snicked, the door was flung back, and Acorna s
arm pushed a very young girl out of the entry. Her
arm did not follow? as he hoped, but was yanked
back inside.
"They'll kill her," the child squeaked, and man-
aged to jam her foot in the door. She cried out
with pain as the closing door compressed her foot,
but only for a heartbeat; then Gill had his shoulder
to the door, forcing it open again.
The sudden change from light to darkness star-
tled him. He had a confused impression of figures
struggling in the confined space. Was that
Acorna? He was afraid to move for fear of hurting
her or Nadhari.
An elbow jammed into his solar plexus and Gill
backed up two steps, banging into the door. "Be
some use, can't you!" Nadhari's low rough voice
excoriated him. "Open the fardling door!"
Gill pulled the door open, and the daylight
showed him that at least two of the figures he'd
seen were going to give nobody any trouble. Two
men lay on the floor, one with a trickle of blood
coming from his open mouth, the other staring
wide-eyed and blank at the ceiling. Acorna was
breathing hard. Nadhari was not. In the light from
the open door, her right hand flicked and sent a
knife into the shoulder of the young woman who'd
insisted that Acorna come inside.
"Don't hurt her!" Acorna cried.
"It was a trap," Nadhari s toneless voice grated.
"You have paid the price. Now come, before there
is more trouble."
Gill could see that the woman's face, though
contorted with pain, was now smooth with new
clean skin where the burns had disfigured her
before. "I didn't mean for you to be trapped," she
cried to Acorna. "They must have followed me."
Nadhari made a sound of disgust and took
Acorna's arm, pushing her out of the door.
The child in the courtyard had been trying
to get back in to help, but now she was hinder-
ing their escape by blocking the door. Gill
ANNE MCCAFFREY AND MARGARET BALL
304
swooped her up in one arm, pushed Acorna
toward the stairs with the other, and was up the
stairs, down the alley, and into the skimmer in
seconds.
They were actually in and Pedir was making a
hasty lift out of the courtyard when more figures
erupted out of the basement. The child started
shrieking, clinging to Acorna.
"They'll get me. They'll get me," she cried.
"Who?" Then Gill did a double-take on one of
the male figures who had joined in the futile
attempt to catch the rising skimmer. "By all the
saints, that's Uncle Hafiz!"
"Uncle Hafiz?" Acorna swiveled round, but the
courtyard and its occupants were now out of sight
and Pedir had pushed the speed bar as far forward
as it would go, kicking the skimmer into full
power.
"So, after all, Tapha told him you were here?
And there's Rafik trying to make a good impres-
sion on Uncle!" Gill gave a snort of exasperation.
"Where was that? And who's this?" He decided
these were safer topics than speculating about
Rafik's annoyance when he discovered that Hafiz
was here and might even know that his son had
been trying to kill his nephew. Or maybe that
wouldn't surprise him.
"This—" Acorna smiled proudly down at the
young girl who -was hugging her rescuer's waist in
a stranglehold, still chanting her litany, "she'll get
me/he'll get me" "—this is Khetala, who saved
Jana and so many of the children and guarded
them as best she could until Didi Badini took her
305
away. And we've taken her away from Didi
Badini!"
"That won't help now," Khetala blurted. "He's
after you and the Piper always kills those he's after."
"The Piper?" Pedir said, noticeably blanching.
"The Piper?" Acorna's tone held contempt and
^m
scorn.
"The Piper?" Gill asked, wanting to under-
stand the diverse reactions.
"He's the one who's supposed to be behind the
child bondage schemes here on Kezdet . . ."
Acorna began.
"He is," Pedir said in an awed tone, jiggling the
controls to get more speed out of the skimmer as
he aimed it toward the nearest congregation of
vehicles exactly like his.
"But we have Khetala now and she's safe with
me," Acorna said.
"I'm not sure I am," Gill said, and sucked his
bloody knuckles.
"Did you have a chance ... I mean ..." Pedir
floundered and craned his head around to look at
Acorna.
"Of course, I did. That was the bargain, wasn't
it?" Acorna said stoutly.
Gill decided that since Pedir seemed to care
what happened to the scarred girl, it might not be
tactful to mention that they had left her with a
knife through her shoulder and suspected her of
setting them up. Nadhari and Acorna seemed to
be working through the same thought processes,
for they were both silent on the trip back. For
Acorna, at least, that was unusual.
306
ANNE MCCAFFREY AND MARGARET BALL
ficorna.
307
They reached Delszaki Li's home to discover that
the population had been augmented by one that
very morning, and a three-way fight was raging in
the entrance hall.
"Now what?" Pal demanded, taking in their
disheveled condition and the girl clutching Acorna
like a life-preserver. "Oh, never mind, don't tell
me. I've got enough trouble this morning already,
what with Mercy running out on her job."
"I'm Mrry, Pal," said the slender young woman
facing him. Her delicate yet firm features and the
thick braid of dark hair that hung down her back
reminded Gill of Judit, though this girl wasn't half
as pretty. Her dark eyes didn't flash like Judit's,
and she didn't have Judit's way of tilting her chin
up just before charging into battle. "I know you—
we—need the information I was getting from the
Guardians' office. But there wasn't going to be
much more information that way. Not through me.
Even Des Smirnoff noticed eventually that there
were too many people named Kendoro around
him. You and Judit haven't exactly been keeping a
low profile, you know. Smirnoff and Minkus
started being careful what they said around me last
week. Today I came in to find they'd changed the
passwords on all their files . . . and then I saw one
of those windowless skimmers from Interrogation
on the landing pad. I had to get out. I'm not brave
like you and Judit, you know that. If they took me
to Interrogation, I don't know what I might have
told them."
Surrounded by unknown people, Khetala
clung with bruising fingers to Acorna. She quietly
led the child away to the kitchen, hoping that the
probably unusual experience of having all she
wanted to eat would soothe and reassure her.
"Stop apologizing!" Calum snorted. He put one
arm round Mercy's shoulders, as if to hold her
upright. "I've heard about some of the methods
Interrogation uses. One jab of the needle and you
spill all, no matter how you try to keep from talk-
ing. I doubt I could stand up against them myself.
You did exactly the right thing—not just for your-
self, but for all of us—by getting out before they
could take you." He glared at Pal. "What were you
thinking of, to let the kid stay there at all after
they started suspecting her?"
"I had no reason to think she was under suspi-
cion," Pal said stiffly, "and the inside information
she has provided on Guardians of the Peace activi-
ties has been invaluable. She's warned three of our
field agents to get out before the Guardians could
break up the hedgerow schools they were running
for factory children and arrest our people."
"With that kind of record, even the Guardians
would have had to figure out there was a fly on
the office wall somewhere," Calum exclaimed.
"What was your plan: save the field agents and
sacrifice the local one?"
"There was no need for any suspicion to have
fallen on Mercy if she had been discreet," Pal said.
"Discreet? Didn't you listen to the girl? It was
her name, not her actions, that got her in trou-
ble," Calum said, blithely reversing his previous
ANNE MCCAFFREY AND MARGARET BALL
308
argument. "If you two hadn't been taking Acorna
all over Kezdet to stir up trouble, maybe it
•wouldn't be so dangerous for her to be a Kendoro."
"Were you followed here. Mercy?" Pal asked,
ignoring Calum.
The girl shivered. "I don't know. I don't think
so. ... I used the old route, through East Celtalan,
and then the tunnels under the Riverwalk Park."
"Let's hope you haven't compromised it, then."
Calum snorted. "Pal, if the Guardians are
watching out for people named Kendoro, you can
be sure they've got a watch on this house. What
difference does it make whether Mercy was fol-
lowed? The house is already under surveillance.
But they're hardly likely to break into Delszaki
Li's private residence to get a girl who's committed
no crimes . . . are they?"
At this point Judit returned from her appoint-
ment with the head of Public Works and entered
the fray.
"Pal, leave Mercy alone!" Judit commanded.
