Quest (51 page)

'The dropjet, which pushed this transcap through the air, was attached here.' Davred indicated a charred area at one end.

The ruff furled and unfurled, then Sh'ellen bent his head again to sniff the object.

'Once it's launched from the satel ite, the transcap fal s very quickly. The dropjet is used mainly to slow it down, so that it doesn't get too hot. It also adjusts the direction, if necessary.' As he ran his finger along the side of the featureless capsule, the casing began to split into two pieces along its length, the lower half resting on the ground, cupping the contents.

A soft grey nose poked the contents of the transcap and a rough bluish tongue flickered tentatively along the matt creamy surface. The blueness of the deleff's tongues always seemed slightly incongruous to Davred, as if they had been dyed. Sh'el en moved his head from side to side, seeming puzzled, then leaned forward to sniff and lick the box again.

More tossing of the head, then the deleffal sneezed violently and took a few steps backwards. He moved forward again, this time to nudge Davred.

'I think he wishes to communicate with you,' suggested Katia.

Davred frowned down at the transcap, then moved over to lay his hands on the sides of the deleffal's head, as he had seen Katia do. He closed his eyes, then they flew open in shock before closing again.

'It feels very strange, talking to the deleff,' Katia whispered to Herra.

Everyone watched in fascination and the silence stretched for several minutes before Davred opened his eyes again and shook his head, as if to clear it. Katia moved quickly forward to support him as he staggered.

'He'l be all right in a minute. One feels dizzy and disoriented after an attempt at communication.'

'I'm all right. The deleff would like one of these new tracers to give to their High Council,' said Davred. 'They want to observe my people. They also want to travel the wynds of heaven with us.' He frowned. 'Some of the concepts they use are strange to me. What's a wynd?'

'A wynd is a narrow track,' said Cheral, always eager to instruct. 'It's an old-fashioned term, not much used nowadays. It's from the times when there was only one claim and very few good tracks. Are the roads narrow in the sky, Lord Davred?'

Davred took a deep breath to give himself time to think. How was he to explain space travel to such an audience?

'There are no roads. It's mostly - well, just empty space between the worlds. One flies across this space inside a spaceship. It must be an airtight vehicle, because there isn't even air to breathe out there. Equipment for making air has to be taken inside the ship. And to grow food for long journeys. So, deleffal, we shal not need help, even such powerful help as you can offer, to pull the spaceships.'

Sh'ellen bugled loudly and tossed his head.

QUEST Shannah Jay 188

Katia stretched out her hands towards the creature and was shaken off. Davred was nudged until he placed his hands on Sh'el en's head again. The contact was brief, but when he broke it, Davred's face was white with strain. 'It's so
hard
,' he whispered. 'Why is it so hard to communicate with them?'

'What did the deleffal say, Lord Davred?' asked Herra quietly.

'He wishes me to tel it all again to the High Deleffal and - and to the Conclave of Chroniclers. Sh'ellen says it's too hard for him to understand properly in his early life cycle.'

Sh'ellen began pawing at the ground. Hurriedly, those who wished to ride got back into the wagons. The deleff had now taken complete charge of the journey.

Benjan and Jonner picked up the half shells of the transcap and slid them and their contents on the back of the second wagon. For once Jonner abandoned his seat in the leading wagon to sit in the rear and inspect not only the contents, but the fabric of the containers. He seemed fascinated by the smoothness of the ceramoplast, which was like no material he’d ever seen.

Davred laid his head on Katia's lap and closed his eyes, letting her body cushion him against the jolting of the wagon while he allowed himself to recover. 'Why does it hurt so much to communicate with them?'

'I don't know.' She sat for a moment, idly running her fingers through Davred's hair. 'And what did Sh'ellen mean by

"his early life cycle", do you suppose? I thought he was full-grown. I've never seen any deleff larger than him.'

'Jonner, how long do deleff live?' Davred called.

'No one knows. But they have been known to stay with families for two generations. Usually, though, they stay for one generation at most.'

'Then they might be very long-lived?'

'They might be anything, really. All we know is that they're friendly and helpful to Traders if you treat 'em right. So we do.'

