Acorna’s Search

by Anne McCaffrey

  She was so good at helping people, at finding a way through their problems. Now that it really mattered so very much to her, now that she had needs of her own, she had failed. Bad timing, her uncles would say. Oh, yes! Very bad timing indeed. She felt flattened, somehow empty now.

  It was so lonely without Aari beside her—more lonely than she ever had been before they came together. Intellectually, she realized she wasn’t alone. She had her friends, her adoptive human family, of course; but it wasn’t the same. They were not hers in the way that Aari was.

  She pulled herself ashore and shook off a few droplets. What should she do now? Aari wasn’t here to find, and she had no other way of seeking him in this world and time. She tried to shake off the weight of bewilderment and frustration, the load of disappointment and sadness bearing down on her. She would not give into the loneliness. Would not give into grief. She had accomplished some of what she came here to do. She knew now that Aari was alive and uninjured. She knew he cared for her and longed for her as she did him. He was strong, intelligent and resourceful and had gained some knowledge of the time-travel device. He’d be fine. Really. Of course he would.

  So for the moment, she simply had to trust that, since she could not find him, he would find her.

  She was easier to locate than he was, after all. She wasn’t lost in time and space. Even if she was not on-planet when he came looking for her, someone on Vhiliinyar would always know where she was. He knew who and where and when to ask about her. He’d find her, now that he’d found a way to start looking for her.

  And, he could just keep looking for a while, she supposed. After all, that’s what she had done. A little flash of anger ran through her when she thought about his absence from this place after all she’d gone through to get here. It gave her the power go on, to climb the hill, to return to the machine, to reset it for her own time.

  She would use the water still clinging to her body to return.

  Aari was an adult male. He had been in far more threatening situations than this one and had escaped without her. She had no way to continue after him from here, and she had the needs of others to consider. She did not, after all, wish to bring the sii-Linyaari forward to shallow seas and darkness again.

  But then, as she activated the machine, she realized that perhaps she wouldn’t be so easy to find after all. When the terraforming of the old home world began, everyone would have to leave. If Aari returned to Vhiliinyar to look for her then, he would arrive on the rapidly mutating surface of the deserted planet—and that could be deadly.

  The wall of reason and good sense she had just finished building to sustain herself crashed down upon her, crushing her spirit with the sheer weight of it, and leaving her with the sense she and Aari could be truly lost to each other, perhaps for all time, and nothing she had done or could do right now would make any difference.

  Arriving back in her own time, she found her feet and eyelids as heavy as her spirit. What she really should do was sit for a moment and try to think this through one more time. But sitting turned into laying down on the cold floor of the building, and her thought turned into a deep disturbing dream.

  She had been under the impression that all of the Ancestors had returned to narhii-Vhiliinyar, but when she opened her eyes in her own time, she was surrounded by unicorns.

  “You are very troubled, Great-Granddaughter,” said the lime and fuchsia Grandmother.

  “Of course she’s troubled, old girl. She misses her lifemate and doesn’t know where the boy’s gone off to.”

  “It’s not just that,” Acorna said. While the two speakers were standing, many of the Ancestors lay on the floor, as if searching for something to graze upon. Acorna opened the pockets on her shipsuit and pulled out all of the food she had to offer.

  “That is not necessary, Great-Granddaughter. Our Attendants fear we will take harm from this journey and so overfeed us to the point of bursting to counter any ill-effects. You were saying it was not just that you missed the boy. If it is not that, then what makes you so sad?”

  “It’s the terraforming. As soon as all of the teams have been located, we will all be leaving the planet while it is terraformed to restore the mountains and other contours, to replant and replenish the water, to restore the atmospheric layers.”

  “Yes, so that Vhiliinyar that was will be again!” one of the Grandfathers crowed. “I am looking forward to that!” Then his enthusiasm faltered. “But you are not, are you?”

