They hurried down the corridor. The station was big and the Seeker was docked a considerable distance away. It was general sleeptime for the humans.
I have done this before, on a more familiar world, Ryo mused suddenly. It seems I am destined forever to be escaping to someplace or from somewhere.
They were running down a narrow service way where the light was subdued and Ryo was grateful for the respite from the usual glare.
"That's far enough!"
The humans running ahead of Ryo came to a halt. He peered around Sanchez. Blocking the corridor was a single human male. Ryo recognized the object he was holding as a weapon. After a moment Ryo recognized the figure. It was one of the Seeker's crew. One of the two who'd sneaked hostile glances in Ryo's direction when he thought no one else was looking.
"Hello, Weldon," Sanchez said easily. "I bad a hunch you might have suspected. You always were a sharp one."
"Shove it, Captain." Sweat was pouring down his cheeks and his thinning hair was in disarray. "It wasn't hard to figure that you were planning something. So I listened." He smiled, but there was no humor in it. "I listen well."
"Okay, so you listen well. What are you going to do, turn us in?"
"I don't care what you do. I don't have anything against you, Captain. Against any of you. You've been under a strain. We all have. It's clouded your vision, but not mine. Not Renstaad's, either, but she isn't up to this. Someone's got to do it."
"Do what?" Sanchez.
"What needs to be done. My God, don't you people realize what's happened here? What these filthy creatures portend? We always knew it might come, but not with such subtlety, not with such deviousness."
"What might come, Weldon?"
"The invasion, of course. All these centuries they've been watching us, waiting. Now they've duped us into bringing one of 'em back with us. He's the advance scout. Somehow he's even managed to hypnotize you all into taking him back. Back with the vital information they need. Centaurus will be the first. After that, they'll probably go straight for Earth itself."
"Weldon, you just said yourself we've all been under a strain. Ryo is-"
"Don't call it that!" he screamed. "Don't give it a name.
Things don't have names!"
"He's a friend. We're the ones threatening him, not the other way around." She took a step toward him and the muzzle of the gun moved ever so slightly to one side.
"Don't try it, Captain. I said I've got nothing against you, and I don't, but by Heaven I'll shoot every one of you down to save the rest of us if you force me to." His gaze, wild and fanatic, turned to the one who'd been standing behind her.
"It will only take a second." His finger started to tighten on the trigger. "Messier than a spray, but just as effectlve "
"Don't do it, Weldon!" Loo stepped sideways, waving his hands. "We can!-“
The gun made a slight hissing sound. Something struck Loo in the chest and knocked him backward. His arms, already disconnecting from his brain, flopped loosely in the air. Bonnie screamed. Taourit pulled something from his jacket pocket. Weldon turned to face him, brought his pistol around as the dart from the little gun struck him in the forehead. His eyes glazed instantly and his body went as rigid as if he'd been frozen. He made a loud thump when his head hit the floor.
Bonnie was kneeling next to Loo. She was not crying. Alexis was pulling at her.
"Come on. It's too late." He put a hand over the man's chest. There was a very large hole in it. "It's too late, Bonnie." The others were looking down at them.
Ryo touched his antennae to the back of Bonnie's neck. She jerked at the airy caress, looked back at the sharp mandibles, the great faceted eyes.
"I am sorrowed, friend Bonnie. He was my friend too. The minute of lastlife is gone and cannot be recaptured."
For a moment sanity left her gaze. Then reason and reality flooded back in. "We're wasting time here." She stood, disdaining Alexis' offer of assistance. "Let's not waste everything."
They started up the serviceway, stepping over the still rigid body of the man named Weldon. No one stood guard over the airlock leading to the Seeker. People did not steal Supralight drive ships. It was almost comically easy. No one was in a humorous mood, however.
The hatches were unsealed. For a second time the crew of the Seeker prepared to flee with their ship. Only this time they were running not from another people but from their own. How Wuu would love this situation, Ryo mused, thinking fondly of the old poet and wishing he were present to offer advice and companionship.
