The Last Hawk

by Catherine Asaro

  "Heh, " a voice said "You won't make a cental if you sleep all day."

  Bahr opened her eyes and scowled. Rhab Karn was leaning his well-built self against the wall. "Go away," she said. "I'm not in the mood for Modernists today."

  Rhab grinned, his teeth flashing white. It irked Bahr to no end. She had long ago decided Modernists were Modernists because they looked so ugly no woman would glance at them twice. Rhab's existence continually confounded her conclusion. It wasn't even that he was really that handsome, at least not in a classic sense. But something about him disrupted her equilibrium.

  "Go sell your pots," she grumbled.

  He sat next to her. "My apprentice is watching the stall."

  "You come to. preach to me again about melting down Calanya armbands? Having men Managers? It'll never happen, Rhab."

  "Sure it will. Maybe not this year or the next. But it'll happen."

  She leaned close to him. "You know what you need? Some Manager to put you in a Calanya and make you behave. Get all these ideas out of your head."

  "You won't lock me up in Calanya guards."

  "Nobody locks Calani anymore?"

  "Maybe not their wrists or ankles." Rhab tapped a finger against her temple "But inside here we're all just as locked and guarded as in the Old Age."

  "I'm not."

  "I wasn't referring to you Only to half of Coba. The male half."

  "Pah."

  "Pah yourself. Unlike you, not all of us want to be Calani."

  Her face burned. "Where did you get the dumb idea I wanted to be a Calani?"

  Rhab laughed. "Tell you what, Bahr. I'll give you wrist guards and you can be my Akasi."

  "Khozaar above." She looked around fast and furtive. "Don I talk so loud. Someone might hear."

  Still grinning, he stretched out his legs, his tame brown boots nicely accenting the flaming red of hers. "Looks like you bought new boots."

  "Sure did. Got 'em to match my hair." Bahr angled a look at him. "Got me new rooms in the Women's .House too." Her mind made a fantasy of Rhab in her rooms; the sexy Modernist condemns her advances until she overcomes his resistance and he gives in to her. Then she had an odd thought; it would be nice to have Rhab's company even if he didn't succumb to her amorous overtures. "Maybe I'll bring you over and let you see them."

  "Prowling after Modernists, heh?"

  She reddened. "Prowling, pah. I'd rather go after offworlders."

  "I hear they're all Modernists. Matter of fact, I hear their Minister is a man."

  "Just shows how gullible you are." But Bahr had caught wind of the same rumor. It was in the Quis. All sorts of news was there to read, from the growing legend of the Fourth Level at Miesa to the mysterious goings-on in the Varz labs. Strange undercurrents ran through the dice, offworlder ideas, subtle and confusing, detectable only to a Quis Wizard.

  "Heh," Rhab said. "Look at that."

  Bahr looked. A retinue had entered the market, rippling excitement through the crowd. "I wonder who it is," she said.

  "The Ministry Senior Aide, looks like."

  "Kastora? Cuaz me. It is."

  "She's coming over here."

  Bahr snorted, primarily to hide the tact that important people made her knees shake. But Rhab was right. Kastora was coming their way.

  The Senior Aide stopped in front of Bahr's dice table. "Quis Wizard Bahr?"

  Bahr scrambled to her feet, acutely aware of how Kastora towered over her. "Yhee, ma'am. I mean, that's me."

  "Minister Karn sends her greetings." Kastora handed her a letter.

  Bahr read the letter, then gaped at Kastora. A nudge from Rhab's foot started her tongue working again. "Uh—yes. Tell her I will. I mean, tell Minister Karn I will be honored to meet with her."

  I've no reason to be intimidated, Bahr thought. Ixpar Karn was just a person, hardly older than Bahr herself. But she recognized the late Jahlt Karn in the woman who faced her from behind the large desk. Ixpar had that same aura of understated power. She also possessed a quality Bahr had never detected in Jahlt, a ferocity just below her civilized exterior.

  I'm not intimidated, Bahr reminded herself.

  "I wish to know more about the work you describe in your proposal," the Minister said.

  Bahr rubbed her sweating palms on her trousers. "I want to understand elements. Chemical elements, I mean."

