"So far Zainal's been right…" Kris said loyally.
"You only need to be wrong once," Gino said.
"For Pete's sweet sake, you sound like Balenquah."
Gino sat up straighter in the chair. "Kindly keep your insults to yourself, young woman," he said. "To begin with I'm a much better pilot than that idiot ever was."
"Sorry," Kris said, feigning meekness.
Gino had his eyes on the timepiece now and, toggling up the course correction made it with swift movements of his agile fingers. "There now.
We should be home in next to no time."
"Really?"
"As the man said, that asteroid jumble wasn't all that far from where Botany is after all."
GINO'S WORDS WERE TRUE enough for they made it home just as the watch changed. Before that, however, Zainal and Gino had done the computation to find which window was the best one to take, avoiding the thirty-hour satellite. They had three and Zainal decided to use the one that would bring them in just "beyond" the range of the geo-synchronous, older one while the thirty-hour sat was on the other side of the Bubble.
By mutual consent, Kamiton was allowed to take the second seat so he could have the best view of the Bubble and the insertion. He sat, arms folded across his chest in best Catteni mode, and watched, his keen yellow eyes missing nothing. Zainal had indicated that Kris and Gino should remain in the cabin. The others were detailed to rig the ship for landing and check the cargo restraints. There was always some buffeting as they entered the atmospheric envelope of Botany.
Zainal altered one view screen to show Kamiton the Eosian arrays still stuck in the Bubble at that point of exit. Karoitoh snorted, then apparently gestured for Zainal to turn the screens on the Bubble. He seemed surprised when Zainal slowed to penetration speed. They almost popped through like a pea coming out of a pod, Kris thought. She gave a nostalgic Peas were so good, fresh out of the pod. Maybe someone would have thought to bring back some Earth-type seeds to experiment on Botanic soil.
She hoped so, and that peas were among them.
They slipped easily through the Bubble's skin, and Kamiton rumbled a request for a rear screen view. Of course, there was absolutely no indication that a large ship, with arrays of all the same sorts that had been ripped off the Eosian vessel, had passed through it.
Then Kamiton saw Botany, the largest of the continents in full view, though clouds were obscuring the seas and the other landmasses. His eyes opened wide. He said nothing but the crisp nod of his head was approval enough for Gino and Kris who grinned at each other.
Zainal did the necessary orbits, pointing out the original continent they had inhabited, also the half-desert one they had partially explored, barely visible under cloud cover. Then at a much lower altitude, he did a flyby of the command post, magnifying the screen sufficiently so that Kamiton could identify that this was an alien structure.
They flew on, low enough over the neatly cultivated fields to show Kamiton a few Farmer mechs at work, spraying in one case, harvesting in mother. Again that sharp Catteni nod to indicate Kamiton had noticed.
Almost at a glideonserving fuel had become second nature to all the pilots-Zainal took the KDL across the narrow sea and up to the landing field.
"God in heaven, what's happened?" Gino cried.
Zainal snapped on the intercom. "Scott? Beverly? Someone. Landing mstructons.
"Five, I count five," Kris said, her voice rising in a squeak. "We've been invaded?"
"Welcome back, Zainal," and Scott's voice was far too vibrantly triumphant for the extra three ships to be menaces.
Suddenly Zainal began to swear in Catteni, only a litfie of which Kris understood but it had to do with boiling and eating and other usually fatal applications. Karoitoh was roaring his head off, laughing and whooping in such uncharacteristically Catteni behavior that Kris and Gino were both grinning, too. Kris couldn't quite understand his angry reaction: after all, he was the one who proposed the acquisition of Catteni spaceships.
Zainal was definitely not amused and continued to growl out his fury all through the landing procedures. As soon as he put the KDL down, to one side of the now crowded field, he jerked his head at Gino to power the ship down. He brushed past Kris who was considering what options she had of cooling him off before he did something that would really put the cat among the pigeons. She slipped in ahead of Kamiton who was nearly staggering with laughter down the companionway to the hatch. Zainal didn't wait for the landing ramp. He jumped to the ground and started looking about for someone to holler at.
The other ships could not have been there very long, because two were still unloading groggy passengers or cargo or both. The passengers were enough of a surprise all on their own because Kris recognized the unmistakable lanky figures of black Maasai, with their long hair and distinctive garb. She missed the customary spears and shields that she'd seen them carry in the documentaries and news reports during the African famine.
Cargo was being unloaded, boxes and crates and larger items that required the use of a quickly constructed hoist told her that the mission, however increased, had been very successful.
"AH! SCOTT!" And Zainal had seen his victim and turned in that direction.
Halfway up the field, Ray Scott acknowledged that shout with a wave and the most cheerful expression Kris had ever seen on the ex-admiral's face.
She groaned at the thought of that dissipating when Zainal confronted him. Standing in the now fully open cargo hatch of the KDL, she began to semaphore her arms, trying to catch Ray's attention. Just warning him might help.
There was nothing wrong with the ex-admiral's eyesight, and he caught her frenzied signal. His smile began to fade as Zainal closed the distance between them. Even Zanal s back looked angry, Kris thought. He was in a towering rage and even Kris could understand why other species were afraid of Catteni. What she couldn't understand was why he'd be so angry at what seemed to be a very successful undertaking.
He was confronting Scott, waving arms and fists about, pointing from one of the newly captured ships to the other. Two were as big as the H-class, which had kidnapped her from Denver ages ago. The other was another new K-class. One way or another, Botany was assembling a substantial space fleet. So why was Zainal so put out?
Karoiron had disembarked the KDL, Chuck Mitford and Gino Mar-rucci acting as guides as well as sponsors. Mack was following at a more leisurely pace, taking in all the activity and the new arrivals, Human as well as material. The busy stevedores didn't even give Kamiton a second look.
Kris ran to catch up with Zainal and caught the last of Zainal's diatribe, so well interspersed with more Catteni curses and allegations, that Ray looked so stunned Kris could almost feel sorry for him.
Abruptly Ray Scott began to chuckle. "You taught us how, Zainal.
Dont btch at m when we had a chance to improve on your tactics and save a lot of people the Eosi want badly."
"One ship at a time would not be missed," Zainal began again, his voice harsh, his manner so belligerent he looked more Drassi than Emassi.
"These all went unnoticed, too, Zainal," Ray said, calmly, suavely defusing the unexpected anger Zainal displayed. "And who is this you have brought?"
If there was an edge that approximated disapproval in Ray's voice, Kris could hardly blame him as he now caught the approach of Kamiton and his guides.
But evidently Zainal had spent most of his anger. With a definite effort, he contained himself, taking a deep breath. Looking over his shoulder, he saw how close Kamiton and the others were. He also turned his head just far enough to take in the anxious expression on Kris' face. Suddenly, the gray of his skin lightened and, with a massive shake to his whole body, he relaxed, gesturing for Kamiton to approach.