"I didn't say it was cactus. It might be, and, if so, could be very
efficient in preparing water and soil minerals for use by the leaves.
There aren't any leaves, of course, but that doesn't change the
principle."
"Don't think I'll ever understand it," she said. "Enough to get by, but
not the way you do."
She stood at his side. It was pleasant to have her there. Other things
were pleasant to imagine too, but he refrained. There were married
couples on the ship, just as there were unattached men and women. But
when the men outnumbered the women three to one, certain conclusions
were inevitable, and he had made them the first few days aboard. Unlike
many of the others, he didn't expect to stay on the ship forever. In a
year and a half he would either prove his point or fail.
Then he would leave. Would Larienne come with him? Maybe, but it wasn't
a good bet. A liaison, no matter how easy it was to enter into, was not
always easy to break. There would be time to decide about that later.
"Is everything all right?" she asked.
He glanced over the dials and mentally added them up. "Reasonably so.
Yes."
"Good," she said. "Unless you need me sooner, I'll be back in about ten
hours."
He nodded and she left. It was unnecessary to ask where she was going.
He could tell that from her manner. They had raised a hitherto unmarked
solar system and she was helping tag it.
His injured hands were aching with the effort, though Larienne had
done most of the actual work. He started toward his room, and then, on
another thought, turned into the dispensary. Franklan he knew better
than anyone except Larienne, and he might get a fresh viewpoint from
him.
* * * * *
Franklan was waiting. He had a doctor's degree from some planet, but
on the ship titles were largely ignored. "The wounded hero comes back,
holding our food supply precariously in his skilled hands," he said as
Alsint entered.
The sarcasm was not altogether friendly, Alsint decided. Without
comment, he laid his hands on the table. He did not pretend to be a
hero and he was not even particularly stubborn. He had put together a
plant in a better way, one that ought to withstand the rigors of tag
ship service, and he intended to see that it got a fair trial.
"What do you know about ship watches?" he asked cautiously.
"Fifteen years on a tag ship, and I've never personally seen a failure.
I suppose it can happen." Franklan glanced up. "It's too bad you had
to destroy yours to get in. I'd like to see what an examination by our
technicians would show."
The same thought that he had, though Franklan seemed to have attached
the opposite meaning to it. "Interesting, isn't it?" Alsint said
evenly. "But I was thinking of the connection it has to the crew panel."