Five
Male laughter greeted
me as I entered my quarters at the pavilion. Inside I saw our
friends Qonja and Hawk sitting on the floor with Marel and playing
a game of chase the string with the cats.
Reever met me at the
door panel and took my hands in his. “You are late.” Through the
link his touch established, he added, I have
warned them that Xonea is monitoring us.
“Forgive me, but I
had to speak with Squilyp’s resident.” I kissed him. How did you manage to do that?
“You might have
signaled.” He took Marel’s school datapad from his tunic pocket
and, using his body to shield it from the drone monitors, typed
carefully on it before he cleared the
screen.
Hawk, the crossbreed
avatar-Terran who had helped rescue Cherijo after Joseph Grey Veil
had abducted her and taken her back to Terra, appeared very tanned
and healthy, as if he had been spending a great deal of time
working outdoors. The wide, brown-feathered wings he had once
concealed by pretending to be a hunchback now lay folded beneath
his broad shoulders.
“Jarn.” Hawk came to
envelop me in his arms and wings for a fond embrace. “It is good to
see you.”
I hugged him back
before exchanging a warm gesture of greeting with Qonja, Hawk’s
bondmate. The Jorenian male also looked quite fit and
happy.
“I’m glad to see you,
but surprised, too,” I told Qonja, and turned to touch my brow to
his in the Jorenian manner of greeting. “I thought Reever said that
you were dwelling with the Kalea now.”
“We were. As soon as
we received word of your return, we thought it a prudent time to
pay a visit.” Qonja indicated some beautifully woven Jorenian
baskets on our dining table. “We brought some of Galena Kalea’s
morning breads, which are finer than any I have ever tasted,
including those of my former ClanMother.” A flicker of sadness
crossed his handsome face before he added, “Hawk has a new dish he
wishes you to try, as well. What say we share a meal?”
I glanced at Reever,
who nodded. “I think we would all enjoy that very
much.”
Over an enormous meal
of breads and a tasty stew Hawk prepared from spicy native roots
and blossoms, we spoke of mutual friends and recent events on
Joren. Qonja and Hawk did not ask about Trellus, and Reever and I
did not speak of the colony or our upcoming expedition. For the
most part, we listened to our daughter chatter on about her friends
and schoolwork, and some of the sights she had seen while traveling
with Salo and Darea. Then Fasala arrived to take Marel to an
evening gathering for the HouseClan’s children, leaving the four of
us alone. I prepared tea for everyone and then sat down with the
men.
“That was a fine
dish, Hawk,” I said, “and if you will program it in our prep unit,
I will be most grateful. But did you really come all this way to
prepare a new dish for us?”
“Not exactly.” Hawk
looked at his bondmate.
Qonja took his hand
as his expression turned solemn. “We have news, unhappy as it is.
While you were away, Hawk and I petitioned the Ruling Council to
recognize our bond and overturn the repudiation from my HouseClan.
They have refused.”
Hawk and Qonja were
both male, and under the present law were prohibited from Choosing
each other as bondmates. The fact that they had done so, and had
gone so far as to openly declare their bond in front of Jorenian
witnesses, had caused Qonja to be repudiated by his natal kin,
HouseClan Adan.
“So the council is
siding with the Adan,” Reever said. “You must have expected
that.”
Qonja nodded. “We had
hoped, of course, that they would break with tradition and rule in
our favor, but we were not startled when they did not. Our oldest
customs and laws govern matters of Choice. It will take more than
one petition to effect changes.”
“Can you petition
them again?” I was a member of the council; surely I could do
something about this.
“It would not be
advisable. As it is, our presence on Joren is only tolerated out of
respect for my former ClanFather,” Qonja admitted. “A second
petition might provoke the council into taking more aggressive
action, such as rescinding my citizenship and residential status.
If that happens, Hawk and I will both be deported.”
“I have tried to
convince him to revoke our bond,” Hawk said, his unhappiness plain.
“It would placate the council and the Adan, and we can still be
together, if we are discreet.”
Qonja kissed the back
of Hawk’s hand. “I will never hide my honor for you, evlanar.” With his free hand he made a careless
gesture. “It matters not. Even now, word of our bond is spreading
throughout the HouseClans. The customs and laws regulating Choice
has been questioned for some time by younger Jorenians. Despite the
beliefs of my people, it would seem that not everyone who Chooses
wishes to procreate.”
