Free The Florians by Brian Stableford

wondering what kind of role natural selection might have played in the colony’s history,” I said, settling for the truth. “If your population is very high or very low relative to the initial numbers of colonists it might offer some clue as to why this change has taken place—and what sort of effects it’s having demographically.”
    He shook his head. “I’m sure the Planners will be able to supply you with the information you want,” he said. “I have no knowledge of such things.”
    Nathan, obviously wanting to heal the breach, said, “You can’t expect statistical information like that to be common knowledge. Taking census is an economic exercise, and there’s probably no need for it yet. Have a little patience.”
    I resented the patronizing tone slightly, but I took the advice. I gathered my patience, and turned to look out of the window at the alien world which stretched from the roadside into the distance.
    There was, after all, plenty of time.

CHAPTER FOUR
    When we reached South Bay, Jason got out of the carriage and asked us to wait while he attended to some business. We asked what time the train was scheduled to leave and were informed that we had “some time” in hand. When Nathan told him that we would look around the town, he seemed a fraction reluctant to sanction such a course of action, but there were no reasonable grounds on which he could refuse. He offered us the services of the man who had accompanied the coach on horseback as a guide. As a guide, however, the man—whose name was Lucas—was a complete washout. He seemed to be unnaturally taciturn. I don’t believe that he was actually working hard to keep all information to himself—it seemed to come naturally to him.
    We did discover, however, that the township had two primary roles to play in the colony. It was the southeasterly terminal of the railroad and began the distribution of most of the agricultural produce of the surrounding area. It was also a minor port, being situated in a bay between two large promontories. The major port, Leander, was away to the northwest. The greater importance of Leander was obvious in the fact that it had a deliberately conferred name rather than a title derived from a geographical or functional description.
    South Bay had no beach. The waters of the ocean washed a shore which looked more like a river bank than a sea front. There were, of course, no tides to speak of on moonless Floria, and the promontories sheltered the harbor from violent weather. The sea was rippled by the wind, but only gently, and the water in the bay seemed extremely placid. The harbor itself had been cleared of weed, but farther out we could see the tips of the fronds which formed thick underwater forests in shallow water. Farther out to sea, I knew, vast rafts of floating weed could form, and the oceans of Floria were akin to the legendary Sargasso Sea of Earth—somewhat hazardous to navigate.
    The ships moored in the harbor were all fairly small. None was longer than a hundred and fifty feet. They were wide bellied and looked sluggish. They were mostly cargo vessels. There were no fish in the sea, and though there was abundant invertebrate life the weed made netting virtually impossible, and the creatures were often so spectacularly ugly that there could be little demand for their meat.
    Nathan asked Lucas about the extent of the exploration carried out by the colonists. How much did they know about conditions on other continents? How often were transoceanic trips made? Had the globe been circumnavigated? Were there any plans for subcolonies? When Lucas failed to provide adequate answers to these queries, merely indicating that ships had set out on voyages of exploration, Nathan grew a little impatient. The reason for Lucas’s ignorance (or professed ignorance) was unclear. Was the distribution of knowledge in the colony really so parsimonious? Were the