“What next?” the doctor asked.
“There are paths going up the mountains above the fjord. No one lives up there, except the two soldiers at the weather station. We’ll ask them about the girl.”
“It’s too steep for me,” Doctor Mel said.
Kla tilted her head in agreement. “I’ll go by myself.”
The next day she did. The fog had lifted, but low clouds hid the mountain peaks. The fjord’s water was as gray as steel. Kla took a staff and leaned on it as she climbed the narrow path that led to the station. Hah! It seemed perilous! Drop offs went abruptly down toward the gray water. Cliffs hung overhead, seeming ready to fall. She was a townswoman, a bit afraid of heights, though she came of mountain ancestry. Her gift was language and a curious mind.
The station was a prefab metal building, set against the cliff wall. Beyond it was a promontory overlooking the fjord. Equipment stood there, far more complicated than an ordinary weather station. Well, it was maintained by the military. Who could say what they were watching, even here on the safe home planet? No doubt important women knew what was going on here.
A soldier came out of the prefab building, a slim male with dark grey fur. He wore shorts and sandals and an open jacket.
Casual, thought Kla.
“Can I help you?” he asked.
She explained that she was looking for people who had met Amadi Nam, a shy girl who loved to photograph.
“No such person has been here,” the soldier replied.
“Hah!” said Kla and looked at the magnificent view of the fjord beyond the equipment.
Now the second soldier appeared. He was the same height as the first male, but much broader with thick, white fur that was lightly spotted. He also wore shorts, but no jacket. His fur must be enough, even on this cool, damp day.
He agreed with the first man. The girl had never been to the station.
Kla thanked them and went back down the mountain. She arrived home at twilight. Lamps shone in the apartment windows. The electric heater in the main room was on. Doctor Mel had bought dinner, fish stew from a shop in town.
They ate, then Kla smoked, settled in a low chair close to the heater. Doctor Mel turned on her computer and watched a play on the world information net, her injured leg lifted up on a stool. Kla could hear music and cries of anger or joy. But the dialogue was a mumble, too soft to understand.
The play ended, and Doctor Mel turned the computer off. “Well?”
“I have a clue,” answered Kla.
“You do?”
Kla knocked the dottle out of her pipe. “It is similar to the dog that made noise in the night time.”
“What is a dog?”
“A domestic animal similar to a sul, though smaller and less ferocious. The humans use them to herd and guard, as we use sulin. In this case, in a story you have apparently not read, the dog did not make any noise.”
“Kla, you are being irritating. What are you trying to say?”
“The dog did not do what was expected, and this was the clue that enabled Holmes Sherlock to solve the problem.”
“You met a sulon the mountain?”
“I met two young men who said they never met my cousin, though she climbed every slope in the area and loved to photograph splendid vistas.”
“They are lying?”
“Almost certainly.”
“Why?”
“I have no idea.”
Doctor Mel looked confused. “They belong to far-off lineages and have no relatives in town. Why would they become involved in something here? If Amadi Nam had been a boy, one might suspect a romance. But she was a girl, and the soldiers are lovers, as everyone knows.”
“This is true,” Kla replied. “But I am certain the soldiers are lying. I need to confront them.”
Doctor Mel rose and went to pour two cups of halin. She gave one to Kla and settled back in her chair. “If they are telling the truth, they will think you are crazy and may tell people in town. You will have to endure joking. More important, if they are lying, then they are crazy and may be dangerous. I’d go with you, except for the climb.”
“I’ll go to my grandmother tomorrow and explain the situation. She will know what to do.”
“Good,” said Doctor Mel.
The next day was clear and cold. Ice rimmed puddles in the streets and made the street paving stones slippery. Kla could see her breath.
Her grandmother was inside, next to an old-fashioned brazier full of glowing coals.
“Help yourself to tea and pour a cup for me,” the old lady said. “Then tell me what you have found.”
Kla did as she was told. When she had finished her story, the matriarch said, “The soldiers must be confronted.”
“My lover has suggested that they may be dangerous.”
“Hardly likely. But this story is disturbing. Something unpleasant has happened.” Her grandmother drank more tea. “I want to keep this in the family. I’ll pick two of your cousins, large and solid fisher-women. They’ll go with you up the mountain. Even if the soldiers are crazy, they will hardly do harm to three women, all larger than they are, though you are thin. The fishers will not be.”
A day later, Kla went back up the weather station. It was another clear, cold day. The fjord sparkled like silver.
The two fisher-women were named Serit and Doda. Both were second cousins to Kla, and both were tall and broad, with big knives in their tunic belts. Serit carried a harpoon gun, and Doda had a club.
“Is that necessary?” Kla asked.
“Always be provided,” Serit replied in a deep, calm voice.
“The soldiers have been trained for war,” Doda added. “But the war they were trained to fight is fought by ships in space. How can that help them here? We, by contrast, have struggled with many large and dangerous fish, while the fish thrashed on the decks of our boats. If the soldiers threaten us, though that does not seem likely, we will know what to do.”
