Drowning World

by Alan Dean Foster

  She barely had time to slip out of her rain suit and cape and enter her office before she found herself besieged by a pair of Deyzara. Her assistant looked in helplessly. Matthias waved him off.

  “I'll handle it, Sanuel. That's what I'm here for.”

  The assistant eyed the three visitors uneasily. “Let me know if you need anything, Administrator. Anything at all.” Somewhat reluctantly, he stepped back out into the outer office, closing the door behind him.

  The single Sakuntala present, Matthias noted as she sat down behind her desk, looked troubled but not angry. For that much she was grateful. The two Deyzara were making enough noise to drown out the sound of rain on the trees outside her window.

  Raising both hands, she managed to get the pair to sit down. Next to them yet distant, the female Hata Sakuntala crouched silently on her haunches, her tail moving back and forth behind her in slow, measured arcs.

  “You absolutely for certain must do something!” The male Deyzara's trunks were wandering all over the place.

  “Yes.” His female companion glared over at the serene Sakuntala. “Our people are being driven from their homes; they are having their property looted and destroyed. There have been injuries and killings. All of this is decidedly unprovoked. We demand Commonwealth protection, and that the perpetrators of these miserable, cowardly acts be brought to justice and appropriately punished!”

  Matthias nodded as she folded her hands on the desk. “I'm still gathering information.”

  “Information? I will give you information!” Quivering with anger, the male's speaking trunk threatened to snap off his head and go careening around the room on its own. “I will give you so much information it will make your hirsute head hurt! Why, Administrator Matthias, down in Kawili District alone there have been—”

  Raising a hand once more, she interrupted what threatened to become a lengthy diatribe. Hooting softly, the Deyzara subsided. Turning to her left, the human administrator found herself gazing at the waiting Sakuntala. The female appeared neither smug nor upset. That did not mean, Matthias told herself, the indigenous representative would be receptive to queries.

  “Hata Naneci-tok, can you give me some idea, any idea, what has prompted this unexpected violent outbreak? Before I can decide what to do next, I have to know what's going on.” Both Deyzara joined her in facing the Sakuntala. Their expressions, though nowhere near as versatile as those of human or native, were severe enough to be recognized.

  As the Hata shifted her long, slender legs, the strappings around her waist and thighs made small clacking sounds. “There always been element among my people that not accept presence of Deyzara people on Fluva. Has inspired unpleasant incidents for long time. But always carried out by small, isolated groups of unhappy individuals. This something much different.”

  Matthias wished she could read the Sakuntala better. It was impossible to tell whether this Hata was being honest or devious. She hoped for the former.

  “I've received reports that some of the Sakuntala involved in this disturbance have come into the possession of advanced weaponry. One of the first things I did was order a complete check of my government's limited local inventory of such items. Nothing is missing, not even a field knife. Therefore, the armaments I am hearing about must have come from somewhere else. Do you have any idea who is supplying the radicals with such dangerous ordnance?”

  “I have no more idea than you,” Naneci-tok replied truthfully. Several times her tongue flicked out to tap the floor, a sure sign of personal discomfort. Looking to her left, she regarded the Deyzara out of eyes that were sorrowful as well as penetrating. “You not the only ones who have been deceived.”

  The Deyzara were not mollified. Snapping the two digits of her left hand together sharply, the female once more assailed the human administrator. “If the Sakuntala Hatas can no longer control their own people, then we must assuredly have protection from Commonwealth forces. If we accept, albeit reluctantly, that the local authorities are no longer able to enforce restraint among all elements of the indigenous population, that clearly leaves us at the mercy of its most fanatic components. We have begun to resist, to fight back, but we would prefer that the Commonwealth intervene on behalf of what is right.”

  Wonderful, Matthias thought moodily. Just what she needed: an all-out civil war between the two local sentient species.

  “I can't authorize armed intervention on behalf of the Commonwealth in the absence of proof of extensive casualties. There have been some confirmed deaths, but nothing on a scale that would allow me to justify Commonwealth intervention.”

  “Why not?” the male inquired bitterly. “Because it might mean some humans would die, instead of just lowly Deyzara and Sakuntala?”

  “We will go and speak to the local representatives of the Church,” his companion declared.

  Matthias eyed her regretfully. “I can tell you right now that the United Church will not intercede with force in favor of one side or the other. The local padres are authorized to defend themselves and their missions, but not to intervene in such matters. Nor will they, since they minister to Sakuntala as well as Deyzara.”

  “Then what, I ask, are we to do?” The male's frustration threatened to overwhelm the heart-hammering efforts of his overworked circulatory system.

  It was an honest, and a good, question, Matthias knew. The radicals were being very clever. Instead of perpetrating a massacre that could bring Commonwealth intervention, they were apparently making a conscious effort to avoid casualties. Deyzara were being beaten, their properties looted and destroyed, but except in a few isolated instances, killing was being avoided. The two-trunks were not being slaughtered—they were being herded. Into towns, where pressure was growing on her own people as well as on private enterprises to house and feed them. One way to alleviate such pressure would be to move refugees off-world, where adequate facilities existed to care for them.

