The Best of All Possible Worlds by Karen Lord Read Free Book Online Page B

asexual, though many of those who are registered
     as gender-neutral are indeed so. However, it doesn’t matter, because this has no bearing
     on our mission and is thus
none of our business
. Now come on. They’re waiting for us. My little tumble has put our whole schedule
     out of whack.”
    It was a bit of an exaggeration. Things were proceeding as usual outside the shuttle.
     Nasiha and Tarik, the Sadiri married couple on loan from the Interplanetary Science
     Council, were securing equipment on the pallet that held our supplies. Dr. Daniyel
     was talking to Lian, and Lian was making notes on a handheld computer with a stylus.
     Dllenahkh also had a handheld and appeared to be recording a memo in a low murmur.
     Then there was Fergus tweaking some last clamp on one of the punts and Joral and myself
     bringing up the rear with the last box of supplies we’d need for this trip. We were
     a motley crew, with two Sadiri in dark blue Science Council uniforms, the Cygnians
     in Civil Service gray and green (semiformal yet serviceable gear courtesy of the Division
     of Forestry and Grasslands), and the two remaining Sadiri in beige and dark brown
     civvies.
    Fergus, our security and survival specialist, attracted our attention by clearing
     his throat and began his briefing.
    “They say it’s unlucky to urinate in the waters of Candirú,” he said. “It’s true.
     There’s a parasitic fish in the river that’ll swim up your urethra and get wedged
     in good and proper. Very painful. Don’t risk it, but if you must, the Commissioner
might
be able to remove it without calling for medevac.”
    The smirk that had appeared on my face at the word “urinate” slowly transformed into
     a look of sheer horror; my smothered chuckle ended in a sickened gulp. “Oh. You’re
     not joking, are you?”
    Fergus scowled down at me from his two-meter-plus height. “I do not joke. My job is
     not a joking matter.”
    “Okay,” I murmured meekly. Pincushion plants and perverted parasitic fish. I could
     tell this place was going to be
lovely
.
    Fortunately, my strong right arm was not needed to bring us to our destination before
     the darkening of twilight. We—or, rather, the rest of the team—poled our three small
     craft to a central platform in the middle of the tree-fringed marshes and moored them
     carefully. Fergus boarded first and helped Dr. Daniyel up. As we gathered together
     on the platform, we gazed about at the houses: simple structures on piles, some with
     steps going down to small vessels moored underneath, and other, larger residences
     connected to the main platform by boardwalks. The water was flat and rich with moss
     and weed that tinted the crisply mirrored images of the houses with a green glass
     sheen. The place was quiet, as if all were in the middle of a siesta.
    “Do we call out? Ring something?” Lian asked uncertainly.
    “No,” said Tarik. “We have been seen.”
    His voice sounded a little strange, but when I saw the canoe and the people who were
     paddling it, I understood. Thus far, wehad visited two settlements, both of which had indeed registered a significant amount
     of taSadiri heritage according to Dr. Daniyel’s genetic tests but whose inhabitants
     had in culture and appearance so resembled the average Cygnian as to be unremarkable.
     These ones, now—they had the
hair
.
    We set up our government-issue shelters on a spare platform (civil servants are discouraged
     from accepting hospitality when on duty in case of bias or conflict of interest).
     It was quite comfortable. The marsh was fed mainly by outflows from the Candirú, and
     it did not rain during the time we were there. Screens and repellent kept the biting
     insects away, and filters made collecting potable water as simple as leaning over
     the platform’s edge. Their sewage system was excellent, its tubing tucked away behind
     piles and under boardwalks leading to a treatment area some distance away on dry land.
     I took