One







• ^ oughly six 'weeks after she had joined the crew
C^" "V V^ of the Condor, flagship of Becker Interplanetary

-SL- m- Recycling and Salvage Enterprises, Ltd., Acorna
sat on "salvage watch" at the helm of the ship, surrounded by
the softly glowing console lights in the cockpit and the billions
of stars beyond. She felt contented, almost as if she were once
more home—back in the first home she could really remember,
the mining ship she had shared with her adopted uncles. Behind
her for the moment were the intricacies of Linyaari society and
culture. Before her instead were the intricacies of the universe
as recorded in the notes, tapes, and files of Captain Jonas
Becker and his illustrious parent, astrophysicist and salvage
magnate Theophilus Becker.

To give herself something to do during the long watch, she
was charting those notations methodically so that the planets,
moons, wormholes, black holes, "pleated" space, "black water"
space, and other locations visited by the Beckers could be easily
relocated, and the sites where they had once been could be
revisited if the need arose.

Becker had grumbled at first when she started this chore.
Since the death of his adoptive father, Theophilus Becker, from

2   ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

whom he had inherited both the ConSor and the salvage busi-
ness, Jonas Becker had been lord and master of the Condor,
with only Roadkill—or RK for short—the huge Makahomian
Temple Cat he had rescued from a wreck, for company. Becker
didn't like his belongings tampered with or moved. But Acorna
had found plenty of evidence that RK periodically made nests
out of the hard copies of the notes, often shredded them when
he felt the urge, and, in a few sorry instances, had added his
own personal — and remarkably pungent — contributions to them
when he was displeased with the state of his shipboard toilet.
Though she could easily eradicate the odor and the stains, noth-
ing could make the shredded notes legible again. It was high
time someone charted the notes before RK had his way with the
lot of them. After a few "reasonable discussions," Jonas had
stopped grumbling and let Acorna get on with her task.

At first RK had stayed at the helm to assist Acorna with
her job, but later had wandered off in search of food or a
sleeping companion, probably Aari, the only crew member other
than Becker currently aboard.

Like Acorna, Aari was Linyaari, a race of humanoid people
-with equine and alicorn characteristics—including a flowing,
curly mane and feathery hair from ankle to knee, feet with two
hard toes each, and three-fingered hands with one knuckle on
each digit instead of two. The most striking characteristic of
the Linyaari, to humans anyway, was the shining spiral horn
located in the center of their foreheads. But in Aari's case, the
horn had been forcibly removed during tortures he'd suffered
while he was a prisoner of voracious bug-like aliens—the
Khieevi. While Aari's other wounds had been healed on narhii-
Vhiliinyar, the world to which the Linyaari had fled when the
Khieevi had invaded their original homeworld Vhiliinyar, Aari's
horn had not regenerated.

This was an appalling wound for a Linyaari. A Linyaari's
horn had amazing—almost magical, even—properties. The

'A.corna.'s 'World.                                                     3

horns had the ability to purify anything—including air and
water and food, to heal the sick, and also acted to some extent
as an antenna for psychic communications among the Linyaari.

Acorna had learned a great deal more about the powers of
her horn and about her people when she had returned with a
Linyaari delegation to narhii-Vhiliinyar. Unfortunately, once she
had arrived, her aunt and two other shipmates had been dis-
patched into space again to deal with an emergency, and Acorna
had been left among strangers to try to adjust to her native
culture, a culture she'd left behind while she was still a baby.

Her only two real friends on narhii-Vhiliinyar had been the
eldest elder of the Linyaari people, Grandam Naadiina, and
Maati, a little girl -who was the viizaar's messenger and the
orphaned younger sister of Aari.

When Becker had made his unauthorized landing on narhii-
Vhiliinyar to return Aari and all the bones from the Linyaari
graveyard to the new Linyaari home planet, Acorna, Grandam,
and Maati had been in the greeting committee. Aari at that time
had still been terribly deformed from his ordeal with the
Khieevi, and the viizaar Liriili and some of the less sensitive
and compassionate Linyaari had not made his return easy.

Acorna, perhaps because her own loneliness had helped her
identify with his, had been drawn to Aari. When an emergency
signal had called Becker away from narhii-Vhiliinyar, Acorna
and Aari had shipped out with him. They had been able to help
in a crisis that had threatened some of Acorna's human friends
as well as the Linyaari. As a result of their intervention, a
branch of a Federation-wide criminal organization had been
destroyed and many off-planet Linyaari, including Acorna's be-
loved aunt, had been rescued, along with all the other captives
of the criminals. Acorna, Becker, Aari, and Acorna's Uncle
Hafiz, who had also been on hand for the rescue, were now in
great favor among her people.

Acorna could have stayed comfortably on narhii-Vhiliinyar

4   ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

once her aunt and the other ship-bred and ship-chosen Linyaari
returned to the planet. But she had decided instead to leave
with Becker and Aari.

She wasn't sorry. She might have been born on a peaceful
planet populated by beings who had the ability to understand
one another telepathically, but her upbringing had made her
different, and that was sometimes a problem, both for her and
for her people. Space was familiar to her, and its diversity of
races, species, and personalities stimulated her. Of course, right
now, just being here, quietly charting coordinates, resting her
eyes by watching the stars, wasn't very stimulating, but the
serene surroundings felt wonderful. She was comforted by the
routine watch, at peace with the universe.

Perhaps, she thought, happily ever after, the permanent version,
only happened in fairy tale^, bat happy every once in a while wa^ r&ftful
ane) healing.

The cabin lights flicked on, bringing the harsh light of the
day shift to her starlit world. She blinked a few times until her
eyes adjusted.

"Yo, Princess!" Becker said. "Your watch is over. Whatsa
matter with you—sitting there typing in the dark? You'll ruin
your eyes that way, didn't anybody ever tell you?"

He strode up to stand behind her, peering over her shoulder
so intently his brushy mustache, which closely resembled RK's
ruff, brushed her horn. Becker smelled strongly of the
aftershave he had begun to use about the time he began to
shave again, shortly after she arrived. It wasn't that he was
trying to impress her in a courtship. and mating fashion, she
knew. It was simply a rather old-fashioned, by human stan-
dards, sign of gender acknowledgment and respect. "Hey, now,
how about that? You've charted the whole journey from the
time we left narhii-Vhiliinyar the first time, to that moon where
Ganoosh and Ikwaskwan held your people captive, and all the
way back again! I figured, with all the excitement we ran into,

^.coma's 'WorCd                                              5

and all the hopping around we had to do, nobody would ever
be able to figure that one out. How'd you 2o that?"

"You kept good notes, Captain," she said, smiling.

"Well, it's terrific! And you did it so fast, too. Where'd a
sweet young thing like you learn that?"

"Elementary, my dear Becker," Aari said, sauntering up be-
hind the captain and towering over him. Tall, slender, and
graceful now that his injuries had healed, Aari -was white-
skinned and silver-maned. These were traits he shared with
Acorna and the other Linyaari space travelers.

Aari had been reading a trashed-out copy of The Adventure.)
of Sherlock Hoime^ lately. Becker and Acorna could see the imme-
diate result of his current venture into fiction in the -way that
Aari had layered two baseball caps from Becker's collection, so
that the bill of one hat stuck out in back above his long silver
mane, the other in the front. It was not only a pretty good
imitation of a traditional deerstalker, but the hat covered the
indentation in Aari's forehead where his horn had once been.
Aari also clutched a Makahomian ceremonial pipe between his
teeth. It was a bit longer than an antique meerschaum, but with
Aari's height, he could carry it off. The Holmesian effect was
only spoiled by the RECYCLER'S RONDY '84 logo on the front of
the cap facing them, along with an embroidered trash container
rampant beneath the lettering.

"Space-bred and space-chosen Linyaari," Aari said, "de-
velop a heightened sense of navigational interrelationships be-
tween space and masses, even energy fluctuations. Many of
those relationships are imprinted telepathically upon our brains
by our parents when we're young. That is partially how I was
able to guide you to narhii-Vhiliinyar though I had never been
there myself."

"Hmm," Becker said, surveying his shipmate's latest odd
outfit. "You make me wonder if my old man might not have

6   ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

been part Linyaari. You're sure finding your way to the planet
wasn't simple deduction?"

Aari looked puzzled. "No, Joh. We do not use footprints,
types of mud, or tobacco ashes to do this thing. It is a matter
of the mind."

"Must be," Becker said. "Acorna's indicated the wormholes
and black space with a precision that you don't see on regular
charts, given the instability of the features being charted and
the dangers of getting close enough to map them thoroughly.
Even got the whole wormhole system we ducked back through
to blast Ganoosh and Ikwaskwan to kingdom come."

Acorna glanced up from her charting and shrugged. "We
were there. The notations of the holes and folds are roughed
out in your notes, and made precise in my mind." She paused
to consider something else Jonah had said. "About your fa-
ther—he is probably not part Linyaari. I do not think it is
possible for our two species to interbreed. In the pictures you
have shown me of your father, he certainly doesn't look Li-
nyaari, though I will admit his intuition about such matters as
spatial relationships, as well as yours, seems to me to be similar
to some of the psychic abilities our race possesses. I can cer-
tainly understand that, lacking a crew and managing all phases
of your operation alone, as you do now and as your father did
•when you were a child, you did not take the time to properly
collate and chart your observations. But, frankly, only psychic
ability would explain how you were ever able to find anything
in this chaos." Her spread hands took in the mounds of papers,
chips, and recorded tapes scattered around the console.

"I usually know which pile or computer file to access for
what I need," Becker protested. "At least, I did once," he mut-
tered. Then he added graciously, "But I'm sure it'll be helpful
to have it all nice and orderly."

Roadkill jumped up on one of the piles of hardcopy and
sent the papers into an avalanche that slid clear across the deck.

^.coma's ^World                                          7

"RK, you silly cat, you already had your chance at these,"
Acorna said, madly grabbing for the flying papers.

The cat chased the furthest sheets until they settled to the
floor, pounced upon one and shredded it with his back feet,
then abruptly lost interest and began washing his brindled
belly instead.

Acorna bent down and shuffled the papers, somewhat the
worse for wear, back into order.

"I'm pleased you approve, Captain. The task needed doing
and it keeps me productively occupied."

"Yeah, I guess you must have been pretty bored after you
reprogrammed that junked replicator I had in Cargo Hold Two
to make all my favorite dishes, so I wouldn't have to eat cat
food when I got busy, and after you and Aari turned Deck
Three into a hydroponics garden for your own noshing needs,
while you meantime inventoried and catalogued all my re-
maining salvage."

"It was not so much, Captain. It's not as if I am new to
this sort of thing. I used to replicate food and help grow my
own meals when my uncles and I lived aboard our mining ship.
I also catalogued our specimens and assisted with charting. I
like to be helpful."

"No kidding! Between you and KEN," he said, referring to
the all-purpose KEN-6^0 android unit that they had acquired,
more or less by accident, during the Condor's last voyage, "the
way he keeps the ship soooo—"

"Shipshape, Joh?" Aari offered. "I have been reading the
nautical works of Robert Louis Stevenson, and that term is
employed to describe a flawlessly maintained vessel."

"Yeah, what you said," Becker agreed. "Between you two
and Aari, I could take up knitting or basket weaving in the
spare time I got these days."

"A very good idea, Joh," Aari said. "You have some excel-

8   ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

lent references on crocheting, beadwork, handweaving, pottery
making, and origami, as well."

"You should know, buddy. I'm glad you've been getting so
much out of the pile of old books I found in that landfill, not
to mention the vid collection. But let me "warn you—steer clear
of the do-it-yourself veterinary books." Becker glanced down
at RK who had one leg poised in the air and was looking up
at him with suspicious, wide, golden eyes. In a stage whisper
Becker continued, "I once tried some stuff out of one of those
vet guides on the cat there. Bad idea. Neither of us came out
whole."

Aan looked puzzled. "Why would I read veterinary books,
Joh? If 'Riidkyii' "—that was as close as Aari's Standard could
come to pronouncing Roadkill's name—"becomes sick, Acorna
could heal him. We have no need for the invasive measures
described in those books."

"Damn good thing, too," Becker huffed. "The problem with
using invasive measures on ol' Riidkyii is he can't get it straight
•who's the invader and -who is the invadee. We were both short
a few bits of choice anatomy after that little adventure. Luckily,
Roadkill and I eventually got put back together, courtesy of the
Linyaan." He turned to Acorna and said, "While we're on the
subject, you know you're •welcome to the library, too. Prin-
cess. Anytime."

"Yes, Captain Becker, that is very kind of you, but I already
accessed most of the reading selections you have available dur-
ing the time I lived with my uncles and guardians. I was raised
by humans—unlike Aari, who had no previous exposure to
human culture until he met you. So I won't be using the books.
The vids are another matter. However, I regret very much that
we have only vid goggles available to view the films. It would
be such fun if we could all view them together."

Becker gave her a sly look from under his brushy eyebrows.
Her psychic powers had been increased while she lived among

'A.corna.'s 'World                                               9

her own people, but she didn't need them to know that he
understood what she really meant. Teasing, he said, "Of course,
really, only two people oughta watch at a time because some-
body should be on salvage watch."

He knew that she wished to share the books and vids with
Aari so that he wouldn't spend quite so much time alone, and
so that they would have something to enjoy together. She
blushed a little. "I simply thought it would be more com-
panionable."

"Yes, Joh," Aari said, "And, as far as salvage watch goes,
you once performed all the ship's duties alone, and your metab-
olism requires that you sleep for long periods. You must have
let the ship's computers take over occasionally then. You could
certainly do so now. I do not see the difficulty of sharing
these vids."

Becker chuckled and shook his head. "What is it with you
guys? Mutiny? But, okay, "we'11 keep an eye out for something
we can convert to a full screen setup for vids instead of the
goggles."

"Thank you, Captain," Acorna said. She believed Aari
would be much better off if he didn't spend nearly all of his
time on his own. He had spent years alone in a cave on the
deserted planet Vhiliinyar, hiding from the Khieevi who'd tor-
tured him, before Becker had found and rescued him. Aari
hardly knew how to speak to people anymore. And every time
he disappeared while she was not on 'watch and Acorna decided
to go to him to try to initiate a conversation, Captain Becker
always seemed to have some task he needed her assistance with
or some errand for her to run. RK, too, tried to deter her. His
claws and piercing cries could be quite eloquent, even to one
who possessed no higher understanding of cat language than
vulnerable skin that could be spoken to with fang and claw.
She sensed her friends were possessed by some sort of male
protectiveness toward Aari. She was sure it -was not a reasoned

10  ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

response to her actions, but she was hard-pressed to understand
it. She meant her fellow Linyaari no harm, and sought only to
lead him to a deeper healing than had been necessary with the
wounded she had previously treated.

She was also as perplexed as she "was amused by Aari's
"literary disguises," as Becker called them. They were funny
and sad at the same time. As he adopted the headdresses and
costumes of various characters in the books and vids he was
exposed to, Aan looked less like a maimed Linyaari and more
like an interesting, if rather oddly dressed, human. Of course,
she herself had at times donned disguises that covered her horn
and feet so that she could pass for human, and it had been a
useful skill. But in Aari's case, she sensed a huge chasm of loss
underlying his attempts to be someone else. It was as if he no
longer considered himself fully Linyaari. The horn transplant
the doctors had attempted on narhii-Vhiliinyar had not taken.
A living horn transplant from a close relative might be possible
with a specimen from Maati when she was older, but could not
be attempted just yet while her horn -was still growing. They'd
have to wait until she'd reached full adulthood before they could
risk harvesting enough tissue for a successful transplant for
Aari.

The com unit button lit and emitted a beep as Aari replaced
the fallen papers on the console, lifted RK to his shoulders, and
headed back into the hold to continue his reading.

"You get it, Acorna," Becker said. "It's probably for you
anyway."

She flipped the toggle, fully expecting to hear the voice of
either her aunt, viife()haanye ferliii Neeva, checking to make sure
she was all right, or that of the viizaar Liriili, spouting yet an-
other list of instructions and requests that Acorna was to pass
on to her contacts in the Federation in general and to her Uncle
Hafiz in particular.

Since the rescue of all the off-planet Linyaari spacefarers,

11

ambassadors, teachers, students, scientists, engineers, healers
and their families, and the subsequent return of those rescued
to narhii-Vhiliinyar, just six weeks before, big changes appeared
to be taking place on the Linyaari world. According to Neeva,
the governing council had been in almost continuous session,
trying to decide if, when, and to what degree the Linyaari
should end their isolationist policy with regard to most of the
galaxy, and whether they should open trade alliances with Fed-
eration planets and companies.

The council had already unanimously decided on a most
favored trade alliance with House Harakamian, the empire
Uncle Hafiz had recently handed over to his nephew Rank
Nadezda, one of Acorna's adopted uncles. The Linyaari hadn't
yet decided whether or not to allow House Harakamian vessels
enter Linyaari space, however. At this point, the majority of the
council favored off-planet trading at some mutually agreeable
location. But that wasn't a unanimous view. Some of the more
progressive Linyaari space travelers even favored entering the
Federation. As they pointed out, isolation had failed to protect
their people from the Khieevi or from capture and mistreatment
at the hands of Edacki Ganoosh, the Kezdet robber baron. The
vocal minority of the council felt that knowledge of other civili-
zations, both friends and foes, was better protection for a peace-
ful people like themselves than ignorance and isolation.

Since most of the Linyaari diplomatic corps was currently
recovering from their ordeal on narhii-Vhiliinyar, the council
was entrusting all of the Linyaari's initial overtures to the Fed-
eration to Acorna, who was a newly appointed Linyaari ambas-
sador and also, conveniently, Hafiz Harakamian and Rafik
Nadezda's adopted niece. The council completely ignored her pro-
testations that Becker did not intend to return immediately to
federation space, preferring for the moment to search for salvage
in the galaxies occupied by the Linyaari and their current trade
allies, an area neither he nor any other Federation-licensed salvage

12  ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

company had previously explored. Acorna had passed on the
Linyaari council's messages to Hafiz before his flagship, the
Sharazoi), departed from Linyaari space.

Hafiz's last message to the ConSor, and to Becker in particu-
lar, had been suspiciously expansive and nonchalant.

"Of course, dear boy," Hafiz had said, "there is no need
for you to hasten your business on our account. By all means
stay in this congenial universe. Get acquainted. Find useful re-
fuse. As long as Acorna is happy, her Aunt Karina and her
other uncles and I are content. We'll see each other soon
enough."

Perhaps Hafiz was really serious about retiring after all? In
Acorna's experience, it -was very unlike him to fail to seize a
business opportunity by the throat and milk it for all it was
worth. If he wasn't retiring, he was clearly up to something.

So she had reason to hear from many people of her acquain-
tance just at this moment. But this time the corn unit surprised
her. When a face appeared briefly on the screen, it was not her
aunt, or another Linyaari, or even the wily Uncle Hafiz. In-
stead, a heavily bovine face was being transmitted, male and
jowly with a curving brownish horn above each ear. It spoke
in a language Acorna didn't understand, so she reached for
Aari's LAANYE, a Linyaari device that collected samples of
unknown languages, analyzed them, then served as both a trans-
lator and a sleep-learning device to implant foreign languages
into the brain of anyone who wished to learn them. But the
transmission trailed off just as she got the machine activated.

According to the LAANYE, the last word the creature had
said translated as "Mayday" or "SOS" in Linyaari. The only
other words she'd caught in the transmission before the screen
turned to white, crackling static were "Niriian" and "Ham-
gaan)." She did recognize the race of the creature who'd ap-
peared on her com screen. He "was from the planet Nirii—the
Niriians "were regular trading partners of the Linyaari.

13

Acorna scanned the frequencies, trying to pick up the signal
aeain, but to no avail. Becker put his hand over hers and
pointed. She followed his finger and saw that the screens of the
long-range scanners he used to detect possible salvage showed
blips of white light in several locations. One of them was backed
by a mass of green light. "There," he said. "There's a solid mass
under that one. According to the readout, it's a small planet
with an oxygen-based atmosphere. If the ship was seeking ref-
uge, that would be the most likely place in this sector of space
to retreat to. Let's go see what we can find."

Acorna nodded. "Yes, I see what you mean. Given the di-
rection of the signal's probable source, it is likely that the sal-
vage is the distressed vessel whose broadcast we just received.
The LAANYE translated the last word before the message was
interrupted to mean 'Mayday.' Possibly the signal we inter-
cepted was a general one sent as the ship's systems were failing
during some sort of accident or attack. I feel sure we received
it only because we were within range of their emergency trans-
mitters. If the signal had been meant for us, the broadcast
would have been in Galactic Standard or in Linyaari."

Becker shrugged. "Yep. That's the way I've got it figured.
Don't get your hopes up, though. We're probably not going to
find the cowboy who was transmitting the mayday alive, or
anybody else. None of those blips on the scanners look like an
intact ship. But we may be able to tell what got him from the
fragments. The time stamp on the message is a couple of days
ago—if the problem was indeed an attack instead of an accident,
whatever nailed them seems to be long gone."

So we will check the situation out and report exactly -what
happened to the Federation?" Acorna asked.

Yeah, eventually," Becker said. "But mostly -we'll know
what to avoid ourselves."

14   ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

Intricately twisted vines and stems joined and twined,
braided, knotted, and separated before bursting into jewel-toned
rainbows of richly hued blossoms, reminding Acorna of pictures
she had seen of the illustrated borders in Celtic holy books from
ancient Earth. Except that this vegetation was no mere border,
but a lush tropical jungle so interconnected that it was impossi-
ble to tell where one plant stopped and the next began.

At first, the tangle of plant life looked impassible. She, Cap-
tain Becker, RK, and Aari had stood on the lowered platform
of the robolift, overwhelmed by the sight of it. Becker was
fingering the sharpened blade of his machete while Aari held
the portable scanner, waiting for it to indicate the hiding place
of the large piece of salvage that had shown up on the Con-
dor's screen.

Acorna was busy cataloging the minerals and elements that
made up this planetoid. She had already notified the others that
no breathing apparatus would be required—the atmosphere was
void of any substances lethal to carbon-based life forms and far
richer in oxygen than Kezdet or narhii-Vhiliinyar, and the soil
was as rich in nitrogen. Of course, that was just her scientific
opinion. In practice, once she was actually faced with it, the air
was so heavily scented with the aromas of the flowers it felt
too thick to breathe, laden with a heady mixture the like of
which she had never smelled before. She detected elements of
the incenses that had perfumed Uncle Hafiz's palace, like cinna-
mon, cloves, vanilla, and the kind of human cooking known as
baking, and also smells like mint, rose, violet, lavender, garde-
nia, and lily of the valley, but all were much deeper and mixed
together with new scents—things she'd never smelled before.
The end result was so intense that it almost took on substance
and color.

Captain Becker said the place reeked like a high-priced
bawdy house, •which seemed to please him. Aari had sniffed
curiously. "I have no basis for ascertaining the validity of your

<A.corna's 'World 15

comparison, Joh, but I defer to your knowledge of such mat-
ters." For their excursion dirtside, Aari had removed his
Holmesian baseball caps and pipe in favor of a colorful scarf
tied around the top of his head and a plaskin patch, inked
black, over one of his eyes. Acorna deduced, Watson-like, that
he had been reading Treasure Inland and -was assuming a piratical
disguise in lieu of his Holmes persona. Though he was giving
the soil a very Holmesian inspection, what he could see of it
from where they stood.

Soil was clearly foremost in RK's mind, too. The ship's cat
leaped off the platform and hopped through the vines—which
parted, almost as if the cat's reputation had preceded him, to
allow him to pass easily through them. The roots and trailers
along the ground seemed to shrink away as RK pawed the soil,
turned his back on his work, and deposited his own ecological
contribution to the planet.

Acorna started after the cat but Becker touched her arm
and said, "Wait. Let us see if he gets out again okay."

The cat pawed backward to cover his work but the vines
and other ground cover were already creeping back across the
pile. Roadkill looked behind him, saw that this -was happening,
gave a little shake that could have been a cat's version of a
shrug, and bounded back through the path that had cleared for
him on his way in. He then hopped up onto the robolift plat-
form and proceeded to wash his whiskers, as if they had been
somehow affected by his previous chore.

"Okay, then," Becker said.

"That way, Joh," Aari informed him after consulting the
scanner, and pointed in the direction from which the cat had
just come.

"Well, then, onward." Becker raised the machete in one of
the dramatic gestures he was fond of and pointed. RK leaped
to his shoulder and the four of them dismounted the platform.
As they set out, the jungle growth shrank even further away

16  ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

this time, leaving a wide lane open before them. It gave Acorna
an odd feeling to see the plants moving and shifting out of their
way. Becker walked over to one side and raised the machete
to hack at a thick stalk, but the stalk bent in the middle to
retreat from him.

"Wait, Captain," Acorna said. "The plants seem to be trying
to accommodate us by getting out of our way. It hardly seems
right to cut them."

Becker gave her a look. "Yeah, well, we don't know how
long it will take us to find the ship. And we don't know what
•wrecked it. We might be looking at the cause of the trouble
right now. How do we know these plants "won't close up around
the Coru)or and bury it so deep we -won't be able to get it loose
again? They're several stories high, after all. We -wouldn't even
be able to see the suns if they had decided not to part for us."

"I think 'decided' is a relevant term in this case," she said.
"These plants seem to have some kind of limited sentience, or
at the very least the ability to react quickly to stimuli. I think
it might be wise to sheathe the machete. Maybe we had better
not make them angry. Besides, we could find the ship with the
portable scanner, couldn't we?"

"Yeah, but I always like to have a backup plan," Becker
said, -while putting the long knife away.

Aan dug in the pocket of his shipsuit and pulled out a ball
of shining thread. "I have just the thing, Joh." He tied one end
to the robohft and held the rest in his hand. "We can leave a
trail behind us, like Theseus seeking the Minotaur in the laby-
rinth. This also works very well in eaves when searching for
lost cascades of gold and jewels."

"Caskets, buddy," Becker said.

"As you wish," Aan agreed amiably, and began unrolling
his ball of string.

"Ow," Becker said as his shoulder -was punctured by the
claws of the suddenly hyper-alert ship's cat, -who hunkered

17

down and switched his brindled gray and black tail, his ears
perked and his eyes intently following the gleaming thread as
it unwound behind Aari. "Belay that, mister," Becker said.

The cat immediately leaped from Becker's shoulder to
Aari's. "Aaargh," Aari said, rolling his as instead of his rs.
"Avast there! It is my faithful paro, Pol."

RK made a dive for the thread. Acorna intercepted the cat
and received a few scratches for her trouble.

"I am sorry, Khornya," Aari said. "I think Riid-Kiiyi does
not wish to be a paro."

"It's all right," she said, cuddling RK up close to her body
and scratching him gently under the chin. He immediately aban-
doned his quest to play with the string in favor of purring and
rubbing the side of his face against her skin.

The small party set out into the jungle. The vegetation now
made a path as wide as the Coru)or, the stalks bending almost
flat to avoid contact with the people passing among them. The
heady fragrance turned to an acrid stench.

"Sheesh," Becker said, holding his nose. "What are these,
skunk vines?"

Acorna looked around. "No. They are the same sort of
plants as the rest, but see how the flowers are closing up and
the scent they are emitting is changing? It is as if they are
afraid of us."

"Hmmm, well, it does smell like the last guy who tried to
gyp me out of some money he promised me," Becker admitted.
He leaned closer to a stalk and the stench grew stronger.
"Joh, don't," Aari said.

"Just testing," Becker said. "Sony, plants. No harm
intended."

Aari was busy unwinding twine with one hand and holding
the scanner with the other. "It should not be far now, Joh,"
he said. "The salvage is just ahead."

An opening in the canopy was visible before them, and

18   ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

Acorna saw a long cylindrical pod lying among some twisted
and charred stalks right in their path.

Becker prodded it and turned it over. Beyond it, they could
see other bits of the downed ship visible among the stalks.
Although there was nothing overtly useful in the wreckage they
could see, Becker decided he wanted to haul all of the pieces
back to the Condor. "We might be able to figure out why the
Niriians sent the mayday," he said. "Maybe find some clue to
•who exactly they were, what kind of trouble they were in, who
attacked them." He scratched his head. "Don't think that this is
a normal part of my business, Acorna, because it's not. Finding
wrecked ships, yes, but not stumbling on the wreckage before
it's cold. And I have a funny feeling about this one."

"Me, too," Acorna said.

Aari looked up, surprised at their words. "I apologize, Joh,
Khornya. I did not realize that you had not understood the
Hamgaar()'s, broadcast. I would have translated it for you if I'd
known."

"Hamgaart)?" Becker asked.

"That is the name of the Niriian ship that broadcast the
message that brought us here. Niriians have been trading part-
ners of my people for many, many years. Like us, they are a
nonaggressive race. Before I—before my brother was lost—I
traveled on more than one trading mission to Nirii."

He turned away, stepping over nearer pieces of wreckage
to retrieve others farther from the ship.

Acorna noticed as she picked up the fragments of ship that
they were sticky with some reddish fluid. At first she thought
it was blood, but then she saw that it was actually more of a
deep amber in color and far too transparent to be either human
or Linyaari blood. It was clearly the source of the acrid smell
they had noted earlier, and she wrinkled her nose. "Phew," she
told Becker. "This is what is causing the stink."

Becker looked more closely at the damaged vines all around

19

them, gleaming with redness that Acorna had not noticed in the
plants nearer the ship. "I think you're right. Look there. They're
weeping this stuff."

Acorna looked. The redness ran down the stalks, pooled at
the base of the stems, and was slowly encroaching on the
wreckage.

"We're going to have to give this stuff a good scrubbing,"
Becker said disgustedly.

Aari was looking, too, and nodding. Then all of a sudden
he turned toward them, leaped over the wreckage, and ran back
to the ship as fast as Acorna had ever seen him run.

"Hey, buddy, wait up, -what is it?" Becker asked as they
chased after their friend, but Aari was back on the robolift
platform before they could catch him, curled up in a fetal posi-
tion on the very center of the platform, his eyes tightly closed,
and his entire body shaking. Sweat and tears ran off his face
and wet the deck beneath him. RK dabbed at him -with an
experimental paw and then looked up at Becker, wide-eyed.

Becker raised the robolift and he and Acorna shepherded
Aari back to his bunk. "You stay here with him," Becker told
her. "I'll get the KEN unit to help me load the cargo."

Acorna had leaned against Aari so that he was in contact
with her horn all the time they were loading him and he was
quieter now. His trembling had stopped and he was no longer
sweating. Her healing abilities worked to some degree with
mental as well as physical wounds, but she was learning that
she had limits. There was only so much she could do with
deeply embedded psychological injuries, particularly with Aari.

When he'd been tortured, his survival had depended on
being able to escape mentally to a place where the Khieevi
tortures couldn't touch him. Unfortunately, when he was in
deep pain, he still retreated to that place. Acorna couldn't reach
him there, and the healing power of her horn could not touch
him either.

20  ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

She tried, but she could not read Aari's thoughts, 'which
were jumbled and incoherent. But the feelings that rolled from
him were all too clear—deep dread, loathing that was ka-
Linyaan in its repulsion. It was as if Aan had been flung down
into some dark and nightmarish place he could not escape from.
He no longer knew where he was or who was with him. She
could only hold him, her horn buried in his mane up tight
against his scalp, trying to exude enough soothing energy to
overpower the spiraling horror that gripped him in its vortex.
Time seemed to slip away as she tried to give Aan some relief
from the mental demons that gripped him. And then, as she
reached the point of exhaustion, everything slipped away from
her and the world faded to black.

When Becker returned to the main deck, he and the KEN
unit both sticky with the foul-smelling sap, he looked in to see
that Aari and Acorna both slept, she with her arms wrapped
tight around him, he at last relaxed, though his face was still
damp with tears. Becker saw that Acorna's golden horn -was
looking a little transparent, as if the effort of trying to comfort
Aan had drained her healing energy. Past experience had taught
him that this was how it -was with Linyaari who pushed their
limits of endurance. He had seen that all too clearly from the
effects of the tortures inflicted on captured Linyaari by Edacki
Ganoosh and Admiral Ikwaskwan. But normally it took a long
time and a lot of injuries to deplete a horn to any degree. The
fact that Acorna's horn was already translucent instead of a
healthy gold told him that poor old Aari had to be in a world
of hurt.

RK, who had spent the time Becker and the KEN unit used
to round up the salvage getting the sap off his fur, plopped
himself within the tangle of Linyaari feet and buried his face
in his own paws. The cat had apparently decided that a vigil
was in order.

21

Becker looked at Acorna lying there, and thought that if
her knuckles weren't already so pale they'd be white from hang-
ing on to Aari. She was clutching him like a lifeline. He was
hurting, and she "was bound and determined that he -was going
to stop hurting. That was all very well on the surface, but
Becker -wasn't sure Aari was ready to be out of pain, or ready
to let Acorna in to heal him. He wasn't sure that, even with
the Linyaari's legendary psychic abilities, Acorna had enough
experience of men to understand how complicated her caring
for Aari could be for both of them.

He touched Acorna's shoulder gently and -woke her, so that
she turned toward him and relaxed her grip on Aari. He didn't
need to do anything else. As soon as she saw -where she -was
and what she -was doing, she rose, not as if she -were ashamed,
but like she knew it -was the prudent thing to do.

"He was very frightened of something out there," she said.
"Khieevi must have attacked that ship, Becker. Aari's mind was
screaming about the Khieevi, and he was reliving his torture
when they captured him again. It was very hard for him."

"It was no picnic for you, either, Princess. Better hit your
berth and strap in. I'll strap him in, too. I've got all the salvage
stowed. We can look at it at our leisure once we're back in
space. I don't want to sit down here any longer than necessary
and give those plants time to get so relaxed about having the
CorSor among them that they decide to make us part of the
scenery. Know -what I mean?"

It was an image she could visualize all too well. She nodded
sleepily and stumbled off to her berth.

When at last the SharazaS returned to Maganos
C^ "r          Moonbase bearing a triumphant Hafiz Hara-

kamian and a host of others, Rafik Nadezda
was so relieved to see the old pirate he could scarcely be-
lieve it.

While the ground crew tended to unloading the ship and
servicing it, Rafik walked beside the Harakamians to the tran-
sit lounge, which was the most luxurious of the quarters at
Maganos Moonbase. The soundproofed facility, with its deep
carpets and soft, comfortable divans and chairs in the lounge,
fully equipped business suites and conference rooms, had been
designed to make a good impression on visitors, potential em-
ployers, and clients for the skills and goods that were being
offered by the base's residents. Maganos Moonbase was a min-
ing, manufacturing, and training facility set up to reeducate
the former child slaves of Kezdet. The children ran the base
as a business, and were responsible for its financial and educa-
tional successes. The moonbase had been built -with money
rrom both Hafiz Harakamian and Acorna's other benefactor,
Delzaki Li, as well as with reparations seized from Kezdet's
kingpin of the child-slavery operations, Baron Manjari. But it

24  ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

•was the children's job to ensure that the investment was a
profitable one.

Now the former child slaves rushed up the gangway con-
necting the ship and gantry to the transit facility. They greeted
the Harakamians and the ship's other passengers with cheerful
familiarity that Rafik was pleased to see Hafiz apparently took
as a compliment. He smiled and waved and spoke a word or
two to some of the children he recognized from previous visits.

Hafiz looked somewhat trimmer and fitter than he had -when
last Rafik had seen him. It was possible that this new trimness

•was owing to Hafiz's marital exertions with his bride, but if so,
the old man was a considerate as •well as an energetic lover.
His new bride, her ample form flatteringly draped in an expen-
sive drift of violet and orchid silk embroidered with gold to
accentuate her not inconsiderable bustline and hips, had not
diminished by one curve or chin, and glowed with contentment.

As Hafiz embraced him, Rafik thought there was a renewed
vigor and purposefulness to the old man's step as well, a gleam
of reinforced steel in his eye and grip.

"You look well, my uncle," Rafik remarked.
"Nearly being killed a thousand times can do that for a man
of action, 0 son of my heart," Hafiz replied with a dismissive

•wave of his hand, to indicate that real men of action knew this
thing and found it beneath them to make too much of it.

"You were magnificent, my hero," Karina said, and turned
to Rafik, -white gold carousels glittering with amethysts and blue
diamonds swinging from each ear beneath the light veil she
wore over her dark hair. She gestured dramatically with heavily
bennged hands, and the jewels at her neck and bosom heaved
with pride as she lauded her husband. "He was a lion! He
saved a shipload of children as •well as most of Acorna's rela-
tives!" Her hands fluttered down to cling like plump -white
doves to her husband's arm. She batted her eyelashes and

25

looked up at Hafiz adoringly—no small feat since she -was an
inch and a half taller than he.

"So -we have heard from the Starfarers, Uncle," Rafik said.
"They, too, are here on Maganos, recuperating."

"Are they? That is good. That is very good indeed. It fits
in with my plans exactly," Hafiz said.

"Plans?" Rafik said.

"All in the proper time, most beloved of nephews. I don't
suppose you have a few small viands at hand to comfort
weary travelers?"

After Hafiz and Karina had been comfortably ensconced on
a well-padded divan and refreshments ordered, and Rafik had
seated himself in the throne-like carved chair opposite them,
Rafik asked, "Back to the plans you spoke of, my uncle. Tell
me more of them." The old man might have officially retired
from the business, but when he stopped scheming, Rafik would
know that Hafiz had stopped breathing.

Hafiz clapped his hands together and shook them for em-
phasis. "They are splendid plans, most splendid plans indeed,
0 son and heir of my heart! Thanks to your efforts and those
of your partners to rid the universe of our enemies, our Linyaari
friends and the relatives of our dear niece Acorna are opening
their hearts to us, and perhaps their purses as -well. But they
are, as you know, very shy. And our beloved niece, appointed
by her people to represent them in trade, wishes for a time to
travel with the estimable Captain Becker and his intriguingly
tragic new first mate."

"Ye-es?" Rafik said. "Some of the Starfarers have men-
tioned another Linyaari—a hornless one. They say he survived
the Khieevi, but surely—"

"Survived he has, indeed! A worthy man in many ways,
rrom what I have seen of him. But that is neither here nor
there, he -waved his hand dismissively.

26   ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

Karma captured Hafiz's -waving hand with her own ring-
laden one.

"Actually, nephew of my husband," she said, "the point is,
that it is not here but there that Acorna wishes to stay for a time
at least. Your uncle, benevolent and kindhearted patriarch that
he is, wisely has chosen—with my help, of course—to view this
circumstance not as an obstacle to our future trade with the
Linyaan, but as an opportunity."

Rafik raised an eyebrow politely.

Hafiz slipped Karina's hand through the crook in his elbow
and patted it. "Can you guess what I intend, scion of my
house?"

"I believe there is no need for me to hazard such a guess,
0 founder of my fortune, as it appears you can barely contain
your wish to tell me all about it."

"Even so, my boy, even so. I will give you a hint. Is it not
written that if the profit cannot go to the mountain, the moun-
tain shall go unto the profit?" Tea and kaf arrived, along with
cool bowls of sherbet that had been flown in from Hafiz's main
compound at Laboue in anticipation of his arrival, and many
assorted pastries and savory morsels. The lounge began to fill
up with people from the ship and those who had come to greet
them, among them the Starfarers, many of whom now were
young adults. The Starfarers were permanently planetless space
travelers, their ship serving them as world, country, state, city,
and family home all rolled into one. Rafik waited patiently until
everyone had exchanged greetings, then steered conversation
back to the matter at hand.

"The profit will go to the mountain. ... So it is written in
the third of the three books by the third of the three prophets,
Uncle," Rafik said with a respectful inclination of his dark and
handsome head. Then he looked up sharply, a smile dawning
on his face. "Uncle, surely you do not intend to . . .? No! I
can see that you do." He was not really as shocked as he

27

sounded, but he enjoyed watching his uncle's pleasure in his
reaction. "But how? Is not the Linyaari homeworld still closed
to visitors?"

"It is," Hafiz said.

"Then how? Surely you would not risk offending them and
endangering our business, not to mention our relations with
Acorna's people, by violating their privacy?"

"Absolutely not, my son! That would be unthinkable. Incon-
ceivable. We will, of course, wait for an invitation—which will
naturally not be that long in coming. In the meantime, however,
•we will undertake an enterprise so courageous, so farsighted,
so monumental, that the fame of House Harakamian will rise
like the proverbial djinn from the proverbial smoke of the pro-
verbial bottle, and bring with it all of the riches, the luxury,
the beauty, and the bounty that accompany such great good

fortune."

"You mean to establish a branch of House Harakamian
beyond Federation space, my uncle?"

Hafiz spread his hands this time, indicating his innate gener-
osity. "Someone must, my son. These people are surely lacking
all that we have to offer and possibly are unaware that they
are even in need of it! How will they know unless we show
them what they are missing? And the Linyaari are shy. Had it
not been for their need to warn other innocent races about the
Khieevi, they might never have ventured into Federation space,
might never have found Laboue or Maganos Moonbase. While
it is true they might one day venture out of their territory again,
an enterprising businessman does not leave such matters to time
and chance any more than a doting parent would the happiness
01 his adoptive daughter. We are in good odor with the Linyaari
at present—"

"Due to the bravery and innovation Hafiz showed in the
rescue of all of their important space traveling people," Karma
P^it in, looking up at her spouse with adoration.

28  ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

"True, true," Hafiz said. "I covered myself with glory, it is
true. But in my experience, gratitude is an ephemeral commod-
ity, and the memory of those who are indebted to one is even
more so. Therefore, we must move with the swiftness of a desert
storm if we are to take maximum advantage of our past good
works. We must organize our exhibitions, the travel for our
exhibitors, sales and support staff, security, et cetera, et cetera,
et cetera."

"Nadhari Kando might be available for security," Rafik said.

"Excellent! I am glad you concur. She has been traveling
with us. She should be joining us here soon, as a matter of fact,
but she wished first to oversee certain arrangements aboard the
SharazaD before we set off again."

Karina placed her silver gilt fingertips to her temples and
said, "Ahh—you see, Hafiz? Rafik said exactly what I foretold!"

"Indeed, my dear. Actually, nephew, Karina sensed that you
would wish to employ that formidable lady, so I have already
offered her command of the outpost's guard and given her full
rein to recruit her own staff."

"It is well, my uncle, Madame Karina," he said with a
courtly inclination of his head to his 'aunt.' Hafiz's bride had a
gift for "sensing" matters that she would have had to be coma-
tose not to know, but she made Hafiz happy, and for this Rafik
was prepared to regard her "powers" with tolerance, if not with
the awe she seemed to think they should invoke in him.

Hafiz continued. "If we are to be beyond Federation assis-
tance, I will want the best people, even^ if Nadhari has to lure
them away from Federation forces, and naturally she will re-
quire the latest and most effective weaponry as well. And she
is one who may be trusted to acquire what is needed with the
utmost discretion and dispatch."

"True," Rafik agreed.

"Your partner and your senior wife, the ugly one, will be

29

required, as well as your current light of love and her illustri-
ous km."

Rafik grinned. Hafiz's mention of Rank's senior, ugly wife
was an inside joke. Back when Rafik had been a space miner,
he and his partners—Calum Baird and Declan "Gill" Giloglie—
had found the infant Acorna adrift in space, saved her from
certain death, and raised her. The first time the three miners
and Acorna had approached Hafiz together, in order to keep
Hafiz from attempting to "collect" Acorna as a "rare specimen,"
Rafik had veiled and robed both Acorna and Calum and pre-
sented them as his wives. He'd told his uncle he had converted
to Neo-Hadithianism, a radical fundamentalist branch of the
True Faith that permitted and even encouraged polygamy. He
had counted on his uncle's respect for his nephew's "wives" to
protect Acorna from acquisition. It hadn't worked, and before
their visit was over Acorna had been revealed for what she was
and Calum for what he was. But before Hafiz could resort to
anything too nefarious in his quest to acquire Acorna, he had
learned that Acorna was not a one-of-a-kind creature, but only
one among many of a populous alien race. Consequently Hafiz
had lost interest in Acorna as an acquisition, and learned to
value her as an adopted niece. Calum, however, had never quite
lived down posing as the senior, very ugly, wife.

I'm sure they will be most eager to assist in this endeavor,
Uncle. However, there is the small matter of Maganos Moon-
base to manage, the education of the children ..."

Details! Such ideas as mine are as the towering pyramids
of the ancients, not to be smothered in the details as numerous
as grains of sand. Bring the children! Let them learn! They can
staff the new businesses, apprentice themselves to the artisans
and technicians, provide support. It will be a marvelous experi-
ence, an unparalleled learning experience for them!" He consid-
ered. "Also, many of the elder ones have already learned how
to set up artificial atmospheres and life support systems on life-

30  ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

less rocks such as this one was prior to its transformation. Their
previous training -will, no doubt, be helpful—"

"In which case, they should be paid," said Calum Baird,
joining them with a mug in his hand, into which he poured
a fresh infusion of tea from the tray between Rank and the
Harakamians.

"Like all who join us, the students will be suitably taken
care of," Hafiz said. "Food, lodging, travel, richly rewarding
associations, toys for the young ones ..."

Calum rubbed the thumb and first two fingers of his right
hand together in a time-honored gesture used for many genera-
tions by his canny Celtic ancestors. "The ready, Hafiz. If the
children are to learn business, they must also learn to manage
their own money. To do so, they need to earn some. If they
are to -work, they must have a share of the profits. And even
at that, I'm not sure "we should allow it. To take innocent chil-
dren beyond the protection of the Federation!"

"Ah, yes," Karina said, regarding him with one of those
flashes of sudden shrewdness that lurked like sharks beneath
the fathomless sea of mysticism with •which she drenched most
of her utterances. "I heard how well-protected the children were
when they were employed on Kezdet as child slaves, miners,
prostitutes, human fodder for the mills of industry without
decent food or accommodation. The Federation forces protected
them so well then I really doubt the little darlings will be able
to bring themselves to part with such security."

"She has a point," said Khetala, a tall and sturdily built
young woman with dark brown skin and a serious expression.
She had entered from the gangway when the food had been
delivered, accompanied by Dr. Ngaen Xong Hoa, the meteorol-
ogist. Dr. Hoa's shyly tentative smile and the blazing intelli-
gence in his dark eyes had kept him from being completely
invisible as he and the girl silently listened to the exchanges
between the Harakamians, Calum Baird, and Rank.

31

They were not the only spectators to this conversation, even
though Khetala was the first to add her own contribution to it.
As was often the case on Maganos Moonbase, a good-sized
audience of avid listeners stood around the divan and the chair,
taking in every remark and gesticulation. Which was fine with
Rafik and which seemed to give the theatrical Hafiz and Karina
an audience to play to.

Even if the children had not been included in Hafiz's plan,
they would have been welcome to listen. They were at Ma-
ganos Moonbase to learn not only useful trades but also all of
the other survival skills necessary to living independently and
well, skills which could not be acquired in an atmosphere of
adult secrecy or adult superiority. The kids needed to under-
stand strategy and self-government, and they learned best by
example. They discovered how to be effective adults by watch-
ing the adults in their lives make decisions, from the beginning
of the process to the end.

Khetala, or Kheti, even more than many others, was already
respected as a teacher, an organizer, and a leader. As one of
the older, stronger children in the mines, Kheti had taken beat-
ings for many of the younger ones and shielded them, lifted
loads too heavy for them, and held them together when things
seemed hopeless. Toward the end, she had been hauled off to
the pleasure houses, and although Acorna had rescued her from
that particular pit of despair, Kheti had taken a special interest
in helping girls and women who were formerly used in those
places regain their self-respect and sense of purpose. Among
those who cared about Kezdet she was as much a legend in her
own right as Acorna. All of the adults present knew her story.

Hafiz opened his hands, palm up. "I rest my case," he said.

Dr. Ngaen Xong Hoa cleared his throat politely. "I was
Just discussing with Khetala, Hafiz, which of the children have
demonstrated an interest in meteorology. If I am to help you
tnaintain a pleasant atmosphere within the compound at your

32  ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

outpost, energetic assistance from alert young minds -would be
most beneficial." Dr. Hoa's particular specialty -was planetary
weather control.

"And we Starfarers will go into action helping set up the
communications relays you'll be needing," said Johnny Greene,
the computer communications expert of the Haven, the Starfar-
ers' ship.

"Good, then I think -we are all agreed," Hafiz said -with a
universal beam of bonhomie at all who were gathered around
him. He rubbed his palms back and forth, "We leave a skeleton
staff to keep the moonbase running, and go to seek adventure.
It is time to begin gathering what we shall need and, of course,
a few small, essential luxuries."

"Oh, goody," said Mercy Kendoro from the edge of the
gathering. "Shopping."

In far less time than anyone who had not witnessed the
power of House Harakamian in action would have supposed,
the initial supplies, provisions, and personnel were acquired,
transport was organized, and a flotilla of space vessels, headed
by the SharazaS, left several respective planets and moons, ren-
dezvoused at a point just outside Kezdet's orbit, and began a
long caravan through unmapped space toward the site Hafiz
had chosen for his new "trading post."







Since Aari was the only one who really understood
(^ "y      the language spoken in the Niriian transmission,
Becker hoped the guy would be in a better mood
when he woke up from his nap. There was no point in opening
the pod until he did. Of course, if there hadn't been anyone
aboard who spoke the language, Becker would have opened it,
hoped the LAANYE and the computer were up to the task,
and tried to figure out its secrets on his own, but right now he
could afford to wait. Aari had to wake up eventually.

Becker had other reasons to delay that task as long as possible.
Someone needed to note the original location on the planet where
each piece of salvage from the wreck had been found, as well as
where it was currently stowed aboard the Com)or, and except for RK
and the KEN unit, Becker was the only one awake. Or so he thought.

It had only been a few hours since Becker had left Acorna
sleeping next to Aari, totally exhausted. Now she surprised
Becker by walking up behind him.

I can take over again, Captain. Aari is still asleep."
Don't scare me like that. Clomp a little the next time you
Wander up behind me, okay? So how's Aari doing? You're
pretty sweet on him, aren't you?" Becker asked.

34  ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

Acorna blushed. "Captain, on narhii-Vhiliinyar people wear
shields on their horns, in part to avoid questions just like that.
He seems to be resting peacefully now. I am not sure that
'sweet' is the proper term for my feelings for him. I am very
interested in Aari, it is true, and I want to help him, as you do."

