She tripped in a hole in the tarmac then, a gaping hole, and fell full length into it. Things had certainly fallen to wrack and ruin in a hurry since the plague. A hand stretched toward her, to help her she thought, as she saw it from the corner of her eye, but when she reached up to grasp it, she looked up as well. There was the hand and a face but the rest seemed to be the matte black of the tarmac muted, though definitely not softened, by the fog.
Khorii rose under her own power, keeping one eye on the Mana and one on the ground, ignoring other faces and hands that sometimes seemed to reach toward her from the grayness, and continued forward.
She heard a hatch opening, the shuttle, though no further call from Captain Bates. No doubt she and whoever was with her would be hurrying to the Mana to find the supplies they needed. But why not use the docking bay hatch? Khorii slowed her pace, then quickened it.
“Captain Bates?” she directed her thought to the shuttle, but no answer came from that direction.
Instead, behind her, and distinctly farther away came an answer. “On my way, Khorii.”
She was about to ask if they’d sent the other shuttle back as well, when suddenly something streaked toward her through the fog, barreled into her chest, and pierced her over and over again through her suit and on her unprotected face and head. Grabbing her horn, it clung, covering her mouth and nose with a thick smothering coat.
“Khiindi!” Khorii’s shout was mental as well as the mutter she could produce through the cat’s body before she carefully reached up and dislodged him, one claw at a time.
Chapter 24
Khorii didn’t have to ask Khiindi what his problem was, not that the cat would have given her a direct answer. She had only seen Khiindi so frightened of one thing in his entire life, and that was Marl Fidd, who had once swung the poor cat by his tail into the pool where the poopuus lived. If Sesseli had not been there to break his fall with her telekinesis, if the poopuus hadn’t been there to rescue the disabled cat from drowning, and if Khorii herself hadn’t arrived almost at once, she might have lost her feline friend forever. Of all of the horrible things Marl had done, this was by far the most heinous crime, the one she could not forgive, especially since both she and Khiindi knew Marl would do it again or worse. But they had left Fidd in the jail in Corazon. Either he escaped, or someone else just as bad had frightened her cat.
She petted Khiindi until his small heart thumped less violently, then set him down so she could creep closer to see what was happening with the Mana. “Captain Bates, approach with caution. A shuttle landed next to the Mana and from Khiindi’s reaction, the boarding party seems to be hostile.”
“We’ll be there as soon as we can, Khorii. We seem to be experiencing some problem with the fuel pump, and just now a tile fell off the hull. Stay clear meanwhile.”
“I will,” she said, trying not to let the captain see how close she already was to the Mana, despite Khiindi’s batting at her ankles and sending images of Marl Fidd with fangs, horns, and accompanied by two large friends. He made it clear that the Mana was off-limits, but it wasn’t as if she were going to go inside. Khiindi pretended not to be telepathic most of the time, but he was unusually emphatic now. To reassure Captain Bates, Khorii told her, “Every time I try to step closer I get an image of the Mana’s outer hatch with a ‘Danger! Keep Out!’ sign on it. Khiindi is herding me away from there even now.”
“Good. If they hijack the ship, we’ll probably get it back at some point and if not, there are other ships. You, on the other hand, are one of a kind.”
That was fine with Khorii. Her parents might have handled the situation more heroically, but Linyaari were supposed to be healers, not fighters. She wasn’t about to tackle Fidd by herself, especially if she was needed elsewhere.
Khiindi suddenly bristled and swelled while hissing as if he’d sprung a bad leak.
Before she could scoop him up again, her upper arm was clasped in a painful grip, and Marl Fidd’s voice said, “Gotcha!”
How could you save him?” Maak asked Neeva when the relay was patched through. “An android is not merely an inorganically enhanced human—the organic and inorganic functions are thoroughly integrated.”
“We almost failed to do so,” she told him. “But the creatures who attacked him did not entirely destroy his inorganic parts, and with the help of Jalonzo, a young scientist here in Corazon, we were able to visualize the humanoid physiology on which you based his form and augment it to some degree with our own structures.”
