Decision at Doona

by Anne McCaffrey

  Ken spied Chaminade as Hrrula talked, and beckoned him over, deriving a small satisfaction as the fat figure waddled obediently to his summons.

  “Remember that sapphire someone snitched from McKee? I want it now, Chaminade, for the Hrruban leader.”

  The little eyes narrowed speculatively. “It does belong to the Hrrubans, I guess,” the Codep man agreed and snapped an order to his wrist unit. “Those bare-chested catmen are armed, Reeve,” he remarked, looking Hrrula directly in the eye.

  “We are protecting our First Speaker from you barbarians,” Hrrula replied in his fluent but oddly accented Terran.

  Suddenly Ken realized that Hrrula accented the wrong Terran syllables at times and retained his own pitched inflections. If you missed his first words you missed most of the sentence.

  “Let me explain quickly, Rrev. Zodd must remain by Hrruna. No talk of treaty or anything, for this is a social visit,” and Hrrula wheezed briefly. “Zodd has been trained in the protocol of formal Hrruban and, since every circuit on Hrruba is turned onto this scene, our people must receive the best possible impression of yours. It can still reverse opinion in our favor!”

  "But a kid – " Chaminade protested.

  «Already that Sumitral has made several errors – understandable, because no one in our village used the formal tones, but few on our planet will make that allowance. They will only see discourtesy toward our First Speaker. I agree it is wonderful that Sumitral tries to speak Hrruban but he does not speak well enough yet.»

  “From the mouths of babes,” Chaminade sighed.

  Unexpectedly Hrrula grinned. “It is a saying on our world that if one wishes to hear the truth, let him ask a child. That child of yours may deliver us this planet. He is the best advocate you possess. However, while we have the view-screen coverage we have tried so often to secure, let us use every argument. I saw only part of that unfortunate stampede. Was the black hrrss injured? Very good. Please will you ask Ben to bring him and the pretty red mare here, saddled and ready to be ridden. They are an important argument because on our worlds we have sacrificed every living species but our own. Now it is regretted.”

  Ken called Bill Moody over and gave him the message just as the guard brought the jewel which Chaminade immediately passed to Ken.

  “Be sure to give the jewel to Zodd,” Hrrula whispered as they re-entered the hall.

  “Sumitral is going to hate talking through Todd.”

  “Is not expediency a diplomatic thorn on Terra?” inquired Hrrula mockingly.

  Ken awarded him a long look before he followed his example and bowed low as they re-approached the First Speaker. Sumitral was evidently relieved by their reappearance.

  “Todd,” Ken began in low-voiced Hrruban, “would you present this properly to the gracious noble First Speaker? Say it is a poor example of what else is to be found on Rrala.”

  Todd grinned broadly at his father as he took the sapphire. He bowed very low to the First Speaker to gain his attention, then carefully folded back the cloth in which the stone had been wrapped, presenting the gleaming jewel on both hands.

  “Oh, noble sir, my father asks that you accept what is humbly offered.”

  With an exclamation of unfeigned delight, Hrruna held the sapphire up so that the sunlight caught in the facets which Mace had skillfully cut into the huge blue stone. It was not of a perfect water, having a tiny flaw which cutting did not entirely excise, but it was a brilliant color.

  “This is much prized by us. Old eyes hunger for blues,” Hrruna said to the beaming child. “Truly Rrala has many hidden riches.”

  Why, the old showman, Ken thought, he wants his people to stay on Rrala.

  “Rrala is good for things from Terra too,” Todd remarked, suddenly peering excitedly outside.

  “Indeed?”

  “See? Hrrses!” and Todd pointed just as Ben, leading the black stallion, disappeared around the corner of the hall.

  “Gracious First Speaker,” Hrrestan interjected, bowing deeply, “you once expressed a deep interest in the animals which the Terrans brought with them.”

  “They are perhaps nearby?”

  “They await your inspection at the door, gracious noble sir.”

  Hruna rose with an alacrity that displayed his keen interest.

  Hrrula quickly stepped to one side, gesturing Todd to fall directly in behind the old Hrruban.

