Zayshul got up. “I’ll come with you,” she said.
The warm water was pleasant against his pelt and skin as he waded out into it. He didn’t have far to walk until it was deep enough for swimming. Striking out for the middle of the small channel, he sensed Zayshul keeping pace beside him and began to swim to his left toward a small headland.
Once out of sight of their small cove, he stopped and treaded water, waiting for her to do the same.
“Banner’s suspicious of us,” he said in a low voice.
“How can he be?” she asked.
“He says we’re reacting to each other. We need to be careful.”
“Then tonight should have helped deflect his suspicion because there were many of us.”
“Maybe.”
“There’s not a lot we can do,” she said.
“We’d better swim back,” he said. “The more we’re in plain sight, the safer we are.”
“Agreed,” she said, letting herself rise in the water again before starting to swim back.
He followed her, aware of enjoying watching her body sheering efficiently through the water. Landing at the other side of the sandy cove to the amusement of the group, he shook himself, getting rid of the water in his pelt before going back to them to get his towel.
Giving himself a cursory rub, he slung the towel over his shoulder. “Thank you again for your company and the picnic. Good night,” he said.
Zhal-L’Shoh 6th day (January)
He banged on Banner’s door the next morning.
“Ready,” said Banner, automatically opening the door without looking as he grabbed something from one side before leaving. Then he realized it was Kusac. “Something wrong?” he asked, sealing his door.
“No. Just thought we could walk down to the mess together,” he said.
“Sure.”
“Weren’t you expecting someone?” Kusac asked, hesitating.
“Not really. Sometimes one or the other of them bangs on my door first thing, that’s all.”
“Did you go to the rec last night?” he asked as they began to walk.
“Yes. Didn’t see you there.”
“No, I went up to the pool to join the Doctor and some of her friends,” he said. “An amazing place. Not at all what you expect of the Valtegans.”
“That’s what I was saying the other day,” said Banner. “Is the pool there because of the TeLaxaudin or the Primes? That wasn’t restocked in a few weeks.”
He glanced at his Second. “Zayshul told me that the TeLaxaudin have been friends of her people since their Fall. None of them are concerned about how the pool was ready for them.”
“I’d be worried if I were them.”
He shrugged. “Not our problem,” he said.
“Don’t you think it strange that they have so much influence over the Primes?”
“I haven’t been aware of it. Aren’t you being a little paranoid, Banner? There’s only one of them here and he spends most of his time up in hydroponics.”
“Maybe you’re right. I just thought it odd that no one seems to be concerned about it.”
They’d barely started their meal when Khadui and Dzaou arrived, followed a few minutes later by Jayza.
“Morning,” said Khadui, joining them.
“What’s with the hair?” asked Dzaou, sliding his tray onto the table. “You didn’t do that yourself.”
“It keeps it tidy,” he said, spearing some meat on his fork. “And no, I didn’t. Shaidan’s nurse did it when I was up at the pool last night.”
“Good morning,” said Jayza, smothering a yawn as he grabbed the nearest chair. “Like the hair, Captain. Shishu do it? Wonder if she could do mine.”
“Ask her.”
“A second late night, Jayza?” asked Banner with a humorous glance in his direction. “Who was it last night?”
“Shezhul,” the youth answered, taking a large mouthful of kheffa. “Same as the night before.”
“One of Kezule’s daughters,” grunted Dzaou. “Just be careful what you say to her.”
“Jayza’s neither stupid nor inexperienced,” he said. “Anyone got anything to report about the salvage work?”
“Lots of bodies where we are at present,” said Khadui. “Mostly killed by their own weapons. The Primes move them, though, they don’t ask us to do it.”
“Any sign of Sholan casualties?”
“Were there any on the Zan’droshi?” asked Banner.
“Must have been at least one, why else would they have fought each other?” said Khadui.
“Likely he—or she—would have been near the bridge,” said Jayza, “and we’re nowhere near that part of the ship.”
“Kezule has us pressing toward the main fighter bay,” said Banner. “What about you? Anything interesting from all the data they found?”
“Actually, yes,” he said. “As I said, I’m working on a very old and damaged text file. A story from the days when Kezule’s species were ruled by the Queen who founded their Empire.”
“A Queen? That alone is interesting. Tell us more,” said Banner.
“I’ve not descrambled much, but enough to know the beginnings of it.” He glanced at his wrist comm. “There isn’t time for much. It’s in the usual Valtegan heroic mold. The Queen, against great odds and plots against her life, triumphs and takes the throne. She sets her faithful female warriors as her royal guard, pressing more males into military service.”
“Female warriors? A complete reversal of what they had in Kezule’s day,” said Banner thoughtfully.
“What could possibly have happened to reverse their society so completely?” asked Khadui.
“The text isn’t clear on that because of the sections that have been destroyed. But it does say that she started breeding the males into better warriors, and from that point on, her society was divided into the castes that existed in Kezule’s time, except that it was still a matriarchy.”
“Perhaps there were less female births because of some genetic damage through her breeding program,” said Banner.