“You brought him back to life!” Captain Becker said, uncharacteristically awestruck.
“No, he still had life when we found him, but he had lost some of its conduits. We repaired and extended existing organic tissue to make the required connections.”
“Thank you, Neeva!” Maak said.
Khornya and Aari also crowded into the com screen. The reception was faulty—they flickered so badly and seemed so insubstantial they almost resembled Elviiz’s attackers, except, of course, that no bits of ship showed through them.
“We thank you as well,” Aari said. “Elviiz is our son as well as Maak’s. Now he will live to meet his other sister.”
“Other sister?” Neeva asked.
“Yes, it is quite wonderful, but now Maak would like to speak with Elviiz.”
“Of course,” Neeva said.
“I suppose direct connection is out of the question now?” Maak said.
“It is,” Neeva affirmed, but stepped aside. The Balakiire remained docked at Corazon, since planet-to-planet relay was stronger than when the ship was in transit, even when the transmission bypassed the city’s com tower.
Jalonzo helped wedge Elviiz’s autocart between the command chairs on the Balakiire’s bridge.
“Hello, Father,” he said. “I seem to be broken. Can you fix me?”
Maak assured his son and creation that he would not only fix him, but had some new and improved modifications to make which he had been saving for Elviiz’s seventh ghaanyi anniversary. “It will be close to that time, if not past it, when you arrive here. We shall have to set up a remote repair theater so that I can repair your remaining injuries without breaking quarantine.”
“You think maybe the universe as we know it could spare Khorii long enough for her to come home and test us?” Captain Becker asked. “I feel great myself, never felt better, and the only thing being hurt by our presence here are the little mousie-ratty varmints the aagroni recently introduced to the grasslands. RK is having a—you should pardon the expression—field day with them. My guess is if the rest of the universe is over the plague, so are we. It would make it way easier for Maak to operate, and that way we could help.”
“She is on a mission with the Mana at the moment and unaware of Elviiz’s injuries; but as soon as we can contact her, we will suggest it.”
Captain Becker suddenly took on an expression that Neeva found difficult to describe. When she consulted the LAANYE later she found that the word she was looking for was “shifty.” He seemed to be experiencing some sort of inner conflict. Finally, he gave a resigned sigh, and said, “I can give you the coordinates of the place where they’ll be heading. It’s on your way home.”
“Thank you, Captain. However, I am sure the Mana filed a flight plan with us before departure—”
She looked at Khaari, who looked up from the ship’s computer and shook her head.
“Perhaps not.”
“Okay, but it’s a secret—sort of. It belongs to me, and while I know you and your crew will be cool about it, Neeva, I don’t want it to become general knowledge. It’s a sort of storage depot for my cargo, and if every yahoo in the universe can find it well—it wouldn’t be real convenient.”
“We will not divulge your secret, Captain Becker,” she promised, and he gave them the coordinates.
“We do have one other mission first, but I think given Elviiz’s state and the need to return to Vhiliinyar—”
Elviiz, reassured by his brief exchange with Maak, h
ad fallen asleep with a childlike trust that was at odds with his usual inquisitive and challenging manner.
After disengaging from the relay to Vhiliinyar, the Balakiire contacted the Huhuraani, which had landed on LoiLoiKua in an attempt to protect or at least heal the indigenous population and to expedite their transport.
Neeva explained the situation to Yiitir, the Linyaari historian who was on duty as communications officer.
While she was explaining, he received another hail. “Wouldn’t you know it? We’ve been here for days and heard from no one and all of a sudden there are two hails at once. Hmm. The Nheifaarir. It has the urgency code embedded in the signal, Visedhaanye Neeva.”
“If there is some difficulty, perhaps we can help as long as it doesn’t take us too far out of the way,” Neeva said.
He nodded and blinked out of sight for a few moments. “Hmm,” he said when he reappeared on the com screen. “I’ll just patch you two together and let you sort out the details then, shall I?”
