The rain would have been considered warm on Iryala, but on Kettle it cooled. They walked to their tents in it and stripped off their wet uniforms, draping them over the guy ropes where the rain continued to soak them. The T'swa had no body hair, not even pubic hair. Then Varlik followed the naked T'swa through the thunderstorm again, each carrying his soap and helmet, to the nearest hydrant. There they lathered themselvesVarlik had the advantage, his moderately hairy skin lathering more readilythen drew water and poured it over one another. Cleaned, they returned to their tents through the slackening rain, where they sat on the edges of their cots and used dirty undershirts to wipe the mud from their feet before putting on dry trousers and wet boots.
The slimmest T'swa in the squad loaned Varlik dry trousers which were only a little too large. Meanwhile, Varlik felt considerably recoveredtired, but not exhaustedagain thanks to Voker's hard training, he told himself.
By the time they went to supper, the rain had stopped, and steam rose from the hot earth. The air was like a Turkish bath. Supper was another mixture, not very different from what he'd eaten at midday, but nonetheless more appetizing to Varlik now. The evening was growing dark when he strolled back to the tent with Kusu, his belt recorder operating as it generally was among the T'swa.
"What do you do when it gets dark here?" asked Varlik. "Go to bed?"
"That is a matter of individual preference. Some will reread favorite books. Others will talk with their friends, or do certain thingspersonal things we learn as children. They are not known to the Confederation Worlds; when you see someone kneeling quietly, perhaps on a small pad, he is doing one of those things. And some will no doubt wander out into the grasslandto the east, away from camp and our disturbancesto sense the life there." He looked at Varlik. "What will you do?"
"I need to go somewhere where I won't disturb anyone, and narrate on cube my impressions of today and the T'swa."
"Ah. Of course."
"You said some of you will read. Where do you have lights?" He gestured about him. "The only lights I've seen are in the mess tent."
"That is where they will read."
The mess tent as a place to read! It didn't really surprise Varlik. The T'swa were different in so many things, and he was getting used to them. "How much can they see of the local lifeforms at night? At least now, with no moonlight."
"It is more than seeing, although we T'swa see considerably better at night than you do."
"Really?"
"Yes. In the early generations on Tyssfor many generations, actuallyour ancestors worked their fields by night. In fact, they lived much of their active lives at night, when it was not so hot. So far as possible, they spent the daytimes in holes dug into the north slopes of hills, to escape the worst of the heat. It is even hotter on Tyss than here, you know, and it was hotter then than now.
"Those were very hard years. Many died of heat and hungerespecially babies and pregnant women. In time, those genetic lines that continued saw better at night than their ancestors had, and tolerated greater heat. Even today, some field labor and other strenuous outdoor activities on Tyss are done at night, although the climate no longer seems cruel to us."
The two men, one black, one white, went into the tent. Only two other men were there, lying silent on their cots. Kusu lay down on his, and Varlik also. "Is it all right to talk here," Varlik asked softly, "or will it disturb the others?"
"They will not be disturbed."
"How do you know about those early times? I've assumed that Tyss was settled before the historical era."
The T'swa sergeant nodded. "It was. Our knowledge of history reaches further back than your own."
"By how much?"
"By rather a long time."
Varlik wasn't sure he should ask his next question, but so far the T'swi had seemed very open, and he was curious. "We've assumed that the resource worlds, and probably some of the trade worlds, were colonized by dumping convicts there in early times. Was that how Tyss was settled, do you know?"
The T'swi smiled. "One could say so."
For a moment Varlik was silent. Then he asked, "Did I offend you with that question?"
Kusu chuckled softly, a sound which Varlik thought might have been echoed by the other two at the edge of audibility.
"No, Varlik Lormagen, you have not offended. You are a considerate and courteous man. I am glad to answer your questions, so far as I can; I consider you my friend."
Then Kusu stretched out on his cot, and Varlik sensed the withdrawal that meant their conversation was ended. Quietly he took his recorder and wandered out to the tiny vehicle park, to sit in the unmuddy privacy of a T'swa hovercar and record his still-fresh thoughts and impressions. Briefly, when he had finished, he watched the moon Gamma, barely large enough to show a demi-disk, like an overlarge star low in the east, then started back to his tent in the steamy, star-vivid night. Tomorrow, if he could find a ride, he would go to the base camp, pick up his other things, share his audio and video recordings with Bertol and Konni, and send off a report to Iryala via the message pod. And a letter cube to Mauen.