“You both know I’m not a Druid,” I pleaded, “You don’t know me. I shouldn’t be allowed in there.”
“Phelan Piran, enter in peace,” the male Druid said.
“I’m not sure,” I began than the female cut me off.
“Oh gods, Oscar, will you get your butt in here,” she said with a laugh, “Like now, you stubborn sorry excuse for a Ritual student.”
“Merlina?” I asked.
“Of course, inside, you idiot,” she said.
Merlina, my friend from ritual school. She’d been two classes ahead of me. It seemed that when I took my wanderings too far and the Druids would have to think up a new punishment for me, Merlina would appear and rescue me. From the age of ten until she passed the Ritual when I was sixteen, Merlina had been a shoulder to cry on and the voice of reason countering yet another of my half conceived plans.
“Asthore’ Druid,” I said, “As you direct.”
I pushed by the dark heavy cloth and entered the Druid’s quarters. Light flooded the curved deck. It wrapped around on both sides until the curvature of the space disappeared out of sight. I know this was the reception room. Circling around would be bedrooms, wash areas, a galley, exercise space, and work areas.
Before I could speak to Druid Merlina, two space cats dropped from a trap door in the wall. I couldn’t sense their thoughts but their motives were obvious. Both extended their 5-centimeter length claws which clicked on the deck as they walked around me.
Merlina or the male Druid must have relayed that I was a friend because they wandered over to mats and lay down. They were still facing me and following me with their eyes. You can ask a vermin hunting cat to stand down but you can’t order them to relax.
“Phelan, this is Kagen the Fiery, and my husband,” Merlina said by way of introducing the male Druid.
Not many Druids go in for titles like ‘the Fiery’. Those that do are usually from among the Druids stationed with Heart Plants on military ships. The titles don’t come easily or without personal courage. So the Druid Kagen was brave and fearless. And married to a strong woman who knew how to control a headstrong man. Perfect match in my book.
“Asthore’ Kagen the Fiery,” I said pulling from my childhood training and bowing deeply to show respect.
“I thought he’d be a dick,” Kagen said to Merlina.
“Oh he is dear, he’s just not an egomaniacal dick,” Merlina responded with a wink, “Like someone I know.”
“That’s not fair,” Kegan began than looked at me and decided he’d rather not have a witness to a battle of the wits with his wife.
“I have something to show you, Phelan,” Merlina announced, “afterwards, you’ll dine with us, yes?”
“Of course, would you happen to have any dark ale?” I asked.
“Yes,” said Kagen with a smile.
His response told me enough about him that I was beginning to like the big guy, Druid Warrior or not.
As directed, I walked around the curved wall until I came to a stone tube. The bath would clean any impurities from my body before I was allowed into the root deck of the station’s White. I took longer than was necessary in the filtered water with the sea scent and the warmth. Once I’d abused the luxury long enough to be disrespectful, I slipped into the white robe of an apprentice and rejoined Merlina and Kagen.
Now there were three big cats lounging on mats and following me with their eyes. I felt like fresh meat. To them, I was.
Merlina lead me to a wood lined tunnel with Kagen behind. We’d only taken a few steps when two of the cats raced ahead, tuned and blocked the entrance. We stopped and I saw that Kagen was in deep concentration. Merlina reached over and laid a gentle hand on my shoulder. They were thinking ‘friend’ to the cats, I imagined.
There was a loud cat hiss. From the opening on the far side of the tunnel, a smaller cat strolled towards us. It walked to me, sniffed, walked around me and finally rubbed against my bare shins. The robe was a little short on me. The thought of my bare legs getting shredded by the cat’s claws made me shutter. Don’t show fear, be calm and in control of your thoughts, the Druids at ritual school had coached. Well, they weren’t here, and I wasn’t a Druid, so forget the advice. I got angry.
