The Ship Who Won ккп-5

by Энн Маккефри

  ». . . And it looks like its over.»

  «There you are, my friends. You left us too soon,» Chaumel said. «Magess Plennafrey, you overreached yourself. You misunderstand how reluctant we are to allow such prizes as this stranger and his tower to be won by the least of our number.»

  Keff felt Plenna's knees tighten against his back.

  «Perhaps he does not want to be anyone's property,» she said. «I will leave him his freedom.»

  «You do not have the right to make that choice, Magess,» Nokias said. He stretched out his arms and planted one big hand across the ring that encircled his other wrist. Keff braced himself as red bolts shot out of the bracelet, enveloping him and the floating chair.

  An invisible rod collected the bolts, diverting them harmlessly down into nothingness. The astonished look on Nokias's face said that he neither expected Plennafrey to defy him nor to be able to counteract his attack.

  «That's what hit you on the plain,» Carialle whispered in Keff's ear. «Same frequency. It must have been Nokias. My, he looks surprised.»

  The other magimen lifted their objects of power, preparing an all-out assault on their errant member.

  «Please, friends,» Chaumel said, moving between them toward the wary pair in the center. His eyes were glowing with a mad, inner light. «Allow me.»

  He took the wand from the sleeve on his belt and raised it. Keff glanced up at Plennafrey. The magiwoman, glaring defiance, began to wind up air in her arms.

  «I see what she's doing,» Carialle said, her voice alarmed. «Keff, tell her not to teleport again. I wont—»

  The cavern exploded in a brilliant white flash.

  ***

  Except for the absence of eight angry magimen, Keff and Plennafrey might not have moved. They were in the center of a globe hewn from the bare rock. Then Keff noticed that the walls were rougher and the ceiling not so high. Plennafrey hastily brought the chair to earth. She sighed a deep breath of relief. Keff seconded it.

  He sprang up and offered her his hand. With a small smile, she reached out and took it, allowing him to assist her from the chair.

  «My lady, I want to thank you very sincerely for saving my life,» Keff said, bowing over their joined hands. When he looked up, Plenna was pink, but whether with pleasure or embarrassment Keff wasn't sure.

  «I could not let them treat you like chattel,» she said. «I feel you are a true man for all you are not one of us.»

  «A true man offers homage to a true lady,» Keff said, bowing again. Plennafrey freed herself and turned away, clutching her hand against herself shyly. Keff smiled.

  «What pretty manners you have,» Carialle's voice said. It sounded thin and very far away. «You're forty-five degrees of planetary arc away from your previous location. I just had time to trace you before your power burst dissipated. You're in a small bubble pocket along another one of those long cavern complexes. What is this place?»

  «I was just about to ask that.» Keff looked around him. «Lady, where are we?»

  Unlike Chaumel's wine cellar, this place didn't smell overpoweringly of wet limestone and yeast. The slight mineral scent of the air mixed with a fragrant, powdery perfume. Though large, the room had the sensation of intimacy. A comfortable-looking, overstuffed chair sprawled in the midst of little tables, fat floor pillows, and toy animals. Against one wall, a small bed lay securely tucked up beneath a thick but worn counterpane beside a table of trinkets. Above it, a hanging lamp with a cobalt-blue shade, small and bright like a jewel, glowed comfortingly. Keff knew it to be the private bower of a young lady who had taken her place as an adult but was not quite ready to give up precious childhood treasures.

  «It is my . . . place,» Plennafrey said. IT missed the adjective, but Keff suspected the missing word was «secret» or «private.» Seeing the young woman's shy pride, he felt sure no other eyes but his had ever seen this sanctuary. «We are safe here.»

  «I'm honored,» Keff said sincerely, returning his gaze to Plennafrey. She smiled at him, watchful. He glanced down at the bedside shelf, chose a circular frame from which the images of several people projected slightly. He picked it up, brought it close to his eyes for Carialle to analyze.

  «Holography,» Carialle said at once. «Well, not exactly. Similar effect, but different technique.»

