Damia. Part 23

'Once past simple atomic weights, we've,' the p.r.o.noun, an innocuous detail in itself, raised Afra's hackles, 'gone on to solar systems. His has twelve planets and two asteroid belts.' 'What sort of planet does his species inhabit?' Damia shot him a quick glance, then laughed uneasily.

'That's strange. We didn't establish that.' 'And how did you answer his query about Aurigae?' She was more alert now and her eye contact was wary.

Then she grinned c.o.c.kily. 'I gave the same detail he did.

Without, dear Arra,' her use of her baby name for him underlined her impudence, 'disclosing any more than the number of planets, moons et cetera. I'm not a fool!' She hauled herself out of her semi-rec.u.mbent position and made a show of tossing her hair back.

'You've never been a fool, Damia,' Afra replied coolly.

'Nor am I catechizing you. I cooked dinner tonight.' 'Did you?' and she seized on that topic with obvious relief. 'You're a better cook than any other man I know.' Afra decided that she had redeemed her use of 'Arra' with that unsolicited praise. One day, maybe, they'd confront each other as functioning adults... Ruthlessly he suppressed the eros and reinstated the philia and began to serve her a much-needed meal.

The third morning, as Damia sat in the Tower, she worked with such haste that Afra was obliged to reprimand her. She gaily corrected herself, making far too negligent a response. Then, eagerly she propelled herself out to make the rendezvous. When she returned that evening so tired that she reeled into the room, Afra took command.

'I'm going with you tomorrow, Damia,' he said firmly.

'What for?' She glared at him from the couch into which she had sunk. 'I'd know the sting-pzzzt of Beetles. And there isn't even a trace of that about Sodan.' 'Sodan?' Damia flushed at the crack in his voice but did not evade eye contact with him. 'That's how he identifies himself.

Furthermore, I inserted the concept of other sentient life forms and he denied knowledge of any.' Afra decided not to challenge that information. 'What do you mean by the sting-pzzzt of Beetles? The Deneb Penetration happened before you were even conceived.' She rose and came to sit at the counter where Afra was fixing their dinner plates, she gave a casual shrug. 'When we were exploring around Grandmother's farm, we often found bits and pieces of Beetle metal.

Uncle Rhodri was still paying by the weight for their junk.' She gave Afra a teasing grin. 'It made a comfortable addition to the measly pocket money Isthia allowed us. Larak and I decided that there was sting-' now she wet the tip of one finger and placed it on the counter surface, making the 'pzzzt' sound, '-in Beetle metal. There's no sting-pzzzt about Sodan.' She sounded entirely confident.

It disturbed Afra to know that this ent.i.ty had a name.

It made the alien seem amiable/approachable. Nor could Afra quite reason away the unusual lilt with which Damia spoke the name.

'Fair enough,' Afra said, with an indifference he didn't feel as he pa.s.sed her a plate. 'However, the lack of stingpzzzt is not going to rea.s.sure Earth Prime. Tomorrow take me along for the ride.

There'll be no need to introduce me. All I need to do is confirm your sense of the aura.

I certainly wouldn't want to jeopardize whatever rapport you've managed to build. He'll never realize I've been there.' afra yawned.

'Why are you tired?' 'I've been stevedoring all day,' he said with a malicious grin.

'How? Who?' Damia demanded, indignantly. 'There was nothing urgent on the schedule when I went off.' 'No, there wasn't, but there was a minor mine disaster where the Tower could a.s.sist. Then a delayed shipment of spare parts was signalled in from Procyon, and a freighter with some perishables and a covey of prospective immigrants came through.' 'd.a.m.n them! They were taking advantage of you, Afra! Towers have protocol to avoid collisions and confusions. Especially on inbound 'ports. Unscheduled shipments ' Then she stopped for he was grinning at her. She let out a gusty sigh. 'I know.' She waved her hand irritably. 'Phrases out of mother's mouth. But Afra waggled a finger at her. 'You set the precedent at Aurigae Tower, Damia, by being so cooperative that miners and shippers a.s.sume that you're ready, willing and able when need arises.' 'This smells heavenly,' she said artlessly as she loaded her fork.

