Chapter 62

They traversed the passage in an easy silence. As Igwanda and Meiersdottir dressed in the building above, Joe spoke for the first time.

"Amanda, what is the word 'cherish?' We hear that you mean it well, but we do not know the word."

"Cherish means to place a high value on something," she answered. "A very high value. When I said that we cherish your friendship I meant it is very important, very valuable to us."

"We understand," the alien said. "Then I will say that we cherish your friendship too."

"Thank you, Joe," she said.

There was a strong breeze as they stepped out of the building, and the sky was unexpectedly clear; the smog had momentarily dissipated. "Even the weather responds," said Igwanda quietly to her. "A new beginning and the planet itself smiles on us."

"Why Carlos, that's poetic," she said. "There are so many depths to you that you keep unfolding. I—" She stopped as he touched her hand and jerked his head upward to signify that the Gardener was still hearing. "Oh, fuck that, if they don't know by now that I love you they're too dumb to live. OK, Gardener, that's all the mush now, you've got it on record." She laughed; he smiled indulgently at her.

They got their first good look at the pavilion when they got back to the meadow. The storm had left it something of a mess. The uprights and roof had survived without harm, but the interior was another matter; the personal kits and other materials that the scientists had hastily abandoned had been badly scattered by the wind, the strips of cloth that had served as makeshift flooring had been blown into mounded wads, and the driving rains had churned the ground beneath into a lumpy drying mudpile.

"What will you do now?" asked Joe as they surveyed the disarray. "Will the others come back?"

"Yes, they will," Igwanda replied. "Not today, I think, it is getting late. Probably tomorrow. But it will take us some time to fix this so we can stay here again."

"If you allow, we will fix it," the alien said unexpectedly. The colonel arched his brows in surprise.

"Thank you very much, Joe, of course we will allow. It is very good of you."

In a matter of seconds a growing group of natives began to emerge from the overgrowth. Igwanda shook his head; it still astonished him how quickly their telepathy allowed them to respond to decisions. The aliens were already beginning to pick up strewn possessions and return them to where they belonged.

"You need better..." Joe pointed down.

"Floor," Igwanda supplied.

"Better floor," the alien finished. "Ground is good floor for us because our houses are closed, but this is too open. We can make quickly with rock, like we—" he broke off abruptly.

Igwanda understood immediately; like you used to seal up our lander, he thought. But there was a better way. "Like you used to set these into the ground," he said tactfully, pointing to the uprights. Standing beside him, Meiersdottir shot him a surprised look. He could read her reaction; tact, he was well aware, was not his long suit. He smiled at her. Turning back to Joe he continued. "That would be good, Joe. Thank you once again."

"We must move all of your things outside and then make ground ready, Igwanda," said the alien. "I do not think we can finish in this day, but it will be done tomorrow. Will you stay here this night outside?"

The hopeful tone was so unmistakable that Igwanda had to smile. "Yes, Joe, we can stay outside tonight. We have done so many nights."

"We will begin, then. We think you may want to talk to your ship. You may go where you want to do that, we can do this work."

"That's a very nice way to tell us to get out of your way while you work without actually saying it, Joe," put in Meiersdottir. "And we'll do just that. Actually we do need to talk to our ship anyway, and this is a good time for it. Thank you." She took Igwanda's hand and they began to move away. Then she turned back. "Oh, Joe, can you bring us some—" she stopped as she noticed two natives approaching with flagons of water. "Never mind. Thank you again."

They had covered about thirty meters—enough to be out of easy earshot, Igwanda reckoned—when he paused and gestured at the ground. Meiersdottir spread a sleeping bag she had rescued from the rubble, and they sat. "All right, Gardener," she said, "we're clear now, go ahead."

"Amanda, once again you overawe us," came Heisinger's voice. "And you as well, of course, Carlos. I don't think anyone else could have brought them from harsh accusations of false friendship to open pledges of true friendship in little more than three hours, if at all."

"I'd like to take credit, Gustav," she responded. "But really, all I did was meet them. They went at least half the way. In fact it was mostly Gagugakhing and her 'nest-think' that made the difference."

"That was a remarkable session in many ways," the biologist agreed. "At the start we were wondering if you'd been summoned for some Edenite edition of Sex Education 101."

She laughed. "So did I. In fact, after they gave their little 'demonstration'—I'll tell you all about that later, Gustav, you'll be fascinated—anyway, after that I was half expecting that she'd ask Carlos and me to reciprocate, and I was wondering how to turn her down gracefully."

He gave a rich chuckle. "With respect, Amanda, I expect they have observed a sufficient quantity of such demonstrations during your stay on the planet."

"Smart-ass."

"Indeed. When I have the misfortune to sit on a scoop of ice cream I know its flavor instantly. This reminds me, though, I'm bidden to offer congratulations on your pregnancy. And on your forthcoming marriage as well, Bernard told us when he returned. To you as well, Carlos."

"Thank you, Gustav and all," said Igwanda. "Our ... courtship has certainly been more public than might have been my choice, but it culminates in what I believe is the tradition of such stories."

"And now it'll be up to us to finish the fairy tale and live happily ever after," Meiersdottir added. "And maybe just a tiny bit more privately."

"You'll forgive me if I doubt that somewhat," said Heisinger. "Your baby will be the first ever born off-planet. Off Earth, I mean. And its coming, if you maintain your pledge to the mother queen, will be the first human birth ever witnessed by a being of another intelligent species. You'll be a lingering media sensation when we return."

"Oh, goody, life in a fishbowl," she said sourly. "We'll deal with that later. Carlos can be pretty intimidating, I'll count on that. Anyhow, back to business, tell me what you thought."