I had two equally fine human companions, he reminded himself. Only now one of them is dead, because of me.
It was true there were no alarms to set off, no traps to trigger. But when the Seeker's maneuvering engines were engaged and the umbilicals connecting it to the station power system were jettisoned, portions of the orbiting city's instrumentation came alive rapidly.
Ryo stood in the control room, watching his friends. Bonnie threw herself into her work, becoming an emotionless appendage of her station. Dr. Bhadravati paced and fidgeted as if he did not know what to do with his manipulating digits. Not being a member of the crew, he was at that moment as useless as Ryo. Unlike Ryo, however, he was dying to do something.
From the first, there was nothing .ordinary about the inquiries that sounded over the console speakers. "You there, aboard DSR Seeker, acknowledge! You have disengaged and your engines are functioning. DSR Seeker is not authorized to disengage. Who is aboard, please? Acknowledge, DSR Seeker!"
"This is Captain Elvira Manuela de loa de Sanchez. I acknowledge for DSR Seeker. Received and acknowledge orders to check out sublight engines and life support prior to boost to C III for overhaul prior to next EX flight. All okay here. Sorry about any confusion." She clicked off. "That ought to keep them busy for a while."
Indeed, by the time the speakers squawked again the station was just a disk against the reflective side of Centaurus VII. The voice that came this time was deeper and more emphatic than that of the station's duty communicator.
"Seeker, this is Colonel G.R. Davis, Centaurus Station commander. You are ordered to return to base forthwith. We have checked with both station command computer and EX Control on C V. The Seeker is not due for overhaul for another six weeks."
“I know,” Sanchez replied calmly. "We thought we'd start her out early and bring her in slow so we could give her systems a thorough run through in case there are any on the verge problems. I'm anxious to be rid of her."
"You will be rid of her permanently and all other possible commands if you don't return her to dock immediately." Voices could be heard arguing in the background.
Another voice came over the speaker. Ryo recognized this one as belonging to the Eint elder human.
"Seeker, this is Dr. Rijseen, in charge of the direct contact branch of the special xenology project here at the station. We have discovered that the alien is absent from his quarters. A thorough search has been made of the station. While it may be that he is hiding somewhere, we have every reason to believe that he is on the Seeker, and not as a stowaway. We will continue to operate on that assumption unless we can be persuaded otherwise."
The young xenologist moved forward. Sanchez gave him a stare, then nodded slowly. Bhadravati spoke toward the pickup.
"Ryozenzuzex is aboard, Maarten."
"Japan, is that you? I wondered where the hell you got to when the alarms went off. What's going on?"
"Well, you know, it's a funny thing," the young researcher began. Ryo could see that he was very nervous and uncertain. No hint of this surfaced in his voice, but it was evident in his posture and movements, to which Ryo was more sensitive than most humans. "But the bug, as many refer to him, once saved the lives of every crew member on this ship."
"All that's well known. What has it to do with the crew's unauthorized action?" The elder spoke with feigned ignorance that would have been admirable to an AAnn, Ryo thought.
"Supralight?"
The cocontroller shook his head. "Too small. Intersystem capability only."
She nodded once, listened as Bhadravati replied to Rijseen's question.
"It's not right to dissect an intelligent being, no matter that he might be understanding about it. That's the remarkable thing about this, you know. Ryo sympathizes with the staff's majority viewpoint. He knows about your intentions, you see."
"You didn't have to tell him that," Davis' voice said.
Bhadravati laughed. "You're quite right, Colonel. We didn't. He already knew. Found his file in the station bank."
"That's impossible!" The colonel sounded upset.
"You didn't put a strong enough block on it. He was rummaging through and came across it himself, did the necessary bypass all by his lonesome. The Thranx are superb logicians and excellent with computers. That's in his records too."