Ariin was amazed to see how the small, gaudily colored and gilt-encrusted egg-shaped Nheifaarir could tow the lumbering gray tanker. Of course, without gravity, the size difference wasn’t a significant factor with one ship dead in space and the other under full power.
The large ship followed the smaller like a pet far more docile than the Makahomian Temple Cats that lived with some Linyaari. Once she got used to the sight, the subjugation of the tanker somehow seemed disappointingly easy. Maati, who had returned to the Nheifaarir with Ariin while Thariinye stayed aboard the tanker, caught the thought.
“Don’t worry, Ariin, this operation will not be boring. Tedious but not boring. Once we get to Rushima’s atmosphere we will need help maneuvering the tanker in for a landing. Let’s hail LoiLoiKua now, shall we, and ask them to send a relay to another ship to join us?”
But this time there were no visuals and Ariin heard only Maati’s side of the brief conversation. Maati was so absorbed she forgot to turn on the speaker. “Neeva! Yes, we need your help with this tanker. No, it will be on your way home. I am so sorry to hear that. Yes, Khorii is on Rushima, and I’m sure she’ll want to be with him. We have a passenger who came with us seeking adventure, too, but I rather think she might change her mind and return with you as well. It shouldn’t delay you for very long, then you can be on your way. I know Maak must be anxious. Here are our coordinates.”
“You’re not sending me home again?” Ariin asked. The journey, long and dull as it had been, was just beginning. Nothing much had happened yet except finding the tanker. She hadn’t had a chance to show how heroic she could be, or that she was just as talented and praiseworthy as her wonderful twin.
“Not sending you, but I thought you’d want to go since your sister and foster brother will both be returning home, at least for a little while. Elviiz has been injured, and only his father/creator can help him at this point.”
“If she can’t help him, why is she going home, too?”
“First of all, because they have been together since she was a baby and he a very small child.”
“Yes, I was told that but—” Maati’s expression said that Ariin was either very dense or somehow lacking the proper concern for the injured Elviiz. That was so unfair! How was she to know? She hadn’t even known another Linyaari until a short time ago.
Maati, reading her correctly, relented, “I’m sorry, Ariin. I forget your unusual upbringing. If it’s any comfort to you, your mother’s unusual upbringing among humans caused her to be misunderstood often, too. It’s just that in our society, and even in human society, if you are as close to someone as Khorii and Elviiz have been to each other for as long as they have been, when one of you is hurt, the other tries to be nearby for emotional support.”
“What is that? How can you support an emotion? Emotions have no mass.”
“Yes, well, perhaps when you’ve been among us longer you will understand better,” Maati said. Underlying her words, Ariin heard her exasperated thought that those Friends had certainly confused her brother’s long-lost daughter. “The other reason we would like Khorii to return with Elviiz is to see if the plague strain carried by her parents and the others is still active. If it is not, it will be much easier for Maak to help Elviiz. I rather thought you’d like to be there, too, if Khorii discovers that quarantine can be lifted.”
“Oh, yes! Yes, I would. I am sorry to have questioned you, father-sister. You are wise as always.”
Maati snorted, but was pleased. And Ariin, while also pleased and more hopeful than she had been in some time, wondered what it would be like to have the kind of power Khorii had to determine the fates of the people she loved. If the plague had vanished from the human universe, as people had been saying, then surely Khorii would not see the plague indicators on their parents, and the quarantine would be lifted. They would be very grateful to her sister. They would probably forget all about Ariin in their joy to see her twin home safely.
If so, Ariin would deal with that when it happened. Meanwhile, she could hardly wait for the Balakiire to arrive with her illustrious great-aunt visedhaanye Neeva, and her sister’s (she couldn’t think of him as her own) android foster brother Elviiz. And that other. The trickster who, according to the Friends’ technicians, had been responsible for dooming Ariin to life without her people and family. She was very interested indeed in meeting Grimalkin at last.
Meanwhile, Maati was on the com with Thariinye, giving him the news about the Balakiire.
When she signed off, she said, “Now to let Khorii know what’s happening. Can’t have the Mana taking off before we arrive.”
