Acorna's Rebels

Three

Death? But I didn't steal him," Becker protested. "I rescued him. Surely they wouldn't want to kill me over that-that's killing the messenger. On the other hand, do you think they might try to keep RK there on the planet if they find out about him?"

"Probably so."

Becker looked down at RK, still in his harness in the seat between them, and said, "Looks like no shore leave for you, mate. I don't suppose there will be any fuzzy hussies we can smuggle aboard either. Sorry, old man."

RK glared up at him, then dropped his chin to his paws. By this time they were well outside the atmosphere, trailing along in the wake of the Arkansas Traveler, floating through space in the tractor beam's embrace like a patchwork ballerina.

Acorna passed the journey to Nadhari and RK's home planet learning Makahomian with the help of her friends and the LAANYE. Since Acorna was a quick study with languages, she seldom needed to absorb them in her sleep, as most Linyaari did. By the time Captain MacDonald towed them within sight of Makahomia, Acorna and Nadhari were conversing easily in the warrior woman's native tongue.

Their first sight of the planet was impressive. Makahomia was redder than Mars ever had been, a rich rusty orange red, with two moons and two suns.

"A lot of iron in your soil," Acorna remarked to Nadhari.

"Yes. Our iron makes excellent weapons, especially when alloyed with some of the many other metals so abundant on our planet."

Even the clouds were reddish and swirled at high speeds over the face of the planet.

Nadhari confirmed with Scar the landing zone coordinates, and he made initial contact with the planet, asking for landing permission and stating that he had answered a Mayday call and had a disabled Federation-registered ship in tow.

The Condor's crew audited the exchange over the com unit but, out of consideration for Nadhari and RK, left the vid screen off. Nadhari nodded to Acorna, scooped up RK, and exchanged seats with her, moving RK's tether harness to her own seat.

"The disabled ship will please identify itself," came a clipped and sober voice.

Becker gave his name, ship's name, and registration.

"Passengers and crew?" the voice demanded.

"Yes, we have those, too," Becker said. "Do you need their names and origins now?"

"That will not be necessary. Officials will be boarding your ship when you land. We will tight-beam immediately the list of documents you will need to show us. Please have the relevant papers ready."

"We aren't going to stay long," Becker said. "Just till I can repair my ship and we can refuel." But no one seemed to be listening to him. The resulting com silence was deafening.

"Not a friendly place you're from, Nadhari, sweetie," he said to her after retrieving the list and scanning it.

"How surprising. After all, I am such an amiable sort myself," she said.

"Compared to that guy, you're the life of the party," Becker grumbled. "But there shouldn't be any problem, should there? We've got all the papers they want. We're landing right where they said to. The place is perfectly safe, right?"

"It was when I left, yes," Nadhari said.

Acorna punched into the com unit and leaned forward to fill the vid screen. "Your pardon, good sirs. I am the Linyaari Ambassador Acorna Harakamian-Li. I was sent by my people to make inquiries regarding the history of a certain Makahomian life form. Could you give me the name of the ruling head of this area, so that I may address my written request for an audience with that person appropriately?"

It appeared that someone was listening, after all.

"The Federation commanding officer in charge is Lieutenant Commander Dsu Macostut," a clipped voice answered on the com, "and he is the one who will need to approve your request before it is passed along to the High Priest of Hissim and the Aridimi Plateau, Mulzar Edu Kando sach Pilau dom Mog-Gim. We will apprise the lieutenant commander of your arrival."

"Ahhh," Acorna said in what she hoped was an elite ambassadorial tone. "Many thanks, good sir."

"Edu?" Nadhari asked when the com unit was safely off. "Edu is in charge?"

"Glad you're on a first-name basis with the guy, sweetie," Becker said. "Can I just call him Ed? I can't remember the rest of that stuff."

