Читать книгу The Science Fiction Anthology онлайн

203 страница из 776

“Very well done,” the colonel said approvingly. “But you still haven’t explained where you got lodgings and a landlady.”

“She’s Embelsira’s mother. I was invited over for dinner from time to time.... It’s a local custom,” he explained as Blynn’s eyebrows went up. “So, when Embelsira told me her mother happened to have a compartment to let with meals included, I jumped at it. Blynn, you really ought to taste those pastries of hers!”

The colonel managed to divert him onto some of the other aspects of Katundut life. When he’d finished taping everything he had to say, the colonel gave him a list of artifacts and small-sized flora and fauna the specialists on Earth wanted him to collect for his next trip, providing he could do so without arousing attention or violating tabus.

They shook hands. “Clarey,” the colonel said, “you’ve done splendidly. Earth will be proud of you. And you might bring along one or two of those pastries, by the way.”

When Clarey got back to Katund, Embelsira and her mother gave a little welcome home party for him. “Nothing elaborate,” the widow said. “Just a few neighbors and friends, some simple refreshments.”