The Crucible of Empire (63 page)

"Sure could," said Tully. "Mallu could be the ship-captain—and who better than Kaln for an engineering officer?"

Ed spoke up, for the first time. "You'd need a lot more than a single ship, though, even a ship the size of the
Lexington.
"

Ronz looked at him. "Why, General Kralik?"

"Consider the logistics involved. The region of space known to you already is huge—and now you propose to explore beyond it? Whichever direction you choose to go, up or down the galactic arm, you will be operating very far from Terra. It is simply not practical to think that such an effort—a sustained effort, at any rate—could be maintained without establishing a forward base. A very large and substantial forward base."

There was something a bit odd about the cant of the Preceptor's ears, Caitlin noticed. As if Ronz was amused by something but trying to keep from showing it.

"Indeed, I think you are right," said Ronz. "It would have to be a military base, of course. With a sizeable number of troops, the resources to carry out major ship repairs—"

"We would need more than one ship," Aille interjected. "At least two the size of
Lexington
, I think, possibly three or four. And a number of smaller ships better suited for exploration."

"It'd be a good idea to have at least a couple of big assault ships, too," Ed added. "You never know what you might run into—and just being able to blow something up isn't always the best alternative."

"Quite true," said Ronz. The hint of humor in his ears was more pronounced, now. "A force like that would require a general in command, I think."

Caitlin glanced at Ed. He was looking suspiciously good-humored himself, as if a scheme of his was shaping up nicely. What was going on?

"Who would we select to be in charge of such a mission?" Wrot asked.

"I should think the choice is obvious." The Preceptor pointed at Caitlin. "Her, of course."

Wrot stared at her. Caitlin thought she was probably cross-eyed, since she was trying to stare at herself too.

Was Ronz joking? For Pete's sake, she was in her mid-twenties! Not to mention being human instead of Jao.

"Excellent choice," said Aille abruptly. "I will support the proposal when we return to Terra."

"But—I"

"I will release you from my service," the governor added. "If that would be necessary."

"Oh, I think not," said Ronz. "Probably a bad idea, in fact. Most Jao, even those belonging to Terra Taif, will be skeptical of a human being placed in charge of such a mission. But if the human is a well-known member of your service, Aille . . ."

"He's right," said Caitlin. She felt vaguely—and perhaps oddly—relieved. As much as the notion of being part of a high-born Jao's personal service had once struck her as rather demeaning, she no longer felt that way about it. Not, at least, given that the Jao in question was Aille.

Beyond that . . .

The proposal itself would be a tremendous challenge. Opportunity, too. There was a big part of her that wanted to seize it with both hands. But there was another part of her, that very personal and very emotional part that involved being married to Ed, that was not happy at all. She'd hated being separated from Ed even during this recent expedition to a relatively nearby planetary nebula. The idea of being parted for . . . months, certainly, and quite possibly years, when you were talking about exploring a whole galactic arm . . .

Her mouth moved into a little round shape. "Oh." No wonder Ronz had been amused—and Ed had looked like he was scheming.

"I imagine you would volunteer to be in command of the forward base, General Kralik?" Ronz's ears were no longer trying to hide his humor.

"Oh, sure," said Ed.

Ronz then turned to Tully. "The expedition would require a unit such as yours, I think. Would you be willing to volunteer?"

Tully hesitated, which was unlike him. But then he jerked his head. "Yeah, sure. I mean, yes, Preceptor."

"Excellent. It remains only to persuade Terra Taif when we return." But Ronz didn't seem too concerned about that. No reason to be, really, with Aille so strongly in support.

"And the Krant," Tully added. But he didn't seem too concerned, either. Caitlin hoped he was right.

"
Two
ships?" Mallu asked, sounding a bit shaky. "Both
Lexingtons
?"

"
Lexington-
class," Tully corrected. That was a little pointless, though. The Jao didn't have the habit of naming ships in the first place, so they weren't likely to make fine human distinctions between a class of vessels and the specific ship after which the class was named.

"You understand," Caitlin said, "that part of the bargain is that one of the ships must be devoted to our enterprise. The other, Krant may do with as it wishes."

"Yes, I understand. But . . .
Two
ships? Both
Lexingtons
? You are certain of this?"

"Absolutely dead sure positive," Tully replied. "Assuming Terra Taif agrees, of course, after we get back. Aille and Wrot can't really make the decision on their own."

Mallu and his two subordinate officers stared at him, for a moment. Then Kaln said, "But you don't expect . . ."

"It would be very surprising if Terra Taif did not support their decision," Caitlin said firmly. "Not impossible, of course."

That seemed to bring Mallu up short, a bit. "Yes, naturally. And—of course—you must also understand that I cannot commit Krant to this project. The kochan would have to agree."

Kaln came as close to spluttering as Caitlin had ever seen a Jao come. "Don't be silly, Krant-Captain! There is not a chance—no chance at all—that the kochan will not agree. Two
Lexingtons?
They would agree to almost anything for that! They will certainly agree to associate with Terra Taif—very closely, too." Her body posture was a Krant-crude version of
cheerful-anticipation.
"They will even agree to the Terran insistence that the two ships have to be named, according to silly human custom."

"Huh?" said Tully.

"I will not be disturbed," Kaln said. "Given that the names will be
Pool Buntyam
and
Bab the Green Ox.
"

Their hosts designated the Lleix's new home Call-ah-ra-doh. Jihan didn't have the name's sounds quite right yet, but she was close. She had finally mastered the slippery word "human" with its tricky "hwah" sound on the wondrous journey to Terra, with a bit of coaching from Tully, and was finally closing in on the exact pronunciation of "Caitlin." That name's sound combinations were particularly elusive but the little human assured Jihan that she was doing very well.

