Acorna's Rebels Anne Mccaffrey

staring up at the ceiling, a slow smile creasing his

face.

"She will be clad in raiment fit for a princess, a

queen, an empress ..." he extended one hand ceil-

ingward, opening his fingers at the apex, indicating

magnificence beyond imagining, ". . . bejeweled . . .

and also," he pulled his eyes down to his nephew,

"warded from every possible danger by the built-in

systems hidden in the jewelry."

"Ah, ingenious!" and Rafik relaxed into a chair,

stretching out his legs, hooking his thumbs in his

belt and preparing himself for whatever pearls of

353

ANNE MCCAFFREY AND MARGARET BALL

352

wisdom and crafty conniving were sure to be

revealed.

Calum, with a droll smile, wandered over to

Mercy's desk position and perched on a stool.

"There will be music ..." Uncle Hafiz went on.

"Several groups," Pedir said, "for I am

promised to promote three groups and undoubt-

edly, once this is noised about, I will have to help

others. All worthy and all good musicians ..."

"Only good musicians," Mr. Li said, raising a

slim finger.

"Only the very best," Pedir nodded, "for there

ain't no bad guys around here as play well. Get

you good extra boys, girls for serving, too."

"I'm doing that, Pedir," Mercy said, looking up

from her screen.

"No problemo," Pedir said, wriggling both

hands to assure her he would not interfere. "What

about a skimmer strike? Would that be any help?"

Mr. Li shook his head with more vigor than he

usually displayed for poor ideas.

"Strike is ours to do," he said. "A different

strike. All will see." Now he raised his frail arm,

closing the fingers to a point, retracting his arm,

then darting it forward in an unmistakably reptil-

ian strike.

Uncle Hafiz pretended to recoil in terror, his

eyes sparkling with amusement. But no more was

said. In fact, Pedir was excused, and so were

Calum and Rafik, though they were enjoined to

have the skimmer driver transport them to the

most prestigious tailor in Kezdet, to be measured

for masculine finery.

'To talk of the sumptuousness of the coming

evening of Mr. Delszaki Li's prestigious house,"

Uncle Hafiz said. He buffed his nails on his lapel.

"I have already commissioned elegant evening

attire. Unless you wish me to deprive you of

acceptable female companionship for the entire

evening, you had best look less like camel drivers

than you do now."

Rafik snorted. He had hurried without chang-

ing from his usual shipboard gear to Mr. Li's, and

Calum had come dressed as he was because he

was uncomfortable in anything but the casual

clothing he was now wearing.

"Come, Calum," said Rafik, rising, "let us do as

we are bid, for if my dearly beloved uncle has

commanded us to appear in sartorial elegance, he

will certainly be willing to pay for the best there is

to be had."

While Hafiz was sputtering about impudent,

improvident imps, the two made their escape,

pushing the laughing Pedir ahead of them as Mr.

Li cackled in appreciation of the taunt.

"I have finished the list, Mr. Li," Mercy said,

instantly diverting them to the more important

task of contriving a most exhaustive guest list.

Mr. Li's house was more than adequate for such a

social evening, but rooms long unused for enter-

tainment had to be turned out, refurbished in the

newest fads, decorated in the latest color schemes,

and exotic viands ordered from all over the galaxy.

"Is going to be a legend in this time, this

354

Acorna

ANNE McCAFFREY AND MARGARET BALL

355

evening," Mr. Li often said while Uncle Hafiz fer-

vently seconded him, but had to be discreetly

restrained from providing a few bizarre entertain-

ments. "Is not to distract guests from main purpose

of all this, good friend Hafiz."

"True, true." Though Hafiz sighed, remember-

ing the most amazing contortionist act he had hap-

pened to catch at one of the more elegant of the

casinos on Kezdet, stimulating jaded tastes and

appetites.

The invitations, miracles of calligraphy and

illustration in their own right, were dispatched to

the recipients, and shortly it became difficult to

manage necessary calls from Mr. Li's house to sup-

pliers, merchants, and even acquaintances.

Acorna, accompanied by a glowing Judit and a

more sedately excited Mercy, made many trips to

the couturier -who had been chosen, of the many

available, to supply their gowns. Excitement was

high in that establishment, which had made cer-

tain that every other couturier in Kezdet realized

how much they had lost by not securing these

commissions. Acorna was often so besieged by

those wishing her miracles that Rafik and Calum

joined them at the dressmaker's.

Rafik was actually helpful, for he had inher-

ited, among other things, Calum said sourly, the

Harakamian dress sense and was able to comment

knowledgeably about fit, line, and color.

The jewels were, however, left to Uncle Hafiz,

who had sent for skilled craftsmen as -well as the

raw materials of precious metals and uncut gems,

and supervised the styles and elegance of what

each girl would wear. That special adornments

were also being made for Mr. Li's evening banquet

•was discreetly mentioned and several invitees

finally decided to attend upon hearing that news.

Calum and Gill had been busy, too, with elec-

tronic and engineering effects which would guard

the already well-guarded Li household. They even

did their best to protect against such ingenuities as

contact poisons, sleepy powders, and other deadly

elements. Special beams could render the most

popular of these substances neutral. Not that

Acorna could not neutralize venom but they

wished to avoid such problems in the first place.

And so the great day arrived, and the coiffeurs

came with their preparations and oohed and aahed

over Acorna's magnificent mane. Her gown had

been cut to free her hirsute splendor and a tiara

had been designed to crown that silvery glory.

(One of the many jealous females was later heard

to swear that Mr. Li's ward had had to be glued

into her costume, for how else could it have stayed

anchored so firmly when she gyrated on the dance

floor.) The dark hairs of both Judit and Mercy

were also teased into fetching styles, but nothing

outre, since quiet elegance suited them better, and

as a foil for Acorna's unusual appearance.

Khetala, Chiura, and Jana watched, almost as

glued to their vantage seats in the "tiring room,"

speechless with the beauty they were seeing, and

the subtle ways which natural loveliness could be

enhanced. They had received permission to watch

the guests arrive and were to receive the same

foods that would be served for dinner.

356

fftc-orna 357

ANNE MCCAFFREY AND MARGARET BALL

"So you can feast even as we do," Judit

explained. "There •will be so many people, small

persons like yourselves would get lost and that

might be scary."

Khetala had agreed. She still liked lots of space

around her and felt safe around strangers only if

her "uncles" were nearby.

Chiura had put behind her all the terrible

memories which still woke Jana, sweaty and trem-

bling in the night. She was forever leaving her lit-

tle bed and creeping in with Kheti for comfort.

But she was truly excited about the party and

knew exactly where she could crouch, unseen, on

the first landing of the great stairs and see every-

one arriving.

Finally the ninth hour came, an hour which the

fine clocks in their niches, corners, and surfaces

celebrated with melodious, arrogant, or demure

chimings. At precisely the third stroking of the

hour, the front door -was opened to receive the first

guest, a very minor official and his wife, splendidly

garbed for the occasion. Jana didn't think much of

her dress: the color was garish and the flickering

light display adorning the neckline made her look

like a washed-out sketch. On the stroke of the

ninth, another minor official, his wife, oldest son

and daughter, were admitted. Jana liked -what the

daughter -was wearing—the very prettiest shade of

pale blue—though it didn't really suit the girl. Her

shoes, with their very high heels, studded -with

sparkling jewels, and straps that started at her toes

and -went up to her knee, were nice.

The trickle of guests became a rivulet and then

a river, with no time to close the door between

their comings. Kheti and Chiura got bored with

looking at what people were wearing, but Jana

feasted her eyes on the colors, the patterns, the

combinations, the swags and the trimmings, the

feathers and the furs. She could not quite believe

there could be so many variations of dress and

suit: she, who had lived much of her life in dark-

ness, in a black to gray environment, lapped up all

the colors as a desert dweller would drink from an

oasis.

