Lady Lure (30 page)

“I understand completely. It is in Regula’s
best interests to keep peace with the Cetans, since we have an
important commercial treaty with them. Those men who have remained
aboard our two ships will be told that we of the landing team
discovered nothing but an uninhabited world. Contradictory sensor
readings will be blamed on the well-known effects of the Empty
Sector. And no man who stands here today will say a word of
anything he has seen or heard. Is that agreed, gentlemen?” Mirar
looked his men over, meeting each one’s eyes. Every man nodded his
head or said yes aloud.

“Thank you, Captain Mirar.” Tank shook hands
with the Regulan. “You are free to go.”

Perri watched Mirar and his men board the
shuttlecraft and lift skyward before she spoke.

“You cannot trust the word of a Regulan man,”
she said to Tarik.

“I know,” he said. “But in this case, I think
it is safe to make an exception to that wise rule. Those men know
that, if word of this colony gets out, the Cetans will refute their
peace treaty with the Jurisdiction. And the second place the Cetans
will attack on their violent sweep toward Capital will be
Regula.”

“What will be the first place?” Perri
asked.

“Here,” Tarik said. “They will begin by
destroying Home.”

“We need to take the robot with us.” Halvo
turned to Tank’s men. “You two, carry it aboard the
shuttlecraft.”

“Halvo.” Tank’s voice was firm. “I am leader
here.”

“The robot has vital information in its
memory banks.” Halvo said. “Rolli can verify my reasons for trying
to find Dulan’s Planet and why, having located it, we were forced
to land here. Perri and I do not leave this place without Rolli. I
will not argue the point.”

“Reid, Pelidan,” Tarik said, his eyes still
on Halvo’s face, “secure the robot in the cargo bay.”

“The habit of command dies hard,” Halvo said.
“No offense meant, Tank.”

“None taken.” In a softer tone Tank added, “I
am glad to see you again.”

“You two love each other,” Perri cried,
beginning to understand, “yet you are in competition.”

“We always have been,” Tank said.

“We always will be,” Halvo added.

“You would die for each other,” Perri
insisted.

“Let us hope it will never be necessary.”
Tarik turned from his brother to Perri. “Is there anything you want
from the
Space Dragon?”

“Nothing but Rolli,” Perri said. “I have no
personal belongings.”

As the three of them walked toward the
shuttlecraft, Perri asked, “What will happen to the
Space
Dragon?
Will she just be left here to rot?”

“I would like to see her repaired,” Halvo
said.

“That little ship reminds me of the first one
you ever piloted,” Tarik said to his brother.

“The one in which you stowed away.” Halvo’s
voice was stern.

“And which you let me fly for a few minutes,”
Tarik said.

“You nearly killed us. You were only a child
and you did not know half as much about spaceships as you tried to
convince me you did.”

“I knew you would save me, Halvo.”

On a wave of masculine laughter they reached
the entrance of Tank’s shuttlecraft. Kalina was already aboard
waiting for them, and she was not amused.

“This dreadful girl ought to be secured in
the cargo bay along with her robot,” Kalina declared.

“Perri sits with me,” Halvo said.

“Halvo, I was hoping you would lend Perri to
me for the duration of this flight.” Tarik interrupted smoothly
when Kalina began to protest that she wanted Halvo to herself for a
time. “Since Osiyar returned with Jyrit and Herne, I lack a
copilot.” Behind his mother’s back, Tarik winked at Perri.

Kalina did not argue about the sudden
elevation in Perri’s status. Within a few minutes Halvo and his
mother were sitting side by side, Reid and Pelidan were strapped
into seats behind them, and Tarik and Perri were at the controls in
the bow.

“Commander Tarik, you should have been a
diplomat,” Perri said.

“Never.” Tarik laughed. “I cannot tolerate
long, boring ceremonies and I despise vague language. I do know
what a strain it has been for our mother not to be able to care for
Halvo herself. She could not leave Capital when he was wounded and
so she was forced to depend on reports from his doctors instead of
going to him, as any loving mother would want to do. Let her spend
an hour or so with him now.”

“You all have very strong personalities,”
Perri said. “Do the members of your family quarrel often?”

