by Speer, Flora
“It seems strange,” Suria said as they soaked in the fresh suds, “to treat a Cetan as a friend after all the centuries of fighting them. It’s difficult to disregard all I’ve been taught and accept that idea.”
“On the Cetan planets,” Gaidar told her, “warriors owe allegiance only to their warlords, who quarrel and make peace as they please. It is common for a Cetan to fight side by side today with yesterday’s enemies, against yesterday’s friends. So it is not a strange thing to me.”
“We stopped that kind of treacherous warfare centuries ago when the Jurisdiction came into being.” Suria’s voice was full of pride.
“Which left you only Cetans to fight.” Gaidar grinned wickedly. “And now you have to fight your own leaders to regain your freedom from them. That is what you will have to do in the end, you know, because you have been lazy and let the Assembly grow too powerful and do whatever it wanted. It would never have happened to Cetans.”
“Hush, don’t talk like that here,” Suria admonished. “We can’t be completely certain Kalina was able to stop all the eavesdropping equipment.”
“I will remain silent,” Gaidar promised, “if you will use that green sponge on my back again.”
Narisa was only partially listening to this conversation. Her mind was on Tarik. She hoped he was safe. She thought he had to be, since Kalina had expressed no concern for either husband or son. However, Narisa was not so distracted she did not notice that Suria seemed to enjoy washing Gaidar’s broad shoulders and arms, with special attention given to the scrapes and cuts he had sustained, before beginning a second soaping of his hair. Nor did she miss the appreciative gleam in the Cetan’s eyes whenever he looked at Suria. She watched in some amusement how he stepped quickly out of the tub when Suria had finished with him and hastily wrapped a thick towel around himself. It was not hard to imagine what he might have done had he been alone with the voluptuous redhead.
Narisa herself was distressed by the many bruises on Suria’s lushly curved body. They could not have come from the day’s adventures. They were old bruises, and they were in the wrong places. No one today had grabbed Suria’s breasts, or pummeled her inner thighs and upper arms.
“Leader Tyre did it.” Suria answered Narisa’s timid question calmly. “It excites him to hurt women.”
“0h, Suria, I am so sorry.”
“It won’t happen again,” Suria said. “My actions today have freed me of him. Tyre and I are enemies now. When he learns what I have done, he will want me dead, not least of all because I might speak of the terrible things he does in private.”
“Cetans do that sort of thing to their women.” Gaidar turned to face them with his towel firmly fastened about his middle. “My mother complained of it. She said women prefer their men to be gentle and not hurt them. But when I tried to be gentle with a Cetan woman, she called me unmanly.”
“It depends upon the woman,” Suria said, looking into his golden eyes. “Perhaps you should ask first.”
“Perhaps I will,” Gaidar answered softly, and Narisa felt as though she was intruding upon some private ceremony.
To her relief, the mood was broken by Kalina’s return. She had brought a tray of food and a Service uniform for Gaidar to wear.
“It was my son’s,” she told him. “It’s the only thing I have that could possibly fit over those shoulders of yours. You are much the same size.”
“Not Tarik, he’s not this big.” Gaidar held up the uniform jacket. “Have you another son, Mistress Kalina?”
“Halvo, my older boy. It’s the first uniform he wore after he became a Service officer.”
“Admiral Halvo is your son? These foolish women didn’t tell me that.” Gaidar swallowed hard and tried to give the jacket back to Kalina. “Don’t you think he will object to my wearing his clothes?”
“He’d object much more strenuously to your appearance in a towel,” she said tartly. “Put it on, young man. And comb your hair.”
“Only my mother ever spoke to me in that tone and lived,” Gaidar growled. A sudden grin split his face, making him look younger and less hard. “That was the first bath I’ve had since she died.”
“Don’t try to shock me, Gaidar. It can’t be done. I raised two sons of my own, remember. Narisa, Suria, into the other room and dress there. Allow the poor man some privacy.”
