“I do,” Moul admitted, “but you obviously want to be them more than I do. Therefore, it is only sensible to let you be the Indians.”

Matthew mulled over this development, which tumbled around in his brain like a rough gem in a polishing unit. “No,” he finally decided, “you can be the Indians.”

“No, no. I understand thoroughly your desire, Mat- theeew. You can be the Indians. I’ll be the Cowboys.”

“I’ve got an idea,” the boy said suddenly. “Why don’t we both of us be the Indians?”

“Then who’ll be the Cowboys?”

Matthew turned and called across the room. “Hey Janie, Ahling, Chuck, Yerl!”

They entered into involved negotiations, but it developed that no one really wanted to be the Cowboys. They all wanted to be Indians.

In the observation booth behind the one-way, Dr. Jahan Bhadravati turned to his companions, who at that moment included Bonnie, Captain Sanchez of the Seeker, and a leading representative of Earth’s government Handshakes were exchanged all around, but the children in the room beyond would have found the adults’ enthusiasm at a display of the commonplace very puzzling.

XVI

XVI

Bonnie was chatting with Ryo as they strolled from the shuttle toward the laboratory complex when the first rising thunder reached the camp from overhead. It arose in the north and grew steadily louder until a pair of quadruple-winged ships roared by, rattling the trees fringing the glade and scaring hell out of the arboreals.

The two walkers pressed themselves back beneath a canopy of chamelocloth. So did the other humans who’d been out in the comparative cool of early morning.

After a decent wait Bonnie leaned out to squint toward the southwest. “Think they saw us?”

“I don’t know,” said one of the shuttle’s crew from beneath the overhanging limbs of a nearby tree. He too was staring worriedly southward. “They were awfully low and moving damn fast.” He emerged from concealment. “I’d better get to my station, just in case.”

Bonnie was about to join him when she felt restraining, pressure on her arm.

“I do not think we were observed,” Ryo told her. “You see, I am almost positive they were not looking for us.”

“Then what were they doing out here, at that altitude?” She noticed his oddly rigid posture. “Is something else wrong?”

“Very wrong.” Memories rose up, threatened to submerge all other thoughts. Fear and anger mixed inside him. “Those weren’t Thranx ships. Those were AAnn warshuttles. I know, because I’ve seen them before.”

“We’ve got to help.” Sanchez glared around at the hastily assembled conference. They were in the shuttle’s cargo hold, which had been converted to a conference chamber, among other things.