  "Why?"

  "Well—ah—" She had never thought about why. "It's interesting."

  "I see."

  Bahr knew she sounded like an idiot. But she couldn't quit now. She wanted the funds too much. Sure she boasted about her great life, rolling dice and making pots of coins. Truth was, she didn't like gambling. Nor was she a woman to parlay her skill with the dice into power and prestige; She didn't care about that. She just wanted to play Quis. Real Quis. Like a Calani. Like a man. She could hear the laughter; not much of a woman, heh, Bahr. Well, she would learn to take it. She had to. She needed support if she wanted to play pattern games full time and this was the only way to get it.

  "I'm trying to find a Quis pattern that describes the elements," she said. "Actually, I already found one. But it has problems."

  "Problems?" Ixpar asked.

  "I think we're missing some elements. A lot of them." Her fascination with the project jumped in and kicked away her nervousness. "My pattern predicts periodicity in the elements. It all fits. It's beautiful. But some elements it predicts aren't in any chemistry scroll I've found. And a few elements listed in the scrolls don't fit my pattern."

  "Which ones?" Ixpar asked.

  "Water. And air." Bahr knew any respectable scientist would laugh her out of the room. But she had to see this through. "I don't believe water and air are really elements."

  "I see." Ixpar picked up a folder on her desk. "These are your tutorial files from the Cooperative. You have an unusual record."

  Bahr's face flamed. Unusual was a polite term for a truant who had been too busy playing dice to bother with lessons. The Minister's meaning was obvious; where did someone like Bahr get the wind to challenge the patterns of established science?

  "It isn't exactly an impressive file," Ixpar said.

  "No, ma'am, it isn't."

  "Were you bored?"

  The question threw Bahr. "Bored?"

  "With your lessons."

  Bahr had no idea how to answer. She had never paid enough attention to remember the lessons. "I don't know."

  Ixpar considered her. "Atomic structure."

  "I don't understand."

  "Neither do I." Ixpar closed the folder. "A man once said those words to me while trying to explain the chemical elements."

  "What does it mean?"

  "That's what l want you to tell me." Ixpar tapped her stylus against her fingers. "You will have to move onto the Estate."

  Bahr was getting confused. "Estate?"

  Ixpar leaned forward. "Understand me, Quis Wizard. I would never let a woman loose in my Calanya nor tolerate the suggestion of such. But you will take the Oath and live as a Calani. Mentors from the Preparatory House will instruct you." She paused. "I assume you will put more effort into your studies now than you did as a child?"

  The room whirled about Bahr. "Calani? Me?"

  "I want you to study it all with your Quis: physics, chemistry, elements. Full time. I want you to tell me what is atomic structure."

  Bahr gaped at her. "I'll be blown over a bubble."

  "Are you interested?" the Minister asked. "Yhee, ma'am," Bahr said. "That I surely am."

  Kelric closed his eyes, trying to ease the throbbing in his head. It didn't even help that he was sitting in his favorite armchair in the main common room, as he always did after dinner. In a nearby alcove Hayl strummed a lyderharp and Revi lay next to him. As Hayl played, Kelric brooded. The question of taking Savina offworld had become moot; she was too sick to travel and too far into her pregnancy for him to bring back a doctor in time even if he could have gone for one. Their child's life was in the hands of the C
oban doctors now.

  Hayl began "Song of the Snowprince," a ballad about a Varz Akasi from the Old Age who died when he was caught in a blizzard as he fled from the stone—hearted Manager to the arms of the woman he loved. Although Kelric usually enjoyed Hayl's playing, tonight even the music couldn't soothe his headache.

  In the seven years since he had come to Miesa, his brain damage had gradually been healing. Until now. Suddenly his Kyle centers were reactivating with a vengeance, an uneven resurgence that felt like shards of glass driving into his head. How could Savina's gentle touch evoke such an intense response? The KEB in her brain didn't have enough active sites to broadcast a signal this strong.

  He closed his eyes and concentrated on the link he shared with her. With his Kyle senses so sensitized, he picked her up more easily than ever before. As her presence grew more distinct, it separated. One part remained a dim glow, warm and familiar. The other blazed like a blue giant star being born.

