Howling Stones Read Online Free Page A

were down. Garrulous the pilot might be, but he knew his business. Backjets roared, fighting to reduce the ship’s speed and making conversation impossible. Ahead of the slowing craft, several dozen silvery, nearly transparent fleratii exploded from the surface of the lagoon, fluttered fluted fins, and dispersed toward the eastern horizon. From a distancethey suggested a fistful of fairy dust scattered upon the sea.
    Pulickel knew that Senisran’s single world-girdling ocean boasted creatures that in variety and numbers put those of Earth to shame. Not all were as beautiful as the fleratii, whose glistening transparent skins scattered rainbows in their wake. There were thousands of forms glimpsed but as yet undescribed, and millions more to be discovered. The preparatory materials he had studied so assiduously prior to arrival had acquainted him with only a minimum of the most notable examples. What stood out foremost in his mind about Senisran’s ocean life was that unlike on Earth and Cachalot, here invertebrate life-forms were dominant. One could fish but would do better with a basket than a hook.
    As they slowed, the pilot aimed for a small, sandy cay located inside the lagoon. A second craft was already drawn up on the picture-perfect beach, its silvery-gray exterior at odds with the reddish-white surface on which it rested. Green crowns burst from the tops of three gently curving, blue-black boled trees. Their stiff, starlike crests provided the only shade on the little islet.
    Beneath the largest of these hearty growths, Pulickel noted as the pilot cut the engine and they coasted into the shallows, was some kind of fold-up lounge. On the lounge lay a figure, which due to their angle of approach seemed to be mostly legs. The pilot chuckled.
    “Your field support.”
    Mentally organizing his neatly packed gear, the xenologist turned to him. “Something funny about that?”
    “Funny? Naw, nothing funny about that.” And he chuckled again. “I guess there’s worse fates than being stuck on an island for months on end with only Fawn Seaforth for company.”
    “Why? Does she have a reputation for inhospitableness?”
    The pilot pursed his lips before replying. “I expect you’ll find out, since you’re the first person who’s been assigned here to do more than temporary construction or delivery work.” Both men lurched slightly forward as the ship’s pontoons grounded on smooth sand.
    “Yes, I suppose I will. I’m not worried, you know. No matter how obstinate or difficult they are at first, I’ve always been able to ingratiate myself with whomever I’ve been assigned to work with.” For some reason this prompted the pilot to chortle even louder.
    “Let’s go.” Grinning at some private thought, he wiped at one eye. “I’ll unload that precious case of yours.”
    As the cockpit canopy slid back into the body of the transport, the landing ramp automatically deployed, coming to rest on a patch of dry, red sand that glittered like powdered rubies. Pulickel preceded the pilot, who was busy removing his passenger’s travel case from the cargo hold.
    As the xenologist marched down the ramp and into the heat, the figure reclining on the lounge raised up to get a better look at him. A hand waved in greeting. He ignored it, his first concern being for his kit.
    He helped the pilot position the heavy plastic box on the sand. It contained everything of a personal and professional nature that he expected to need for the next six months. If anything had arrived damaged, it would take at least that long to replace it.
    The one thing he wasn’t concerned about was clothing. You didn’t need much on Senisran. Though he’d been outside the air-conditioned cockpit for only a few minutes, he was already beginning to sweat. After weeks on a climate-controlled KK-drive ship in space-plus, it would take him a while to get acclimated anew to tropicalsurroundings. As soon as they arrived at Parramat station he intended