Dinosaurus Planet Survivors

“You’ve been very generous, Commander.”

“You don’t even know what the supplies are, Varian,” and Sassiness’ right eyebrow quirked with amusement. “Records, for one thing, tamper-proof. And your medic sent in some urgent requests. The Ryxi vessel doesn’t have all she requires. Not surprising. As planetary governor pro-tem,” and Sassinak mocked Varian gently, “you have only to requisition whatever you require from Fordeliton, my executive officer. Your medic’s name is Lunzie, isn’t it?” Sassinak leaned toward Varian again, in a confidential attitude, her eyes sparkling with humor. When Varian nodded, she grinned. “It was inevitable that one of us encountered her. A celebration is in order. Will you convey my deepest respects to Lunzie? And my invitation to a proper dinner at the first opportunity? I expect that the Zaid-Dayan will be here a while-at least until the tribunal arrives-but one never knows in the service. I cannot miss the chance to meet Lunzie. It isn’t often one gets the chance to entertain one’s great-great-great-grandmother. Del, do escort Leader Varian to her sled?”

Slightly dazed by Sassiness’ totally unexpected parting remark, Varian was halfway to the air lock before she recalled Portegin. Del was quite willing to detour by way of the sick bay.

“We don’t get a skull fracture report from the diagnostic scan, Leader Varian,” Mayerd, the chief medical officer, explained, “but he’s clearly disoriented.”

“You mean he has trouble believing this is the ZD-43?” asked Varian, appreciating Portegin’s confusion.

“How did you know?”

Then they were in the infirmary, Portegin its only occupant.

“Krims! but I’m glad to see you, Lieutenant,” he said, urgently beckoning her to approach his bunk. In an anxious whisper he added, “there’s something peculiar going on here, Lieutenant. I don’t recognize anyone. How could they switch crews midtour, unless the heavies-”

“Report, Portegin,” Varian said, mimicking Lunzie’s clipped accents.

“Huh? Oh, Krims!” Portegin fell back against the bolster, tension easing from his face and body as blocked memories flowed back. “I thought something was wrong with me!”

Varian squeezed his shoulder in sympathy. “Me, too.”

“Hey, then everything is all right?” Portegin caught her arm with urgent fingers. “I mean, that Heavyworld transport zapped us and I wake up on a cruiser. Was that rescue mission from the ARCT-10? How’re the others? How come we thought we were from this cruiser?”

Varian gave him what answers she had and then called Mayerd over, indicating Portegin’s improvement and asking to have him released. Mayerd reluctantly agreed, extracting from Varian a promise that Portegin would undertake no strenuous activities for a day or two.

“Nothing more strenuous than juggling matrices and wielding a soldering iron,” Portegin assured her, slipping into the new shipsuit he was given.

Once aboard their crumple-nosed sled, Varian filled Portegin in on some of the details while he elatedly sorted through the supplies, exclaiming over the variety of matrices, tool replacements, and packed food stuffs.

“Hey, we got us a bottle of Sverulan brandy-Ah, fardles! It’s got Lunzie’s name on it. Compliments of Commander Sassinak? A friend of hers?”

“You might say so,” Varian replied, discretion overcoming her wish to confound. It occurred to her that Lunzie might not wish to claim a relationship so far removed in time.

“Fardles! That stuff goes down a treat. Real smooth.” Portegin carefully replaced the brandy and resumed his seat beside Varian. “Hey, we got our escort back. How did they know it’s us with so many other aircraft zipping around?”

“I’ll remember to inquire. Lunzie says they can tell the difference between one of our sleds and those of the Mazer Star.”

“No? Well, every motor has a distinctive sound to it, I’m told, even if they were manufactured in the same place, of identical components, but the signature usually only shows up on sophisticated monitors.”

“Brains are still the ultimate in sophisticated computers. We got some on wings, that’s all. Say, did you happen to notice if they tracked us up from the base camp?”

“It was dark when we left there, Varian, and we were kinda occupied… besides using different brains. I don’t know what they think they’re doing for us out there, but I kinda like seeing ’em.”

“So do I. And I’ll be seeing a lot more of them in the next few days if I have my way.”

Circumstances combined to thwart Varian’s plans. Just as they reached the cliffs of the golden fliers, a squall broke over them and Varian had all she could do to wrestle the sled safely inside the cave. That put the skids on an immediate study of the giffs. Considerable progress had already been made to improve the amenities in the cave, including partitioned sleeping quarters at the back, tables, comfortable loungers and lighting near the hearth which had been augmented by cooking, cooling and disposal units. Bug-screens kept the insects at bay. Mindful of Sassiness’ requirement, Varian forced a cassette on Portegin before he disappeared into the shuttle’s pilot compartment to restore the console. When she asked Lunzie the whereabouts of the rest of the team, she received another check. As soon as Kai had finished his session with the diagnostic unit on board Captain Godheir’s Mazer Star, he had drafted the assistance of a crew member who professed to be an amateur geologist and went off to seek Dimenon, Margit, and Tor.