"What for?"
"To see what they grow. What kind of people they are."
"They might...."
He smiled down at her. "I've become an expert at not being seen," he assured her. "I've had them pass five feet away."
Theta got up. "I'm coming, too."
They reached the force fence, but there was no irritation. The forest started immediately and it was fairly clear of underbrush. There were no paths to be seen, no sounds of harvesters, no unfamiliar trees. Even on the floor of the valley there were no signs of life, although they had seen and avoided several houses.
Henry stopped suddenly, staring ahead.
"What's the matter?" Theta asked.
Wordlessly Henry pointed to the bole of a dead and rotting tree. Its straight trunk had branches coming out of it in orderly rings, its top cut off to make the branches spread at ladder distance above the ground.
It leaned drunkenly against a supporting tree.