  “Not any longer. Because when they do that, it will utterly change everything, the city will be destroyed and so will the time map. In fact, even if we tried to move it to MOO, it would do Aari no good. He will not be able to find his way back here again if the time device is gone. Or, at least, that is what I fear. And I cannot find him. The sii-Linyaari say he is not with them, that he may have gone off planet with our people of the pre-Khleevi past, before the city was buried. Without his light on the map of this planet, I cannot search for him. I cannot hope to find him, and he will be unable to find his way home again.”

  “My dear,” the lime-and-fuchsia-draped Granddame said. “He is a grown man. When the sii-Linyaari last saw him, he saw them to safety, then walked away on his own two feet. Since you cannot find him in time, it is probable that he is in space.”

  “But what if he’s not? Or even if he is, he will not be able to return when he’s ready!”

  “Not the way he left, anyway,” a Grandfather said. “But perhaps there are other ways, ways you don’t know. Or at least not yet. Calm yourself, child. Maad, what is that song you used to sing the Younglings? This one needs sleep. And good dreams.”

  When she awoke, the Ancestors were gone and Becker had the next team ready for her to find. Two more teams after that, and the shuttles came for them. She wanted to slip away, to return to the machine, but perhaps Becker knew what was on her mind. He kept a close eye on her and made sure she boarded the Condor ahead of him. RK stayed very close to her. She returned to the quarters she had shared with Aari and found the coverings they had used, taking comfort in his scent lingering on them. Snuggling into them, she didn’t feel quite so alone.

  Twenty-eight

  “Never in the history of our people have we held a high council meeting of such importance, and certainly never have we held a council of importance elsewhere than our own world, and with folk other than our own kind in attendance.”

  The temporary council head, one Kaalmi Vroniiyi, had a strong and sonorous voice that filled the ballroom of Hafiz’s palace.

  “However, here with us tonight are those who have involved themselves in our causes and our welfare, who have endangered themselves and their own livelihoods to help us when we were set upon by enemies. We have decisions to make in some cases, only because they have made choices possible where previously acceptance of disaster would have been our only course.

  “We stand with feet on two worlds. Our dear friend and adopted kinsman, Uncle Hafiz, who has given us his home for this meeting, who has succored us during our disasters and grief, who has aided in the rescue of those of our number when in danger, has offered us his help in restoring both of our homes. One for our private spiritual use and one for public trade. While there is some long-range benefit to Uncle Hafiz’s firm, in the meantime he has had to strip his beautiful and delicious gardens to help rescue some of us from timetraps caused by the Khleevi occupation of our beloved Vhiliinyar.

  “He has offered to restore Vhiliinyar to its former pastoral and sylvan glory in return for a loan that our descendants will still be repaying his descendants many ghaanyi from now.

  “And yet, recently, some of us have had, thanks to the Khleevi, unusual experiences which have shown us that things change. Even our beloved Vhiliinyar has not always been as many of us remember it. Sleeping, at its heart, for instance, is an ancient but in some ways very modern city. It waits for us to awaken it and use it. Within this city is an enormously powerful and dangerous instrument, that can be used
to destroy the fabric of existence or, potentially, to mend the tears in that same fabric and bring continuity and harmony.

  “The Khleevi, and I am happy to say the late unlamented Khleevi, thanks to the valor of some of our people and to our non-Linyaari friends such as Captain Becker, Uncle Hafiz, Colonel Nadhari Kando, and others, have been perhaps our greatest challenge, but at the same time they have been our greatest teachers.

  “These lessons have not been easy ones. One of our sons, our brothers, was so horribly mistreated by them that he bears scars still despite reunion with his family and the love of an extraordinary daughter of the people. And we have lost many others of our people to their terrible tortures.

  “And we, who feel we always do the best thing, are always good and always kind, left these people behind. Furthermore, when Aari came out alive, we were not all accepting of his return.

  “Though unwilling to wage war ourselves, we allowed our friends and allies to wage it on our behalf. Now that both our planets have suffered from the conflict, we have professed ourselves to be willing to allow them to rebuild for us, to heal our worlds as instantly as we would heal a small cut, with no effort on our part.