Then, he stood in the doorway. Jana was

frozen with fear. Kheti and Chiura had left their

positions -when the undermaid had called them to

eat their share of the banquet. Not that Jana could

have uttered a word. She could only stare at him,

seen in the bright lights, in a deep blue suit which

gave off subtle glitters, with a white-white shirt

collar barely showing at the neck of it. But it -was

he, and he was here where she thought she could

be safe.

Rigid with terror she watched as Mr. Li

greeted him and introduced him to Uncle Hafiz,

who introduced Acorna, who smiled and made

Judit and Mercy and Pal known to him in this

silly ritual they had been performing for every

guest that entered the house. Nearly fainting, she

saw Gill and Judit usher him into the main salon,

where he passed from her sight. Then she col-

lapsed in a little heap.

That is how the undermaid found her when she

went to collect the third of her charges for the

evening.

ANNE McCAFFREY AND MARGARET BALL

358

"He's coming for us," was all Jana could say when

she first recovered from her faint. "We've got to

hide Chiura."

"Who?"

"He's here. I ^aw him. They invited him."

There could be only one "him" who would

elicit that terrified note from Jana. Kheti's face

went gray. "The Piper?"

Jana nodded. She snatched up Chiura, elicit-

ing a wail of protest as the little one was seriously

involved with the tray of sweets, and wrapped

both arms around her as though to shield her with

her own body.

"We have to get away," she whispered. "The

lift-chute's too dangerous, it lets out in the front

hall. The windows — "

"Wait!" Khetala sank down on the floor, not

quite as gracefully as she had been trained to do

by Didi Badini; her knees were trembling too hard

for that. "Let me think."

Jana crammed sweets into Chiura's mouth ran-

domly, to keep her happy while Kheti thought. She

was shocked, though, when Khetala reached for a

jellabie and bit into the sweet, crystallized-honey crust.

"Is this a time to be stuffing your face?"

"Sugar helps when you got the shakes,"

Khetala said. "You eat something, too. Even if we

do run — "

"We have to. Now!" Jana interrupted.

"Even if we do, you won't run far on an empty

belly. You eat. I'll think."

359

Khetala washed down the jellabie with a long

drink of iced madigadi juice while Jana obediently

picked at a witifowl pastry. Each crumb seemed as

if it would choke her.

"Now then," Khetala said at last. "I been think-

ing. The Lady Acorna is gooS. She wouldn't invite

the Piper here."

"I tell you, I ^aw him! The gray man who came

to the mine with Didi Badini. Ain't he the Piper?"

Kheti nodded and folded her hands to conceal

the shaking of her fingers.

"Oh, yes. I heard him talking to Didi Badini,

many and many a time, when she had me locked

in that closet where they keep — Well, never mind

that," she interrupted herself hastily. Jana didn't

need to know about Didi Badini s dark closets and

the means she employed to make sure new girls

would be docile when she finally let them out. "I

got to hear him talk again to make sure, though. If

it Li him ..." she shivered ". . . it's bad. Very bad.

See, I don't think they know who the Piper really

is. He's got himself another name for this side of

Celtalan. I heard them talking about it the other

day. It's a big secret, the Piper s real name. Maybe

the biggest secret in Celtalan. If he finds out we've

seen him here—" She mimed slitting her throat.

"Best we could hope for is he kills us quick. He

ain't taking us back to the mines, Jana. He ain't

taking us anywhere. Did he see you?"

Jana shook her head. " He went straight into

that big room with all the lights and pretty ladies."

"Did the Lady Acorna go with him?"

Jana shook her head again.

Acorna

ANNE McCAFFREY AND MARGARET BALL

360 -

361

"Good," Kheti murmured. "She should be all

right here, anyway. He wouldn't do anything to

her here, where he's passin' under his real name."

"What would he do to her?"

Khetala looked at Jana pityingly.

"He wants her killed, too. He told Didi Badini

she's making too much trouble here on Kezdet,

getting the bond kids and the Child Labor League

all stirred up."

Jana stiffened and squeezed Chiura so hard

that the sleepy child cried in protest. "You didn't

tell me that before!"

"Told Delszaki Li," Khetala said. "He knows.

He's been seeing that the Lady's safe. Why do you

think he sent her off to Maganos? I heard them

talking about that, too. I hear a lot."

Jana went unerringly to the weak point in

Khetala's argument.

"But he doesn't know the Piper is that dressed-

up man I saw downstairs. Nobody knows. You

said that yourself. So he doesn't know the Piper is

here, in this house. How can he keep the Lady

safe if he doesn't know?" She felt more frightened

than she ever had in her life, more than when Siri

Teku came at her with the whip that last time.

She'd thought she might as well die then, she was

hurt so bad and Chiura was gone. But the Lady

Acorna had made her live again and had brought

her back to Chiura. Debts had to be paid. Jana

forced the next words out. "We got to warn her."

"We'll find Air. Li. Or somebody -we can trust,"

Kheti said sharply to force down her fear at the

idea of going among all those strangers. "But I still

think he won't move against her now, in this

house, -where everybody knows him by his real

name!"

"He could put poison in her food or something."

As none of the children had experience with

Acorna's ability to detect poisons, this seemed all

too probable to Khetala as well as to Jana. "Or

maybe he's going to lure her out into the garden

and there'll be a bomb. Or ..." Jana's invention

failed. What did it matter? She only knew that the

Lady Acorna, her lady, was in terrible danger and

she had to do something about it. Even if she was

so scared all she wanted to do was hide and cry.

"Come on. We got to warn her!"

She stood up with some difficulty, because

Chiura had become frightened by the older girls'

evident tension and was refusing to let go of her

"Mama Jana."

"He sees us," Khetala said, "we're dead. You

know that?"

"I know that," Jana said, wishing her voice

wouldn't wobble so much. "But I got to go. She

took me out of Anyag." She gave Khetala a scorn-

ful look. "You want to, you can stay here. Maybe

the Lady didn't take you out of Didi Badini's

bonk-shop. Or maybe you forgot already? "

But Kheti was on her feet now.

"You're an idiot, Jana," she said, sighing, "but I

can't let you go and be an idiot all by yourself. Got

in the habit of taking care of you little kids too long

ago, I guess. Come on. Let's go and get ourselves

killed, if that's what you gotta do. Only let's leave

Chiura here. He don't need to know about her."

362

ANNE McCAFFREY AND MARGARET BALL

363

But Chiura -wound her arms tighter about

Jana's neck -when Jana tried to set her down, and

screwed up her pretty face in the grimace that

they knew was preparatory to one of her ear-

piercing screams.

"All right, all right," Jana hushed her, "you can

stay with me. But you got to be real quiet, you

understand? Quiet like a ghurri-ghurri, like a

shadow, like you're not even there. Or Piper'11 get

you."

To Chiura, the Piper was just a name used to

frighten her into acquiescence, like Old Black,

who lived down in the bottom of the mines and ate

little girls for breakfast. So she was scared enough

by the threat to hush up, but not scared into

screaming hysteria.

Acorna was in fact in the garden, where (under

the watchful eye of Hafiz Harakamian) she had

retreated from the noise and social chitchat of the

party to talk with some of Delszaki Li's distin-

guished guests about matters of more importance

to her.

"Is not only social occasion," Li had instructed

all his people. "Is testing of the waters. Must talk

little, listen much, try to find source of high-

government secret opposition. Perhaps head of

Public Works says, 'Is not my doing, gracious lady,

is warning from Orator of the council that would

be unwise for political appointee such as myselt to

further projects undesirable to certain of his con-

stituency.' Perhaps orator of the council says,

'Having duty to protect interests of glass-working

and related industries.' Then perhaps we say, 'Aha!

Is looking closer at Tondubh Glassworks.' Only

example, you understand," Li had said, almost

purring. "Personally, do not expect to find source

of opposition in Tondubh. Have already bought

most of judges and public servants bribed by

Dorkamadian Tondubh. He is cheap man, does not

pay workers, does not even make good bribes. But

perhaps you find some other thread. Listen!

Listen! And if must talk, then be obnoxious."