"Yeah, but I'm not his type, " Becker said, running a hand
through his grizzled gray and black hair. "I am going silver
maned, can't argue with that. But I'm not a girl." He grinned
at Acorna. Then he had a thought he hoped he was keeping to
himself. Aari did like girls, didn't he? Becker figured he did.
But there was no evidence here to go on. The guy had not
exactly been in any shape for courting during the time that
Becker had known him, nor had he mentioned any past loves,
which seemed pretty natural considering what he'd gone
through and how alone he'd been for most of his life. On the
other hand, Aari's treatment of Acorna had been brotherly,
though every so often Becker did see him watching Acorna
closely, sometimes smiling, sometimes -with a troubled expres-
sion on his face. If he saw Becker watching him, Aari would
look quickly away. And Acorna was probably unaware of Aari's
interest, if that's what it was. He always watched her when
Acorna was doing something else.

As Becker worried about his shipmates he heard Acorna let
loose a big sigh.

"I dunno, Princess, you should probably tell me to butt
out," Becker said, troubled by seeing her lovely eyes cloud.

"Oh, no, Captain, I would value your advice. My aunt in-
tended that I should find a lifemate pn narhii-Vhiliinyar but—
perhaps because most of the space travelers left early—I did
not meet anyone I liked until you came with Aari."

"You really like him or just feel sorry for him?" Becker
asked. Why did he feel so fatherly to this gorgeous young
woman—well, gorgeous young alien woman—who was taller
than he was, probably smarter than he was, and was in full

3S

possession of a number of rather spooky powers that were her
birthright and had been Aari's, too, before some of them at least
were partially looted from him. "You don't have to answer

that."

Acorna smiled and patted his hand. "I know you ask only
because you care for my happiness, Captain. You are so much
like my uncles—"

"Much better looking, of course," Becker said, huffing
through his mustache. "Way better looking than Baird."

Acorna chuckled. "They say that sort of thing about each
other all the time. I do not know what I am supposed to be
looking for, to tell you the truth, I have never done this before.
I am here because I like to be here and feel that it is time for
me to move away from both of my homes, at least for a while.
I care for Aari. Perhaps as a healer cares for her patient, but
also more than that. I have never decided before to linger be-
yond the immediate healing I can do. Something in him calls
to me. Perhaps he will be a friend of my own species, and
closer to my own age than either Grandam or Maati. Perhaps
because of Maati, who is his sister, and is almost like my own
little sister, I am here in her stead. ..."

They locked eyes and he could see that hers were disturbed
in a particular way that made his heart ache. He had fallen for
a few women over the years, but none of them -were -willing to
live for long on a salvage vessel, though a couple of them had
been quite happy to take off with everything on the vessel that
wasn't bolted down and a few things that were. They seemed
to consider him a little eccentric, too. Mostly he just had his
tavonte bawdy houses and a favorite girl or two at each when
he was in port. But nobody had ever looked at him the way
Acorna was looking when she was thinking about Aari.

Roadkill jumped onto his lap and dug all of his claws in,
purring madly. Becker sucked in a sharp breath through his
teeth and waited for the pain to subside. Then he rubbed the

36  ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

cat's thick brindled fur with his knuckles. "I don't think so,
Princess. But you know the guy has a lot of problems. And he
probably thinks a classy gal like you wouldn't like a Linyaari
with no horn."

Acorna shrugged. "I was raised by men -who had no horns.
And he will have a horn again some day. But—"

That was as far as they got before they heard Aari's foot-
steps clanking on the deck plating. He wore no disguise this
time, and he said in -what -was for him a brusque tone, "Now
let us see what else the Niriians had to say."

"Okay," Becker said, and reached for a crowbar he kept
on the bridge, just in case he wanted to pry or bash one of the
second-hand parts that was no longer working. While he was
wondering •which method would work best with the pod, he
heard a series of snaps and clicks.

Turning, he saw that Aari had opened the pod and pulled
out what looked—and smelled—like the slimiest mess of cheese
Becker had ever seen. It was full of holes, covered in places
with green moldy luminescent stuff, and had the fragrance-
well, RK had the right idea when he backed up to it and started
making shoveling motions with his feet.

Aari grinned up at Becker, showing his rather large teeth
in a way that could be intimidating if the guy -was pissed.

"What is that?" Becker asked.

"Niriian organic technology," Aari said. "They have devel-
oped ways to use products of their own bodies, slightly chemi-
cally altered, for functions some peoples achieve with inorganic
materials. The biotechnology does not supply all of their needs,
of course, but with the properly stabilized balance of biological
components and nutrients, quite sophisticated functions, includ-
ing information storage and retrieval and energy generation,
may be performed by ... lifeforms . . . such as these."

"Yeah, but how do you plug it in?"

Aari laughed. "You don't plug it in, Joh! But it is legible—

37

nreanically-based arrays can provide a remarkably compact
form of data storage. Its contents are accessible in an orderly

fashion."

"Oh, sure. Mold and mildew and slime on Limburger
cheese—I had an accountant like that one time. Real orderly.
Acorna, sweetheart, can you do anything about the stench
with—you know?" He was trying to be delicate, pointing at
her horn while Aari's head was bent back over the cheesy thing.

"What do you use to retrieve the data?" Acorna asked.

"Yeah, whaddaya use? An ice cream cone?" Becker asked.

Aari rolled his eyes. "No, Joh. The usual scanner the com-
puter uses to examine and analyze objects."

"The Anscan? I don't quite get how that would do the trick,
buddy, but whatever you say—hey, you're not putting that
thing on my console, are you?" Becker asked. He was not nor-
mally all that fastidious, but that smell was more alien invasive-
ness than he could handle. And the Anscan was expensive.

Acorna set the pod upright and Aari returned the cheese
to it.

Then they set the -whole gizmo on the console. Aari pulled
the Anscan over to where its probe could read the structure of
the cheese.

"That is not what that delicate piece of equipment was engi-
neered to do!" Becker said.

"The Niriians know that, Joh. Though it is true they have
not probably encountered this particular piece of equipment,
but they and their trading partners have similar technology and
they have developed this device so it will work by this means.
Ihere have been many fascinating seminars about how Niriian
organic devices can be used with conventional equipment—you
should access them sometime."

Why couldn't they just get electronics like everybody else
then?" Becker grumbled. He was getting a little lightheaded,
trying to hold his nose so he didn't breathe in those fumes.

38  ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

"Because this piiyi is cheaper, more efficient, and entirely
homegrown for the Niriians," Aari answered, now using the
keyboard to open the interface between the Anscan and ship's
computer and corn unit.

If Becker wasn't actually astonished to see a bovine two-
horned Niriian appear on the corn unit screen, he "was at least
mildly flabbergasted.

"I'll be darned. That cheese Dou work, just like you said."

"It is a piiyl, Joh."

"It is a pee-yew as far as I'm concerned, but—"

Acorna put her hand to her mouth and made a hushing
noise and they listened again to the broadcast.

"Can we stop it and start it so you can translate for us,
buddy?" Becker asked.

"Yes. The piiyl forms a permanent linear archive, but access
to information can be controlled by your . . . Anscan."

"Okay. Stop it then. What did he just say?"

"The same thing as before. It was a recorded broadcast, a
call for help, what you call a mayday. Their ship was under
attack. They identified themselves and gave their location, but
the coordinates they listed were far from here and even farther
from their home planet."

"Does it say who attacked them and why?" Becker asked.

"Not here."

"Okay, let's see if there's anything else on that monstrosity."

"Undoubtedly, Joh. The pliyi is a high-density storage
device."

"Dense with stench . . . that I'll agree •with," Becker
muttered.

Aari went back to work. Once the static had cleared, a
Niriian face appeared and began speaking. After a few seconds,
Becker asked what it was saying.

"It is the ship's log. I believe we are receiving the last entry
first. It is hard to tell, exactly, Joh. This is a different speaker—

39

probably the captain. His dialect is difficult to follow. Wait!
Yes! By the Niriian calendar they were transmitting—ummm,

you would say, five days ago.'

Aari had made his answer quickly, and quietly, keeping one
ear focused on the Niriian voice as it droned on.

"Ah, yes." Aari said. "He says that he and his crewmates
were on a scouting expedition. You know, Niriians are always
looking for greener pastures—like us, they are a grazing people,
but they are a rather more numerous race than the Linyaari.
He is referring to an earlier entry in the log, something about
a very fertile planet and then, disappointingly, signs of previous
colonization—no, present colonization. Very, very small signs.
One—pod? Does he mean this one? No, he is saying
something . . . something about Linyaari."

He shut it down and turned to them, his eyes wide. "Joh,
he was saying something about a dwelling place, and a small
downed Linyaari vessel, but it was not near where they detected
the mammalian life signs. His accent is too thick, Joh."

Acorna said, excitement barely controlled in her voice, "This
sounds very important. Perhaps we should forward all this in-
formation back to narhii-Vhiliinyar, where some of the Starfar-
ers who have spent time on Nirii can translate it more
accurately than we can. In the meantime, we can use Aari and
the LAANYE to try to understand the rest of what is being
said. I wonder who attacked the ship. . . . And I wonder if the
Niruans really found stranded Linyaari outside our normal
trade routes and, if so, how our people came to be there?"

If it was an escape pod, maybe the Linyaari got to the
planet in question the same way you told us you reached the
human galaxy—you know, ejecting from a ship in trouble."
Becker offered.

Acorna's expression became so intense, her mouth so set,
ana Ihere was such a determined look in her eyes that Becker
thought she might be hoping somehow that there had been two

40  ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

life-support pods after all in the space ship her parents had
been on, that perhaps they had escaped. He felt obligated to
point out to her that it wasn't the most likely possibility.

"We need to get those coordinates and do a little searching
ourselves," he said. "They could be people who escaped Ga-
noosh's and Ikwaskwan's goons when the fake Federation
troops were 'arresting' all your people."

Acorna's posture relaxed slightly, dejectedly, at that. "I sup-
pose that's what it must be."

"But you're right. Your people can probably sort this out
quicker than we can, and also, maybe somebody who's been to
Nirii more recently—wasn't that where your aunt was,
Acorna?" he asked. She nodded. "Well, maybe they will know

•who to notify among the Niriian authorities to let them know
the Hamgaarf) ain't coming home no more, no more. And we
should probably do a little searching around to find out who is
responsible for taking out the Hamgaan) before we make that
report."

If he'd had a hat, he'd have taken it off and placed it over
his heart right then. He knew that the cowboy and his crew-
mates would have families -waiting for them in vain back on the
old home -world. It was one of the hazards of spacefaring that
all spacers tried not to think about.

"Yes," Acorna said. "You're right. We'll check all of the
fragments of the ship and see if any provide useful evidence.
Mean-while, -we can translate as best -we can the entire ship's
log, and -while -we're at it, take the coordinates of the place

•where they saw the escape pod."

"You're sure you don't find anything else about the attack
in there, Aari?" Becker asked.

"I will attempt to scan throughout the device for such infor-
mation." Aari turned back to the Anscan and the pay I. The
monologue broke off, there -was a screech of static, and then,
suddenly, there -were images on the screen once more.

41

Horrifying images.

"Holy cow!" Becker said. "Who the hell are the big bugs
and what are they doing—-oh, no—Cosmos on a crutch! They're
torturing that—Aari?"

Acorna's healing must have worked pretty well because Aari
spoke in a very calm, controlled voice . . . well, actually, Becker
thought, his voice was about as dead as the last fish who tried
to swim in a Kezdet river.

"Those are the Khieevi, Joh. And that is me. The Khieevi
transmitted the images of my torment to this Niriian ship."

Once the Linyaari space travelers returned, every-
C^ "V        thing should have been fine again. Everybody
should have been happy. Maati had thought that
she, at least, -would be happy. But first Aari had decided not
to stay on narhii-Vhiliinyar. And then Khornya, who had begun
to seem like a big sister to Maati, had left.

Maati felt left out because none of the space travelers she
knew wanted to talk to her about what had happened to them.
If she'd been old enough to be able to read other peoples' minds,
then maybe she wouldn't have been so lonely and alone, but
she doubted it. From the shocked, hurt, and sometimes almost
nauseous way those who had not been in space reacted when
meeting those who had been, Maati could tell that the spacefar-
crs experiences had been really bad. You could see in their
eyes that the pain lingered inside them, in spite of all the healing
ivhornya and the Linyaari doctors had attempted to do.

Because so many of the space travelers were seeking out
wandam Naadiina's counsel, since Grandam was the oldest
living Linyaari and by far the wisest, Maati couldn't even talk
Grandam. Grandam was much too busy.

It was probably better that way. Maati would have hated

44  ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

to have to admit to Grandam that she didn't feel especially
happy to see the others, not when her brother had left and then
Khornya had left, too. It might be selfish of her, but it was the
way she felt.

If the viizaar hadn't been so mean to them, Khornya and
Aari might have stayed. Maati had really started to hate the
viizaar. Hate, she knew, was not a thing a good Linyaari should
feel. It was a violent emotion and her people were supposed to
be gentle. But the viizaar was not gentle. She was mean. She
just hid it from everybody, even the people who were good
mind readers. Grandam said Liriili was a good administrator
because, since she was less sensitive than average for a Linyaari,
she could make more objective decisions.

Right. She had made one of those recently, it seemed to
Maati. She had decided Maati was an object to be pushed
around and sent here and there. Nobody even noticed how
nastily she spoke to Maati. Everybody was too busy with the
returned space travelers.

When the spacefarers weren't doing some kind of therapy,
they were in council, discussing trade agreements and that kind
of dumb stuff. Grandam was there, too. At least the council
kept ol' Liriili busy so she wasn't always yelling at or for Maati.

Although once, in front of the whole council, just because
Maati dropped a piece of hard copy she was bringing from the
doctors concerning the wellness of some of the returnees, Liriili
had snapped at her.

"Honestly, you are the clumsiest messenger I have ever had!
And the slowest! You would have never been given such a
responsible position if the council hadn't been softhearted about
you being orphaned. And now look at how you repay their
trust!"

Everybody was so preoccupied with all the important things
they were thinking of that nobody cared "when hot blood rose
to Maati's face or that her ears rang with viizaar Liriili's hurtful

45

words. She couldn't read their minds, but they could read hers,
and in former times people had always been kind. But now
nobody cared what one little flunky felt. They were worrying
about the grievous hurts their scientists, diplomats, teachers,
and traders had suffered.

A hundred faces -watched impassively as Maati bent to pick
up the paper and hand it to Liriili, who snatched it from her
hand. Maati would have been even more humiliated if she
thought they -were really paying any attention, but clearly al-
most every single one of them had used the distraction to get
lost in his or her own thoughts. Thoughts she couldn't read.

In times past, Liriili would have her stay close by during
council sessions, in case messages needed to be delivered to
outlying areas, but these days the viizaar couldn't wait to get
rid of her. She sent Maati out on the silliest errands, errands
that could have been handled easily enough with a beep on the
corn unit, anything to get Maati out of her sight.

Maati had recently heard VLfec^haanye-feriiii Neeva remark to
some of the others, "I wish Khornya and the young man, Aari,
had chosen to stay with us. I cannot understand what was so
urgent that they had to go collect salvage with Captain Becker."

The notion had crossed Maati's mind that ^he knew exactly
who had made them feel like outcasts and made their lives
miserable enough to drive them away. Just as that thought
crossed her mind the viizaar's voice had cut through her musings
like a laser.

Obviously our Khornya was attracted to the boy and they
wished to be alone together without the weight of custom that
^as unfamiliar to Khornya and that, frankly, the boy is too
unstable to deal with at this time. Maati, our water has grown
quite stale. Please go fetch some more and see to it that this is
^sposed of."

Maati barely stopped herself from saying, "What do you think
YOU have a horn on your head for anyway? Freshen it yourself!"

46  ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

But that would really cause trouble. The half-formed thought alone
brought a hard stare from Liriili. But Maati was a messenger, not
a—a—some kind of a subspecies to be ordered to do busy work
because the viizaar felt like exercising her authority.

Just when Maati thought it couldn't get any worse, the
Ancestors—the one-horned four-leggeds who were one of two
species from which, back in the time before the Beginning,
the Linyaari had ultimately been formed—sent for Grandam
Naadiina. They insisted that she bring with her the space travel-
ers who continued to suffer from nightmares and other emo-
tional ills, despite the healings of their families and physicians.
All were to attend the Ancestors in their hilly home. The per-
sonal attendants of the Ancestors called the occasion a "retreat."
Maati thought of it as an abandonment.

No sooner had Grandam and the others disappeared from
sight than the viizaar sent for Maati and informed her that,
during Grandam's audience with the Ancestors, the viizaar could
not allow a young girl to remain alone in the pavilion she shared
with Grandam. Therefore, Maati would be given a guest mat in
the viizaar's tent and would sleep there until Grandam returned.

"That way you will be handy in case I need you," the Viizaar
said with a false smile. What she really intended -was to keep
her own eye on Maati. Every time Maati wanted to go visit
with someone, or -was asked to graze with a group of other
youngsters, Liriili invented some urgent errand for Maati to
carry out.

Maati finally realized that the only way she could have time
away from the viizaar was if she did what the viizaar was already
accusing her of, and dragged her heels on certain errands.

Like her last one. Late in the evening, in the middle of a
downpour, she had been sent to the spaceport to take Tharimye,
-who was on com-shed duty, a basket of hand-plucked greens
prepared for him personally by the viizaar. A little note was
attached to make sure he knew how he was favored.

Uorn-a's 'World. 47

When she'd handed him the basket, though, Thariinye had
groaned. "Oh, no," he'd said.

Maati shook the water from her mane and peered into the
basket. "What's the matter? Don't you like those sorts? Because
I'm not going to take them back to her. My feet are sore. She
keeps me running day am) night now. I'm tired." She flopped
back into the second corn-console chair and sprawled.

"I'm sorry, little one. You want any of these? They're per-
fectly good grasses. I'm just not, you know, wanting to accept
any favors from our lady leader."

Maati's eyes narrowed and she studied him a moment. Tha-
riinye had changed a little since he and Khornya first returned
from the galaxy of her people. He had been sooo full of himself
when they arrived, and had boasted that he and Khornya were
to be handfasted as lifemates. But later, oddly, Maati had heard
from many young females to whom Thariinye had also paid
court. They were all complaining that if only Khornya had no
claim on him, Thariinye would gladly ask them to graze with him
forever. But really, as he and Maati both very well knew, Khornya
hardly liked him at all, much less wanted him for a lifemate.
Thamnye was very handsome, if you liked the tall, slim, muscular
type, but Khornya was somehow . . . older, smarter than he
was, and she didn't like his attitude—Thariinye was a bit con-
ceited. But Maati had to admit that any male who could suc-
cessfully string along so many females who could read minds
"ad to have something going for him. A lot of nylirl, Grandam
said. Which meant something similar to courage, except that it
meant he was courageous enough to act on things he shouldn't
actually be acting on and say things he shouldn't really be
saying.

Maybe she's just letting you know she doesn't think you're
0 bad, even though those ladies complained about you wooing
°th of them," Maati ventured, with a little of her own nyliri,
'hatching him to see what he would say.

48  ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

A crack of thunder heralded a gust of wind that sent rain
splashing in huge puddles against the viewports of the com-
shed. In the distance, jagged lightning sliced through the black-
ened sky, strobing the night with brief but brilliant flashes.

Thariinye snorted and gave her a smile as phony as the one
he gave his extra girlfriends. "Such a sweet little youngling you
are, Maati. Of course she doesn't think I'm so bad. After hear-
ing all those other girls tell her what a splendid specimen of
manhood I am, she's courting me herself."

It was Maati's turn to snort. "You've been away from space
too long, Thariinye! You've got ground-sickness!" It was the
sort of joke the spacers made about ground people and ground
people made about spacers to explain their peculiarities. It was
the only thing Maati could think of, other than Thariinye's high
opinion of himself, to explain -why he would imagine that the
vllzaar capable of any softer, more female feelings at all.

"No. No. It's true. She fancies me. Always says so. Told
me she thinks I need a more experienced woman to guide me,
keep me in line, and yet be able to indulge my little flights of
independence. Youngling, that is the last thing I need. No
Khieevi will ever scare me as much as that woman!" He shud-
dered so hard his mane shook and his skin twitched.

Maati was shocked. "But Liriili is really oG>. She's almost
as old as Grandam, I bet—as old as Neeva, anyway and
you're—well, I'm just a kid and even / remember when you
•were still a dapple gray!"

Thariinye made a wry face. "Maybe you see her as being
old, but when I'm around her, Liriili acts' like a frisky filly. I
don't think narhii-Vhiliinyar is big enough for both of us."

"I know exactly what you mean," Maati replied, remember-
ing her own troubles. She wouldn't tell Thariinye about them,
though. He'd get all adult and bossy on her if she did, she was
sure. It was never a good idea to let him have the upper hand.
She had figured that out because she knew several of those silly

49

eirls he'd been involved with. As long as they didn't seem to
notice him, he sought them out and was very polite, even hum-
ble with them. But as soon as they started to like him, he didn't
care for them anymore and went trotting off after somebody
else. That was part of why he kept after Khornya even though
the two of them basically didn't get along very well.

Maati gave him a sly look, "I guess that's what you get for
being irresistible! So, all right, I'll help you get rid of your gift
if you'll pass me one of those thiiifi). They're my favorites." He
handed her one of the tender yellow-green grasses which
smelled spicy and tasted sweet with a little tang to it.

He gnawed absently on one himself. "I should have known
what she was doing when she wouldn't let me go with Neeva
and Melireenya. Now everybody who was anybody among the
space-chosen has had a traumatic experience that will probably
bond them forever, and because Liriili kept me planet-bound,
I alone was left out."

"I can see why you would be mad at her for making you
miss being mistreated until you almost died," Maati agreed.

"You're far too young to understand," he said loftily.

"Receiving transmission from the alien salvage vessel Con-
dor," a quiet computerized voice said from the corn set. "Please
stand by."

The lightning flashed again and again, the thunder crashing
Just after. Thariinye turned up the volume on the corn unit.

"We have just recovered the wreckage of a Niriian vessel,"
Aan's voice said, sounding strange and flat. "Among the ship's
artifacts is a piiyi containing the ship's log and several other
messages. Please stand by to record the material you are about
to receive." There was no visual transmission, but Maati was
pleased to hear Aari's voice, no matter how fleetingly. This
message -was evidently sent several hours ago, according to the
time stamp, so that real-time exchange of communication now
Wouldn't be possible. Maati wished she could talk to her

SO   ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

brother, but that clearly wasn't going to be possible on this
night.

"It is extremely urgent that the information on this piiyi be
fully translated and interpreted immediately by an expert in the
Niriian language. It contains evidence that the Niriian ship
made contact with the Khieevi"—Aari's voice faltered for a mo-
ment—"and prior to that perhaps discovered a Linyaari escape
pod and survivors on an uncharted planet. Once translation is
made, please respond immediately to the Condor." Aari signed
off and silence filled the com-shed.

Maati jumped to her feet. "I'll go try to find a specialist."
Looking out at the slashing rain, she hated leaving the warmth
and dryness of the com-shed.

"Where do you think you'll do that?" Thariinye said. "The
spacefarers are on retreat, remember?"

"This is important enough to call them off retreat. I mean,
if the Khieevi are involved, we'd better let Liriili know right
away. She can call them back."

"I speak excellent Niriian," Thariinye told her. "My first
off-planet mission was to Nirii and I have always been good
at languages."

"Well, that's good," Maati said. "Get started right away on
that broadcast. But Liriili will have my horn if I don't let her
know at once."

"I'll let her know. Just stay put for a naanye, will you?"

He switched to the domestic corn unit. "Vuzaar Liriili, this is
Thariinye at spaceport communications. We have just received a
message from Aari aboard the Conoor concerning a recovered
Niriian piiyi with information about a probable recent encounter
with the Khieevi as well as something or other about a Linyaari
escape pod with survivors left stranded on an uncharted planet.
We are being asked to translate and advise the Conoor of the
contents immediately."

"Then do so," Liriili said. They could only hear her voice. The

51

uiixaar did not switch on visuals at her end. She sounded grouchy
and sleepy. "You speak Niriian, do you not, Thariinye?"

"You wish me to do it, then, ma'am? You don't -wish, for
instance, to send for Melireenya or vifeShaanye-feriiii Neeva?"

Liriili's voice took on a softer lilt as she woke up enough
to realize to whom she -was speaking. "I have every confidence
in you, dear boy. If Aari's impression that there is urgent infor-
mation contained in the piiyi is confirmed by your translation,
please alert me at once. If it is indeed as important as Aari
says—though you know his experiences have made him
somewhat . . . unstable, shall we say, mst between us? —then
of course you should send the messenger girl after another ex-
pert. But I would prefer not intrude upon the retreat the Ances-
tors have declared vital to the recovery of our spacefarers unless
I feel it is absolutely necessary."

"Yes, ma'am."

"And, Thariinye?"

ftTt If   I       0 ts

Maam?

"I shall expect a personal and confidential report of your
findings in my quarters as soon as you have finished."

"Yes, ma'am." He signed off, shaking his head in frustra-
tion.

It was a good thing Liriili couldn't see Thariinye's face,
Maati thought. He gave the most awful grimace and bared his
teeth something fierce.

"You probably should go back and sleep," Thariinye told
her pompously. "I'll be too busy to baby-sit you while I have
duties to perform."

You want me to leave? In this stuff?" she asked, nodding
to the weather, which seemed to grow wilder by the moment.
-No way! I am not bailing out just when something interesting
18 anally happening. Let's have a look."

I don't think this material is fit for children," he argued.

52  ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

"If the Khieevi are in it—I have seen them in action. Trust me.
They'll give a youngling like you nightmares."

"Aari said 'urgent/ Thariinye. Don't you think you should
stop arguing with me and get to -work?" she asked.

"Are you sure Liriili isn't grooming you to be the next vii-
zaarl" he grumbled. "You're very bossy for a youngling."

"The/wi//?" she pointed to the com screen, tension twanging
through her body so hard she thought she'd snap. It worked.
Thariinye turned back to the console. She watched the visuals
and listened to the Niriian voice speaking as Thariinye began
the painstaking work of translating and transcribing the Niriian
broadcast from the beginning. Of course, he brought up a com-
puter translation of the broadcast on screen almost immediately.
But verifying the translation and interpreting the nuances of
the broadcast took time and concentration. He listened to the
alien -words •while watching the accompanying visuals and the
streaming machine translation on the corn screen. Sometimes
he would amend the machine translation, and other times he
let it proceed unchanged. Because he was working with a re-
cording, he could halt the broadcast and back it up when he
needed to. He was a lot better than she expected him to be at
the work, actually. He didn't have to stop very often, and it
was clear he took it quite seriously.

When he got to the shots of the escape pod lying in the
greenery by the makeshift shelter, Maati got a funny feeling in
her stomach. As the shot went by, she felt as if a part of her
was still there, with the pod, wherever it had landed.

She was almost sure she knew? those markings. In fact, the
•whole pod looked familiar, though it was hustling by on the
screen too fast to be sure. Even though she didn't make a sound,
Thariinye hit the stop button on the broadcast and turned to
her.

"What was that?" Thariinye said and then she knew for
sure that he was reading her.




S3

"The pod," she said. "Whose pod was that?"

"I don't know. And I'll need that information for my report.
Go look it up for me, will you? There's no one at the other
computer." He gestured to the opposite wall. All Linyaari ships
were unique, and it -was a simple matter to match the markings
to the master list of ships. She also wanted a listing of the
people aboard the ship on the date that the Niriian broadcast
indicated the shot had been taken. Lists of crews and passen-
gers, projected and actual itineraries, manufacturing and main-
tenance records—in short, anything that affected the ships
throughout their time in the Linyaari fleet could be found in
the government computers.

So compelling was her feeling of connection with the pod
that she didn't even wait to see what else was on the pdyi, but
did as Thariinye asked and opened the flight records.

She started scrolling through the files, after telling the com-
puter to check the most current entries first. Surely, she
thought, the pod belonged to one of the ships whose crew? had
been attacked by the criminals Khornya and her friends had
freed the space travelers from. But the computer didn't list the
pod as being registered to any of the ships now in active service
and currently in space. That was odd.

She expanded the boundaries of her search. And kept dig-
ging, listening to the thunder crash and crack outside while
inside the Niriian monologue mumbled away, and now and then
Thanmye would say, "To the—sanctuary? No. Hiding place?
lhats not it either—" as he tried to find the proper Linyaari
translation.

Then she heard him say something about "Khieevi" and
turned to look. She had never seen a Khieevi. She was curious,
^ a horrified sort of way. What did such vicious and voracious
^ings look like?

bhe turned her chair around to view? the screen over Tharii-
^e s shoulder. The bug-like Khieevi were only visible as feelers

54  ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

and legs and shell-like carapaces around the margins of the vid.
In the center of the screen was the main subject of the transmis-
sion. His face was distorted with blood, sweat, and agony, and
his body was even more broken than it had been when she had
first seen him. But she could not mistake her brother.

"Thariinye," she said, her voice tight with emotion, "that's
Aari! The Khieevi have Aari! What can we do? Are we too
late? We have to help him. Where are Khornya and Captain
Becker? Have they been killed already?"

Thariinye turned slightly and looked at her, his face as seri-
ous as she had ever seen it, and perhaps a bit green, too. "This
is an old vid, Maati. Probably a Khieevi broadcast to the Niriian
ship. The Khieevi like to do that—send pictures of old tortures
to the people they plan to make their next victims. Nobody
knows why. But that's what this is. Look there—see—Aari still
has part of his horn. Long slices have been carved away, but
it's there. This is what happened to him before you saw him."

She didn't recognize the emotion that was making Tharii-
nye's voice sound so strangled. Perhaps he was trying not to
throw up. Abruptly, he switched off the visuals.

Maati felt as if her heart had been clutched in a tight fist
and then suddenly released to fall thudding to the floor. Her
breath came out in a rush. "That's horrible. Horrible. Are the
Khieevi—are they coming—h-h-here?" She was stuttering now
through chattering teeth and felt cold all over, a reaction that
had nothing to do with the temperature in the room, and every-
thing to do with what she'd nist witnessed.

"No. I told you. It's an old vid. They sent this to the people
aboard the ship that carried this pliyi. Any luck on that registra-
tion design?"

"Not yet," she said, and turned back to her task with a new
sense of urgency, widening the parameters of her search. The
ordinariness of looking for information steadied her and gradu-
ally her hands stopped shaking. And, at last, there it was—the

55

design, the number, and the name of the ship that had carried
that pod. And the names of the people aboard when it shipped
out on its last flight. A chill engulfed her again.

"Th-Thariinye?"

"I'm almost done, Maati."

"B-but—Thariinye. I found it."

"Good. Just a moment."

"No, now. It's important. The ship the pod was on? It was
registered to my parents. To mine and Aari's parents. The peo-
ple on the Niriian ship found them. I thought they were dead—
but if the Niriians are correct, maybe they're not. At least, not
both of them, at least not when this pod -was found."

"That is 'wonderful," Thariinye said. "We need to let Liriili
know at once. I thought this piiyl was bad news, but it seems we
have at least one cause for celebration among the information it
brought us!" He put the final touches to his translation and
uploaded it to the vlizaar.

"We have to tell Aari and Khornya and Captain Becker,"
Maati said. "They can go get our mother and father."

"Yes, yes, but first Liriili must know. It's procedure," he
said, going all adult again. Thariinye turned back to the com
station.

He hailed Liriili and told her what they had discovered.

I just thought it prudent," he finished, "to let you know the
contents of the message before transmitting my interpretation to
the Condor."

Thank you, Thariinye. That is very interesting. In light of
your information, I think that tomorrow I shall send an emis-
^ry to the Ancestors to let them know what has been discov-
ered. However, there will be no further transmissions from the
Gom station. Not to the Condor or anywhere else."

But, honored lady! Aari, at least, should know immedi-
ately—the poj is apparently that of Aari and Maati's parents,
^o have been missing—"

56   ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

"I know that very well, Thariinye. I also know now, from
hard past experience, that any transmission we send may endan-
ger this planet. If Khieevi are out there, we will not let them
know our current location. It is simply too dangerous. The evac-
uation ships must be prepared, and steps taken for all Linyaari
to escape the planet, if necessary."

"Again?" Thariinye said. "Where will we go this time? And
what about Acorna—she and Aari are out there near the source
of the message. They sent it to us, in fact. Do they not deserve
to know what we've learned?"

"As soon as possible I will consult the aagroni and make the
decision as to where we must go. Dear boy, I know this is
difficult for you to understand," Liriili said. "But you simply
must trust my judgment. We cannot send transmissions, and
that is that. I will not put this planet in any further danger, no
matter -what. If anything else pertinent comes in, let me know."

Thariinye ended the transmission with an exasperated snort.
"I can't believe that! Can you?'

"From her? Sure," Maati said. "The question is, what are
we going to do about it?"

"We?" Thariinye asked with maddening superiority. "We
will do nothing, youngling. I, however, am going to borrow one
of the ships from the spaceport, and fly it to wherever I have
to go to so Khornya will know how much danger she and her
friends are in, and how much hope there is that Aari's parents
are still alive. And then I'll rescue your parents. If Khornya
and her friends want to come along, well, so much the better."

"I'm going, too." Maati said.

"No, you're not."

"I am, too, and you can't stop me."

"I can, too. I'm bigger, in case you hadn't noticed."

"As if you'd let me forget. But if you try to go without me,
I'll tell Liriili what you're doing in time to stop you."

57

"You wouldn't do that. You -want to save your parents and
your brother and Khornya as much as I do."

"More," Maati said firmly, crossing her arms across her
small chest. "That's why I'm going. So you don't mess it up."

"So I don't—"

"That's what I said. My family have been spacefarers for
generations, just like yours. I will do fine in space. And you
need backup. To get it, all you have to do is teach me the
controls. Two will be better than one. I think we should leave
right now."

"In this storm?"

"The ships are built to handle worse. Once we leave the
atmosphere, the weather won't be any problem, will it?"

"It's easy to see you haven't had the parental discipline
you need."

"At least I don't tell the same lie to six different girls and
expect them all to believe it and like me afterward."

Thariinye didn't say anything to that, and Maati didn't need
to be able to read minds to know she'd won.

"Come on, then. We'll take the Nilkaavri. I've been checked
out on her already and she's loaded and fueled and ready to
go. We can be out of here before anyone can stop us."

In her quarters, Liriili mentally followed Thariinye as he
and Maati boarded the Nukaavri and prepared for take-off. She
was not ignoring the threat of the Khieevi. But if the informa-
tion from the piiyl was correct, their enemies were at the far
end of the galaxy—weeks away even in the worst possible ex-
trapolation of risk, and with many likely targets between them
and the Linyaari to slow them down. Tomorrow—today, actu-
^ty, as it was early morning now, she -would send another,
rnore trustworthy messenger than Maati to the Ancestors—one
could control. She would ask for another translator, one
e would hand-pick for discretion, and when Thariinye's find-

58  ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

ings were either verified or modified, then would be time
enough to send runners to the general populace, to alert the
spacefarers, possibly even to prepare the evacuation ships if
necessary.

But at present, she felt sure the Khieevi did not know where
the new Linyaari homeworld was, and she had protected their
position by disallowing all outgoing transmissions from narhii-
Vhiliinyar. Becker's vessel was hardly a Linyaari ship, and once
the troublesome Maati and Thariinye had joined the ConSor they
could all look after each other.

The girl had become a hazard, her very existence menacing
Liriih's position by threatening to "expose" her to the spacefar-
ers for alienating Khornya and Aari. The child didn't under-
stand the delicacy of Liriili's task in leading the planet, the
careful balance that had to be maintained for the good of all.
And, as for Thariinye . . . Who did he think he was, ducking
away from her delicate overtures? He, too, was a hazard, dis-
rupting the peace of so many of the young females, and not
realizing that he obviously needed a mate who could guide him
and help him control his less responsible impulses. He blamed
her, she knew, for she could read him even when his horn was
shielded, just as if he was made of plasglas. He had wanted to
go on the Balakiire's last mission, and he thought she had robbed
him of glory. Very well, let him seek it now. Perhaps when—
and if—he returned, he would be much wiser, would under-
stand that her counsel had been for his own good. But, as for
now, her two most difficult charges were, headed off-planet,
possibly never to return. She'd sleep well tonight.

She arose the next morning at a leisurely pace, and halfway
through cleansing herself, answered the call from the spaceport
com-shed. "Yes?"

"Vuzaar, I am here to relieve Thariinye, only Thariinye is

59

. here. The equipment is on and there is a strange message
1 opine through the monitor, but Thariinye is absent."

"How strange," she said. "In this weather, where can he have
p-one? It's hardly fit outside for grazing." Thunder was once more
booming outside the pavilion and the cracks of lightning could be
seen indistinctly through the fabric of the walls. Liriili shivered
lightly, and pulled a blanket across her shoulders.

"Also, ma'am, one of the spacecraft is not in its berth."

"How strange. Was it there yesterday? Perhaps it has been
taken for repairs?"

"No, ma'am. I—wait—there u a note here from Thariinye.
He says that he and Maati—surely he cannot mean little Maati
the messenger!"

"Surely not," Liriili agreed.

"—Have gone to look for the girl's parents. He also wishes
to warn others of a Khieevi presence detected in this galaxy by
a Niriian vessel—that's the message on the com screen."

"How very extraordinary," Liriili said. "Stay at your post,

then—is it liril this morning?"

"17-      ,   ,,
Yes, maam.

"Stay at your post, liril. Be alert for incoming messages,
but under no circumstances are you to answer them. There will
be no outgoing messages of any kind from this planet until
rurther notice from me. Do I make myself clear?"

'With Khieevi in the vicinity? Yes, ma'am, absolutely."

I will send to the hills of the Ancestors and ask those
spacefarers on retreat to return for a special meeting of the
Council on this matter."

I'll be right here, ma'am. Even if we're not to respond,
^harnnye may report back to us with more information about
Ae Khieevi."

My thoughts exactly, liril," she said, and ended the
^ansmission.

60  ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

"I don't get it," Becker snapped, glowering at the corn
screen. "For six weeks that damn thing is squawking at all
hours with messages from everyone from your grandma and
your aunt, Acorna, to that—woman—who runs the place. 'Pick
us up a nice trade alliance when you go home, honey. See if
you can get us good terms on joining the Federation. And don't
forget a pint of milk and a loaf of bread while you're at it.' "

Aari and Acorna looked at each other and shrugged, then
returned their attention politely to Becker's rant.

"And now, when we have something really important to tell
them, when we need to hear back from them right away, we
get zip for a week and a half. What i) it with those people,
anyway?"

He was not the only one who wanted to know. Aari and
Acorna had spent every waking hour with the LAANYE and
the Niriian logbook, then, while sleeping, learning the nuances
of the Niriian language from the LAANYE's sleep-learning pro-
grams. They listened over and over again to the mayday mes-
sage and the ship's log entries. If the captain had given specifics
about the transmission from the Khieevi, the details of the ship's
final hours, or any findings pertaining to the location of the
vessel pictured on the verdant planet, they had not found them.
They hcu) deciphered an entry that was a personnel list of the
crew aboard the downed Niriian vessel.

The Com)or had picked up more of the wreckage of the
Niriian ship in the meantime, but very little of the equipment
•was intact.

All of them had been listening, even in their sleep, for a
signal from the corn unit, but not a single -word out of it did
they hear the entire time.

"Well, RK doesn't seem to have any opinion about this, and
normally I'd flip a coin," Becker said. "But since I have a crew
I guess I better ask—what do you guys think we ought to do?

"Do?" Aari asked. His voice was a little hoarse from disuse.

61

He and Acorna had been concentrating so hard on the transla-
tions he would have neglected to eat if Becker hadn't finally
become worried about his crewmates and tromped down to the
hydroponics deck to pluck some greenery for them. He had no
idea what a tasty or nutritious combination was composed of
but figured if they'd planted something, it was supposed to be
edible. They both took his offerings, nibbled abstractly, and
kept translating. Even after Acorna was as certain as she could
be that they had made good sense of the messages, Aari contin-
ued to go over and over them.

Acorna could not help but read the anxiety Aari was broad-
casting as surely as the com system was not. Her head pounded
-with the strain he was experiencing, as well as her own pain.
She couldn't usually read him literally, but this sense of anxiety
was more of an emotional maelstrom spinning around him and
enveloping her than a conscious stream of thought. Even Becker
and the cat were out of sorts, all from dealing with the heavily
charged atmosphere inside the ConSor.

Becker was continuing. "Yeah, what do you think we
should do—you know, as in action? Here's our options, the
way I see it. Number one," he ticked off the fingers of his right
hand with the forefinger of his left. "We head on out of here,
back to Federation space, and warn people about this. How-
ever, this area ain't Federation and they aren't going to come
all this way uninvited by the locals. Two, -we can turn around
and go back to narhii-Vhiliinyar and ask 'em face-to-face why
they aren't speaking to us. Of course, it could be that the
Khieevi's got their tongue—sorry, Aari," he said. "In which
case, we'll hope we see some evidence of the damage before we
reacu the planet and get our own derrieres in a sling or slings,
as the case may be. If we do, we will return to option one and
call out the posse. If we can round one up in time. Option three

appens if there are no Khieevi and everything is cool on the
P anet. I kick some administrative heinie and make them prom-

62  ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

ise never, ever, ever to ignore us like that again, no matter
what. Or option four—we try to figure out what's going on for
ourselves, keeping our eyes open so we don't get ourselves
killed, and see what's needed before we hare off and run for
help. End of options, unless you can think of any others.
Aari? Acorna?"

"Joh, we must go back to my planet," Aari said. "They
must know. The Niriians must be warned, as well."

"Yes," Acorna said. "You know, it i) possible we have gone
out of range even for a delayed relay to narhii-Vhiliinyar. There
are several wormholes and space distortions between us and
them, and we are. very far off the traveled routes where commu-
nications are routinely boosted at regular intervals. We cannot
be sure they have received our broadcast. The likeliest explana-
tion for their silence is that they have not heard from us. It's
essential that they be aware of the presence of the Khieevi in
this part of the world, and also of the possibility that Aari and
Maati's parents are still alive somewhere. If the Khieevi are in
the neighborhood, our people need to have the evacuation ships
ready, and a plan to board them prepared. After we "warn the
Linyaari, we should return to Federation space and alert the
authorities that my people, who have been considering applying
for membership, will possibly soon be under under attack by
the Khieevi. The Federation has already seen the nature of the
Khieevi—after the battle on Rushima they're aware of the sort
of creatures we are dealing with here—and know that they pose
a threat that cannot be ignored. Also, we should consult with
Uncle Hafiz and the others and ask them to prepare a new
haven for my people, should it be necessary to evacuate, some
temporary place where they may stay until the situation is
resolved."

"That makes sense," Becker said. "But somehow I cant
help but thinking that they're okay for now and it's that snotty
lady-dog of a leader of yours who is behind this."

63

"You could be right," Acorna said, "but we cannot risk it.
If our people are to be safe, they must get those ships ready,

and that will take time."

RK, who had been sleeping with one eye open, idly flipping
the end of his tail up and down, suddenly yawned and stretched.
In a casual way his outstretched, kneading claw hooked Beck-

er's arm.

"Ow!" he said. "Okay, the fourth member of the crew has

voted. We're changing course."

Thariinye tracked the Com)ors erratic course from
C^ "^      the data sent with the transmission. Maati watched

him while he made his computations. Maati took
to space travel like a kQaaki to water. Her favorite hiding places
back home had been the techno-artisan village and the space-
port, and with a child's curiosity she had examined the interiors
of all the ships, even the big evacuation vessels. She'd asked
questions constantly, so many that she was afraid the workers
would tell her to leave, or call Liriili and ask her if the govern-
ment didn't have something better to do with its messengers
than have them bother people.

But actually she had made friends with most of the people
she talked to. Aarliiyana, a motherly techno-artisan, had ex-
plained all about the colorful designs on the hulls of the ships,
how they were based on the banners of the most distinguished
Linyaan clans and individuals. Aarliiyana had also told her that
ne techno-artisans had developed a new and more advanced
eloaking technology for Linyaari spacecraft. The very craft
Maati was now riding in, named after her dear friend Acorna's
S^ndmother, was the first craft to incorporate the new system.

Hidden among the brightly pigmented coatings used on the

66  ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

hulls were a field generator that could create the illusion of
invisibility and a radiation absorption matrix, or RAM. The two
•would, between them, defeat sonar, radar, infrared, and all
other traditional detection methods used to trace the location
of a spacecraft. These systems could be turned on and off at
will. In addition, the techno-artisans had developed ways to deal
with the engine exhaust, the ship's communications, and so on
so that the ship's location could not be determined by any
means. Even the ship's locator beacon was routinely cloaked to
both friends and foe, unless the ship's captain made the decision
to turn it on. That had to be done occasionally so that the craft
could move through crowded shipping lanes without running
the risk of being rammed by vessels that had no idea she was
there.

It made Maati feel odd, knowing that nobody could find
them out here in space, unless they chose to be found.

Being on shipboard when the vessel was in space as op-
posed to being inside it when it was docked at the techno-
artisan's village was very different. For one thing, the air was
drier, and it smelled peculiar, almost canned. Perhaps because
of the drier air, she found her sense of smell was diminished,
blunted in some -way. It gave her a curiously light feeling. And
also, consequently, the grasses in the hydroponics garden-
many fewer varieties than grew dirtside—were not as tasty as
they were at home. Well, the tastes were subtler, maybe. She
figured she'd get used to the change soon enough.

With her sense of smell reduced, her sense of sight seemed
to be more important, somehow. The inner, surfaces of the ship
were made of brightly colored materials softer to the touch than
metals, and the crew's quarters were designed to look like small
traveling pavilions. Sort of cozy, really. At first she missed the
horizon, and the sweeping vistas of grass and town and distant
hills she was used to at home, but when she went to the bridge
and looked out the viewport into the stars, her homesickness

67

f ded. How could those grassy fields compare with the beauty

f deep space? She was lost in wonder. The galaxy gleamed
like a jewel box before her. And she'd barely begun to taste
the joys of space travel. How would it look at night on a planet
with one moon? What about a planet with rings-how would
that look from the ground? How thrilling to think she would
soon be seeing for herself! Even with the looming threat of the
Khieevi hovering in the back of her mind, she felt freed, some-
how, for the first time in her life.

And if she was going to have adventures, she'd picked the
right ship to have them in. In addition to being comfortable,
the Nakaavrl was equipped with all of the newest devices her
techno-artisan friends had demonstrated. Maati already knew
that because Thariinye had shown off the ship's features when
he returned from his first brief flight, greeting the Condor and
the many Linyaari ships when they returned carrying the
spacefarers from captivity.

"Does this ship have any weapons?" Maati had wanted to

know then.

"What would you know about weapons?" Thariinye had
asked in that tone that made her feel like a total child.

"Grandam told Khornya that her father had developed a
defense weapon that would destroy our enemies if they at-
tempted to capture one of our ships. Grandam said it was how
Khornya's parents were killed—when their ship self-destructed
along with the Khieevi chasing them. She thought Khornya's
folks must have used it on themselves after Khornya's pod was
ejected. The force of the blast was the only way to explain how
far away Khornya was when she was found by her the men
^o raised her." Maati had been wondering at the time if that
^a-s how her parents died, using a similar weapon to destroy
themselves and their ship before the Khieevi could capture
them.

"Yes, the Nilkaa vri is equipped with the defensive system,"

68  ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

Thariinye said. "But no offensive -weapons. That would be ka-
Linyaari, against everything we believe in. The ship does have
all the very latest innovations, of course. You ask too many
questions."

Why, of all the people she'd ever met, did she have to be
on the ship with himi Nobody else among the spaceport person-
nel, the techno-artisans, or the spacefarers treated her like she
was inferior just because she was younger and shorter than they
were. In contrast to Liriili and her political friends, the space-
farers had, with rare exceptions, treated her with respect.

But she was stuck with Thariinye and supposed she'd have
to make the best of it, at least if she wanted to get to Khornya
and Aari, and maybe, just maybe, her parents. It -was an unfa-
miliar feeling in her heart, the thought that there was a possibil-
ity they -were still alive.

When Maati wasn't arguing with Thariinye, she -watched
the tutorials that came with every new ship's complement of
programs and she took herself through a simulation of Captain
Becker's course.

The human employed unusual navigation methods, diving
into unplotted wormholes and through unexplored folds in
space rather than following conventional spaceways. If she and
Thariinye were going to manage to rendezvous with the Condor,
they -would have to do the same. Thariinye confirmed her
hunch, -when she asked him point-blank about their course.

Now Thariinye looked nervous as the entrance to the worm-
hole loomed before them, but then he grinned and got a strange
gleam in his eye. He shifted to manual controls. "Strap down,
youngling," he said.

"I am strapped in," she said. "Hurry up, will you?"

"Okay. Yeeeeeeeheeee!" he cried, a little anticlimactically.
She really didn't notice much. There was nothing to see. One
moment the opening -was ahead of them and the next it was
behind them. The stars were in different places. That was all.

69

And—something else.

"Well, look at you, little girl," Thariinye said, when he
turned to glance at her and the glance became a stare. "You
are now a bona fide star-clad spacefarer."

She was! She really was. Her skin had been getting a little
lighter since they left, and the pale spots in her mane broaden-
ing to overcome the black parts, but now, her hands below
the cuff of her shipsuit -were -white! Completely. As white as
Thariinye's, or Khornya's, or Aari's. She -wanted to run for the
nearest reflective surface but got tangled in her safety restraint
straps, her fingers fumbling as she tried to release the catch. At
last she got free and was able to examine herself in the groom-
ing device. Her face was as pale as the second moon, her mane
pure silver, and her horn golden, though still of a childishly
stubby length. She frowned at her reflection.

"Does this color make me look plumper?" she asked Tharii-
nye, and immediately regretted it.

He laughed. "Of course not. And even if it did, there's
nothing to be done about it. You're star-clad now, youngling."

"How come it happened so fast?" she asked.

He shrugged. "I don't know. Usually the change is more
gradual. Maybe the shift of light inside the wormhole acceler-
ated the process."

"There wasn't any light—-was there?"

"Of course there was light. You're confusing your basic
physics. That was a wormhole, not a black hole."

"I know that," she said. "I'm just young, not stupid. But I
didn't see any light till -we came out on this side."

"You probably blacked out," he said. "Fear will do that.
Your first time in space and all that."

"I Du) not," she told him. "I just didn't see any light. Did
YOU? Honestly?"

"Well, no, but then, probably I couldn't pick it up. We were
ravelling so fast and it~"

70   ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

"Forgotten your basic physics?" she asked sweetly.

"What's next on the course?"

"Cross this planetary system from here," she put her finger
on a purplish planet that -was farthest from its sun, "to over
here," this was past the seventh planet from the sun, "and then
there's a sort of funny part of space—bumpy, as if it's
pleated. ..."

"You can see that?" he asked, peering at her finger as if it
had eyes.

"I did the simulation, silly. Maybe you should, too. Oh. I
forgot. Experienced Starfarers don't need to do that stuff."

