The Ship Who Saved the Worlds

by Anne McCaffrey

  "Traitor!" Lacia screamed, peppering them with thunderbolts.

  "Upstart!" Ferngal shouted at Plennafrey. "You don't know your place, but you will learn! Together—now!"

  The young magiwoman set up a shield, but spells from six or more senior mages tore it apart like tissue paper. Fire of rainbow hues consumed the air around them. An explosion racked the chariot beneath them. Keff, blinded and choking, felt himself falling down and down.

  Something springy yet insubstantial caught him just a few meters above the tops of the generators. When his eyes adjusted again, Keff looked around. A net of woven silver and gold bore him and the others upward. Scattered on the surface of the machinery were the pieces of Plennafrey's chariot. It had been blasted to bits. Plenna herself, clutching Tall, was in a similar net controlled by Chaumel and Nokias. Ferngal and the others were halfway down the cavern, turning to come in again for another attack.

  "Are you all right?" Chaumel asked them, helping them back onto the platform.

  "Yes," Keff said, and saw Plenna's shaky nod. "The generators are running out of control. We have to slow them down."

  Tall kicked loose from Plenna's arms and hurried over to the console. Using the amulet, he flicked switches and rolled dials, but Keff could see that his efforts were having little effect. Ferngal and the others were almost upon them. A bolt of blue-white lightning crackled between him and the console, driving him back. Bravely, the little amphibioid threw himself forward. Keff interposed himself between Tall and the dissidents, ready to take the brunt of the next attack.

  "That's enough of this!" Carialle declared loudly. Suddenly, the power items stopped working. The dissidents' chariots all slowed down, even dipped. Everyone gasped. Lacia clutched the arms of her chair.

  "Stop this attack at once!" Keff roared, flinging his arms up. "The next thing we turn off will be your chairs! If you don't want to fall into the gear-works, cease and desist! This isn't helping your cause or your planet!"

  Furious but helpless, Ferngal and the others drew back from the platform. With as much dignity as he could muster, Ferngal led his ragged band out of the cavern.

  "Nice work, Cari," Keff said.

  "I wasn't sure I could select frequencies that narrow, but it worked," Carialle said triumphantly. "They won't fall out of the air, but that's it for their troublemaking. I'm not turning their power items on again. Tall can do it someday, if he ever feels he can trust them." Keff glanced at the globe-frog, who, in spite of the small burns that peppered his hide, was working feverishly over the console. The turbines slowed down with painful groans and screeches, and resumed a peaceful thrum.

  "I doubt it will be soon," Keff said. Plennafrey grabbed his arm.

  "We have to stop Potria," Plenna said urgently. "She's going to kill the Ancient Ones and she doesn't need power to do it. She's mad. If she can fly to where they are, that's enough."

  Keff smote himself in the forehead. "I've been distracted. We have to stop them right away."

  "She's gone mad," Nokias said. "I will go." The golden chair lifted off the platform.

  "I will help, Mage Keff," Brannel volunteered, emerging from his hiding place.

  "We've got to follow her, Chaumel," Keff said, turning to the silver magiman. "Can you take us, too?"

  "Not to worry," Carialle said cosily in Keff's ear. "She's out here. In the snow. Swearing."

  "Carialle stopped her," Keff shouted. Nokias turned his head, and Keff nodded vigorously. The others cheered, and Plenna threw herself into his arms. He gave her a huge hug, then dropped to his knees beside Tall. The other two globe-frogs had come out from beneath the console to aid their chief. They all acted alarmed.

  "Can I help?" Keff asked.

  "Big, big power, stored," Tall signed, pointing to the battery indicator. "Made by them," he gestured toward the departed Ferngal and his minions. "Must do something with it, now!"

  "A glut in the storage batteries?" Keff said. He could see the dials straining. The others, who knew from long use what the moods of the Core felt like, wore taut expressions. "What can you do? Can you discharge it?"

  Tall nodded once, sharply, and bent over the controls with the amulet clutched in his paws.

  * * *

  On the surface, Carialle's fins rested on an exposed outcropping of rock not far from the entrance. She watched with some satisfaction as Potria shook, then pulled, then kicked her useless chariot. Asedow lay unconscious on a snowbank where he'd fallen when his chair stopped. The pink-gold magess hoisted her skirts and tramped through the permafrost to his. It wouldn't function, either. She kicked it, kicked him, and came over to apply the toes of her dainty peach boots to Carialle's fins.

