“You are perhaps a friend of the young Zodd?” Hrruna asked in his kind young-sounding voice. “I seem to have had several visits from and on the behalf of that young man. What is it this time? And do not worry about the form of address. We speak as friends.”
With great relief, Kelly lapsed into the more familiar idiom to relate the events of the past several weeks. When appropriate, she handed him the relevant documentation. He read through Hrriss’s translations, sheet by sheet. Although not all Dalkey’s lists had been done in Hrruban, there was more than enough in Hrruban script to show First Speaker sufficient proof of illegal payments out of Spacedep funds. That is, if he chose to believe that neither Todd nor Hrriss was guilty.
The First Speaker was skilled at posing questions in a natural progression, making the conversation a comfortable chat instead of a headlong plea for help. Kelly hardly felt she was speaking to him of planet-shaking matters in which the safety of her friends and her home was at stake. He considered everything she told him with a gentle gravity, nodding as she pointed out items that had seemed to Todd to be the most important.
“Why are you emissaries of Zodd?” Hrruna asked at last, his jaw dropping in a smile. “Why did he not come himself?”
“He and his father have disappeared. They are not the sort of people who run from trouble,” Kelly said, once again feeling her crushing worry for Todd’s safety.
“Neither son nor father is craven or thin-striped,” Hrruna said encouragingly.
“We’re afraid they’ve been abducted.”
Saying that aloud in Hrruna’s presence made it sound so horribly true that Kelly burst into tears. She was exhausted and worried. Nrrna sat beside her, holding her hand and muttering soothing phrases. Hrruna offered her a small glass of clear water and she sipped it, determined to control herself. This was no time to show weakness. The water helped. Then she could tell Hrruna what Todd and Hrriss had learned at the Launch Center, what Kiachif had discovered about the incriminating tapes, and if the tapes had been falsified, that neither Todd nor Hrriss could have stolen anything they were accused of stealing, including that awful Byzanian Glow Stone.
“But Mr. Reeve was taken from his house, and Todd from the Launch Center, by Commander Rogitel. They were taken by aircraft to the Treaty Island to go by the grid to speak before the Amalgamated Worlds panel and they never got there.” Kelly forced back tears. “They wanted to clear their reputations. But they didn’t even get that chance!” And then she stuck her fists against her mouth so she wouldn’t disgrace herself with more tears.
“I do not like what you have told me,” Hrruna said, his voice suddenly sounding very old.
“It is the truth, most honored Speaker,” Nrrna said, speaking for the first time.
Kelly hiccupped back her sobs. “You’re the only one we know who can demand an investigation into their disappearance. No one on Earth even cares what happens to them!” she added bitterly.
“Please, please, most honored First Speaker, help us! Help Rrala!” Nrrna’s voice was low but so sweetly imploring that Hrruna leaned down to pat her cheek.
“I must assist you,” Hrruna said, his voice kindly but firm. “I have known much of what you related, but you have also brought me the proofs which were withheld, or falsified, or conveniently misplaced.” Hrruna chuckled, a series of throaty grunts. “I was truly unable to interfere until now. The continuation of the Rralan colony is far more important to me, as Hrruna, and as First Speaker, than I am willing to let any of my colleagues realize. If, however, I tried to interfere, that would give leave to others who are less altruistic to meddle in their own fashions and for their own reasons, which would not be as benevolent as mine. So I sheathe my claws to give others no excuse to sharpen theirs. They are compelled to show restraint, or suffer censure. A subtle means to an end but sometimes a more potent weapon than it first appears. When reputation and honor are more important than life, it becomes a greater lever.” He sighed. “Perhaps not long enough a lever, for it does not appear to have unbalanced Rrala’s greatest foes. I have been watching this contest from a distance. The players are not only fearful Hayumans. Some are very powerfully connected Hrruban xenophobes, including ones living on Rrala, who are trying to abort the Treaty.”
“You know all this?” Kelly asked, and then bit her tongue for such impudence. “I beg your pardon, honored sir,” she said humbly. She hadn’t learned quite enough at Alreldep. She really had no business dealing at such a level.