"She's had the hardest job of any of us, and if she
says it was time for her to clear out, the least you
can do is trust her judgment."
Pal threw up his hands. "I give up! Two big sis-
ters in one household is more than any man should
be expected to take."
"Fine," Judit retorted, "next time you can go
and talk to the Public Works Department. Tumlm
Viggers is refusing to certify our base on Maganos
for colonization. He says it's an untried technology
and the architect needs to come to Kezdet to
explain his plans in person."
Acorna
309
"The architect happens to be dead!" Gill
exclaimed.
"Precisely. It's a stalling maneuver." Judit
frowned. "Usually that means they want more
bribes. But Viggers didn't hear any of Delszaki's
hints in that direction. Maybe he really doesn't
understand the base design. It is a radical depar-
ture from standard practice in some ways . . . and
Kezdets Public Works Department doesn't even
have any experience with standard space environ-
ment designs."
Delszaki Li had steered his hover-chair in
behind Judit and had been watching the argument
with quiet amusement.
"Perhaps would be wise for some people to go
to Maganos," he suggested. "Report, please, on
how lunar base construction progresses; demon-
strate success of habitat and ecological system."
"I'll go," Gill said. "Rafik may not be back for a
while, and heaven forbid we should tear Calum
away from his astronomical optimization pro-
grams." He looked at Acorna. "And ... I didn't
have a chance to tell you yet, but we spotted Hafiz
this morning. Three guesses what he'<f doing here!
I think Acorna had better come with me. That'll
keep her out of his way." Am) out of trouble, he
added silently to himself.
"I'll go with her," Pal said immediately. He shot
a dirty look at Mercy, who didn't notice. Her
attention was all on Calum, who was talking
quietly with her in a corner. "This house is entirely
too full of sisters."
"Judit," Delszaki Li said while Pal and Gill
ANNE MCCAFFREY AND MARGARET BALL
310
started discussing how they would produce a con-
vincing report for Public Works, "I wish you
would accompany them."
"Why me? Not that I mind," Judit said hastily,
"but you need an assistant." She glanced at Gill.
For some reason the idea of studying a half-
completed lunar colony with Gill sounded as
attractive as a month-long holiday on the rainbow
beaches of Erev Ba.
"Also need someone with sense to keep these
children out of trouble," Li said, which made
Judit feel like the aging spinster governess in a
Victorian household. Or the maiden aunt. "As for
assistant. Mercy can take over in your absence.
Continue tradition of a Kendoro as my personal
assistant." He cackled under his breath. "You and
Pal need to get busy, produce next generation of
Kendoros before this old man -wears out all three
of this generation." His glance at Gill was full of
meaning.
Judit blushed and tried to think of some way
to disguise her eagerness to go.
"Seems hard on Pal," she murmured. "He's
going to Maganos to get away from his big sisters,
and now you're sending one of us along to keep
tabs on him."
Li cackled again. "I think maybe Pal has other
reason for wishing to go to Maganos." He looked
meaningfully at Pal, who was staring at Acorna
with an expression his loving older sister could
only categorize as goopy in the extreme. "Just
when I have an assistant who understands my
mind," he sighed with pretended disappointment,
311
"his gets bent in another direction. You will go to
Maganos, Judit," he said firmly, a little too soon
for Judit to be sure that his previous complaint
had been meant to apply only to Pal. "Mercy will
stay and take care of poor old man in his declining
years."
"If you're sure she can do it. . ." Judit began
doubtfully.
"You people don't appreciate Mercy!" Calum
reentered the conversation with a bang, still clasp-
ing Mercy's shoulders. "For years she's had the
hardest job of any of you, working undercover for
the Guardians of the Peace. Wasting her intelli-
gence on pretending to be a secretary and carrying
trays ofkava! It's criminal. Do you realize this girl
has an advanced degree in linear systems opti-
mization theory? She's coming down to the base-
ment now with me to see the programs I've
developed to search for Acorna's home world."
Li sighed as they left, but his dark eyes were
twinkling.
"At least is not etchings," he murmured, "but is
getting harder and harder to keep good help these
days!"
313
Brantley Geram, the subcontractor
in charge of building the living
quarters and life-support systems
for Maganos Moon Base, was only too happy to
have representatives of Delszaki Li coming to look
at the work in progress. He was in general a
happy man, working on Maganos in almost com-
plete autonomy, developing the last designs of the
legendary Martin Dehoney, and with the financial
backing of the Li consortium allowing him to
make sure that for once everything was done
exactly as it should be, no corners cut in construc-
tion processes and no inferior materials used.
This did not, he hastened to assure Pal and
Acorna, imply any extravagance. Quite the
reverse. Mr. Dehoney's plans were far-reaching,
ambitious, futuristic, perhaps, but not impractical
or extravagant.
"As you see, we started with minimal living
quarters, due to the expense of lifting shielding
materials into orbit. But as soon as the beneficiation
and reduction processors for the regolith were in
place, we -were able to expand significantly, using
the dust and by-products of reduction as our radia-
tion shield."
Acorna looked over the one large room he was
showing them.
"Is this all?" she asked.
"We will, of course, be able to expand the liv-
ing quarters even more as the processing of
regolith continues," Geram said, "but there's no
need for that at present. We have ample space for
the contractors and work crews here."
"You'll need more space," Acorna said. "How-
fast can you expand the quarters? We'll need dor-
mitories, schoolrooms — "
"Schoolrooms ? "
"Children may take up less space than adults,"
Acorna said, "but they must be educated. Or did
you think Delszaki Li had gone into the business
of exploiting child laborers like the rest of
Kezdet?"
Brantley Geram sputtered unintelligibly and
finally managed to convey that nobody had told
him anything about children.
"That's why Mr. Li wants all the machinery
designed for easy maintenance and operation by
people with little upper-body strength," Pal told
him. "But I suppose you weren't involved with the
mining machinery contract."
"No," Brantley said, with a regretful glance
down the tunnel leading to the processing section
of the base.
ANNE McCAFFREY AND MARGARET BALL
314
315
Gill had disappeared almost immediately upon
arrival to Inspect the technical -workings, taking Mr.
Li's other assistant—strange how all of Li's assistants
seemed to be named Kendoro—along with him and
reducing Brantley's audience to two. The funny-
looking girl didn't even seem to be interested in the
technical obstacles they had overcome to get this
much of the lunar base operational in such a short
time. Women! Let them into a place and they were
mentally hanging curtains and planting flowers
before you even had a decent oxygen-nitrogen bal-
ance established.
"And don't start turning the "whole space into
communal living quarters," young Kendoro added
to the girl. "Remember, we'll have adults here, too,
and they'll want some privacy. Make sure there
are some shielded bedrooms for staff."
Young men, Brantley thought, were even
worse than women. All they thought about was
bedrooms. Too bad that middle-aged miner, Gill
something, hadn't stayed to inspect the base living
quarters. He had looked like a sensible man.
"Privacy is necessarily a low priority in this
phase of the project," he said. "Later on, when the
miners start excavating below the regolith, the
tunnels should provide enough living space to sat-
isfy everyone's needs. In fact, it will be quite luxu-
rious. With solar power from the hyper-mirrors
that we're now constructing, we will have abun-
dant energy. And by incorporating Mr. Nadezda's
suggestion of capturing a cometary asteroid for its
ice core, we will be able to maintain a large base of
water which can be passed through a swimming
pool, a series of decorative ponds, and the hydro-
ponics facility before it is purified for reuse."
"Excellent," Acorna said. "You're quite right,
privacy isn't important now. We need to provide a
safe habitat for as many children as possible. We
can wait as long as necessary for the luxuries."
Pal sighed. "I'm -willing to -wait as long as I
have to," he said.
Acorna, of course, didn't notice his double
meaning. At the moment, she was so entranced
with the vision of refuge for Kezdet's children that
he wasn't sure she had even noticed his presence.
Well, he could only keep trying . . . and waiting.
