"Liberate any poorly guarded ships. If they are loaded with loot, we will just take off. Otherwise, we will have what Leon calls a 'shopping' list."
"Well, you guys didn't lose much time planning, did you?"
"Kamiton thinks we must strike as often and as hard as possible to prove to the others in our group that we have ways to annoy and hamper the Eosi domination. To make them helpless to counterattack."
"Lord help us if that Bubble bursts," she said. "But it must be so very satisfying to you, and Kamiton, to make the Eosi helpless."
Zainal kept nodding his head but his smile altered from anticipation to immense satisfaction. "We also do no species injury:'
"Oh, Lord, that's a good thing. I wouldn't want to lose the good opinion of the Farmers. That Bubble is essential to making any of these plans of yours work."
"I do not think the Farmers will find fault with what we do. They are, I think, flexible entities;' And when Kris nodded in agreement, he added with a droll smile: "What impresses Kamiton most about Humans is your flexibility. We Catteni do not possess that."
"Ha! You're as flexible as anyone on this planet."
He stroked her short, blond hair, running his fingers through it. She'd had to wash it nearly fifteen times to get the awful dye completely out.
"I have learned;'
"The more remarkable when all your lifetime before you had to operate on a need-to-know basis."
Zainal turned his head away, looking out into the darkness around them. "I want my sons to know all they want to know."
"I think sometimes we forget what a gift free thought is:'
Chapter Seven.
THE NEXT DAY, HASSAN FLEW SEVERAL leaders of the Maasai, for the remnants of five separate tribes needed to be consulted and shown, down to the southern end of the continent.
Mpeti Ole Surum, Caleb Materu, and Sikai Ole Sereb spoke some English, understood more, and calmed the other two leaders, Pakai Olonyoke and Tepilit Ole Saitoti, who had excellent Swahili. Bart, who had boned up most of the long night on Swahili words and phrases, came along on the trip in the KDL, as did Yuri Palit, who was nominally in charge of resettlements.
Baby would have been more practical. The Tub would have taken a lot longer but the tall Maasai would have been cramped on the one and experienced some claustrophobia on the other, so Hassan said he'd just make altitude and glide as much as he could on the way, to save fuel.
"I see… planes… often," Caleb said, pointing skyward. He was sitting with great dignity on one of the command chairs of the bridge. Overnight he and many of the older men had managed to equip themselves with lodge-pole spears. The straightness of the wood had fascinated them and Geoff, who did a lot of the iron fabrication around Retreat, had fashioned spear tips. "Never think I fly in one." He grinned all around the bridge cabin.
Mpeti Ole Suture stood directly behind Hassan as the Israeli sat at the control panel, his eyes not quite wide with any readable expression but he missed nothing Hassan did.
Sikai Ole Sereb was the most relaxed of the three English speakers, more like a curious kid having a special outing than the most senior of the Maasai leaders.
"I think they were all so busy setting examples to each other, they didn't have time to be afraid," Hassan told the Head Council that evening when he reported the day's outing. Kris, Zainal, and Kamiton were among the group-so that Kamiton could be shown how the colony governed itself.
Zainal translated in low tones, which did not disturb the others in the big hangar office. "They do understand about the night crawlers. Last night's demonstration certainly was dramatic and frightening enough. They do want their own loo-cows, even if the creatures are ungrateful enough not to give milk. You know, we could import some cattle, or goats and sheep.
They'd be useful for us to have."
"If you can find any," Beverly remarked.
"True but we can look. A lot of Terran animals would do well here."
"Now, wait a minute," Beverly said, raising a big hand in caution, "we have rocksquats which serve as good protein and supply us with quite a few byproducts. I can't promise we can do a Noah's ark bit:'
"We wouldn't know until too late;' Leon Dane said, "if Terran grazers or browsers would survive on Botany… not with night crawlers and those avian terrors)'
"I agree. We've got to go slowly. We've got a lot here going for us without wanting what might not be ecologically feasible," Beverly said.
"The Maasai will be grateful, I think," Yuri Palit said, "to be allowed to live in their own ways on their own land, which was taken from them back on Earth, and make the best of things as we've done, as they've always had to do. We did discuss the need to have shelters, built either on stone-which isn't their way--or on platforms set high enough above the ground and the reach of night crawlers, using steel plates on the underside. I wouldn't trust night crawlers not to eat wood if something edible got spilled on it. I think they'll opt for the platforms. It's a good even climate down there, edging into really hot but Africa's like that, too. Each tribe will have its own com unit and I think they've mastered calling in and taking messages. But I think we better check on a regular basis;'
"Once we know all the women are in good health. Some of them are expecting," Beverly said. "There are only that gaggle of young boys and five or six girls in their early teens who survived."
"Ah, and those boys bring up a minor problem which I think we'd better solve as soon as possible;' Hassan said. "Five of the teenagers are about to go into training as warriors. They are going to require some of the ritual drugs. Olkiloriti," and Hassan stumbled over the unfamiliar word, "is one of them. Joe Marley said that's only Acacia nilotica, which is taken as a digestive excitant and to prevent hunger and thirst on raids. It's also said to prevent fatigue and fear:'
"Were they looking for it here?" Chuck asked. "They seem to be examining every single bush, shrub, and blade of grass)'
Hassan grinned. "They're big on knowing the flora around them. It's how they've survived as long as they have-knowing what to take for sickness and fever and how to keep wounds clean."
"Well, I suppose that we could import some of the acacia for them…"
Bull Fetterman began. "If we can find any in their part of east Africa;'
The roots must be clean, Leon Dane spoke up. "Let's not importTer-ran dirt or we might just import something we don't want growing wild on Botany." As an Australian, Leon knew something of the problems vegetation could cause when transplanted to a different ecology.
"Good point:'
"I've been showing them what we've been growing for medicinal use;' Leon went on with a wide grin. "And the old guy kept telling me everything was good for some ailment and patted me on the back as if I'd done something spectacular to have everything growing in one place;'
"You have," Bull said with one of his deep rumbling laughs.
"Indeed," Hassan said. "They would have to travel many miles to get to where certain bushes grow."
Just then Dick Aarens came rushing in, Pete Snyder trying to keep up with the long-legged mechanic's stride and also reason with him.
"But I've got it! I've got it," Dick said, beaming with self-satisfaction.
He shrugged off Pete's final attempt to control him and spread his arms wide in apology to those at the conference table.
"Hold it, Aarens, we're discussing another problem right now," Ray said.
"Can anything be more important than being able to see and hear outside the Bubble?" Aarens demanded, head thrown back and chin high in challenge.
Ducking her head and putting her hand to her brows, Kris shook her head slowly at this latest display of Aarens' egotism.
"See and hear?" Ray repeated, glaring at Aarens.