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another? Can it cure a revavuaa bite? Heal necrotic tissue?"
She laughed; a little unsteadily, he thought. "Why think small? Maybe it can
resurrect the dead."
Her expression turned sober. "You're right; I'm getting carried away. Plenty
of Parramati die, of everything from drowning to old age. Whatever the health
stones do, they don't convey any special protection against natural demise."
"They appear to utilize the stones only on special occasions. It seems
reasonable to assume that whatever energy powers them is finite. If as we
suspect they are ancient, then restricting their use may be a way of
preserving their useful life. Perhaps letting them lie fallow, as it were,
allows the devices to recharge somehow." He eyed her hard. "You realize that
we must now redirect our efforts here."
She nodded vigorously. "Absolutely. This alters all priorities. We can still
work on the treaty, but only in the context of researching this much more
important discovery." As she speculated, she thrust both long legs straight
toward the ceiling and commenced a sequence of exercises in place.
He found himself speculating, as well.
"Obviously, the first thing we need to do is try to get hold of a stone for
detailed study. That's
file:///F|/rah/Alan%20Dean%20Foster/Allan%20...nx%20-%2006%20-%20The%20Howling
%20Stones.txt (58 of 112) [5/19/03 11:25:44 PM]
file:///F|/rah/Alan%20Dean%20Foster/Allan%20Dean%20Foster%20-%20Humanx%20-%200
6%20-%20The%20Howling%20Stones.txt not going to be easy. No stone master will
consent to it. Too much kusum at risk."
"We have to be careful," he declared. "We don't know what we're dealing with
here. Putting the wrong stones together might have unpleasant consequences. Or
no consequences at all. Native traditional knowledge would be a great help in
our studies."
Legs up, legs down. Legs up, legs down. She spoke as she exercised. "We
already know that the
Parrarnati will do nothing that they feel compromises kusum. Letting me
witness the ceremony in the field shows how far we've come in gaining their
trust, but we've still a long ways to go before anyone offers to tutor you or
me in the ways of stone mastering. Nor do I see anyone letting us stick a
stone in a spectroscope or a matrix disseminator."
Rising, Pulickel walked to the nearest window and stared out at the
surrounding riot of color that was the tropical Torrelauan forest. Thousands
of new specimens lay there, just out of reach, waiting only to be collected
and classified. But the only type that interested him now was one to which
they would be denied access. He turned abruptly.
"If the Parramati won't lend us a stone or two, then we'll just have to borrow
them."
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That brought Seaforth's legs down. She gawked at him. "Pulickel, are you
talking about stealing a stone? First of all, if the Parramati find out,
that'll be the end of our work here. Work, hell;
it'll mean the end of the station. The AAnn will have a clear field. As far as
any kind of treaty goes, the Commonwealth will have to forget about it. You
know the Parramati. They'll never trust us again."
"Not if they don't find out," he snapped. "I'll handle this myself. If
something does go wrong, you can tell them that you had nothing to do with it,
that you were against it from the inception, that it was all my idea, and that
I did it on my own. Which happens to be the truth."
"Damn right it is," she complained.
"If this fails, you can have me replaced. That ought to mollify any outraged
Parramati."
"'They may not accept that explanation. Yours or mine."
"We'll make sure that when I'm carrying out this little bit of fieldwork the
Parramati know your whereabouts. They'll see that you're not helping me, that
you're not involved in my efforts. They may be suspicious, but I think they'll
accept your protestations of innocence." He straightened.
"It doesn't matter anyway, because this is going to come off. Unless you've
got a better idea."
Seaforth was chewing on her lower lip. "I don't, but I don't much like your
idea, either. I wonder if we shouldn't clear it with Ophhha first."
"Sure. Send them the recording. You think that after reviewing that they'll
let us proceed in a quiet, studious manner? As soon as that recording's
integrity has been verified, a hundred researchers will descend on Torrelau
and the other islands of the archipelago. They'll be accompanied by armed
peaceforcers. Lest the AAnn get wind of what's happened and try to muscle in,
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