knowing what the fate of Shep and those aboard her might be. “ T he planet's about the mass of Earth but only about half as dense. Must be largely silicate, some aluminum, not enough iron to form a core. Whatever atmosphere and hydrosphere it once outgassed, it lost-weak gravity, and temperatures around 400 K at the hottest part of the day. That day equals 131 of Earth's; two-thirds rotational lock, like Mercury. No more gas comes out, because vul c anism, tectonics, all geology ended long ago. Unless you want to count meteoroid erosion wearing down the surface; and I'd guess hardly any objects are left that might fall on these planets. “ T hen what is that stuff mantling the surface? The computer can't figure it out. Shadows of what relief there is indicate it's thin, a few centimeters deep, with local variations. Reflection spectra suggest carbon compounds but that's not certain. It just lies there, you see, doesn't do anything. Try analyzing a lump of some solid plastic across a distance. Is that what we have here, a natural polymer? I wish I knew more organic chemistry."
“ C an't help you, Juan," Carita said. “ A ll I remember from my class in it, aside from the stinks in the lab, is that the human sex hormones are much the same, except that the female is ketonic and the male is alcoholic." “ W e'll have time to look and think further, of course." Yoshii sighed. “ T ime and time and time. I never stopped to imagine how what fugitives mostly do is sit. Hiding, huddling, while “ He broke off and struggled for self-command .
“ A nd we don't dare let down our guard long enough to take a little recreation," Carita grumbled.
Yoshii reddened. “ U h, if we could, I -well- ”
She chuckled and said ruefully, I know. The fair Laurinda. Don't worry, your virtue will be safe with me till you realize it can't make any possible diff Hold!" she roared.
He tensed where he floated. “ W hat? ”
“ Q uiet. No, secure things and get harnessed. ”
For humming minutes she studied the screen and meters before her. Yoshii readied himself. Seated at her side he could see the grimness grow. Pale hair waved around sable skin when at last she nodded. “ Y es," she said, "somebody's bound this way. From the direction of the sun. About ten million klicks off. He barely registered at first, but it's getting stronger by the minute. He's boosting fast, We'd tear our hull apart if we tried to match him, supposing we had that kind of power. Definitely making for Prima. ”
“ W hat ... is it? ”
“ W hat but a kzin ship with a monster engine? I'm afraid they've caught on to our strategy." Carita's tone grew wintry. “ I 'd rather not hear just how they did. “
“ G -guesswork?" Yoshii faltered .
“ M aybe I don't know kzin psych. How close to us can they make themselves think?" She turned her head to clamp her vision on him. “ W ell, maybe the skipper's plan failed and it's actually drawn the bandits to us. Or maybe it's the one thing that can save us .
( Saxtorph's words drawled through memory: ) “ W e don't know how much search capability the kzin have, but a naval vessel means auxiliaries, plus whatever civilian craft they can press into service. A boat out in the middle of the far yonder, drifting free, would be near-as-damn impossible to find. But as soon as she accelerates back toward where her crew might do something real, she screams the announcement to any alert, properly organized watchers optical track, neutrino emission, the whole works till she's in effective radar range. After that she's sold to the licorice man, as they say in Denmark. On the other hand, if she can get down onto a planetary surface, she can probably make herself almost as invisible as out in the deep. A world ful l of topography, which the kzinti cannot have had time or personnel to map in anything but the sketchiest way. So how about one of ours goes to Prima, the other to Tertia, and lies low in orbit? Immediately when we get
“ C an't help you, Juan," Carita said. “ A ll I remember from my class in it, aside from the stinks in the lab, is that the human sex hormones are much the same, except that the female is ketonic and the male is alcoholic." “ W e'll have time to look and think further, of course." Yoshii sighed. “ T ime and time and time. I never stopped to imagine how what fugitives mostly do is sit. Hiding, huddling, while “ He broke off and struggled for self-command .
“ A nd we don't dare let down our guard long enough to take a little recreation," Carita grumbled.
Yoshii reddened. “ U h, if we could, I -well- ”
She chuckled and said ruefully, I know. The fair Laurinda. Don't worry, your virtue will be safe with me till you realize it can't make any possible diff Hold!" she roared.
He tensed where he floated. “ W hat? ”
“ Q uiet. No, secure things and get harnessed. ”
For humming minutes she studied the screen and meters before her. Yoshii readied himself. Seated at her side he could see the grimness grow. Pale hair waved around sable skin when at last she nodded. “ Y es," she said, "somebody's bound this way. From the direction of the sun. About ten million klicks off. He barely registered at first, but it's getting stronger by the minute. He's boosting fast, We'd tear our hull apart if we tried to match him, supposing we had that kind of power. Definitely making for Prima. ”
“ W hat ... is it? ”
“ W hat but a kzin ship with a monster engine? I'm afraid they've caught on to our strategy." Carita's tone grew wintry. “ I 'd rather not hear just how they did. “
“ G -guesswork?" Yoshii faltered .
“ M aybe I don't know kzin psych. How close to us can they make themselves think?" She turned her head to clamp her vision on him. “ W ell, maybe the skipper's plan failed and it's actually drawn the bandits to us. Or maybe it's the one thing that can save us .
( Saxtorph's words drawled through memory: ) “ W e don't know how much search capability the kzin have, but a naval vessel means auxiliaries, plus whatever civilian craft they can press into service. A boat out in the middle of the far yonder, drifting free, would be near-as-damn impossible to find. But as soon as she accelerates back toward where her crew might do something real, she screams the announcement to any alert, properly organized watchers optical track, neutrino emission, the whole works till she's in effective radar range. After that she's sold to the licorice man, as they say in Denmark. On the other hand, if she can get down onto a planetary surface, she can probably make herself almost as invisible as out in the deep. A world ful l of topography, which the kzinti cannot have had time or personnel to map in anything but the sketchiest way. So how about one of ours goes to Prima, the other to Tertia, and lies low in orbit? Immediately when we get
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