  Being born.

  Kelric jumped to his feet and strode past a startled Hayl to the Outside doors. Heaving them open, he looked out at the escort. "I have to see Savina."

  Captain Lesi dropped her pouch, scattering dice across the floor. One of the guards jumped. knocking over a Quis structure, and another sputtered Tanghi tea across the table.

  "For pugging sake," he said. "Do you think my vocal cords have been cut?" He headed Out into the hall. If they were going to gawk, he would find Savina himself.

  In seconds the guards had surrounded him, their stunners drawn. He forced himself to stop. Being knocked out would get him nowhere.

  "Manager Miesa is sick," Captain Lesi said.

  "I need to see her."

  His voice shook them up more than anything else he could have done, short of jumping off a tower. Lesi motioned six of his guards into formation around him and sent the seventh running ahead.

  Behz, the Miesa Senior Physician, was waiting for them at Savina's suite. Kelric walked straight past her. As he entered the darkened bedroom, he heard Lesi order someone to put down their gun. His back itched, waiting for a stun shot, but it never came. Inside the bedroom he paused, halted by the sight of Savina's small form curled under the quilts.

  Behz came in and Closed the door. Drawing him aside, she spoke in a low voice "If she gets any worse she will lose the baby. Can't this wait?"

  He shook his head no. She studied his face, as if searching for an answer "You will take care with her yes Sevtar?" When he nodded, she bowed to him and withdrew from the room, leaving him alone with his wife.

  Kelric sat on the bed and gently rested his hand on Savina's abdomen, so near now to full term.

  "ls Avtac here . . . ?" she asked.

  "It's me," he said.

  Her eyes opened. "You look scared to death."

  "Savina, it's about the baby) She's a more powerful psion than I realized."

  "Psion?" She nestled against him, closing her eyes. "Sigh for me, Sevtar."

  He didn't know how to describe for her the way the quantum wavefunctions of her brain and his coupled with each other and with that of the baby's developing brain. Through that three-way link, he and Savina already loved their child, on a level deeper than conscious thought. But a danger also existed. An infant had little or no control over its developing Kyle organs. During the trauma of its birth, its mind would probably hit Savina with a neural overload. A Kyle birth usually gave the mother a headache or at worst caused a convulsion. It might have no effect if the mother knew how to release neurotransmitters that blocked receptor-sites affected by the overload.

  Except their child was no ordinary Kyle.

  "The baby doesn't know she can hurt you," he said. "My mind is like hers. I can protect both you and her."

  Drowsily she said, "You worry about the strangest things."

  "I have to be with you when she's born. Right here. Kyle effects fall off roughly as the coulomb force, so the farther away I am from you, the weaker my interaction with the two of you."

  She opened her eyes, her face gentling. "I would like for you to be here. I wanted to ask, but I wasn't sure how. Some men feel uncomfortable in the birthing room." She sighed. "Avtac will protest, of course."

  "You mean Avtac Varz?"

  "She comes to help Manage Miesa while I am sick."

  "Can't your staff take care of it?"

  "Yes. But not as well as Avtac. I appreciate her help."

  "I don't trust her."

  "You never met her."

  "I don't like the Quis patterns I've seen of her."

  "I know she intimidates people," Savina said. "But she has always been a friend to me, Harsh and demanding, but also steadfast."

  The door opened, making a line of light in the dark. "Manager Miesa?" Captain Lesi asked. "Is everything all right?"

  "Fine," Savina said.

  After the captain withdrew, Savina smiled at Kelric. "You must have shaken them up."

  "I wasn't exactly being a model Calani." He smoothed her hair. "They're right, though. I should let you rest."

  She curled closer to him. "Don't leave. I feel better when you re here."

  So he held her while she slept His own thoughts refused to let him rest How could he have known Savina carried the full set of Rhon genes, mostly unpaired, hidden and recessive? No wonder he loved her. Far down, in a place deeper than conscious thought, like had recognized like. Her unexpressed genes had paired up with his and produced a child of phenomenal strength.

