First Warning: Acorna's Children

Chapter 25

The Solojo system, at last!" Khorii said, giving Captain Bates the thumbs-up signal Uncle Joh used to signify he was pleased with the progress of certain events.

"Yep, there's the sun, and we're approaching Rio Boca," the captain said. "Khorii, it's your turn to take the helm. You kids are coming along very well. Elviiz took very little instruction, Jaya was already fairly familiar with this ship, though she's a bit vague on programming in courses, Hap was one of my best students and much to my surprise, Marl has taken to piloting like an extinct water-treading avian to-er-water. Even Sesseli has done pretty well at her lessons. You're going to make me redundant if I don't watch out."

"Do we have enough fuel to make it straight to Paloduro?" Khorii asked. "I'd love to see my mother's and father's faces when I fly this ship over to rendezvous with the Condor."

"Looks like it to me," Captain Bates said.

"We carry extra fuel," Jaya said. "That's what cargo bay three is for-extra fuel, extra parts."

"No problem then," Khorii said. "We're on our way."

She wished Elviiz was there so she could rub his nose in it, just a little. Or Hap, because he'd be pleased. But only Captain Bates, Jaya, Sesseli, and Khorii were on the bridge when she took the helm. And the cats, of course, were sleeping somewhere close by.

Rio Boca was the outermost planet in the Solojo system, but the others were comparatively close in their distance from the sun. All of them had been inhabited for a long time, according to Captain Bates.

"Rio Boca is the 'port planet' of this system, where most of the shipping to and from other worlds takes place. It also has a few tourist attractions," Captain Bates told her.

"Yes!" Jaya said with more animation than Khorii had seen her show before. "Once Mom and Dad and I took a great vacation to the falls. You can see la Catarata de la Llorarona, the Weeping Woman's Waterfall, from space. I'll show you when we get closer. Also the Sangre de Frida, Frieda's Blood in Standard, mountains. The waterfall carries the runoff from them and it's the head of the river that becomes the Rio Boca when it reaches the Sea of the Pilgrims' Tears."

"They have a lot of sad names for things, don't they?" Khorii asked.

"Well, the earliest colonizers apparently had some difficulties. But it's a very rich planet. They have lots of good farmland for coffee, bananas, pineapple, and sugar as well as a lot of the kinds of things you like to eat, Khorii. Fruits and veggies and stuff. They also supply a lot of pharmaceutical companies with crops that have medicinal uses. We actually pick up-we did pick up-quite a lot of cargo here to export to other planets. And they have beautiful jewelry here, too! Dad said it was because the rivers and streams-the Rio Boca and all of its tributaries, are full of gemstones and mineral deposits."

"It looks beautiful even from here," Khorii said. She had to concentrate not to be hypnotized by the greenery ribboned with sparkly silver-and-turquoise waters.

"The city of Rio Boca is kind of ugly, actually. Full of docking facilities for spaceships and boring warehouses full of goods. But once you get up the river, away from the port, it's beautiful. Long stretches with no towns or people, just huge plantations."

"Where does everybody live then?"

Captain Bates said, "They've divided this system's planetary assets into the functions the people here need. Most of the government and administration for the entire system, as well as the banking and many of the fancier homes of officials and wealthy industrialists, are on Dinero Grande, Big Money."

"I've always liked the sound of that one," Marl said, coming up behind them.

Captain Bates continued, disregarding his comment. "Your parents were supposed to be on Paloduro, which is the planet where most of the population lives. There is some industry there, too, and Corazon, the main city, is famous for its Carnivale, a monthlong masquerade party and parade that was in progress when the plague struck."

"That's so sad,"Jaya said. "We got to go to that once, too. It was a lot of fun. I was only little, but Mom made me a leopard costume so I could dance in the parade."

"I heard something about that when my folks were asked to come here," Khorii said. "The Federation health official who talked to them said that Paloduro was the last of these three planets to report an outbreak, so they thought Mother and Father could save the most people if they went there first. The plague must have started way earlier though, before it got reported even."

"How's that?"

