Brink found himself with a partner named Tzal Evans. She proved to be a genial, oversized, blonde giantess at least five years his senior. He had been hoping for a younger, more attractive companion--possibly dark-haired Rea Smyt. Yet he realized that the Commission could not permit its colonists to choose their jobs and partners at random. There was work to be done. He found the map and learned that both he and Bryt Carby were assigned to the untamed, forested section named Middle Park. And Bryt Carby had drawn Rea Smyt as his partner. Brink scrubbed at his chin. He foresaw difficulties ahead for Carby. The few moments that he had spent with Rea had acquainted him with her lightning changes of mood and her disdain for rules and regulations. Those two had nothing in common. After the legal year of partnership was ended neither of them would be likely to renew the agreement for another year. Perhaps he, Brink, would draw her in next year's pool of unattached citizens, and then.... Tzal nudged at him. "Let's get our supplies," she said, her voice deep as a man's. "Sure, Tzal." The top of her fair-haired skull was level with his eyes, and across it he caught a glimpse of Rea Smyt leading Carby from the reception center. "Sure. We better." Rea danced along ahead of Carby like a child--a lovely slender child. * * * * * Dusk caught them, hours later, on the wooded ridge high above the broad valley that was their destination. Carby followed Rea off the crumbled highway, that the vanished Sullans had built, and into a sheltered grove of long-leaved trees. Brink and Tzal, pushing easily together at the harnesses behind the rubber-tired cart, followed them. Clumsily, for they had never seen a tent before, they released the forward section of the cart and drew out the slender jointed ribs of metal. They snapped these together into a low dome ten feet in diameter; and then Tzal controlled the extensible arms feeding out the plastic covering, while Brink locked the opaque skin into place. Five minutes later, with the wind cone driving the generator and the bottled gas feeding the small stove, Tzal was preparing their evening meal under the soft glowing tubes. She turned to Brink. "Better go help Carby," she suggested, smiling. "That Rea--" And she shook her head. Brink found Carby struggling doggedly with the metal ribs. His partner was not in sight, but they could hear her voice, singing softly somewhere out among the dusky trees. When at last the lighting tubes were glowing and Carby had lighted the stove, Brink eyed the weary, large-featured man curiously. "What are you going to do about it?" he blurted. "You can't go on doing all the work. She needs a good--a good, lumping, I think the Ancients called it." Carby grinned faintly. "When she is ready," he said mildly, "she will help." "Hah!" Brink snorted and went to the zippered entrance. "See you tomorrow, Bryt."