Drowning World

by Alan Dean Foster

  Unfortunately, that was all she had.

  Was it enough to order action against any of the Deyzara companies concerned? The Deyzara could be exceptionally closemouthed where business dealings were involved. Accusing them directly might shake loose one or more individuals willing to expose a plot in order to save themselves. If there was anything to shake loose. If there was a plot.

  But sending peaceforcers to bring in the principals of a Deyzara company could further exacerbate the current political situation. At the very least, there would be an outcry that the Commonwealth Authority was singling them out without any hard evidence to back up whatever accusations it might be thinking of making. Giving the local Deyzara the impression that the Authority even suspected some of their own of such a crime carried with it the automatic, and dangerous, corollary that the Authority favored the Sakuntala. That was not the kind of sentiment she wanted to spread right now. As always, it was vital that her office be perceived by both sides as being impartial. If that perception was lost, she risked sacrificing any ability to influence the Deyzara. They would respond by sending appeals to higher Commonwealth authority that bypassed her—if they hadn't begun to do so already. The volume of anxious space-minus communications between the local Deyzaran community and their ancestral home of Tharce IV had risen noticeably since the beginning of the Sakuntala uprising. She had no way of knowing whether any of those coded private communications included attempts, either direct or veiled, to undermine her authority on Fluva.

  She would have drummed her fingers on the desktop if she hadn't been so tired. Instead, she banished the square of floating facts. Addressing the desk's pickup, she asked to be connected to the skimmer port, maintenance division, chief mechanic's office.

  Bergovoy was out on the floor, supervising work inside a cargo skimmer. His portable conveyed a tridee of its owner from the shoulders up, detailed down to the sweat on his forehead, as her call was automatically forwarded to its intended destination.

  “What can I do for you, Administrator?” asked the hovering projection.

  “I was just wondering, Tarik. The Deyzara technicians you said worked on those two missing skimmers. I can see how someone with a modicum of practical mechanical knowledge could cause them to crash. What's hard to accept is that both skimmers' internals were manipulated subtly enough to force them down at a specific place and time. Not to mention simultaneously disabling every bit of backup instrumentation.”

  The projection nodded. “If that's indeed what happened, then it was certainly a sophisticated piece of sabotage.”

  She studied the projection closely, wishing he were there in person. “Too sophisticated for your Deyzarans to manage without help?”

  Bergovoy considered the question. “Hard to say. The two-trunks we're talking about are good workers. Whether they're good enough to bring off something like this is something else again. I don't see any way to know for sure without testing them on similar procedures. If they are responsible, then I suspect they'd be sharp enough to figure out the purpose of the testing. They'd fail intentionally, and we wouldn't know any more than we do now. Except that if they are responsible, they'll have been warned that they're under suspicion.” He hesitated.

  “If you want, I can set something up with them, try to ascertain their competency level.”

  “No, no.” She sighed wearily. “I really just wanted your opinion, Tarik. If the techs in question are responsible for what's happened, the last thing we want to do is let them know that we suspect their involvement. Just keep an eye on them.”

  “Like I told you before, Administrator. Anything out of the ordinary crops up, you'll be the first to know.” As he turned, she had a brief glimpse of the tech crew he was working with before he clicked off. They were all human.

  Something small and beige was smacking against her window, trying to get inside. A pensive glance showed a creature the size of her open palm. It had multiple translucent wings, a stout sausage-shaped body, and a single large compound eye stretched across its front. Yellow splotches decorated the smooth abdomen. It had no thorax or neck and no visible legs.

  The third smack was hard enough to prompt the window to respond with a small defensive electric charge. Stunned, the would-be intruder drifted backward, hovered a moment in the damp air, and then whirled around to whir back into the trees and the rain. She continued to stare at the place where it had vanished. Mulling over its disappearance unexpectedly prompted a new line of contemplation.

  Sentients, like the native fauna of the Viisiiviisii, were always moving in and out of the forest, their paths and purposes often concealed by the vegetation and the constant rain. The Fluvan varzea was an excellent place in which to hide methods and motives. Suppose the Deyzara weren't behind the sabotage of the two missing skimmers? Suppose another party, knowing that Deyzara technicians had worked on both craft and also aware of the involvement of Deyzaran-run companies in exploring a certain section of the southern Viisiiviisii, decided to exploit that knowledge to make it look like the Deyzara were responsible? Who would benefit from such a deception?

  Naturally, the Sakuntala came first to mind. In the context of the current uprising, it would be much to their benefit to have the irritation of the Commonwealth Authority turned away from them and focused instead on the Deyzara. Motive was certainly there. The only trouble with that scenario, she reflected, was that while the Sakuntala were famed for many qualities, subtlety was not among them. That was not to say the cleverest among them, individuals like the missing Jemunu-jah, could not have devised such a plan. But conceiving and carrying out were two different things. Were there Sakuntala techs accomplished enough to have made the necessary alterations to the missing skimmers' instrumentation? That was one possibility Bergovoy had not discussed. And if they were not sufficiently accomplished to have carried out such sabotage on their own, who might have advised them? For that matter, who could have advised the Deyzara techs on matters of sabotage? Was there anyone else besides Deyzara or Sakuntala who potentially stood to benefit from the disappearance of Shadrach Hasselemoga and the team sent to find and rescue him?

