Authors: Anne Mccaffrey
Neeva put it under the microscope while Khaari hailed one of the other rescue ships about relaying a message back to Vhiliinyar to ask if asylum for the LoiLoiKuans was possible, if the
sii
-Linyaari would accept another species and if not, if there was some other world with a suitable environment and no sea monsters where the LoiLoiKuans could find a new home.
Liriili had apparently been monitoring the transmission, because she was the next to appear on the com unit. “We are organizing some appropriate dried food to drop into the sea on LoiLoiKua,” she said. “It will rehydrate on contact and provide nourishment.”
“Probably it will mostly nourish the sea monster,” Khorii said ruefully.
“Sea monsters must eat as well as sea persons,” Liriili said in the more-Linyaari-than-thou tone for which she was widely known and disliked insofar as one Linyaari could dislike another. She signed off.
Melireenya gave Khorii a close-mouthed grin. “Perhaps if the monster has enough to supplement its current diet, it will be less interested in your friends. Snacking among nongrazing species is said to spoil the appetite.”
Khorii rolled her eyes. Elviiz said seriously, and with some enthusiasm, “That may well be true, Melireenya! Thus far we are uncertain of the monster’s dietary preferences. Perhaps Mokilau’s assumption was incorrect and the monster is a vegetarian like us.”
Khorii was not certain that periodic battery charges, which were Elviiz’s main source of nourishment, could be counted as vegetables, but it was true he was no meat eater, so she didn’t comment.
“Hmmm!” Neeva said. She had taken a thin slice of Mokilau’s trophy and was examining it under her portable electron microscope. “I have never seen a cellular structure quite like this before.”
She stepped aside as Khorii attempted to peer over her shoulder. “What do you think?”
Khorii put her eyes to the goggles and viewed the strange arrangement of particles—long threads, amorphous green shapes around aqua centers. It didn’t make any sense to her, though it made her feel uneasy.
“I would rather die than say it aloud, Aunt, but my education has been interrupted by the plague. Elviiz is the one to ask.”
“Of course he is!”
Neeva agreed.
“I should have had him look at this to begin with. He’s been rather quiet, and I forgot he was there, I’m afraid.”
Khorii thought the truth was that, much as Elviiz looked like a Linyaari and wished to be considered one, he was not telepathic precisely because he was not organic. This had the odd effect of causing Linyaari who were not members of their immediate family to forget about him unless he kept reminding them, which he usually did.
It was so not his fault and so unfair that it made her feel protective of her brother, and she said more gently and humbly than she usually did when addressing him, “I can’t make anything of it, Elviiz. What do you think?”
With a nod he stepped past her and, after a noncommittal look in the microscope, asked, “May I examine the specimen with my own equipment?”
To Khorii’s annoyance he was asking Neeva’s permission. Mokilau had given the monster trophy to her, not Neeva. But she didn’t want to look petty in front of the
Balakiire
’s crew, and, besides, there was something about that trophy, other than the fact that it came from a horrible monster, that made her feel she didn’t exactly want to carry it around in her treasure pack with her beaded bracelet.
Retreating with the specimen to one of the
Balakiire
’s cabins, Elviiz “ahemed” and “ahahed” and made other professorial noises as he analyzed the specimen but then, suddenly, he let out a long hiss like an accidentally disconnected oxygen tube.
Khorii and Neeva crowded into the cabin’s open doorway. “What?” Khorii asked.
“I am amazed to tell you I cannot precisely say,” Elviiz said, “but I think we must take this back to Jalonzo at the laboratory on Corazon. These are unlike any normal cells of any creature I have ever examined.”
“A sea monster isn’t exactly a normal creature,” Khorii said. “And the one Mokilau described sounded like a whole zooful of horror.”
“Precisely,” Elviiz said. “And that may well be what it is. Some of the cells resemble those of ordinary sea creatures. But some of them look to me to be something nothing so large can possibly be.”
“I know you’re enjoying the suspense,” Khorii said. “But we would appreciate enlightenment as soon as you can force yourself to stop being mysterious.”
“But I’m not,” he said. “And though I don’t think it is possible, I could be wrong about this, but the cells appear to be not cells as we know them but similar in structure to those of a virus—but much, much larger.”
