“You should take it. Please. I’ve looked through it enough.”
David held the pad out for Roan to take. “Really, there’s nothing in here that’s new to me, Mr. Roan. Having worked with Aaron for many years, the research he did—”
Roan held up his hand to stop him. “David, it’s a gift. I don’t care if you only think of it as a symbolic one. I don’t want the weight of that thing on me any longer.”
“Oh.” David gave the pad a once-over, then put it behind him, along with his hands. A silence hung between them in the doorway. “Would you care to come in? Usually there’s tea before dinner.”
Roan looked into the room beyond. David’s room was small and spare, with few of the decorations that furnished some of the other quarters. There were, however, several potted Bauxen plants placed around the floor.
“No thanks, I’m got things to do before I eat. I just wanted to drop that off.”
“Oh,” David said again. Roan sensed confusion in his manner, and his head was blinking purple.
“But we should get together and do something soon,” Roan hastily added. “We’re going to be flying close to Nydaya on the way to Planet X. I’m sure we’ll pick up some broadcasts in a few weeks. Maybe when that happens we can set up a BV and watch those nature programs you guys beam out.”
“Perhaps,” David said. Still, the Nyden’s head flashed purple. Roan had yet to decipher what that color meant.
“One other thing, David. I…I wanted you to know that you’re not a stupid pigeon. I hate to use that word, but right now I think it’s necessary. To show I don’t think you are one, I mean. Look, what I’m trying to say is, you’re probably one of the most intelligent, uh, people, I know. We couldn’t have gotten through this without you.”
“Do you value that quality? Intelligence?”
“Well, I know it’s not always a quality of a decent person. But it can make someone easier to get along with. Make them rational.”
“Thank you, Mr. Roan.” The feathers on both sides of David now ruffled, and Roan wondered if this was a sign that he felt touched by his comments. His head had changed to an effulgent gold, and it was enchanting.
“You probably don’t think much of me, David. I’m a violent and boorish man. Always impulsive, always confusing.”
“Yes.” David was never one to lie. “But, I think there are some things about you that are good. You care about your friends. You do have compassion, at least to those that show it to you. That makes you more than a typical human male.”
Some of his women friends would be surprised to hear that. “Oh, thanks.”
David laughed, something he rarely did. That was probably for the best, because it sounded like a croak. “That’s a compliment, Nick Roan. If you were but a typical human male, I might be frightened of you. But you have compassion. You have ethics. That is something I admire. The killing you have done is something is a flaw you will have to remedy. At least you have not lowered yourself to murder.”
Roan thought about the Kotaran prisoner in the engine room. Part of him wished he had murdered the guy.
“I have to admit I haven’t always been the easiest person to get along with.”
“I know.”
“Don’t think that all humans act the same way I do.”
“I don’t, Mr. Roan.”
Roan was heartened to hear David viewed his race in enlightened terms.
“Well, thanks.” They said nothing for a while, as was typical in doorway situations.
“We’ve both lost a friend on this journey. And we have seen so much disregard for life. Sometimes I ask myself if the knowledge we seek was worth the trouble. I think the answer must be that yes, it was the worth the trouble. But the path we took was one with lots of death. There must have been a better way to find this planet.”
“I don’t think the killing was up to us, David. But I want to believe there was another way, too.”
“Are you sure you can’t come in?” David gestured to the room, the pad in his right hand, beckoning like a staff for him to enjoy David’s company. But Roan put his hands in his pockets and shook his head. He didn’t want to admit it to David, but he still felt a lingering sense of unease around the Nyden. Like he knew more about yourself than you did. Like he could tell what you were thinking.
“I really need to rest, but thank you, David. I’ll see you at dinner?”
“Of course.” There was a hint of disappointment on David’s face as Roan turned to leave, the door shutting on the possibilities of sharing a room, or tea, or conversation.
Or more.
***
Roan had more one person to see before dinner. He knocked on the door of Kel’s quarters, heard a “come in,” and opened the door. The lights were low, and Roan reflexively went for the light switch.