First Speaker took no offense. “I have my sources,” he said. “Young Hrrula has not been idle throughout all this, reporting directly to me. He is intelligent and most discreet. I value his observations enormously. He is devoted to Rrala, as well as to his world of birth. If you had asked him, he might have been able to bring you directly to me. Hrrestan knows of my trust in Hrrula.”
Kelly and Nrrna looked at one another in amazement. “I didn’t know that. Neither of us knew that. And with Hrriss gone ...” She broke off.
“Exceptions have been made before now,” Hrruna said enigmatically. “But someone has lowered himself to the dishonorable practice of kidnapping. I see the ramifications of that clearly. If Zodd and Hrriss do not appear in court with the proofs you have shown me, they are guilty by default. One more tool has been used by the hands of those without honor who would see Rrala fail. The involvement of Admiral Landreau, Commander Rogitel, and Codep Varnorian is known. The dishonorable Hrruban is not.”
“It’s the Treaty Controller working under Third Speaker’s orders,” Kelly said, and then closed her eyes because now she had to admit to her own dishonorable sins. “I, um, I sneaked into Treaty Controller’s rooms to look for that document box Nrrna and I knew he had received and which he was so fussed about. Well, we had to know what he meant by the days being numbered,” she said, defending herself, but Hrruna merely looked amused. “I couldn’t unlock it, but it had been sealed by Third Speaker’s personal sigil.”
“There is no crime in his receiving such a package,” Hrruna reminded them. “Third is his sponsor, after all.”
“Yes, but why did he feel it necessary to hide that case in a specially made place at the bottom of a chest instead of putting it in the safe in his office or in the Archives? If the documents were innocuous, why didn’t they arrive in a courier pouch?”
“You took out all the drawers in his bureau?” Hrruna asked, chuckling merrily. Kelly turned red. “I am not judging your actions, child. But I do see the point of your suspicions. Third may indeed be involved in this conspiracy. It is not beyond him when he feels thwarted. Yes, I am sure he is not uninvolved. Rrala is a nightmare to him. If the Treaty is not renewed, he would be unimaginably relieved. “
“Please, honored sir. Don’t let them scuttle the Treaty! Surely you can keep Treaty Controller from listening to the pessimists on Hrruba?” Kelly begged.
“Rralans are no threat to Hrruban society,” Nrrna said. “We want to live our own life in peace.”
Hrruna nodded his approval. “I think it would be best if Rrala continued as it is, I agree. But there are those who feel that once we unleash the ocelot, we will cease to be master of the hunt, and one day may even become prey. An all-Hrruban colony will behave as any Hrrubans will anywhere else. When you add in the Hayuman factor, behavior becomes more uncertain. I prefer to trust, but others cannot. It is not in their natures. I must not interfere in the negotiations or decisions of the Council, or it would not be a genuine agreement. It would be forced. But I will see what I can do to keep others from meddling so deeply.”
With some difficulty, First Speaker rose stiffly to his feet. “A line of inquiry will be initiated immediately, even though I said I would spend my day in private. I hope, pretty one,” he addressed Nrrna, “that you will stay, so we can get to know one another better. Though I am old, I would be entirely at your assistance, should you care to remain with me.”
; Nrrna shot Kelly a black-pupilled look of entreaty and the fur stood up on the backs of her forearms and on her tail. Such an invitation from the First Speaker was a high honor and Nrrna could not think of how to answer in a polite but negative way. It had been one thing for her to vie with other females for Hrriss’s notice, but to diplomatically extricate herself from the attention of another, more assertive male, especially one of the broadest Stripe on Hrruba was more than she could handle. Kelly had noticed how fascinated Hrruna was with Nrrna’s dainty beauty and realized it was now her turn to rescue her friend before Nrrna really panicked.
“O most honorable First Speaker, how we wish we could stay, both of us.” Kelly ignored the glance he flicked at her that suggested the Hayuman had not been included in his invitation. She rose to her feet. “But we will be missed and awkward questions might arise from our disappearance—especially as we are known to be the promised mates of Todd and Hrriss.”