“Such changes often
take a very long time to happen, especially among sexually
repressed species,” Reever said. “What do the Kalea say about
this?”
“Like me, they are
crossbreeds,” Hawk said, “and the ClanLeaders, Jakol and Sajora
Kalea, have openly accepted our bond. They even accompanied us
before the council to show their support for our petition. But if
the council decides to take further action against us, such support
could also result in serious repercussions for the Kalea. Some of
the more conservative Adan have spoken of having HouseClan Kalea
declared lawless and officially disbanded for offering us
shelter.”
“Which we cannot
allow to happen to our friends, not after all they have done for
us,” Qonja added. “Until the law changes, Hawk and I feel we should
make our home away from Joren.”
“Terra will not grant
you asylum or residential status,” Reever said. “Where will you
go?”
“We would prefer to
find an open and tolerant multispecies colony, like the one
established on Kevarzangia Two,” Qonja said. “But I think it would
be best if we left Joren as soon as possible. Xonal Torin mentioned
to us that you are heading an expedition into the Saraced system.
Would you consider allowing Hawk and I to serve as members of the
crew?”
“Of course,” I said
at once. “We would be glad to have you with us.” I thought for a
moment. “How would you wish to serve on the crew?”
“My people on Terra
lived under primitive tribal conditions,” Hawk put in. “I may be
able to help you interpret some of the customs and practices of the
oKiaf. I also have first-aid training, so I can assist you in the
medical bay when necessary.”
“I can serve as the
expedition’s psychologist,” Qonja said. “Or your personal
bodyguard, as before.”
The door panel
chimed, preventing my answer, and I went to answer it. One glance
at the external display made me frown.
“Xonea.” I opened the
panel.
“I would speak to you
and your bondmate.” The captain of the Sunlace walked in past me and stopped as he saw our
guests. “Forgive me, I do not mean to interrupt.”
“Then you should have
waited rather than come here at this hour,” Reever
replied.
I saw that my husband
was still spoiling for a fight with my ClanBrother. “Whatever the
hour or circumstance, we are all still friends. Come and join us,
Captain.”
Xonea greeted Qonja
and Hawk in a polite but reserved fashion, refused my offer of tea,
and remained on his feet. “My ClanFather has spoken to me of this
expedition you intend to take to Saraced. Given the current
political situation there, I advise against it.”
“He must have also
told you that oKia is one of three worlds on the Aksellan map that
was not marked as harboring the black crystal,” I said. “It is
important that we discover if that is still the case, and if so,
why.”
“You acquired this
mining map from the Trellusans,” Xonea said. “What if it is not
authentic? What if they counterfeited it in order to lure you and
Duncan to this world?”
“Why resort to such
an elaborate ruse?” I spread out my hands. “They had the means to
keep us imprisoned on Trellus. If they wished to collect a bounty
for us, why would they give us a map and let us go? How could they
know we would choose to sojourn to oKia, for that
matter?”
His mouth tightened.
“I do not like this. We can protect you better on Joren than in
open space.”
“That is why I asked
Xonal to have you transport the expedition on the Sunlace,” I pointed out. “There is no one we trust
more to keep us safe.”
My ClanBrother turned
his head and eyed Reever, who nodded his agreement. “Very well. If
you are to go, it will be on my ship.” He then regarded Qonja and
Hawk. “I suppose you two intend to accompany us.”
“Jarn has consented
to our joining the crew, but it is your ship,” Qonja said, his tone
cool. “If our presence is as unwelcome there as it has been almost
everywhere else, we should be told now.”
Xonea had been the
one to expose Qonja and Hawk’s relationship to the Adan, I
recalled.
“There has been much
debate among the Houses over your bond,” Xonea said. “I am like
most of our people in that I value our traditions and wish to see
them preserved. I also believe the primary responsibility of those
who Choose is to have children. Still, even one such as I can see
the bond that exists between you and Hawk. It appears as real and
enduring as”—he glanced at me—“any other I have
witnessed.”
Qonja put his hand on
Hawk’s shoulder. “It is.”
