Baswin

by Aurora Springer

  He placed a finger across his lips. “Hush. Don’t speak of him.”

  In a quieter tone, she insisted, “He’s calling for me. He needs me.”

  His tone sharp with surprise, he demanded, “How do you know?”

  “I’m a psychic, a scryer. I can see at a distance. I can hear him calling.” She grabbed Arrak’s arm, and for the first time in her lift, made a threat, “If you don’t take me to visit him at once, I’ll tell the authorities about him.”

  “You promised to stay silent.”

  “I promised to stay with him. To protect him. Now, he needs me. If you don’t believe me, call your friends in your underwater base.”

  He gulped, flicking his gaze around nervously. “Urish. Wait, Brisa Moon. Let me call the Overseer.” Raising his com to his lips, he murmured in his native language.

  She gathered he was asking about the injured man.

  In typical sensitivity to her sister’s emotions, Rosie hurried along the corridor toward them. “What’s the problem, Holly?”

  “The man, the wounded man, he’s calling for me.”

  A moment later, after listening to the response from below, Arrak’s expression registered a growing astonishment. He asked a question.

  Another interval of silence indicated a longer reply from the Warrish base.

  He replied, mentioning Holly’s name, and then muttered the ubiquitous acknowledgement, “Urish.” Lowering his wrist, he turned to her. “Brisa Moon, your farseeing is correct. The Overwarder has invited you to our base to see this man.”

  Rosie said eagerly, “Let me come too. I’m a healer.”

  His brows twitched lower in disapproval, but Arrak spoke again to his contact in the base. Evidently receiving a favorable response, he nodded, saying, “My superiors will permit the two talented Moon sisters to enter the lower levels.”

  Holly and Rosie exchanged grins of delight.

  “Come this way.” Their guide walked down the corridor in the direction in he had come from.

  Glancing back at the line of candidates entering the lunch room, Holly pinched her lips in silent regret for the meal she was missing. She dared not postpone what might be her only opportunity to meet the man of her vision before they embarked on the voyage to Europa.

  She took her sister’s arm and hastened after Arrak.

  He led them farther into the embassy, along hallways and past the closed doors to rooms they had never seen. At length, he halted at a steel door with an orange sign marked in black letters, declaring, ‘Warning. No Entry. Hazards,’ in multiple languages.

  Placing his hand on the glowing panel beside the door, he spread his six fingers and murmured into the speaker grill.

  Holly guessed the door was keyed to Warrish hands for extra security and gave a wry smile of approval. Sadly, their system was inadequate. The Warrish man she had found on the beach would be excluded since he had only five fingers on each hand.

  The door opened with a hiss of air.

  They entered a circular chamber with two other doors flanking an alcove in the opposite side of the curved wall. The empty alcove had space for two people to stand inside.

  Arrak crossed the room and played his fingers over a control panel marked with strange symbols. The alcove filled with swirling haze.

  His blue eyebrows contracted in a severe frown. “The presence of our Qtrans is a secret. You must not speak of it to other Earthers. If this island is attacked in violation of our treaty, the Qtrans will disintegrate.”

  Holly glanced at her sister and obtaining her nod, said, “We understand.”

  Arrak beckoned to them. “Step inside. You will be transported to our submarine base.”

  Rosie halted, her arm trembling in Holly’s clasp, and asked, “Is it safe?”

  “Quantum transportation has a high probability of moving a person safely from one place to another.”

  The guide’s dry statement was not entirely convincing. Yet, Holly had learned this method of transport was common between inner planets of the Warrish star system.

  “We’ll be fine,” she reassured her nervous sister. “Let’s jump in together.” Taking her sister’s hand, she urged her forward. They walked into the shimmery mist.

  Holly’s nerves tingled as she sensed an unnatural twist.

  The opaque mist lightened.

  Another chamber appeared. A similar chamber with a different occupant and dimmer lighting.

  A Warrish man faced them. He wore a red tunic in the same style as the men of the Blue Crescent Triad. His mohawk hair, curled mustaches and triad mark bore green and brown stripes.

