If they did not respond to the gentle waving of his fronds, he detoured all around them. And he kept Pham directly behind him so the intimidation factor of the razored armor was of no use. "These people may look very peaceable to you, Sir Pham, easy to push around. But note, this is among themselves. These races have had thousands of years to accommodate to one another, to achieve local commensality. To outsiders they will necessarily be less tolerant, else they would have been overrun long ago." Pham remembered the "dress-code" warning and decided not to argue. The next twenty minutes would have been the experience of a lifetime for a Qeng Ho trader,
复件 (7) air max2, to be within arm's reach of a dozen different intelligent species. But when they finally reached the far wall, Pham was grinding his teeth. Twice more he received a dress-code warning. The only bright spot: Saint Rihndell was still extending the courtesy of local net support, and Ravna had more information: "The local Skroderider colony is about a hundred kilometers from the concourse. There's some kind of transport station beyond the wall you're at." And the tunnel Greenstalk had entered was just ahead of them. From this angle, they could see the dark of space beyond it. For the first time, there was no problem with crowds; scarcely anyone was entering or leaving the hole. Laser light twinkled on his rear windows. "Dress code violation. Fourth warning. It says to 'please leave the volume at once'." "We're going. We're going." Darkness, and Pham boosted the gain on his helmet windows. At first he thought the "transport station" was open to space, that the locals had restraint fields as in the high beyond. then he noticed the pillars merged into transparent walls. they were still indoors in the old-fashioned way, but the view.... they were on the starward side of the arc. the ring particles were like dark fish floating silently a few tens of meters out from him. In the further distance, structures stuck out of the ring plane far enough to get sundazzle. But the brightest object was almost overhead: the blue of ocean, the white of cloud. Its soft light flooded the ground around him. However far the Qeng Ho fared, such a sight had been welcome. Yet this was not quite the real thing. The was only approximately spherical, and its face was bisected by the ring shadow. It was a small object, not more than a few hundred klicks above him,
复件 (23) air max1, one of the shepherd satellites they had seen on the way in. The shepherd's haze of atmosphere was crisply bounded by the sides of a vast canopy. He dragged his attention down from the view. "Ten to one that's the Skroderiders' terrane." "Of course," Blueshell replied. "It's typical. The surf in such minigravity can never be what I prefer, but --" "Dear Blueshell! Sir Pham,
复件 (13) air max2! Over here." It was Greenstalk's voice. According to Pham's suit, it was a local connection, not relayed through the OOB. Blueshell's fronds angled in all directions. "Are you all right, Greenstalk?" They rattled back and forth at each other for a few seconds. Then Greenstalk resumed in Trisk: "Sir Pham. Yes,
复件 (10) air max1, I'm all right. I'm sorry to upset you all so much. But I could tell the deal with Rihndell was going to work out,
mbt tataga chill,
复件 (24) air max, and then these local Riders stopped by. They are wonderful people, Sir Pham. They have invited us across to their terrane. Just for a day or so. It will be a wonderful rest before we go on our way. And I think they may be able to help us." Like the quest romances he'd found in Ravna's bedtime library: the weary travelers, partway to their goal, find a friendly haven and some special gift.