“That wouldn’t turn it into a male-ruled society,” said Khadui, chewing on his piece of bread. “The only thing that would account for that would be civil war.”
“A gender war, so bitter that the females were reduced to slavery,” he said, nodding. “That’s what I’m expecting to find, and hopefully the reason for it.”
“The Queen was evil?” suggested Jayza.
“It would take more than that,” he said. “Remember, a whole world, if not four, all became dominated by their males.”
“Maybe it didn’t happen all at once,” said Khadui.
“Maybe I was right when I said helping Kezule was a bad idea,” said Dzaou, wiping his bread round his plate to get the last morsels of food.
“Don’t start that again,” said Banner sharply, glancing at the wall clock. “If Kezule wanted power, why leave his home world where he had the perfect opportunity to take it? What he’s setting up here isn’t a power base in the usual sense.”
“Isn’t it?” said Dzaou, staring at him, bread poised partway to his mouth. “Tell me that again after he’s got those fighters all repaired and fueled up in the fighter bays here.”
“Who’s he going to attack, Dzaou?” he asked quietly. “Kij’ik isn’t going anywhere, and it isn’t near anyplace strategically important to us or them.”
Dzaou shrugged and looked away. “I hope you prove me wrong,” he said.
A burst of laughter from the nearby Primes’ table drew their attention and as they looked up, one of the civilian males made a friendly gesture in their direction.
Jayza made a strangled noise somewhere between a whimper and a grunt and turned back to his food, ears flattening as Banner began to chuckle.
“What’s so funny?” asked Dzaou, looking from one to the other of them.
“Nothing much,” said Banner. “Jayza just won a bet for me.”
“I thought that had been won yesterday,”
Kusac said, grinning as Jayza kept his head down and began shoveling the food into his mouth.
“Not mine,” said Banner cryptically, taking a drink of his kheffa.
The klaxon went off to signify the start of the first shift. Picking up his tray, Kusac got to his feet. “I’ll see you all later,” he said. “Jayza, a word, please?”
“Yes, Captain,” said the youth, ears still only at half height as he came round to his side of the table.
He waited till the others had left the table before speaking. “You need to get enough sleep to cope with the day’s work,” he said quietly, holding him briefly by the shoulder. “You’re working in suits in a vacuum, there’s no margin for errors caused by tiredness. If you can’t stay alert today, tell Banner and get sent back to the Outpost, you hear me?”
Jayza nodded, ears flattening. “Yes, Captain. Sorry. It won’t happen again.”
“See it doesn’t or you’ll find yourself on a punishment detail. You’re putting other lives at risk as well as your own.”
The youth nodded, and executing a crisp salute, went off to return his tray.
Banner was waiting for him and accompanied him up to the main corridor until they came to the library.
“What was your bet?” he asked, intrigued.
“That? Oh,” he grinned. “That Jayza would be the first one seduced, and that he’d be with the same female for a second night.”
He laughed, genuinely amused at his Second’s perception.
“I’ll keep an eye on Jayza, don’t worry,” Banner said more seriously, stopping for a moment. “You’re acting more like your old self, Kusac. It’s good to have you back.”
He watched his Second disappear through the iris and down the remainder of the corridor to the main elevator, well aware that he was wrong. Nothing about him was as it had once been, and he didn’t need the reminder of her scent as she came up behind him to tell him that.
“Good morning,” Zayshul said. “I take it from your and Banner’s good moods that your hair didn’t attract undue attention.”
“On the contrary,” he said, turning round. “Jayza wants his done the same way.”
Zayshul laughed. “Shishu will be pleased. She said braiding hair is a very sensual experience for her, more satisfying than braiding material for headdresses.”
He raised an eye ridge at her questioningly, glad to note that her scent, though he found it attracting him to her as usual, was still tolerable.
“Oh, there’s no harm in her, she likes Kezule too much.”
He pressed open the door to the library. “And that doesn’t bother you?”
She shook her head. “We both need our own space, and he isn’t completely comfortable living with me.”
“I’m continuing working on that text,” he said, going in. “What are you doing?”
“Is that an invitation?” she asked very quietly.
He glanced up at her, seeing the glint of humor in her eyes. “Not today,” he said.
“Still wading through the entertainment vids,” she said, making a face. “I’m running them at double speed once I’ve seen the first few minutes because so far, they’re all from Kezule’s immediate era, nothing older.”
“Any newscasts?”
“Not yet. I just get them stacked randomly in boxes. They didn’t have the time to catalog them as they were in the Zan’droshi . It’s a matter of luck what I have in each box.”
“If they’re labeled, you might be better sorting them first,” he said, sitting down at his row of screens. “I’d offer to help, but I need to get on with this.”
“You’re not using your own comp now?” she asked.
“M’kou loaded my program into your main computer. Saves me carting it about each day.”
She nodded, moving casually between him and the large vid com screen that dominated the wall to his right.
He felt her hand rest on his shoulder, and slip beneath the braids to touch his neck.
“We should meet again in a day or two,” she said, her voice almost a whisper. “Shaidan told me that he can sense it when we row.”