I got mad and thought that I might like a pair of cat fur boots. Maybe a cat fur hat and a necklace of cat claws to adorn my barbaric chest. I am a Clan member and space cats are companions and partners in protecting the Heart plants. I was just warming up when the smaller cat jumped on one of the cats blocking our way.
I expected the little guy to get killed. He was much smaller. That being said about a space cat was like saying a mountain was small in relation to the peaks that towered over it. Big, small, or medium, space cats are 13 to 18 kilograms. Muscular, long clawed and bred to hut spiders, rats, snails, centipedes and any other vermin that’s found a home in space with us.
One swipe from the smaller cat’s claw and the big cat rolled over and presented his soft underbelly. It added a few meows for good measure. The small cat stood above his adversary for a few heart beats to be sure the fight was over. Then it turned and locked eyes with me.
‘No spider, no hunt’, it passed to me, turned and led our party of people and cats to the White Heart’s root wheel.
“That’s Ward, our top cat,” Kagen said proudly, “He seems to like you.”
“Good for me, I didn’t need new boots anyway,” I replied.
“What’s that?” Kagen asked.
“Told you,” Merlina said. “He’s a dick,” then she laughed.
We stepped from the wooden tunnel and the sight and aroma and mental strength of the White Heart hit me. I dropped to my knees, then I was stretched out on the wood decking.
“Oh Heart of Life, thank you for the gifts, please accept my gratitude,” I whispered.
I felt something small, rough and wet on my cheek. It was Ward and he was worried about me.
‘Warm milk,’ he thought to me as he licked my face. I guess warm milk was a comfort to a cat. At least his heart was in the right place, even if his breath smelled like dead fish.
“Are you alright?” Kegan asked.
“Yes, give me a second. It’s been twenty-three years since I’ve been in the presence of a Heart plant,” I said as I struggled to regain my knees.
“You and Ward seem to be getting along nicely,” Merlina observed, “Can you communicate with him?”
“It’s one way. I can’t answer him,” I replied, “Strange though I usually can’t hear a cat when Druids are present.”
“Ward is special. He’s the one who called our attention to the problem,” Merlina replied, “Come on, try to stand. It’s over there.”
I slowly rose to my feet and took a good look at the root wheel deck. As I said, it’s been almost a quarter of a century since I was so near the heart of a Heart plant. I know it’s redundant, but Druids teach to the function. The heart of the Heart, so get over it.
The roots of the White Heart wrapped around and weaved through the wheel. The wheel was a disc made of a hard wood that would last over two hundred years. Just a little longer then a Heart plant would live. Below the thick wood disc, the roots stretched down to a muddy pool of water. Fresh water and nutrients dribbled in from pipes set around the circular walls.
Above the root wheel, the White Heart trunk rose surrounded by a wide tube. The tube ended at a domed ceiling. Cut into the arc of the ceiling were seven circular holes. Six of these had branches of the White Heart growing up into the darkness. The seventh hole had only a nub of growth aimed at the opening. It was a meter short of entering the tube. Seven narrow ramps climbed from the walkway that ringed the root wheel. Each ended at an opening in the ceiling.
We climbed the ramp to where the short branch, it wasn’t a branch like a planet bound tree, it was more of an elongated nub. The short thorns on the end were blackened. A black line of discoloration ran down the nub to the trunk. It resembled a swollen vein just under the skin of the
White Heart plant.
“It looks like a fungus,” I said pointing out the dark vein, “But the fungi we studied wouldn’t be as localized.”
“We reached the same conclusion and had the same observation,” Merlina replied, “After testing we discovered it was a fungus with modified DNA.”
“How did it get to the White Heart?” I asked.
I knew that water was filtered and the nutrients were inspected before they were fed to the plant.
“It appears the modified DNA strands blended in with the inorganic matter in the nutrients,” Merlina explained, “It didn’t go active until it was introduced into the feed. And it latched onto the new branch.”
“Then it was added to the mixture purposely,” I said, “So, what are your theories?”
