Chapter 16

But for the next several days she had no opportunity for another visit. Heisinger and Igwanda had worked out a rough revised schedule for the rescue operation once they'd reached Eden, but they needed her input on many details as the only crew member who'd ever been on the planet. For almost every waking minute the three of them were in constant discussion, calling often on Watesi, Yuan and Paulssen for consultations. Amuri was pressed to refine estimates of the arrival of the Chen's nova emissions, so closely did they now need to plan out their program.

Meiersdottir's own part in the evacuation also had to be reconsidered. The original plan was for her to remain aboard the Ark while Heisinger, Igwanda and Amuri took the first shuttle down and attempted to contact the Edenites. Despite Gagugakhing's prior warning that humans would be shunned if they attempted to return to the planet, all of them felt sure they could break through this barrier at least to the extent of provoking a response by warning of imminent danger.

A response alone, however, would scarcely be enough. They needed to gain a full hearing, to begin with. Then they needed to persuade the Edenites that their warning of the coming disaster from Chen's nova was real and that the disaster itself was inevitable, something beyond even what the Edenites perceived as the almost supernatural human command over the elements of nature might prevent.

With two-plus months scheduled on-planet they'd felt comfortable trying this by themselves, holding Meiersdottir in reserve to overcome any reluctance the Edenites might feel about trusting these strangers. As Igwanda put it, "You're our ace in the hole, Grandmother. I think Al and I can handle it, with 'Sheda to back us up on the technical end. But I don't want you overstressed if we can avoid it; you're getting along, and Dad told me to take care of you, and I'm going to do just that if I can."

"I do want to get down there at some point, Carlie," she'd told him. "Just to see it one last time. I won't get in the way, but it would be nice to go back to that meadow where your grandfather and I were married one more time and just reminisce a bit. The shuttle won't overstress me."

"We'll get you down sometime, Grandmother," he'd promised. "But not first rattle out of the box with an agenda in front of you, OK?"

And she'd agreed readily. But with their time on the planet now cut to a bare three weeks, and that with only the smallest of safety margins, Heisinger—with Igwanda in reluctant agreement—had rethought this part of the plan as well.

"Amanda, I'm terribly sorry, but I don't think we can afford the possible delay any more," she told Meiersdottir. "At this juncture Carlie and I think you're going to have to be with us the first trip down."

"We need to fire our biggest guns right at the start," Igwanda concurred. "This step-by-step was fine when we had spare time, but we just don't have it any more. Grandmother, are you up to it? I mean, I really hate having to ask you to take lead right away, but—"

"No, you and Alicia are right," she cut him off. "It's really a shame that our timing is so close. I suppose looking back we should have tried for a longer amount of time on Eden, but that's hindsight now."

"It wouldn't have been really possible anyway," Heisinger reminded her. "We pushed construction of the Ark as hard as we could as it was."

"True. Anyhow, am I up to it? I guess I'll have to be, won't I? And I think—I hope—my being there will get us into their nest to talk directly to their mothers on the first try. That could be important."

When they both expressed surprise she explained about the distinctions between the Edenites' "think-together"—their species-wide telepathic interlink that allowed them to process all cerebral activity as a collective—and their "nest-think," by which the females alone linked with each other.