Starbridge

by A. C. Crispin

  Whimpering with shock and terror, Mahree climbed. When she reached the platform and swung herself up, Dhurrrkk' and Hekkk'eesh were already locked in a straining, grunting mass of flame-colored fur. It took her dazzled eyes a moment to sort out which of them was which as they grappled, biting viciously at each other's heads and necks, their canines flashing the overhead lights.

  Oh, God, I'm too late! she thought, watching helplessly as they rolled over and over, snapping and clutching, dangerously close to the edge of the platform. Both were bleeding from jagged rips on their muzzles and shoulders. Dhurrrkk' had given good account of himself--the gladiator was streaming blood from a slash on his forearm, and his ear was torn. But Hekkk'eesh was strong, and seasoned, and he knew every trick. Slowly, inexorably, he forced his opponent down, onto his back, as his hands wormed themselves past Dhurrrkkks muzzle, burrying themselves in the thick mane, groping for a stranglehold the younger Simiu's throat.

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  Seconds later he found it, and the muscles in his arms bulged as he slowly, inexorably, tightened his grip. Dhurrrkk' struggled without success to free himself.

  Mahree flung herself down beside the gladiator, knowing full well that physically she could do nothing. "Hekkk'eesh!" she demanded. "Listen to me! You have been played false by Khrekk's family! If you kill Dhurrrkk', or me, or RaoulLamont, your honor will be forever gone! Listen!"

  Without releasing his pressure on Dhurrrkk's throat, he glanced sideways at her, and the ripped ear nearest her twitched. Mahree plunged on, speaking in rapid Simiu. "Your path to honor does not lie with killing this youngling--

  what honor is there in that? You are so far above him that everyone will know how easily you could have conquered him--or all of us! True honor only lies in not killing! In being wise enough not to allow yourself to be used, as Kk'arrrsht' would use you!"

  Dhurrrkk' was gasping, now, thrashing helplessly.

  "Listen to me, Hekkk'eesh!" she pleaded. "I speak the truth, may my mother die in misery if I lie--they will use you and discard you, as they have discarded their own honor ... you must know that the Council has decided against them! Since the Avernian Contact their clan has no public support--

  and Dhurrrkk', whose throat is between your hands, is the hero who made that contact! Tell me, will your world honor the person responsible for his death?"

  The grasping fingers grew no tighter, but there was no need to--by now Dhurrrkk's violet eyes were glazing, and his frantic struggles grew weaker.

  "You know me!" Mahree said. "I am MahreeBurroughs, and my name is spoken of with honor among your people, is it not?'

  Hekkk'eesh did not answer, but she thought she saw acquiescence to her statement in his eyes. "Then consider!" she said. "I have seen your holovids, watched you fight and admired you for your grace and ability! Before you tarnished your honor with K't'eerrr, you were the best--the best! I do not want you to throw away your honor this way, and so I care enough for your honor that I have been willing to compromise my own! Have I not broken the rule of silence, to speak during the battle? No person of honor would do that except to prevent a greater wrong! I speak truth!"

  The gladiator's hands slackened a little as he turned his head

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  to regard her, full-on. Mahree dared to put out her hand, touch that bloody forearm, her arm only a handbreadth from Hekkk'eesh's muzzle, from the canines that could slash her open as a human would rip frayed fabric. "Trust my honor," she said. "I beg of you. Do not make my sacrifice in breaking silence be in vain. Let us both regain our honor. Release him."

  For a heartbeat longer, the Simiu hesitated, then his fingers loosened, and slipped away. Dhurrrkk' slumped bonelessly to the top of the platform and lay inert--

  --but still breathing.

  Mahree watched his nostrils move, saw his chest rise and fall, and tears of relief flooded her eyes. He's not dead! He's just unconscious! He'l be al right!

  She turned back to Hekkk'eesh, who was staring at her. Slowly,

  ceremoniously, the gladiator made the sign for ritual hence--formally conceding the battle to Dhurrrkk'.

  "You have gained great honor by this, Honored Hekkk'eesh!" she cried, her throat tight with emotion at the Simiu's gesture. "I will tell everyone of your actions, by my mother's honor, I swear it!"

