Acorna's Rebels

by Anne McCaffrey

  “The Mulzar will send fast riders after us,” Miw-Sher said. Acorna felt the girl trembling beside her.

  “I don’t think so,” Acorna said. “I think he will use our departure to his own advantage and tell the people what he wishes. And possibly try to place the blame for everything on RK and me.”

  “Of course he will,” Nadhari said. “And Jonas and Captain MacDonald as well. Since the people of Hissim only know what Edu chooses to tell them about the outside world, they will be persuaded easily enough that we are all evil. He will tell people that we must be guilty of something; otherwise, why would we have run?”

  Acorna told her, “Maybe it would have been better timing to wait until he’d tipped his hand about killing the Temple cats. Then people would have understood that we were saving the cats. But if we’d waited for him to announce it, we couldn’t have saved them at all. The guards would have had the poor things in hand, and there would have been nothing we could do.”

  “We did what we had to do,” Nadhari said, negotiating a bend in the road that led past a small group of hovels. Ahead was open desert.

  But as they passed the last low building a figure flung himself into the road just in front of them. Nadhari pulled back on the reins so hard that the harnessed beasts reared in their traces. Miw-Sher jumped down and ran toward the man. “Uncle! You’re safe!”

  “For now. Do you suppose I could hitch a ride?”

  Scar MacDonald stopped his wagon, tied off his reins, and strode forward, his face full of thunder-clouds. “That was a damn fool stunt, Commander Nadhari. You could have made us crash every wagon in this convoy into matchsticks and killed the beasts pulling us, as well as those under our protection, and then where would we be? Our speedy exit, whatever the reason for it, wouldn’t have done anybody any good.” He peered around the wagon and saw Tagoth hurrying toward him. “And who the devil is this, anyway? And what in tarnation were you doing in the road, sir? Hey—wait a minute.”

  Tagoth didn’t have his hat on now. MacDonald snapped his fingers. “Brother Bulaybub? I never forget a face. But you didn’t have one the last time I saw you. What’s going on here?”

  The first thing the Mulzar did after his speech was have the guardians’ handlers taken into custody for questioning. The woman, Nekbet, was the first to break. “Please don’t sacrifice our guardians, Mulzar. It was that foreign cat who caused the trouble, the ambassador’s cat.”

  “She has a Temple cat? Why was I not told of this before?”

  “She said he was merely their ship’s cat, Mulzar, and after what she did for our guardians, we thought…”

  “You didn’t think! That cat was of our strain, you can tell by looking at it. You can even see from examining the claw marks on my arm. The ambassador is a spy. I knew it! Pretending to heal the guardians, she has subverted them. I must notify Lieutenant Commander Macostut of this at once and have the woman’s friends taken into custody. She abducted an acolyte, as well, and the four guardians and my cousin, brought a contraband cat among us, and hijacked the wagons we graciously lent her friend to help our poor people.”

  The surgeon, who was in charge of the persuasive methods by which the captive handlers were forced to answer the Mulzar’s questions asked, “Should we send a party after them now, Mulzar?”

  Edu waved a dismissive hand. Actually, Acorna and Nadhari had done him a large favor with their rash actions. He now had a good excuse to wage the ultimate war he wanted, and locate the Aridimi stronghold. And if it was discovered later that he had violated the taboo against Federation technology to do so, he would explain that of course he had to retrieve the Temple cats from the clutches of the foreigners. Bring them back into his own clutches. Yes, indeed. “We have better things to do,” he said. “We will launch a holy war on our enemies. No doubt we will sweep up the wagons and their treasonous occupants when we do so. Ready our armies.”

  “The sacrifice, Mulzar?”

  “Since we cannot sacrifice the guardians, we will sacrifice the handlers who were so careless as to let them escape.”

  “Mulzar!” The surgeon was aghast. Only the day before the Mulzar had implied that a pretense of harming the guardians would flush out a cult. Now it seemed the Mulzar had actually intended to sacrifice the cats.