"Why?" Pal had queried.

"How?" That was Calum, who looked more

interested than alarmed at this suggestion.

"Accuse justicers of taking bribes, claim that

politicians are put in office by industrial interests,

hint that civil servants are in second service of the

Piper. See who looks nervous and changes sub-

ject. All people here are wishing to be seen as

respectable, good people, personally obeying

Federation law? as well as Kezdet local law.

Someone is not. Be offensive, my children." He

smiled seraphically. "Someone already hates us.

Be charitable. Give him good reason to hate and

fear us."

Acorna did not feel that she had any real talent

for offending people, so she had been dutifully fol-

lowing Li's first directive and listening. But she

doubted she would learn anything from this par-

ticular conversation except that Dork Tondubh

lived up to his nickname and that Tumim Viggers,

head of Public Works, and the politician Vidra

Shamali were equally smug, self-satisfied, and

364

ANNE McCAFFREY AND MARGARET BALL

365

impervious to suggestion. All three of these social

and political leaders of Kezdet society -were more

than happy to stroll in Li's exotic gardens -with a

lovely young lady, even if she did have an odd pro-

tuberance in the middle of her forehead. Acorna

had followed Li's suggestion and, instead of trying

to disguise her physical differences for this party,

had accentuated them. Her tight sheath of Illuc

spidersilk showed off the lean, flat planes of her

body; a spiral of jeweled ribbons accentuated her

white horn. The result had been exactly as Li had

predicted: after a few surprised looks, the haut

moni)e of Celtalan had decided that anything so

flamboyantly displayed must be an asset, not a

deformity. ("It's a feature, not a bug," Calum had

said sardonically, and when questioned, added,

"Old Earth saying. I'm not sure exactly what it

means.")

Unfortunately, the avuncular tone adopted by

Dork and Tumim was not likely to give Acorna

any results except extreme boredom and a grow-

ing desire to turn around and kick them where it

would do the most good with her sharp, hard feet.

As for Vidra, at least she wasn't accompanying her

lecture with the sleazy looks and surreptitious

touches Dork added to his talk, but the bossiness

of her manner more than made up for that.

At present all three were happily "explaining" to

Acorna exactly why it was impossible to eradicate

Kezdets practice of child labor and why employers

should be considered charitable guardians rather

than slave owners.

"Of course there are children around the glass-

works," Dork said. "It's hot work, there among the

furnaces. The workers need water; the children

bring it to them."

"I saw a little boy running among the furnaces

with a seven-foot iron rod loaded with molten

glass," Acorna said.

Dork made a mental note to ream out the secu-

rity guards at Tondubh for ever letting this pretty

thing inside the compound. She hadn't just been

giving away shoes; she'd been noticing things. He

shifted to his second line of defense.

"Alas, yes, there have been some lapses. You

must understand, my dear, Kezdet is an under-

capitalized economy. Our people must work to

eat. What can we do when parents bring their

children to the factory and beg for work? Should

we let them starve?"

"Don't wrap it up in pretty ribbons. Dork," said

Vidra in her harsh voice. "The glass industry on

Kezdet requires children. Adults can't run so fast

with the molten glass. If Dork and others like him

didn't hire children, not only would those poor

families starve, but production would go down."

"That's true," Dork said with more animation.

"Profits might drop by as much as thirty percent. I

have a duty to my shareholders, you know."

"Yes, it if expensive having -workers whom you

have to pay and provide medical care for." Acorna

smiled agreement. "Still, most industrial planets

manage it." She thought she could get to enjoy Li's

instructions on being offensive, after all. "What's

wrong with Kezdet, that you people can't figure

out how to run a factory without slave labor?"

366

Acorna

ANNE McCAFFREY AND MARGARET BALL

367

"Now, now, dear, do not upset yourself," Tumim

Viggers counseled her. "You are young and a

stranger to our -ways, and perhaps those terrorist

zealots of the Child Labor League have been telling

you misleading stories. The fact is that the few chil-

dren working on Kezdet are very "well treated. They

are fed and lodged at their employer's expense,

have years of free training in their chosen career,

and enjoy the knowledge that their earnings are

sent home to help support their beloved families.

Why, if you sent a team of Federation inspectors to

any of our mines or factories, I do believe the chil-

dren would run away and hide rather than be taken

away! They love their work, you see, and the over-

seers are like parents to them."

"Possibly," Acorna agreed. "I understand that

some parents also beat their children."

Tumim Viggers sighed. "There may have been

excesses. It is no easy matter to train and disci-

pline young children, but I assure you, they are

learning lessons which "will be invaluable when

they grow up."

"How many of them c>o grow up?" Acorna

asked in a tone of bright interest.

Tumim Viggers chose to ignore that question.

"Child labor is one of the harsh realities of life on

an overpopulated, underdeveloped planet.

Extremist groups like the CLL only make matters

worse. Why, if we were to eradicate all child labor

on Kezdet tomorrow?, what do you think would

happen?"

"I don't know," said Acorna brightly. "Why not

try it and find out? "

She rose, then. "I must really circulate, but it

has been so nice to get to know you better. Do

enjoy the garden. The night-blooming scented

plants are in that corner."

"Do show us exactly where?" Tumim said and

reached for her arm, a maneuver she evaded by

swaying away from him and out of reach.

As she walked back toward the house, she hap-

pened to glance up at the windows and saw three

figures hurrying down the staircase: three figures

that ought to have been fast asleep in their beds,

stuffed with all the food and sweets she had asked

to be sent to them. Where -was the undermaid who

was supposed to watch out for them? If they

should be seen . . .

She hurried inside and spotted Calum, who

had a desperate look on his face: the anorexic

daughter of the shipping magnate she had met in

the receiving line was clinging to his arm with a

death grip. Acorna gave him the old EVA danger

sign. He peeled the girl off him and, muttering

some sort of an apology, he made his way quickly

to Acorna.

"The children are up. They must not be seen,"

she said in an urgent undertone. "On the stairs. If

I go up . . ."

"Leave it to me."

The skeleton had clattered after Calum, but

Acorna intercepted her, taking her by the arm.

"I do hope you are enjoying yourself this

evening, Kisia," she said, fortunately recalling her

name and steered her toward the refreshment

table, where a new display of subtleties and

368

'A.corna.

ANNE MCCAFFREY AND MARGARET BALL

369

delights had just been arranged. "With your father

so prominent in the shipping industry, do you get

a chance to travel to far-off planets and places? Or

are you forced to remain here in a dull school?"

Kisia stiffened and almost sneered up at

Acorna. "Fraggit, but you know nothing, do you?

School? I've been a qualified navigator for three

years. The only reason I'm at this party at all is

because the whole family got invited. And then

you have the nerve to skive off with the only inter-

esting chap here."

"An errand only he could do for me," Acorna

said, "and see, here he is back."

However, Calum grabbed Acorna by the hand

and pulled her so close to him that Kisia swore,

more as a deckhand than a navigator might, and

flounced off to find another target for her atten-

tions.

"They're terrified. They've seen the Piper

here."

"They have? They could identify him?" Acorna

looked around the room for Mr. Li's hover-chair

or Uncle Hafiz, trying to hide the terror she felt.

Calum peeled her hands off his arm.

"Khetala and Jana are both certain, but they're

terrified for your sake. They're afraid he's here to

kill you."

"Here? In front of everyone?" Acorna ridiculed

the notion. "Not likely."

"You'd still be dead, sweetie pie," Calum said

soberly. "Besides which, very few people here are

enchanted with your interference with their prof-

itable operations employing child labor."

"Then why did they come?" she asked,

annoyed as •well as frightened. Dreadful people.

Smile at your face and pull a stunner once your

back -was turned. Although, where many of those

present could hide anything in the sleek, tight-

fitting garb that was currently fashionable, she did

not know. Very little was left to the imagination,

and one could count spine ridges and ... all sorts

of things. She could have appeared at this dinner

clad in only her own skin and given away nothing

of her gender, but these people covered it all up

and then flaunted what they covered.

