56. Coping

 

Slowly the deck was cleared of people who could still walk and those who could not anymore. Also the very dead, and there were far too many, were carried off.

"What is going to happen to the Bonto?" Daniel asked, as someone tried to help him off the ship. The Bonto was sitting on the deck, near the bridge. Birkle's dead body lay next to it. The animal clearly was confused, with its master dead by its own hands, the havoc and the pain from its wound.

"Well, honestly sir, we were not prepared for a creature like that," said the police officer. "But we have some very good animal carers around who are notified as we speak. They will sedate the animal and after treating its wounds they will probably see to it that it is returned to its natural habitat."

"By the winds," Seigner Skinsh ko Talush said as two large men carried Huajo past them.

"I'm fine, dear friend," the fat man said, tired, dirty, bruised and limping, "Mr. Zacharias, I think we did a good job." The ship owner had been beaten up quite a bit, but he turned out to be stronger than Daniel had thought.

"We certainly did, Seigner," said Daniel, "and we all have you to thank for a lot."

"It was my pleasure, Mr. Zacharias." And with that, Huajo was carefully guided to the gangway, to start the long descent.

Daniel grinned.

"Mr. Zacharias," said Sygra, "you should let someone look at you. I do not like the many injuries you have gained now."

"I'll do that, sir, don't worry," said Daniel. "I just have to make sure that everything will be taken care of."

Two men carried a stretcher past. There was a body on it, under a piece of canvas. The arm that was not covered showed Daniel that it was Clelem that was taken from his own ship. Unwillingly, he touched his sore throat.

"How is... your guest, sir?" he asked Sygra.

"She is fine. You need not worry about her, Mr. Zacharias. Now please, find a doctor and be seen to, before I have to tell Kernak to chase you down."

Daniel grinned. After stroking the big head of the Kotrvayk, he started down the gangway.

-=-=-

"There are a few things in your story, Mr. Zacharias, that are rather weak. You claim something about a person in a black cloak who asked you about compromising Seigner Dandra ko Galem, but this person also kidnapped the Seigner's daughter."

"No, sir," Daniel said to the police officer. "I said it looked as if she was kidnapped by this person. She did not say anything about that. Just that someone drugged her and she found herself in the cellar of the building where I lived."

"I see. And you found her there, on account of the fact that you had gained illegal entry to the shipyard. Well, I think we can safely waive that." The officer nodded to himself as he wrote down a few more things.

They had gone over the affair a few times, making sure that the statement was how Daniel had told it and that the officer understood it all.

"Very good, sir. I think that will be all for now. If we have any questions, we can always locate you through the hydger. Can you tell me where you will be living for now? The apartment block will not be rebuilt soon."

"The senator has invited me to stay at his house as long as I need to," said Daniel, "so I will be there most of the time. If anything changes in that respect, I will let you know."

"Much appreciated sir. Thank you for your time."

Daniel left the man. In the hall, Sygra was waiting for him, Kernak by his side, and they shared a carriage back home. All others had left already.

Kernak was running along behind the carriage.

"The police have gone to see Rayko already," Sygra told Daniel. "They have told her about what has happened. Someone is also on the way to lady Dandra ko Galem with the news."

"Oh. I see." Daniel had worried about that part ever since he had gotten back some peace of mind again. "Do you know how they took it?"

"No. I guess we will have to find that out when we arrive."

"I am relieved you managed to round up the forces, Sygra," Daniel said after a while. "We were losing."

Sygra nodded silently.

The carriage came to a halt in front of the house. As Daniel and Sygra got out, Kernak was already waiting by the door. The animal had not even broken into a sweat, Daniel noticed.

They entered the first small building. Sygra opened a door that Daniel had never seen before, allowing Kernak to slip into the garden again.

"I suggest you go and fresh up first, Daniel. You look rather a mess, if you allow me saying so."

Daniel did not have to look at himself to know that the senator was speaking the truth. He was feeling enough of a mess to last for the next month. This planet was very good at tearing him up.

"Do you want me to talk to Rayko alone, Daniel? I understand that it must be very hard for you."

Daniel took in a deep breath. "No. I have to be there also. It is the proper thing to do. After all, I was the one who set all this in motion, and she has to know that."

"I don't want to see you!" Rayko's voice came through the corridor they were in, she had caught their voices.

Daniel and Sygra went into the room, where Rayko sat in bed, her face red and wet and her eyes puffy.

"You killed my father!" she said, as loud as she could. "And I said I don't want to see you, murderer!"

Daniel stood as nailed to the floor. He had not expected this and he wondered what the police had told her.