"Perhaps you'd like to view the hydroponics
section," Brantley suggested, trying to regain the
attention of his wandering audience. "Maintaining
an even ecological balance is, of course, the other
limiting factor in our expansion, as well as the
need for shielded quarters. We could import food,
but in the long run it's better to grow it here; if
enough plants are grown to provide food, they will
automatically meet the oxygen demands of the
people. That means approximately three hundred
square meters of growing area per person, and a
photosynthesis energy requirement of thirty kilo-
watts per person. If we increase the demand for
oxygen faster than we build up the 'ponies, the
whole ecosystem will go out of balance and we'll
have serious problems. Same thing if we expand
the growing area significantly beyond the needs of
present personnel. Balance is the key to success in
any closed ecological system," he said earnestly.
"Mmm," said Acorna as they ducked through the
ANNE McCAFFREY AND MARGARET BALL
316
low tunnel to reach the hydroponics area. No space
•wasted here! She and Pal had to crouch to make it
through; it was a relief to stand up in the spacious
dome allocated to hydroponics, with its moist atmo-
sphere and reflected solar light. She sniffed the air.
"You have a little problem with excess nitrogen."
"Why, yes," Brantley said, surprised. How had
the girl managed to read the gauges from all the
way across the dome? "We're increasing the num-
ber of soybean tanks; they're our principal nitrogen-
fixing legumes. Later we'll add peanuts, too, for a
more varied diet."
"Good. That should take care of it. It's a little
much for me to manage on my own," Acorna said.
Brantley shook his head. "On her own"?
Something about this conversation . . . These peo-
ple seemed to be speaking Basic, but some of the
things they said made no sense at all.
While he was trying to regain his momentum,
Acorna plucked a leaf of chard from the nearest
tank and chewed it daintily, a thoughtful expres-
sion on her face.
"Needs potassium," she said. "Better check
your mix."
"I'd do it if I were you," Pal said cheerfully at
the blank look on Brantley's face. "She has great
intuition about these particular things ... no intu-
ition whatever about some others, though, so it
balances out."
"What do you mean, no intuition?" Acorna
demanded
Great. She might be annoyed with him, but at
least it was attention. Pal grinned.
Acorna
317
"Don't you ever think about the future?"
Brantley Geram sidled off to activate the water
testers. It would take a few minutes to verify that
the girl had been talking off the top of her head
when she claimed the 'ponies tanks were low on
potassium-, but the satisfaction would be worth it.
He knew this system; he'd built it, he maintained
it. No pretty girl could do a better job than his
AI-driven automatic ingredient-balancing system!
"Of course I think about the future," Acorna
snapped at Pal. "That's practically all I think
about—how many children can we house up here,
and how soon we can start bringing them up."
"I meant your personal future," Pal said
patiently.
"Calum is "working on that."
"Finding your home? Yes, but that's not all
there is."
Acorna's pupils narrowed to vertical slits.
"Without other people like me," she said, "I have
no personal future."
"That," said Pal, "is what I mean about your
impaired intuition, Acorna. There are other people
like you right here and you never even noticed.
Don't we want the same things? Don't we care
about the same things? Do I have to grow white
fur on my legs before you'll notice me? Or is all
your love reserved for small, helpless people?
Maybe I should break my leg. Would you notice
me,then?"
"I would not recommend that," Acorna said. "I
do not know if I can heal broken bones." They had
already discovered some limitations to her healing
318
Acorna
ANNE McCAFFREY AND MARGARET BALL
319
power, Delszaki Li's nerve paralysis "was too far
advanced for her to do more than relieve some of
his minor symptoms.
Pal threw up his hands. "You're impossible!
You're deliberately missing the point!"
Acorna took his hand. "Had it occurred to
you," she said softly, "that maybe this particular
point had better be missed? "
"No, it hadn't, and I don't see why," Pal said.
Acorna took a deep breath.
"Pal. We don't know anything at all about my
genus. Your people take twenty years to reach
physical maturity; I've done it in four. For all we
know, I could be old in another four years."
"I don't care," Pal interrupted her. "And even if
it were so, is that any reason for not living now?"
"We don't even know if our species are inter-
fertile."
"I'd be willing to run some tests. We wouldn't
even need a laboratory—" Pal smiled "—and I'd
be happy to repeat the experiment over and over."
"Don't you want children?"
"Dear lady of my heart," Pal said, "we're going
to have children. Several hundred of them, for
starters!"
As he checked the results of the water test with
unbelieving eyes, Brantley Geram heard them
laughing and thought they must have been run-
ning their own tests on the tank mix. Okay, so the
girl had been right: potassium levels -were down. A
lucky guess, that was all. A lucky guess.
Ed Minkus took the call which came into the
Guardians of the Peace offices. When he realized
the origin of the call, he covered the mouthpiece
and hissed across the room at Des Smirnoff.
"We've got the inspector on our neck. Over
that dock shooting. The grieving parent is on his
way here and we have to prove it wasn't our negli-
gence that caused his death."
"Negligence? Negligence?" Des said, bluster-
ing because any call from the inspector was
startling—and dangerous. One day the man was
going to figure out just how little he knew about
this department. When he started taking an inter-
est in things, there would be an awful lot of
"things" that would need to be rapidly "lost."
"Yes, sir, we certainly will, sir. All the files
ready and the tri-d documentation of the ... ah ...
regrettable incident," Des was saying, almost
falling into the phone to project earnest, and inno-
cent, sincerity. "Yes, yes. I got the name: Hafiz
Harakamian." He put the unit down as if it car-
ried skin-eating plague.
"Harakamian the father is coming here?" From
his surfing of the trade nets the name was instantly
familiar to Smirnotf, and suddenly he realized who
the man known as "Farkas Hamisen," with his
connection to Rafik Nadezda, must really have
been. The planet seemed to grow aliases the way
some people grew . . . ears. "Did we save the files?
I thought we gave the stuff to Nadezda?"
"He got copies, but our files sure show the
tungsten bomb, and that'll save our liver and
lights."
ANNE MCCAFFREY AND MARGARET BALL
320
Smirnoff glowered at his subordinate. "You
hope!"
Then the door to their office swung open and
in came their new clerk, Cowdy, a very shapely
young woman, herded inside, back first, by the
prodding finger of the man who -was barging in
without proper introduction.
"How many times must I tell—" Smirnoff
switched gears the moment he saw their visitor, who
was unctuously backing Cowdy into the room. "Oh,
sir, we didn't expect you so quickly," and he rose, as
gracious as if he had never started to ream his
underling out of her tights. "May I, and my partner,
express our deep sympathy and regret for the unfor-
tunate way in which your son met his end?"
"I want to <>ee the records," Hafiz Harakamian
said in an absolutely expressionless voice, taking a
seat at the vid-screen and looking from it to
Smirnoff expectantly.
Minkus nearly fell over his own feet and
Smirnoff's to key up the necessary file. And there
it was: the perp's unswerving progress toward a
certain ship, the scanners' discovery of the tung-
sten bomb, their race to intercept him, and then
their neat skewering of him with stunner shots.
Then the all-important close-up of Des defusing
the tungsten bomb.
"He couldn't have been that stupid," Hafiz was
heard to mutter, at which point both Minkus and
Smirnoff began to relax.
"You see, Honorable Harakamian, how little
option there was! For that device to have been
planted . . ." Smirnoff shrugged eloquently.
Acorna. 321
"Yes, I see." He rose from the desk and turned
with a very cold and distant expression to face
them. "I have come to collect his remains."
"There were none. He was cremated," Ed
blurted out.
"Cremated? You donkey! You horse's ass, you
camel's slime spit..."
"Rafik said that was the way — "
"Rafik?" Hafiz lowered the arm with which he
was dramatically gesturing. "Rafik here?" Relief
flooded his features. "Then it was done as the
Prophets have ordained?"
"Of course. How could you doubt our effi-
ciency in such a detail?" Smirnoff said. "And, of
course, we had Nadezda to direct the ceremonies.
