Damia's Children Part 14

Do you know who the party is?' Thian shook his head.

'Well, then, you'll not be staying on board the Vadim, lad. I'm not risking a Prime's life.' 'Sir . the KLTL's continuing. She's not going to make the entire trip on the provisions she's been taking on: not even if she stuffed every spare cabin.

Not unless she has ... me on board. If I could volunteer for the duty.

'But you'd be the only human on board ... for well over a year.

Thian grinned at As.h.i.+ant's expression. 'Sir, I'm too young for a year to matter that much.' 'Claptrap! A year's a long time at your age.

'Captain As.h.i.+ant, it's like this. I can't finger my enemy. I won't give whoever it is the satisfaction of thinking that he or she has forced me to retreat.

I'm too 'Dini for that. I can and will continue this voyage.

That was what I was asked to do and what I intend to do - with your permission - continue on until we reach the Hive system. That makes me very human, Captain, living to fight another day.' 'Well, well! Well!

Hmmm, yes, well,' and As.h.i.+ant steepled his fingers again, the slow grin on his lips echoed in his eyes. 'Yes, well, that would serve both causes admirably because, to be aboveboard with you, Thian Lyon, Spktm asked me if you'd consider transferring to the KLTL. It's been impressed with you, as interpreter, teacher and crewmate. It sees this voyage as a marvellous chance to make its crew learn sufficient Basic to get along with humans anywhere.' 'what did my mother say?' Thian asked, knowing perfectly well that she'd been asked.

As.h.i.+ant chuckled. 'She left it up to you. Says you're a grown man now.' He chuckled again. 'I think she's proud of you.' 'Then I'll transfer to the KLTL, if I may.' "And Spktm also wished me to say that it'll be happy to receive your 'Dinis back when they can return. Said that'll make you happier aboard a 'Dini vessel.' 'Oh, I will be happy on board the KLTL!' Alison-Anne was not happy that he was continuing onward when he could just as honourably have returned home on the Vadim. With her. She had been a regular evening guest as she was fortunately doing the day watches.

'How'll you ever find out who nearly killed you?

And nearly killed Ensign Kalickmo! You'll be well guarded up here and we'll find the b.a.s.t.a.r.d sooner or later.' Gravy could look exceedingly fierce and determined for all she was a sensitive empath.

'It's more knowing where I could be of real service, Gravy,' he said, smoothing her silky blonde hair. It had enough static so that the fine stuff clung to his hand, leaping out from the pillow to caress his skin. Her skin was silky soft, too, but he needed to catch his breath a bit. 'I know the 'Dinis will be on pretty slim rations until they can reach a pick-up point. Young 'Dinis need proper nutrients or they will never reach any significant height. And the older 'Dinis need just as much to keep healthy.

If I stay with them, they won't have to go on hard rations. And they'll feel freer to investigate every aspect of the nova position without losing any crew.

'whaddya mean? Losing crew?' She propped herself on an elbow to stare accusingly down at him.

More of her hair tangled about his wrist.

"Dinis hold slightly different views about life and living.

'Dinis are taught to revere their elders -- 'And we aren't?' 'Not in the same way. A 'Dini will starve itself to give food to an elder..

'Huh! They are backward.' 'Not really. 'Dini elders possess great wisdom and experience and must be preserved for their knowledge.

An inexperienced young 'Dini considers it honourable to die lest those a.s.sets be lost to the race.

'So - couldn't they just ration food?' He tried to do this tactfully. 'Ah, they -- - well, they not only give up their lives She drew in her breath in horror. 'You mean. -.

when he nodded, she gulped. 'Go ssake! Didn't think they'd have that in 'em!' She was more awed at that final sacrifice than appalled.

Thian was oddly pleased by her att.i.tude especially when she added, 'Knowing that, you've got'to go. I like the 'Dinis. I miss your two.

But, say, Thian, that trip's projected for a whole year, Standard.

How'll you get along? I mean. -. ' and to Thian's delight and amus.e.m.e.nt, Gravy blushed.

He hugged her to him and her hair clung to his face like a gossamer veil. He'd miss this right enough and said so. 'I'll be fine though. I'll miss you, I really will. It's much better this way but well, you've heard of 'Dini dreams?' She nodded and he had to carefully remove clinging filaments from his mouth, chuckling as he did so.

very -- - well, 'Well, 'Dini dreams are very they do the trick.' 'NO!' She was up on her elbows again. 'That, too?' 'If Mur or Dip were here, I'd get them to show you.

'Now just a living minute, Thian Raven-Lyon, Prime -- . ' He turned off her threats with a deep kiss because he knew she'd withdraw any objections once he got the 'Dinis to dream with her. And that he did plan to do some day when he was back.