  Which, she reflected, was precisely what the extremist groups among the Sakuntala wanted. Once the Deyzara were off-world, she doubted that even the moderate elements among the Sakuntala would allow any to return.

  Who had advised them on such a plan of action? Knowing the Sakuntala as she did, she found it hard to credit the fanatics among them with such cunning. The radicals were known for their audacity, not their restraint. Someone was helping them with advice as well as with advanced arms. But who? A few elements among the Deyzara themselves might benefit from seeing a large number of their colleagues ejected from Fluva. That was a hard possibility to countenance. What of her own kind? Could she trust every human on Fluva? Take the inventorying of weapons, for example. Without seeing for herself, how did she know if the report that had been hastily compiled and sent to her was wholly accurate?

  She wished Jack were there, seated beside her. His steadying presence would have been welcomed. But it would have undercut her authority and prompted whispering. People sat near her to have her support, not the other way around. She felt very alone.

  The trio of locals was staring at her and she became aware she hadn't said anything in too long. They were waiting for an answer to the Deyzara's question. Taking a deep breath, she folded her hands in front of her and sat up as straight as her tired back would allow.

  “This is what I am going to do for now. Any Deyzara that enters a chartered community will be given the protection of the local Commonwealth authorities. Food and shelter will be provided insofar as resources permit. The radicals will not be allowed to harass refugees.”

  The female Deyzara indicated satisfaction. “What about those of us who are trapped outside such municipal boundaries and who are unable to reach such designated areas of safety? And what about the destruction of property?”

  “First things first. The situation continues to evolve rapidly and unpredictably. I have already relayed a space-minus communication to my superiors and am awaiting a response. I can't do anything more until that's received.” This did not satisfy the apprehensive
pair, but they could think of no hard objection to raise. The Deyzara understood procedure.

  Relieved by the ensuing silence, Matthias turned to the Hata. “Meanwhile, I expect the Sakuntala hierarchy to do everything in its power to curb ongoing hostilities and to try to rein in the more extreme elements among the clans.”

  “This we already doing,” Naneci-tok replied, “and not because of human directive. Is presently much confusion among my people.” Raptor eyes flashed. “Real danger is that young ones are swept up in fervor and excitement of upheaval. Fighting is to Sakuntala what breathing is to others. Spirit moves body; body forgets brain.” She looked genuinely uncomfortable. “At such times is hard to speak reason to young ones. When mouth is wide open and screaming, makes hearing difficult.”

  “I know that the Hatas will do their best.” Matthias found herself sympathizing with the visibly distressed female. No such sympathy flowed from the furious Deyzara as they rose to depart and communicate the results of the meeting to their people.

  Alone again in the office, Matthias turned to watch the rain falling outside the window. For the moment, she had done all she could. Despite what she had told the Deyzara, she doubted authorization would be forthcoming from Earth or Hivehom for the use of weapons in support of the Deyzara and against the Sakuntala. If hundreds were being slaughtered it might be different. But in the absence of mass killings, cautious bureaucrats would want to avoid at all costs being seen as taking sides in what was inarguably a local dispute. She knew how the system worked. They would agree to provide only humanxitarian aid.

  Which meant that if the Council of Hatas proved unable to control the radicals, the extremists might well succeed in their aim of getting a large number of Deyzara permanently expelled from Fluva. Could she allow that to happen? What did it matter to her? First and foremost, her job was to oversee the Commonwealth presence on the Big Wet, not to get involved in local fighting.

  But it bothered her that she was being out-thought and out-maneuvered. Especially since she had no idea by whom.

  At least she had succeeded in somewhat reassuring the Deyzara's representatives without riling the Sakuntala's chosen Hata. That was something. Now, if things would just calm down for a day or so and give her some time to delve a little deeper into the source of the disturbance, maybe learn what groups and individuals were behind it all, she might be able to find ways to stabilize the situation. To induce, for example, some of the less unruly Sakuntala to give up fighting and return to their homes.

  Most important of all, she needed to find out how and where they had managed to obtain sophisticated weaponry. It had to be admitted that the latter troubled her more than anything else, especially since armed radicals and human patrols had nearly come to blows at several outposts. If a couple of her people got killed, as opposed to just threatened, it would alter the existing dynamic dangerously. Then she would have to worry about restraining her own staff as well as the Sakuntala.

  She found herself pleading with unseen forces: I'm not asking for much. Just a day or two, a brief but real cooling-off period when nothing of significance happens . . .

  Pandusky stuck his head in, smiled apologetically, and entered. “Sorry, Administrator, but I thought you should see this right away.”

  Thoughts of a possible break evaporated. “What is it now, Sanuel? If it's another batch of reports about fleeing Deyzara being chased by rabid Sakuntala, I've had about all I can handle for one morning.”

  The smile returned. “Good. Then maybe you'll look on this as a change of pace instead of another crisis.” Pulling a hand projector, he flipped it to life.

  A three-dimensional map appeared, floating in the space between them. Within it, a tiny skimmer-shaped dot of light was visible traveling south from Taulau Town.

