For a beat it didn't work. Then, abruptly, the outer layer yielded and the needle slid into the softer part inside. Klnn-dawan-a winced in sympathetic pain—surely this would have been a stab of agony to an Elder anchored here. But in this case, of course, Prr't-zevisti wasn't in any position to feel anything. Touching the button on the end of the sampler, she got it started.
It seemed to take forever before the gentle vibration stopped. If she and Thrr-gilag had done their calculations correctly, the sampler tube should now contain the same volume of fsss cells as a standardly cutting. Whether it would work the same way, though, was something they wouldn't know until they got the sampler to Thrr-mezaz on Dorcas. If then.
Second stage: passed. Now came possibly the most delicate part of all. Easing the sampler back toward her until the fsss was pressed up against the ceramic mesh, Klnn-dawan-a braced a corner of the box against the door and began a steady pull. If the needle was so tightly embedded that its removal threw her back against the guardrail, the protectors couldn't help but notice. Worse, if the pressure snapped the catch and the door swung open with the fsss still impaled on the needle...
And then, so suddenly that she was almost caught unprepared, the needle was free. Catching her balance, she quickly slid the sampler back into position beneath the box. A handful of Elders had drifted in to watch the experiment on Prr't-casst-a's fsss; she could only hope that none of them had happened to notice her part of it. If they had—
Abruptly, an Elder appeared in front of Thrr-gilag. "Are you Thrr-gilag; Kee'rr?" she demanded.
Out of the corner of her eye Klnn-dawan-a saw Thrr-gilag's tail twitch violently. "Yes," he said.
"Message for you," the Elder said, her voice curt. "Wait here."
She vanished. Thrr-gilag looked at Klnn-dawan-a, his tail under control, his face a little pinched. "That's all right," she told him, nodding once. "You were about finished with this test anyway, weren't you?"
His expression relaxed a fraction. "Yes," he agreed. He offered her the spoon under the box again, turning it around as he did so. Deftly, Klnn-dawan-a inserted the tip of the sampler into the casing and pushed the device firmly back into its hiding place. Taking the reassembled spoon from Thrr-gilag, she returned it to its compartment in the box and closed the lid.
And then the Elder was back. "You're ordered to return at once to Unity City," she told Thrr-gilag. "By order of the Overclan Prime. End of message."
Klnn-dawan-a looked at Thrr-gilag, caught his slight frown. "Message understood," he told the Elder. "Thank you."
The Elder vanished. "By order of the Overclan Prime?" the protector echoed. "I thought you said this was a small experiment."
"It is," Thrr-gilag said. "But there are other projects I'm also involved in."
The protector frowned at him; and then, suddenly, he got it. "Thrr-gilag; Kee'rr," he said. "Sure. You were the speaker for that searcher group on Base World Twelve. The ones with the alien prisoner."
"That's right," Thrr-gilag said. "Now, if you'll set us back down, please, I have to get a flight for Oaccanv."
For a long beat the protector gazed hard at Thrr-gilag's face, and for that same long beat Klnn-dawan-a was sure the scheme had collapsed. A searcher who specialized in alien studies would hardly be going around Dharanv putting basting sauce on fsss organs...
But to her relief the protector merely shrugged. "Sure," he said, swinging the mesh door down over Prr't-casst-a's niche and sealing it again. He looked over the guardrail and gestured to his partner, and the platform started down.
A hunbeat later they were walking down the flagstone path toward the predator-fence gate. "Well?" Prr't-casst-a muttered, hovering beside Klnn-dawan-a.
Klnn-dawan-a glanced around. There were no other Elders in sight. "We're all set," she said. "You can set up your secure pathway and tell Thrr-mezaz we've got it."
"I will." Prrt'-casst-a paused. "Thrr-gilag, what is this summons by the Overclan Prime?"
"I wouldn't worry about that," Thrr-gilag assured her with a confidence Klnn-dawan-a could tell he wasn't feeling. "I'm sure it doesn't have anything to do with this. I'll get that straightened out, then we'll try to find a way to get our little prize out to Thrr-mezaz."
"In the meantime, you need to keep up your pressure on the Dhaa'rr and Prr leaders to postpone or cancel the ritual of fire," Klnn-dawan-a added. "There's no way we can guarantee that what we've got will work the same way as a proper cutting."
"I'll try," Prr't-casst-a said, her voice trembling. "Klnn-dawan-a; Thrr-gilag... I don't know what to say. How to thank you..."
"You can start by getting that message to my brother," Thrr-gilag said, gently cutting her off. "And after that perhaps you'll get hold of a travel communicator for me. I need to catch the next flight out to Oaccanv and Unity City from this part of Dharanv."
"Right," Prr't-casst-a said, pulling herself back from the edge of maudlin sentiment with obvious effort. "Right away."
She vanished. "So," Thrr-gilag said, looking at Klnn-dawan-a. "Did you have any problems?"
"Not really," Klnn-dawan-a said, flicking her tongue in a negative. "It went more smoothly than I expected."
Thrr-gilag grunted. "I just hope it works," he said darkly. "I can't help thinking that if it was really this easy, they ought to be taking cuttings this way all the time."
Klnn-dawan-a shrugged. "Never underestimate the power of tradition," she reminded him. "Especially with Elders. Cuttings taken with knives work. That's how it's done; that's how it's always been done. That's good enough for most of them."
"You're probably right. If it works, maybe we'll write up a procedure paper on it sometime."
"Sure," Klnn-dawan-a said dryly. "What do you suppose the Overclan Prime wants?"
"Probably something to do with our mission to the Mrachanis," he said. "Maybe they're moving the departure up a few tentharcs or something."
They had passed the gate and were heading for the railcar stop when Prr't-casst-a reappeared. "I have the pathway to Thrr-mezaz," she said, her voice tight. "I sent the message, but he wants to speak to you."
"Sure," Thrr-gilag said, throwing a frown at Klnn-dawan-a. "Hello, my brother."
Prr't-casst-a vanished. "You think there's trouble?" Klnn-dawan-a asked hesitantly.
"Sounds like it," Thrr-gilag said. His expression was grim, his tail suddenly spinning faster. "I wonder if the Humans are up to something."
Prr't-casst-a returned. " 'Father's been trying to get hold of you for nearly two tentharcs, Thrr-gilag,' " she said without preamble. " 'You need to head back to Oaccanv immediately.' "
Thrr-gilag's hand groped for Klnn-dawan-a's, gripped it hard. "Is it about mother?" he asked.
The delay this time seemed to drag on forever. Klnn-dawan-a held tightly to Thrr-gilag's hand, her own tail spinning with tension. With the bulk of their attention focused first on the threat to their bond-engagement and then on this thing with Prr't-zevisti's fsss, she hadn't had a chance to get more than a rough idea of the problem with Thrr-gilag's mother. But she knew it involved Thrr-pifix-a's fsss and her reluctance to accept Eldership....
Prr't-casst-a returned. " 'He wouldn't say,' " she quoted Thrr-mezaz. " 'In fact, he really didn't tell me anything at all except that he needed to see one of us as quickly as possible. He was worried, though. Really worried. I could tell that much.' "
"He probably didn't trust the pathway he was on," Thrr-gilag said. "All right, look, I've just been summoned back to Unity City anyway. I'll try to find a way to get over to him."