"Let me guess. They were bred as miners, to extract ores on metal-poor worlds. It would be cheaper to import and breed Karrank% miners than to ship large quantities of metals across interstellar space."

"A very good guess, Dr. Baskin. The client-Karrank% were indeed transformed into miners, and in the process converted to a metabolism extracting energy directly from radioactives. Their patrons thought it would help serve as an incentive."

Gillian whistled. "Such a drastic shift in their structure couldn't have been very successful! Ifni, they must have suffered!"

"It was a perversion," the Niss agreed. "When it was discovered, the Karrank% were freed and offered recompense. But after a few millennia trying to adapt to standard starfaring life, they chose to retire to Kithrup. This planet was ceded them for the duration of their race. No one expected them to survive for long.

"Instead of dying out, however, they seem to have continued to modify themselves, on their own. They appear to have adopted a life style unique in known space."

Gillian brought together the threads of the earlier part of the conversation, and made an inference. Her eyes widened. "You mean to tell me the metal-mounds…?"

"Are larvae of an intelligent life form which dwells in the crust of this planet. Yes. I might have surmised this from the latest data sent by Dr. Dennie Sudman, but Creideiki had leapt to the conclusion before we had even heard from her. That is why he came to see me, to get confirmation of his hypothesis."

"Sah'ot's voices," Gillian whispered. "They're Karrank%!"

"An acceptable tentative deduction," the Niss approved. "It would have been the discovery of the century, were it not for the other things you've already turned up on this expedition. I believe you humans have an old expression in English — 'It doesn't rain but it pours — it's quaint, but apropos.' "

Gillian wasn't listening. "The bombs!" She slapped her forehead.

"I beg your pardon?"

"I let Charlie Dart steal some low-yield bombs from our armory. I knew Takkata-Jim would confiscate them and begin transforming them into fuel. It was part of a plan I had cooked up. But…"

"You assumed Takkata-Jim would confiscate all of the bombs?"

"Yes! I was going to call him and tip him off if he overlooked them, but he was quite efficient and discovered them right away. I had to lie to Toshio about it, but that couldn't be helped."

"If all went according to plan, I do not see the problem."

"The problem is that Takkata-Jim may not have seized all of the bombs! It never occurred to me that Charlie could harm living sophonts if he still had one! Now, though… I've got to get in touch with Toshio, at once!"

"Can it wait a few minutes? Takkata-Jim probably was thorough, and there is another matter I wish to discuss with you."

"No! You don't understand. Toshio's about to sabotage his comm set! It's part of my plan! If there's even a chance Charlie's got a bomb we have to find out quickly!"

The holo patterns were agitated.

"I'll make the connection at once," the Niss announced. "It will take me a few moments to worm through Streakers comm system without being detected. Stand by."

Gillian paced the sloping floor, hoping they would be in time.

86 ::: Toshio

Toshio finished the re-wiring, slapped the cover over the transmitter on Thomas Orley's sled, and spread a light smear of mud on the plate to make it seem long unopened.

Then he unhitched the monofilament line from the unit, tied a small red marker ribbon to the end, and let the almost invisible fiber drift down into the depths.

Now he was out of touch with Streaker. It made him feel more alone than ever — even lonelier than when Dennie and Sah'ot had departed early in the morning.

He hoped Takkata-Jim would follow orders and wait here until Streaker left. If he did, Gillian would call down as they blasted away, and warn him of the modifications that had been made to the longboat and this transmitter.

But what if Takkata-Jim were, indeed, a traitor? What if he took off early?

Charles Dart would probably be aboard then, as well as Ignacio Metz, three Stenos, and perhaps three or four Kiqui. Toshio wished none of them harm. It was an agonizing choice.

He looked up and saw Charles Dart happily muttering to himself as he played with his new robot.

Toshio shook his head, glad that the chimp, at least, was happy.

He slid into the water and swam over to his own sled. He had jettisoned its tiny radio an hour ago. He strapped himself in and turned on the motors.

He still had to make one more splice below the island. The old robot, the damaged probe Charles Dart had abandoned down near the bottom of the drill-tree shaft, had one last customer. Creideiki, hanging around Streaker's old site, still wanted to talk to Sah'ot's "voices." Toshio figured he owed the captain the favor, even if it did feel like he was humoring a delusion.

As the sled sank, Toshio thought about the rest of his job here… the things he might have to do before he could leave.

Let Tom Orley be waiting for me when I come back up, he wished fervently. That would solve everything. Let Mr. Orley be finished with his job up in the north, and land up there while I'm below.

Toshio smiled ironically And while you're at it, Ifni, why not throw in a giant fleet of good guys to clear the skies of baddies, hmmmm?

He descended down the narrow shaft, into the gloom.

"Drat! Triple hell! The line's dead. Toshio's already cut it."

"Don't be overly alarmed." The Niss spoke reassuringly. "It is quite likely that Takkata-Jim confiscated all of the bombs. Did not Midshipman Iwashika report that he saw several being dismantled for fuel, as you expected?"

"Yes, and I told him not to worry about it. But it never occurred to me to ask him to count them. I was caught up in the minutiae of moving the ship, and I didn't think Charlie would do any real harm even if, by some chance, he managed to keep one!"

"Now, of course, we know better."

Gillian looked up, wondering if the Tymbrimi machine was being tactful or obliquely sarcastic.

"Well," she said, "what's done is done. Whatever happens can't affect us here. I just hope we don't add a crime against a sentient race to our dubious record on this voyage."

She sighed. "Now, will you tell me again how all this is going to become some sort of legend?"

88 ::: Toshio

The connection was made. Now Creideiki could listen to the underground sounds to his heart's content. Toshio let the monofilament drop into the mud. He emptied ballast, and the sled rose in a spiral toward the drill-tree shaft.

When he surfaced, Toshio knew at once that something had changed. The second sled, the one belonging to Tom Orley, had been dragged up the steep embankment and lay on the sward to the south of the pool. Wires dangled from an open section in the control panel.

Charles Dart squatted by the water's edge. The chimp leaned forward with his finger to his lips.

Toshio cut the motors and loosened his straps. He sat up and looked about the clearing, but saw only the waving forest fronds.

Charlie said in A guttural whisper, " I think Takkata-Jim and Metz are planning to take off soon, Toshio, with or without me." Dart looked confused, as if dazed by the foolishness of the idea.

Toshio kept his expression guarded. "What makes you think that, Dr. Dart?"

"As soon as you went down, two of Takkata-Jim's Stenos came to take that sled's radio. Also, when you were below, they tested the engines. They sounded kinda ragged at first, but they're working on 'em now. I think now they don't even care if you report back anymore."