Howling Stones Read Free Page A

presentations of both visitors, human and AAnn alike, and asked questions, and debated among themselves, and put off making any kind of final decision. Pulickel was being brought in to hurry things along.
    “You know, of course, why we’re making a greater effort than usual to bring the Parramati quickly into the Commonwealth fold.” Train preceded Pulickel through a security door.
    The slight newcomer nodded. The efforts to which his host was referring had less to do with the welfare of the inhabitants of the Parramat Archipelago than with what lay beneath their several dozen islands. Specifically, an unknown number of rare earth deposits of exceptional commercial value, from niobium and yttrium to obscure minerals with names even Pulickel couldn’t pronounce.
    Train was patting him on the shoulder. “You know, I envy you, going out to Parramat. Resolve this one and you’ll really make a name for yourself.”
    “I have a name,” Pulickel replied quietly. He wanted to shrug the other man’s arm off his shoulders but restrained himself. False conviviality always made him queasy. He hated attending parties, even parties of two.
    Instead of being offended by his guest’s rejoinder, Train’s grin expanded. “All right, so this’ll help you enhance it. Obviously, I don’t have to tell you how important the assignment is.” He lowered his voice and his bushy eyebrows did acrobatics. “There’s also the matter of your local support, someone who’s already on site. I could tell you how many local xenologists clamored for this duty just because of that, but I don’t want to intimidate you when you’ve just arrived.” He chuckled. “Lastpoor schmuck I had to send out on contact duty ended up with an old thranx for company. That’d be okay for a few months, but for a year …” He let the implication trail away, then added, “Your position will be … different.”
    Pulickel made himself smile at his host. “Do not worry about me. I don’t intimidate easily. What’s the problem? Is the support individual in question particularly disagreeable?”
    Train gave him a funny look. “You’ll see.”
    “I find I’m able to get along with just about any personality type. It’s a necessary skill when one is working for long periods of time in comparative isolation. I’m sure this individual and I will come to an accommodation. Could we pick up my case now, please? I’m anxious to see if everything’s arrived in one piece.”
    Train was still grinning. “It should be waiting for us at Transport.”
    Pulickel debated whether to press his guide for additional details about his field support but decided he’d find out soon enough. As he’d told Train, he wasn’t concerned. Young, old, male, female, thranx, or human, he’d worked with them all, often under far more difficult conditions. It came naturally to him. He was such a nonthreatening personality that even initially hostile colleagues ended up adopting a protective attitude toward their new colleague. While he wasn’t exactly a barrel of laughs, it was hard to pick a fight with someone who always attended strictly to business. The result was a mutually productive working environment, which was what the xenologist always strove for no matter where he was assigned.
    Train’s underlying urgency was no surprise. Pulickel had read the relevant reports, every one of them. Commonwealth commercial interests wanted the vacillating situation on Parramat resolved so they could move in and exploit the exceptional ore deposits that lay beneath thearchipelago as soon as possible—in an environmentally and socially sensitive manner, of course. It was emphasized that the Commonwealth and not the AAnn should be the ones to do this.
    Though he thoroughly understood the situation, Pulickel had no intention of hurrying his work. He would take his time and do his job properly. Not that he expected it to prove especially troublesome. A couple of months at most, he’d