Acorna's Search Part 27

They murmured among themselves, small words that made bubbles below the surface, like the bubbles that contained their thoughts when they arrived in Maati's head. One of the females ran her webbed hand along the surface, and said, (Look, Upp, no film clings to me! The water surface no longer shines with the rainbows of its destruction.)

(You have the power! The power to cure. They gave you the power we were denied!) the big male, apparently the Upp the female had been addressing, said accusingly.

(Why are you so upset?) Maati asked. (We cleaned your home for you. You should say "thank you.")

(It's not their fault, Upp.) the female with the filmless hand told her mate. (Their blending succeeded in that way, ours failed. Our four-legged parents care for us just the same.)

(And the Changing Ones consider us accidents of the lesser parts of their nature because of it.) Upp said bitterly.

(Changing Ones?)

(Our parents-who-are-not-unicorns. The shape changers.) This information appeared in a series of bubbles within bubbles, no doubt a result of the thoughts and concepts translating from the sii-Linyaari dialect to the modern speech Maati and the others understood.

Before anyone could say or think anything further, one of the great ships they had seen before as they journeyed on the river hove round the island and the sailors, gathered at the railing and looking very threatening, broadcasted: (You pond sc.u.m monsters cease menacing those people at once, or so help us we will beach you.) Then their thoughts turned solicitous, but in a way Maati didn't care for, (You there, guests, are you unharmed?)

Maati scowled toward the ship, angry about the threat to the sii-Linyaari. But Yiitir said, (We are quite well, thank you for your concern, but were enjoying a private conversation.) He said this quite as if everything, including themselves, was normal and under control. Maati's scowl broke up as she failed to control a giggle. A nervous giggle, but a giggle nonetheless. They all waved nonchalantly at the watchers on the ship.

(That won't be enough for them. If you want to learn more, and can swim, come with us to see our horned parents.) the male said, in a tightly controlled thought-whisper.

Maati felt a glimmer of hesitation from Yiitir, but Maarni dove right in. Maati did, too, and felt the impact in the water as Yiitir joined her. The sii-Linyaari dove deep and swam underwater as they rounded the island and headed back toward the sh.o.r.eline. One of them, observing Maati's unfamiliarity with moving through the water, towed her along behind him. Once they were safely on the other side of the island, out of sight of the ship, the land Linyaari surfaced for air, then dove back under while the sii- Linyaari fanned their fish tails impatiently.

The sii- Linyaari, except for Maati's guide and helper, were dark and dappled shapes above and surrounding them. Then one of the sii-children swam under Maati, popping up between her legs, swimming over the top of her and dropping down to back-paddle in front of her face in a most annoying fashion.

But it turned out that the little sii-Linyaari was doing more than playing. As a solid wall of land loomed in front of them and she saw nothing to do but surface, the child motioned with webbed palms down for her to stay submerged, then, still back-paddling, began to twitch its small webbed fingers backward, guiding her to follow it.

The sii- Linyaari had stopped broadcasting thoughts and Maati realized that the sailors probably possessed telepathy, too.

Ahead of her, she saw the soles of Maarni's feet disappear into what looked like an unbroken landma.s.s, followed quickly

by the flirt of two different tails. The child turned suddenly and thrust an arm into the bank and Maati saw the opening. When the child saw that she saw, it turned and slipped into the bank. Maati found it was much larger than it looked, but she still was able to guide herself with her hands on both sides for a yard or two until the s.p.a.ce widened out enough for them to swim three abreast.

She considered herself a pretty fair survivor, having come all this way, but now her breath was running out. Could she make it, or would she drown here?

Suddenly, the tails and feet of those ahead of her turned sharply upwards. She righted herself, too, and found that -with two strokes her head *was once more above water. They were in an underwater grotto, deep enough to swim in, but with a good layer of air above their heads as well. They swam in silence down long stretches as the cave ceilings rose higher and higher above their heads. The water was pitch black, and very cold.

The frii began frolicking up the stream as they swam further in and their shrill repet.i.tive voices broadcast their thoughts, the thought bubbles bursting after every utterance, (Going to Granny's! POP! Going to Granny's! POP!)

Up ahead, suddenly, Maati saw them, Ancestors, standing four abreast and at least twenty deep just uphill from where water met dry cave floor.

(Lookit there, Gladiis, it's our web-footed offspring, come to pay their respects!)

(And see what we brought you! POP!) cried Maati's young guide.

(I hope it's some of that nice seaweed you brought last I time.) the Ancestor just behind the one addressed as Gladiis said and others showed enthusiastic agreement ruffling air through their nostrils.

(Better! POP! We brought cousins from the future who say they're your descendants, too! POP! But be prepared! POP! They're not as pretty as we are, really funny looking! POP!)

(And very, very cold.) Maarni added through her chattering teeth as they swam up to the cloven hooves of the ancestors.