  He bowed, placed his palm on his chest and touched two fingers to the striped tattoo under his left eye. “Calm seas, Brisai Moon,” he said in the Warrish language. “I am Overseer Ronnith of the Green Stripe Triad. We serve Triarch Webale of the Red Trident.”

  “Calm seas, Overseer Ronnith,” Holly said in her best Warrishan. “Wounded man calls for us.” Nearing the limits of her alien vocabulary, she cocked her head. “Where is man?”

  The Overseer bowed. Switching into the common lingo, he said, “A noble effort for a new speaker of Warrishan. Come with me. The man you rescued is in distress.”

  Holly and Rosie followed the Overseer out of the Qtrans chamber into a curved corridor. A row of small lamps in the ceiling provided subdued illumination to the dark-walled space.

  Their escort continued his explanation, “The injured man will not lie still. He is agitated, fevered and delirious. We cannot sedate him since our healers believe he might be harmed by the medicines. They agreed to see if you can help him to relax.”

  Lengthening her steps to walk beside Ronnith, Holly asked, “What is his name?”

  “You have been approved to learn his name if you swear to keep his existence a secret from your authorities.”

  Rosie asked, “Why is he a secret?”

  Holly slowed to rejoin her sister and nodded. “I can guess why. And, yes, I’ll swear not to mention his presence on Earth.” She patted her sister’s arm. “I want to help him. If I can.”

  “Okay.” Rosie agreed. “I’ll try to heal him. Since he’s important to you, I won’t tell the authorities.”

  Feeling her cheeks warm, Holly hoped the Warrish man missed the blush of embarrassment. Rosie was the only person who knew about her vision of the handsome man with amber eyes.

  A movement drew her gaze to the curved outer wall of the corridor. Things were moving across the dark wall. A thread with tiny dots of light undulated past a black panel. The next panel showed a strange fish with large luminous eyes and winglike fins. It swam past and veered away into the dark. The dark panels must be windows or external viewers in the walls of the submarine base. Holly blinked, refining her depth perception. Farther out, creatures with long tangled tentacles crept over fans of coral.

  “Wow,” Rosie murmured. “Weird sea creatures.”

  Noting their interest, Overseer Ronnith said, “The ocean is home to many strange animals at this depth. This base is on the ocean floor at approximately four kiloms below the surface waves.”

  The Overseer stopped outside a door and said, “The patient is called Baswin Kenton Tallis. He is Second in the Flaming Comets Triad.” He slapped the palm of his hand against the door. It slid open and he gestured inside. “Please enter, Brisai Moon.”

  Another Warrish man in a red tunic was gazing at the squiggly lines on a monitor. After a quick nod of acknowledgement, he ignored their intrusion.

  The room smelt of tangy salt and ozone, more like a beach than a medical facility. The furnishings were also atypical. A man-sized basin was sunk into the floor and filled with a foaming green liquid. At one end of the basin, the patient lay on a raised platform with a sheet covering the lower parts of his body and legs. A hemisphere of wire hung above his head, probably some type of alien medical sensor. Thick straps around his waist and legs bound him to the bed. He rocked his head from side to side, moaning and thrashing his arms. His gi
lls fluttered open, disturbingly pink against his green-hued skin.

  His cries tore at Holly’s heartstrings. She rushed to his side, flung her arm across his chest, and slid the other hand under his neck to restrain him.

  He tugged at her restraining arm.

  “Baswin Kenton Tallis,” Holly cried, “please be still. You’re safe with friends.”

  Her voice seemed to soothe him. He ceased to moan and wriggle.

  “Brin Baswin, I’ve brought my sister. She’s a healer. She’s here to help you.”

  At a nod from Holly, Rosie moved to the other side of the platform. She bent over the man, laid her hand on his forehead and shut her eyes to focus her healing powers.

  Holly caught hold of his five-fingered hand and massaged his fingers.

  He turned his head toward her and opened his eyes.

  She smiled down at him.

  “You,” he whispered. “You came.”

  “Yes. I’m here.”

  He pleaded, “Stay, Awa. Stay with me.”

  She promised, “I’ll stay until you sleep.”

  His eyelids lowered and he relaxed.