The channel was silent for a while. When Davis responded it was in a gentler, more reasoning tone. "Bhadravati, there is more at stake here than you know. I admit that this Ryo individual seems friendly enough, but you cannot positively deny the possibility that his `escape from his home world might simply have been a ploy to get him to a human system."
"If it's a ploy, Colonel," Sanchez said into the pickup, "it's working damn well. Better than yours."
"Captain Sanchez, you and everyone operating alongside you will be completely pardoned if you will just return the Seeker to dock. Otherwise you will be classed as criminals, and treated as such."
"Ship is beginning to move outward, straight for us," Taourit whispered.
She nodded again, her attention on the pickup. "Don't threaten me, Colonel. I react real nervously to threats."
"Where do you think you're taking that ship?" Davis demanded. "Centaurus V? Three? Earth, maybe? The word will precede you. The services will be looking for the Seeker at every established station and every shuttleport on all the civilized worlds."
"Blot all the civilized worlds," Sanchez informed him assuredly. "We considered every alternative before embarking on this, Colonel. If we're compelled to, we'll take Ryo home."
"Then what?" Davis' voice was more curious than threatening. "Once you return him to his world, where do you expect you can return to?"
"We don't expect to," was the quiet reply.
Dead silence came from the speaker. It was matched by the atmosphere in the control room. Since the colonel apparently could not think of a suitable response, it was Rijseen who finally resumed the conversation.
"Very well, then. We will drop the plans for the dissection. The vote was close enough to allow that. Guarantees will be drawn up so that no one can override. Not even the military."
Davis' voice, in the background: "You don't have that authority, Dr. Rijseen."
"If you will check your records," the distant voice of the staff head advised him, "you will find that I am in complete control of this project, sir. That authority extends to anything below a direct military threat to the civilized worlds. Human civilized worlds," he added, with just a tinge of amusement. "I do not regard one isolated and avowedly friendly alien as constituting such a threat."
"How do we know you'll do what you say?" asked Sanchez.
"Ask Dr. Bhadravati."
"Obviously, Dr. Rijseen and I have disagreed on a number of matters. Or I wouldn't be here at this moment." Bhadravati flashed a bright smile. "I believe he is trustworthy. I have never known him to break his word. I believe it once cost him a substantial scientific prize and accompanying honors. He is one of the few scientists I know whose word is as sound as his studies."
Bonnie spoke toward her own console pickup. "I believe you, sir. If Dr. Bhadravati trusts you, then I'm willing to trust you. But can you vouch for your associates? And can you guarantee the cooperation of Colonel what's his name?"
Muffled sounds issued from the speaker. Then, "I will go along with whatever Dr. Rijseen and the science staff advise. My sole concern is for the safety of the civ of the human inhabited worlds, and for government property, of which you are presently in unlawful possession. If that is returned undamaged, then I am perfectly willing to stay out of this." His voice dropped to an irritated rumble. "I would far rather stay out of this. Would you people please make up your minds?"
"I believe you, Colonel," Bonnie continued. "There's just one problem. We're not dealing solely with scientific decisions anymore." She glanced at Sanchez, who returned a comforting smile.
Bonnie took a deep breath. Her voice trembled slightly. "In Service Corridor Two Four Dee you'll find ... you'll find ..." She hesitated, forced herself to go on. "You'll find the bodies of Loo Hua sung and Seeker maintenance consultant Richard Weldon."
Rijseen's voice did not change as he asked, "Bodies? Both dead?"
"Yes, sir."
"Weren't you and engineer Hua sung engaged to be married at one time?"
"There was we talked about it, yes."
Ryo was staring at her. Finally he understood the relationship that had existed between his two closest human friends. They were, not quite premated, but living in similar status. It explained a great many things.
"Weldon suspected our intentions," Bonnie rushed on. "He managed to follow one of us, maybe more. I don't know."
"I wonder why he didn't sound the alarm, if he knew," said Colonel Davis.
"He had other plans," Bonnie told him. "Plans of his own. You know how restricted access was to Ryo. Of the Seeker's crew, generally only Loo and I were allowed to see him once he'd been established in his own burrow his quarters.