They ate while they dried themselves and dressed. Kalina had brought them heated bowls of vegetable stew, bread, cheese and wine.
“It’s a feast,” Gaidar called from the bathing room, and Kalina smiled at his delighted voice.
Narisa was happy to put her Beltan clothes on again. Comfortable in the simple garment and refreshed by her bath, she brushed her clean golden brown hair until it swung in a short, straight veil about her face. The only thing she lacked now was Tarik’s presence. She hoped he would return soon. She had so much to tell him.
There was a dark green dress for Suria, in a similar style to Narisa’s. It was too long, but she bloused it over a tightly cinched belt. In the months since her disgrace her red hair had grown longer than Service regulations stipulated, and now it curled almost to her shoulders. The green of her dress made her eyes appear larger and greener. Her skin was creamy pale, and the bruises were hidden by her clothing.
Narisa felt a quick stab of jealousy looking at her, then brushed it away. Suria’s recent life had been nothing to envy, and she could not want Tarik and still look at Gaidar the way she did. There was nothing to fear from Suria.
When Gaidar walked out of the bathing room, Narisa would not have known him had it not been for his eyes. In the dark blue uniform jacket and trousers, he might have been a young Service officer. His yellow hair was neatly combed, his wide, square-jawed face was handsome. Even the once-broken nose did not mar his appearance, but only made him look more interesting. Yet the golden eyes were pure Cetan, fierce and searching. Narisa reminded herself he was not a member of the civilized Races. He might be almost a friend, and trustworthy, but he was still different She wished Suria would remember that. From the expression on her face, Narisa did not think she would.
“You look quite presentable,” Kalina told Gaidar. “My husband arid Tarik have returned. Come with me, please.”
Chapter Twelve
Had she not been trying so hard to keep from flinging herself into Tarik’s arms in front of his parents, Narisa might have laughed at the expression on his face when he looked from her to Suria and back again. She saw plainly the uneasiness he must have felt at finding his former lover and his present love entering the secure room together with no sign of strain between them.
Almaric seemed unaware of the tension in Tarik’s carefully composed face and stance, for he had focused at once on Gaidar.
“By what means,” he demanded, “has a junior Service officer gained admission to my wife’s most private chamber?”
“He is not a Service officer at all.” Kalina finished sealing the innermost of the two doors and approached her irate husband. “I gave him those clothes.”
“By all the stars,” Tarik swore, “it’s Gaidar. I know those eyes. What are you doing out of prison, and with a clean face? And you, too, Suria, why are you here? Mother, is this one of your famous arrangements? Have you prevailed on Leader Tyre to let Gaidar go free?”
“I will not have my wife begging that insolent, incompetent blot on the Assembly’s honor for anything,” Almaric sputtered.
“Don’t blame Kalina. It was my idea,” Suria announced.
“And I helped her,” Narisa added. “We realized we had to rescue Gaidar before Tyre had him killed. You and Tarik weren’t here, so we did it ourselves.”
“You did what?” Almaric looked like a volcano about to erupt. “You left here after I gave my word to the Assembly that you would not, and then you removed a prisoner from Jurisdiction custody? Is that what you did?”
“What does it matter?” Gaidar put in. “If Tyre is incompetent as well as perverted, you ought to simply ki
ll him and be done with it.”
“Silence, you Cetan animal!” Almaric roared. “How dare you come here? Lieutenant Narisa deserves to be court-martialed for what she has done. As for you, Suria, a rehabilitation planet will be your fate if I have anything to say about it.”
“You can’t do that,” Narisa cried. “Suria has suffered enough already from the Assembly’s stupid laws and from Tyre himself. I won’t let you do anything more to her.”
“Watch your words, young woman!”
“Don’t talk to Narisa that way.” There was fire in Tarik’s eyes, and he actually took a single threatening step toward his father.
“Stop it, all of you.” Kalina did not need to raise her voice to restore order. “Almaric, I ask you to control your anger until you have heard what these young people have to say. I not only gave Narisa my permission to leave our house, I helped her. My dear, you know I would do nothing to jeopardize our position. Only let us explain and you will understand we could not wait for your return.”