Giving Kelly a long and somewhat amused look, Hrruna shook his head. “I suggest both of you remain with me, for safety’s sake, my dear Hayuman. A tactful message will be sent to Hrrula to settle disquiet in both your houses. But should any whisper fall upon the breezes near Treaty Island that you have come to the First Speaker, you would be in mortal danger if you returned to Rrala.”
“Oh,” Kelly said in a very small voice. She sat down again and exchanged looks of alarm with Nrrna. Put in that light, neither of them was eager to go. Hrruna’s jaw dropped as he watched the byplay between them.
“I was preparing food when the lift light flashed that visitors were on their way to me. Come, we will eat together, for we will need our strength. You may even assist me. Then we will set to work, for there is more to be done than I thought and I will need your assistance.”
“That’s what we came to get,” Kelly said, and grinned broadly at him. Nrrna even managed a soft purr.
* * *
Hrriss had found a safe haven with the Reeve family, keeping out of sight in the house and trying to piece together from them what Kelly and Nrrna might have learned that had sent them into hiding, too. According to his betrothed’s mother, Kelly had arrived to see Nrrna. She had left Calypso in the village pasture and her saddle was still in Nrrna’s room. Mrrva had been busy with her tasks, somewhat worried by the strangers in the village center, and when she had gone to call the girls to eat at midday, they were gone. No one had seen them since.
“I’ve called all the nearby ranches and no one has seen either Kelly or Nrrna,” Pat Reeve told Hrriss. “Did you have any luck?”
Hrriss had contacted every Hrruban he knew to be trustworthy, and some had set out discreet search groups to the farms around Nrrna’s home village and some of the ranches where Nrrna had friends, but no one remembered seeing the girls.
“If she left Calypso, she’s not anywhere a horse could go,” Pat said. She was past worry, and into numbness, but she could still sense others’ pain. Hrriss had only just been reunited with Todd after a traumatic separation, and now he had more troubles to concern him. Hrruvula had told Pat discreetly that if she saw either Todd or Hrriss, they must be prepared to appear before the Councillors or be judged guilty by default. He devoutly hoped that one or both would appear at the appointed time.
Robin came home from school with another black eye and many scratches and bruises.
“They’re saying my brother’s too much of a coward and he’s flitted. They say Hrriss has run, too, which proves both of them are guilty as sin!” Robin was nearly in tears and refused to let his mother or his sister touch his injuries. “And I can’t even tell ’em you haven’t run. And they won’t listen when I tell ’em my brother wouldn’t! It’s not fair. They weren’t saying such things about Todd and you and Kelly at the Snake Hunt, and that wasn’t that long ago.” Robin didn’t quite succumb to tears in front of Hrriss but it was touch and go.
“There are as many whom you have not seen today who do not believe that of either of us, Robin,” Hrriss said. “Hrrula is one. Vic Solinari is another. And Lon Adjei.”
“And Captain Ali Kiachif!” And, light-footed as ever, the spacefarer stood in the doorway.
Hearing his voice, Pat ran out from the kitchen. “Any news?”
“If you call no news good news, Patricia, then I’ve plenty of good tidings,” the swarthy spacer said, shaking his head. “I’ve been listening in among my captains. No one reports transshipping any mystery guests off this planet in the dead of night, or knowing anyone who did. Any package that looks big enough to hold an unwilling prisoner, or one past caring, if you understand and forgive me, has been opened, turned over, and shaken. There’s no trace of either of your men, either heading toward Earth or going in the exact opposite direction.” Kiachif grimaced apologetically. “I’ve been on to Murphy, the supercargo at Main Station, Earth. No one’s come by to claim that beacon yet. I’m still hoping someone might so I can tie a can to his tail. No offense meant, Hrriss.”
“None zaken, Captain. I have sent more messages to our friends on Earth,” Hrriss said. “My father was there when they left to Zreaty Island. We have so little time left, but I believe they are on Earth.”
“Earth’s a damned big place to find two Humans, laddie,” Kiachif said grimly. “I’d have more luck searching space.”
The radio buzzed and Pat grabbed up the handset, her face wild with her desperate hope for good news.