"You know the captain's log Elviiz uploaded to the ship's computer for me to read? It was from a derelict luxury liner we found with all the people dead either of plague or killed by the captain to keep them from breaking quarantine. The registration was from Dinero Grande."

"Now I find that fascinating," Marl said, though nobody was talking to him. "I did when I read that captain's log, too. What a fix they were in. I recognized a lot of big names from that passenger roster. Not all were from these parts, mind you, but a significant number of them were. Just the trillionaires and local government people, none of the royalty. More's the pity. I'd love to get my hands on some crown jewels. I'm a romantic that way, I guess. But actually, I'm a farm boy at heart. There are some agricultural crops and their by-products that particularly interest me."

"You're not getting your hands on any of it, Fidd, so just forget it," Captain Bates told him. "Those planets are all still crawling with plague. There's probably nobody left alive by now."

"My point exactly," he said, reaching between the two of them to the instruments. "They'll have no use for any of it. Why should it go to waste? As for the plague, we have our own little cleaner-upper here in our Khorii," he said, laying a heavy hand on her shoulder. "It's perfect, really."

"Except it's not gonna happen," the captain told him.

"Oh, I think it will," he said. "It seems to me it was meant to be. Here we are in this nice big cargo ship to carry away lots of loot, what with loaders and cargo shuttles and everything and our Khorii to make it all safe as a Federation outpost. Safer, even. It's fate. Has to be."

"We are not looters," Captain Bates said. "We're helping Khorii with her rescue mission and taking her back to her parents."

He waved his hand dismissively. "That's all fine. She can do that, too, especially if we bring up enough stuff to fill the bays. Jaya, sweetie?"

"What?" she demanded, her eyes glittering rebelliously.

"You can save us a lot of time, my love. Find your parents' files on the layout of Rio Boca's warehouse district for us, won't you? That way we can be most efficient by heading straight for the ones with the best goodies."

"No!" Jaya said. "Why would I do that?"

"Because if you don't, I will start by killing Hellstrom, who had a close encounter with a spanner I just happened to be holding at the time. No, don't shriek, he's fine. Or will be when he comes to, if you all cooperate."

"And if we don't?"

"Then I will grab little friend here"-he squeezed Khorii's shoulder-"and take the biggest shuttle to the surface. Once we won't get caught in the fringe of the blast, I'll set off the detonator that will explode this ship and all of you with it. And that would be a shame because, like I said, it has all these half-empty cargo bays just waiting to be filled. But there are no doubt other ships docked down there. Khorii can decontaminate one for us to fill with treasure, then she and I will continue on our merry way to Dinero Grande and who knows after that? You lot could come in handy, but you're not really necessary."

"You're hijacking us?" Jaya asked. "You're hijacking my ship?"

"Not yours, little girl. It belonged to the Krishna-Murti Company, but probably most of them are dead. So it will be the flagship of my new enterprise, and you are all on the payroll, figuratively speaking. Now then, Captain Bates, you take over the helm again and put this bird into orbit around Rio Boca. You'll stay here with Hellstrom, but don't think you can plot anything. I've got him locked in the engine room, and I changed the pass code."

"And you think we're going to do what you say just because you claim to have set explosives here?" Jaya said. "Puh-leeze."

Frowning, Captain Bates said, "I think that's what we'd better do, all right, kids."

Marl smiled, showing lots of teeth. "Good for you, Captain. Did your research on us students, didn't you? Saw my background with the Cholaran Resistance Movement? They hated to let me go, you know. I'm sure they still miss my talent with fireworks."

"I still don't believe you, you nasty boy," Sesseli said. "If you've really got a detonator, let us see it."

"You'd like that, wouldn't you, chicklet? Then you could snatch it out of my hands, couldn't you? What you and Khorii, great telepaths that you are, failed to notice is that old Marl has a bit of a gift, too. So I'm on to both of you, so don't try to be cute. Just be useful, and we'll get on fine. Now, then … I wonder how much cargo you can lift with that tiny mind of yours? Could be quite useful. Ah, ah, don't even think about trying to pick me up and throw me across the room-you might set the detonator off accidentally, and wouldn't that be too bad for poor Hap."