  "Hey!" Carialle protested on loudspeaker. "Knock that off."

  Potria jumped back. She retreated sulkily to her chair and seated herself in it magnificently, waiting for something to happen.

  Something did, but not at all what Potria must have had in mind. Carialle detected a change in the atmosphere. Power crept up from beneath the surface of the planet, almost simmering up through solid matter. Instead of feeling ionized and drained, the air began to feel heavy. Carialle checked her monitors. With interest, she observed that the temperature was rising, and consequently, so was the humidity.

  "Keff," she transmitted, "you ought to get everyone out here, pronto."

  "What's wrong?" the brawns voice asked, worriedly.

  "Nothing's wrong. Just . . . bring everyone topside. You'll want to see this."

  She monitored the puzzled conversation as Keff gathered his small party together for the long flight to the surface. By the time they appeared at the chimney entrance, clouds were already forming in the clear blue sky.

  Plennafrey rode pillion on Chaumel's chair with the three globe-frogs clinging to the back while Keff and Brannel shared the gold chair with Nokias. Nokias's remaining followers straggled behind. The group settled down beside Carialle's ramp. Potria, her nose in the air, ignored them pointedly.

  "What's so important, Cari?" Keff asked after a glance at Asedow to make sure the man was alive.

  "Watch them," Carialle suggested. The Ozrans were all staring straight up at the sky. "It's not important to you, but it is to them. In fact, it's vital."

  "What's happening?"

  "Just wait! You nonshells are so impatient," Carialle chided him playfully.

  "The air feels strange," Brannel said after a while, rubbing a pinch of his fur together speculatively with two fingers. "It is not cold now, but it is thick."

  The crack of thunder startled all of them. Sheet lightning blasted across the sky, and in a moment, rain was pummeling down.

  As soon as the first droplets struck their outstretched palms, Chaumel and the others started shrieking and dancing for joy. A few of the mages gathered in handful after handful of the cold, heavy drops and splashed them on their faces. Plennafrey grabbed Keff and Brannel and whirled them around in a circle.

  "Rain!" she cried. "Real rain!"

  Under his wet, plastered hair, the Noble Primitive's face was glowing.

  "Oh, Mage Keff, this is the best thing that has ever happened to me."

  In the center of their little circle, the three globe-frogs had abandoned their cases and stood with their hands out, letting the water sluice down their bodies.

  "Thank you, friends," Chaumel said, coming over to throw soaked sleeves over their backs. "Look how far the clouds spread! This will be over the South and East regions in an hour. Rain, on my mountaintop! What a treasure!"

  "This is what'll happen if you let the Core of Ozran run the way it was meant to," Keff said. Plenna gave him a rib-cracking hug and beamed at Brannel.

  "This welcome storm will convince more doubters than any speeches or caves full of machinery," Nokias said, coming to join them. "More of these, especially around planting season, and we will have record crops. My fruit trees," he said proudly, "will bear as never before."

  "Ozran will prosper," Chaumel said assuredly. "I ma
ke these promises to you now, and especially to you, my furry friend: no more amputations, no more poison in the food, no more lofty magi sitting in their mountain fastnesses. We will act like administrators instead of spoiled patricians, eating the food and beating the farmers. We will come down from the heights and assume the mantle of our . . . humanity with honor."

  Brannel was wide-eyed. "I never thought I would live to be talked to as an equal by one of the most important mages in the world."

  "You're important yourself," Keff said. "You're the most intelligent worker in the world, isn't he, Chaumel?"

  "Yes!" Chaumel spat water and wiped his face. "My friend Nokias and I have a proposition for you. Will you hear it?"

  Nokias looked dubious for a moment, then silent communion seemed to reassure him. "Yes, we do."

  "I will listen," Brannel said carefully, glancing at Keff for permission.

  "Ozran will need an adviser on conservation. Also, we need one who will liaise between the workers and the administrators. It will be a position almost equal to the mages. There will be much hard work involved, but you'll use your very good mind to the benefit of all your world. Will you take it?"