"They came for the food and to say they had

been here tonight. Mr. Li is excessively pleased

with the turnout, but I must go tell him that the

children can identify the Piper. That will be one

more obstacle out of our way, so we can find out

where you really belong." Calum grinned up at her

and then squeezed her hands. "I'll go tell them.

You circulate."

He gave her a little push toward the nearest

clutch of chattering men and women. Kisia inter-

cepted her.

"My father wishes to speak with you, Acorna.

He says you've been avoiding him all evening."

There was a remarkable strength in her skele-

tal arms as she towed the taller girl past the near-

est group and toward a quartet, which mercifully

included Uncle Hafiz. Acorna stopped resisting.

Hafiz rose and kissed her cheek. "You are more

beautiful every time I see you, Acorna. Here is

Baron Commodore Manj'ari and his wife, Ilsfa,

wanting to meet you. The baron claims he ships

370

ANNE MCCAFFREY AND MARGARET BALL

Acorna

371

anything and everything, anywhere in the known

galaxy. And, as I'm sure you realize, Acorna, the

baroness's family, the Acultanias, were one of the

first to settle Kezdet and recognize its importance

in this sector."

The baroness smiled a social smile, while stuff-

ing her face with the dainty petit fours on the table

beside her. Baron Manjari rose courteously to his

feet and, removing his hand from his pocket, pat-

ted his lips before he reached for Acorna's prof-

fered hand. He didn't look very impressive, Acorna

thought: medium height, spare build, which might

account for his daughter's anorexic-looking body.

He had very piercing eyes and a gaze that wished

to penetrate her skull. She managed to suppress a

shudder as he brought her hand to his mouth.

Instead of miming a kiss above the skin, he planted

a very moist one on the back of her hand.

"Charmed," he said, drawling in an oddly dry

voice, almost a whisper, as if he had some impedi-

ment in his throat. "I have been waiting all

evening to have a few words with you."

As he released her hand, she began to feel

unwell and, with the pretext of mending her coif-

feur, brushed her hand to her horn. She could feel

it tingle through her forehead and the poisonous

kiss, for that was what it had been, -was neutral-

ized. Baron Manjari might have ships that tra-

versed the known galaxy and be able to find

contact poisons undetectable by Li's guard beams,

but he had never encountered one of her species.

Her problem now was how to react to having just

been given an undoubtedly "lethal" dose of poison.

She noticed that he now brought out a handker-

chief to blot his treacherous lips, and then a small

pill box, explaining as he withdrew a tiny white

oval, that it was time for his medication.

"I did not mean a discourtesy," Acorna began

with social civility, nodding to the baroness, who

was having a hard time deciding which small deli-

cacy to try next. "The littlest ones are filled with

raspberry liqueur," she said, and got a blank look

from the woman and almost a sneer from the

baron. "I think I should sit for a few moments,"

Acorna said abruptly to Uncle Hafiz, who immedi-

ately handed her into the chair he had just

vacated.

She began to rub her hand, as if unconscious of

what she was doing. She caught the avid expression

in the baron s eyes and the tension in his wife's bare

shoulders. "Uncle, a glass of something cool,

please?" she said making her voice rise with

urgency.

"Of course."

Acorna used the ornate fan that dangled from

her left wrist. "I don't know what's come over me."

"Why," Ilsfa leaned toward her, one hand out-

stretched to touch her knee, but Acorna managed

to avoid the contact, "I expect it's no more than any

young girl experiences during her introduction to

society. Why, my Kisia was a nervous wreck until

the evening had started, and then she danced all

night."

"Really?" Acorna managed politely in a soft

voice. Should she be feeling weak so soon?

"Here you are, m'dear," Hafiz said, offering her

372

ANNE MCCAFFREY AND MARGARET BALL

373

a glass of the madigadi juice he knew she liked, so

cold the glass was beaded with moisture.

She drank it all down, hoping thirst was one of

the symptoms of the poison -working. The baron

looked so satisfied that she was sure it must be.

"Just what I needed," she said gaily, and rose.

"So nice to have had a chat with you but, before I

find I have inadvertently ignored some one else, I

really must circulate. Come, Uncle Hafiz, there is

someone I want you to introduce me to ..." and

she pulled him away despite an initial protest.

"That man just tried to poison me," she mut-

tered in Hafiz's ear. "Keep walking. Do I fall down

in a faint, or just collapse somewhere? A contact

poison. He had a very slimy kiss."

"By the beards of the Prophets!" Hafiz began,

and tried to pull loose from her to deal suitably

with Baron Commodore Manjari.

"No, he may be the Piper."

"Oh!"

"Where is Mr. Li? We must inform him."

"Who identified him? There are many people

here who might wish to poison you."

"Khetala and Jana. They watched the guests

entering and saw the Piper among them. They've

been quaking with terror ever since, but they

overcame their fears to warn me. Well, actually,

they found Calum and he told me. Who else would

want to poison me?" Acorna demanded.

"Just about every man and a good many of the

women here tonight," Uncle Hafiz said, and sig-

naled the butler.

Acorna wondered if the man had been cloned,

or was one of triplets, for he had been so assidu-

ous in his duties.

"Hassim, no one is to leave yet," Uncle Hafiz

said in an undertone. "And where is Mr. Li at this

moment?"

The butler indicated the card room with a dis-

creet gesture and glided toward the front door,

deftly opening the panel and tripping a switch that

would close every exterior door and the garden

exits.

Mr. Li's hover-chair was surrounded by some

of the loveliest women at the party and not a single

man. He was obviously enjoying himself, and the

women were laughing at some joke when Hafiz,

smiling to see the quality of the company he was

about to join, approached.

"Ah, but ladies, your glasses are empty. Come

to the table and I will pour for you all."

That left Acorna free to inform Mr. Li of her

suspicions as well as the children's ability to iden-

tify the dread Piper.

"Take them to my study. Tell Hassim to

secure the house. Immediate confrontation now.

Who?" And Mr. Li stared at her as he suddenly

assimilated the information he had just been

given. "Not . . . how extraordinary! Is most

remarkable. Is last man this person would sus-

pect."

"That's often how it is, isn't it? But how do we

entice him to the study? I am supposed to be

dying of his poison. Will he not suspect?"

"Is my job. Get children. Get to study. Hafiz?"

and he drifted his chair. "You forgive?" He

ANNE MCCAFFREY AND MARGARET BALL

374

375

beamed back at the ladies even as he was moving

out of the room, -with Hafiz almost running after

him. "I give beep call and assemble cavalry."

Acorna had already disappeared up the stair-

case, Calum taking the steps two at a time -with

Rafik trying to keep up.

Judit intercepted them at the stairs. "What is

the matter?"

"Oh, is nothing. Keep guests happy," Mr. Li

said. "Is that not Baron Manjari I see? No chance

yet to show him my new acquisitions. Is now the

time."

Judit -was too well trained to ask what new

acquisitions, and obediently followed the hover-

chair to where the baron commodore, wife, and

daughter, were now standing, his expression

slightly smug, theirs rebellious.

"Ah, dear Mr. Li," the baron said as suave as

ever. "We were about to take our leave of you.

Your lovely Acorna has only just left us to our

own devices."

"She asks me to show? you mine, is all," Mr. Li

said and, laying one finger along his nose, winked

at his guests. "Have only just acquired." His finger

now bridged his lips to indicate secrecy. "You travel

much and can advise me on how to keep all safe."

"Surely, Mr. Li, you have no need of my

advice?" the baron commodore said.

"Ah, but is to see my treasure first and then

advise. We go now. Ah . . . some devices not suit-

able for ladies, you understand?" Li added in an

undertone. "My Judit will entertain lovely wife

and daughter while you come with me."

There was something in the tone of the old

gentleman that made it impossible for Baron

Commodore Manjari to refuse. With an apologetic

shrug toward his womenfolk, he followed Li's

hover-chair to the study, at the far end of the

house from the glittering party. Hafiz unobtru-

sively followed to make sure the baron was cut off

from any possible allies who might notice their

exit.

