Publisher Description
Alfred must put the loss of his son behind him and press ahead with his plans to remain with the study planet while the main expedition moves to 61 Cygni B. Those plans are going well enough till he finds out the natives can read memories, leaving all the secrets of their civilization exposed in Alan's brain.
Ava is determined to study the signals Alan finds because they are the key to the native's data system. She will stop at nothing, even the greatest sacrilege their society knows.
Desa finds the boat ride down the Lhar long and lazy, but her eager young student is growing more attached and wants to show his love by total monogamy. That is definitely slowing her circulation, and starting to frustrate Luray, who needs affection to counteract the withdrawal from yaag.
Alan becomes even more aware of how poorly he was prepared for life on an alien planet when the starship attack sends them fleeing into the wilderness. Almost all the most dangerous carnivores on the planet are found there, making their journey thru the wilds a non-stop battle for survival.
It is the meetings of the planet's foremost astronomers and wizards trying to make sense of the apparitions in their sky that should concern the Angels more. If they knew of them, but since chasing Alan into the wilds, they now have no info from the surface at all and they have to presume he has been lost.