"No," Nadhari said, emerging from her preoccupation long enough to touch his cheek fondly. "Just like you can't remember the star maps from most of the known universe including uncharted wormholes, black holes, and other spatial features the regular physicists haven't named yet. You've got the best memory of anybody I know - until you hit something you don't want to remember. The name is actually very simple, Jonas. 'Mulzar' is the Mog-Gimin title taken by the high priest who is also the warlord of the plateau. The current Mulzar is Edu Kando, who is what you might call my cousin - or in the local parlance, my steppe-cousin. His father was captured by my mother's sister on a raid the Felihari made before I was born. So like me, he is a Kando, of the rainforest. The 'sach' indicates his paternity, usually from a captive. My father, when captured by my mother's people, became Murgad Div from Kando, to indicate his ties to my mother's family. As he was never captured or fostered on the Plateau, he had no ardo name. I, on the other hand, am actually known here as Nadhari Kando sach Div ardo Rek. This indicates my mother's surname, my father's clan in the steppes, where I was taken after my mother's death, and the name of the Mog-Gimin clan to whom I was sold after my capture."

"Oh, well, sure, it's simple when you put it that way," Becker said. "Sach means your steppe-name, and that other word-"

"Ardo," she supplied.

"Means your desert affiliation. But his affiliation wasn't ardo - it was some other word."

"Dom," she said. "No one from the Mog-Gim Plateau captured him-he conquered the plateau."

"Of course. I knew that," Becker said. "Absolutely nothing to it when you get used to it. And hey, what luck is that anyway that he's one of your family! He'll probably want to have a big ol' reunion. We can say we didn't tell the Feds about you because we wanted to surprise him or something."

She nodded, the muscles in her jaw rippling slightly. "He will be glad to see me," she said tersely. Acorna looked at her sharply, but Nadhari's jaw had relaxed and a rueful smile hovered around her lips. The warrior's mind was once more opaque, but Acorna noticed that Nadhari had omitted saying whether or not she would be glad to see her cousin.

Becker didn't seem to notice, however. He just charged ahead at the verbal equivalent of light speed. "Well, that's great, then. If one of your own people is in charge, we shouldn't have any problem. Otherwise, I guess we'd have to hide you or rename you and dummy up some good papers, or at least you'd need to stay aboard while we made repairs. This way, maybe we can maybe do a little looking around while we're here, visit the garden spots, gawk at the Temples, stuff like that."

"Yes," Acorna said, her tone innocent but with an underlying question in it. "If your kinsman is the high priest, perhaps he can assist me in carrying out the aagronis' errand to discover a possible relationship between pahaantiyirs and your Temple cats."

"Yes, perhaps," Nadhari said, though her apparent agreement was belied by her tone of voice.

Becker said anxiously, "Maybe he'll even understand about RK, but you think maybe we should hide my buddy until we find out, huh?"

At that moment, Captain MacDonald announced that they were entering Makahomia's orbit. "You reckon if I turn you loose now you can land under your own power, Captain Becker? Otherwise, it'll be a little tricky setting 'er down with you still wagging behind me like the tail of Mary's little lamb."

"Of course we can land," Becker said. "We're not exactly invalids out here-though you couldn't prove it in that mud puddle. Turn us loose and go ahead. We'll be right behind you."

"Jonas, we should report in to Hafiz."

"Good idea. He'll need to know about this little detour," Becker agreed. But when he tried to access Manganos Moonbase for relay to MOO, the com unit remained blank and dumb. "I was afraid of that," he said. "Can't do the long-range stuff with the computers screwed up."

They landed without incident, on dry ground this time. The Federation spaceport was very small. Becker set the Condor down beside the Arkansas Traveler. Both ships were instructed to have their personnel remain aboard until the Federation officials boarded their ships and inspected them.

"I just hate customs," Becker said. "Now we gotta play 'hide the kitty.'"

Acorna smiled. She had heard the plop of paws behind her, indicating the return of gravity and the departure of the cat. His harness had given him no trouble. When he chose to shed it, RK divested himself of a harness as easily as he shed hairs in warm environmental conditions.

In her time with RK, Acorna had learned that the cat understood what went on around him almost as well as Becker did. He just made a game of letting his human companions underestimate him so that he was free to follow his own agenda without interference. She did not doubt that he would hide if it suited him.

Or not.

Becker shook his head when he turned to see the empty harness. "Well, he knows the ship like the back of his paw. He hides so well even I can't find him if he doesn't want me to."

Nadhari nodded. "The sacred cat will choose his own path. RK must sense where he is now."