  Hearing the threat of mutiny in the surgeon’s voice, Kando realized his mistake. He winked at the doctor conspiratorially and saw the man relax. “Yes, I think they will strengthen the walls of the Temple with their sacrifice. Wall them up with that other old fool. That should draw out the conspirators, eh?”

  The pulling beasts were exhausted from their mad dash from the city, and all the living beings in their little convoy were thirsty. No water had been packed in the provisions MacDonald brought with him. He’d planned to load up on water outside the city at the livestock yards.

  More important, Acorna thought, as she saw RK and the guardians nosing and pawing among the load, nothing a cat could eat had been packed in the wagon’s cargo, either.

  While Tagoth and Nadhari were sparring, and Scar MacDonald, whose questions were not being answered, contented himself with checking on and adjusting his Metleiter boxes to ride more securely in the wagon, RK hopped onto the buckboard where Acorna still sat. He walked onto her knees, looked into her face, and opened his mouth in a yowl that was silent to everyone except Acorna and the other cats.

  (I want to go home nyowwww,) he said. (I want to go back to the Condor. These silly things we’re riding on will never get us anywhere in time to save anybody.)

  (RK, you know very well we can’t just make Becker take off into space and land where we need him to. There are rules about bringing spacefaring technology out of the Federation port.)

  RK yawned. (Rules? You’re boring me. There’re rules against poisoning cats here, too—yes, I know. I read you very well, at least as well as you read that murdering mule-whatever-he-calls-himself. Besides, you personally won’t be breaking the rule. Tell Becker I want to come home. He will come and get me, and he doesn’t care about rules any more than I do.)

  (Hmmm,) Acorna thought. And as he punctuated his argument with his claws she added: (Ouch! Yes, you have a point. Nevertheless, that is a very obnoxious habit you’ve developed. That hurts, you know.)

  (Tell him and stop whining, Linyaari girl! You are self-sealing.)

  Grimla walked out from under Miw-Sher’s strokes and nudged RK aside to give Acorna a smile with her delicately curved mouth. She was purring and suddenly she stood on her hind paws, front paws curled daintily close to her own chest, and rubbed her face against Acorna’s jaw.

  Pash, Haji, and Sher-Paw strolled over to see what was happening and add a few comments of their own.

  Acorna laughed, scratched RK’s and Grimla’s ears in surrender, and transmitted as narrowly as she could, (Captain Becker, your first mate wants to come home and the rest of us could use help.)

  (I read you, Princess, loud and clear, and the damned cat, too. On my way.)

  (On my way.) Becker transmitted the thought to Acorna, and as he did, saw that he was not the only one heading toward his friends. At the Federation gate, a delegation of the four warrior-priests from the Temple were joined by four Federation troops. There was a hail on the com unit. “Uh, get that, Mac, would you?” Becker asked. “And stall for all you’re worth.”

  “Stall? But, Captain, we have landed and are docked. Why should I stall, and how can I do so?”

  “Keep whoever is calling, and I can practically guarantee that it will be Macostut, from stating his business and demanding to see me. Do not let on that you know where I am.”

  “And where will that be, Captain?”

  “I’m going to help Acorna. She just—uh—hailed me on a private channel.”

  “So you will be trying out the flitter I readied for such an eventuality? It is an excellent flitter, of Linyaari design. I added to it several modifications usually found only on larger Linyaari crafts, such as the excellent Linyaari shielding
device. I would be happy to point them out to you. Wouldn’t you like me to accompany you?”

  “Nope. You’re going to have to hold the fort here. In fact your job’s going to be much nastier than mine. Get that? Stall. Keep them off my ship.” Becker ducked out of sight.

  “Yes, sir. Stalling, sir.” Mac answered the com call. “This is Special Technician MacKenZ of the Salvage ship Condor speaking. Please identify yourself.”

  A stern face appeared on the com screen. “This is Lieutenant Commander Dsu Macostut. I must speak with Captain Jonas Becker immediately.”

  “I apologize, Lieutenant Commander Dsu Macostut, but Captain Becker is indisposed at the moment.”

  “Indisposed how?”

