Power Play Part 24

"Yes, Petaybee does in these places," 'Cita said in a very grown-up voice.

"And it keeps this place warm for us?" Yo Chang asked because he had to be sure. Though this girl was not much older than himself, he felt she had exhibited commendable authority and certainly bravery in walking the gauntlet of those great animals.

"The Home is always warm."

"How? It was so cold on the surface. Why would it be warm down here? I could feel my ears adjusting to the air pressure, so I know we are down." He gestured to the ground on which they were seated.

"The Home protects us, Coaxtl says. It takes care of us... if if"-'Cita paused to permit Yo Chang to see how important her next phrase was-"we take care of it."

"It isn't taking care of them," Yo Chang said, rolling his eyes and pointing to one side where the despoilers were writhing in agony and shrieking great anguish.

"I know," 'Cita said soberly. "I used to live with people who called it the Great Monster and feared it only. Because it can be cruel to those who take without respect and give no thanks. The Shepherd Howling was the kind of man who did that all the time, so he stayed out of these caves and taught us all to fear them. But I am disobedient and selfish, and when I ran away from the flock, because they would have taken from me me what I was too proud to freely give, I met Coaxtl, who called the Great Monster 'Home.' I decided that if I could, I would rather be like the Great Monster than like Shepherd Howling. The Home is proud, too, and it obeys no one. And it, too, begrudges what is taken from it against its will." 'Cita patted his hand. "Your people have angered the Home and it has become the Great Monster. They"-she waved her hand at the writhing bodies; she was having to shout over the noise they made-"need to be shown how it feels to be stripped and cut, slashed and dug, prodded and pulled and flayed." what I was too proud to freely give, I met Coaxtl, who called the Great Monster 'Home.' I decided that if I could, I would rather be like the Great Monster than like Shepherd Howling. The Home is proud, too, and it obeys no one. And it, too, begrudges what is taken from it against its will." 'Cita patted his hand. "Your people have angered the Home and it has become the Great Monster. They"-she waved her hand at the writhing bodies; she was having to shout over the noise they made-"need to be shown how it feels to be stripped and cut, slashed and dug, prodded and pulled and flayed."

To demonstrate her point-and having had a great deal of experience with such torments-'Cita got a flap of skin from Yo Chang's neck and twisted and pinched it as hard as she was able.

"Hey, don't do that!" Yo Chang scrambled sideways away from her, rubbing his neck.

"I was only demonstrating how the planet feels. You were cutting and pulling, too, you know, and you are very lucky that Petaybee saw you save the cub."

Yo Chang gave her a sour, jaundiced glance, rubbing the outraged spot of the pinch. "You didn't have to demonstrate so hard."

"I did because that is how we learn how the planet feels," she replied. "You're much luckier than they are!"

The shrieks and howls were beginning to diminish.

"They're not dead, are they?" Yo Chang asked most urgently.

"I don't think so," 'Cita said, though she couldn't be sure. "Why?"

"My-my-father is not a bad person. Not really," Yo Chang said, his round face and eyes entreating. "We are all forced to work hard at what we do for those who dispatch us to where we must harvest plants. If we do not work hard, and if my father does not make his crew work hard, then the quotas are not filled and we do not get the rations which only hard workers deserve."

Neither youngster would have understood the idea of being paid in credit notes, for both had toiled long and hard hours just to get enough food to fill their stomachs.

"It is hard," 'Cita agreed, nodding her head approvingly, "to get enough to eat. Since Coaxtl found me, I have been eating so well I will soon be as fat as Clodagh." She patted her stomach with great satisfaction. "Everyone feeds me now: Coaxtl, Clodagh, my sister, my aunties and uncles and cousins in their homes. They are very fair about the distribution of food on the plate."

She nodded her head once more in emphasis. But thinking of the food she had shared with Sinead and Sean and Bunny reminded 'Cita that it had been a long time since she had eaten. She also wondered if the call for help had reached anyone. Not, she hastily corrected herself, that Petaybee had not come to their rescue. It had provided ample shelter and water, although one had to be careful not to drink too too much water or one could get a stomach colic, which twisted the guts very uncomfortably. much water or one could get a stomach colic, which twisted the guts very uncomfortably.

Coaxtl emitted a slight snore, and Yo Chang leaned toward 'Cita. "Does he..."