“Leave it off,” he heard Kel say.
He did as he was told and let the door close behind him. His eyes slowly adjusted to the light: Kel was on a mat in front of him, palms and feet flat on the surface and back leg thrust in the air. She looked like an upside-down V. Roan took the sight in. It’d been a long time since he’d seen her do yoga. At least a year or two.
“You wanted to see me, Captain?”
“Give me a minute,” Kel said. The leg came down. With the grace of a ballerina, or at least the ones Roan had seen in holofilms, Kel forced herself back into a standing position using her muscular leg muscles. Roan remembered those muscles. If anything, they were the source of her flexibility.
Kel turned to Roan. She was panting, a film of sweat on her brow. Dressed in black pants and a violet tank top, Kel looked far better now than when she strutted around in her usual Company overalls.
“You should try this out, Nick. Relieves the stress like nothing else in the world. And it gets you in shape.”
“I seem to recall Earth once thinking it was a menace to world order.”
“Ah, Earth bans stupid things from time to time.” She walked over to a nightstand. Took a swig from a thermos there. Roan admired her room: it was laid out like Roan’s, just a little better-maintained. The bed was made. No tangled cables snaked around the floor by the desk.
“I called you here because of us.” Kel set the thermos down. Looked back to her bed, made sure she had a good angle, and sat on top of it. “Come on, take a seat.”
“I want to get dinner soon, Captain.”
“Dinner can wait. And what happened to ‘Kel?’ ”
She was right. Roan moved a little closer, but didn’t sit down. Kel was energized, in one of her excited moods. He hadn’t seen her like this for a long time. Not since they were together. He decided that whatever she had to say, it couldn’t be all bad.
“Nick, I’ve decided you’re not crazy.”
There, it wasn’t bad. “I’m glad to hear that.”
“Or rather…maybe we’re all a little crazy. We did travel all the way to Bauxa. And now we’re on our way to Planet X.” She laughed. Stared into Roan’s eyes, her hair bobbing up and down. “All the early explorers are crazy. They’re mad to go off into the unknown. But that’s what makes them great. That’s what makes them remembered.”
“You know, that’s absolutely right. I’ve certainly questioned my own sanity a number of times. But I know my goals are noble.”
“And those are, Nick?”
Roan wanted to say, you. But even he couldn’t believe that. Not entirely.
“I’ve never one for wanting to prove others right. Only myself. But with Aaron, it’s different. I knew the man for ten years.” Roan came over to her, sat down on the bed. The mattress was soft, unlike the slab in his room. Ah, to be captain.
“Aaron was an honest person. He was virtuous, never worried about himself. And he believed in things. Things greater than anything petty, greater than even mankind. Oh sure, I think he was a dreamer. And he could be infuriatingly obtuse. But I think that made me love him all the more.”
Kel squeezed Roan’s hand.
/> “So yeah, maybe I have the space madness. I can live with that. But I couldn’t live without knowing if Aaron is right. If we find the Fifth Civilization, I’m doing it for him. Not for some grand idea of bringing the species of the galaxy together.”
The two sat there for a moment. Listened to the hum of the ship. Roan was glad the lighting was low, so Kel couldn’t see his eyes were a little wet.
“So you do care about some people, Nick Roan.”
She caresssed the tops of his hand. He liked the way it felt.
“I care about you, Kel.”
Kel moved. Put her legs on the bed, crossed them and sat upright. She was beaming. Her eagerness was almost childlike. “I never really had time to think, you know. Not when we had all those corpses on the ship. Not when the Kotarans were on our tail, not when we had one prisoner. Now that all that is behind us…I think I know what I want. Funny how a few light years will do that to you.”
“So you don’t think I’m a brute?”
“No.”
“You don’t think we’re incompatible?”
“We both want adventure, Nick. Now we’re on one together.”
“Kel, if we ever get back to Earth—”
“What’s with all the talking, Roan? You want me or not?” She leaned in and kissed Roan on the lips. Held it there. He remembered the angelic manna that were her lips, how full they were. A familiar feeling warmed his lower body.
