They left the leafy expanse of the forest and entered the grasslands
that sloped toward Landing City. He could even see Landing City itself
on the horizon, a smudge of rusting, corrugated steel shacks, muddy
streets, and the small rocket port--a scorched thirty acres or so
fenced off with barbed wire.
Karl looked out of the corner of his eye at Hill and felt a vague wave
of uneasiness. Hill was a big, thick man wearing the soiled clothes and
bristly stubble of a man who was used to living alone and who liked
it. But once he took a wife, he would probably have to keep himself in
clean clothes and shave every few days. It was even possible that the
woman might object to Hill letting his yllumph share the hut.
The path was getting crowded, more of the colonists coming onto the
main path from the small side trails.