Pawns and Symbols

by Majliss Larson

  The flame licked at the Klingon. He screamed and fired wildly, hitting the beast twice more but not vitally. Enraged, it bore down on him with another blast. Jean turned and fled toward the krelk. She heard a final strangled scream and then another shrill call from the beast. She glanced back. Moving incredibly fast for such bulk, the enraged amphibian was now coming after her. She glanced ahead. She would never make it to the krelk. At the edge of the polder where the cliffs came down to the sea, the tidal wash had undercut the soft stone here and there. One such tidal cave lay just ahead of her. She threw herself down, rolled in, and slid hastily back as far as she could. A scant meter away she could see the beast's snout and forefeet as it stood puzzling where its quarry had gone. Horrified, she watched the tip of the snout begin to swing to and fro, a long lizard-like tongue flicking in and out, seeking her scent. The beast couldn't get in under the overlying ledge but if it sensed her it might fry her in place. Jean reached for the only weapon she had—the dagger in her boot.

  The flickering tongue began to probe the crevice. Jean waited and watched. At the precise extreme of one probe she stabbed, pinioning the tongue to the rock. With a scream the beast reared back and released a blast of flame at the rock. As she had hoped, it reared up enough that the flames struck only the ledge above. Now she could hear the panicked bleating of the krelk. Apparently it attracted the attention of the amphibian as well. She watched the feet move off in that direction. She heard more bleating and hisses and then finally silence. The fragment of tongue in front of her gave off a nauseating stench.

  She waited nearly an hour before she dared slide over to the opening and look out. She saw the amphibian slowly crawling along the opposite side of the valley. It paused, then laboriously began to dig a shallow pit. Jean wondered if it was laying eggs. It seemed a bit late in the summer for that but she knew little about the habits of Klairosian amphibians. It was nearly dusk. Would she be stuck here all night? The stench was still strong. Although she could not sit up, she rolled over and extracted a specimen bag from the pouch at her waist. Gingerly, she edged the fragment into the bag with her dagger and tucked it into her collection pouch. She settled back to wait.

  Dusk came and then dark. She dozed fitfully. Suddenly she woke up alert at a sound nearby. Fearing the beast had returned she slid back again. Then, hearing a soft bleat and low voices, she scrambled out of her hiding place. The voices stopped and she was blinded by a bright light being beamed at the cliff.

  "Jean!" She recognized Aernath's voice. Putting up her hand to cover her eyes, she stumbled in the direction of the voice.

  "Aernath! Thank God! I …" A krelk tail appeared out of the darkness and picked her up abruptly. She was plunged into darkness again and still could see nothing. Suspended in the air, she heard Tirax's voice.

  "What happened to your guard, human?"

  The light was back on her. "He's dead, I think. We were attacked by some kind of beast. Tirax, please put me down."

  "Where is he? Where were you attacked?"

  "I don't know. Over by the dike somewhere … it came out of the water … Tirax, please!"

  Aernath's voice came out of the dark cold and flat. "All right, Tirax, you've made your point. Put her down."

  Jean felt herself lowered suddenly, plunged into the dark. She was totally disoriented. The krelk released her into someone's arms. "Jean!" The whisper was Aernath's. She clung to him convulsively.

  Tirax's voice came out of the dark beside her. "All right. You four go back with Aernath. The rest of us will check out the dike. Hela!" He urged his mount foward.

  Aernath was wrapping his cloak around her. Beneath her she felt the krelk turn and start uphill. Shaking with fear and exhaustion, she buried her face in his shoulder and began to sob. His arm around her tightened and his other hand cradled the back of her head. She felt his lips at her ear. "Shhh. You're not hurt, are you?" She shook her head. "All right then, get it out of your system before we get back to camp." They rode on in silence. Finally Jean's sobs subsided. Again Aernath murmured in her ear, "By Cymele, you humans cry a lot. Finished?" She nodded against his shoulder. "You were a fool to go down there alone. Why didn't you wait for me?"

  "I didn't go alone," she protested weakly. "I took a guard along; besides we'd agreed that those tests should be done today. If I'd waited for you we wouldn't have finished before dusk. As it was we would have, but that thing came up in broad daylight."

