Lyon's Pride (12 page)

To reassure both apprehensive Humans and the aggressively vindictive Mrdini majority, Captain Quacho of the
Arapahoe
had remained behind on sentinel duty until a discreet space facility could be 'ported to the nearest of Xh-33's moons. Any activity in Xh-33 space could be recorded. Should any occur, unlikely though that seemed, the Alliance could then vote on more lasting punitive action.

Meanwhile there were other enigmas to interpret: if there was no communication between Hive worlds or ship-to-surface contact, how could the Alliance hope to establish any interface with the Hivers? If no communication was possible, there was no hope of arriving at any mutually satisfactory, non-aggressive cohabitation of a galaxy which had sufficient M-type systems to accommodate all—with some control on over-expanding populations.

Afra sighed. Being of a methody upbringing as well as Talented, he eschewed violence: didn't really know if he would even defend himself. He would, he thought, defend his children, but probably not himself. Except that that
would leave Damia unsupported. So he might even defend himself, much as he would abhor the necessity. Humans had grown beyond that exigency. Association with the 'Dini had, unfortunately in Afra's estimation, revived “war.” If only there were some avenue of interface available…

Every attempt to get the captured queen to communicate—or
notice
that other intelligent beings were in her presence—had so far failed. How his daughter Zara had known that the queen was suffering from hypothermia, on the verge of extinction, was a matter no one had been able to establish—especially Zara. She had also had no further empathetic contact with the queen. No one had. The queen had ignored any visitor, even a Mrdini: even the very large Mrdini which towered above her not inconsiderable form.

That she could see and hear had been established by adroit remote testing. Various frequencies and combinations had elicited no more response from her than a twitch of discomfort. Those settings were kept on record.

It must be an amazing mind-set, Afra thought, to consider one's self the only being of worth in the galaxy. There had been Humans who had had such delusions. They had generally died because of them and remained as small paragraphs in the greater history of Humankind.

In an oblique fashion, it followed that, in the Hiver extermination of all life forms on any planet they had chosen to colonize, they were totally unaware that they were eradicating entities which might feel they had the inalienable right to live.

The Hivers must also have been surprised by Mrdini resistance, though only the most determined attacks by Mrdini squadrons and fleet units had deterred the creatures.

Did other Hivers
know
of Mrdini resistance? If the
Raven-Rowan merge had not sent the one survivor back to the Mother ship, would it have
known
that Deneb would resist?

His musings solved nothing and he could “hear” his family returning from a very successful hunt. He left a note for Keylarion, the Tower's T-6, to investigate recovering the couches and went back to the house to start dinner preparations.

*   *   *

Laria followed her father's advice immediately and contacted Earth Prime Jeff Raven to say that the T-2 was unable to tolerate the Mrdini, an essential requisite for duty at Clarf Tower. She had been about to add an apologetic note when her grandfather cut it short.

All we need is unhappy Mrdinis
, Jeff said, but in such a genial tone that Laria began to relax and wonder why she'd delayed so long in broaching the problem. Nearly five months was a long enough period to allow Clarissia to integrate and the girl hadn't. Laria did not mention some of the young woman's other less admirable characteristics which had enraged Vanteer from time to time and certainly annoyed Lionasha.

I'll have a word with Gollee Gren and see if he's got any promising candidates. And stress 'Dini adherents…. Of course, it would be best to have a 'Dini-raised kid like you. That solves most of the problem Clarissia posed
.

How many 'Dinis were paired out, Grandfather?

Gren's got such figures. I seem to remember there were about a thousand in the first adoptions. Not all to Talented families, of course, and spread about the old Nine Star League worlds. And then as many as the 'Dinis could spare for placement. There'll be someone. And, mind you, miss, you keep after me until a proper match's been made. That's more important than you may realize and it is certainly
MY function to make sure any Prime has the right support group. Hear me? You put up with Stierlman far longer than you had to. As my old mother used to say, if a shirt's dirty, it's dirty
.

Whaat?

And don't tell me you've never heard how often your grandmother switched Callisto staff about until she latched onto your father!

All right, then, I won't.
Laria giggled.