  Keff turned the frame in his hands. The man standing at the rear was tall and thin, with black hair and serious eyebrows. He had his hands on the shoulders of two boys who resembled him closely. The small girl in the center of the grouping had to be a younger version of Plennafrey. «Your family?»

  «Yes.»

  «Handsome folks. Where do they live?»

  She looked away. «They're all dead,» she said.

  «I am sorry,» Keff said.

  Plennafrey turned her face back toward him, and her eyes were red, the lashes fringed with tears. She fumbled with the long, metallic sash, lifted it up over her head, and flung it as far across the room as she could. It jangled against the wall and slithered to the floor.

  «I hate what that means. I hate being a magess. I would have been so happy if not for . . .» IT tried to translate her speech, and fell back to suggesting roots for the words she used. None of it made much sense to Keff, but Carialle interrupted him.

  «I think she killed them, Keff,» she said, alarmed. «Didn't Chaumel say that the only way to advance in the ranks was by stealing artifacts and committing murder? You're shut up in a cave with a madwoman. Don't make her angry. Get out of there.»

  «I don't believe that,» Keff said firmly. «They all died, you said? Do you want to tell me about it?» He took both the girl's hands in his. She flinched, trying to pull away, but Keff, with a kind, patient expression, kept a steady, gentle pressure on her wrists. He led her to the overstuffed footrest and made her sit down. «Tell me. Your family died, and you inherited the power objects they had, is that right? You don't mean you were actually instrumental in their deaths.»

  «I do,» Plenna said, her nose red. «I did it. My father was a very powerful mage. He . . . ed Nokias himself.»

  «Rival,» IT rapped out crisply. Keff nodded.

  «They both wished the position of Mage of the South, but Noldas took it. Losing the office troubled him. Over days and days-time, he went—» Helplessly, she fluttered fingers in the vicinity of her temple, not daring to say the word out loud.

  «He went mad,» Keff said. Plenna dropped her eyes.

  «Yes. He swore he would rival the Ancient Ones. Then he decided having children had diminished his power. He wanted to destroy us to get it back.»

  «Horrible,» Keff said. «He was mad. No one in his right mind would ever think of killing his children.»

  «Don't say that!» Plennafrey begged him. «I loved my father. He had to keep his position. You don't know what it's like on Ozran. Any sign of weakness, and someone else will . . . step in.»

  «Go on,» Keff said gravely. Aided occasionally by IT, Plennafrey continued.

  «There is not much to tell. Father tried many rituals to build up his connection with the Core of Ozran and thereby increase his power, but they were always unsuccessful. One day, two years ago, I was studying ley lines, and I felt hostile power stronging up . . .»

  «Building up,» interjected IT.

  «As I had been taught to do, I defended myself, making power walls . . .»

  «Warding?» Keff asked, listening to IT's dissection of the roots of her phrase.

  «Yes, and feeding power back along the lines from which they came. There was more than I had ever felt.» The girls pupils dilated, making her eyes black as she relived the scene. «I was out on our balcony. Then I was surrounded by hot fire. I built up and threw the power away from me as hard as I could. It took all the strength I had. The power rushed back upon its sender. It went past me into our stronghold. I felt an explosion inside our home. That was when I knew what I had done. I ran.» Her face was pale and haunted. «The door of my fathers sanctum was blown outward. My brothers lay in th
e hall beyond. All dead. All dead. And all my fault.» Tears started running down her cheeks. She dabbed at them with the edge of a yellow sleeve. «Nokias and the others came to the stronghold. They said I had made my first coup. I had achieved the office of magess. I didn't want it. I had force-killed my family.»

  «But you didn't do it on purpose,» Keff said, feeling in his tunic pocket for a handkerchief and extending it to her. «It was an accident.»

  «I could have let my father succeed. Then he and my brothers might be alive,» Plennafrey said. «I should have known.» A tear snaked down her cheek. Angrily, she wiped her eye and sat with the cloth crumpled in her fists.

  «You fought for your life. That's normal. You shouldn't have to sacrifice yourself for anyone's power grab.»

