[Gutenberg 23767] • The Talkative Tree

*Dang vines! Beats all how some plants have no manners -- but what do you expect, when they used to be men!*

Steward Peter Kolin made himself inconspicuous.

All things considered -- the obscure star system they were stranded in, the undetermined damage to the stellar drive, and the way the small planet's murky atmosphere defied precision scanners -- the pilot made a reasonably good landing. Despite sour feelings for the space service of Haurtoz, Kolin had to admit that things might have been far worse.

They were going to get worse. Much, *much* worse . . .