Chaining the Lady (42 page)

Melody made no move. At least she seemed to have some leverage: they could not remove her from this host without her cooperation, and they did not want to kill her. Probably they could stun her, but then her host would collapse and hurt herself, and it would be a violation of the covenant.

–I realize that I am not especially appealing to you in this body,– Dash continued persuasively. –But it is my own, and you are aware of the qualities of my mind and aura. In this lovely female host here– he pointed his wings momentarily at another Dash entity that appeared beside him –you would find me handsome enough. You yourself would be beautiful, as you were in Solarian guise. There would then be no further barrier to our love.–

He was right. His present form was unappealing to her, quite apart from her resolution not to mate. But she did retain a guilty fascination for him. He had such an attractive aura, and his interest in her seemed sincere. He put a political, practical face on it, but underneath he wanted her for herself. Their auras were nearly equal, they shared an interest in Tarot, and had similar levels of intelligence. Perhaps Flint of Outworld had found a better match, but that was a once-in-a millennium situation. No male in her lifetime had paid her that compliment (with one exception) and it did move her. She tried to deny that she was still so vulnerable to that kind of flattery, but found she could not.

Then she thought of Skot of Kade, and Gary and March, brave Solarians dying honorably with their fleet. Of Captains Llono the Undulant and Mnuhl of Knyfh, and the Drone of the
Deuce of Scepters
sacrificing themselves for their galaxy. And of Yael and Llume and Slammer the Magnet and Beanball—yes, even the infant magnet had fought for her! She knew she loved them all with a love that was greater than anything available in Sphere Dash. She could not participate in their destruction, no matter what. She was of Galaxy Milky Way, and no personal convenience or lure of aura could alter that. What Andromeda was doing was fundamentally wrong, and she could not support it even tacitly.

–I feared you would require more convincing,– Dash whirred. –Perhaps I can do it yet.–

Another curtain lifted. A strange creature was unveiled. It was composed of strings and tubes and taut diaphragms, as ungainly a thing as Melody could imagine.

Then with a special shock she identified it. “A Mintakan!” she cried internally. “My own kind!”

Cnom was surprised and disgusted. “You look like
that
in your natural form? No wonder you transferred out!”

“It is worse than the Dash,” Melody agreed ruefully. “A species never recognizes how odd it looks to others until it gets a glance back through transfer. I understand my ancestor Flint was appalled at the sight of naked Solarians when he was in a Polarian host. But every species in the universe has a right to its own existence. That's what I'm fighting to protect.”

Cnom subsided, indifferent to the fate of distant spheres or peculiar creatures.

Melody studied the Mintakan figure more closely. It was an old one, she saw now, with discolored drums, warped strings, and sagging tubing. Hardly a bargain; in fact it seemed near expiration from sheer degeneration. It was female, a spinster, apparently never attractive enough or amenable enough to find a companion for reproduction. It had no Kirlian aura.

–This, in case you did not recognize it,– Dash said, –is not merely a Mintakan host. It is your original body.–

Startled, Melody considered the body a third time. Her aura touched it, and sensed the familiarity. This was, \indeed, her original shell. She did not know what to feel.

–We have gone to a great deal of energy expense to arrange things for you,– Dash said. –If you do not wish to occupy a Dash host, you may return to your own. To ensure your satisfaction, we have imported a handsome young male of your kind.– Another Mintakan appeared. His strings were taut, his tubing firm.

During all this adventure, Melody had wanted to return to her own body, to retire in peace, contemplating her Tarot cards so as to wrest a few more precious insights from the deck before she expired. She could live for a long time in transfer, over five Solarian years, but eventually she would have to return to her own body to recharge her aura. If her Mintakan body should die while she was in transfer, her aura would fade out at a hundred times its normal rate. So by capturing her body, the Andromedans had in a very real sense captured
her.
The chains, though subtle, were horribly strong.