The children were gathered in the study,

Chiura half asleep in Acorna's lap and the other

two holding tightly to her dress. When the baron

entered after Li, Khetala gasped and backed

behind Acorna, but Jana jumped in front of her

protectively. "Don't hurt her!"

"My dear little girl," the baron said in his

slightly hoarse tone, "why would I wish to harm

this lovely young lady?"

At the sound of the dry, husky voice, Khetala

gripped Acorna's shoulder.

"It's him," she said, her own voice no more

than a thread. "He always whispered before. But I

know him. I do!"

"So do I," said Jana.

Chiura woke up, looked at the baron's face,

and wailed in fright.

"Piper!" she shrieked, trying to burrow into

Acorna's lap.

"The Piper," Jana said. "You came -with Didi

Badini and took my Chiura away—but we got her

back!"

"The Piper," Khetala confirmed. "You came

with Didi Badini and took me to her bonk-shop."

376 --"^ ANNE MCCAFFREY AND MARGARET BALL

The baron sputtered, gobbled, and turned red.

"Nonsense!" he finally managed to rasp. He

turned to Li. "You'd take the -word of these raga-

muffins from the mines against a man of good fam-

ily? I've never seen these children before."

"You spoke -with Didi Badini many times,"

Khetala said firmly. "I remembered your voice.

There -was not much to think about in the closet

•where she kept me. I remember all the words you

have said, from the day when Siri Teku sold me to

you until the day the lady rescued me. Do you

want me to repeat all I heard you say? "

"Ridiculous!" Baron Manjari said. "This is a

tissue of fabrications, and I can prove it! The child

at Anyag had a whip scar on one cheek ..."

His voice rustled to silence, like a pile of dry

leaves when the wind ceases to stir them. Delszaki

Li and Hafiz Harakamian, one on each side of

him, let the silence draw out.

"Interesting," Li said finally, "that you know

these children came from Anyag."

The baron made a gesture of denial. "I must

have seen them ... a business trip . . . arranging

shipping discounts. . . ."

"A clerk's task, one would think," Li said.

"The Lady Acorna healed my scar," Khetala

said. "But she cannot heal you."

Chiura twisted round to face the man who had

haunted her baby nightmares, the man who had

played with her and tormented her in the skimmer

that took her away from Mama Jana. She kept

one hand firmly twined in the silvery curls of the

Lady Acorna, who had brought Mama Jana back

577

to her. All three children stared unblinking at the

Piper, their eyes a silent accusation.

Finally, Baron Manjari looked away. "No one

will believe this story!"

"You wish to make experiment? " Li asked.

"Be seated, Baron," Hafiz invited. "We have

some serious discussion to do." He nodded at the

children. "Should not these little ones be in their

beds, Delszaki? It offends me that they should

continue to breathe the same air as this camel-

sucking filth."

None of the children felt safe away from

Acorna, so she too left, taking them upstairs,

where she and Gill told stories and sang songs and

promised a thousand times over that the Piper

would never come near them again.

"Why didn't you tell us at first you had seen

the Piper at the mine?" Gill asked at one point.

"You could have identified him from a vid without

ever coming near him."

"Wasn't sure until I saw him and heard the

voice," Khetala said.

"What's a vid?" Jana asked.

"Poor little mite." Gill stroked her forehead. "I

keep forgetting, there's so much you've never seen.

We'll get a vid player up here for you. You'll love

Jill and the Space Pirated. I've got all the episodes.

Acorna loved it when she was a little girl." Jlut two

year<> ago, he thought sadly. Well, those days were

gone forever. How could Acorna's people stand

seeing their children mature so quickly? You

scarcely had time to love them before they had

become tall, independent strangers.

ANNE McCAFFREY AND MARGARET BALL

378

379

When all three girls -were finally asleep, the

lower floors of the house were dark, the lights in

the hall and gardens dimmed. Acorna rose stiffly.

"I wonder what's happening? We shouldn't

have left. What if he poisoned them?"

"Calum and Rafik were with them," Gill

pointed out. "I don't think the Piper was prepared

for violence ... at least I hope not. I'll be very

annoyed if Calum and Rafik got a chance to beat

the living daylights out of him and I didn't get my

share." He gently disentangled Jana from his coat

and beard and laid her down in her cot, brushing a

gentle kiss against her forehead.

"Has been no violence," said Delszaki Li,

appearing at the entrance to the suite in his hover-

chair. "Has been some serious negotiation, but all

is resolved peacefully."

Hafiz, behind him, was wearing the beatific

smile of a man who has just sold thirteen blind and

lame camels for a bale of Illic silk.

"If I could ever feel sorry for that bastard,"

Calum said, "I would now. Anybody caught

between Hafiz and Delszaki. . ." He whistled. "I

just hope you two gentlemen don't team up and

form the Harakamian-Li consortium. You'd be

ruling the galaxy in no time."

Hafiz and Delszaki glanced at one another.

"Interesting idea," they said simultaneously.

"Uh-oh," Gill murmured to Acorna, "I think

•we've created a monster. Come on. Let's leave the

kids to get their sleep and find out what kind of

deal these two cut with the blessed baron."

Once more in Mr. Li's study, Acorna listened

intently, but the results of the negotiations were

not entirely satisfactory to her. The price of Baron

Manjari's cooperation was their silence. If he was

allowed to retain his social position, if no whispers

of his peculiar habits and his extra sources of

income got out, then they would find that all offi-

cial constraints on Maganos Moon Base would be

quickly removed. Furthermore, Manjari Shipping

would subsidize the lunar colony by providing free

transport for all materials brought to the moon

and all minerals mined there in the next five years.

"Must give to get," Li said patiently to Acorna.

"If we destroy Manjari, have no hold over him. If

we keep silence, can ensure success of lunar

colony, make safe place for children."

"It's logical," Calum said.

"But not satisfactory," said Gill.

Rafik grinned. "Well, think about this. The

baron just lost three-fourths of his income—or

will, when we take all the bonded children away—

and his shipping company is going to be in the red

for five years, if Maganos is as productive as I

expect it to be. And he won't be able to tell the

baroness and that ratty daughter why they're sud-

denly broke. Does that help?"

"It's a start," Gill allowed.

"We will finish," Li said softly, "when children

are all safe. Old family motto: 'The best revenge is

revenge.'"

"I have some ideas," Acorna said.

"You," Hafiz informed her sternly, "will stay

out of sight until we have the necessary permits.

Remember, you've been poisoned. You're

ANNE MCCAFFREY AND MARGARET BALL

380 "

ficorna

381

extremely ill and your life is despaired of. You may

even have to die for a -while." Acorna looked

shocked and then smiled. "That's right. We don't

•want Manjan tempted to have another try at you."

Baron Manjari -was hardly able to conceal his rage

and fury after leaving Delszaki Li's party. Indeed,

he hardly bothered to conceal it. His wife and

daughter had learned from long and painful expe-

rience how to survive his dark moods. The

baroness thought he was angry because she had

eaten too many sweets again, the girl because she

had been chasing after that blond miner instead of

making a push to attach somebody who could be a

useful business connection for Manjari Shipping.

The baroness babbled nervously. Kisia sulked, but

stayed well out of range of her father's hand; she

had had to explain away too many bruises as

"accidental falls" already. That, she considered,

was the price she paid for the money that had put

her through nav training and now paid for the col-

lection of top-of-the-line fliers and small spacecraft

she enjoyed for her private use. She couldn't actu-

ally work as a space navigator; that would be

beneath her family's status. So she accepted the

baron's heavy moods, occasional casual blows, and

tight hold over her allowance as the inevitable

inconveniences of life. And she controlled -what

she could control: the flight patterns of her ships,

and -what she put into her body, and how much

fear she displayed when her father went into one

of his black spells. She despised her mother, who

stuffed herself with sweets and then apologized

that she "couldn't help it," almost as much as she

despised the baron himself. At least ifhe had some

discipline, Kisia thought.

