Pawns and Symbols

by Majliss Larson

  "Oh, I don't think I'm so bad. How would you like to try a whole starship full of aliens?"

  "I see what you mean. If Mara did that …" she laughed uncertainly, "you must think me rather silly."

  That wasn't the comparison Jean intended but she let it go. An awkward silence ensued. Jean yearned momentarily for the solitude of her own quarters on the cruiser or the easy comfort of Tywa's company.

  Then Aeliki ventured, "Do you want to go to sleep now or what? Do you need anything?"

  "As a matter of fact, cruiser time is out of sync with planet time. Any chance I could get something to eat before we turn in?"

  The woman seized on the suggestion with alacrity, disappeared, and returned a few moments later with a small tray of food. The beverage was hot, aromatic, and unfamiliar to Jean. Aeliki explained that it was made from a local fruit. While Jean ate, she went to the closet. "I don't suppose you brought anything with you … we'll see about issuing you some things in the morning." She emerged with a short, light shift, then paused uncertainly. "Tonight you could … that is, do you … uh …"

  Jean smiled again as she answered, "Thank you, that would do nicely for tonight," She pushed back her tray and crossed to the bathroom. There she paused, baffled. "Aeliki, how do you operate the faucet?"

  Aeliki came and pointed to a faint strip above the spigot. "There." When Jean hesitated she said, "Put your finger on it and slide it down until you find the temperature you want; then push. Push it again to turn it off. The shower works the same way." Jean touched the top of the strip. It was quite cold. The bottom was uncomfortably hot.

  She emerged shortly, intending to spend some time talking with Aeliki but abruptly a small reddish light above the door began to blink rhythmically accompanied by a faint chime. "What's that?" Jean asked with some alarm. She still had not fully accepted the fact that the Klingon "Alert" color was amber rather than red.

  "It means I'm needed at my post. Don't wait up for me," she called over her shoulder as she left.

  As Jean undressed she suddenly felt unnaturally sleepy. She wondered vaguely if Aeliki or someone had drugged her food. She just had time to tumble into bed and then she didn't wonder about anything at all. . . .

  Someone was shaking her. "Jean, hey! Wake up! It's morning." Groggily she rolled over and sat up. Her head felt twice its normal size and very fuzzy. Aernath's face shifted into approximate focus in front of her. "You can't be that tired. What's wrong?"

  Jean groaned. "Feels like a first class hangover. From the food last night I think. Would Aeliki or someone have drugged it?"

  "Drugged your food? Of course not. Why would we want to do that?"

  "Search me, but that's what it feels like. Something sure didn't agree with me." She pushed herself erect and staggered to the bathroom. The cold water on her face helped somewhat. She returned to find Aernath holding out a garment to her.

  "Here, put this on." Her attire or lack of it seemed to disconcert him. She fumbled with the robe. It felt as if all her movements were being performed through five centimeters of foam rubber. "Come on over and eat. If you don't feel better then we'll have someone see you." As she followed him she noticed that he was fully dressed and appeared perfectly normal except for the sling on his right arm. There was only a trace of a limp. He was certainly making a fast recovery.

  Breakfast consisted of khizr, a spicy-hot soup, and fruit. The latter tasted familiar, the same as the drink last night. Her head cleared somewhat as they ate. "Has Aeliki been back since last night?"

  Aernath shook his head. "I haven't seen her, but she'll probably turn up soon."

  "She said before she left last night that she was needed at her post. What does she do?"

  Aernath shook his head. "Don't ask. The less you know the better."

  "Well, what are we going to do? Can you tell me that? Kang will be taking this planet apart Klingon by Klingon trying to find us and since we don't have any supplies with us we can't do anything about the blight—"

  "Wrong. I did bring some samples of both strains along and they're in safe hands already. We're to meet with some colleagues of mine later today to brief them. As for the rest, Mara will discuss that with us over dinner tonight."

  "All right. I guess I better get dressed." She pushed back her chair and stood up. It hit even faster this time. She only had time to turn back to him. "Aernath! What are you people trying to do to m—" Then the floor wobbled unsteadily up to meet her forehead.

