Jasper had laced his hands tightly together and was staring down at them. Dane glanced at the short, weedy man, feeling a surge of Sympathy. Funny-he didn't feel at all sorry for Ali. Kamil, despite his struggles with the reality of the shared bond, had proved that he was a survivor. Jasper, the one who never complained, who never got in anyone's way- he was the one who was taking this hardest, Dane was convinced.

But it was Jasper who looked up suddenly, and said, "They could be waiting for us. Let's get it over with now."

"Now?" Ali repeated.

"You think we're ready?" Rip asked more quietly.

"I don't think-" Jasper started, then he looked down again. "I'd rather know." His voice was so low Dane almost didn't hear him.

For answer he grabbed hold of the side of his desk and swung himself off his bunk. Being upright again made him giddy for a few seconds.

The others moved out of his cabin, making the small s.p.a.ce seem a lot less crowded, and Dane hitched along behind, moving fairly quickly for a man with one leg immobilized.

They filed out to the cargo-bay lock. Tau met them there, and in silence fitted each with sensors. Tooe hovered just inside the cargo bay, and Dane knew that the others were watching from the vid-links on the upper decks.

Rip looked around at them. "Ready?"

Ali shrugged, his brows raised, a challenging gleam in his dark eyes. Dane gestured with one hand; Jasper edged up next to the lock, his shoulders tight with tension. But it was clear he expected to be the first one out.

"Wait," Ali said. "How are we going to do this?"

"I'll go out," Jasper said. "Maybe you'd better hold my shoulder from behind. In case I can't use my hands after they touch me."

"We'll line up like Blind Man's Walk, then," Ali said, moving into position. And, with his customary drawl, "This will be one for the vids."

Dane knew that drawl for the bravado it was, and ignored it as he stepped up to clap his hand on Jasper's shoulder. He felt Ali right behind him, and Rip took a step nearer to Ali so that he could reach him as well as the lock controls.

"Tooe control lock?" the little Rigelian offered.

Rip nodded his thanks and stepped back.

Now they were in a row, their backs to the bulkhead. In case. Dane didn't need a psi link to know that all four of them were thinking of convulsions-and worse.

Tooe stretched up on her toes, looking an inquiry at Jasper, who gave her the thumbs-up.

The lock slid open.

Vapor puffed in, smelling of greenery and mossy rock and damp soil. Dane saw a huge Floater hovering directly outside the lock, and inadvertently sucked a breath in. His nerves tingled almost painfully, a reminder of his encounter.

Jasper did not falter. He stretched out his free arm, and Dane saw the Floater move slowly, gently, over him.

"Concentrate," Rip murmured.

Dane closed his eyes. He could see the contact on the vid record later-if he lived. Now, he tried to clear his mind of memory, of fear, expectation, and called up the familiar image of the vast ocean. Not Hesprid's angry gray sea, but the beautiful blue Terran ocean he remembered seeing in his childhood. He was floating on a raft. Ali appeared near him, not visible; it was more as if he were just behind, but Dane was aware of him. Rip and Jasper were also there. Dane concentrated on the warm air, the mild sun, just floating, drifting- A silver flicker flashed across his inner vision-almost painful, certainly intense. Instinct almost forced him out, but he held on to his image, and then suddenly new images flooded his mind, powerful and vivid and rapid, a tidal wave of sensation that overwhelmed his mind.

Again he nearly lost his place in the bond, but fought to hold it-swimming he sent the thought out, treading water- and the images slowed.

Now he was high in the sky, looking down at the island from above.

With an exultant surge of energy he realized he was seeing the island from the perspective of the Floaters. Yes-the trees were there, and so was the ship.

And he realized he felt exposed, in danger from-what? All around the island the sky glared at him, unfriendly, dry- The perspective dissolved into a complicated series of images having to do with the trees but all Dane got was searing heat- Flames. That was Jasper. Lights in the sky.

Another silver flash, almost painful. Dane now sensed many awarenesses, like sentient stars watching above the ocean. The images came rapidly again, then slowed; now all four felt the effort of the stars' attempt to keep the flow of imagery at a sustained pace.

Quakes. That was Rip. Why would Floaters be concerned with quakes? Let's concentrate on that. There's something important here.

At the stream of words Dane felt a ripple of reaction go through the stars. It was impossible to a.s.sign any kind of emotion to that reaction, only magnitude of intensity. He realized that the Floaters did not use words-of course! They had no mouths and could not speak!

His thought speared to the other three; he felt their reaction. Then he tried to reach for the image of the trees.

Again the images came, so fast Dane felt his brain unable to cope with them. He wished suddenly that he had not fastened on to the image of swimming, for now the sensation that he was drowning was so overwhelming he staggered, gasping for breath- And was out of the bond.

