Maelstrom

CHAPTER 3

THE TWINS AND Ke-ola were on the bridge watching as the Piaf approached

Halau. It was a large planet, orbited by two moons and an asteroid belt. As Ke-ola had intimated, it didn't look like the pretty pictures on Intergal's vid clip. Its surface was as pocked and colorless as someone in the last stages of a contagious illness.

It didn't look like a place anyone would want to visit, much less live. Nevertheless, the Piaf was not the only ship in the vicinity. In the huge viewport, plainly visible between them and the asteroid belt that partially obscured the pitted planet, another ship hung in space.

The comscreen lit and suddenly another bridge with another life-size crew was looming above the deck of the Piaf's bridge. A woman with dark, almond-shaped eyes and strawberry blond hair bobbed asymmetrically across her forehead and down one cheek to just below her ears was looking straight at them. She wore a uniform similar to the one that hung in a bag in Mum's wardrobe. Company Corps.

Of course, she was only a lieutenant, and Mum had been a colonel by the time she quit for good.

"This is the Intergalactic Enterprises Company Corps carrier George Armstrong

Custer," the woman announced. "You have entered restricted Intergalactic

Enterprises airspace. Please identify your vessel."

The Piaf had a com officer too, Steve Guthe, who spoke twenty-seven languages and could sing in even more, but Johnny spoke up instead. "This is the passenger liner Piaf, flagship of Algemeine Intergalactic Enterprises. Captain John Green speaking, but Madame herself is aboard if there's a problem you and I can't sort out between us."

"No problem, sir, and nothing to sort out. Your ship must reverse course and leave this area immediately. Even under normal circumstances unauthorized vessels are not allowed to visit this world. And at the moment Halau is experiencing a condition-red emergency. We're standing by to be of assistance."

"I think you will find that as a senior council member of the Federation, Madame has clearance, as does this vessel, to visit just about anywhere in the known cosmos she wishes. Maybe if you fill us in on the emergency, we might be of assistance too. We're quite handy, you'll find, for civilians."

"No doubt, sir, but it's none of your concern, or Madame Algemeine's. Halau routinely experiences meteor storms. Such a storm is in progress at this time. We are standing by until our instruments indicate that it is safe to land and render aid to the inhabitants, if necessary."

"Where are the hits?" Ke-ola asked urgently. "What coordinates?"

The woman took in Ke-ola, who was peering over Johnny's head, with no sign of surprise. "I don't have that information at this time. From your appearance, I surmise that you may be a native of Halau, is that correct?"

"My people live there now, yes," Ke-ola said. "Can you tell me if the area around New Puna has been hit?"

"I'm sorry. I do not have access to that data at this time," the woman said.

"Perhaps you could obtain it, then," said Marmie, sweeping onto the bridge, dressed dramatically in a flowing scarlet robe with a tall black collar, trim in front and around the hem, and deep black cuffs folded back on a wide sleeve. She looked elegant, even regal, Murel thought. "My dear friend Ke-ola is naturally concerned for the welfare of his family."

Don't you love it when Marmie throws her weight around? Ronan asked telepathically. The twins had been able to speak to each other without words since they were small, and could communicate with nonhuman animals in that fashion as well. Usually the only other human they could talk to was their father, who was also a selkie, but sometimes people surprised them.

I love it that she's important enough to let us do things we wouldn't be able to without her help and that she's willing to do it, Murel answered a bit primly.

I wasn't being disrespectful, sis. I just think it's fun to see her sail in and take charge. She's awesome. Like a queen.

She is in a way, only of a company instead of a country. She's got presence,

Adrienne says, and of course it's backed up with a lot of real power and money.

The com officer on the Company Corps ship was enough of a soldier to know superior firepower when she saw it. "Colonel Cally can better assist you with that information, ma'am."

"Then I'll thank you to fetch the officer in question," Marmie said, not in a snooty voice but as if she would be truly grateful to the com officer for doing her job. One thing the twins had noticed about Marmie was that she never bullied the "little people" unless they were acting like total idiots.

When a very official-looking man with an iron-gray crewcut and colonel's leaves on his uniform stepped up to the com screen, the corporal sat back, looking relieved.

"Madame Algemeine, I presume?"

Marmie nodded regally.

"Colonel Zachariah Cally at your service, ma'am. As my lieutenant has already informed you, this is restricted space and the best service I can render you is to advise you to return to the other pressing matters that no doubt compete for your attention and leave the current crisis to us. We are trained to deal with these things."

"Indeed?" Marmie asked. "As I explained to your corporal, one of the pressing matters to which you refer involves accompanying my young ward Ke-ola home to his family. If they are, as your officer indicated, in danger, then it is very much my business to do all that I can to make sure they come to no harm, as that would cause my ward considerable distress. Would it not, Ke-ola?"

"Oh, yes, Madame, I would be very much distressed. My brothers and sisters and aunties and uncles and cousins are all there-and the sacred Honu's family too.