  She probably should have made the connection sooner between such possibilities and the possession by the Sakuntala radicals of advanced weaponry. But she'd been so overwhelmed with work, so swamped with the refugee crisis, that she'd had little time left for speculating further afield. She addressed the desk sharply.

  “Call to Major Bredel.”

  The head of Fluva's peaceforcer contingent appeared above the desk less than a minute later. He looked as harried as she felt, she decided.

  “Morning, Charles.”

  The holo nodded once. “Administrator Matthias. If there's a problem, I hope it's minor. We're stretched pretty thin here right now.”

  “I know,” she told him understandingly. “I'm sorry, but there's something that needs to be done.”

  He looked resigned. “I can't spare any people to run an observation. Those who aren't trying to keep Sakuntala fanatics from burning every Deyzara building they come across are busy dealing with security at the refugee encampments.”

  “This is nothing like that. Do you know those two AAnn the government accredited as observers? Thessu and Jaill or Jaal or something?”

  Some of the officer's fatigue seemed to slough away. “Why?” he inquired sharply. “You've found something out about them?”

  “No. At least, not yet. I just need to talk to them. Ask them a few questions.”

  “About what? No, no, don't tell me. I'm already dealing with far too many outlandish suppositions. Talk to me again when you have facts you want me to act on.” His expression turned thoughtful. “So you need to talk to our AAnn guests, hmm? Might take a while to track them down. From what I hear, they spend a lot of time out in the forest, traveling from community to community. On the lookout for commercial possibilities, or so I'm told.”

  “Just find them and bring them in.”

  “It'll be done. Sup
pose they don't want to come?”

  “Have your people explain that there's been some trouble with their accreditation.”

  Bredel matched her thoughts. “They'll wonder why a simple bureaucratic procedure can't be performed remotely.”

  “All right then,” she replied impatiently, thinking fast, “say that I've received a report they might be particularly vulnerable to a new virus that's just been isolated by our biomed division, and that I'm concerned for their welfare.”

  The major chuckled. “That should confuse them. From what I hear, this isn't an especially healthy climate for AAnn.” His tone changed to one of warning. “If you think they're up to something, Administrator, and they are, they might still resist.”

  “Have whoever picks them up say that I insist.”

  He nodded tersely. “I'll let you know when they've arrived.”

  14

  It did not take nearly as long as she had feared for the AAnn to be brought in. Like every other vehicle on Fluva that was designed to travel through the Viisiiviisii, that of the duly accredited Imperial observers was equipped with a specific identification and locator beacon. They showed up the following morning, short-tempered and out of sorts. With the AAnn, one expected nothing less.

  She waited for them to be brought into her office. Thoughtfully, she had ordered in a couple of chairs with larger gaps in their seatbacks, to accommodate AAnn tails, which were thicker and more muscular than those of the Sakuntala. With plenty of other things to worry about even before the advent of the extremist Sakuntala uprising, she hadn't wanted the belligerent reptiloids on Fluva. But the accreditation of AAnn observers preceded her appointment as administrator. Since then, several pairs of them had come and gone. She checked a hard copy. These two, Thessu and Jallrii, were the latest. Floral pharmaceuticals were the specific interest of these two, or so their official dossiers claimed. Try as she might, it was hard to envision a couple of cantankerous AAnn spending their time picking flowers.

  Their mutual outrage preceded them. As soon as the door opened and the sound-absorbent bubble that enclosed her office was violated, she was able to hear their sputtering and hissing. It sounded like someone had dumped a vit player in the middle of a barrel of snakes and was rolling the result in her direction.

  Then they were inside, their special suits hanging rumpled around them, the dehumidifying masks that covered their snouts making them look as if they had just stepped off an asteroid instead of the front porch. Slitted pupils glared at her from behind wraparound protective lenses designed to keep ambient moisture out of eyes that were used to excessive dryness. She glanced briefly at the custom varzea garb and the heavily laden service belts they wore beneath the protective outer suits. The heat from the multiple layers of attire wouldn't bother them. AAnn thrived in the heat. It was the humidity they couldn't handle. Despite their specialized outfits they must be moderately uncomfortable, she decided.

  Good.

  One of the peaceforcers escorting the visibly aggravated pair eyed her questioningly. She waved him off. Her visitors would already have been scanned for weapons. Though shorter than the average human, they were powerfully built, and the claws on their hands and sandaled feet constituted weaponry that could not be checked at the door, as did their muscular tails. She was not overly concerned. If they went berserk and attacked her, she was not entirely defenseless herself. Furthermore, they must know that any hostile action would be observed and recorded and that they would suffer any attendant consequences.

  They hesitated when she offered them the chairs but finally accepted in a huff. Perhaps it was the realization that she had gone to the trouble of providing seats suitable for their dimensions. Or maybe they were simply tired of standing.

  Introductions were terse and formal. No physical greetings were exchanged, for which she was grateful. The AAnn equivalent of a handshake consisted of gripping the other person's throat with one hand—claws retracted, of course. The one called Thessu clearly had no time for such pleasantries.