The projectile cannon disappeared. -I believe you understand the situation now,– Dash said. –We do not need to threaten your present host, who is of course innocent, being both £ and hostage.–

Another score! Melody had indeed taken the £ hostage, overwhelming her with the immensity of her aura. Cnom did not seem to object, but the principle was the same. Melody was guilty of the offense she fought against.

–But you must appreciate now that you have no reasonable escape,” Dash continued inexorably. –If you leave and hide from us again, we shall have to dispatch your body, and you will shortly fade out, wherever you are hiding. That would be an unfortunate waste of the finest aura ever known.–

Was there any way to free her Mintakan body from their clutches? Could she charge to the ledge, knock the body down, grab it and carry it away? No, the risk was too great. The Mintakan body was old and frail; such activity could kill it. And where would she take it? Into the jellybog to drown? In addition, she now perceived that the body was not in the open air, but within a protective shield; obviously the atmosphere of this planet was not suitable. Without the life-support system the Dash were providing, it would die regardless.

On the other foot, if she agreed to reanimate her own body, what then? Could she carry through her campaign to save her galaxy while trapped in an atmosphere bubble, unable to move freely even if she had the physical strength to? Hardly!

–There is an alternative,– Dash said, having allowed her thoughts time to coagulate. –We have chained the lady, but we do not wish to cause her unnecessary discomfort. You can transfer instead to this fine Dash host and live in perfect comfort each day, returning to your natural body only during sleep. Thus you will hardly feel your age and infirmity, and can endure as long as your Mintakan body survives. That can be a long time, with the kind of medical care we can provide. We are in effect offering you a greatly extended youth.–

At the expense of her galaxy? Melody knew she could not do it. She remained standing, unable to cooperate, yet also unable to resist. It was an impasse, with the negative power of decision lying with the enemy. They could always kill her, if they so chose.

–I regret the need to force the issue,– Dash said, –but we are under extreme pressure ourselves, and we very much want to have you with us.–

To help them in their conquest? Hardly! They were accomplishing that nicely without her.

–You see, we can't force you out of your present host,– Dash explained, –and we can't do anything
to
that host because of the covenant. Should we kill a £, the other £ might stampede. We can't hurt a £ or even detain one unreasonably; our threat with the cannon was a bluff against you, not Cnom. So we must convince you to leave that host voluntarily.

–To accomplish this, I shall explain why we need you. This planet is a leading source of Ancient information; sites abound more thickly here than anywhere else in the known universe. From these sites we have rediscovered Kirlian science that has propelled us to the forefront of our galaxy, and soon the Galactic Cluster too. But more sites remain that are inaccessible to us. They are of the self-destruct variety, a type unknown in your own galaxy, that cannot be penetrated by any entity whose aura is of the wrong type or strength. We
need
the information locked within these sites, for there are many other galaxies in the universe, with many other sapient species. If one of those species should achieve complete Ancient science before we do, they will have the capacity to eliminate us. We cannot afford that risk.

–You have an aura of the family keyed to this generation of sites. The Slash entity you know as Llume was of this family, but her aura was not strong enough. Your own exceeds two hundred, which we believe more than meets the necessary level. Therefore you and you alone are able to penetrate the ultimate secrets of the Ancients.–

That explained Dash's interest in her from the start. Just as the Andromedans were robbing the Milky Way galaxy of its vital energy, they were taking its best animate potentials. Good, hard business sense.

Many years ago an Andromedan agent had tempted the Milky Way Solarian hero, Flint of Outworld, with similar logic. She had told him that his own species would have acted much the same as hers, had it possessed the opportunity, and she had been right. Yet in the end it was he who convinced her, though he was the barbarian and she the sophisticated issue of a leading civilization. She had defected to the Milky Way, and parity had returned to the galaxies.

But whatever had happened in the past, Melody was sure that Mintaka would not have sacrificed any galaxies for its own advantage. This ambition of Sphere Dash was wrong, and she could not support any part of it, regardless what happened to her or her sphere. Better to kill herself, thus depriving the enemy of any possible use of her unique aura.