That's better. Gollee's already on it. As soon as he finds a likely suspect, I'll ship it out and you can ship Clarissia back
.

Oh, good heavens!

Sooner the better, pet
.

Before Laria could start to temporize, Earth Prime was gone. As immensely relieved as she was not to have to put up with Clarissia much longer, Laria hoped that she'd have time enough to warn the girl. It wasn't exactly Clarissia's fault that she couldn't abide 'Dinis…No, it
was
Clarissia's fault because she'd made absolutely no attempt to see “good” in the Mrdinis.

In fact, all latent sympathy Laria had for the girl dispersed two minutes later when Clarissia contacted her.

There is a delegation of those creatures on its way across the field, Prime…
Clarissia's tone reeked of distaste.

Laria looked out her Tower window, though the Clarf “tower” was no more than a four-sided plasglassed cupola, raised eight feet above the rest of the complex, and saw that the delegation contained the large form of Plrgtgl, two medium-sized assistants and six lesser, smaller 'Dinis.

Vanteer, Lionasha, full honors. Clarissia, can you at least assemble the proper refreshments?

Yes
, came so curt an acknowledgment that Laria could
almost see the repugnance on the girl's long face and the twitch of her slender hands, indications of the revulsion the young Talent felt at having to deal with the “creatures” in any capacity. Another twinge of pity racked Laria, for the girl had been so eager to be assigned away from her homeworld. Her xenophobia had not then been apparent to anyone, even Gollee Gren, but it developed speedily enough on Clarf.

Vanteer, a stockily built mid-thirties native of Procyon IV, with the heavy bones of that planet's Human adaptation, and the dark-eyed, dark-haired, dark-complected Lionasha, the “lithe” (which was Laria's special designation for her T-7 expediter), could be counted on to divert 'Dinis from approaching Clarissia. It was as well, Laria thought with a sigh, that native 'Dinis did not read Human countenances as well as the Tower 'Dini contingent did. Nor did any of them really notice that Clarissia conveyed no body language at all—standing stiff and straight as if lacquered in position. That was a mercy since she would have made the true depth of her revulsion all too easily readable in movements.

Once Plrgtgl announced its mission, Laria had no further time to fret over Clarissia's possible misdemeanors. Plrgtgl had a huge job for the Tower, requiring it to organize and expedite the timetable for a considerable amount of cargo to be shifted: to the other 'Dini planets and to the satellite space docks. Without its being stated, Laria and her staff realized that a goodly portion of the 'Dini space fleet was being refitted and resupplied in the shortest possible time. Such activity provided her with the perfect reason to remove Prtglm's carrier.

“
WITH SO MUCH TO BE SHIPPED TO DIFFERENT PLACES, ALL CRADLES WILL BE NECESSARY
,” she said as she riffled through the documentation. “
THE CARRIER WHICH HAS
RESTED ON THE FIELD COULD PERHAPS NOW BE MOVED TO A SOUTHERN LOCATION TO DISPLAY ITS MESSAGES THERE TO GOOD EFFECT
.” She pretended total disinterest in Plrgtgl's reaction to the request and quickly moved to another topic, adding body language to augment the praise of her words. “
SO MUCH OF THIS YEAR'S HARVEST TO GO OFF-WORLD, TOO. A CREDIT TO THE COLORS
.”

Plrgtgl rolled its poll eye, attractively covered by a crown of lace which had recently become a 'Dini fad. Laria was well accustomed to such scrutiny and continued to scan the cargo waybills for the red ones that indicated live 'portations.

“
IT WILL BE GOOD TO SEE THE
KLTL
,” she added as nonchalantly as she could, since she was overjoyed to see the ship listed as an arrival. Laria kept very good track of what went to the
KLTL
, since her brother Thian had spent so much time on board. And saved so many 'Dinis from the ultimate sacrifice of their kind. Thian was now FT&T on board the
Genesee
and they exchanged news whenever she had a shipment for the Squadron.

“
YES. THE
KLTL
HAS HONORED ALL MRDINIS AND EVERY COLOR THAT SERVES ON IT
,” Plrgtgl said, shifting its lower limbs, body language she had come to read as “pleased.” “
THN LN HAS SERVED THE
KLTL
TO THE HONOR OF YOUR HOUSE
.”

