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The layered terrain seemed transformed in pearly moon- light. Gone were the garish colors, yet there remained an extravagant effect on the imagination. It took an effort of will in order not to go gliding across the slopes, believing in false oceans and battlements, in ghost cities and star- scapes, in myriad phantom worlds that her pattern-glean- ing brain Grafted out of opal rays and shadows. Fallon took Sara's elbow, turning her toward Emerson. The starman stood on a rocky eminence with the dulci- mer propped before him, beating its forty-six strings. The melody was eerie. The rhythm orderly, yet impossible to constrain, like a mathematical series that refused to con- verge. Emerson's silhouette was framed by flickering fire as he played for nature's maelstrom. This fire was no imaginingno artifact of an easily fooled eye. It rippled and twisted in the far distance, rim- ming the broad curves of a mighty peak that reared half- way up the sky. Fresh lava.buy pencilsbuy pencils Jijo's hot blood. The planet's nectar of renewal, melted and reforged. Hammering taut strings, the Stranger played for Mount Guenn, serenading the volcano while it repaid him with a halo of purifying flame. buy pencils PflBT FIVE A PROPOSAL FOR A USEFUL TOOLSTRATEGY BASED ON OUR EXPERIENCE ON JUO : IT HAS BEEN NEARLY A MILLENNIUM SINCE A LARGE ; OUTBREAK OF TRAEKINESS WAS FOUND. i 1 hese Hare-ups used to be Irequent ' embarrassments where stacks or hapless rings i were round languishing without even a single 1 master torus to guide them. But no word 01 ; such an occurrence has come within the mem- 1'ory 01 living wax. The reaction 01 our lollijhy ship to this i discovery on Jijo was disgusted loathing. i buy pencils [ HOWEVER LET US NOW lvJSE and consider how the Great '; Jophur League might learnbenerit irom this 1 experiment. Never belore have cousin rings . dwelled in such intimacy with other races. ; vlthough pollutedcontaminated these traekibuy pencilsbuy pencils , have also acquired waxy expertise aoout urs i boon and qheuen sapient lilc-tormsas well . as human wollllngs and gis-ek vermin. MOREOVER, the very traits that we Jophur {ind repel- lent in traeki-natural rings-their lack ol locus sell or ambi- tionappear to enable them to achieve empathy with unitary beings! 1 he other Hve races ol Jijo trust these ring stacks. I hey contide secrets share conlidences delegate some traekts with medi- cal tasland even powers ot llle continuationcessation. IMAGINE THIS POSSIBILITY SUPPOSE WE ATTEMPT A RUSE. INTENTIONALLY we might create new traeki andbuy pencils arrange tor them to escape the loving embrace ol our noble clan. Genuinely believing they are in (light Irom oppressive master rings these stacl would be induced to seek shelter among some ol the races we call enemies. Next suppose that using this knack ol vacuous empathy they make Iriendships among our toes. generations pass they become trusted comrades. A,t which point we arrange (or agents to snatchto har- vestsome ol these rogue traeki converting them to Jophur ex- actly as we did when \sx was translormed into Ewasx bybuy pencils applying the needed master rings. Would this not give us quick expertise about our toes' GK\N 1 L,U this L,wasx experiment has not been a complete success. 1 he old traeki Y\sx managed to melt many waxy memo- ries beiore completion ot metamorphosis. 1 he resulting partial am- nesia has proved inconvenient. buy pencils Yet this does not detract Irom the value ol the schemeto plant empathic spies in our enemies midst. Jples who are believ- able because they think they are true triends! Nevertheless with the boon ot master rings we can reclaim lost brethren wherever and whenever we hnd them. Mak aKanec [ERE WERE TWO KINDS OF PUPILS IN THE WIDE, wet classroom. One group signified hopethe other, despair. One was illegalthe other, hapless. The first type was innocent and eager. The second had already seen and heard far too much.buy pencils # good fish . . . # goodfisb, goodfish . . . # good-good FISH.' # Dr. Makanee never used to