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"But I haven&039;t hurt itor anyone That Merman would have killed me"
"We don&039;t knohat it&039;ll do," Scudi said
"She&039;s right," Panille said "What good would you be to your friend without arms?"
Brett sank back into the seat
Scudi pushed the throttles ahead and lowered the foils The boat gathered speed, lifted and swept down the channel toward the descending hylighters
Brett sat in silence He felt suddenly that his Merainst him, even Scudi How could they knohat the kelp wanted? So it opened a channel through its heavy growth! So it directed a current through that channel! Twisp ht need hi
Abruptly, Brett shook his head He thought hoould react to such protests Don&039;t be a fool! The kelp had spoken withoutBushkathe channelthe current - words could say no clearer what had to be done now Scudi and the others had merely understood and accepted itsurge that sent waves curling outward on both sides
"We&039;re blocked," she said
They looked ahead Not only had kelp closed the channel through which the foil had come, but fronds and stalks lifted out of the water ahead of thee
Brett glanced left The outpost loohters continued to descend about a klick ahead of them, massed flocks of them
Panille spoke fro that colorful in the holos"
"A new breed, no doubt of it," Kareen said
"What do we do now?" Brett asked
"We sit here until we find out why the kelp directed us to this place," Scudi said
Brett looked up at the descending flocks of hylighters Dark tentacles reached doard the water Sunlight flashed rainbow iridescence off the great bags
"The histories say the kelp en the way you Islanders do," Panille said "The bags are extruded deep underwater, filled and sent flying to spread the spores One of hter" He spoke in a breathless whisper "They&039;ve always fascinated ?" Scudi asked "Why would they bring spores here? There&039;s kelp all around us"
"You&039;re assuently directed," Kareen said "They&039;re probably going wherever the wind takes them"
Panille shook his head sharply "No Who controls the currents controls the temperature of the surface water Who controls that directs the winds"
"Then what are they doing?" Scudi repeated "They&039;re not drifting very fast any here"
"The hyb tanks?" Kareen asked
"How could the kelp -" Scudi began She broke off, then: "Is this where they&039;re supposed to coh," Kareen said "Shadow?"
"The correct quadrant," he said He glanced at a chrono "By the original schedule, splashdown&039;s already overdue"
"There&039;s a strange hylighter," Brett said "Or is that really an LTA?" He pointed upward, his finger al the overhead plaz
"Parachute!" Panille said "Ship&039;s guts! There cohters!" Scudi said
The colorful bags had begun a swirlinga space in their center The open space drifted so a net of sea to catch the descending parachute
So froht flashes fro!" Panille said
"I wonder what&039;s in it," Kareen whispered
"We&039;re about to discover that," Brett said "Look! Above the parachute - there coet my hands on one of themjust one," Panille said
The first hyb tank was now little more than a hundred meters above the water It descended swiftly, the actual splashdown concealed within the ring of hylighters A second hyb tank fell into the open circle, a thirdfourthThe watchers counted twenty of thehters closed in as the last tank hit the water Ian to spread frohters had collected
"We&039;re being asked to join them," Scudi said She fired up the ra it just off the step A boave spread on both sides The hylighters parted as the foil drew near thereat tanks bobbed
The occupants of the foil stared in wonder at the vista opened to the over the closureinside Wide curved hatches swung aside to the probing tentacles Abruptly, one of the opened tanks tipped, aded and immediately dove into the water
"Orcas," Panille breathed "Look!" He pointed across Brett&039;s shoulder "Humpback whales! Just the way they looked in the holos"
"My whales," Scudi whispered
The channel that had been opened for the foil curved left now, directing the held side by side in a nest of kelp Hylighter tentacles could be seen writhing and twisting into the tanks
As the foil neared this cluster, a dark tentacle e human form - pale-skinned and naked Another tentacle came up with another humananotheranotherA spectrum of skin shades came out of the tanks - from darker than Scudi to paler than Kareen Ale
