Crisis On Doona Read Online Free PDF Page B

report them to noise monitors for loud talking. Who could have a decent argument in whispers?
    It was so good to be home, even if Doona was crowded this season! Well, crowded for Doona, but only marginally inhabited compared to Terra. Kelly stared out of the hatch at the swarming mob on the landing field waiting for friends and family. It looked as if every single Human on Doona, all 45,000 of them, must be waiting to greet someone. There was even a cluster of Hrrubans, who enjoyed the spectacle of homecoming for its own sake.
    She searched the crowd eagerly, hoping to see her own loved ones after her long absence. She’d be unlikely to see them, lost as they were in the mob of welcoming committees waiting to greet the important visitors who had traveled with her from Earth for the Snake Hunt. It had meant more ships coming in, a cheaper fare for her in consequence. And, to judge by the shuttles bearing the markings of other systems, Doona was already awash with those eager to be part of this primitive event.
    One of her fellow passengers, Jilamey Landreau, had bored everyone at their table with his simulated-hunting triumphs. He considered that it was essential to his consequence to be at the Doonan Snake Hunt and kill “one of the big ones.” Preferably from horseback, to prove his prowess against a living target. Even as they were making their way down the gangplank, he was still blathering on about it to anyone who would listen.
    Kelly, who had hunted snakes on horseback herself, had been the patient listener many a time. She’d recognized his name and decided that it was smarter for her to play it cool in his presence. Her diplomatic training had taught her how to hold her tongue. She was also too kind to make fun of someone who had so far defeated only computer-simulated prey.
    She turned her back on him gratefully when her mother and father, Anne and Vic Solinari, approached her from the other side of the field, crying out their welcome, gesticulating for her to notice their position.
    “Sweetheart!” Anne said, gathering her into her arms. “Oh, Kelly, welcome home!”
    “Oh, Mom,” Kelly said, hugging her mother and suddenly feeling like a little girl again. “I missed you. Hi, Daddy.”
    “You look so grown-up,” Vic said, embracing his daughter in turn. “I wasn’t sure we’d recognize you. You look just fine. How was the trip?”
    “Long,” Kelly said, wrinkling her nose. “Cramped. Very smelly. All they had was canned Earth air.”
    Vic laughed. “It’s the second thing that’s kept me from taking a trip back to Earth: the first is living in the crowded conditions. I sure don’t miss those little granite boxes! Well, come on! Your brothers and sisters are waiting to hear all about what you’ve been up to. All voice and video this time, not taped transmissions.”
    “Am I okay for Team One, this year, Dad?” Kelly asked urgently.
    Her parents laughed. “Formal notice came last week,” her father said, ruffling her hair. “And Michael’s kept that Appie mare of yours exercised and has kept your snake-skin in her stall so she won’t disgrace you, us, or Todd.”
    Kelly breathed out a huge sigh of relief. “I was afraid we wouldn’t land in time.”
    “Afraid Todd wouldn’t remember to put you on his team?” her mother said with a raised eyebrow.
    “Oh, mother!” Kelly was glad of the excuse to go search for the luggage the handlers had just dumped on the tarmacadam.
    Kelly finally found and threw the bags into the back of the family’s power sled. It was exhilarating to be back on Doona. It couldn’t just be the weaker gravity or the invigorating pure air that made her feel so light. She was happy.
    As they flew toward their ranch, her mother and father pumped her for data about her life over the last four years. She didn’t stop talking for one moment all the way home. The weather was gorgeous, and Vic kept the top of the sled down so they could enjoy the sun.
    Then he was