  «But he was my father! I respected his will. Is it not like that where you live?» the girl asked.

  «No,» Keff said with more emphasis than he intended. «No father would do what he did. To us, life is sacred.»

  Plenna stared at her hands. She gave a little sigh. «I wish I lived there, too.»

  «I hate this world more than ever,» said Carialle, for whom special intervention to save her life had begun before she was born. «Corruption is rewarded, child murder not even blinked at; power is the most important thing, over family, life, sanity. Let's have them put an interdict on this place when we get out of here. They haven't got space travel, so we don't have to worry about them showing up in the Central Worlds for millenia more to come.»

  «We have to get out of here first,» Keff reminded her. «Perhaps we can help them to straighten things out before we go.»

  Carialle sighed. «Of course you're right, knight in shining armor. Whatever we can do, we should. I simply cannot countenance what this poor girl went through.»

  Keff turned to Plennafrey. She stared down toward the floor, not seeing it, but thinking of her past.

  «Please, Plennafrey,» Keff said, imbuing the Ozran phrases with as much persuasive charm in his voice as possible, «I'm new to your world. I want to learn about you and your people. You interest me very much. What is this?» he asked, picking up the nearest unidentifiable gew-gaw.

  Distracted, she looked up. Keff held the little cylinder up to her, and she smiled.

  «It is a music,» she said. At her direction, he shook the box back and forth, then set it down. The sides popped open, and a sweet, tinny melody poured out. «I have had that since, oh, since a child.»

  «Is it old?»

  «Oh, a few generations. My father's father's father,» she giggled, counting on her fingers, «made it for his wife.»

  «Its beautiful. And what's this?» Keff got up and reached for a short coiled string and the pendant bauble at the end of it. The opaline substance glittered blue, green, and red in the lamplight.

  «It's a plaything,» Plennafrey said, with a hint of her natural vitality returning to her face. «It takes some skill to use. No magic. I am very good with it. My brothers were never as skilled.»

  «Show me,» Keff said. She stood up beside him and wound the string around the central core of the pendant. Inserting her forefinger through the loop at the strings end, she cradled the toy, then threw it. It spooled out and smacked back into her palm. She flicked it again, but this time moved her hand so the pendant ricocheted past her head, dove between their knees, then shot back into her hand.

  «A yo-yo!» Keff said, delighted.

  «You have such things?» Plennafrey asked. She smiled up into his face.

  Keff grinned. «Oh, yes. This is far nicer than the ones I used to play with. In fact, its a work of art. Can I try?»

  «All right.» Plenna peeled the string off her finger and extended the toy to him. He accepted it, his hands cradling hers for just a moment. He did a few straight passes with the yo-yo, then made it fly around the world, then swung it in a trapeze.

  «You are very good, too,» Plenna said, happily. «Will you show me how you did the last thing?»

  «It would be my pleasure,» Keff told her. He returned the toy to her hands. As his palms touched hers, he felt an almost electric shock. He became aware they were standing very close, their thighs brushing slightly so that he could feel the heat of her body. Her breath caught, then came more quickly. His respiration sped up to match hers. To his delight and astonishment he knew that she was as attracted to him as he was to her. The yo-yo slipped unnoticed to the hassock as he clasped her hands tightly. She smiled at him, her eyes full of trust and wonder. Before she said a word, his arms slid along hers, encompassing her narrow waist, hands flat against her back. She didn't protest, but pressed her slim body to his. He felt her quiver slightly, then she nestled urgently against him, settling her head on his shoulder. Her skin was warm through the thin stuff of her dress, and her flowery, spicy scent tantalized him.

  She felt so natural in his arms he had to remind himself that she was an alien being, then he discarded inhibition. If things didn't work out physically, well, they were sharing the intense closeness of people who had been in danger together, a kind of comfort in itself. Yet he let himself believe that all would be as he desired it. There were too many other outward similarities to humanity in Plennafrey's people. With luck, they made love the same way.

