First Warning: Acorna's Children

Chapter 13

Hap sat beside Elviiz in the spacecraft, wondering how to comfort the droid, if he could feel comfort while he was turned off, and why a droid should need comforting at all. The droid hadn't done anything Hap wouldn't have done if he'd seen what Marl was up to before Elviiz did. Elviiz probably had done it better, of course. Hap wasn't reinforced with titanium and steel.

"Look, my friend, he had it coming. He's had it coming for a long, long time. I don't know why they even sent him here. Most of the kids here are basically good kids who got bad breaks and had no place to go. Marl has a place to go, if you ask me. Prison. Not political prison or anything like that-just somewhere where they put scary people so nobody else has to deal with them. A nice strong place to keep them inside and the rest of us safe out here."

Elviiz, of course, said nothing. But Hap liked to think he was listening.

It was nice out in the shuttle bay. Even during "night" inside the bubbles, the stars did not seem as close as they did out in the bay, through the viewscreen. Hap had only ever taken one ride in a spacecraft. He'd been superexcited about it and talked about nothing else for days before until everyone he knew looked pained when he started telling them about it. He'd thought back then, Boy, if they think I'm full of it now, wait till I get back!

The truth was, he probably wouldn't have had a lot of high adventure to relate to them if things had worked out like he planned. He was only going to make the runs with the agro tech rep, Scaradine MacDonald, showing people in colonies on other worlds how to use different tools, fertilizers, feeds, and seeds. Scar was a good friend of his family and he had always had time for Hap. His invitation to take Hap with him on this run was like a dream. Realistically, Hap thought Scar might be recruiting him for the companies who employed him. Hap was good with machinery and could fix or build anything, was enthusiastic, loved to talk, loved to teach, and enjoyed agriculture best in the short term-preferably at harvest-time when it came to eating some of the produce. He loved the animals, taking care of them, helping them give birth, bottle-raising the babies. He hated the butchering part, though, and still refused to eat meat, something the other colonists thought was just plain silly.

When he and Scar left New Fredonia, and he watched it grow smaller and smaller as they shot into the atmosphere, he thought he didn't care if he ever saw it again. For a long time he felt bad about that, because he hadn't meant that he never wanted to see his family again. He wasn't really close to his parents, but he liked his brothers and sisters. But all of them had still been home when the planet blew up, as far as he knew. By then he and Scar were at Rushima. When the news came, he hadn't been able to talk for two weeks, and for a long time after that, he couldn't do anything at all. It was like he'd been paralyzed. Scar was very wise about people and tried to comfort him, but when Hap did something really stupid and tried to space himself, thinking that in some way he'd be going where he belonged, with everybody else he knew, Scar decided he wasn't equipped to look after Hap. He'd needed a helper, not somebody to babysit. So, reluctantly, Scar got ahold of Calum Baird and Declan Giloglie, who were old friends, and they agreed to take Hap at Maganos Moonbase.

That had been two years ago, when he was twelve. He was fourteen now. Before long, Scar would keep the promise he made when he dropped Hap off and come back for him. When he felt up to it, Scar said. When he was sane again, Hap thought he meant.

It wasn't such a bad place, though a lot of the other kids seemed sort of babyish to Hap. Not Shoshisha, of course. She felt like-well, he had never got close enough to know what exactly she felt like, but he wanted to. Or had. Having seen her throw a fit about Marl Fidd, her beautiful face twisted with what had to be an unreasonable fear and loathing of Elviiz-on Marl's behalf, he wondered? He was beginning to think she was even more screwed up than he was, and not in a good way. What was that thug to the princess anyway? Had Marl maybe attacked Khiindi because of the underwear incident, which Shoshisha had confided to a half dozen of her best friends?

If she put someone up to being cruel to a harmless little cat because of a bit of urinary carelessness, well, she for sure wasn't the girl he thought she was, and she wasn't the girl for him. Too bad. She looked like the girl of his dreams on the outside, but it was starting to look to Hap like the girl inside was all wrong.

Some people thought Khorii was exotic-looking, but to Hap she looked too much like him, too much like the people he grew up around-that is, if you didn't count the horn and the hooves and mane and that kind of thing. Tall, willowy, blond people of both sexes had been plentiful in New Fredonia, along with large, heavy, blond people of both sexes, and redheads of all shapes as well. His sister Fri had hair almost exactly like Khorii's-well, she had had.