“We believe that an unknown entity planned to poison the White Heart,” Merlina said with a catch in her voice, “The juvenile branch soaked up most of the bad feed.”
She paused and her eyes misted up. Kagen took over the explanation.
“After Ward led us to the fungal infestation, we inspected the nutrient containers again,” Kagen reported. He was also getting choked up as he spoke, “There was a small injection hole in the base of the container. It was hidden by dust from the loading dock. I should have seen it earlier. I shouldn’t be here now. I should be outside questioning Folks, until I find the animal that did this.”
Like any warrior, he would soon go from sad to angry. With his skills, he could do real damage if he began to question the station’s staff. Folks, to him and to most Druids, were anyone not a Druid or not in the Clan. They were the beneficiaries of the Heart Plants’ gift of rich air and atmosphere. In other words, Folks were takers who should be grateful but not people to be respected.
“Let me go ask around,” I volunteered hoping it was the reason for my presence here, “Isn’t it why you and Merlina wanted me to see the infection?”
“It is,” Kagen admitted, “Don’t be gentle with the beast who did this.”
We left the heart wheel through the tunnel and found a table set for a service of three. An apprentice who I hadn’t seen before was standing by a rolling cart. The best part of the setting was a stone pitcher of dark ale. From the thick foam around the rim, I judged the brew to be…
“Do you mind?” I asked reaching for a mug and gently pouring the ale down the inside of the challis. After inhaling the aroma, I took a long pull and pronounced it, “Superb!”
During our meal, Merlina told me about the routing and what she knew about the handling of the nutrient containers. It was formulated and packaged by Druids at the grain Station which orbited Nafaka. I would see the Station in a matter of weeks as it was the shuttle launch site for the 49th Supply Wing and my destination.
Merlina explained that once the nutrients were packaged in containers they were sealed in a shipping crate. Druids oversaw the transportation by tug out to a cargo sleeve. They watched the crate until a Clipper ship picked up the sleeve. The next stop for the container was the chemical Station.
As for the attack, everyone agreed that for an assailant to uncrate it in a sleeve and repack it afterward would be hard. Unless everyone on the Clipper was in on the attack. That didn’t seem reasonable.
After talking through a number of scenarios, we concluded the injection had to have been done at the loading dock. The container had been unpacked and left unattended until it was transported by Merlina’s apprentice to the Druid’s quarters. As near as they could figure, it had been left on the dock for only two hours. As unlikely as it seemed, someone had used that narrow window of opportunity to poison the nutrients.
“I will look into this barbaric act,” I assured them.
Kagen asked me to wait a minute and left.
“Merlina how did you two meet,” I asked for lack of anything to discuss.
“I was doing a tour on a Medical Station,” she said, her mouth tightening and her brows clinching down at the memory. “During third shift a Gun Boat arrived. They carried in four crewmen and a Druid. Every one of them was as near death as you can get before crossing over. Between the kinetic holes, the scraps of metal and the decompression sickness, we didn’t expect them to last until first shift. The four crewmen didn’t. But Kagen the Fiery, he crawled through the pain and injuries. Being the only Druid in medical, I took his case as a personal mission. During the convalescence, I fell in love with the stubborn, slightly insane Kagen the Fiery.”
I laughed and said, “You’ve always had soft spot for the slightly mentally impaired.”
Kagen returned and handed me a short leather case. I took the case and untied one end. Two wooden handles fell into my hand.
“Shake them,” Kegan instructed me, “Shake hard.”
I recognized them by the carved imaged in the bottom of the handle. A glorious Heart Plant was finely etched into the rare hardwood. I shook them hard and they telescoped into a pair of fighting sticks. These were a pair of Druid Warrior sticks. I was shocked.
Druid craftsmen spent weeks constructing the polished precision milled wooden pieces. When collapsed the handles fit in any fist sized pocket. Warrior Druids could easily hide them in their robes. And they were only given as gifts to Druids who had accomplished heroic deeds.