  “Every time I try to talk, either Todd or the other old one shuts me up,” Sumitral complained in a low voice. “Why?”

  Thank God for a reasonable man, Ken thought gratefully. «He's been taught their formal speech. You've already insulted Hrruna by using vulgar Hrruban – not your fault, just their crazy customs. Hrrula says everything's being beamed back and their whole world is watching.»

  Sumitral paled, swallowed hard.

  “Then I can't get him to talk any treaty?”

  “Uhuh. This whole thing is completely unexpected, unprecedented and incredible. Hrruna wants an alliance and he took this tremendous chance to force publicity. We've got to make sure it's all good!”

  Sumitral's mouth formed an 'o' of surprised shock but he had recovered himself as they stepped out onto the porch and watched Ben and Hrrula display the horses' paces. Hrrula, on the stallion. was grinning like a fool and taking extraordinary chances.

  By the time the exhibition was over, the sun was lowering in the west. The First Speaker gestured to one of the Hrruban guards who nodded solemnly and barked orders in a staccato howl. Hrruna turned to the Terrans, inclining his head in an expression of deep regret.

  “I have too long absented myself from the duties of my office, gentle friends. I must take my leave. My thanks for the courtesies of refreshment, and entertainment, and for this beautiful product of a lovely world.” He held up the sapphire which scintillated in the afternoon sun. Politely his eyes lingered briefly on each face. Ken was sure the man was amused and pleased with the outcome of his outrageous visit. But he was already sweeping down the Common with Todd his obedient shadow. Hrrestan signaled Hrrula peremptorily to leave the stallion. Ken hurried after them, but before he could catch up, the Hrruban guards cut him off politely but firmly.

  “What's going to happen now?” Sumitral exclaimed, joining him.

  “Maybe Todd will know.”

  They watched, frustrated at the enforced passivity, as Todd stepped out of the procession at the bridge. The First Speaker and his guards crossed over. They saw him step onto a metallic grid that had been placed on the far side of the river at some point in the afternoon. A misty envelope hid him and then dispersed, leaving the bare grid.

  “So that's their matter transmitter,” Sumitral murmured.

  “And that's how they removed the village so quickly. I'll bet their whole site is laid out on a huge grid.”

  “Think of the economy of such a system, let alone the convenience.”

  Four guards removed corner posts and rolled up the grid. Then the whole column, Hrrestan and Hrrula in its van, marched off into the forest, Toddy waving sadly after the disappearing backs.

  Chapter XXV. VIGIL

  “AND STILL WE don't know to go or stay,” Lee Lawrence remarked with a wry grin.

  The weary, confused colonists had asked the three departmental representatives to a meeting on the Common. It had been decided not to remove any of the Hrruban devices although most had been located. It seemed wiser, however, to hold the meeting on a 'blind' spot.

  “The Hrrubans are technically the owners of this planet,” Sumitral pointed out, “until we can assume, by their continued absence, that they have abdicated their rights. In either case, an apology is owed these fine people,” and he gestured to the colonists, “for the discourtesies, inconveniences and insults they have suffered.” He glared at Landreau and Chaminade. “They have earned their right to remain on Rrala.”

  “Yes, indeed,” Chaminade agreed easily, staring pointedly at Landreau.

  The spaceman rose, his manner truculent. “Th
ere were neither reptiles nor aliens when I landed here.”

  “Indubitably. According to Hrrestan, they are deep-sea creatures,” Dautrish put in. “They were quiescent at the time of the two surveys. And we know now that the Hrrubans are only in residence during the warmer seasons.”

  Landreau shrugged and sat down again but Ken hoped they would never require favors of Spacedep.

  “However, if the Hrrubans release Doona,” Chaminade clung stubbornly to Terran nomenclature, “to my colonists, they are under Codep authority,” and he had the gall to smile.

  Sumitral's objection was indignant. «On the contrary. These people have made a fine, favorable contract with a highly civilized, technically advanced species. They have learned not only the language but its rigid and complex protocol.» He glanced briefly at Ken. «There is every chance that although the Hrrubans withdraw from Rrala now, events may bring them back at a later date. We have overlapped too often in our mutual space explorations. Some agreement, now or later, will eventually come to pass. Therefore Rrala, by edict of the Congress of the Amalgamated Worlds – check it if you must, Chaminade is under Alreldep aegis.»

