Clarion

CLARION

183

William Greenleaf

ing up at the building and the broken spire. Paul could see more people coming down the roadway.

"Can we expect help from them?" he asked.

"Are you kidding?" Karyn said. "They'd cut their own throats before they would act against Lord Tern and High Elder Brill."

"Haven't they already done that by coming out here?"

She shrugged. "Guess so. But I wouldn't count on them to bail us out."

"Why do you think they came?" .

"Curious, probably."

Karyn and Jacque lay on their stomachs at the crumbled edge with the long-barreled carbines they had taken from the combat car. Selmer Ogram and Erich Frakes were crouched farther down toward the comer of the building. Frakes held something Paul didn't recognize—a short, wide-mouthed tube with a shoulder saddle and an oddly shaped firing device. A brown canvas pouch lay at his feet.

"Grenade launcher," Karyn explained when Paul asked about it.

Paul felt the blood drain from his face. We've never had to hurt any of them, Selmer had said. But it's only a matter of time.

"We think they're sonic grenades," Karyn went on. "With luck, they'll only knock the kids out for a while."

"But you aren't sure?"

Karyn shook her head. "We'll find out when we use one."

Feeling slightly sick, Paul turned and went down the stairs to the inner chamber. Dorland paced back and forth in front of the chauka with his hands clasped behind him. Elli was in her usual position above the chauka, swaying gently as if to music that none of the others could hear.

"The kra'ith," Dorland said, "is made up of youth as well as older individuals." He spoke slowly, as if he'd just now grasped a point Elli was trying to get across.

* (Group/touch) kra'ith Dorland is (acceptance)*

Paul hitched himself up onto the pedestal in front of the chauka. He felt a twitchy urgency.

"Getting anywhere?"

"She still won't say much about Lord Tern," Dorland said. "But I found out one thing about him. He's Tal Tahir."

"He is? Then Elli—"

"She's Tal Tahir, too. The males are a lot different from the females. I couldn't get it all—it came in a flash, and she wouldn't repeat it. But my guess is the males evolved as the workers and the food gatherers, while the females were more sedentary. They probably cared for the young."

, "That's all you've been able to find out about Lord Tern?"

Dorland nodded. "All she wants to talk about is the kra'ith."

"That doesn't help us. We don't even know what it is."

"I'm getting an idea about it," Dorland said. He spoke carefully, his eyes thoughtful. "It's obvious the kra 'ith is a basic part of the Tal Tahir social structure. I think the closest human word for it is family"

"The kra'ith consists of parents and their young?"

"Maybe. But I get the impression there are levels of kra'ith. One level is the family group that lives in the domes. Another level may be a group of

domes—"

"A quadrant sector?"

"That's my guess. I don't know how many levels there are, but I know they're all connected."

"One big happy family."

"Something like that. Everything the Tal Tahir do is for the common good. They never think of the 184

William Greenleaf CLARION 185

individual." Dorland paused, and his eyes returned to Elli, who stood silently above the chauka. She watched them intently with the sensor nubs pulled back against the flap. "Working for the common good is why the kra'ith exists. For the Tal Tahir, that means dedicating every action toward the well-being of the youth."

Youth. So much of what they learned from Elli came back to that.

"We think of the family relationship in terms of parents raising children until they're old enough to care for themselves," Dorland went on. "But at the same time, the parents have jobs and other interests outside the family. Raising the children is handled rather casually. To the Tal Tahir, nothing is as important as caring for the young." He looked up at Paul. "In fact, the closest thing to a Tal Tahir religion is the worship of the young."

"They . . . worship the young?"

Dorland nodded. "They don't have external gods like humans do. Our fear of the unknown is basic to us, and we created deities to give us answers and make us feel safe in our confusing environment. But the Tal Tahir don't need that kind of security. They know their security lies in their young. Everything their race will be depends on the youth. That's why the kra'ith is so sacred to them. It is where the young are reared and worshipped."

"Did the heretics really have a Godstone?" Wayne Lightfoot asked. "There's talk that—"

"Never mind the talk," Jonny Ironfist said sternly. He and Wayne were crouched behind the partial remains of a curved dome wall. Jonny had just come from the temple, where he had received his orders from Elder Jacowicz. Confusing orders, but Jonny was prepared to carry them out. Jonny was nervous and—yes, he had to admit—afraid. Not of the heretics who waited in the strange building by the river or of the crowd that had gathered behind them, but of the Holy City. The city seemed to engulf him, and the pulse of its life beat with the pulse ofJonny's blood. "Some people thought they saw the Godstone. They spread the word and

caused much confusion. Elder Jacowicz says we have to calm them before they get out of control."

"Calm them? How?"

"Select half of the brothers and go out to talk to the people. Try to get them to return to Fairhope. Under no circumstances are you to let them get closer to the heretic stronghold." Jonny could hear the muttering of the crowd behind him. It seemed to be getting louder. "Tell them that when this is over. High Elder Brill will call a special service at the temple and explain everything."

Wayne nodded and moved away to make his

selection.

Jonny turned his mind back to the problem at hand. The building in which the heretics had taken cover was on the riverbank. The vegetation and rubble were heavy along each side of the building. He would have to lead his brothers straight in, and he knew there would be casualties.

It would be much easier if they could simply use a powder bomb, but Elder Jacowicz had warned him against that. The heretic named Dorland Avery had to be brought back alive, and Elder Jacowicz had asked that he be captured as quietly as possible. The others were not to be harmed unless absolutely necessary.

Jonny didn't know why Elder Jacowicz had

changed his mind so abruptly. Earlier, Elder Jacowicz had ordered that Jonny use all necessary force to capture the heretics. Any survivors were to be brought directly to the God Wall.

But that had changed. Jonny didn't question Elder Jacowicz's judgment. Lord Tern would keep Jonny and his brothers from harm during the 186 William Greenleaf