"Maybe," Becker said, scratching his head. "I don't really know for sure if RK has ever been here. When I rescued him, it was from a wrecked ship in a totally different quadrant of space. He might have been a second generation ship's cat-you know, from a litter a Makahomian mama Temple cat had after she was smuggled off-world."

"He knows," Nadhari said.

"Permission to come aboard," an unfamiliar voice hailed them from the com unit.

"Granted," Becker grunted. "Uh-just a minute. I have to send the robolift down for you."

"The what?"

"We're a salvage vessel. Functional, not pretty. We don't have a nice door in the side of the ship for you to hook your gantry to. Just a sec."

Becker pushed the button that activated the robolift, but though there was a groan and a clank somewhere in the workings, nothing moved. "Sorry," he said to the com unit. "It may have to thaw a while. We had a little trouble with our navigation system and made a forced landing on that swampy neighbor planet of yours." He consulted the computer and gave the coordinates. "We were viewport-deep in water when Captain Mac-Donald pulled us out and saved our necks. Going back out in space dripping wet might have iced up the lift a bit. Since we're going for speed here, I'll try taking a torch and a crowbar to the seals. That should work. It's gonna be a minute before I can let you in, though. Maybe you better go see Captain MacDonald first."

"Very well, since the timing is useful to me. Lieutenant Commander Macostut will be joining the boarding parry as soon as he is able to, so that he may on this occasion personally greet the Linyaari ambassador."

"That's very courteous of him. The ambassador will approve. I'll let you know when I free the lift."

Mac said, "I will attend to it, Captain."

"I can do it," Becker called after him. "It's my ship."

Before Mac could return, however, Acorna said, "If I may make a suggestion, Captain. These Federation officials strike me as being impressed by rank and privilege. Nadhari and I have decided to use this delay to change into more formal clothing. She has her dress uniform. Miiri packed something… ambassadorial… for me to wear to meet the Niriians, which I plan to put on before the planetary delegation arrives. Perhaps you might wish to don your most impressive uniform as well?"

He considered a moment, rubbed his chin, and sniffed at his armpits. "I guess I could shower and shave, too, huh?"

Acorna hid her amusement and listened to the ship's sounds for a moment. "Nadhari has just finished her shower, I believe, so there will be time for you to do those things, should you wish to."

Acorna and Becker escorted the Wats out of the bridge and back to their quarters, where they locked them in, and continued on to their separate quarters to make themselves ready for their official visitors. By the time Mac returned to the bridge, Acorna had donned her new outfit and taken time to enhance her appearance, so that her silvery mane curled fetchingly to frame her face and grace her long neck. Her horn shone like a golden opal. Her trews were cut so that the feathers on her calves made a decorative trim, edged with small jewels that matched the beautifully embellished belt girding her flowing white tunic. Grandam Naadiina had given Acorna the belt to wear before the venerable lady's heroic death. It had been a lover's gift from Naadiina's life-mate to Naadiina, and Acorna cherished the memories it brought each time she put it on.

And now there was her new treasure, she thought with a mixture of pleasure and pain, touching the disk through her tunic. It was a gift of her lover if not actually from him. Should she wear it outside? She decided it was too precious, that she didn't want to share or explain it just yet.

Nadhari wore the dress uniform of the Red Bracelets, as she had when attending formal occasions with Mr. Li. It was, not surprisingly, red, gleaming with brass trim, and made of a material that both enhanced the shape of her panther-lithe body and allowed her complete freedom of movement.

Acorna wasn't sure where Becker's uniform came from-her guess was that it was salvage from another ship. The captain wore a tailored gray outfit with silver burtons and trim, an attractive combination with the gray of Becker's mustache and the little beard he was sporting. He wore an insignia of a silver vulture rampant over a barrel, with his name and title forming a leafy silver border around the image.

He tossed Mac a plainer version of the same uniform and said, "Go oil yourself or something, Mac, and put this on to meet the bigwigs."

Mac's pupils dilated with pleasure. "A uniform? I am now an official uniformed crew member! Oh, Captain! May I have a hug?"

