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Camilla said, "Now you're back, when are you off again?"

He slid an arm around her. "I'll have a few days at home first, and then--we're off to find the sea. There
 
must
be one, somewhere on this world. But first--I have something for you. We explored a cave,a few days ago and found these, in the rock. We don't have much use for jewels, I know, it's really awaste of time to dig them out, but Alastair and I liked the looks of these, so we brought some home toyou and the girls. I had a sort of feeling about them."

From his pocket he took a handful of blue stones, pouring them into her hands, looking at the

surprise and pleasure in her eyes. Then the children came running in,

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and MacAran found himself swamped in childish kisses, hugs, questions, demands.

"Da, can I go to the mountains with you next time? Harry goes and he's only fourteen!"

"Da, Alanna took my cakes, make her give them back!"

"Dada, Dada, look here, look here! See me climb!"

Camilla, as always, ignored the hullabaloo, calmly gesturing them to quiet. "One question at a

time-what is it, Lori?"

The silver-haired child with grey eyes picked up one of the blue stones, looking at the starlikepatterns coiled within. She said gravely, "My mother has one like this. May I have one, too? I thinkperhaps I can work it as she does."

MacAran said, "You may have one," and over her head looked at Camilla. Some day, in Lori's own

time, they would know exactly what she meant, for their strange fosterling never did anything without

reason.

"You know," Camilla said, "I think some day these are going to be very, very important to all of us."

MacAran nodded. Her intuition had been proven right so many times that now he expected it; but hecould wait. He walked to the window and looked up at the high, familiar skyline of the mountains,daydreaming beyond them to the plains, the hills, and the unknown seas. A pale blue moon, like the stoneinto which Lori still. stared, entranced, floated up quietly over the rim of the clouds around the mountain;and very gently, rain began to fall.

"Some day," he said, offhand, "I suppose someone will give those moons--and this world--a name."

"Some day," Camilla said, "but we'll never know."

A century later they named the planet DARKOVER. But Earth knew nothing of them for two

thousand years.

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Darkover Landfall. V 1.0 Scanned and proofed by JP for own usage.

Some weird spellings were present in the paper copy, and I kept them

If you find errors comparing to a copy, correct them and upgrade version by 0.1

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