"We'll have to ask Booce, but ... I think not. Let's get Kendy in on this. Are you in contact?"

"He said he was changing orbit. He'll be back in another day. Clave, I wish you could give me some kind of a view."

"I'll think of something. Jeffer, Rather's waving at me."

"Scientist out."

"Clave? You'd better see this," Rather said. "What? I was talking to Jeffer." Clave crawled out of the cavity behind the Wart. "Oh."

From out of the crowded sky came a shapeless thing colored a dead yellowish brown. Its outline was fuzzed with a jittering motion that caused the optic nerves to twitch. It was coming straight at them, and Logbearer was behind it.

"Get out of its way, Rather, it's going to hit! Got your wings?"

They fled. The thing fell toward the Wart with a faint, frightening buzzing sound. Myriads of black flecks swarmed around it, insects much smaller than honey hornets.

It struck the crater around the Wart and deformed like soft mud.

Logbearer bumped the trunk more softly. Debby emerged from the hatch in the forward pod. She stared hard at the intrusionary mass. She called, "It's going to stick."

Booce answered from inside. "Stet. Spread the honey."

Debby waved at Booce and Rather, but that was all the attention she gave them. She began spreading red sticky honey around the rim of the crater.

The swarm of insects followed her. When she closed the circle, most of the insects had migrated to the honey.

"Done!"

"Good. Get aboard. Clave, Rather, I've got to moor this thing. Want a ride?"

Clave bellowed, "Booce, you get out here and answer some questions!"

Booce's head popped out. He thought it over, then flapped to join them. He looked indecently self-satisfied.

"It's a termite nest," he said before Clave could ask. "We'll say we didn't have any choice, it was the only tree around and we had to get back to the Clump because . . . I'll think of something."

"Uh-huh. The honey?"

"Encouragement. When the termites run out of honey they'll eat wood. They'll bond the nest to the Wart."

"What about the silver suit? Were you just going to leave it?"

"Where would it be safer?"

"Jeffer's all alone in the sky. He'd go crazy!"

Booce's grimace told it all. Clave said, "He's the Citizens Tree Scientist, and he is not a crazy murderer. He was in a fight with our lives at stake, Booce, and he used what he had. It was more powerful than he thought it was-"

"He used it twice."

"Booce, if you've ever been a happyfeet bandit yourself, tell me now."

Booce was astonished, then amused. "Oh, really! No, I'm not protecting my own kind. I'm not defending bandits that prey on loggers. Granted they'd generally rather attack some tribe of helpless savages. Your suspicions are right there, Clave, but it doesn't mean I like bandits. I wouldn't have burned a whole damn tribe either!"