“Then this time, I
will save you some trouble and assign you both to the same quarters
on the Sunlace.” Xonea turned to
Reever. “The ship has been undergoing some refitting at the Zamlon
docks. I am traveling there tomorrow to inspect the work. If you
and Jarn wish to accompany me, I will call for you in the
morning.”
Like Xonea’s, my
husband’s expression gave away none of his feelings. “We would,
thank you.”
“Be ready to leave by
midrise.” With a nod to the rest of us, my ClanBrother
left.
“Am I hallucinating?”
Hawk asked softly, “Or did I just hear Captain Xonea Torin
acknowledge our bond?”
Qonja grinned. “If
you did not, it was a shared hallucination.”
I heard a low,
distressed sound, and looked past Qonja to see our daughter
standing on the other side of the room with Fasala just inside the
entrance to the courtyard.
“Your pardon, Healer
Jarn.” Fasala looked miserable. “I did not wish to interrupt your
visit, so I brought Marel back through the courtyard.”
“It’s all right,
Fasala.” The stricken look on Marel’s small face told me how much
of our discussion she had overheard. “I am sorry we did not have
the chance to talk to you about the sojourn first.”
“You told ClanUncle
and Hawk and even Fasala.” Marel knuckled away the tears in her
eyes and gave me a defiant look. “You told everyone about it.
Everyone but me. Now what will my friends say?” She ran off to her
room, and Reever followed her.
“I think we should
go,” Hawk said, and gave me a brief farewell embrace. Against my
ear, he murmured, “The young are very forgiving.”
After I saw out Qonja
and Hawk, I returned to hear the sounds of my daughter sobbing and
Reever speaking in a low, soothing voice.
“Since your return
from Trellus, Marel has been telling our friends that you would be
staying and making your home here with us,” Fasala explained. “She
even spoke to our ClanLeader about planting a garden of Terran
vegetables, to see if they would grow here. I think this is the
cause of her distress.”
“I knew she was
becoming attached to this world, but . . .” I stopped and rubbed my
eyes with my fingers. “We cannot take her with us on this
expedition; it is too dangerous. Perhaps she will feel better when
she knows that.”
“I think not,
Healer,” Fasala said. “Each time you leave her, Marel fears you
will not return. Her true happiness is walking within beauty with
you and Linguist Reever.” With a sympathetic gesture, the Jorenian
girl also departed.
When Marel was upset,
Reever always managed her better than I could, so I busied myself
with tidying up. An hour passed before he emerged and joined me in
the food prep area.
“She is sleeping
now.” He put his arm around my waist. “Don’t blame yourself,
beloved. We knew this news would be difficult for her to
accept.”
I knew, and still it
did not make a difference. “I know it must be this way, and still I
cannot bear to hear her weeping like that.” I took a deep breath
and faced him. “Fasala mentioned something. It seems our daughter
has been telling the other children that we were to make a home
here. A permanent home.”
Reever frowned. “I
have not said any such thing to her. Have you?”
I shook my head. “Who
would make her believe something like that?”
“Perhaps something
was said by someone who wishes us to remain on Joren.” His gaze
shifted to the drone concealed in a nearby wall.
Xonea, of course.
Another of his controlling tactics, and this time he used it on my
daughter.
This time, he had
made my daughter cry.
I couldn’t bear
another moment of this farce, so I reached into the storage
container and removed the largest, sharpest blade from it. “Look
over there, Husband.” I made my voice as loud as I could without
disturbing the child. “I think someone has planted a spying device
in our quarters.”
“Jarn.” Duncan shook
his head.
He was right; what I
meant to do was a foolish thing. And I didn’t care. I went over to
the wall and drove the knife into the embedded drone. The plasteel
shattered the monitoring device, causing a short spray of sparks to
shoot out of the wall.
“I wonder if there
are others. Let me look.” I went to the next. “Oh, dear, here is
another one.” I used the blade to pry this one out of the wall
panel, and peered into its tiny lens. “Are you getting this picture, spy?” I dropped the drone to the
floor and stomped on it until it lay in small pieces.
Reever did not stop
me as I went from drone to drone and systematically destroyed all
but one of them. With the last, I carefully removed it from its
hiding place and brought it over to the disposal unit.