But, he is on his way to you. He felt it only neces-
sary."
Hafiz's expression altered and he regarded
Smirnoflf as one would camel's green cud on formal
attire. "So the bomb was meant for my nephew!"
"It was?" Ed Minkus looked innocently at the
Honorable Harakamian.
"There was bad blood between them, that is
true," Harakamian said, dropping his head as if in
deep sorrow. Then, tilting his head a trifle, he
asked, "I don't suppose you would know where
the ward of my nephew would be? On the ship
with him, returning my son's ceremonially blessed
ashes?"
"No, he went by himself. The others are still at
Mr. Li's," Ed replied, and managed a sickly grin as
Smirnoff's expression told him he should probably
have reserved that information for a price.
322
ANNE MCCAFFREY AND MARGARET BALL
323
"Not Mr. Delszaki Li?" Hafiz exclaimed.
"The very man," Smirnotf replied.
"Thank you. And good day," Hafiz said, and
made as speedy a departure as his arrival.
"You stupid twit! You ninny-hammered log-
head! You anvil-pated numskull. Have you any
idea how much that information would have
meant in good House Harakamian credits? And
you gave it to him?"
Ed Minkus drooped. It would take him a long
time to get over that.
It did not, however, take Hafiz Harakamian very
long to reach the house of Mr. Delszaki Li. And
there he sat, observing who came and went. When
the skimmer pilot seemed restless, Hafiz reminded
him that he had agreed to the hire of his vehicle
and if he, Hafiz, wished to spend all day across
from the house of Mr. Li, the meter was ticking
and what difference did it make to what the vehi-
cle did with its time?
"Who was you looking to find?" the driver
asked. "Lotsa people go in and out of that house."
"Well, why not?" Hafiz said to himself. "Would
you have noticed a female with silver hair and ..."
The driver swung to face his client, his eyes
wide with surprise. "How wouldja know anything
about the Lady of the Lights? I only picked you
up at the spaceport."
"Lady of the Lights? My sweet little Acorna
has achieved the distinction of a title?" Hafiz said.
"You better believe it. Cured my sister of a
birthmark which uglified her to the point no
decent man would look at one so cursed. And,
without the stain, she's not that bad lookin'." The
transformation seemed to have surprised the
driver.
Hafiz sighed. He had thought it might be easy
to smuggle her back to his ship and away. But if
she had achieved this sort of adoring notoriety, the
odds had turned astronomical. The Didi had sug-
gested that the girl had acquired unusual protec-
tors.
"Anyway," the driver went on, all affability
now, "she ain't here. She and the big red-beard
and the littler guy went off to Maganos two days
ago. To see the moon installation. But they're goin'
to have trouble with that," he added, frowning.
"Oh?" Hafiz said encouragingly.
"Yeah, only they haven't figgered it out yet. If
I'd of been the one to take them to the spaceport,
instead of a House Li pilot, I'd of told them a thing
or two." He laid an oily, broken-nailed finger
along the side of his nose and winked at Hafiz.
"You wanna know anything around here, you ask
drivers. They hear a lot even if they do sit up
front, pretending they're deef."
"Do tell," Hafiz said, making a paper plane out
of a large denomination credit note which, with a
practiced flick of his wrist, lofted over the parti-
tion, where it flew straight into the driver's quick
hand.
"That I can, because we're all wantin' the Lady
Epona to get the better of the Child Bonders and
clean up Kezdet's reputation. Why, just the other
324 -—' ANNE MCCAFFREY AND MARGARET BALL
day, there was some kinda fanatic trying to blow
up the docks with a bomb!"
"Really! Is there some place nearby •where a
man like yourself and I might have a quiet meal
and discreet conversation?"
The driver revved the engine of the skimmer in
answer. "Know the very place!"
Judit listened politely. Gill with growing enthusi-
asm, to the mining subcontractor's description of
the simple three-drum drag scraper which was
already in operation as they tested feasibility of
Dehoney's first-stage designs.
"This is one of DPWs stated objections to the
Maganos proposal," Judit told Gill and the sub-
contractor. "They say the drag scraper is an out-
dated twentieth-century technology."
Provola Quero, the subcontractor, sneered.
"They should talk! Kezdet's mines aren't just out-
dated, they're medieval! Besides, haven't they ever
heard of the saying, 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it'?"
She jammed both hands deep into the pockets of
her coveralls and paced to the next viewing win-
dow, talking nonstop. "The scraper i) outdated for
planetary use; it's inefficient and inflexible. And it's
not worth setting up for quick in-and-out asteroid
jobs. But as a starter system for Maganos, it is
ideal. It's simple, rugged, and required very low
mass to be lifted up here. When we scale up, of
course, we'll replace this with more efficient, high-
volume methods . . . using equipment fabricated
right here on Maganos, in the pressurized repair
325
shop we have already set up to deal with scraper
repairs and working with the high-purity struc-
tural metals we reduce from the first batches of
lunar regolith. Dehoney planned this operation to
bootstrap itself from the git-go. He always said that
the whole point of lunar industrialization was to do
what you couQn 't do dirtside, not to throw away
credits lifting machinery designed for gravity and
atmosphere into orbit and then fixing the inevitable
problems."
Gill's eyes lit up. "You knew Dehoney person-
ally?"
"Studied with him for five years," Provola said,
running a hand through her yellow crewcut.
"Helped assemble the designs for his prize-
winning solar greenhouse habitat." She tapped the
stud in her nose, which Gill now recognized as a
miniature version of the space-station icon that
was the famed Andromeda Prize, worked in black
enamel and diamonds. "/ plan to be the next
Andromeda prizewinner," she added, "and
Maganos is going to do it. Just tell me what you
need to make DPW happy, and I'll bury them in
documentation proving the worth of Dehoney's
plans . . . and my implementation."
She and Gill moved happily into a discussion
of duty cycles, component replacement, and mod-
ular design, -while Judit stared out the viewport at
the monotonous drag, scrape, lift of the cable-
driven machinery. She didn't need to follow? the
engineering discussion in detail to be reassured
that both Gill and Provola knew what they were
talking about; years of working with Amalgamated
326
Acorna 327
ANNE MCCAFFREY AND MARGARET BALL
had given her a sixth sense for which engineers
knew their field and -which ones were shooting out
clouds of technical terminology to disguise their
incompetence and laziness. Gill and Provola
Quero were both in the first class. If they were
satisfied that this three-drum whatsit was the best
way to initiate lunar mining on Maganos, she had
no doubt they were right.
What she did doubt—very seriously—was the
usefulness of any engineering argument to con-
vince Tumim Viggers of the Public Works
Department. Accustomed to reading nuances of
speech and slight gestures of body language in
order to survive with Amalgamated, Judit had
picked up far more from that brief, inconclusive
meeting than diggers had actually dau). The man
•wasn't really concerned about the technical speci-
fications for Maganos; he'd thrown out those
objections almost casually, as if he were only play-
ing for time. More disturbing, he had evinced no
interest in Delszaki Li's hinted bribes either. When
a Kezdet bureaucrat didn't take a bribe, you knew
you were in real trouble.
She tried listening more carefully to the techni-
cal argument, to take her mind off what she sus-
pected were their more dangerous political
problems. Gill was querying the need for the
large-scale pressurized repair shop. It had been
relatively low on Dehoney's original list of priori-
ties; why had Provola chosen to make it the first
major construction?
"Because -we need it now, and we're going to
need it more every day!" Provola tugged at the
one long braid dangling at the side of her short,
bristly haircut. "Sure, some of this work can be
done suited and on the surface, but why should
we? Give me one good reason for rewinding an
electric motor in a vacuum! You've worked aster-
oids; you should know that dust is the worst prob-
lem oflow-g, low-atmosphere environments." Even
you, her contemptuous tone implied.
"We managed our repairs on the ship," Gill
said.