"Hell, no, you'd crush the life out of me! Where do you get that stuff anyway? You've been talking to Mrs. Harakamian again, haven't you?"

Mac was busy stripping and pulling on the new uniform.

"Not here," Becker said. "There are ladies present."

"Oh," Mac said, clearly wondering what one thing had to do with the other.

"And pick up your old stuff on your way out," Becker grumbled. "You want this place to look like a pigsty?"

Acorna suppressed a giggle. Only through Mac's industry had the Condor gained any semblance of order. Before the android had been restored, reprogrammed, and thus rehabilitated from his service under the treacherous criminal Kis la Ma njari, Becker's ship had more closely resembled a junkyard than an interstellar vessel. Jonas had had salvage stored and piled in every available corner and strapped overhead. The only maneuvering room around the ship had been little more than a narrow trail from one end of the Condor to the other.

She supposed Becker's remark was compounded of embarrassment and the sense of captainly importance he assumed with his fancy uniform.

With the robolift cleared for action and everything shipshape, Becker hailed the Federation post again. In a short time the ship's outside monitors picked up a small group of uniformed people walking in tight formation toward the ship. Becker lowered the robolift, which worked perfectly.

After exchanging questioning glances at the unusual outfitting of the ship, the delegation followed the man in the shiniest uniform forward. Once he had stepped onto the lift, they joined him. Becker pushed the button to raise them to the lower deck. "Ladies, we should greet our guests, don't you think?" he said.

Lieutenant Commander Dsu Macostut made his priorities clear immediately when he ignored Becker's salute and bowed instead over Acorna's hand. "Ambassador Harakamian-Li. We have, even on this backwater posting, heard of your remarkable exploits on Kezdet and the splendid work you and your patrons have done with Maganos Moonbase. We never imagined we would have the honor to meet you."

"You're very kind," Acorna said, amused. Becker was chewing his mustache, highly irritated by the snub to his well-dressed authority. In his view, on a ship, the captain should always have first priority. "Please allow me to introduce my dear friends and shipmates. This is Captain Jonas Becker, with whom I believe some of you have spoken. And here are the ship's android MacKenZ, and Commander Nadhari Kando."

"The legendary Nadhari Kando, who left Makahomia as a humble acolyte and became one of the famous Red Bracelets? Words fail to express my delight. Your steppe-cousin often speaks of you with pride. We are great friends, you know, and he is fond of bragging about you. He says that although he now rules the Mog-Gim Plateau, you did not wash out of Federation training as he did."

Nadhari opened her mouth to protest, but Lieutenant Commander Dsu held up a restraining hand, "Of course we are all well aware that it was his wish to serve his own people here on Makahomia that was the true cause of his refusal to accept a commission in the Corps. And I must say, in losing a soldier, the Corps has gained instead a remarkable ally. Mulzar Edu is the most progressive, enlightened ruler it has ever been the Federation's pleasure to work with on your planet. Your steppe-cousin is truly a man of vision."

Becker did something he had rarely done before with Acorna - he aimed a thought right at her. He didn't actually have any idea that she would receive it, but he just had to comment on the Federation officer's attitude and couldn't do so aloud.

(Hallelujah,) he said, (the fan club has arrived!)

(Why, Captain, you're using telepathy!) Acorna replied mentally. The grumblings in Becker's mustache and beard turned to pleased and slightly embarrassed huffings. These turned to shock as he realized suddenly that he had read her loud and clear. He replied tentatively, but again in mind-speak, (Yeah! How about that. Look, Ma, no mouth! Hey, is this mind-reading stuff catching?) he asked, clearly enjoying having a secret with her from everyone else.

(Not unless you can hear what I or others are thinking when we are not consciously sending to you,) Acorna said. (But if you address your thoughts to me, I will certainly do my best to read them and respond in kind.)

Becker's eyes sparkled. (That's great. I like this. Let's do it more often.) He looked as pleased as a three-year-old boy with a new land-skimmer sled.

She smiled at him - no teeth showing, of course-and would have hugged him had they not been in the company of strangers.

Macostut was still speaking, after a spate of fulsome compliments to Nadhari. "Perhaps you illustrious ladies would care to come ashore while my men and the captain go over the inventory of this vessel? Our accommodations are spartan and humble, but are, I am told, somewhat more luxurious than those of the average-er - salvage vessel."