'Hah!' Afra said, refusing to be diverted.

'And it is,' she said through her first mouthful. 'Lovely seasoning.

'Thank you. By the way, that crew of yours is really excellent.

Even the generator behaved. Have some chopped fruit. Takes the edge off that pepper.

They ate companionably, though Damia's appet.i.te seemed to be affected by her fatigue for she usually went for seconds of one of his special meals. She did ask for details of the mine problem - a line of ore carts had slipped off the cable, causing an obstruction in the shaft which Afra and the Tower folk were able to shift so there was no significant loss of time. When he asked her what else she had discussed with Sodan, she had trouble formulating sentences despite a resurgence of animation Ion that subject.

'Don't stand on ceremony with me, Damia, Afra said when she didn't even have the energy to groom Merry when the animal brought her the brush. 'Here, I'll do Merry. You go to bed. Sleep well.

Such exhaustion for one so vibrantly healthy worried Afra even more than her emotional involvement with this Sodan ent.i.ty. It no longer mattered that the intruder was unrelated to the species that had attacked Deneb; he was a menace in himself.

The next day, after 'porting out medium-sized drones of refined ores, Damia told Keylarion to inform any callers that the Tower was on hold for repairs to the generator that Xexo now said were critical.

Then she and Afra settled into their personal capsules. Afra followed Damia's thrust and held himself silent as she reached the area where she could touch the aura of Sodan. To his relief, Damia had no hesitation when Afra asked permission to establish a light link in her mind. So she carried them both to the alien ship. As soon as the alien touch impinged on Afra's awareness, much was suddenly clear to him: much seen, and worse, much unseen.

What Damia could not, would not, or did not see justified Afra's nagging presentiment of danger. Nothing out of Sodan's mind was visible: and nothing beyond his public mind was accessible. The alien had a powerful mentality.

As a quiescent eavesdropper, Afra could not probe, but he widened his own sensitivity to its limit and the impressions he received served to increase his intuition of danger.

There was absolutely no comparison between Sodan and the Deneb invasion species. Damia was correct in that evaluation. One impression which surprised Afra was that of an almost interminable journey. And excitement at an end in sight. Yet how Afra could grasp that concept from a mind that did not yet speak in a known language, he did not know. But those were the impressions he grasped.

Damia would not expect Afra to linger once he had satisfied his stated errand. But, fascinated by the contact, he did linger, discovering other unsettling aspects. Sodan's mind, undeniably brilliant, was nevertheless augmented.

Afra couldn't perceive whether Sodan was the focus for other minds on the ship or in gestalt with the ship's power source. Straining his nerves and senses to the limit without revealing his presence, Afra tried to pierce the visual screen or, at least, the aural one. All he received was a low stereo babble of mechanical activity, and the burn of heavy elements, the latter sufficiently disturbing in itself. Yet how did a species without a visual faculty function on such a sophisticated level? To be sure, antennae of various sorts relayed a tremendous amount of information to an intelligent mind: sensors and optics imitated vision but it was the sight of stars that had lured Mankind into s.p.a.ce. What had been this alien's goad to cross intergalactic s.p.a.ce?

Worried and frustrated, Afra withdrew, leaving Sodan and Damia to exchange abstracts that, to him, were also the ploys of emotional attraction. He returned to Aurigae and sought the Tower couch. He felt completely drained by the brief jaunt. That was in itself unnerving. He'd planned to contact Larak on Procyon without having to gestalt. But he knew that was impossible just then. Carefully a.s.suming a light tone, he asked Keylarion to bring a generator on line for him.

'We've three if you need them,' the T-6 replied helpfully.

'No, one's enough.' And Afra hoped that it would be.