  "What's done is done. You're safe; that's the main point. But Kasoth is fit to be tied. When that one krelk came back riderless and he discovered only two of you had gone down he decked two corral guards on the spot." But Jean was past caring. She simply dozed off on his shoulder.

  He awakened her when they reached the corral. "We'll be going to report to Kasoth now. Can you do it coherently?"

  "Don't worry," she said firmly, "I'm done weeping."

  Kasoth was in the ag-station bar with several other Klingons. Jean glanced about curiously as she had never been in there. Built of stonewood and other local woods, its low-beamed ceilings, massive tables and benches gave the appearance of great age and permanence. Kasoth frowned at the arriving party. "You found the human. Where's the rest of the patrol?"

  "Looking for Kinath, Commander. We found his krelk, or what was left of it anyway, on the polder. She claims it was a sea beast of some sort."

  "Well, human, let's have your story."

  "Certainly, Commander." She sank down on the nearest bench. "May I have something hot to drink please?"

  Kasoth slammed his hand on the table. "Stand as you were, woman! Your story first, we will see about details later."

  Jean shrugged, pulled herself to her feet and proceeded to tell her story. Just as she was completing it Tirax and the rest of the patrol arrived. They reported finding nothing but Kinath's blaster, some blood, and a badly trampled area around the dike. While Tirax was reporting, Aernath unobtrusively set down a mug and a small dish of meat in front of her. She flashed him a grateful look. The meat was excellent, the drink hot and spicy. The discussion turned to speculation on the identity of the amphibian.

  "Oh, I almost forgot. I have something that may help with that." Jean fumbled with the collecting pouch on her belt. She found the specimen bag and shook out its contents on the table in front of Kasoth.

  "What's that?" he demanded.

  "A piece of the beast's tongue."

  "Its tongue! 'Gath's Bones, how did you get a piece of its tongue?"

  "I told you it chased me into a tidal cave. It couldn't reach me under the ledge—except for its tongue. I was afraid if it sensed me there it would blast me like it did Kinath. I figured I'd try to scare it away so I stabbed it in the tongue with my dagger. It worked. That's when it went after the krelk."

  "Dagger? What dagger?"

  Jean looked at Kasoth in dismay. His face wore an ominous scowl in response to her inadvertent revelation. Aernath broke in smoothly. "It is customary among Aldebaranians to carry such a weapon. We permitted her to keep it thinking she might need it in the field—a justified assumption as we now see. Besides, it obviously posed no threat to any alert Klingon warrior."

  Jean winced inwardly at this barb. Aernath must be really angry with Tirax to bait him openly like that. Emboldened by Kasoth's momentary hesitation, she stepped into Aernath's subterfuge and expanded it into an outrageous tale. "Yes, it's the schlizls you see. They're a burrowing animal that's common on Aldebaran. Their bite is toxic to humans, fatal to children. They are agile and attack without warning so we learn to defend ourselves at an early age. No man worth his weapons would take a wife who couldn't match him in dagger throw. She has to protect his offspring."

  "So you kill them with your dagger?" one of the Klingons asked.

  "It's not quite that simple," Jean assured him solemnly. "They are covered with hard scales, so you have to hit them in the eye. Fortunately, they have very large eyes." She looked around and picked up a five-ring linked puzzle game from the table i
n front of her. She indicated the middle ring. "About this size."

  "Anhh." The Klingon's response was frankly disbelieving.

  Jean deftly slipped the middle ring out and walked across the room. She selected a panel of softer wood that would take a dagger point. "This should do." She crossed back to Tirax and offered him the ring. "Lieutenant, would you oblige me?" She smiled sardonically. He shot her a look of pure venom. Grasping her dagger, she took her position in front of Kasoth's table and contemplated Tirax holding the ring across the room. His unblinking gaze met hers steadily, giving no hint that he felt other than the ordinary suspense about her ability to hit the target. She waited. The silence in the room grew. It was the tiniest flicker of a blink by which Tirax finally betrayed his tension. She threw.

  Tirax let go of the ring. It dangled from the dagger point. Jean crossed to retrieve her blade from the wall. She met his eyes as she murmured, "Better luck next time."

  One of Kasoth's drinking partners inquired, "Tell me, human, did you match Commander Kang in this little dagger game of yours?"