"We'll have no insubordination out of you, youngling."

"Fine. You asked. I told you."

She left him alone on the bridge and stomped down to the
hydroponics area to do some serious grazing. And pouting, if
the truth be known. The Condor had been gone for six weeks
before the Nlikaavri launched. They had only been in space for
ten sleep periods. Maati tried to think about what she would
say to her parents if she saw them again, how she -would con-
vince Khornya and Aari to let her stay with them instead of
returning to narhii-Vhiliinyar. But even her vivid imagination
began to run out of ideas after a while. She thought about it,
analyzed the jittery feeling that made it hard for her to sit still.
That wasn't all. Her attention wandered at any excuse, and
everything Thariinye said was sounding even stupider than
usual. She had a thousand questions about how everything on
the ship worked, but lacked the patience to listen to Thariinye's
lectures on the subject. She wanted to climb behind the panels
and see how things worked instead of just sitting and waiting.
And waiting. And waiting.

She was bored. Here she was on the greatest adventure or
her whole life and she was sooooo bored. She was used to
having the run of Kubiilikhan, keeping so busy she was ex-
hausted at the end of the day. To having conversations with

71

^.coma's 'World

neople from all walks of life all over the city and surrounding
countryside. Here on this ship she mostly sat. And talked to
Thariinye. Who treated her like a baby. By the Ancestors, some-
thing had better happen soon!

Her wish was granted in seven more sleep periods. She
had been using the LAANYE Thariinye brought along to
brush up on Khornya's language—Standard. She wanted to
be as fluent as possible when she saw Khornya, Aan, and
Captain Becker again. If she could speak the language, maybe
they wouldn't fuss too much when she announced she intended
to stay with them, wanted to go back with them to that moon
Khornya had mentioned where all the children lived and

learned new skills.

It was her watch and she was tired of studying.
If only the Condor weren't still so far awayl Linyaari ships
were faster than those of the humans, so they should be over-
taking the salvage vessel before long, but she wished fervently
that they were there already. She ran the course simulation
again, wondering if maybe she could plot a more direct route
Instead of simply following Thariinye's extrapolation of the Con-
dor's course.

As she calculated and plotted her various trajectories, she
noticed some familiar-looking coordinates among her calcula-
tions.

Thariinye?" she said, speaking into the onboard hailing
system.

He huffed and snorted, from which she gathered that she'd
awakened him.

It we just deviate two degrees from Captain Becker's
course for a few hours, we'll be at the point where the Niriians
8aw the planet with my parents' escape pod on it."
"Hmm? Oh. Good."
i think we should alter our planned route and find my

72   ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

parents before we go see Captain Becker and the others. Shall
we change course?"

"Oh, yeah, okay. Fine, kid. Don't bother me," he said and
then before she could draw another breath said, "What? No
no, Maati, wait. Don't you <)are touch anything! I -was asleep.
I'll be right there!"

She shook her head when she saw him, rubbing his eyes
his mane all flattened on the left side. He stumbled a little when
he walked.

"You—didn't touch anything, did you?" he asked.

"No. That's technically your job. That's why I called. But
I do think we should try to get my folks since they're sorta on
the way." She tugged at his sleeve, and pointed to the screen
where the course she had been plotting intersected with the
familiar coordinates.

"Absolutely not." He looked again, tapped a button, com-
pared her course -with the original tracing of the Condor's.
"What's this all about?"

"I was trying to make our trip shorter and faster. The Condor
is just looking for junk. They are not in any hurry, and they
are rambling all over the place while they are looking. They
are not trying to take the most direct route through space. But
we do not have to follow their path. We could reach them faster
by plotting a more direct course."

"Oh, -we could, could we? I suppose now that you're star-
clad, you think you know as much about navigation as seasoned
spacefarers, do you?"

"It's not that. It's just that if those horrible things that hurt
my brother are out here too, I don't want them to find my
parents all stranded on some deserted planet. I wanted to come
with you so that I could help you save them. And if we keep
on our present course, it will take forever to reach where the
ConSor •was. Then we'd have to try to find it from there and,
meanwhile, my parents could die."

73

"Ummm," Thariinye said again, tracing each route simulta-
neously with both hands. "If we take this shorter route, we
could rescue your parents on our way and still rendezvous with
the ConDor in half the time I figured." Maati looked up at him
with wide, approving eyes but inwardly she was laughing about
how he was making this whole thing sound like his own idea.
"Very well then. I'll change course now."

He did, putting on quite a show for her benefit—embel-
lishing his movements with graceful little flourishes, humming
to himself the "Hero's Gallop" song. He evidently thought that,
instead of being grounded for life when he returned to narhii-
Vhiliinyar, he would receive a hero's "welcome for the rescue of
her parents, his account of which would no doubt be as embroi-
dered as his current implementation of the course change, or
maybe even more so. Let him be the biggest fraaki in the pond
if he wanted to. Maati didn't care. She would finally get to see
her parents again.

Maati was at the helm once more when the ship prepared
to enter the orbit of the planet whose coordinates matched those
described by the Niriians. The planet was a pretty one from
this distance. Overall it was the color of the small lavender
flowers that grew in the best grazing grounds. Large pools of
deep indigo appeared through the powdery blue clouds that
swathed the world. It even had several blue moons. She won-
dered what they would look like from the surface. She'd find
out soon enough. . . .

Maati was about to summon Thariinye when the corn unit
Game alive. She heard, not words, but sounds like rocks being
^nged together, "Hick Klack, klick-klick-klickety-klack-klack-
klack."

Thariinye must have been on his way to the bridge already
ecause suddenly he was beside Maati. The color completely
famed from his horn and he looked like he was watching

74   ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABE1H ANN SCARBOROUGH

something terrible. "What's the matter, Thariinye? We're here!"
she said.

"Yes," he whispered, nodding at the corn unit. "And so are
the Khieevi."







/ / ^ ^ aptain Becker, look," Acorna said, when he
C^ *y      |     arrived on the bridge for his watch. She
^^i ^ pointed out to him their present course back
to narhii-Vhiliinyar, and a slightly altered one. "If we deviated
here slightly, -we would intersect with the coordinates the Nirii-
ans mentioned in their vid. The ones where the escape pod was
seen. Do you wish to make that detour? From the looks of the
vid, at least one person survived. Even if that's no longer the
case, perhaps you would find the pod valuable salvage?"

Becker beamed and patted her on the shoulder. "You're
gonna make a junker yet, Princess. That's a great idea. While
we re at it, we'll see if there's anybody there who can tell us
more about the wrecked Niriian ship, and if so, we'll see if
they d like a ride. If not, "we have salvage that looks like some-
thing your people would like to have back. Even if they don't,

bet your uncle Hafiz knows somebody who would •want to
^y it as a curiosity."

slight as the course change was, it had a profound effect
°n Aari, who stared at the pliyi broadcast continually while he

was on the bridge, and particularly focused on the picture of
^e pod.

76   ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

He had gone over the broadcast so many times that Acorna

•was surprised he could still stand to look at it. He didn't even
flinch away from the scene of his own torture anymore. True
he went into an apparent trance while watching, but since he
could be distracted from it if necessary, Acorna decided he was
simply thinking deeply about his experience, trying to face up
to it and process it, which surely meant he was growing
stronger and healthier and better able to deal with it? She
hoped so.

Becker rolled his eyes now whenever he looked at Aari. He
had tried some conversational gambits with no success. Aari

•would answer a polite "Yes, Joh" or "No, Joh" and return to
staring at the screen. Acorna usually met with the same
response.

Had it not been for the cat and the KEN unit, the situation
might have never been resolved.

Once his initial curiosity about the pliyi had been exhausted,
RK paid no attention to it for several days. As the same images
playing over and over on the screen meant that Aari, who was
one of the cat's favorite people, would be on the bridge, RK
started spending more time there. But enough, in RK's opinion,
was enough. When Aari refused to focus exclusively on the cat,
RK, tail lashing, began watching the screen, too. Acrorna no-
ticed that every time the Khieevi appeared on screen again with
Aari at their mercy, the cat -would enlarge himself to twice his
already considerable size, flatten his ears, and hiss. The first
time Becker had witnessed RK's reaction, he'd laughed until he
fell out of his chair. The cat then hissed at Becker, too.

Even Aari couldn't help laughing.

But RK, as his apparent understanding of what he was
watching grew, became even more agitated when the scene ap-
peared on the screen. One day, when they -were all on deck
and the scene appeared, the cat flung himself at the screen,
claws and teeth bared. The force of his collision with the hard,




^coma's 'World.

77

smooth, and totally uninjured surface of the screen knocked RK
onto the deck, where he lay for a moment. Then he sat up and
licked the fur on his left side as if that had been his intention
all along.

Aari picked the cat up, stroked his fur, and laughed.
"You got yourself a defender there, Aari," Becker said.
Acorna reached over and scratched RK under his chin. The
cat graciously permitted her ministrations, though he did not
go so far as to actually purr.

During the long hours when she was not on watch and the
others were busy or sleeping, Acorna undertook to "educate
KEN," as Becker put it.

The android was being underutilized, she told Becker.
Though he was programmed essentially as a servant or at least
an employee, he had a vast amount of unused memory.

"It would greatly expand your ability to collect salvage,
Captain," she told Becker. "If you landed on a world rich in
salvage but with an unbreathable atmosphere, for instance, the
android could collect your salvage for you long after the limited
oxygen supply in your pressure suit forced you to return to
the ship."

Becker nodded. "Sounds good to me."
111 need access to the Condor's memory banks."
ML ccua e<) ^u. ccua," Becker said.
"Is that Standard?"

Only to the Pallomellese," Becker said. "It means 'my
house is your house, my ship is your ship.' Go for it."

During most of this programming, the KEN unit was turned
' "ut during the rest, he remained conscious and participated
ln e '^rk. Acorna was surprised at how natural he seemed.
He was not, after all, a particularly new model.

-ere you originally programmed to feel or display emo-
tlon?" she asked the robot.

78  ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

"No," he said. And then, half a beat later, he asked with
seeming anxiety, "Was that the wrong answer?"

She smiled to reassure him. It seemed silly to think that
someone who was basically a machine needed reassurance—
but, on the other hand, she had heard her uncles talk to their
ship, she'd seen Becker talk to the ConSor in the same way he
spoke to RK, so there was really no reason to think that ma-
chines didn't respond in some way to emotional input. Particu-
larly machines -which appeared to be human. "I do not think
that there is a wrong answer to that question," she said. "But
I'm interpreting your responses as being emotionally motivated.
This makes me more comfortable with you."

"I hope you are comfortable with me, miss," the KEN unit
said. "You have taught me a great deal these last few days. I
know many more things. I understand a great deal more about
the people here, this ship, this universe. Kisia Manjari did not
wish me to think for myself."

Acorna frowned. "Kisia Manjari -was a very troubled per-
son. And she had the unfortunate habit of passing her trouble
around to everyone she met."

"She was a very difficult user, miss. I believe I perceive
•what you mean. Captain Becker, on the other hand, keeps me
shut off most of the time. This recharges the batteries but does
not add greatly to my knowledge."

"I don't think the captain realized your potential, KEN-
640," Acorna said. "I'll ask his permission to leave you on con-
tinually while you are assimilating the data I have added to
your banks."

"Miss, I note that the captain, and you, and the other being
like you, and even the fur-bearing creature call each other by
casual appellations. KEN-640 is my model number. But it is
not the same sort of appellation."

"I'm sorry, KEN-640. You may call all of us by our given
names. Although Aari calls me Khornya, as do others of my

Acorna's 'World. 79

race, my original name is Acorna and I prefer it. Do you wish to
be known by a different appellation than KEN-640 yourself?"

"Yes, Acorna. I have scanned the selection of names for
humanoids of Terran origin, which I resemble, and have de-
cided it would be appropriate for me to be called MacKenZ.
Mac means son of, which sounds more human than modeled
by, does it not?"

"It does."

"And although my model number indicates that I was not
the latest or most sophisticated unit made to date, I feel that
your programming has put me on a par -with the most recent
and updated of my series. And if an "A" indicates the first or
earliest model in the Standard alphabet, then Z surely means
the most recent upgrade. Hence MacKenZ."

"Fine, MacKenZ. If you'll accompany me to the bridge, I
will reintroduce you to our crewmates."

She did so. After that, Becker readily agreed to leave the
MacKenZ operational most of the time and began some pro-
gramming of his own, teaching MacKenZ some of the important
points to remember in collecting salvage. "I think Mac is self-
programming to some extent anyway," Becker said, scratching
his head. "Otherwise, I don't see how he could come up with
some of the stuff he does."

Becker was nonetheless reluctant to trust MacKenZ at the
helm alone, although he didn't mind tutoring him in Becker
Enterprises navigational methods when he stood his own watch.

MacKenZ spent much of his time on the bridge, when
Becker didn't have any other specific assignment for him.
Acorna -was glad of the company. She used the time to input
more data, using the books that Aari had now abandoned in
iavor of studying the piiyi.

She discovered, as she came on watch to relieve Aari, that
^^cKenZ, too, had taken an interest in the broadcast.

Aari was involved in the liveliest exchange he had engaged

80  ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

in since they recovered the pod. He and MacKenZ were con-
versing in Linyaari. Acorna had programmed the android for
Standard. The Linyaari was either the android's own idea, or
perhaps Aan had taught him.

"From observation," MacKenZ was saying, nodding at a
frozen frame of the Khieevi torture scene, "I have deciphered
the meaning of some few of the utterances Khieevi make by
rubbing their legs together, Aari," MacKenZ was saying in a
puzzled tone. "But these sounds, while they have a definite
pattern and twenty-one thousand four hundred fifty-two distinct
combinations which can predictably be determined to have spe-
cific meanings, are not translatable -with the use of your LAA-
NYE device, which I find odd. Can you enlighten me as to
the meanings of these clickings? Are they the only form of
communication employed by these beings?"

Aan sat back in the command chair and closed his eyes,
rubbing the area around the cavity where his horn once grew.
He looked very, very weary. "They use thought-speak," he told
MacKenZ, sighing deeply. "I didn't realize it at first, but they
touch their antennae together and thought transference takes
place. The audible communication they perform with their leg
rubbings is apparently a code for more complex thoughts they
are able to transmit in full by antennae contact. This is what
has made it so difficult for the LAANYE to make sense of their
verbal communication in the past. I suppose I am the only living
being who has spent enough time with them to comprehend
their mode of data transference." He paused, then added dryly,
"I suppose that dubious distinction also means I may be the
only Linyaari qualified to try and program the LAANYE to
decipher the Khieevi utterances."

"So the Khieevi have to be physically present to employ
such a mental means of communication," the android said. "So
they use the clickings of their legs rubbing together as an audi-
ble means of communication for longer distances, such as ship-

81

to-ship transmissions. Fascinating. What else did you learn
while you were with the Khieevi?"

"How loudly I could scream. How long before my voice
crave out," Aari said. "How I could be reduced to a mass of
searing pain, with no thought, no higher purpose than to make

it cease."

"And yet, clearly, from what you say, you were able to

withhold the location of narhii-Vhiliinyar, as well as your broth-
er's hiding place. Was that not an act of will?"

"Willful memory loss perhaps," Aari said with a very faint

smile.

"What meanings did you attribute to these various click-

<)H

ings /

"Perhaps on my next watch we will attempt to interpret
them, Maakinze. Here is Khornya, come to relieve me."

He smiled at her, but she was looking beyond him, to the
screens that were, as Becker would say, lit up like pinball ma-
chines. "Look, Aari! Signals from everywhere! And we are
nearing the coordinates of the lost pod. Perhaps we should alert
Captain Becker."

"I'm right here, Mac!" Becker called out from down the
corridor, his bare feet clanking as he jogged across the grated
deck plating. "What's up?"

"A diffuse sonar signal is emanating from the area around
the planet where the Linyaari escape pod is located, Captain,"
Mac replied.

A strange feeling came over Acorna as she looked at the
thousands of tiny blinking lights spread across the sonar screen.
She had seen this pattern before. "I know what that is, Cap-
tain!" she said. "It's the sonar-blocking signal given out by
cloaked Linyaari vessels. One of the techno-artisans showed me
how it worked recently."

"So," Becker said. "If it's a cloaked Linyaari vessel, what's

82  ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

that?" He pointed to a substantial and solid blip rapidly enter-
ing the sonar array.

As if in answer, the corn unit began a "Klick-klack-klick-
klack-klick-klack" noise.

"Khieevi," Acorna and Aari whispered, while Mac said the
same word in a matter-of-fact, almost cheerful tone.

"Those guys?" Becker asked, peering at the dot as if he
could make out the shape of the ship from it.

"Scope," Acorna said, and the viewscreen suddenly zoomed
so that the mantis-shaped Khieevi vessel was indeed readily
identifiable, though still quite distant.

"So that's what one of the little buggers looks like." Becker
said, quietly, as if afraid they would hear. Meanwhile the klick-
ings and klackings continued. "We seem to have intercepted
one of their transmissions. Anybody have any idea "what it's
all about?"

"Klickety-klack," the Khieevi vessel's message seemed to be
tapping directly onto Maati's spinal cord. She sat for a moment
with her eyes squeezed shut.

"You don't have to close your eyes and pretend they can't
see you," Thariinye said, but not as scornfully as he might have.
"We're cloaked."

"What does the noise mean?" she asked.

"I don't know. I didn't hear a lot of their language when
we were up against them on Rushima. And I wasn't alone. So
far, nobody has gotten enough of a sample into the LAANYE
for reliable translations. All our contacts with them have pretty
much been at the wrong end of a 'weapon. Maybe it's Khieevi
for 'come out, come out, wherever you are.' But don't worry,
youngling. We may not be coming out, but we're moving out
right now. I'm putting us into the nearest wormhole and—"

Maati's eyes blinked open and she reached to intercept his
hand on the controls. "But . . . my parents! They're still on




^.coma's 'World.

83

that planet! The Khieevi will get them." A brief struggle ensued,
which Thariinye won.

He gave her a pitying look and reached again for the navi-
gation controls. "I'm sorry, Maati, but we don't know for sure
they're still alive. If so ... well, they've escaped the notice of
the Khieevi so far. Perhaps they can continue to do it until we
can find help. We—"

He never finished his sentence.

A heavy blow thudded against the Niikaavri, knocking both
of them forward, straining the straps that held them into their
chairs. At the same time, the lights on the control panel flared
and two blinked out.

"Oh, no!" he cried, and punched frantically at the board
again.

"Oh, no, what?" Maati asked.

"Somehow, in that little maneuver of yours, -we turned our
camouflage off. They know our position now."

"Put the cloaking device back on and move, then!"

"I'm trying to, but the ship is not responding!"

A bolt of light shot in front of the viewport and they were
once more rocked by the force of some sort of energy weapon
striking their starboard bow.

Suddenly the egg-like ship was spinning dizzily, and the
blue planet grew larger and larger in their viewscreen.

Thariinye grabbed the corn unit and yelled, as if it could
carry across space, "Mayday, Mayday, we are the Linyaari ves-
sel Niikaavri and we are under attack from a Khieevi vessel."

Maati thought he had lost his mind. Surely no one would
"ear them, but then she cried, "Tell them -who we are, Tharii-
"ye. In case my parents can hear us. Tell them it's me, so they'll
know what happened. Tell them to hide!"

I am Ensign Thariinye of clan Renyilaaghe. My second in
^mmand is Maati of clan Nyaarya. We are under attack by a
^leevi vessel. Our coordinates are . . ."

84  ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

Maati thought she was hearing things for a moment when
the klickings and klackings and sound of failing systems were
replaced suddenly by a familiar comforting voice.

"Thariinye, Maati, it's Khornya. You've been badly hit. Use
the escape pod. We'll pick you up and get us all out of here."

Another, harder thud and the ship was spinning dizzily, the
blue planet looming larger with every revolution.

Maati floated up from her seat. "G force has been cut."

"Khornya, the Khieevi! Save yourselves!" Thariinye bel-
lowed into the corn unit. To Maati he said, "No time to deal
with it, youngling. Unstrap. Climb into the pod!"

The pod was located behind the command chairs. Maati
snapped her restraint open and did a handstand on the back of
the chair, flipping herself down to the top of the pod and pop-
ping its catch.

"No sweat, sport," Captain Becker's voice was saying. "We
got 'em covered."

"Thariinye, the escape pod," Khornya said again.

Maati climbed inside the pod. She suppressed a nervous
giggle. The zero G popped her up to the top.

"Oh," Thariinye said, and she saw the top of his head as it
swrveled to take in the wildly flickering console lights, the
sparks flying from the board at many points.

Maati waited. It felt like forever. She felt sick from the
spinning and thought that the stars swirling past the viewport
looked like what she'd thought she would see in the wormhole.

She heard the snap of Thariinye's restraint, and saw his
feet, then his legs as he bounced over the top of the chair and
off the deck.

Maati held on to the pod lid with one hand and grabbed
his foot with the other, pulling him in. He was barely inside
the pod when all of a sudden the canopy slapped closed and
locked, and they felt a bump as gravity returned, but increased
fivefold, pressing the pod against the deck.

^coma's 'World

85

Thariinye pressed the release button to eject the pod and
activate the recirculating oxygen supply. Oxygen flooded the
ood with a hissing sound, but they were still stuck inside the
ship. The ejection mechanism -was malfunctioning, just like
everything else on the ship! And the gravitational force was so
strong they couldn't pop the hatch again to see why the pod
had failed to eject.

Thariinye's heart boomed against her ear.

"It's okay, Thariinye. The pod will help protect us during
a crash. They're amazingly resilient, you know."

His breath rasped in and out a few times.

"Unless, of course, the ship burns up on entering the atmo-
sphere or we're smashed in the wreckage when it slams into
the planet," Maati said, and realized that what she was voicing
was Thariinye's thought. He hadn't said a -word. What a time
for her psychic powers to kick in!

The pod insulated them a bit from the noises around them,
but she knew they -were still inside the ship because she hadn't
felt the explosive acceleration that would indicate the pod had
separated from the mother ship. They were still stuck.

(I could open the hatch and . . .) she thought she said aloud.

Tharnnye hugged her close to his chest. "Not if it's stuck,
you can't. I'll keep hitting the firing mechanism. We'll just have
to hope that the relay decides to engage before the crash—or
maybe even during."

(Oh, no, we're trapped!) Panic welled up inside her and
tears began to flow from her eyes. She couldn't spend the pitiful
traction left of her life cooped up in this tiny shell. She couldn't.
She just couldn't.

Then suddenly it was as if they had hit a bump. They felt
themselves sliding and then their pod was launched so that at
rst they were flying, then dropping.

(It will level out, won't it?) she asked. Or did she? They
were wrapped so closely in each other's arms that it was no

86   ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

-wonder she could suddenly hear his thoughts and he could
hear hers.

(Yes,) he said. (But I am doomed anyway. Even if -we sur-
vive the crash and the Khieevi, Liriili will kill me for stealing
and losing her newest ship.)

Becker jerked his thumb backward, gesturing for Aari to
surrender the command chair. The Condor's hiding place behind
one of the moons kept it out of range of the Khieevi ship's
sensors, giving the crew a little breathing space to make plans.

Aari got up, but gave the captain a level look. "I am fine,
Joh. The Khieevi no longer freeze my ability to think."

"I know that, buddy, but you don't know my bird like I
do." He clasped his hands, intertwining his fingers, straightened
his wrists and flexed his knuckles, then shook both hands out
and applied them to the buttons. "Let's deploy those Winding
laser cannons we picked up last year."

"Sorry, Captain," the computer said, "but you have not yet
found the right mountings to affix them to the gun ports."

"Oh, yeah. Then fire the Apatchipon micron splitters."

"You have not been able to fashion suitable ports, Captain,
to accommodate both the micron splitters and your latest hull
modifications.''

"Well, I've had all these people around and—okay, so we'll
just go for the plain old atom blasters Dad installed years ago.

"You removed those and stored them, Captain, when you
traded for the Windigi laser cannons."

"Fraggit! So what have we got? Spit? We fired the last big
load of cargo into Ganoosh's bird and we haven't acquired
enough new stuff yet to do any good." He shook his head and
said, "I guess we could board 'em and go mano a mano with
the side arms and laser rifles. It worked on Rushima."

Acorna leaned forward, "You used the tractor beam before,
Captain. How much will it hold?"

87

"A bunch more than we've got to throw at these buggers,"
Becker replied. "This was supposed to be a nice, simple cargo
run. . • •" He and Aari exchanged long looks. Acorna did not
care for the grim set of Aari's jaw or the glazed, doomed look
in his eyes. Nor could she bear to think of Thariinye, much
less Maati, at the nonexistent mercy of the Khieevi. She had
sensed some difficulty with the pod before their ship crashed,
but she had no true reading of what it was.

"Joh, listen to me and do exactly as I say," Aari com-
manded, interrupting Acorna's train of thought. His voice was
clipped and hard and she was amazed to see he had appro-
priated Becker's side arm, and was raising it in Becker's direc-
tion. "You have an operational shuttle in Bay Two. You will
take Khornya and Riidkiiyi and board the shuttle now. I will
give you five seconds to clear and then I will ram the Condor
into the Khieevi ship."

"Over my dead body," Becker growled, whipping around
in the chair to face Aari. "That's mutiny."

"Over your stunned body if necessary, Joh. Khornya, you
understand this is the only way to save Thariinye and my sister,
don't you? The Khieevi killed me long ago. I live only to pre-
vent them from doing to others what they did to me. So unless
you wish to lose your horn to them as I did, and worse, you
and Mac will take Joh and Riidkiiyi now and evacuate."

You're not gonna crash my ship!" Becker said belliger-
ently, his jaw stuck out.

Ir you will all just listen to me for a moment," Acorna
interjected. "Aari, give the captain back his weapon. We will
need the ConSor to rescue Thariinye and Maati and your par-
61118. I have a better idea. Remember in that old vid, when the
evil western agricultural workers dragged the good quick-draw
waITlor the indigenous inhabitants had hired to save them?

Tk

"sy dragged him through cactus, and over hardened trails,
a  ne was much the worse for wear as a result. I remember

88   ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

thinking that actually it was highly unlikely he would have
survived, especially maintaining his headgear as he did, had the
event been an actual occurrence rather than a fictional one.
Well, it seems to me that we could do much the same thing
here. The atmospheric rim on this planet is quite dense and
the gravitational pull strong. If the tractor beam will hold the
Khieevi ship ..."

"Gotcha, Princess! You're brilliant!" Becker spoke to the
computer. "Okay, Buck, engage the tractor beam. Hook onto
that big, nasty piece of salvage off our starboard bow." He
chuckled and said to his crew members. "Heh-heh. This is a
great idea! They can't shoot us or anybody else while they're
locked onto the tractor beam's gravity -well."

The beam locked onto the Khieevi ship and hauled it toward
the Condor until it vanished from view beneath them.

"At least, I don't think they can, unless they got some new
technology that lets them." Becker continued in a slightly more
worried tone as he maneuvered the beam so that the Khieevi
was in tow behind and at an angle from the Condor, riding
between the salvage ship's belly and the planet's rim.

The klick-klack noise on the com unit was now loud, angry,
and very obviously intended for the crew of the Condor.

"They are telling you to surrender, Joh. They have us in
their pincers," Aari said. He was baring his teeth, and it was
not a friendly grin. Acorna reached up without thinking to wipe
the sweat where it was suddenly dripping off his chin. He
touched her hand lightly, his fingers stroking hers once, regret-
fully. She knew from the touch that he still could not imagine
they -would come away from this encounter alive, much less
unscathed.

"Strap down, crew," Becker said.

Acorna grabbed RK and strapped him in with her. Aari
and Mac did likewise in the seats Becker had scavenged so that

Acorna's 'World

89

the entire crew could be together on occasion—though none of
them had thought that such an occasion as this would ever arise.

"Buck, give us a visual of the cargo in the tractor beam,
Becker told the ship's computer." Once he could see the Khieevi
ship, Becker accelerated and the Condor shot toward the blue
planet, past where the enemy vessel had originally hovered
while watching the crash of the Linyaari craft. The screen
showed the mantis-like ship dangling beneath the Condor's belly,
while the klicking and klacking from the corn unit rose in vol-
ume and variation. Threats, no doubt.

Becker dove and the blue planet grew larger and larger,
until its vaporous cover seemed ready to swallow the Condor.
"Manual," Becker said, and pulled back on an actual lever
among the buttons of his control panel, with the effect that the
Condor's nose swooped up, slinging the Khieevi ship behind it.

Acorna felt a bump as they changed course, and on the
screen the Khieevi ship jumped and shook as it dipped into the
atmosphere and was pulled out again. Becker did this three
times. Diving and swooping, and—at the end of each swoop—
a bump. As they pulled up, the pressure of acceleration pressed
all of them to their seats. RK's lips pulled back from his teeth
in a fierce grimace, as did Aari's. Acorna -would have laughed
but her teeth were bared, too. Only Mac's face remained just
the same, robotic flesh impervious to the force. Acorna's stom-
ach could not decide whether to go into her throat or her legs,
and the variations in gravity made her lightheaded and giddy.

Just as the Khieevi ship bumped the third time, Becker
commanded, "Disengage tractor beam, Bucko. We're gonna
play a little game of crack the ship."

The Khieevi ship -was flung wide from the Condor and
skipped three more times against the resistance of the outer
atmosphere, almost as if the ship was a flat rock and the atmo-
spheric rim was a pond. But the ship wasn't solid, and the
Mantis's legs and antennae broke off with the first skip, while

90  ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

large cracks appeared with the next before it plunged spinning
toward the surface. It disappeared into nothingness as the Con-
dor flew deeper into space.

"Whoa, Buck," Becker said.

When the Condor had slowed, Becker returned to the atmo-
sphere and reversed thrusters. The Condor's screens were pick-
ing up signals from the Lmyaan escape pod as well as several
from the Khieevi ship.

The planet appeared even bluer than it had from the air as
the ship approached the surface.

Acorna didn't know she was humming until Aari asked,
"You are singing—is it your death song?"

"Gill used to sing it sometimes," Acorna said. "It is an old
Terran folksong of military origin."

Becker laughed and sang in a gravelly and tuneless voice,
"Off we go, off into the wild blue yonder."




Seven

Thariinye?" Maati said. "Tharnnye, we've landed.
C^ "v      JVly arms are pinned. Can you open the canopy?"

His heart still beat in her ear—slow? and steady.
He was alive, anyway. "Thariinye, are you okay?"

He blasted her other ear with a loud snore. She elbowed
him in the ribs. "You fell asleep! We could have been killed
and you fell asleep!"

He stirred and groaned. "Not asleep. More like uncon-
scious, I think."

"Unconscious people don't snore. You were snoring."
Where are we, anyway?" he asked, changing the subject.
"I don't know. But it feels like we landed. That was too
much of a thump for us to be still in space. Can you open
the canopy?"

What if we have landed on some hostile planet where there
is only nitrogen to breathe?" he asked. "If I open the canopy,
we die."

Look at the sensors, you dope. The air's fine. Remember,
"y parents lived here for long enough for the Niriians to find
roem. They must have breathed the air and still survived. And

' f

lr you don't get us out of here, I wet my pants now and we

92  ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

both die of hunger or worse later anyway," she said. "Do you
just want to sit here and wait for the Khieevi to snatch us?"

"Okay, you've got a point." He opened the hatch. While he
was at it, he turned off the locator beacon. "Don't know who'll
be looking for us, do we?" he asked. Through the open hatch,
they saw periwinkle blue sky, lacy fronds of vegetation, one
sun and half a dozen moons simultaneously, and some large
and very beautiful birds with blue and green iridescent plumage
soaring above them.

"How could you fall asleep -when the Khieevi were after us
and maybe even got Khornya and Aari, too?"

"I couldn't do anything about it, could I? When you are
older and more experienced, youngling, you will learn to utilize
whatever quiet moments you can grab from the constant excite-
ment of a spacefarer's life to conserve your energy and mend
any damage done by life's travails."

"Right," she said, and tried to sit up. The pod moved under
her, bouncing up and down. "Whoa, stop!" she said, and looked
over the edge to see what was causing the motion. Lacy, fernlike
growth held them in the air. "Thariinye, look. These are the
tallest bushes I have ever seen!" All around them and high
above them, blocking off the view in most directions, other lacy
fronds fanned briskly back and forth.

He sat up, too, and the pod rocked even more perilously.

"They're not bushes, youngling. These are treetops. Can you
climb down? If the branches support your weight, then maybe
they'll support mine. I don't think we're up very high. All of
the other trees appear to be higher."

She leaned over the edge and touched something solid, big
enough it let her spread her whole hand. Thariinye leaned
against the opposite side of the pod to balance it as she felt her
way along. When she was sure the support was wide enough
for her to step out on, she did, slithering her belly, pelvis, and
legs over the side to follow her outstretched hands and arms.

93




^coma's 'World.

She crawled along the limb on hands and knees, peering
through the fronds to try to find more sturdy branches. When
she reached the trunk, she had to lift more fronds to find the
way down. "No wonder it wasn't very tall," she crawled back

to Thariinye.

"Be careful, you'll . . ."
"Oooops!" she cried, windmilling her arms as she let her

legs shoot out from under her.

"Maati!" Thariinye cried, and toppled the pod reaching for

her. It fell from the nest of fronds and landed below—about
three feet below. Thariinye had covered his head with both

hands anticipating the crash.

Maati laughed and laughed, and stood up. The fronds and

the part of the trunk still in the ground rose only as high as
her waist. "Gotcha!" she cried, clapping her hands. "We broke
the tree when we landed and its branches cushioned our fall!"
"Brat," Thariinye grumbled, extricating himself from the

pod.

"Now what, 0 experienced spacefarer?" Maati asked cheekily.

"Standard protocol is to stay near your pod," Thariinye told
her. "Which would be a good idea if Khornya and her crew-
mates are looking for us."

'But a bad idea if they lost out to the Khieevi, and it's the

monsters who are looking for us," Maati said.

"Yes," he admitted.
"I know what we can do," Maati said.
"Oh, you do? Who put you in charge of the mission?"
"The same power that put you in charge," she replied,
We're in this together. If I get saved, you get saved. If I get

caught, you'll-"

If I get caught I'll try to make sure they don't know you're

alive,' Thariinye told her with unexpected gravity.

Right. Well, all I need to do is climb up one of the taller
"ees, if it's climbable, and look around. I can maybe see where

94  ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

the wreckage of our ship is and if anybody is checking it out.
That is the first place anyone will look for us, and it isn't like
we can't tell our friends from our enemies in this situation. One
look, and we'll know what to expect."

"Why, that's a very good idea. You learn quickly, young-
ling."

Climbing these trees was easier said than done, however
unless you were one of the small blue-furred scampering things
constantly running up and down trunks and through the under-
brush. The trunks were smooth and thick—it was the broken
off end of the trunk that Maati had crawled along when she
first left the pod. But the frond branches were not very strong
and snapped under the pressure of even Maati's small feet.

She made it halfway up one of the trees, and that was as
far as she got. She felt around for handholds or footholds but
found none.

Thariinye called up to her from below, "Keep going."

"Can't," she said.

"Well, what do you see from there?"

"More trees. But I think the ones over that way," she
pointed to the west, "are on a hill, maybe. And there is some
kind of clearing at the top. If we could go climb that hill, we
could see more." When she'd pointed, she'd let go of the tree
with one hand, and transferred all her weight to her other hand.
That put more pressure on her grasping hand and the frond
she was holding broke. While she was searching for another,
her feet bore too heavily on the fronds she stood on, and those
broke as well. She slid precipitously down the trunk, catching
her shipsuit several times on protruding fronds on the way
down. It was a sturdy synblend and didn't tear, but Maati
wasn't so sure the skin beneath the suit was as undamaged.

"It'll take us farther from the pod," Thariinye said with a
sigh. "But that might be a good thing."

95

"I don't think we ought to talk so loudly anymore either,"
Maati said. "In case the monsters hear us."

(We wouldn't need to talk at all if you weren't such a baby,)
Thariinye grumbled.

She punched him lightly in the side with her balled-up fist.
(I heard that.) Then after a beat, (Hey, do you think we could
contact Khornya and my brother mentally from here? Or maybe
even my parents? I can do that, can't I, now that I'm able to
send and receive?) The last was thought quite proudly, and
Thariinye received an image of a grownup Maati.

(Not if they're still too far out in space or too busy to
listen—engaged in battle with the Khieevi, maybe,) Thariinye
sent a withering thought. Maati realized that this was a frequent
behavior with him. The idea had not been his and therefore he
was trying to make it sound "worthless.

(It doesn't hurt to try, though,) Maati pointed out.

(Unless, of course, the Khieevi can read our thoughts and
find us from them,) Thariinye said. (In case they folio-wed us
down here.)

(Oh,) Maati said. (Yeah. Okay. I'll shut up. Back to the
hill, then.)

They were nearly there when they heard the -whistling, roar-
ing sounds. They scrambled quickly to the top of the hill and
found the clearing in time to see the wreckage of the Khieevi
ship falling from the sky, splashing into a sea some distance
from them. They could make out the -wreck of their own ship
on the shore.

"At least if we lost our ship, they did, too," Maati said.

"I suppose that's some consolation," Thariinye agreed. "The
Khieevi ship was -wrecked—maybe Liriili can blame the Khieevi
ror the whole mess, instead of me, if we live long enough to
have to confess it." And then he pointed. For once, even he
^^as speechless. Maati could see why.

Also tumbling down from the sky, but in much better shape

96  ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

than the larger ship had been, was a small Khieevi shuttle. As
it fell, two figures could be seen emerging from it, trailing some
sort of membrane behind them that caught the air and sailed
them gently to the ground.

Maati, seeing the bug-like creatures alive for the first time,
even at a distance, was filled with horror and loathing. Tears
began trickling down her cheeks as she looked up at Thariinye.

"They landed somewhere over there," he said, pointing
toward the beach. "So I think we should run in the opposite
direction as far and as fast as "we can."

"Yes," she said, "But-but-Thariinye?"

"What?"

"If their ship is crashed and in pieces and only two of those
creatures are getting out, does that mean the ConSor won?"

"We can't take that chance, youngling, though by the An-
cestors I hope it is so. We are no match for even two of those
creatures. Quickly now."

He didn't have to tell her twice.

The Linyaari ship lay broken in two like a giant egg that
had hatched its chick. It was nestled deep in a beach of aqua
blue sand, beyond which cerulean blue waters stretched to the
horizon. Wreckage from the Khieevi ship was scattered like bits
of large and particularly ugly seaweed on the surface of the
water and along the beach, carried in by the waves. Behind the
beach was a range of blue dunes and, beyond them, the fronds
of a forest of graceful fern-like trees beckoned the Condor to
land.

Once the ship had done so, Acorna released her restraint
and RK's.

"Conditions are hospitable, Captain," the Buck Rogers voice
of the ship's computer told him. "That blue stuff that looks like
sand, is. The other blue stuff that looks like the water is. Salt
water, though, so take your desalination and purification unit.

97

The temperature is sixty degrees Fahrenheit with moderate
winds at three point two knots. The air is breathable, even
fragrant, by human standards."

"Are there—life forms?" Aari asked.

"Other than here? How should I know? I'm a ship's com-
puter, for heaven's sake, not an anthropologist. My heat and
motion sensors are picking up something, but it could just be
all that wreckage out in the water."

The scanners showed what Buck was referring to more pre-
cisely. Becker salivated at the sight of all that salvage.

Aari was more sober. "Does it show if there are any live
beings there?"

Becker shook his head. "Don't know. My scanners are for
salvage, mostly."

"I hope Thariinye and Maati were able to make it to the
escape pod," Acorna said with a little shiver that made her
skin twitch. "I don't think anything else would have survived
that crash."

Becker said, "Look at the ship. I don't see any obvious
signs of them or the pod in the wreckage. They're here some-
where. And if that's the case, Princess, we'll find them. What
I'm hoping is that none of those stupid bug things made it to
a pod."

"Their ships don't have pods, Joh," Aari said. "Their cara-
pace protects them against many things that would kill others."

"What about that large shuttle-shaped piece of debris over
there, captain?" Mac asked.

Rrrrrowwsst!" RK responded.
Cat says it's Khieevi," Becker told them.

"We heard him, Joh," Aari said soberly.
'Well, from here I'd say it's not as badly wrecked as the
Khieevi ship." He indicated the fragments of the ship floating
^ the water. "We can at least hope that any occupants are in
^e same fragmentary state as their transportation," Becker said.

98   ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

RK bolted for his personal exit and they heard his claws
scrabbling as he slid down the cat chute to the ramp that led
to the robolift.

"We better get moving," Becker said. "Cat seems to have
to go real bad. Must be that pretty blue sandbox out there just
itching to have a Makahomian cat scratch in it. Aari, you get
that Khieevi earthmoving weapon you brought along as your
dowry. I've got the locator and laser rifle," he said, hefting a
sleek and deadly looking weapon the length of his forearm.

"And I have my own array of attachments, Captain," Mac
said, opening his forearm to display the corkscrew, can opener,
knife blades, scissors, magnifying glass and other small equip-
ment that were standard with his particular model.

Acorna made a side trip of her own. Taking a slight detour
to an otherwise empty storeroom, she gathered up a lightweight
titanium cargo net she had spotted earlier in the journey.

"Good idea, Princess," Becker said when he saw it. "We'll
be able to net us some salvage from that Khieevi ship for sure."

Thus armed, they boarded the robolift and headed down.
Acorna felt something sticky on her shoes. She took a closer
look at her shoes, then at the source of the problem. "Mac,
when we get back here, I want you to scrub the lift down. It's
a mess from the plant sap on that planet where we picked up
the piiyl."

MacKenZ looked surprised—probably because she was
talking about minor housekeeping matters now, when so many
more important things were at stake—but didn't say anything.
Clearly the robot had never learned the trick of keeping fear
at bay by concentrating on the trivia of life. Maybe robots didn't
ever feel that kind of fear.

Once the robolift set down, however, Becker regarded the
outside of his ship with disgust, too. "Those damn plants slimed
my hull! Look at that! What a mess."

"Joh," Aari said softly, nodding to redirect the captain's

99

attention to the halves of the Linyaari ship. "What if Maati and
Thariinye are in the wreckage?"

"If they're there, they'll be easy to find. We'll know soon
enough what the situation is. No sense borrowing trouble. Prin-
cess, anything to add here?"

"I was—receiving some impressions toward the last, before
we picked up the Khieevi, that the pod might have become
stuck in the ship. If so, they could still be alive but trapped in
the wreckage in the pod."

"We must reach them before the Khieevi do," Aari said.

"If there are any Khieevi left," Becker said. "Come to think
of it, maybe we'd better try to head the bad guys off at the
pass even before we check the wreckage."

"There are Khieevi here," Aari said. "I can feel them."

RK, back up and tail brushed, apparently agreed with him.

They made their way cautiously down the beach, weapons
at the ready. Acorna felt a little foolish trailing behind, preoccu-
pied by the feeling that she knew Maati and Thariinye were
here somewhere—alive—but she couldn't tell where. She only
had a vague sense of them. Why couldn't she at least reach
Thariinye? She couldn't shake the feeling that her friends were
alive, but in trouble.

They saw wrecked Khieevi shuttlecraft lying in the dunes,
broken up but considerably more intact than the Khieevi ship,
lying in the dunes further up the beach. Something brown lay
crunched around the edges, and a green fluid tinted the blue
sand turquoise.

"Any Khieevi who survived were most likely in that shut-
tle," Becker pronounced. "Look at their ship. I doubt they could
live through a wreck like that. The ship is toast, but the shut-
tle—well, that looks like it was spaceworthy till the last minute.
No convenient vacuum or decompression to kill all the occu-
pants for us."

As they drew nearer they saw movement and heard a sound

100 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

that made Acorna's skin twitch—the klick-klack she had heard
so often on Aari's video. The light wind carried a terrible
stench—rot combined with vomit. RK stopped, dug his claws
into the ground, and hissed like a tea kettle. Aari's steps slowed.
Becker surged ahead like a missile, Mac outpacing him with
nonchalance in the face of danger that only an android—partic-
ularly one who had once been the face of danger himself—
could achieve.

"It appears we've got a live one," Becker growled as he
rounded the dune where the shuttle lay. "Though it's half buried
under that shuttle. It's not going anywhere fast. I'll just put this
cockroach out of its misery,"

"Please, wait," Acorna said. "We must question it. Aari
knows their language, at least enough to get something useful
out of it. Perhaps we can get more from the LAANYE. We
have to find out if this ship was alone or if others will be
coming, where the main swarm of Khieevi is now, and where
they are heading next. If my people are threatened again, they
must know at once."

Aari found his voice and his feet, and in six more strides
stood beside Becker. Acorna approached cautiously, curiously.
The creature snapped its mandibles and reached for Becker
with its pincers but the captain sidestepped smartly and beck-
oned for Acorna to give him the cargo net.

She wondered suddenly why it had occurred to her to bring
it. Then she glanced at Aari and saw him smiling at her with
both approval and triumph. That was it, of course. Aari had
sent her the suggestion. He thought he. couldn't intentionally
send any longer, but he was clearly mistaken. He had certainly
just done it. Why hadn't he asked her aloud, she wondered? It
would have been a reasonable request. How odd.

Aari was carrying the very large and heavy weapon which
he'd retrieved when his torturers fled the death throes of Vhilii-
nyar. He trained it on the monster. Maybe that was it. Acorna

101

had been the logical one to bring the net—but, still, he usually
communicated with spoken words. She looked up at him again,
frowning this time, but he was concentrating on the Khieevi.

"Okay," Becker said. "Aari, Acorna, and I are going to
capture this thing. When we have the net over it and solidly
anchored, Mac, you maneuver the shuttle off its leg and tho-
rax, okay?"

"Yes, Captain."

Acorna was the only one who could use two hands, but
fortunately the creature was trapped and rather badly injured
by the crash. Much of its back end was crushed beneath the
shuttle, from what she could see. It still gave her cold chills to
be this close to a live Khieevi, no matter how much was wrong
with it. When the android lifted the broken piece of the shuttle
from the back of the Khieevi and tipped it aside, the Khieevi
struggled mightily against their titanium net, but in vain. Mac
then aided his crewmates in finishing netting the monster's hind
parts. The monster klicked and klacked and gnashed its mandi-
bles at them as best it could through the impediment of the net,
but they paid it no attention. Finally it -was well wrapped
enough that they could risk transporting it.

"Now, then," Becker said. "We'll put him in the brig and
Mac can stay and guard him while the LAANYE collects lan-
guage samples. As mad and as noisy as this beast is, we ought
to get enough stuff to be useful. As long as he doesn't have any
friends to scream for, we should be fine. I'm told they kill their
wounded, so the fact that he's alive means he's probably alone.
men, Aari, buddy, while that's going on, you and me are going
to excavate that egg ship and make sure your little sister and
that idiot punk she's with aren't trapped inside."

'I'll start searching through the debris while you're gone,
and I'll broadcast that we're here, Captain," Acorna said. "If
our friends are nearby, and conscious, Thariinye will hear me
^d he'll let me know where they are."

102 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

"Good idea, Princess. We'll be right back with the plasma
cutters."

Acorna climbed inside the half of the egg that should have
contained the bridge. She could see the lower edge of the
crushed viewport sunken deep into the damp sand. The sea was
licking at the wreckage now, wide wet fingers teasing loose bits
of smashed equipment and carrying them out and back with
each wash of the waves. She wondered about tides—was the
wreck in danger of being flooded? Perhaps, with so many
moons arrayed about the planet, that wouldn't be an issue.
Maybe they would all cancel each other out, gravitationally,
instead of amplifying the movement of the seas. She could hope
so, anyway.

The shadows were growing long now. Becker and Aari
would not have much more daylight. She began throwing every-
thing she could over the side of the ship facing away from the
water. Becker -would certainly want his salvage. Nothing faintly
resembling the bridge was visible yet. Fragments of burnt and
ripped pavilion fabric passed through her hands, as did a mane
comb, and the shards of a mirror. Acorna saw her own slender
face reflected back in the device. She hadn't realized she was
•weeping until then.

(Thariinye? Thariinye, answer me if you can!) she thought
as hard as she could. But everything within the ship was still.
The only movement was the settling of the rubbish as it shifted
beneath her feet, and the lapping of the waves against the ru-
ined hull of the ship.

She heard the Condor's robolift descend again. Becker and
Aari soon arrived carrying the plasma cutters with them. At
Becker's signal Acorna climbed back out of the shell. Becker
gave her an inquiring -waggle of his eyebrows, but she shook
her head sadly. She had been unable to make contact.

The men worked until -well after dark, seeing by the light
from their cutters. At one point, Acorna went up on the robolift

103

and turned on an exterior floodlamp Becker had rigged above
,t for nighttime salvage expeditions. The shadows it cast made
t look as if the two men were mining the pits of darkness, their
grunts and the raucous scorch and sizzle of the saws adding to
the general impression of demonic digging. The tide had risen
and the wreck was beginning to flood. The men were waist-
deep in water, so that they had to dive as well as cut. Mean-
while, Acorna carried salvage to the robolift.

She made mental calls to her friends from time to time,
pleading for Thariinye to answer, but she felt nothing, heard

nothing. Not then.

When the men were up to their necks in water, Becker
finally threw his plasma cutter onto the beach over the broken
hull of the shell ship and hoisted himself out. "C'mon, Aari.
We're going to have to wait for the tide to go out. If there's
anything there to see, it's too far under water now. Maybe the
tide will shift some of the junk still there so we can see more."

"My little sister might be in there, Joh. A child."

"Maybe, but I doubt it," he said. "I'm betting that she and
Thariinye were smart enough to get out." He looked toward
Acorna but all she could see -were the whites of his eyes and
his teeth. "You sense anything from in there yet, Princess?"

She shook her head. "Nothing," she said. "It is possible the
pod broke free -while we were discussing how to destroy the
Khieevi ship. Thariinye and Maati could have escaped then."

The three of them climbed onto the robolift. RK had stayed
aboard the ship during the salvage operation. "Our new guest
better hope they escaped, or be prepared to tell us where they
are. Aari, I've got a few questions I want you to translate into
their kilck-klacL"

"Certainly, Joh. I can ask questions, but I do not think the
Khieevi will answer. They have never answered questions. The
Linyaari sent ambassadors to them and the only answers we
ever received to our questions were vids of the ambassadors

104 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

being tortured as I was. But those ambassadors never escaped.
Our people met their deaths in those vids."

"Nasty stuff. Well, maybe your people asked the Khieevi
right questions, but didn't ask in the right way. You Linyaari
have got a few scruples that don't particularly apply to me.
Aari, I want you to give Mac a little language lesson. He learned
how to ask questions when he worked for Kisia Manjari. I'm
betting our guest will be real happy to tell us anything we want
to know before Mac is done with him. But we're still going to
need you to translate. You folks are pacifists, I know. Is this
going to bother you?"