"Coaxtl is a female personage," 'Cita informed him repressively.

"Does she really talk to you?"

"Not in loud loud words like you and I are using," 'Cita said, "but I understand exactly what she says to me." words like you and I are using," 'Cita said, "but I understand exactly what she says to me."

Yo Chang looked down at the sleeping cub in his arms. "Then, if I heard the name Montl, the cub was telling me his name?'

"Quite likely," 'Cita said, delighting in playing the expert.

The moans and sobbings had died down to a low enough murmur that 'Cita decided she could get some sleep.

"We may be a while longer," she told Yo Chang as she rearranged herself against Coaxtl's long warm body. "You'd better rest."

"Can I go see if my father's all right?" Yo Chang asked timidly.

"He'll be feeling very sorry for himself, I shouldn't wonder," 'Cita said, settling. "Sometimes, my aunt Sinead says, when people are hurting they'll lash out at anyone else to make them hurt, too."

Yo Chang gulped but resolutely deposited the sleeping cub by 'Cita before he made his way down to where the sufferers were enduring their penance. She was half-asleep when she heard him return, stifling sobs.

"Your father?"

"Lives, but looks like a grandfather. He doesn't seem to know me."

She patted his shoulder awkwardly and pulled him down, putting her thin arm over him so that he lay between her and Coaxtl and Montl the cub. She didn't need to tell him that life was sometimes hard.

Namid felt a pang of anxiety. Though Dinah certainly merited discipline, even incarceration for their abduction, he didn't wish her harm. harm. And he did need to know more about her activities, with or without the holo of Captain Onidi Louchard. Perhaps it had been Megenda who was Louchard, although the first mate had never appeared to Namid as a man of sufficient cunning and intelligence to contrive the piratical activities that had made Louchard's name feared all over the galaxy. And he did need to know more about her activities, with or without the holo of Captain Onidi Louchard. Perhaps it had been Megenda who was Louchard, although the first mate had never appeared to Namid as a man of sufficient cunning and intelligence to contrive the piratical activities that had made Louchard's name feared all over the galaxy.

If Dinah could give him any mitigating circ.u.mstances-beyond what he already knew of her tragic early life and hard treatment-maybe he could do some kind of a deal. She had been such a loving and affectionate wife: merry, occasionally even frivolous, and often childlike in her enthusiasms during their married life. It was inconceivable to him that she could also be a ruthless, corrupt outlaw. Maybe she was a split personality, and that complexity, once proved, would reduce the sentence. The very thought of Dinah encased in a s.p.a.ce coffin, waiting for the air supply to end, appalled him. He was determined to find some way out for her. Marmion was a kind and understanding person. Perhaps she might drop her own criminal charges against Dinah-if she knew of factors which could mitigate the offense. Dinah hadn't actually pulled the trigger that had killed anyone. Her crew had murdered, that was true, but she had a.s.sured him, when he first found out whom she claimed to work for, that the pirates were under strict orders to fire at others only when they were being fired upon themselves. Of course, they were being fired on legally legally for attempting illegal activities, and self-defense, accordingly, could not be claimed. Oh, my stars and sparkles, Namid thought, I'm arguing like a modern-day Gilbert and Sullivan. for attempting illegal activities, and self-defense, accordingly, could not be claimed. Oh, my stars and sparkles, Namid thought, I'm arguing like a modern-day Gilbert and Sullivan.

He took a deep breath and opened the inner door to the communion chamber. Warm mist obscured everything, making him feel as if he had stepped into a steam bath, and he immediately felt a strong presence that had nothing to do with Dinah or her crew. Well, he had been a.s.sured by sane and intelligent people that the planet definitely had a persona.

"Good morning," he said, feeling just a trifle foolish, but if the planet understood, then it would appreciate normal courtesies, too. "And it is morning and I expect that you've had a busy time of it lately, but I did wish a few words with you."

"Few words."

Was that permission? Or limitation? Namid wondered.

"They might be more than a few, actually," Namid went on, smiling. "I've so many questions to ask."

"Many questions."

Again Namid wondered if that was permission or limitation. But it had sounded, to his untutored ear, as if the speaker was slightly amused by his presumption.

"I'm told that you do communicate, or rather go into a communion phase with... what should I call it? With supplicants? No, that's much too religious a word. Communicants? Ah, yes, I think that is best. Now, first, is there anything I can do to a.s.sist you right now? Remove the occupants that spent the night here? I can't see them for the fog but..."