Herra, sitting in her usual position on the driving seat, shook her head. Why have we not questioned this before? she wondered. Over all the centuries, we've just accepted the deleff. And that's not like us.

* * *

The wagons set off again next morning as soon as First Gathering was over. The deleff didn't even allow their passengers time to heat or consume any food. Feet were stamped, heads tossed, ruffs raised and lowered, until no one was in any doubt that the deleff intended to move off, with or without their passengers.

Everyone rushed to and fro, preparing the walk-in harness and loading the wagons. No sooner had they finished than the deleff set off, leaving Benjan still tidying the camp site and Carryn shrieking his name in fear.

Cheral snapped her fingers in front of Carryn's face. 'Control yourself, girl. There's absolutely no danger of Benjan being left behind for more than a few minutes. The deleff travel much more slowly than he can run.'

Carryn gasped, and for a moment it was touch and go whether she would calm down without help. Then she gulped and fought for control. 'It - he makes me feel safe,' she explained in a shaking voice, her eyes fol owing Benjan, who had now caught up with the wagons and was striding alongside, watching her anxiously.

A shake of Cheral's head prevented him from climbing on board. 'You need more exercise, Benjan,' she said in her novice-mistress voice. 'You can do your muscle-toning exercises, then Carryn may join you for a brisk walk before we break our fast.'

Benjan nodded and ran forward along the track, beginning some of the jumps and movement patterns that Herra and Cheral had taught him. His ears were alert for any sign that Carryn had let panic overwhelm her and he was quite prepared to brave Cheral's wrath and run back to help the girl if necessary.

'Now, Carryn,' said Cheral firmly, 'first exercise! And let that poor man keep his muscles in trim. The sooner you get yourself fit, the sooner you'll be able to join him in his morning runs.' Til you become too large, she thought. The Elder Sister had not mentioned Carryn's condition to anyone, but Cheral had the Gift of Nurture and could recognise a
QUEST Shannah Jay 189

pregnant woman or girl when she saw one. It was just to be hoped that the unknown father of this poor baby had had no hereditary taint to pass on to his offspring. Whoever he was.

She demonstrated to Carryn a new exercise designed specifically for a woman in the early stages of pregnancy and ignored Katia's shocked recognition of its purpose. The Elder Sister would have to explain to Carryn soon that she was with child, thought Cheral. They were too small a group to keep anything secret for long.

'No!' Cheral said loudly, automatically repositioning Carryn's body. 'Like this. Feel it. A very small difference in posture, but a big difference in effect. Yes. That's better.'

When the muscle-toning exercises were over, she nodded. 'Your mother taught you well. You learn a new exercise quickly. That makes a difference!' She saw that Carryn's attention was on the large bearlike figure of Benjan and sighed.

She was surprised that the Elder Sister had allowed that dependence to continue.

Really, the sooner they found somewhere to settle down and establish a civilised way of life again, the better it would be for them all. This was no way to live in harmony with oneself, always scrambling off along some new path. 'Go and have your walk now,' she said at last. 'Further than yesterday and be sure to remember the breathing patterns for efficient movement.' She watched Carryn, moving extremely inefficiently, rush to join Benjan, then went over to the other wagon, shaking her head.

'You'll have to tell her soon,' she said to Herra. 'She'll need to start preparing her body. She's too young, really, but she's a well-developed girl, so it'll not harm her to have the baby. No reason to intervene.'

'I shan't tell her quite yet. She's not ready.'

'And if she guesses?'

'That's a risk we must take.'

Jonner's eyes flickered from one to the other. 'Tell who what?'

'None of your business!' snapped Cheral. 'And isn't it about time
you
started to exercise your body? You're becoming positively flabby.' She poked him in the midriff. 'Look at that! Disgraceful! Now, where did you put the flatcakes and dried fruit? Such a scramble to leave. Why we couldn't eat first, I don't understand. Whatever's got into those creatures lately?'

The deleff continued to pull the wagons at their top speed, even though the ground was beginning to slope upwards.

'I think our friends are eager to be home,' said Herra softly to Cheral. 'Surely we can put up with a little inconvenience for their sake. We do owe them our lives, after all.'

