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on Terra,” Peter remarked. “If it still exists, they’ll find it for you.”
    Eric gave him a long, hard look. “I thought ‘scroungers’ were what put us in this position?”
    â€œOh, not those who will scrounge
for
us,” Peter said with a grin. “I’ll see if I can find you a dental assistant. And a technician. You’ll need one of those, too, won’t you?”
    â€œIf business is brisk, yes.”
    â€œOh, it will be brisk,” Zainal said emphatically. “No one ever developed tooth restoration under the Eosi.”
    â€œDid they have teeth?” Kris asked, shuddering as she remembered the awful grotesquerie of the one Eosi whom she had seen.
    â€œSurely every species has teeth of some kind,” Dorothy remarked.
    â€œEosi didn’t eat as we do. They used some form of matter ingestion . . .”
    â€œOsmosis?” Eric asked, startled.
    Kris giggled and Dorothy smiled as she shrugged and replied, “Well, it’s often been suggested as a possible means of nutrient absorption. But we don’t have to worry about them anymore, do we?”
    Zainal gave her a startled look and Kris frowned. “Not all the Eosi were . . . ah . . . terminated.”
    â€œThey will be far too busy making certain they survive,” Zainal said, “wherever they have taken refuge. And it won’t be nearby.”
    â€œHow many Catteni worlds are there, Zainal?” Peter asked.
    â€œI know of nine. There may be new ones. That’s one of the details I need to find in the files at Barevi, Peter. Scouts were constantly finding new worlds, for resources and colonization. I know many of them, but not all. And it is essential to have accurate information.”
    â€œWould the Eosi have taken refuge on a distant world?”
    â€œPossibly. But they had strongholds on suitable moonsas well as planets. I’ve no idea where the survivors might be. But it’s wise to find out, if we can.”
    Peter nodded agreement with the sentiment. “I’ll go find out if we have any other dentists or assistants or technicians on our roster.”
    â€œIf you will gather what will be needed for my sons, Kris, I’ll collect them first before things get busy.”
    â€œLet me come, too,” Kris said. “It shouldn’t take me long to set up two cots. But we should also, I think, bring some thank-you gifts to Chief Materu.”
    â€œAs you will,” was Zainal’s reply. “And yes, presents are in order. Can you do that for me?”
    Remembering the bright prints she had seen the Masai wearing, she thought there was at least one bolt of a tropical floral print that they might like in the cargo she had brought back from her last trip to Barevi. She supposed she should take something for Chief Materu, though she hadn’t a clue what would be appropriate.
    She borrowed the cots she needed from the day care center and told Sarah McDouall that the boys were coming, and also told Zane that he would be seeing his two half-brothers while she gave her daughter a cuddle. Amy was a pretty baby but Kris could see no resemblance in the heart-shaped face to herself or to Chuck, apart from fair hair, blue eyes, and the long bones of her legs. Leon Dane, the chief medical officer, had commented that she would be tall. Kris borrowed a land cart, got the mattresses and the blankets down to the cottage, and set them up in the living room. If the boys wanted to sleep in the loft that had been built for that purpose, they could haul their beds up there to suit themselves tomorrow. She also put the bolt of wildly patterned dress material on the cart along with the leather belts, which Astrid had recommended as an appropriate gift for the chief.

Chapter Two
    ZAINAL AND KRIS TOOK THE FAST SCOUT BABY to make the quickest possible run down the coast to where the Masai had chosen their new home. She hadn’t