  “Why have we been brought here, under armed esscort, in violation of all extant agreementss?” His words were supplemented with a first-degree gesture of displeasure that was notable for its brusqueness.

  “Truly!” snapped Jallrii. “What iss thiss nonssensse about a ‘new viruss'? We are consstantly monitoring our own immediate environment and have detected nonessuch. We are both of uss in excellent health.”

  “If you had heard of it, then it wouldn't be new, would it?” She smiled pleasantly, knowing that the AAnn were receptive to a display of teeth. “As chief administrator I'm responsible for the health and well-being of every nonindigene on Fluva. Including guests of the Commonwealth.”

  “Thiss iss not a way to treat guessts,” Jallrii hissed, adding a second-degree gesticulation of annoyance.

  “I could not forgive myself if anyone on my tour of duty was to suffer because of an oversight on my part,” she replied smoothly. “In matters of medicine, I find it's always better to err on the side of caution.”

  As much as her words, her demeanor appeared to have some effect. AAnn rage gave way to plain irritation. “Vya-nar,” muttered Thessu. “By the-sand-that-shelters-life, if your concern iss only for the health of otherss, then it iss to be commended.”

  She ran her right index finger over an apparently bare portion of her desk. If she pressed down in a certain place, a hidden alarm would sound and various protective barriers would spring into being between her and her guests.

  “Much as I would like to accept your compliment, I'm afraid that I can't. While I am truly interested in your health, as long as you are here I was also hoping you could provide me with some information on other matters.”

  Jallrii's pupils narrowed even farther, the protective inner transparent eyelids flashing shut over both eyes. It was purely a reflex action, since there was no blowing sand in the room. Indeed, both AAnn would have welcomed an intrusion of intimate airborne grit.

  “What other matterss?” he hissed warily.

  “From time to time certain minority extremist elements among the Sakuntala lose control of themselves and vent their cultural frustrations against the Deyzara. As you know, we are in the midst of one such regrettable period. Only this one is different. A great number of Sakuntala are involved and there has been considerable damage to property as well as some loss of life.”

  “Deplorable, truly,” Thessu declared, adding a gesture Matthias could not decipher along with an elegant double flick of his pointed tongue. It snapped against the inside of his mask.

  “The quarrelss of localss do not concern uss.” Though the AAnn visage was not nearly as flexible as that of humans or Sakuntala, Jallrii managed to look smug. “We are only interessted in the pharmaceutical potential of native flora.”

  “Of course you are.” Her smile remained conscientiously fixed in place. “That's why you wouldn't happen to know how the Sakuntala radicals have managed to coordinate their current efforts to a degree unprecedented in recorded history. Not to mention how they've managed to come into possession of advanced energy and explosive weapons.”

  The pair exchanged a glance. “We would not,” Thessu finally responded. “Why would we rissk our possition here, as guessts, to involve oursselves in the sstupid ssquabbling of primitive localss?”

  Leaning forward, she rested both elbows on the desk, tapping her lips with her steepled fingers. “That's a question I've just recently been forced to ask myself.” As they both began to swell with indignation, she added quickly, “From a purely hypothetical standpoint, of course. Understand, I'm not accusing you of anything. But as administrator, it is my duty to consider even the most extreme scenarios.”

  That calmed them—somewhat. “What possible advantage could we gain from a fight between nativess?” Jallrii demanded to know. “Ssuch disscord only inhibitss our fieldwork.”

  “Yes, your fieldwork.” She eyed them solicitously. “I'm told you spend most of your time out in the field. I
t must be very uncomfortable for you.”

  “Very truly.” Thessu let out a hissing sigh. “How we long to conclude our tour of duty in thiss misserable place! I pine for the hot, dry sands of home.”

  “As do I,” added Jallrii, not to be outdone in expressions of vapid nostalgia.

  “You've been here awhile. You must have amassed a considerable body of knowledge, not to mention a first-rate collection of specimens.”

  Thessu gestured fourth-degree assent. “All carefully ordered and classified according to potential ussagess and commercial value.”

  She was nodding slowly. “I'm sure it's very impressive. Could I see it? And my husband? He works for Bio, you know.”

  Thessu gestured apologetically. “I am regretful, but that iss not possible.” He ventured the AAnn equivalent of a smile. “We have not worked sso hard for sso long to give away potential trade ssecretess to curiouss humanss.”

  She didn't think they would, but she was curious to see how they would react to her request. “Then, to be blunt about it, and from a purely hypothetical standpoint, as I said, you've had nothing to do with helping the rioting Sakuntala organize and you haven't in any way helped them to obtain modern weapons?”

  “You know what the Ssakuntala are like.” Jallrii summoned up a credible shudder. “Violent, unpredictable ssavagess. Truly, to place advanced armamentss in the handss of ssuch primitivess would be to invite chaoss! It would be totally irressponssible.”

  She placed her hands flat on the desk and sat up as straight as her aching back would allow. “My thoughts exactly. Consequently, I can't help but wonder who might benefit from the eruption of chaos on Fluva. Surely not the AAnn—truly.”