  Jean opened her eyes to a dim light. This time her head was throbbing savagely but retained its normal size. She seemed to be in bed. Her stir of movement brought a response from the opposite berth. Aernath. "The doctor said you would wake up on your own sooner or later but I was beginning to wonder. How do you feel?"

  "Terrible. My head hurts."

  "He also said you'd probably say that. Here, take this." He held out a pill and a glass of water.

  "What's that?"

  "I don't know. Something to make your head feel better."

  She made no move to take the proffered medicine. "Aernath, what happened?"

  "Dr. Eknaar checked you out against Peneli pretty thoroughly but he overlooked one thing. Your allergy to lourkain should have tipped him off. There is a related alkaloid that occurs in very high concentrations in the pulp of our persaba fruit. It really knocked you for a loop."

  Jean looked up at the clear, apparently guileless depths of those amethyst eyes. One part of her wanted—needed—desperately to believe, to trust this one particular Klingon. Another part of her was virtually screaming caution and suspicion. Although his miscalculations with regard to Kang and Tirax might be chalked up to honest error, it was indisputable that he had dissembled his own role so well she would have staked her life that he was the person he had seemed to be. Could she afford to do so again?

  "Will you swear to me by whatever you hold sacred that, this time, you are telling me the truth?"

  Aernath flinched as if she had hit him. He set the glass on the desk and turned away, slamming the desk with his hand. "Durgath take them all. I told her you wouldn't trust us, that she had to move carefully." He faced her, his eyes blazing with an intensity she'd never seen before. "I knew it would be a shock when you found out I wasn't what you thought I was, but hoped you would also be pleased by the discovery. And now this. . . ." He knelt beside the bed. "Once I discovered Kang's plans for Peneli and got my orders to get you down here, I spent most of my waking hours trying to figure out what to do. I just couldn't find any safe way to prepare you ahead of time. Jean, I swear by …" he hesitated, then reached out and brushed her eyelashes with a fingertip, "… by your tears, I'm telling the truth. Cymele help me, I'm not lying to you in spite of appearances to the contrary."

  After a long pause, Jean reached out a hand. "Give me the pill."

  Aernath handed her the pill and the water. He slid his left arm behind her shoulders and pulled her to a sitting position. Their eyes met as she set down the glass. Jean poised on the very verge of those depths … his right hand moved halfway to her face … Then, with a slight shake of his head, Aernath broke the contact and the moment. He seemed to be struggling with some decision. Finally he said, "Mara wants to present this herself after dinner, but I'm going to tell you some of it now. She has something—I don't know what—that she wants to get to your Federation Starfleet now. She wants … us to take it."

  "Us? Now? How?" Jean was full of questions.

  "Shh!" He laid a restraining finger on her lips. "No questions now. Save them for Mara. I just wanted to warn you. One more thing and that's all I will say. This means your freedom now instead of waiting—if we succeed. But if we are caught …" He shrugged expressively.

  "But what about the blight, the grain?"

  "I said hold the questions."

  "Okay, just one more then: what time is it? When do we meet Mara?" That pill must work fast. The headache was better already.

  "You've been out most of the day." Aernath leaned
across the desk and picked up the cube. "Let's see … mm, later than I thought. Mara will probably be ready to see us about as soon as you can get ready." He turned the cube over in his hand looking at the hologram.

  "How long have you known her?"

  "Mara? Let me see now …"

  "No, Aeliki."

  "My sister? All of her life. We are not raised in test-tubes despite any stories you may have—"

  "Sister! Aeliki is your sister?"

  "Yes. Didn't she tell you that?"

  Jean collapsed back on the bed. "No, that's another thing no one bothered to mention to me yet." Aernath was regarding her with a puzzled look. "I thought she was your fiancée or something. You never mentioned whether or not there was anyone special back home. Is there?" No better time than the present to find out.

  "No, does that matter to you?"

  "I thought I heard someone talking in here." Aeliki emerged from the bathroom, yawning. "How are you feeling now?"

  "Much better, thanks." Jean answered.