Namid had-not quite stealthily, but slowly-felt his way farther into the cavern. Before he took another step, however, the fog suddenly sucked itself back into the farthest reaches of the cave and vanished, leaving him awestricken and speechless for several moments as he watched the gentle play of light and color across the surfaces of the cave.

"You are rather stunning in appearance, you know," he said in a hushed voice. The shifting colors of the walls were coruscations of complex blendings and wave designs. He rather suspected he could spend hours following the patterns as they made their way deeper and deeper into the cavern. The path was level now, where before it had been on a slight downward incline. "Am I well into this communion place now?"

"Now!"

"Ah, then," Namid said, "I'm an astronomer, you see. I have spent my life observing the anomalies of stellar matter, with particular emphasis on variables. Do you have any idea what I'm talking about?"

"Talk."

"Well, now, I'm certainly willing to, although I am not a lecturer by training. Still, to talk to a planet, the satellite of a rather... ah..."-not ordinary, Namid said to himself, not wishing to offend Petaybee-"...an excellent example of a G-type star... well, it's an extraordinary experience, if you know my meaning."

"Know meaning. Talk."

"I've seen many stars, constant, dwarf, variable, binary systems, everything so far astronomically categorized, but speaking to a planet is highly unusual."

Namid, aware that nervousness was making him more garrulous than was natural, thought he heard a whispery laugh.

"Unusual planet."

At that sally, Namid did laugh. "You have a sense of humor, don't you? I think we shall get on very well together."

"Very well. Talk"

A low moan that ended on a piteous sob interrupted any further talk at that juncture. The moan had echoed quite near, and Namid, being a compa.s.sionate person, was compelled to investigate. Just beyond the bend in the pa.s.sage, he saw the figure of Dinah, looking smaller and, indeed, when he turned her over in his arms, almost wizened of face. Her hair had turned completely white. She was breathing regularly, and although her pulse was slow, it was strong enough to rea.s.sure him. All the questions that had brimmed to his mind to ask Petaybee-could it speak with its primary? with its sister planets? communicate with its moons, and how how?-went out of his head along with the questions he had framed to ask Dinah. She was patently in no condition to answer-even to her own name.

A guttural "eh" made him investigate farther down the corridor, where he saw three more figures, each of them curled in a tight fetal position and giving off odors of excrement and vomit that made Namid glad that he had eaten nothing yet in his haste to seek Dinah.

Megenda and the two crewmen had succ.u.mbed to Petaybee's justice. But Namid felt that Dinah had not. He carried her up the stairs and banged on the trapdoor to be readmitted into the cabin; he found the room crowded with Marmion, Bunny, Diego, and the Murphys.

"Oh, dear, what has happened to her?" Marmion asked, reaching out compa.s.sionate hands to Namid's limp burden.

Muktuk took her from Namid and carried her to the bed he and Chumia shared. "Petaybee's happened happened to her," he said with the resigned tone of someone who has accepted justice, fair or undeserved. to her," he said with the resigned tone of someone who has accepted justice, fair or undeserved.

"I found a portable holo projector that produces an image of the pirate we all thought was Louchard," Marmion told him. "It was in Dinah's pocket. She She was Louchard all along." was Louchard all along."

Muktuk stroked the white hair back from Dinah's face, and Chumia took her hand.

"Poor la.s.s," Muktuk said. "But us kindred of Handy Red have all got a wild streak."

"Hitch the team, Muktuk," Chumia said. "She's beyond my skill. Clodagh in Kilcoole is best at this."

Namid turned away from them and left the cabin, still agitated but rea.s.sured that here Dinah would receive, maybe not just what she deserved, but what she had needed all along.

25.

Sometime in the middle of the blizzard, Nanook clawed at the shuttle hatch until Yana opened it wide enough for him to jump the drift blocking it and land with a thud on the deck. He seemed to have brought half of the great outdoors in on his coat and paws. But Sean reported good news as he rubbed the cat dry.

"Coaxtl says the youngling and the others are in shelter. Nanook can lead us there after the storm."

Nanook did. They landed the shuttle in a s...o...b..nk, awakening the polar bears, who unhumped themselves, rose, and lumbered off without a backward glance. Yana and Sean disembarked and started for the cave entrance now unblocked by bears, but Nanook barred their way, growled, and preceded them.

