Delta Pavonis by John Maddox Roberts, Eric Kotani Page A

congratulate Dierdre on her initiative, gall, or good luck, depending upon how they perceived it. She swore she wouldn't let it go to her head, but it was refreshing to have peer approval, even admiration. Except from Forrest, who was still angry with her.
    At first light they had a hurried breakfast, packed up and shifted camp to the ridge above the little pool. Before he would allow anyone to go inside the cave, Forrest made a complete record of the surrounding area.
    "All right, now we go in," he said. "Everyone gets a look at the alien gadget, then out again. Nobody touches it until we've made a detailed study and record of the tunnel and the transporter chamber. Meanwhile, you can all relax out here, clean up, wash your clothes, you know the drill. When we report this find, this place is going to be swarming, so you want to look pretty for the newsies. Schubert, what's commo status?"
    "Still bad, but it's clearing up. I'd say we'll be able to reach the orbitals by this evening, tomorrow at the latest."
    "Start trying to make commo with Kurz. He should be on the beach with the rest by now. If you can get him, tell him to home on our signal, that it's super urgent and no more than that."
    "You got it, Boss."
    "Okay, it looks cramped in there. Dierdre, you lead the way. Single file going in, no more than four of us in that chamber at a time. Let's go." They trooped inside. Everybody spoke in low tones, as if the aliens might be somewhere nearby, listening. For all they knew, that could actually be the case. Everyone made appropriately awed noises in the transporter chamber, although it was agreed that the whole thing looked disappointingly plain. There was nothing to suggest an alien technology except for Dierdre's singular experience.
    Forrest shooed them all out except for Fumiyo, and the two set about recording the tunnel and chamber in great detail. The rest were soaking in the pool within minutes. Dierdre went to the gravelly channel where the backed-up water made its way around the blocking boulder. There she began to learn the art of hand-laundering her clothes. She soaped, trampled, wrung out and beat her clothes against the boulder, just as she had seen Indian village women doing in old holos.
    Govinda, still dripping, joined her and dumped a pack of clothes into the stream. "We live in space for generations, we travel between solar systems, and we end up doing our laundry just like in the Stone Age. Do you think maybe we took a wrong turn someplace?"
    "If we'd wanted it easy," Dierdre intoned the inevitable formula, "we could've stayed at home." She found that wringing out clothes was rougher than she had thought. The water softened the skin of her palms and fingers and twisting the rough cloth raised blisters. "I have to admit, this sort of thing takes a lot of the romance out of it."
    "Yeah." Govinda ran her fingers through her short, yellow hair. She was rail-thin, with adolescent bumps for breasts. Her movements were quick and birdlike, but she was tireless on the march and could carry an amazing weight for so small a woman. "If someone can figure out how your gadget works, it might make this a whole lot easier. We could still have the fun of doing the exploring, but we'll have instant access to the facilities in space: comfortable beds, decent food, laundry service . . ."
    "Forget it," Hannie said, climbing imposingly nude from the pool behind them. "I like it as it is. If it gets to be that easy, any fool can be an explorer." Her hair was dark from the water, and she spread it over her bulky shoulders to dry.
    "You're probably right," Dierdre said. The woman was like some throwback out of a prehistoric Teutonic forest. She had to weigh as much as Dierdre and Govinda put together. "It wouldn't be bad to have occasional access, though. Most of the people I studied with couldn't stand this life, even if they got to sleep in an Avalon luxury inn every night."
    Hannie's big, white teeth flashed in a broad grin.