Roan broke the kiss.
“Do you feel safe?” Roan asked.
“Yes, finally,” Kel said.
“Then let me ask you a question. Don’t stop me. Kel, when we get back to Earth, will you marry me?”
He’d always pictured proposing at a low-end Japanese dive. They’d eat natto at a smoke-filled joint downtown and Roan would come back from the lavatory and get down on one knee. Well, he couldn’t wait for a dive like that. A cramped room on a Type-B freighter would have to do.
Kel held her smile for a while. Then her eyes went big. She chuckled, a chuckle that said, You finally did it.
“Only if you take my name,” Kel said.
“Fair enough.”
She continued, “We’ll need to look respectable when we announce our find to the world. When we give interviews beamed across the galaxy. We can be Marie and Pierre. Carl and Ann. Godwin and Tamara.”
“Who are those people, again?
“Shhh.” And then, suddenly, Kel collapsed to the mattress. Pulled Roan down with her.
Kel kissed him and began unzipping his jacket. As she worked her way down, Roan cupped her breasts and his fingers remembered their warmth. Kel reached the end of the zipper and tore the jacket off, throwing it to the side of the room. She snaked her arms under Roan’s undershirt and worked that off, too.
Blood flowed. Their bodies intertwined. Kel ran her hands up and down Roan’s back, keeping his body close. Roan explored her neck with his mouth. In half a minute Kel’s tank top had landed with the rest of their clothes. In a minute both were kicking their pants onto the floor.
All the urges Roan had repressed weeks ago had definitely returned. From the way things were going, Kel could say the same thing. If this is what I get for exploring a planet, Roan thought, maybe I should become a scientist.
Chapter 28
Limping, and with each step shooting an excruciating burn up his sides, Grinek made his way from the hangar bay to the bridge of the Hanyek. It seemed like the ship was more crowded than usual, and he had no patience for any crewman standing in his way. The unlucky ones were thrown against the bulkhead. The ones that were spared that made no effort to hide their staring at his tattered uniforms and the dried blood on his body.
Good. Grinek would never bandage his recent wounds. The crew needed to see them.
The bridge door creaked open, slower than ever, and as usual all heads turned to see who was coming through. When they realized who it was, all straightened their backs and did their best to look busy—all except Vorjos, who had the audacity to be sitting in Grinek’s chair, his tail flapping contentedly. Fine. That would make what he had to do easier.
“Ah, Commander,” Vorjos said casually, spinning in his chair to face Grinek. “We haven’t heard from you in a while. I assume you were successful—”
“You,” Grinek said, sticking a clawed finger in the man’s face. “You have to lock yourself in your quarters right now. Those are my orders.” As if to back him up, Roh and two of Grinek’s personal commandos appeared in the doorway.
“What?” Vorjos flared his nostrils in dismissal of the message. “I don’t have to do any such thing. Where’s Sisal?”
Grinek smiled for the first time in many months, which caused Vorjos to recoil. “Sisal has been retired.”
Now Vorjos seemed worried, trembling even, his teeth giving off a little bit of chatter. The Observer swiveled in the captain’s chair, looking around the bridge to see who would support him, but the bridge crew of the Hanyek were all servants of Grinek, not of the Council. They always went with their direct superior, not a political hack. To do otherwise would be suicide.
“Did you do anything to Sisal?”
Grinek ignored the question. “Observer, you are hereby detained on my orders upon suspicion of trying to subvert my authority. I cannot have such behavior on my ship, and I’m sure the Council would not, and will not, approve. Report to your quarters now or you will be forced to do so.”
Vorjos jumped out of the chair, perhaps out of defiance or perhaps realizing the inevitable and unconsciously trying to make the process easier. “I could scream that this is mutiny, Grinek, but you know that already. Everything is calculated with you, isn’t it—you’ve had this planned for a while. And I wondered why you maintained radio silence through most of your stay on Bauxa. Well, don’t think you’re friends on the Council will save you when we get back to Kotara.”