  Aeliki gave Aernath a quick hug and kiss. "Thanks for the use of your room. What with being up all night and then the excitement here," she waved at Jean, "it sure felt good to get some sleep." As she crossed to the closet she said to Jean, "Oh, yes, I promised you we'd get some things for you today. I hope I got your size right." She pulled a bundle out of the closet, then looked questioningly at Aernath who was still standing by the desk. Finally she added with some asperity, "Aernath, we'll never get you both ready to meet Mara if you just stand there stargazing. Come on—out!"

  The setting was as elegant as the meal was simple. They were dining in an alcove off the room where Jean first met Mara. That, she gathered, was the anteroom to Mara's personal quarters. They were seated on some type of resilient matting at floor level with their feet tucked into the recess beneath the low table. Opposite Jean, Mara leaned back against a cushion, glass of wine in hand. She had exchanged her uniform for formal Penelian dress: a bright emerald green bodysuit with long sleeves. Over this she wore a tight bodice of gauzy, light green material that divided at the waist into six panels and floated to ankle length. Aernath wore a similar bodysuit of wine red with a dark brown overtunic of more substantial material. His arm sling was gone and he had worn his sword, though it had been laid aside when they sat down to eat.

  They were concluding the meal with fresh fruit, and Aernath was explaining the tableware to her. It was a heavy translucent material with a peach tinge. "It's made from a large shellfish that is extremely common in our oceans. This color is rare. It occurs only when they ingest a particular kind of plankton. This," he indicated the fruit bowl which was a pearly gray, "is the more common color. Here, have some fruit. You've hardly eaten anything. I assure you this is all quite harmless." Jean selected a small fruit, without comment. It was true, she had eaten sparingly. She wished to be alert for whatever conversation might ensue and she was taking no chances.

  Mara leaned forward. "Yes, how are you feeling? You appear quite recovered from your encounter with our persaba. Do you think you would be up to traveling soon?"

  The conversation throughout dinner had been casual and clearly designed to put her at ease. Alert now, Jean strove for an equally casual response that would give no hint that Aernath had forewarned her. "Travel? You mean to some place where we could safely work on the quadrotriticale? Aernath told me he has brought some."

  Mara smiled fleetingly as she shook her head. "No, even if our plans here on Peneli succeed, I'm not sure you would be safe anywhere in the Klingon Empire. I had in mind a longer and more difficult journey. As it happens, I need an unimpeachable courier to make an important delivery to your Federation Starfleet. It is fortunate for both of us that you are available and, I understand, quite eager to return."

  "I've heard mention of plans several times. May I ask for a briefing and how this uh … delivery fits in? How will my travel be arranged if I agree to this? I need a little information." Jean hoped she had hit the right blend of caution and interest.

  "Peneli is a rarity in the Klingon Empire: a rich, fertile planet. You've seen a couple of more typical examples. In spite of our low population growth rate, the Empire must expand. The Federation is an obstacle to that expansion. Many Klingons feel therefore that it must be destroyed. Others of us, notably Kang, feel that all-out attack now would so weaken us that even if we did succeed the Empire would be destroyed in the process. What Kang doesn't see is that the armed confrontation doesn't have to occur at all; at least not on any major scale. He must be brought to negotiation with the Federation soon—successful negotiation. Do you understatand me? Her eyes were like gimlets boring into Jean. Her dress and the setting enhanced her beauty but in no way diminished the sense of commanding presence Jean had felt when she first met her in uniform. "The invitation must come from the Federation—to Kang. And they must make a significant offer when he does meet with them." She pasued.

  Jean looked at her. "Go on."

  "Peneli, because of its resources is key to the Imperial Fleet. Kang must have Peneli—be able to count on it. And he will, one way or the other. He also wants me. He will succeed in that too, one way or the other. However, if my operation now in progress succeeds, he may not get exactly what he expects."

  Jean pushed the plate in front of her carefully to one side. "No unfriendliness intended, but if I do reach Starfleet and report that you expect them to offer a substantial concession, then what do you offer in return?"

  "If you make your delivery I will guarantee that Kang will come and negotiate. If I am successful here then Peneli will not only remain firmly in Kang's camp but also firmly committed to continuing negotiation rather than confrontation. I will not see the resources of this planet expended merely to hasten the destruction of the Empire!"

