Chapter 11

The potty chair, along with a supply of disposable diapers and of course Meier himself, joined them on board the lander. Fortunately Miller was not on hand to watch the civilians board. I can only imagine his reaction if he saw how casually we treat this, Igwanda thought. I certainly know what my own would have been to a tiny child accompanying us when first we set down on Eden.

Besides Igwanda, Meiersdottir and their baby, the landing party would consist of Ter­rence O'Brian, Meiersdottir's new junior in the sociology contingent; biologists Ramin Singh and Cory Sviatoslavski; chemists Maria Garcia and Aurora Hill; physicist Jack Mantegna, another returnee from the prior mission; geologist Mohammed al-Jira; and an agronomist, a new discipline to the Eden exploration, named Arthur Plantz but who went by the nickname Buddy ("Buddy Plantz, get it?" he'd introduced himself, but with such good humor that it was hard to take exception). They'd be piloted by Susan Cherney, Shaw's second-in-command aboard the Gardener.

And Zo, who was still not there after all the others had stowed their gear and settled in for the trip. Meiersdottir was distracting her son with baby-talk chatter about "going for a ride" when the sergeant finally arrived, Miller at his side talking urgently into his ear. Zo was, the colonel noted with displeasure, fully armed with a laser holstered at his hip, a blaster slung across his back, the same kind of battle helmet Igwanda and his troops had worn on their own first landing, and in addition full body armor.

Mercifully, Miller finished his last-minute instructions as they approached the lander port. Clapping his hand in obviously forced camaraderie on Zo's back, he said loudly, "It's in your hands now, Sergeant." Looking up into the lander he called out "Good luck, Dr. Meiers­dot­tir, Igwanda, all of you."

Showing a little embarrassment, Zo climbed on board. Meiersdottir looked askance at his attire, but opted to say nothing. "Thank you, Maj. Miller," she called back. "Sue, I think we're ready as soon as the sergeant gets his gear stowed."

Zo moved quickly while Cherney toggled the portal closed. Then there was another brief delay while they waited for Miller to exit the lander compartment; when the ship's outer port opened for the lander's departure the compartment's air would of course be evacuated along with it, and evidently either no-one had briefed the major about that or he'd forgotten. Eventually someone called to him from the entrance, and he hastily left, sealing the door behind him.

"Here we go!" said Meiersdottir to a delighted Meier as the lander exited the ship. Most of the new passengers moved quickly to cluster at the lander's three tiny windows; the Gardener itself had none, and although they'd seen the images on monitors this was their first experience viewing Eden and the space around it directly. Meiersdottir carried the baby over to one for a look of his own, which seemed to please him mightily.

Glancing over her shoulder, she again fixed her gaze on Zo. "Nice outfit, Sergeant," she said lightly.

He squirmed uncomfortably in his seat. "Ma'am, Maj. Miller instructed me very specifically that I'm to be fully armed at all times," he said.

"I see," she said calmly. "And did your major also tell you that, by our ship's captain's decree, I'm in command for this landing?"

"Yes, ma'am, he did," Zo said with a small smile. "And I guess if you ordered me to take off some of this stuff, I'd have no choice but to obey you."

She grinned back. "Consider yourself so ordered, Sergeant," she said. "You look like a walking tank. Just the laser, please. And you can drop the 'ma'am' while you're at it, you were calling me Amanda by the end of the other visit, regard it as precedent. Ladies and gentlemen, you haven't had a lot of contact with our military protectors, so let me introduce you to Sgt. Ling Zo, who was one of Carlos' most valued troops on our last visit here. The sergeant is also a whiz at animal domestication, and will I hope be working with the Edenites on that. Ram, Cory, take special note, you're going to love the critters down there and Zo knows a lot of them by their first names."