  There came an enraged shriek from below. "No! Kill them! You must kill them!"

  Both Mahree and Hekkk'eesh scrambled to the side of the platform to look down. Kk'arrrsht' and the others were standing on the deck, looking up at them. The former Council member was nearly foaming as she glared at her erstwhile champion. "Kill RaoulLamont!"

  Hekkk'eesh regarded her steadily. "No," he said, finally. "I will not."

  "Then I will!"

  The former Council member leaped at Raoul's throat. Kk'arrrsht' did not have the formidable fighting fangs of the Simiu males, but she still posed a grave threat, lost as she was in a berserker rage. Lamont went down with a crash, arms stiff and braced, trying to hold her off.

  "No!" Rhrrrkkeet' grunted, and charged full into the other Simiu, knocking her away from the Captain. The two female aliens struggled, gasping and snarling, ripping at each other's flesh.

  "We have to stop them! You must carry Dhurrrkk'! Come on!" With desperate haste, Mahree swung herself over the side

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  of the lattice and began climbing down. Hekkk'eesh, Dhurrrkk's limp body slung over his shoulder, passed her before she was halfway down.

  When Mahree reached the deck, she saw that Rhrrrkkeet' lay helpless, while Raoul and Rob were trying desperately to pull Kk'arrrsht' off her. Esteemed Ssoriszs was beside the airlock, the Mizari's tentacles flying as he tried to release the fused and jammed controls so he could open it and summon help.

  Mahree bent over Dhurrrkk' for a second, saw that her friend was beginning to stir back into consciousness, then she raced toward the struggle.

  Hekkk'eesh loped ahead of her.

  When she reached the former ambassador's side, Mahree cried out in dismay. The visible portion of Rhrrrkkeet's face was a mask of blood, ripped fur, and pulped flesh. Khrekk's aunt had her teeth fastened in her opponent's throat.

  "Let me!" the gladiator demanded, pushing Rob and Raoul roughly aside.

  Hekkk'eesh grabbed his employer's clenched jaws, exerting his full strength to prise them apart. Dragging Kk'arrrsht' up and away, the gladiator prisoned the former Council member in an unbreakable grip, despite her frantic struggles to escape.

  Even as the pressure on Rhrrrkkeet's throat was released, a spurt of magenta blood fountained up. Mahree clamped her hands across her mouth to keep from screaming in horror.

  Swearing at the uselessness of his swollen, broken-knuckled right hand, Rob groped desperately with his left, searching for a pressure point amid the tangle of fur and open wound.

  Raoul flung an arm around Mahree, as much to steady himself as her, as the three humans knelt beside Rhrrrkkeet'. Praying, Mahree watched tensely, hardly daring to breathe as blood jetted upward with every beat of the Simiu's heart.

  "Oh, God!" Rob gasped, trying to guard his eyes from the hot splashes. "Got to--can't remember where-- got it!" he muttered, in triumph, closing his left fingers hard. The deadly spurting faltered, then stopped. He looked up at Mahree, his face a gory mask. "For God's sake, somebody get a doctor!"

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  CHAPTER 20

  Opportunity Knocks

  Dhurrrkk' just called. Rhrrrkkeet' is definitely out of the woods.

  Uncle Raoul and Rob are recovering. Both spent time on the regen unit yesterday and today--Uncle Raoul for his black and swollen eye and jaw, and Rob for his hand. He broke two knuckles when he punched Uncle Raoul.

  They decided to call it even.

  Uncle Raoul was really undone by Rhrrrkkeet's defense of him, nearly at the cost of her own life, and when he learned that they couldn't save her right eye, he wept unashamedly before pulling himself together and going to wait outside the operating room. Th
ey wouldn't let him see her, but he waited anyway.

  Dhurrrkk' will be stiff and sore for a few days, but he's fine. When I saw him last night in the Simiu hospital on Station Three, he was-even getting a little cocky about the fact that he'd scored "first blood" in battle with the fearsome Hekkk'eesh. (Rob acted much the same about decking my uncle, who's a third again his size. Males, I swear--!)

