Wearily, Teal got to her feet and joined Jean at the gurney. She glanced down at the crystal and fixed her transparent eyes on the infant's saviors. "You saved him, Bela. You raise him."
"It's a him?" Jean asked, peering at the crystal as though she had missed something. "How do you know that?"
"Because it is Baldan's child. It is Baldan."
Miriya made a face. "Wait a minute, let's get this straight: is it Baldan, or is it Baldan's child?"
"It is both," Teal told her.
"Well, it sure doesn't look like Baldan," Jean pointed out. "Is it, er, he in a state of gestation inside the crystal? Or do we need to incubate him? Speak to me, girl!"
Teal turned away from the gurney. "I don't want to care for it!" When she faced them again, it was obvious she was, in some Spherisian fashion, crying. "Baldan was not my mate," she explained. "It was the Invid Tesla who chose us, it was he who brought us together."
Jean put a hand on Teal's shoulder. "But I don't understand, honey. What does all this have to do with caring for the child?"
"He must be shaped" Teal answered her. "And to do so I must enter into a rapport with Baldan-I must become his mate."
No one said anything for a moment. "And if we do nothing?" Bela asked.
"Baldan will die." Teal continued to cry, muttering to herself in her own tongue-praying, Jean ventured. Then suddenly she produced a kind of crystalline paring knife from the bodice of her garment.
"Teal, no!" Jean started to say, but before she could stop her, Teal had struck the infant
with the edge of the blade, as one might bring a tool to bear on a piece of ore. A chip broke away from the crystal, revealing a dazzling facet. Teal struck again and again, each stroke sure of its mark, each rendering the inanimate thing gemlike and complete. Crying all the while, Teal took the infant in her hands and began to carve away more of its extraneous crust. Miriya, Bela, and Jean could hardly believe their eyes when a polished face slowly emerged, then a miniature torso of sorts.
It was Baldan.
If the Sentinels remained divided on any one issue, it was what was to be done with Tesla. While certain they would exercise more caution the next time the Invid volunteered for a mission, they had as yet no clear-cut policy toward him. Was he a prisoner, a hostage, perhaps an ally in some sense? After the meeting in which the Sentinels' direction had been put to a vote, Tesla and Burak had had a chance to answer the "charges" Wolff brought against them. They were accomplices, Wolff maintained, in the laconic and cynical fashion that had everyone aboard guessing. (That Minmei was the cause of Wolff's distress was no secret, but he kept to himself the fact that she had been seeing Edwards.)
Tesla didn't deny that he had tried to commandeer the module; his actions, however, had not been directed against the Sentinels. In fact, quite the contrary. "I am your comrade in this war of liberation," he told the Human and XT assembly. "I am as eager for peace as the rest of you, and my aim in taking over the ship was simply to speed to Optera to convince the Regent of the error of his ways."
Burak, though, was innocent to hear Tesla tell it, and had merely been overpowered, as Janice had. And much to Tesla's surprise, Janice backed up the story. But what Tesla didn't realize was that Janice had briefed the Sentinels beforehand on the stand she would take, suggesting that they allow Burak and Tesla their partnership, which she herself would monitor. There was more here than met the eye, she had explained; and the arrangement would have the added benefit of keeping the Perytonian out of everyone's way.
This was the voice of Lang's reprogramming, but no one recognized it as such, least of all Janice. Tesla, Lang had established, was worthy of study.
So in the end it was decided that things would remain much as they had been before the attempted mutiny: Tesla was neither prisoner nor ally, but more in the way of "ambassador." And Burak was to remain the Invid's aide/jailer/ keeper.
The two XTs were in one of the ship's cargo holds now, a place well-suited to Tesla's size. Only a few morsels of fruit remained, but Tesla knew that more would be available to him on Garuda-a crop as different from the Praxian variety as those had been from the Karbarran. He still hadn't gotten over his case of the guilts, and was in fear of the moment
the Sentinels learned of the Regent's assassination. With luck, though, that news could be months off. The beauty of it was that there was no one who could even tie him to the act-not as long as the SDF-7 remained incommunicado. Even that little Zentraedi, Exedore, would have no proof. "Circumstantial" was the Human word for such evidence. So in spite of his anxiety, his spirits had improved.
Burak's, however, had not. Although pleased (albeit baffled) that he had been absolved of any wrongdoing, he felt as though the Sentinels had simply dismissed him and Peryton's cause.
"You mustn't be so glum about it, my friend," Tesla told him, while he contemplated one of the tidbits. "Your world is as good as freed."
"What makes you so certain?" Burak asked, his face a true devil's mask now.
Tesla popped the fruit into his mouth. "Because...I sense something wonderful is about to happen."
Burak regarded him with a frown.
"Truly," Tesla continued. "You must have faith if you are to assume your proper place in this world. There may be one or two dark spots in our future, but afterward..." Tesla offered an approximation of a smile.
