A new day squirmed its way under my eyelids.

Thin fabric tents are good for that, but it was some change in the camp's background noise that woke me. Sort of a crowd like noise. I jerked up, disturbing the catcurled in the tent corner. Reems yawned, and started licking at his fur. "Vass ist?"

"Got me." I threw open the tent flap and stumbled out, squinting into morning glare. People scurried around, looking far more alert than I felt. Having set up my water-still, as Christa advised, a small bucketful had collected overnight. I threw a half-cup of the condensate on my face, drank some, put the remainder out for the cat to lap. A parade of bugs stood in front of the pink dome. Didn't seem to be the workers from before, as they weren't carrying tools or whacking at the structure. A few did go inside, carrying what appeared to be collapsed furniture. One item was certainly a table. The rest stood behind a taller Kreeb with a larger than usual clan sigil, two triangles in a square, on its shell. It fiddled with aspeaker-box around its neck for a moment, then addressed the camp.

"Acquiring your attention, sentients please. This is to you talking."

Good. I had a few questions on my mind. Several campers drifted up, congregating before the bugs. George was already shoving his way forward through the forming gaggle. Henry and Christa were to one side of the pack. Henry seemed busy frowning at George who was occupied shaking hands and generally networking the crowd. A mop of short black hair pegged Lisa for me, who stood quite close to Christa. Recognizing none of the others, I made my way towards the trio.

Henry recognized me and nodded saying, "This should be interesting."

Lisa waved. "Hi champ. We were just talking about you."

"Me? Why?"

Lisa winked. "Just general stuff, you being the newest arrival and all. By the way, have you eaten since getting here?"

"No, come to think of it. Been busy taking it all in. My cat did."

"Your pet's the smart one, yeh? Feeling nauseous?"

My stomach had been in knots since getting off the ship. I'd put it down to nerves. "A little."

"You'll pass out pretty soon if ya don't eat. The higher gravity here makes ya burn though calories like crazy. Stuff your face, and you'll feel better."

I patted myself down and pulled out a protein bar taken from the Kreeb care basket. Munching on it made my stomach feel better. "Thanks."

Meantime, the Kreeb waved his arms about, and the amplified translator boomed to life.

"To save your species is this, to the respect for life given of the principle, we have done this. Is new start here, for you. Am for the answering of queries, and the comfort of the Enlightened Servitors sect, to offer you. Supplies medical from interval to interval, we will provide. More rations every 14 days as we can ship, but an end to some of this will precess. Your challenge,is ."

The Kreeb made complicated bug motions toward the dome,"I will to stay in this structure. Is Servitor mission. Ask for knowing here, food, medical, here. Must be questions you have?"

George,swaggering self-importantly, took the floor and recited a list of things, permanent shelters, provision for a "combined Council" whatever that was, some way of opening communication with relatives on earth, a trade board...I gave up listening halfway through. The Kreeb must have as well. The bug interrupted, waving appendages a bit more vigorously than usual.

"Too far away is for speaking at former home. Years for speak to get there, years more to reply. By then, gone will be anyway." This started a wave of murmuring, which the Bug again cut into. "Not here for trade, or diplomatics. Just missionary. Help as we can. Build, make civilization you must try."

The Kreeb pointed west of the dome. "That vector is mountains, survey metals there. Water okay is, some minor problems, but have inoculations in mission. Start this solar azimuth, injections please. Have resource survey maps also; someone can read?"

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A gaunt, rusty haired guy from the rear of our pack raised his hand.Easy to spot, as he was easily four inches taller than anyone around him. "I've worked with geological survey maps. If they orient by the compasses you provided, I can probably interpret 'em." George glared at the guy over his shoulder, evidently feeling left out.

Henry pulled closer to me, noting, "That's Benjamin Rouk. I think he was a weatherman, or ecologist, something like that. Good man. Did most of the scouting around here as has been done, on those long legs of his."

Waving at the bug, I spoke up at this point. "So, we're here for good, and you want nothing in return?"

The Kreeb wiggled more appendages. "To propagate. The thread of life, for you to continue."

"And your church? Are we expected to join the eh, Enlightened Servitors?"