He fell back against the bulkhead, to find Craig Tau at his elbow. "Here. Sit." The medic guided Dane to a storage crate and he sank down gratefully, cast-bound leg stretched before him. He was surprised to discover that his good knee felt watery, and that he was soggy with sweat. The cargo bay swam unpleasantly before his vision, and he closed his eyes, drawing deep, slow breaths.

"They are sentient," Rip said wonderingly. "But so different."

"What was that about lights? And the quakes?" Dane asked, his voice hoa.r.s.e.

"And flames," said Ali.

Jasper said slowly, "The End Times." His pallid face was beaded with perspiration. "The End Times are coming. That's what I got. First lights in the sky, then quakes, then the flames."

"And no escape," Ali said. "Just like the legends of ancient Terra."

"Of every world," said Jasper.

"They are related," said Tau suddenly. "Stotz and I tried programming some new parameters into the weather simulator. What seems likely is that the piezo effects in the rocks not only generate EM, but, of course, respond to it, so as the sunspot cycle builds, you get tectonic events occurring with increasing frequency.. The high lightning may be tied in as well."

"I caught thetorm images," Ali said. "Have we gotten ourselves into some religious conflict? With the other species? I couldn't see them."

"No," Jasper murmured, still in that odd, dreamy voice. As if his mind was only partly present. "They all fear. Something has changed, something that will affect the others undersea."

"Undersea?" That was Craig Tau.

Jasper turned toward him, his eyes curiously unseeing. "Lives. lives undersea. They were all there, listening. First the Floaters-whole colonies, and then these others joined-"

"That's why I felt I was drowning," Dane exclaimed, sitting up again. "I kept getting place-"

"Undersea!" Ali snapped his fingers. "Me too! I thought they were dragging us underwater by some weird psi method."

Craig Tau looked from him to Jasper. "Go on, Weeks."

Jasper shook his head slowly, then winced. Dane felt dizziness hovering on the edge of his own perceptions, and again had to steady his breathing.

"Never mind," the medic said abruptly. "All four of you. Orders now-get some rest. We can debrief later."

Ali left without speaking, and Rip started after, rubbing his temples. Jasper took a couple of steps, then turned around slowly. "The entire planet," he said. "Floaters, swimmers. Trees. They're all connected." He touched his head, and then walked slowly out.

Dane felt as if a puzzle had suddenly fallen into place. "That's it," he said. His head throbbed. "That's it-and there's something desperately wrong."

Rip Shannon watched with sympathy as Dane Thorson wedged uncomfortably into a corner of the weird little elevator box behind Ali and Tooe, then braced himself as the lift lurched upward.

It was ten hours later, during five of which Rip had slept. When he woke up, he'd been told by Craig Tau that the Traders were full of questions about what had happened, and so he and Siere had suggested a meeting of all the Free Traders. Because the Queen had no cabins that would comfortably hold seventeen, they were meeting in the tree-camp.

First, though, he and Dane, Ali, and Jasper had held their own debriefing. Each found that they retained vivid images of what they had experienced, though those experiences did not always match completely. As Dane said when they finally broke, "We discovered that when we send each other images in three-D, we all see it from the angle the person projecting it sees it. But with the Floaters, it's as if we're getting different angles-only not of an object, but of a gestalt."

Gestalt. It was not a word most navigators had in their ready vocabulary, Rip had thought with a weird tickle of humor, as they all parted to don their winter gear-Tau helping Dane.

Ali ferried Dane over in the flitter; the rest walked in the pouring rain. At least the winds were not as bad as they had been, but the temperature was just above freezing. Rip thought about trying to mine in ice-and then remembered the lost boat.

He shook his head, resolving to set those thoughts aside for later.

Just then the lift reached the main level, and they stepped out and sent the lift down for the remainder of the Queen's crew.

The Traders waited for them above, on the biggest platform. Rip saw Stotz talking earnestly with Irrba and Tazcin, and the two medics went off to another corner to talk. Kam-sin brought out a great bra.s.s urn and poured out cups of some drink whose aroma reminded Rip of the scents of apples and cinnamon and pears.

Rip noted Dane regarding his cup with satisfaction; the handle was big enqugh even for his hands. Tooe looked like she was holding a'bucket, but she didn't seem to mind. Just gripped it in both fists and slurped enthusiastically. Kamsin made pleased huffing noises, and Rip realized that again the Terrans had missed a cue. The Tath ate quietly-he'd noted that before-but they apparently drank noisily.

When he got his, he experimented, slurping the hot liquid up so that it cooled before it reached his lips. Kamsin huffed at him as well, and Rip smiled.