“Kegan, I don’t deserve this gift, I haven’t done,” I began but stopped when he held up one of his big callused hands.
“You are about to,” he said, “It’s a gift.”
“I accept this gift,” I said slowly.
Chapter 17
After thanking Merlina and Kagen for the gift, the ale, the meal and a chance to help, I left the Druids. On the loading docks, I wandered around the stacks of crates that were waiting for off-loading. Some of these would join the Uno Shoda’s cargo, others would stay waiting for Sloops and other Clippers to carry them to points across the Realm.
On another deck, I saw the newly arrived crates being unpacked. The contents from them were moved to designated areas. The stacks of supplies grew until ten holding areas were filled. After an area was filled a different work detail would arrived. They’d haul their supplies and equipment away leaving the designated area open. After this flurry of activate, everything came to a standstill. Three holding areas remained full. However, no new work parties arrived to take the goods.
I sat on an empty crate, stared at the workerless deck and pondered the poisoning. After two hours, three work parties arrived and began to remove the remaining cargo. By now I had an idea but needed to check a few things. First I had to track down Agdta Hernan.
She was sitting in a pub, the fourth I’d checked. Her booth was towards the back and she was dividing her attention between a team-video competition on a big screen, her PID and an amber bottle of beer. Before I could cross the room, a burly guy in a bright red shirt approached her.
She shook her head no and went back to her personal information device. He leaned in and wrapped a big paw around her hand and the PID. She bared her teeth and said something else to him. He grinned and pulled her hand stretching out her arm. With his other hand he stroked the arm and said something else. I arrived at the booth just as her free hand was reaching for the neck of her beer bottle.
What had Kala said about Agdta? She never looked for trouble but it found her. I didn’t have time for a brawl. I had questions for her and the big guy was in my way.
I kicked him in the back of his right knee. He went down fading to his right so I punched him in the left side of his head to encourage him. As he hit the deck, I kicked him in the side figuring a broken rib would encourage him to stay down. It did, except that three of his friends peeled off from the bar and headed in my direction. Damn it, I didn’t want a brawl.
A brown blur came through the door and all three were suddenly sitting, then careening over, then laying on the deck. Kagen the Druid stood over them.
“I don’t have words for you,” he said to the downed men, “If I come back there will be more, no more words.”
<
br /> He looked at me and when I nodded, he turned and left the pub. A warrior Druid was just the thing you needed to avoid a bar fight.
“Mister Piran, that was unnecessary,” Agdta said looking over my shoulder at the competition on the screen, “I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself.”
“I can respect that but, I need your help and don’t have much time. I was simply removing an obstacle,” I said as I stepped over the prone body of the big guy and slid into the bench seat across from her.
“It’s the third period of the game, can my help wait?” she asked looking down at her PID and typing in a few words.
“Of course. I’ll just sit here until you’re finished,” I said waving to the waitress who was barely visible.
The top of the waitress’ head and eyes were the only parts sticking above the bar. I waved for two more of the amber beers. Then I motioned at the three men who were unsteady but standing to remove their friend. They didn’t say a word or argue with me. In a working class pub, it’s nice to have a Druid wingman.
“One advantage to logic applied to team sports is you can predict the outcome,” Agdta stated as she set the PID on the table, “Now, what can I do for you?”
I glanced over my shoulder at the view screen and four avatars were standing in the ruins of a video game city. They had their arms raised in victory. A small spy orb floated in front of the winning team.
“Did you have a bet placed on the winning team?” I asked the Navigator.
“Don’t be crude Mister Piran,” she said, “I was directing them through the final level.”
“And they won?” I asked, “Where are the actual players?”
“I don’t know their location,” she replied, “but I assume they’re on a military ship.”
“Why is that?” I asked.
“Their team precession, the way they cover each other’s backs,” she said, “and the rapid response to my directions.”
Galactic Council Realm 1: On Station Page 10
