"No," Ri said. "They don't have any rockets this small. And I don't
think there's another cargo rocket on this planet outside of the one we
leased from the Club. Except the one _he_ brought."
"The ones who discovered the farn beasts in the first place?" Mia
asked. "You think it's their blast?"
"So?" Ri said. "But who are they?"
* * * * *
It was Mia's turn to shrug. "Whoever they were, they couldn't have been
hunters. They'd have kept the secret better."
"We didn't do so damned well."
"We didn't have a chance," Mia objected. "Everybody and his brother had
heard the rumor that farn beasts were somewhere around here. It wasn't
our fault Extrone found out."
"I wish we hadn't shot our guide, then. I wish he was here instead of
us."
Mia shook perspiration out of his eyes. "We should have shot our pilot,
too. That was our mistake. The pilot must have been the one who told
Extrone we'd hunted this area."
"I didn't think a Club pilot would do that."
"After Extrone said he'd hunt farn beasts, even if it meant going to
the alien system? Listen, you don't know.... Wait a minute."
There was perspiration on Ri's upper lip.
"_I_ didn't tell Extrone, if that's what you're thinking," Mia said.