a glancing blow. And I hadn't seen anything.

But only a recent problem.

And restricted to the area beyond the stream.

And random.

And terribly innocent. Innocent enough to be overlooked until it was
too late.

_Think._

I thought and came up with a brainful of nothing.

_Think again._

Strong enough to pierce two thicknesses of cloth--It must have gone
entirely through, although the overzealousness of the crew had removed
any possibility of proof.

How about the bug suit?

Assume the plastic was protection enough--

Wouldn't the wearer notice a blow? Or hear something?

I'd felt but not heard.

But then the rain had been falling.

No insect had hit me forcibly before--

Moya and his helper had noticed nothing after--

A few meager drops of rain, sibilantly soaking into the eager soil of
Epsilon-Terra.

Whoever first mouthed that bit about cursing being the audible
manifestation of a mediocre mind completely missed the point.

There's something infinitely comforting in the crackle and sweep and
roll of heartfelt invective.

I left the site of the common grave and made it back to the hillside and
shuttler IV as fast as discretion and terrain and my game leg would
allow.

* * * * *

"I _am_ thinking," Moya grumbled over the comm. "If these details are so
important, why--?"

"Don't blame Interstel," I said. "The tapes were put together by GS
headquarters."

"Well, whoever. They should have included more information."

"Thompson," I prodded.

"Sure, sure, I remember him. Big, awkward, slow-moving--always babbling
about plants."

"What kind?"

"_All_ kinds."

"But anything particular? Something that he wanted to extract something
from."

"Well, let's see--He brought back lots of sample specimens, but there
_was_ one that he played with all the way home. It was an insectivorous
or carnivorous species, as I recall--"

"Yes? Yes?"

"That produced a chemical he thought might prove useful if it could be
extracted and concentrated or synthesized--Now, hold on. Are you
trying--?"

"Why not? And why didn't you mention this sooner?"

"For the simple reason--What got you off on this tangent?"

"_Rain._ The kid's diary said '_rain_ potential.' The captain's log
mentioned a _surface weather front_. And it _rained_ just before I was
hit."

"I fail to see the connection. But think about this: It rained on the
survey team I ferried here, too--not often,