  Looking across at her sister, Holly intercepted a question in her eyes. Her promise depended on the will of the Warrish at the embassy. They might not approve of her staying with their distraught patient. In two days, she and Rosie were due to fly to Europa, assuming they were approved by the Warrish. And, the Triarchs must have plans for Baswin. The mystery surrounding him roused her suspicions. With five fingers on his hands and a shirt concealing his gills, nobody would guess he was an alien.

  Straightening her back and removing her hand from Basin’s forehead, Rosie said, “He’s sleeping. I’ve done my best to speed his recovery.”

  The man by the display said, “Urish. He is asleep. Our methods did not work, yet you have soothed his agitation. We are grateful, gifted Brisai.”

  “I promised to stay with him,” Holly said.

  “I heard you, Brisa Moon. We cannot accommodate you here.” The man’s brows compressed in thought. “You must return to the upper embassy while I inform the ambassador of your success.”

  Emboldened by her desire to console the man of her vision, Holly asked, “Doesn’t Brin Baswin Kenton Tallis also serve the Red Trident?”

  He bowed. “Urish. We will seek the Triarch’s advice.”

  Unwilling to oppose this eminent Warrish authority, Holly nodded and accepted her dismissal without further protest. Her wishes thwarted, she gazed at Baswin’s wan face. If she were chosen for the next stage in tripilot training, she might never see him again. She breathed a tiny sigh and patted his hand. Catching her sister’s gaze, she tilted her head toward the door.

  The Moon sisters retreated from the patient’s bed and rejoined their original escort, Overseer Ronnith, who was waiting outside in the corridor.

  After a swift appraisal of their faces, he gestured for them to accompany him.

  As they walked along the dim corridor with its views of the ocean, Rosie squeezed her arm in unvoiced sympathy with her older sister.

  At the entrance to the foggy Qtrans, the Overseer crossed his hands on his chest. “Calm seas, Brisai Moon. We may not meet again.”

  The sisters did not speak until they passed through the eerie Qtrans to the island portion of the embassy.

  A minute after they arrived in the embassy, Arrak walked into the chamber. Greeting them with a smile, he said, “I’ve heard your visit was a success.”

  Holly said, “We were able to calm the patient.” Quirking her lips in a wry smile, she added, “For the moment, he is asleep. I cannot guess how long he will stay quiet.”

  Arrak waved toward the exit from the Warrish section. “If you hurry, you can catch the tail end of the meal.”

  The door slid open as they approached and Holly’s belly rumbled in anticipation of their postponed meal.

  The sisters trotted along the familiar ways to the dining room. Once there, they garnered the remains of the buffet. Vegetables, rice, poi, and the ever-present dishes of seafood, the staple of Warrish diet.

  They had to counter the other candidates’ questions about their unusual lateness at the meal.

  Grasping at a truthful reason, Holly said, “Rosie was called to heal a sick Warrish man.”

  Rosie followed her lead, adding, “They don’t have proper medics at the embassy.”

  Fortunately, the others seemed satisfied with this excuse.

  Despite her desire to stay with Baswin, Holly realized the Warrish might have been correct when they ordered her to return to the embassy. A longer absence in the submarine base would be difficult to justify. Also, she suspected there were no Warrish females in the embassy, either above or below the sea. The presence of a human woman in the submarine base might prove awkward.

  AFTER THEIR LATE LUNCH, the Moon sisters took advantage of a short break in their scheduled activities. They evaded the other prospective astronavigators and slipped out of the building into the bright sun. They walked across the island on the path through a grove of trees and climbed to one of their favorite spots on the top of a cliff overlooking the open ocean. This place was more secluded than the broad stretch of sand in front of the embassy.

  They sat side by side on the rough surface and gazed at the sparkling ocean waves.

  Now they were alone, Holly said, “We have two more days before they announce who is approved for the trip to Europa.”

  “Don’t you want to go to Europa?” Rosie asked.

  Holly dabbled her toes in the pool at the base of the rock, delaying her reply. “I’m not sure any more. Some part of me wants to help the injured man, Baswin, but the Warrish don’t want us in their undersea quarters.”