'Well, I suppose it won't hurt us to break our fast with flatcakes for once. After all, they're there for emergencies,'

Cheral admitted. 'Jonner, that's not enough exercise!'

'But I'm hungry.'

'You'll get nothing until you've finished all the exercises!'

Jonner scowled and Herra hastily intervened. 'You'll need to get fit once we start trading, Jonner. We'll all be relying on you then.'

He saw the determination on her face and sighed. 'Oh, very well.'

The sun rose higher in the sky, but the deleff showed no signs of stopping to rest. By now everyone was riding in the wagons in the shade of the awnings. Heat lay like a prickly blanket around them and again, it was Jonner and Benjan who suffered most. Carryn wasn’t in a much better state, and wilted visibly as the sun rose in the sky.

They were climbing quite steeply now, heading towards a blunt-edged crag that dominated the foothills. The heat made the air waver around them, distorting the rocks and lending the arid landscape a false sense of life and movement.

Large birds wheeled above them on the currents of rising air. The few flying insects to brave the heat darted from shadow to shadow.

QUEST Shannah Jay 190

About an hour past noon, a whine in the air marked the passage of another transcap. Davred frowned. 'Soo said nothing about sending a second shipment.'

'Perhaps she's found some more tracers,' said Katia, fanning his face gently.

They reached the transcap only ten minutes later. It was very much larger than the first one, nearly as big as the wagons. It began to split open of its own accord as they approached it and a black cylinder rolled out onto the sand.

As Benjan moved towards it, Davred yelled, 'Get back! Back! It's dangerous.'

Benjan jumped away. The wagons came to a sudden halt and the deleff started pawing the ground uncertainly.

Davred rushed around to their heads in a futile attempt to pull them in the other direction. They resisted his attempts and continued to stare at the black cylinder.

Without warning there was a blinding flash of light and they all found themselves caught by some invisible force that made movement almost impossible. Benjan began to struggle and Jonner to mouth slow curses.

Robler's voice came from the cylinder. 'A convenient stopping place, Davred Hollunby. You've had your wish and visited your precious planet. Now it's time to come back and do your duty by the Confederation, to whom you are contracted for another three years.'

'No!' Davred's forehead was covered in beads of sweat as he struggled against the netwaves. His words came slowly, distorted by the force that held his body. 'Robler - it's here that I can - help the Confederation. You've got to - believe me! The Catharsis has already started here.'

'Come back and persuade us of that, then.'

'There isn't
time!
Herra has - only a few years to live. I need - to spend them with her - to learn the Disciplines from her. There isn't
time
, I tell you!'

Herra, too, was struggling against the invisible bonds, and did not at first know how to work against the strange force that was holding them all captive. 'Davred, how do we - get to him?' she asked, forcing the words out of her half-paralysed lips. 'How do we - make that man - stop this?'

'He's too - far away,' gasped Davred. 'We need to destroy that cylinder. Katia, join with me. Perhaps together, we can . . . '

'I had intended to give you time to say farewel ,' Robler's voice cut in sharply, 'but if you're going to waste my time resisting, maybe it'l be better to make this break swiftly.'

Davred's body stirred and began to slide slowly across the ground towards the transcap. 'No! Robler, no! Brother, look down upon me!'

Suddenly the deleffal and his team-mate began to move, stepping away from their harness, but slowly, as if they were still partly held by the hidden bonds. With ponderous steps Sh'ellen led the way towards the cylinder. Davred's body also continued to slide towards it. After a while it became obvious that Sh'ellen could go no faster and Davred would reach the cylinder first.

'Katia!' he cried out instinctively.

She was too helpless even to raise her hand towards him, and could only whisper, 'Davred.'

'Everyone concentrate on pushing Sh'ellen!' said Herra urgently. 'Now! All together! As if - we were - enmeshed.'

As one they began to do as she asked. Beads of sweat stood out on Benjan's brow, and even Carryn made an effort to add her limited strength to theirs.

The deleff began to move at a slightly faster pace. An exclamation of annoyance came from Robler, but there was nothing he could do to move Davred more quickly than science told him was possible. Even controlling one object in a netwave field was a difficult task. Gradually Sh'ellen began to gain on Davred. He moved closer and closer to the black cylinder.