The unsolved problem of Malice continued to niggle at him.

Unfinished as well as unsolved which, despite his strategic retreat, did not set well with him. And there was the matter that it was no longer Malice's hatred of him that had to be addressed but the iniquitous attack on Kalickmo. Yet how to identify Malice when that mistake had obviously zoo zoi resulted in this current total silence.

Then Thian remembered his sister's suggestion and mentioned this to Damia.

'I'll spring the trap, Mother. The two of us ought to be able to close on him.' 'Him? You're sure of that?' 'After the knife attack, yes.' 'Humph. Really,' was his mother's cryptic response. 'Very well.

When?' 'Tonight you're being given a special dinner. I know Malice was part of both my language cla.s.ses and the boarding team.

I'll have the wardroom steward put all of us at the same table.

That won't look particularly contrived. We often chow down together.' 'All?' 'Uhuh.

That's why I'm so puzzled as to who it really is. I mean, he's got stomach enough to eat with me, hating me as he does?' 'So? when this evening? I'll want to know so I can be wide open, which is not exactly comfortable for any length of time around here.' Thian smothered a guffaw because his mother had been admired by every male officer of the human squadron and one of the like-s.e.x lieutenants.

Regarding his mother objectively, she certainly didn't appear 'old': she'd married his father at eighteen and had only recently celebrated her fourth decade. She certainly didn't look the mother of eight and she was unquestionably the most beautiful female on board.

'Clean up that laugh, son of mine,' she said, but there was an amused sparkle in her eyes.

'Since it's my last night aboard, I have to give a farewell speech. I'll spring the trap then.' 'when you stand, I'll snap!' And she brought her teeth together with an audible click, then went off to finish her day report.

THAT IS WELL DONE, THN, Flk said, appearing at his side from nowhere. TRP WILL WATCH AS WELL.

Several times during what seemed an inordinately long dinner, Thian had to rub his sweaty palms on his trouser legs. He hoped that he gave no other outward sign of tension. At one point, he asked his mother's opinion but she a.s.sured him that he wasn't laughing too loudly at Kiely's jokes or looking bored by Eki Wasiq's long-winded yarns.

In fact, you look quite handsome and confident.

Shakes don't show?

Only a mother would notice the shakes, and tonight I'm playing belle of the ball.

He grinned absently as someone on his left finished a joke but he knew she'd know it was for her.

Dinner ended almost too abruptly and it was time for him to spring his trap. He rose, gla.s.s in hand, stepping slightly back from the table so that he had a good view of the faces on both sides, politely turned in his direction. Then, while everyone was gathering themselves to stand to join the toast, he said mentally as loud as he could: GOTCHA!

Down the table - and it was only then that Thian realized the man had never sat close to him - Lieutenant Sedallia doubled up, slamming his face against the table edge, hands to his skull.

zol ZO3 'Oh, do something about the wretched man, Flk Damia said and, with the startling speed which 'Dinis could show on occasion, FIk and Trp moved to bracket the lieutenant. Smoothly, they lifted him from his seat and as smoothly, carried him from the wardroom. 'I do believe he's had a seizure,' she said to Commander Exeter who excused himself immediately and followed.

Captain As.h.i.+ant frowned, looking at her composed expression and then at Thian.

I never once suspected Sedallia, Mother, Thian said, shaken by the surprise.

He's an inhibited Talent from what I could probe.

Ugh! I didn't care to go very deeply. Get the toast over with.

Everyone's waiting and it's the best wine Afra could get for us on short notice'I guess Lieutenant Sedallia will be sorry to see me go, gentlemen and ladies,' Thian began and saw expressions that suggested Sedallia's departure had caused the mildest ripple of surprise and no curiosity.

Thian, you're as cool as your father! And no, no-one thinks anything of it. The man was just taken ill and decorously removed. We can explain to the captain later. His mother's comment almost rattled him but he went on.

'For I must leave the Vadim tomorrow-' His announcement provoked murmurs of genuine regret, though some were tinged with envy. '-to serve on board the Mrdini vessel, the KLTL.' That produced more reactions and surprise exclamations. 'I did, after all, sign on as a civilian-' and the reaction to that made him grin, '-Prime to a.s.sist a search for the Hive Home System. My 'Dini colleagues say we have not ended that search-' 'They're nuts,' Kiely said stoutly, glowering at Thian.

'A waste of time!' 'Your Talents are needed elsewhere, Lyon!' 'Stay with us! We need you, too.' 'Captain As.h.i.+ant . . . I protest.

when Thian raised his hand for silence, it was politely restored.

