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Klyne departed and returned with a fourth child, a sturdy boy about three years old with red hair that left a streak of mud on her face when he pressed his head to her shoulder.

"This is the priest's son," Tiyar said.

The little boy looked at them with a shrewd child's expression, almost pokerface exept that his eyes darted from one person to another and his delicate brows drew somewhat closer together when he looked at Paula. Clark liked him. The boy permitted himself to smile when he perceived it.

Klyne spoke, and Tiyar translated automatically, "She directs him to say something nice."

The boy uttered one word in a firm high voice. Tiyar's hands, which he had held clasped before him, fluttered to his sides and began tapping against his legs. He spoke rapidly to the child, but got no answer. One hand flew back to grasp Fuego's arm. "Help me out, old man. I think this boy speaks the family tongue common to the Viyato and Ketry clans."

"What did he say?"

"Hello."

"How can you tell from one word?" Luz asked.

Fuego signalled her by a touch to be quiet. "Ask him his name."

Tiyar spoke.

"Neshar," the boy replied.

"Well?" Fuego demanded.

Tiyar shook his head in surprise. "He says: Ghost."

Fuego laughed. Paula activated her receiver. Clark looked over her shoulder while she scanned again for signal activity. Both started when a series of numbers and a rough location diagram appeared on the tiny screen. "It's a little outside the crowd, over there," Paula said.

Too frightened to speak, Clark nodded. He grabbed Luz's elbow and pointed to the screen.

"--they came here to see strange things, and we're strange, all right. We fit everyone's expectations," Fuego was saying. He looked down at Paula, then at the screen. "Oh. What should we do?"

Paula was fishing in her pockets. "I'm going to find the transmitter and rig a propellant to it...how far are we from the ocean? Maybe I can make it land in the water...use the bio."

"I've already calculated the distance--" Clark began, holding out the hormone-sensing scanner. Paula nodded and took it from him. "What about the people here? Are they in danger?"

Fuego said, "Ti, let's talk to the priest. He can have the party someplace else, if there's time."

Everyone looked at the bright spot in the clouds.

"I believe there is something called the moontouch portent..." Tiyar mused.

"No, don't do that," Paula directed. "The sig is just for rough location, probably for homing from one of the moons. When they get close, the jecs will switch to bioscan. They'll zero in on any concentration of people. You have to get them to disperse."

"OK, let's split up--" Luz began.

"Do you know what hormone the missiles will be scanning for?" Clark asked. "We might be able to synthesize something--make a decoy."

"Don't know. There are dozens of different kinds. Good idea but it's an old trick."

They separated, the Eyimalians going to look for someone in authority while Paula and Clark went to find the transmitter.
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CONTINUE..................... FOLLOW PAULA AND CLARK..................... FOLLOW EYIMALIANS..................... KLYNE REPORTS..................... FOLLOW PAULA AND CLARK.....................

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INDEX