  Their daughter was Rhon.

  Avtac Varz locked her valise and straightened up, fastening her jacket to ward off the predawn chill. She considered stopping by Hettav's apartment in the city to say good—bye before she left for Miesa, but decided against it. The time had come to end her arrangement with him. Young and handsome though he was, he had ceased to please her.

  In fact, last night Avtac had found herself seeking out Garith, her only Akasi, the father of her five children. A tall man with a muscular build and eyes like the sky, his beauty had once been stunning. The decades had streaked his gold hair with gray and added lines around his eyes, but even after so many years she still enjoyed his company.

  Besides, Hettav wanted too much. He should have realized she would never make him an Akasi. He gave away his virtue too easily, on top of which he was a terrible dice player.

  An aide appeared in the archway, shivering in the cold. "The rider is ready, ma'am."

  "Good." Avtac handed her the valise. "Take this out to the airfield." She headed to her office for a last—but most important—meeting. Zecha should be there by now.

  Avtac knew there were those who criticized her decision to appoint Zecha as captain of her hunters. Before making the decision, she had gone over every detail of Zecha's methods at Haka. The former warden hadn't understood the subtleties of power and so abused it. But for a Manager who knew how to utilize her strengths and control her excesses, Zecha made an excellent, and loyal, officer.

  It was also obvious why the Haka Bench reacted with such severity in Zecha's case. It involved a Calani. At times Avtac was convinced the sungoddess Savina had created men as punishment for some perceived misdeed of womankind. Either handsome and seductive, with few redeeming qualities aside from the obvious, or else plain and querulous, they forever caused trouble.

  When she reached her office, she found Zecha waiting with the chemist Iva. Although Iva had recovered from the injuries she took during the lab accident, a scar marred her check. It struck Avtac as inappropriate that Iva wore the mark while the clumsy assistant who caused the accident went unscathed. The accident itself, however, intrigued Avtac.

  Sulphur, nitrate, charcoal.

  "I've read your research proposal." Avtac moved her hand in dismissal. "Pattern games."

  Iva had her arguments prepared. "Working out Quis patterns of inorganic syntheses has. great potential to improve our lives, Manager Varz. It could lead to uncountable new compounds."

  "Whatever." Avtac said "I'm giving you the
funds."

  A surprised smile jumped onto Iva's face "You won't regret it, I assure—"

  "With one stipulation," Avtac interrupted. "I want you to complete a project first." She took a folder from her desk and handed it to the chemist. "You will work with Captain Zecha and a crew of metal-shapers she selected."

  Iva glanced through the file. "Metal Quis dice with chemicals in them?"

  "That's right. Can you do it?"

  "Well—yes, I think so." Iva looked up at Avtac. "I'm not sure they will have much use. But I can do it."

  Papers, Savina thought. She listlessly regarded the piles stacked on the bed. How could a tree be left anywhere on Coba? They had all been cut down to make papers Savina Miesa must read.

  At least since Avtac's arrival yesterday, Savina had found more time to rest. Except that Zecha had flown down from Varz today to report to Avtac. Although Savina found nothing specific about the captain she could point to and say "This bothers me," Zecha disquieted her, like a pressure against her mind.

  Savina let the folder she held drop onto the bed. As she lay back, a cramp caught her like a vise. With a gasp, she reached out to the nightstand for the com. The added weight of her pregnancy gave her more momentum than she expected and her awkward size made it difficult to recover. Her body unbalanced and she rolled forward, off the bed, tumbling through the air. She landed on the floor with a thud.

  "Ah—no . . ." Savina cried out as a full-blown contraction clenched her. "Behz! Someone!"

  The door burst open and people ran into the bedroom. As Behz knelt next to her, another contraction hit Savina, shooting firebrands up her spine. She gazed up at the doctor, mutely imploring her to make the pain stop.

  After a quick exam, Behz looked up at the nurses. "We will need clean sheets And boil some water."

  "No" Savina groaned as they lifted her onto the bed. "The baby hasn't even turned yet."

  As much as Behz tried to hide her concern, it radiated off her like heat off an ingot. "That may be. But you re in labor. I can't stop it"