Maati hailed the Mana. Ariin could see her laying out the logistics for Khorii—first the Balakiire would arrive, with the injured Elviiz on board, and assist the Nheifaarir in guiding the damaged tanker to the surface of Rushima, where its tank could be emptied and any nonessential personnel would help pilot the tanker back to LoiLoiKua to pick up the locals and transport them to Vhiliinyar. Meanwhile, Khorii, Elviiz, Ariin, and Maati would return in the Nheifaarir to Vhiliinyar, where Elviiz could, they hoped, be healed.
When that was done, Khorii could return to the Mana if she liked, to complete the original mission. The crew of the Mana was invited to wait for her on the Moon of Opportunity.
But Maati did not get to explain any of that, because her hail went unanswered. She switched on a visual that should have shown her the bridge of the Mana, but instead displayed the startled faces of two extremely rough-looking characters who appeared almost monstrous to Ariin, all greasy, long, matted hair, scars, pointed teeth, and—of course—no horns. It did not take a telepath to tell that they were not local mechanics performing free maintenance on her sister’s ship, or that good intentions of any sort were as foreign to their natures as their appearance was to Ariin.
Neither did it require a telepath to understand that Khorii was probably in danger from these toughs and that, therefore, Ariin’s chances of finally making physical contact with her parents was also endangered.
“Who are they? What are they doing on Khorii’s ship? Where is she? Maati, we have to help her!” Such an outburst would have caused the Friends to administer a sedative to her, but Ariin had apparently responded appropriately in Maati’s estimation. Ariin’s aunt looked up and took her hand consolingly.
“We will, youngling. Don’t worry, we will.”
But how? Ariin wondered. She and Maati were alone on the Nheifaarir while Thariinye, the only male, was elsewhere. Furthermore these strange people of whom she was a part had somehow or other, after they had supposedly (though so far no one knew how) descended from a combination of the Friends and the Others, decided that no one of their race did war or violence. Ariin had never seen bad men before but she recognized that, had circumstances been different, had he not been able to get anything he wanted without force, Odus was perfectly capable of using it. Even the Others, good as they had been to her, were ready to fight. Hruffli would have protected her, she knew. And Nei
caair and Nrihiiye were definitely feisty.
Maati was on the com again. “Rushima base come in. This is Linyaari expeditionary vessel Nheifaarir, towing a water transport tanker for the relief effort. Come in, Rushima base. Over.”
For the longest time there was no answer at all, then a young hornless head with red hair tied into two plaits and brown dapples on its nose appeared on the screen. Before it could speak, a smaller furred face popped up in front of it. “Get down, kittencat. Commin’ is for people, not kitties,” the youngling said, removing the offending creature. “Hi, Linyaari ship. This is Rushima base, Moonmay Marsden, comoff for right now, speaking. Can I help you?”
Maati said, “The cargo vessel Mana, docked at your landing facility, appears to have been boarded by unauthorized personnel. Please alert the Mana’s crew to return to their ship, but proceed with caution.”
“Khorii is headed back that way. Everybody else is off rescuin’ the folks from Bug Gulch.”
“Khorii should not face those men by herself. We do not know how many of them there are.”
“I’ll go tell her, then,” the girl said, rising.
“Don’t go alone!” Maati said. “The men look dangerous.”
“Okeydoke,” the girl said. “There’s nobody else to call this minute, ma’am, but don’t you worry about it none. I’ll tend to it.”
Maati leaned back in her chair, the expression on her face not one that Ariin liked at all. And the words she spoke were not soothing either. “Two girls against those men? How is she possibly going to ‘tend’ to it?”
Chapter 25
What are you doing here, Marl?” Khorii demanded, trying to sound calm, although she could feel her heart thudding against her chest wall.
“Jail got boring, and I missed you, pet,” he said, maintaining his grip on her shoulder. “I made some new friends, and I told them all about you. They’ve been very anxious to meet you.” He smiled, baring his teeth without the slightest degree of warmth. “And you and I have some unfinished business to take care of.”
Second Wave Page 20