I saw Mel give me a challenging look. Sammy and the Enif were also expectant. I sighed. “I guess not. But we have no ship any more. Where are we supposed to go?”
Zenzie considered, her crest doubling over momentarily. Then she brightened and turned to Denaraz. “You can give us one!”
Denaraz almost choked. “What!”
“It’s the perfect solution. Give us one with the new ZEPH drive so we can outrun any problems we may have.”
“G-G-Give you one … one …” Denaraz’s crests hit their maximum height and his whole face became smooth with shock. “That … that is impossible!”
“I don’t see why.” Zenzara was skipping from one foot to another. “I’m important now. Aren’t I, Mallivan?”
She was. I just wasn’t sure she was that important. “Sure, Zenzara. You are the next Chyzar. They won’t want you traveling in a tin bucket.”
She gave Denaraz a triumphant look. “See?”
“We are hardly going to give one of our new ZEPH drives to a bunch of … of … of …”
He was struggling, poor thing. I decided to take pity on him. “…allied colleagues?”
He was tempted to answer quickly, then closed his mouth with a sharp click. “Yes. Yes, I suppose you are all allies now. Now that the Terran forces are attacking everything and stealing technology.” His voice was grudging. “I suppose there is an argument for … I suppose I could propose …” He became lost in his own thoughts.
Zenzie opened her own mouth but I pushed her behind me. She grumbled as Seyal took one arm and stepped backwards with her. I could hear Seyal gently trying to explain that she should leave things as they were. The seed had been planted. Sometimes it took time for things to grow. The Avarak woman continually surprised me. There was so much more to her than the self-effacing nonentity she had seemed at first. Her face was still featureless; her inner self was far from it. The individual we were now getting to know was wise and thoughtful. A very far cry from the warmongering Avarak males. I was amazed at the difference between the sexes. Life back on Rhyveka must have been so hard for her. For any of the female Avaraks, I guessed. I was pretty glad I hadn’t been born female in the Veka star system.
Denaraz’s glance encompassed us all. “Please wait here. As soon as the recovery teams report back I shall arrange for a meeting with a Supreme.”
Anzany gave a small squeak of surprise. Supremes were important, then. Good.
I bowed slightly. “That will be most acceptable. Thank you.” There was no point in alienating Denaraz further.
The spokesdesignate peered past me towards Zenzara. “I … am sorry. The Enclave have been more successful in winning minds than was estimated. You should know that, even so, they are a tiny minority.”
I heard Zenzie mumble something. Whatever it was, it served to appease Denaraz. He hobbled slowly off, looking as though the cares of the world were weighing on his shoulders.
It took them three full hours to organize a manhunt to find those responsible for the attack on the space station. They didn’t succeed. Several ships had taken off shortly after the event, and investigations led the authorities to realize that these ships had been carrying those ultimately responsible. The smaller fry had been killed while carrying out the attack. It had always been a suicide mission for those members of the Enclave who actually carried it out. The rest … the heads of the organization … had disappeared, together with three Tyzaran navy vessels. Denaraz became progressively more depressed.
“The Enclave has become well-rooted in our culture,” he told me in confidence. “Our leaders were blind to the attraction of such ill-founded doctrine. Even so, I think they would not have succeeded had it not been for this war that the Terrans have instigated. This war has given us all an excuse to hate. And when we hate, we become protectionist.”
“A Chyzar bound to an alien through the Savior Protocols is too much for many Tyzarans to swallow?”
He nodded. “I’m afraid it is.” He looked again at the floor. “It is silly, but many of my people have been seduced by the rhetoric. I am sorry.”
I grinned. “That’s all right, Spokesdesignate. I can hardly claim any better for humans, whether we are Spacelanders or Flatlanders. The Terrans are a case in point.”
“You are generous.”
Not really. I was getting tiring of Tyzar. I wanted to get away, to find out exactly what was going on in the world, who was beating who in this crazy dispute, what my fellow Spacelanders were doing. Had we armed to defend against the Terrans? Had war officially been declared? Who were the allies? Who formed the axis?
I came to my senses sharply as Denaraz’s words filtered through my thoughts. “…So the Supreme will visit this afternoon.”
At last! “Will he be able to take a decision on the matter?”
“She. Yes. She has full authority over this.”
“How many Supremes are there on Tyzar?”
Denaraz considered. “Around thirty. In total we have fifty. The rest are with our fleet in various parts of the Shells.”
“And they all have the power to decide?”
He hesitated, perhaps unwilling to give me any further information. “They do, yes.”
Zenzie was staring at him too. She had picked up on his slight pause. She raised one eyebrow, which made the skin above her eye heap up in large craters. I found myself fascinated by the sight, wondering just what she would look like when she had grown enough to fill out all of that loose skin.
“What?” She had caught me gawping.
“Nothing.” I held up a disclaiming hand. “Just thinking.”
