“Yes, they receive essential nutrients from this smoke. And therein lies the fundamental dilemma and the controversy of Fire World — and the reason the planet has not been closed, though there has certainly been adequate time to populate it fully. There is also a high relocation percentage. “When Fire World was discovered, it was at first thought that the dominant species, the Fire-Tasters, were the only intelligent life-forms present. The Fire-Tasters did not consider the Walking Flowers to be their equals — a cultural prejudice — so it was a while, even after the first wave of settling,
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