Aari bared his teeth until they -were -whiter than his skin in
the light of the two moons. "No, Joh. It will not bother me."

The sole Khieevi still alive and free on this planet cut a
swath through the fern-like trees. At first it was a low swath.
The creature was a bit stunned from his emergency departure
from the shuttle, but it managed to properly decimate the under-
growth in the approved style. The Khieevi scoutship crew had
expected that the strange craft that destroyed theirs would come
for them on this planet, trying to protect the fragile little one-
horns in the decorated space-borne food container. But the
strange ship hadn't been fast enough. The Khieevi had made
short work of the one-horn ship, and would have done the same
to the strange ship had it not taken them by surprise and used
unfair and totally uncalled for tactics to wreck them and cause
the deaths of all of the other swarm members but the navigator
and the self of the Khieevi who now ate Jits way through the
forest floor.

That self—the inquisitor—had heard the klickmgs of the
navigator for miles and miles, but the inquisitor -was not about
to go back. The navigator had been half squashed -when the
shuttle fell on him. The navigator would be recycled into food
soon. The inquisitor -would see to it.




10S

The inquisitor had a communications device. It would be
difficult to activate without the ship's power to fuel it, but or-
ganic activation could be implemented in an emergency such as
the current one. It had only to reach a high point on the planet,
arrange indigenous ingredients in a certain proportion, and
chew, and the resulting chemical reaction would provide car-
rying power for the message the Khieevi wished to transmit.

The mission would not fail. The Khieevi swarm would come
to this planet and find plenty and prosperity for another short
time, and then all of the neighboring worlds and all their viable
foodstuffs would also fall to his race's relentless mandibles.

Meanwhile, the other scout ships would search out other
areas. But the inquisitor's sole purpose now was to notify its
swarm of its own location, the location of the food, and the loss
of the ship.

That, at least, was its sole intended purpose until, after
eating its way through the undergrowth, it found at its very
jaws a one-horn device, small and compact and shaped like a
food container. To the inquisitor's regret it was empty, but the
one-horns who had occupied it had left a trail of broken plant
matter, scent, and vibrations. The inquisitor chomped its way
after them up a steep hill and down it.

At the top of the steep hill, it looked at the seashore below
it and saw the navigator being lugged down the beach by two
hornless two-leggeds into the strange ship. The navigator was
still alive and klicking. Not for long, the inquisitor was certain.
mat information would be noted when the inquisitor broadcast
the next report to the swarm. It continued eating, tracking the
missing one-horns.

As nighttime fell, the inquisitor was very full, but unsatis-
hed. It had a need to smell alien one-horn blood. To see it flow.
/vs it ate its way downhill into a little valley, it saw how to
lulhll that need, too. Leaning against a tree, apparently sleeping,
was a one-horn. The inquisitor closed on its prey.




The healing retreat in the hills of the Ancestors, under
C^ *y       their gentle, probing care, was meant to erase all pol-
lution, all contamination, all taint, all pain, all shame
left behind from the dreadful ordeal the Linyaari spacefarers had
faced. The process could go on for days, weeks, months, years, by
Standard reckoning; a ghaanye or many, by Linyaari reckoning.

However, the deep healing had barely begun when personal
attendants began handing the supplicant pilgrims their wraps
and saying, "Go home. You are needed in Kubiihkhan."

Grandam had never known of such a thing to happen in
all her life.

Have -we done something wrong?" one of the younger crew
members from the liliura asked. "Are we being cast out because
our taint is too great?"

'Don't talk nonsense, child," the personal attendant said.
Didn't you hear Us? You are needed. And as for being cast
°ut, how can We possibly be casting you out when We are
coming with you?"

Back in town, Liriili had been fidgeting, forgetting to graze,
pacing until her feet were quite rough and sore, walking up

108 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

and down the road to and from the spaceport. The viizaar had
no messenger since Maati had vanished, though she had little
to do for the moment except wait. Wait for the Khieevi to find
them again. She did not know what to do. Now recovered from
her anger, she told herself she had done a service to Thariinve
and Maati. When the Khieevi came here, those younglings at
least would be spared. If they hcu)n't alreaSy been coruumeS, a small
voice inside her head pointed out. She ignored it.

Walking down the road from the spaceport, where she had
once more been checking with the com-shed officer of the day,
refusing to believe that the remote reports to her office were
frequent or rapid enough to alert her in time for an attack, she
saw the stream of her people, two footed and four footed, flow-
ing down from the hills on the opposite side of the bowl-shaped
valley containing Kubiilikhan.

Alarmed, disturbed, frightened, and yet, somehow, relieved
as well, she returned to her office to await the return of the
pilgrims—and of the Ancestors.

The thought of questioning of the Khieevi prisoner both-
ered Acorna. Despite her fear and loathing, she knew she
would not be able to watch without wishing to heal any hurts
inflicted upon the Khieevi in the line of questioning. She
also knew that trying to heal the destructive monster was
not reasonable.

She could, however, feel its pain from two decks away.
Despite Becker's threats to the contrary, no one had touched
it since it had been brought aboard and .its net locked into
place where cargo nets were normally strung up. It hadn't been
necessary to lay a hand on the creature. It was answering their
questions sporadically, in between spasms of pain. But it was
dying. She could feel it dying.

The feeling was so intense, it was as if she could feel herseli
dying, too. She couldn't stand it any longer. She had to leave




^coma's 'World

109

she'd be forced to interfere with what Becker was doing.
A^J they needed the information he -was extracting. She aban-
doned the bridge for the robolift, stopping on the way to tell
the others what she was doing—that she was going to see if
the tide was out yet, and if it was, she'd load some more cargo.
She'd also continue calling for Thariinye and Maati while she

was at it.

She got a "Yeah, ummm hmmm, okay," from Becker. Aari
and Mac were totally absorbed by the Khieevi's rapid-fire
klick-klacking'.

The door edged open for a moment and the impression of
the pain within staggered her. RK pushed himself through the
door, flipping his tail up along his back as the hatch automati-
cally snapped shut behind him. With a light leap, he was on
her shoulder.

She scratched his chin. "Thank you, my friend. It will be
good to have company."

Ghostly blue vapors billowed across an indigo sky and
the turquoise light of two of the planet's moons strobed
across the sea, the beach, and the forest beyond. Sand skid-
ded against Acorna's ankles and calves. Out here she could
still feel the captive Khieevi's pain, but distance helped atten-
uate it. It also helped knowing that none of her crewmates
was inflicting the terrible torture; they were only taking ad-
vantage of the monster's agony to obtain answers that might
save her people, and any other creatures whose path the
Khieevi crossed.

She breathed deeply of the night air. The fragrance of the
sweet and spicy grasses and the fernlike trees, exotic and cit-
^sy, filled her nostrils. She realized she hadn't grazed yet that
^y, and was hungry. She didn't worry about venturing beyond
"e dunes. Her Linyaari navigational instincts gave her an excel-
ent sense of direction, and the light of the two moons above

110 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

her was sufficient to see her -way to the grasses between beach
and forest.

She was relieved to put some distance between her and
the Condor now. When she had eaten, she would return, see
what progress her friends had made, and, if they -were fin-
ished, ask them to let her examine the prisoner and tend to
its wounds. She had not offered to tend to it so far out of
fear that once she healed the thing, one of her friends would
then have to reinjure it, in all likelihood, to obtain the vital
information they needed. This could well be one of the very
same Khieevi who had caused the death of her parents, but
it was against her nature to cause or endure the suffering of
another living creature. It -was against Aari's nature, too. De-
spite what the Khieevi had done to him, she could not help
but feel that participating in actual torment of another crea-
ture, even one of the species who had all but destroyed him,
would impede his inner healing, perhaps even prevent it alto-
gether. He, more than she, was born and bred to the Linyaari
•way, which was nonviolent.

Back on the beach, Aari had brandished his Khieevi weapon
with authority and deadly intent, however. She didn't blame
him or judge him for that, but it worried her that he had under-
gone such a tremendous change, one that -was completely con-
trary to his upbringing.

She tested the grass with her horn—it was suitable for her
to eat. So she took a mouthful of grass. It was peppery, not
quite what she had in mind. She searched for another plant
and found, growing sparsely among the peppery sort, a little
reed with nodes on the stem. The nodes had a pleasant sour
tang that offset the sweetness of the reed. They, too, were edi-
ble, and much tastier. She searched selectively for these, while
RK slithered through the grassland as though he were a large
jungle cat stalking prey.

She visualized Maati, who had been practically her only




ff\_corna's 'World.

ill

friend from narhii-Vhiliinyar. The child was just approaching
puberty—funny, enthusiastic, lively, hard-working, inquisitive.
She pictured Maati's soft pale brown skin and white and black
spotted mane and feathers, her brilliant smile, short nose, and
wide golden eyes below her little spiraled horn. She thought of
Maati's immediate acceptance of Aari and her unquestioning
love of her long-lost brother. The child's sadness and disbelief
at being left behind by the ConSor when it had taken both her
newly found brother and her friend away. They could have
brought her along, even though Liriili had objected violently
when the subject came up. If they had done so, Maati wouldn't
now be lost, maybe dead, along with poor Thariinye, who, al-
though he -was about the same age as Acorna, had not had as
much experience or adventure in his life as she had, and so
was still rather callow. Irritating, conceited, and arrogant, but
not a bad fellow, really.

Her thoughts were anguished and regretful. She especially
worried about her little friend, so sensible and knowledgeable
about Linyaari ways but more willing than any to help a
stranger. (Oh, Maati, Maati, I am so sorry, youngling. I thought
you should stay with Grandam. I should have listened to your
own thoughts more and not tried to decide for you. . . .)

(Khornya? Khornya! You're here! Oh, Khornya, come
quickly. I can't find Thariinye and there is something awful out
here in the bushes. Please, Khornya. I'm scared.)

(Maati! It's all right. I'm here. Where are you?)

(Looost!) The thought was a long 'wail.

(I'll come and get you. Just keep sending and I'll find you
and bring you back. Can you see the beach from where you
are? Can you see the Condor7)

(No, I'm in the woods and it's dark and Thariinye was right
^re standing guard while I slept. Now he's gone and the noises
^e terrible, Khornya.)

(Can he read you? Have you tried?)

112 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

(No. I think he must be unconscious. Knocked out, maybe )

Acorna was galloping through the grass now and into the
trees, following Maati's thoughts as if they were spoken words
tracking them to their origin.

The footing was treacherous in the dark but she leaped over
bushes and roots. She had to pause frequently, however, to
listen again for Maati's thought.

(Keep sending, Maati. I can't follow you unless I can
read you.)

(I'm sooo tired, Khornya. And I'm almost afraid to think
too loud for fear whatever it is that's thrashing around out there
will hear me like you do.)

(I understand, dear, but if I'm to find you, you have to
keep sending. If whatever it is hasn't bothered you yet, it proba-
bly can't read us.)

Acorna was halfway up a steep hill when she slipped and
fell in a trail of slime. As she picked herself up again, she saw
that she had fallen on the broken branches of what must have
been brush. The raw ends of the branches were sharply severed
at just above ground level for a long swath as wide as Acorna
was tall. Where the foliage had been, a trail of foul-smelling
slime covered the ground.

From the smell, she knew this -was a Khieevi trail, the crea-
ture eating, digesting, and excreting as it went. No wonder they
could trash entire planets in such a short time!

Had the wind not been from the sea, and blowing the smell
of the slime away from her, she easily would have picked it up
earlier. Now she had a spoor to follow and she lost no time
scrambling after it.

(Maati, I think it is a Khieevi who has Thariinye. Stay right
where you are and do not make a sound unless you know it is
me. Have you moved since he disappeared?)

(No, I was too scared of the things out in the bushes.)

(Okay, then, that is good. Just stay put. Somewhere right

113

near you there is a trail of broken brush and smelly Khieevi

slime.)

(Eeewww, is that what it is? I thought maybe this planet

just smelled really bad in some places.)

(No, that's Khieevi spoor. They excrete as fast as they eat,
apparently. You sound stronger. I'll be with you in a bit.)

Acorna scrambled further up the hill and down it, following
the trail until, though she hadn't heard from Maati in some
time, she suddenly caught a very loud thought.
(Ouch! You stepped on me!)

Looking down, at first she saw nothing but more pale blue
brush but then she saw, white and lustrous among the leaves,
a face. She stared.

(Maati?) she asked uncertainly.

"Yes, it's me, Khornya," Maati whispered, and rose to her
feet and threw her white arms around Acorna's neck so that
Acorna's nose was buried in the girl's silvery mane.
(But you look—)
"Oh, yeah!"

(Think it, youngling. We don't know how near danger is.)
(I m star-clad now. Like the new me?)

(Why should I not? I liked the old you. You are beautiful!
So let's keep you alive, shall we? I need you to follow the slime
trail back down the hill and through the woods—your nose will
help you if you get off track. When you get to the beach, you'll
see the Condor. You need to get Aari and Captain Becker's
attention and have them come to help Thariinye and me-—)

(And leave you alone? Thariinye won't be any help. I can't
read him at all. Something's happened to him. If that's a
Khieevi, you need me.)

IvK bounded up to them and sat down, seemingly to wash,
though he kept his ears cocked slightly back, as if he was lis-
ening to the their nonverbal conversation. At some point in
"elr Journey, he had departed from Acorna's shoulder and

114 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

taken off on his own explorations. Probably -when she began
galloping.

(It L) a Khieevi. And it will be no trick to find it and Tharii-
nye. The trail is extremely clear. Just go back and tell the
others that we'll need their help. Meanwhile, I will try to keep
the Khieevi from harming Thariinye anymore.)

(What if there are other Khieevi?)

(Captain Becker will know if there are. He has been ques-
tioning an injured Khieevi that -we captured. He'll be able to
tell us how many of these things we're facing. I need that
information very much before I tackle freeing Thariinye. And
I'd like you somewhere safe from this one,) Acorna said sim-
ply. And turned toward the slimy trail. But Maati wasn't
done yet.

(You said you'd come for me,) Maati reminded her. (You
were thinking all those nice things about me, and how you and
Aan should have let me come with you. I'm not just a kid, you
know. I'm smart. I could help you. What if I get caught on the
•way to get the others? What if I get lost?)

(Just follow the trail.)

(You're only one person. You need help, too. -You know
Thariinye won't be much help. We could hear him if he was in
a position to help us. You know, you didn't treat me like such
a child back home.)

Acorna hesitated. She didn't want to put her young friend
in harm's way but, then again, maybe that thought was a little
ridiculous. Maati had already survived the •wreck of her space
vessel and eluded capture by the Khieevi once today. It was
entirely possible, if the Khieevi were on this planet in force,
that the ship was no safer place than trooping with Acorna
through the forest.

(Very well. You can come with me. But thought-speak only.
And stay behind me.)

(Okay.) Acorna felt Maati searching for RK, but the cat




^corna's 'World.

115

had vanished. Maati was a little worried, so Acorna sent her
the calming thought that if anyone on the face of the blue planet
could look out for themselves, it was that cat. Then they pushed
forward, along the broken trail the Khieevi had left behind
them, hoping against all hope that Thariinye was still all right.

The Council meeting -was brief. Liriili had been
C^ "V      questioned. The accusations against her by com-

shed personnel and by Thariinye's many mourning
soon-to-be-lifemates were verified, and a proposal was made for
her dismissal. The evidence was examined, including a copy of
the broadcast from the CorQor that Liriili denied had ever been
received. One of the com-shed officers, who was also one of
Thariinye's lady friends, had concealed copies of the pliyi trans-
mission and Thariinye's translation of it, which she had taken
from the com-shed before Liriili had given orders to have them
destroyed. That was right after the vuzaar had told the com-shed
officers to stop transmitting anything at all from the planet for
dny reason. Not only did the young officer realize that Liriili had
tor some reason allowed Thariinye and a child to go into space
alone, but she recognized that the piiyi had great implications for
the Linyaari, and that the people must know about it. The com-
bed officer had been about to set off for the hills herself to fetch
tne spacefarers when the pilgrims came streaming home.

The Council had not been kindly disposed to having the
^rriing of a possible Khieevi threat withheld from them for
^y reason, no matter what Liriili thought.

118 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

After the matter of Liriili had been discussed, the Council
was expanded to include Neeva, Khaari, Melireenya, and sev-
eral of the ambassadors and high teachers and merchants and
officers from the returned fleet.

In lieu of Liriili, Grandam now presided over the Council.
Liriili faced them from the opposite side of the table where
she'd sat for so many years, wearing her "Everything is in
order, business as usual" face.

Grandam could not help but smile. "Liriili of Clan Riivye,
^iizaar of Kubiilikhan, you stand accused of treasonous acts
against your people and your -world. We will not ask you how
you plead. You of all of us are most skilled at concealing
your thoughts, one reason we felt you -would make a good
administrator. But you have betrayed not only the trust of
your people, but my personal trust to you of the life of a young
and parentless child, as well as the life of a brave officer of
our fleet."

"It -was not my fault!" Liriili said. "I told them not to go.
I told them—and this is perfectly true; any of you can read
me—that we must not transmit further communications to the
salvage ship that sent the piiyi message to us, for fear of the
Khieevi tracing the signal back to us. It is perfectly standard
procedure. I have saved us all by my actions and this is the
thanks I get? That you hold me responsible because two feck-
less and rebellious young people stole our newest and finest
vessel and took off on a pointless and dangerous joyride against
my express orders?"

"Enough!" Grandam bellowed. "You knew very -well that
the Condor had sent the piiyi here for translation—a translation
Thariinye completed before the children departed. There is a
record of the conversation in which he informed you of his
translation. You knew at that time that there was a good
chance of communicating with the Condor so that Captain
Becker, as well as securing the safety of his ship and crew,

^.coma's "World,                                              n

could warn our allies of the impending threat without. Yo
did nothing."

"Allies!" Liriili snorted. "Look at the Starfarers if you thin
we have allies! Did our so-called 'allies' not turn over our fines
ambassadors and officers, teachers and traders, to enemies wh
imprisoned and abused them?"

"They -were deceived," Grandam said. "But you, Liriil
were not deceived. You knew that the Condor and our allie
could have been notified of the threat long before the Khlee\
were likely to be close enough to trace them. You knew tha
Thariinye also knew this, and that neither he nor Maati wouli
allow harm to come to Khornya, Aari, or to Captain Becker i
it was in their power to prevent this. You even knew, Liriil
that the piiyi contained evidence of the probability of the sui
vival of Kaarlye and Miin of the Nyaarya clan, Maati's an'
Aari's parents. All of this information was problematic for yoi
And so you deliberately ordered the children to do nothing
knowing that they -would be forced to disobey you, and tha
they—and all those -who depended on their information—woul
be lost."

Liriili felt a sharp pain in the middle of her back and sh
was Jabbed forward so quickly she fell to her knees. "I didn
know that. How could I know for certain? All of you spacefaren
as usual, were off someplace else -when decisions had to b
made immediately. I did what I thought was best for the peopl(
Licluding you. And is this the thanks I get for my dedicatio
to duty? Some thanks ..."

She was weeping now with rage, -with fear, -with indigne
lion, for she half-believed -what she was saying herself, as Grar
dam well knew, or she could never have said it.

Oh, Liriili, my poor granddaughter," Grandam Naadiin
^id, pushing past the Council table behind which she had bee
sitting and kneeling to put her hands on either side of Liriili

120 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

•wet face. Liriili stared rebelliously back at her. "We have been
aware of the flaw in your makeup since you were very young
you know. You, of all of us, are best able to conceal your
thoughts. You alone are capable of, if not lying, at least twisting
the meaning of your thoughts to a degree that makes them
difficult to read. We decided when the old Viizaar passed on to
the land of the Ancestors that this—difference—in your makeup
need not be a flaw, but could be used for the greater good of
all. And you are correct. In general you have been an excellent
and conscientious administrator.

"Much of the fault lies with us for not realizing that your—
specialness—separated and isolated you, not only from the rest
of your people but from the truth within yourself. Now we do
not punish you, child, but seek to recompense you for the harm
we have allowed you to do to yourself as well as to others. You
must face the truth of your actions, if not within yourself, for
you seem to be incapable of doing so, but by seeing for yourself
the consequences."

Liriili was very easy to read now. Caution was trying to
displace fear and disbelief in her mind as Grandam retreated
to her official position, sat, then rose again, in unison with the
other Council members.

"Liriili of clan Riivye, you are relieved of your duties as
Viizaar of Kubiilikhan and administrator of narhii-Vhiliinyar by
the High Council after consultation with and in accordance with
the advice of the Ancestors. You are reassigned to duty as a junior
shipman on the Balakiire, under the command of vifeShaanye-feriui
Neeva and Melireenya. Your mission will be to pursue the in-
formation obtained from the pliyi, to attempt to warn the Condor
of the peril contained in it, to ascertain the whereabouts and
ensure the safety of Thariinye and Maati and the Niikactvn, to
determine the whereabouts of Kaarlye and Miiri and rescue
them or at least retrieve the data in their landing pod, and to

121

warn our allies of the Khieevi danger, even if by issuing such
a warning you allow the Khieevi to trace a signal back to the
Balakiire. Vi^e()haanye-feriiU Neeva and her crew have volun-
teered for this mission, and have agreed to take responsibility
for you. They are prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice, if
necessary, to accomplish this mission. You are hereby dismissed
into the custody of the Neeva, her crew, and the Balakiire, and
may the wit of the Ancestors and the Grace of the Friends
preserve you all from harm."

The prisoner -was in unbearable pain. Aari had decidedly
mixed feelings about the fact. His need for revenge was at odds
with his hatred of seeing anything, even a Khieevi, suffer so.
But there was one comfort to be found in the hold of this ship,
as terrifying a place as it was right now. The prisoner was
klacking out all the information Aari demanded, but neither
Aari nor Becker nor even Mac, who had been quite prepared
to "slowly disassemble" the Khieevi, had laid a finger on the
creature. Whatever was causing the Khieevi so much agony,
they weren't responsible.

Instead of disassembling it, Mac was rapidly processing the
information he was given about Khieevi klackings by Aari and
the LAANYE to help interpret Aari's and Decker's questions
into simulated klacks and to interpret the answers.

The thing lay within the cargo net on the deck, and the
net s couplings were securely fastened to the bulkhead. The
monster was going nowhere. Aari was grateful the despicable
creature's form was somewhat obscured by the grid of the net.
•Is titanium strands pulled tightly across the creature's protrud-
lng Gyes, restrained its pincers, and bent one antenna flat against
^e side of its bulbous head. The putrid smell Aari had first
^ticed out by the Khieevi ship now filled the hold and seemed
0 grow worse and worse as time went on. Becker remarked
on tne green icor draining from beneath the netted Khieevi.

122 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

"It's messing itself, it's so scared," he said.
"Scared?" Aari asked. "A Khieevi? Scared? Of us?"
"Sure. You were scared, when we found you for the first
time, weren't you?"

"Naturally, but I am not a Khieevi."
"Let me tell you a little something about people, buddy, any
kind of people," Becker said. "These creeps," he gestured to
the Khieevi, "they like to hurt anything they come across just
to watch it squirm. It's how the buggers think. So when one
of them gets caught and put in the same position as its victims,
of course it's going to figure we'll do the same to it. Only
difference is, we're after information. According to you, when
you were a Khieevi captive, they didn't seem to care all that
much if you said anything or not. They just liked to hear you
scream, right?"

"Yes, Joh. I never understood any of that."
"Well, understand this. As afraid as you were, this critter
is even more afraid. Because to do to someone what the Khieevi
did to you requires being a real lily-livered son of a gun at
heart. Yessir, these Khieevi may look like bugs, but they're all
piles of pure cowardice with legs, if you ask me. Cowards and
bullies, every one." Becker threw his arms around and let his
voice ring to make it heard above the piteous but irritating
high-pitched sound the Khieevi was making. Aari had never
heard the bug-like beings make that sound -while he was among
them. Though perhaps he might have heard the sound, or a
variant of it, coming from himself.

"Now, Aari, if you have any more "questions, ask away.
Mac, you follow and see if you can fill in any blanks for him-
"What will you do. Captain?" Mac asked mildly.
"I'll be thinking up threats and—uh—persuasions,
Becker said.

"Very well, Captain. Aari?"
"Mac, ask it what it was doing here, how many others like

123




it there are close by, where the main fleet is, and the location
of the homeworld."

Mac manufactured the klacking sound of the Khieevi, using
his mouth alone. Aari was impressed.

The Khieevi let forth the high-pitched whining sound

once more.

"Tell it we'll stop the pain if it gives us the data," Becker
instructed Mac, his jaw clenched tightly, his teeth bared in what
was an indisputable display of hostility—a hostility Becker
seemed to be reveling in.

Aari, on the other hand, was not enjoying his position. He
had certainly thought he -would enjoy giving back to a Khieevi
what the Khieevi had done to him, but instead he felt filled
with loathing—for himself. He was now doing a Khieevi thing.
He might as -well be one. But the information was important.
He put the thought on hold when he realized Mac -was speak-
ing, and not in klacks this time.

"Theirs was a scout ship. The Khieevi have many such
ships. Their mission was to locate a likely world with the proper
atmosphere and nutrients for consumption by the horde. The
horde's main fleet has already been notified that this being's
ship had located a large number of suitable worlds, including
this one, due to a lucky conquest of a scout ship of a two-
horned race."

Mac turned to Becker and said, "That -would be the Nirii-
ans, surely? You understand, please, that many of the concepts
this creature expresses can be interpreted only loosely. Fortu-
nately, because of the remaining programming from my former
i^er, I am quite conversant with the basic content of this crea-
te s thought and language patterns and can assure you that
"y interpretations are fairly accurate. The Khieevi have a lot
l" common with Kisia Manjari."

And so it -went. To minimize the misunderstanding or
trance of lying on the part of the Khieevi, ("Well, for pity's

124 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

sake, Aari," Decker said, "any critter who would do to you
what these guys did is certainly not going to stop at a little
lt£\") Becker insisted on asking the same questions over and
over in many different ways.

Mac said, "You are very good at information extraction
Captain Becker. Have you been in the business before
yourself?"

"No, but my dad was great at giving pop oral exams on
the subjects I was supposed to be learning when I was a kid "
Becker said. "I never could put anything over on him. Who
knew it would come in so handy? So let's go over it all one
more time ..."

Aari found himself sweating during the questioning, remem-
bering himself in the Khieevi's place and hearing the squeal
ooze out of the creature along with the stench.

At some point during the questioning, Khornya stopped
by. When she left, Aari noticed that RK was no longer in the
room with them. By then, among them, they were trying to
explain to the Khieevi that they wanted the coordinates of the
horde fleet and of the Khieevi home planet, as well as the
codes that would allow them to crack Khieevi communica-
tion devices.

The thing had just given them a useless string of babble
that none of them could decipher when the stench suddenly
became much worse, the klacking much more muffled, and the
squeal thinner, higher, shriller. Then, suddenly, all was still.

Mac kicked at the creature. "I think it is unconscious,
Captain."

"Sissy," Becker said. "We never touched it. Some people
will do anything to get out of having to answer a few simple
questions."

"Joh, you told it we would stop its pain if it told us what
we wished to know," Aari said.

"Looks to me like the pain has almost stopped," Becker said.




125

"No, it is worse. The thing is dying. We must have Khornya
heal it. I would but—1 cannot."

"Ain't it just too bad for old klacker here that they took
out your horn, then?" Becker said, and Aari felt a flash of anger

toward him.

"We must call Khornya back in to save it, Joh. It may
^ye _ more information."

"Hmm, true. You look like you can use a break anyway,
buddy. Go ahead then. Get her."

Aari left quickly. He was surprised to see that he had to
call the robolift to return to the deck for him to descend. Its
deck was stickier than ever, despite the heavy traffic, and when
he tried to move his feet made a sucking sound. The patches
of sap were —yes, they actually were larger than they had been
when he and Becker ascended to the ship with the prisoner.
He bent down, curious, to touch the stuff. It seemed innocent
enough, but when he tried to right himself, he found that the
hand he had been using to steady himself on the deck stuck to
it. He lost his footing and fell, getting sap all over the front of
his shipsuit. He unstuck himself and regained his balance with
some difficulty. He also resolved to clean the deck as soon as
they had disposed of the prisoner.

As the lift continued to descend, he saw that the bright
blue day had become indigo night, lit only by the pale blue
moons. The wind soughed through the tall sapphire grasses.
Khornya was nowhere to be seen, but as he looked, he sud-
denly heard a raucous "Mrowl" and saw RK bounding across
the field between the beach and the woods.

As soon as the cat saw him, RK turned and leaped back in
the direction from which he had come. Sprinting a few steps,
•\J^ turned and stared meaningfully, his gleaming eyes twin molten
gold coins. He mrowled again and Aari followed, reluctantly.
rle had planned to take a slight detour and try to clean off the
^icky, irritating sap with sea water, but the cat was trying to

126 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

lead him to Khornya, of that Aari was certain. "Where is she
Riid-Kiiyi?" he asked.

RK ran another few feet and glanced back again, mrowling
for Aari to follow him. The cat was conveying a sense of ur-
gency that worried Aari. Through the long grass and to the
ferny trees, Aari followed the cat's lead. Khornya. The cat was
leading him to Khornya. She was in some sort of trouble, per-
haps wounded, or maybe she had found Maati and Thariinye
and they were 'wounded and she had sent the cat back for
help and—

Aari smelled the Khieevi spoor before he was actually upon
it. Old and cold, it had hardened to a nasty shiny trail. The
Khieevi. The Khieevi had Khornya.

He vomited what little food he had eaten that day into the
underbrush. Returning for Becker now was out of the question.
Every moment counted—he remembered -what the creatures
had done to him and his blood ran cold at the thought of Khor-
nya in their clutches. Precious time would be lost if he went
back to the ship—moments Khornya would pay for in unimag-
inable pain if the Khieevi did indeed have her. Somehow, some-
how he had to find her, to free her, to protect her. No one must
go through what he had. Especially not Khornya—beautiful,
graceful, gentle Khornya. So kind. So caring. Practical and in-
telligent too and very strong, but no one could hold out against
the Khieevi. That they should have a chance to break her into
pieces as they had him was unthinkable.

Perhaps he couldn't yet feel what he, sensed she -would
have liked him to feel for her—he still felt hollow inside, numb
and cold, when he wasn't filled with pain and fury. He had
nothing to give to someone like Khornya. But he owed it to
her to make sure she lived to receive it from someone else
someday.

He followed the spoor uphill and down again and then into




127

another section of forest, up another hill. He did not notice
when the cat disappeared once more.

But when he heard the screams, the steady jog with which
he was following the sign lengthened to a full gallop.

As far as Acorna could see, the problem was not
C^ "^       finding the Khieevi. The thing was not stealthy.

Its excremental trail led straight to it. The only
problem was how to get the better of it before it could harm
Thariinye.

They found Thariinye first. He was at the end of the trail,
wrapped up in the end of the trail in fact, pinned by a hardened
twist of it to a tree. In the chill of the night air, his breath
made a vapor, so they knew he was not dead. But neither of
them could pick up any thoughts from him, not even a snatch
of dream.

The Khieevi stood slightly uphill from him, its moon-
drenched shadow falling over them, mingling with the shadows
01 the trees. Its bug eyes were lifted to the moons, its head
bobbing. Two of its legs tended what seemed to be some sort
or electrical contraption. Sparks flew periodically between its
^gs and the machine, while two more of its legs burned a bit
°i the excrement, with predictably nauseating results. After each
^t of legs had gone through the ritual, the pincers made a
^ries of klacks, much like the Morse code Acorna had learned
on the mining ship.

130 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

Maati and Acorna thought at the same time, (It's calling-
the mother ship. We have to stop it.)

(Free Thariinye first,) was their next simultaneous thought.
Maati saw Acorna's teeth shining in the dark—humor and hos-
tility mixed.

(Work your way behind the tree, Maati. See if you can get
him loose from that stuff. Here, take my laserknife. I'll see if I
can create a diversion.)

(Okay. Be careful, Khornya.)

The two split up, and Acorna circled wide in the forest and
up the crest of the hill to one side of the Khieevi, who was
actually within a slight clearing. Peering at the creature through
the trees, she could see that it was busy with its work. Still,
she had the feeling it was only trying to make contact, not that
it had achieved its goal. Its pauses were to adjust the machine,
not to listen. The Khieevi creature must be stopped before it
brought an entire invasion force down upon them.

She needed to draw him off, away from whatever it was he
was using to communicate and away from Thariinye and Maati.
And she needed to have a plan to get away herself, if possible,
once they were a safe distance from her friends. She thought
for a second, took a deep breath, and started moving.

She picked up a stick, flung it at the creature, and raced
off down the hill at a diagonal from Thariinye's position.

"Neener neener neener!" she yelled at the Khieevi, using
an expression she'd picked up from the kids on Maganos Moon-
base as she galloped down the hill. She glanced back to see if
it was paying attention.

It gave two hops and was almost upon her.

She took off at a dead run, thundering down the hill,
screaming at the top of her lungs, with the Khieevi hopping
behind her, covering two or three yards with each hop.

(Khornya, run!) Maati cried inside her head. (I can't get

131

through this stuff without Thariinye's help. And I can't wake
Thariinye.)

(Try harder. Use your horn if you have to.)

(What if I hurt Thariinye?)

(Better that than what the Khieevi will do to him.)

Thinking and running at the same time was not easy.
Acorna stumbled across a broken tree and fell sprawling among
the branches. In two short hops the Khieevi was practically
upon her. She dove under the fronds and wriggled her way to
the trunk, then hopped up and tried to run again, only to find
her leg wouldn't -work. Sharp pains -were running up it.

The heat and stench and klack of the Khieevi were all
around her as she tried to squirm and touch her horn to her leg.

The huge bug appeared nightmarishly dim through the
fronds as it jumped—and landed on her hurt leg.

Acorna had not cried out for help, mentally or aloud, be-
cause she did not wish for Maati to run to the rescue and try
to fight the Khieevi. But the sudden pain was so intense she
let out a piercing scream.

"Hey you! Big old bug!" Maati sang out, followed by Thari-
inye yelling, "I'm over here, you slimy hulk of a feces machine!"

The Khieevi stepped back for a moment, uncertain. Then
Acorna could swear it bared what passed for teeth in that gap-
ing maw, and deliberately brought its foot down again on, well,
on the area where her leg had been, because she had pulled
the broken limb out of the way.

"Maati, you silly child, run\" Acorna cried.

"Don't you hurt her again, you dung-eating pile of—of
dung!" Maati yelled. Footsteps ran in closer.

"Maati, no," Acorna screamed. And so did Maati. Acorna
Gouldn't see what happened, but she heard a crunch and a yelp,
wen a sound as if the air was being let out of something.

'You pick on little girls, you bag of excrement!" Thariinye
hollered. "Why not tie me to a tree with your slimy trail again!"

132 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

He profited by Maati's example because his voice grew a bit
fainter and Acorna heard the sound of his feet crushing brush
as he retreated. The Khieevi gave a hop—and she was free. At
least for a moment.

Bending from the waist she rubbed her horn against her
leg once she had the bone properly aligned. The pain eased at
once, but she was forced to concentrate on the healing of the
limb rather than on anything around her. She had no idea, for
a precious few moments, whether or not Maati was living
-whether Thariinye had escaped capture while leading the
Khieevi from her, or even if the Khieevi was about to step on
her head this time.

As soon as the pain stopped and the bone had knitted,
Acorna raised herself up to see the Khieevi grab for the dancing
Thariinye with its front pincers. Thariinye screamed, and
Acorna grabbed the nearest object—a rock from the ground
beneath her—and threw it at the Khieevi.

The big insectoid was not so quickly fooled this time. It
grabbed Thariinye and began slashing at him with its razor-
sharp pincers, leaving gruesome wounds on Thariinye's up-
raised hands and arms. Acorna leaped across the fallen trunk
of the tree and pounded on the carapace of the creature with
her fists -while her old shipmate's heart-rending cries rang in
her ears.

"Let go, let go, let go!" she bawled.

The Khieevi did let go, and Thariinye, bleeding from many
wounds, fell like a limp doll very close to Maati's still form.
Acorna turned and ran.

The Khieevi rounded on Acorna, its pincers snapping. Only
a single tree hung between them. Then, with a chomp and a
noisome burst of gas, the tree -was gone. Acorna turned and
ran, leaping over the fallen tree this time, putting it between
herself and the Khieevi. She dashed past frond after frond, only




133

^corna's 'World

to have them vanish down the Khieevi's maw to reappear be-
hind the creature as another smelly bit of trail.

The Khieevi seemed to smile as it took its last bite from the
tree trunk, taunting her with its deliberate progress as it ate
away her only barrier. She kept moving, mentally calling to
Maati and Thariinye, hoping to hear a response but urging

them to lie still.

The Khieevi finished the tree trunk. Acorna backed up
against another tree. It followed her slowly, taking first one
chomp and then another from fronds she thrust between them.
It was clearly enjoying the game.

She shrieked as a pincer came within a centimeter of her
face. The Khieevi snapped at her, then brought its pincers up
again, close to her horn. She dodged and tried to dive between
its lower legs.

All at once, from the corner of her eye, she saw a white
blur. The Khieevi fell over backward, a Linyaari form bearing
it to the ground, surrounded by its flailing legs and pincers.

(Khornya, run!) Aari's voice was mental, but far from a whis-
per. (Get Joh. Get weapoiu. I will keep it hiuy cu long <u I can, but
you mwf ^ave yourself anS my ifister.)
(You can't fight it alone, Aari.)
(No, but I can Delay it. Go!)
(It will kill you!)
(I am carrion already.)

She ran through the woods screaming for Becker, screaming
Ae names of her fallen friends.

Much to her surprise, Becker and Mac, brandishing weap-
°ns, bounded toward her through the woods, Becker yelling,
"Where is he? Point and duck!"

She turned and ran back toward Aari, who, much to her
^rprise, was raising himself unharmed from among curled
^leevi legs and pincers. The creature made no attempt to stop
him or damage him. Instead it stayed on the ground, emitting

134 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

the same high-pitched "eee-eee-eee" sound their prisoner had
made back on the ship. Decker paid none of that any attention
at all. As soon as Aari -was clear, Becker pressed his rifle against
his hip and fired. A huge crackling hole opened up in the crea-
ture and it was still.

The echo of the shot had not yet faded when a pair of
Linyaari figures carrying what looked like strips of metal came
running over the hill. (Maati? Aari? By the ancestors, are
they ()ea()1)

Acorna grabbed Aari's arm and heard the mental call when
she touched him. (Mother? Father?) he said, stunned.

Maati sat up, groggy. "Did somebody call me?"

Acorna released Aari and moved to kneel beside Thariinye.
Her old shipmate did not look up, but she could see he was
breathing. His shipsuit was a bloody mess. One of his hands
dangled from a scrap of skin protruding from his sleeve. A
chunk was missing from his right cheek and one of his eyes
•was swelled shut, the lid and brow lacerated. His horn was an
inch or so shorter than it had been.

"Thariinye!" Maati cried, and rose to her hands and knees
to do a very fast crawl to Thariinye's other side. "Oh, no, look
at his hand."

"Maati? Baby, is that you, all grown up?" the male Linyaari
who had appeared during the fight asked.

Maati's face rose to look at the two tall Linyaari strangers.
Once she got a good look at their faces she ran to them, crying.
"Mother? Father? Help us! Thariinye's hurt bad. He made the
Khieevi fight him so it wouldn't kill me." She dragged her par-
ents back to Thariinye's side.

"My goodness," her mother said. "The young man certainly
is in a bad way, but this young lady is doing a fine job or
healing him. Maati?"

The male Linyaari gently shoved Acorna aside and bent his




135

own horn to Thariinye's hand. "Allow me, my dear. This boy
was little more than a toddler when we left narhii-Vhiliinyar.
And now he's been wounded protecting our little girl."

Acorna willingly surrendered Thariinye's care to the man.
She was weary beyond belief from her own ordeal, but she
needed to see to Aari. He hadn't appeared to be greatly harmed
by his own encounter with the Khieevi, although he had been
locked in its multilegged embrace. But there had been some-
thing odd about their "parting."

Becker and Aari were both bent over the corpse of the
Khieevi, studying it.

"The Khieevi -was dying when you shot it, Joh. It could
not hold on to me. See how its legs are curled?"

"Lead poisoning -will do that to you," Becker growled.

"Lead poisoning? Where was the lead?" Aari asked. "You
used the laser canon."

"Figure of speech," Becker replied.

"Aari, are you hurt?" Acorna asked, looking him over care-
ful. "The front of your shirt—it's a mess."

Aari looked down and said with satisfaction, "Khieevi blood,
mostly. You or Thariinye must have wounded the creature be-
fore I reached it. I had no -weapons."

"Neither did we," Acorna said. "We weren't expecting trou-
ble here." She knelt to examine the dead Khieevi. Gingerly, she
touched its chest along the edge of the wound made by Becker's
laser cannon. "What is this? It's not the same color as the
Khieevi blood."

"Oh—that's from me," Aari said, "I fell in the sap on the
robohft when I left the ship. It was all over the front of my
^ipsuit."

Acorna tried to remove the sap with her finger but it had
^tually sunk into the Khieevi's carapace. In fact, she saw as
^e pulled some of the sap aside, it had eaten away a portion
or the creature's shell-like protection.

136 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

She looked up at the two men who were frowning down
watching her. "What became of the other Khieevi?"

"It was dying when -we left the ship," Aari said. "I came to
get you to heal it."

"Did you harm it?"

"No—no, we did not have to harm it. It seemed to ...
believe we were harming it, though, and we let it think so,"
Aari said.

"We really were going to let you heal it up, honest," Becker
said. "As soon as -we got all the information we needed. Figured
maybe the scientists could study the thing—" He tried to sound
innocent. Acorna knew? that Becker had just thought of the
scientists studying the Khieevi. He had been very much against
healing its wounds. "Maybe it was hurt worse in the crash than
we figured. It told us what we wanted to know and then—
really, pretty conveniently—it keeled over. Aari was coming to
get you to see if you could maybe heal it or something."

Both men looked very uncomfortable. Acorna looked from
one to the other. "I don't think it was the injuries in the crash
that killed that prisoner—and I suspect this one was mortally
wounded from the moment Aari jumped on him."

"You jumped that thing, buddy?" Becker asked Aari, clap-
ping him on the back. "Way to go. I didn't think you had it in
you. Not bad for a pacifist."

"You miss the point, Joh. Khornya just said I killed the
Khieevi. How did I do that, Khornya?"

"The sap on your shipsuit," Acorna told him.

"Ye-es," Aari said. "Yes. That makes sense. I remember the
first time we saw the sap. It killed small insects preying upon
the vines in the home-world."

"Yeah, the plants thought -we were a bug, too," Becker said.
"They slimed the Condor, trying to get through its shell. Lucky
us, it didn't work."

"The sap probably only destroys selected organic sub-

137

stances. Judging by the results, I would guess that the polysac-
charides in the Khieevi's chitin carapaces are susceptible to it,
Joh," Aari said.

"Good. Anything that eats up Khieevi shells is fine by me,"
Becker rejoined.

Acorna glanced over and saw Maati and her parents were
helping Thariinye stand. His clothing was still bloody, but he
was moving the fingers of his formerly injured hand, and all of
the gashes and gouges were cleaned up. His horn, however,
remained shorter than it had been.

Aari deliberately turned his back on the Linyaari quartet as
he, Becker, and Mac began pulling another of the titanium
cargo nets around the dead Khieevi. Acorna, panting and catch-
ing her breath, stared at his back, and shook her head. He was
clearly not going to fall on the necks of his long-lost parents
and rejoice at their presence. In fact, it looked like he was going
to avoid dealing with them at all, if he could.

Miiri—Maati and Aari's mother—was the first to discover
the rash on Aari's hands. While Aari's palms -were now mostly
cleaned of sap, they were red and itching, swelling in places.
He kept pausing in the journey to rub his palms on the legs of
his shipsuit. His mother, who had been trying to run along
beside him to talk to him, noticed.

Aari tried to ignore his mother but Acorna stopped him,
turning to rest a hand on his arm, raised his palm and examined
it. I had an itchy red place like this on my finger just now,
from where I examined the sap on the edge of the Khieevi's
wound, but I put it up to my horn and it healed. Let me see
if I can help you," she said, lowering her horn to Aari's palms
and touching them lightly, first one hand and then the other.

The pain he was in was all too evident in his rigid posture and
the look in his eyes. Finally he let out a sigh of relief and gave
her a look half of irritation, half of gratitude.

138 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

"That sap, which eats into the Khieevi shells and kills them
in short order, apparently merely causes an allergic reaction in
our species," Acorna said. "It's irritating, but the sap doesn't
appear to be lethal to us."

"Mac," Becker said, "-when we get back to the ship, priority
one is for you to scrape all that sap off the robolift and collect
it, then stow it in one of the unpressurized cargo bays. I want
samples of it analyzed as soon as possible. This stuff could
be useful."

The next few hours were a blur of activity. Maati and Aari's
parents thought-spoke with the other Linyaari while everyone
worked, telling a little bit of their adventures while stranded on
this planet. Their survival here was a testament to both their
courage and cleverness. But Maati had so much to say to her
mother and father that she chattered away like a magpie, using
her newfound telepathic abilities. So, consequently, most of the
conversation centered on Maati's recent escapades, rather than
on her parents doings since they left their home-world in search
of their children. And, despite the need to reconnect with the
-wanderers, there was too much to accomplish to truly do justice
to the occasion. All the Linyaari, as well as the remaining crew
of the Comfor, bent their backs to the tasks at hand. They
wanted to load both the crashed Khieevi shuttle and the remains
of the Nilkaavri aboard the Condor, as well as any other cargo
they could reach or Mac could -wade out to retrieve. The main
Khieevi ship was simply shattered, most of the resulting frag-
ments of debris too small to be of interest even to Becker,
though they salvaged what they could.

(Why are we bothering with this trash right now?) Kaarlye,
Maati and Aari's father, asked Maati. (Don't we need to get in
contact with our people? The Khieevi were here.) The parents,
without time to sleep-learn standard Galatic from the
LAANYE, could make no sense of Becker's or Mac's thought

y[corna's 'World 139

patterns, though RK—as always—managed to make himself
understood.

(I will see what I can find out,) Maati told him.

"Captain," Maati said in Linyaari, following Becker down
the beach until -when he turned back to pick up another piece
of salvage he nearly stepped on her. "If the Khieevi are scouting
this area and the swarm is near, shouldn't we leave this stuff
until later and return to narhii-Vhiliinyar to warn the people ~ "

Becker tried to answer, first in Standard, then in the broken
Linyaari he had picked up from Aari. Before Kaarlye's confu-
sion became total, Acorna hurriedly translated Becker's answers
as physically transmitted by Maati.

"Well," Becker said, "except for finding you and Thariinye
here, we haven't had any communication from your planet since
we sent the pilyi data, honey. We told 'em to get back to us
with a translation, remember? I don't think they're listening to
us, and I'm sure they're not talking to us. I don't imagine that's
going to change now, even though -we've got things to tell them.
I hate to say it, but for all we know, the Khieevi could be there
already, maybe even been there and left.

"That monster we -were able to question only knew the
position of the fleet as of the last transmission he'd received,
which was days ago. If it helps, as far as the prisoner knew,
the Khieevi -weren't on your -world yet at that time. But -we
dont know what's going on at your home, nor can we give
them any solid information other than the warning about the
iMueevi maybe being in the neighborhood that we already
sent—you know, the one that made you and Thariinye go hur-
"ing into space? We gave your people that warning when we
fansnutted the piiyi contents—though from what you've told
us about that horse-faced vilsmar of yours, it might not have
°Re any good. All we can really add to our first broadcast is
at we've found your parents here. Whatever's happening back
your planet, our help's too far away and will arrive too late

140 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

to change anything. That's why I'm not in any hurry to talk to

your planet.

"Right now, I'm more worried about us. That bug we talked
to told the rest of the bugs exactly where this planet is, and
how rich it is in Khieevi food. The swarm could be on their
way here, for all we know. We could have a lot of time, or -we
could have very little, before they arrive. My scanners don't
show anything, but that's not conclusive. So that's why I -want
all the salvage we can manage to get aboard the Condor before
we take off. If the com system in the Khieevi shuttle is undam-
aged—it looks pretty good to me—and if we can turn it on and
get it working, there's a chance it could still be getting signals
from the fleet, which would tell us where they are, and maybe
even where they're going."

So everyone pitched in and worked for hours gathering the
cargo and transporting it to the ship. After they got it all stacked
ready to stow, they watched Mac open his forearm and extract
a paint-scraping tool. Then the android punched a button just
under the skin of his wrist that switched him to what looked
like a holovid on fast forward. With rapid sweeps, he cleaned
the robolift of sap and stored the sticky stuff carefully in one
of Captain Decker's ceramic yogurt containers—after first
evicting the yogurt and cleaning the dish, of course.
"What am I to do with this, Captain?" Mac asked.
"Stow it in one of the outer holds, not a temperature-
controlled one. The sap was doing just fine out there in the
cold vaccuum while we traveled here. I don't want to mess with
a working system. Great stars and asteroids, -will you look at
my hull?" The ConSor was normally a silvery metallic color but
now was covered with broad trails of the yellowish sap as vines
would cover a quaint cottage. "I guess this stuff "was frozen in
space and is having a field day here thawing out."

Acorna stopped relaying his words to the non-Standard-
speaking newcomers, and suggested, "Captain, -we should make

•IX

i'!-

Acorna's "World

141

certain none of the sap is left behind since it is alien to this
ecology, and may greatly damage it."

"I was gonna say that next," Becker told her.
Once the lift was cleared and they were sure no sap re-
mained on the ground, everyone helped load the cargo. Mac
returned from stowing the sap and carried the heavier items
such as the nearly intact Khieevi shuttle. Becker cast a regretful
glance at the hull of the Linyaari vessel. "I really want to take
that with us, but I can't justify the time it would take to grab
it, disassemble it, and stow it. Well, I guess since you guys
came with it, it's not really salvage anyway."

Acorna thought he was going to cry in his mustache at
leaving such a valuable item behind, so she patted his arm and
said, "When the crisis is over. Captain, we can always return
for it."

"That's right," he said, and brightened up immediately.
She translated for the newcomers again and Kaarlye said,
"Yes. Perhaps when he returns the captain could retrieve our
escape pod as well. We're very fond of it. It saved our lives,
you know."

