Wine of the Gods 4: Explorers by Pam Uphoff Page A

on duty. Turn the camm back on. If they come back and massacre you all, we'll have that on record too."
    Nelson snorted. Lon's sense of humor showed up at odd times, sometimes. "Tell Doctor Galina her times for the splits are all wrong. These guys can't have split more than three thousand years ago. Less, actually. English was one of the last of the pre-modern languages to form. Their culture must have stagnated."
    "Either that or the world split earlier and we're looking at an Early Diaspora situation."
    "That's just a theory. No one's ever proven it."
    "Well, think of the opportunity."
    "Ha! I'm afraid that this crater pro vides all the answers to the narrow genetic diversity that we need. And it's a cold hard fact, not a silly theory."
     
    ***
     
    The invisible woman retreated silently. Never had put her bow and arrows away hours ago, but the creepy voice from the box made her wish she had them in hand. The voice had sounded like it had seen them, heard them. Well, Dydit and Lefty. Question and Never had both remained invisible, listening and watching.
    Hmm, well maybe she shouldn't condemn the strangers for having invisible watchers.
    She slipped around a couple of brushy areas, and upslope to their rendezvous. Question was already there.
    She dropped the light warp. "They were speaking some variety of old Scoo, weren't they?"
    "Close enough to guess most of what they were saying."
    Lef ty nodded. "I doubt I was getting as much as Dydit, but Old Gods! What a bunch of snobs. Talked over our heads regularly, like we were idiots."
    "They must be nobles," Dydit said.
    "Slave masters," Lefty growled. "They talk over the merchandise like that too."
    "That box on the three legs?" Never said. "It was some sort of listening and looking device. Nelson talked to someone named Lon on another box about you, and it talked back."
    "Magic?"
    They both shook their heads.
    "It had some concentration of electricity about it," Question said. "But there was no mental, magical, twisting going on in any of them."
    "And they never twigged to us being there."
    "Let's keep it that way." Lefty said. "Let's get to know them better before we complicate the situation with attractive women."
    Question sniffed. "Roxy was cute enough, and they didn't act dominant around her. She had a weapon, too."
    Lefty eyed her. "Which doesn't mean that outsider women will get the same treatment."
    " We need to follow those people back. That 'gyp' of theirs travelled faster than the horses. Can we ride back with them, leave the critters here? The horses are good for a week. Any longer and they'll wander off and we'll have trouble finding them, let alone catching them. We can turn the chickens loose. Most likely a wolf will snack down on them inside of a week. But what are we going to do about the kids?" Never glanced over at a barely perceptible shielded circle, and the two bundles sleeping inside it.
    Dydit shifted uneasily. "We'll never be able to keep them hidden. I'll have to bring them along."
    "We'll help! We can spy on them, because we're small." Rustle, of course.
    Lefty sighed. "They're damn smart. And Rustle is a natural born eavesdropper. They may be an asset, depending on what this lot has in mind for us. People say things in front of kids they'd never say in front of an adult."
    Never bit a finger nail, then nodded reluctantly.
    "If they try anything, I'll take them apart." Dydit growled.
    Never dug into her backpack and pulled out dinner. "I didn't want to miss t heir conversational asides."
    Question snorted. "I ate and listened, and you were certainly getting close enough for them to hear you chewing."
    Dydit gave Never a fishy look.
    "It was interesting. Nelson mutters."
    "Oh, what did he say?"
    "That the language similarities would make it easy for the mining supervisors."
    "Told you. Slavers." Lefty shifted. "I want to hear what they think of this ridge and the lake. But then perhaps we should report home. These people are strange, and potentially