"You," Provola flashed back, "had to be
portable. We don't. We're going to need an indus-
trial-sized shop soon enough to fabricate the next
generation of mining machinery, so why not build
it now and save the cost of expanding later? "
Gill put up his hands to register capitulation.
"All right, all right," he said pacifically. "You're
right; I'm used to small, quick operations, not to
permanent base construction. I wouldn't mind
learning, though."
Provola gave him a sudden, flashing smile. "And
/," she admitted, "have more theoretical than practi-
cal experience. Are you going to hire on to the
Maganos project? We'd make a good team . . .
unless you have problems with a woman supervi-
n „
?"
sor
"I like women," Gill said.
"That doesn't answer the question. I wasn't
asking what you like to do with your hands when
you're off duty."
Gill reached out for Judit and pulled her close
to him. "My hands, and my off duty, are already
committed, lady," he said, "and I wouldn't object to
328
ANNE MCCAFFREY AND MARGARET BALL
329
working for any student of Martin Dehoney's ... if
that answers your question. Unfortunately, I'm not
free to stay on Maganos."
"Why not?" Judit cried. She had just begun
spinning a picture of how pleasant their life here
could be. Delszaki Li had already shown her plans
of the private living quarters he intended to allo-
cate to the woman in charge of welfare and educa-
tion for the rescued children and had hinted
strongly that he would like her to be that woman.
If Gill took a job on the mining side of the project,
he could share those quarters . . . and he loved
children. There couldn't be a better man to restore
the children's faith after the horrendous experi-
ences some of them had been through.
But, of course, he hadn't actually dale) he
wanted to stay -with her. He had only been putting
an arm round her at every opportunity, and want-
ing her to go with him wherever he went, and . . .
Judit swallowed her disappointment.
"Can't ditch my buddies," Gill said. "We've
always been a team, the three of us. Calum and
Rafik need somebody with some muscle to do the
heavy jobs, and somebody with some common
sense to get them out of the crazy complications
they're always getting into. I'd be a real jerk if I
asked them to buy out my third of the Uhuru just
because I'm a little older than they are and feel like
settling down in a cushy construction job." The
words were directed at Provola Quero, but his blue
eyes -were on Judit, begging her to understand.
She swallowed again and nodded slowly. Of
course he wouldn't break up the partnership. She
should have understood that was why he never said
anything about the future, even when he was most
enthusiastically demonstrating his desire for her
company in the present. "I wouldn't want a real jerk
to ... work on the project," she said in a small voice.
"But perhaps you'll visit occasionally."
"As often as I can arrange it," Gill said, a wistful
look on his broad face. "Oftener."
It was cold comfort, but it was better than noth-
ing, Judit told herself. Anyway, what did she have
to complain about? She had been incredibly lucky
in her life so far. And now, at only twenty-eight, she
was being offered the chance to do what she loved
most: working with children, designing their educa-
tion, overseeing their welfare, and healing the invis-
ible wounds that she herself knew all too well. It
would be asking too much for the fates to throw in
a fortyish, broad-shouldered, red-bearded Viking
throwback as a life's companion in that work.
Hafiz Harakamian found the skimmer driver an
invaluable source of information. Not only did he
know the day on which Acorna was due to return
from Maganos, he claimed to know the very hour of
her return. But he also warned Hafiz that waiting
for her at the shuttle port would not be a good idea.
"Too many folks wants to see our little Lady of
the Lights, now that word's getting out about her,"
he warned. "Goin' to be a crowd at the port. If she
comes out in it, you'll never get to her; if she's smart
and gets Security to let her take a back exit, you'll
miss her like the rest of 'em."
330
Acorna
ANNE McCAFFREY AND MARGARET BALL
331
He suggested that he bring Hafiz back to the Li
residence at the exact time -when Acorna was
scheduled to return.
"I have always preferred to be in place well
before anybody else is expected," Hafiz said with
the firmness of a man who had survived the
thirty-year Harakamian—Batsu feud and had
negotiated a partitioning of the planetary business
without, like the two elder Harakamians, losing his
head . . . literally. "We will take our position out-
side the Li mansion two standard hours before the
arrival."
At the time, this had seemed like an excellent
idea. Before the two-hour safely margin was even
one-third past, though, Hafiz Harakamian recog-
nized that his tactical instincts had been impaired
by too many years in the tropical clime of his home
planet. Nobody had mentioned to him that Kezdet's
rainy season was about to begin. Or that the rainy
season was accompanied by a biting cold wind from
the northern mountains. And, since it had been
warm and sunny until this morning, he hadn't
noticed that this particular skimmer had a leak in
the roof and allowed an irritating draft to whistle
through from one ill-fitting window to the next. He
shifted his position so that the worst of the drip
would fall on the driver and told himself philosoph-
ically that it was always a mistake to rely on hired
equipment and staff, he should have brought his
own people and transportation. But after the way
young Rafik had cheated him over the unicorn girl,
he had rather wanted to pull off this coup single-
handed—the way he'd done in the old days, before
he became head of House Harakamian. Just to let
Rafik see that the old man wasn't past it yet.
The iron-studded front doors of the Li residence
swung open, revealing the fantasy of thin-sliced,
colorful Illic self-lighting crystals that illuminated
the inner doors. Hafiz admired the play of lights
and colors while at the same time registering that no
other skimmer had pulled up; somebody was com-
ing out, not going in. No need to do anything except
slump down in his seat and be inconspicuous. . . .
A light tapping on the window beside him was
the end of that notion. When he pushed a button to
make the glass sound-permeable, it stuck. Cheap,
rented equipment! He had to physically open the
window. A fine cold rain slanted in, accompanied
by a yellow hand holding a holo-card.
"Mr. Li sends his compliments," said the ser-
vant, who, Hafiz noted irritably, was protected by a
rainshield extending at least a foot around his body,
"and suggests that the head of House Harakamian
might be more comfortable keeping him under
surveillance from iiu'u)e the house."
At least Delszaki Li knew how things should be
done between equals. It would probably be insult-
ing to hint that the sudden disappearance of Hafiz
Harakamian would cause untoward repercussions
upon several branches of the Li consortium. Hafiz
insulted the servant anyway, and received a grace-
ful reassurance that this was merely a social invita-
tion, nothing more. Of course, the man would have
said that anyway. . . . Hafiz grunted agreement and
climbed stiffly out of the rented skimmer.
"Wait here," he told the driver.
332
Acorna
ANNE McCAFFREY AND MARGARET BALL
333
He could perfectly well have called up another
and better-quality skimmer when he was ready to
leave, but after the miserable hour he'd just spent, it
suited him to think of the skimmer driver sitting
and shivering in his drafty vehicle. Besides, in deli-
cate business negotiations, there was always the
possibility that one might have to depart in haste,
omitting the usual polite formalities of leave-taking.
The servant extended his personal shield to
cover Hafiz on the short walk across the street.
Once inside the double doors of iron and crystal, he
was invited to hand over his lightly sprinkled tur-
ban and outer robe for drying while he took kava
with Delszaki Li.
The head of the Li consortium was older than
Hafiz had expected, considering the energy with
which he directed the galaxy-wide network of the
varied Li manufacturing and financial interests. He
looked -with interest at the shriveled, yellow-faced
man in a hover-chair, a blanket covering the wasted
body whose absolute immobility betrayed his grow-
ing paralysis, only the snapping black eyes still
showing the life that burned brightly inside. The
man was older than Hafiz by a generation or
more, older than any living member of House
Harakamian. Hafiz's sense of danger went up a
notch. Unlike some people, followers of the Three
Prophets knew better than to underestimate the
aged. In his long and successful life, Delszaki Li
had undoubtedly used, analyzed, and countered
every trick Hafiz knew, and then some.