As if thinking about Khorii had summoned her, she walked onto the dock and entered the shuttle.

"It was very good of you to stay with Elviiz," she told him.

"Is he-you know, aware? When he's turned off, I mean? It was weird leading him along behind me like-well, like a broken toy that just went where I told it to go."

"Elviiz is not a robot, he's an android," she said. "His bionic parts and attachments are powered down now, but the organic part of him is as aware as you or I would be when we're asleep. I'm sure he appreciated your company."

"But you want me to go now, is that it?"

She looked startled. "No, I just thought you'd want to. That you had other things to do. I-have you seen Sesseli? She went to find Khiindi while I healed his assailant."

"You healed Marl?"

"I had to. It is-um, what you would say is-a Linyaari thing. I think the only time someone was injured that we did not try to heal them-I mean by 'we' my parents and other Linyaari-was when Khleevi were killed. Of course, Khleevi were not like people. They were more like armed weapons."

"That's what everybody says about their enemy du jour" Hap said. "If you're going to be better than us at being pacifists, you'll have to do better than 'not quite like a person.' "

"Since I never personally met a Khleevi, I cannot effectively argue your point," she told him. "Also, I did not realize that the degree of pacifism was a competitive issue? That seems contradictory to me."

She wished Elviiz were not deactivated. He could sort these things out more logically than she could, and also confuse everyone else in the process.

"You're right about that," Hap said. He had been sitting still too long and, without realizing it, had begun pacing the small space inside the shuttle, looking inside storage compartments to see what was there. He was rewarded with a find. A bar of chocolate! "I didn't know your people ate chocolate," he said.

"We don't," she said. "But Captain Becker, whose shuttle this is, loves chocolate. I don't think he'd mind if you had that, however."

He unwrapped it, stuffed a third of it into his mouth, and chewed thoughtfully. She might not know how to argue like a pacifist, he decided, but she knew how to make a peace offering when the opportunity presented itself.

She stood behind Elviiz and seemed to be massaging his hair, then scalped him, ignoring Hap's surprised yelp. Placing a finger delicately inside his head, she flicked something, and replaced the scalp patch. "Come on, stop feeling sorry for yourself," she told him. "Marl and Khiindi are both mended, so there is no need for you to be disabled."

Slowly, the android lifted his head, and said in a surprisingly level voice, considering the misery reflected in his posture, "But what I did was ka-Linyaari."

"Elviiz, you are my foster brother, and as annoying as any blood relative, from what I have seen of such relationships. You are as Linyaari in spirit as I am. I felt like taking Marl apart myself when I saw poor Khiindi."

"Thank you, Khorii. That means a lot to me," the droid said.

"However, and I do not say this to be unkind, you are not organically Linyaari. You are not descended from the Ancestors except perhaps to some degree spiritually, nor were you formed by the Friends. You are the child of your father, and, like him, are stronger and possess far more knowledge than any of our people. Have I mentioned recently how annoying that can be?"

"Yes, Khorii. But you see, my position is an ambiguous one. On the one hand I am your foster brother and playfellow, but on the other hand I am your tutor and mentor in matters of data and learning. And I am to look after you-"

"And protect me, right? And so, to keep me from being hurt, you protect Khiindi, too. Which you did. So now, can we please try to contact the grandfathers or the Condor from here again? It is possible that the bubble was not as conducive to your transmission as it could have been. Let us try from here."

"Very well, Khorii, but first I would like to clarify an error in the corollary to your initial hypothesis. I protected Khiindi because he is my friend, too. And there is a great deal of evidence to support the theory that those who harm the small and helpless four-footed beings will also harm two-legged beings when those beings are at their mercy. Therefore, the behavior of those who torture the weak should be corrected when it is first perceived."

"By breaking his arm?" she asked. "Perhaps a nice chokehold and a lecture would have sufficed."

"Oh, come on!" Hap said. "He had it coming. I'd have corrected the daylights out of his behavior myself if Elviiz hadn't done it first."

"In retrospect my reaction to Marl's treatment of Khiindi was- excessive, I realize," Elviiz replied. "I will have to modulate my behavior in the future to ensure that it does not happen again."

Elviiz seemed restored to full functionality, and sent hails to both the hospital frequency on Kezdet and the Condors private one. There was no answer from either. Khorii sighed and turned to go when the com receiver abruptly crackled to life.