That caused the other eyebrow to raise. Her forehead was so furrowed that her eyes were almost invisible. I grinned, which only made her more exasperated. She tilted her head to one side and narrowed her eyes at me to reiterate her question.
I grinned again. “No, really. I was just thinking.”
Her eyes by now were mere slits. “I hope you aren’t insulting me.”
“Me? I wouldn’t do that, Ty Zylarian. I have far too much respect for you.”
“Hmm. I should hope so.”
I turned back to Denaraz. “So they have some sort of implanted ansible communication between them?”
His crests told me my guess was correct. They stood straight out from his scalp and went grey. His voice was several pitches higher. “NO!”
“I see.” I did. He was hardly about to confirm something like that to someone like me. He had a problem.
But it was interesting. The Supremes could communicate with each other instantaneously. Without needy the bulky ansible machines we all knew about? How? And how had they managed to keep it secret? It must be something known only to a few.
Denaraz was now shaking. The fact that his physical tells might have confirmed my suspicions was clearly anathema to him. He looked horrified. I even felt sorry for the Tyzaran man, who had lost all semblance of serenity.
Zenzie was mirroring his distress, her gaze darting around to identify the source of his fear. She was still just a little too young to have picked up on the subtext. I touched her shoulders. “Don’t worry. There is nothing wrong.”
“There is! I can feel it!”
“No. Calm down. Everything is all right!”
She shook herself. “Don’t tell me to calm down! I am not a human! And if I were I wouldn’t let you tell me to calm down!” Her muscles tensed, to ready her for flight or fight.
“Nothing is going to hurt you Zenzara. Now, stop all this nonsense!”
She appeared to be deciding whether to attack me or not. I was careful not to move. Eventually, the tension began to drain out of her. We all began to breathe more collectedly. It amazes me that the Tyzarans can still function with such strong
reactions to fear. They have been able to overcome it to become arguably the second most advanced civilization of the eight Shell races. Even my own acute stress response in the prehistoric part of my brain had been triggered by their distress.
I had what I wanted. It was time to move on. “What are your instructions to us until the Supreme arrives on board? How may we help the rescue operation?”
Denaraz relaxed at last. “There is little you can do. I dare not place you back on the space station at this stage. The risk to you is too great. It may also create some distress amongst those affected. I would ask you all to stay here.”
I nodded. It galled not to be able to do anything to help all the casualties, but I would probably have done the same if I had been in his position. If we wanted to change anything we would have to go over his head.
We were escorted through the ship, which looked to be newly commissioned, to a large lounge area with several small sleeping compartments leading off it. There was also a well-equipped long galley kitchen with trays offering refreshments already laid out.
We sat down after taking a few things to eat and drink. None of us was really hungry. Too much had happened in too short a space of time. My adrenalin was still spiked, leaving me unable to settle. I found myself squirming on the seat, finally having to get up and walk around. The others, apart from Seyal, seemed to be much the same.
I asked the two Enif about their reactions to fear and stress. Did they have a similar flight-or-fight response ingrained genetically?
There was a short exchange between them before Eshaan replied.
“Not really,” it told me. “We have a different response to danger. Our equivalent to your adrenalin is a boost of processing power in our brains. It allows us to calculate the odds of survival very quickly, facilitating a decision that may save us from whatever is threatening us.”
Why didn’t humans have that? It sounded like a really useful way to react to danger. Sometimes my adrenalin rush actually prevented me from thinking clearly. All it seemed to do was urge me irresistibly into action of some kind. Hmm. Good to know. That, of course, explained why the two Enif had been so useful on the Vaer ship and on other occasions we had been threatened.
I asked Seyal the same question. She laughed. “Female Avaraks have learned not to react very much to danger. We experience it from the moment we are born until the moment we die, which is almost always before the age of twenty.”
My eyebrows must have shot up, because she elaborated. “We are completely subservient to the males of our species. Even our voices are altered to their requirements.”
I stared at her.
She gave a faint smile. “We are submitted to the treatment at 8 years old. They give us an injection which blocks signals from the nerves to the muscles of the throat. This forces our vocal chords to atrophy. It delivers, on puberty, a small hoarse breathy voice that the male Avaraks find irresistible. Then we await a visit from the seekers.”
We were all looking at her now. She looked away for a second or two, reliving some of her own past. “Every noble house of Avarak will have at least three seekers. Their job … their only job … is to travel Rhyveka and search out females. They look for the females with the most breathy voices. They find the sweetest voiced females for the males of their own houses. Avaraks can have up to thirty wives at one time, because so many of us die either before or during childbirth. The difference in size makes carrying a male child extremely dangerous.”
“Not carrying a female child?”
“No, not females.” Seyal looked at the floor. “But we … aren’t allowed to carry females. Not those of us who are chosen. Females are born through insemination. Those who are not chosen on search provide them.”
Both Zenzara and Mel were looking thundery. I signaled them to be quiet. I was pretty sure Seyal needed to tell us about this. “Go on,” I urged.
“If we are found to be carrying females the pregnancy is terminated.”