J think -we'd all like to know how you came to be
C^ "V    here and what has happened to you since you left
narhii-Vhiliinyar," Acorna said much later to Kaarlye
and Miiri. Becker, RK, and Mac were manning and catting the
helm. Aari and Acorna led their new guests to the hydroponics
gardens to graze.

"There's not much to tell really," Miiri told her. "We left
as soon as Maati could be cared for by someone else." She ran
her hand over Maati's mane. "You do understand, my dear,
that we didn't think we would be gone long, and we didn't
wish to endanger you, should the Khieevi still be in the area of
our old home. We hoped somehow our boys—you, Aari, and—"

"Laarye died. Mother, -while I -was a prisoner of the
Khieevi," Aari said. "I'm sorry. I couldn't save him."

"Yes," she said simply. "I felt it."

(Did you feel me, too, Mother? Did you feel my suffering?)
At his mother's shocked look, the stolid, mildly bored look Aari
wore as a mask left his face and he, too, looked shocked. "I
didn't say anything," he said a little pleadingly to Acorna. She
let out the breath she had sucked in when he spoke to his
mother.

144 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

(You used thought-speak, as you did with me earlier -when
the Khieevi attacked me.)

(I—did not think anyone could hear me. I did not realize—)

(I heard you,) Acorna said. (I heard you this afternoon
•when the thing -was attacking me. It gave me courage, knowing
you were coming.)

"I heard you, too, my son," his mother said. The light in
the hydroponics gardens was dim now, simulating nighttime to
give the plants a rest. The air smelled sweet and fresh down
here. The rest of the ship'd had a very pungent odor when the
six Linyaari boarded. Even though Mac had dragged the
Khieevi corpses into another outer hold, and cleaned the sap
and the Khieevi blood from the decks, the Condor reeked. Of
course, the Linyaari horns cleansed the air. But it still seemed
like the dead Khieevi could stink up the place a little faster
than the Linyaari horns could clean it.

This area of the ship was something of a showplace, one
Acorna and Aari had worked hard to bring into being. They
had draped drop cloths from the bulkhead above the space so
that they resembled clouds and sky. The ship's artificial lighting
now shone down on them, filtered gently by the "sky." All six
Linyaari were squatted in grazing posture, in a circle, staring
at each other through eyes shining with the reflection of the
simulated moon. A little enclosed pond Acorna had created to
make the area nicer as -well as to maintain the humidity needed
for optimum plant growth sent rippling shadows across the bil-
lowing drop-cloth clouds.

"I heard you across the galaxies, Son. I heard your brother
die and I heard your screams," his mother said. "Why do you
think we left Maati with Grandam and returned?"

"To join me in the Khieevi torture chamber?" he asked.
Aari's bitterness -was all too visible then. He could not choke it
down, and Acorna knew that this was some of the buried pain
she'd been unable to touch in him. "What a waste that would

145




have been. You would have done better to have parented Maati,
even if you hadn't given up on Laarye and me."

"Rea3 me," his mother said. "I heard you. We came when
we could."

"She heard you," his father said, his face solemn and his
eyes deeply sad. "She screamed at night along with you. She
lost all sleep and appetite as she endured with you what you
endured. Did you. not hear her as our enemies killed not only
your brother Laarye, but the twins she lost before she carried
Maati?"

Acorna gazed at Miiri more closely. She was very thin, but
then, Linyaari -were inclined toward slenderness as a rule. Her
eyes were a beautiful copper color, but set deeply in her head.
The color and texture of her skin -were not good. Not sickly—
her lifemate would have healed her if it had been merely an
illness that troubled her—but unhealthy nonetheless. Strain had
etched deep lines from her nose to her mouth, and other lines
formed a diamond with points at the base of her horn and the
bridge of her nose.

"And you, Father?" Aari asked. "You felt nothing."

"You know I have very little of the empathy that is your
both your mother's gift and her curse. I concentrated on send-
ing. Sending you the directions to our new world, suggesting
ways to escape, and praying to our ancient friends that some-
how you would be saved, that Vhiliinyar itself might cast out
the invaders and preserve my sons."

Aari looked aghast. "But—I did know how to get to narhii-
Vhiliinyar. Were we not all programmed that way?"

Kaarlye shook his head, his mane flying and settling again,
briefly silver in the lamplight, a slight whuffling snort emitting
from his nostrils and lips. "Of course not. I am a strong sender."

Aari looked abashed for a moment, then defiant. He inclined
his head briefly in acknowledgment.

"But—you had me," Maati said, almost wailing.

146 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

"Yes, youngling my own," her mother said, stroking her
cheek with the back of her fingers. "We had you. It was your
birth that delayed us. Grandam would not permit me to move,
she kept me sedated with good herbs and sang me soothing
songs through the night and a circle of women laid horns on
me for hours a day until you were safely into the world. But
then, oh Maati, my love, we haS to go. With you there to carry
on the clan name, safe with Grandam, we had to go find your
brother. I heard him no longer, you see, once you were born.
And yet I had not felt his death. As terrible as his torment had
been, I knew what it meant "while it continued. It told me Aari
lived and he felt and that I was in contact with him. But then
he was lost and I did not know what to think. I could not feel
him, I could not—"

"My horn," Aari said, touching the slightly indented scar
on his forehead. "They had taken my horn. It nearly killed me.
No doubt the loss also . . . lessened . . . my ability to transmit
to you, Mother."

"Yes," his father said. His mother could not speak for the
tears choking her. Acorna was rapidly wiping away her own.
Maati sniffled and snuffled. Thariinye, strangely quiet, put his
arm around her. Maati's mother also held her daughter close.
Acorna laid a hand on Maati's knee and one on Aari's. He lifted
her hand and held it against his face for a moment, bending
his head to press it between his jaw and his shoulder. His face
was damp, but she thought it was perspiration rather than tears.
This confrontation was very painful for him, but a good pain,
she hoped, a healing pain. Aari's nerve endings burned with
life again.

"To lose a child to untimely death is almost the worst thing
there is for a parent. To know a child is being deliberately and
terribly injured is even •worse. But when I lost you, when I
didn't know where you were or what was happening to you, to
know you were there but not to feel you—that was unbearable.

147

Had it not been for the twins, and then Maati, we -would have
left to find you long before we finally departed."

Miiri reached out to Aari, but he flinched away from her
touch. She withdrew her hand and rested it on her knee. Rais-
ing her chin, she continued her tale. "When -we could, -we flew
back to Vhiliinyar. We maintained radio silence lest the Khieevi
trace the signal. But our old home planet had been violently
altered, and it seemed it was now fighting back. From our van-
tage point in low orbit -we could see that the beautiful greens,
blues, and purples of our world were gray and black now, with
angry red sores and craters all over. The seas had dried up,
leaving behind cracked and broken soil, and where once streams
had flowed through mountain meadows the barren riverbeds
flowed instead with magma from the ravished peaks. Indeed,
many of our mountains had hurled themselves into the heavens,
erupting violently. One of these eruptions destroyed our space-
craft before we could raise our shields. It came from nowhere.
We took heavy damage. Knowing that the ship was likely to
break up at any time, -we headed toward the nearest habitable
planet. As we approached the atmosphere of this world, we
barely had time to slip into the pod and eject before the ship
was destroyed. We landed here, much as Maati and Thariinye
did, the pod's sensors guiding us to a safe landing. Here there
was food and water, and breathable air. We survived and
waited for rescue, so that we could continue our search for our
son." Mini's voice grew small and stilled, her hands clasping
and unclasping on her knees, her eyes dropping from Aari's.

Acorna, her hand still in Aari's, with her other hand took
one of Miiri's and joined it with her son's. They did not clasp
hands, but they touched. Miiri raised her eyes again and
searched Aari's.

Kaarlye took up the tale. "There was little we could do but
survive, and wait, and hope that you would somehow free your-
self from the Khieevi. And here you are."

148 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

He ruffled Maati's hair. "And here you are, too, our beauti-
ful daughter, starclad and a young lady now."

Aari's hand clutched his mother's now, and Acorna slipped
away as the family reunited. Thariinye sat there watching, so
quiet it was hard to believe he was Thariinye.

Acorna joined Becker on watch. Mac had shut himself down
to conserve his batteries. RK sat cleaning himself, warming his
underside on the lights from the console. The piiyi that had
played constantly on the corn screen was blessedly shut off for
the moment.

Becker looked around as Acorna slid into the chair beside
his.

"Family reunion stuff, huh?" he asked.

Acorna nodded, feeling happy but subdued. The emptiness
that was in Aari was filling in like a dry spring after a dam
had broken, and to a lesser extent, the same thing was occurring
with Maati. It made Acorna feel wistful, wishing that perhaps
her own parents had escaped somewhere, could rejoin her. But
no, she did not feel that would happen. She had not known
them, had missed them as a baby only long enough for dear
Gil, Calum, and Rafik to learn her Linyaari baby names for
mother and father, and then she had been wrapped in the loving
care of her three "uncles" who -were actually her fathers, and
all of her other new friends, who were her family. Now she
had an aunt and a planet and so much more—and she did not
begrudge Aari finding his parents and learning of their contin-
ued love for him and Maati. And yet—

Becker leaned over and patted her shoulder. "Makes you
wonder, doesn't it, Princess?"

"What?" she asked. Becker was better at reading thoughts
than she'd realized.

"What your own folks were like, what it would have been
like to be with them, you know. I knew my mother a little—
she was a scientist someplace, I'm not really sure where. I was




149

'A.corna.'s 'World.

about three "when there were a lot of explosions and gunshots
and she fell down with blood all over her and then I was taken
to the slave farm on Kezdet. Maybe it's because I -was only
three then, but what I remember most about it was, it was
boring being with my mom. And one thing about Dad—Dad
Becker, I mean—there was nothing boring about him. I don't
reckon I've missed anything, come to think about it." But she
saw, in his heart, where that creek in him "was still dry, 'waiting
for the dam to break and water it.          ,

And she knew that in spite of all of her friends and her
adopted parents and her real Linyaari kinfolk, she had a similar
dry creek inside herself. But dwelling on such things was point-
less. Besides, she had work to do. She looked out at the stars
and asked, "Where to now, Captain?"

For the Balakiire, tracing the signal to the blue
C^ *y      planet -was not difficult. The coordinates had been

on the piiyi, and the NiikcLavri's ion tracings led
straight to the planet. But none of the crew was prepared, as
the Kalakiire began to home in on the beach where once the
Condor had landed, for the site of the Niikaavrl's broken shell,
lying open to the elements as if some massive chick had hatched
from it and abandoned it there.

They saw wreckage bobbing in the sea as well, and washing
up onto the beach. After a closer look at it, Neeva recognized
some of the fragments as coming from a Khieevi vessel. A quick
trip back to the ship to consult the scanners gave no indication
of a continuing Khieevi presence on the planet. From there it
was just a matter of figuring out exactly what had happened.
Beginning at a debris-littered indentation in a sand dune, they
followed a trail of Khieevi excrement. Liriili was given the
honor of walking in front, •which she did with the poor grace
Neeva expected of her. The broken trees, the large, coagulated
pool of blood surrounded by many other blood-stained fronds
and ruined trees and crushed leaves, drew a low, painful groan
from all them. They followed the trail further up a hill, until

152 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

they came to a place where a tree was surrounded by broken
heaps of the solidified dung. They searched farther still, and
found that beyond this last hill, the woods thinned once more
into a low marshland of reeds, and beyond that stretched the
"wide blue sea. Only a few pieces of debris bobbed on the -waves
on this side of the landspit. But tucked up next to the trees, in
a small clearing that showed signs of occupation, lay an egg-
shaped vessel covered with a symbolic design. Liriili gasped as
if this came as a surprise to her, which of course it should not
have done.

The Linyaari made their way to the shuttle and examined it.

"This is the design registered to the . . . the ship Kaarlye
and Miiri took when they went in search of their sons?"
Neeva asked.

Liriili nodded reluctantly.

"You are sure?"

Liriili's eyes were reddened and slightly bulging, as they
had been since the return of the pilgrims and the ancestors.
She had not been a pleasant shipboard companion. No number
of Linyaari horns could cleanse the atmosphere of her energy
field, which was so discordant as to upset the harmony of even
such a close-knit crew as the Balaklire's.

"I should know," she said hollowly. "I watched that trans-
mission and checked over the information Thariinye had gath-
ered from the files over and over again. It's not as if I made
my decision lightly, you know. I was doing as I always have
done, acting with the good of our people in mind, and this
is the . . ."

"Yes, yes," Khaari, who was not a diplomat, said shortly.
"Thariinye and Maati's ship lies in pieces, and we have found
traces that indicate the Coru)or, containing Khornya and Aari,
was in the vicinity of the armed Khieevi ship that wrecked the
Niikaavrl. Khieevi spoor is all about, and here is the pod belong-

153




ing to Kaarlye and Miiri, but this -whole situation is still all
about how badly misunderstood you. are."

Liriili gave her a sullen look and sniffed. "Whatever . . .
but since everyone you've mentioned except the Khieevi -who
made these trails are no doubt dead, perhaps -we could end this
futile mission and return home?"

"I'm surprised you want to," Neeva said. "In your place I
would be considering a long mission that sent me to the farthest
galaxy imaginable, preferably one where no one ever heard of
me."

"That is your nature," Liriili said. "It is not mine. I am not
a spacefarer."

"You are now," Melireenya said. "I can't believe you can
look at all of this without some feeling of compassion, some
sadness perhaps, even remorse in the case of Maati and
Thariinye."

"If you think the arbitrary decision of a council influenced
by an influx of my enemies is going to make me feel guilty,
you are very much mistaken. I did what I thought best for the
good of the planet. If harm befell anyone because of my deci-
sion, then it is the Khieevi who are at fault, not me."

Khaari rummaged in the pod and pulled out the tiny capsule
that kept a record of its flight.

In the ship's shuttle, they did a low flyby circling the planet.
Though they looked carefully, they never found another biped
lifeform on the planet's surface, dead or alive.

Back in space once more, they discussed what should next
be done.

"We must -warn our allies of the impending Khieevi threat,"
Neeva said.

"The same -way they warned us of the fake Federation
troops?" Khaari asked -with a trace of bitterness lingering from
that betrayal.

"Those enemies -were only human beings," Neeva said. "Bad

154 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

ones, admittedly, but still merely human. And they tricked our
allies. It "wasn't right, what happened to our people as a result,
but letting the Khieevi overtake any civilization without -warn-
ing would not be right either."

"I suppose not. Should I begin a broadcast?"
"No!" Liriili said, "You will lead them straight to us, and
from us to narhii-Vhiliinyar."

Neeva sighed. "I'm afraid I have to agree -with you, Liriili.
No, silence is still necessary this close to recent Khieevi depre-
dations. I'm afraid we must deliver at least the Erst of our
warnings personally."

They returned to their ship, docked the shuttle, and plotted
a course that would take them toward the inhabited planets
closest to their homeworld.

The ConDor transmitted broadcasts on all channels to all
worlds and spacecraft within range about the Khieevi threat.
The Linyaari response to their message proved to be typical—
not a single reply came from any of the planets they'd targeted.
But three days and a two wormholes away from the blue world,
Acorna was startled and delighted to see Calum Baird's face on
the corn screen and to hear him say, "This is the Acadecki, Con-
<)or. Read you loud and clear. Acorna, what in the cosmos are
you and that ;unk ship up to now? Didn't we teach you better
than to play with the Khieevi? They're not nice."

"Roger, Calum," Acorna said, baring her teeth at her be-
loved foster father, who was likewise baring»his teeth at her.
Before they could say more, however, other faces and signals
replaced Calum's in quick succession.

Becker, hearing the unfamiliar voices, came running to the
bridge, followed quickly by Aan and their Linyaari guests
and Mac.

"Damn, are we back in the Federation already?" Becker

155

bellowed. "We musta taken a wrong turn at the last wormhole.
I told you that was a left, Aari."

Aari, who was used to Decker's odd expressions said, had
picked up a couple of them himself. "I am sorry, Joh," he said.
"I must have done the wrong thing while attempting to deter-
mine which turn signal to activate."

Maati stared wide-eyed at the faces on the screen, while
Kaarlye and Miiri looked alarmed and Thariinye began translat-
ing with only a trace of his former pomp.

The younger male had changed his attitude quite a bit since
being captured by the Khieevi. At first, right after he'd been
rescued, he had retreated into himself, uncharacteristically trem-
ulous and reticent. All Maati's goading, Becker's scolding, and
Acorna's kindness couldn't reach him. But Aari had been won-
derful with him, encompassing him in an exclusive wordless
empathy extended from the first and heretofore only Linyaari
to survive capture by the Khieevi to the second. Thariinye had
responded to Aari's help with relief and something like hero
worship. He'd had a taste of -what the Khieevi were capable of,
and couldn't begin to imagine what Aari's ordeal had been like.
The bond was clearly healing for them both.

Aari had begun to speak with his parents and Maati of his
time alone and with the Khieevi on Vhilnnyar. Some of what
he described was new to Acorna and even to Becker. Now that
all of them had had such a close shave—Becker's description,
but an apt one—with the Khieevi, everyone understood Aari's
experiences much more fully. They were horrified for him, of
course, but their reaction was one of grim comprehension, not
shock or squeamishness.

With his new air of self-assurance, Aan faced the parade
of faces on the com screen with a degree of comfort he'd never
exhibited in the past.

Once everyone had been hailed, Acorna switched back to

1S6 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

Calum. "Delighted as I am to see you, what are all these ships
doing here?" Acorna said.

"We re en route to join Ha£z and his caravan at the House
Harakamian Moon of Opportoooonity," Calum said, deepening
his voice into a parody of a Scottish brogue. "It's on that moon
you used as a base of operations to rescue the folks Ganoosh
and Ikwaskwan captured."

Becker chuckled. The wily Hafiz's lust for trade reminded
him of his own for salvage. "His timing coulda been a little
better," Becker told Calum. "According to—uh—our informant,
this whole sector will be crawling with Khieevi before long. On
the other hand, if the old pirate had waited till later, there
wouldn't have been anybody to trade with, so we'll just have
to deal with it, I guess. I presume you're up for a bit of haggling
over rescuing the galaxy once again?"




aravan Harakamian had come to rest at its desti-
nation after sailing through vast distances of
space. Along the way it stopped at various water-
ing holes and oases to refuel and pick up a few forgotten but
essential supplies, experts in various fields, security personnel,
and general shopping. Its space-going "camels" were fat with
the finest cargo by the time they arrived at the desolate moon.

c

In less time than it took the genie to build the castle of
Aladdin, Hafiz and his colleagues in commerce had erected a
gigantic trade center. Hafiz used his own hologrammatic magic
to disguise the envirobubbles as giant Linyaari pavilions, such
as those described to him by Acorna and Aari. From the inside
the bubbles were all blue sky and flying birds, -waterfalls and
forests and mountains in the distance. In the foreground was
the flowering vine of goods and services, the commercial center
that House Harakamian erected solely to attract the Linyaari
and their allies to what Hafiz fondly hoped would be an exclu-
sive trade agreement.

Calum Baird had taken charge of leading a second expedi-
tion of technicians who set up relays between the new sector
and the old one, specifically Laboue and Maganos Moonbase.

1S8 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

Rafik, Gill, Mercy, Judit, Pal, Johnny, and Ziana ensured
that the kids who came from Maganos Moonbase and the crew
of the Haven were given all possible learning opportunities.
Some of the older children were now of age for university train-
ing. Those whose brains had been damaged by deprivation or
who had been kidnapped into slavery so young that they were
still catching up on their educations remained on Maganos
Moonbase in the care of trusted teachers and some of the more
gifted older children. They would help coordinate future supply
caravans, and the transmission of orders from the new Moon
of Opportunity, as Hafiz had dubbed his trading colony.

Dr. Hoa's weather wizardry created a climate both varied
and pleasant, cycling through a temperate change of weather
every thirty days. With the resident botanists, he came up with
species well adapted for several days of warm rain with inter-
mittent hard rain, interspersed with brilliant warm sunshine,
followed by crisp autumnal days that caused the special trees
to turn bright red and gold and drop their leaves before the
snow that fell only on the lawns and in the mountains on the
recreational portion of the moon, where residents and guests
were provided with skiing, snowboarding, ice skating, sledding,
and ski lodge activities.

In another part of the resort area, specially tailored palms
swayed above a "white sand beach onto which surfable waves
glistened and slid under sailable winds. Provisions were made
for the alien recreational activities Hafiz had knowledge of as
well, vine swinging (for the Limurian jungle dwellers), mud-
rolling (for the Porcinian beings of the Greater Ursine constella-
tion), and of course, high and low gravity events—long distance
jumping sports and soil diving among them. Hafiz's brochure
promised that more exotic entertainments would be offered
later.

His hologram wizardry also made the hotels playgrounds
for both the children and the sophisticates, offering a variety of

1S9

fantasy-oriented suites and facilities, even holographic houris.
He was a bit surprised that Khetala, who had been reeducating
former pleasure house employees, took it upon herself to visit
the holographic harems of the houris. While there she attempted
to convince the denizens they were being exploited and should
perhaps take up courses in accounting or business management
to empower themselves.

That was his first inkling that perhaps his colony was begin-
ning to seem a bit too frivolous for some of his associates. But
of course, the guest facilities had to be in place before the
university and healing centers could be completed.

Karina ordered up the initial hologramatic ambience for the
healing center. She also spent a fortune on crystals, candles,
gauzy draperies, drums, incense, amorphous music, and real
greenery and fountains. Hafiz was allowed to embellish her set-
ting with his holograms, but she insisted on the genuine article
as far as plant life and water features went, "for the ozone and
the extra oxygen, beloved. One doesn't get that from a
simulation."

A large portion of that pavilion was kept barren however,
awaiting the arrival of the first Linyaari trade partners, who
would of course have their own specifications.

Thus was all in readiness for the first trading partners. Hafiz
and his staff waited. And waited. And waited.

Signals had been sent on all frequencies to all planets in
the sector. Calum Baird and his technicians finished their work
installing the appropriate links and relays to allow swift commu-
nication with Maganos Moonbase, Laboue, and all other pre-
viously known Federation worlds, moons, and space stations.
But until Calum and his fleet intercepted the Condor's signal,
not a single response did the newly created facility receive.

Finally these last ships docked and by the time their crews
were welcomed and rested, the Condor, its sides virtually bulging

160 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

with cargo and expanded crew, waddled into port to squat be-
side the other, sleeker vessels.

Becker gave a low whistle as the crew, including RK, de-
scended on the spanking clean robolift.

"Will you look at this spread?" Becker asked. "Your old
uncle has done himself proud, Princess."

Acorna wasn't listening. She didn't even wait until the ro-
bolift touched the ground before jumping off and flying into
the collective arms of her uncles and old friends from Ma-
ganos Moonbase.

Hugs, kisses, tears, and exclamations flowed freely and to
Maati, seemed to sadly contrast to her own reunion with her
brother, mother, and father.

Finally, Hafiz Harakamian, mindful of the presence of four
horned Linyaari and Aari, whom he had met before, detached
himself from the storm of sentiment and greeted his new guests.

He was flanked by Karina on one side and Nadhari Kando
on the other. As chief of security, Nadhari considered it her
job to be with Hafiz in any crowd and put herself between him
and harm.

"Welcome to my pavilion, and to this Moon of Opportunity,
honored guests, Captain Becker, and er—crewman?" Hafiz said
with a glance at Mac.

RK leaped onto Nadhari Kando's shoulder.

"It's that Makahomian warrior lady again. Hello, there,"
Becker said, perhaps a bit eagerly.

Nadhari gave him a slow smile and streked RK's plumed
tail. "I see the sacred cat has brought you safely through an-
other journey, Becker."

"Yes, he was a lot of help," Becker said, reaching over to
stroke RK too, and incidentally brush his fingers against Nad-
hari's sculpted cheekbone resting against the cat's side. RK
growled and batted at him. "The hero of the whole thing actu-

161




ally," Becker continued. The growl lowered. "In fact, if he
hadn't alerted Aari to the fact that the Khieevi was after Acorna,
and then come back to lead me and Mac to where the Khieevi
and Aari were duking it out, we probably would not be the
hale and healthy party standing before you now."

RK was purring now.

Hafiz, who had been trying to ignore Becker to court the
Linyaari, suddenly turned to him, very pale despite the artificial
sunlight in his offices. "Khieevi? You encountered Khleevi\"

"Yeah, got a couple of dead ones up top," Becker said,
jerking his thumb toward the Cow)or.

Acorna rejoined the crew, her friends and relations sur-
rounding them all now as they strolled off the robolift and
toward the sumptuously appointed reception area. "Uncle
Hafiz, we will need to establish some sort of laboratory to study
the dead Khieevi and to analyze a substance we discovered on
another world."

"You need establish nothing, 0 flower of my family tree,"
Hafiz said. "We have the best of all laboratories here at your
command complete with all the most advanced devices and
equipment."

"And we have some top Linyaari organic chemists in our
crew, Uncle," Acorna said with a nod to two of the newcomers,
"Allow me to present Kaarlye and Miiri, father and mother of
Aari and Maati."

"We are honored," Hafiz said. "And our laboratories of
course are at your disposal. Just across the garden of a thousand
succulent sweetgrasses and flowering fountains you will find lux-
urious pavilions designed with Linyaari tasks and requirements
in mind." He clapped his hands and porters appeared. "When
you have rested from your journeys, we will dine."

"No time to rest," Kaarlye said brusquely. "We must ana-
lyze this substance at once. When it is warm, it spreads
rapidly."

162 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

Becker stopped the porters at the robolift. "Wait a minute,
folks. We didn't come with a lot of baggage and I think my
crew and I had better unload the sap and the —uh— prisoners.
You might want to stand back. They stink. A lot. As for RK,
Mac, and me, -we're staying aboard the Coru)or."

Nadhari lifted an eyebrow and made a very unconvincing
pout with her mouth. RK laid his ears back and wrapped his
tail possessively around Nadhari's neck. "Unless of course the
cat has other ideas," Becker finished lamely.

That night a sumptuous meal was laid before them.

Under an open canopy, silvery platters of meats and sweets
nestled among opulent arrangements of flowers and plumed
grasses upon a long low table nestled within a bank of tufted
divans covered with poufs of paisley silks and velvets. These
topped thick soft rugs of various harmonious patterns and
jewel-like hues.

Becker and his new crew sank into the divans and following
Hafiz's lead, Becker, Karina, Dr. Hoa, Acorna's non-Linyaari
family, and Nadhari Kando plucked succulent items from the
trays on the table. Meanwhile Acorna, Aari, Maati, and the
parental units grazed on the flower arrangements. Becker was
a little startled until he realized that this was the intended pur-
pose of what he had thought of as an overabundance of center-
pieces. The old man had simply seen to it that the Linyaari
"dishes" were arranged as appealingly as the savory morsels
offered to the other guests.

"Uncle Hafiz, you are amazing," Acorna said. Becker was
pleased to see that after the strain and danger and hard work
the girl had recently endured, she looked as fresh as some of
the flowers she was eating, glowing with happiness at being
among her old friends again. "How long did it take you to build
this installment, anyway? " Her eyes took in the gently lit garden
with its fountains and mountainous background, the spired and
domed palaces that formed Hafiz's chief residence and several




163

of the hotels and office buildings besides. Overhead stars twin-
ged—not any stars Acorna had ever been among but artful
stars, placed with an artistic interpretation of constellations and
formations Karina had deemed auspicious.

"Little more than the twinkling of an eye, dearest child, that
and many, many, many trillions of credits, of course."

Becker was seated on the end of one divan, Nadhari Kando
on the adjoining end of another, the Condor's first mate still
wrapped complacently around her neck like a living fur collar.
Every once in a while a forkful of fish eggs or meat didn't make
it all the way to Nadhari's mouth, however, as a paw or a set
of feline teeth intercepted it.

"But enough of my little pastimes," Hafiz was saying while
Becker was admiring the line of Nadhari's jaw and the curve
of her neck, "I am consumed with curiosity to know how it is
that you actually have two dead Khieevi with you?"

"Oh. Them," Becker said. "Well, they're survivors. I mean,
they were survivors. From the crash of their ship. The one we
caused since, you know, they had just finished shooting the
kids' ship out of the sky."

"And by kids you mean . . . ?"

"Maati and Thariinye," Acorna put in. "They apparently
decided at almost the same time we did to search for Maati's
and Aari's parents on the blue world. But the Khieevi had the
same idea, and had already launched an attack when we
arrived."

"Tell me, Captain, I am intrigued," Nadhari said. "What
powerful weapons do you carry on that salvage ship of yours
that vanquished a Khieevi vessel?"

"Yes," Hafiz said. "Please, tell us. If they are that effective,
I will order many for the protection of our moon."

Becker gave Nadhari a smile that urged her to wait a mo-
ment and answered Hafiz, "Well, sir, it is true that I have a
bunch of very lethal weapons on the Condor. Some of them even

164 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

work. Or would, if I had them assembled and installed. Which
I didn't. So then Acorna here says, what about using the trac-
tor beam?"

A smile played at the edges of Nadhari's mouth, which was
the only thing about her with any extra flesh—her lips were
sculpted but pleasingly plump, at least they were when relaxed.
He seemed to recall seeing that same mouth set in a hard grim
line above the jut of that firm and shapely jaw. It would have
had him quaking in his gravity boots, if he thought she had
any quarrel with him. But she didn't, and RK's tail tip flitted
playfully from her shoulder bone to jawline to eartip, as flirta-
tious as a courtesan's fan.

"Captain, surely you have not acquired enough cargo by
now to act as another slingshot bomb with which to fell your
enemies?"

"Oh, no, ma'am. Not slingshot this time. We—uh—skipped
'em like a rock and then played crack the ship with their sorry
carcass. Worked good, too, didn't it, crew?"

"Yes, Joh. Good," Aari said.

"Except for the survivors. We didn't know there were two
at first," Becker said.

He regaled the table with the story of the questioning of
the injured Khieevi while interweaving the story of Maati and
Thariinye as if he had understood every word they spoke of
their ordeal or had been with them while it was occurring. He
gave it a few flourishes here and there and ended by saying
modestly, "So I blew a hole through the bugger, but Aari here
had already pretty much finished him off."

"How?" Karina Harakamian asked.

"Why, by giving him a great big old hug. See, that Khieevi
was so purely mortified by all that Linyaari sweetness and light
Aari was extending to it just because he's of such a highly
evolved nature, that I figure the Khieevi came down with a

yic-orna's 'World.

165




monstrous case of sugar diabetes on the spot and it was such
a shock to its system it curled up its toes and died."

Karina clasped her plump, beringed hands over her heaving
amethyst-veiled and amethyst-encrusted bosom and sighed,
"How thrilling! And what a triumph for the light!" Then she
glanced around at the stolid Linyaari faces, and at Becker's
determinedly innocent one. He was trying to keep his mouth
from twitching. "Wait a moment. Is that true?" she asked.

"Not a word of it!" Becker exploded with laughter. Karina
was exactly the kind of audience he loved. Gullible. "Well, the
thing did curl up and die and it was because of something sticky
as sugar, but not sweet. It was this sap stuff we picked up on
some planet full of vines. But I had you going there, didn't I?"

Nadhari shook an admonitory finger at him, "Naughty,
naughty, Captain. But I must say, I'm very impressed. You and
your crew of pacifist •warriors vanquishing such formidable foes
without so much as a real weapon among you—"

"You're forgetting that I blew a hole the size of the cat
through that thing," Becker said, slightly offended at being
lumped with the pacifists.

She shrugged like a panther rippling its muscles in prepara-
tion for a longer stretch. "Oh that. A mere coup de grace. But
your ingenuity and wit amaze me. Anyone can win by force of
muscle or superior firepower. But winning because of strategy
and the ability to turn whatever you have at hand into a
weapon, I find that—very, very impressive."

"You W Becker was surprised at first, then amazed, fol-
lowed by stupefied. Him? Impress heri She was absolutely the
most impressive woman he had ever seen in his entire life and
fascinated him at the same time she scared the bejesus out of
him. He hadn't done anything she couldn't do with both hands
tied behind her back, but it was nice to hear it anyway.

"Absolutely." He couldn't tell if it was her or RK purring.
Both of them were regarding him through slitted eyes.

166 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

"I certainly do. You and I should discuss—strategy."

He -was flummoxed. The truth was, he never stuck around
for courtship or seduction much past the brief encounters in
the pleasure houses—hadn't since he was younger and encoun-
tered all the ladies who wanted a good time but thought spend-
ing any part of it on a salvage ship beneath them. Nadhari
Kando knew where he lived. She'd been there. "I—uh—I'd
really like that. I need to check in with Mac though—that's the
KEN-640 unit—he's repairing the corn unit on the Khieevi shut-
tle so we can maybe monitor their movements—"

"By the sacred whiskers, you think of everything, don't
you?" She moved closer and offered him an olive. He held out
his hand but she held it with two fingers and her thumb and
waved it teasingly till he opened his mouth, then she popped it
in. He could definitely get used to this. Her scent was a mixture
of musk and citrus, and something like a forest after a rain. He
liked it. He held out an olive for her.

"And I—uh—I guess I should get RK back, too. He hasn't
had his usual eighty hours of sleep today."

"Oh?" she said. "That's funny. He's been communing with
me. He -wants to stay with me tonight."

"Well, if that's not just like a cat!" Becker exclaimed, drop-
ping the olive back onto his plate in his consternation at his
first mate's defection.

Nadhari smiled. Her smile reminded him of RK—he just
hadn't realized that was what a cat smile looked like. "What's
that?" she asked as the cat rubbed against her cheek. "Oh, yes.
He wants to stay with you tonight, too."

"Divided loyalties?" Becker asked.

Nadhari swung her sturdy but very shapely legs down from
the divan with a sinuous slither and stood looking down at him.
"Hardly. RK is a sacred temple cat. His wish is my command.
If he wishes to be with me, and with you ..." her hand reached

167

down to cup Becker's chin and with slight pressure on it, raised
him to his feet. "I am not the one to gainsay him. Are you?"

"Disappoint my old buddy?" Becker asked, slipping her
hand through his crooked elbow. "Perish the thought. Mind
telling me where he wants to spend this time with us tonight?"

"Aboard your vessel," she replied, and he was surprised to
see that she actually had to look up at him. How did she do
that? He could have sworn she was taller. "In the hold -where
you questioned the first Khieevi."

"Really?"

"Yes. The sacred cat thinks I would find that environment
rather — stimulating."

"Kitty knows best," Becker said.

fourteen

Hafiz -would not hear of the Linyaari remaining
C3^ "y        aboard the Condor. Acorna was glad, particularly
-when she saw Becker, RK, and Nadhari stroll-
ing arm in arm in the direction of the ship.

A self-contained trio of pavilions triangulated around a gar-
den/grazing area. Kaarlye and Miiri were billeted in one, and
although Maati could have stayed with her parents, she asked
if she might share a pavilion with Khornya instead. This left
Aari and Thariinye to share the third.

Acorna spent most of the rest of the evening with her adop-
tive fathers/uncles, describing what had befallen her since they
had last seen each other.

"This Aari guy," Gill said. "You and he . . . ?"

"We're friends," Acorna said, off-handedly.

"Evidently, if he's willing to wrestle bug-eyed monsters on
your behalf," Calum said.

"We -were all in danger," Acorna said, reasonably enough.
"And Aari was trying to save us all."

"He didn't know that stuff smeared on his shirt would kill
the thing though?" Gill asked. "He just dove right in and tack-
led it?"

170 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

"Well—yes."

"Sounds kinda suicidal to me," Calum said.

"I don't really think he is—at least, not now," Acorna said.

"But he was before?" Gill asked.

Acorna suddenly felt more uncomfortable than she had ever
before felt in the company of these beloved men. "Why are you
questioning me this way?" she asked.

"Why do you think?" Calum asked, exasperated. "Because
we care about you, of course, and we've talked it over and it
looks to us like you care about him."

"But we wish to make sure," Rank said, "That—well, you're
not just feeling sony for someone who cannot be a good mate
for you, to put it bluntly."

"You must admit, pet, that we know a few more things
about men than you do," Gill said, smiling.

"Human men, yes, but Aari is Linyaari," she said. "And we
are friends. Nothing more."

"Not-yet?" Gill asked.

"No, nor will we be until he's—"

"Until he'^f ready, darlin'?" Gill pressed. "What about you?
Are you going to crew on a salvage ship until the guy makes
up his mind whether or not he could stand being mates with a
beautiful, intelligent, funny, talented, warm, and loving girl?
You must excuse us, but it's a no-brainer. Which makes us
wonder about how intelligent or warm he is."

"Frankly, we thought you'd get snatched up by some young
stud the minute you landed on your home-world," Calum said.
"We're a bit surprised at this turn of events."

Acorna dimpled at them suddenly. "Is this one of those
situations where you are going to ask me when I'm going to
settle down and give you grandchildren?"

"Yes," Rafik said, "Usually mothers do it, well, used to, but
you have no mother and we weren't sure your aunt would think
of it, besides which she's not around, is she? So we thought—

Acorna's 'World 171

that is, Calum and Gill thought—maybe between us, we should
discuss this."

"Ha£z started it, really," Calum said. "Hey, we did pretty
well, I think. Gill "was all for calling the guy outside and asking
him what his intentions were when we saw how he—how you—
how things were. But then we figured a guy -who tackled a
Khieevi bare-handed might be the sensitive type, so we decided
asking you—"

"Was safer," Rafik finished with an impish grin.

Acorna laughed. "You've asked. We've discussed it," she
said, giving them each a hug. "And I have nothing more to
say—honestly, there if nothing more to say right now. Mean-
while, when am I going to get to give my fathers away in
marriage is what I'd like to know? Judit and Mercy will not
wait forever while you busy yourselves speculating about my
love life."

"Actually," Calum said. "We um, have an announcement to
make. But I will wait until she can—"

The other two started thumping him on the back. Talk
turned to how the nuptials were to be handled and then all of
them began to feel the need to talk to their mates and Acorna
slipped away, back to her assigned pavilion.

Maati was not there. Acorna thought perhaps the girl was
spending more time with her parents. That was fine. It would
be nice to be alone for a while. As light as she had made of
her dear friends' questions, they echoed questions in her own
mind, and she didn't want a youngling new to thought-speech
to read her, even accidentally.

Du) she care for Aari simply because she had pitied him, or
was there more to it than that? How would she know? She
had never chosen a mate before. She knew her uncles had only
her best interests at heart and it was quite true that she hadn't
noticed all that much difference between human and Linyaari
males. And she felt, being raised by men, that she understood

172 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

them as well as a female could. At this point in her life anyway.
But she couldn't say she understood Aari at all. She could read
his mind when he let her and she knew he cared for her. She
could empathize with his pain. But she hadn't a clue why he
behaved as he did. She wished Grandam Naadiina or Aunt
Neeva "were here to consult with. She would have asked Gill,
Calum, or Rafik about the matter but they seemed to be predis-
posed against Aari.

With a sigh, she settled down to an uneasy and dream-filled
sleep in which she -was being courted by a Khieevi.

Aari, on the other hand, was getting no sleep, nor was he
able to progress very far in the book he had chosen from the
Condor's ancient hardcopy library, a collection of ancient Euro-
pean literature by various authors. Aari was currently reading
an excerpt from a play called Romeo am) Juliet by William Shake-
speare. The language was not easy but Aari had read another
book that referred to Shakespeare as inventing the language of
love, so he thought it might be interesting to see what the Bard
of Avon had to say. Although he could not imagine why a
cosmetics firm from the twentieth century (the ship's library
also contained a number of small brightly colored pamphlets
from this company) would choose to sponsor an ancient poet
unless it -was because he "was also an actor and they, as Aari
was learning, also used makeup.

But •while he was struggling with the language, Thariinye
was chattily giving him the benefit of Thariinye's spectacularly
successful career (according to the young male) as a wooer of
females. Aari had not had the heart to ask him to be quiet, as
he knew that the loss of the tip of Thariinye's horn had made
him feel disfigured and the younger fellow was relating his past
exploits simply to bolster his own confidence.

But in that estimation, Aari was using the projection of his
own feelings about the loss of his horn and empathy for Tharii-




173

nye's distress, not thought-reading, which he found impossible
to do -while he was trying to unravel Shakespeare's thees and
thous. So he was taken aback when Thariinye suddenly rolled
over on his own pallet and poked Aari playfully in the ribs.

"That Khornya is quite a reed, isn't she?" Thariinye said
with a wink.

"A-—reed?" Aari asked, looking up from his book at the
mention of Khornya's name.

"A—slender and succulent desirable mate, to old-timers like
you," Thariinye translated with a tolerant wave of his hand.

"I—yes. Maati mentioned that you had considered yourself
pledged to her. Is that—still true?" His voice was steady and
controlled.

"Me? No! No, no, no. By the ancestors, no! Oh, I was
smitten, of course. She is beautiful—quite a reed, as I said. But,
well, it really was just that I was the first Linyaari male she
met and she -was so dewy eyed and innocent I felt protective,
so I -wanted to warn off other males lest they not . . . appreciate
her finer qualities . . . properly. No, now that I know her better,
she is not for me."

"No? And -why not?" Aari asked, suddenly feeling protec-
tive himself, and rather angry at Thariinye dismissing Khornya.
Who wouldn't want Khornya?

"Frankly?" Thariinye said. "She's too smart for me. And
well, a bit too idealistic. And a little too strange, being raised
by humans and all. She has peculiar ideas about things so I
can't begin to guess what she's going to do next. That makes
me nervous around her."

"I admit I am nervous around her, too," Aari said
thoughtfully.

"I noticed. But you're crazy about her, aren't you?" Tharii-
nye's voice was insinuating and his eyes sly. "You want her,
don't you?"

"I ... have no right," Aari said. "She deserves a mate who

174 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

is whole in mind and body. And horn," he said, a bit cruelly,
since Thariinye was being cruel and discourteously invasive, to
his way of thinking.

"Ouch," Thariinye said. "I guess I deserved that. But I'm
told mine will grow back, in time."

Aari was quiet. Thariinye had responded to cruelty with
cruelty of his own. That was one reason why the Linyaari usu-
ally eschewed cruelty. It was not only unkind, it was unwise to
start the spiraling descent that would lead with all parties hav-
ing fallen to a lower level.

"Sony," Thariinye said again. "I'm trying to tell you some-
thing here and I keep on upsetting you. You're pretty touchy,
you know that, don't you?"

"Perhaps it is because for so long, when anyone touched
me, it was to cause pain," Aari said through gritted and bared
teeth. Then he relaxed, "I am sony too. I have begun to think
of you as a friend. Grandam says friends come together to teach
each other. I sense you are trying to teach me something.
Proceed."

"What I'm saying," Thariinye said, "Is no matter what YOU
think she deserves, the females I know seem to feel that what
they deserve is whatever their little female hearts decide they
•want. I think it's pretty clear she wants you."

"No," he said. "She is a kind and loving person. She feels
sympathy for my injury, for what happened with the Khieevi.
When she is sure I am as healed as possible, for she is a healer
above all, she will return to her human people for good as
our ambassador—stopping by narhii-Vhiliinyar to communicate
with the government perhaps. By then Joh and I will be far
away so I —" <)o I will not have to watch her leave again, he thought
to himself.

"You're just making that assumption!" Thariinye said
"Why don't you ask her? Talk to her? Take her some of these
beautiful, delicious flowers! Recite Linyaari love poetry to her!

'A.c.orna.'s 'WorU 175

She's never heard it, you know. I was going to try it out on
her but I could tell she wouldn't believe me."

"What would it tell her that I bring her flowers from a
garden that is also hers to graze?" Aari asked, shaking his mane.

"That you brought her breakfast in bed?" Thariinye sug-
gested. "No, no, go back to your book. Forget I said anything."

But the next morning, Thariinye slept in while Aari went
to see if he could assist his parents in the laboratory where
they were analyzing the sap that had killed the Khieevi. Upon
awakening, Thariinye saw the book Aari had left behind. His
journey with Neeva, Khaari, and Melireenya to collect Khornya
from her human foster parents had given him a superior knowl-
edge of Standard, he felt. With the help of the LAANYE he
had carried -with him from the Niikaavri, he was able to translate
one of the stories, although the words fell in odd places. This
particular tale, by a human named Rostand, told of a fellow
with a disfiguringly long nose—which sounded perfectly attrac-
tive to Thariinye, since long noses were considered elegant by
Linyaari tastes. The long-nosed chap was in love with a female
also desired by a more attractive male, a friend of the long-
nosed chap. Finally, because he -was a kind person and wished
to see both his friend and the female he loved happy, and also
because it allowed him to speak his own -words of love to the
female, the long-nosed male hid and spoke his love words while
the handsomer male pretended to speak them to the female.

Thariinye knew that it obviously would never work out.
There were a few similarities in the personalities involved of
course, but considerable mutation would have to occur before
such a solution would in any way serve the present situation.

Maati was a youngling, but in her capacity as a messenger,
she had been receiving a great deal of vicarious experience since
she was very small. The only other females available to discuss
this with, unfortunately, were Khornya and Aari's mother, who

176 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

was quite busy and besides, Thariinye didn't know her. Maati
would have to do.

Maati was thrilled to find herself among human younglings
approximately her age. They had been alive much longer, as
Linyaari children developed very rapidly and, once adult, main-
tained a healthy maturity of great longevity. The youngest of
these children had been alive at least eight years, which was
much longer than Maati's single ghaanyi. A ghaanyi was about
one and a half years, by Standard time, which was how these
humans measured their days.

But the younglings were barely sentient for a very long
period in their early lives, so their experience, while different,
was not much greater than Maati's own. Certainly none of them
had been messengers for their governments, although Laxme,
one of the boys, had developed unusual skill with the com units.
Nor had they been shot down by a Khieevi ship, fought a
Khieevi hand-to-hand, and lived. But the Maganos Moonbase
children, she was sorry to hear, had all endured horrible lives
as child slaves. The Starfarer children of the Haven had watched
their parents die at the hands of hijackers, had defeated and
dealt decisively "with the same hijackers, and now were in com-
mand of their home ship, with only a little help from a few
adults. The thing all of the children had most in common was
that they loved and admired Khornya, though the human chil-
dren called her "Acorna," "Lady Epona," or "The Lady of the
Light" and regarded her with •worshipful adoration Maati
found strange.

"She's just a really nice girl, like us, only a little older,"
Maati told them.

"Like you, you mean," Jana corrected her. Jana was really
nice and had been asking Maati lots of questions about healing.
At first Maati had been unwilling to answer. Linyaari did not

177

usually let outsiders know they healed directly through their
horns. Doing so could lead to incidents like the one where bad
humans took many Linyaari ambassadors prisoner and tried to
force them to heal and cleanse water and air under horrible
circumstances. Linyaari raised on the homeworld knew this, but
Khornya had not.

"Don't be so cagey," Jana had said when Maati tried to
play innocent. "We know all about how you can heal people.
Acorna healed all of us when we were in the mines and other
bad places. If it hadn't been for her, most of us would be
crippled. I don't know why you wouldn't want people to know
what you can do. It's wonderful! I wish I could do that. I -want
to be a doctor."

"I'm going to create holograms, just like Mr. Harakamian,"
Annella, a redheaded girl from the Haven, said. "He's shown me
a lot of what goes into it. It's not as hard as you'd think but
then, he says I have a natural talent for it." Then she realized
they weren't talking about careers, they were talking about
Acorna's ability to heal and she added, "But it must be wonder-
ful to be able to heal the way your people can."

Maati made a wry face. "It comes in pretty handy, like
when the Khieevi attacked us. Thariinye got hurt real bad try-
ing to save me and Khornya. He probably would have died if
he wasn't Linyaari and we hadn't been there. Or at least lost
a hand."

"That was really brave," Jana said. "Kheti is brave like
that. And Acorna is, too."

"My brother was the bravest though."

"Which one is your brother? Thariinye?" Annella asked.

"Oh no—Thariinye is a friend, sort of, when he isn't being
a hdnye."

"I don't know what that means," Jana said, "But I bet it's
not good."

178 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

"No, it's not, but he's not that way as much anymore. My
brother is the one -who doesn't have a horn. The Khieevi, um,"
Maati found she had trouble saying it, even now, "When they
captured him they tortured him and, you know—"

"We get the picture," Jana assured her hastily, hearing the
choke in the voice of the Linyaari girl. "Your brother must be
very brave. We heard he tackled that monster bare-handed."

"He did. But the monster was about to get Khornya. That
was a fatal mistake," Maati said with satisfaction unbecoming
a member of a nonviolent race.

"I've seen how Lady Epona looks at him," Jana said with
a sigh.

"Everybody sees but him!" Maati said. "He is so smart and
so brave but he just thinks because he doesn't have a horn,
Khornya would be getting a bad deal—that she might not ac-
cept him, even though everybody can see she really likes him."

"Why doesn't she tell him?" Annella asked.

"Cause she's afraid that even though he likes her, he would
still maybe reject her and I think, well, actually, I sort of
peeked. She is afraid that rejecting her would cause him more
pain and she doesn't want to do that. Grownups are sooooo
complicated."

"You'd think they'd realize that life is pretty short to be so
backward about good stuff," Jana said wistfully. "Everybody is
being so careful of everybody else's feelings they're never gonna
get together."

"That's what Thariinye said," Maati agreed, heaving a deep
and dramatic sigh. "He was talking about 'some male with a
large nose who did the talking for some other male to a female
they both cared for. Do males with long noses play the role of
go-betweens in your society? Are there any of them here we
could get to talk to Khornya for Aari—or the other way
around?"

"Nooo," said Jana. The other kids shook their heads too.

179

Their educations on Maganos Moonbase had tended to the
practical and technical and neglected the arts. Their former
masters hadn't exactly provided them with cultural opportuni-
ties either.

However, Annella's mother, before she had been spaced by
the invaders, had been very fond of theater. "He's talking about
a character named Cyrano, Maati. It's from an old earth tale."

"I see," Maati said wisely. But she didn't.

"I think he's hit on something," Annella said. "Maybe they
need a go-between."

"A matchmaker," put in Markel, another of the kids from
the Haven who had been listening carefully to what -went on.
He considered himself a very special friend of Acorna's, since
it was with his help she was able to save herself, Calum Baird,
and Dr. Hoa and help the youngsters of the Haven overthrow
the hijackers. "Only, it sounds like a lot of people have tried
to be one from what you say, Maati."

"Yes," Maati said. "Khornya's foster fathers talked to her
about it and she didn't want to talk, Karina Harakamian can't
read her mind, Thariinye said he knows she -won't talk to him,
and she thinks I'm just a kid and can't understand. But I 9o. I
understand they are both being dumb not to talk to each other.
They don't really need to talk to some third person because
neither of them will believe anybody else. They need to talk to
each other. Aari needs to talk to Khornya and Khornya needs
to talk to Aari or they won't believe it." She shrugged. "Not
even a long-nosed male could help."

