Carl looked up, wagged his tail, and licked his lips happily.
*
Three days later a small, familiar skimmer landed next to Holloway’s larger one, and an equally familiar person stepped out of it, bearing a netted bag full of fruit.
“Hello,” Isabel said, to Holloway.
“Hello,” Holloway said. “Is that a huge bag of bindi, or are you just happy to see me?”
“Quite obviously, it’s a huge bag of bindi,” Isabel said, unslinging the bag. “You said to bring a lot.”
“I did at that,” Holloway said, taking the bag.
“I also brought a week’s worth of personal supplies and a tent,” Isabel said. “To make good on the promise that you won’t know I’m here.”
“You are allowed to sleep in the cabin, you know,” Holloway said. “The rainy season is about to start around here.”
“Modern tents are often waterproof,” Isabel said.
“I’ve heard,” Holloway said. “The offer stands if you change your mind.”
Isabel looked at him levelly. “You know I’m seeing someone,” she said.
“I heard,” Holloway said. “A lawyer or some such.”
“Yes,” Isabel said. “Just so we’re clear about that.”
“I said you could sleep in the cabin, not that you could sleep in the cot,” Holloway said. “Anyway, we can set Carl up as a watchdog. You’d be perfectly safe.”
Isabel looked around. “Where is Carl?” she asked.
“He’s in the cabin,” Holloway said.
“Are you keeping him in there so he doesn’t scare away those creatures?” Isabel asked.
Holloway smiled. “Not exactly,” he said. “Come on.”
He walked her over to the cabin window. “Look inside,” he said. “But move slowly and as quietly as possible.”
Isabel looked at him quizzically and peered through the window to see the Fuzzy Family on the floor, looking at an infopanel propped up by the books on the bottom shelf of the bookcase. Carl was lying next to Baby, dozing.
She drew back quickly, putting her hand to her mouth to muffle a gasp. Then she turned to Holloway. “Oh my god,” she said. “There’s an entire family of them.”
“Yeah,” Holloway said.
“Well, it might be a family,” Isabel said. “It could be some other sort of social structure.… What are you smirking about?”
“Nothing,” Holloway said.
Isabel carefully peered into the cabin again and frowned. “What are they doing?” she asked.
“I put on a movie to keep them occupied,” Holloway said.
“Do I want to know which one?” Isabel asked.
“An old science fiction movie called Return of the Jedi,” Holloway said, and shrugged. “It’s got some little furry creatures in it. Ewoks. I figured, what the heck.”
“Uh-huh,” Isabel said.
A small flurry of noises came from the cabin. The Fuzzys were hopping about excitedly.
“What’s that about?” Isabel asked.
“They like the scene where the Ewoks drop rocks on the bad guys,” Holloway said.
“You’re not at all concerned about teaching them bad habits, are you?” Isabel asked.
“They’re animals, Isabel,” Holloway said. “Really smart animals, but animals. I don’t think they’re going to make the leap from watching movement on an infopanel to dropping rocks on me from above.”
“It’s probably not a great idea for you to be domesticating them like this, either,” Isabel said. “You’re not going to be here forever, Jack. When you go, it’s not like you’re going to be taking them with you.”
“You say that as if you think I had a choice,” Holloway said. “I’d like for them to be a little less domesticated, actually. Then I might get a good night’s sleep.”
“They’re sleeping on the cot?” Isabel asked.
“Now you know why I’m not inviting you to it,” Holloway said. “It’s crowded enough. Last night I actually got up and slept in the skimmer. Anyway, they might be domesticating themselves, but at least this way you won’t have to wait to make their acquaintance.”
“How do you suggest we do that, incidentally?” Isabel said. “Have me meet them, I mean. I don’t want to frighten them or scare them off.”
“I wouldn’t worry about that,” Holloway said. “They’re awfully friendly.”
“That’s not necessarily a good thing either,” Isabel said. “Animals that have no fear of humans have a very sad tendency to go extinct. Ask the dodo about that.”
“I understand that,” Holloway said. “But it’s not like I made them that way.”
“But what you’re doing isn’t helping them either, Jack,” Isabel said. “That’s all I’m saying.”
“Tell them that,” Holloway said, and pointed to the window. Baby was there, looking out.
“God, that’s cute,” Isabel said.
Baby turned her head and opened her mouth. A few seconds later the entire Fuzzy Family was peeking out the cabin window.
“It’s like they were evolutionarily designed for adorability, isn’t it?” Holloway said.
“It really is,” Isabel said.
The dog door opened and Carl walked halfway through. Isabel called to him, but he stayed put.
“Is he stuck?” Isabel asked, puzzled.
“Wait for it,” Holloway said.
The Fuzzy Family piled through the door. When the last of them were out, Carl walked the rest of the way through and started toward Isabel, tail wagging furiously.
Isabel turned and looked at Holloway curiously. He shrugged. “I didn’t teach him that,” he said. Then Carl and the Fuzzy Family reached Isabel, and she was distracted by cute.
Holloway smiled and took the opportunity to head to the cabin for a beer. As he went in, he noticed the infopanel was still showing the movie. The Fuzzys might be smart, but apparently they hadn’t figured out how to turn the thing off. Holloway picked up the panel, paused the movie, and then cleared it off the screen, returning the infopanel to the default screen. It noted a voice message from Chad Bourne. Holloway opened it.
“Hi, Jack,” the message said. “Before I say anything else, I want to say this was not my idea. We have our problems, but I think you know I wouldn’t try to hold up what’s yours. All right?”
What the hell? Holloway thought.
“That said, I’ve been ordered to suspend payments to your contractor account,” the message continued. “The order came from Wheaton Aubrey the Seventh himself. I told him that suspending your payments was a violation of our contract with you, but he said before you received any initial payment on the sunstone seam, he wanted to talk to you. He said he’s got a business proposition for you. He says he needs to discuss it with you personally.”
Chapter Nine
Wheaton Aubrey VII was unavailable to meet Holloway immediately. He was on the planet’s southwestern continent, touring some of the mining projects there, or so Holloway was told. He was also told that, while legally he had the right and obligation to do further surveying of the sunstone seam, he was to hold off on that as well until Aubrey could schedule him in. A nominal sum would be credited to his contractor account to compensate him for these further “exigent circumstances.”
Of course, as Aubrey had ordered payments held pending further discussion, Holloway couldn’t access the sum. He swore and remarked to Isabel that it was a good thing she’d brought the bindi, or else he’d starve. Isabel, occupied with the Fuzzys, barely looked up for the comment.
Two days later Holloway aimed his skimmer toward Carl’s Cliff and his sunstone discovery. Aubrey would be there, surveying the initial site buildout. Holloway saw evidence of the activity long before he came close to it: a streamy cloud of particles marking a smeared line in the sky, evidence of industrial-grade machinery. A few minutes later, he was circling the site, looking for a place to land.