“He can’t possibly. He’s wearing a psi damper,” he whispered, shocked.
“He can. He says it’s because of your blood link.”
It’s more, he thought. How could he be that powerful a receiver at his age? “You’re right,” he said. “We mustn’t leave it too long.”
She slid her hand away and moved back toward the door. “I’ll see you for lunch in the mess as usual, then,” she said.
“Yes.”
Officers’ level Briefing Room, Zhal-L’Shoh 13th day (January)
“Coffee for you, Captain,” said the server, putting a tray with a large, sealed jug, whitener and sweetener down between him and Banner.
He nodded his thanks and was reaching for one of the bowl-shaped cups when a plate of stew and various fresh vegetables was placed in front of him.
“Looks like our foods are catching on,” murmured Banner from his right.
He gave a grunt of agreement and finished making his drink.
“I’ve called this meeting to informally assess our resources, or lack of them,” said Kezule from his seat at the head of the table. “Eat,” he said, looking around the small group of seven. “It’s a lunch meeting to save time. Lirtosh, as civilian leader, how have your resources improved, what do you need?”
Lirtosh was one of the Primes who hadn’t taken well to any military training, he remembered, glancing across the table at the round-faced young male. He was one of the very few who seemed to run to what could only be called plump for his people.
“We have more entertainment vids,” Lirtosh said round a mouthful of food. “If you can call heroic military legends entertaining, no offense, General.”
“None taken,” said Kezule, the edges of his mouth twitching. “I didn’t consider them much of an entertainment in my own time.”
“And we got the training construction kits, some of which are useful for the children and one or two of the adults.”
“Training construction kits?” Kusac asked, putting his fork down to take a drink.
Lirtosh looked over at him. “Kits of components for making basic reader pads, communicators, that kind of thing. They were used to teach the military extra skills in their leisure time.”
He nodded. “Good idea.”
“Again of limited use, General. We also have more in the way of furnishings, though the materials won’t last long—time has taken its toll on them.” Lirtosh stopped to shovel another forkful of food into his mouth.
“The crates of drinks were fine, and we now have a good supply of playing cards, board and tabletop games for the rec areas, and some books—again military heroic stuff. Talking of which, can we utilize the M’zullian rec room now that they are no longer with us? It’s ideal for the larger games.”
Kezule nodded. “I’ll have it opened up and life support restored to it and the ancillary facilities there.”
“As to our needs, they can’t be supplied from the Zan’droshi, General. We need clothing and toys for the children, and for ourselves. We need fabrics to replace those that are disintegrating on the furniture, sewing items like thread, needles, and bedding, towels—and decent entertainment vids.”
Kezule glanced at M’kou, who was scribbling furiously on a sheet of paper. “You eat, too,” he admonished his son.
M’kou reached for his fork, scooping up some food which he managed to get most of into his mouth. “Sorry,” he mumbled, picking up the small amount of greens that had fallen on his paper.
He watched Zayshul, sitting next to Kezule on his right, shoot him a look that plainly told him to say nothing.
“M’zynal?” the General asked quietly, returning to eating his own food.
“We’re fine,” said the Security chief from where he sat beside Banner. “Power packs and chargers arriving with only a little work needing to be done on them. Vehicle fuel was stored in vacuum contain
ers and those we’ve tested are usable. Engineers are still working on the laser and missile turrets we found adjacent to the fighter flight bay. I’m hoping we can salvage as many as possible of them. I want a team checking out the meson cannon on the Zan’droshi. We need to strip it for parts for ours.”
“We can’t reach the cannon,” said Kezule. “The main elevator shaft is blocked and we haven’t got access to the drop shafts for the gunners yet. It’s on the agenda.”
“If you plan on moving the fighters over here, we’ll have to take time off to clear the fighter deck first. There’s a mess of broken and damaged loading gantries as well as several vehicles.”
“We haven’t the personnel to spare,” said M’kou, looking up from his plate.
“Leave that for now,” said Kezule, pushing his empty plate aside and helping himself to the jug of kheffa. “Zayshul, what’s the status of medical and the labs?”
“We’re slowly running out of medical supplies,” she said. “The personal first aid kits you found would be great if I had anything to replace the out-of-date contents. All the drugs and consumables like dressings are so old I daren’t use them. We’ve got some useful items, though, like small portable scanners and some surgical tools. Like the civilian side, we could do with more bedding and towels. Oh, and other consumables like soap, washing powder, that kind of thing. At our present rate, we have enough supplies for maybe two months.”
Kezule looked round the group again. “Anything else?” he asked.
“Yes, paper goods,” said Zayshul. “We need them for a variety of purposes—drawing, writing, our festivals.”
“You need to trade,” said Kusac, pushing his empty plate to one side. “Have you anything to offer in exchange for the goods you need?”
“That’s why you’re here,” said Kezule.
“Apart from needing someone to trade with, you need to be able to offer goods, services, or money,” Kusac said. “Have you any of these?” He looked at Lirtosh. “Trade comes under civilian affairs.”
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