The baron, brooding over the insults he had

just suffered, was all but unaware of his women-

folks' feelings. They were afraid of him; good,

they would not question him. Not now, anyway.

Even if he had to retrench and retire to the

country for a few seasons, his wife would be

afraid to ask what had happened to their lavish

income. Kisia, though—Kisia would raise hell

when she found out that he could no longer sup-

port a hangar full of private small craft for her

personal amusement. He would have to find

some way to shut her up. ... If it came to that!

But then, Manjari thought, what were the odds

that Li's insane plan would succeed? He -would

have to ensure that official blocks to the develop-

ment of Maganos Moon Base were removed, but

that did not mean the project would be a success.

If Li never managed to get the lunar mining facil-

ity in operation, his own expenses in providing

free shipping would be minimal. And Li would

never make a go of the moon base, because he

meant to staff it with the bonded children of

Kezdet. Children who had been well trained to

hide themselves whenever anybody unknown to

their supervisors came to a compound.

Let him collect a few <>tray^, Manjari thought.

Much gooc) it will f)o him I

The system on Kezdet was too well entrenched,

the children too well trained in fearful, unquestioning

ANNE McCAFFREY AND MARGARET BALL

382

383

obedience, for any one man to overthrow it. That

pathetic Child Labor League had not even managed

to keep schools going near the factories to teach the

children their letters and numbers. Literate, numer-

ate -workers could read their contracts and calculate

their indebtedness and their -wages. Couldn't have

that sort of nonsense. Manjari hadn't even had to

quash the schools himself; a -word here and there in

the ears of the factory owners most directly affected,

and buildings were torched, teaching-vid machines

•wrecked, maybe a young idealist beaten up or "acci-

dentally" killed from time to time to warn anybody

else who might have such ideas.

So Li would make his gesture and collect a few

stray children, and he would think himself tri-

umphant for a little while . . . and finally he would

understand that his plan would not work, could

not work. The children would never trust a

stranger.

As for that deformed girl who was getting some

sort of reputation as a miracle worker, who might

have been a figurehead for organized resistance—

<<he would be dead by morning. By this time the

slow-acting contact poison would make her feel

headachy and sleepy. She would go to her bed and

fall into a sleep from which she never woke, and

by the time her body was discovered, the traces of

poison would have dissipated.

Man^an was almost relaxed by the time his

personal skimmer reached the heavily guarded

compound where his family and servants lived in

walled luxury. He need not worry overly much.

All he had to do was wait . . . oh, and dispose of

those three children. Without his witnesses, Li

could prove nothing. And children were fragile;

they died every day in the mines and factories of

Kezdet. It should be easy enough to get rid of

those three. Better to wait a little while, though,

until Li thought himself quite safe.

385

As good as his word," Judit said

the very next afternoon, as the

sheets of permits from every

reluctant inspector streamed from the printer.

"Is not good his -word," Mr. Li said. "Is good as

his fear of disclosure. That works well for men

such as this baron commodore. Is there all that are

necessary?"

"I think so," Judit said, scanning the first

sheets. "Pal's doing something on the other unit,

though. Nothing from the baron; just a routine

legal search, he said."

Rafik reached for the last one to emerge from

the printer and worked backward, moving toward

her as he glanced at the official permits, mumbling

about which department and what sector and

which quadrant. Then he gave a burst of laughter

as he cavorted about, wrapping himself in the

sheets and tearing some of the peripheries with his

antics.

"Stop it, Rafik, oh stop it. You'll ruin them and

we've waited for long to get them," Judit exclaimed.

"They came?" Gill burst through the study

door, Acorna behind him and the three girls fol-

lowing her like the train of a bridal gown.

"We got 'em!" Rafik held the sheets up over

Judit's head, wheeling around. "We got 'em! For

once, the baron commodore is as good as his

word."

"His word is not good," Mr. Li repeated, but he

was beaming. "His fear is."

Judit slapped at Rafik, trying to get him to sur-

render the rest of the permits. Gill reached up and

deftly nipped them from Rafik's hand. He deliv-

ered the slightly creased sheets, pressing the wrin-

kles out, into Judit's eager grasp, and she went

back to the console.

"I'll enter them into our records, and send

timed and dated confirmations to the respective

departments," she said.

"My, there were a lot needed," Acorna said,

moving with her three shadows to observe Judit

as she dealt with the necessary procedures. "How

much longer must I stay dead?"

"But you aren't dead. Lady Acorna," Khetala

said, confused.

"I am as far as the Piper is concerned, sweetie

pie," Acorna said, hugging Khetala to her side.

Chiura crept in under her arm, as well, while Jana

was content to stand within arm's reach. "Did you

not help Hassim hang the mourning banners?"

"Is not to let the little ones out of the house!"

Mr. Li exclaimed, anxious.

ANNE McCAFFREY AND MARGARET BALL

386

"Hafiz, Gill, and Calum were with them all the

time, and they were crying most piteously."

"Kheti pinched me," Chiura said, rubbing her

bottom.

"All I had to do -was think of Siri Teku's whip

and I could cry for weeks," Jana said, rather

proud of her performance.

"But won't I have to be buried?" Acorna asked.

Hafiz shook his head. "Cremated as befits the

first wife of the scion of House Harakamian," he

said, grinning. "I shall carry the urn with me to

repose next to that of my son on my ship when

Rafik and I return to Maganos tomorrow. And you,

little ones," and he patted the heads of the three little

girls, "will be among my baggage: the very first to

enjoy the hospitality and safety of the Li Moon

Mining Company."

Khetala clung more closely to Acorna, and

Chiura sniffled.

"But I shall be carrying you," Gill said, wag-

ging a finger at them, "and I want not a whimper,

a tear, or a gasp from you when you are supposed

to be miners' clothing in my sacks."

Jana giggled at playing at being "clothing" and

even Kheti smiled, for all three girls loved Uncle

GUI.

"But you can't tell stories to clothing?" Chiura

asked, her eyes wide with regret.

"Who says I can't?" Gill responded, scowling

fiercely, and she giggled as he swooped down and

tickled her neck with his red beard.

"I've work to do and must concentrate," Judit

said.

Acorna --— 387

"Is, after all, office-study," Mr. Li said, trying to

look severe. "Rafik must now call suppliers A to M

to be sure they have received permit. Judit do M to

Z." He clapped his hands together to suggest

urgency.

"Come, girls," Acorna said. "We must pack the

clothing just so in the sacks."

Li's assistants quickly learned that there was no

hope of keeping Acorna safely in the house while

they completed the long task of collecting bonded

child laborers from Kezdet's factories, mines, and

brothels. Without Acorna, they could not even

begin; the children had been too well trained to

hide when strangers approached the compound,

and what with the recent rumors of a horned god-

dess coming to liberate the children, most over-

seers were more stringent.

After the first frustrating day, Judit and Pal

conferred with Delszaki Li. As Calum, Rafik, and

Gill all reported the same inability to get children

to come out of hiding, Li reluctantly agreed that

Acorna might go with them the next day.

"But she is not to waste energy with too much

healing," he instructed. "Is already long task, one

person to visit all places. If she exhausts herself

with healing every child, will never complete the

work. I send medical team with you."

"I'm not worried about Acorna burning herself

out," Gill said, "as much as I am about the baron.

If she starts collecting children from the factories,

you know, he's bound to notice she's not dead."

ANNE McCAFFREY AND MARGARET BALL

388

389

"And we went to so much trouble with the

funeral banners!" Judit sighed.

"Will speak personally to Baron Manjari," Li

said. "No trouble there. But you watch Acorna!"

And, with those somewhat contradictory reas-

surances, they all went together on the second day.

Acorna was eager to go to Anyag first, but Calum

had overnight produced a revised skimmer sched-

ule showing the optimal path to allow them to

clear mines and factories sequentially while mak-

ing the best use of their skimmers. Anyag was far

from first on the list.