  Brannel looked so pleased he needed two tails to wag. "Oh, yes, Mage Chaumel. I will do it with all my heart."

  "Shall I tell him now?" Plenna whispered in Keff's ear. "He can have my sash and my other things when I come away with you. Tall Eyebrow already has my belt."

  "Um, don't tell him yet, Plenna. Let it be a surprise. Uh-oh, Cari," Keff subvocalized. "We still have a problem."

  "I'm ready for it, sir knight. Bring her in here."

  "Now, friends," Nokias said, wringing out one sleeve at a time. "I am enjoying this rain very much, but I am getting very wet. Come back to my stronghold, where we may watch this fine storm and enjoy it from under a roof." He beckoned to Brannel. "Come with us, fur-face. You have much to learn. Might as well start now."

  Brannel, hardly believing his good fortune, mounted the golden chair's back and prepared to enjoy the ride. Nokias gathered his contingent, including the recalcitrant Potria, and Asedow, who was coming to with all the signs of a near-fatal headache.

  "Go on ahead," Keff said. "We've got some things to take care of here."

  * * *

  Carialle's Lady Fair image was on the wall as Keff, Plennafrey, Chaumel, and the trio of globe-frogs came into the cabin. At once, she ordered out her servos, one with a heavy-duty sponge-mop, and the other with a shelf-load of towels.

  "There, get warmed up," she said sweetly. "I'm making hot drinks. Whether or not you've forgotten, you were still standing on top of a glacier with wet feet."

  Keff stepped out of his wet boots and went into his sleeping compartment. "Come on, Chaumel. I bet you wear the same size shoes I do. Everybody make themselves at home."

  Plennafrey kissed her hand lovingly to Keff. He kissed his fingers to her and winked.

  "Oh, Plenna," Carialle said with deceptive calm. "I've got some data I wanted to show you." Keff's crash-couch swung out to her hospitably as the magiwoman approached. "Sit down. I think you need to see these."

  * * *

  When Keff and Chaumel appeared a few minutes later, freshly shod, Plennafrey was sitting with her head in her hands. The Lady Fair "sat" sympathetically beside her, murmuring in a soothing voice.

  "So you see," Carialle was saying, "with the mutation in your DNA, I couldn't guarantee your safety during prolonged space travel. And Keff couldn't settle here. His job is his whole life."

  Plenna raised a tear-streaked face to the others.

  "Oh, Keff, look!" The young woman pointed to the wall screen. "My DNA has changed over a thousand years, Carialle says. And my blood is too thin—I cannot go with you."

  Keff surveyed the DNA charts, trying to make sense of parallel spirals and the data which scrolled up beside them. "Cari, is it true?" he subvocalized.

  "I wouldn't lie to her. No one can guarantee anyone's complete safety in space."

  "Thank you, lady dear, you're the soul of tact—How terrible," he said out loud, kneeling at Plenna's feet. "I'm so sorry, Plenna, but you wouldn't have been happy in space. It's very boring most of the time—when it isn't dangerous. I couldn't ask you to endure a lifetime of it, and truthfully, I wouldn't be happy anywhere else."

  "I am glad this is the case," Chaumel said, examining the charts and microscopic analysis on Carialle's main screen. From the look in the mage's eye, Keff guessed that perhaps he had been eavesdropping on their private channel. "You cannot take such a treasure as Magess Plennafrey off Ozran."

  Standing before the magiwoman, he took her hand and bowed over it. Plennafrey looked startled, then starry-eyed. She rose, looking up into his eyes tentatively, like an animal that might bolt at any moment. Chaumel spoke softly and put out a gentle hand to smooth the tears from her cheeks.

  "I admire your pluck, my dear. You are brave and resourceful as well as beautiful." He favored her with a most ardent look, and she blushed. "I would be greatly honored if you would agree to be my wife."

  "Your . . . your wife?" Plenna asked, her big, dark eyes going wide. "I'm honored, Chaumel. I . . . of course I will. Oh!" Chaumel raised the hand he was holding to his lips and kissed it. Keff got up off the floor.

  "Listen up, sir knight. This fellow could give you some pointers," Carialle said wickedly. Chaumel aimed a small smile toward Carialle's pillar and returned his entire attention to Plennafrey.

