Life Form by Alan Dean Foster

Author:Alan Dean Foster
Language: eng
Format: mobi, pdf, epub
Tags: Fiction, Science Fiction, Life on Other Planets, General
ISBN: 9780441002184
Published: 2011-08-11T15:08:57+00:00

"Maybe we should look in on Stewart." O'Sandringham pulled away from Stevens.

"Why? Stew likes his solitude. So do I." He tried to drag her back.

She resisted. "We're really supposed to check in with one another periodically. It's been quite a while."

"Don't worry about Stew." Stevens's fingers marched.

She squirmed. "I'd feel better, Kauri." They were lying in one of the hammocks that had been set up outside the main entrance to the camp. Off in the distance Faery Lights, as they called the tiny flying creatures, swarmed in the heat of day above the reflective mass of the lander.

He sighed and rolled smoothly out of the hammock. "Anything to make you feel better, darlin'." Naked, he extracted his com unit from the duty belt encircling his pants and flicked it to live.

"Ramirez, it's check-in time." There was no response. "Stew, you there?" The tiny speaker's thin electronic hiss mocked his efforts.

Alert but not yet worried, the mate smiled reassuringly at O'Sandringham, who was now sitting up in the hammock, her legs dangling over the side. "C'mon, Stew, old boy," he murmured into the corn's pickup. "If you're asleep, wake up. If you're not, talk to me." There was still no reply.

Thoroughly irritated, he shut down the com. "Probably left it by his bed, or he's in the can and doesn't want to be disturbed."

O'Sandringham shook her head. "That wouldn't bother Stewart. He'd be happy to talk to you while defecating. Something's not right." She slid out of the hammock and picked up her jumpsuit.

Stevens looked resigned. "All right, we'll go check on the stupid mucker. I suppose his unit could be malfunctioning. Checking on it'll give me a chance to pretend I'm doing something useful around here."

She sealed her suit and reached over to tousle his hair. "Kauri, you know I'd pine away if you weren't around to keep me posted."

He had to grin. "Three bad puns in one line. Keeping my company's improved the hell out of your disposition, Bee-el."

A quick check revealed that Ramirez wasn't in his private cubicle. Nor was he in the mess, engaged in his favorite pastime of raiding the food stores.

"Don't tell me he's working." O'Sandringham evinced mock disbelief. "Out in the field you can't slow him down, but he's not big on laboratory methodology."

"I think you underestimate him there, Bee-el." Stevens led the way down a connecting corridor. "Stew's just a hyperactive type, that's all. From what I've seen, you have to sit still to do proper lab work, and he's not a sitter. He just has a lot of energy."

"Yeah, right." O'Sandringham absently flipped the seal on the barrier to the next chamber.

Stevens let out a moan even before the door had finished opening. "Oh, man." Rushing forward, he practically slid on his knees up to the prone figure. His fingers felt briefly of the other man's body. Then he was tearing at the ecosuit.

"Give me a hand, Bee-el!"

"What do you think I'm trying to do?" She was already working at the leg seals.

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