  “Now wait a moment, Sumitral,” Landreau began belligerently. “Alreldep handles alien relations, but Spacedep handles defense and . . .”

  “Shut up, Landreau,” Ken snapped, rising. “We'd've been at a treaty stage if you hadn't acted like a horse's ass with your snake drive . . .”

  “See here, Reeve,” and Landreau advanced menacingly.

  “That's enough,” Sumitral bellowed, staring the spaceman down. “And frankly, Landreau, if I thought we weren't in danger of being observed, I'd let Reeve take you apart. But get this: defense is not indicated, a difficult distinction for your space boys to make. The Hrrubans aren't the cotopoids of Lyrae or the plague carriers of Zeta Algeiba. And they're not Siwannese either. We've still got a chance to form a mutual coexistence pact with the Hrrubans and I will do everything in my power, including the use of a six-year-old boy as my chief of protocol if that can be achieved.”

  Sumitral looked a little startled when the colonists, led by Ken, began to cheer him.

  "My chief informed me – before he went to bed," Sumitral continued with dry good humor, "that we'll know tomorrow. That boy's remarkable, Reeve, and I regret I had to monopolize him when he's been away from you so long, but he was able to give me some valuable insight into Hrruban thinking. However, since their civilization makes full use of mass communications, we can assume that a popular vote can be computed overnight. If a popular vote was forced by the First Speaker's superb strategy of this afternoon.

  “Now I'm for bed. I'm an optimist by nature and I want to be ready for tomorrow's demands.”

  He departed, adroitly taking Landreau and Chaminade with him back to their respective ships.

  "How'd we ever turn up lucky with Sumitral?'' Lawrence asked.

  “Third time?” Ken tendered.

  "No," Hu Shih answered. "I know his reputation. He is a shrewd man but an opportunist. Our circumstances give him an unparalleled chance for promotion into the Executive Echelons – if he can bring off a treaty with the Hrrubans. He may not like the expedients but he is clever enough to use them. However," and Hu Shih's unexpected cynicism dissolved into a more characteristic smile, "he is forced to be as candid as a child and that is to our advantage – and Hrruba's.''

  “I'm so tired, Ken,” Pat whispered plaintively. “They kept us up all night last night.”

  "I didn't sleep much myself, honey he replied, "and if our shrewd admiral is seeking the sack, so will I." He slipped an arm around her and, bidding the others good night, led her off toward their cabin.

  “Ken,” she murmured as they passed Todd's mourner's bench, “what will Toddy do if the Hrrubans leave us?”

  “Rrala wouldn't be the same, would it,” he mused, glancing back to the Commons. “But Todd's done more than any of us to prevent their leaving. And he may well have pulled it off.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Ken was so tired the words did not come easily to his tongue. He half pushed, half dragged her to their room, sinking wearily to the edge of the bed.

  "Nothing's more appealing than a cute kid and that crazy rope tail of Todd's – " he stopped to yawn. Pat was fumbling with her shoes and stretched out with a groan. He forgot what he'd been trying to explain and lay back, pulled both legs up onto the bed and was asleep.

  «Daddy – Dad. Hey, dad, wake up. Dad!»

  “Huh?”

  Even that monosyllable took tremendous effort. Ken's mind seemed to grasp that someone wanted him awake, but his body could not be convinced of the urgency.

  “Dad!”

  The sound was accompanied by the touch of a small hand, warm where it rested on his chilled shoulder in an effort to move his rebellious body.

  “DAD!”

  Ken's eyes flew open. Todd's anxious face swam into focus. Ken could still only blink and wish the hell that Todd would leave him alone.

  Surprisingly, that was just what Todd did. The reprieve, however, didn't last long. This time Todd brought coffee and the smell was the necessary catalyst.