So she remained silent, though now she knew Dash would not shoot her. Should she try to bargain with him for whatever she could salvage, be it only half or a quarter of the Milky Way? Could she trust him or his sphere that far?

–I cannot read your mind, precisely,– Dash said. –But I am responsive to the fluxes of your beautiful aura. I believe you are concerned primarily for your galaxy. Tap one foot if I am correct.–

No harm in that. Melody tapped one foot.

–I cannot promise you anything in that regard. But I can say this: If you evoke the secret science of the Ancients for us, we may no longer need the energy of your galaxy to sustain our civilization. Then it would be spared. However, since we do not know what is available in the Ancient sites, this is a gamble.–

A gamble whose terms were all in favor of Sphere Dash. If they won, they had the universe; if they lost they still had the Milky Way. Yet did she have an better alternative? She could not decide.

Dash took her hesitation for negation, which it probably was. –I dislike coercive measures, but the matter is urgent.–

Melody, perhaps on the verge of acquiescence (and perhaps
not
), now hesitated for another reason. If he could not do anything to her £ host, how could he do anything to
her
? He could only kill her Mintakan body, which would defeat his stated purpose.

–I did some research on Sphere Mintaka,– Dash said. –It was not thorough, for I only recently managed to signal my fleet and get picked up. Marooned in a prison host! Fortunately Hammer of Quadpoint was alert, and caught our crude broadcast.–

So the hostages had adapted the missing transfer unit for regular intergalactic transfer and used it to send Dash Boyd and the others home. Later, it had been used to send her here.

–Forgive me if I overlook the nuances of your culture. But as I understand it, Mintakans are generated neuter, turn female at maturity, and male after he first mating. You never mated in your natural body, so spent your life as a female.–

That was close enough. A permanently sexed entity would hardly comprehend the intricacies of transient gender.

–The gender of your Mintakan body determines the gender of your aura,– Dash continued after a pause. –What do you suppose would happen if the gender of that body should change?–

So that was it! Melody felt peculiar horror. They had a male Mintakan here, who would take the initiative.
They could do it
.

She might kill the male, but that would finish her own body too. Killing them both would not salvage her galaxy. The question she had to answer was whether she could help her galaxy better as a captive female or a free male. She knew the answer.

–You are way ahead of me, I know,– Dash said. –But to be certain we understand each other I will state it openly. There would seem to be two possible consequences of a change in gender in your Mintakan body. One is that your aura would change gender with it. In that case you would be unable to remain in your female £ host, and would have to vacate. Then I believe we would have you, for we control the transfer apparatus and alternate hosts.–

Melody had not thought of that. What would happen to a male aura in a female host? It was impossible to transfer into a host of the opposite gender; only neuter-gendered entities had any option, and even that was uncertain. Would her aura be bounced into the nearest available male host, which was exactly what Dash was ready for? Or would her aura simply be destroyed by the incompatibility of the present host? Either way, she was lost.

–Or,– Dash continued, –would your aura fail to change, in which case you would be unable to return to your own body? That seems paradoxical, so I am prepared to gamble on the first prospect. Unless, of course, you elect to cooperate; that would solve all problems.–

No doubt. But Melody still had a galaxy to protect. She would have to gamble. One part of her mind wondered about the anomaly: what
would
happen? Horrible that it should happen to
her
, but the scientific curiosity...

–Well, we proceed,– Dash said. He made a whirring signal with his wings. Music abruptly played. It was a strange harmony, vibrant but incomplete, unlike anything Cnom had ever heard. It was bud music.

Bud music: the compelling sound of a pair of Mintakans in the throes of love. In Sphere Mintaka, mating chambers were soundprooofed, to prevent contagion. Otherwise the mating of one couple would trigger compulsive mating by many others within sonic range, and this was not desirable. The decision to mate was supposed to be based on intellectual preference, not sound, but it didn't always happen that way.