Damia's Children (21 page)

“You must be reading my mind.”

Her smile was radiant. “Nah, you should be hungry about now, if the treatment's working.”

His first meal was only broth but it was more delicious than any he remembered.

“That's because you're hungry,” she said.

“I didn't say anything,” he replied, giving her a long look.

She grinned, wrinkling her nose at him. “That's something, isn't it? I'm picking up more than ever I did before. Only short-range but that's fine by me! Damia says sometimes fright triggers or expands Talent. And I won't lie that I wasn't terrified when they reported you couldn't be found at the wreck. Lieutenant Kiely set up an awful stink. Then your mother arrives in an unscheduled capsule, knocking a drone out of its cradle. The watch in the shuttle bay thought they were being invaded by Hivers. Only because your mother's a Talent, she'd have been charred if she hadn't paralyzed their hands so they couldn't fire on her. Then she compliments the captain on such an alert crew and insists that the larvae be preserved . . . which is the first Captain Ashiant had heard about
that!
But he got Vandermeer on the blower which was smart, because they were having quite a time, keeping the 'Dinis off 'em while they planted charges because they thought destroying the things . . .” and Gravy shuddered, “was the right thing to do.” Then she grinned. “I think your mother made herself known to Vandermeer and that was
that! End of problem! I heard Vandermeer say she found herself removing the charges before she knew what she was doing. Can Talents do that? Make someone DO something?”

“It's not considered good manners,” Thian began, enjoying the vision of his mother manipulating the sturdy and strong-minded security commander as easily as she'd have controlled an errant child. “It's an invasion of privacy and
not
something Talent would consider except under very unusual circumstances.”

“Which those were! Crims, Thian,” and Gravy's eyes sparkled with excitement, clearing her mobile face of more solemn considerations, “even the guys who were for charring the larvae are now patting themselves on the back for being in on such a find. But the glory's all yours!”

“Mine?” Thian hesitated only one brief moment before he said as earnestly as he could, “But Kiely was first down the tube, not me,” in perfect truth.

“Kiely?” Gravy was astonished.

Thian nodded once emphatically. “Kiely was first down that tube.”

She stared at him, puzzled. “But I thought . . .”

“Kiely deserves the glory for being first. I wasn't even sure what the things were. I called Commander Vandermeer because I thought she should see what Kiely'd found.”

“And here Kiely's been down-playing his part . . .” Gravy trailed off and then her grin was smug. “Well, we'll just see about that!”

Thian was well pleased.

I am, too, son of mine
, said Damia.
That will go a long way to discredit rumors.

You've heard some?

He heard his mother's sigh flutter in his mind.
No more than usual.

Have you found my assailant?

I shall perhaps have better luck now. Your touch is much surer today. Everyone will be overjoyed to hear my report of your return to health—with one notable exception. I'll be “listening” for that!

*   *   *

“Considering the trauma to nerve, bone, and tissue, you've recovered amazingly, young man,” Exeter told him when Thian was allowed out of the restorative fluid. “I thought that stunner was supposed to work as effectively in vacuum as in atmosphere, but maybe not. Can't think how else you could have survived.”

“Oh, I was raised hardy on Aurigae, you know,” Thian said easily.

Exeter scratched his close-shaven pate and grinned wryly. “So I'm led to believe. Amazing woman, your mother. Ah, here's the orderly to escort you to your quarters. Now, you're still on sick leave, Thian. My orders are for you to take it easy: report to Lieutenant Clark for physiotherapy to get those muscles toned up. You'll be on the special diet for a while but that's not going to hurt anyone's feelings the way your mother's been hauling in provender for us.”

Thian thanked Exeter for his attendance and followed the orderly into the passageway. To his surprise, Fok was waiting and rubbed its silky furred arm up and down his in affectionate greeting.

FLK, MOST WELCOME OF OLD FRIENDS, HOW GOOD TO BE SO GREETED
.

DM ASKS. FLK AGREES. THN WALKS SAFELY
.

Thian gave the orderly a quick glance and smile
but the man seemed unconcerned by their quick 'Dini exchange.

DM SAYS ENEMY HERE
? Thian asked, swinging his voice upward in query.

ENEMY EXISTS UNTIL REVELATION. CLEVER ONE. HIDES IN CROWDS. TIGHT MINDED. FIRST SON CANNOT BE VULNERABLE IN PRESENT WEAKNESS
.

NONSENSE
! Thian said with such angry authority that Fok skipped a step and tipped its poll eye down to Thian's face,
SORRY
!
DM HAS UNNECESSARY ANXIETY. THN WELL ABLE TO CARE FOR THN
.

