[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
region gets an adequate rainfall that allows the grass to grow and stabilize
the rock."
Mavra nodded. "That's right. You were a geologist, weren't you? Okay, let's
get the bedrolls down for us three bipeds. Anne Marie, do you still have the
firestarter? I want to check on something."
"Yes, yes. I believe . . . Half a moment!" With that the centauress turned on
her forward hips almost all the way around and fumbled in one of the large
packs, then said, "Aha!" She pulled out a long, thin metallic rod and handed
it to Mavra.
As the supplies were taken off and the three bedrolls were spread out in the
middle of the slab, Mavra went over, picked a strand of the grass, and brought
it back to the cen-ter of the rock, well away from anything else. She pressed
a button on the end of the stick, and from the other end came a tiny jet of
flame, which she applied to the grass.
It caught fire but went out as soon as she removed the source of the flame.
She tried it two or three times, and each time the result was the same.
Satisfied, she tossed the remains of the grass stalk away and put the lighter
back in the pack.
"If you don't mind, what was that about?" Tony asked her.
"Testing fire hazard. Either it's not long after the rainy season or this soil
really holds water well. Maybe both," Mavra explained. "It also means that the
grass is probably just grass. Plus, it shows that the reason for not seeing
any sort of fires or fire remains isn't because it's too dangerous to build
one. And that probably means there aren't any Gekirs around at the moment,
whatever they are."
"Either that or they just don't use fire," Lori noted.
Mavra gave her a look she hoped the Erdomese could see in the darkness. "Don't
kill my optimism too quickly! I was enjoying this," she said grumpily.
Lori looked around with his night vision from atop the centaur's back. "I
Page 69
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
wonder what would be the most logical life-form for a place like this?"
"Either carnivores or omnivores," Tony guessed. "Proba-bly carnivores. They
would have the most stake in manag-ing such a place, and it would explain the
lack of any sort of groves or cultivation in such a desirable spot. I would
wager that they eat a lot of meat, anyway."
Lori frowned. "Um, I hate to bring this up, but you Dillians are herbivores,
aren't you? And Erdomese are ba-sically herbivores, too." He decided not to
mention that an-other staple of the Erdomese diet was almost any form of
insect. He realized that that might well put the others off.
"
That, I think, was the point," Mavra commented dryly, deciding not to remind
them that she was the only true om-nivore there. She looked around. "We could
risk a fire, though, either to ward off our theoretical predators or even to
cook something. I'm not going hunting out there, though."
"Get me down first," Lori asked. "I'm feeling a little better. Julian help
support me and I'll see how the ankle is doing."
She came over as Anne Marie lifted Lori off Tony's back and gently to the
ground, where Julian braced him.
He tried a few steps, and although he continued to put a hand on her shoulder,
it was more as a stabilizer than as a full support. "Not too bad," he said.
"It's still sore, but it feels a lot better. At least I know now that it's not
broken." He took his hand away from Julian and tried an uncertain step, then
reached out with his right hand and pushed on Tony's side. "
Ow
! Damn! I think the leg's going to be fine, but my wrist feels terrible
! Shit! And I'm right-handed!"
Julian looked first at his leg, then at his wrist. "There is very slight
swelling in the leg, my husband, but as you say, it does not look like much.
Perhaps one more day of riding and then you should be able to walk.
The wrist, though, looks very bad. It should be in a splint and bandaged."
Mavra came over to them. "Trouble?"
"His wrist," Julian told her. "It is bad, and I do not know how bad."
"Can't you feel along it for a break?"
"No, she can't," Lori told her. "Because our females carry children to term on
all fours, they need forelegs, and the way that's done makes their hand
basically a hard, fixed surface and a thick separate segment for grasping. But
no fingers as such."
It disturbed Mavra that she'd barely noticed. "Let me see. Give me your hand,
Julian." She took it and felt it. It was hard and resembled a hoof, but unlike
a true hoof, the hand was segmented in two parts, one tapered and rounded and
a bit softer inside so that it could be used as a giant thumb against the
other, slightly flexible part. When closed, it made a nearly perfect hoof.
"That's awful
!" she ex-claimed, then immediately felt terrible because she'd said it.
"Oh, it's not bad once you get used to it," Julian replied sympathetically,
remembering how she had felt when she'd first awakened and seen those strange
hands. "You would be surprised what I can do with them. Not as much as true
hands, but about as much as, say, mittens would allow. No, the real problem
is, since I can use them as forelegs, I have no feeling in them. Having no
sense of touch in my hands, I have to be looking at them whenever I am using
them. That's all right for many things, but there is no way I can feel Lori's
wrists."
"You'd be surprised how much she can do with them," Lori assured Mavra. "But
not this."
"Well, then, big man, grit those teeth, because sure can," the tiny woman
replied. She took his right hand, I
not-ing how squared off and hard his hands were, even with three distinct and
bendable fingers and a fairly prehensile thumb, then felt back to the wrist.
"Augh!"
Lori grunted in obvious pain.
Page 70
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
Mavra let go and shook her head. "I think you might well have some kind of a
fracture there. I didn't feel any protrusions, though, so it's not a clean
break we can set. Probably some hairline thing or chip. That swelling is
pretty bad, though. It's hard to say how it would heal I don't know enough
about Erdomese, obviously, to make a guess but Julian's right. We're gonna
have to bind it in some kind of splint so it's
immobile and then bandage it. Bandages we got in the pack, and tape, so if we [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl exclamation.htw.pl
region gets an adequate rainfall that allows the grass to grow and stabilize
the rock."