They began at the Czerebogar carpet-weaving

factory, where on the previous day Pal had found

only empty sheds, quiescent looms, and vague talk

from the supervisor of some kind of holiday for

the workers—all adults, of course!

Today, as soon as Acorna stepped out of the

skimmer, pale children began collecting silently in

the central compound. They seemed to come out

of nowhere, from cracks in the walls, from shad-

ows. The supervisor cursed them and told them to

get away, that they had no business in his factory.

The children seemed not even to hear him. They

moved slowly forward until they encircled Acorna.

The nearest ones reached timidly to touch her

with cut and bleeding fingers.

"It is Lukia of the Lights," one whispered.

Others repeated, "Lukia! Lukia!" on rising

tones until the word became a song of praise cir-

cling the courtyard.

"My brother," a ragged girl said. She pushed a

taller boy forward, guiding him with both hands.

"Can you give back his sight, Lukia of the Lights?

He had an infection of the eyes and we had only

water to wash them, but it was not enough."

Acorna caught her breath on a sob, but before

she could reach out to the boy, Rafik had gestured

for a med-tech to see to the lad.

"The infection is reversible, with proper treat-

ment," the tech said. She straightened and glared at

the overseer. "You would have let the boy go blind

for want of a five-credit jar of antibiotic ointment! I

am ashamed to be of Kezdet. But I did not know,"

she said to Acorna, "one hears whispers, always

whispers, but I did not know ... I did not want to

know."

By the time the flight of hired skimmers, led by

Pedir, had collected the last of the children from

the Czerebogar Carpet Factory, the medical tech-

nicians hired by Delszaki Li had all volunteered

their services, )ust as the skimmer pilots had done

after a little encouragement from Pedir.

At Tondubh Glassworks, the news of Acorna's

visit to the Czerebogar factory had preceded them.

They were met by a furious Dorkamadian

Tondubh, threatening to obtain an injunction from

Judge Buskomor against any attempt to remove

workers who were legally bonded to work for the

glass factory in payment of their debts.

"I wouldn't even try," Pal said pleasantly. He

ruffled through the papers he had been printing

out from the corn unit two nights earlier. "I

recently performed a routine legal search. We

ANNE McCAFFREY AND MARGARET BALL

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391

have here . . . no, that's the Vonzodik statement. . .

ah, here we are. This is your sworn statement,

attested by palm-print before Judge Buskomor

himself, that no children under the age of eighteen

are employed by any Tondubh concern. Clearly,"

he said, looking at the children who had come out,

as at Czerebogar, when the word of Acorna's visit

spread, "these children, being well under eighteen,

do not work here and hence cannot possibly be

bonded to you."

Acorna looked at him with delight. So this was

what Pal had been quietly working on! How clever

he was! But she didn't have a chance to tell him so

just then; children in filthy rags and clean, nearly

new, cheap sandals were pressing all around her.

"You came back. Lady Epona," one of them

breathed.

"Epona, Epona," the others repeated in a low

rhythmic chant that filled the compound and

echoed from wall to wall until Dork Tondubh cov-

ered his ears and made no more protest against

their removing the children.

The skimmer pilots were busy through the day,

flying loads of thin, pallid children from east of

Celtalan to the spaceport, where Judit and Gill

awaited them. When the first children were

brought in, Judit gave a triumphant glance at

Baron Commodore Manjari's portside manager.

"Now do you believe that there are passengers

to transport to Maganos?" she demanded.

"Where's the transport the baron promised?"

"I see you want transport," the manager said,

"but the baron din't tell me nothing about laying it

on. 'Sides, our ships are all busy with real cargo."

"Call him," Judit said.

The manager grinned and spat to one side.

"Told you, lady. I din't have no orders, and I don't

have no ships."

Gill took the man's arm.

"I strongly advise that you accede to the lady's

request," he said. The tone was mild enough, but

there was something in the look of his blue eyes—

not to mention the size of the hand grasping the

manager's arm—that suddenly made using the

portable corn unit to page Baron Manjari seem

like a very, very good idea.

When Manjari answered, Judit took the corn

unit.

"You were told that ships would be required

today to shuttle passengers to Maganos. Will you

honor your undertaking, or ... shall Mr. Li honor

his promise to you?"

The Baron Commodore refused to believe that

Judit and Gill really had passengers for Maganos

until the manager confirmed their statement. Very

shortly thereafter his personal skimmer touched

down at the Manjari private pad.

His face first turned gray when he saw the

crowd of waiting children, then slowly suffused

with color as he grasped the meaning of their chat-

ter about the lady whom some called Lukia and

others Epona.

"She's dead," he insisted, his voice a gravelly

protest "Everybody saw the funeral banners ..."

392

ANNE MCCAFFREY AND MARGARET BALL

393

Gill raised his eyebrows. "The funeral ban-

ners? Those were a sign of respect from House Li

to House Harakamian in their mourning for the

heir."

"Whatever could have made you think they

were for Acorna?" Judit added with a slight smile.

"Acorna is alive and -well," Gill emphasized.

"And Mr. Li suggests that it would be best for

everybody if she stayed that way." He lowered his

voice. "The children you met the other night are

already in a safe place. You cannot get at them, but

they can be brought back to tell all Kezdet who you

really are . . . and if Acorna is harmed in any -way

you can be very sure we will bring them back."

The baron's face sagged, as if the muscles had

been suddenly cut, leaving only unsupported,

aging flesh.

"The Manjari ships are employed elsewhere,"

he said. The dry voice was once again level and

betrayed no emotion. "I will make . . . alternative

arrangements."

He spoke into his corn unit at some length.

Shortly thereafter several things happened. First,

obsequious men in Manjari uniforms arrived to

invite Gill, Judit, and the children to Baron

Commodore Manjari's personal storage hangar.

Next, a second Manjari skimmer discharged two

women: one short and plump, the other gaunt to

the point of emaciation. The older woman wore a

bejeweled robe and had a look of pleased

expectancy on her round face. The younger one

was dressed in unrelieved black and began shriek-

ing before she even got out of the skimmer.

"Father, how dare you commandeer my personal

ships! They're mine, you said so! To make up for not

letting me have a real job as a navigator, because it

was supposed to be an unsuitable occupation for the

Manjari heiress. Anything I wanted, you said, and

when I said I wanted my own collection of private

spacecraft, you said yes. You can't go back on that

bargain now!"

She stared, suddenly speechless in horror, at

the dirty, ragged children being led into her per-

sonal skiff with its luxurious interior fittings.

"Hush, Kisia," Manjari snapped. "I am only

borrowing your ships. I would not do so if it were

not absolutely necessary, I assure you!"

"They're mine," Kisia repeated.

"Then, Kisia, if you want to keep them, you

will allow your father the use of them for as many

days as this takes," Manjari said so firmly that

Kisla's narrow mouth closed on her next com-

plaint. "You have no conception of the difficulties

I face."

"How should I? You never tell me anything!"

"Well, I'm telling you now. We face ruin, girl.

The House of Manjari is going to lose three-

quarters of its income for years to come. Maybe

forever."

"Manjari, what is it?" The baroness touched

his sleeve. "What is the trouble?"

"Oh, don't bother me. You've never been any

use—one child, and that one a scrawny girl—and

you certainly can't help now. Go watch one of

your romance vids and eat a box of sweets and

stay out of our way!" Manjari turned back to

394

Acorna

ANNE McCAFFREY AND MARGARET BALL

395

Kisla. "You will help me out in this crisis. And -we

will rebuild the fortunes of House Manjari. You

and I, together, as many years as it takes."

"By letting these stinking beggars on my

ships?" Kisla s thin face twisted in disgust. "Forget

it! You go too far. Father. They'll get bugs on the

upholstery."

"Quite likely."

"They'll get space-sick."

"Almost certainly."