"Maganos Moonbase, this is Rajan Taj, second officer of the supply vessel Maria of the Krishna-Murti Company subcontracting to House Harakamian. Do you read me?" The man on the vid screen had dark skin but still managed to look pale, a green undertone beneath the deep brown complexion. His eyes were red and he looked as though he had been crying.

He repeated the hail several times without success.

"Ooops," Hap said. "My fault. I'm supposed to be com officer tonight, but it's been so slow, what with the quarantines and all, I forgot."

A man's brisk voice replied to the hail. "We read you, Maria. This is Phador Al y Cassidro headmaster of Maganos Moonbase. What is it?"

The officer from the Mana spoke slowly and, Khorii thought, reluctantly. "Mr. Al y Cassidro, two things." The man paused for a breath, then said, "We came to resupply your base, but I regret that we cannot bring your supplies to the surface. Our crew has been stricken with what is surely the plague. Our captain was the first to die, purser followed him six hours ago, and my wife, who is the ship's first officer, and the chief engineer are gravely ill. I don't feel very well myself. I hope you have some food stored away somewhere because we cannot deliver this without bringing the plague to you."

"That is most unfortunate. Your parent company has always been reliable in the past. You realize I have many hungry youngsters to feed as well as a staff?"

"Yes. I realize this. And so I tell you the second part of my message. Our young daughter Jaya is on board, the only member of the crew who does not appear ill, though she is nursing her mother as best she can. But that is no longer her place. Please allow us to send her to you in our shuttle. If you will make a decontamination chamber for her, she will go through it, wash herself thoroughly, cut off her hair if you insist, and change her clothing before entering an isolation chamber of your choice until you can see that she is disease-free. But do not leave her up here with us-with our bodies-alone on the ship. Promise me you will do this."

"It's absolutely out of the question. I'm sorry for your daughter, but we are already on short rations, and since yours are unusable, we will have all we can do to feed the children we have. If you are amply supplied, I see no reason why the girl shouldn't do better than my students will, as she will have enough to eat."

Rajan Taj looked stricken. "Please, sir. It is not her fault that we are ill. She is only a girl. You must care for children to have so many there. Take pity on her, I beg you."

"I'm sorry. There is no use arguing. My decision has been made. When the quarantine is lifted, we will contact the Federation Health Authorities to decontaminate your ship and deliver the cargo we paid you for already. If your daughter survives until then, she is certainly welcome until some suitable arrangement can be made for her. That is the best I can do. We have student communications officers running our unit, and I hope that you will not distress them by repeating your futile entreaties. Maganos Moonbase out."

"Have I mentioned that we don't like that guy much?" Hap asked.

"What is the matter with some of these people?" Khorii asked. "Elviiz, get second officer Taj back."

Elviiz was already hailing the stranded supply ship.

"Mana, this is the space shuttle Crow currently under Linyaari command. Please come in, Second Officer Taj."

"I-read you," Taj said, a cough between the first and second word. His face was streaked with tears, and his cheekbones seemed even more sharply pronounced than a moment before.

Khorii stepped up so that her face would appear in the Manas viewscreen. "Mr. Taj, do you know of House Harakamian's connection with the Linyaari people?" she asked.

"Lady Acorna! Is it really you? We have all heard of you, of course, but never . . ." He broke off, coughing hard.

Elviiz started to correct the man again. Khorii was surprised that Taj mistook her for her mother, because she didn't think they looked very much alike. She took after her father's side of the family. But maybe outsiders couldn't tell. She said, "Well, perhaps you've heard that I'm here to help with the plague. We will board you and, using our people's special medical skills, heal your crew members of the plague, after which my friend here and I will decontaminate your ship and the supplies for the Moonbase. Permission to board?"

The man looked incredulous and hopeful at the same time. "What seemed a disaster now reveals itself as the best of luck. Gracious lady, we could not have picked a better place to come."

When Taj signed off, Hap asked, "Can you really do that? You're only a kid, and that guy thinks you're your mom."

"Yes," she said. "Only two people need to be healed and a relatively small ship-not like others I've seen-needs to be purified. My parents are doing a whole planet, maybe a star system! They would expect me to take care of small problems like this by myself. We-our healing technology-is certainly up to that. We-it-can heal anybody."