The Kalixiri name for the creatures was unpronounceable by human vocalapparatus, so I usually called them ferrets, which they did sort of resemblein their lean, furry way, though in size they weren't much bigger than laboratoryrats. In the distant past, they had served as outriders for Kalixiri hunters, running ahead to locate prey and then returning to their masters with theinformation.

What distinguished them from dogs or grockners or any of a hundred othersimilar hunting partners was the unique symbiotic relationship between them and theirKalixiri masters. With Pax riding on Ixil's shoulder, his claws dug into thetough outer skin, Pax's nervous system was right now directly linked toIxil's.

Ixil could give him a mental order, which would download into Pax's limitedbrain capacity; and when he returned and reconnected, the download would gothe opposite direction, letting Ixil see, hear, and smell everything the ferrethad experienced during their time apart.

For Kalixiri hunters the advantages of the arrangement were obvious. For Ixil, a

starship-engine mechanic, the ferrets were invaluable in dealing with wiringor tubing or anything else involving tight spaces or narrow conduits. If more ofhis people had taken an interest in going into offworld mechanical andelectronic work, I'd often thought, the Kalixiri might well have taken overthat field the same way the Patth had done with general shipping.

"So what on the roof do you expect to find interesting?" I asked, giving Paxanother scritch and wondering for the millionth time whether Ixil got the samescritch through their neural link. He'd never commented about it, but thatcould just be Ixil.

"Not on the roof," Ixil said, lifting a massive arm. "Off of it. Over there."

I frowned where he was pointing. Off in the distance, beyond the buildings ofthe spaceport periphery and the more respectable city beyond it, was a gentleglow against the wispy clouds of the nighttime sky. As I watched, threethruster sparks lifted from the area and headed off horizontally in differentdirections.