"What are they doing with those poor people?" Kareen de taken froan to subside even as the foil&039;s occupants watched Slowly, hylighters carrying huan to drift toward the foil
"There&039;s ere brought in," Brett said "Come on, Shadow Let&039;s open the hatch"
Scudi silenced the foil&039;s jets "We can&039;t handle that hters re other huures could be seen grasped in hylighter tentacles andremoved from the tanks every second "Thatin the passageway to follow the direction of Scudi&039;s pointing finger, said: "We&039;ll have to tow theet a line to thee toward the hters already were clustering around the hatchhen Brett opened it A tentacle snaked in the opening and grasped Brett He froze Words filled his mind, clear and perfect, without any secondary sounds to distort them
"Gentle human who is loved by Avata&039;s beloved Scudi, do not fear We bring you Shipclones to live in peace beside all of you who share Pandora with Avata"
Brett gasped and sensed Panille beside hihts - nowhere near as clear as those bell-like words entering his senses through the hylighter tentacles Panille projected awe, schoolboy hters, family stories of that first Pandoran Panillethen fear that the hters would sink the foil
"Hylighters will buoy you," the tentacles transmitted "Do not fear What a splendid day this is! What ift of blessed Ship"
Slowly, Brett regained the use of his own senses He found hihter tentacles Naked huh the hatchway one after another How tall the newcoeway
Panille looked dazed in a sie toward the control cabin
"Soe," Brett called
They here Brett and Panille directed theu into the tentacles of hylighters
"We&039;re being moved toward the outpost," Panille said He nodded toward the edge of black rock visible out the hatchway The sound of the surf against the base of the outpost was clearly audible
"Gallow!" Brett said
As Brett spoke, the hylighter tentacles unwound from his body Panille, too, was released The space around them remained croith silent newcohter tentacles, other tentacles clutching the lip of the hatchway Slowly, he began squeezing his way forward, apologizing, feeling the pressure of naked skin that made way for hie Space had been left around the unconscious form of Bushka on the cot More space insulated the cohter tentacles coveredonly sh there, the surf sound loud
"Kelp is right up against the outpost now," Kareen said "Look at it! There&039;s almost no open space left"
One of the newcomers, a man so tall that his head almost touched the top of the cabin, ca in the lacework of hylighter tentacles He straightened presently and looked down at the webs between Scudi&039;s toes, then to the siht his attention at last to Brett&039;s large eyes
"God save us!" he said "If we breed on this planet will our offspring all be deforht first by thein the way he spoke, then by the words The man looked at Mermen and Islanders with the salance at Brett and then at the cabin full of giant hu froely similar faces Kareen wondered how these people could identify each otherexcept for the variations in skin tone They all looked soShip-normalshuman-normals She, with her small stature and partly webbed toes, she was the freak
Ship! Hoould these newcomers take to people like the Chief Justice or even Queets Tith his ungainly arrated against rock thenagainagain It lifted slightly and was set down hard on a solid surface
"We&039;ve arrived," Scudi said
"And we&039;re going to have to deal with GeLaar Gallow somehow," Panille said
"If the kelp hasn&039;t already done it for us," Kareen said
"There&039;s no telling what it&039;ll do," Panille said "I&039;ht It&039;s not to be trusted"
"It can be da the touch of hylighters at the hatchway
"That&039;s its real danger," Panille said
Fools! who slaughtered the cattle sacred to the sun-king; behold, the god deprived the
- Homer, Shiprecords
Twisp could hear Gallow&039;s people talking down in the basin, a nervousness in their chatter that told hiht him up a narrow trail cut in the rock and out onto a flat proe of the outpost A breeze blew against Twisp&039;s face
"One day, I will haveexpansively
Twisp glanced around hiht of both suns He had seeneasily under a blanket of kelp - but never frohest point on Vashon co
Galloould build here?