Freedom's Challenge

by Anne McCaffrey

  “I’m sure we’ll think of some way,” Scott said.

  Just then the cardiac arrest team arrived.

  “There has to be some way,” Kris said.

  “We will find it,” Zainal said, stepping away from Kamiton as the emergency team moved in on him.

  Leon was explaining what had happened and what precautions he wanted taken when they got Kamiton to the infirmary. Almost as an afterthought, he took the syringe from Kris’ hand as he followed the team, with Kamiton carried on a stretcher out the door.

  “Are there any dissidents on board an Eosi vessel?”

  “If this stuff is spread through the air circulation, it would kill everyone on board,” Ray said, putting the stopper back in the vial and placing it well away from the remaining Catteni.

  “More will be needed, too,” Zainal said, regarding the little container with considerable respect.

  “Why?” asked Nitin, returning to his seat. “There is no way it can be spread for Eosi to inhale.”

  “There must be,” Zainal said, giving the table a pound with his fist that rattled the vial of olkiloriti. Ray immediately steadied it.

  “We will somehow contrive,” Kasturi said, giving Nitin a dire look for his pessimism.

  “Meanwhile, we have other problems,” Ray said, “and, while I am relieved that your sons survived their ordeal, Zainal, we’ve a meeting later today to decide how to cope with the growing destruction of our own planet.”

  With a nod of dismissal, he pulled his keyboard to him and began to call up a program to consider.

  Zainal, Kris, Kasturi, and Nitin left the hangar office in thoughtful silence.

  • • •

  “WHAT’S THIS I HEAR ABOUT A LETHAL DRUG for the Eosi?” Raisha asked when Kris came to collect Zane from the crèche.

  Kris paused in lifting her jubilant, and heavy, son into her arms. “Boy, the grapevine works faster than light.”

  Raisha grinned broadly. “Well, we did see the cardiac arrest team speeding down to the hangar and then back…so naturally, we had to find out the details. And thank goodness, Zainal’s sons are all right.”

  “Yes, that was pretty tricky for a while. So who’s spreading the word? You or Sarah?”

  “Actually, Mavis rushed down. She was collecting her daughter after her shift.” When Kris, busy with her son, was not forthcoming, Raisha added more curtly than her usual manner, “Wellll?” and she raised the elegant curve of her fine brows in query.

  “Yes, there is a substance that produces a violent allergic response in Catteni, young and old. But whether it can be got to the target area is the point. Don’t get your hopes up.”

  “I will try not to, but it will be hard,” the pilot said. “There simply has to be a way…”

  “We’ll find it. Maybe we’ll hear from the Farmers. It’s been long enough,” Kris said, hoping to distract the woman.

  “Huh! I have come to believe more in your Yankee in-gen-oo-ity,” and Raisha grinned, parodying Zainal’s use of the word.

  “See you, later. Say good-bye, Zane and thank you to Raisha.”

  “Goo-by, t’ank,” the obedient child managed.

  “You should have another before he is much older,” Raisha said.

  “Ha! Won’t need to if we import more kids.”

  “Has that wild group settled in with the Maasai?”

  Kris chuckled. “They’ve had no choice.”

  Raisha nodded with satisfaction.

  “I think Zane’ll have to spend the night here…a big meeting this evening. I’ll feed and bathe him first.”

  “This good boy’s always welcome.”

  • • •

  ZAINAL WAS NOT IN THEIR COTTAGE SO KRIS let Zane wander about the place while she cleaned up from their hurried departure the previous day. All the time her mind kept working through possibilities, but any bright ideas that occurred required more knowledge than she had of Eosian habits and habitats, information she did not have on hand. Even if Nitin was so pessimistic, she had the feeling that Zainal and Kasturi were not.

  Her com unit buzzed, and Beggs informed her in his prosaic manner that her presence was requested for twenty hundred hours at the hangar for an emergency session of the complete Council. She opened her mouth to thank him when he closed the connection. She didn’t like him and he knew it, but Beggs was the sort who would do his duty though it choked him. And he was efficient. With the com unit in hand, she called the infirmary to ask how Kamiton was.

