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told of the Sakuntala uprising.
Then there was nothing to do but wait.
How long do you think it will take, good sir?
What, for us to be extracted from this Sakuntala landfill? Following a (by Sakuntala village standards)
decent meal, Hasa s habitual ire had returned full force. But then, Masurathoo reflected, it had never
really left. Lemme think. Message has to get to Taulau. Once there, it has to be passed to the proper
department. Someone has to decide it s legitimate and validate a report. Then the lazy bastards have to
organize a rescue. At least they ve got the coordinates of the communicator here.
Swinging slowly back and forth in the suspension chair of their host s home, he pondered the motionless
debris-stained water of the Viisiiviisii shimmering a few meters below the carefully constructed porch.
Here no advanced charged fields protected them from anything inimical that might be waiting just beneath
the surface. No automatic weaponry rested ready and armed to blast whatever might emerge. They
didn t care. For the first time in many days, the three of them reposed with full bellies, if not satisfied
palates. Masurathoo in particular had had a difficult time keeping down the simple village food.
Couple of days at most, Hasa continued. Even if they wanted to, educated and enterprising village
Sakuntala couldn t fake the kind of electronic identification I m carrying on me. Administration will send
someone. He favored his companions with a knowing smirk. They don t have any choice. I m a
Commonwealth citizen.
A fact that does not speak well for the Commonwealth, Jemunu-jah thought to himself. Fortunately, the
existence of appalling individuals like Shadrach Hasselemoga was offset by the genuineness of persons
such as the administrator Lauren Matthias. Jemunu-jah found that he was looking forward to filing an
official report of their misfortune and subsequent survival, if only so that she might read it.
Gazing out through the rain from the porch of their host s home, Hasa regarded the unassuming
ramshackle houses of the villagers with disdain. Could ve hoped for rescue from a village with something
more going for it than this dump.
The fact that Jemunu-jah agreed with Hasa s assessment did not lessen the force of the associated insult.
He would have objected, but the human was still talking.
Okay; we re alive and likely to stay that way for the foreseeable future. As soon as the twits up in
Taulau can manage to extricate their brains from their pants, they ll send a rescue skimmer down here to
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pick us up.
A perfectly horrible thought sprang unbidden into Masurathoo s ever-wary Deyzara mind. What if it is
sabotaged by the same individual or individuals who incapacitated our craft?
Hasa was curt but reassuring. We ve explained what happened to us. Unless whoever s responsible for
sending out the rescue crew is utterly barren of intelligence, they ll triple check everything before taking
off. I think it ll be okay. Leaning back in the suspension chair, he sucked on something brown, round,
and full of sweet syrup. I wouldn t want to be rescued by anyone stupid enough to let what happened to
us happen to them.
The human s confidence bolstered Masurathoo s depleted spirits. The Deyzara had decided that Hasa
was worth saving after all just barely.
Couple of days, Hasa repeated. The rain had intensified. If it started to come down any harder, he
mused, they would have to move inside. He didn t want to do that. Like any traditional Sakuntala
dwelling, that of their kindly host stank to high heaven. That gives us time to sort a few things out.
Nearby, Jemunu-jah lolled in comparative contentment in his own chair, idly watching the rain. Amazing
how soothing it was; in its sound, its smell, its constancy. He never would understand why it made
humans so irritable.
What things? We have already agreed on a common report.
Having drained the boku of the last of its sugary contents, Hasa let it slip from his fingers. It landed on
the otherwise clean deck. Jemunu-jah eyed the human disapprovingly. The least the disagreeable one
could have done was throw it over the side, into the water. It would not have taken much of an effort.
But then, a lack of concern for others was one of their human companion s most notable characteristics.
Hasa half closed his eyes, blissfully indifferent to the affront he had just delivered to their absent host.
On a report about what happened to us, yeah. We also have to decide what to say, or what not to say,
about what we ve discovered. Specifically, the pannula. His gaze shifted from Sakuntala to Deyzara and
back again. Are you going to agree with me that it s an intelligent organism? Or are you going to
continue to reference it as a purely reactive forest spirit, or just a dumb hunk of fungus? Rising from the
suspension seat, whose swinging he did not still, as would have been proper, he headed for the doorway
into the main house.
I m gonna take a walk. The rain s not bad, and I d like to see the rest of the village before we re lifted
out of here.
Masurathoo fixed him with both bulging eyes. Hoping to chance upon some useful undescribed plant or
animal the knowledge of which you can steal from the locals?
As Hasa looked back from the portal, it was clear that he had entirely missed the point of the Deyzara s
sarcasm. Well, of course. That s what I m doing here. I m not proud. I ve got no problem with letting
some dumb native do the dirty work for me.
As he watched their companion depart, Jemunu-jah bristled at the human s offhandedly offensive
manner. We save each other s lives, but I do not like Hasa. He is poor representative of his species.
Masurathoo was slightly more understanding. If nothing else, I have to say that I find his xenophobia
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