  Jean replaced her dagger. She despised these Klingon men of Klairos. Kang was a different matter. One could do worse than persuade them to emulate him. She smiled disarmingly. "He credited me for trying." Then she spread her hands in mock dismay. "I'm afraid if Kang waited to find his match from Aldebaran, he'd be doomed to celibacy." Several of the Klingons chuckled until silenced by a glare from Kasoth. Suddenly, Jean was very tired. "With your permission, Commander, I'll go to my quarters. It's been a long day."

  "Dismissed." Kasoth stared morosely at the door as Jean and Aernath exited. "Lieutenant, that human is a menace. Please notify your commander that while we humbly acknowledge our debt to him for the grain, we nonetheless request that woman be removed as soon as possible." He slammed his fist on the tabletop. "Otherwise, I will not be responsible for her safety!" Tirax nodded sympathetically.

  As Jean emerged from the bar a small figure detached itself from the shadows and catapulted into her: Tywa. The girl had been listening from the doorstep. Now she clung to Jean covering her face and hands with fervent kisses. "Oh, Jean, I was afraid you'd been killed!"

  Jean gathered her up in a warm embrace. "I'm fine, Tywa. We humans are pretty hard to kill off. Come on. Let's go home."

  Later as they settled in bed, Tywa tugged shyly at her sleeve. "Jean, please tell me a story before we go to sleep—like always."

  "I am not going to tell you about fighting the monster in the polder just before you go to sleep," Jean replied firmly. "No need for both of us to have nightmares." She scooped Tywa into one arm and punched the pillow taut behind her head. "How about the story of how Captain Kirk and the Enterprise crew rescued the children from the evil monster on Triacus?"

  "No, Jean, tell me about Commander Kang and his ship. Tell me again what it's like to be on an imperial battle cruiser!" The girl's eyes shone.

  Jean sighed. "Loyal, true-blue Klingon, aren't you, my dear?" She started once again on Tywa's favorite story. If Kang ever again intended to carry an integrated crew, here was one eager volunteer.

  The krelk bleated and pranced skittishly on the road. It did not like the highway construction. One lane of the road now stretched beyond the agricultural station to the north. Trips to the polder involved threading one's way through a constant procession of construction equipment and materials. Jean breathed a little easier as she coaxed her krelk through the noise and construction. This was only her second trip down since the accident and she hoped it might be her last. Even though she was with a large party, she would be just as happy to get back to the station and never lay eyes on the polder again. Observations were completed and they had begun harvesting the Czerny strain down there today. Of course, the upland plots, having been planted later, were not ready yet. They would stand until snow flew which could be any week now. . . . Her thoughts were interrupted by the sight of an I.S.G. glide-car drawn up to the entrance of the experiment station. Could it be Kang so soon? She glanced back. Aernath and most of the rest of the party were still straggling up the trail to the road. Urging her krelk forward she passed the lead Klingon and arrived first at the corral.

  "Who came in the I.S.G. car?" she asked as her mount swung her down.

  The groom shrugged indifferently, "Someone from I.S.G. H.Q.—Port Klairos."

  "Is that all? No one else?" Jean tried not to let her disappointment show. The Klingon shook his head. Impatiently Jean headed for her room. Tywa was as likely as anyone else to know what was going on and she would be more forthcoming.

  When she entered the room the first thing she saw was her belongings neatly packed and piled in the center of the room. It took her a moment to locate Tywa. The girl was huddled in a corner by the fireplace. Jean caught a sudden hand movement and then the girl was unmoving again. Alarmed, Jean moved to Tywa's side. She had obviously been crying though her face was impassive now. "Tywa," she asked anxiously, "what's happened to you? What is it?"

  "I have your things ready. You will leave soon." The girl's voice was thick and the words came slowly.

  "Tywa!" Jean shook her by the shoulders. "What's wrong with you?" She caught a glimpse of something by Tywa's hand and pulled a vial from the ashes on the hearth. Fiercely she grabbed Tywa's head and held the vial before her. "What is this? What have you done?"

  "Poison … it's … faster … this … way."

  "Oh, God! No!" Jean screamed. "Tywa, you can't!"