When they reached the station, both men came out.
“How can we help?” the dark soldier asked.
“We are certain Amadi Nam came here,” Kla said. “Since you lied about this, we are going to search your building.”
What did she hope to find? Some evidence that Nam had been there – a picture that had been printed out or her camera, full of pictures. People did not easily throw away Amadi Nam’s work.
The dark soldier frowned. “This is a military installation. You can’t examine our equipment or building until you get permission from the officers in front of us.”
Serit lifted the harpoon gun. “This is not space, where your senior officers make decisions. This is our town, our country and our planet. Our senior women are in charge, and you are here on this mountain with their – and our – permission. If we want to know what you do in your building, we have the right.”
“We will go in,” Kla said.
“Women do not fight and kill,” the dark soldier said, as if trying to reassure himself.
“What nonsense,” Serit replied. “Doda and I fight large and dangerous fish and other sea animals.”
“But not people,” the dark soldier said.
“Of course not. We are fishers, and we are still young. But who decides which newborn children will live? Who gives death to those who have nothing left but suffering?”
“The old women,” said the spotted soldier in a resigned tone.
“So,” Serit continued in a tone of satisfaction. “Women can fight, and we are able to kill. We will go into this building.”
Kla felt uneasy. As a rule, men and women did not interfere with each other’s activities. If it had been up to her, she would have waited for the soldiers to consult their senior officers, though she suspected they were stalling. What did they have hidden which could be better hidden, if they had time?
But her grandmother had picked Serit and Doda. She must have known how aggressive they were.
The spotted soldier exhaled. “I will not fig
ht women, Perin, even for you.”
The dark soldier made the gesture that meant be quiet!
So, thought Kla, there was a secret. “I will go in and search. The two of you watch the soldiers.”
Doda made the gesture of assent, and Serit tilted her head in agreement.
Kla entered the building. It was messy, as was to be expected, with two young men living alone, no senior officers near them. Unwashed dishes stood on tables. The beds were unmade. Kla saw no sign of the girl, even in the closets and under the beds. But there were pieces of paper tucked between one bed and the wall. She pulled them out, surprised that she had noticed them. Printouts of photographs. They showed the green fjord, the black and white surrounding mountains, and the dark soldier, Perin.
She took the printouts into sunlight. “What are these?”
“I took them,” the spotted man said quickly.
This was almost certainly a lie. Kla knew Nam’s work when she saw it. She gave the printouts to Doda and went back in the building, going through it a second time. An uncomfortable experience! She was a translator, not someone who poked around in other people’s homes.
This time she found the girl, wedged into a low cabinet and folded over like the kind of scissors that bend back on themselves, the blade points touching the handles.
“Come out,” said Kla.
“No,” said the girl, her voice muffled.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Kla replied. “I might not be able to get you out, but I have two large, strong fisher-women with me. They can easily pull you from that hole.”
After a moment or two, the girl squeezed herself out, groaning as she did so. Once she was upright, Kla could see her clearly. A plump young woman with badly rumpled clothing and fur. She looked miserable and angry.
Kla gestured, and the girl followed her outside.
“Now,” Kla said to the girl and the soldiers. “What is this about?”
The girl looked sullen. The soldiers looked more unhappy than before. No one spoke.
“Very well,” Kla said. “We will all go to see my grandmother. If the girl has a jacket, get it.”
The spotted soldier did.
“Put it on and pull the hood up,” Kla said to the girl. “I don’t want people to know you are alive, until Grandmother has made a decision.”
The girl obeyed, and they all went down the mountain, Serit last, holding the harpoon gun ready.
Once again her grandmother sat by an old-fashioned brazier, though it was difficult to see the glow of the coals this time. The room was full of sunlight, coming in through east-facing windows. The red floor tiles shone, and it was easy to see the paintings on the walls: flowers and flying bugs.
Doda pushed the girl in front of the old woman, then pulled back her hood.
“Well,” the old lady said. “You’ve had all of us worried, Nam.” Then she glanced around at everyone. “Pull up chairs. I will hurt my neck, if I look up at you.”
The men brought chairs from the walls and arranged them in front of the old woman.
“Sit!” Kla’s grandmother said. “You found Nam at the weather station. That much is evident. But why was she there? Why was the boat left floating empty? And why was her computer erased?”
“I think the soldier with spots might tell us,” Kla answered. “He seems to be the most reasonable of the three.”
The man clasped his hands tightly together. “I know I am dead. May I tell this the way it happened?”
“Yes,” said the grandmother. “But try to be brief. And tell me your name.”
“I am Sharim Wirn.”
“Go on.”
“My lover always took walks. I did more of the work than he did, but willingly, out of love. Recently, he has taken longer walks, and I began to notice food was disappearing. I do the accounting. I knew how much food we bought and how much we usually ate.” The man paused, glancing briefly at his comrade. “I thought he might have a new lover. But where had he found the man? And why would he feed him? It made no sense. So I followed Perin. He went to a cave in the mountains. I went inside after him, expecting to find Perin with another man. Instead, I found him with the girl, sitting by a little fire and sharing food. Not eating with her, that would be indecent, but giving her food from our supplies.
