Star Trek: The Original Series: Rihannsu: The Bloodwing Voyages (16 page)

The captain raised his shoulders and let them fall again in a careless gesture. “Simple interspecies amity,” he said. “The spirit of brotherhood.”

The translator made little sense of the last word; but Ael understood why—it having been one of many oddities she had noticed long ago when working on her own translator program. “There is a question you might answer for me,” she said. “Why does the word imply male siblings and not female as well?”

“It’s an old word,” said the captain, looking slightly embarrassed. “‘Kinship’ would be closer to the meaning.”

“But a word’s true meaning, its intended meaning, is always implicit in its structure,” Ael said. “Evidently there were those who thought, when your language was forged, that only men were capable of that brand of kinship—and that by implication it was impossible between two women, or between female and male. How did they justify that in the face of evidence otherwise? Or did they simply wish half your species to think that it could
not
set back to back and fight for life and the things that mattered?”

He said nothing, and there was something about his silence that troubled Ael, so that she pressed her advantage to see what lay under the silence. “What about it, Captain? How is it that only brothers may fight, be valiant, persevere, defy deaths great and small—while judging half your race outside of that burden, that privilege, from the beginning?”

“I have no answer for you,” the captain said, all tact, refusing to be drawn.

“Indeed. One wonders why the other half of your species put up with yours for so long.”

“Perhaps they got their revenge,” the captain said, “by letting my half of the species think it was right about them—and letting it go to Hell as a result.”

Ael’s eyebrow went up in surprised and pleased acknowledgment of the captain’s shot across her bows. He looked oddly at her, as if even through his anger seeing something familiar in her, though Ael had no idea what and at the moment didn’t care. “Besides,” the captain said, “there’s one characteristic of being a brother that you didn’t mention. Liking. Brothers have that for one another, generally. I’m not sure I could have that much of that kind of liking for a woman.”

Ael briefly considered the steady, sure relationship she had sensed between the captain and Uhura—the flashes of humor, the utter trust—and realized with wry amusement that she was being insulted. Why, she wasn’t yet sure; so for the moment she put the matter aside and merely considered the captain’s premise. “Liking. Well. Brothers may certainly develop it. It may make living with one another easier. But it’s hardly necessary to brotherhood proper. Say my brother and I quarrel: then he falls in danger of his life. Do I let him lie there, because I no longer ‘like’ him? Or do I save him—simply because he is my brother, because I have said that he is forever someone important to me—and I’m bound by what I have said?”

“I’m not sure that’s what I meant.”

“Neither am I. But in any case it is
mnhei’sahe.
The bondage beyond reason, beyond hope or pain or escape. The bond that not even betrayal can break—only snarl around the heart until the betrayer’s heart scars. The bond of word, of choice. Unbreakable.”

“Death—”

“Death avails nothing against it. Your parents, your own brother who is dead—oh, yes, we know. What use is intelligence but for the knowing of one’s enemies? Have you come to love your relatives any less for their being dead? Or perhaps more?”

The captain said nothing.

“So you see the nature of this bondage between beings who fight the same fight,” Ael said. “A going in the same direction, for a little while, or for a life, that’s all that’s needed. The decision to go in company. Liking—” Ael shrugged one shoulder. “What need have allies of such a thing?”

“None,” the captain said, “I’m sure.”

They walked along in silence a moment longer. Then Ael paused by a curious thing—a table with a holographic projection above it of a cube divided into many smaller cubes, eight of them to an edge. “What is this?”

“Four-dimensional chess,” said the captain. “Are you familiar with the game?”

“No.”

The captain smiled at her, and a very odd smile it was, one that made Ael curious. “If we have time—”

“I would be delighted to learn. Now, if you like; I dare say I can spare a few minutes to learn the rules.”

That smile got wider, and the captain pulled out one of the chairs that stood by the table, offering it to her. But neither of them had time to sit down; that infernal whooping began again. Heads went up all over the room, and a lot of the people who had been talking to Ael’s folk excused themselves hurriedly and ran out.

“Red alert,”
the Vulcan’s calm voice said, made gigantic over the ship’s annunciator system.
“Battle stations, battle stations. This is no drill.”

The captain slapped one hand down on a switch on the game table. “Kirk here.”

“Captain, we have a Romulan vessel at extreme sensor range.
K’tinga-
class vessel, ID’ing as Romulan ship
Javelin.”

“They’re early,” Ael said, alarmed.

“Have they hailed us?” said the captain.

“Not as yet, but they will soon be within range to do so.”

“We’re going to need some more of your people up on the bridge, Commander. Mr. Spock, are Antecenturions Aidoann and Hvaid up there?”

“Affirmative, Captain.”

“Have them handle any communications that come in. No visual until everyone on the bridge is covered by an armed Romulan. Transfer control to the auxiliary bridge immediately and send Mr. Sulu and Mr. Chekov down there to handle things.”

“Done, sir.”

“Good. Give me allcall. Commander—”

“This is t’Rllaillieu,” Ael said, astonished at how her voice echoed in this flying cavern. “Rihannsu, report at speed to your assigned posts. Helmets all, and make sure any distinguishing insignia of
Bloodwing
about you are removed. If in doubt about any necessary action, consult with your ‘prisoners.’” She allowed herself a slight laugh on the word; the captain looked grim, but his eyes danced all the same. “Remember, you are
Cuirass
crew; do nothing to attract attention to yourselves when we are monitored! Honor to you—and
mnhei’sahe.
Out.”

The captain was looking at her quizzically. “I wished them luck,” Ael said.

He shook his head. “I thought that word meant ‘love.’”

Ael quirked half a grin at him. “What use is a word that means only one thing? Besides, in this context, they are nearly the same….”

