Suitably prepared, much of the land here might be as pleasant as the great savannahs on which the Pak had evolved-if present conditions persisted. together they would reveal much about the long- term suitability of this place.įor this world offered far more temperate climes. That information, and the detailed observations of newly emplaced satellites, and the mea sured orbital pa rame ters of this world. uctuations in ocean volume and worldwide ice cover. Patterns in the thickness of layers would speak to. Occasional dustings of rare metals like iridium would disclose the impacts of large meteors. The traces of ash would reveal the frequency of volcanic eruptions. The concentrations of trapped gases would speak of the evolving climate. Locked into the glacier was a story eons in the making, written in layers of ice, traces of ash, and microscopic bubbles of trapped gases. The only sound, but for the wind, was the whir of powerful electric motors laboring to extract deep core samples. Release from the endless wars of Pakhome. That would have been unfortunate, for if this mission succeeded, all in clan Rilchuk might enjoy the greatest possible protection. Without such mea sures,Thssthfok could never have come. Their safety had been entrusted to kin and further guaranteed, to the extent that was possible, with hostages, promised rewards, and dire threats. The children and breeders Thssthfok lived to protect were all on Pakhome, incommunicably distant. As for protectors, the most formidable of predators, within a day- tenth's travel, there was only himself. There were no native predators to fear here. The oceans of this pristine world teemed with life, mostly single- celled, but the land remained barren.
The air was clean and crisp and bland in his nostrils.
A portable shelter stood a few steps away, his shuttlecraft not much more distant.
His hard, leathery skin was proof against the cold, at least for short periods. Thssthfok stood alone atop a glacial vastness, clad only in a thin vest, worn for its pockets rather than for warmth. To become a protector, awakening into intelligence, was to lose all innocence, and with it the ability ever to let down one's guard.īut here, now, so very far from home, things were different. Intelligence understood that other minds all around raced to similar conclusions-Īnd that countless rivals would take immediate action thereon. Intelligence laid bare the threats, vulnerabilities, and opportunities that lurked everywhere. Intelligence leapt instantly, inexorably, from the merest observation to subtle implication to profound deduction to utter certainty. Not unimportant, merely not the everything that many made intelligence out to be.