  “But will this truly be healing? Some of us think not. Some of us feel that allowing Uncle Hafiz to beggar himself on our account is bad for us all. We feel that a more gradual rebuilding of both planets is called for, a pay-as-we-go process in which we interact with and learn from those who contribute their skills to our homes’ rebirth.

  “Uncle Hafiz has ordered much that is needed to terraform our planet but we are here to decide the fate of that process. Do we want instant terraformation or do we, perhaps, wish to rebuild a mountain here, rededicate a stream there, allow Dr. Hoa to improve our climate so that the seas refill, the rivers run, the meadows flourish in a gentle fashion? Meanwhile, thanks to the genius of our Ancestral Hosts, we have found a way to reclaim some of our lost species. As habitat becomes available for them, we may reintroduce them to the present time.

  “One other factor enters into this equation before you, the Linyaari people, give the council the benefit of your wisdom. That same son so injured by the Khleevi has become lost in time and of all our lost people, he is one who cannot be found. He leaves behind a mother and father who also were lost, a little sister who has only just come to know her sibling, and a lifemate who is our own dear Khornya, from and through whom we have gained the help we needed to survive our late catastrophes. Aari is only one male, you may say, just one Linyaari when many are needing their homes. So, shall we abandon him again? What say you?”

  Before anyone else could answer, the ballroom was stunned into silence by the pounding of hooves, 1-2, 3,4. 1-2, 3, 4. 1-2, 3,4. As the Ancestors, the best kept secret of the Linyaari people, marched in synchronized formation into the room and with one voice brayed, “Nay. We say nay. We will not lose him again as long as there is hope he may survive. We will never again willingly sacrifice the life of any of our people—or our friends—as long as there is hope they may survive. For the needless death or abandonment or even mistreatment of any one of us causes a plague of grief, pain, and anger beyond the power of the horn to heal, a poison to the waters of our souls. Be it known that this is the advice and the vote of we, your many times great granddames and grandsires, collectively known as the Ancestors.”

  The vote was taken. Acorna shakily voted nay with the entire hall.

  As the Ancestors marched back out again, the lime-and-fuchsia-clad Grandam stopped before her for a moment and Acorna threw her arms around the Ancestress’s neck, thanking her profusely.

  “Oh, nonsense child. We have always had plenty of time for truly worthwhile people. And now you and the other Younglings will have time and space to move mountains, cry yourselves rivers, and generally grow into the present. I suggest that you enjoy it, while you leave being relics of the past to us. We have a lot of experience at it.”

  And with that, they marched from the room.

  Glossary of Terms and Proper Names Used in the Acorna Universe

  Aagroni—Linyaari name for a vocation that is a combination of ecologist, agriculturalist, botanist, and biologist. Aagroni are responsible for terraforming new planets for settlement as well as maintaining the well-being of populated planets.

  Aari—A Linyaari of the Nyaarya clan, captured by the Khleevi during the invasion of Vhiliinyar, tortured, and left for dead on the abandoned planet. He’s Maati’s brother. Aari survived and was rescued and restored to his people by Jonas Becker and Roadkill. But Aari’s differences—the physical and psychological scars left behind by his adventures—make it difficult for him to fit in among the Linyaari.

  Aarkiiyi—Member of the Linyaari survey team on Vhiliinyar.

  Aarlii—A Linyaari survey team member, firstborn daughter of Captain Yaniriin.

  Acorna—A unicorn-like humanoid alien discovered as an infant by three miners—Calum, Gill, and Rafik. She has the power to heal and purify with her horn. Her uniqueness has already shaken up the human galaxy, especially the planet Kezdet. She’s now fully grown and changing the lives of her own people, as well. Also called Khornya.

  Ancestors—Unicorn-like sentient species, precursor race to the Linyaari. Also known as ki-lin.

  Ancestral Hosts—Ancient spacefaring race that rescued the Ancestors, located them on the Linyaari home planet, and created the Linyaari race from the Ancestors and their own populations through selective breeding and gene splicing.

  Andina—Owner of the cleaning concession on MOO, and sometimes lady companion to Captain Becker.

  Attendant—Linyaari chosen to serve the Ancestors.