(They are land) creatures, with two feet and horns! POP!) Maati's frii friend explained before anyone else could, or the Ancestors could figure it out for themselves.

(They are, and this bears repeating.) Yiitir said, (freezing. They need to get warm and dry at once.)

The Ancestors took several steps backwards, their telepathy allowing them to march to the rear like precision dancers. Which was a good thing because they had crowded very close together and could have injured each other or at least knocked the foremost among their number into the water had they not all understood the intent to make room at the landing.

Getting out was a slippery operation for the Linyaari, since the water met the landing where the pavement sloped sharply downhill. It was all but impossible to get one's feet under one, but Maati's little guide boosted her from the rear and one of the Ancestors graciously bent his neck so she could grab hold of his mane. She, as the youngest and most agile, was first out, and helped Maarni and Yiitir next.

"Oooooh, look at them, Humiir!" the Ancestor addressed as Gladiis cried aloud with a little whinny.

"Yes, funny looking things, but kind of cute," Humiir agreed. The other Ancestors closed around them, warming them with their heat and using horns to take the chill off their puckered and goose-b.u.mped flesh.

"It seems to me if they'd wanted legs and horns, four were better than two," another of the Ancestors said critically.

"Yes, but the Changers wanted the new ones to be part of each of us, Host and People of the Horn," Gladiis replied. "I think they're just lovely, really."

Hmph. I suppose we'll be seeing little feathered replicas of ourselves with wings, next thing we know," the other replied.

'When did they make you?" Humiir asked, nudging Yiitir with his nose. "You are an old one. That is a young one. They

"No, it's that they think only with their heads and very seldom with their hearts," another said.

"It's amazing they do as well as they do," Humiir said firmly. "All that shape-shifting they do and they have done this sort of thing before, one of them told me when he came to be healed from a bout of drunkenness. On other planets, with other species. That is where some of the other creatures on this planet are from."

Another ancestor brayed his laughter. "Distant cousins, I suppose."

"The truth is, dear Youngling," Gladiis said gently, "is that while the Hosts are, I believe, essentially good sorts, and they live a great long time, long enough, certainly to have acquired wisdom, they simply are not very stable."

"That's a joke, frii " Upp informed her. "Stable, get it?"

"Too many of those Hosts, changing shapes all the time as if they've never found one they liked, all of them crammed into all those shifty buildings," Humiir said. "We couldn't stand it. Our horns were going soft and transparent with the stress. Finally we asked for a place of our own and they gave us these caves, because they could shield them from the thoughts above. They open out onto a nice bit of gra.s.sland, too. Not enough s.p.a.ce really, no forests, no mountain meadows full of wildflowers, but no hairy warriors looking to dehorn us either. All in all, it is an improvement."

"And here at least we are spared the chaos of their thoughts," Gladiis said with a sigh so strong that it stirred the hairs of the little beard under her chin.

But just then Maati caught a thought a very clear one. "Kh.o.r.n.ya!" she heard her brother cry, and she was on her feet, pushing through the Ancestors, and searching for a way to get to him.

"Her blend was maybe a little defective?" she heard Humiir inquiring behind her. And Maarni laughed and asked another question.

The sea that was no longer a sea lapped at the road like a sick animal as Acorna stared into it. Dark and dirty as it was, the water lured Acorna. The sea was where the little lights that she believed indicated the presence of Aari, Maati, and the others were located.

Although she had not heard Aari again, Acorna held an awareness of his pain, his fear, somewhere in the back of her mind and it made her feel nervous and twitchy. She had to do something. The plan they had all formed together was a good one, and Becker was on his way back to the ship with Mac and RK to help him. He would return soon with supplies as he promised, but would it be soon enough? Perhaps an hour and a half had pa.s.sed since she heard Aari cry out. If only she knew how to manipulate the time device better, she could arrive before whatever had disturbed him, and prevent him from suffering whatever it was that had caused him to scream to begin with.

But she couldn't figure it that closely. She was beginning to think she might be able to manipulate it to some degree however. And she had to keep her thoughts from being too open to Thariinye. As Becker left she drew forth packets of seeds and stems she had brought in her pack and handed them to Thariinye. "I couldn't eat a thing now, really, but that's no reason you should be hungry. Please, take mine and I will eat when Captain Becker returns. One of us may as well be well fed and rested for the work ahead. I will go begin the purification of the lake. If you rest now, you can come help me finish the job if it proves more than my horn can handle." Thariinye's eyes popped open with surprise, but he accepted the food gratefully. "That sounds very sensible. After all, being a male, I will probably be called upon to help with the manual labor of installing the irrigation equipment and that sort of thing. I'll need all my strength. Maybe a nap would be a good idea, too, do you think?"

"Oh, yes. Though I don't know how you'd manage to rest with the walls flickering away and that silver thing whirling around in the middle."

"Actually, I thought I'd find a quiet inner room upstairs, if you don't mind."

"Not at all," she said. It was, in fact, just what she'd wanted him to do.