  “Oh, it is a highly interesting process, sir. You see, when Captain Becker takes on fuel to maintain adequate personal function and energy levels, not all of the fuel is acceptable to his operating system. Therefore, it is necessary that this excess fuel be ejected at some point…”

  Becker grinned into his mustache as he heard Mac’s explanation of Becker’s digestive and excretory processes, while Macostut stuttered and attempted to break in to notify Becker of the arrest that was about to take place, if the look of the men marching on the Condor was any indication. Acorna’s message of trouble plus all those marching men meant Becker’s butt was going to be in a sling if he didn’t get it out of there. But what was Acorna planning? How had she got the high mucky-mucks so riled up in such a short time? The last time Becker had checked in with his friends, everything had been just fine. Peachy keen, even. If they were in hot water now, the Federation had the authority to keep the Condor from leaving this benighted planet if necessary. If Becker brought Acorna and RK and presumably Nadhari back to the ship, they would be in even more trouble than they already were in, wouldn’t they?

  Then, as he was slipping into the flitter and opening the hull hatch to fly her out, he received another message from Acorna.

  “Captain, RK wanted me to remind you to bring lots of cat food.”

  Edu Kando stood beside Macostut as their combined troops closed on the Condor.

  “I’m sorry about this, Edu,” Macostut said. “We would never have let them come near Hissim except that your cousin was with them.”

  “It doesn’t matter,” Kando replied. “And it is right that Nadhari is here now. She will come around once she sees the breadth of my vision. Our vision. She lives in the modern universe by preference, after all. You have the chemicals?”

  “Oh, yes. But you’re on your own as far as getting them to this lake you told me about. If I flew you out there, it would blow my cover and I’d be replaced before our operation got off the ground.”

  They watched their troops approach the strange patchworked ship. Macostut’s last sentence trailed away as a flap of the Condor’s skin opened and some-thing large and white with curlicues of color and swags of gilt bunting decorating its wings flew away, out over the wall protecting the port, high above the city and out toward the desert.

  “What is that?” Kando demanded, pointing.

  “It appears to be a flying horse,” Macostut said, shaking his head in disbelief. “How did my people miss that during the inspection?” To his ground troops he said, “Lock that ship down, men, along with any remaining personnel.”

  But moments later they reported back, as they came out of the Condor. “We are sorry, sir. Whatever personnel were aboard seem to have evacuated on the flying horse thing.”

  The Makahomian troops wore thoughtful and awestruck expressions as they watched the sky.

  Aboard the Condor, white hands burst from the soil in the hydroponics garden and Mac sat up, brushed the dirt and plants from his uniform, considerately replanted Acorna’s crops, and returned to the bridge to see what he could do about breaking the just-installed locks on the new computer system without alerting any possible Federation monitors. It would be tricky, but so was he.

  Fifteen

  Do you still think this is merely political, Ambassador?” Tagoth asked Acorna.

  Acorna shook her head. “No. I looked into the Mulzar’s mind. Edu Kando started the plague himself on purpose.”

  “That’s terrible. Why would he do a dumb thing like that?” MacDonald asked.

  Acorna said, “The Mulzar seems to want all the things he considers modern and technologically advanced. I think he feels that if he destroys his planet’s agrarian economy and undermines the people’s religion by killing the sacred cats at the same time, he will force the people of this world into accepting a different way of life for Makahomia. A more galactic way of doing things. He also hopes to force the Federation to aid Makahomia by driving the planet into such a terrible condition that the Federation will have to help. By giving the people, through him, the things he thinks will help accomplish his own goals, the Mulzar hopes to set himself up as both leader and savior of this world. He even expects that all its people will be grateful to him.” She brushed the dust off of her face and clothing as she thought, then said, “But I didn’t get the sense from the crowd at the temple that he’s really in touch with how the people feel. They care about their families, their animals, and the sacred cats. What they don’t much care for is the Mulzar.”

  “Then he’ll want to kill us as well as our Temple cats, so no one can stand against him,” Miw-Sher said, looking up at her uncle. “Every priest on this planet is in danger.”

  Tagoth nodded.