Khorii wondered where Elviiz was. As if he could read her mind, Marl said, "Oh, don't go looking for help from your pet android, Khorii."

"What did you do to him?" she demanded.

"Not a thing. Not a thing. He'll be a lot of help when it comes to loading my cargo, I figure, once you tell him to do exactly as I say. I gave him a bit of a brain teaser to figure out, and I think he'll be chewing on that until I require his services."

"Think again, sucker," Elviiz said, in a low, menacing voice, not unlike one Marl himself used from time to time.

"Stop him, or I'll make you dismantle him piece by piece yourself," Marl said to Khorii.

"Elviiz, stop," she said.

"He asked me some ridiculous riddle about some stupid polygamous man who carried his many feline companions in sacks and expected me to ponder it!" Elviiz said. "Father warned me about that sort of thing. He was trying to trick me."

"Yes, I was," Marl said complacently. "And it worked long enough to accomplish what I needed it to. Now be a good little android and go stand next to Jaya."

"We're entering Rio Boca's orbit now," Captain Bates said.

"Great. Let's all go down to the shuttle bay then."

"Not until you let me look at Hap's head," Khorii said, folding her arms across her chest. "I won't leave without knowing that he's not going to die while we're helping you steal from dead people."

"You're in no situation to demand anything, missy," Marl said.

"I think I am," Khorii replied. "I am the only one on board this ship you really need to carry out your plan. What I am asking is reasonable and not difficult to do. You should consider what might happen if you do not have my cooperation for decontaminating your precious treasures before you threaten anyone else or refuse to let me see Hap."

"I-oh, all right. He's all taped up, and he's going to stay that way though, so don't think you'll get me to change that. Come along then. Just you. Captain Bates, you are a reasonable person. You know what will happen if any of you try to take control. Make sure that doesn't happen."

She gave him a glacial look but nodded once, sharply.

As Khorii followed Marl to the engine room, she wondered-he was so sure of her that he didn't mind showing her his back-if he really had known she was reading him because he could read her, and had deliberately thought repulsive stuff make her back off. It had certainly had that effect. She had given up trying to read him, and therefore had seen none of his plan coming. She was disgusted with herself. It wasn't the thoughts you read that could hurt you, it was the ones you failed to read. She was going to remember that from now on. She doubted, despite his boasts, that Marl had a great deal of psychic ability, but he was shrewd enough to use the small talent he had to his greatest advantage. And she'd fallen for it. Her doubts about his talents were confirmed almost immediately.

At the engine room door, he input the new code. Apparently she was giving him too much credit to know how to block her from reading him, because she picked the code out of his mind easily. If she was such a good broadcaster that she could give her whole class test results, she hoped the people on the bridge could pick up this transmission, too-D.R.U.A.7. If nothing else, Khorii could send the code so Captain Bates could free Hap after the rest of them left. Although the teacher did not flaunt her abilities, as Marl had just done, Khorii knew she had them. She'd shared thoughts with her teacher on the day of that disastrous test.

Marl stood aside with mock courtesy and motioned her into the engine room. Hap lay on the floor, his hands taped together with heavy utility tape, his arms taped to his torso, his legs taped together at ankles, shins, knees, and thighs. The side of his head was matted with blood, and a red patch had pooled underneath him.

Khorii rushed forward and bent over him, letting out a sigh of relief when she saw that he was still breathing, though very shallowly.

"Do your thing, horn girl, and let's go."

She laid her horn against the wound, bloodying its tip. At once the scalp wound stopped bleeding and the skin and bone knitted itself together. Haps eyes opened, and he started to say something, but Marl shoved Khorii aside and slapped another piece of tape over his mouth. Leaving Hap lying in his own blood, Marl grabbed Khorii's arm and yanked her up and out of the room, the door sealing shut behind them.

Marl dragged her to the docking bay door and flipped the toggle on the intercom. "Okay, you lot, get down here and let's go get my treasure."