/ never sbould've told him how Dwer saved me from the
mule spider. They say male urs are dumb. Ain't it my luck
The bottle, an alien-made wonder, weighed little more
than the liquid it contained. "Don't drop it," she warned
Dwer, lowering the red cord. He grabbed it eagerly.
"No, fool! The top don't pull off like a stopper. Turn
it till it comes off. That's right. Jeekee know-nothin'
She didn't add how the concept of a screw cap had mys-
tified her, -too, when Kunn and the others first adopted her
as a provisional Danik. Of course that was before she be-
"Don't spill it. An' don't you dare drink it all! You hear
But he ignored her protests, guzzling while she cursed.
Too stunned to react, Rety knew—she would have done
Yeah, an inner voice answered. But I didn't expect it of
body toward the robot's headlong rush. Squinting against
the wind, he held the loop cord in one hand and the bottle
in the other, as if waiting for something to happen. The
flying machine crested a low hill, hopping over some
thorny thickets, then plunged down the other side, barely
avoiding several tree branches. Rety held tight, keeping
yee secure in his pouch. When the worst jouncing ended
she peered down again . . . and rocked back from a pair
Mudfoot. Several times the dark, lithe creature had tried to
clamber up from his niche, between Dwer's torso and a