They had to haul water
in a tank from the river a quarter-mile away to mix the concrete.
Sonny watched that interestedly. So did a number of the villagers,
who gathered safely out of bowshot. They noticed Sonny among the
Terrans and pointed at him. Sonny noticed that. He unobtrusively
picked up a double-bitted ax and kept it to hand.
He and Mom had lunch with the contact team. As they showed no ill
effects from breakfast, Fayon decided that it was safe to let them
have anything the Terrans ate or drank. They liked wine; they knew
what it was, all right, but this seemed to have a delightfully
different flavor. They each tried a cigarette, choked over the
first few puffs, and decided that they didn't like smoking.
"Mom gave us a lot of information, as far as she could, on the crops
and animals. The big things, the size of rhinoceroses, are draft
animals and nothing else; they're not eaten," Dorver said. "I don't
know whether the meat isn't good, or is taboo, or they are too
valuable to eat. They eat all the other three species, and milk two
of them.
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