Yana had thought to bring a laser lantern. It burned brightly enough to show the most eclectic gathering of Petaybean wildlife she had ever seen curled, draped, stacked, lying, sitting, standing, washing, yawning, and sleeping just inside the cave entrance.

Nanook growled warningly, but before they took another step, Coaxtl sauntered toward them, yawning. The other cats ignored the humans.

'Cita was right behind her friend, and ran to Sean to embrace him. "Did you bring anything to eat?"

Loncie Ondelacy and Pablo Ghompas and their community followed. "Yana, Sean, glad you came. But there are casualties, and we all need to eat."

Wading deeper into the cavern, Yana looked at the twisted, mumbling people lying on the floor all around. "I'm glad we came, too. But now now what do we do?" what do we do?"

"Whatcha drivin' ?" Johnny Greene asked. Yana told him. "Not big enough," he said. "We need serious transportation. Can you get help from Intergal?"

Sean shook his head. "They won't lift a finger to help us because of our 'disloyalty.' Instead they're dumping every problem they can find like garbage onto the face of this world and leaving us to drown in it."

"Well, I can see why they wouldn't want this lot back," Johnny said, with a jerk of his thumb at what was left alive of those on the floor. "But it's only human to try to do something for them. Is there no way at all?"

"Nothing we can do from here," Yana said. "We came because Coaxtl called and we thought you and 'Cita were in danger."

Johnny shook his head. "No more. Them though..."

Loncie Ondelacy said, "Well, I for one don't blame Intergal a bit. If we don't want them to rule us, we can't expect them to jump every time we holler. And whether they caused this problem or not, we can expect more of the same. We have got to figure out a way to solve our own problems if we want to be autonomous. Yana and Sean, why don't you give Johnny a lift back to his bird, along with some of the council members to help dig it out and make a run back to Bogota for food, blankets, and medical supplies. Also to organize a dogsled evacuation here, although it'd be better if they could be flown out, given the shape they're in. You could take 'Cita, too."

But 'Cita shook her head. Her voice was small, but her eyes were shining with excitement. Children did tend to love a crisis, Yana reflected-especially somebody else's. "Though I may be much in the way and a bother, Coaxtl is needed to keep Nanook informed and the other beasts from deciding that these ones"-she indicated the ravaged bodies around them-"are easy prey. Since Coaxtl honors me by speaking to me, I should remain to pa.s.s messages between her and my elders and betters."

Sean nodded. "You can come back with Johnny when he returns north, then. I'm sure you'll be a big help to Loncie and Coaxtl."

They ferried Johnny and five of the councilmen back to the helicopter. The soft new snow had drifted deeply around it, and it took them some time to dig it out again. Once its runners were free and Johnny and the others were airborne, Sean and Yana returned to the cave and carried out six of the most severely damaged among the illegal harvesters, Zing Chi and the father of Yo Chang among them, and returned to Tanana Bay.

The dog teams were being hitched as they landed. The dogs set up a fierce howl when the shuttle set down, and the whole village came running to investigate.

Back at the Murphys', Yana and Sean saw for themselves the state of Dinah and the other pirates, who had had to be taken from the communion cave and cleaned before being bundled into the shuttle.

On seeing Dinah, Sean said, "Maybe we'll have to rethink letting the planet dispense its own justice. It's fair enough, but we can't handle the casualties. Bad enough that people have to remain badly maimed or die because we don't have the technology to get them to help, but when we have it, just not enough enough of it, it fairly breaks your heart." of it, it fairly breaks your heart."

"It does," Muktuk agreed. "Even when it's such as them."

"I'm most concerned about Dinah," Yana said.

"Perhaps you'll be less so when we tell you what we found on her," Marmion said acerbically. "Do you want to do the honors, Namid?"

He fished in his pocket and suddenly disappeared, to be replaced by the ugly Aurelian visage of Onidi Louchard. "I am the pirate Louchard," said a voice that sounded exactly like the pirate Louchard's. "Who are you and why do you seek me?"

Yana, Bunny, and Diego all jumped away from the piratical image.

Muktuk began to laugh. "You mean that little bitty gal pretended to be that thing to control all those big ferocious pirates? Ah, Sean, your governorship, sor, you've got to save her, you do. She's purest O'Neill stock through and through, that one."