“Yes, Vic? ... They are? But where? You don’t know? Then how can you be sure ... Oh, Hrrula ... Well, yes, I do trust him as you do. Yes, yes, I understand. Oh, I think I do understand!” There was a glow on her worn face when she turned to the rest of the room. “Vic Solinari has had a message from Hrrula. Kelly is safe, and Nrrna.” Pat reached out to grip Hrriss’s arm reassuringly.
“Where did they get to, then?” Kiachif asked.
“Hrrula would only say that they are in the safest place they could possibly be. We’re not to worry about them.”
Hrriss threw his head up, his shoulders back, and his eyes began to gleam. “Zzoo! Zat Kelly,” and his laughter was a loud purr of mixed satisfaction and surprise.
“Where are they, Hrriss?” Pat asked, giving his arm a shake as she peered up into his face.
“With the best friend we could have right now.”
“I think I get what you mean, m’lad,” Kiachif said, and winked.
* * *
Dalkey Petersham straightened his narrow collar before answering his comlink line’s signal. Six hundred hours was an odd time for a call, but fortunately he was already up and dressed. Kelly again? She was always turning up at odd times. Dalkey switched on the unit. The screen displayed the face of a man he’d never seen before, but he certainly recognized the uniform: Poldep. Dalkey gulped. He knew he was being watched in the office now, but pretended he didn’t. Partly because he really didn’t want to be under observation. That only resulted in unpleasantness sooner or later. Fortunately he’d sent all he could to Kelly without breaking into the current data banks, so perhaps they’d stop watching him if he went strictly about his proper business. He still didn’t know how Kelly had talked him into stripping those old files, but Kelly had a way with her. And it had been fun, delving into files, showing how cleverly he could penetrate massive files and extract just the information he needed. If only someone else would realize that Dalkey Petersham had untapped potential. But why was a Poldep inspector calling him at this hour? Spacedep had their own—and Dalkey gulped again—disciplinary branch. Then he remembered that Kelly had gone to Poldep, so this call might have more to do with Kelly Solinari than Dalkey Petersham.
“This is Sampson DeVeer,” the moustachioed man said. “This is the communications number left by a young woman who has been assisting me in one of my inquiries. A Miss Green.”
Kelly! Then he had lulled suspicion in his office. Relieved, Dalkey wondered if he should try to look dashing and piratical, suitable
for the acquaintance of a police informant, or as harmless as possible. Harmless seemed more sensible. You lived longer if no one felt threatened by you. He let his shoulders hunch forward a little bit and tried to look clerkish. “Yes, sir?”
“I have received a request from another quarter to locate one of the subjects concerned in that investigation,” DeVeer said obscurely. He waited, and Dalkey realized that he wanted Dalkey to prove he knew what the officer was talking about.
“That wouldn’t be a member of the Reeve family, would it?” Dalkey asked, and DeVeer nodded. “Has that party been found?”
“Ahem, how did you know the party was missing?” DeVeer asked.
“Mrs. Reeve inquired by way of comp-line if by any chance one of her relatives had been in touch with me,” Dalkey replied, thinking there was no harm in that. “She doesn’t think they got as far as here.”
The man sighed gently and smoothed his moustache with a fingertip. “That is a possibility which this office has been investigating. We thought you might help.”
“If I should hear from either of them, I will contact you immediately.” Dalkey felt that was safe to say.
“Please be sure to.”
There was something ominous about that phrasing but the call was disconnected.
* * *
Hrringa didn’t often leave the Hrruban Center. Hayumans should be accustomed to Hrrubans by now, but he was always conscious of stares, discreet, indirect observations. Nor could he tell if this was mere curiosity, bad manners, or outright hostility. The last seemed unlikely, judging by what he had observed of Them. Their lack of expression bothered him most, for he could not tell, as he could of any Hrruban countenance, what they felt: their eyes black dots in the center of oblong white orbs. Without another of his kind to keep him company, he often felt himself a hostage on Earth. Should something go very wrong with the Treaty, he might be eliminated by a tribe of these expressionless white-eyed folk, even if physically he was larger than most, and certainly stronger. That he might be faced with death on this posting had been subtly suggested to him in his original briefing. He had been chosen from the young applicants of many distinguished stripes because of his calm nature, excellent bearing, and diplomatic training.
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