“Hello,” I said to
the drone. “Please be advised of the following: If I find another
monitoring device within a hundred meters of me, Reever, or Marel,
I will have the person responsible explain why to the Ruling
Council.” I paused. “After I beat him senseless for intruding on
our privacy and deceiving our child.”
I crushed the drone
in my hand before I dropped the remains into the
disposal.
Reever came to stand
next to me. “Regarding the beating, you will have to wait your
turn.”
“Good.” I turned and
went to the room terminal, and prepared a formal text signal before
I asked my husband to translate it into Jorenian for me. As he read
the message, I said, “I will send it now, unless you have any
objections.”
He gave me one of his
rare half smiles. “None at all.”
Marel woke up early,
but said little to us as she had her morning meal and prepared for
her day at school.
I did not like this
silence, not when I had grown accustomed to the child’s bright,
endless chatter. But Reever had suggested I let her have some time
to adjust to the news of the expedition before I discussed it with
her. Saying nothing made me feel as unhappy as the child, but I
knew he was right.
We did not talk at
all during the brief walk from our quarters to the school, but just
before she entered her class Marel looked up at me.
The storm-dark color
of her eyes told me she had not yet forgiven us for disappointing
her. “Will I stay again with ClanUncle Salo and ClanAunt Darea
while you are gone, Mama?”
“That is our wish.” I
knelt down in front of her. “Marel, we love you, and we are very
sorry that we hurt you. We should have told you first about the
expedition. You are the most important person in our
lives.”
“I want to be like
the other kids here,” she told me. “They never have to be away from
their families. Everyone stays together. That’s what kin does. If
you and Daddy can’t be on Joren with me, then you should take me
with you on the expedition.”
“We could,” I agreed.
“But we will have much work to do, and this time there will be no
other children on board the ship. I fear it would be very boring
for you.”
“Then don’t go,
Mama.” Tears sparkled in her eyes. “Stay here with
me.”
I took her hands in
mine. “An Iisleg woman cannot break a promise she makes, you know
that.” When she nodded, I said, “When we return from this sojourn,
I vow that Daddy and I will take you on a special trip. We won’t
work or have meetings or be away from you. We will go only where
you want to go, and only be where you want us to be.”
“I miss my friends at
HouseClan Kalea. ClanLeader Jory said the next time I visited that
she would teach me how to ride a t’lerue.” Clearly tempted, Marel
bit her lower lip. “You promise, Mama?”
I pressed her hand to
my heart. “I swear it.”
Marel flung her arms
around my neck and hugged me tightly. I held her until her teacher
came to the entrance, and only then did I release her to join the
class.
Reever stood waiting
for me outside the pavilion. “Xonea signaled while you were out. He
has gone ahead to check some of the engine work.”
“Perhaps he can have
the Zamlon fix his monitoring drones, as well.” I went with Reever
to the glidecar waiting at the end of the walking path. “I promised
Marel that we would spend some time with her after the expedition.
It is not enough, though. Soon we must decide how and where we are
to live as a family.”
“We can discuss it
during the sojourn.” Reever opened the passenger side of the
vehicle for me. “For now, stop it.”
I glanced at him.
“Stop what?”
“Worrying about our
daughter, the expedition, the new bounty being offered, Xonea, and
everything else in your head.” He buckled me into my harness. “We
are together. Marel is safe. That is enough for now.”
I envied Reever that
unwavering assurance, especially when I saw the glint from a tiny
lens wink at me from a corner of the interior floor covering. As my
husband went around to the other side of the vehicle, I bent down
and swiftly yanked the monitoring drone out of the textured
material.
“This should not take
too long,” Reever said as he climbed in behind the control console.
“Xonea has much to do to prepare for the sojourn.”
“Good.” I pocketed
the drone. “So do I.”
On the trip to the
Zamlon dock yards, Reever kept me distracted from my thoughts by
reviewing the crew manifest for the expedition. Many of the most
experienced flight officers among the Torin had been slated to
accompany us, along with a full complement of skilled nurses to
serve in medical, and combat-trained militia for security. I was a
little surprised to discover my husband, not Xonea, had consulted
with Xonal to handpick the crew.
“Are we going on a
sojourn, or declaring war on the oKia?” I tried to
joke.
“I prefer to be
prepared.” Reever slowed outside a restricted area and presented
our identifications to a Zamlon security officer.