  Groaning because his muscles were slow to function, Ken swung his legs over the side of the bed. The lower part of him was warm, the upper frigid. Then he realized that both he and Pat had fallen asleep fully dressed on top of the covers. He gestured to Todd to pull the blanket over Pat. Then he saw that Todd was fully dressed and in his best coverall, over which he wore his mda fur vest, a Hrruban belt with modestly carved knife dangling down and, of course, a rope tail. A new piece of rope, with the frayed end fluffy and neatly tied off to prevent further raveling.

  “Are the Hrrubans back, Todd?” he croaked.

  Todd's face took on a closed look and suddenly Ken understood.

  “I'll dress, son, and we'll go wait at the bridge together.”

  The look in Todd's eyes made Ken feel nineteen feet tall. The lump in his throat prevented him from saying anything until he'd melted it with coffee.

  “Make me some more, huh? And grab up some food. We'll need our energy today.”

  Dawn was just tinting the sky a pale green, Ken noted ruefully as Todd skipped ahead of him down to the bridge. Well, if the First Speaker of Hrruba would see that Todd kept his promise, he could lose a little sleep to do the same. Unbidden, Pat's words leapt to mind. “What will Todd do if they leave us?” Ken felt chilled with more than cool morning air.

  He had thought to bring a blanket and they wrapped that around them. sipping their coffee, eating stale bread and cold mda steak in a companionable silence.

  “How'd you get to learn the formal language so well, Toddy?” Ken asked at length.

  «Oh,» Todd scrunched his face up expressively, «Hrrula told me I had to. Hrriss helped. So did Mrrva,» and he giggled. «She'n' Hrrestan took turns pretending they were very broad Stripes. And then some always turned up at the flat. Dad, they have aisles and corridors like ours only they call 'em 'narrow trails' and 'wide trails.' Then Hrral – remember the old white-face in the village – well, Hrriss told me he's way high in government. He'd come and make me talk and talk Me and Hrriss didn't get that much time to play but I didn't mind – too much. We'll have all summer to play. Hrrula promised.»

  Fervently Ken hoped that promise would be kept.

  "Toddy, sometimes adults aren't able to keep promises, no matter how hard they try or how much they want to.

  Todd let his bread drop back into his lap, staring at his father with penetrating accusation.

  “I know I did everything right. Hrruna told me I did and he used village talk. He said I remembered everything. And that it'd be all right!”

  Fleetingly Ken thanked the First Speaker for his kindness. How could he tell Todd that Hrruna, too, might have to break his word?

  "Son, you did so well everyone in this colony is bursting with pride. And the admiral called you his chief of protocol . . " Ken couldn't continue.

  “W
e're staying on Rrala, aren't we, dad? Aren't we?”

  “Yes, Todd,” Ken had to agree, looking away from him, down at the rushing river, “Yes, we're staying on Rrala.” He made his mind blank so he would not communicate his fears to the child.

  The sun came up over the edge of the pass, slanting down into the valley, touching the exclamatory shafts of the three ships before lighting the lower colony buildings. Animal noises drifted up to them. The lights in Ben's cabin came on. They watched as the veterinary made his way into the barn to milk the cows and grain the stock. The lights in Hu Shih's house lit too, but the rest of the cabins were dark inert. Ken envied them their respite, yet he would not have traded this vigil with his son for anything.

  The decision to be made on Doona, Ken decided as his mind refused to ignore its uppermost concerns, was more than the justification of the colonists' reports of the Hrrubans or which department had jurisdiction over their futures; or whether the colonists could pursue their interrupted dreams. It was more important than the terms written into any treaty, more than a symbolic expiation of the terrible Siwannah tragedy. Yet it was all of these and more. And it was two small boys of different races, listening very hard to each other's words, and wanting to grow up together on a world with plenty of space to run and shout in. Mutual coexistence already existed on Rrala – between Hrriss and Todd.

  Suddenly Todd's body stiffened, his head jerked over his shoulder. Ken was sure he saw the boy's ears twitch. They were both on their feet, both eager for the sight of tall, tailed figures on the ridge.

  There are too many of them, was Ken's first thought. It's the guard come back. And he caught Todd by the shoulders for fear the boy would run forward to disappointment.