“I asked what this was about. At first he refused to speak. At last, he told me the story. He had met the girl during his walks. They both liked the mountains, and they were both solitary. The girl had no one to love, apparently, and Perin had only me. I was not enough.” The soldier’s voice was bitter. “They began by talking and ended by having sex.”
The two fishers drew breath in sharply. Kla’s grandmother hissed. Kla was too shocked to make a noise. Men and women had mated in the past, before artificial insemination, but only after their families had agreed to a breeding contract, and only to make children. Of course there had been perverts. But they were not common, and she had never expected to meet any. She certainly had not expected to have one in her family.
“Go on,” the grandmother said, sounding angry.
“The girl became pregnant and came to Perin, insisting on his help,” the spotted soldier went on. “He knew he would be told to kill himself, if this story became known. So he hid the girl, until I found them. I insisted on bringing her to our building. The cave was cold and damp. She would become sick. I was not willing to be responsible for the death of a woman, even one as foolish and selfish as this girl.”
He lifted his head, glancing briefly at the old lady. “I know that I should have told my senior officers, but I loved Perin. I knew he would die for what he did, and it would be my fault for telling. I could not bear the idea of him dying.”
“How could you love him after he had sex with a woman?” Serit asked.
The man looked down at his clasped hands. “I don’t know. But it became obvious to me, after spending time with her, that the girl has the stronger will. I believe she seduced him; and then she entangled him with her plan.”
This did not seem likely. Nam was only eighteen, two years away from adulthood.
Kla looked at the girl and saw her grim, determined, angry face.
“What plan?” asked the grandmother.
“She emptied her computer, so no one would know where she had been and what she photographed; and then she left evidence of her death – the boat, floating in the fjord, empty. Then she went to Perin and insisted on his help. He had no choice. If she told her family – you – what had happened, he would die. Or if not that – his family has influence – he would get a really bad assignment.
“She could not stay here in this town, because her family would discover what she’d done. And she could not travel while pregnant. A woman alone in that condition would arouse too much interest and concern. People would stop her and offer help or ask about her family. Where were they? Why was she alone?”
“You say that you love this man Perin, but now you tell this terrible story,” Kla’s grandmother said.
“There is no good ending,” the spotted soldier replied. “If the girl gave birth, she would do it alone, with no one to help except Perin and me. Hah! That was frightening! If the child lived, what would happen to it? Children don’t appear out of nowhere. They are the result of breeding contracts. They have families. No mother with a child is ever alone.”
“This is true,” Kla’s grandmother said.
“It became apparent to me that the child would die, even if it was healthy. How else could Perin and the girl hide what they had done?” He paused and took a deep breath. “The girl said she would travel to the capital after the child was born. There are people there who live in the shadows and make a living in irregular ways. She planned to become one of those. She never spoke of the child.
“All the time, while this was happening, my love for Perin was wearing away. How could he be so stupid? It was obvious to me that the girl had the stronger will. He was acting the way he did out of weakness and fear of discovery
. I would have told your family or my senior officers, except by this time I had gotten myself entangled. I was at fault. I would be told to kill myself, once this was known.”
“True,” said Kla’s grandmother. She looked at Nam. “Well, child, why did you do this?”
“I love him,” Nam said stubbornly, though Kla was not sure the girl meant it. How could love endure this mess?
“How can you?” the old lady asked. “He is male.”
“I cannot change what I feel.”
“Certainly you can.”
“No,” the girl replied.
“Tell them all to kill themselves,” Serit put in. “They are disgusting.”
The old woman looked at Kla. “You have studied human crimes. What is your advice?”
“Two suicides close together would cause talk,” Kla replied. “Though we might say it was some kind of lovers’ quarrel. But why would both commit suicide? No one was stopping their love. It would be a mystery. There would be talk and wondering and possibly an investigation by military. We don’t want that.
“As for the girl, everyone thinks she is dead. But we would have to hide her body, if she killed herself. Otherwise, people would wonder where she had been before her death. And she is pregnant. That’s another problem. If Sharim Wirn is right, the girl planned to kill the child or let it die. We have no reason to believe the child is defective. I am not comfortable doing what the mother planned to do.”
“Yes.” The grandmother leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. “Be quiet, all of you. I need to think.”
They sat, as sunlight moved across the floor and out of the room. Kla needed to pee and would have liked a cup of tea or halin. But she kept still.
At last, the grandmother opened her eyes. “The important thing to keep this story secret. One solution would be for all three of you to die. But as Kla says, that might cause talk and wondering; and there is the problem of the child. So –” She gestured at the two soldiers. “You will volunteer for service in space, far out in the war zone, where you will not meet women. My family has relatives who are important in the military. They will make sure you get the assignments you desire.
Holmes Sherlock: A Hwarhath Mystery h-13 Page 2