  And it was Hekkk'eesh who declared ritual hence, not Dhurrrkk', remember.

  As Yoki says, he'll gain much "face" from this.

  Kk'arrrsht' is in custody, along with the other family members who plotted to kill Uncle Raoul. I expect the Council will deal severely with them.

  Uncle Raoul went to see Joan last night, when we staggered back from the hospital, still splashed as he was with

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  Rhrrrkkeet's blood. I don't know what they said to each other; but he was with her for nearly half an hour, and then she came out and helped him get cleaned up and put something on his eye.

  I don't know whether they can patch up their marriage . . . but I think maybe now they'll at least try to be partners again.

  And last night, I finally talked to Rob . . .

  Mahree sat on the bed, braiding her hair. "Rob ... I want to talk to you."

  He dropped his undershirt over the back of a chair with a sigh, then gave her a wary yet resigned look. "All right."

  "You caught me flat-footed the other night," she said, fastening the end of her braid. "It never occurred to me that you would want to marry me. After all, when I first met you"--she gave him a sideways glance--"you didn't seem like the kind of man who was interested in marriage."

  He sat down opposite her in the chair to kick off his shoes. He shrugged. "I wasn't," he admitted. "I never thought it would happen to me like this, but it has." He smiled thinly. "I guess I've changed."

  "So have I," Mahree said. "Probably more than you have, since I had a lot more growing up to do in the first place. I'm going to be honest with you, Rob. I love you, more than I can say. I want us to be together, I want to sleep beside you each night. I've even found myself"--despite her resolve, she faltered, and blushed--"I've even found myself imagining you as the father of my baby . . . someday. I think we could be happy together."

  His expression brightened, and he put out his good hand and clasped hers.

  His grasp was so warm and strong and familiar that Mahree's eyes filled with tears. She kissed the back of his hand, and her throat ached from loving him, and also from what she still had to say.

  "But try to understand, Rob . . . I'm just not ready to marry anyone. In six months I may feel different. Or six years--I can't say. I need time to adjust to all that's happened--between you and me, between us and the Simiu ... the Mizari and the CLS . . . everything. Can you understand what I'm trying to say?"

  He nodded, though she saw disappointment in his eyes. "I'm afraid I can," he said. "I pushed you the other night, didn't I?"

  She nodded. "Frankly, you scared me half to death," she 289

  confessed. "I felt . . . like my horizons were closing in. I don't know what I want, or what I'm going to do, but I'm sure of one thing, which is that it would be wrong for me to marry you now."

  Pain shadowed his features, and his mouth tightened. She continued, hastily, "If it were a question of losing you ... I'd probably give in and agree to marriage. But that's not the way you want it, is it?"

  He considered for a moment, then silently shook his head. "That wouldn't be right," he said, finally. "Though for a second there I was tempted, I have to admit. I want you that badly." He bit his lip, not meeting her eyes. "It scares me, how much I want you."

  She wanted to put her arms around him, but she made herself sit still. "I know this isn't easy for you, either. But never think that I don't love you. I do."

  Things were different between them, and Mahree knew that, as she watched him nod, silently. It won't ever be quite the same again . . . Where before it had been all joy, now there was sadness that came from the knowledge that they could hurt each other.

  Raoul Lamont postponed Desiree's departure until they were sure Rhrrrkkeet' would be recovered enough to assume her duties aboard the Dawn Wind as the Mizari/Simiu liaison. During those three weeks, the Simiu Council officially appointed Dhurrrkk' as the First Ambassador to Avernus, though, as he told Mahree, his duties would probably consist mostly of returning Doctor Blanket to its home, and ensuring that the fungus- beings were disturbed no more than they wished to be.

  Dhurrrkk' also told his friend that as soon as Desiree departed for Earth, he was planning to leave for Avernus, and from there, he'd be traveling on to Shassiszss. Mahree struggled against envy for her friend, imagining Dhurrrkk' free to shuttle between Shassiszss and Hurrreeah in his work with the Avernians. She gained a new respect for the Simiu Council, knowing that they'd truly selected the best person for the job.