Mel gasped in affront.
“They breed from us until we are twenty-one. Those that survive until then … about four percent … become midwives and advisors and are freed from their marital responsibilities.”
“Only four percent survive until twenty-one?” Zenzie’s face was a study.
“The eldest female Avaraks are in their thirties. We do not live long. Only about one in a thousand reach their thirtieth birthday. I know of none who reached thirty-five.”
“But male Avaraks live for a long time, don’t they?”
She nodded. “Until they are eighty or ninety. That is why they need so many wives. When a male Avarak dies, his remaining wives are auctioned off to the highest bidder.”
Sammy stirred. He wasn’t liking this any more than I was. “You mean that females belong to the males?”
Seyal looked gratefully at him. “Exactly! We have no rights of our own. We have no reactions when in danger. Why would we? Our males act for us. No action is required of females.”
Mel had been considering Seyal’s words. “Then you are at risk with this pregnancy. You are carrying a male child?”
“I am. However, I have a thirty-five percent chance of survival.”
Mel gave a nervous laugh. “Thirty-five percent? How can you live with that?”
Seyal treated her to a calm smile. “Precisely because I have no fear response. We must accept what is predestined.”
Zenzie was fairly bouncing on her seat. “But you shouldn’t …”
“Thank you for sharing, Seyal,” I interrupted, gaining myself a furious look from our burgeoning Chyzar. “That must have been difficult.”
“No. Why?”
“When is the baby due? Do you know?”
She cradled her stomach. “Soon. I think maybe two weeks.”
Sammy and I exchanged glances. “Then you will need a doctor.”
“Why?”
I was thinking that you could take this fatalistic approach too far. “We will make sure there is a Tyzaran doctor available. I am sure they will have better technology than your people do.”
“Our doctors only treat male Avaraks.”
Now why did that not surprise me? This whole conversation was making me feel even more twitchy than I had been. The Spacelander method of creating a new generation was hardly the most desirable, but it was streets ahead of this. I felt very sorry for Seyal.
“Well, Seyal, you will have a doctor attending when you go into labor. I will make sure of it.”
Her eyes opened very wide. “Thank you Mallivan Bell. I … I would appreciate that. My son is going to be most important to the Avaraks.”
“And you are important to us!” Zenzara could hold her opinion to herself no longer. It came out in a burst of angry air.
Seyal seemed confused. “I am? Really?”
Zenzie huffed. “Yes. Really!”
Mel nodded. The Enif inclined their heads. Even I muttered something.
Seyal’s face suddenly became shiny and red. She didn’t know where to look. I guess nobody had ever said anything like that to her before.
Neema took Anzany’s hand and squeezed it. Sammy noticed and raised one eyebrow. He looked to me and raised the other. I replied in the same way. He lifted his head, silently acknowledging it.
But Seyal’s comments meant that we would have to remain here at least until her son was born. That was not good news. I had been hoping to convince the Tyzarans to give us some sort of transport to enable us to make our way back to the Spacelander fleet. I might still be unsure who was fighting who in this ridiculous war, but what I did know is that I would be expected to make my way to the Landau Rift. Even after everything that had happened to us.
Several hours later the doors to the lounge swished open. I was imp
ressed by the tall figure that stepped through them.
She was taut-faced, which made her a very old lady, in Tyzaran terms. All of the wrinkles and folds of her face had been taken up. The skin was stretched tight across her skull.
She held herself regally. There was a presence about her that was impossible to ignore.
She wore a long swirling robe, and I counted three pairs of nivala fastened to the front. That made my eyes track to her neck. There were no fewer than four thoria wrapped around it. This was a woman who could react, and I got the impression she would react very quickly indeed.
Zenzara’s crest had spiked, but the new arrival’s had not. She appeared utterly composed and confident.
“I am Supreme Oznard. I have been briefed by Spokesdesignate Denaraz.” She glided forwards, her gaze fixed on Zenzara. “And you must be our new Chyzar.”
Zenzara seemed tongue-tied for once in her life. Good. I stepped to greet the woman, holding out my hand. “Ryler Mallivan Bell. How do you do?”
She slid past me, seeming not to notice my hand. I retracted it. She stopped in front of Zenzara, examining her intently.
“Yes. You are the one who let our ZEPH drive be taken.” The only way I knew she was speaking to me was from the slightest twist of her head.
That comment irked. I wasn’t even Tyzaran! “Not exactly, Supreme Oznard. I believe it was one of your own traitors who did that.”
Her eyes flashed. She wasn’t used to being spoken to like that. Too bad. There was no way she was going to shunt responsibility for her own fiasco onto me. I had already lost enough control.
Her lips thinned. “We cannot allow you to take our Chyzar away from us!”
“Excuse me, but it is your own stupid Savior Law that gave her to me in the first place.” I was hyperventilating, and I didn’t need the kick Mel gave me to realize I was far too aggressive. I bowed, trying to correct the way this was going. “I mean, I am merely obeying your own legislation.”
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