"That's very kind of you, Lieutenant Commander, but I'm afraid that I must refuse your kind offer for the time being. Captain Becker has a large and varied inventory, with which we are both familiar," Acorna said. "As my close personal friend, he has granted me the use of his vessel as my traveling embassy with no cost to myself or to the planetary government I represent in exchange for my help as a crew member when needed. Captain Becker has saved my life and the lives of my people many, many times."

"That is true for me as well," Nadhari said gravely. "I owe him my life many times over. Captain Becker and his vessel were crucial in successfully defeating multiple Khleevi invasions and in saving me from equally terrible enemies."

Macostut tried to look impressed and more cordial toward Becker, but Acorna sensed resentment radiating from him. The Federation officer clearly wanted Nadhari and her to himself. His thoughts seemed to indicate that he felt another male officer would cramp his style. "And these-what did you call them? Khleevi? They needed defeating?"

"Oh, I suppose that the news of the rest of the universe doesn't reach you often here, as isolated as you are," Nadhari said. "Or you would have at least heard of the invasion of the Federation planet Rushima by the Khleevi, which was foiled by a massive combined force of Federation, mercenary, and private ships only after Acorna's relatives came to warn her of the impending attack and enabled the Federation and its allies to surprise the invading Khleevi. It was quite a battle. I was there."

"But he-the captain, I mean-wasn't in on that one?"

"That was before we met," Becker said shortly. "If we're going to inventory my cargo, we'd best get this show on the road, ladies and gentlemen, or we'll be here a month before we're officially allowed to disembark."

"Oh, no, Captain. A quick look will suffice, I think, since you come so highly recommended by a local celebrity as well as a foreign ambassador. And we must be well done with this before second setting, when you must all dine with me. I insist."

"You mean real food?" Becker said.

"Exactly. There have been a few shortages recently on Makahomia, but we are well enough supplied here. I will leave you now in order to finalize the preparations while you and your… crew… escort my officers on their inspection tour. They in turn will then escort you to our guest quarters and on to the officers' mess. You and your crew and Captain MacDonald will of course be our guests."

"I will be so pleased for the opportunity to thank Captain MacDonald properly," Nadhari said. "We would probably be looking out the Condor's submerged viewport at those repulsive reptilian life forms and breathing our last were it not for him answering our Mayday so quickly and effectively."

"Lieutenant-Commander Macostut," Acorna said, "Speaking of Captain MacDonald, I would like to ask him to relay a message to our headquarters about our mishap. I wish to inform my uncle of our safe arrival. May we provide Uncle Hafiz with your outpost coordinates in case he wishes to contact us?"

"That's not a problem, Ambassador. However, I should mention to all of you that in order to avoid cultural contamination of the Makahomians, no technology that is in excess of what could be produced locally with indigenous resources is permitted beyond the official boundaries of this spaceport. The only gate from this compound, which opens into the city, contains a very sensitive scanner to make sure that no one carrying any off-world devices can pass through undetected. All communications emanating from our post are monitored. There is a dampening field around the post that will obliterate, scramble, or otherwise impede the signals from any ship attempting to contact another com unit in the civilian sector, should such a unit find its way there despite our precautions."

Becker whistled. "Seems pretty restrictive."

Macostut regarded him coldly. "Not at all, Captain. The Federation believes these measures are preferable to overflying Makahomia ourselves, causing yet more cultural contamination. We take our responsibility here very seriously." He turned back to Acorna, all smiles. "That said, we would be more than happy to relay your message to Mr. Harakamian through Federation channels if you wish, Ambassador."

"That's very kind of you, hut Captain MacDonald has already offered to do that," Acorna replied. He hadn't, but she felt certain he would be amenable. Just to tie up loose ends, she quickly returned to the bridge and hailed him. She didn't want to explain to Macostut or any other official that she not only wished to inform Hafiz of the Condor's change of route but also wanted to learn if any messages for her had been relayed from the Moon of Opportunity through Manganos Moonbase. It would be just her luck if Aari had returned to Vhiliinyar and no on knew how to reach her!