"They're dirty, and they stink, and some of

them are bleeding. They are absolutely disgusting,

and I'm not having any more of them anywhere

near my ships. Stop them, do you hear me? Stop

them boarding! Now!"

The baron cocked his right hand back over his

left shoulder, but the baroness was beside him

before he could strike his daughter.

"Wait a moment, Manjari," she said calmly.

"While I do believe that this once I sympathize with

your desire to beat Kisla, there is something she

must know first—and you, too." She looked at the

gaunt young woman with something approaching

pity. "Kisla, you would have been one of those chil-

dren."

"I?" Kisla gasped. "You're crazy! I'm your

daughter! No child of House Manjari was ever

even close to one of those filthy beggar brats!"

"No child of House Manjari, true," the

Baroness Ilsfa agreed, "but you see, Kisla, I

learned of some of Manjari's more disgusting

habits very shortly after our marriage. There was a

little maidservant . . . well, never mind. I vowed

then that I, an Acultanias, descended from the

First Families of Kezdet, would never bear a child

to him. But he would not leave me alone until I

produced an heir, so ..." She shrugged her plump,

white shoulders. "While he was away on one of his

half-year business trips, I made a small payment to

a Didi in East Celtalan for a relatively new baby.

The ... ah ... donations to the Celtalan Medical

Center to certify that you had been born to me and

that I would never be able to have another child

were considerably more expensive. I had to sell a

lot of my dowry jewels—gaudy things; I never

liked them anyway, and Manjari certainly never

noticed they were gone. So you see, Kisla, it

becomes you ill to sneer at children whose fate—or

worse—you might well have shared."

Baron Manjari and Kisla stared at the baroness

m shocked silence.

"Which Didi?" Manjari finally asked.

"One of those you hired to procure children for

your filthy habits, Manjari dear," the baroness said

sweetly. "How else would I have known where to

find a Didi? So you see, there is even a possibility

that Kisla is your own daughter. Although it seems

unlikely to me, since you always preferred chil-

dren too young to become pregnant—"

Baron Commodore Manjari had lowered his

hand during her disclosure and, with an insou-

ciance that was almost laudable under the circum-

stances, had slipped it into his pocket. Now he

withdrew that hand. There was a glint of metal;

Gill sprang forward with a warning cry, but he was

too late. The plasknife had neatly sliced through

396

ANNE MCCAFFREY AND MARGARET BALL

397

the baroness's neck. Blood spurted over Manjari's

hands.

"No, Father! Don't kill me, too!" Kisia shrank

away from him.

"I had to stop her talking. Surely you see that,"

Manjari said in a conversational tone, his dark

eyes glittering and staring. "If people found out

that you -were a brothel foundling, it -would ruin

our position in society."

He looked around him at the horrified faces of

Judit, Gill, and half a dozen Manjari Shipping

employees. "Stop talking . . . stop them all talk-

ing. . . . It's too late for that, isn't it?" he asked

Gill, like a child. "Isn't it too late?"

Gill nodded heavily.

"I was afraid of that," Manjari said heavily, and

turned the plasknife upon himself.

They had tried to keep the children from seeing the

removal of the bodies, but Kisia s piercing screams

attracted all eyes until she, too, was removed, under

restraints and shot full of tranks.

"The Piper's dead," one child reported to those

already on the shuttle.

"The Lady Lukia killed him for us."

"How could she? She ain't here!"

"She can do anything. Prolly she put malojo on

him to make him kill hisself."

Gill shook his head as the children calmly took

their places on the shuttle.

"I thought they'd be upset," he muttered.

"They have always known death," Delszaki Li

said. He had come upon them silently, in his

hover-chair, and Gill jumped half a meter at the

unexpected sound of the old man's voice. "Death

is no stranger. Now it is for you and Judit to teach

them about life." He looked down, where the

Manjaris blood stained the floor of the port, and

sighed. "But it is great pity about the baron com-

modore."

"I don't see why," said Judit. She was some-

what pale, but she was no longer leaning against a

wall and fighting nausea. "He was an evil man. He

deserved to die."

"Judit, Judit." Li sighed. "Have I taught you

nothing of business? Now? will have to pay own

shipping costs instead of extorting from Manjari.

Is great pity," he repeated.

Acorna, still east of Celtalan, heard nothing of the

happenings at the spaceport. The enormity of the

task was exhausting her—so many places to visit,

so many children hidden away and -working as

slaves! But it grew easier as the day -went on. The

same secret, subterranean channels of communica-

tion that had once spread tales of Epona, of Lukia,

of Sita Ram, now carried the -word that the

promised day of freedom had arrived. Those who

hid would not be taken away into the sky; they

would have to remain as slaves. And so the chil-

dren began coming out even before they saw

Acorna.

"Tomorrow you won't have to do it all," Pal

said cheerfully. "Anywhere they see a Li consor-

ANNE MCCAFFREY AND MARGARET BALL

398

399

tium skimmer, they'll come to us. You should go

home and rest now."

"The skimmer pilots have been flying all day,"

Acorna said. "If they can keep on, so can I." She

beckoned to Pedir. "Can you and your friends man-

age one more flight today, Pedir? Good. There is one

place more that I must visit now. For Jana and

Khetala."

At Anyag, the news of some crazy woman who

•was taking away perfectly good bond-laborers had

reached the overseers as well as the servants. Some

locked their gangs in the sleep sheds. Since Siri

Teku's gang was just coming off shift at the end of

the day, he simply told them to stay Below. There

would be no off-shift until this Acorna person had

come and gone. She wouldn't find Anyag as easy to

ruin as those city-type factories with their soft man-

agers !

But the news had not mentioned a small army

of skimmer pilots, medical technicians, and House

Li guards coming along with Acorna. While

Delszaki Li's people swarmed over the Anyag

workings, breaking open sleep sheds and escort-

ing the dazed, blinking children to skimmers,

Acorna looked and looked for the faces she

remembered.

"You won't find 'em," Siri Teku taunted her,

grinning. "They belong to me and Old Black."

Mention of the underground demon whose

name was used to terrorize the children was all the

clue Acorna needed. She stopped briefly at each

open shaft, delicately testing the air with her horn

until she came to the one where the air -was heavy

with the breathing of many small people left all

alone in the darkness of Below.

The engines that moved a cage up and down

the shaft were stilled, but there were emergency

ladders at the side.

"Laxmi," Acorna called down into the dark-

ness. "Faiz. Buddhe. Lata."

There was a shuffling sound deep in the shaft

and a scuffling noise behind Acorna, as Siri Teku

moved toward her and three pilots joyfully sat on

his chest. Acorna took no notice; all her attention

was concentrated on the slender thread of her own

voice, drawing the children toward her. "Ganga,

Villum, Parvi," she called.

As she named the children, they slowly, fear-

fully, climbed the long ladders to the top of the

shaft. Laxmi was first.

"Sita Ram." She sighed. "You did come back!"

She fell to her knees and kissed Acorna s skirts.

Acorna gently lifted her. "I will need your help

with the younger ones, Laxmi," she said. "Lata,

Ganga, Parvi?" she coaxed again.

"These are the last ones at Anyag," Pal said

tensely beside her. "Now will you come home and

rest? If only so you can come with us tomorrow??"

"Yes," Acorna said. "Come, Faiz, Villum,

Buddhe," she called. "We are going home. We are

all going home."

That the home she would eventually go to—if

Calum's researches were true—would be many

light-years, and possibly many subjective years, of

travel from Kezdet was not important now. And

certainly not to be mentioned to these children

400 ——' ANNE McCAFFREY AND MARGARET BALL

until she saw them happy on Maganos under the

care of Judit and Gill. Perhaps she and Calum

•would wander the stars without success, but, in

helping these children, was she not earning the

right to find her own people? Had she not made

good her vow to the destitute and abandoned of

Kezdet?

Smiling, she swung Lata up into her arms and

walked toward Pedir's skimmer, trailed by chil-

dren, whose grimy hands clutched her skirts and

her long silver hair.

No one at Anyag dared to stop them.