"Maybe there's a way for that to happen, kind of," Annella
said slowly.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Markel asked.

"I think so. Do you think we could pull it off?"

"Maybe. It can't hurt to try anyway. Hafiz isn't going to
care. He probably 'will even find a use for them later."

180 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

"What?" Maati asked. The other kids looked at the two
Starfarers as well.

"Come with us to the holo lab. We'll try to show you. It'll
take a while, though."







Jn the days that followed, Becker staggered around
C^ "y    the ship humming marching songs. While Nadhari
was on duty, RK stayed on the ship. She was on
duty a lot, but still found time almost every day for a little visit.
Becker was chronically surprised that she really seemed to like
him, and the Corufor.

And of course, Mac was conducting, under Becker's guid-
ance, an extremely critical security operation. He could now
receive signals from the main fleet, although he could not yet
send them. While Mac was working, Becker regaled him with
cute stories about Nadhari. The captain figured if he was going
to be crazed about the woman, the android -was the perfect
party to hear his jabbering. That way he wouldn't make a fool
of himself to anyone who -was likely to gossip.

He was just getting to the part where Nadhari, in a fit of
passion, had inadvertently reintroduced him to somersaults and
handsprings, when Acorna arrived, looking bemused and dis-
tracted, but as usual, determined to be useful.

"Any luck with the corn unit, MacKenZ?" she asked.

"I have had some contact with the main fleet. They are
wondering where this scouting shuttle is. They apparently re-

182 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

ceived some communication before the crash onto the blue
planet. However, these beings are on the whole unperturbed
by peril to individual members or even vessels, from what I
have learned from our captive, from what Aari has been able
to tell me of his experience, and from what I have gleaned from
their communications."

"Where are they? What are they doing?" Acorna asked
urgently, hunkering down beside the thoroughly exhausted
Becker and Mac.

Acorna looked down at the corn unit, still mounted on the
control panel, and at a mess of other hardware from the shuttle.
"What did you do with the rest of the shuttle?" she asked.

"Smells like Khieevi," Becker said. "Without you and the
others on board, the smell was enough to gag a maggot. Maybe
the smell w<u a maggot, for all -we know. Khieevi are bugs.
They could have maggots."

"Ye-es," Acorna said. "We really should investigate their
life cycle. We would have a better idea of their vulnerabilities
if we knew more."

"True," Becker said. "Wonder if Hafiz has got any entomol-
ogists in this bunch of settlers he's imported."

"From what I can tell, Khornya," Mac said, "The fleet may
be en route to the Niriian home-world—where the piiyi came
from."

Acorna nodded. "The Niriians have been warned already
that their ship was intercepted and that the Khieevi are in this
general area and still at large. Surely they will have taken defen-
sive measures."

"In case they haven't," Becker said, "Nadhari was going to
get Hafiz to dispatch a light drone with a prerecorded message
to broadcast from space—well away from here. We still haven't
heard from narhii-Vhiliinyar, Princess, but it looks like the bugs
haven't got there yet."

"What's needed is technology that prevents transmissions

183

from being traced back to their origins, at least by Khieevi
devices," Acorna said. "Do you think we could do a diagnostic
that might help some of the engineers develop something within
the near future?"

"Yeah, if we survive that long," Becker said. "Anyhow, it
won't hurt to ask Hafiz about it."

"If the Khieevi find the drone and destroy it, that would
give my beloved uncle an economic motive anyway," Acorna
said. "He just hates to lose something he'd hoped to make a
profit on."

"You know, me too," Becker said. "Your uncle and I have
got quite a bit in common."

Acorna smiled mischievously at him. "I know."

Becker gave her a sideways glance from under his bushy
eyebrows. "Seen much of Aari lately?" he asked innocently.

"Not too much," she said, feigning lightness. "He has been
assisting his parents in the laboratory, from what I can tell.
They've determined that the sap contains a spore which, -when
it comes in contact with an insect's carapace, metamorphoses
into a fungal infection of great virulence."

"I knew it had to be something like that," Becker said. He
didn't mention that she'd changed the subject away from Aari.
"So all we gotta do basically is lure them to the place where
we got the sap and tell them to eat their fill." He chuckled.
"I'm getting good at this decoy business. We faked Ganoosh
into thinking the Federation Outpost was the Linyaari home-
world and now all we have to do is convince the Khieevi fleet
that whaddayacallit—vine worlds is full of yummy bug food
and let them and the plants fight it out to see who eats who.
Piece of—you should pardon the expression—cake."

"First, however," Mac said, "I must fix the transmitter on
this unit. While I have no problem with concentration or dis-
tractions, Captain, you do happen to be sitting against the ac-
cess panel. Perhaps you would consider moving?"

184 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

"Mutiny!" Becker grumbled. "C'mon Acorna, I'll treat you
to a bouquet or something dirtside."

They ate together in one of the little bistros Hafiz had set,
one to a building, circus, or block, for times "when people did
not want to meet in one of the several great dining halls. All
of the ones in the main compound, which contained the Linyaari
compound, opened onto gardens for al fresco mixed human and
Linyaari grazing.

"Have you tried any of the activities around here?" Becker
asked Acorna casually. "Nadhari and I are going to take a room
in one of the fantasy suites at the hotel. Complete holo land-
scapes in every suite." He sighed. "She's an amazing woman,
Nadhari."

"You really like her, then?"

"That's a little mild. I mean, there's not many women I'd
let take RK with them while they're working, but she said he
wanted to see what she did. She's the first Makahomian he's
been around since the crash. He likes being worshipped. I guess
everybody ought to try it once. Being worshipped, I mean."

Becker did not need RK. He himself looked like the prover-
bial cat who had swallowed the unfortunate proverbial canary.

"I am pleased for you, Captain. Have the two of you made
any long-range plans?" Acorna asked.

"It's a little early yet," Becker said complacently, "But I
figure after we save the universe as we know it, -what with her
brawn and my brains ..."

Acorna didn't warn him, but Nadhari herself, clad in her
green security forces uniform, crept through the garden until
she was directly behind Becker, where she caught his head in
a hammerlock, "And then what, oh brains of the outfit?" she
asked. RK, slipping through the weeds behind her, stopped at
her feet and wound around her ankles.

"Whatever you want, babe," Becker said, removing her arm

18S




without difficulty and distributing kisses up the crease in her

uniform sleeve.

Nadhari actually wrinkled her elegant, if oft-broken nose at
Acorna. "Isn't that cute? He called me babe. Nobody ever calls
me babe. If most men did it I'd have to break at least a finger.
But from Jonas, it's not lack of respect, it's protective." She
put both arms around his neck and gave him a half-comic noisy
smooch before melting back into the garden as if she were one
of the plants, the cat's plumed tail the last vestige of their
presence.

Becker sat there with a silly grin on his face. Acorna remem-
bered the word used for someone whose internal dam had bro-
ken so that the banks of their dry stream -were filled to
overflowing. Besotted. Becker and Nadhari were besotted and
Acorna was glad for them.

But she had to excuse herself before she choked on the
lump in her throat.

Maati made Thariinye close his eyes as she led him by the
hand into the holo-lab. Opening them, he saw a number of the
youngsters from the station grouped around Aari and Acorna.

He looked confused. "Is this some kind of an instructional
meeting or what? Where's Becker and the cat and your

parents?"

"Look closer," Maati told him, now letting go of his hand
and herding him in among the children. "Aren't they awesome?"

He saw now that Aari and Acorna were standing in little
pools of light. Neither of them greeted him and once in a -while,
though very seldom, one of them would flicker slightly.

"Holograms?" he asked.

Annella Carter beamed at him. "Yes! What do you think?"

Thariinye scratched his chin and circled the two familiar
figures. "Well, they do flicker sometimes. What are they? Tour-
ist attractions?"

186 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

"Noooo," Maati punched him lightly on the forearm.
'"Course not. They're to, •well, be go-betweens for the real
people."

"Go-betweens to what?" Thariinye asked.

"What's the matter with you?" Maati demanded. "Have you
gone soft in the head from too much easy living? Go-betweens
to each other, of course!"

Thariinye groaned. "I was afraid of that. You don't think
it will actually work, do you? These things wouldn't fool either
of them for more than a moment or two if they have their wits
about them."

"That's why we wanted your help," Maati said. "You're the
one who made me think of it. How do we make it work?"

"Work?" he asked. "Why ask me? I don't know anything
about holograms."

"No," Maati said, "But according to you, you know all
about loooove," she drew the word out mockingly and he gave
her a look that would have sent older and more susceptible
girls running away in tears. She just laughed back up at him
and the other children giggled.

"Of course I know more than a lot of infant younglings,"
he said. "What is it that you need to know about it? And how
does it concern your little holo dollies?" He flipped his fingers
at the life-size holograms as if they were no bigger than his foot.

"We need to know what Khornya should say to Aari and
what Aari should say to Khornya to get them together, of
course!" Maati said. She did not seem to be getting the idea
that she was a mere child being put in her place. She acted as
if he was the one who was being stupid. He didn't much care
for it, but as her words sank in, he did see -what the children
-were trying to do.

"Oh," he said. "Well, she should tell him that she loves him
and why and he—er—should do the same."

"But how would they say it •without sounding corny?" Jana




187

^coma's 'World.

asked. Maati and Thariinye had both been speaking in Standard
for the benefit of the others. Maati's Standard was quite good
by now, he noticed, no doubt the result of her prolonged associ-
ation with the other younglings.

A young male the others called Laxme tapped some keys
on his control pad and the Aari figure swung toward the Acorna
holo and said, in a comic mockery of Aari's own voice, "Oh,
kiss me, my sweetie pie," and made sounds like hooves pulling
out of a mud puddle.

Thariinye was indignant. "Stop that at once!" he said.

Laxme shrank back into himself as if he expected to be hit.

"He was just playing, showing you how it worked," Jana
said softly.

"I know, but Aari is a brave man, the bravest man my
people have ever produced probably, and I'll not have him and
Khornya ridiculed, not even by friends."

"That's -why we wanted your help," Maati said. "To make
them do and say the right things."

"What right things?" Thariinye asked.

"You know—to get them together. You say you're this big
expert on luu-uuve. So you should know, right?"

He glared at his former shipmate. "I know how to attract
a girl to me," he said. "But, uh—" he lowered his voice and
spoke out of the side of his mouth so just Maati could hear,
"as you'll remember, it didn't work with Khornya."

"Maybe not, but she's already attracted to Aari. We just
have to have his hologram to encourage her, and vice versa. So
what things should they say?"

"First of all," Thariinye told her, "You'll have to have the
holograms appear to them after they've been sleeping for a
while so that they're groggy and won't notice the shimmering."

"That's what we were going to do," Annella said. "But they
don't shimmer that much."

188 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

Thariinye ignored her. He was thinking hard. "I know," he
said. "I think I can find just the thing. Wait a bit."

He returned about a half hour later carrying the book of
ancient European literature Aan had been reading.

For the next several hours, Jana read aloud and the others
argued the use of this passage or that, 'while -Maati and Tharii-
nye, with the use of the LAANYE, attempted to translate the
agreed-upon phrases into Linyaari. Once they decided on the
phrases, they had to program the holos to move properly.

"They should look seductive, but mustn't touch a real per-
son, of course," Thariinye said. "They should lead Aari and
Khornya to a real place together to continue in person ..."

"Or a holo place!" Annella said, "None of the holo suites
in the hotels are filled yet, since we haven't had a single new
guest, just the people who came with the caravan and they all
have their own quarters."

Mac's performance and function had been greatly increased
by his recent upgrades and education, and he knew the captain
was pleased. Becker had puzzled him somewhat when Mac had
shut himself down in the captain's absence with Nadhari Kando.
"I thought you'd keep working on the shuttle, Mac," the Cap-
tain had said. "Not exactly a self-starter, are you?"

"No, sir, though I do shut myself down to conserve energy."

"I want you working on that shuttle day and night, whether
I'm here or not. So program that and don't 'worry about con-
serving energy. There's energy to burn in this place and I don't
think Harakamian will begrudge you some if it saves our butts
in the long run."

"Yes, sir," Mac had responded. And he had of course been
following instructions ever since. If he could have felt regret, it
was that now most of his social interaction was in the Khieevi
fashion. He had repaired the transmitter some time ago, though
he had not used it yet, as he had not been instructed to do so.

189

But he practiced, nevertheless, imitating, interpreting, as-
similating, and integrating the klicking and klackings until he
used them—if only to himself—quite as easily as he conversed
in Standard and Linyaari.

He 'was left alone a great deal these days. The captain and
the cat spent increasing amounts of their time with the denizens
of the Moon of Opportunity, particularly with Ms. Kando.
Sometimes they had their get-togethers aboard the ConPor, but
since Ms. Kando needed to be available to her staff, many times
the three of them shared her off-duty time -with her in her
quarters or in one of the hotel rooms available in the compound.
Aari and Acorna were busy elsewhere as well, and the few
times -when any of the Linyaari had come aboard, the initial
smell, the noise emitted by the shuttle, its corn unit's volume
on high so Mac could hear it as he moved about the ship,
seemed to distress them and they left again quickly, particularly
•when Mac accidentally greeted Aari with Khieevi klackings.

So it was that he was alone when he heard the ships sound-
ing off, a roll call of attack, heard the staccato klickety-klack-
klack of orders passed from one unit to another. The essence
was that the planet of Nirii, around which the fleet had been
gathering, was now being attacked, the fleet swarming down
upon it much as hungry insects were said to do on some particu-
larly appropriate foodstuff.

Mac listened with interest. Had he been capable of it, he
might have been excited. He was still listening when Becker
returned.

"Hi, Mac, can you turn that damned thing down? It sounds
like an army of tap dancers landing on a flat wooden planet."

"Oh, no, Captain, nothing like that. The sound is simply
that of the Khieevi invading the planet of the two-horned bovine
beings. They are passing communications among their various
ships, attempting to first conquer major cities and defense out-
posts, and to an extent prevent any possible escape by inhabit-

190 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

ants. Their efforts are concentrated primarily on the attack
however."

"Great galloping gravity, Mac, why didn't you say so?"

"You did not instruct me to do so. Captain."

"Do I have to tell you everything?"

Mac was pleased to now be able to employ one of the
captain's own idiomatic phrases, "Yes, sir. Pretty much."

"Right. Okay. You keep monitoring that thing—remember
everything you hear. I gotta go see a man about a drone."

Hafiz was explaining why the drone -was not yet in space
as he had assured Becker it -would be with all possible dispatch.
"I was preparing my message, dear Becker."

"Your message? How long can it take to say, 'The Khieevi
are coming, the Khieevi are coming, lock and load or get the
hell out now7.' "

"You don't understand, my boy. Even such public service
messages carry delicate nuances. And of course, we did not
know exactly -when or where they were coming, did we?"

"Now we have a pretty good idea, though. They're chowing
down on the cowboy planet right now."

"Cowboy planet?"

Becker stuck a forefinger from each hand up beside his
temple and wiggled them. "Two horns like cows, get it?"

"Ahh, the Niriians. Yes, I have heard they have excellent
organic technology."

"It stinks, if you ask me, but nobody deserves to have the
bugs on top of them and that's what's happening right now.
So, is the drone going up or do I have to take the ConSor up
and make like Paul Revere?"

"Paul who, dear boy? And what was he revered for,
exactly? "

"Getting his drone up before the enemy had a chance to

191

eat every planet in the galaxy, that's -what. Now then, do you
think you can finish your message?"

"Certainly."

"Good. I'll just wait then and carry it out to the drone
for you."

Hafiz turned on his recorder and rewound. "Let me see,
where was I, oh yes, 'This urgent humanitarian -warning is
brought to you through the kindness and beneficence of the
Federation's foremost philanthropic economic ambassadorial
firm, House Harakamian.' "

"A commercial'}" Becker demanded. "You held off putting
the drone into space while you made a commercial?"

Hafiz spread his hands -with an elegant shrug. "I am in
commerce after all, dear boy."

"Not for long if the bugs attack us," Becker said grimly.

"Ah, an excellent point. Very well, I shall continue."

The message concluded, "The dastardly insect creatures of
torture, doom, and enormous appetite, the Khieevi, are known
to be attacking the Niriian homeworld. Any who dare assist the
Niriians, feel free to do so, please, -with our commendations and
blessings. All others in the same quadrant might think seriously
about evacuation or defense, as your culture dictates."

Becker gave him a disgusted look, but said only, "Good.
Now then, that should be translated to all of the languages of
the nearby races. I don't expect, since -we're making first contact
here, more or less, their Standard is going to be really up to
par."

"Ah! A good point." He clapped his hands. A servant ap-
peared. "Please fetch our Linyaari guests—all of them. Ask
them to bring their clever translation devices and tell them it
is a matter of some urgency."

Hours later, -which seemed like months to Becker, each Li-
nyaari had contributed a translation of the message in all of the
languages each of them knew. Since all but Maati and Acorna

192 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

had spent considerable time visiting nearby planets at some
point in their lives, they felt they had pretty much covered it.

Meanwhile, Nadhari and her staff went on red alert, and
to the whine of the sirens, the first evacuation drill began, just
as the drone was shot into space.

The Balakiire had not yet landed on the first planet on the
list of those to be warned when they heard a broadcast that at
once made their mission and their caution futile and provided
them with a new mission.

Oddly, this new mission began in a similar fashion to their
present one.

"Mayday, Mayday! This is the Niriian vessel Fo^en broad-
casting a Mayday to all worlds and ships in the area. Our
homeworld is under attack. The Khieevi have landed. Our ship
escaped before the invasion. Mayday! Come in, please." With
a glare at Liriili, Neeva picked up the communication device.

"Please give us your coordinates, Fo^en. The Linyaari ship
Balakiire, is reading you loud and clear."

The Niriian gave the Fo^en's coordinates. "Hurry, Balakiire.
We are nearly out of fuel and air. We were on our way in for
both when the Khieevi attack commenced. The Khieevi have
covered our cities like sweet-bugs converging on their hive."

"We are coming, Fo^en. Please do not send additional com-
munication unless we request it or you are in further distress.
To do so may alert the Khieevi to your—and our—position.
Signal that you have understood and then please, silence unless
we contact you."                        ••

"Understood, Balakiire. Be swift, be swift, please."

Liriili snorted. "I suppose we will join them just in time for
a Khieevi attack."

"Perhaps," Neeva said. "But I, for one, hope not. At least
their signal should be heard by nearby worlds and other craft,
so our personal warnings to those worlds will not be necessary."







193

"I wonder what they will make of it on narhii-Vhiliinyar,"
Liriili said with a bitter smile. "I warned them."

"Yes, you did, and fortunately, with you no longer in
charge, they will probably ready the evacuation ships, refuel
the fleet, gather the lifeforms, and prepare to leave narhii-Vhilii-
nyar in the direction farthest from the Niriian world. I suspect
they may fly into Federation space. That will be the recommen-
dation of those of us who have been in contact with the peoples
of that alliance."

"Yes, and they "will come with their weapons, disrespecting
the principles the Ancestors taught us."

Melireenya turned in her seat and stared at the former vii-
zaar, "What is it with you? You are not satisfied one way or
the other. Would the destruction of our people please you now
that you have been deemed unfit to lead them?"

Liriili gave her a superior smile but didn't answer. Neeva
was becoming alarmed by the woman's attitude. Instead of help-
ing her heal, this entire experience was driving her more and
more into herself. She -was so aloof there was no question of
touching her with a horn to try to heal her and besides, she
seemed to be resistant to the usual bonding that cohered the
Linyaari.

The next hours were spent in preparation to take the Nirii-
ans aboard. The Balakiire had no fuel to give them, and their
ships were fueled somewhat differently. Extra berths were pre-
pared, the gardens hyper-planted with varieties of plants the
Ninians "were known to favor.

The Niriians were pathetically glad to see their Linyaari
allies, and also somewhat shame-faced. "VLfe^haanye-Ferlili
Neeva," the captain of the Niriian ship began. "We heard you
and your crew had been taken into custody by false authorities.
Please know that our lives are yours from this day forward and
we will defend you always to any—"

She choked, sputtered, swallowed, and continued. "I was

194 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

about to say, to any who seek you on our planet. But it is
unlikely we will have a home to return to."

"Which brings up a good question," Khaari interjected.
"Where should we go now? Return to narhii-Vhiliinyar?"

"Yes, but we should emulate Captain Becker and take eva-
sive action, don't you think, rather than returning directly? In
case the Khieevi have spared any ships to follow the Fo^en."

"A lot of good it did the junk man," Liriili sneered.

"How do you know what good it did him?" Khaari de-
manded. "We don't know what became of anyone yet."

But they were to learn very shortly. On the other side of
the wormhole, they picked up a broadcast.

The first portion was in Standard, and while the Balakiire's
crew were putting their heads together trying to remember
enough of that language to decipher the message, it was re-
broadcast in other languages.

The Niriians became agitated, "They know! They know
about the attack! Perhaps they will send help. They are speak-
ing our tongue!"

Neeva looked up. Khaari said, "I know that voice! That's
Thariinye speaking!"

"He's alive!" Melireenya said.

"Of course he is," Liriili said. "I told all of you that he
would be perfectly all right, and no doubt the brat is as well."

The language switched again, this time to Linyaari, and
Neeva smiled widely. "That's Khornya."

They recognized other voices as the broadcasts were re-
peated in other languages—Aari's and those of Miiri and Kaar-
lye, which made Khaari, who was related to Kaarlye on her
mother's side, sigh with relief.

When the Standard broadcast was repeated, Neeva said, "I
know that voice, too. Doesn't that sound like Khornya's kind
and generous uncle Hafiz? He spoke before we parted of start-

195

ing a trade colony on that moon where we went to recuperate
after-"

The other two nodded, indicating she needed to be no more
specific. "That must surely be where they all are now."

"I have the coordinates right here, Neeva," Melireenya's
voice practically sang. "Perhaps he can contact the Federation
and they will drive the Khieevi away." She smiled up at the
Niriians. "Your world may be saved yet."

They clasped each other so tightly their horns locked. "Only
let it be so," the captain said fervently.

Acorna 'was awakened by a brilliant light shining in her
eyes. She opened them wide. She was very tired, having spent
the day formulating evacuation plans for the children. The first
shipload carrying the youngest ones was to leave in two days'
time with Calum on the AcaSecki. The crew of the Haven would
send their youngest along too, but the older ones insisted they
would stay and fight. Acorna had also done translations of fol-
low-up messages to broadcast in the languages she knew—Lin-
yaari of course, but also Federation-based languages. The
Khieevi had invaded Federation space once in search of Lin-
yaari, who was to say they would not do it again?

The tension and her efforts both had •wearied her until she
had fallen onto her cot too tired to say goodnight to Maati.

Now the light awakened her and her first thought was that
she was being wakened because the compound was under
attack.

Aari knelt beside her, a few feet from her sleeping pad. He
looked rather odd, but not especially alarmed. Maati, on the
other side of Acorna from her brother, was rolled onto her side
and covered completely by her blanket. She did not seem to
notice the light. Acorna rubbed her eyes. "What is it, Aari? Is
something the matter?" she whispered.

"Hark!" he said.

196 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

"What?" she asked, thinking for one ridiculous moment that
he might break into a holiday carol, though she had no idea
why he would unless he had been inspired by something he
had been reading. But the archaic term was the only word he
uttered in Standard. The rest was in Linyaari.

"What light is breaking through the pavilion flap over
there? It is the suns and Khornya is the moons!" he asked in
a very soft version of their rather nasal native language. Evi-
dently this was not, then, an alarm, unless it was perhaps in
some sort of code.

Otherwise, oh dear, she had to wonder if perhaps he might
have a fever? An infection perhaps? Or a poisoning? She had
no idea really which dangers he might be more susceptible to,
without his horn, than the average Linyaari.

"Aari, are you all right?" she asked. "You look rather-
well, no pale, but see-throughish. I don't like the texture of
your skin. And what you are saying does not entirely make
sense. Here, let me feel your pulse. . . ."

But he backed away a bit, babbling, "A reed is a reed by
any other name and would still not smell very much but be as
graceful and delicious as Khornya." He beckoned her to follow.
Which she did because whether his strange utterances were a
code for danger or because he was ill, she could hardly ig-
nore them.

Aari thought at first he must be dreaming. Khornya knelt
a short distance from his sleeping mat. She was surrounded by
a very bright light, as if perhaps she'd taken .radiation, and was
looking at him with a yearning that echoed that he felt when-
ever he looked at her.

"Khornya!" he said, when she did not speak. "Khornya, is
something wrong? Are the Khieevi attacking?" He looked for
Thariinye, to waken and warn him, but the other man was not
on his mat. This was not unusual for Thariinye. He had been




197

gone a great deal lately, working on translations and evacuation
procedures and also apparently chatting up females, even if they
were the wrong species, just to keep in practice, as he said.

Khornya did not answer him directly but instead said some-
thing very strange. He thought it might be code, but if so, no
one had given him the key.

"How do I love you?" she asked in Linyaari. "Let me count
the trails! I love the very ions scattered behind your vessel. I
love the fragrance of the grains on which you sup. I love the—"

"You do?" Aari asked, comprehending that what she said
was complimentary if not particularly coherent, evidently not
code, but her own pent-up feelings. Her tone of voice was
rather declaiming and he could not read her at all. But then,
there were times when that happened to him. "But—I have
no horn."

"I love the horn you do not have and the horn you used to
have and the horn you will have again," she continued, rather
than answering him. "Come, my love, let us wander into a
secluded bower and there take our ease, if you know what I
mean?" Very un-Khornya-like, she waggled a silver-white eye-
brow and winked at him. He wondered if perhaps Hafiz's gar-
dens had inadvertently been planted with a stand of what was
called "loco weed" in the ancient Zane Grey novels of the wild
western America.

Either that or it was some peculiar female mating ritual his
mother had neglected to tell him about. Well, there was no time
to consult her now. Khornya was wafting away and he could
not let her wander around this huge alien compound in such a
state. Someone might take unfair advantage of her. He rose to
follow her.

She flitted ahead of him like one of the ectoplasmic entities of
the wraith-haunted ruined -world of Waali Waali his parents had
taken him to as a child. Back in the early days of terraforming
technology, a powerful company had rapidly terraformed planets,

198 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

raised great cities upon them, and settled •whole transplanted
civilizations upon their surfaces, where they thrived and bred,
loved and warred for several eons. And then the terraforming
destabilized, the ice caps melted, the seas froze, the mountains
erupted, and the ground opened and buckled. The cities were
ruined and the people were killed, but the heavy gravity kept
them bound to the surface, which had an indelible memory of
the former grandeur of its cities imprinted upon its ruins. A
similar, more tangible memory of its inhabitants, now bodiless
spirits seeking some solid vessel in -which to be reborn, flickered
about the ruins in the same "way Khornya's white form was now
kindled, now quenched, as she wound her way through the
ornamental back alleys of Hafiz's compound.

He could only follow, the winds and rain of Dr. Hoa's
climactically generated monsoon soaking through his mane, his
steps clicking quickly up cobbled steps leading through narrow
passages and by doorways shrouded -with night-velveted rugs
and blankets, their patterns picked out golden with the light of
the holo-torches from the main thoroughfares. Suddenly he saw
Khornya's -white form disappear through a doorway and he
found it, concealed by a waterfall of luminous beads, then he
too quickly entered.

He threaded through -what seemed a maze, except that in-
stead of blank walls, there were more often curtains, blankets,
rugs, beads, and once, the side of a large gray beast with flap-
ping ears, long curving fangs, a nose like a snake, legs like
pillars, and small, disinterested eyes that regarded him mildly,
then returned to contemplating the infinite. Aari passed the
beast, but when he looked back, all he saw was blackness.

He began to -wonder and to fear. Perhaps he was still in
the Khieevi torture machine, and his mind -was playing cruel
tricks on him, all of this a mere illusion to build his hope, to
give him a dream they could cruelly dash? But—-well, no. He
didn't hurt. That was a sure sign there were no Khieevi. When

199

he had been with the Khieevi the pain -was always -with him
and now there -was nothing but his body, feeling whole and
quite astonishingly alive, and the night, and Khornya flickering
ahead of him, a beckoning candle.

Abruptly, her white form twinkled out ahead of him and
then, much farther than he thought she could have gone in such
a brief instant, he heard her call, "Aari?" in a rather plaintive
and childish voice. He rushed forward.

"Khornya? "

"Aari, where are you?" she sounded not frightened but
anxious.

"Right behind you. I'll be there in a moment," he called,
and he -was. Suddenly he found himself facing her across not a
room, but a moonlit field, much like the ones he remembered
from Vhiliinyar when he -was a boy. The moons shone down
through mist rising from a free-flowing stream, and night birds
crooned softly from the boughs of scattered trees. Khornya
stood near one of the trees beside the stream, and noted his
arrival with relief.

"There you are!"

"Of course I am." He went to her. He -was relieved to see
she seemed healthier and more substantial than she had at first
appeared in his pavilion. Her skin radiated warmth and the
sweet clean floral smell she carried with her. But there -was
another more enticing scent emanating from her as -well. She
looked up at him -with her eyes wide and shining as the moons
and her mouth moist.

"I feared you wouldn't come back," she said softly.

"Against love's fire fear's frost hath dissolution," he said.

"Excuse me?"

"It's something I read recently," he told her, his hand run-
ning through her mane, the backs of his fingers stopping to feel
the curve of her cheek. "It seemed appropriate."




She sighed. "It sounds better in Standard."

200 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

"I will ask my parents to tell me Linyaari love poetry and
fill your ears with it, if that's what you -want," he said, realizing
that the language of love must have been what she'd been trying
to speak when she -was in his tent. She was right, even with
the meaning rather unclear, the poetry from the books he'd
been reading did sound much better in Standard.

"That is not all I want," she said, her voice husky and her
breath sweet.

He felt parts of himself he'd thought dead rushing to fill his
veins with life as hot and strong, as urgent as magma seeking
to escape a volcanic fissure. She lifted her arms, almost as if in
a trance, and he took her into his own and held her. Her sweet
musky scent swept over him as they slid together into the wild-
flower sprinkled grass, which was not damp and dewy as he
expected, but as warm and comforting as a blanket.

Annella and Maati let out a sigh at the same time. Jana
pulled them away from the control booth for the holo suite.
She had Laxme by the ear. Thariinye lingered a little until
Maati reached back and snagged his arm.

"They deserve a little privacy," she said.

"I maybe should have given him a few more pointers before
we started this," Thariinye said.

"There was no time," Laxme said. "They're going to make
us leave pretty soon and we had to finish it—get them together
before whatever is going to—happen, happens."

"Looked to me like he was doing—they both were doing—
just fine, without your advice," Maati told Thariinye. "And we
should leave them to do it."

Jana grinned at her. "I think you're wise beyond your
years, Maati."

"Someone has to be," Maati said, with a meaningful look
at Thariinye.

Feeling quite pleased with themselves and considering their

yicorna's 'World 201

good deed a job -well done, the group of young people emerged
from the Spanish-Moorish castle that housed the grandest of
the holo hotels. The curtain swags and bead-draped maze of
back streets through which Aari and Acorna had followed each
other's doppelganger was the hotel lobby. The suite Aari and
Acorna occupied now was on the second floor. The field of
fragrant flowers and grass was actually a rather nice Turko-
moon carpet, the stream an en suite lap pool, in case they
wanted to bathe after their . . . activities.

No sooner had they emerged however, than Maati realized
the air smelled subtly different—she recognized the smell too.
It was the smell of ships landing. Linyaari ships. She recognized
it even before she heard the boots pounding in concerted double
time down the street from the spaceport.

With each stroke of the hand, each gentle nip of teeth or
lap of tongue, Acorna felt more and more bonded to Aari, as
if they -were exchanging their very molecules, which of course,
they -were, romantic as the thought might sound. It didn't feel
unromantic however. The urges that had been mysteriously ris-
ing in her, troubling her dreams, thrilling her at inappropriate
moments, were all about thi). This exquisite agonizing ache that
made her feel as if she would burst from her skin if something
didn't happen. She knew Aari felt the same -way and yet, he
hesitated.

"If we—continue," he said. "There will be no going back."

"Why would I want to go back?" she asked. "You are my
lifemate. I think I've always known that."

"Really? I didn't think—I couldn't hope—"

She shushed him with a kiss and they moved so that she
was poised above him, his hands on her waist.

"Now, beloved?" he asked.

She bit her lower lip and nodded emphatically, "Yes. Now."

202 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

The double-quick pounding boots rounded the corner and
the security forces halted with two quick and perfectly synchro-
nized stomps. Nadhari Kando paced effortlessly at the head of
the cadre and Captain Becker pantingly trailed behind the buff
and ready cream of planetary militia from Federation -worlds.

Nadhari glared at the children. "It is long after curfew."

"What curfew?" Jana asked, innocently.

"Were you not at the briefing at twenty hundred hours this
evening?" Nadhari asked. "We have a red alert situation and a
curfew is in effect until further notice."

"So what're you gonna do, shoot us?" Laxme demanded.
He liked being free after his childhood in the mines. He did
not take kindly to orders, even from the good guys. Or gals.

Nadhari pursed her lips and regarded him seriously. "No,
but you could ask Becker's friend Aari how much fun it is to
not be where you're supposed to when the evacuation starts
and be left behind when the Khieevi attack."

None of the kids said anything and Nadhari continued.
"Now then, Maati, Thariinye, you are to report to the reception
area. The Balaklire has just landed and they are very anxious
to see that all of you are alive and well. I need to find Aari
and Acorna, too."

Becker grimaced and told Maati, "That witch of an adminis-
trator came on the Balakiire, too. I bet the Linyaari couldn't
take her on the planet anymore. But Neeva really wants to see
everybody and make sure you're all okay."

"I'll go tell her Khornya is okay," Maati said. With a wicked
grin she added, "Thariinye can fill Liriili .in."

"No, that's okay," Becker said. "Just tell us where Acorna
is and I'll get her."

Thariinye's glance strayed toward the hotel entrance and
Becker asked, "Are they still in there? Why didn't you say so?'

"Good. I'll fetch them," Nadhari said, and before anyone
could stop her she pushed past them and entered the hotel.

203

Moments later she emerged, looking most uncharacteristi-
cally embarrassed and shame-faced. "Why didn't you tell me
they were—uh—occupied? " she demanded. "I thought you had
all been playing a game or having a meeting or something!
What were you doing, using their rendezvous as a training
class?"

Maati's face fell. "Noooo, we were trying to get them to-
gether. And we did, too. And now it's all ruined!"

"Uh—not entirely," Nadhari said. "Not from what I saw.
But I certainly spoiled the mood."

Annella groaned. "It took us weeks to set that up."

"Set what up?" Becker asked suspiciously, but Annella,
Markel, and Jana were shaking their heads slightly that Maati
should say no more.

In a few minutes, Aari and Acorna walked purposefully
from the hotel, as if they hcu) been interrupted in nothing more
personal than a meeting, except that every once in a while one
of them would steal a look at the other one. And smile. Or
sigh. Or get lost in looking and stumble.

Nadhari said nothing as she led the way back to the space-
port. Becker talked rather a lot.

The Niriian refugees endured the Linyaari reunion
C^ "V      and the subsequent confusing introductions as
well as they could, until at last they met someone
whose name they recognized. "And this," Vi^ec>haanye-ferUU
Neeva said, "Is Mr. Ha£z Harakamian."

"The Hafiz Harakamian of the message?" they cried, and
faced him with broad smiles. "Ah, it is you, exalted sir, who
will save our world and our people. But it must be done quickly.
Many die even as we stand here -wasting time with these
formalities."

Neeva translated and Hafiz smiled broadly back at his
guests. "I am very sorry for the plight of your planet, dear alien
beings, but you see, I am a merchant. While it was within my
power to provide you and the neighboring worlds with a warn-
ing about the Khieevi menace, I am not a -warrior or a warlord,
merely a humble tradesman."

This was the point when Khornya was sorely missed. Neeva
understood Niriian very well indeed, but she missed many of
the nuances of Hafiz's speech.

"He says he can't save them," Neeva said. "He is no -war-
rior, merely a rich merchant."

206 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

Hafiz caught her look and saw that he had fallen somewhat
in her estimation. The Niriians weren't buying it, however. They
set themselves even more squarely in front of him and stuck
their round jaws out a bit and smiled even more broadly and
determinedly.

"Sister-child's father's sister-brother Hafiz," Neeva said, for
had he himself not said he felt as if he were related to the
Linyaari as he was to Khornya herself—therefore he would
naturally also be related to Neeva. "I must tell you that these
Niriians are very stubborn people. Once they put their minds to
a thing, they do not budge until they have achieved their goals."

"Most admirable," Hafiz said nodding and smiling still. "But
their tenacity cannot change the facts."

At this impasse, Nadhari Kando and Captain Becker and
the little cadre of security troops Nadhari commanded marched
into the reception area. With them were a gaggle of children
including Maati, as well as Thariinye, Aari, and Khornya.

"My husband is a merchant, as he has explained to you
elevated alien beings," Karlna Harakamian now addressed the
Niruans with an apologetic flutter of lilac-and-violet draperies
and a sparkle of amethyst-jeweled hands. "Surely you would
not wish him to subject himself and those he protects to the
same fate your planet has met? Hafiz is a genius at accumulat-
ing and distributing useful things and services. The idea of the
sort of mass destruction the Khieevi wreak is abhorrent to him,
but also totally incomprehensible. I don't know how you could
possibly imagine he could be of assistance."

Liruli had a fine curl to her lip and to " Neeva, said in Li-
nyaari, "It is as I suspected. Your great hero—our adopted
'uncle'—is perfectly willing to trade with us but as far as being
a true friend of anyone but himself—hah!"

Neeva tried valiantly not to let the disappointment show in
her eyes as she murmured to the unflinching Niriians.

Acorna was roused from her bemusement by this exchange,

207




and separated herself from Aari and the others to go stand next

to Hafiz.

To Liriili she said, "That is not fair. Uncle Hafiz is responsi-
ble for the lives of all of the people here and their welfare has
to be his first consideration. And he and Captain Becker have
been making some strides in perhaps finding a way to combat
the Khieevi without risking more lives."

"Is that so?" Liriili demanded. And before anyone could
stop her, she translated a version of what Acorna had said to
the Niriians. The result of this was that one of them, following
Acorna's glance to where Becker stood beside Nadhari, reached
out a muscular arm and hauled Becker into a great crushing

hug.

Liriili smirked. "Our allies say the junk man is their hero
and surely if he knows a way to fight the Khieevi, he will use
it quickly to save what is left of their world."

Acorna translated to Becker, "They want you to use the
methods we have discovered to fight the Khieevi now, Captain,
to save the rest of their -world."

"Okay, okay!" Becker hollered. "Just tell them to let me
go! We'll talk."

This time Thariinye stepped in to translate, adding his
usual flourishes.

The Niriian did not loosen its grip on Becker.

"What did you say?" Aari asked Thariinye. "It's not

working."

"I told them the captain was a great hero and had already
slain many Khieevi and would save their homeworld with the
help of the philanthropist Uncle Hafiz."

"Tell them they have to let Captain Becker go before he
can help them," Acorna suggested.

Thariinye spoke to the Niriians again and the one who held
Becker released him with such an enthusiastic clap on the back

208 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

that the captain staggered into the arms of Nadhari Kando, and
stepped on the cat's tail as he stumbled.

RK rewarded him by opening his leg from kneecap to ankle.

Nadhari patted Becker absently and shoved him gently
aside to pick up the cat and croon to it. "Your servant meant
no disrespect, sacred feline. Is your magnificent tail broken?"
She looked at the nearest Linyaari, -who happened to be Liriili.
"Please heal the tail of the sacred temple cat."

Liriili, much to the surprise of anyone who was paying at-
tention to her, abandoned her goading behavior of the rest of
the humans to add one of her hands to Nadhari's in RK's thick
fur, cradle his tail in the other hand, and gently lowered her
horn to touch it. The cat immediately began purring and rubbed
his cheek against Liriili's.

"If that isn't adding insult to injury!" Becker yowled, clutch-
ing his bloody pant leg.

Aan scowled at Thariinye, who quickly stopped jabbering
to the Niriians and knelt beside Becker. "Sorry, Captain, allow
me." He placed Becker's foot upon his own bent knee and ran
his horn the length of the cat scratch.

Becker let out a long sigh of relief.

Liriili was crooning to RK. "I had a little pahaantiyir once
and you are very like him, sacred temple cat, yes, you are, you
lovely creature!" Tears were actually coming to her eyes now.
"Oh, how I wish he were with me now, my little friend, when
I am surrounded by ill-wishers."

RK purred as if he had found a new best friend.

"Traitor," Becker growled.

Come, my friends, let us refresh ourselves in the gardens
and discuss this brilliant plan of ours." Hafiz waggled an eye-
brow at Becker, but the eye under the brow was extremely
skeptical.

Of course, Becker didn't really have a plan. Acorna knew
that. But between the experiences the current crew of the Con-

209

9or had and the skills and resources of Hafiz Harakamian,
Acorna saw the components of a rather good plan taking form.
All it took to formulate -was for everyone involved to pool
their resources.

As the others trailed off behind Hafiz, Acorna fetched Mac.
"The captain told me I should remain here, Acorna, and
monitor the Khieevi broadcasts."

"You are recording them, aren't you?" Acorna asked.

ft-^r     if

Yes.

"Then you can listen to the recordings when you return. We
need you now, MacKenZ. Captain Becker is going to explain to
Uncle Hafiz how we can defeat the Khieevi."

"Oh, that would be most instructive. I am grateful you
thought to bring me, Acorna."

She smiled and eased him away from the Khieevi shuttle.
He had spent so long with it the smell had permeated him and
she had to stop and give him a once-over -with her horn to
erase the unpleasant odor.

"Of course you must come, Mac. Without you and your
skills, we would not have a hope of defeating the Khieevi."

"Now then, Captain, we are all eager to hear your plan,"
Neeva said.

"Ye-es, dear fellow," Hafiz said. "Please enlighten us."

"Oh, you're part of it, too. Uncle Hafiz," Acorna assured
him. "In fact, we can't do it without Uncle Hafiz's holographic
magic can -we, Captain Becker?"

"Uh—no, of course not," Becker agreed.

They sat on low cushioned chairs positioned near the foun-
tain. Servers brought delicacies for the humans, while the Nirii-
ans and the Linyaari -were invited to pluck -whatever appealed
to them from the bounty of the lush gardens surrounding the
pool into -which the -waters splashed from the horn of a unicorn,
rampant. The Linyaari who had not yet seen this fountain re-

210 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

garded it with wonder, even Liriili. This was not the usual way
in which homage was paid to the Ancestors, but no doubt the
Ancestors would approve.

"And as I was telling Mac, we can't do without his skills.
Of course, if Aari had not made an effort to recall all he knew
of the Khieevi, had not concentrated so hard on the piiyl that
was, I am sorry to say, Toroona and Byorn, the legacy of one
of your brave crews, we would never have learned their lan-
guage or anything about how they function." The Niriians were
actually a mated couple, female and male, rather than two males
as those unacquainted with the species had assumed. Becker
was surprised to find that his ribs had almost been broken by
Toroona, the female.

"Yeah," Becker said, "Aari found out about another impor-
tant part of the plan too. Namely that a substance we discovered
while on a salvage mission is toxic to the Khieevi. And what
Kaarlye and Miiri have been doing is analyzing the damage to
the corpses as well as the effects of the substance on other
things. What have you folks come up with anyway?"

"We are still exploring possible ways to synthesize the sub-
stance, Captain, and to utilize it in a controlled fashion outside
its native environment."

"That's okay," Becker said. " 'Cause the truth is, there's
nothing wrong with using it in its native environment. See, it's
this vine world, full of these big plants that secrete the sap that
eats through the Khieevi shells. The way I figure it, if Hafiz
here can make use of his holos to make the vine world appear
to be like a Linyaari outpost or something,'and Mac can per-
suade the Khieevi that he's one of their guys who survived in
the shuttle we've been—well, Mac's been—studying, and we
can set up drones and such to make it seem inhabited, then the
Khieevi will maybe leave the Niriians to come to the vine world,
and the vines will attack 'em, sap 'em, and no more Khieevi."

Everyone agreed that it was a brilliant plan. Almost all of




^coma's 'World

211

it could be carried out by remote control, once the vine world
had been prepared to look inhabited. The only danger was that
the vine world was closer to both the Moon of Opportunity
and to narhii-Vhiliinyar than the Niriian homeworld, but they
could not, of course, let that weigh too heavily against the lives
of any Niriians still surviving the initial Khieevi attack.

The Niriians listened anxiously to the translations, their
faces stoic, but when they spoke at last their words sounded
urgent.

"Time is of the essence," Neeva interpreted. "They implore
us to begin implementing the plan immediately."

The Moon of Opportunity shut down its recreational func-
tions and trade centers. Personnel were reassigned to emergency
functions. If the plan worked as everyone hoped it would, secu-
rity, medical, and reconstruction teams would be sent to Nirii
following the destruction of the Khieevi.

Aboard the ConSor, Mac reassembled the Khieevi shuttle.

Kaarlye and Miiri continued their experimentation with the
sap and their studies of Khieevi anatomy and physiology in
the laboratory.

The children were assigned to either the AcaBecki or the
Haven for evacuation. However, Annella Carter, Markel, and
Jana were remaining as long as possible in order to help Hafiz
prepare the necessary holograms.

"We must simulate a civilization sufficiently luscious to in-
duce salivation among the Khieevi," Hafiz instructed his pupils.
"We shall transfer the holos of Linyaari pavilions to nestle them
among the vines. We will also need to use the Baiakiire as a
model for simulating other Linyaari vessels of different designs."

"Oh, goody," Annella said. "It will be like decorating giant
Easter eggs!"

"Also, we must have holos of individuals—Linyaari and the

212 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

Nirnans. We can do several sims of each of the Linyaari guests
and hope the Khieevi will not be aware of the duplication."

"We already have done ones of Aari and Acorna," Annella
told Hafiz.

"Have you?" Hafiz asked. "That is excellent. Excellent
indeed."

"Yes, and we can do me and Thariinye next," Maati said.
"Except I want my holo to be really large and fierce."

"Why bother?" Thariinye said. "All they have to do is make
an ^altered holo of Liriili and she'll probably frighten the
Khieevi into leaving a slime trail all the way back to their
homeworld."




Seventeen




The first invasion of the vine world was both
C^" "V      human and Linyaari. Acorna, moving gently
among the fragrant vines, felt remorseful for what
her people -were about to bring upon this self-contained ecology.

The plants felt far less alien this time, and far more friendly,
now that she knew what their sap could do to Khieevi. She
had scarcely noticed before how exquisitely beautiful the flow-
ers were, with their petals shaded from cream to ivory to milky
white and translucent, with the barest hints of pink near the
stamen.

The scent did not seem so overpowering as it had before.
Instead it was rather hypnotic, permeating her other senses so
strongly that it seemed to be a color, a taste, a voice, as •well
as a smell. As technicians and scientists barged through the
vines so quickly the plants whipped back and forth as if in a
strong wind, Acorna merely held her hand aloft and the ropes
of leaf and flower parted for her like a curtain. Perhaps she
was thinking of these vines as saviors, champions, defenders of
her kind against Khieevi kind, but they were altogether more
attractive to her than on her last visit.

Kaarlye and Miiri led teams of volunteers in the harvesting

214 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

of the sap. They brought containers, of course, but all the really
needed was their own footwear and gloves, which collected
plenty of the sticky substance as the people plowed through
the vines.

Technicians carefully placed the drones that would transmit
signals to lure the Khieevi away from the Niruans. These would
be overlaid with holograms of Linyaari ships and pavilions
being projected by other technicians while the programmed Li-
nyaari holos began milling around among the holo-structures
like so many ghosts.

Acorna found it quite startling -when she parted the vines
•with a small gesture to face herself on the other side of them,
a self apparently kneeling to collect sap and murmuring odd-
sounding words. Acorna retreated two careful steps and the
vines closed back over the projection.

"Hmmm," she said to herself, and returned to where the
ships that had brought the technicians, scientists, and equipment
were almost totally wrapped in vines.

"Captain, I think I may have learned something about these
plants," she began.

"Yeah, well, save it, Princess. We got us a situation here.
Most of the holos are being hidden by the vines. Except for
the projections we can make from above, of the tents and the
ships, and only the tops of them are showing, this is still looking
pretty much like -what it is, a vine world. It's going to take either
some earth-moving machines or some heavy machete work to
clear spaces for the holos and then these things have a way of
growing back. The only good thing about it is that mowing a
few of them down will produce more sap. But how it's going
to work for a decoy, I dunno." He scratched his mustache in
a thoughtful way.

"Wait, Captain. Perhaps that won't be necessary. Perhaps
we can communicate with them."

The Captain looked at her as if she were insane. "Acorna.




215

Darling. Sweetie. Princess. Honey. Excuse me. You're a real
bright kid, but they are plants. You eat them. You <)on't discuss
strategy with them."

"Perhaps not. But if you use heavy equipment or even ma-
chetes to clear the area around the holos, then won't that defeat
the purpose? Especially if the vines do not regenerate quickly
enough in this area? Then the Khieevi will simply land in an
area filled with holos, and once they discover that the bait is
indeed, merely a collection of holograms, they will go back to
the Niriians, or what will be worse for all of us, follow the
projections back to the source and prey on the Moon of Oppor-
tunity instead."

The mustache bristled and Becker scratched it again. "OK.
Guess we better have a council of war here."

Acorna made the same speech to Rafik, Gill, and via trans-
mitter to Hafiz, orbiting the planetoid in the Ail Baba, one of
his more modest vessels. Karina Harakamian, who had come
along as the mission's "spiritual adviser," answered for Hafiz.
"Of course, Acorna, dear, you are quite right to try gentle per-
suasion first. I will have the first officer transport me to the
surface at once so that I may assist."

"How kind," Acorna said, quite insincerely, but there was
no point in hurting Kanna's feelings. Fortunately, her new
"auntie" was a mind reader only on very sporadic occasions,
and those were never the ones Karina predicted or anticipated.

At Acorna's signal, the Balakiire landed beside the holos of
the other Linyaari ships, some of them decorated with bunnies
and flowers as well as the more usual rococo designs that sym-
bolized the great families and heroes of the Linyaari people.

Thariinye and Maati, who had been setting up the smaller
holos and who had also noted the problem of the vines obscur-
ing them, responded to Acorna's mental summons, and Aari,
who had been keeping her within sight as much as was possible,
joined them.

216 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

"I don't suppose the LAANYE will be of any help here,"
Acorna said. "But I think we must try thought transference
with the beings on this planet."

