Alan Dean Foster - Founding of the Commonwealth 01 by Phylogenesis

Author:Phylogenesis
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2012-01-26T22:25:43+00:00

He marveled at the miniature jewels comprising the familyDendrobatidae, the poison arrow frogs. When he encountered a sloth lumbering lugubriously between trees, he satfor hours watching it. Reaching a stream whose bottom wasclearly visible through the transparent water, he chose towade it instead of hunting for a bridge or a way around. Themeter-deep water covered his legs and submerged his abdomen, coming right up to the base of his thorax. All fourtrulegs were underwater, a condition designed to make anysensible, right-thinking thranx exceedingly nervous. What if hestepped into a hole and went under? What if the appearanceof the streambed was deceptively deeper than it appeared, orgave way beneath his feet?

Holding his breath, he deliberately lowered himself untilthe stream rose to his mandibles. With his spicules submerged, only his head remained above water. He could still see with his eyes, hear with his ears, taste with his antennae,but he could not breathe. He held the unnatural position foras long as his lungs would allow before finally straighten-ing. Water trickled off his exoskeleton as he emerged ontothe far bank. The experience had been empowering as well asexhilarating.

Raising the overworked scri!ber to his mandibles, he poureda stream of florid composition into the integrated pickup.As he walked and dictated, he strode into a patch of lowswamp seething with voracious, newly hatched leeches. Theyswarmed onto his legs and promptly dropped off, unable to penetrate his exoskeleton. Those that persisted he picked offand flung aside. They tried to cling to his digits but were un-able to secure a grip on the hard, smooth surface.

There were sizable native predators on Willow-Wane, andin prehistoric times primitive social thranx on Hivehom hadsuffered predation at the claws of rampaging colowact or theferocious burrowing bejajek.

Large meat-eaters tended tomake a good deal of noise prior to attacking, however. So itwas with more than a little surprise that Desvendapur, whothought himself by now comparatively well attuned to the movements and the rhythms of the terrestrial forest, steppedthrough a clump of deep green calathia and found himselfconfronting a round, speculative face deep of eye and carnivorous of aspect.

More than a little surprised itself, but equally intrigued, the jaguar inclined its head upward and sniffed curiously.Recognizing the quadruped from his studies, the poet haltedwhere he was standing. One foothand reached up and back toremove the kitchen cutting tool he had appropriated from thefood preparation section. It was the nearest thing to a weaponDesvendapur had been able to expropriate and bring along.Food preparators did not have access to stunners or projectiledevices. Not that it mattered.

Even if he had been allowedopen and free access to the colony’s stores he doubted if such appliances were extant. Even the rogue humans who had assisted in helping the colony to get started might balk at theunregulated importation of alien weaponry.

Taking care not to make any sudden movements that mightagitate the big carnivore, Des transferred the cutting toolfrom his foothand to a truhand. The foothand was stronger,but the truhand was more dexterous and agile. Also, it couldreach high enough to protect his face.

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