  Swinging to face her, Rosie demanded, “What’s the secret about him? You seemed to know.”

  “Didn’t you notice his hands?” Holly countered.

  “Not really. What was wrong with them?”

  “He had five fingers. I counted. Warrish have six fingers on each hand and six toes on their feet.”

  “Five fingers like us. Is that why I didn’t notice?” Rosie wrinkled her forehead for a moment. “Some people, I mean humans, are born with six fingers. It’s rare and usually the extra digit is removed. Maybe something similar happens with the mermen, they’re occasionally born with only five digits.”

  “Could be.” Shaking her head skeptically, Holly said, “Five fingers might be awkward for the Warrish. Their society is full of threes and multiples of three. Triads of the same sex with a hexath of parents.”

  “And nine Triarchs,” Rosie added in a triumphant tone. “It was in one of those tutorials.”

  Holly nodded. “It’s more than the fingers. He hadn’t got a triad tattoo on his face, although the Overseer introduced him as the Second of the Flaming Comets Triad. He didn’t wear his hair in the typical Warrish style. His hair was short and light brown.”

  “You’re right, I guess,” Rosie said slowly. “What does it mean?”

  “I suspect he was some type of spy. He was in disguise as a normal human. He could easily wear a shirt to cover his gills, but he couldn’t hide his hands. Nobody would guess he was an alien as long as he didn’t remove his shirt.”

  As the implications sunk in, Rosie’s eyes widened in shock. “Styx. He’s dangerous. If he’s a spy, I bet he knows how to kill people.”

  “They all do.” Holly twisted around and pointed across the clear water of the lagoon to the black-haired Warrish guard who stood on an islet. “The warder triads must be trained in defense since they’re really guards. And, remember, the Warrish are at war with that ghastly Swarm. I believe military service is compulsory for all young males.”

  Rosie demanded, “When did you learn all that about them?”

  Holly gave a wry smile. “After our interviews in New London, I became curious about our Warrish allies. I ran through that documentary about the visit to Rishalt.”

  “Dora’s documentary.” Rosie grinned. “Y
es. It was fantastic. The women had super dresses and hats.”

  Less impressed by fashions in attire, Holly shrugged. “Great publicity for the Warrish and their war.”

  “We haven’t met one of their females.”

  Holly nodded. “Their women prefer not to travel off planet. Except, of course, for the tripilots.”

  “Aren’t there tripilots on Europa?”

  “Right. That’s the next stage of our assessment. If we are approved to travel there.”

  Rosie patted her sister’s arm and chuckled. “You mean, if they are convinced about our paranormal talents?”

  “They let us into their submarine building to soothe that injured man, Baswin.”

  “It worked. He calmed as soon as you spoke to him. I’d say that was impressive proof of your clairvoyance.”

  “You’re the healer. I don’t know why he reacted so strongly to me.”

  “Didn’t you see him in your mirror?” Rosie’s forehead furrowed as she tried to estimate the date. “Ages ago.”

  “Yes. Just before we read that letter. I didn’t know what to make of the vision.” She shook her head. “In fact, I’d almost forgotten about it.”

  “Until you saw him lying on the reef.”

  “Yes. I recognized his face and amber-colored eyes.”

  Arching her eyebrows, Rosie said, “I think you have a psychic bond with Baswin.”

  Holly rolled her eyes to the ceiling. “Whatever that means.”

  “Don’t you like him?” Rosie teased. “He’s quite handsome underneath the bruises. And he has an excellent physique like the other Warrish. It must be all that swimming.”

  “Gorgeous eyes.” Holly sighed. “Unfortunately, I’ve no time for a romantic interlude. If we’re selected, we’re supposed to learn how to navigate hyperspace. We’ve been persuaded it’s vital so humans can travel to the stars without relying on Warrish tripilots.”

  “I know. But, aren’t there other spacefaring aliens? The Swarm and others, I’d imagine.”

  Nodding thoughtfully, Holly said, “Good point. Remember that spacecraft that crashed on Mars? According to the news, it carried a weird alien. A crab-like creature. The Warrish called it an Eek... something unpronounceable.” She wrinkled her nose.