  Nadhari jumped down from the wagon and stamped a bit to stimulate the circulation to her feet, which had fallen asleep after being braced during the long, bumpy, and—by Makahomian standards—lightning-fast drive from Hissim. She said, “I have to go back to town. I can’t let Edu keep lying to the people.”

  “What will you do?” Acorna asked.

  Nadhari shrugged. “Start a little coup all my own, I suppose. I’ve done that sort of thing before. And these are my own people. It shouldn’t be that difficult.”

  Miw-Sher asked, “We’ve come a long way. It will be full night before you can reach the city. How well do you see in the dark?”

  “Better with an infrared scope on a high-powered laser,” Nadhari replied. “Otherwise, about average.”

  “That is something worth knowing. You and the High Priest share ancestry. If you don’t have the gift of night sight, then he probably lacks it as well. The ability runs strongly through family lines. I see as well in darkness as any guardian.”

  “Nice for you, but I don’t see what good it does me. I should have known Edu would try something like this. When he was young, he liked pulling the wings off insects. When he was a bit older, he tormented songbirds, then hawks, that sort of thing. The priests were appalled by the waste of life, but my uncle said Edu was just practicing his warrior skills. I don’t think Edu has changed much. He’s just more ambitious.”

  “That’s interesting,” Miw-Sher said, “for I regret to inform you, Lady Nadhari, that the most recent thing that the High Priest publicly pulled off was the arms and legs of your uncle. When the old Mulim objected, the Mulzar had him walled up.”

  “His was the voice I heard when I took the passage you showed me?” Acorna asked.

  Miw-Sher nodded. “A little food is passed through a slot in the wall for him—I know, because feeding the Mulim has been among my daily duties, and I often take Grimla to spend a few moments with him. There are ventilation holes on the top of the tail-wall. There were once several anchorites like the old Mulim, but they’ve died to this world.”

  “I see,” Acorna said.

  Tagoth and Nadhari were now standing very close to each other. “Be careful, Nadhari,” Tagoth told her. “I hope I don’t have to tell you how dangerous Edu can be. I would go with you to help you, but my duty lies elsewhere. I must warn the Aridimi priesthood and help them to defend the sacred lake. My path lies deep into the desert, at the Aridimi Stronghold.”

  “I’ve always known Edu was a sociopath,” Nadhari said. “I had good reason to find ou
t quite early in life.”

  “I know.” Tagoth’s voice dropped almost to a whisper.

  “But I am not a child any longer.” Nadhari’s own voice hardened with anger. “Edu is not the only one who is dangerous.”

  Their conversation stopped suddenly as an amazing apparatus appeared overhead. Acorna recognized it at once as the flitter the Linyaari techno-artisans had been modifying with their distinctive artwork before the Khleevi attack. It was in the shape of a flying Ancestor with wings decorated in gilt, embellished with all of the colors worn in Ancestral livery and tack. Becker and Mac had salvaged it. Now it swooped down, Becker at the helm, to settle onto the sand, its wings still upraised. RK hopped down from the wagon and strolled over to the flitter, where Becker stretched out his hands to receive the first mate’s paws as RK sprang from the ground onto Becker’s shoulders.

  “Hey, he’s glad to see me. Tired of being worshipped, are you, old man?”

  RK closed his eyes and purred. Miw-Sher carried Grimla, while Pash and Haji leaped from the wagon to the hull of the flitter. Sher-Paw alone approached more slowly, sniffing around and curling his lip.

  Acorna said, “I can see that your hands are full. I can take the helm, Captain.”

  “Well, uh, I had to leave in kind of a hurry, Princess. Seems we’ve worn out our welcome back in Hissim. There’s half an army sitting there, waiting for our return. I’m not quite sure where we ought to go from here. And on top of that, there’s only room for three of us with all this cargo I’ve got stuffed in here.”

  “Tagoth and Nadhari won’t be coming with us. They have other plans,” Acorna told him. “Miw-Sher and the cats should come with us, I think. There is room for the cats, isn’t there?”

  He felt a lightness on his shoulders and looked around. All four of the Temple cats and RK were up to their hind legs in the open bag of cat food he’d brought with him.