hear Primal Delphin spoken aboard the Streaker. Not when the keeneenk master, Creideiki, used to hold the crew rock steady by his unwa- vering example. Nowadays, alas, one commonly picked up snatches of old-speechthe simple, emotive squealing used by unal- tered Tursiops in Earth's ancient seas. As ship physician, even Makanee sometimes found herself grunting a snatch buy pencils 214 David B r i n phrase, when fmstrations crowded in from all sides . . . and when no one was listening. Makanee gazed across a broad chamber, half-filled with water, as students jostled near a big tank at the spinward end, avid to be fed. There were almost thirty neo-dolphins, plus a dozen six-armed, monkeylike figures, scrambling up the shelf-lined walls, or else diving to swim agilely with webbed hands. Just half the original group of Kiqui sur- vived since they were snatched hastily from far-off Kithrup,buy pencils but the remaining contingent seemed healthy and glad to frolic with their dolphin friends. I'm still not sure we did the right thing, taking them along. Neo-dolphins are much too young to take on the responsibilities of patronhood. A pair of teachers tried bringing order to the unruly mob. Makanee saw the younger instructorher former head nurse, Peepoeuse a whirring harness arm to snatch living snacks from the tank and toss them to the waiting crowd ofbuy pencils pupils. The one who uttered the Primal bursta middle- aged dolphin with listless eyessmacked his jaw around a blue thing with writhing tendrils that looked nothing like a fish. Still, the fin crooned happily while he munched. # Goodfish . . . good-good-good! # Makanee had known poor Jecajeca before Streaker launched from Eartha former astrophotographer who loved his cameras and the glittering black of space. Now Jecajeca was another casualty of Streaker's long retreat, fleeing ever farther from the warm oceans they called home. buy pencils This voyage was supposed to last six months, not two and a half years, with no end in sight. A young client race shouldn't confront the challenges we have, almost alone. Taken in that light, it seemed a wonder just a quarter of the crew had fallen to devolution psychosis. Give it time, Makanee. You may yet travel that road yourself. Infinitii's Shore 215 "Yes, they are tasty, Jecajeca," Peepoe crooned, turning the reverted dolphin's outburst into a lesson. "Can you tell me, in Anglic, where this new variety of 'fish' comesbuy pencils from?" Eager grunts and squeaks came from the brighter half of the class, those with a future. But Peepoe stroked the older dolphin with sonar encouragement, and soon Jecajeca's glazed eye cleared a bit. To please her, he concentrated. "F-f-rom out-side . . . Good s-s-sun . . . good wat-t-ter . . ." Other students offered raspberry cheers, rewarding this short climb back toward what he once had been. But it was a slippery hill. Nor was there much a doctor could do. The cause lay in no organic fault. buy pencils Reversion is the ultimate sanctuary from worry. Makanee approved of the decision of Lieutenant Tsh't and Gillian Baskin, not to release the journal of Alvin the Hoon to the crew at large. If there's one thing the crew don't need right now, it's to hear of a religion preaching that it's okay to devolve. Peepoe finished feeding the reverted adults, while her partner took care of the children and Kiqui. On spying Makanee, she did an agile flip and swam across the cham-buy pencils ber in two powerful fluke strokes, resurfacing amid a burst of spray. "Yesss, Doctor? You want to see me?" Who wouldn 't want to see Peepoe? Her skin shone with youthful luster, and her good spirits never flagged, not even when the crew had to flee Kithrup, abandoning so many friends.buy pencils "We need a qualified nurse for a mission. A long one, I'm afraid." Ratcheting clicks spread from Peepoe's brow as she pon- dered. "Kaa's outpost. Is someone hurt-t?" "I'm not sure. It may be food poisoning ... or else kingree fever." Peepoe's worried expression eased. "In that case, can't Kaa take care of it himself? I have duties here."buy pencils