'You all must know by now that my family is deeply involved with our Mrdini allies.

I know that those on board the KLTL would suffer considerable hards.h.i.+p and loss if an FT&T Prime does not accompany them. Look at it this way, mates, I finally learned human naval customs: now I've got to learn 'Dini ones!' That brought a sprinkle of chuckles. 'I shall miss you. I've learned more these last few months than stevedoring and I'm grateful for your patience and your understanding. Good luck and a safe journey back.' Then he raised his gla.s.s, surveyed the messroom and knocked back the last of his drink.

He sat down to raucous cheers and banging of cutlery on gla.s.ses and the mess' good porcelain.

'Now hear this,' and the captain's stentorian voice could have been heard from stem to stern with no amplification. 'I think I speak for the entire crew, Mr Lyon, when I say that it has been a pleasure to have you on board and it is our right to wish you good luck and a safe, and speedy, journey home, lad!' 'And so say all of us,' Kiely leaped to his feet, gla.s.s in hand and all in the messroom were not a second ZO4 behind in joining him as Kiely led the traditional three cheers for Thian, a jolly good fellow!

Your father and I are very proud of you, Th ian!

his mother said. Your grandfather and grandmother have decided that you are eminently worthy of being in the Clan Gwyn-Raven!

'Xexo?' Afra called. XEXO? he added with more volume in the mental call. The Tower engineer had enough Talent to hear that.

Rojer!

Afra could now locate both minds in the machine shop where Xexo in his capacity as chief mechanic - and lately his truant son - were most often found.

when Afra 'felt' Rojer's mind, it was bristling with such vivid calculations, theories and excitement that small wonder the boy hadn't answered his shouts or telepathic query. Rojer's fascination with and attention to all things mechanical - preferably with moving parts - was absolute. Not a bad area of concentration, but only in the proper place and time.

Yeah, watcha want, Dad?' was the m.u.f.fled but incurious-sounding acknowledgement.

Rojer's mental tone held neither apology nor anxiety: more an impatience at being interrupted just then for any reason.

It seemed undignified to Afra to summarily 'port his son away as he had frequently had to do when the boy was younger. But fifteen-year-olds can be extremely concerned with dignity - even if they are concerned with little else except the project at hand.

while Afra and Damia approved of the boy's zo6 keenness - Xexo said he was a very good mechanical apprentice - a Prime had to be well rounded and versed in more than just the generators which augmented his mental abilities. Afra muttered to himself and proceeded to the oil- and grease-redolent chamber that was his wayward son's heaven. when he reached the doorway, he stood for a moment, surveying the scene.

Xexo and Rojer were peering at a screen which showed an enlargement of many parts, some obviously twisted out of their original shape, others broken, with a.s.sortments of likely missing bits arranged like satellites about them, indicating possible appropriate matches.

On the table were scale accurate plastic facsimiles of all these pieces, arranged almost exactly as the screen display.

Xexo was a master mechanic, often inspired, considering how he managed to keep the elderly generators of the Iota Aurigaean Tower working.

He adored machines, contraptions, gadgets, any device, far more than he liked humans. In that he had found a soulmate in Rojer Raven-Lyon up to the point where said fifteen year old skived out of regular duties - and Rojer was definitely delinquent in these right now.

Furthermore, his 'Dinis, as much satellites of Rojer as the boy was of Xexo, were also engaged in trying to a.s.semble anomalous parts' into a whole.

Sprawled belly-down on the grease-stained floor, they were clicking and clacking as their clever finger digits patiently pushed bits around the periphery of larger pieces, trying to make a fit.

'Rojer... oh, Rojer,' and Afra added a mental poke.

'Huh?' His son looked over his shoulder, widened his eyes in semi-horror as he also saw the digital clock on the wall, clapped an oily hand to his mouth, leaving a black four-fingered imprint on an already grease-smeared skin, and broadcast apology, dismay, guilt and self-reproach all at once. 'Gee, Dad, I'm sorry. I didn't realize it was getting so late - Did anyone else go out hunting?' Hunting had been an immediate heed and, his parents having dismissed Rojer from the Tower to handle it, they had gone on to other business. Afra tapped his foot and sighed heavily to indicate his displeasure. Lately, since the Joint High Councils had released data on every bit of the salvage so far recovered, as well as schematics, drawings, approximations and deductions concerning the Hive wreck, there wasn't an engineer anywhere that wasn't trying his or her hand at putting just a tiny portion of the puzzle together.

The 'Dini s.h.i.+p, the KLTL, which had continued its search for the Hive homeworld and/or the s.p.a.ce debris thereof, had collected more bits and pieces which had been strewn by the injured Hive s.h.i.+p as its nova-driven path hurtled it outward. Afra thought that Thian's affinity for the odd sting-pzzt of Hive artefacts must be on overdrive, considering how much he had located in the vastness of s.p.a.ce.