THAT WILL BE SEEN
. And the downward note of the last sound was the end of that discussion.

To his surprise, Thian was escorted up to officer country.

“Your gear's all stowed here, Mr. Lyon,” the orderly said, pulling back the door into one of the visitors' cabins, far more spacious affairs than his previous quarters.

“Thank you very much indeed, Tedwars,” he said, peering in, but he gestured for Fok to precede him.

“Checked the place out myself, Ambassador Fok,” Tedwars said in mild reprimand.

Thian laughed. “I guess I better get used to being treated like eggs.”

“No, sir, the eggs get treated much better'n you,” Tedwars said in an aggrieved tone but closed the door before Thian could recover from his surprise.

He did shoot a quick probe at the orderly whose mind he had found to be open and honest. Tedwars privately thought all the trouble about the beetle eggs was vastly overdone. Eggs as could
survive a bloody nova wouldn't be harmed by much else.

“Ah!” Thian turned excitedly to Fok.
THE SAILOR SAYS THE WRECK WAS DAMAGED BY STAR NOVA
?

Fok gestured for Thian to seat himself which he was quite willing to do for even the short walk up from sick bay proved tiring. 'Dini seating had been included in the furnishings of this stateroom and Fok made itself comfortable on the padded stool.

ANALYSIS SUPPORTS NOVA THEORY. ONE RECENT NOVA IS IN ESTIMATED TRAJECTORY OF WRECK. SIZE OF VESSEL SUGGESTS FINAL MASS EXODUS. UNUSUAL AMOUNT OF STORAGE SPACE ON VESSEL PLUS EXTRA SHIELDING AROUND EGG REPOSITORIES AND QUEEN QUARTERS. TWO QUEEN QUARTERS WERE NOT TOTALLY DESTROYED BUT BODIES REDUCED TO RUBBLE. VALUABLE STILL. BIGGEST QUEENS EVER NOTED. THEORY IS THAT VESSEL WAS ESCAPING WHEN STAR ABRUPTLY EXPANDED. THEORY IS THAT PREVIOUS THREE SHIPS WERE ALSO FLEEING, IN TIME, FROM NOVA
.

ESCAPE PODS
? Thian asked, having such facilities much in the fore of his mind.

Fok gave the rasping noise of 'Dini amusement.

SOME ESCAPE PODS RELEASED ON OUTWARD SIDE. TWO QUEEN SKELETONS FOUND IN PODS ADJACENT TO QUARTERS. FOUR MORE PODS WERE NOT OCCUPIED AND HAD NOT BEEN ACTIVATED. THREE WERE GONE
.

ALWAYS SAVE THE WORST NEWS FOR THE LAST, MMMM, FLK
?

Fok shrugged its upper limbs and bent its poll eye on him.
NOT WORST NEWS BUT REQUIRES ALTERATION OF CURRENT PLANS
.

IN WHAT WAY
?

Fok tapped its feet, which included the toe wriggling
that had fascinated Thian since he was a child and found his toes could not duplicate the motion.

SPKTM VOTES TO CONTINUE VOYAGE TO INVESTIGATE NOVA, DISCOVER WHAT DEBRIS MIGHT EXIST OF THAT STAR SYSTEM
 . . .

Thian grinned,
TO BE ABSOLUTELY POSITIVE THAT THE HIVE WORLD WAS VICTIM OF NOVA
?

EXACTLY
.

THN CAN HARDLY FAULT THAT
.

THN WOULD NOT
.

AND THE HUMANS VOTE
?

THEY WISH TO PICK UP TRACE OF ESCAPE PODS AND FOLLOW
.

THAT COULD TAKE A LONG TIME AND A WIDE AREA TO SEARCH
.

NOT SO WIDE. TRACES ALREADY FOUND. THREE PODS, THREE HUMAN SHIPS. GOOD CHASE. NO REAL DANGER BUT MUCH LEARNING AND MUCH GLORY
.

SO LONG AS IT IS THE HUMANS WHO ACQUIRE GLORY
. Thian heard a trace of bitterness in his tone and corrected his thinking.

IF GLORY IS GOAL
. Fok shrugged.

THAT LEAVES ONE HUMAN ONE DINI SHIP
?

WRECK MUST BE BROUGHT BACK FOR INTENSIVE INVESTIGATION
.

THAT COULD BE DONE ON SITE
, Thian said, thinking of the monumental salvage operation that would mean.