“You brought a Cetan here!” Almaric’s voice was a little milder when he spoke to his wife. “A Cetan who is a prisoner of the Jurisdiction.”
“A man to whom Narisa and I have given our word that he would be safe if he would help us,” Tarik told his father angrily. “Narisa would not act foolishly. She is always as scrupulous in her obedience to the law as is my mother. Therefore, there must be a good reason for Gaidar’s presence here.”
Narisa flashed him a grateful look. She was deeply touched by his faith in her. She took advantage of a moment of silence.
“Gaidar was no longer a Jurisdiction prisoner,” she said, looking from Tarik to his father to observe their reactions. “He had been moved to one of Tyre’s private cells below his own house. It was a terrible place, with neither water nor ventilation.”
“Such an action would be against the law,” Almaric admitted grudgingly. “Tyre would not dare to do such a thing.”
“But he did,” Suria declared, “and planned to kill Gaidar tonight, and you, too, Almaric, and all your family with you.”
Almaric looked as if he would loose another barrage of angry words at Suria. His mouth was opened to begin, but he stopped, hearing a sound at the door.
Kalina rushed to the entrance, checked the security panel, cleared it and waited while the two sealed doors opened.
Narisa had never met the man who entered, but she would have known him without Kalina’s glad greeting. Where Tarik, the younger son, closely resembled his father, Halvo, the elder by seven years, was very like his mother. He was tall and heavily built, with the beginning of a paunch. His uniform jacket gleamed with gold and silver braid, and on the left arm it bore the sixteen-pointed star of a full admiral. Only one Service insignia conferred more authority, the twenty-four-pointed star of Admiral of the Fleet. Halvo’s face was a masculine version of Kalina’s strong features. His dark hair was lightly silvered at the temples, his gray eyes cool and intelligent. They swept the group in the secure room while he patiently endured his mother’s emotional embrace.
“Welcome home, my son.” Almaric’s embrace was somewhat more restrained than Kalina’s had been, but was no less loving or proud.
When Tarik’s turn came, both men hesitated as though something kept them apart, until Tarik grabbed his brother’s shoulders and the two came briefly together.
Narisa, watching them, remembered then that Tarik and Halvo had quarreled at their last meeting and had parted in anger.
“It has been too long, Tarik,” Halvo said with slightly forced politeness. “Too many years. I am pleased to see you again.”
“My navigator,” Tarik said, presenting Narisa.
“You are out of uniform, lieutenant,” Halvo charged coolly.
“It’s my doing, Halvo,” Kalina interjected before Narisa could defend herself. “Since she is not on active duty just now, I thought private clothes would be a nice change for her.”
Halvo was plainly not pacified by this explanation, but his attention was diverted by the sight of Gaidar.
“I see by your eyes that you are a Cetan. In my old uniform. You needn’t explain; I can guess who gave it to you. Will you reform the entire Service, Mother? Shall we add recruits from outside the civilized Races?”
“I have no desire to join your Service,” Gaidar stated firmly.
“Now, Halvo,” his mother said, “I want you to sit down and listen to the story Tarik and Narisa have to tell. It is why I called you home so urgently. They will tell you the truth, and so will Gaidar. Then Narisa and Suria will tell us how they freed Gaidar from Leader Tyre’s house.”
Narisa barely repressed a giggle as the great Admiral Halvo overcame his amazement at this speech, sank obediently into the chair his mother had indicated, and prepared to listen.
He seemed to believe them as she and Tarik spoke. He asked shrewd, penetrating questions of Gaidar concerning Starthruster and the Cetans’ plan of attack, and expressed outrage at the way Gaidar had been removed from the official Assembly prison to Tyre’s cell. And he sat hiding a smile behind clasped hands when Tarik, having finally learned what Narisa and Suria had been doing during his absence, began to scold Narisa.
