouring out there. Probably that old branch was ready to go. We were very
lucky."
The sound of the falling branch had attracted the attention of the ottles. As
soon as the rain stopped, they swarmed over and around it like curious
kittens, marveling at its size.
"What fortune that it did not strike where you were," Chirwl said. He had come
down out of his pouch at once, followed by Wla, to make certain his beloved
humans were all right. Wla added her chirrup of concern.
"Such an occurrence is not to be looked for," she said. "Most often, we are
throwing down such limbs before they become a danger."
"It was an accident," Gershom said. "It was an old branch, and lightning
struck it." He kicked the trunk end, which was charred black.
"That was not the descent of dead wood," Chirwl said. He perched on the center
of the limb where it had snapped, showing shards of wood like splinters of
bone. He flicked chips of wood away with his sharp talons. "Sap springs yet."
"Cut with fire!" Wla said, after a quick sniff. "The sky flamed at the moment
it fell." Gershom's brows drew together. He knelt beside her at the blackened
end.
"It could have been lightning," Shona said, watching Gershom with alarm. She
glanced upward when he did. The tree from which the heavy limb had fallen was
otherwise untouched by the lightning stroke.
Gershom straightened up and put his hands on his hips, his face set.
"Clean-cut. Looks more like a laser pistol. Someone doesn't want you looking
into this epidemic."
"What? Why?" Shona asked, horrified. "Who could possibly benefit from having
everyone on this planet age unnaturally and die?" As soon as the words were
out of her mouth, a terrifying speculation formed in her mind. Her mouth
dropped open, and she stared at Gershom.
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"You don't think Verdadero& ?"
"No!" Gershom exclaimed. "He's in prison. He has no stake in this colony, and
he has no way of knowing you were coming here. How could he?"
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"Well, I had to notify Alien Relations, but I haven't told anyone else."
"There," said Gershom. "I doubt he has connections in such a small government
office. So it's someone right here. I'm glad the kids are in the shuttle. You
should be there, too."
"I have to stay," Shona said firmly. 'These people need me. Chirwl and his
co-mates need me. I'll be careful."
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