  Plennafrey had none of the seductive art of the gauze-draped Potria, but he found her genuine responsiveness much more desirable. While her elders were tormenting Keff, it had probably not occurred to her to think of him as anything but an abused «toy.»

  She was merely being kind to an outsider, or less charitably, to a dumb animal that couldn't defend itself. Now that they were together, intriguing chemistry bubbled up between them. He watched the long fringe of her lashes lift to reveal her large, dark eyes. He admired the long throat and the way her pulse jumped in the small shadow at the hollow inside her collarbone. The corners of her mouth lifted while she, too, stopped to study him.

  «What are you thinking?» he asked, looking up at her.

  «I am thinking that you are handsome,» she said.

  «Well, you are very beautiful, lady magess,» he whispered, bending down to kiss the curve of her shoulder.

  «I hate being a magess,» Plennafrey said in a voice that was nearly a sob.

  «But I am glad you are a magess,» Keff said. «If you hadn't been, I would never have met you, and you are the nicest thing I have seen since I came to Ozran.»

  He put his hand under her chin, stroked her soft throat with a gentle finger like petting a cat. Almost felinely, Plenna closed her eyes to long slits and let her head drift back, looking like she wanted to purr. She raised her face to his, and her hand crept up the back of his neck to pull his head down to her level. Keff tasted cherries and cinnamon on her lips, delighted to lose himself in her perfume. He deepened the kiss, and Plenna responded with ardor. He bent down to kiss the curve of her shoulder, felt her brush her cheek against his ear.

  Suddenly she let go of him and stepped back, looking up at him half-expectantly, half-afraid, Keff gathered up her hands and kissed them, pulled Plenna close, and brushed her lips with soft, feather-light caresses until they opened. She sighed.

  «Sight and sound off, please, Cari,» Keff whispered. Plennafrey nestled her head into the curve of his shoulder, and he kissed her.

  ***

  Carialle considered for a moment before shutting off the sensory monitors. While in a potentially hostile environment, especially with hostiles in pursuit, it was against Courier Service rules to break off all communications.

  The Ozran female let out a wordless cry, and Keff matched it with a heartfelt moan. Carialle weighed the requirement with Keff's right to privacy and decided a limited signal wasn't unreasonable. Such a request was permissible as long as the brain maintained some kind of contact with her brawn partner.

  «As you wish, my knight errant,» she said, hastily turning off the eye and mouth implants. She monitored transmission of his cardial and pulmonary receivers instead. They were getting a strenuous workout.

&nb
sp; ***

  With her brawn otherwise occupied, Carialle turned her attention to the outside of Ozran. Most of the power and radio signals were still clustered on and inside Chaumel's peak. Each magiman and magiwoman proved to have a slightly different radio frequency which she or he used for communication, so Carialle could distinguish them. The eight remaining hunters who had pursued Keff and his girlfriend down the subterranean passages fanned out again and again across the planetary surface, and regrouped. The search was proving futile. Carialle mentally sent them a raspberry.

  «Bad luck, you brutes,» she said, merrily.

  On the plain, the eye-globes came out of nowhere and circled around and around her. Carialle peered at each one closely, and recorded its burblings to the others through IT. Keff was building up a pretty good Ozran vocabulary and grammar, so she could understand the messages of frustration and fury that they broadcast to one another.

  Some time later, Keff's heartbeat slowed down to its resting rate. His brain waves showed he had drifted off to sleep. Carialle occupied herself in the hours before dawn by doing maintenance on her computer systems and keeping an eye on the hunters who had to be wearing themselves out by now.

  Carialle gave Keff a decent interval to wipe out sleep toxins, and then switched on again. Her video monitors beside his eyes offered her a most romantic tableau.

  On the small bed against the bower wall, the young magiwoman was cuddled up against Keff's body. They were both naked, and his dark-haired, muscular arm was thrown protectively over her narrow, pale waist. Their ankles overlapped and then he started running a toe up and down her calf. Carialle took the opportunity to scan Keff's companion and found her readings of great interest. Keff snorted softly, the sound he always made when he was on the edge of wakefulness.