  Rob caught up on his work, and he and Mahree spent most evenings watching his old films, or talking with Joan, Raoul, and Dhurrrkk'. The doctor managed to spend some time each day with Ssoriszs, continuing his Mizari lessons. He could now

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  understand and speak Mizari better than he could Simiu, though he knew his accent was far from good.

  A few days before Desiree's and Dawn Wind's scheduled departures, the Simiu Council came up to Station Three en masse and hosted an official reception to honor the humans. The entire crew was invited.

  At Esteemed Ssoriszs' request Rob went over to the station early to talk to the Mizari. He was curious as to the Mizari Mediator's reason for the meeting; Shirazz had been extremely evasive when Rob asked her why the CLS official wanted to see him.

  When he reached the corridor outside the big meeting room, Rob found the alien waiting for him. Ssoriszs seemed both pleased and excited about something. The doctor greeted the Mizari. "You asked to see me?"

  "There is something I would like to speak to you about, Robert. Something important." He gestured with his tentacles.

  Puzzled, the doctor followed the Mediator into the small chamber, and sat down cross-legged on floor cushions, as the Mizari coiled himself.

  "This morning one of our vessels, the Twilight Blossom, docked here at Station Three, Robert. It bore a messenger from the CLS Council, saying that my recommendation on a certain matter has been discussed and affirmed. Thus I am now free to speak to you about something that has been under consideration since first you came to Shassiszss."

  Rob blinked. "I'm dying of curiosity. What's going on?"

  "For years we Mizari have watched the CLS grow, and known that accurate and truthful communication among our member species was becoming increasingly difficult. The more member species we garner, the more difficult it becomes for all of us to speak together. There are inherent problems, as you know, with mechanical translation devices.

  "We have long sought for a way to bridge the ever-widening gap we perceived. For some time now, we have thought that the key to what we desire lies in the young people of our member species--those who are flexible and energetic enough to learn other languages, and adapt to alien ways."

  "Like Dhurrrkk' and Mahree," Rob said.

  "Exactly. They have provided a most shining example of

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  what we would like to accomplish on a far larger scale. After much consideration, we Mizari came to believe that bringing young people of different species together, so that they may learn one another's languages and customs, would be the best way to ensure understanding and

  communication in the future. We would like to establish a school to train such young people."

  Rob suddenly remembered Shirazz asking him whether he liked kids, and a few pieces of the puzzle began to click into place. He waited silently for the Mizari to continue.

  "However, there was a major stumbling block," Ssoriszs said. "We Mizari are only too often accused of trying to run the CLS to suit ourselves. We did not want to take the lead in proposing and
promoting this school, and we do not want to be chief among those who direct and administer it."

  The alien's scales whispered gently as the being cocked his golden-eyed head at the doctor. "But when we met you humans, we began to think our problem has been solved. You are a strong, intelligent people, with a great deal of vitality and enthusiasm. And, most important of all, you are not yet enmeshed in CLS politics--you are independent of such intrigues and wranglings, and will be, for some time to come."

  When the Mizari paused, Rob said, "I see what you mean. But how do I come into it?''

  "We want you to propose the idea for the school to your people, then to join with us in finding support and funding for it, on Earth, and the CLS member worlds. And after the school is built, we would like you to work there, directing it, helping to counsel and advise the students. We admire the way you have adapted to Dhurrrkk' and Mahree's friendship, helped to foster it.

  She gives you much of the credit for establishing good relations between the humans and the Simiu at the onset of contact between your peoples."

  Rob ran a hand through his hair, thinking it over. "That's a lot of faith to put in someone you hardly know," he muttered, trying to take in the idea.

  "Ah, but I do know you, Robert. I learned about you from one who knows you very well."

  The doctor grinned, beginning to experience a rush of excitement as he thought about what this job offer could mean to him--and also to Mahree. A chance to work for the CLS! It's her

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  dream come true! She'd jump at the chance to be associated with that!

  During the past three weeks, Rob had become increasingly confident that before too long--perhaps by next year--Mahree would agree to marry him, and he felt, instinctively, that this job would only advance his cause.