She sent off a report, explaining what the ship’s owner proposed to do and recording her reservations. Then she collected her laser cutter (which was the closest thing the Memphis had to a weapon), and went down to the shuttle bay.

They were all there, ready to go. Tor, believe it or not, with his easel; Pete and George in earnest conversation; Nick, wearing a coat and tie, as though the occasion were formal; Herman, in black boots and carrying a connecting bar from—she thought—his bed, presumably in case defense was needed; and Alyx, in a jumpsuit, looking as good as the angels.

There was much of the atmosphere of a Sunday afternoon.

Alyx and Herman appeared a trifle wary. Brighter than the rest, she decided.

She reviewed the e-suits with them. There’d be no air tanks this time. The atmosphere, she explained, was oxygen-rich. “You’ll have a converter.”

“Could we live with the suit off?”

“For a while. But I don’t recommend it.” She passed out the converters, showed them how to clip them to their vests. “They’ll go on when the suit activates,” she explained. “You don’t have to do anything.”

They smiled back at her, a bit nervously, she thought. They’re not sure about this. Even George. But they’d committed themselves so they were stuck and nobody was going to back out. Hutch opened the lander hatch, and they climbed in. After everybody was seated, she closed up and opened a channel to the AI. “Bill,” she said.

“Yes, Hutch.”

“If we’re not back in twenty-four hours, and you haven’t heard anything to the contrary from me, take the ship home.” She felt the mood change around her. That was good. Just what she wanted.

“Yes, Hutch. May I ask how severe the danger is?”

“We’ve no idea.”

“I wish,” said George, who was beside her, “you wouldn’t play these games. We’re nervous enough.”

Yeah. “You have reason to be nervous, George,” she said.

He looked angrily at her, but he let it go.

Bill evacuated the air from the bay, and the launch doors opened. Her board went green, and they eased out of the spacecraft.

“I hadn’t thought this through very well, I guess,” said George. “But do we have a way to speak to them? So that they can hear us?”

“There’s a switch on the harness.” She showed him. “It’ll turn on a speaker for you.”

“Excellent.” He’d brought a pair of portable lamps and fabrics and a couple of electronic devices. “To use as gifts,” he explained.

“Going to trade with the natives,” said Alyx, amused at the prospect.

“Listen,” said George, “nothing to lose.”

“Hutch.”

She put the AI’s voice on the cabin speaker. “Yes, Bill?”

“There is another stealth. One-twenty degrees around the orbit from the first one. It seems to be the same arrangement as Safe Harbor.”

Pete leaned forward and signaled he wanted to talk to the AI.

“Go ahead,” said Hutch.

“Bill, are you looking for the second set?”

“Of satellites? Yes, I am, Pete. I will report when, and if, I find them.”

“It’s beginning to look,” said Tor, “as if what we really have is a group of interstellar busybodies.”

THE TEAM HAD decided on its landing site before leaving the Memphis. Two relatively small clusters of spires and minarets rose out of the middle of a plain, on opposite sides of a river, in the center of a Britain-sized island in the southern hemisphere. The river was wide and sleepy. No boat moved across its surface. There was no jetty, no beach on which swimmers might have gathered, no boat house, no buoy.

Well, thought Hutch, if I had a large pair of wings, I’d probably stay away from deep water myself. She wondered how they showered.

The sun was rising as they descended toward the twin settlements.

“There,” said Hutch, indicating her preference for a landing spot.

“That’s a long way from the populated area,” said Nick.

About six kilometers. She’d have preferred maybe twenty, but she knew George wouldn’t stand for it. Still, it was a decent site. The land was flat, they were well away from the foliage that grew in clusters, so nothing could come up on them without their seeing it.

“It’s good,” said George. “Do it.”

The lander descended through a few wisps of gray cloud into the clear early-morning air. There were no structures in the immediate area, and nothing moved.

They dropped gently to the ground.

Hutch pointed their scopes at the settlements and put the pictures on the displays. No one seemed to have noticed their arrival. The locals drifted undisturbed through the sky. Others lingered on open porches in the towers. An idyllic life, indeed.

Well, what else would you expect from angels?

Uh-oh.

“What, Hutch?”

Someone had apparently seen them come down. The towers had open decks at all levels. On one, across the river, several of the inhabitants had gathered. They looked excited. “And I do believe they’re pointing at us.”

George got out of his seat and started for the airlock. Fearless George. Probably felt he had to go first.

“Don’t forget your suit,” she said.

“Oh.” He grinned sheepishly, hit the controls, and pulled on his vest. She connected the converter for him, and for the others.

A few angels were in the air, approaching.

“Keep in mind,” she said, “the envelope is there to provide breathable air and climate control. It forms a hard shell around the face only. Otherwise it’s flexible. That means it won’t protect you from weapons. Somebody hits you with a rock, you’re going down.” She gazed around the cabin to assure herself everyone understood. “I’m going to match the cabin environment to the outside and just open up. That way, if we have to come back in a hurry, there’ll be no jam-up at the lock.

“I suggest you stay together, and don’t go more than a couple of steps from the lander. George, who’s going to hold the fort?”

George looked puzzled. “What do you mean?”

“Somebody stays inside, out of harm’s way. Just in case.”

He looked around for a volunteer. Looked finally at Alyx, but when she said nothing, Nick said he’d stay. Hutch got out of her seat and Nick eased into it. “Bill,” she said, “take direction from Nick.”

“Acknowledge.”

One of the creatures glided past and hovered momentarily over the lander. It was obviously female. Herman tried to get a better look. But he must have moved too quickly, and the thing soared away. Hutch thought it had seemed frightened. A second one settled to the ground. A male. His large white wings caught the sunlight, then folded smoothly behind him. There was no sign of weapons.

Pete had joined George at the lock, waiting for her to open up. She took the cutter out of her vest, showed it to George, and looked meaningfully at him. Last chance. His eyes slid away from her.

She tried to edge past him, but he squared his shoulders and blocked the way. “I think the men should be the first ones out.”

They were all watching the creature with a mixture of admiration and disquiet. If I can keep them in here a little longer, she thought, they might change their minds and back away.

But George had lost all patience, or maybe he wanted to get it over with. She opened the lock and looked out.

“He’s beautiful,” said Alyx.

He was indeed. Features neither entirely human nor avian, but an exotic blend of both. Golden eyes and tawny feathers and lean muscular limbs. And an enormous wingspread. Hutch was reminded of Petraska’s famous portrait of St. Michael.

His eyes were placed somewhat back, almost along the sides of the skull. He looked at them with curiosity, found her, and fastened his attention on her. She saw curiosity in that gaze, and intelligence. And something wild. Alyx was right: He was beautiful. But in the manner of a leopard.

His skull was slightly narrower than a human’s. He tilted his head in the way that parrots do when they’re trying to catch one’s attention. His lips parted in a half smile, and she thought she caught the glint of fangs. She fought down a chill—Don’t jump to conclusions—but pushed the stud on the cutter and felt power begin flowing through the instrument.