Anders was the only one from the anthropological team who was in when Stephanie Harrington commed the next day.
For someone who had been so cool and controlled speaking in front of a big group, she seemed more than a little nervous.
“I was wondering,” she said, “if you-any of you, I mean-would like to come by our freehold. Dad thinks our patients are going to be moving on any day now, so this would be pretty much the last chance to see them. We could go for a hike, later, if you’d like.”
“To where treecats live?” Anders asked excitedly.
Stephanie’s expression grew stern. “No. None live near our freehold. A hike would be a good way to get a feeling for the local ecosystem.”
“I’d like that,” Anders replied, and was rewarded by seeing the stern expression melt away.
“Well, if you’d settle for just me,” he continued, “I’d really like to come see the ’cats and go for a hike. My dad and the rest of his crew are with Dr. Hobbard.”
“That would be great!” Stephanie replied, her brown eyes shining.
They made arrangements for Anders to be picked up. On Urako, his home planet, he had a provisional air car license, but that didn’t extend to Sphinx. Anyhow, his dad and the team had taken the air van they’d rented, so he didn’t have anything he could take.
It turned out, however, that Dr. Richard Harrington traveled all over this part of Sphinx as a result of his job. He was going to be in the vicinity of Twin Forks to see some sick herbivores and was happy to give Anders a lift back to the Harrington freehold in what he called the “Vet Van.”
Dr. Richard-the form of address they compromised on when Anders admitted his dad would kill him if he addressed an adult he hardly knew by his first name-proved to be a relaxed and easy-going individual. Richard Harrington was of about average height. Like his daughter, his hair and eyes were brown, but several shades darker-except for those places where his hair was starting to show silver.
When he picked up Anders, Dr. Richard admitted to being in a particularly good mood because his patients were recovering quite nicely.
“We don’t have many problems with parasites,” he explained when Anders expressed interest. “Even within a terrestrial ecosystem, parasites rarely jump host species. However, as the Plague demonstrates all too well, microorganisms aren’t nearly so picky. I think we’ve got this one beat. The infestation was the result of the owners cutting corners with dietary supplements and leaving the animals weaker than they should have been. Once I figured that out, they started to mend.”
He went on for a bit about how poor diet created vulnerabilities. Anders liked how Dr. Richard assumed Anders would understand him-and how when Anders did ask a question, he answered it as a specialist to a nonspecialist, rather than a grown-up to a kid. Anders was beginning to understand how Stephanie had gotten so comfortable talking to adults.
Eventually, Dr. Richard changed the subject. “I’m really glad you were free to come by, Anders. Stephanie has been in a foul mood ever since the SFS released that the fire a couple of days ago-the one where Right- Striped and Left-Striped were injured-was human-caused.”
“It was?”
“Yeah. Some colonists by the name of Franchitti were behind it. Since they’re First Wave descendants and one of the first groups to settle Sphinx, they own quite a lot of land. Apparently, one of the owners was doing some quick undergrowth clearance-the area’s part of a large island in the Makara River, so he figured it was safe. Anyhow, the winds shifted when a front came in faster than expected and that’s all she wrote.”
Dr. Richard shrugged, the gesture eloquent as any words.
“Anyhow, Stephanie is completely pissed off. She can have a bit of a temper, especially when she thinks someone is a complete ‘null’-‘zorky,’ as she would have said a few months ago. I think that term’s out of favor now.”
He chuckled, but the sound was affectionate, not in the least mocking.
Anders had noticed a few things. Now he decided to ask what could be an uncomfortable question.
“Dr. Richard, I noticed that although Stephanie was wearing a counter-grav unit at yesterday’s meeting, she didn’t have it turned on. She moved easily enough, though, even carrying Lionheart around.”
Dr. Richard sighed. “I keep telling her that ’cat doesn’t need to be carried and she’s going to give herself scoliosis.”
Anders forged ahead. He knew that asking someone straight out if he and his family were “genies” could be considered rude, but from his mother’s political work he had also learned that “genie” did not immediately mean “monster,” that, in fact, in some environments coming from a genetically modified background was a distinct advantage.
“I noticed you’re wearing a counter-grav unit, but that it’s also on ‘off’…How do you handle this gravity? I tried to go to sleep last night without my unit on and I felt like someone was sitting on my chest.”
“So you’re wondering how Steph and I manage,” Dr. Richard said. He paused for thought, then gave another of those eloquent shrugs. “Well, if you decided to poke around, it would be easy enough to find out. All the members of our family have the genetic modifications designed for the Meyerdahl first wave. The greater bone density and more efficient muscle mass makes handling the higher gravity a lot easier for us. There are a couple of other changes that make it easier for us to handle the greater atmospheric pressure, too. In fact, the Meyerdahl modifications, combined with the fact that we paid our own way in, were two of the deciding factors in our application to colonize here on Sphinx being accepted. The other was that both my and Marjorie’s specializations are in high demand on a colony world.”
Anders nodded. “I was just curious. I mean, if there was a way I could get around without wearing this cursed counter-grav unit, I’d do it in a heartbeat. Why do you wear one if you don’t need it?”
“The same reason Stephanie does when she’s out. It’s too late to go find one when you’re about to have an accident. The counter-grav unit doesn’t let me fly, but when one of my patients has decided to hide in an awkward place-like on top of a roof-it sure makes it easier to get to it.”
Anders laughed, curiosity satisfied. He decided that good manners demanded he change the subject. “Tell me about your weirdest case-maybe one of those ones that ended up on a rooftop.”
The answer came with a chuckle. “Just the weirdest one?”
Dr. Richard’s stories entertained them the rest of the way to the Harrington freehold. Stephanie and Karl immediately came out to meet the arriving vehicle. Stephanie was carrying Lionheart, but put him down as soon as she saw her father raise a reprimanding eyebrow.
Anders thought, She certainly doesn’t look as if she’s in a bad mood. Maybe Karl cheered her up, or maybe she gets over her moods as quickly as they hit her. If anyone looks grumpy, it’s Karl.
Ever the politician’s son, he greeted his hosts with his warmest smile.
“Hi, Karl. Hi, Stephanie. Thanks for settling for me rather than the rest of the team.”
A odd look flitted over Karl’s face, but he settled into stoic impassivity so quickly Anders wondered if he’d imagined it.
Stephanie had given her dad a quick hug. Now she turned to Anders.
“You do realize this visit is all on the treecats’ terms. If they seem nervous, or if Lionheart signals we shouldn’t go any closer, then we stay back.”
Anders nodded. “I understand. Absolutely.”
Dr. Richard had grabbed a large case from the Vet Van. “Let me go out to the gazebo first. I checked Right-Striped’s feet out this morning, but I might as well give them another going over. Like I said, I have a feeling the twins are going to move on pretty soon.”
Stephanie nodded. “That’s why I decided to call the anthropologists now, not wait.”
Again an odd, sidelong look from Karl, a look that vanished as soon as he realized Anders had noticed, but which was decidedly unfriendly.
Usually, Stephanie had to resist an urge to skip ahead of her dad, but today she found it easy to let him take the lead. Even her bad mood about the Franchitti fire seemed to have vanished when the Vet Van had touched down and she had seen for herself that Anders had really come.
The only thing blighting her good mood was Karl. Had he figured out that she had manipulated the situation
