“I wish I could say I was surprised.” Gwendolyn gazed thoughtfully after the vanished lights of the taxi and pursed her lips. “So unless we can come up with some sort of pesticide that’ll kill only treecats without bothering the rest of the ecosystem, it looks like we’re stuck with them.”
Morrow glanced at her profile a bit uneasily. He thought she was only joking about exterminating the ’cats, but it was always a little hard to be certain about Gwendolyn. He’d realized some years ago that she was actually far more ruthless than he was once she’d fully committed to an operation…and she had more of her own portfolio invested in those Sphinx land options than he’d thought she did.
“Well,” she sighed after a moment, “if we are, we are. I know the others are going to insist on trying for the ‘only animals’ solution, but you’re right; it’s not going to fly in the end. That doesn’t mean we can’t get most of what we want, though. I think it’s time you and I started concentrating on Plan B. At least that way we can limit the damage.”
Morrow grunted unhappily. She was almost certainly right about that, but she had a point about “the others.” The real moneymakers behind their efforts weren’t going to be happy if any of the land on which they held options was snatched out from under them and handed back to the treecats. Nor were they going to be very happy with the people—like one Oswald Morrow—who’d allowed that to happen.
“Frampton and the others will scream,” he said warningly.
“Then they’ll just have to scream.” Gwendolyn shrugged. “Once we convince public opinion that the poor, aboriginal, barely sentient little savages need to be put on reservations to protect them from the corrupting influence of humans, we’re halfway home. We’ve got more than enough friends in Parliament to make sure the reservation boundaries get drawn in ways that don’t include any of the good land on Sphinx, Ozzie. And if we don’t—” she shrugged again “—Frampton and the others can always buy us some additional friends, now can’t they? Of course, it wouldn’t hurt a thing if we could also convince the big, bleeding-heart public that the little monsters are too dangerous to be allowed to run around loose where they might endanger children or other innocent bystanders, now would it?”
“No, it wouldn’t,” Morrow agreed around a fresh prickle of uneasiness. “Why? Have you got something in mind?”
“Oh, I think you might say that,” Gwendolyn replied with a small smile. “It’ll take a little time to set up, but I definitely have something in mind.”
* * *
Because he knew how nervous Stephanie was about speaking at the Adair Foundation banquet, Anders waited until he heard back from her about that to tell her about Duff DeWitt’s less than professional behavior toward the Pheriss kids.
When he did, her next message showed she took the incident as seriously as he and Jessica—and Mr. Pheriss—had. They’d messaged back and forth so often over the last several weeks—a lot more frequently than they had when he’d been the one on Manticore—that any early stiffness had vanished. Stephanie sprawled on her stomach on her bed, wearing shorts and a sleeveless top. Her head rested on her hands and she was kicking her bare feet up behind her. Lionheart rested nearby. The fact that the ’cat wasn’t sitting on Stephanie—as he certainly would have been if they’d been at home on Sphinx—reminded Anders that while it was autumn on this part of Sphinx, temperatures were much warmer on Manticore.
“Do you want me to see what anyone at the Adair Foundation knows about this DeWitt?” Stephanie was saying. “They didn’t select the team members, but they did vet their credentials. They may know something your dad and Dr. Nez don’t, and Gwen Adair seemed really nice. If there’s something going on that she doesn’t know about, I’m sure she’d be more than happy to help us get to the bottom of it. Let me know, okay?”
The rest of Stephanie’s message was mostly about classes. She was so busy she hadn’t even made it off campus except for the Foundation dinner.
“…Mom and Dad are coming out in about two weeks so they can have a holiday before they attend my graduation. They’re talking about extending their visit for another week or two so I can do some touring, but I don’t know…I really want to get home and see you and help with the x-a’s. We’ll see. I may not have a lot of choice in the matter.”
Anders considered Stephanie’s offer, then set up his reply. Knowing Stephanie would be eager to hear what he thought about her plan, he started in on that first thing.
“Let’s hold back on using the Adair Foundation until we see how DeWitt behaves. It’s been almost a week now, and he’s been a perfect angel. Jess and I asked Chris and Chet to keep an eye on him—or, I guess you could say, to keep an eye on whether or not he was staying with the rest of the x-a’s or off doing his own thing. They say he’s definitely staying with the herd. Maybe Dr. Radzinsky chewed him out after Mr. Pheriss got done talking to her. I hope so! It takes a special kind of slime-sucker to use kids that way.
“Hard to imagine you still have at least an entire month away—maybe more if your folks decide to take you touristing. Don’t miss the chance just for me, though. I was feeling too lonely and sorry for myself to really enjoy it when I was stuck on Manticore and you were stuck on Sphinx, but there are some really spectacular spots on that planet. If you get a chance to take one of the cruises on Jason Bay—not the air cruises, the water cruises—do it. You won’t be sorry, and there’s time. Dad said again the other night that we’ll definitely be here through autumn. For once, I’m so glad the seasons on Sphinx are fifteen T-months long.”
He chewed his lip for a moment. It was hard to be supportive when what he wanted most of all was to urge her to come back to Sphinx, but he resisted the impulse as unworthy.
“You look really cute in those shorts…I guess that’s one good thing about you taking that trip, Sphinx is so cool that even in summer I never would have had the pleasure if you’d stayed. Take care of yourself. Don’t study too hard. Give the fluffball a piece of celery for me. Hi to Karl…Miss you…Bye….”
* * *
Keen Eyes feared that the time of toleration had ended on the day Red Cliff disappeared.
Red Cliff had not been born to the Swaying Fronds Clan, but to a distant clan which lived where the rocks were a lovely sunset color. He had come to Swaying Fronds’ range many turnings before, drawn—or so he always said, and no one who had shared his thoughts had any reason to doubt the accuracy of this statement—by the most beautiful mind-glow he had ever sensed.
That mind-glow belonged to a young female of the Swaying Fronds Clan. In those days, she had not earned a name but was simply called “Speckles” for the pretty flecks of white that showed against her brown coat. Today, Speckles was called “Beautiful Mind,” in recognition both of the quality that had brought her a mate and for her undeniably warm and pleasant way with others. Together, Red Cliff and Beautiful Mind had raised several litters. The last had been born the previous spring and were showing themselves as fine a lot of scamperers as had ever delighted their parents and enriched their clan.
But those very scamperers where the reason Beautiful Mind was probably dying and Red Cliff was going slowly insane. When the fires had come, Swaying Fronds had done its best to get the weaker members to safety. The kittens had behaved with admirable composure, guided by the promise that if they passed through smaller flames they would escape the worst of the raging conflagration that was destroying their homes.