Fire Time by Poul Anderson Read Free Book Online

mayor.
    ‘They don’t, aside from doubtless having heard the speakers will assemble soon. How could I’ve called them on the march? That’s why I’ve stopped off here, to see your leaders and try for a word from them that I can bring along to Sehala.’
    Again Jill nodded. ‘I forgot. Silly of me. I’m too used to instant communications, simply add hot air and stir.’
    She was in a different boat from him, Larreka reflected indulgently. A standard-size portable transceiver would reach to one of the relays the humans had planted throughout the southern half of this continent, and it would buck the voice on. But greater distances required a big transmitter and those relays the newcomers had put on the moons. Thus far they hadn’t built more than four such stations – being, after all, at the end of a mighty long and thin supply line from Earth – in Primavera, in Sehala, in Light Place on the Haelen coast, and, barely ten years ago, in Port Rua. It was ironic that, posted away off to Darkness-and-gone in the northern hemisphere, he’d been able to talk from end to end of the Gathering, a meridian arc ten thousand kilometers inlength; and then, as he approached the center of civilization, his walkie-talkie had gone deaf and dumb.
    Jill took his arm. ‘They don’t expect you, hey?’ she said. ‘C’mon, let me make the arrangements. I want to listen in.’
    ‘Why not?’ he answered. ‘Though you won’t like what you hear.’
    An hour passed. Jill whirled off to collect the men she had mentioned, who were carrying out jobs in the neighborhood. Meanwhile Larreka led his troopers to the single inn Primavera boasted. Mainly it dealt in beer, wine, pool games, darts, the occasional dinner out; but it had accommodations for humans, whether these be transients or new chums who’d soon get permanent digs, and for visiting Ishtarians. Larreka saw his squad settled in and told the proprietor to bill the city for them as per long-standing agreement. He didn’t warn them not to run it riotously high. They were good lads who’d keep the honor of the legion in mind.
    Nor did he make arrangements for himself. Jill had written two years ago that she’d moved from her parent’s home to a rented cottage which had an Ishtarian-outfitted chamber – it dated back several of her generations, to when scholars of both races were working constantly and intimately in an effort at mutual understanding – and if he didn’t stay with her anytime he was in town, she’d be cut to the squick (‘That’s “squick”. It bleeds more.’)
    He proceeded to the mayor’s home-cum-office. A community like Primavera needed little steering. Most of Hanshaw’s duties involved Earth: shipping companies, individual scientists and technies considering a job here, bureaucrats of the World Federation when they got the urge to meddle, national politicians who could be a bigger nuisance.
    The house was typical, built for a climate the humans called ‘Mediterranean’. Thick walls, pastel-painted, gave insulation as well as strength; to the rear, a patio opened on a flower garden. Sturdy construction, steel shutters for the windows, an aerodynamically designed heraklite roof, were needful against tornados. Larreka had been told thatIshtar’s rotation made storms more frequent and violent than on Earth.
    Hanshaw’s wife admitted him but didn’t join the conference in their living room. Besides the mayor and Jill, Ian Sparling was present. Those were ample. Get more than a few Terrestrials together, and it was incredible what time they’d dribble away in laborious jabber. Sparling was chief engineer of the rescue project, therefore a key man. Moreover, he too was a good friend of Larreka’s.
    ‘Howdy, stranger,’ boomed Hanshaw. He’d changed almost shockingly, the commandant saw, turned gray and portly. He still seemed vigorous, however, and still insisted on shaking hands rather than clasping shoulders. ‘Flop yourself.’ He gestured at