  Jean looked at her curiously. "I don't mean to doubt your word. But I've come to know Kang rather well. Just how do you propose to guarantee that he will do something he clearly doesn't want to do, especially if he once gets his hands on you?"

  For the first time Jean sensed hesitancy in Mara's bearing. The Klingon woman rang the small table bell and summoned the old woman who had served them. She made a gesture to the woman, who looked visibly startled. "Yes," said Mara, "Now. It is time." She turned back to them. The words came slowly. "What I am about to tell you is known only to two others. It is vitally important that you not reveal this to anyone in the Empire and only to the absolute minimum number of people in Starfleet who must know." Jean glanced at Aernath. He looked as mystified as she felt.

  The old woman returned with a young boy of four or five. His face lit up at the sight of Mara; then he hesitated, looking uncertainly at Jean and Aernath. "It's all right," Mara said softly. "Come here." Thus encouraged he came and climbed into her lap. Mara talked to him for a few minutes in a low murmur, apparently about his day's activities. Then she said, "Do you remember the most important rule?" The boy nodded. "Well, tonight, for the first time I want you to tell someone else. The rule is still the rule but right now it is all right. Who are you?"

  "I am Aethelnor of Peneli."

  "Who is your father?"

  The childish singsong was clear and firm. "Kang of Tahrn, emperor-elect, and commander in the Imperial Fleet."

  "Who is your uncle?"

  "Maelen of Peneli, warrior and regent, defender of the Empire."

  Mara smiled fondly, then leaned forward to touch the tip of her nose to his. "Very good, Aethelnor. And who am I?"

  Aethelnor giggled suddenly as he twined his arm around her neck. "You're my mother."

  She held him close for a moment, then rose. "Now it is time for bed. Come along." She took him out, then returned a moment later and stood regarding her two astonished guests. "Now you know my secret. I want you to take Aethelnor to the Federation. That is my guarantee that Kang will come and negotiate in good faith."

  Aernath recovered his voice first. "Cymele keep us! Mara, does Kang know about his son?"

  Mara sh
ook her head as she reseated herself. "Only my nurse—the woman you saw. She raised me from a child and she alone knew of my pregnancy. As a former Fleet science officer I have a fair knowledge of medicine—as you know." She touched Aernath's side lightly. "She was my only attendant at Aethelnor's birthing. There are a few others who know of the boy's presence here but not his identity. You seem distressed." The last was addressed to Jean.

  "How can you give him up—just send off your son as a … a hostage to the Federation?"

  "Do you have any reason to believe he would be in danger or abused in the custody of your Starfleet?" Mara asked sharply.

  "No!" Jean added hastily. "Good gracious, no. It's just that—"

  "So I have been assured. It's far more than a question of hostages, Miss Czerny. After all, in a few years he would be leaving me for his uncle's Theld anyway." She leaned forward, her voice low but intense. "I want him to spend a few years growing up in human society—to know you from the inside. It will help equip him for his task when he becomes regent of Peneli. Besides, he won't go alone. I'm sending a tutor." She turned to the still startled Aernath. "You."

  "Me!" Aernath was clearly astonished. "Why?"

  "Because you are far more useful to me, to the cause, there than here. You've briefed, our agricultural people. They can work far more inconspiciously without you. In spite of your fascination with humans, there is no question of your loyalty to me or to Kang. Your educational background is sufficiently broad and you have shown an ability to teach. You'd be an excellent tutor."

  "But …" Aernath began to protest.

  "That's an order, Aernath."

  "Yes, Dematrix." His reply snapped to match her tone.

  She added in a softer tone. "I know it may prove to be an extended exile but not an unduly onerous one I think."

  "You've already answered part of my next question. I'm glad to know that Aernath will be along on this trip. When and how do we leave?"

  Mara's face reflected approval of Jean's brisk response. "Tonight. Kang, of course, has already started the search for you. It is only a matter of time before he will discover where you have been taken. But he will never expect us to send you off-planet. It would be logical to keep you here. So our greatest chance of success lies in moving quickly." Mara made a move as if to stand up.