"But what about now, Tesla? All these grand events you speak of-they are always one step ahead of us."
Tesla threw back his shoulders. "No, my young friend, you have it backward. It is we who are one step ahead. But change is in the air. Soon the reshapings will catch up with us. And then we can begin to transform the world."
CHAPTER NINE
A footnote in Kahler's work (The Tirolian Compaign, Fantomadiscs, third issue, 2083, scr. 1099) refers those interested in Garudan psychism [sic] to a series of twentieth-century autobiographical novels written by a young anthropologist recording his attempts to enter into various states of altered reality through the guidance of an Yaqui Indian "man of power." And while La Pea is willing to concede that there is some justification for Kahler's recommendation, he points out that the Garudans required nothing in the way of extrinsic agents to attain "non-ordinary states." Unless, however, one views the planet's atmosphere in this regard. It is hoped that the much-awaited translations of Haydon's texts will shed light on this continuing controversy.
Taken from the "Imminent Immaterial" column of Psycho-physics Digest
Garuda. Kami and Learna had told them what to expect. A mostly cold and barren world of steppes and tundra, with vast frozen regions and glaciated mountain ranges. What little there was in the way of flora and fauna was principally confined to a narrow band of equatorial forestland of evergreen analogues. There were two seasons, wet and dry; Garuda was in the latter now, and that, Kami explained, would account for the differences in fur coloration the Sentinels would notice among members of his and Learna's tribe. The Garudans, who numbered in the thousands, were not, generally speaking, offworlders. Some, however, had volunteered for mining work on Rhestad-system moons after the arrival of the Zentraedi generations ago, and later on, the Masters' clones. But most Garudans feared the thought of having to leave the planet, and had little tolerance for the breathing harnesses life anywhere else would require. Their society was a simple one, organized along the lines of any hunter-gatherer group; however, they were anything but nomadic, and kept domesticated animals and raised some crops. Religion was of a decidedly individual variety, with each clan answering to a different totem, and each member his or her own shaman. Oddly enough, neither Kami nor Learna had the slightest knowledge of history in the sense that most of the Sentinels, including Burak and Lron, understood the term. Unlike the Karbarrans, or Praxians for that matter, the Garudans seemed to live entirely in the present. This is not to say that they were a complacent group-they were certainly devoted to securing a free future for their world-but at the same tim
e, they could supply no answers to questions concerning their racial past.
This enigma had become something of a preoccupation with Cabell during the four months the Sentinels had remained grounded on Praxis. Cabell was different than the Masters in this regard. Those who had ousted the Tirolian regime after the Great Transition were more interested in expansion and conquest than in the accumulation of knowledge; to the Elders and their subordinate Triumvirates, knowledge of the past presented something of an impediment to change. They had their gaze fixed on the day after tomorrow, on issues of uncontested rule, ultimate power, and selective immortality.
The rest of the Sentinels, though, saw Garuda more in terms of its tangible challenges, and foremost among these was its very atmosphere: though Earthlike in composition, it was essentially toxic to all but the planet's indigenous life-forms. There were one or two exceptions to this, but only Veidt and Sarna among the Sentinels qualified. Surface scans verified the presence of dozens of varieties of airborne spores and microorganisms whose chemistry Jean Grant likened to certain laboratory-produced psychotropic drugs. According to Cabell-based on what he had gleaned from Zor's notes-the vulpine beings' mental processes were linked to the planet itself in a kind of submolecular partnership. Life-forms incapable of entering into this long-established microcosmic symbiosis were not, however, simply ignored or exempted; rather, they were sensed as potentially disturbing to the ecological balance and consequently counterattacked by those same microorganisms responsible for the Garudans' nonordinary psychic states.
It had therefore fallen upon the med group to outfit the landing party with transpirators and
resp canisters. But if logistics was about to hamper the operation's effectiveness, the Sentinels could take some comfort in the fact that the Invid had also fallen prey to the planet's proprietary nature. In fact, their presence on Garuda was essentially restricted to the hemispherically shaped hives they had erected in those areas where Zor's Flower of Life seedlings had taken root. The crop was a mutant but bountiful one, and it was believed that Garuda provided largely defoliated Optera with much of its needed supply of nutrient. With Karbarra liberated, the Regent had lost his mecha factories; now the Sentinels meant to strike him at the gut level, destroying as many of Garuda's orchards and "farms" as they could.
Rick, Lisa, Cabell, Rem, Jack, Karen, Burak, Kami, Learna, Gnea, Lron, and Crysta made up the drop group, with members of the Skull and Wolff Pack escorting the shuttle down. The SDF-7 would remain in orbit to deal with Invid transport vessels, known to make frequent runs between Garuda and Optera. Wolff and Grant shared the fortress command. Janice would be keeping an eye on Tesla. Veidt and Sarna had elected to stay behind, and Bela was apparently determined to help Teal with the infant Baldan.
