They looked. There was no mistaking the shape of a pond, of course, even in darkness. Rather found no spheroids in evidence. Carlot said, "I don't see anything!"

"There."

"But that's . . . oh." Raym was pointing to a fungus jungle, a maze of thick white threads . . . and the orange light glinted off something reflective inside. The mass, in fact, was mostly pond, but it was laced with fungus.

Clave used the bellows. The pipefire that had been estivating in the windless murk now blazed up. Carlot blew the last of their water into the pipe while Rather and Clave tilted the rocket.

The fungus jungle drifted across the orange light. Logbearer impacted softly against resilient fungus fingers, and recoiled.

"What kind of pump you got? Good. Boy . . . Rather, you want to pump?"

"You pump, Raym," Carlot said. "Debby, you go with him. Keep your harpoon handy."

"Stet, that's good thinking, Carlot. No guessing what's lurking in there." The imaginary horrors didn't diminish Raym's enthusiasm as he flapped away with the pump. The hose slowed him. Debby kissed Rather's cheek before she picked up a loop of hose and flew after him.

Raym disappeared among interlocked white strands that broke where he touched them.

Clave said, "Now, Rather."

They entered the cabin together. The bags of seeds nearly filled one compartment. Rather pulled them out, reached further, and had the silver suit.

Debby saw only kicking wings among finger-thick white pillars of fungus. "Nothing dangerous yet," Raym called cheerfully. "Watch for stinkbirds. Great State! Girl, get me a bag, a big one!"

Debby dropped the hose and worked her way in. "What-"

"Fringe!"

"Oh. Here." She'd taken to carrying the big bags they'd used to collect honey while logging. She passed one in. She couldn't see what Raym was doing in there, but the air had turned dusty. She sneezed.

Raym wriggled out in a cloud of dust motes. There was something shapeless in the bag. "Sixty, seventy chits worth," he said. "I'll just take this back-"

"I've linked up the hose. What have you got?" Carlot had come at his shout.

Raym showed her the bag.

"Dammit, Raym, that's sporing fringe! Debby, get away from it."

"Yeah.'' Debby kicked out into the air. She was feeling dreamy. . .light-headed. . .happy. But if she'd breathed spores, Raym must have breathed more.

Keep him away from the ship! Debby pulled on the hose until she had the pump. "Raym, take this around to someplace else and start pumping."

"I'll take this back," Carlot said. "Raym, you shouldn't get near sporing fringe! Sure it's worth money-" She gave up. Raym was laughing.

Clave had stuck the helmet to a wall with a dab of glue. It watched him in stoic calm. "Try to do the circle in one sweep," it said.

"Is that how the original was done?"