And-she might as well admit-she felt a physical attraction. It was remarkable; her last affair with a man had been more than twenty years ago. But when he smiled, she felt good. When she was the reason for the smile, she felt terrific. His face had a lopsided beauty; he had good shoulders and arms and a marvelous ass. The small roll of fat around his waist was already melting away; a few weeks of exertion would turn him lean and narrow-hipped, the way she liked her men. She already had the urge to run her fingers through his hair and reach into his pants to see what that was like.

But not on this trip. Not with Valiha already mooning over him, Cirocco held at bay only by the effects of her megahangover, and-Gaby was beginning to suspect-even Robin showing signs of willingness to experiment in cross-cultural exploration.

He had enough problems without Gaby Plauget's trying to fit him into the disaster she had made of her love life. And she knew the biggest potential problem was the one he was least aware of. Her name was Cirocco. Chris was not ready for her, and Gaby intended to do what she could to protect him from her.

The segment of Ophion they now entered was a far cry from the stretch they had sailed in Hyperion. It necessitated changes. For the worst rapids Gaby insisted on an experienced canoeist front and rear. The Titanides all qualified, as did Gaby and Cirocco. Chris was a little rough, but he would do. Robin was an absolute novice, as well as a nonswimmer. Gaby put her between two Titanides, with the other two in the second boat, and Chris, Cirocco, and herself in the third, towing the fourth. In quiet places she let Robin take the lead and joined her, showing her how to handle the craft. As in everything she did, Robin worked at it single-mindedly and soon showed improvement.

It was an exhilarating trip. Chris was enthusiastic, but Robin bubbled with excitement when they reached the end of a stretch of rapids. Once she even suggested they go back and do it again, looking about three years old as she said it. She was aching to sit alone in the front. Gaby understood it well; there were few things Gaby liked more than a challenging white-water ride. When traveling with Psaltery, she defied the river, taking chances. Now, though she enjoyed herself, she was learning something Cirocco had found out a long time ago. It's not quite the same when you're the leader. Being responsible for others makes one conservative and a bit of a grouch. She had to be firm with Robin about wearing her inflatable life vest. They reached the twilight zone west of Crius before making camp. Everyone was pleasantly exhausted. They had a light dinner and a big breakfast and set out again toward gradually brightening lands. If anything could enhance the joys of being on the river, it was coming out of the Rhean rain into the Crian sunshine. The Titanides led the singing, which started with the traditional Gaean traveling song: "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz." Gaby was not surprised or abashed to feel tears fill her eyes as they came to the end of it.

Ophion dashed into full daylight at a point slightly north of the western slanted cable, the counterpart of Cirocco's Stairs but leaning in the other direction. The river then turned south and continued in that direction for more than a hundred kilometers. The rapids became less frequent, though the river was still lively. They took it easy, barely paddling in the quiet waters, resting and letting the river's current move them.

Gaby called a halt early when they came to a place she had camped before. She thought it the prettiest site in the Nemesis Range and told everyone they would stay for eight revs, sleep, and then continue on. It seemed agreeable, especially to the Titanides, who planned a decent meal for the first time in several days.

When Chris suggested they try to catch something for the Titanides to cook, Gaby showed him what reeds to cut for fishing poles. Robin showed an interest, so Gaby taught her how to bait a hook and string a line, how to operate the simple wooden reels the Titanides had brought. They moved out into shallow water, smooth stones under their bare feet, and began casting.

"What do you catch around here?" Chris asked.

"What would you take out of a stream like this back home?"

"Trout, probably."

"Then trout it is. I figure we could use about a dozen."

"Are you serious? There are really trout?"

"Not just a Gaean imitation either. A long time ago Gaea thought she wanted to attract tourists. Now she's largely indifferent to them. But she had a lot of streams stocked, and they did well. They get pretty big. Like this one." Her pole was bent into a semicircle. In a few minutes she netted a fish that was larger than any Chris had ever seen, let alone caught.

Robin broke her line with her first bite, then brought in one about the same size. In half an hour they had their quota, but Chris was battling something that felt more like a whale than a trout. Yet when it flashed into the air, it had the familiar lines and colors, the fighting spirit. He played it for twenty minutes and at last could reach down and come up with a fish larger than even Gaby had seen. He looked at it with undisguised delight, then held it up, looking toward the sky.

"How about it, Gaea?" he shouted. "Is this big enough?"

For once Chris had actually been able to see the thing. It was just a tiny speck far to the north and high in the air, but it had to be the source of the sustained roar he had heard twice already. He watched it vanish over a mountain, but he could hear it for nearly a minute after that.

"Valiha," he said, "I'm bearing to the left."

"I'm coming right behind you."

Chris steered close to Gaby and Psaltery. He held the side of the other canoe as he stowed his oar, then jumped easily from one to the other. Gaby frowned at him.

"Don't you think it's about time you told us what that is? You did say you'd teach us things we'd need to know."

"I did, didn't I?" She scowled even more but gave in. "I wasn't trying to keep anything from you, really. It's just that I don't even like to talk about them. I-" She looked up in time to see Robin join them.

"Fine. We call 'em buzz bombs. They're new. Very new. I first saw one no more than six or seven years ago. Gaea must have worked on them for a long time because they're so damn unlikely they shouldn't even be alive. They are the nastiest things I ever saw.

"What they are is living airplanes powered by ramjets. Or pulse-jets, possibly. The one I examined was pretty busted up and burned to a crisp. I ordered an old heat-seeking missile from Earth a few years after the first one appeared and shot one down. It was about thirty meters long and definitely organic, though it had a lot of metal in its body. I don't know how; its chemistry must be fantastic, especially when it's being gestated.

"Anyway, I did wonder how it flew. It had wings, and I knew it didn't fly by flapping them. It works like an airplane that uses warpable wings instead of ailerons. It had two legs that folded up in flight. I doubt it could walk very far on them. And it had two fuel bladders that held something that's probably kerosene. Possibly ethanol or a mixture.

"Right away I wondered how it could eat enough to make that kind of fuel in the amounts it would need to be useful for flight. I mean, it was obviously awkward as hell on the ground. On top of that, if it is a ramjet that makes the damn abomination go, it wouldn't dare land anywhere but the top of a cliff or a very tall tree. That engine won't work until it's in motion. So they'd need a thrust assist or a long fall to reach the speed where they could flame on. I didn't know any of this; I had to look it up.