  “He’s left,” was the report from the agitated receptionist. “Dr. Dane tried to keep him in for observation, but he just walked out.”

  “He’s all right then,” Kris said, chuckling. No Catteni worth the rank of Emassi would let a thing like a near brush with death keep him abed. So he’d be there at the meeting. That meant that Tubelin would probably side with Zainal, so it would be three Catteni for and one against.

  No, she shook her head, correcting herself. The meeting was about other matters entirely. While wiping out the Eosi would be the answer to many problems, that wasn’t the panacea for all the woes that currently beset Humanity.

  That was the subject of the meeting.

  John Beverly addressed those who crowded into the hangar. When the numbers attending exceeded space available, a com system was hurriedly set up to allow those outside to hear what was being said. Kris noted with approval that the four Maasai chiefs were there, with Hassan Moussa whispering translations.

  “Our last trip to Earth showed us what the Eosi are doing to our planet…stripping it of anything valuable and destroying what they do not understand. They are also systematically shipping Humans out as slave labor. The old, the very young, the infirm, the injured or sick are being left to fend for themselves and many will die. We cannot, here on Botany, continue to provide succor to those, much as we would like to. There is a finite limit to what Botany can provide.

  “However, Kamiton has been able to supply us with the information of the other planets—some of them as habitable as Botany—where Humans have been dropped, as we were, to make the best of what was available. We want to check on these. If necessary, support them with tools, medicines, and other supplies. That will mean healthy people to take back to Earth when it’s ours again. I’d like volunteers to go with our”—and he paused to emphasize the recent acquisitions—“G-ships to show them how. There are five other drop”—and he grinned to use the term—“planets that we know of and we want to visit each. We also know of four installations where, according to Kasturi, Humans are being used as slave labor in appalling conditions. Some of our Maasai were sent to an ice planet. We want to free those we can. Right under Catteni noses, so to speak.” And Beverly flashed a smile when someone demanded to know how. “Pretend we’re Catteni shifting work forces. We’ve inside help now besides Zainal.” And he turned to indicate the four dissident Catteni seated to one side of the table. “We can’t emancipate—” and again that roguish grin on the air force general’s face “—all the slaves but we can try.”

  “Why?” someone roared. “They’ll be half-dead. I don’t mind helping now and then, but all the time?”

  There was considerable support to that complaint.

  “I know, I know,” John said. “Altruism can go too far. And if we can, we will disperse these folk on some of the other planets we know about.

  “Don’t lose sight of the fact that the reason for these forays is to spread confusion among the Eosi and the Emassi in charge by a series of totally unexpected shifts of personnel and material which will disappear completely. The Eosi don’t like mysteries.”

  “Yeah, but won’t they just retaliate by killing more of us back on Earth?”

  “They might, if they could see the connection,” John Beverly said. “We’ll be using Catteni ships they haven’t yet realized we have. How can they hold Earth responsible when Catteni are the only ones involved?

  “Meanwhile, Catteni dissidents will be mobilized—and there are many Catteni wh
o want to be free of Eosian domination just as much as we do.”

  “You going to use that dust to kill those bastards?” someone shouted.

  John Beverly paused a moment, smiling. “Doesn’t take long for rumor to circulate Retreat, does it?”

  There were good-natured chuckles.

  “We now have a means, but we don’t have a way.”

  “Set up a Ways and Means Committee then,” some wit shouted and laughter greeted that suggestion.

  “We have. Any ideas are cheerfully received. Now,” and John looked down at his notes, “we’re making another foray to Earth, to collect supplies, visit the other planets where Humans have been dropped, so I’m asking for some of the First Drop to come along in case we can help. Zainal’s making another run to contact other dissidents.”

  Suddenly Gino Marrucci, who had been in the bridge on com link watch, came rushing up the steps to the platform and whispered something in Ray’s ear.

  He rose. “We may not be able to implement those plans just yet,” he said. “Gino says there’s a massive attack force approaching. We may just have annoyed the Eosi too much.”

  “What do we do now?” a woman wailed in the silence that followed the announcement.

