t Ka'ruchaya Yarra
had set it aside for them so ruchaya Steve could study undisturbed.

Only it didn't quite work out that way. Tarlac did learn a
considerable amount that afternoon, but it was as much about his
clanmates as it was about how to survive in Homeworld's wilderness. It
seemed that everyone in Ch'kara who knew anything at all about the
outdoors was anxious to pass the knowledge along to Steve. Tarlac
suspected they were motivated as much by curiosity about him as by
anything else. If so, he didn't mind; he found himself savoring his
n'ruhar's presence and their frequent touches, and the "team teaching"
seemed to be very effective.

What he learned about Homeworld's vegetation and wildlife fascinated
him--especially, under the circumstances, the practical details. He
found out which plant parts were edible and which to avoid, and that he
could eat practically everything that moved. Unfortunately, quite a
few of the moving things would consider him equally edible. Without a
Traiti's natural armor, he'd have to depend on luck and brains to avoid
that fate.

He couldn't help wishing he could turn a shipload of biologists loose
on this planet. Irschcha and Ondrian were the homeworlds of the other
two intelligent Imperial races, yet a Terran without specialized
medical preparation beforehand would die within a few days, trying to
survive in either's wilderness. It wasn't so much nutritional
deficiencies as protein incompatibility and allergic reactions. With
the exception of the Traiti wine, that didn't apply on Homeworld, as
two weeks' experience proved, and Tarlac was extremely curious about
the reason. Well, if he ever got back to the Empire, he'd recommend
that such a study be made.

For now, though, there was nothing he could do, and his first full day
here had been busy; he was tired. He'd get a good night's sleep, then
start fresh in the morning.

Chapter IV

When Tarlac woke, though, it wasn't morning and he wasn't on his
sleeping mat. It felt like the middle of the night, and he was
standing as he had stood once before at the altar in the clanhome's
gathering hall, with his palms laid flat on the bare lower platform.

He didn't know why or how he came to be here looking up at the images
of those who formed the Circle of Lords, but it seemed right to him
that he stood so, at peace as his hands rested on the alien altar.

Or was it alien? He didn't want it to be, and it certain