- Yes, go right now!”
So Dard, with Dessie still in tow, set off down river to the seashore where the remains of the star ship was being dismantled as fast as they could use its materials at the cliffs. The red spider plants were again floating in wide patches on the water, but not cloaking all the river as they had on the day the ship landed.
“I haven’t been down here yet,” Dessie confided. “Mrs. Harmon says that there are bad dragons.”
Dard was quick to underline that warning. Dessie might just try to make friends with one of the things!
“Yes, there are, Dessie. And they are not like the animals at all. Promise me that if you see one you will can me right away!”
She was apparently impressed by his gravity for she agreed at once.
“Yes, Dardie. Mr. Rogan brought me a pretty shell from the sea. Might I just go down and see if I can find another?” Dessie asked.
“Stay in sight of the ship and don’t wander away,” he told her, seeing no reason why she should not hunt for treasures along the water’s edge.
The ship which had been so solid and secure against the dangers of outer space was but a shell of her former self. In some places she had been stripped down to the inner framework. Dard squeezed through open partitions to a storeroom where he found the techneer checking the markings on a pile of boxes. When he explained his errand Rogan was enthusiastic.
“Sure we can try reading those tapes. We’ll need this, and this, and"-he pushed aside a larger container to free a third- “this. I’ll go to work assembling as soon as we get this back to the cliff. Might be able to try running off one roll tonight or early tomorrow. Want to give me a hand?”