That is why I want to know where these meteors are landing. I am hoping they are not landing on my family."

"I'm sure Colonel Cally can understand your concern, Ke-ola, and mine. For of course we can surmise that since the company has sent a ship to aid the inhabitants, they must be in danger. It is a very large planet, and with very little, from the look of it, that could be harmed other than the people who have been settled there."

The colonel remained unruffled. "That's true, Madame Algemeine. We have feeds from the surface that indicate a large strike in the very midst of the largest settlement. And yes, I believe that's locally known as New Puna."

"Is that all? Have you had no communication from the inhabitants, no maydays or other requests for help?"

The colonel ran his tongue around his lips as if his mouth had suddenly gone dry.

"Yes, we have. But right now, with the meteors still falling, it is far too dangerous to take a ship down there. While the situation is unstable, we would only be risking our people along with those below."

"I see. So no aid has been dispatched at all? No medical team or help in evacuating people to a safer location?"

"They have medical people of their own and we hope sense enough to leave the area while the sky is falling." His tone was snappish but he smiled, remembering to whom he was speaking.

"Yes, well," Marmie said, her accent more pronounced, drawled with a pursing of her mouth and a narrowing of her eyes that somehow conveyed that she was exercising great tolerance, "my ship has excellent shields and sensors for deflecting projectiles. I shall see to it at the next council meeting that we discuss having similar ones installed on the military vessels so you can take a more active role in this sort of emergency. If you would care to transfer some of your personnel to my vessel, we will be happy to give you safe transport to the planet's surface so you may carry out your mission with greater safety and so that Ke-ola's people will receive help as soon as possible."

Bright patches of red appeared on the colonel's close-shaven cheeks and traveled down his neck. "I'm afraid I cannot allow-"

"Mr. Guthe," she said to her own com officer, "do patch me through to the High

Command so they can provide authorization for the colonel to make use of our resources."

The colonel turned away for a moment. Murel and Ronan were certain it was to get control of his temper. When he turned back to face them, he did seem to have regained a measure of composure.

"That won't be necessary, ma'am," he said smoothly. "It's very good of you to offer your help. However, I've just received word from our link to the surface that the meteor bombardment seems to have stopped for the moment so we can all proceed."

He had his navigation officer provide landing coordinates for Johnny, and communications terminated while the Custer darted toward the pockmarked planet, the Piaf following.

As they neared the surface, the landscape before them looked even less habitable than it had from the air. Murel had done some computer research on volcanoes while aboard ship, wanting to learn more about the one forming Petaybee's newest landmass. One of the pictures of the field inside the volcanic crater had looked something like Halau's surface. There were large craters pocked with emberous pimples of meteor rock. The comparatively level bits of ground looked back at them with thousands upon thousands of bloodshot eyes, and the air was still spangled with fiery rain.

Ke-ola, his finger trembling, pointed out what had been New Puna.

"You see that big hole there? That is where we had the gardens. And that one over there? That is where the pool was that held the Honu's relatives."

"And your relatives, Ke-ola? Where are they?"

He scanned the viewport in a slow, deliberate way then shrugged. "I don't see the home dome, where the people lived. Not even a splinter. That big hole with the m melted edges? That's where it used to be."

Johnny quietly placed a hand on Ke-ola's shoulder.

As soon as it was humanly possible they suited up and prepared to leave the ship.

The soldiers and Johnny at first wanted Ronan and Murel to stay aboard but the twins were adamant.

"Since we are Petaybee's ambassadors," Murel said, "I think we really do have to be in on everything."

"You are only ten years old," Marmion said. "It could be very upsetting out there."

"We won't be any more upset than Ke-ola or his bruthahs and sistahs," Murel said, pronouncing the words the way Ke-ola did, out of respect for what seemed to be a colloquial language mutation, rather than ignorance of the way everyone else said it. "We're here to help and that's that."

"Perhaps we should use the Piaf as a base camp, ma'am, and take flitters out to reconnoiter. It would be faster and we'd be less vulnerable in case the rocks started banging about again," Johnny suggested. "Also, if we needed to collect the wounded, we'd have something to carry them in."

"I'm not sure your flitters will work here," Ke-ola said.

"Why shouldn't they?"

"Too heavy," he said.

"Not that much of a problem," Johnny said. "Our all-terrain vehicles are just that- vehicles that adapt for all terrains. Terrain includes gravity. Might take a bit of adjusting but I reckon they'll run, all right."

"That's good, man," Ke-ola said.

They took the lift to the docking bay, where they suited up and prepared to disembark. The bay held all kinds of machinery-flitters, cranes, shuttles, and forklifts among them. The main entrance to the bay was cavernous enough to allow smaller ships to enter, but there was also another hatch for personnel only, and Ke ola veered away from the flitters and headed for the air lock. It irised open, and the others stepped inside while it closed behind them and the gantry-a broad platform with an extendable staircase-extruded itself. Ke-ola took a step out onto the platform. It groaned beneath his weight.