While they sipped the first small cups of hot, fra-
grant kava and murmured conversational nothings
at one another, Hafiz felt his brain working furi-
ously. There was no point in clinging to his first
plan of snatching Acorna, claiming she was his wife
by the Books of the Prophets, and removing her
from Kezdet while the Guardians of the Peace were
still asking the religious courts for a ruling. Not
only had he lost the advantage of surprise, but he
doubted his ability to fool Delszaki Li as easily as
one could fool or bribe the Guardians. A straight-
forward, honest approach was more likely to be
successful . . . that is, a reasonably straightforward
and honest approach. His ancestors would recon-
stitute their corporeal substances if he let down
House Harakamian by laying all his cards on the
table at once.
After the necessary exchange of condolences
from Li on the loss of Tapha and apologies from
Hafiz for the boy's idiotic behavior, he made his
first oblique approach.
"Regrettable though the death of my son may
be," said Hafiz, reflecting on the matter with little
internal regret whatsoever, "it is -written in the
Book of the Second Prophet, 'When you embrace
your wife or child, be aware that it is a human being
you are embracing; then should they die, you will
not be unreasonably grieved.' As is enjoined upon
me by my faith, therefore, I have put aside care for
the dead and am now concerned tor the living.
Before his death, Tapha informed me that my
nephew, Rafik, had brought to this planet my
young ward, Acorna, a child whom he kidnapped
from my home last year. These rash young men!"
Hafiz sighed with a conspiratorial smile at Li.
334
ANNE McCAFFREY AND MARGARET BALL
"They will be the death of us with their escapades
and exploits,-will they not?"
"On contrary," said Li, his black eyes twinkling,
"I find escapades of young people most rejuvenat-
ing force in this ancient life. But Rafik has brought
no child named Acorna here."
"Perhaps he changed her name," Hafiz sug-
gested. "She is unmistakable—a rarity, deformed,
some would say, but in a most attractive way. Tall
and slender, with silver hair and a small horn in the
middle other forehead."
Li's face creased into a smile and Hafiz let out
the breath he had not been aware of holding. Thank
the Prophet, the old man was going to admit
Acorna's presence!
"Ah, you are speaking of the one our people of
Kezdet call the Lady of Lights. But she is not a
child. She is a mature woman and no man's ward."
"That's impossible!" Hafiz protested. "I tell you,
I saw the child less than two standard years ago.
She seemed to be about six, then — I mean, she w(U
six," he corrected himself firmly, remembering that
she was supposed to be his ward and that he would
be expected to know? her exact age. "Even on
Kezdet, are children of seven considered adults?"
"Ah. There is concept of chronological age, and
there is concept of developmental age," Li said
serenely. "The one whom I know as Acorna is most
assuredly a grown woman. Allow me to show you."
For a wild moment Hafiz thought that Acorna
had been smuggled into the house by a back way and
that Li was actually going to have her brought in;
then the holo-paintings on the far wall dimmed, to be
Acorna
335
replaced by obviously home-made vids. The image of
a graceful, six-foot-tall Acorna moved, life-sized,
across the wall, plucking flowers in a walled garden,
playing with a toddler, gracefully lifting a long, full
skirt to run up a flight of golden limestone stairs.
"Perhaps," Li suggested, eyes twinkling at the
astounded expression on Haftzs face, "is not the
one you know as Acorna? Perhaps is coincidence of
name and appearance?"
"Impossible," Hafiz said. "There can't be two
like that."
Nor could she possibly have grown so fast. The
vids must be some trickery. He decided to forget the
argument about Acorna's age and press on to his sec-
ond point. He had the skimmer driver to thank for
the gossip that gave him this additional argument.
"It was most irresponsible of my nephew to
bring her to this superstition-riddled place," he
said, "and I shall speak severely to Rafik when I
see him. She is in danger from hired assassins,
some possibly actually in government pay. It is my
duty to take her back to a place where she will be
kept safe, loved, and cherished as the unique being
she is."
"Perhaps is not wishing to be 'safe, loved, and
cherished' in museum of rarities." Li smiled.
"Perhaps prefers danger and important -work which
only she can do."
Hafiz took a deep breath and counted to thir-
teen slowly. It would be most impolitic to accuse his
host of talking nonsense. But what important -work
could a child like that be doing? This was just
another lie to delay him, like those faked vids.
336
AlMNE MCCAFFREY AND MARGARET BALL
337
He had only reached ten when the door burst
open and a short, fair-haired young man burst in.
"Delszaki, I think we've got it!" he exclaimed.
"Probabilities on this latest run show a ninety per-
cent chance that it's somewhere in the Coma
Berenices area—" He halted and stared at Hafiz
with an expression of horror-struck recognition.
"Ah, that is, never mind, I'll come back later. ..."
"Please." Li stopped him with a single word.
"Do be seated. I feel sure that Mr. Harakamian will
be as interested as I in the results of your research."
The young man bowed and tried to surrepti-
tiously brush the crumbs off his wrinkled coveralls.
His eyes were red-rimmed, as though he'd been
working "without sleep for several nights.
"Delszaki," he said, "I don't think you under-
stand. This guy tried to kidnap Acorna once
already."
"Excuse me," Hafiz said, "I do not believe I have
the honor of your acquaintance."
"Calum Baird," the young man said. He wasn't
so young, now that Hafiz looked at him closely: late
thirties, perhaps. It was the awkwardness and the
exuberance that had misled Hafiz. "And -we have
met... at your home on Laboue . . . although you
may not recognize me. I was Rafik's senior 'wife,'"
he said with a demure smile. "The ugly one."
Hafiz burst into uninhibited laughter. "That ras-
cal, how he has tricked me again and again! Truly a
worthy successor to House Harakamian! How did
he persuade you to put on a hijab? You do not look
like the sort of man who takes a secret delight in
putting on women's clothing . . . although appear-
ances can be deceiving. / certainly was deceived."
"Rafik talked me into it," Calum said. "Rafik, as
you may have noticed, can talk anyone into almost
anything."
"Of course he can," Hafiz nodded. "He is my
nephew, after all. The Harakamian strain runs true
in him, at least." Tapha, on the other hand . . . Oh,
well, Tapha was no longer a factor. "But I interrupt.
You wished to tell Mr. Li something?"
An almost imperceptible nod from Delszaki Li
reassured Calum that it was indeed all right to go
ahead.
"I think we've pinpointed Acorna's home
world, sir. Once I normalized the astronomical
data bases ..."
"Home world?" Hafiz interrupted in spite of
himself.
"Yes. Where her people come from. Of course,
she wants to get back to her own race," Calum said.
"Her own race? But I thought..."
"That she was human?" Calum shook his head.
"No way. We don't know much about her back-
ground, but the pod she was found in shows that
she comes from an advanced space-faring race with
technology far beyond our own in some ways."
"The pod she was found in," Hafiz repeated. He
seemed to be reduced to repeating phrases all the
time. He didn't like the feeling that everything was
shifting and changing under his feet. "You mean
there are others like her?"
"I doubt," Calum said, "that it would be possible
to sustain a high-tech, space-faring civilization with
a population of less than, say, several million at the
338
Acorna 339
ANNE MCCAFFREY AND MARGARET BALL
absolute lowest estimate. The need for specializa-
tion alone would preclude any smaller grouping."
"Several million." By the Three Prophets, he was
repeating himself! Hafiz pulled himself together.
"You could have told me this before," he said
severely. "It might have saved us all a lot of trouble."
"I didn't know where her planet was until this
morning," Calum protested. "Where it probably is,
I mean. There's only one way to be sure. Someone
will have to go and see. ..."
The look of naked longing on his face surprised
Hafiz, but he did not have time to consider what it
might mean. Another person had entered, as uncer-
emoniously as Calum.
"I might have known you'd be here," Rafik
snarled at his uncle as he barged into the room. "I
turned around as soon as I heard a Harakamian
ship had applied for clearance into Kezdet space. It
didn't take you long to track down where Acorna
was staying, did it? Well, it won't work! She's not
here, and you're not getting her back to add to your
museum!"
