SciFi Short story about human landing craft knocked off course, must walk
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1Shaggy1889
Hi. Short SciFi Story, I think the book was smaller than a paperback usually is now adays. Read it in the late 1990s or early 2000s. It wasn't a new book then. Don't remember any of the other stories in the book.
A landing craft, knocked off it course somehow, crashes and the humans need to walk to the outpost on the alien planet. I think it take a week or less for them to walk there. On the way, they come across a small, flying native life form that that resemble cats (not sure about this, but I think they called them catbirds). A few of these catbirds try to take up with a couple of the women, one drives them away, the other lets one settle on her shoulder and it stays with her on the trek. They also come across an alien spaceship, occupied with some aliens who also have the catbirds with them. Later they come across a primitive village of the same aliens that has ground vents around it spewing a foul smell that the catbirds won't go near. They eventually arrive at the outpost where the woman with the catbird finds an uncle(?) who is wasting away. He had a catbird, but when it died, he basically just started to die.
A landing craft, knocked off it course somehow, crashes and the humans need to walk to the outpost on the alien planet. I think it take a week or less for them to walk there. On the way, they come across a small, flying native life form that that resemble cats (not sure about this, but I think they called them catbirds). A few of these catbirds try to take up with a couple of the women, one drives them away, the other lets one settle on her shoulder and it stays with her on the trek. They also come across an alien spaceship, occupied with some aliens who also have the catbirds with them. Later they come across a primitive village of the same aliens that has ground vents around it spewing a foul smell that the catbirds won't go near. They eventually arrive at the outpost where the woman with the catbird finds an uncle(?) who is wasting away. He had a catbird, but when it died, he basically just started to die.
2Shaggy1889
Bumpity bump.
3Shaggy1889
Bump.
In the end the humans go and kill all the "catbirds". The one catbird doesn't mind, just can't figure out why its human won't name it.
In the end the humans go and kill all the "catbirds". The one catbird doesn't mind, just can't figure out why its human won't name it.