  Kris had no trouble identifying the wailer as Anna Bollinger.

  “I think we go out the back door NOW,” Zainal said, gesturing for John Beverly to nominate his crews.

  “What if the Bubble bursts?” Anna screamed.

  “Don’t be so stupid, woman.” And Aarens was on his feet and faced her. “The Farmers design much better than the Eosi do.”

  Kris smothered her laugh. Anna’s panic did spread. Those at the head table rose to try and restore calm. Beverly didn’t waste any time, but pointed out those he wanted as crews for his ships. He took them off with him, gathering other men and women as he went. The hangar was emptying rapidly, with many running outside to look up in the darkening sky to check on the Bubble’s distant nebulosity.

  Many watched the barrage all night long. In some places, the force of the repeated assault turned the Bubble a glowing orange. There is no noise in space, of course, but there was plenty on the com sat link. Those who gathered in the bridge rooms of Baby and the two K-class in the hangar listened to the sharp exchange of Catteni and Eosi commands. Kris had joined Zainal and the other Catteni at the bridge installed in Ray’s office where the ex-admiral and the rest of the Council followed what they could of the attack.

  “Mentat Ix seems to be in charge,” Ray said, looking at Zainal. “All the orders seem to be issued in his name.”

  Zainal only nodded as he reached for paper and pencil and, with Kamiton’s help, listed the force trying to batter down the Bubble.

  “Both the new AA-ships,” Kamiton said, “and five of the big H’s that have been refitted with missiles.”

  “Ah,” and Nitin was cheered up slightly. “I hear Niassen is commander of one of the H’s. He’s useless.”

  “All he has to do is follow orders,” Kasturi said, grinning.

  “Isn’t Redinit on that H?” asked Tubelin.

  “Yes, I believe he is,” Nitin said. He had supplied Zainal with the captain and crew complements of most of the ships the Eosi had been using against the Bubble.

  “Don’t we have three on the HHT?” Kasturi asked.

  “Not in command posts, unfortunately,” Kamiton said with a sigh.

  “Can you give me some idea of how large a dissident group you’re talking about?” Ray asked.

  “Roughly three thousand, spread throughout Eosi-dominated space,” Kamiton said.

  Nitin regarded Kamiton with some apprehension, but the Catteni shrugged the implied reprimand away.

  “Only three thousand?” Ray said, having hoped for a much larger subversive element.

  Zainal laughed. “It is the nature of our group that’s far more important than the number. Most of them are in strategic positions. Quality counts more than quantity.”

  “I suspect it could,” Ray admitted.

  “Oops,” and even Gino recoiled when the Bubble above the com sat area turned a livid shade of red. “They’re obviously hoping the fabric of the Bubble is weaker around the array.”

  “Is it holding?” Ray demanded with a hint of anxiety in his voice.

  “It’ll hold,” Gino said, “but it’s taking a beating.”

  At some point during that long vigil, Ainger arrived, much annoyed, with a folded note from John Beverly.

  “I resent being used as a messenger simply because I happened to be on hand,” he grumbled as he handed over the paper.

  “John’s taking all the G’s out the back door,” Ray said, frowning a bit.

  “Isn’t he exceeding his prerogatives?” Ainger said with an expression of deep censure. “Unless, of course, you intended him to attack the Eosian?”

  “With G-ships carrying a minimum of weapons?” Zainal asked, surprised. “No, he’s going to provide further distractions, as was planned.”

  “He’s away,” Gino said, grinning.

  “He broadcast?” Ainger was livid.

  “In Morse,” Gino said, laughing. “I just caught it. Thought it was only static at first, but he’s got it on repeat. I’d best tell him his message was received.” He manipulated some toggles on the com board and then, listening intently to the chaotic Catteni messages, finally nodded. “Yeah, he got it.”

  • • •

  THE BARRAGE OF THE BUBBLE WENT ON ALL the long Catteni night and into morning, but the fabric of the sphere did not collapse. The sun blotted out the colors the bombardment made but Bert Put, working the dawn shift as com officer, said he could hear the orders for continued barrage.