"Is possible, but much learning needed, for in our ways, must believe. Is life mission. More important, first to establish your kind here, I think."

Lisa smirked, raising an eyebrow. "So you're a bug smoocher, Tomas? Wanna join their church, yah?"

"Just fishing for information. I'm not much of a joiner."

Lisa's face froze, and she shut up. The exchange left me feeling unhappy.I'm not usually so terse, but I don't like being prodded and snooped after very much. I'd been around girls whose idea of attracting a man's interest was to poke at them, one way or another. Never worked with me, just left me wondering what their major issues were.

"Exactly how far from Earth are we? Where is here?"

The bug hesitated, turned to his pals gesticulating with various hisses and clacks. They seemed to come to some conclusion. "Twelve-hundred light years, your standard...," more clacking, "is 7200 trillion kilometers? Three hundred, sixty-eight parsecs? Is in, you call it, Lyra constellation?"

The bug was asking me? A long way, a very long way.

It didn't make sense to me. So they could travel space real fast, or jump it, or fold it. Still, like all this other effort, it must have cost a mountain of money or whatever it was they used as incentive. There's charity, then there was this, whatever it was.

Someone brought up questions about climate, seasons, what might be edible.Clothes. That got my attention, along with most of the women around. I at least, hadn't exactly been allowed to pack. One of the bales now parked outside the mission was opened. Clothes spilled out. It looked like someone had raided a Sears store. Some other stuff got discussed, but my attention stayed on the pile of duds.

Lisa joined the rush for the clothes soon as things wound down. I Salvaged a couple pair of jeans, a jacket and other essentials that fit. Earned an additional frown from Lisa who glared at me as she picked through some undergarments, as if I should be somewhere else, just then.

"Getting an eyeful, Champ?"

I'd had about enough goading for one day. Maybe I was misreading all this, but I prefer straight-talking women.

"Look, pants is what I'm getting. Why don't you give it a rest. If I get the hots for you I'll let you know."

"Ohy ah. Is that so? Don't flatter yourself, pal." She grabbed up something blue and lacy, then huffed off. The exchange left me down at the mouth, confused and remorseful, but I really didn't know her or need the casual sandpapering right now.

A few others formed a knot near the Kreeb, including George, and the Benjamin guy, who was probably interested in seeing those maps right away. I retreated to pile my booty into the tent, then wandered back to line up for the inoculations.

Reems finally deigned to join me about then. "Ist time again to hunt," he proclaimed.

"Wait a bit, and I'll come with. Almost done here."

Reems purred brokenly. "Since ven haff you in the vermin been interested? Scare avay my prey, likely. I vill go now."

"Just wait. Since when have you been so enamored of the great outdoors,Reems? I want to explore the area a bit, too." Reems seemed uncertain, if an overstuffed cat can be said to seem anything. He kneaded the ground a little and licked at his fur. "You'd be a big help," I wheedled.

"Ist new place. Curious. Okay, I vill go mitt you, den. Soon eh?"

"Just a few more minutes, promise."

Back toward the camp center, George harangued a group of campers about something. Given what I'd been told, probably more politics. Soon, the queue shuffled forward enough to put me under the dome's arch, where a bug pressed an injector into the arms of lined up colonists. A second bug was making micro incisions in people's shoulders,inserting a rice-sized capsule, then spraying skin-seal over the cut.I put out an arm for the injection, but pulled back from the second Kreeb.

The bug's mouth parts worked in agitation. "Is just locator. To find if lost are."

"I'll take my chances. Thanks for the shot though."

The second Kreeb dithered a bit, but I passed on and out of the tent before any argument started.

Reems unflopped himself from his station outside the Kreeb dome and brushed my leg.

"Bist ready?"

"Yeah, let's go."

Stopping briefly to grab my backpack and a few of the survival things, we walked off towards the trails I'd discovered earlier. Behind me, the gaggle of campers around George grew ever larger.

"There's supposed to be a stream around here, cat. Did you stumble over it last night?"

Reems stretched, flexing his claws. "Ist close. Good hunting, near vasser. Ve go there, yes?"

"Yeah. It'll be easier to find our way back, besides, streams usually lead somewhere interesting. Let's do that."