find a place free of them. In the first place, it encysted in dry ground, meaning you never knew where it’d pop up until you flooded the area.
In the second place, it could leap like a salmon from the first place to the second place. It had already demonstrated its ability to spread from one field to the next. Susan had measured a twelve-foot leap.
The prospect got dimmer when Chie-Hoon caught them making that same leap from dry ground. Their limit was some five or six leaps until they hit water again, but that gave them quite a range.
It was as pretty a piece of native bioengineering as I’ve seen, one I could appreciate even if the rice growers couldn’t. Wiping ‘em out wholesale was not an option on my list, but I knew the farmers would be thinking along those lines if we didn’t come up with something by next growing season.
I don’t mess with the Mirabilan ecology any more than I have to. We don’t know enough about it to know what we’re getting into. Even if I thought we could do it, we’d be fools to try to wipe out any native species. The Earth-authentic species we’ve imported have played havoc enough with the Mirabilan ecology.
I wasn’t paying much attention to anything but the problem at hand, so when Susan exclaimed, “Noisy! You look awful
,” I practically jumped out of my skin and busted my elbow turning my chair.
She wasn’t kidding. Leo did look awful. His white hair looked like something had nested in it; he was bleeding—no, had bled profusely—across the cheek; his shirt hung in tatters from the shoulder and there were raking claw marks along his upper arms. Mike went scrambling for the emergency kit.
The only thing that spoiled the impact of all this disaster was that Leo was grinning from ear to ear. “Now, is that any way to greet an old friend?” he said to Susan. “Especially one who’s come courting?”
He turned the grin on me and it got broader and brighter. Then he made me a deep formal bow and started in: “Annie Jason Masmajean, I, Leonov Bellmaker Denness, beg you to hear my petition.”
I got to my feet and bowed back, just as deeply and formally, to let him know I’d be glad to hear him out. He made a second bow, deeper than the first, and went on:
“I have brought you a gift in symbol of my intentions…”
Mike had the medical kit but he stood frozen. Chances were neither he nor Susan had ever seen a ship’s-formal proposal except in the old films. The novelty of it kept either from interrupting.
Just as well. I was enjoying the performance: Leo has flair.
Besides, I wouldn’t dream of interrupting a man in the process of cataloguing my virtues, even if some of those “virtues” would have raised eyebrows in a lot of other people. I especially liked being called “reasonably stubborn.”
At last Leo got to the wrap-up. “It is my hope that you will accept my gift and consider my Page 26
suit.” He finished off with yet another bow.
Seeing he was done spurred Mike and Susan into action. Susan held Leo down while Mike worked him over with alcohol swabs. “No respect for ritual,” Leo complained. “Back ’em off, Annie, can’t you? I’m not senile yet! I did clean the wounds.”
Leo had spent years as a scout, so I didn’t doubt his good sense. He’d hardly have lived to the ripe old age he had if he hadn’t been cautious about infection in the bush.
To the two of them, he protested, “The lady hasn’t answered yet.”
“Back off,” I told the kids.
They didn’t until I advanced on them. Mike took two steps away from Leo, put his hands behind his back, and said to Susan, “Now he’s going to get it.” Susan nodded.
Leo just kept grinning, so I gave him a huge hug hello to make sure nothing was broken. The rest of him looked just fine, so I stepped back and bowed once more to meet the requirements of the ritual. “Leo Bellmaker Denness, I, Annie Jason
Masmajean, am sufficiently intrigued to view your gift.”
He crooked
In the second place, it could leap like a salmon from the first place to the second place. It had already demonstrated its ability to spread from one field to the next. Susan had measured a twelve-foot leap.
The prospect got dimmer when Chie-Hoon caught them making that same leap from dry ground. Their limit was some five or six leaps until they hit water again, but that gave them quite a range.
It was as pretty a piece of native bioengineering as I’ve seen, one I could appreciate even if the rice growers couldn’t. Wiping ‘em out wholesale was not an option on my list, but I knew the farmers would be thinking along those lines if we didn’t come up with something by next growing season.
I don’t mess with the Mirabilan ecology any more than I have to. We don’t know enough about it to know what we’re getting into. Even if I thought we could do it, we’d be fools to try to wipe out any native species. The Earth-authentic species we’ve imported have played havoc enough with the Mirabilan ecology.
I wasn’t paying much attention to anything but the problem at hand, so when Susan exclaimed, “Noisy! You look awful
,” I practically jumped out of my skin and busted my elbow turning my chair.
She wasn’t kidding. Leo did look awful. His white hair looked like something had nested in it; he was bleeding—no, had bled profusely—across the cheek; his shirt hung in tatters from the shoulder and there were raking claw marks along his upper arms. Mike went scrambling for the emergency kit.
The only thing that spoiled the impact of all this disaster was that Leo was grinning from ear to ear. “Now, is that any way to greet an old friend?” he said to Susan. “Especially one who’s come courting?”
He turned the grin on me and it got broader and brighter. Then he made me a deep formal bow and started in: “Annie Jason Masmajean, I, Leonov Bellmaker Denness, beg you to hear my petition.”
I got to my feet and bowed back, just as deeply and formally, to let him know I’d be glad to hear him out. He made a second bow, deeper than the first, and went on:
“I have brought you a gift in symbol of my intentions…”
Mike had the medical kit but he stood frozen. Chances were neither he nor Susan had ever seen a ship’s-formal proposal except in the old films. The novelty of it kept either from interrupting.
Just as well. I was enjoying the performance: Leo has flair.
Besides, I wouldn’t dream of interrupting a man in the process of cataloguing my virtues, even if some of those “virtues” would have raised eyebrows in a lot of other people. I especially liked being called “reasonably stubborn.”
At last Leo got to the wrap-up. “It is my hope that you will accept my gift and consider my Page 26
suit.” He finished off with yet another bow.
Seeing he was done spurred Mike and Susan into action. Susan held Leo down while Mike worked him over with alcohol swabs. “No respect for ritual,” Leo complained. “Back ’em off, Annie, can’t you? I’m not senile yet! I did clean the wounds.”
Leo had spent years as a scout, so I didn’t doubt his good sense. He’d hardly have lived to the ripe old age he had if he hadn’t been cautious about infection in the bush.
To the two of them, he protested, “The lady hasn’t answered yet.”
“Back off,” I told the kids.
They didn’t until I advanced on them. Mike took two steps away from Leo, put his hands behind his back, and said to Susan, “Now he’s going to get it.” Susan nodded.
Leo just kept grinning, so I gave him a huge hug hello to make sure nothing was broken. The rest of him looked just fine, so I stepped back and bowed once more to meet the requirements of the ritual. “Leo Bellmaker Denness, I, Annie Jason
Masmajean, am sufficiently intrigued to view your gift.”
He crooked
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