"When Weldon became suspicious of our actions, he bided his time. He was waiting for us in the service corridor. He didn't have the slightest interest in stopping us. All he wanted was to kill Ryo. Loo Loo stepped between them."
"Cocontroller Taourit here," said the man on Sanchez's right. "I'm the one who shot Weldon. For the record." He said it proudly.
"I don't understand," Davis was muttering. "Two men dead. Why did this Weldon want to kill the alien?"
"Because to Weldon, Ryo was an ugly, stinking, hardshelled, smelly slimy bug. That's why, Colonel. That's the attitude we're going to have to contend with and that's why we have to be allowed to establish formal contact with Ryo's race before word of their existence is leaked to the general populace.
"By the way, you ought to put a seal on environmental specialist Mila Renstaad. She felt the same way as Weldon and could cause trouble."
"I'll handle that," Davis said curtly.
"If we don't make successful, friendly contact," she went on, "then any chance our two peoples have for understanding each other will be drowned by the initial outpouring of visceral, ancestral loathing for creatures of Ryo's appearance." She broke off suddenly, as if amazed at the length and passion of her unintended polemic.
"That's all I have to say about it, sir. I've already lost a a very good friend. As you said, two men are dead. That's only a portent of what could come."
"No disrespect intended, Colonel Davis," Sanchez said, "but you can only speak for your immediate staff. The same is true for you, Dr. Rijseen."
"I will enter the revised staff recommendation in the computer," Rijseen said, not offended. "You can check it, through your on board system. All points about keeping this quiet are well taken and will be properly acted upon.
"As to whether this incident will be followed by your suggested establishment of formal contact with the Thranx, that remains to be discussed. On that I really do not have the authority to make promises. Such a decision requires the blessings of at least three of the five acting members of the ruling board of the Terran Society for the Advancement of Science and Exploration, plus permission from the appropriate governmental agencies and elected authorities. The political ramifications are explosive."
"Then if you cannot promise, you can at le
ast promise to try," Sanchez said.
"I will do my best. Of course, if you do not return there can be no discussion. What do you say?"
"It's not for me to make the decision." She looked back at the large arthropod who was carefully preening his left antenna.
"Ryo, I don't know you as well as I'd like to. Not as well as Bonnie does, or Loo did. This is your choice to make. If you insist, we'll move out to five planetary diameters and head for your home. I know what awaits you there, but it's up to you to decide." She didn't smile. She rarely did. "I wouldn't blame you after all this for wanting to return to your own kind."
"I really am not sure what to do. I am an agricultural expert, not one prepared to determine the course of future relations between two species."
"Like it or not," Bonnie said, "you've been put in that position."
"Put your trust in God," Bhadravati urged him.
"Yours or mine?"
"There's only one God, by whatever name you call him," the scientist said.
"Theology student, yes? I can see that you and I are going to have many long conversations, Dr. Bhadravati. There is a friend of mine at least, I left him as a friend whom I think you would enjoy talking to more than me, but he is not with us right now. I hope someday you have the privilege of meeting him."
"So do I. Like everything else, though, that's up to you."
So while the humans waited and watched their instruments, Ryo thought. Of Fal waiting on Willow wane. Or was she? Of his comfortable and unpressured position with the Inmot, which had once seemed so dull and pointless and which now seemed unbearably inviting. Of his sisters and their families.
What would Ilvenzuteck advise me to do? he wondered. What would the hivemother say? He wished desperately he could consult with both those wise matriarchs. But there was no one to consult; not a clannmother, not a poet, not a larva. He stood alone in an alien ship, surrounded by five monsters who meant him well and who would do his bidding.
That trust was not to be exploited. And what of the human Loo who had died protecting him? Which would be the best way to insure that no additional deaths would result? Which way, which way, to allay the mindless hate that festered among the less intelligent members of both species?
Nor Crystal Tears Page 20