It was not until morning, when he could properly survey the ruin, that he began to realize the scope of the task which lay before him. True to Pei'an architectural precedent, none of the buildings had been especially close together. They were spread over an area approximately two miles in length and a quarter mile across. The remains were mainly foundations. Here and there, a wall still stood. There was much debris on the ground and grasses and vines grew among it, covering or partly covering some of the rubble. The place was virtually devoid of trees. Outside the general lines of what had once been the town stood a small, square structure, sunbleached, and weather-worn.

"Is that the war installation?" he asked, gesturing.

"Yes. I've been inside it. The roof is partly fallen in and it is full of insects and smells had. They took everything with them when they abandoned it."

He nodded.

"Then to start, let's just walk a bit and you can give me a rough idea of what's what."

Shind accompanied them, a small shadow passing among stones.

For several hours they walked, and she told him what she knew of the place. After this, he selected the most prominent of the ruins for close scrutiny, hoping it would be one of these which would have attracted H. But when lunchtime arrived, he was no nearer satisfaction than he had been at sunrise.

After lunch, he climbed the highest accessible point (a wall) and from there sketched the best map he could of the entire area. Then, point by point, he marked it off in his mind and gridded the map to follow. That afternoon, he placed a marker at each spot where the lines crossed.

"We are going to explore it section by section?" she asked.

"That's right."

"Where will we begin?"

"Choose one," he said, proffering the map.

She gave him a quick glance, saw that he meant it.

"All right. Here--in the middle."

That day they searched two of the squares he had drawn, going through them foot by paced foot, crawling through cellars and subcellars, turning blocks, tramping down or separating long weeds or grasses. They worked until they could see no longer, then returned to the camp they had made and kindled a fire.

Later that night as they stared at stars, she broke a long silence by saying, "We're off to a good start."

He did not reply, but lay there smoking. After a while, she found his hand with both of hers and squeezed it so tightly that it almost hurt.

_What's wrong with her now, Shind?_

_She is trying to comfort you. She feels that you are unhappy that you did not locate what you sought today_.

_Well, she is correct, of course. But then, I did not really expect to come across anything the first day_.

_Perhaps you ought to tell her that. Her mind is a strange place. She is unhappy because she thinks that you are_.

_Oh, hell!_

_Commander_ ...

_Yes?_

_I wish I had never told you about that dream_.

_I already know that_.

_It is still not too late_.

_Go to sleep, Shind_.

_Yes, sir_.

"Hey, Jack?"

"Yes?"

He reached over with his free hand, placed it on the back of her head and turned her toward him. He leaned and kissed her forehead, then released her.

"You're a good guide and today was a good start," he said.

Then he turned away and went to sleep.

Star light, star bright, she thought over and again--because there were so many of them--give him his wish.

In the morning they began again, and by noon they had worked their way through three more of the squares. They located a hopeful sign--old cooking utensils of a local make and a dirt-covered flimsy--in the day's fourth square. But although they excavated for yards about the area, they uncovered nothing else.

"This might have been his camp," she said.

"Or anyone else's. There is nothing here of value."

"If this is the place, though, it could mean that he was working nearby."

"Perhaps. Let's finish this square and take the one below afterward."

They continued, completing eight squares. There were no more finds that day.

_Shind?_

_Yes, Jackara?_

_Is he asleep?_

_Yes. But even if he were not, he would not hear us if I did not choose. What do you wish?_

_Is he distraught?_

_Not especially. He is always very quiet when he works. He is--occupied. You have done nothing to disturb him_.

_You have known him for a long while?_

_Over twenty Earth years. I was his personal translator during the war_.

_And you fight with him still, for the DYNAB. From among all his command, you stayed with him to continue the battle_.

_I am sometimes helpful to him_.

_It is good to hear of such loyalty to the cause_.

_One cannot long share thoughts as we have done without either going insane or coming to love. Mine is a personal feeling toward Malacar. The DYNAB is only incidental. I serve it because it still means something to him_.

_You love him? You are a female?_

_As a matter of fact, I am a female of my kind. But this, too, is only incidental. It would take months to teach a human the way a Darvenian thinks... and feels. And it would serve no useful purpose. Call it love_.

_I did not realize this, Shind_.

The mental equivalent of a shrug followed.

_You say that you are good with a gun_.

_Yes_, she replied.

_Then keep it ready whenever you are near him and be prepared to use it instantly, should he be threatened_.

_Threatened?_

_I have had many misgivings concerning this expedition. I feel that there is danger, though I do not know how or why it will arrive_.

_I will be ready_.

_Then I shall rest more easily. Good night, Jackara_.

_Good night, Shind_.

She moved her pistol to a position from which it could be fired quickly, and she slept with her hand upon it.

As they worked their way through the third day, Malacar heard a faint sound from above and scanned the sky. A jumpbuggy was moving from the south toward the northwest. Jackara stopped her work and stared at it also.

It seemed to grow as they watched it.

"It's coming this way. It may pass overhead."

"Yes."

_Shind. Can you--?_

_No, the distance is too great for me to read anything_.

_If it goes overhead ... ?_

_I will see what I can do_.

Within a matter of minutes it had reached the mesa. It cruised slowly, several hundred feet above the ground, and began to pass over the ruins. When it reached a position where the pilot could not but have seen them--looking groundward as he must have been--it came to sudden life and sped on to the northwest, gaining altitude as it went. Soon it was gone from sight.

_It contains one occupant, a man_, Shind said to both of them. _He was curious about the ruins. This is all that I was able to read_.

"Sight-seeing, perhaps."

"Then why did he run when he saw us?"

"No way of telling."

Malacar returned to the camp and unpacked a laser subgun, which he strapped to his shoulder. Jackara checked her own weapon when she saw what he was doing.

They moved back to the square they had been working.

"I have an idea," she said.

"Tell me about it."

"The Pei'ans are Strantrians, and Strantrian shrines are nearly always underground. We have not come across one yet. If, as you guess, your H was an amateur archaeologist--"

He nodded vigorously and studied the map again.

"I'm going to climb that wall once more," he said, looking over his shoulder. "An underground chamber the size of a Strantrian shrine might be partly caved in after all these years. I'll look for sinkholes."

He mounted the wall and turned his head slowly, from left to right. Then he withdrew the map, marked it, checked it against his observations once more.