Sygra put a hand on Daniel's shoulder and gently pushed him out of the room. "Clean up and rest. I will talk to her," he said calmly, before closing the door.

Daniel stared at the door for a while. He heard Sygra talk in a voice too soft to understand, and Rayko crying. Another sigh escaped him and he walked to his room, where he drew a bath for himself and then slowly started to undress.

The hydger, on the chair next to the tub, dragged him from his drowse. Daniel was almost grateful for it, as the drowse introduced him to all kinds of thoughts he would rather avoid for a while. Huajo was calling, asking him how he was.

"I am doing well, sir, thank you. How are you doing?"

Huajo told Daniel that he was not hurt badly. The cut looked worse than it was. "I do hope, Mr. Zacharias, that we can meet again someday, and look back on this day with satisfaction and a good glass."

Daniel hoped so too, and thanked Huajo for the call. After that he sunk away in the warmth of the bath again, which was kept to temperature by an array of tubes that had hot steam going through them.

When he finally got out of the water, he was hurting all over. Most of the band aids the medical people had stuck on him were freely floating in the water. He couldn't really care, so after towelling himself dry and putting on some clothes, he scooped the things out of the drained tub and tossed them away. Then he sat down on the bed and wondered what to do next. He wanted the matter with Rayko resolved. She had to understand that Daniel had had no choice, but also that Clelem was not her real father. The man had said so during the meeting with the pirate captain.

He rubbed his face with both hands and fell back on the bed. "Damn, I hate these games," he muttered. Even when he had been young, Malcolm and some of his friends had been ploying and scheming, something Daniel had never gotten into. And here, on NGC6637-VIII, he felt as if he was sinking into more and more of them. It was as if everyone here had secrets, hidden agendas and other stuff the world should not know about.

The hydger rattled again, dragging him from his sorry feelings.

"Hey, Tomlin," Daniel greeted his friend, "how are you doing?"

"Don't worry about me, Daniel. I feel like crap, but the doctor wrapped up my leg and Nadinka is taking good care of me. How are you? And where are you?"

"I am staying at the house of senator Dirrit ko Asac, Tomlin. I was in hiding here, during the time I was officially 'deceased' and he told me to stay as long as I need to."

"And?" Tomlin asked.

"I'm okay. Good. Well, mostly."

"Good. I just want to know that you are taken care of, Daniel. You're my friend, and this stuff of late has shown me that more clearly than ever. If we can do something for you, Daniel, let us know. Come to visit, call if you have to talk. And don't just say yes, I want you to promise me."

"I promise, Tomlin. You'll be sorry."

"Try me," the man in the display said. "Take care, Daniel..."

Before Daniel could get up, there was another call, from Ulaman this time. And one from Waldo Skinsh ko Talush after him. And some more calls, until Daniel was about to fling the hydger in a corner. Somehow the spirits of the place had understood that, because then the hydger remained silent.

"Sheesh," he muttered. He got up, put on a jacket to slip the hydger into a pocket and left his room. He just had to go to Rayko's room. To his surprise it was empty. The sheets had been taken off the bed and the woman was not there. Daniel walked on, into the dining room. Nobody. Finally, in the small library, he found Sygra.

"Ah, Daniel. You look better."

"I do, thank you. I noticed that Rayko is not in her room."

"Indeed. You noticed well. Do sit down, Daniel." As he had sat down, Sygra said: "Rayko was rather upset as I told her what had happened. I really did all I could to be diplomatic about it, but she insisted I call a carriage and her mother. She has left, and went home. Her mother was, as you may understand, in tears for joy to know her daughter was still alive. The poor woman still was in shock as she heard about the loss of her husband."

Daniel stared at the senator. He heard the words and acknowledged them. This was not what he had hoped for. But, he asked himself, what had he hoped for? That Rayko would have been happy hearing that he'd had a hand in the demise of the man who she had always thought to be her father?

"Give things some time, Daniel. You and she were getting along so well, I am convinced that she will contact you once she got herself together. Also remember that she was still in shock over what had happened, and she was in a lot of pain. Being at home with her family is better for her than being with us men."

Sygra was right, Daniel knew it. But still, the feeling that he was stuck with now did not make things well. She was better off at home, with her family and her own things. The understanding that had grown between Rayko and him had come from the situation, not because they had chosen for it. The whole preacher thing had also been a cover, a way for Daniel to get around. Had he not worn that, she would never have talked to him.

"Indeed. It is better this way," Daniel said. He hoped his face did not betray too much of how he felt in reality.

"Let me advise you to get something to eat, Daniel. It's been a long and hard day, and one that started very early for you as well. And then get some rest. After that, things will look different."

Daniel slowly nodded. "Yes, you're probably right."