  “That's the rescue team we sent out to find that missing bioscout, Hasselemoga.” As he paused, the light disappeared. “That's the location of the last contact, aural or automatic, that we had with the rescue team. Thirty hours ago.”

  She frowned at her assistant as the map vanished and he slipped the projector back into a pocket. “If contact was lost thirty hours ago, why am I just finding out about it now?”

  “Because permanent contact wasn't terminated until just this morning. Prior to that, the skimmer's instrumentation was doing its job, staying in touch with Port Base. The trouble is, the last thirty hours of communications turned out to be blank. Nobody thought to check the transmissions for actual content until they stopped altogether.” He looked apologetic. “So they likely were traveling for thirty hours or so on unknown vectors. We have no way of knowing if they changed course during that time. If they did, it's going to be hell to find them.”

  “As good a description of the Viisiiviisii as any.” Resting her head in her hands, she stared down at the desk.

  Pandusky waited silently for several moments before finally breaking the silence. “Administrator Matthias? Lauren? What do you want me to do?”

  “Tender my resignation, effective last week.” She looked up. Pandusky was not concerned. He'd heard it before. “I'm sorry, Sanuel. It hasn't been a very good couple of days.”

  “No,” he agreed somberly, “it has not.”

  “And now this.” Spinning her seat, she waved at the window and the rain-swept varzea beyond. “First this reprobate but supposedly competent Hasa person goes missing. Now you're telling me that the skimmer we sent out to find him has done likewise?”

  Pandusky pursed his lips, following her gaze to the window. “Do you suppose the Sakuntala insurgents could be responsible?”

  Her gaze narrowed as she swiveled back to face him again. “You think they could have shot down both skimmers?”

  Pandusky shrugged. “From what I'm hearing, they certainly have the firepower to do it.”

  She made a face. “Doesn't make sense. If they did so, it would gain them very little. If they tried and failed, they know it would allow us to justify sending patrols against them.”

  “Something else, then,” the assistant surmised. “But what?”

  “Maybe the Viisiiviisii itself.” Matthias turned thoughtful. “These wouldn't be the first two skimmer crews to disappear out there. But to lose one sent to find another, that suggests something more than a feral coincidence.”

  “So what do we do? Do you want me to try to put together another, better-armed team to go look for the both of them?”

  She shook her head. “First of all, I'd like to have a better idea of what might have happened before I send a third skimmer after two. Second, we can't spare anybody right now anyway, in case the extremist Sakuntala decide to try to test the patience of Commonwealth authority even further. We can't do anything until things settle down here.”

  Pandusky nodded. He was staring out the window again, at the raw, wet forest beyond. “That means if this Hasselemoga and the two we sent to look for him are still alive, they're going to have to find a way to survive on their own for a few days out in the open Viisiiviisii.”

  “Maybe a few weeks,” she added. “Maybe longer. It can't be helped. I need all personnel to attend to their assigned stations until further notice.”

  Pandusky nodded again and excused himself from the room. Once, by dint of a mistake, he had been forced to spend a few hours alone in the Viisiiviisii. Once was enough, and he knew he had been fortunate to survive the experience. He did not care to think about what it would be like to try to survive in the flooded forest for a few weeks.

  Later that afternoon he returned to the office to deliver a personal entreaty from the supervisor of the skimmer port at Kaxanti Town. Administrator Matthias was nowhere to be seen. He finally located her—standing outside on the porch, beyond the rim of the protective overhang. She was capeless and soaked, dripping wet from head to toe, her red hair plastered to her face and neck like stranded seaweed as she stared out into the Viisiiviisii.

  “Administrator Matthias?” he asked hesitantly.

  At first he thou
ght she hadn't heard him. Or that if she had, she was not going to respond. Finally, she turned, looked hesitant, then smiled and brushed wet hair back from her forehead. Across the way, a sokot was eyeing her speculatively. A tentative, timid predator, it disappeared back into the rain and the branches as soon as she moved.

  “It's okay, Sanuel. I was trying to clear my mind.” She glanced down at herself. “If only the state of affairs in which we presently find ourselves was as easy to tidy as my clothes.”

  He nodded understandingly. “Just shove everything out in the rain and let the Big Wet wash it away. I'm afraid it's not going to be that easy, Administrator.” He stepped aside as she moved back under the overhang, heading for the open doorway. “Can I make you something to drink?”

  “You could,” she told him wryly, “but much as I'd rather be otherwise, I'm afraid I'm going to have to stay sober if we're going to resolve any of this with a minimal amount of bloodshed and mayhem.”

  “Is that resolution going by Commonwealth or Sakuntala standards?” Pandusky asked her as they reentered her office. She elected not to respond.

  Maybe because she had no answer.

  8

  The maccaluca gazed down at the potential prey out of the shape sensor that ran horizontally across the upper half of its face. It was not so much an eye as an instrument for analyzing interruptions in the patterns of light. The unique organ of perception had evolved to automatically filter out rain, thus enabling the maccaluca to see as clearly as if no rain was falling. In the brief dry season, when this evolutionary advantage was denied to it, it had great difficulty catching food and chose instead to hibernate in the high hollows of the great trees.