For a T-3, one should be sufficient. He scrubbed at his face while he watched the gauge on number one generator climb to sending level. It was not, Afra a.s.sured himself, that Damia had deliberately concealed anything in her reports to him or to Jeff: she was entirely unaware that her usually keen perceptions were fuddled and distorted by the fatigue levels caused by contact with this alien.

And Damia had been spending hours dealing abstracts at Sodan? He exhaled noisily and wondered if a cup of coffee would have a reviving effect. But the needle reached the required level even as Keylarion verified readiness to him.

Even with the gestalt, 'pathing to Larak was an effort.

Larak, Afra called, leaning heavily into the power and projecting his own mental/physical concept of Larak to aid him in reaching the boy's mind.

Man, you're beat, Larak answered, his touch sharp, clear, green.

Larak, relay back to Jeff that this SodanIt's got a name?

It's got more than that and Damia is responding on a very high emotional level, Afra sighed heavily. This ent.i.ty has no resemblance to the Deneb Penetration species. No Beetle sting What? Oh, yeah, I remember. Larak's projection of a grin was oddly comforting to Afra.

But there's something very insidious about this Sodan individual.

A few moments in its company and I'm so s.h.a.gged that I needed gestalt to reach you.

You? That was enough to remove the grin from Larak's voice.

Please inform Jeff that I consider this situation of a highly volatile - and possibly dangerous - nature. I want you out here as soon as possible on any pretext so I can get through to Earth Prime without requiring either Damia or gestalt. And- Afra paused to emphasize the next request, please ask both Jeff and the Rowan to remain available to me on demand.

What has my darling sister found this time! Larak responded with an impressed whistle.

Get Mick and Mauli to push you out here as soon as you can relay that message, huh, Larak, like a good lad?

Coming, Larak responded crisply.

Afra leaned back in the couch and flicked off the generator. The exchange had taken no more than thirty seconds: not long enough for Keylarion to take particular note or even log it into the station records. Not that Damia would check the station log if she returned: she'd be too tired, he thought grimly. How did that ent.i.ty cause such enervation? Why? Afra brooded. Perhaps he was being over-sensitive because Damia was so absorbed by this contact. He had half-hoped, when Jeff told him to go to Aurigae, that he might have a chance to attract Damia as he had so long wanted to do. Perhaps he was acting prematurely to call Larak in. Perhaps he could handle the Sodan mind himself.

No, Afra told himself candidly, not when you're reduced to a limp rag after a vicarious touch. And not with the compet.i.tion Sodan was providing.

Hey, Afra, what does a guy have to do to get your attention? was Larak's cheery greeting as he bounced up the Tower steps.

His energy seemed almost obscene to the weary T-3.

'Knock twice!' Afra replied but he grinned gratefully as he extended his hand to the visitor. The vigour which Larak exuded was as much a restorative as the infectiousness of his smile. The resemblance between Larak and his sister was p.r.o.nounced, even to having the Gwyn slash of white in the same position on their black-haired heads.

Larak was not quite as tall as his sister who was unusually tall, and more slightly built than his brothers. But he had full measure of the Raven charm and Afra found the energy to return the boy's smile.

Hands now touching, Afra conveyed the one impression he had not included in the broadcast.

Damia's infatuated with this peculiarly dangerous alien?

Larak murmured, surprised, and looked hard into Afra's eyes.

'Wouldn't you know she'd have weird and exotic tastes!' He let his lips turn down sympathetically. Why can't she pick on the home-brewed?

He c.o.c.ked his head at Afra.

Afra felt it expedient to ignore that comment. 'A very dangerous alien, unfortunately. Do you remember that old scare tale about soul-eaters?' Larak rolled his eyes wide. 'You just bet I do. Damia terrorized me into starting a forest fire with that tale of hers. Wait a minute. You think this alien's a soul-eater?' Larak was almost indignant at the notion. 'Hey, Afra, that was kid stuff.' 'I can't think of another a.n.a.logue. I spent no more than ten or fifteen seconds, in a light secondary link, and I had to use gestalt to reach you at Procyon.' 'That's not good,' Larak said. 'That's very bad.