"I am delighted to see you, too, my beloved
nephew," Hafiz said urbanely. "As for the matter of
Acorna . . . perhaps -we can come to some arrange-
ment that will be satisfactory to both of us."
"Tapha's ashes?"
"Better a live nephew than a dead son," said
Hafiz with his benign smile.
Rafik's whole body tensed slightly. "Well, then.
I was going to give them back to you anyway, you
know. And the cremation was performed according
to the orthodox rituals."
"I know that," Hafiz said "Just as I know that
you have not really let that Neo-Hadithian non-
sense rot your brain and supplant your decent reli-
gious upbringing."
"How ..." Rafik croaked.
Hafiz smiled and gestured at Calum.
"Well, now, boy. You would hardly be letting
your senior 'wife' run around without a hijab if you
were truly a Neo-Hadithian, would you? I must
admit, you completely took me in at the time," he
went on. He felt he could afford a little generosity,
since Rafik was so completely off balance. It would
soften the boy up for the final agreement. "But I
hold no grudge. You have shown me that you have
the true Harakamian mentality."
As Rafik only goggled at him, Hafiz continued,
looking away from the boy so that his words would
not seem too pointed.
"Having lost my only son, I am in need of an
heir. A worthy heir," he emphasized, "one of my
own blood, one almost as clever as I am myself.
Such a one would, of course, have to be trained in
the complex affairs of the House. Training him
would be very nearly a full-time occupation for me.
I suspect I would have very little time left to pursue
my hobby of collecting . . . rarities."
Rafik gulped audibly. "I am committed to finish-
ing the Maganos Moon Base project," he said at
last.
"House Harakamian honors its commitments,"
Hafiz said.
"My partnership with Calum and Gill— "
"Is it a lifetime contract?"
ANNE MCCAFFREY AND MARGARET BALL
340
"It's not a formal contract at all," Rafik said. "It
just, well, things just worked out well for the three
of us together."
"Perhaps," Hafiz suggested, placing each word as
delicately as a surgeon cutting out overgrown flesh,
"it is now time for the three of you to work apart."
Rafik glanced at his partner. "Calum?"
"Actually," Calum said, "I wouQ rather like to go
check out my findings on Acorna's home planet
myself."
"Gill. . ."
"If Gill can be compensated for loss of partner-
ship," Delszaki Li said, "is offer of Mr. Harakamian
acceptable to you?"
Rafik looked sternly at his uncle. "You'll leave
Acorna alone?"
"I will swear on the Three Books," Hafiz said.
"Well, then." All the tension seemed to drain out
of Rafik s slender body. "If it suits you ... I, too, will
swear on the Three Books to return to Laboue for
training in the ways of House Harakamian—as
soon as I have completed Maganos Moon Base . ..
if you will compensate my partners appropriately."
After some formal haggling, they agreed that
Hafiz Harakamian would buy out Rafik's and
Calum's shares in the Uhuru from Gill and would
provide Calum -with a subspace-equipped scout
ship from the Harakamian fleet for his search.
Rafik and Calum left, limp with exhaustion from
the bargaining session, to revive their energies with
something stronger than kava, while Hafiz and
Delszaki relaxed with the satisfaction of old men
who have seen matters properly arranged.
Stcorna
341
As soon as they were well out of earshot, Rafik
began chuckling to himself.
"Uncle Hafiz drives a hard bargain ... he
thinks! But if you're really okay with breaking up
the partnership, Calum ..."
"I've been dying to get out to the Comes
Berenices and check my results in person," Calum
said, "but I didn't like to say anything to you and
Gill. Anyway, we're getting a bit old for this aster-
oid-hopping life. Gill, too. I think he's about ready
to retire into a planetside Job . . . especially if it's a
planet Judit Kendoro is on!"
"And I," Rafik said with satisfaction, "have dis-
covered considerable talent for trading during the
process of setting up Maganos on a commercial
basis. I had already been thinking what fun it would
be to have the Harakamian assets to play with.
We'll go on letting Uncle Hafiz think he's driven a
sharp bargain, though. It makes the old man
happy."
Meanwhile, Delszaki Li and Hafiz Harakamian
were enjoying their own interpretation of the bar-
gain over their third cups of kava.
"My nephew is sharp," Hafiz chuckled, "sharp
enough to cut himself. If he had not been in such a
hurry to extract a promise from me, he would have
seen what I think you had already noticed."
Li's face crinkled. "That you had no more inter-
est in Acorna, now that she is believed not to be
unique after all?"
Hafiz nodded. "When this Calum finds her
home—and he strikes me as the sort of obsessed
fanatic who will not rest until he has solved the
342
ANNE MCCAFFREY AND MARGARET BALL
problem—unicorn people will be as common as
Neo-Hadithians. What a fool I should have looked,
collecting and announcing one as a rarity, when
shortly thereafter they would be walking the streets
everywhere. But it is well as it ends. I have an heir
of the blood to carry on the affairs of my house, and
young Rafik has a settled position in life. I keep
thinking of him as a boy, but he's not getting any
younger, you know."
"None of us are," Li said calmly.
"Yes, but you and I have done our work. Rafik
needs a wife—a real wife," Hafiz smiled, "to give us
another generation of traders for House
Harakamian. I will settle the matter as soon as he
comes home."
"I have no doubt you will," murmured Li, "but
might be wise not to announce plans to Rafik just
yet. Leave him illusion of choosing his own woman.
The team of four returned from
Maganos early that afternoon,
with vids, datacubes, construc-
tion records, air and water quality analyses, and
every other bit of evidence they could think of to
support their contention that Maganos Moon Base
was not just potentially habitable but already habit-
able.
"Why must we wait for Phase II?" Acorna
demanded of Oelszaki Li before she was well in
the door. "The base is in use now. The construction
crews are living there; how can this Tumim
Viggers say it is not safe? And there is much space
available within the pressurized sectors. Provola
Quero has caused to be built the very large repair
and manufacturing facility which will be wanted
later, only she does not need it at ail yet•—well,
only a tiny bit of it," she said with a reproachful
glance at Gill's choked-off expostulation. "We
could wall off a small section for repair work and
ANNE McCAFFREY AND MARGARET BALL
344
put children's bunks in the rest—use it for a dor-
mitory until the proper living quarters are com-
pleted. Why should they live so miserably any
longer than is absolutely necessary? Further,
Brantley Geram now understands how he can
expand the 'ponies system rapidly enough to cope
with a sudden increase in population."
"Acorna is responsible for that," Pal put in.
"While we were there, she found a nitrogen imbal-
ance in the air, identified a potassium deficiency in
the water, and showed Geram how to triple 'pon-
ies production practically overnight without
destroying the atmospheric balance."
"The first two things were data that could have
been read from instruments, and I am sure Mr.
Geram would have thought of the ecobalancing
system on his own if he had had time," Acorna
murmured. "All that is not important, Pal—please
do not interrupt!" She turned back to Delszaki Li,
her pale face glowing with the cool silvery light
that showed when she was excited, her eyes
opened so wide that they were silver orbs in her
face. "Truly, Mr. Li, there is no technical problem
•with beginning to use the base immediately—not
one!"
"Unfortunately," Delszaki Li said, "technical
problems are not the only ones. The Kezdet
Authority has forbidden us to go forward with
Maganos Moon Base, or to add any more person-
nel, until is completely satisfied by report of inde-
pendent commission that all construction meets
Kezdet building codes."
Pal snorted. "If the match factory where I used
345
to work meets the building codes, Maganos is so
far beyond that it's not even applicable!"
"Match factory has probably never been
inspected by building commission," Li said
gravely.
"Who's on this independent commission?" Gill
demanded. "We can meet with them right now,
show them the data. I'll convince them Maganos
meets code, if I have to ram the cubes down their
throats!"
"Members of commission have not yet been
appointed," Li said. "Informed sources within
Department of Public Works say selection and
appointment of commission may take several
years." He regarded the four young people—from
his perspective they were all children—benignly.