  Balaave—Linyaari clan name.

  Balakiire—The Linyaari ship commanded by Acorna’s aunt Neeva in which the envoys from Acorna’s people reached human-populated space.

  Barsipan—Jellyfish-like animal on Linyaari home planet.

  Becker—See Jonas Becker.

  Calum Baird—One of three miners who discovered Acorna and raised her.

  Condor—Jonas Becker’s salvage ship, heavily modified to incorporate various “found” items Becker has come across in his space voyages.

  Declan “Gill” Giloglie—One of three miners who discovered Acorna and raised her.

  Delszaki Li—Once the richest man on Kezdet, opposed to child exploitation, made many political enemies. He lived his life paralyzed, floating in an antigravity chair. Clever and devious he both hijacked and rescued Acorna and gave her a cause—saving the children of Kezdet. His recent death was a source of tremendous sadness to all but his enemies.

  Dharmakoi—Small burrowing sapient marsupials known to the Linyaari, now extinct as a result of Khleevi war.

  Edacki Ganoosh—Corrupt Kezdet count, uncle of Kisla Manjari.

  Enye-ghanyii—Linyaari time unit, small portion of ghaanye.

  Feriila—Acorna’s mother.

  Fiicki—Linyaari communications officer on Vhiliinyar expedition.

  Fiirki Miilkar—A Linyaari animal specialist.

  Fiiryi—A Linyaari.

  Fraaki—Linyaari word for fish.

  Geeyiinah—One of the Linyaari clans.

  Ghaanye (pl. ghaanyi)—A Linyaari year.

  Gheraalye malivii—Linyaari for Navigation Officer.

  Gheraalye ve-khanyii—Linyaari for Senior Communications Officer.

  Giirange—Office of toastmaster in a Linyaari social organization.

  Giryeeni—Linyaari clan name.

  GSS—Gravitation Stabilization System.

  Haarha Liirni—Linyaari term for advanced education, usually pursued during adulthood while on sabbatical from a previous calling.

  Haarilnyah—The oldest clan amongst the Linyaari.

  Hafiz Harakamian—Rafik’s uncle, head of the interstellar financial empire of House Harakamian, a passionate collector of rarities from throughout the galaxy and a devotee of the old-fashioned sport of horseracing. Although basically crooked enough to hide behind a spiral staircase, he is f
ond of Rafik and Acorna.

  Haven—A multigeneration space colonization vehicle occupied by people pushed off the planet Esperantza by Amalgamated Mining.

  Highmagister HaGurdy—The Ancestral Friend in charge of the Hosts on old Vhiliinyar.

  Hraaya—An Ancestor.

  Hrronye—Melireenya’s lifemate.

  Hrunvrun—The first Linyaari Ancestral Attendant.

  Iiiliira—A Linyaari ship.

  Iirtye—Chief aagroni for narhii-Vhillinyar.

  Ikwaskwan—Self-styled “admiral” of the Kilumbembese Red Bracelets.

  Imaara—An Ancestor attendant.

  Jonas Becker—Interplanetary salvage artist; alias space junkman. Captain of the Condor. CEO of Becker Interplanetary Recycling and Salvage Enterprises Ltd.—a one-man, one-cat salvage firm Jonas inherited from his adopted father. Jonas spent his early youth on a labor farm on the planet Kezdet before he was adopted.

  Kaarlye—The father of Aari, Maati, and Laarye. A member of the Nyaarya clan, and life-bonded to Miiri.

  Ka-Linyaari—Something against all Linyaari beliefs, something not Linyaari.

  Karina—A plumply beautiful wannabe psychic with a small shred of actual talent and a large fondness for profit. Married to Hafiz Harakamian. This is her first marriage, his second.

  Kava—A coffee-like hot drink produced from roasted ground beans.

  KEN—A line of general-purpose male androids, some with customized specializations, differentiated among their owners by number, for example KEN637.

  Kezdet—A backwoods planet with a labor system based on child exploitation. Currently in economic turmoil because that system has been broken by Delszaki Li and Acorna.