"The vines?" Aari asked.

"Yes," she said. "It came to me while I was out among
them that they may communicate by their scent. Remember,
the first time we came here, it was almost overpowering."

"It still is right around the ships, and where Captain Becker
and the scientists are working," Maati said. "But I noticed as
we got a little farther away, planting some of the holos, that
the smell was actually kind of pretty."

"Sexy," Thariinye said.

-Maati put an elbow in his ribs. "Trust you to think so, even
about vines!"

Aari shrugged. "I don't see what help I can be. I'm not
very psychic without my—"

Acorna had to turn to face him as he was behind her, one
hand resting lightly, reassuringly on one of her shoulders.
"Aari," she said, staring, not into his eyes, but slightly above
them.

The other Linyaari, including his parents, who had just ar-
rived, panting, hefting their collection bags, followed her gaze.
"Aari, what is that on your scar?" she asked, a little breathless
with hope as she reached up to touch, thinking realistically that
she would probably encounter a piece of a petal from one of
the vine flowers. Her finger and his touched the little white
protuberance at the same time.

"It's horn!" he said. "My horn is regenerating. The graft is
finally taking."

(And I'll bet I know why,) Thariinye whispered, laughing.

Both Acorna and Aari blushed and Maati, who also picked
up the whisper, stomped hard on Thariinye's foot.

Acorna embraced Aari and his parents and Maati touched
him briefly.

Sicorna's 'World 217

Karina arrived. "I suppose we should start by everyone
forming a circle!" she said brightly.

"Why?" everyone else asked, almost in unison.

"The better to commune, of course!" Karina said.

"With our species or yours maybe," Acorna told her gently.
"But I think perhaps with these beings we might need to use
different methods. One thing I do feel we must do, however,
is to distance ourselves from the main part of the camp. The
odor given off by the vines is the most overpowering and nox-
ious near the ships."

Acorna led them into the vines, which parted almost politely
before her and the others. They walked perhaps a half of a
kilometer from the ships before Acorna stopped and inhaled.

"What do you smell?" she asked.

"It's nice here," Maati said. "Does that mean the plants
here aren't as upset as the ones near the ships?"

"I don't know really," Acorna said. "It's just something I
thought -we might try."

"It sounds pretty silly to me," Liriili said, though she had
been unusually quiet until then. "How ever can you imagine
that something can communicate with smells?"

Miin laughed. "What do you think -we do when -we're ready
to mate, Liriili? Or other species for that matter? With
pheromones!"

"It's not unheard of for species to communicate with some-
thing other than sound, after all," Neeva said. "Many do by
sight, or touch, or, as we do ourselves, by thought alone. Had
you spent more time investigating the universe around you,
Liriili, you would know that."

Acorna said, "Now I remember! Ants! Little ants communi-
cate by pheromones too—a fairly complex set of smells to give
„, each other signals, indicate path-ways, that sort of thing."

"Ye-es," Liriili said, sounding almost pleasant, "Of course.

218 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

Paha,ntiydr<f also leave scent marks on their territory, or for mat-
ing. I just never thought of it as communication before."

"Yes, well, live and learn," Neeva said as diplomatically as
possible, clearly not wishing to discourage Liriili's willingness
to consider for once that something someone else said might
actually contain merit. "The problem is how we should interpret
the scents given here."

"That probably won't be as hard," Acorna said, "As some-
how managing to communicate with the plants themselves. But
I wondered—if the scents symbolize their thought forms, per-
haps we can find some common ground to teach them some-
thing about ours."

"Why?" Thariinye asked.

"There are many good reasons why one would wish to com-
municate with a new species, Thariinye," Neeva said. "But the
specific one Khornya has in mind, I suspect, is so that we might

ask the vines to part and allow the holograms to be seen by
the Khieevi."

"But first "we must find a common vocabulary," Khaan said.
"What do we know about the vines? How could we show
similarity?"

"We-ell," -Maati said, "If-we want them to part, maybe she
should start with that. They come together and they spread
apart. Maybe we can show that with each other."

"But they don't communicate by what they see," Liriili said,
and for once she -was using a reasonable, if impatient, tone that
only slightly hid the fact that she was as puzzled as any of the
rest of them. "They communicate by smell."

"But they convey a thought, sort of," -Maati argued. Acorna
thought the girl had matured a great deal since she had stopped
being Liriili's messenger. She was much more confident now.

(Showing off for her parents,) Thariinye, catching Acorna's
thought, -whispered to her uncharitably. But Aan scowled at




yicorna's 'World 219

him, as if he read the thought too, and Thariinye looked away
as if the thought had been sent by someone else.

"Yes," Acorna agreed with Maati. "It is a thought form,
however they express it and who knows? Maybe to the vines,
we exude a scent too when we are thinking certain things. Only
we'd be a lot more complicated for them to read, maybe, than
they are for us. Let's try to simplify it for them. Everyone
spread apart and concentrate, as we do so, that we are spread-
ing apart."

"Our essential apartness," intoned Karina.

(Move gently, spread wide,) Acorna whispered. "Karina,
think, 'Move gently, spread wide.' "

"A mantra! I love it!" Karina squealed. "Move gently,
spread wide. Move gently, spread wide,"

"Softly," Acorna said. "In fact, don't say it, think it."

Karina nodded gravely and only moved her lips to the
words.

The whisper was taken up by the others, in unison, (Move
gently, spread wide). Their line spread until they could not
touch outspread hands. As they moved at first the plants only
parted to let each individual pass but gradually, as the people
kept whispering, the vines softly lay themselves down upon
each other until there was a large rectangular area open around
the Linyaari and Karina.

When this concept seemed to be understood, Acorna said
softly to Karina, who was on her right, while whispering to the
others, (Close up, gather together, twining, tangling, plaiting).

The others took it up and gently came together, then
pressed themselves in closer, Joining hands, lacing fingers, wrap-
ping knees and feet around legs, hips, and waists as tightly as
possible—and then more tightly as the vines locked in around
them, squeezing until Acorna gasped, "Move gently, spread
wide" again and the others picked up the thought. It took the
vines a breathtaking moment to realize that this time, they must

220 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

spread first, but their scent lightened from the suffocatingly
close aroma it had become while holding the Linyaari, and the
vines spread once more.

"These plants are definitely sapient beings," Neeva said ap-
provingly—and apparently somewhat fragrantly. The vines
swayed gently back and forth, as if pleased, and emitted a light,
sweet aroma.

"Good," Acorna said, "Because now we have to tell them
about the Khieevi."

"Why?" Thariinye asked.

"And how," added JVlaati.

"Because," Aari said. "We are bringing the Khieevi among
them to be killed, but the Khieevi may also kill many of the
vine people. When we thought they -were not possessed of intel-
ligence, then it seemed good to let the Khieevi graze here and
be killed by the sap. But now that we bring this evil upon these
beings, the least we can do is -warn them."

"Where are they going to go if they object?" Liriili asked
archly.

"That is not the point," Neeva said. "Now that we know
they are beings who would suffer from the Khieevi as we would,
we naturally will continue Captain Becker's plan only with their
cooperation."

"Which we will obtain how?" Liriili demanded with the
same archness.

"My collection bag!" Miiri said suddenly. "Where is it?"

"There—among the vines," Kaarlye said. "Mine too. They're
open. Do you suppose the plants mind that we are taking the

0,»

sap/

"Perhaps they don't mind so much as—wonder -what we
are doing with it," Acorna ventured. "After all, they know what
function it serves for them, but it must be hard for them to
understand why we would wish to take some away."

"Mother, Father," Aari said, "I know of one smell that is

221

very evocative—that might demonstrate to them exactly what
•we are trying to convey. Do you have anything with you that
smells like the Khieevi?"

"Oh no," Miiri said. "We bathe very carefully after our
laboratory work."

"I'll bet MacKenZ does," Acorna said. "The ship still reeks
horribly of Khieevi when you first board it, no matter how
many times horns purify the air. That shuttle has the stench
hardwired into its structure, I believe."

"I'll go ask him," Maati said.

She returned a short time later holding a peculiar looking
object at arms length in one gloved hand, while she held her
nose with the other.

"I guess I'm not old enough yet to purify it," she said.

"Good. Don't anyone else try to erase the smell till we can
show the vine beings what it means," Acorna said. "Now then,
set the thing down, Maati, and let us all allow ourselves to react
as we would to a Khieevi with it—fear, disgust, horror, anger,
feel them as hard as you can and send. Work yourself up into
a sweat if possible."

They all did as she suggested. Aari grew particularly rank
with sweat and the stench of fear so that even she could smell
him, though usually the Linyaari had only a pleasant odor, if
any.

The vines shook and trembled at first and then all at once
they swept past the people and converged on the Khieevi object,
pouring sap over it, almost shooting the viscous fluid from their
stems and blossoms until the thing was entirely covered.

"They get it!" Thariinye cried. "They understand."

"Either that or they're simply acting from self-protection,"
Liriili said.

"Maybe we should make a holo of the Khieevi to show
them?" Maati suggested.

"If they communicate by scent, they'll know the Khieevi

222 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

-when they smell them, and apparently they know what to do
with them too," Melireenya said.

"We need our collection bags back," Kaarlye said.

Acorna frowned. "Perhaps they'll understand now. Try to
take it back. They know we are afraid of the Khieevi and they
have probably noticed that -we can't exude sap as they can.
That might be clear enough to them—we fear something they
have a defense for that -we don't."

Kaarlye reached for the sack and met with no resistance as
he reclaimed it and then Miiri's from the vines that had been
curled protectively over it.

"Back to the original problem of the holos. I suggest that
we simply go to the various holos and ask the plants to spread
apart where they are. We will have to work on suggesting that
they remain that way until the Khieevi are among them."

Neeva shook her head. "The initial problem isn't the main
question now. With beings as intelligent as these, we have no
right to sacrifice them to spare the Niriians, or ourselves for
that matter."

"So, let's show them the piiyi," Thariinye said.

"If they can't see it, how can they judge?"

"Can they smell it?" Aari asked. "Becker -was complaining
of the smell of the piiyi. We still have the capsule in which we
found it. Perhaps the smell of that will convey information to
the plants that it does not to us."

"I suppose it's worth a try," Acorna said. "Though I hope
we're not giving them the wrong smells."

Thariinye and Aari duly boarded the Condor and emerged
with the piiyi. They were trailed by RK, who ignored the smelly
organic communications device to sniff the plants, after which
the cat turned his hoisted tail to the nearest vine and, with a
mighty shudder of his magnificently furred appendage, let fly a
bolus of eau ^e chat that momentarily overpowered the scent of
the flowers.




223

The vines bent down and for a moment Acorna feared they
would perhaps attack RK, but they seemed instead to be bow-
ing to him.

"Look!" -Maati cried. "They recognize his scent! They know
he's a sacred temple cat! It's like he's blessed them!"

Neeva wrinkled her nose. "If that is the blessing of the
sacred temple cat, I should hate to smell the curse!"

The piiyi was attached to a portable scanner and played for
the plants. The vines reacted to nothing until the Khieevi ap-
peared on the piiyi. Then, to everyone's surprise, the plants
sprayed the piiyi with sap.

"Well," Acorna said, "they clearly recognize the Khieevi.
Even when Captain Becker behaved aggressively toward the
plants, they didn't spray sap at him or us, but just the image
and the klacking of the Khieevi cause the plants to attack."

Aari nodded. "Yes, I think it is because the Khieevi seem
to the vines to be larger versions of the insects their sap is
created to destroy. That first time -we were here—when I—
when I had to return to the ship? I saw the resident insects in
the sap and they reminded me of the Khieevi. Very much."

Neeva frowned. "If the plants regard the Khieevi as natural
enemies, and respond aggressively automatically, then I think
perhaps this plan will work and still be within the bounds of
diplomatic integrity. Now then, all -we have to do is get them
to spread themselves away from the holos."

With the communication they had already established, this
did not prove difficult. Even Becker was impressed by the coop-
eration of the vines. When the last drones -were planted, the
crew of the Cow)or looked down to see a little frontier outpost
of the Linyaari, nestled among flowering vines. Tall unicorn
people scurried to and fro among the buildings and vines.

"That ought to be enough to fool the Khieevi," Becker said,
and turned to Mac, "Are you ready to transmit from your
shuttle?"

224 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

"Aye, Captain." -Mac said.

"Then stand by. As soon as the area is cleared, you can
invite your friends to our garden party," Becker said, his mus-
tache bristling as he bared his teeth in what Acorna decided
was not a show of friendship.

"Uncle, I thought we agreed that the children were to be
evacuated here to the Moon of Opportunity immediately," Rank
Nadezda reminded Hafiz.

"Ah, but that was before the excellent Becker devised his
excellent plan," Hafiz said. "And Ambassador Neeva and the
eminent Lmyaari scientists Kaarlye and Miiri assure me it will
succeed, as does our own beloved Acorna. So why send the
kiddies home? And if they go, why not all of us? And if "we
go, so goes a large portion of the assets of House Harakamian,
which I have invested in the establishment of the Moon of
Opportunity." Seeing his nephew's eyes snap and his mouth
open, Hafiz added hastily, "I know, dear boy, I know, of course,
that human—and Linyaari—life is not to be measured against
mere profit. Naturally. But is it not true as well that these
people, Acorna's people, have come to rely upon us for a certain
measure of protection—•well, perhaps, support is a better word?
And if we begin sending away our own children, indicating that
we believe danger still exists, does this not imply that ours are
more important than their loved ones? Such an implication
hardly sets the right tone, you see?"

"Tone be damned!" Rafik said. "These kids have already
been through a thousand kinds of hell and^we have definitely
promised them our protection. The Linyaari are home, as are
their children. Our kids should return to Maganos Moonbase
and stay there until the Khieevi are no longer a problem. And
the Haven has no business here either."

"The Haven is free to go whenever it wishes. Thus far the
Starfarers have decided to remain with us."

225

"You can't allow it. Uncle Hafiz. It's much too risky."

"Nephew, dear boy, listen to me. Life is risky. Business—
successful business—is even more so. We are pioneers, son of
my heart. If we are to tread the surface of planets -which have
never known a human footprint, if we are to trade in currency
as yet untouched by human hand, risks are necessary."

Rafik's eyes narrowed and his tone -was filled with disgust
he didn't bother to conceal. "You say this to me, you who
cowered in the underground shelter of your compound at La-
boue when you first saw what the Khieevi did to their
prisoners?"

Sweat broke out on Hafiz's forehead despite the sweet and
mild day Dr; Hoa's weather iriagic had provided. "The shock
of first contact, dear boy." Hafiz blotted the moisture with a
monogrammed scarlet synsilk tissue. "But, very -well, if you
insist, your aunt and I will personally escort the children back
to Federation space, while you as my heir and representative
will naturally conduct business as usual until the crisis has
passed and it is safe for us to return. At which time you will
see the wisdom of your old uncle's counsel and realize how
hasty you have been."

Rafik smiled ruefully, to let his uncle know he had been
outmaneuvered. Hafiz could now take Karina and the children
and retire from the field, leaving others to face danger for the
sake of his profit. On the other hand, with the old man and
the kids safely out of the way, Rafik could command the dis-
mantling of the Moon immediately if it looked like Becker's
plan to eradicate the danger from the Khieevi might fail.

Hafiz knew this, of course. And furthermore, he knew that
Rafik knew that he knew. But it was much easier to handle
matters this -way, allowing Rafik to make the decisions that
would preserve or risk life, determine profit or loss. After all,
Rafik was now head of House Harakamian, -while Hafiz was
technically retired. But these things -were very difficult and must

226 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

be handled delicately. If the Moon of Opportunity failed, it
would be on Rank's head, and not Hafiz's.

Thus as soon as the holo team returned from the vine "world,
the Acadeckt and the Haven were loaded with the children of
Maganos Moonbase. As a mark of his faith that he would be
returning shortly, Hafiz left the Sharazad on the Moon of Op-
portunity and submitted himself and Karina to the far less com-
modious accommodations of the AcaSeckl. Rafik had suggested
the gesture, both because the plans were already in place to
use the AcaSecki for evacuation and also because, should general
evacuation become necessary, the Sharaza<) was larger and
•would hold more personnel.

With Aari translating, Kaarlye and Miiri approached Hafiz
just before he boarded. Miiri spoke first and Aari said, "My
mother implores you to take my sister with you and the chil-
dren. My parents vow to remain here and continue searching
for a way to exploit this biological 'weapon the vine world has
provided, although you understand of course that no Lmyaari
can actually deploy it as an implement of aggression, even
against the Khieevi. However, they say they can work better if
they know that Maati is safe. They wished for me to join her,
but Khornya and I wish to remain with Captain Becker. My
sister is young and longs for new experiences, and would very
much like to see the Federation worlds. So take her with you.
Take Thariinye as well so that one of her own kind bears her
company." He looked back to his mother for further words but
she was swallowing hard and looking away.

As Maati and Thariinye transferred ships, Thariinye com-
plained that he wanted to stay -with the Condor but he drew only
a stern look from Neeva, who silently indicated he should obey.

What no one said, or even whispered, was that if the
Khieevi prevailed, despite the plan, and once more attacked
narhii-Vhiliinyar, at least there would be one young male and
one young female of the Linyaari safe in Federation space, as

^coma's 'World. 227

hope for the Linyaari. Meanwhile, the Balakiire's remaining
crew worked on coordinating with other teams of volunteer
rescuers, in the event it became possible to take a relief mission
to Nirii once the Khieevi had been lured away. Distressing
transmissions from the Khieevi showed them torturing stoic
two-horned beings who were obviously in great pain, but refus-
ing to utter a sound or show any fear at all. Even stranger,
Toroona and Byorn, "who had been so emotional on their plan-
et's behalf when asking for help, watched the transmissions -with
the same stoicism. Their emotions showed only when they
turned away as the frustrated Khieevi increased their efforts
until their prisoners, still silent, died.

Becker and RK enjoyed a brief reunion with Nadhari. She,
as security chief, was now second in authority on the Moon of
Opportunity only to Rafik Nadezda. Since she was supervising
the security arrangements for the evacuation, she had time only
for a quick half hug with Becker, and to 'welcome RK as the
cat draped himself around her shoulders while she worked.

As the passengers finished loading onto the Acaoecki, Miiri
and Kaarlye supervised the loading of canisters full of sap
into the cargo hold. Hafiz wished to take it to his corporate
laboratories for further analyses and study. Should the
Khieevi ever attack •within Federation space, the Federation
would pay well in terms of influence and power, as well as
great sums of money, to the holder of a secret weapon against
this terrible enemy.

Aari surprised Hafiz by clasping the older man's round syn-
satin clad form in his own large embrace. "Farewell, Uncle
Hafiz. Look after my sister and Thariinye and our friends and
be well. Joh, Khornya, Riid-Kiiyi, and I too will let you know
when it is safe to return."

"Er, farewell, my nephew."

Karina gave him a somewhat more effusive hug. "Farewell,
Aari, and oh, my, is that a horn you're growing there?" She

228 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

reached up to touch it and with difficulty he endured what she
probably didn't realize was an inappropriate intimacy. "Oooh,
I just had a flash. The plan will succeed but there will be
difficulty—and danger! Be careful, dear friend—friends!"







• ^ eady, Captain," -Mac said. The android was in the
C^ *y j^ cockpit of the Khieevi shuttle. It was still in the
-a- ^- hold of the Con3or, which was now orbiting the
vine world. The holograms moved below in their randomly pro-
grammed patterns. Some of them were speaking, some were
not. It didn't matter. The Khieevi wouldn't understand anyway.

Becker rubbed his hands together as gleefully as a landlord
about to foreclose on the heroine's mortgage in a vid melo-
drama. "The trap is set, the bait's in place, now all we need
is to wiggle the string a little to make the bait look lively to
the rats."

Acorna looked up from the console, smiled and stroked
RK's head. "Captain, it occurs to me you've been hanging out
too much with RK lately."

"Yes," Aari said. "You are beginning to think like a cat."

Becker shrugged. "I could do worse. Cats are good at strat-
egy. " He flipped the toggle on the ship's intercom. "Okay,
Mac, do your thing," he said, then, recalling how literal minded
the android -was, added, "I mean, make the speech -we discussed
to the Khieevi and try to lure them over here."

Acorna frowned. "I wish we were able to wait until the

230 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

evac ships have time to reach Federation space." She let the
words hang in the air. It -was a vain wish. All of them had seen
the broadcasts of pain-wracked Niriian prisoners being tor-
tured. All of them knew what the planet would look like when
the Khieevi were finished. All of them knew that every moment
they delayed cost more Niriian lives. They had to act quickly.
And really, the evacuation ships would be heading toward Fed-
eration space, not near the vine "world. There should be no
problem at all. Acorna wondered why she remained anxious,
nevertheless. When her question popped out, it surprised even
her. "I wonder why they do it, really."

"Who, hon?" Becker asked.

"The Khieevi. Why do they torture people? Did you ask
the prisoner that?"

"No. I figure it's just cause they're mean mothahs and they
enjoy it. Isn't that about right, Aari?"

Aari frowned. "I did not think of them as enjoying anything,
Joh. In fact, now that you mention it, I don't believe they 9u)
enjoy torturing me, as relentless and thorough as they were. It
seemed more as if they were very anxious to be wringing from
me every bit of pain and fear they could. The few questions
they asked me did not seem to be important to them and they
did not bother to try to understand enough Linyaari to be able
to express themselves. And I am afraid that one thing our ob-
servers and diplomats have learned of the Khieevi is that they
are very scientific about their torture. The first few of our repre-
sentatives they captured and tortured died almost at once, so
the Khieevi refined their techniques so that they would only
cause maximum pain for the longest possible time without
fatal results."

He shuddered suddenly and Acorna reached for his hand
and held it. She knew from his thoughts that he had been
shamed by his fear of the Khieevi, and by the pleading he had
no doubt done with them to stop hurting him, natural as such

^.coma's 'Worii

231




responses were. He did not feel any of the merit Thariinye
attributed to him for enduring what he could not escape. Acorna
agreed with his assessment. It was pitiable what he had been
through, horrible, but did not, in itself, make him a better per-
son. No, he himself did that by his strength of character in
facing what he feared most, and with reasons stronger than
anyone around him could possibly understand. He faced the
Khieevi, and their torture, and examined it to try to find an-
swers and solutions that would help others.

Becker grunted. "Whoever said 'know your enemy' was
right, even if he couldn't have known the enemy was going to
be big, nasty, alien bugs. If he had known, maybe he would
have told us how we were supposed to know them."

"Receiving reply from the Khieevi now, Captain," Mac said.
"On our -way, Mac," Becker said. The crew clattered across
the grated deck plate and down to the hold containing the shut-
tle. Klackings and klickings emanated from the freshly repaired
corn unit.

"What do they say, Mac?" Becker asked.
"They are coming here now, ^Captain!" Mac said.
"Wow, that was fast. Already?" Becker asked.
"The Niriians do not make satisfactory victims, apparently,"
Mac said. "The Khieevi expressed preference for Linyaari prey.
They scream better, apparently. This is a desirable trait in a
host race for the Khieevi. They have been quite unhappy with
the lack of response from the Niriians, despite their best efforts.
The Niriian response has been judged inadequate."
"Inadequate for what?" Becker asked.

Mac said, "I do not know, Captain. I repeat only the—
scuttlebutt—I am picking up from their intership transmissions.
Shall I ask?"

"No," Aari said. "If you were a real Khieevi, you wouldn't
have to."

"True," Becker said. "So, they're on their -way. Let's fall

232 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

back smartly, gang." It had been necessary for them to transmit
from the proper physical location to lend verisimilitude to their
transmission, but the remote cameras located on the vine world
and its moon would provide visuals of the Khieevi invasion.
The Condor could detect the approach of the Khieevi from con-
siderable distance, thanks to the bank of long-range scanners
Becker normally employed for detecting ships in peril, recent
disasters, and other juicy salvage situations. Once the Khieevi
swarm was all focused on the vine world, the Condor could creep
back into position for a ringside seat to the "the squishing," as
Becker colorfully referred to it.

Once the swarm approached, radio silence would have to
be maintained. However, the Condor's shuttle had been repaired
and readied to act as a relay between the Moon of Opportunity
and the Condor, to carry news of the mission's progress. Once
the Condor was in position on the far side of the vine world's
nearest planetary neighbor, their position was transmitted to
headquarters on the moon.

The Condor lurked, waiting for the Khieevi to become
carrion.

When the swarm's vanguard arrived, Becker, who was on
watch, let out a whoop. "-Mercy gracious, boys 'n' girls, the
scanners look like Kezdet's pleasure district on a Saturday night
when the fleet's just docked! My oh my oh my!"

Acorna and Aari joined him on the bridge. Mac was still
monitoring Khieevi communications from the wrecked shuttle.

The vid screen came to life as the remote cameras switched
themselves on to record the landing of the Khieevi fleet. A
shark-like school of the mantis-shaped vessels circumnavigated
the smallish vine world as if they were the rings of Saturn.
From the innermost ring of ships, shuttles shot to the surface,
after -which those ships spiraled away from the planet to be
replaced by others with a fresh supply of shuttles and troops.

"We're going to need something to destroy the ships too,"

233

Becker whispered fiercely. Acorna knew why he was whisper-
ing. The attack was ferocious. She feared anew for the sapient
vines. "If they don't land, the sap can't make contact."

"Perhaps they will land to investigate and infect each other,"
Acorna suggested.

But they did not.

The vines parted to permit the landing of the shuttles, each
of -which disgorged an amazing number of ground troops.

At first the vines allowed the Khieevi to pass until it seemed
there were as many Khieevi on the ground as there -were vines,
all marching relentlessly upon the holo compounds.

Acorna trembled at the sight of multiples of herself, Aari,
Neeva and the Balakiire's crew, Aari's family, Thariinye and
Liriili, going blithely and peacefully about their business while
endless lines of Khieevi, ever reinforced by more shuttles drop-
ping through vine-world space in lines of their own, deposited
reinforcements.

The staccato klacking of pincers and mandibles was louder
than any -weapon's fire.

"Why aren't the plants closing on them?" Becker demanded.

"I don't know, Captain," Aari answered. "In the communi-
cations we had -with them, the mere scent of the Khieevi caused
the vine-beings to shoot sap upon the offending objects."

"They're waiting," Acorna said, excitement and awe in her
voice. "We knew the plants were intelligent and they're proving
it! I think our -warnings about the Khieevi -were understood
much better than -we had reason to hope. The plants actually
have formed a plan. They -want to trap the largest possible
number of Khieevi before they counterattack."

"You're kidding!" Becker said, and whistled.

RK leaped onto the console. His fur stuck straight out on
his body so he appeared to be twice his normal size. His tail
bristled and switched so fast it slammed Becker's kaf cup to
the floor -with one swipe, Aari's with the next. A low growl

234 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

from RK's throat grew to a high-pitched caterwaul that made
Becker cover his ears and Acorna lift the spiky creature into
her arms to try to comfort him. He didn't attack her, but neither
did he calm down. There was nothing to heal in his response.
It was natural and healthy for a Makahomian Temple Cat to
go into battle mode under the circumstances. Acorna under-
stood this and when the cat remained stiff and distinctly uncom-
forted, she set him down again where he stood with his tail
lashing the air like a saber.

The first phalanx of Khieevi reached the holo-compounds
and opened fire on the holos, which responded by breaking up
and reforming, continuing the postures, journeys, movements,
and apparent tasks in -which they had been engaged before
the attack.

Khieevi klacking escalated to an even higher volume. Shut-
tles no longer streamed from the skies. The ground troops,
heedless of the klacks of the vanguard, charged forward, tram-
pling some of those in front of them.

Mac looked up at the rest of the crew. "The Khieevi are
very frustrated and dissatisfied," he said. The android could
have saved the speech. The tone of the klacks accompanied by
the activity of the klackers was more than eloquent.

Then suddenly, and seemingly simultaneously, the Khieevi
exploded into action, all of them at once diving into the vines
with open mandibles. The attack had been so typically single
minded that it had drawn their attention—and the attention of
Acorna and her friends—completely away from the plants,
-which had been docilely shrinking away .from the Khieevi,
allowing roots and stalks to be trampled. Even before the
Khieevi attack changed course, however, the plants slowly
began thrusting upward again, unbending from being trod un-
derfoot, as if reaching for sunlight, all very innocent and
plant-like.

But as the first mandibles closed on the first stalk, the vines




'A.corna.'s 'World 235

whipped into action, shooting sap from each fresh wound and
from sap sacs hidden in the stalks and under the leaves as well.
The Khieevi were surrounded, as they had previously sur-
rounded the holo-compounds.

The cameras became ineffective as sap squirted everywhere.
Becker switched to the moon-linked camera. A close-up of the
planet's surface showed it glistening with turbulent swells and
peaks of slimy sap. The Khieevi shuttle's corn unit squealed
-with high-pitched eeee sounds. Acorna reached over and flipped
the toggle, and the sound mercifully ceased.

The remote camera showed a handful of shuttles with rap-
idly dying Khieevi piloting them erratically towards the mother
ships. Once the stragglers had been reabsorbed by the swarm,
the ships veered off.

"Are they going back to the Niriians?" Becker asked Mac.

Mac flipped the toggle back on again and monitored the
noises emitted by the ships. "No, Captain. They are in disarray.
This has never happened to them before, I think."

"Predators who prey on pacifists probably don't run the
risk of getting beaten all that often," Becker allowed. "So what
are they up to?"

"I do not think they know at this time, Captain. There is
talk of returning to the homeworld. They are—unlikely as it
may sound—I believe they are very frightened, Captain."

"Of the vine world?" Becker grinned. "They should be.
Serves them right."

"Yes, but they are already discussing -what might be used
to neutralize it. Actually, from what I can detect, I believe they
are afraid of returning to their homeworld. That seems odd,
don't you think?"

"Maybe the King bug is going to chop off their heads,"
Becker said with a shrug. "I hope he does and that teaches
them not to mess -with us again. So, gang, I guess that's it. It's
over. We win. Or the plant critters do. End of story."

236 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

Acorna could not think of a logical objection to this conclu-
sion, though she felt it was somehow all—anticlimactic. So
much horror so easily conquered. Who would have believed it.
But she could tell from Becker's tone and his expression that
he felt the same. Aari too appeared perplexed and unsatisfied.
"What's the matter?" she asked him.

He shook his head, "Perhaps, after living with fear of the
Khieevi for so long, it is hard to believe we have put an effective
end to them. Perhaps I am merely having trouble adjusting to
the idea that they are gone, that our people, and I in particular,
no longer have the terror of them looming over us."

"Maybe that's it," Acorna agreed. But she remained uneasy.

No brass band greeted the ConSor, but everybody looked
happy to see it return safely. Rafik Nadezda, Declan Giloglie,
and Nadhari Kando were waiting at the landing bay, as were
Aan's parents.

Before the robo-lift had touched the ground, Aari's parents
were saying, "We made a significant breakthrough with the
sap! Wait till you see. It's quite simple but very effective."

"That's good," Becker told them. "But I'm afraid we won't
be needing it."

He deliberately pulled a long face and Acorna and Aari,
picking up their cues from him, tried to keep their thoughts
to themselves.

"Why? Didn't it work? What happened?"

"The plants pretty well annihilated the Khieevi army, that's
what!" Becker said, grinning. "We—or rather the plants-
whipped their buggy butts."

Cheers went up among the reception committee and as the
word passed all through the compound. Outlying recreational
areas had been closed for the red alert and the main city was
bloated with anxious people, some of them bored because their
functions had been related solely to the closed areas, some of




237

them pumped with adrenaline, ready to take action against
any threat.

The Linyaari delegation pressed forward, the Niriian couple
preceding them by a step or two.

Acorna smiled at them and told her aunt, "According to the
Khieevi broadcasts, they won't be going back to Nirii either.
Mac says from what he can figure out, the Niriians did not
make very good victims."

Neeva translated and Toroona smiled beatifically. "She says
that's something they can be proud of," Neeva said.

Rafik was smiling too. "Whew. This is a wonderful turn of
events! We had better call Uncle Hafiz at once, Acorna, so he
can come back and broadcast a new message taking all the
credit!" Acorna and Rafik exchanged knowing grins.

Aari's mother had taken his arm on one side and Acorna's
on the other. "And we thought we had so much to show you.."

"We are most interested in your discoveries, Mother," Aari
assured her. "While most of the Khieevi army was destroyed,
there were still many ships aloft and we are unsure how many
troops may have remained onboard."

"Yeah," Becker said. "Besides, they're bugs." Acorna
translated.

Kaarlye looked puzzled. "Of course they are insects. Does
the captain think we are unaware of this?"

"I believe what he means," Acorna said. "Is that insects
reproduce rapidly and in large numbers. The danger from the
Khieevi is not yet over."

» ^ afik, dear boy, and my good Captain Becker, this
^=&     l'\ ls ^^o11^61'^ news!" Hafiz Harakamian said. The

-•- ^- crew and passengers of the AcaSecki were cheer-
ing, holding hands, and hopping up and down, even as Calum
reversed course in preparation for the AcaSecki's, return to
MOO, as the children now referred to it. "You have vanquished
the enemy, saved the Niriian homeworld, made the universe a
safer place to do business, brought honor to House Harakam-
ian, created the opportunity for much favorable publicity for
the Moon of Opportunity, and all at a relatively low price point!
Commendable, gentlemen, most commendable indeed."

The next hail was from the Haven. "I presume you've heard
the news!" Johnny Greene said.

"We have indeed and splendid news it is!" Hafiz replied.
"We are returning to the Moon of Opportunity even as we
speak."

"We're within Federation space right now, and I haven't
heard what the general vote was, but the Counsel is pretty sure
the kids will want to come back to the Moon, too. Once the
vote is in, if that's the case, "we'll caravan with you again."

"Very well, Johnny, but tell the children not to dawdle.

240 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

Uncle Hafiz has a great deal to do now that his staff has made
space safe for our new friends and neighbors to travel freely
once more."

"Uh—yeah, we knew that," Johnny said. "Catch you in
a few."

"So that means we need to wait for them?" Calum Baird
asked.

"Yes, indeed," Hafiz said. Laxme and some of the other
children made impatient noises.

"Are they going to be long?" Laxme asked.

There was not actually a lot to do on the Accu)ecki and the
rations weren't that great either. It wasn't as big as the ships
they had come on, and there hadn't been time to prepare prop-
erly for a long journey. Nutritious ration bars took up little
space, did not require heating or freezing, and provided all
of the basic requirements. Laxme knew he shouldn't quibble.
Working in the mines, he and many of the others had far less
to eat, nothing really, just enough to keep them upright and
working. But now that he had tasted enough food, tasty food,
lovely desserts and butter for the vegetables and even the succu-
lent meats—he wasn't happy to give that up.

Maati had been indignant at being herded onto the evacua-
tion ship as if she wasn't the former copilot of her own ship,
the survivor of two battles, one in space, one on the ground,
with the Khieevi. She knew that her parents had insisted she
go because they wanted her to be safe, but part of her felt that
they really just wanted to be rid of her again, when she had
only just found them. And Thariinye was even more impossible
than usual. Recently their mutual teasing had been playful and
friendly but he was so angry at being kept out of the action
again and treated like a child that he took it out on her with
deliberately nasty and hurtful remarks. She snapped back just
as angrily, and their mood made the other children angry and
nasty or depressed too so there was already a lot of fighting on




241

the ship. This didn't improve Calum Baird's temper any either,
and Karina Harakamian fluttered about calling for peace and
light. When she wasn't hiding in the berth she had to share
only with Uncle Hafiz.

As for Hafiz, he could not but wonder how he had come
to taking leave of his senses so far as to allow himself to under-
take a long journey in the company of so many children. He
was not a fatherly man, nor, if the truth be known, even an
avuncular one unless it proved profitable to appear to be. He
could not stand whining children actually.

Of course, the unsettling thing about this lot is that they
didn't whine. For the most part they were disturbingly adult.
The larger ones seemed to be used to looking after the smaller
ones, and even the youngest didn't cry, just looked at him with
wide eyes that managed to be hopeful and suspicious at the
same time.

Returning to the Moon of Opportunity seemed to please
them, and he felt more gratitude than was strictly reasonable
that they had perked up so much. Even the two Linyaari young
ones stopped scowling at each other to cheer. But as the wait
for the Haven grew longer, the children became impatient again.

Hafiz did not like the hostile silence. Karina disliked it even
more, apparently. Complaining of a headache, she took to
their berth.

"What troubles you, my little ones?" Hafiz asked finally,
bravely, his own mood at least much improved by relief at not
losing his corporate shirt.

"Well," Jana said. "There's not a lot to do here. I think
they're bored." She herself, her tone implied, was above
boredom.

"Bored?" The concept was not one with which he had much
familiarity. Being fabulously rich and imaginative as well, he
could usually avoid such unattractive moods.

Calum turned in his command chair and said, "In order to

242 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

get maximum passenger space, we had to dispense with some
of the amenities—there's only one set of phones and goggles
for vids, the hardcopy books were offloaded to make room, and
I'm getting sick of nutrient bars myself. Of course they're bored.
Aren't you?"

"I've been enjoying the rest, frankly," Hafiz said. "And then,
my beauteous Karina and I have not been married long."

"Uh-huh," Calum said, rolling his eyes.

"She has her trances and meditations and continuous search
for what she refers to as enlightenment to entertain her," Hafiz
said. "Perhaps you could tell the children a story, Baird?" he
suggested in a helpful tone.

"Or maybe you could, Hafiz. I'm busy skippering this bird,"
Calum said, turning his back on him again.

"Me? Ah." Hafiz looked around him. "Very well, then. I
shall need to employ the remote link to the ship's computer,
dear boy."

"To tell a ^toryT' Calum asked incredulously.

"Audio-visual aids, homely former senior wife of my illustri-
ous nephew, audio-visual aids," Hafiz said, and clapped his
hands. "All young persons wishing to become unbored will now
assemble in the hydroponics garden where your beneficent
Uncle Hafiz shall entertain you so thrillingly you will com-
pletely forget to sulk and fret and otherwise contort your faces
and voices into infelicitous conformations."

"That should charm 'em all right," Calum said.

"I shall also require the next meal's supply of luncheon bars
and liquid refreshment," Hafiz said.

"Gee, I'd have the chef give them to the mattre'd to deliver
personally, but they're both busy with this evening's banquet,"
Calum replied sarcastically. Hafiz knew, very well that if he
wanted the damned bars he'd need to take them from the food
locker himself. The replicator worked, but even it required sup-

243

plies from which to manufacture foodstuff and those supplies
took up more room than the nutrient bars and caps.

"Very well," Hafiz said, and beckoned imperiously to Jana
and Chiura, who were following in the wake of the other young
ones headed toward the hydroponics garden, which they would
soon, Hafiz knew, come to regard as a garden of delights.
"Young ladies, you will accompany me to the food locker and
assist in conveying supplies to our destination."

The girls looked at each other and shrugged.

The driver of Khieevi ship designated by Fourteen Klaclu am)
Two KUdu was greatly agitated.

Partly this -was from the pain in his sixth foot, which had
come into contact with the damaged shuttle pilot who managed
to dock aboard Fourteen Klaclu am) Two Klicfu before the crew
of the large ship realized that both shuttle and the operator of
same were infected with an alien substance that ate them. Once
they had made this discovery, members of the crew attempted
to neutralize the infected personnel in the customary way, by
stomping them to death. Unfortunately, this brought feet, pin-
cers, and in some cases other delicate body parts into contact
with the alien substance.

The driver really didn't feel well at all and neither did the
affected crew members, who could now truly be called a skele-
ton crew, if not an exoskeleton crew, since the exoskeletons
were the first parts eaten away by the substance.

The high-pitched pain sounds they were producing made
the driver's brain ache as well as his foot, •which he realized
would have to be sacrificed before long or it would involve his
entire leg. Unlike the crewmembers, he had not done any actual
stomping of the infected shuttle soldier. He had merely nudged
the soldier with his foot to tag the tainted one for elimination.

He feared that he would be the next to be eliminated. If
the disease didn't claim him, he would surely be stomped by

244 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

the other, healthier ship drivers, or worse, his damaged part
-would be severed and he -would be fed to the Young.

The Young would be even angrier and more ferocious than
usual, as they had not received a good feeding in many, many
lengthy time units. The Niriians -were a stingy, selfish race who
kept their pain to themselves and did not beg or plead or weep,
no matter how meticulously and slowly they were disassembled.
They were so retentive of their feelings that they refused to
writhe even under the worst provocation. They also were rather
frail things and tended to die. Quickly. Quietly. No nutrition
for the Young there.

When the shuttle from scout ship Fifty-three Kliclu am) Sewn
Kiack.<) reported a juicy colony of the One-Horns, the swarm
had been hungry for conquest, and more to the point, the
Young had been even hungrier. The lair of the One-Horns had
proved elusive and was much sought after, since the members of
the race thus far encountered possessed a particularly satisfying
capacity for emotional projection. Shock, fear, outrage, loathing,
and an unplumbed depth of capacity to suffer and emote an-
guish -when correctly manipulated made even one of these be-
ings a sweet feast for the Young.

But this time the Khieevi had been -worse than thwarted.
According to the shuttle soldiers -who survived, the -world -was
filled -with nothing but shadows of One-Horns and their build-
ings, shadows that could not be touched or hurt or killed and
had no redeeming nutritional value to either soldiers or the
Young. Worse, there were the growing things with the promi-
nent white sexual organs, similar in appearance to stationary
growing things on other -worlds. These emitted pheromones of
fear which had seemed promising, but when the shuttle soldiers
attacked them, the growing things had the temerity to attack
back! The entire ground fleet had been lost and many of the
swarm ships infected by contaminated shuttles, which nonethe-
less returned to their ships.




245

The Young knew. The fear and pain of their own elders
had been fed to them as a substitute for the alien food, but it
was not enough. So much time had elapsed since a proper
feeding, nothing -would satisfy the Young now but the actual
physical bodies of their elders, whom the eldest of the Young
would replace.

This -was The Path, the driver knew. In time, the elders,
such as him, grew weak and unable to serve, and had to be
eliminated and replaced with fresh, fierce Young, who in turn
served the even more vicious, malicious, and avaricious Younger.
So now the swarm would return with nothing to offer but them-
selves, their own bodies, their own pain and anguish and fear,
to be devoured by the slavering hordes of their offspring.

The driver regretted this with a deep bitter regret that the
Young -would find added a nice tang. He himself had replaced
a used up, -worn out elder -whom he personally devoured only
a few brief time units ago. His turn at the Gathering should
have lasted many, many more time units. It was not right. It
was not fair. It did not suit him. But it was The Path.

Between his agitation and his pain and the lack of atten-
tiveness on the part of the other crew members due to similar
distractions, he veered somewhat off course, folio-wing several
other members of the swarm -who were also affected and also
deviated from course.

His was the first ship to spot the alien vessel. It did not
appear to be accelerating, nor orbiting, nor moving in any way.
Nor did it appear to be damaged. The equipment detected life
signs. The other ships of the swarm also spotted it. It -was still
a great distance away and if it -was fast, it might yet evade
them. But if it was not, here was food to offer the Young, -who
might be so busy feeding, they -would forget to consume a few
stringy old elders.

246 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

The hydroponics garden of the AcaSecki now blossomed with
exotic flowers of crimson and orchid, lilacs so real they seemed
fragrant, jasmine and roses of all descriptions vying with frangi-
pani, plumena, and lush lotus blossoms floating in a pool of
crystal water, fed by a sparkling fountain.

As each child looked at the others, he or she saw not an-
other child but either a beautiful (if rather plump; Hafiz always
made his holograms in the images of his own desire) houri or
a dashing thief. The ladies were scantily clad in clothing that
included many layers of silken veils and skirts, balloon-legged
pants with slits down the sides to show shapely limbs, and lots
and lots of clanking silver and gold coin jewelry. The thieves
"were clad in Berber blues, their skins dyed by the indigo in
their clothing, or in striped robes colored in the soft golds,
saffrons, russets, and browns of a desert most of the children
had never imagined. Now it stretched out before them, just
beyond the boundaries of the gardens. Each child was alone
among fascinating strangers, all of them listening respectfully,
attentively to the voice of Hafiz Harakamian. Ouds and doum-
beks, tambourines and zills, a whining flute spiraled and curled
around Hafiz's words, illuminating each as colored inks adorned
the alphabets of ancient holy books.

And that was only the backdrop!

Hafiz's tales came to life between him and the children.

The story began, "There was once in days of yore and in
ages and times long gone before, on Kezdet, before the Federa-
tion, a poor but enterprising lad, by name Habib, son of a lowly
designer of inexpensive gaming software. Sadly for Habib, be-
fore he had reached his fifteenth year, his father passed into
the land foretold by the Three Books and the Three Prophets,
and Habib, whose mother had long ago run off with a smooth-
talking merchant of space travel insurance, was left alone."

He went on to demonstrate how the young Habib found
his fortune in a magic lamp — a lamp that, -when used in the

247




sleep pods of space travelers in cryosleep, prevented deaths that
had been occurring due to lack of vitamin D. But Hafiz made
the lamp look like an ancient magic lamp and coming from it
was a genie—in cryosleep.

He was just coming to the next plot turn in this tale when
Calum Baird called down, "Hafiz, will you cool it with the
special effects? You're draining the power of the ship's
computer."

"Nonsense, my boy," Hafiz said. "My holograms take up
very little power." Normally, he might have taken Baird's warn-
ing under advisement but he had yet to perform his best trick.

Finishing the story, he laid out the nutrient bars on an
ordinary table, then had dancing girls in tinkling costumes cover
the unappetizing fare with roast swan and hummingbird
tongues. Discerning from the puzzled silence that met him, even
through the holo-disguises he had cast upon the children, he
tapped the computer pad and replaced the swans and humming-
bird tongues with burgers, fries, onion rings, milkshakes, soft
drinks, and ice cream treats.

The children lunged for the table.

The lights went out.

The burgers, fries, rings, and banana splits and sundaes
turned back into nutrient bars and the sloe-eyed houns and sly-
faced thieves turned into disappointed children suddenly shiv-
ering in the dark.

Soon another light appeared on the circular metal stairway
no one used because the lift was more convenient. "Come on
back upstairs, everybody," Calum said, "while I get the com-
puter back up. Don't worry. Even if it proves to be difficult,
the Haven will be here soon and we'll have help.

Unfortunately, the Haven was not the next ship to reach the
stranded AcaSecki.

248 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

"What do you mean, you lost them?" Rafik demanded of
an uncharacteristically flushed and flustered Johnny Greene.

"Just what I said," Greene replied. "After we got the all-
clear to return to MOO, we agreed to rendezvous at the Aca-
<)ecki's coordinates. But by the time we arrived, there was noth-
ing there but empty space. We hailed them over and over but
didn't get a blip. They just disappeared."

Rafik held his breath for a long moment before he replied.
"Johnny, you folks turn the Haven around and get back to
Federation space on the double. We know the Khieevi left the
vine world, but we don't know where they went from there."

"You think they got the Accufeckil" Johnny asked. "But—
we talked to them just a few hours ago."

"I don't know what happened. But one vessel full of kids
has disappeared with Calum and my uncle. We can't risk the
rest of you. Go back. Get the posse if you can—after all, Hafiz's
baksheesh provides a lot of private schools and widow's and
orphan's pensions for Federation forces, and even though this
isn't their turf, we are under their protection. I hope."

"Gotcha," Johnny said. "But get word to us the minute you
know something, okay?"

"We'll try," Rafik said grimly.

"Saltwater?" Acorna asked. "Is that all?"

Miiri nodded. "Simple saline solution. It breaks down the
sap enough for it to liquefy but it doesn't seem to harm the
sap's ability to alter to its fungoid form and destroy insectoid
tissue. We replicated some of the remaining carapace tissue and
the liquefied sap was if anything more virulent than in its origi-
nal form, just as an acid's potency may be increased by mixing
it with water."

"That makes sense," Acorna said. "Though it wouldn't be
as tenacious as the sap."

"No," Becker said, scratching his mustache, "but you know

Acorna's 'World 249

if we could have had some in aerosol torpedoes to shoot into the
orbiting Khieevi ships, we could have taken out more of them."

Miiri shuddered. "How horrible," and looked at her work
as if she had given no thought as to how it would be used.

But Aari said gently, "Mother, these are Khieevi we're talk-
ing about, remember. You've seen them. You say you felt what
they did to me."

"Your mother knows, Son," his father said. "It's just not
the Linyaari way."

"Which is why you need people like Hafiz and Nadhari and
me," Becker said. "There are still Khieevi out there. I think it's
a good idea, in our copious leisure time, to whomp up a batch
of sap and sea water. I can scrounge around here and see if I
can find the makings of some aerosol torpedoes. You Just never
know when that kind of thing will come in handy."

Acorna frowned. "Maybe it would also be wise to return to
the vine world and collect more sap there. The plants not only
buried the Khieevi in their sap, but also submerged themselves.
I'd like to make sure the plants are regenerating properly too.
If they need any special climactic conditions to help them grow,
perhaps Dr. Hoa could be of assistance."

"Good idea, Princess," Becker said. "But you know RK.
He wants to spend a little time with Nadhari before we ship
out again."

"I see," Acorna said, smiling. "It doesn't have to be done
right now."

But at that moment, Nadhari Kando burst into the lab.
"Becker!" she said urgently, then nodded slightly to the Li-
nyaari who were also present. "I have to ship out right away.
Sorry."

"I'll go with you," Becker said immediately.

"No. You can't. This is my responsibility. Hafiz hired me
to protect him and his people and now the AcaSeckl has
disappeared."

250 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

Acorna grabbed Nadhan's muscular forearm to get her at-
tention, "What do you mean, disappeared? Calum was on that
ship as well as Hafiz—"

"And Maati," Kaarlye, Miiri, and Aari said at once.
"I know, I know. I should have gone with the Harakamians

but he wanted me here to protect his investment," Nadhari said.

"But time is wasting. I've commandeered the Ifrit. It's the fastest

ship in Hafiz's security fleet and well-armed."

She took the time to explain about the Haven's transmission.
Becker frowned. "If they're not -where they're supposed to

be, I'm not sure fast is going to do you any good, Nadhari. I've

got those banks of long-range scanners on the Condor. And the

Khieevi communications device. And Mac."

"It's too slow, Becker. And you already told me, it's not

packing firepower." She hesitated and then said, "Although ..."
"What?"

"You've had good success defeating the Khieevi without
weapons and you do have that unconventional navigation style.
Your tactics might come in handy. If you still -want to join me."

"No ifs ands or buts about it, lady," he said.

"Good," she said and turned on her heel, as if expecting
him to follow.