CAN ALSO BE STARTED NOW AND CONTINUED UNTIL FINISHED. THAT WILL TAKE TIME. THIS VESSEL SALVAGES WRECK. THN REST NOW. ORDERS
.

WHOSE
? Thian asked even as he swung his legs around to the bed. And it was a bed, not a bunk, and a double one at that.

FROM THIS TRP, DM, MEDIC, CAPTAIN, SECURITY PERSON, ENGINEER
 . . .

AGREED. ACQUIESCE. GRATITUDE. DREAM WELL
.

TRP STAYS. THN MAY SAFELY DREAM
.

BODYGUARD
? Thian half-rose from the comfortable bed, disgusted but oddly reassured. That triumphantly hateful “GOTCHA” lingered in his mind like a glowing canker.

REST GUARD SO SLEEP WILL RESTORE STRENGTH, THN
. And Fok spoke as gently as to a 'Dini pup.

Sleep, Thian, or shall I assist?
his mother said.

Oh, very well
, he said and drew the cover over him.

*   *   *

Over the next few days, Thian learned more of what had been done and discovered during his convalescence. Once the yellow alert was canceled, shore leaves were granted and, when Damia 'ported them to their various destinations, she 'ported in specialists, civilian and naval, who were excited to be able to examine a more or less intact Hive facility. There were many new faces in the officers' mess and he realized how very lucky he was to have such a fine stateroom to himself. Two ensigns had shift usage of his old cabin while scientists bunked in theirs.

The six ships had taken up positions for easy access to the wreck. It was ablaze with lights, in every corridor, tunnel, and chamber, color coded by area so that the ship blazed like a minor galaxy. Big drones had been 'ported in to transport sections as well as the invaluable larvae, the charcoal and dust and anything else that could be detached from the shell.

Three distinctly separate types of Hive larvae
had been identified and sufficient numbers of each so that, as his mother dryly remarked, the diverse theories on how to stimulate and mature the life forms could be tried. Scientific debates raged more fiercely than any armed encounter.

“A full-scale war would probably be quieter,” Damia remarked, “and with fewer battles.”

“It's all bloodless,” Captain Ashiant said.

“There are nevertheless casualties, bloodless or not,” Damia added.

“‘And no discharge in the war,'” Thian put in, not quite sure what he was quoting.

THE MRDINI PO-ET KPLNG
, Fok said,
THN IS WELL VERSED IN CLASSICAL STUDIES
.

Captain Ashiant blinked in surprise at that for he was now able to follow most 'Dini conversations. “Kplng? It means Kipling!”

“Whoever,” Damia said, smiling. Then she turned to Thian. “You go back to work tomorrow, Thn!” and she used the affectionate 'Dini of his name.

“I'll be bloody glad to, too.”

Damia tscked-tscked at his language but she approved his attitude.

“We've a lot to 'port back and teamwork will reduce the load for me and ease you back into the job. As soon as I'm certain you're fully operational, I've got to go back. Your father canNOT handle big daddies with just Rojer.”

“Zara's old enough, isn't she?”

Damia wrinkled her nose.
She's too inattentive to be of any real assistance. Heaving big daddies requires full concentration.

“But surely the mines will be slowing down if the Hive sun went nova,” Thian said.

The captain snorted and his mother regarded him oddly.

“The sun may have gone down on the Hive homeworld but there're all those hundreds of Hive ships and Hive dominated worlds out there. Oh, no, Thian, this is just a brief chapter even if a very illuminating one,” his mother said.

“The other squadrons, lad,” Captain Ashiant took up for evidently the subject had been much under discussion, “that are in pursuit of the three outward bound ones, will need support. And then there's mopping up . . . all the worlds that the Hive ships have already . . . ah . . . appropriated. They must be discovered and . . . cleared.”

“Aren't we then doing exactly what the Hivers tried to do to the 'Dinis and us?”

“Which would you rather have? Them on the loose or contained?” the captain asked.

Damia leaned forward. “That's another bloodless war that's being raged in the High Council. Total destruction or planetary containment.”

“That's species suppression which is against the finest principles of both Human and 'Dini morality,” Thian said, beginning to be annoyed with their intransigence. What had happened to his mother? Where were the values she had instilled in him and his sisters and brothers?

THN VIEWS BLACK AND WHITE. GREY IS A VERY GOOD COLOR
, Fok said, surprising the three Humans by entering the conversation.

But its remark caused Thian and Damia to burst out laughing. Which required a rather long explanation to Captain Ashiant because Fok had been unusually witty; “grey” was one of the most prestigious pelt shades for 'Dinis.