F
or the first time, Narhii felt like kicking and screaming, fighting Odus off before he could ask more stupid questions or do anything else to invade the little she had been left of who she really was. She was so close to—no, better not think that.
But Odus said, tugging her into the lab’s interrogation cell, “Now, now, Mu, we’ll have none of that. Our work is becoming increasingly urgent as you learn your feelings as a young female.”
But inside the room, Akasa sat behind the table, an array of colorful objects spread before her. “All the more reason, Odus, why I should take over the—please pardon the expression—lion’s share of the questioning. You may observe from behind the mirror if you wish to learn more of females, but Mu’s reaction to your demonstration yesterday clearly indicates she needs to begin her indoctrination into the mysteries of our mutual gender at a far less intense level than you anticipated.”
“But who better to teach a female the meaning of her gender than her opposite?” he argued.
“Obviously, someone more similar. And, pardon me, with more finesse. Run along now.”
Growling under his breath, Odus left. Akasa rose, exited the cell, and checked the observation chamber. She gave a sharp nod of satisfaction when she returned, then sat herself opposite her subject. “As you realize, dear, we have endeavored in our inquiries to elicit your natural and spontaneous responses, those instinctive to your species. However, I feel at this critical juncture in your development, it is time to provide a modicum of guidance and instruction, to answer questions that may puzzle you. The portion of your physical and psychological structure supplied by the Others may be instinctively and biologically guided; but you are also, according to your genetic coding, composed of the same stuff as we are, and therefore would have subtler, more sophisticated triggers for your primal functions. Do you understand?”
Narhii nodded, tentatively, “I think so, a little.”
“Therefore, I thought we might start by showing you some of the feminine accoutrements I and other females of my species enjoy and see if you relate to them as well. Do you find that any of these objects attract you?”
The objects in question were a collection of long, bright scarves in colors of the sunset, delicate blossoms that looked real but had no scent and, when she touched them, after making sure she had permission, Narhii found were made instead of some soft fabric.
“Pick them up, hold them against your cheek,” Akasa prompted. “See how transparent? Like an insect wing.”
Narhii did as instructed and didn’t have to feign enjoyment. The scarves and flowers were lovely to look at and to touch. Magnified wonder was at the forefront of her thoughts when she asked, “Is this the stuff you wear every day, ma’am?”
“Oh yes. My robes are of the finest and most gossamer materials.”
She permitted Narhii to touch the skirt of her outer robe. “Will I ever wear anything like that—I mean, is it something I will do as I grow older?”
Akasa laughed triumphantly. How much better a female understood the feminine need for beauty, color, texture—and how these qualities aroused other needs. “Certainly, my dear, you may do so any time you’re inclined. Your earlier developmental stages were too—active—for such opulence, but it is time for you to learn the refinement that will teach you the proper care and use of these embellishments.”
Narhii had an idea, quickly concealed as she clapped her hands in delight. “Oh, may I wear some now? Robes like yours I mean—and those shiny things on your fingers, ears, and neck—what are those? May I have some of those, too?”
“Greedy little thing once you’ve awakened to the possibilities, aren’t you?” Akasa said with a chuckle that was almost fond. She felt confirmed in her belief that females were much the same no matter the species—bipedal females at least, with a modicum of the proper genetic material. For the first time, she felt she was beginning to understand this curious and often sulky child. “I suggest we adjourn to my quarters. There you may see the array of my raiment and I will help you choose what might best suit you. You may also choose a bauble or two from among my jewels, if it isn’t something too precious. If it is, perhaps we can have copies created for you or something even more suitable for your own age and coloring that we design together.”
Narhii clapped again and hopped a little as she followed Akasa’s sweeping skirts through the laboratory, the time chamber, the corridor, out the building, across the street, which today was paved with some golden substance, and down another lane. In a few strides Akasa stopped at the ornate entrance of a building whose every surface was decorated with what looked like more jewels, certainly some tiny bits and pieces of colored stuff that glittered in the sun.
There seemed to be many rooms within that had no purpose except to be cleaned by the technicians who were doing so and to hold elegant furnishings. Narhii had difficulty determining the purpose of many of those as well.