"Captain," Acorna said. "We can follow in the CorSor and
keep the scanners working and Mac monitoring the Khieevi
transmissions. That way if we learn anything, -we can transmit
to Nadhari's vessel and you'll have the advantages of both
ships."

Becker leaned back and gave her a kiss on the cheek before
Nadhari snagged his hand and yanked. "Thanks, Princess. But
you can do that from here and we can read you. No sense you
taking unnecessary chances. Besides, I need you to make sure
the sap shells get made and Condor, at least, is outfitted with
them. Don't want to get caught with nothing but a tractor beam
to fight those klackers again." Nadhari released his arm and

2S1

threw the door open. He followed her calling, "Hey, wait up,
Punkin. Just a sec."

"What?" she asked sharply.

"What about the cat, is he going or staying?"

"He is already aboard the Ifrit but wouldn't allow the check-
out procedure to proceed. I divined his purpose was that you
should be told of the mission."

"I should hope so!" Becker huffed into his mustache.
"That's the only reason you came for me?"

"Of course not," she said. "But -we -will discuss that later.

m.                "

lime—

"Yes, ma'am. I know. It's of the essence," Becker said, and
-waved to the others as he allowed himself to be hauled away.

Acorna and Aari conferred -with Gill and Rafik.

"Do you think you can locate the materials for making the
aerosol torpedoes Becker described?" she asked.

"Are you kidding?" Gill asked. "We have the best engi-
neering help available in all areas."

"And Uncle Hafiz has never been one to turn his nose up
at the lucrative business of arms manufacturing," Rafik added.
"I can think of at least six of our friendly neighborhood mer-
chants -who could supply what's needed immediately."

"Good," Acorna said. "Miiri and Kaarlye cannot be a party
to turning the sap into -weapons, you understand, but since it's
a simple matter of mixing sap and saltwater, there should be
no problem with others mixing the formula. We need to return
to the vine world. We Linyaari must communicate -with the
vines, heal them if the Khieevi attack truly injured them."

"Good thinking," Gill said. "Some of the non-House Hara-
kamian merchants may resist having their ships fitted with the
torpedoes, but I think from -what we've seen, as long as they're
in this sector it's really the only smart thing to do. Maybe if
we show the vids the moon camera took of the sap's effect on

252 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

the Khieevi, it will be easier to persude the skeptical owners to
accept the modifications."

"I'll talk to any of them who have reservations and make
sure they've seen the vids," Acorna said. "After all, having the
modifications made would be useful for their own protection
from Khieevi attacks." She paused for a moment. "Of course,
it would probably help persuade them if House Harakamian
offered to pay for the modifications."

Rafik laughed. "You're beginning to think like a merchant,
but not one who's the adopted daughter of Hafiz! However,
I'll authorize it if only to aggravate the old boy into showing
up again just to tell me off. Meanwhile I'll appreciate any help
you can give me persuading the merchants to think like a team,
at least during crises. I'm doing my best but I haven't Hafiz's
gift for imperiousness."

"I'll see what I can do," Acorna promised. "And Aari and
I have a somewhat different perspective on pacifism where the
Khieevi are concerned. Both of us will be glad to help supervise
the preparation—and maybe the deployment—of the torpedoes
and the ships to carry them in case they're necessary to rescue
the AcaSecki," she said, and her voice had a catch in it.

"Of course," Gil said reasonably. "We've no evidence yet
to suggest that the Khieevi were responsible for the disappear-
ance of Calum and Hafiz and the kids."

"No," Rafik agreed. "But it's a pretty big coincidence that
they should disappear so soon after a Khieevi attack. I think
that whether we have evidence or not, we have to be prepared
for the worst."

"Of course," Acorna said thoughtfully, "The sap isn't the
only thing that will kill Khieevi. For the merchants who can't
be persuaded to modification, as long as they are otherwise
armed, they have some protection."

"Yes," Aari said. "The Khieevi are used to preying upon

Acorna's ^Worid 253

people like mine and the Niriians, who do not fight back with
any sort of weapon."

Gill grinned. "We all saw that they blow up as easy as
anybody if somebody lobs some ordnance at them."

Rafik grumbled into the little goatee he was affecting these
days, to make himself look more lordly in the performance of
his administrative duties as head of House Harakamian. "True,
but the sap works better than anything we've seen."

Acorna and Aari rose. Rafik felt a bit sad. Their little girl
was all grown up into a beautiful young lady, and from the
look of it, had chosen her mate already. He hoped they'd all
live and prosper long enough for him and Gill—and Calum and
Hafiz—to have Linyaari grandbabies.

Acorna's voice caught, "I hope they're okay. I can't bear to
think the Khieevi have them."

The crash of the computers was a temporary matter, of
course, and Hafiz was rather put out with Calum for making
such an issue of it. The man's panic had spoiled Hafiz's story
for the children, who had been blessedly quiet while Hafiz had
held the attention of all, which was practically his favorite way
to interact with anyone, especially children.

For two such wizards of the keyboard as him and Baird,
not to mention a certain amount of help from some of the chil-
dren, who were quite talented in that area, restoring the ship's
computer to operation was scarcely a challenge. Without the
additional load of the hologram programs, the power soon re-
turned along with all of the other amenities.

Including the com screen and the telescopic viewport. Hafiz
was making final readjustments to certain navigational calcula-
tions when Baird tapped him on the shoulder and pointed at
the viewport.

"Yes, yes," Hafiz said, glancing up. "It is good that it is
operational ..." and then he stopped and stared, as a sinister-

254 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

looking vessel began filling the viewport. "Hut-hut, my boy!"
Hafiz said. "Get us out of here this instant!"

"I'm way ahead of you," Calum said. "But we're going no-
where. They have us in a tractor beam."

The children were exclaiming, and some crying. The two
Linyaari, the girl Maati who was so talented herself with holo-
grams, and the youth Thariinye, crowded close to the console.

Suddenly the corn screen lit up and one of the ugly bug
faces leered at them, before being replaced by a scene of the
Khieevi torturing a Linyaari prisoner.

"Oh, no, you don't. Not again," Maati said.

The driver of the Khieevi ship designated Fourteen Klack^i
am) Two Kiiclu was the first to put his tractor beam on the vessel
containing the life forms.

As soon as he had them, he could not resist looking into
their vessel to see what his courage and intelligence had netted.
He could hardly believe his luck. The ship was filled with hu-
mans—most of them immature! How the Young -would love
that! And even better, there were two tender One-Horns
aboard.

With considerable glee, hampered only a little by the arrival
of his fellow stragglers, he began running the demonstration of
Khieevi diplomatic methods when dealing with aliens. The Niriians
had proved so unsatisfactory that the driver decided to give the
One-Horns a little preflight fright by showing what had been
done to dismantle the body of the last One-Horn captive.

That should tenderize their youthful emotions, get them
ready to scream all the way back to the homeworld, providing
a substantial emotional appetizer before what was left of them
could be physically delivered to the Young.

The driver could not resist, before boarding the ship and
scooping out the sweet One-Horns and humans from the hull,
taking a look to see their fear and horror at the film he had

Hcorna's 'World

255

just transmitted. The smaller of the One-Horns stared back at
him, baring her teeth, Then she raised a metal canister of some
sort, dipped a gloved hand into it, and pulled out a glob of
the horrible, carapace-eating sap, which she smeared across the
corn screen.

Perhaps the Young would rather extract the One-Horns
and humans themselves.

The AcaBecki had simply disappeared.

Nadhari shook her head in disbelief. "How could it have
just vanished?"

"There's a lot of space out there," Becker pointed out,
sounding a lot more nonchalant than he felt.

"Of course there is," she said, her voice overly sweet, as if
talking to someone with a bad case of stupid. "But the Ifnt and
the other security ships have the ion trail ID for the AcaSecki and
all of the other ships on MOO. And the trail ends here. Poof!"

"I wish I had my maps to check," Becker said. "Maybe
they have a Bermuda Triangle in this quadrant."

"A what?"

"Well, long ago back on Mother Earth, there was this area
in the ocean where airplanes and ships disappeared without a
trace. It was called the Bermuda Triangle and people
thought—"

"Yes?"

"That maybe aliens from outer space were responsible." His
voice faded off at the end.

"That certainly stands to reason in this case," Nadhari
said dryly.

"Can your ion trail ID thing check for other kinds of ion
trails—those not left by Hafiz's or his allies' ships?"

"Like Khieevi ships for instance?" she asked. "I don't know,
to tell you the truth. We only had one encounter with the

256 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

Khieevi in Federation space and that was rather brief. I'll check
for any strange trails however."

She worked at the control panel for a bit, the colored lights
bouncing off the planes of her face, and then said, "Got it."

"What?"

"There've been a number of other ships here. Similar trails
all. I'm reprogramming so -we can follow them but the trails
are confused."

"Think it's Khieevi?"

"Who else? It's not us, that's for sure."

"Follow that ion," Becker said.

"What?"

"You have just got to watch more of my antique vid collec-
tion, honey," he said.

Acorna and Aari had the Condor fitted for the sap shells
first. They could use their installation as a prototype to show
the others. After a few glitches, which the Com)or accepted with
its usual savoir-faire, the modifications were made and the Con-
2or -was pronounced Khieevi-ready.

The most effective way to persuade all of the other mer-
chants to go along with the plan, Acorna decided, was to have
a meeting and show the vids to all of them at the same time.

Once the vids had finished playing, the boardroom was ab-
solutely still as the lights came up.

Then Holland Barber, the lawyer for Cascade shipping com-
pany, which had won the bid to transport merchandise to and
from MOO, spoke up. "Ms. Harakamian-Li," the thin-faced
blonde in the abbreviated silver synsilk power suit said, "Your
allegation that we need to modify our ships in such a drastic
way to deal with an alien race that clearly, from your own film,
has been almost annihilated by those sticky things, appears to
us to be unfounded. You are overreacting to a ridiculous degree.
With Mr. Harakamian missing, there is actually no reason even

yicorna.'s 'World 257

to suppose that MOO will continue to be operational. Why,
therefore, should we risk unnecessary modifications to our ships
when we could simply claim because of your lack of foresight
in providing a satisfactory business climate, we are no longer
bound by our contract? We shall simply withdraw and return
to Federation space."

"That is certainly your choice, Ms. Barber," Acorna said
sweetly. "But I'd like to remind you that the AcaSecki has disap-
peared while attempting to do that very thing—return to Feder-
ation space, that is."

The bony blonde gave Acorna a supercilious look and said,
"That was one small ship, Ms. Harakamian-Li. We control a
fleet. I hardly think these cockroaches would consider us as
easy a target."

"It's entirely up to your client, Ms. Barber," Acorna said.

At that moment Aari and Mac broke into the meeting. "Ex-
cuse us, Khornya. But Mac has just intercepted a transmission
we thought would have bearing on this meeting."

"Yes?" Holland Barber, who had yet to sit down, acted as
if she were in control of the meeting.

Mac earnestly repeated all of the klackings and klickings
he had heard and Aari translated.

"The Khieevi are massing an attack on narhii-Vhiliinyar,"
Aari said.

"And that is?" Holland Barber asked.

"The Linyaari homeworld," Aari said. "Our homeworld."

"I can't see that your homeworld, however dear it may be
to you, has anything to do with my client," the lawyer said.

"It doesn't actually," Acoma said. "Except that narhu-
Vhiliinyar was the primary planet Uncle Hafiz hoped to entice
as a trading partner when he established MOO."

"In short, Holland," said Michaela Glen of Hudson Inter-
planetary Realty, Inc. "Customers. If you want to sit around
quibbling about a few modifications House Harakamian has

258 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

agreed to pay for in order to save your client's penurious corpo-
rate butt while these cockroaches eat some of the most poten-
tially profitable trade partners in the history of the Federation,
feel free. But Hudson is willing to follow in the footsteps of
our glorious voyageur founders and not only modify our ships
to fight, but fight to protect our trade."

The rest of the merchants in the room applauded.

Becker and Nadhari were having a difficult time following
the ion trail when they received a hail and Acorna's face ap-
peared on the screen. "Captain, Mac has picked up a signal
from the Khieevi fleet. They've located narhii-Vhiliinyar."

"On our way, Princess," Becker said. "Your uncles getting
those sap torpedoes filled?"

"Yes, Captain. All available personnel have been collecting
and diluting the sap and Gill says the engineers have made
some very business-like torpedoes and are fitting the ships with
them now. The Condor is ready to go. Have you found any trace
of the Acadeckil"

Becker looked at Nadhari. He didn't want to break the
news to Acorna.

"We haven't found a trail, Acorna," Nadhari said crisply,
"But there are other trails that correspond with those of Khieevi
ships. We were about to follow, but it seems we now have a
good idea -where to find the Khieevi."

"Yes," Acorna said. "Though it's odd that you're finding
traces there when the coordinates are so far from those of nar-
hii-Vhiliinyar."                           ,

"Those bugs get around," Becker said.




The spaceport on narhii-Vhiliinyar took the first hit
(^ "^>      from the Khieevi missile attack. The third wave
took out most of the techno-artisan's compound,
including the huge evacuation ships the Linyaari had used to
escape their former homeworld.

Due to the Linyaari ability to heal infirmities as well as
injuries and disease, even the old were not feeble and the stag-
gered lines of refugees heading for the caves in the hills -where
the Ancestors lived moved along smartly.

The com-shed officer of the day barely escaped with her
life and the portable remote link as her duty station exploded
behind her.

Trees were few on narhii-Vhiliinyar but the grasses beyond
the primary grazing areas -were taller than the heads of the
people, and provided visual cover. Council members directed
people to the proper path and shepherded them through. The
attendants of the Ancestors met the refugees at predesignated
places to guide them to the caves.

At first, once the cities and chief settlements were behind
them, the refugees faced little danger from the bombardment,

They made their way quietly toward the caves. Only the

260 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

occasional whimpering of a child or the cough of an elder inter-
rupted the muffled pounding of hard feet and the shush of the
grasses as bodies wound quickly through them. The thought
that guided everyone was, "Calm. Peace. Go swiftly but silently.
Help your neighbors if they fall." The voice in -which everyone
heard these thoughts was that of the one they loved best and
trusted most. The best loved and most trusted heard the thought
in the voice of Grandam Naadiina.

Then suddenly the bombing fanned out from the city and
ignited the tall grasses, where hundreds of people still travelled.
People ran, and screamed, and fell, and some were trampled.

Circling the planet, the Khieevi -were pleased at last to feel
the terror rising in nourishing -waves from the surface. The
transmission of it -would appease the Young for a -while longer,
until the ships could land and begin loading the prisoners.

The House Harakamian ships rallied under Nadhari's lead-
ership. Most of the security ships needed only to load the torpe-
does in their own bomb bays to be ready to fly into battle.
Cascade shipping company's lawyer -was overruled by her
bosses, although one ship was allotted to take her and some of
the other less committed executives and employees back to the
company's headquarters. What Ms. Barber had failed to realize,
Rafik told Acorna, -was that her company -was actually a subsid-
iary of one owned by Hafiz's second cousin, "whose holdings
were dependant on the backing of House Harakamian.

Acorna and the other Linyaari meanwhile spent time with
the plants of the vine world. The vines actually seemed to flour-
ish in the sea of sap they had created, growing from it at an
amazing rate and sending forth a pleasant floral smell as if the
•whole planet was merely a large innocuous bouquet. "Appar-
ently the sap that kills the bugs has regenerative properties for
the plants," Miiri said.

261

"Fortunately it doesn't work that way for the Khieevi," Aari
said with a small, tight smile.

Some of the less battle-worthy ships brought up the rear of
the makeshift fighter squadron. They formed a supply line back
to the vine world to reequip ships that, it was optimistically
hoped, would expend all of their sap shells destroying Khieevi
and their vessels.

Becker meanwhile was giving the skippers and navigators
a crash course in gonzo astrophysics.

"If we use the folds in space as cover, we can pop in and
out around the bugs and sap them before they have any idea

•where -we come from. But with this many of us, we have to do
it in strict rotation or we'll be ramming each other and lose the
battle to friendly fire."

Becker was originally going to return to the Condor, flying
it into battle and leaving Acorna and Aari with the other Li-
nyaari back on the vine world, which was the only place certain
to be safe from Khieevi attack.

But the Khieevi massed quickly around narhii-Vhiliinyar
and, instead of sending in ground troops and shuttles as they
had before, began a massive bombardment of the helpless
planet. Becker stayed with Nadhari as she flew reconnais-
sance, spying out the Khieevi position, which was basically
encircling the planet with ships, as it had done with the
vine world.

"You're on your own, kids," Becker told Acorna and Aari
in his last transmission to the ConSor before the battle was
joined. "I'll miss my old bucket of bolts, but the I frit is lighter
and more maneuverable and Nadhari needs me with her to

•weave her troops in and out if we're going to have a prayer
against the klackers. Aari, make sure Mac reports to you what
he's getting from the Khieevi communications and if there's
any break. ..."

262 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

"Lately they've been almost impossible to read. Captain,"
Aan said sadly. "So many are klacking at once that Mac cannot
decipher individual messages. And the sound of the missiles is
also disrupting our sensors."

"We're going to start making a lot of noise ourselves pretty
quick," Becker said. "Be safe, people."

"Be safe, Joh," Aari said, and touched the corn screen.

"Be safe, Becker, and keep the others safe as well,"
Acorna said.

But she felt so powerless. In the other battle, there had
been something she could do to help, but this one, well, it
almost went without saying that this was a lost cause. The sap
was effective against the Khieevi. Perhaps they could be driven
off in time to save the Linyaari people, if not narhii-Vhiliinyar,
but it was hard to believe the combination of corporate security
and civilian ships stood a chance against the Khieevi hordes.

More immediately saddening was that in the course of their
reconnaissance, Becker and Nadhari had seen no sign of the
AcaSeckl, and Mac could discern no mention of them from the
Khieevi transmissions filling the Condor with their staccato.

The driver of the Khieevi ship designated Fourteen Klaclu
am) Two KLiclu was not, as his non-Khleevi enemies sometimes
presumed, incapable of independent thought and action. Quite
the contrary. The driver, now trying to control the ship with
only five feet, having sacrificed his sixth, knew that once he
rejoined the other Khieevi, he -would not last long.

When the main swarm discovered the true home of the
One-Horns and began bombarding it, the driver was so dis-
mayed he sent an extra jolt of energy to the Young. His won-
derful capture, so fortunately come by and so willingly carried
to the Young, was about to be rendered insignificant by the
might of the swarm. Unless, of course, he and his fellow strag-

263




glers delivered their contribution to the diet of the Young before
the swarm was able to return with captives.

Some of the other stragglers were little more than dead
weight. There had been six of them in his limb originally and
he knew for certain that three of the ships no longer contained
living personnel. No one was at the com units, and the ships
were guided only by the tractor beams attached to the captive
vessel from Fourteen Klaclu an() Two Klickd and the other two
vessels whose crews still contained some living members.

The only comfort that the driver had was that he knew
many of the ships in the swarm were as badly off as his own —
as the others of his limb. The communications he received, and
ignored, were quite often disordered and nonsensical and he
suspected that only the structure of the swarm kept many of
the ships in place.

Fourteen Klacfu ano Two Klic/u would not remain in place. It
sped, with as much momentum as possible pulling one alien
and three Khieevi vessels plus two others whose drivers, he
suspected, were suffering more of the effects of contaminated
shuttle soldiers than him, toward the homeworld and the
Young.

As the bombardment of narhii-Vhiliinyar continued, so did
Acorna's healing duties.

The first to show the long-range effects of the damage done
to the Linyaari was Aari's mother. Miiri, gathering sap on the
vine world, grew more and more distracted and incoherent.
Kaarlye said she was receiving telepathic signals from the home-
world, reading the suffering of her people. The time came when
she cried out and fainted, falling face forward into a lake of
sap. By the time they pulled her out, she had nearly suffocated.

Acorna, Neeva, Melireenya, and Khaari, as well as Kaarlye,
all laid horns on Miiri to revive her. But the physical effect of

264 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

her fall was not what caused her to thrash and cry out in her
unconsciousness.

"This is how she was while Aari was a prisoner," Kaarlye
said.

"I don't see why," Liriili said. "She's no good to anyone
that way."

But as time wore on, and reports were relayed back along
the supply channels of the fires in the fields, the decimation of
the cities, the saturation bombing of the planet's surface, the
bad news took its toll. First Melireenya, then Khaari, then
Neeva and finally Kaarlye himself began to succumb to the
disorientation and panic that had marked Miiri's decline in
health.

Even Aari attempted to use his newly grown horn to soothe
his parents and the Balakiire crew. He had no more luck than
the others.

Acorna had not lived on narhii-Vhiliinyar long enough to
develop a bond strong enough to affect her the way it did the
others, but she missed Calum, and Maati, Grandam, Hafiz, and
even Karina. Not to mention all of the children she had helped
to rise from slavery only for them to fall victim to a more deadly
peril. Jana would be taking care of the others now, she knew,
and Maati would help. So would Thariinye, -who was not a bad
sort, just a bit callow sometimes.

Calum had helped raise her and at times had been her clos-
est friend. If she -were to bond with anyone out there, she
thought, it would be with him. But she felt nothing from him.
Nothing. Unfortunately, the hardheaded Caledonian, while as
pragmatic and ingenious as the best of his race, had not fallen
heir to their more magical qualities.

Grandam had lived through much in her long life, but even
the Khieevi attack on Vhiliinyar had not been this horrible. The
people had escaped then. Now they were ambushed on their

265

own world, their escape routes cut off, the ground quickly being
bombed from beneath their feet.

The noise outside her head was no worse than the clamor
inside. Her people were dying. Dying. Dead already, many in
the tall grasses, and she could do nothing. The keening of death
songs in the caves was as loud in its way as the bombing.

Not just bombing either, but ships falling from the sky,
huge chunks of them plummeting everywhere, blazing comets
of death.

She healed burns and fractures, crushing injuries and shock,
all the time trying to exude calm and control, as all the other
elders -were also doing. But never had she felt so keenly every
year of her age. The Ancestors attempted to help, but their
energy was older than her own and they were not immune to
the chaos and tragedy thundering down upon them.

She felt a sudden jolt of alarm and looked up from the
badly burned body of young Hiiri, who had been caught in the
first grass fire. One of the Ancestors bolted from an adjoining
cave and galloped across the charred stubble that remained of
the tall grasses, easily, gracefully leaped the small river fed by
an underground spring in the hills, and charged into a re-
maining stand of tall grasses on the other side. Grandam
watched as the grasses parted, and a line of figures, much bur-
dened with cases and cages, humbled through the grass to meet
the Ancestor. (Aagroni lirtyef) Grandam called in thought-speak.
(Your laboratory should have been among the first to be
evacuated!)

(We could hardly leave all of the new younglings we've
been growing from the remains of the animals from Vhiliinyar,
could we?) the aagroni demanded indignantly. (It took a little
time to pack them out but everything has gone very well
indeed.)

The Ancestor had gone to offer her services as a pack ani-
mal. (Of course, you couldn't,) Grandam replied. (I commend

266 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

your dedication to your charges.) She turned back to the smoky
den behind her to recruit some of the able bodied to assist with
the bundles.

The ball of flame flashed across her eyes as she turned and
•when she whirled back to look, it had landed in the tall grass.
She could no longer see the Ancestor or the aagroni but she
heard the screams and the frantic whinnying of the Ancestor.
An attendant ran from one of the caves but he had Grandam's
heels before him.

She tried to outrun the flame, circling around it to reach
some of the scientists behind it, or the Ancestor. All of these
precious beings must not die. So much had been lost in such a
short time. This must not go too.

But she could see nothing but fire. She heard the roar of
the flames and the screams and she saw the Ancestor leap from
the fire with specimens upon her back, her mane and tail on
fire before she leaped into the river. Grandam leaped into the
river herself and soaked herself thoroughly and then gave a
great leap of body and mind and plunged into the flames.

After countless hours of healing work, trying to soothe and
sedate Neeva, Khaari, Melireenya, Miiri, and Kaarlye, Acorna
was resting. Aari helped by holding the hands of his parents,
speaking in a low voice to them of his boyhood, and also re-
membering some bits of Linyaari spiritual teachings, of how
beloved souls returned with the new spirits of the young.

She had finally fallen asleep listening to him herself. His
horn was not mature enough to use for healing, but what he
was doing truly helped. More than Liriili, who wrung her hands
and demanded that somebody <)o something. She seemed most
distressed that all of these outsiders now knew the location of
narhii-Vhilnnyar. Irrationally, she was somehow not under-
standing that the Khieevi had already found the planet. And

267

something wo,) being done. The Khieevi bombardment of the
Linyaari world was now meeting with resistance from the out-
side, from the darting mosquito-like attacks of MOO's com-
bined forces. Reports traveled back down the supply channels
that the attacks were effective. Once a Khieevi vessel was
sapped, it did not remain aloft for long.

On the other hand, another odd rumor was reaching the
vine world. Many of the Khieevi ships that had not been hit, in
fact, even before the MOO ships began their attack, were fall-
ing out of orbit and crashing onto the surface of narhii-
Vhiliinyar. Direct communication with the front wings was in-
frequent and terse, so Acorna had not been able to speak to
any of the actual combatants about this, but she suspected that
some of the Khieevi swarm had been infected with the sap from
the swarm's previous attack on the vine -world.

The MOO forces had actually been firing a relatively short
time—less than forty-eight hours—but the psychic damage from
the telepathic bonds between the Linyaari on narhii-Vhilimyar
and Aari's parents and the Balakiire's crew had been occurring
since the first Khieevi bomb struck the planet's surface.

Acorna's dreams were fitful and troubled, she was running,
hiding, ducking, while the world fell apart all around her. Some
part of her mind knew that this was not only a dream. Never-
theless, the bonds of empathy that tied her to her own friends
and kin were beginning to drag her into the morass of emotion
experienced by the Linyaari under attack.

Suddenly, screams shattered her fragile rest and her eyes
flew open. All of the Linyaari, including Liriili and Aari, cried
out.

"What is it?" she asked, struggling to her feet.

"Grandam," Neeva cried.

"Grandam," Kaarlye and Miiri echoed.

Aari added, with wonder in his voice. "And Maati."

268 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

At the moment Grandam leaped into the flames, Maati was
also sleeping. She and Thariinye had their hands full calming
children, trying to heal them of fears they shared. It didn't help
that Hafiz and Karina were so obviously frightened.

"Look," Maati had told the others. "I think the Khieevi
really like it when they scare us. They get some sort of special
kick out of it. So the scareder we are, the more they like it.
Can we try not to give them the satisfaction?"

Jana nodded her understanding, "Some of the overseers at
the mines were like that. And—Kheti said that some of the
clients in the pleasure houses -were like that, too. They enjoyed
scaring and hurting the girls because that was what they wanted
really, not the sex."

"I can't help it," Chiura said, cuddling close to Jana. "I'm
scared."

Karina Harakamian stopped trembling and tried to rally
them. "I know what. We could group sing. Does anyone know
the song 'Kum-bye-ya?' It's from an ancient Earth culture and
very hypnotic."

Nobody did. Karina sang it with them. It -was slow and
everybody swayed to it like she showed them to, but it was
repetitious. It didn't change their mood or lighten their fears.

Calum Baird, who now had nothing to do, finally said,
"That's a nice wee song, Karina, but we've sung it twenty times.
Shall we try something else? I know a few. I learned this one
from Giloglie one time when -we were drunk as skunks. His
people were great ones for songs. We used to sing this one and
some of the others to Acorna when she'-was little."

While he taught them, "The Rocky Road to Dublin" and
they were all shouting, "One, two, three, four, five! Hunt the
hare and turn her on the rocky road all the way to Dub-uh-lin
one, two, three, four, five!" Maati and Thariinye were finally
able to fall into an exhausted sleep.

And then she felt the flames and heard, for the first time

^.coma's 'World.

269

ever, Grandam shriek, and she woke up shrieking too. Tharii-
nye was screeching right back at her. Then Grandam was gone,
somehow, but someone else was there, in her mind with her.

"Maati? Maati, where are you? It's Aari. Keep sending. I'm
coming to get you."

/ ~<k  To!) Maati's thought was loud and clear and
C^ *y I  / ^ f Aari and Acorna both heard it, though Miiri
\ -*- ^> and Kaarlye almost immediately lapsed back
into their telepathic nightmares. (There's Khieevi ships all
around us. They're taking us somewhere.)




(Can you read them, Maati?) Aari asked her.

(A—a little. I know they want to hurt us, but I scared one
of them by rubbing sap on the screen.)

(That's good,) Aari told her. (You kept them from taking
you off the ship.)

(Maati, ask Calum what your coordinates are,) Acorna said.

(Can't,) Maati replied.

(Is he hurt?) Acorna asked anxiously.

(No, nothing like that. He's doing a lot of clapping his
hands and stomping his feet and bellowing. Everybody else is
doing it too so I wouldn't be able to make him hear me. But
I can read them.) She was silent for a moment, then recited
the coordinates.

(Keep sending,) Aari told her. (We're on our way.)

The coordinates were nowhere near those of narhii-
Vhiliinyar.

272 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

The Khieevi swarm spiraled in rings twenty deep around
narhii-Vhiliinyar. Blossoms of red fire bloomed from the inner-
most ships as missiles silently connected with the surface of the
planet. Then the ships that had fired spiraled back out to the
outermost layer to be replaced by fresh ships.

Up until recently, no one who had witnessed this battle
formation had lived to tell about it. One hundred percent satu-
ration, domination, and decimation were guaranteed. Usually
the innermost ships dispatched shuttles with ground troops in-
stead of bombs, but sometimes the bombs came first, to soften
up the enemy before the troops landed. This time the ships
themselves intended to land and gather up the prisoners.

The strategy was time tested and utterly perfect against
planets without missiles or other defenses of their own. Planets
such as narhii-Vhiliinyar.

The attention of every ship was focused inwardly, on the
target, though in many cases in this particular formation, indi-
vidual ships were distracted by a substance brought onboard
by disabled shuttles and wounded crew from the battle with
the vine world. The substance was as intractable as the Khieevi
themselves, creeping, infiltrating, oozing over any and all sur-
faces, and where it met with susceptible carapace or Khieevi
exoskeleton, burning and eating all that it touched, growing
ever more rapidly as it fed. Much like the Khieevi. Very much
like the Khieevi.

The ships that had been infected and remained within the
swarm did not request assistance from the other ships. They
did not know exactly -what was weakening them and causing
them to suffer, but they knew that weakness -would be met with
elimination, so they gave their suffering to the Young and car-
ried on as usual.

Nine Klackt am) Seventy-two Klick<) had just returned to the
outermost spiral ring when its hull imploded and the bridge

y\.corna's 'World 273

was filled with burning, clinging yellow sap and the high
pitched eeee's of the crew.

Nine Klack<f an3 Seventy-two Klictu was not one of the ships
that had been infected on the vine -world. But it had seen that
many other ships haS taken back shuttles and crewmembers
damaged in that battle. No doubt one of them had become
defective. The driver of Nine Klack.) ant) Seventy-two Kliclu
thought in the split second before the liquid sap covered him
that this -was just the sort of thing that made it necessary to
strictly enforce the policy of eliminating the -weak.

Seventy-two Klackd an3 Nine Kiick^, on the other hand, had
six crewmembers in various stages of being devoured by sap.
When it<f hull imploded with ordinary explosive missile material,
the driver thought to wonder, just before he crashed his ship
into sixteen other vessels, which crashed their ships into a like
number on the -way to the target's surface, how the swarm had
known his ship was infected. And why they had not waited to
eliminate him until after the battle. But, of course, by then the
question was strictly rhetorical.

"This is like shooting ducks in a barrel," Nadhan com-
plained, but not unhappily.

"More like shooting pool," Becker said. "Lookit that
ricochet!"

"Somebody call for Ryk O'Shay?" the corn unit asked. "I'm
right here with Cap'n Glen in the Hudson IT sapship Bananas.
And we read you, wing command! One of the bugs just slipped
on one of our peels and crashed through the Khieevi inner for-
mation taking out, oh, maybe ten or twelve of its little bug
buddies, and each of them bumped off at least ten more apiece.

"It hardly seems sporting," Captain Glen opined. "And I
-wonder if we aren't wasting the sap. Whatever they're hit with,
it looks to me as if it's their own tactics that are defeating them.

274 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

They seem to be totally unprepared for an attack from outside
their formation."

"That's a roger, Cap'n Glen," Becker said. The scan scope
on the Ifrit showed a long view of the Khieevi formation.

"Au contraire, ma capitaine," broke in Andina Dimitri of
Domestic Goddess Intergalactic Cleansing Corporation, manu-
facturers of a multitude of cleaning products and providers of
the most comprehensive housekeeping and interior design ser-
vices in the Federation. "We've been compiling statistics here
and according to our figures, the ships hit with sap shells hit
three times as many of their companion vessels as the ships hit
with conventional ammo. The sap shells are demonstrably
superior."

"This is the Condor calling the Ifrit. Come in, Ifrit," the re-
mote link crackled.

"Aan! Acorna, we're kicking butt here. Wish you were
here."

"Joh," Aari's face on the corn screen -was both serious and
hopeful. "Khornya and I are taking the Condor to find the Aca-
Deckt. My sister just sent us the coordinates."

"Oh, good, I'm glad they're okay," Becker said.

"They're not okay, Captain," Acorna said. "They're held in
a Khieevi tractor beam. Maati is afraid they're being taken to
the Khieevi homeworld. But the Khieevi haven't touched
them yet."

"Mr. and Mrs. Harakamian?" Nadhari asked. "How are
they?"

"Fine, except Maati says Karina has a lousy singing voice.
Calum was teaching the kids Gill's drinking songs, Maati said."

"I'll pass it on," Nadhari said. "Keep us posted on the coor-
dinates of the Khieevi vessels."

Acorna's voice was unsteady when she asked, "Do we—
know how the people on the surface are doing? Any idea what
happened to Grandam?"

Acorna's 'World

27S

"Something happened to Grandam?" Becker asked.

"I forgot you wouldn't know," Acorna said. "All of us felt
it. I think maybe she—she's gone."

"We'll check it out as soon as possible, honey," Becker said.
"Nadhari wants to shoot something so we gotta go now. Give
me those coordinates again," he said. She did and they signed
off just in time to hear a very staticky call from Hudson IT
Bananas.

"What the devil!" Captain Glen called. "Wing command,
•we've been hit!"

"Fall back!" Nadhari cried, as a missile exploded to the
port bow of the Ifrit.

"They finally shooting at us instead of the Linyaari?" Gil
asked.

"Cloak and shield, people" Becker said. "Do it now."

The mosquito fleet obeyed the command, leaving the space
surrounding narhii-Vhiliinyar to the Khieevi, but still the firing
continued. The spiral of ships, formerly as tidy and symmetrical
as a water ballet, already had gaping holes torn in its pristine
formation from the crashes. All pretense of order vanished as
the ships on the lower layer fired upward, the ships on the
upper layer fired downward, and both hit the ships in the inter-
mediate layers, which crashed. Fire blossomed and ships disinte-
grated into thousands of pieces, buffeting the shielded ships of
the makeshift MOO fleet like a meteor shower.

"Holy smokes," Ryk O'Shay said. "Would you lookit the
fireworks."

"Fireworks hell," Becker said, his voice thick with longing.
"RK, wouldja look at that salvage, and us without the ConSorV

Nadhari snorted, "The Khieevi apparently decided what we
threw at them was friendly fire—no longer so friendly. I don't
know how they could have figured the crashes were deliberate
as well but it looks as if they did, and good riddance. They're
saving us the trouble of killing them by turning on themselves."

S |

276 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

"I like that," Adina said. "It's economical."

"Banaruu, how bad are you hit?"

"I think we've contained it for now, Ifrit, but we'll need a
tow back to base."

"Hang on. This •will be over soon from the look of it."

It was. In a matter of less than an hour, hundreds of Khieevi
ships destroyed each other. A few managed to flee the scene.

With the ships gone, however. Decker could see what was
left of narhii-Vhiliinyar. The planet's surface, once a study in
blue-green landscape and charmingly colored cities, was now a
smoking black, cratered wasteland.

The Condor's computers found every shortcut be-
tween itself and the Acaoecki.
Mac, no longer troubled by the cacophony
from the fleet, easily picked up the signals from Fourteen Klacfu
an<) Two Kticfu and its cohorts.

"They have injured aboard, Acorna," Mac said. "And they
are returning to the homeworld—the captain of the limb, as the
six ships are referred to, is attempting to precede the remainder
of the fleet to the homeworld to appease those he calls "the
Young" with the sacrifice of the AcaSecki's personnel."

The long-range scanners had enabled to Conclor to stay a
safe distance from the limb of Khieevi ships without detection,
and now Aari asked, "Shall we close on them, Khornya?"

"Hmm, not yet, I think," she said. "Mac, let us know if you
can get the coordinates of the homeworld from the Khieevi
vessel—or at least some idea when we're close enough that we
have an idea where to locate their homeworld before we free
the Acaoecki."

"Yes, Acorna." Mac said, and returned to his post at the
Khieevi shuttle's corn unit.

Maati continued to send the coordinates every hour.

278 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

(Lots of the kids are sleeping now,) she said. (I told Calum
and Hafiz that you were behind us and Calum says please don't
get caught. I told him you had sap shells and he's worried you
won't use them because of us Linyaan being pacifist and all.)

(A minor technicality in this case,) Acorna said as cheerfully
as possible. (Mac can use the launch controls and he is no
pacifist. But I suppose this is one case where even Liriili might
be glad Aari and I are somewhat alienated from mainstream
Linyaari culture.)

(Hmph!) Maati sent a picture of herself snorting and gig-
gling (Are you kidding? If Liriili thought it would save her, she
would pull the toggle herself.)

(I think you're right about that.)

(Khornya? Do you know any more about Grandam yet? I
didn't even say goodbye. Do you think she might think I ran
away from heri I'm glad I found my—Aari's and my—folks,
but Grandam is—Grandam was my real family, you know?)

(I felt -what you felt too Maati but I don't know any more
about it. We'll just have to go to narhn-Vhiliinyar when you're
free and find out. Captain Becker says the Khieevi mistook
MOO's attacks for some kind of internal warfare and turned
on each other and blew each other all across the quadrant. I
could tell Captain Becker was slavering over all that salvage.)

(He if coming now, Maati. RiiS-Kiiyi if coming, too,) Aari said.

(You thought-talk to RK?) Maati asked.

(Yes, but you, know him. He doesn't Lit ten to me or anyone else.
But we have hao a special relationship since I helpeo heal him on
Vhiliinyar. Don't tell Job. He gets jealous. But 'RiQ-Kiiyijust scratched
at the ()oor of my mino. He wants you, to know he is coming an9 he
will claw the eyes out of the Khieevi ani) spray their sockets.)

Maati giggled.

And after a while she said, (I think we're getting nearer.
The Khieevi just came back on the corn screen even though I
scared him off once with the sap. He's showing that—you

279

know, Aari, that vid of you from the piiyi, to frighten us again.
But we turned the sound off. Nobody speaks Khieevi anyway
and many are sleeping now. Calum's songs are very energetic
and involve much stomping, clapping, and hollering. He wore
himself and everyone else out.)

(I missed those versions,) Acorna said. (Or at least the
stomping and hollering arrangements. Gill did sing me an Irish
lullaby or two.)

As they spoke, they narrowed the gap between themselves
and the Khieevi limb until they were within firing distance.

(Calum says you should know that he thinks each of the
ships have a tractor beam on us. But I think at least three of
the ships are dead already.)

(That's what I call good news and bad news!) Acorna said.
(But I have an idea. Tell Calum to be ready to accelerate and
fire upon the Khieevi as soon as the connections are broken.
Then to put up the shields and cloak and take you all away as
fast as possible.)

(I don't think he will leave you.)

(He must to save the children.)

(They will all feel safer with you, Khornya.)

(That's touching but not helpful. Just tell him, Maati, and
wish us all luck.)

She went to Mac's station and asked him, "Can you use
the Khieevi shuttle's controls to remotely operate controls on
their ships?"

Mac examined the controls and said, "No, Acorna. I cannot
find such a mechanism on the shuttle."

"Oh," she said. "Hmm. There are six ships with tractor
beams locked onto the AcaSecki."

"I could try to send them a command to release the ship,"
he said.

"Three of the ships are dead," she told him. "But if we

280 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

fire on them to break the beam, I'm afraid 'we might damage
the Acaffeclu."

"Perhaps the other Khieevi ships in the limb •will have a
remote mechanism to control the tractor beams of the dead
ships," he said.

"I suppose there's no harm in trying."

He transmitted command-style Hacking and klicking using
the identification code from the mother ship of the shuttle.

Four ships fell away from the Acaaecki at once and when he
repeated the command, so did the fifth.

But the sixth ship sent back a message saying, "This is the
driver of the ship designated Fourteen Klaclu aru) Two Klicki).
How is it that you escaped the Planet of Doom, Fifty-three Klaclu
am) Seven Kliclu, when most of our shuttles were lost?"

Mac shrugged. "What do I say?" he whispered.

Aari had joined them and suggested, "Respond with this
message," and he gave Mac a series of klacks and khcks to
transmit.

The last ship immediately released the Acaoecki, which shot
away from it and fired a round at each of its captors. Three of
the ships were hit at once and flew to bits but the other three
maneuvered out of range and returned fire. By then, however,
the Acaoecki had cloaked and shielded, as ordered.

"That worked," Acorna said. "What does it mean?"

"I have no idea," Aari said. "Except that it is not very polite
and those in charge seemed to say it when they were particu-
larly annoyed—although with a Khieevi if was difficult to tell,
of course."

The other three ships accelerated away from both the Aca-
<)ecki and the Condor along the same route they had been folio-w-
ing, and were out of range before Aari and Acorna could return
to the bridge.

"I am picking up strange signals, Aari," Mac said. "They

Acorna's 'WorCd 281

do not sound like any of the Khieevi transmissions I have
heard before."

Acorna and Mac heard a higher pitched sound, containing
klicking but also something that sounded more like "snip snip"
than a klack.

"However," Mac said, as klick-klacks began transmitting
and new blips appeared on the scanner, "ThoM do. And they are
homing in on us. Fourteen Klack) ana Two Kllclu is transmitting
data regarding our position."

"I think it's time to sap Fourteen Klaclu ana Two KUclu,"
Acorna said firmly. "They have caused enough trouble for
one journey."

The driver of Fourteen Klachf and Two Kllckd -was in agony
once more. Behind him the debris of four ships of his limb blew
apart. He alone had realized that Fifty-three KlacLf and Seven
KUdu was behaving in an irregular manner. But when the
driver called him an eater of his own eggs, he thought the driver
must be of very high rank, as such an insult to any but the
lowliest inferior was an invitation to be devoured. Thus had he
been tricked into releasing his prey. His only hope now was
that he would leave the nestworld alive once more.

And then that last vain hope also was eaten.

Another of his crewmembers had become infected while
tearing off the legs of one of the previously infected members.
Now this crewman crawled up to the driver while the driver
was arguing -with the false driver of the shuttle from Fifty-three
Klack<f and Seven Kilclu. Laying half-eaten pincers upon the driv-
er's carapace, the crewman begged to be slain. The driver
obliged at once, but not before the sap began eating through
to his internal organs.

Meanwhile, signals arrived from several returning members
of the swarm. "Deserter!" their klicks and klacks said, more or

282 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

less. "The swarm has perished and now you will perish as well."
That was the message from behind him.

And just ahead, on the nestworld, the Young were clamor-
ing for their prey, demanding it be brought to them.

On the -whole, it seemed easier to oblige them after all.
The driver of Fourteen Klaclu anc) Two Kliclu raised his accelera-
tion and shot for the surface of the nestworld without bothering
to initiate a landing procedure.

"He crashed it!" Mac said. "Fourteen Klackf and Two KUcLf
crashed his vessel onto the surface of the nestworld. He killed
some of the Young. The others seem to be—from -what I can
tell, swarming over the dead to feast upon them."

"At least it seems we won't have to worry about destroying
innocent children when we sap the nest," Acorna said.

"No," Mac said. "But you had better sap them fast and
leave. The Khieevi ships behind are gaining on us."

"Khieevi ships to your starboard stern," Calum said. "We'll
cover you, Condor."

"No!" Acorna said. "Take the children out of here, Calum.
Now. You can't risk them."

"This is Wing Command Ifrit," Nadhari's crisp and authori-
tative voice came through. "You heard the lady, Acaoecki. Move
smartly from the field at once."

"Do it," Becker's voice seconded the motion. "We got 'em
in our crosshairs, Calum. Vamoose and don't let any salvage
hit you in the stern on your way out."

The rest "was a bit anticlimactic for Acorna and Aari. The
squad from the MOO fleet closed rapidly on the few survivors
from the horde's self-destruction and demolished them with a
combination of conventional fire and sap shells.

The majority of the sap shells were saved for the nestworld,
where the Young had already begun to die from the sap oozing
out of Fourteen Klaclu an3 Two Klic/u.

yicorna's 'World 283

"Dimitri, Glen, and Giloglie each keep your wing here until
you're sure it's over," Nadhari commanded.

"Don't worry, Nadhari," Andina Dimitri said, "I've just the
cleanser to take care of this mess."

"Acorna? Aari?" Becker asked plaintively. "I don't suppose
you could pick up any of this salvage on your way back to
MOO, could you?"

For the first time since the Linyaari inhabited narhii-
C^ "y      Vhiliinyar, hordes of people of other species joined
with the Linyaari and the Ancestors.

F

It had taken much imagination and very precise navigational
memory to find the site of Grandfather Niicari's grave. It had
once been marked by being located a few steps from the back
flap of Grandam Naadiina's pavilion but now all pavilions were
little more than pools of molten ash in the lake of such ash that
had once been Kubiilikhan.

Neeva swallowed hard and spoke, "Friends and clankin, we
are gathered to lay our beloved Grandam, mother, protectress,
and wise counselor to our many generations of Linyaari, friend
to the outsiders, to rest beside her lifemate, our Grandfather."

Maati was weeping quietly, supported on one side by Aari
and Acorna and on the other by a dry-eyed but solemn-faced
Thariinye. Miiri and Kaarlye stood behind their youngest, Mi-
iri's hands resting lightly on her shoulders.

Grandam looked so beautiful lying there. The char had been
cleaned from her silvery mane, the lines were smoothed on her
face, her hands resting peacefully, naturally at her waist. And
her mouth was curved in a firm and exultant smile. She had

286 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

not died in the fire, as it seemed when Maati and the other
Linyaari felt first the fire and then the extinguishment of Gran-
dam's life force.

Grandam's leap at the fire had been a complete act involving
not only her body, but also her extraordinary strength of heart,
mind, and will, as she dragged the river waters from their bed
to flood the fires threatening the scientists and the precious new
species they had risked their own lives to save.

Never had anyone done such a thing in Linyaari history or
fable, as long as any of them could remember. But Grandam
Naadiina had lived longer than any two-footed Linyaari and
had grown in -wisdom and skill with every ghaanyi of her life.
Unfortunately, her heart, which had grown in the strength of
its love and kindness, had not improved structurally, and the
strain of her final telepathic struggle to save others had been
too much for it.

"Those who -were with Grandam at the end said she wore
the same smile you see here. Aagroni lirtye, do you wish to add
something?"

"I do," he said. His mane was very short and irregular
where the char had been chopped off, and he had no brows or
lashes. His skin was reddened and peeling, as was that of sev-
eral people around him. "Grandam died as you were just told,
saving me, my staff, and most important, the young we have
been growing from cells of species lost with our own beloved
Vhiliinyar. I understand that her passing was felt by her foster
daughter Maati and Spacefarer Thariinye across several galax-
ies. I was privileged to be nearest to her at her death and
received her last thoughts. They were of you, Maati, full of
pride for your bravery in risking your life to save your family
and friends, and for all of us, her other children, and most of
all, for Vhiliinyar. Just as Grandam knew, somehow, that we
would be saved, she also knew that the destruction of narhii-

287

Vhiliinyar was not the end of a Linyaari homeworld. Viife<)haa-
nye-feriilt Neeva?"

"I think Grandam would be pleased and proud now to hear
the message brought by my sister-daughter, VueShaanye Khor-
nya, called Ah-khorn-ah by those humans who saved her as an
infant, and saved us from the Khieevi. Khornya?"

Acorna gracefully extracted herself from Aari, with a last
caress to his fingers and a lingering touch on Maati's shoulder,
and knelt beside Grandam to kiss her forehead before standing,
quite close to Grandam, and saying, "As some of you know,
the Khieevi -were defeated by people my Uncle Hafiz brought
into this quadrant in hopes that you -would trade with them. I
-want you to know that when these people, merchants, trades-
people, learned that you were in danger, they hastened to help
you however they could. Not all could destroy Khieevi. Like
the Linyaari, many are good only at building, not at destroying.
Dr. Ngaen Xong Hoa, in particular, has long sought to escape
from those who would use the -weather-control science he devel-
oped for martial purposes. He feels a great kinship -with the
Linyaari.

"He, along -with the most expert terraforming specialists
available in the Federation, have been brought to House Hara-
kamian's Moon of Opportunity by Hafiz and Rafik Harakamian
for the express purpose of helping us restore Vhiliinyar to its
former life and beauty.

Her voice lowered for a moment and her silver eyes were
covered by their long pewter lashes before she resumed, "I do
not recall having seen Vhiliinyar with my own eyes. But in my
dreams, since I -was a baby, I have seen a beautiful world of
rolling hills, snow-capped mountains, tumbling waterfalls and
forests, and great tracts of delicious grasses. I am told that is
what Vhiliinyar was like.

"Grandam's final sacrifice, -which kept Aagroni lirtye and his
staff's heroic efforts to preserve native species that would have

288 ANNE McCAFFREY AND ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH

otherwise been extinguished, was her last contribution to the
restoration of this home I have never known, but many of you
remember. Her first contribution, of course," and she smiled
impishly, "Was to have her many children and grandchildren,
all of us.

"My adoptive fathers have requested me to ask you if the
Linyaari would please direct Dr. Hoa and the other specialists
in a joint effort to restore our ancestral home to us. For those
of us who require the solitude and seclusion of a peaceful world,
Vhiliinyar's location •will remain a highly classified secret. My
uncles further propose that narhii-Vhiliinyar and Kubiilikhan
also be restored as a trade base for Linyaari skills and goods,
•where our people may interact freely with people of all planets
and species so that we may each learn the good the other has
to offer.

She knelt once more beside Grandam and, laying her hand
upon Grandam's folded hands, said, "Grandam, when the resto-
ration is complete, you and Grandfather will be brought home
to join your children on your world."

It was perhaps the first funeral in the history of the Linyaari
in •which the beloved deceased was interred to sobs of rejoicing
and cries of hope for a better world to come.