Dirge by Alan Dean Foster Read Free Book Online Page B

picked up a long, thin leaf and chewed experimentally on the stem. It had a slight minty flavor characteristic of many of the alkaloid-laden plants that grew in the vicinity of the colony. “We’re being careful.”
    “No you are not.” Hathvupredek’s atypical bluntness caught the visiting diplomat by surprise. “You are overcome by these Pitar, who so nearly resemble physically idealized visions of yourselves. You are dazzled. We are more analytical, more systematic in our appraisal of other intelligences.”
    Adjami spoke around the stem of the leaf that protruded from between his teeth. “So you’re saying we’re being naïve.”
    The councilor’s ovipositors flattened slightly, the lowermost curl pressing against the back of her abdomen. “We think you are too welcoming. An engaging trait, but a dangerous one.”
    Adjami laughed gently. “We’re not as ingenuous as you seem to believe. Sure, we’ve received the Pitar readily, even enthusiastically. But that doesn’t mean they’ve been given the run of the planet or the colonies, or that the appropriate agencies aren’t keeping an eye on them.”
    “We hope so.” Hathvupredek’s antennae abruptly snapped forward. “What is that?”
    Adjami allowed his gaze to be led by the councilor’s. “I don’t see anything.”
    “Neither do I,” his companion of the morning admitted, “but I smell it. Humans, coming this way. Many of them.”
    Scanning the trees, Adjami found himself unable to suppress a smile. “You’re sure they’re not Pitar?”
    Hathvupredek missed the sarcasm. Or perhaps the councilor simply chose to overlook it. “Your bodily odors differ significantly. That of humans is much…stronger.”
    “Yes,” Adjami confessed a bit reluctantly. “The variance has been noted.” He continued to gaze into the forest. “I wonder what a large group is doing here? I’d think that researchers interested in the Reserva’s wildlife would avoid the colony site, now that they know it’s here.”
    “They do.” Compound eyes and weaving antennae continued to take the measure of whatever was approaching. “As you are aware, visitation to the colony is strictly monitored and is restricted to accredited representatives of your governmental and scientific agencies. Random tourism is neither permitted nor encouraged.”
    Detecting a rising rustle of leaf litter being crushed underfoot, Adjami rose from his cross-legged seat. “Then I wonder who these could be?”
    Man and thranx found out together when the band of perhaps thirty men and women emerged from the trees. The grim, focused expression on each camouflage-painted face was not encouraging, nor was the especially wild-eyed look worn by more than one. Their jungle clothing was in keeping with their obvious desire to blend into the rain forest background. While unsettling, none of this alarmed Adjami. The weapons they carried did.
    “Praise be unto Him, what the hell is this?” His startled attention flicked swiftly between implacable, uncompromising countenances. “Who are you people, and how dare you infringe on a species sanctuary! Do you have any idea where you’re trespassing?”
    A middle-aged man wearing a loose, floppy camouflage hat turned and strode belligerently over to the diplomat. His tone was grindingly cold.
    “We know exactly where we are, bug lover.”
    These people were well equipped, Adjami saw. Were they sufficiently well equipped to steal through the automatic sentries and security apparatus that protected the colony? Any unsanctioned intrusion might logically be expected to come from the air. How well was the colony prepared to protect itself from unauthorized encroachment on the ground?
    “If you want to insult me you’ll have to do better than that.” Behind him, Adjami noted that Hathvupredek had quietly slipped off her bench and had begun to edge backward, toward the portal that led down into the hive.
    Grunting an expletive, the armed intruder roughly shoved