Paula pointed. At first Kieran was distracted by the strangeness of the landscape. The flitter crouched in a vastness of red-ochre sand laced with some low-growing plant that shone like metallic gold in the sunlight. The sand receded in tilted planes lifting gradually to a range of mountains on the right, and dropping gradually to infinity on the left. Directly in front of the flitter and quite literally a stone's throw away was the beginning of a thick belt of trees that grew beside a river, apparently quite a wide one though he could not see much but a tawny sparkling of water. The course of the river could be traced clear back to the mountains by the winding line of woods that followed its bed. The trees themselves were not like any Kieran had seen before. There seemed to be several varieties, all grotesque in shape and exotic in color. There were even some green ones, with long sharp leaves that looked like spearheads. Exotic or not, they made perfectly adequate cover. Stones came whistling out of the woods, but Kieran could not see anything where Paula was pointing but an occasional shaking of foliage. "Sakae?" he asked. Webber snorted. "You'll know it when the Sakae find us. They don't throw stones." "These are the humans," Paula said. There was an indulgent softness in her voice that irritated Kieran. "I thought they were our dear little friends," he said. "You frightened them." "_I_ frightened them?" "They've seen the flitter before. But they're extremely alert to modes of behavior, and they knew you weren't acting right. They thought you were sick." "So they tried to kill me. Nice fellows." "Self-preservation," Webber said. "They can't afford the luxury of too much kindness." "They're very kind among themselves," Paula said defensively. To Kieran she added, "I doubt if they were trying to kill you. They just wanted to drive you away." "Oh, well," said Kieran, "in that case I wouldn't dream of disappointing them. Let's go." Paula glared at him and turned to Webber. "Talk to them." "I hope there's time," Webber grunted, glancing at the sky. "We're sitting ducks here. Keep your patient quiet--any more of that moaning and flopping and we're sunk." * * * * * He picked up a large plastic container and moved closer to the door. Paula looked at Kieran's cheek. "Let me fix that." "Don't bother," he said. At this moment he hoped the Sakae, whoever and whatever they were, would come along and clap these two into some suitable place for the rest of their lives. Webber began to "talk".