He looked bemused, but only for the instant; then he was all officer again, hard and ready. “You may have something there. In the meantime, I think you’ll be needed on the bridge. Mr. Spock,” he said to the intercom, “our presence has been requested at a little theatrical. Would you care to join me in the brig?”

“My pleasure, Captain. Bridge out.”

The humor in the Vulcan’s voice was so little concealed and so dry that Ael had to laugh again; but the laugh lasted for only a breath, fading at the captain’s look. “Madam—” he said.

“I will care for your bridge,” said Ael. And she turned and was off, hurrying, and feeling his eyes in her back like the points of spears.

Very strange, it felt, to sit there in that soft chair at the heart of airy openness, staring at the big screen and waiting. Ael’s heart pounded and her hands were sweating, as they always did before an engagement. She cursed them, as she always did, and rubbed them on her breeches. Around her, her own people failed to notice this business, as usual, and made themselves useful at strange consoles and odd instruments. The only thing missing was Tafv, but he was on
Bloodwing,
lying low for the moment; after all,
Cuirass
was not a place where he belonged. Aidoann was on
Bloodwing,
pretending to be commanding it in Ael’s absence; the commander, Aidoann would be telling
Javelin,
was aboard
Enterprise
making it secure and supervising the tapping and recording of its computer library. Hvaid and N’alae sat at the helm console; Khoal manned the science station, and Lhian the communications board. How cool they all looked, how very competent…a shadow of the look they had been wearing down in the recreation deck, while the
Enterprise
people had been watching them.
And how I sit here and twitch like a broody
hlai, Ael thought.
Fire burn it, we can build a device that can cloak a whole starship, but we can’t find a way to keep people’s hands from sweating—

“Communication from
Javelin, khre’Riov,
” said Lhian, exactly as if they were back on
Bloodwing.

“Accept it,” Ael said.

The screen wavered and settled down, and Ael took a long breath and relaxed. Oh, that bland, round, foolish, familiar face. It was LLunih tr’Raedheol, and the Elements had been kind to her after all, for if anyone in space needed killing, it was this one. A coward and a fool, and one who thought everyone else was just like him, too lazy to do more than exhibit just enough energy to keep Command off his back. “Commander tr’Raedheol,” Ael said, companionably enough, “welcome to the Outmarches. You see we have found something rather interesting floating around out here….”

“Yes,”
LLunih said, and the greed, jealousy and hate distilling behind LLunih’s eyes should have killed the man on the spot. Unfortunately, he was immune to his own venom, like the
nei’rrh
he was.
“So Command said. I should appreciate the opportunity to beam over and examine this tremendous prize for myself.”

And try to figure out a way to cheat me out of it, you mean,
Ael thought. “Oh, LLunih—may I call you LLunih?”

“Do,”
said the repulsive creature, and smiled.

Ael kept herself from shuddering in loathing. “I couldn’t allow that as yet. We are still in the process of learning to handle the command systems aboard this ship. Its officers are understandably annoyed with us, and they have not been as cooperative as would have been wise. These screens, for example; we were working with raising and lowering them, this morning, and we thought they were down—but in an evil moment someone from
Cuirass
tried to beam over and hit a ‘phantom’ screen of which our intelligence had failed to warn us. An outgrowth of the cloaking device, actually; quite clever.” She smiled whimsically. “But unfortunate, since one of my minor officers is now floating around this part of space, reduced to his component atoms.”
Oh, I will pay for
that
one sooner or later….
“Until we’re sure, I would rather you didn’t take the chance….”

“Oh, Ael, I quite understand….”
She lost his next few words, thinking of the old saying that a soiled name may only be washed clean in blood.
He has enough of it in all that flab to wash all four of them clean, I’ll warrant. We shall see.

“…find it hard to not want a look at the famous Captain Kiuurk….”

“Oh, as to that,” Ael said, looking wicked, and not having to try too hard this time, “I dare say I could let you see a bit of what would please you. In fact, I have been hearing complaints from the captain concerning his present lodging; I was about to go down there and settle them with him when you called. If you will hold a moment, you may watch the proceedings.”

“Surely.”

Ael rose and nodded at Lhian: the screen went blank. “Warn them,” she said.

“Khre’Riov,”
Lhian said, with one of his dark-browed looks, “we’re being scanned. Shields are up, but there’s some signal leakage, and anything on ship’s channels might be overheard—”

“True,” she said. “Well thought. Wait till I’m about halfway down the deck eight hall, going toward detention; then pick me up on visual and pipe it over to
Javelin,
following me. Hvaid, come along.”

Young Hvaid leaped up from his post, and the two of them hurried into the lift. “Detention, deck eight,” Ael said. “Hvaid, when the lift stops, run ahead and warn the captain and his officers. Tell them who has called and that we must play this very broadly; LLunih is stupid and unsubtle, and nods and winks will not do. If we do convince him, though, he’ll convince the other ships when they arrive, and save us the trouble of doing all this again. Then you’ll have to run about to the various departments and tell everyone not to say anything damning on the ship’s intercom until we are sure we’re not being scanned, or can find a way to plug the leaks. Find some others of us to help you. Pull Lyie and K’haeth and Dhisuia off their posts; they’re quick on their feet.” The lift stopped. “Go now!”

Hvaid ran off down the hall. Ael leaned against the open door of the lift for a long, easy count of twenty, doing her best to slow her breathing down. It did not slow much, but finally she had to get out and walk, and found that the trembling in her knees wasn’t nearly as bad as it had been. “Are you with me,
Javelin?”
she said cheerily to the air, using her upward look to disguise a glance around the corner she was approaching. Scan could not see it, but Ael could see Hvaid hurrying out of the door to detention, around another corner and out of sight.

“We see you, Ael,” said LLunih.

“Good. Here we are—”