Quozl by Alan Dean Foster Page B

orbit?”
    â€œThe group analyzing surface emissions is not positive of anything, but they are relatively certain. We will have to content ourselves with that. Another reason for making haste in securing a burrowsite.” He hesitated and became for only a moment something less than a Landing Supervisor and more than a friend.
    â€œThat doesn’t mean we want the survey team indulging in unnecessary risks. You and Burden-carries-Far are the two highest-rated scouts we have trained. It would be catastrophic if the ship were to lose you both. I would also be personally distressed.” And he turned and hurried off before Looks could say anything.
    It was a comforting thought to carry with him as he walked off to find his colleague. They had much to talk about before tomorrow.
    â€œWho could have anticipated such a thing? Who could have imagined it?” Burden-carries-Far was sipping from a tube, lying on his back with his feet propped comfortably in the air. The lounge was nearly empty except for the two scouts. Everyone else was on duty. Their work would start tomorrow. “What do you think they’ll be like?”
    â€œIt’s not our job to find out. It’s our job to secure the immediate landing site and protect the scientific team.”
    â€œI know what our job is.” Burden stared languorously at the ceiling. The contents of the tube were affecting him. “They might have cold blood and external skeletons.”
    â€œNot according to the techs co-opted for the native studies group. They say they’ll probably look a lot like us.”
    â€œThat lot of spring humpers?” Burden made a derisive noise. “I wouldn’t place much reliance on their ravings. If only their broadcasts contained visuals!”
    â€œApparently their technology hasn’t advanced that far, and we can’t wait for them to develop visual to accommodate our curiosity. We must get down and in quickly. We don’t even know what their climate will be like for certain.”
    â€œSo you don’t trust these long-range approximations either. I thought as much.” Burden was clearly amused. “Me, I’m not making any evaluations until I breathe the stuff personally.”
    â€œNot that weather matters very much since we’ll be burrowing,” Looks muttered. “We have one thing in our favor: Shiraz is severely underpopulated. We ought to be able to find an adequate and hidden site without too much difficulty.”
    â€œAll that water.” Burden-carries-Far stared at the colored bubbles in his drinking tube. “If only we were river motiles.” He let out a series of short, sharp barks. Listeners would have taken umbrage, but not inside a lounge.
    â€œI wonder how long contact will be delayed,” Looks murmured.
    â€œIf they’re primitive enough to war among themselves I’d think the Council would try to avoid it as long as possible. Don’t fret, my friend. There will be plenty to observe. I don’t think we will lack for excitement. A whole new world lies before us, and the flora and fauna can’t be very hostile. Not if these natives, primitive as they are, have managed to develop civilization.”
    â€œNot necessarily. Who knows what another sentient race might do, how they might think and act? You are theorizing as a Quozl. Shirazian thought processes might be utterly different. Reason says they should have exterminated themselves by now, not maintained their present level of barbarism.”
    He slept only with the aid of heavy meditation tapes. The magnitude of what they were about to do, the responsibility, was beginning to sink in.
    In the morning the six members of the initial survey team were shown the drop site. It was located east of the mountains of the war-free northern continent, in high foothills. The land was almost unpopulated and the vast empty mountains would help to conceal the survey vessel’s approach as