"Sore, but getting better. I can lift the elbow a little." She peeked around his shoulder at the colossal beings. "So, huh.. .what happened? Are we friends?"
"Too much to tell, Sharl! I don't know where to start. They treated me well, but except for Kateos, they mainly just left me alone. They're suspicious and afraid, but, yeah—they're friendly." He pivoted to face the kones, waving at them to approach.
"You should hear Kateos speak Legion, Sharl!" Hudson exclaimed. "Amazing. You can hold a conversation with her. That's her specialty—languages. She's sharp! Real sharp! Dowornobb's not bad, either."
"So she is a female—did you say Doorknob?" Buccari responded.
"Yeah! Dowornobb. I'm not kidding," Hudson said. "That's his name."
"What now?" she said, checking the sun. "It's getting late." "Yeah," Hudson answered. "They plan on spending several nights here. Kateos says the most important thing is learning to communicate. She wants to talk. I couldn't get any more than that out of them. There are two more kones back at the plane. They'll come down later."
The mammoth, hulking beings towered above them, nervously watching. Their peculiar pungent odor came and went in waves.
"Damn, I forgot how big they were," Buccari said nervously. She squared her shoulders and bowed, holding her hands at waist level, palms upward—the cliff dweller's greeting. The kones replied in kind. The one called Dowornobb fumbled with his weapon, slinging it over his shoulder. They stood erect and Hudson formally introduced them.
"Welcome!" Buccari said slowly.
"Thang-ah yew, Sharl. Wee owe yew b-big thangs! B-big thangs to Sharl!" Kateos stepped forward and extended her hand. Buccari glanced warily at Hudson.
"I taught them to shake hands," he said. "And they wanted to know all about you, but they could never pronounce your last name. You're a hero. They say 'Sharl' real well."
"Yeah," Buccari said, her small hand disappearing in turn into each of the gigantic but surprisingly gentle gloved hands. "Let's go back to camp. We can talk better there."
"Yesss...talk-ah," Kateos said. "We talk-ah with Sharl."
Buccari smiled at the kone and turned downhill. She signaled and Shannon's Marines abruptly moved, revealing their positions. Et Silmarn made a transmission over his helmet radio, and the kones, trodding alertly on all fours, followed.
"So, how was the flight?" Buccari asked.
"Tiring! It took two days. I never did get that truck trimmed." "Huhsawn b-ber-ah good-ah..." Kateos struggled for the right word. "Pilot-ah...ver-ah good-ah pilot-ah."
"She is good!" Buccari complimented. Kateos smiled proudly. "And getting better fast," Hudson said. "Real fast!" "How is the injured, er . . . alien?" Buccari asked.
"They call themselves kones," Hudson replied. "He made it back alive and is doing well, or at least he was when he left the planet. There was an orbital lander sitting on their launch pad when I arrived—not a coincidence it turns out. It had been sent expressly to retrieve Et Avian—that's his name. Guess what, Sharl? He's a member of their nobility. You saved the life of a very important kone. They worked on him at the science station for about a week,gave him a lot of blood. Once he was stabilized they launched him back to Kon."
"Kon?" Buccari asked. "Is that their name for R-K Two?" "Right. This planet is called Genellan."
"Genellan! I like that. Much nicer than R-K Three."
"Planet-ah named Genellan," Kateos said, smiling through her visor.
"Why do they wear helmets, Nash?" asked Buccari, smiling back.
"Air's not dense enough for them," Hudson said. "The backpack is a compressor and heating system. To them this place is cold—miserably cold. Even their southern base is considered cold, and, Sharl, it's awesome. Looks out over a tropical ocean, and it's beautiful. I walked on sandy beaches that went forever, and I swam in the ocean. It's beautiful, wonderful, the closest to paradise I've ever been."
"Even without human beings for company?" she said. "Paradise has a price."
* * *
At the sound of engines, all the cliff dwellers ran in near panic for shelter. A flight of hunters wheeled high overhead; keen eyes discerned movement in the trees—humans, and others—bear people. Braan studied the activity. The leader whistled commands and dove for the trees. Others followed, except for two hunters left aloft to maintain a soaring vigil for as long as the dying thermals would hold them. Braan and his warriors landed on the backside of the wooded peninsula below the long-legs encampment.