Lost Cargo by Hollister Ann Grant, Gene Thomson

thrummed under his feet. The ship’s living skin would reform the hull, the doors, the lights, and most of the damaged equipment, but he knew the process would move at its own pace over days, maybe weeks. The ship could be as finicky as one of the creatures he hauled for a living.
    Camouflage: Travel at all times with camouflage. If you crash on assignment, deactivate the camouflage so the locals can find you. If you crash on an unfamiliar planet going to or coming from an assignment, activate your camouflage. Assume the locals are hostile until you know otherwise
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    The force field was at sixty percent and shutting off at unpredictable times, which had allowed the intruders and a group of curious brown animals with hooves and antlers to approach the ship.
    Inspection: Activate camouflage and inspect the ship for damage
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    The ship was a mess. A boulder had pierced the hull, destroyed the main cage, and wrecked the food supply doors.
    Lost Cargo: In the event the cargo escapes, make every effort to capture it alive. If the crash damages the cage, put the cargo in suspended animation (see sub-section 14-6b) until regeneration repairs the cage. If the cargo reaches a populated area, determine if it is a threat to the locals. The technician has the authority to destroy the cargo if capture is impossible
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    The techs called the Lost Cargo paragraph the Stew Clause. If the techs had to do away with the cargo, they would usually store it and turn it into stew, as long as it wasn’t poison or covered in horn or especially nasty. Stewed cargo was a welcome change from the usual tasteless nutrition wafers.
    Right now Tech 29 felt he would give anything for a tasteless wafer. With the ship’s food supply doors jammed, he had no food at all, and that wasn’t in the manual. He would be in desperate shape if the first intruder hadn’t dropped the bottled drink.
    He stared at his bruised reflection and wished he had a hot cup of gribble. Tonight’s unwelcome guests weren’t coming back right away. The woods were too dark. They would wait until daylight, if they came back at all.
    Time to find out if they’d wrecked the ship.
    Tech 29 opened the door and almost stumbled over a large local trapped in the floor. Blue light shone across the local’s horrified face as he pulled his jacket together in a hopeless attempt to hide himself.
    “What the hell are you?” the local shouted.

Chapter 5
Footsteps in the Fog
    L isa Mitchell put the phone down and walked past the baby grand piano and crystal lamps to the couch, where she sat beside her husband Ian. Her mother was going to love this one.
    “That was Travis,” she said, smoothed out her black cashmere sweater dress, and crossed her legs. “He took a girl to the emergency room.”
    Her mother hooted. “Oh, really? Which hospital?”
    “He didn’t say. The girl had an asthma attack.”
    “When does he expect to be here?” Ian asked. He looked like a thoughtful sheep in jeans and tweed. With his curly gray hair and placid expression, all he needed was some grass to chew.
    “He doesn’t know,” Lisa said. “As soon as he can. We’ll see him this week anyway. I told him about the condo.”
    “Unbelievable.” Her mother shook her blonde head and fixed a smile on her face. “So the condo’s on Connecticut Avenue. That’s a great location.”
    Ian nodded. “On the top floor, facing Rock Creek Park.”
    “Which is nice,” Lisa said. “Really nice. We’ll have the woods.”
    “That’s a plus,” her mother said.
    Ian reached for the Brie and crackers on the glass coffee table. “Buchanan House was a prestigious apartment building for over a hundred years until it went condo in the 1980s. The Wyatt Corporation owns most of the units on our floor, and they’re relocating to Virginia, so they’re upgrading everything before they sell.”
    Lisa emptied her wine glass. “So we get a beautiful new kitchen.”
    “Terrific cheese,” Ian said. “This is what God would