“No, I don’t suppose they shall. That’s why they’ll have to be replaced. I suspect I’ll be a planetary hero when I return, coming as I will with evidence that Kotarans are the esteemed brothers of the Fifth Civilization. That should buy me a host of friends.” He gestured to Roh to come forward and apprehend Vorjos. “If I can’t do that, though, I have enough support in the military to convince the Emperor that I’m a friendly person.”
Roh clasped his hands around Vorjos’ arm and tugged him toward the door. “Remember what’s happened to people like you before, Grinek!” Vorjos snarled. Grinek replied with a knuckle to the man’s snout. His blood spattered on Roh, who didn’t seem to mind. In seconds Vorjos was out of sight, being led down the hallway to his detention.
“Adjutant Annel,” Grinek stated, and the com officer perked up. “I assume you’ve shut down all the communications capabilities in the Observer’s cell…I mean, his quarters.”
Annel frantically pressed some buttons on her console, then directed her head back to her superior. “Of course, Commander.”
“Good. Helm!” The crew tensed in anticipation, and Grinek firmly planted himself in his seat. “We are behind, and that is most unfortunate. However, I do not believe it should be hard to find this Earth ship, the Colobus.”
“If I may, Commander,” a helmsman said, “We have no indication of where the ship went. Bauxa Control could be bribed, I suppose, but we do not know if they would be heading off in the wrong direction to fool us. They are lost.”
Grinek tilted his head back in a gesture of negation. “Not necessarily. It’s most fortunate that we had enough terts to bribe the green-skinned cretins on this planet. Scan the surrounding environs for an extremely-low-frequency signal.”
The crew jumped to work, hurriedly working their controls for some indication of what Grinek desired. There was a beeping at one station, and a crewman raised his hand. Grinek knew what he found, but inquired what the beeping meant.
“Sir, there are faint bursts of kryton radiation extending out about one light year from here. It appears to be moving away from Bauxa, about an hour ahead of
us.”
“You see? That’s them.” Grinek centered himself so he was facing the central viewscreen of the Hanyek, Bauxa and all its ships zooming around in orbit. They were going to leave this planet behind, and good riddance—Grinek hoped not to return unless as a conqueror, and he was going to get all those bribes back.
“Listen closely. We are fortunate that the Bauxens so readily turn on their own race, because they have done something wonderful for us. A member of the repair crew working on the Earth ship was able to slip one of our homing beacons aboard it. I did not expect the ship to get away from us, but one must always have a backup plan. Any short bursts of kryton radiation you detect are emanating from that homing signal, and that’s where you’ll know the Colobus is. Don’t worry about the Earthmen finding out about it—extremely-low-frequency technology is a Kotaran specialty. They won’t even be looking for it.”
“The signal appears strong, Commander,” said Annel, consulting her computer.
“Good. This signal will last us for weeks. We don’t even have to follow this vessel closely, just stay within a few light years. They’ll never know what hit them.”
An anxious crewman offered a question that was on everyone’s mind. “So they’re going to lead us right to this planet? Right to the Fifth Civilization?”
“I don’t know what we’ll find. But hear what I’m about to say, and remember it: the Kotarans will be the only ones to enjoy the spoils of the discovery.” And Grinek gave the signal to engage the FTL. The crews went back to their various tasks, excited now for the possibility they would be a part of a glorious history. Grinek leaned back in his chair to admire their work, and considered how pleasurable it would be to be looked on as a deity.
Not that he wasn’t practically one already.
Part III
Men and Demons
Chapter 29
Two Mountains pushed the duexskin rug aside and stepped out from his enclosure. His first view was of the double peaks in the valley beyond, after which he was named. The time was past dusk and he had just awoken; his nightly routine had begun. His wife was still asleep, so as quietly as possible he gathered his spear, his bow, and a quiver of arrows from a wicker basket that hung on a nearby tree. He slung the gear over his shoulder. There was much work to be done in the foothills.
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