  Frantically she forced Tywa's mouth open and rammed her fingers down the girl's throat. This seemed to rouse Tywa who protested faintly. Jean persisted wondering if Klingon physiology was equipped with a gag reflex. Apparently it was. Tywa vomited very satisfactorily. Jean grabbed her mug and forced two cupfuls of lukewarm water from the boiling pot down Tywa's throat, then repeated the maneuver. By this time, no longer lethargic, Tywa attacked her angrily with her fists.

  "Stop it! Why didn't you just leave me alone?" Then she began to cry.

  Jean gathered her into a tight hug. "Shh, child. What a terrible thing to say. Whatever made you do such an idiotic thing in the first place?" She got no answer for long minutes except Tywa's sobs. In those moments Jean wondered what she had done by taking in this waif. Her reactions at the time had been instinctive. Then she had been reassured by Aernath's efforts which had solved the immediate problem. Without explicitly discussing it, she had assumed that he could make some satisfactory arrangement for the girl before they left. "Tywa, Aernath and I will make arrangements for you before we leave. We won't just abandon you."

  Her face buried in Jean's shoulder, Tywa shook her head. "You can't. No Theld here will have me. When you leave they're going to send me to the pens."

  "Pens? What in space does that mean?"

  "The diving pens at Port Klairos. That's where they send … extra people. It's a sort of cheap labor pool. Anyone can requisition you from there for day labor or a night's pleasure. All they have to do is feed you. No work—no food. If there's no other work then there's diving for amarklor—until a sea beast gets you. Like it did Kinath." By now her voice was bleak but matter of fact.

  Jean stared at her aghast to hear such worldly-wise fatalism in an almost child. She pulled the girl up. "Absolute nonsense. They'll do no such thing. Come on—let's get you cleaned up and then we'll go help Aernath in the lab. We can talk it over there."

  Aernath was not encouraging. He listened to Jean's story, then sent Tywa on an errand. "Jean, we are being pulled out of here ahead of schedule. I don't know why but whatever it is, it won't be helped by a fuss over this girl. They're not going to kill her. She's a tough girl. She can work and she'll eat. She'll survive."

  "Work?!" Jean exploded. "You call prostituting a child work? Or sending her out to face those … those sea demons?"

  His eyes flashed angrily. "Jean, we can't force a Theld here to take her if they don't want her. Just what in space do you think you can do?"

  "Take her with me then, "she responded grimly.
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  Aernath stared at her open-mouthed. "You're crazy! You can't do that."

  "Maybe not. But I intend to try." They finished packing in silence. Jean bided her time until Kasoth and the I.S.G. envoy escorted them to the glide-car. Jean gestured Tywa into the carhead of her. "Get in."

  "Hold it! Where do you think you're going? Get out of there." The I.S.G. man grabbed Tywa's arm and roughly pulled her aside.

  Tywa looked despairingly at Jean. "Let her go," Jean interposed. "She is assigned to me personally. She goes with me."

  The Klingon retained his grip on Tywa and looked questioningly at Kasoth. The commander's face darkened as he started to refute Jean's assertion. Then he apparently thought better of it. "Why not? Better rid of them both sooner than later. By all means, take her. Lieutenant." He gestured to the I.S.G. envoy.

  Elated, Jean pushed Tywa into the car. There was still the dilemma of getting her from Port Klairos onto the cruiser but this was the first step. Aernath settled himself opposite Jean shaking his head. Tywa wedged herself on the floor between their knees and wrapped an arm around Jean's leg. Her black eyes stared up at Jean wide and somber. "Don't believe him," she whispered. "It's just a trick."

  Jean simply smiled at her. Undoubtedly Kasoth did not expect her to go with Jean; he had merely divested himself of the problem. Tirax arrived and after a brief exchange with Kasoth he and the I.S.G. man got in as well. The trip down to Klairos spaceport went much more quickly than the trip up in the spring. As they drew up before the spaceport warehouse where they had arrived some weeks before, Jean was delighted to see the tall commanding figure of Kang approaching from an adjacent building. She waited impatiently for Tirax and the guardsman to exit; then she emerged and turned to Tywa. Again the guardsman seized her arm. "Hold it there, girl. That's as far as you go. Your ride's not over yet."

  "Oh, no you don't." Jean wrenched her free. "She goes with me." Tywa clung desperately to Jean's waist while Jean glared at the I.S.G. man.