There was no telling how much more would be found but each discovery was carefully doc.u.mented in the absurd (Afra felt) hope that perhaps enough of the enigmatic Hive engines could be reconstructed to give the Allies some clue as to how their s.p.a.ce drive had operated, and what fuel it used.

zo8 Z09 In the centuries of their lone battle against the Hivers, the 'Dinis had twice managed to pierce a Hive s.h.i.+p with projectiles and, they thought, punched through to the drive unit but each time the torpedo had failed to explode and 'Dinis wished to know why. The firing mechanism on their projectiles was designed to explode. The fuel Hivers used would at least give the Allies an idea of how to explode it the next time. The monetary award offered to any one or any group who solved even part of the immense problem was secondary to the prestige such a feat would accrue.

'You're lucky tonight,' Afra said severely because Rojer's mind exhibited his singular concentration.

'Zara and Morag went out by themselves.' He noted that Rojer was chagrined by that. 'Zara and the 'Dinis picked enough greens to last a week and Morag stumbled across a warren. But you were to have led the hunt and preferably bring back enough to provide several days' protein.

You know that Zara and Morag are much too young to go far on their own.' 'But they did it, didn't they?' 'That's not the point, Rojer, and you should appreciate the difference by now.

Rojer sniffed and hung his head, mentally sorting which excuses might propitiate his parent. 'I just didn't happen to look towards the digital.' That was genuine enough.

'Not with your nose pus.h.i.+ng plastic about, Afra said, trying to keep his tone severe.

'It's my fault as well, Afra,' Xexo said, wiping his hands. 'He was helping me with the alternators, and then we both thought we recognized how these pieces,' and Xexo pointed with the fine-tip driver to what was strewn on the table, 'might link up. I should have reminded him that he had ch.o.r.es.' 'Xexo, every one of my children has a well developed and perfectly adequate time sense. You only needed to trigger an alert, Rojer. From now on, if you don't do so, you will be sequestered. Do you understand that clearly?' 'Yes, sir.' Rojer's head was down and he tried to s.h.i.+eld his thoughts but Afra wasn't a T-2, as well as a practised parent by now, to be diverted. In any event, he was faster at reading than Rojer was at s.h.i.+elding. 'I'll have none of that sa.s.s, either, young man.

Rojer shot his father a guilty, but still slightly impenitent, look and sniffed again. Clear blue eyes met orange and began to glitter: the intent now carefully hidden from Afra's sight.

'If Xexo and me did get a piece together, you'd be awful proud of us, wouldn't you, Dad,' Rojer said, smiling with the charismatic brilliance that this grandson had inherited in far too generous a measure from his mother and grandfather to suit Afra.

Even so, the Raven charm melted his severity.

'Your mother and I would be immensely proud, of course, but we'd be prouder if you could - at least once a week - remember you are needed for mundane duties.' 'I do my Tower duty like everyone else.' 'Few would consider those hours mundanely spent,' Afra said, gesturing for Rojer to clean up his works.p.a.ce and himself and hurry back to the house.

z'o ZI I 'Leave it, Roj, Xexo said, rubbing greasy fingers along his jaw. 'Not the pieces. I want to puzzle this a bit longer. It'll be here for you tomorrow - if you're free.' The engineer shot a quick glance at Afra and received a nod.

'And do remember to feed yourself sometime today, Xexo, Afra said, although he sent word to Damia at the house to see that some sort of hot meal appeared near enough to Xexo for him to see, and eat, it.

'Sure, sure,' Xexo agreed but he was already brooding over the artefacts.

DINNER TIME IS NOW, GRL, KTG, Afra added to the 'Dinis who hadn't looked up from their shoving and s.h.i.+rring.

HUNGER NOT IMPORTANT. MUST FIT PIECES. GAIN MUCH RESPECT AND ENLARGE THIS PAIR, Gil said but it jumped upright in the sudden way of 'Dinis s.h.i.+fting position. Sometimes Afra thought they must have some latent kinetic Talent to execute such rapid displacements. And there was still the conundrum of how 'Dini dreams could penetrate human subconsciousness.

In deference to their 'Dini companions, for Afra's friend, Tri, was waiting outside, enjoying the fresh air, the Primes walked up the slope to their home.

Lights were coming up as dusk was well settled on Iota Aurigae.

The ever-present dim noise from the mines and smelting works which were active on an uninterrupted schedule reached their ears, punctuated by occasional loud rattles, like distant avalanches.