"Is not technical problem. Is political. Someone
does not intend plan to succeed."
"Who?"
Li's left hand lifted slightly, his approximation
of a shrug.
"Many people profit greatly from exploitation
of children on Kezdet. Could be any of them. Or
all of them. But at this time, is still mystery. We
know, for instance, that owner of Tondubh
Glassworks has bought two judges and a subin-
spector of Guardians. Very well. I pay them bet-
ter bribe than Tondubh, now I have them. Child
Labor League has list of other corrupt govern-
ment officials, paid by this factory or that to
ignore abuses of Federation law. But even if we
buy off all minor officials, is still blocked from
top. Someone with much power and position in
ANNE McCAFFREY AND MARGARET BALL
346
347
government is stopping plan. Someone so
respectable, and so -well concealed, that even
Child Labor League does not know true identity
of man called the Piper."
Gill's shoulders sagged. "Then what can
we do?"
"Dp not despair," Li said. "You have on your
side Delszaki Li, veteran of many years political
and financial double- and triple-crossing. Also
have now secured independent services of consul-
tant -with even more experience than Li in han-
dling corrupt governments, because has run
seriously corrupt organization himself. Hafiz
Harakamian."
Gill turned white. "Get Acorna out of here!"
"Harakamian no longer wishes to acquire
Acorna," Li said. "Talk to Calum and Rafik. They
have much news for you."
But the talk had to wait, because Chiura got
wind of Gill's return. At this point she came flying
down the lift-chute, squealing happily, "Monster
Man! Monster Man!"
"He's big and ugly, all right," said Calum, who
had entered the hall just in time to catch Chiura
executing a flying leap far too soon to reach her
objective, "but don't you think it's a bit over the
top to call him a nwiuter?"
Gill's face was almost as red as his beard.
"It's ... uh ... a game we play," he explained.
By now Jana had arrived after Chiura and the
girls were tugging Gill by both hands toward the
lift-chute. "Umm . . . maybe we can talk upstairs?"
The talk was again delayed until Gill had been
exhausted by chasing Chiura and Jana around the
suite on his hands and knees, roaring like a bull
and occasionally reaching out one large hand to
snatch at flying hair or the hem of a kameez, while
they squealed in pretended terror. Even Khetala,
who at thirteen considered herself too old for such
games, got caught up in the excitement and
laughed and giggled like the other two.
"He is giving them back their childhood," Judit
murmured under cover of the noisy game. There
were tears in her eyes. "I don't know how to do
that."
"You never had a childhood." Pal put an arm
around his sister's shoulders and hugged her. "You
had to grow up too fast, to save Mercy and me."
She looked up at the "little brother," who had
shot up so fast in the last years that now he stood
half a head taller than her.
"Oh, Pal, we neei) Gill at Maganos. The chil-
dren need him. Can't -we persuade Calum and
Rafik-"
"That," said Rafik, grinning, "was what we
wanted to talk to you about."
"You want to talk business while Chiura's
crawling all over him and climbing his beard?"
Calum muttered under his breath.
"Safest time," Rafik replied out of the side of
his mouth. "He won't turn violent while he's fes-
tooned with kids."
They explained their arrangement with Hafiz
Harakamian, somewhat apprehensively, and were
relieved when Gill's broad face broke into a beam-
ing smile.
348
ANNE MCCAFFREY AND MARGARET BALL
"That," he said cheerfully, "simplifies everything."
"We were, um, hoping you'd see it that way,"
Rafik said.
Gill looked at Judit.
"That's a nice living suite Delszaki Li has put
into the Maganos design for you. Plenty of space
for two people, wouldn't you say? Think Li -would
hire a couple to work -with the children, instead of
leaving it all on you ? "
"The proposition would have to be put to him,"
Judit said, lowering her eyes.
"Well, then!" Gill made to get up, but he was
too weighted down with children to make it on the
first try.
"And first," Judit said, very demurely, "the
proposition would have to be put to me. I'm old-
fashioned about these things."
Gill looked at her.
"Me, too," he said, "and I draw the line at
proposing to you in front of two miners and a gag-
gle of giggling kids."
"Then we'll have to do it for you," said Calum
and Rafik in unison.
Calum went down on one knee in front of
Judit. Rafik laid his hand on his heart. Gill started
turning red.
"Dear Judit," Calum said, "would you do us
the immense favor — "
"—and Gill the great honor," Rafik put in.
"Of providing a home and family for this poor,
old, arthritic—"
"I am not arthritic!" Gill bellowed. "That trou-
ble with my right knee is an old sports injury."
349
"—broken-down, lonely, unloved—" Rafik
continued over Gill's protests.
"Oh, stop it, you two!" Judit interrupted them.
"He is by no means unloved." She looked melt-
ingly at Gill, -who was now more purple than red.
"But I think he might have a stroke if you don't
knock it off."
"Then you'd better accept him," Calum said
promptly. "You wouldn't want to be responsible
for the poor old fellow's demise from apoplexy,
would you? A kind-hearted girl like you?"
"We'll ask Li to name that suite at Maganos
after you," Rafik suggested. "The Judit Kendoro
Home For Stray Miners."
"Get out of here," Gill roared, having finally
divested himself of children, "and let me propose
to my girl in my own way and my own time!" He
shooed Calum, Rafik, and all three children out of
the room. "And no eavesdropping!"
That the two former partners did not, spoke vol-
umes for their self-discipline and the fact that they
had both decided Gill and Judit were exactly
suited to each other.
Each went down the lift-chute with a much
lighter heart to see what they could do to solve the
major problem now facing the Maganos Moon
Base scheme.
"Bribery will only get you so far," Rafik said. "I
suspect there is more at stake than money or pres-
tige or mere power."
"There's nothing 'mere' about power, Rafik,"
ANNE MCCAFFREY AND MARGARET BALL
350
351
Calum said in a sudden fit of depression, brought
on as much by the happy scene being enacted in
the children's quarters as anticipation of facing an
unknown quantity of opponents.
It couldn't just be this mysterious Piper person,
not when Mr. Li -was confounded by the machina-
tions behind the scenes.
"Well, what Mr. Li can't find out. Uncle Hafiz
can.
"Don't you mean Papa Hafiz?" he said almost
snidely.
"Uncle, smunckle, papa doppa," Rafik said,
shrugging indifferently, "we are both Harakamians
and nothing will daunt us!" He raised a fist in
respect of his determination as they reached the
door leading to Mr. Li's domain. The fist altered
and its knuckles rapped most circumspectly for
admission.
During their absence in the children's suite,
Uncle Hafiz had joined Mr. Li, and so had the
scruffy man they identified as Pedir, the auxiliary
skimmer driver who had attached himself,
limpetlike, to Acorna and Judit for their excur-
sions.
"Ah, is good you have returned," Mr. Li said.
"You know Pedir?"
After Rafik and Calum had exchanged greet-
ings and seated themselves, Mr. Li continued. "Is
source of much local knowledge and gossip."
"Knows where a lot of bodies have been
buried, you might even say," Uncle Hafiz added,
stroking the chin beard he was cultivating.
"We," and Mr. Li's delicate hand gestured to
Uncle Hafiz, "who feel is time to introduce Lady
Acorna to society — "
"—such as it is," Hafiz put in.
"—are inviting," and he gestured now to
Mercy who was seated at the console and furi-
ously typing away, "every person of wealth and
standing in city to splendid gala banquet and
dancing the night away."
"Anyone who is anyone in Kezdet will come,"
Hafiz said, "because it will borne in on them that
not to be invited would indicate social or industrial
inferiority to those also on the guest list."
"But Acorna," Rafik and Calum were instantly
on the qui vive, "would be in jeopardy."
Hafiz flapped his hand dismissively, grimacing
away their caution.
"Not from this house," Mr. Li said. "Not with
so many watching her all night long with eyes of
hawk and claws of tiger."
Hafiz leaned back in the conformable chair, at
almost a dangerous tilt, steepling his fingers and