“Quarrel, no. Disagree frequently and
vigorously, yes. Unlike serious quarrels, our disagreements seldom
last long. You will get used to us.”

“Do you think I will be allowed time to do
so?”

“For Halvo’s sake I hope so.” Tank glanced at
her, then at the control panel. “You look a bit perplexed, but
these controls are not very different from the ones on the
Space
Dragon.
Just watch me and you will catch on quickly.”

Perri thought he was one of the kindest men
she had ever met. He had defused an uncomfortable moment with
Kalina, and he was treating her as if she were a friend instead of
an enemy who had harmed his brother.

“There they are,” Tarik said, in a manner
suggesting he had just seen someone he expected to meet.

“Who?” Perri asked.

“The Chon. See them there on the
view-screen?”

“Birds!” Perri exclaimed. “There were huge
birds flying over the island.”

“Yes, I know. They guided us to you, but they
stayed well away from the fog bank. Without their help, we might
not have found you before you were forced aboard the Regulan ship.
Now the birds have rejoined us for the return flight.”

“Halvo told me about them.” Perri hesitated
for a moment, deciding, then plunged on, instinctively knowing she
could trust this man as she trusted his brother. “When the birds
flew close to us, I saw a vision, a picture in my mind. There was
an island in a lake and a white building with columns.”

“That was Home,” said Tarik. “Our
headquarters. When we approach it, see if you recognize it. If you
do, talk to Osiyar, the blond man who was with me earlier. He
understands the birds better than any of the rest of us do.”

“Thank you. I will.” Perri was silent,
thinking for a minute. “What will happen to me?”

“That depends on you and Halvo. May I give
you some advice?”

“Please do.”

“Don’t be afraid of my mother. She is
fiercely protective of her menfolk because she loves us so much,
but she is a reasonable person. She has even been known to change
her mind about certain people.”

“She hates me,” Perri said bleakly. “I cannot
blame her for it. I blame myself for what I did to Halvo.”

“I don’t think he blames you. Halvo looks
remarkably happy to me.”

The conversation broke off as Tarik set the
course and spoke over the communications link with someone at his
headquarters. Once during the ensuing flight Perri twisted around
in her seat to look at Halvo. He was deep in talk with his mother.
Perri feared they were discussing her future.

“Watch the screen, now.” Tarik interrupted
her troubled musings. “We are approaching Home. Does the scene look
familiar to you?”

“It is the same place,” Perri exclaimed. “I
am not mistaken, yet it is different. I saw it differently.”

“You saw it through the bird’s eyes.”

“Does this mean I am a telepath?” Perri
sounded as horrified as she felt.

“I don’t think so. My wife, Narisa, has had
several similar experiences and she is certainly not a telepath,
just an unusually open-minded and sensitive person, as I suspect
you are.”

Home was a beautiful place. Standing on a
beach of fine, pale sand, Perri looked around with pleasure, noting
the crystal-clear lake edged by a thick forest. In the very center
of the island stood a round white building that, with its row of
columns and its domed roof, radiated serenity. At least a dozen
blue or green Chon flew above, circling the island as if to welcome
Tarik and his companions. The orange sun shone a cheerful afternoon
light upon the scene.

“Tarik, did all go well?” A slim,
brown-haired woman hurried onto the beach, where Tarik’s party was
disembarking from the shuttlecraft. “Herne is still operating on
that poor Jugarian. I hope no one else was hurt.”

“Three Regulans took minor wounds, but they
have gone back to their ship. The rest of us are unharmed.” Tarik
embraced the woman, kissing her tenderly.

“Narisa.” Halvo came up to the couple.
Breaking away from Tarik, Narisa threw her arms around his
brother.

“Halvo, it’s good to see you looking so
well.” Narisa turned her gaze upon Perri, whom Halvo drew to his
side with one arm about her waist while he introduced the two
women.

“You are both welcome here.” Narisa’s
response was a bit cool, and Perri thought she knew why. From the
way in which Narisa and Kalina were greeting each other, Perri
could tell they were close. No doubt Kalina had used her previous
visit to Home to voice her low opinion of Perri to her
daughter-in-law.

When Tarik offered to show Halvo around his
island headquarters, and Kalina and Narisa moved off together
toward the white building, Perri held back. Reid and Pelidan were
removing Rolli from the cargo bay. Perri went to them.