What's wrong with Damia? Doesn't she realize... No, obviously she doesn't.' Larak slid into the second conformable couch, his eyes flickering as he considered and discarded thoughts.

'Damia mentioned the residue you two felt from Beetle artifacts.

There's something comparable to your sting on board Sodan's vessel.

And it's not comfortable.' 'Fissionables?' Larak asked.

Afra shook his head. 'It is very alien. I couldn't define it.' 'Can Damia?' Afra grimaced. 'She's involved in translating abstracts.' 'Those'll be a great help if he plans to blow us up.' Larak tensed.

'What has she said about us? The League?' 'From what she reports, she's been discreet.' 'That's a mercy.' Afra could sense that Larak's flippancy disguised a concern for Damia as deep as his own. Larak had always been closest to her. 'I wouldn't mind what they discussed,' he said, 'but Sodan leaves her so drained.' 'New kind of weapon - total enervation before annihilation?' 'That's not as outrageous as you think,' Afra said grimly.

'There's a tremendous power source in the ship 'There'd have to be to push it between galaxies 'But that's all I could sense. Beyond the public mind, I met an impenetrable wall. Granted, Damia '5 much stronger than I am 'But she hasn't tried?' Afra frowned, and rising, began to pace restlessly back and forth in the narrow Tower.

Larak held Afra's glance, and then sighed.

'But there's been no overt act of aggression?' 'That depends on what you call "aggression". I believe that Sodan is subtly trying to destroy Damia in the process of this peaceful exchange of culture and information. In my lexicon, eroding her mental capability is an a.s.sault with intent to maim or kill.' He saw that remark succeeded in arousing all Larak's natural fraternal concern and protectiveness. 'I could be overreacting. I'm no pre-cog but there are instances in which one doesn't need to be to guess intent. Judge for yourself when you see Damia this evening.' Larak did not bother to shield his anger. 'I will but I've never seen you overreact, Afra. Apart from the danger to my sister, just how close is this Sodan to Iota Aurigae? Close enough to recognize this system as Damia's point of origin?' Afra managed a wry grin. 'You're a real Tower-man, Lar.' Larak gave a quick unhumorous grin. 'A Gwyn-Raven, body, blood and brain!' 'Logically,' Afra continued, 'we have to allow him the same sophistication in monitoring devices as he has in travel capability. So he's certain to detect sufficient activity on this planet to attract,' and Afra paused, searching for the appropriate phrase, 'his attention. Since a high tech society gobbles ores, minerals and rare earths at phenomenal rates, it is reasonable to a.s.sume that he's crossed to our galaxy to find new sources.

'Are we a.s.suming aggression where none exists?' Larak asked, playing devil's advocate.

Afra paused, 'We could be. The Beetles made their plans exceedingly clear but they might be exceptions to the rule of peaceful exploration. Only I cannot get it out of my mind that the Sodan is deliberately depleting Damia '5 energy to reduce her ability to defend herself. And I've never had such a presentiment of danger before - not even when I was mind-merged with the Rowan-focus over Deneb.' 'If we must eradicate the threat this Sodan ent.i.ty poses, I'd say it would be wiser to do it now, rather than later when he's closer to this system,' Larak replied, pressing his lips tight against that expedient. 'Should we call for naval backup?' 'Ha! Sodan'd be orbiting Aurigae before the Fleet would bestir itself to action,' Afra replied derisively.

'Especially right now,' and Larak's grin was amused, 'when they're investigating the nibbles at Procyon's DEW system.

'What?' Afra stared at Larak, struck by a horror of several Sodans converging on the Nine Star League.

Larak was delighted at the effect of that casual statement.