  "We will share our power, and together we will teach our fellow Ozrans to adapt to our future. Our society will be reduced in influence, but it will be greater in number and scope. The Ancient Ones can teach us much of what we have forgotten."

  "And one day, perhaps, our children can go into space," Plenna said, turning to Keff and smiling, "to meet yours." Leaning over, she gave Keff a sisterly peck on the cheek and moved into the circle of Chaumel's arm.

  Over the top of her head, Chaumel winked.

  "And now, fair magess," he said, "I will fly you home, since your own conveyance has come to grief." Beaming, Plennafrey accompanied her intended down the ramp. He handed her delicately onto his own chariot, and mounted the edge of the back behind her.

  "That man never misses a trick," Carialle said through Keff's implant.

  "Thank you, Cari," Keff said. "Privately, in a comparison between Plenna and you as a lifelong companion, I'd choose you, every time."

  "Why, sir knight, I'm flattered."

  "You should be flattered," Keff said with a smirk. "Plenna is intelligent, adaptable, beautiful, desirable, but she knows nothing about my interests, and in the long transits between missions we would drive one another crazy. This is the best possible solution."

  * * *

  Chaumel's well-known gifts for diplomacy and the unexpected treat of the thunderstorm began to bear fruit within the next few days. Mages and magesses began to approach Keff and the globe-frogs in the cavern to ask if there was anything they could do to help speed the miracle to their parts of Ozran. Spy-eyes were everywhere, as everyone wanted to see how the repairs progressed.

  The greatest difficulty the repair crew faced was the sheer age of the machinery. Keff and Tall rigged what they could to keep it running, but in the end the Frog Prince ordered a halt.

  "We must study more," Tall said. "Given time, and the printout you have made of the schematic drawings, we will be able to determine what else needs to be done to make all perfect. The repairs we have made will hold," he added proudly. "There is no need to beg the homeworld for aid. I would sooner approach them as equals."

  "Good job!" Keff said. "We'll take our report home to the Central Worlds. As soon as we can, we'll come back to help you to finish the job. I expect that by the time we do, between you and the Noble Primitives, you'll teach the mages all there is to know about weather management and high-yield farming."

  "The fur-faces will show them how to till the land and take care of it. We do not retain that knowledge," Tall said with creditable humilit
y. "Brannel is our friend. We do need each other. Together, we can fulfill the hopes of all our ancestors. Others will take us up and back to the Core after this," the Frog Prince assured them. "Many are protecting us at all times. You've done much in helping us to achieve the respect of the human beings."

  "No," Keff said, "you did it. I couldn't convince them. You had to show them your expertise, and you did."

  Tall signaled polite disbelief. "Come back soon."

  Carialle and Keff delivered Tall and his companions back to Brannel's plain for the last time. The globe-frogs signed them a quick good-bye before disappearing into the brush. Five spy-eyes trailed behind them at a respectful distance.

  Chaumel and Plennafrey arrived at the plain in time to see Keff and Carialle off.

  "You've certainly stirred things up, strangers," Chaumel said, shaking hands with Keff. "I agree there's nothing else you could have done. My small friends tell me that shortly Ozran would have suffered a catastrophic explosion, and we would all have died without knowing the cause. For that, we thank you."

  "We're happy to help," Keff said. "In return, we take home data on a generation ship that was lost hundreds of years ago, and plenty of information on what's going to be one of the most fascinating blended civilizations in the galaxy. I'm looking forward to seeing how you prosper."

  "It will be interesting," Chaumel acknowledged. "I am finding that the certain amount of power the Ancient Ones have agreed to leave in our hands will be used as much to protect us from disgruntled workers as it will be to help lead them into self-determination. Not all will be peaceful in this new world. Many of the farmers are afraid that their new memories are hallucinations. But," he sighed, "we brought this on ourselves. We must solve our own problems. Your Brannel is proving to be a great help."

  Plennafrey came forward to give Keff a chaste kiss. "Farewell, Keff," she said. "I'm sorry my dream to come with you couldn't come true, but I am happier it turned out this way." She bent her head slightly to whisper in his ear. "I will always treasure the memory of what we had."

  "So will I," Keff said softly. Plenna stepped back to stand beside Chaumel, and he smiled at her.