For that matter, though she saw several cleaning and serving technicians, she was unsure why Akasa or the others needed them. They could change their own forms and those of their homes and belongings at will. Could they not simply change them from a disorderly or soiled version to one that was not?
Picking up her thought, Akasa said, “My dear, we cannot be expected to exhaust ourselves with trivialities. Besides, it gives these other beings a purpose in life. Here we are.”
A place on the wall looked exactly like Akasa’s own highly ornamented eyes without the nose between them The center of the pupil was an obsidian disk, the outer iris lavender, purple and aqua rays set in an alabaster oval surrounded by a spiked trimming of cobalt with a long curl extending from each side. The eyes grew larger, then swirled open to reveal the room beyond.
Akasa, apparently fatigued by her unusual exertion, flung open her wardrobe and flipped her fingers toward it. “Go play, little one. Bring out your selections to show me, and I will help you decide if they are suitable or not. The jewel box is in there, too, and my cosmetics. We should do something with your hair. White is such a bore.”
Narhii didn’t have to feign the appreciative noises she made at the display of colorful garments, dainty slippers, veils, head wrappings, more scarves, and flowers. All swayed from their display racks as if in a breeze.
“There’s a draft?” Narhii asked.
“The ventilation circulates through here to keep my things fresh and fluid,” Akasa said. “Some of the fabrics are organic and require aeration.”
“It looks wonderful,” Narhii said, and it did.
Akasa led her to the cosmetic table, above which was a huge mirror. As they approached it, the frame of the mirror glowed with flattering pinkish light.
Akasa sat on the padded bench in front of the table so that she faced Narhii. “Kneel,” she commanded in an imperious tone. Then remembering she was assuming the role of Narhii’s female mentor and hopeful confidante, she continued. “Please. I wish to prepare your face and hair to form a suitable background for the splendors I am about to share.”
Twisting backward, she reached for several pots. With smooth strokes of soft fingers, she applied colors to Narhii’s brows, eyes, cheeks, and mouth. Narhii still looked like herself only, with darkened brows and eyes and dark pink on her mouth and cheeks, more vivid. Akasa inspected her, tilting her chin this way and that. “Still washed out,” she pronounced. She twisted again and opened a drawer, revealing a number of other jeweled pots. Selecting one with a blue gemstone surrounded by golden butterflies, she opened it, flinging the lid unceremoniously onto the counter before turning back to Narhii. “Blue will bring out your eyes, I think,” she said, dipping her fingers into the pot and smearing them with cobalt.
And without asking Narhii’s opinion, Akasa then wiped her fingers on the side of Narhii’s head, pulling them down the length of a side strand of hair. Critically she said, “Well, that’s a little livelier though you still look as though you’ve snow for blood.”
She used another of her ointments and a square of pristine white silken stuff to clean her fingers, then sighed heavily, and said, “You look around and select what you like best and hang it by the door. I am going to rest while you play, but I’ll be in the outer room to critique your choices when you’re ready.”
“Oh, thank you, ma’am,” Narhii said, appearing at the door with several garments in her hands. “If I could change myself as you can, I’d change my colors and patterns all the time.”
“How refreshing you can be, dear. This is an entirely new aspect of your personality development. I believe my innovative approach is helping us make tremendous progress toward our goal.”
Fortunately, Narhii had already submerged herself amid the colors and prints, skirts, tunics, robes, and gowns. She picked the ones that most profoundly attracted her, collecting them as she approached the end of the room, where a large transparent chest with many compartments, lit from within, displayed Akasa’s jewelry.
Narhii carried her garment selections back to the door and hung them, peering around the corner. Akasa was stretched out on her bed, snoring robustly for a creature who prided herself on her delicacy.
Narhii slipped on the closest of her selections, a light blue-violet gown, and then, looking into the mirror at the gown, which was too short for her since she was already taller than Akasa, made a show of studying herself, tilting her head to the side, and saying, “It needs something
more.
” As she had sometimes overheard Akasa and other females do when assessing each other’s costumes before or during some social event. Apparently it hadn’t occurred to any of them
then
to introduce her to the realm of feminine finery.