'They're keeping it to a need-to-know basis but don't worry. So far it's been limited to unidentifiable impingements,' and Larak shook his head vigorously to rea.s.sure the Capellan, 'and neither the scouts nor all that sensitive instrumentation has revealed anything in the least bit hostile. Those sentinels are sensitive enough to be set off by s.p.a.ceflot or cometaries. This Sodan's modus operandi seems to be entirely different. We Talents destroyed the Beetles more or less by ourselves. I think we can handle this mental giant.

Afra gave a mirthless laugh. 'We'll be lucky if we can.' He nodded briskly when Larak regarded him with astonishment. 'Oh, yes, that mind is incredibly powerful.

Not at all like the Beetles where there were only sixteen control beings that had to be diverted. And, if he has been insidiously reducing Damia's strength or getting past her shields. -' Afra paused, adding very softly, his yellow eyes clouded, 'he could quite possibly destroy us.' 'Let's get Dad and Mother in on this,' Larak said in sudden resolution.

Together the two soberly presented their conclusions to Jeff and the Rowan.

Surely if you were an alien contacted by a strong mentality, you would exercise caution in revealing details? the Rowan suggested. I would, if I met a mind in outer s.p.a.ce.

You did, Jeff reminded her, and I was very friendly indeed.

Jeff If this Sodan is draining Damia, he means her, and us, no good, Jeff went on, speaking in an official tone. We are agreed that Afra does not cry panic unnecessarily so we must act on his recommendations and now, before this ent.i.ty gets close enough to investigate the Aurigaen system. Especially before he discovers the Aurigaen system and the rich lodes on that planet. I'm also keenly aware of how little defence Iota Aurigae has against s.p.a.ce attack.

You concur with Afra that he's prospecting for new sources of raw materials? the Rowan asked, in a tone of indecision.

That's our main push in finding new planets, isn't it? Larak said If Damia is as exhausted as you suggest, Afra, how can we use her as focus? In the first place, she's not likely to agree to take aggressive action against an ent.i.ty she considers friendly.

She spoke as Damia's mother, not Callisto Prime.

No, she's not, Afra said sourly.

And yet we need to use her link to his mind to make our own contact. There's also the point that, Jeff continued, not at all liking the expedient, if we do discover, and prove to her, that this Sodan ent.i.ty is truly dangerous, to her, to Aurigae, to us, that we may need her catalytic ability to increase our defence against him.

Each day Damia returns to Aurigae a little more tired than the previous one, Afra said slowly. I was immeasurably drained after only a few moments in link. That's never happened to me before.

I think Afra's correct to call him a soul-eater, Larak put in.

There's no such thing, the Rowan said sharply.

I don't know what else to call him that's as accurate, Afra said.

Or how else to describe the effect he has on her.

In any case, Jeff said firmly, I find it disturbing to think of her immense natural energy being depleted.

Highly unlikely. The Rowan bristled with indignation.

Let us conclude this swiftly, Larak cautioned them.

Damia's returning and. WOW! Is she dragging!

Afra suppressed annoyance that the curious childhood link between sister and brother gave Larak the edge in sensing her return. But, as Afra reached out to touch her mentally, her aura was very dim indeed.

He concentrated on the lightning debate that Jeff, Rowan and Larak carried on, as decision and strategy were settled in the moment before Damia's capsule landed in its cradle.

'Larak, I couldn't believe I felt your touch,' she cried happily as she saw her brother, the picture of casual relaxation, perched on the edge of the console.

'Believe it, sister dear, your favorite bra is here,' he said, rising to embrace her. 'This alien sure has got you wrapped up and tied like a present. See how the mighty have fallen.' When Damia flushed, Larak roared with laughter. 'I've got to meet a guy who can do this to my sister.' 'Really, Larak, how puerile! You obviously have no conception of what a momentous occasion this is. I've always felt that I was given unusual strengths and abilities for a special reason,' Damia said, her eyes shining, 'and now I know what it is!' 'The whole planet will know in a moment if you don't reduce your output,' Afra said sharply, to give Larak a chance to control his shock at her extraordinary remark.