Mavra nodded. "That's right. You were a geologist, weren't you? Okay, let's
get the bedrolls down for us three bipeds. Anne Marie, do you still have the
firestarter? I want to check on something."
"Yes, yes. I believe . . . Half a moment!" With that the centauress turned on
her forward hips almost all the way around and fumbled in one of the large
packs, then said, "Aha!" She pulled out a long, thin metallic rod and handed
it to Mavra.
As the supplies were taken off and the three bedrolls were spread out in the
middle of the slab, Mavra went over, picked a strand of the grass, and brought
it back to the cen-ter of the rock, well away from anything else. She pressed
a button on the end of the stick, and from the other end came a tiny jet of
flame, which she applied to the grass.
It caught fire but went out as soon as she removed the source of the flame.
She tried it two or three times, and each time the result was the same.
Satisfied, she tossed the remains of the grass stalk away and put the lighter
back in the pack.
"If you don't mind, what was that about?" Tony asked her.
"Testing fire hazard. Either it's not long after the rainy season or this soil
really holds water well. Maybe both," Mavra explained. "It also means that the
grass is probably just grass. Plus, it shows that the reason for not seeing
any sort of fires or fire remains isn't because it's too dangerous to build
one. And that probably means there aren't any Gekirs around at the moment,
whatever they are."
"Either that or they just don't use fire," Lori noted.
Mavra gave her a look she hoped the Erdomese could see in the darkness. "Don't
kill my optimism too quickly! I was enjoying this," she said grumpily.
Lori looked around with his night vision from atop the centaur's back. "I
Page 69
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
wonder what would be the most logical life-form for a place like this?"
"Either carnivores or omnivores," Tony guessed. "Proba-bly carnivores. They
would have the most stake in manag-ing such a place, and it would explain the
lack of any sort of groves or cultivation in such a desirable spot. I would
wager that they eat a lot of meat, anyway."
Lori frowned. "Um, I hate to bring this up, but you Dillians are herbivores,
aren't you? And Erdomese are ba-sically herbivores, too." He decided not to
mention that an-other staple of the Erdomese diet was almost any form of
insect. He realized that that might well put the others off.
"
That, I think, was the point," Mavra commented dryly, deciding not to remind
them that she was the only true om-nivore there. She looked around. "We could
risk a fire, though, either to ward off our theoretical predators or even to
cook something. I'm not going hunting out there, though."
"Get me down first," Lori asked. "I'm feeling a little better. Julian help
support me and I'll see how the ankle is doing."
She came over as Anne Marie lifted Lori off Tony's back and gently to the
ground, where Julian braced him.
He tried a few steps, and although he continued to put a hand on her shoulder,
it was more as a stabilizer than as a full support. "Not too bad," he said.
"It's still sore, but it feels a lot better. At least I know now that it's not
broken." He took his hand away from Julian and tried an uncertain step, then
reached out with his right hand and pushed on Tony's side. "
Ow
! Damn! I think the leg's going to be fine, but my wrist feels terrible
! Shit! And I'm right-handed!"
Julian looked first at his leg, then at his wrist. "There is very slight
swelling in the leg, my husband, but as you say, it does not look like much.
Perhaps one more day of riding and then you should be able to walk.
The wrist, though, looks very bad. It should be in a splint and bandaged."
Mavra came over to them. "Trouble?"
"His wrist," Julian told her. "It is bad, and I do not know how bad."
"Can't you feel along it for a break?"
"No, she can't," Lori told her. "Because our females carry children to term on
all fours, they need forelegs, and the way that's done makes their hand
basically a hard, fixed surface and a thick separate segment for grasping. But
no fingers as such."
It disturbed Mavra that she'd barely noticed. "Let me see. Give me your hand,
Julian." She took it and felt it. It was hard and resembled a hoof, but unlike
a true hoof, the hand was segmented in two parts, one tapered and rounded and
a bit softer inside so that it could be used as a giant thumb against the
other, slightly flexible part. When closed, it made a nearly perfect hoof.
"That's awful
!" she ex-claimed, then immediately felt terrible because she'd said it.
"Oh, it's not bad once you get used to it," Julian replied sympathetically,
remembering how she had felt when she'd first awakened and seen those strange
hands. "You would be surprised what I can do with them. Not as much as true
hands, but about as much as, say, mittens would allow. No, the real problem
is, since I can use them as forelegs, I have no feeling in them. Having no
sense of touch in my hands, I have to be looking at them whenever I am using
them. That's all right for many things, but there is no way I can feel Lori's
wrists."
"You'd be surprised how much she can do with them," Lori assured Mavra. "But
not this."
"Well, then, big man, grit those teeth, because sure can," the tiny woman
replied. She took his right hand, I
not-ing how squared off and hard his hands were, even with three distinct and
bendable fingers and a fairly prehensile thumb, then felt back to the wrist.
"Augh!"
Lori grunted in obvious pain.
Page 70
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
Mavra let go and shook her head. "I think you might well have some kind of a
fracture there. I didn't feel any protrusions, though, so it's not a clean
break we can set. Probably some hairline thing or chip. That swelling is
pretty bad, though. It's hard to say how it would heal I don't know enough
about Erdomese, obviously, to make a guess but Julian's right. We're gonna
have to bind it in some kind of splint so it's
immobile and then bandage it. Bandages we got in the pack, and tape, so if we [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]