"We'll have to study your language for years before we achieve anywhere close to your mastery of English," the once alleged Queen of the Universe said.

Een-glish, Jihan thought, not Enn-glish. The Lleix were determined to speak the new language properly and do their benefactors honor. She had considered making the study of English part of Terralore's function, but then decided it would be taking on too much. Instead, she suggested the function to Lim who promptly formed her own English-study
elian
on the ship before they even landed on Terra.

More new
elian
had come into being over the course of the following days, popping up with precipitous haste. All of them had been organized by unassigned from the
dochaya
, and Jihan suspected many of them would not last. But that would be no tragedy. If some of the newly organized
elian
fell apart, she was quite confident others, more urgently needed, would arise to take their place.

And then, after they'd arrived in Call-ah-ra-doh, there had been the unexpected defection by more than a few members of the traditional
elian
to the new ones created by the unassigned. Grijo, Sayr, and most of the Eldests were quite disturbed by the shake-up. They were calling a meeting of the Han to discuss it, but privately Jihan thought the trend was healthy.

Why should one have to work all her life in a craft that did not please her or labor with disagreeable individuals? She knew far better than anyone that adherence to
sensho
was not always productive. So far, Kajin had gone back to Ekhatlore and she'd accepted one of the deserters, a female from Treebinders, into Terralore, along with twenty-three former unassigned who were all ecstatic to have a place.

The one great certainty was that, on this world, there would be no
dochaya
as it had been on Valeron. Since arriving here, Jihan had discovered that Tully's hostility toward that Lleix custom was widely shared on Terra. By humans, if not Jao. Within three days of their landing, in fact, a number of humans had showed up in the quarters of the unassigned. Sent there by Tully, it seemed, or at least on his suggestion.

They called themselves "union organizers." A peculiar group, most of whose speech seemed close to gibberish. Still, they were treated very respectfully. By now, all members of the
dochaya
were partial to humans.

The established
elian
were not so friendly, of course. But not even they would go so far as to be openly hostile to their human hosts. Partly, because they really had little choice. The survival of the Lleix was now completely dependent on the humans and Jao, and everyone knew it.

But, partly, it was because the Jao and humans seemed sensitive enough to keep the Jao very far removed from the Lleix. Occasionally, a Jao would be seen visiting the area. But almost all of the contact the Lleix had with Terrans was with the indigenous species. Which suited all of them quite well, of course—except for Jihan herself. As the eldest of Jaolore, she wanted to have extensive contact with the Jao, even though they still frightened her.

There was so much to think about, so much new information and ways of living to absorb. On the journey, Jihan had used the time to learn about the structure of the Jao kochan. Preceptor Ronz had explained that each group maintained many functions: choosing mates, generating, raising, and educating children, building space-going ships and houses, even making cloth for capes and trousers and raising food. In a sense, each Jao kochan resembled a tiny Lleix colony, complete in and of itself.

Ronz had been very friendly and helpful, in fact. So had the younger one named Aille. This, despite the fact that they both occupied very prestigious places in their own society. As time passed, it was becoming obvious to Jihan that the long centuries since the Jao had almost exterminated the Lleix had produced a profound change in both species—and perhaps even more so among the Jao. It was difficult to see the blindly murderous being who had so casually struck down the Wordthreader Eldest so long ago, in the sophisticated and subtle persons of Preceptor Ronz and Governor Aille.

Even Grijo and the other
elian
Elders, she thought, were slowly coming to that understanding.

She looked around, enjoying the vista. The wind was rushing down from the mountains, producing a pleasant briskness. The day was clear and the sky so achingly blue that she had difficulty looking up into the brightness after the chronic gray-green atmosphere of Valeron. Jao-style "quantum crystal" shelters were being poured with humans working alongside the Lleix immigrants. The glimmering blue structures were beautiful once they hardened, but very strange inside without a single corner or right angle. They would suffice as shelters for the moment, certainly. But if the Lleix were to stay for any time on Terra they would want to build proper wooden homes. That was quite feasible, the Dwellingconstructors told her. Terra had many fine woods to work with, it seemed.

Jihan's gaze left that sight and wandered to the snow-topped mountains that filled the western horizon. The range was much taller and more rugged than the peaks left behind on Valeron. She longed to explore.

"We selected this region because its climate and geology are similar to what you had back on Valeron," Caitlin said, coming up behind her. "Even before the Conquest, it was sparsely populated with only a few farms and cattle ranches. But almost no one has lived out here since. It gets really cold in the winter and snows a lot. After the Jao came, no one maintained the roads anymore. Fuel and lack of electricity became a problem. Survivors moved to the cities."

Jihan had been glad to see snow on the distant mountains and was even gladder to hear now that it would snow down here. "Will it snow soon?" she asked, longing for that familiar sweet crisp scent.

"Perhaps," Caitlin said. "In fact, even probably. It's early October, and winter comes early at this elevation. I'll check the long-range weather forecast for you."

She left on an errand, then, and Jihan went back to her study of their new planet. This place was not a permanent solution to the Lleix's lack of a home, but the Terran version of a Han had voted to give them sanctuary until a suitable world of their own could be located. Ronz has suggested they might even be able to return to one of the worlds from which they had long ago first fled. The Jao elder had pointed out that it was unlikely the Ekhat would think to look for them there again after all this time.