ery-green leaves of a soh tree. Tarlac grinned at that,
remembering his lessons. A soh tree, with its palm-like leaves and
sticky sap, was pretty good material for a shelter--which was
considerably simpler than trying to improvise clothing.

He'd be spending the night here, so he'd better get started. Taking
advantage of all the shade he could, since Homeworld's sun put out more
ultraviolet than Terra's, he cut sticks for a leanto framework, then
climbed up the soh tree and began one-handedly hacking off the
tough-stemmed leaves. It was hard work, but it shouldn't take more than a
couple dozen of the big leaves to make a decent shelter.

The resultant structure of leaves laid over notched, sap-smeared
sticks, he judged, might possibly last, if it didn't have to stand up
to more than a gentle breeze. It would have to do; he didn't have any
other fastening material, and it only had to survive for one night
anyway.

His next priority was water, which was no problem. This part of
Homeworld's main continent had abundant drainage, and from the air he
had already spotted one of the streams that fed the capital's
reservoir. It was less than a hundred meters away, and it would be his
guide out of the forest, as well as his water supply.

Tarlac had no desire to disable his only means of transportation, so
when he went for a drink, he watched where he put his feet. The water
was good, clear and cold, and Hovan had assured him of its purity.
None of the Traiti worlds had any pollution worth mentioning; Traiti
technology was roughly equivalent to the Empire's, but had been
achieved far more slowly, and the by-products had never been allowed to
get out of control.

Refreshed, Tarlac surveyed his problems. He had water and shelter; he
still needed food, fire, and foot protection, not necessarily in that
order. Food, now at mid-autumn, was as plentiful as water, and there
was nothing he could do about foot protection at the moment, so that
made fire his next priority. There were plenty of likely-looking rocks
on the streambed; some, he remembered from a survival course he'd taken
years ago, might work nearly as well as flint. He waded into the
stream and selected a handful, putting them on the bank to dry while he
planned.

It was just past midday, so he had plenty of time to equip himself,
even with nothing but a knife to work with. He wouldn't need much
gear; it wasn't as if he was Robinson Crusoe, having to live o