The landing party was certain that the SDF-7's arrival in Garudaspace had not gone undetected by the Invid; the shuttle landing would probably be monitored as well. So rather than risk immediate engagement or present any of the hives with an easy target, they opted to put down in the relatively unpoliced tribal sectors, close to Kami and Learna's village. Unexpectedly, they found themselves encircled by battle-ready troops nevertheless-even before the shuttle's landing gear made contact with the surface.
Kami had neglected to mention that some of Garuda's protectors were Tirolian Bioroids.
Kami and Learna consequently made certain they were the first to deplane, figuring their mere appearance would defuse the situation. It did so-and more. Within minutes, half of Kami's tribe had emerged from the trees to surround the shuttle and celebrate the return of their friends. The air was suddenly charged with joyous sounds-excited barking to Rick's ears-and Kami and Learna were embraced, jostled, and hoisted up on countless shoulders. With elaborate ritual, the two returnees threw off their breathing gear and pranced about, engaging in impromptu dances, shamanic steps of power.
Rick radioed the Skull and Wolff contingents to put down along the perimeter of the shuttle's rough strip, checked the integrity of his environment suit and transpirator, and followed Lisa out of the pilots' cabin to take part in the merriment. An hour later, he and the rest of the landing party were in the village's wooden longhouse powwowing with the leaders of Kami's tribe. Severed heads of Hellcats, Scrim, and Odeon Inorganics dangled from the roof tie-beams.
Also present were a number of the Bioroid pilot clones-androgynous-looking shaggy-haired humanoids with pointed features and exotic eyes. One of the clones-these
Tiresian lost boys-was explaining to Cabell in a nasal, almost synthesized voice how they had come to ally themselves with the Garudan cause. They wore no breathing gear, and were apparently immune to the spores.
"The Masters left us here to police this world. But when the Invid arrived, communication with Tirol and the clone-masters became impossible. Our Hoverships destroyed, all ties with Tirol cut, we began to understand the concept of freedom, the loneliness that springs from abandonment..."
"So you joined the Garudans in their fight," Cabell finished, astonished.
"We thirst for freedom, just as they do."
"Remarkable," the old man mused, his own voice distorted by the mask's filters. "Absolutely remarkable." He hadn't been so astounded since learning from Lang that Miriya Parino had borne a child; and the revelation gave him some hope that the Masters' clones were actually capable of revolt.
Rick took advantage of a momentary silence to motion to the trophy heads. "What's the situation here? Do the Invid run patrols through this sector?"
The tribal chief answered him. "Their Inorganics patrol, but only when they wish to intimidate us, or gather up laborers for the farms. They don't seem to regard us as a threat-even with the firepower our comrades supply," he added, indicating the clones, "but I assure you that all Garuda is ripe for rebellion."
"You mean, they're using your people on the farms?"
"Lately, yes. And in the labor camps near them."
Lron and Crystal grunted, alarming some of the Garudans present. They were keeping a wide circle around the ursine XTs, and a wider one yet around Burak, whose mask only added to an already demonic aspect.
Rick could see that the news came as a shock to Kami and Learna also.
"So much for surgical strikes from the ship," Max said.
Rick regarded the chief for a moment. He found that he was not yet accustomed to seeing Garudans without then-breathers; omnivores they might be, but there was a ferocity to their muzzles he wasn't all that comfortable with. Outwardly, the chief resembled Kami, but there was a solemnness to his aspect that was absent in the younger Garudan.
"What about mecha?" Lisa wanted to know. "Scouts, Shock Troopers?"
"Only when their transport ships arrive," the chief told her. "They patrol near the farms to protect the nutrient shipment while it is being loaded. Rarely do they venture into tribal sectors."
Rick watched the chief gnaw at a hunk of meat one of the women had offered him. "Is there any regularity to the shipments?"
The chief exchanged a few sentences with Kami in the Garudan tongue. The Sentinel translated. "Approximately every three standard months." This was changed every so often in an attempt to foil what was an extensive underground network at work on Garuda. But the Invid never managed to keep anything secret for very long.
"And when did the last shipment leave?"
"One month ago."
Rick grinned beneath his transpirator mask. "That means we're in the clear for the moment. Even if they've already communicated with their fleet, reinforcements could take weeks to get here."
"The closest farm is about one hundred miles from here," Learna said, without being asked. "Kami and I know that area well."
"An aerial recon," Max suggested.
"No," Rick said. "I don't think we should tip our hand just yet. We'll go in on Hovercycles first. Take a quick look around before we plan an assault. Just because mecha haven't been observed doesn't mean they're not in there."
&nbs
p; "I agree," Rick heard Jack say behind him.
Karen nudged Jack with her elbow for butting in. "Sir?" she then said to Lisa, hoping Jack would learn by example.
"Go ahead, Karen."
"I was just wondering what exactly happened to the first Invid troops that landed here-before the hives were built, I mean."
Again, Kami and the chief exchanged a few words.
"They went mad," the Garudan leader said evenly. "Then they died."
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