Then Tazcin said, "We here, all. Begin."

Tau said, "You saw the vidrecording of Jasper's encounter with the Floaters. Why don't we start with any questions you have?"

A quick riff of comments went round the Traders, then Lossin said, "Floaters speak?"

"No speech," Rip said.

"Images-pictures. Here." Ali tapped his head.

"Dr. Siere has the data I took from the sensors," Tau said slowly, looking from face to face. "The Floaters function with roughly the same kind of neurology as we have-though their synaptical charges are enough to trigger seizures in humans. The Floaters seemed to realize this, and made an effort to dampen the effect of their link."

"Need all four Terrans?" That was Gleef's reedy voice.

"I think so," Dane said. "Maybe we could handle their touch alone-if they damp the effect. But it takes all four of us to process the images. We each seem to 'hear' something different."

"But there isss a messsage?" Siere asked in his raspy voice.

"Yes-though we don't know what it is yet."

"Evidence is clear, they are sentients?" Lossin asked.

"Yes." That was Craig Tau.

Jasper Weeks had sat quietly, holding his cup. Now he said, "The Charter. It is null-or will be as soon as we report to the Federation, or the Patrol, that there are in fact sentients on Hesprid IV."

"The ore." That was Lossin. "It is not ours, then. We trespa.s.s."

Ali looked up, and Rip knew without any psi connection what he was thinking: if we say anything.

And it was tempting, that could not be denied. Without the ore they had refined, they could lift the Traders only by abandoning several tons of equipment, which would break them.

They had only to load what ore they had onto the ship and depart, and within months the Charter would expire. Who would stop them?

But Ali did not speak. The child who had survived the Crater Wars had grown up learning-painfully--'how to be trustworthy before he could trust. This much Rip had discerned from the vivid dreams Ali had perforce shared with the others. None of this had been discussed, or would be discussed, for it was still personal trespa.s.s. The bond between the four was no more than a truce; they shared what touched them all, but ignored, or pretended to ignore, what touched them singly.

"We Trade!" That was Tooe. She whistled happily. "We are Traders. We Trade."

"With a species that does not use words, and may not have understanding of the concept of Trade?" Johan Stotz rubbed his jawline. "I'm for it-if we can manage-but do you four think you can communicate with these Floater things in a way that will convince the Feds that we are really Trading? The last I heard, the Patrol-and the Federation Diplomatic Corps-don't include psi training for their; agents."

Dane looked up from the depths of his drink. "I don't think we can worry about how the legal mind will approach our records once we lift. But I do think the Old Man would insist we do right by the inhabitants any way we can. Even if that means endless ha.s.sles with bureaucrats later."

"Which is nothing new," Craig Tau added, grinning.

While they spoke, Tooe and Lossin both were busy translating in an undertone to the others. Now Tazcin spoke, her low, mellow voice definite in tone.

Tooe said, "They want only honest Trade."

Rip looked at-the other three. "I guess that leaves it up to us, then, doesn't it?"

Ali crossed his arms, lounging back. "Us and the Floaters-and if by some miracle we can manage to come to an accord, we have our pirate friends waiting up there." He glanced at the cloud-torn sky.

Chapter Nineteen.

"Kamsin! Tooe! Get out of here!"

Dane stumbled forward, nearly fell facedown in the mud, and caught himself against a boulder.

Jasper Weeks ran forward, waving his arms, and the Floaters descending toward the tall and the small figures floated upward again, vapors swirling around them.

Tooe and Kamsin ran back up the ramp into the Queen, and Rip moved with a kind of painful slowness to Ali Kamil's p.r.o.ne form in the mud.

Dane sat up against his rock, gasping for-breath. He looked up at the swirling gray mist, shot through with threads of fervent light from Hesprid's increasingly uneasy sun. It was five days after the conference in the trees, two days since the comsats reported a va,st bubble of gas rocketing out of the sunspot-riddled sun toward the planet. The effect of its impact on the magnetosphere, now only two days off, couldn't be predicted-their computer models delivered nonsensical answers.

Dane, remembering the glaring brightness of the aurora they'd seen during a brief period of clear sky, shuddered at the thought of what such a magnetic storm would do to the weather. And communications. Already, even if the North Star broke radio silence, they'd never hear it.

He levered himself wearily to his feet. This was the third try the four had made to continue the contact with the Floaters. Two days of storms had kept the fog and Floaters away; three relatively quiet days had seen the four coming out each morning, to find thick fog and an ever-increasing number of the strange beings.

Dane looked up now. The fog made vision difficult, but he estimated at least a hundred of the things. But they hovered, instead of descending.

He transferred his gaze to Rip. "Pa.s.sed out?"