  “This should infuriate the Mentat Ix,” Zainal said, a smile of intense satisfaction on his face.

  “Too bad there’s no way to use that anger to our benefit,” Ray said.

  “Ah, but there is,” and Zainal held up one finger, his smile deepening.

  “How?” Nitin said. “There’s no way to get that dust…” and Kamiton gave an uncharacteristic shudder.

  “Having failed, the Mentat will have to explain its defeat to its peer group,” Kamiton said, rubbing his hands together. “And such a convocation can be of benefit to us.”

  “How? We have the dust but not how to disperse it to kill ’em all off, even if they are in one place together?” asked Ray.

  There was a long and thoughtful pause, which Jim Rastancil finally broke.

  “Where are they likely to assemble?” he asked.

  “Ah, now that is something we should find out,” Zainal said, “and as soon as possible.” He jerked his head at the other dissenters. “Nitin, what’s your best guess?”

  “My guess?” And Nitin seemed surprised to be asked such a question.

  “Where they seem safest, of course,” Kamiton said, flicking his fingers.

  “Where?” Jim asked, looking at Zainal for a translation.

  “Catten itself,” Zainal replied.

  “Most likely,” Kasturi agreed, nodding.

  “No,” Nitin corrected him, frowning. “The space station where everyone can be searched and monitored. Security will be very, very thorough,” and Nitin looked more pessimistic than ever. “You won’t be able to get in.”

  “They will, however, need missiles to replace what they have wasted against the Bubble,” Zainal said with a satisfied grin. “Emassi Venlik and a cargo of very useful ores would be made welcome.”

  “You don’t have more than a few immature bushes of the olkiloriti down south,” Kris felt obliged to point out.

  “Baby could sneak in and out without being noticed, couldn’t she?” Ray asked. “To get more from East Africa?”

  “You’d better take someone along who knows where to find enough bushes,” Kris added.

  “It only took one sniff to disable me,” Kamiton said with a grin.

  “You must have more than a sniff to get all the Eosi,” Nitin grumbled.

  “It
will take some time for all the Eosi to assemble, you know,” Kasturi said. “If this requires a full inquiry.”

  “Oh, it will,” Nitin said, once again sunk in his usual gloom.

  “I’m counting on the full inquiry and the time it will take to assemble a sufficient number of Mentats,” Zainal said, addressing Nitin. Then he turned to the others. “As for gathering the substance, I think Parmitoro Kassiaro, or even Chief Materu, might assist.”

  “Don’t the women do the actual work?” Kris asked for she couldn’t construct a mental picture of Chief Materu pulverizing leaves in a mortar with a pestle.

  Zainal shrugged. “We use it as a weapon. That may alter his mind.”

  “The Maasai have declared war on the Catteni, you know,” Ray Scott said with a wry grin. “I don’t believe you’ll have any trouble getting the stuff.”

  “That is,” Jim added in a cautious note, “if there’s still enough available. The mission report had trouble finding what they did bring back.”

  “Then we must send for what can be found immediately,” Zainal said. “I will go myself to ask the chief’s help.”

  And, Kris thought to herself, to make sure that Bazil and Peran are fully recovered. In his own Catteni way, he did care for them.

  Chapter Ten

  RETREAT BUZZED WITH A BARELY CONTAINED excitement when Kris brought Zane up to the crèche before reporting to her shift on the com watch in the hangar. Some of the buzz sounded ominous but then there had been a lot of criticism about taking on more problem groups: like sick and disabled ex-slaves. The Victims could not have been left on Barevi: everyone admitted that. Now! Especially since all but thirty of the original group had responded to the trauma therapy. The remainder, Dorothy sadly reported, had been too damaged to reach. But the psychologist felt that the ratio of recoveries was very good indeed. Even Dr. Hessian had had to admit that her program had been the proper one…in this instance. He was happily at work helping the disturbed children in a blend, Dorothy had said with a perfectly straight face, of both traditional therapies.

  Kris always allowed ample time to walk Zane up to the crèche so she had some to spare and stopped in the main mess hall to sample the general temper.