As she bowed in acknowledgment of such praise, Laria kept her expression neutral despite an intense desire to grin. Plrgtgl had used another human idiom. High-ranking 'Dinis, like Plrgtgl, were gradually sprinkling their conversations with more and more Basic terms. If only that usage could also alter some of the 'Dini minds and methods.

First things first
, she said to herself.

Hey
, said Vanteer, his expression bland though his voice was triumphant,
another score for Basic!

Keeping count, are we, Van?
asked Lionasha, whose eyes twinkled.

And thank whatever gods there be that you're getting rid of that monstrosity. If you're downwind, the stench is appalling.
Vanteer added a flash of himself holding his nose and gagging.
Even my 'Dinis are complaining
.

Laria dared not react or even shoot him a warning glance. All her attention must be on Plrgtgl. She signalled for Lionasha to take the documentation and begin organizing a timetable for the 'portations.

“
THERE WILL BE A GREAT RECEPTION CEREMONY FOR THE ARRIVAL OF THE TRIUMPHANT
KLTL
,” Plrgtgl said.

“
AS THERE SHOULD BE FOR A SHIP THAT HAS DONE SO MUCH
,” Laria replied formally and made the necessary body gestures that signified pleasure, honor, delight and acceptance. She could carry on high-level communications now with just body language, though more and more 'Dinis had become fluent in Basic and prided themselves on using it in the presence of Humans. She flicked her eyes to where Tip and Huf were standing respectfully to one side of the great Plrgtgl and caught their approval of her expertise.

“
IS THERE TIME TO REFRESH WITH COOL DRINK
?” Laria asked, gesturing toward the table and its array. Clarissia had—unobtrusively at least—backed herself against the wall. Tip, Huf, and the other 'Dinis—all too well aware of her dislike—took over the hospitality duties, bringing forward 'Dini seating while Vanteer and Lionasha served the fruity juices which Laria imported from Earth, knowing how much 'Dinis liked them.

I'm not telling you your business as Tower Prime
, Vanteer said on a tight private level,
but we're going to have more 'Dinis in and out of here and
she
's becoming more and more of a liability
.

We'll back your decision in that
, Lionasha added.

Your Prime's already initiated the appropriate steps for her transfer, gang
, Laria replied, focusing her thought to the two, though Clarissia was so tight in her xenophobia she wouldn't have been aware of a telepathic shout in her vicinity.

Hallelujah!
was Vanteer's response in an archaic term that surprised both women.

*   *   *

Despite Clarissia, the official visit went off very well and Plrgtgl was so excited in its own fashion with such imminent traffic—Plrgtgl was rather possessive of the Tower as its special project—that her reserve went unnoticed.

“We'll be busy, kids,” Lionasha said, having had a chance to estimate how much Tower time and energy would be required for the material and animate objects scheduled to be 'ported and received. She grinned around the room but her grin faded at Clarissia. The thin girl stepped forward then, swallowing convulsively.

“I do not wish to abandon Clarf Tower at a time of maximum activity, Prime, but I request as immediate a transfer as possible.” She swallowed again and the others noticed that her pale complexion had turned yellowish.

“Oh, you won't leave us short, Clarissia,” Laria said airily. “Prime Raven has already promised us additional assistance. As soon as you like, I can 'port you back to Blundell.”

Both Lionasha and Vanteer were too self-possessed to show any surprise at Laria's abruptness and were kind enough to make appropriate sounds of dismay.

“No, really, I must go,” Clarissia said, her fingers twitching at her sides and without another word, actually 'ported herself out of the room.

“Well!” said Lionasha and turned to Laria, hoping for an explanation. Vanteer's grin got broader and he winked at the Tower Prime.

“As I said, I've been working on the problem,” she said casually. “I just got the official permission today. We may have to work harder…”

Not if you'll meet me halfway and bring me in
, said a male voice that Laria did not recognize.

She glanced from Vanteer to Lionasha to see if the 'path had been audible to them. Apparently not, so she continued her sentence.