Beyond the gated
entry stood open framework enclosures built around a dozen massive
star vessels in various stages of construction and repair.
Surrounding them were smaller, sleeker scouts and launches perched
on lifts or suspended from cranes. Zamlon shipbuilders swarmed
around, over, and under the vessels as they worked on them. Drone
transports glided back and forth from enormous storage structures
as they hauled heavy loads of cargo and construction
materials.
I knew the Jorenians
drew on forms from nature to design their star vessels; the
Sunlace resembled the spi raling shell
of a sea creature. Now I saw other, strangely compelling vessel
designs that ranged from a cluster of falling stars to the closed
petals of an enormous flower.
One ship in
particular stood out from the others; a twin-hulled vessel only
partially completed but already a magnet for the eye. Made of some
dark golden alloy, the ship had an unusual amount of large viewer
panels and double launch bays large enough to hold twenty or thirty
smaller scout vessels. I had seen the remains of thousands of
vessels during my years on Akkabarr, yet none of them even remotely
resembled the design of this ship.
“Is that golden
runner some sort of troop transport?” I asked my husband as we left
the glidecar and walked to the Sunlace.
Reever paused to
study it. “It’s not carrying enough weapons.” He saw the two launch
bays. “It’s designed primarily to transport smaller vessels, but
far more than the crew and passengers would ever need.” He tilted
his head. “Those containment sections appear to be made to hold a
separate type of atmosphere.”
“They hold water,” a
low, pleasant voice said as a Jorenian in heavy welding gear joined
us. “The crew are mostly ’Zangian aquatics. The ship itself will
serve as an orbital base ship for planetary biorescue
missions.”
The Jorenian removed
his headgear, revealing a bald, dark green head and friendly
white-within-white eyes.
“You must be the
Kalean shipbuilder,” I guessed.
“Nalek Kalea,” he
said, grinning to show strong, white Jorenian teeth as he made a
warm gesture of greeting. “You two are the little comet’s parents,
Jarn and Duncan.”
“We are.” I raised my
brow. “Little comet?”
“Our pet name for
your ClanDaughter,” Nalek said. “Never have I met a child as small,
fast, shining, or determined as Marel.”
Nalek exchanged more
formal greetings with Reever before escorting us to the
Sunlace’s dock.
“Preparations for
launch are nearly complete,” the Kalean told us after introducing
his project manager. “The ship should ready to return to orbit
before the end of the week.”
“I understood you to
be a ship designer,” I said, eye ing some unfamiliar exterior
changes on the vessel. “Why are you involved with the work on the
Sunlace?”
“Captain Torin
requested modifications be made to the weapons systems. Here, I
will show you.” Nalek brought us to the starboard weapons array,
and indicated some unfamiliar fittings and emitters. “Here the
defense cannons have been modified. They can now deliver both pulse
bursts and displacer ordnance.”
“Jorenians don’t use
displacer technology,” I said, more confused now. “Only the Hsktskt
do.”
“Pulse weapons are
more precise, but displacer charges do more damage,” Nalek
explained. “Captain Torin was quite specific about fitting the ship
to deliver both.”
I spotted the
Jorenian in question walking toward us. “Was he?”
Xonea offered a brief
greeting before speaking to Nalek about an engine modification. At
last he looked at me. “You will wish to go on board and inspect the
medical bay.”
“I intend to,” I
said. “But first I would like to know why you’ve had the ship’s
weapons array refitted to deliver displacer ordnance.”
“We have received
reports of recent attacks on ships traveling throughout the
quadrant,” Xonea said, “carried out by a small band of mercenaries.
Their success is due to a new technology that shielded their ships
against standard League pulse weaponry.”
“Surely we can outrun
some raiders,” I said.
“Several vessels that
were attacked by these mercenaries have been brought to the docks
for repairs,” Nalek said. “From what the captains tell us, the
attackers come out of nowhere to disable their engines, perform
intensive remote scans, and vanish again.”
“What sort of
intensive scans?” Reever asked.
The shipbuilder made
an uncertain gesture. “Nothing our equipment can identify, but
they’re powerful. They scan the entire ship, access all the
databases, and then leave.”
“Slavers used the
same tactic on captured vessels,” my husband said. “They board them
and use the readings from remote scans to locate what they
want.”