“Where are you taking my robot?” she
demanded.

“Tarik wants it in the central room.” They
were not unfriendly. In fact, they were quite pleasant to her.
Perri allowed herself to relax a little, even to smile at the man
who had spoken. He was Reid, and he was one of the communications
officers for the colony, though he did not seem to mind the purely
physical duty of transporting Rolli, to which any Regulan male of
similar rank would have objected.

“Is there anything special we should know
about Rolli?” Reid asked.

“Just be careful of her.”

“Her?” Reid nodded. “I take it she’s an old
friend.”

“The dearest one I have.” Perri almost said
Rolli was the only friend she had, but she thought of Tarik before
she spoke. She believed he was a friend, though she did not delude
herself that he would defy his formidable mother for her sake.

“Are you coming?” Reid asked her. He and
Pelidan paused, holding Rolli between them. “Kalina told us not to
leave you out here alone.”

“She doesn’t need to worry that I will steal
a shuttlecraft and try to escape,” Perri muttered, trudging behind
the two men toward the headquarters building. “Where could I go
except to one of the Regulan ships? All I can do now is accept
whatever fate and Lady Kalina have decreed for me.”

“If you want my opinion,” said Reid, who was
closer to Perri than his companion and who had overheard her, “I
don’t think Halvo will let anything terrible happen to you.”

Perri wasn’t so sure. She knew Halvo liked
her and enjoyed making love to her. He had even forgiven her for
kidnapping him. But he had never said he loved her, nor had he
mentioned the possibility of a future with her. And since Halvo had
returned to his family, he no longer needed Perri for
companionship. She knew little about his real life. Perhaps there
was a woman in the Jurisdiction for whom he cared. With the exact
punishment for her criminal act still to be decided and Kalina
firmly set against her, Perri did not think she had much of a
chance to win Halvo’s love.

The inside of the headquarters building was a
confusing place. It was not a large building and to Perri it
appeared crowded. Tarik had told her there were twelve colonists,
ten from the Jurisdiction and two who were native to Dulan’s
Planet, who had joined the original group after the colony was
founded. To that number were added Perri, Halvo, Kalina, Lieutenant
Dysia, and Captain Jyrit, who was still in surgery. The absence of
Jyrit, the two people who were operating on him, and two colonists
presently on duty aboard the orbiting ship
Kalina
did little
to ease the congestion in the central room.

Then there were the children. Off to one side
of the circular room two little boys and a tiny girl played,
watched over by a woman with long, silver-gold hair who held a
silver-haired baby in her arms.

“That’s my wife, Janina, with our two
children,” Reid said. He and Pelidan had just set Rolli down in the
middle of the room and he had noticed Perri staring at the little
ones.

“I have never seen so many children at once,”
Perri said.

“No, I don’t suppose you have. Tarik is much
more permissive about couples reproducing than Jurisdiction law
allows. If our families continue to increase in size, we will soon
be forced to build individual houses to hold all of us. Would you
like me to introduce you to my wife?”

“Not just now,” Perri said, faltering. “I
don’t mean to be rude. I know you are trying to be helpful.”

“I understand. It must be confusing for you
to be set down among so many strangers. But we are a friendly lot.
If you want to join any group, just walk up to them and tell them
your name and you will be accepted.” With a smile and a quick pat
on her shoulder, Reid left her to go to his wife.

Perri watched Reid and Janina embrace. With a
sad little tug at her heart she saw Reid take the baby into his
arms and run a gentle hand over the child’s head before he kissed
it. Perri could not remember ever before observing an expression of
such loving concern. How did it feel to hold a small child in one’s
arms and know it was one’s own, the product of a loving union?
Perri did not think she would ever know.

“Oh, Rolli.” She crouched beside the robot.
“What will become of us?”

“Most assuredly, some form of atonement will
be required,” Rolli said, and the answer provided no comfort at all
to Pern’s troubled heart. Slowly the robot turned completely around
on its wheels while it took in the bustling activity in the room.
“That is a most remarkable computer. It is very old, yet it has
recent components added to it.” Rolli fell silent when Tank and
Halvo approached.