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AUBRIOT’S DEMEANOR was different during the return journey from the river. The bravado and pride were gone, replaced by a subdued, reflective air. The trip had also been unsuccessful in research terms. None of the three teams had discovered any vegetative material that passed the initial poisons check. The only sample they brought back was the thick, starchy stem of a plant that did contain poisons but they were all soluble. The stems could be made edible, though the process would require lots of water.
The sun had sunk below the forest canopy, and the shadows of the thin, contorted branches stretched out over the water like a crone’s grasping fingers. Everyone was hot and tired after their hours of searching but as they were now traveling downstream, poling the rafts was easy a