“How could you risk your life like that?” Tarik began. “Narisa, you could have been killed. If you had been caught, if you had fallen into Tyre’s clutches, I can’t bear to think what might have been done to you, or what a terrible weapon he would have had against us.”
“I didn’t think of that,” Narisa admitted. “Gaidar’s life was in danger, we had given him our word for his safety, and you weren’t here, so I did what had to be done. I don’t regret it.”
“Where were you,” Halvo asked Tarik, “that you could not go to Gaidar’s aid yourself?”
“Do you mean you approve of Narisa’s and Suria’s mad expedition?” Almaric looked stunned.
“I regret to say I do, Father. Something must be done about Tyre’s corrupt rule, and soon. Most of the other Service officers feel the same way.”
“What, the renowned Admiral Halvo fomenting treason with his cronies?” Tarik
laughed. “I’m glad to hear it. It’s about time you understood the situation, brother. If you mean what you’ve just said, perhaps we can forget our old quarrel and be friends again.”
“You haven’t answered me, Tarik.” Halvo’s tone was frosty, but he let the implication of treason pass. “Where were you today?”
“Father and I and my old teacher, Jon Tanon, went aboard the Cetan ship. It’s docked at spaceport and under Service guard.”
“I saw it when I brought my own ship into port. What were you doing there?”
“I was afraid Tyre might order the ship destroyed, and I wanted to gather as much information from it as possible before he could do that. Father agreed to go with me because as a Member of the Assembly he’s empowered to go wherever he wants and thus could get us onto the ship. Jon and I made diagrams of Starthruster, and also sketched the design of the ship and all its armaments. It’s a cargo vessel; a pirate ship really, not one of their newer warships, but still the information should be useful to us.” Tarik pulled a sheaf of papers out of his uniform jacket. “Recordings might have been detected when we came through security after leaving spaceport, so we used these. Ancient methods sometimes work better than our own.”
“Still studying history, are you?” Halvo took the papers. “For once I’m glad of it.”
“Tarik, where is Jon now?” Kalina asked.
“He stayed aboard to examine the ship further. He was fascinated by it.”
“I hope he’ll have no trouble leaving spaceport.” Kalina looked worried.
“I gave him a pass,” Almaric assured her. “There will be no difficulty. Now, Halvo, what are we to do? As I see the situation, we have three problems. The most immediate is the threat of a concerted Cetan attack, which could come at any time. The second problem is how to deal with whatever punishment is meted out to Tarik and his lieutenant navig
ator for their defiance of the Assembly. Whatever is done to them will affect the status of our family and thus our ability to act as a rational balance against Leader Tyre and his friends. Our third problem is what to do with this Cetan warrior who, I am forced to admit, deserves some consideration for warning us of his fellows’ plans.”
“I agree with your assessment of the first problem, but not the others,” Halvo said. “It seems to me our second problem is how to remove Leader Tyre and his accomplices from power. That would solve the other problems by nullifying the case against Tarik and Narisa, and by making Gaidar a hero when we defeat the Cetans.”
“Halvo is right.” Tarik stood behind his brother’s chair, with one hand on Halvo’s shoulder. “We are finally in agreement. The Assembly must be reformed, and the sooner the better for the Jurisdiction and all the Races.”
“Aren’t you forgetting,” Narisa asked, a distinct edge to her voice, “that while you sit here and calmly set forth problems and reasonable solutions, Leader Tyre plans to kill all of us tonight? He should be delighted, Admiral Halvo, to catch you in his net as well as us. You must have seen all the guards at the door when you came into the house. Tyre will have been told by now that you are here. What with trying to locate his missing prisoner, wondering where Suria has gone, worrying if you and your father are plotting against him, and deciding how to dispose of this family without destroying his own position, Tyre may be ready for the worst kind of violence, and upon a great many people, not just us. There is no time to lose. Tyre has to be stopped now, and every world belonging to the Jurisdiction should be warned about the Cetans.”