I glanced at Reever,
and my heart tightened. “Or who.”
He nodded, and then
told the Jorenians, “The mercenaries are most likely bounty hunters
scanning the ships for Terran life signs. They’re looking for me
and Jarn.”
Nalek thought about
it. “If they’re only interested in finding two Terrans, it will not
be difficult on a ship crewed mainly by Jorenians.”
“I have had Nalek
increase the sensitivity of our ship-to-ship proximity alarms,”
Xonea said. “As soon as they transition anywhere within one hundred
thousand kim of the Sunlace, we will
know and take action.”
“It would be better
to make them think there are no Terrans on board,” my husband said,
and turned to Nalek. “When I piloted a slave runner, we adjusted
the external reflectors to shield the crew by constantly projecting
Rilken life signs. All it required was a portable simulator and
some creative circuit bypasses.”
Nalek grimaced. “A
clever ploy. No slaver would attack a Rilken ship, not even if they
were desperate.”
Reever nodded.
“Perhaps the same can be done by adjusting the Sunlace’s buffer grid to use the dimensional
simulators to alter my and Jarn’s life signs to read as Jorenian as
the rest of the crew.”
Nalek slowly smiled.
“With some very improper rigging, yes, I think it possible.” He
glanced at me and Xonea. “May I borrow your bondmate for a few
minutes?”
I agreed, and waited
until the men boarded the ship before I spoke to my ClanBrother.
“Did you get my message last night?”
He stiffened. “I
received no signal from you.”
“It wasn’t a signal.
At least, not after I destroyed all the drones you planted in our
quarters. But you needn’t worry. I saved one that I found this
morning.” I took from my pocket the monitoring drone I had found in
the vehicle. “Here, let me repeat the message.” I dropped the drone
on the ground between us and crushed it under my
footgear.
My ClanBrother looked
away from the ruined device, but said nothing.
“I don’t care that
you dislike me, Xonea,” I advised him, “and out of my regard for
our mutual kin I’ve tolerated your pathetic attempts to spy on me
and Reever. But lying to my child? That seems excessive, even for
you.”
Now he glared at me.
“Jorenians do not lie.”
“I know you were the
one who told Marel that we would be making a home here on Joren,” I
snapped. “Neither Reever nor I have ever agreed to do so. No one
else would be so cruel.”
“You are a member of
the Ruling Council. A ClanDaughter of the Torin,” he reminded me.
“Joren is your home.”
“Last night I
resigned from the council,” I told him, and enjoyed the jolt of
shock that crossed his stern face.
“You cannot resign
without my approval,” Xonea finally said. “I will petition the
council to have you reinstated.”
“On what grounds will
you file the petition on my behalf? Mental instability due to the
effects of the amnesia?” I made my smile icy and sweet. “That
was the reason I gave for my
resignation.”
Xonea stepped closer.
“You think you have prevailed over me? I am still your closest
blood kin. As such, I can call off the expedition. I can revoke
your privileges as a citizen. I can even have you committed to a
psychiatric facility for as long as I think
appropriate.”
“If I remain a member of HouseClan Torin. I can
think of several ways to provoke an act of repudiation. Threatening
to kill a ClanBrother before our kin, for example, would serve
quite well.” The words hung between us for a time. Then I said, “If
that is what it will take to put an end to your harassment of me
and my family, Xonea, I will do it.”
“You would destroy
the honor of my ClanBrother Kao, of my kin, simply to thwart me?”
Horror filled his eyes. “You are mad.”
“No more than someone
who would rather see me imprisoned than allow me my freedom,” I
shot back. “You are no better than the bounty hunters or the
League. Or Cherijo’s father.”
Xonea turned his back
on me with a jerky motion and stared out at the horizon. After a
long silence, he said, “So now the path changes.”
I recalled what I had
learned of Jorenian philosophy, and made the correct response. “So,
too, must the traveler.”
“You will not
withdraw your resignation from the council?” He watched me shake my
head. “Neither would she. Cherijo did not believe in half measures
or surrender. She fought unto the end.”
“So will I,” I
promised him.
I saw Reever and
Nalek emerge from the ship and start toward us. “How will it be,
then, Captain?”
Xonea picked up the
pieces of the drone and put them in his tunic pocket. “You have
your freedom, Healer.”