which surrounded the hull.

Kennon reluctantly gave up the idea of entering the spaceship. That
would have to wait until tomorrow. Now they would have to conceal the
work and call it a day. A few branches and the big blocks of pumice
would suffice for temporary camouflage. Later they could make something
better. Anything in the jeep which might be useful was cached along with
the radiation suits in the passageway through the lava wall--and in a
surprisingly short time they were heading homeward.

Kennon was not too displeased. Tomorrow they would be able to enter
the ship. Tomorrow they would probably have some of the answers to his
questions. He looked ahead into the gathering night. The gray mass of
the abandoned Olympus Station slipped below them as he lined the jeep
along the path indicated by the luminous arrow atop the main building,
set the controls on automatic, and locked the craft on the guide beacon
in Alexandria's tower. In a little less than an hour they would be home.

CHAPTER XIV

Kennon was morally certain that the Lani were of human stock. Evolved,
of course. Mutated. Genetic strangers to the rest of humanity. But
human. The spaceship and the redes proved it as far as he was concerned.
But moral certainty and legal certainty were two different things. What
he believed might be good enough to hold up in a Brotherhood court, but
he doubted it. Ulf and Lyssa might be the founders of the Lani race, but
they had come to Kardon nearly four thousand years ago and no records
existed to prove that the Lani weren't here before they came. Redes
passed by word of mouth through hundreds of generations were not
evidence. Even the spaceship wasn't the absolute proof that would be
needed to overturn the earlier legal decision. Other and better
proof was needed--something that would stand up in any court in the
Brotherhood. He hoped the spaceship would hold that proof.

But Kennon's eagerness to find out what was inside the ancient spacer
was tempered by hard practicality. Too much depended on what he might
find inside that hull. Every step of the work must be documented beyond
any refutation. Some method of establishing date, time, and location had
to be prepared. There must be a record of every action. And that would
require equipment and planning. There must be no mistake that could be
twisted by the skillful counsel that Alexander undoubtedly retained.

He had no doubt that the Family would fight. Too much