Read Acorna’s Search for Free Online

said.
    (There is an entire forest of them on our site. We will need to remove some portion of that forest in order to safely examine the area,) Acorna said.
    (Not before I’ve had a chance to study it!) the aagroni declared.
    (No, of course not, but could you please study RK, too, and perhaps find a way to hasten the regrowth of his fur?) This was from Maati in an aggrieved tone. (He is cold and—embarrassed—without it.)
    (Why were we not informed of your arrival?) the aagroni asked. (You should have sent word. We are wasting valuable time.) As he said this he was pulling on his robe with one hand and setting up beakers and trays with the other.
    (We tried to send a message, but no one was receiving,) Aari informed him with an edge of disapproval, (probably because you were all asleep.)
    (Liriili didn’t answer? But she was standing sentry, supposed to answer any hails. How often did you try?)
    They assured him they had tried often enough that if Liriili had been alert, she would have heard them. It occurred to Acorna that the contrary former administrator might have ignored them simply because she disliked all of them—except that Acorna had been very specific about the carnivorous plant and the terrible injuries to RK. Liriili had an odd partiality for the Makahomian Temple Cat—odd because she liked almost nothing else, not because RK wasn’t loveable. The former viizaar might well berate Acorna’s team for failing to take proper care of the feline, but she would hardly ignore requests to stand by to assist with his emergency treatment.
    The mystery of Liriili’s absence was temporarily forgotten as the aagroni took charge of RK, who, with four Linyaari horns to heal him, was purring madly most of the time, except for growls when he went to lick his furless body. His sudden condition clearly perplexed and upset the cat, and he glared at the anxious faces around him, his expression murderous, as if demanding to know who had made off with his coat. Maati stroked the cat’s head with one finger while the aagroni analyzed the fur on his tail to see if it could be restored more quickly than nature alone would permit.
    The plant specimen commanded the attention of the other scientists.
    Acorna, still uneasy, wandered around the laboratory and sleeping quarters, but nowhere did she see Liriili curled up in a corner, neglecting her duties in favor of sleep.
    As she left the pavilion, Aari emerged from the cave where he had once taken refuge until rescued by Becker and RK.
    (She’s not there,) he answered Acorna before she could ask. (It is as if the planet has swallowed her up, Khornya. I know every rock in this area and she is simply not here. I cannot see, hear, smell, or read her. Of all the places on Vhiliinyar, this is the one where I would most feel our people could be safe. And yet…she’s gone.)
    They combed the area around the base camp, continuing to call Liriili with their voices and their thoughts, to sniff for her scent, to listen for an unconscious movement or moan.
    Then Acorna suddenly realized they hadn’t checked the base camp flitter, which was where the com unit would be. Feeling foolish, she headed for it. Surely not even Liriili would be so inconsiderate as to enter the relative comfort and privacy of the flitter and, while she was supposed to be standing sentry, turn off the com unit so her rest would be undisturbed. But with the ex- viizaar, one could never be certain.
    As Acorna opened the flitter hatch, she could plainly hear, however, that the com unit was on, and the base camp being hailed.
    “Basecamp, this is the flitter wii-Balakiire (small Balakiire ). Come in, please.”
    Acorna flipped the toggle. “Melireenya!”
    “What’s happened, Khornya? We’ve been trying to raise the base camp for hours. We were so worried we were about to abandon our mission and board the flitter and investigate ourselves. Has some freak storm wiped out the base camp already? Or maybe it was a massive