by Speer, Flora
“The ship that accosted the Krontar appeared familiar to me,” Dysia said. “Its configuration had been somewhat altered, but I was able to determine that the Space Dragon is one of an older class of Regulan vessels.”
“Regulan, you say?” Almaric lifted his head to regard Dysia with new interest. “We all know how the Regulans love intrigue. Could they have some reason for kidnapping my son?”
“Sir, I am almost certain the Regulans are involved,” Dysia said. “The Space Dragon disappeared suddenly. After it was gone, the Krontar’s sensors picked up faint traces of some unusual molecules. Recent scientific studies have shown that these same molecules are left by the activation of Starthruster. Those traces indicated a heading directly toward Regula.”
“How could pirates have gained possession of a Starthruster device?” Kalina asked, once again noticing the most important fact. “Did they remove it from one of our disabled ships after Styxia?”
“Every pirate ship near the Styxian border was destroyed or disabled and captured,” said Jyrit, who had been there for the great battle. “The few ships that did escape fled from our pursuing forces as quickly as possible. No, Lady Kalina, no pirate had the opportunity to steal a Starthruster device from a Jurisdiction ship.”
“Then, if a pirate has Starthruster now, it was deliberately placed aboard that ship by a government holding Membership in the Jurisdiction.” Kalina looked grim.
“As you say, madam,” Jyrit said.
“The first place you should have looked for Halvo is on Regula.” Kalina spoke with the complete assurance for which she was justly famous.
“So I thought, too, Lady Kalina,” Jyrit said. “However, since discretion appeared to me to be vitally important in this matter, I judged it best to return to Capital at once, to inform you of the situation privately and await Leader Almaric’s further orders.”
“Discretion?” Kalina cried. “My son’s life is in danger!”
“Jyrit is perfectly correct, my dear, and if you pause to consider for a moment I am sure you will agree with him.” Almaric broke into whatever vehement remarks Kalina was preparing to make next. “Until we have more solid evidence of Regulan involvement than a few molecular traces leading in the direction of that planet, we cannot make accusations against the Hierarchy. Doing so might cause a war within the Jurisdiction.”
“Just so, Leader Almaric.” Jyrit bowed in respect to Almaric’s sagacity. “We may suspect the Regulans. In our hearts we may feel certain that they are to blame for your son’s disappearance, but without proof, we can do nothing against them.”
“All the same, we must find Halvo as soon as possible,” Kalina said. “Our son is not yet fully recovered from his wounds. He requires further therapy. His physicians have told us so.”
“While he was aboard the Krontar, he suffered frequent bouts of vertigo,” Dysia said. “Nor do I believe his broken back is completely healed. I took note of how cautiously he always moved.”
“There, you see?” Kalina said to her husband. “We have to find him, Almaric, and soon.”
“With your permission, Leader Almaric.” With respectful Jugarian politeness, Jyrit bowed again, waiting until Almaric’s nod gave him leave to speak. Jyrit was feeling much more optimistic than when he had first arrived to make his report about Admiral Halvo. With luck and a bit of diplomacy, he might be able to avoid ceremonial suicide after all.
“Speak, Jyrit,” Almaric said. “I value your sensible opinion.”
“Sir, in the interests of discretion, I suggest that the Krontar be assigned to the search for Admiral Halvo. I have refused shore leave to my crew while we are at Capital, and I have ordered them not to discuss with anyone who is not a fellow crew member the way in which your son was lured aboard the Space Dragon. Reprovisioning will be completed within the hour. The Krontar is ready to depart from Capital the moment you give the word.
“Leader Almaric, Lady Kalina,” Jyrit went on, “since it was from my ship that your son vanished, honor requires that I should be the one to rescue him. I assure both of you that I will not stop searching until he is found.”
“Jyrit, I do not hold you accountable,” Almaric said. “I know my son’s character well enough to be certain that what happened was not your fault.”
“Nor do I blame you,” Kalina said. “However,” She paused, and Almaric turned in his chair to look up at her out of troubled eyes.
“I believe I know what you are going to ask of me, Kalina,” Almaric said.
“And as always, you will give me what I desire, will you not, my dear?”
“I hesitate only because what you want will separate us for a time.”
“Halvo is lost,” Kalina said. “We must find him, and you are forbidden to leave Capital so long as you are Leader.”
“Capt. Jyrit,” Almaric said, facing the Jugarian, “Lady Kalina will accompany you on your search.”
“You need not worry that I will upset the routine of your ship,” Kalina said, apparently perceiving the concern Jyrit was doing his best to conceal. “I was not always First Lady of the Jurisdiction. Indeed, it will be a relief to me to put off formal robes and lay aside protocol for a time. I will not take your cabin, Jyrit. I will be content with passenger’s quarters, and I will take with me only two trusted aides and minimal baggage. A single outfit of state robes should be sufficient for this journey. I believe the dark red set will be most appropriate for my meeting with the Chief Hierarch.”
“The Chief Hierarch, Lady Kalina?” Jyrit regarded her with astonishment and steadily growing respect.
“Since you tell us you have already scoured the area of space where you were when Halvo was taken,” Kalina said, “I see no point in wasting valuable time with a further search there. Your armaments officer has determined that the Space Dragon was originally a Regulan ship and the small amount of evidence you have suggests it headed toward Regula after parting from the Krontar. Under these circumstances, it would be only right and proper for us to ask our dear friends the Regulans to help us trace it. We will, therefore, begin our search for Halvo on Regula.”
“My thoughts exactly, Lady Kalina,” Jyrit said. He hoped this remarkable woman would notice a fact of which he was fully aware. His antennae were presently a soft shade of orange red, the coloring of friendship.
Chapter Eleven
“Admiral,” said Rolli, “you were correct about the matter that concerned you.”
“What matter?” Perri asked. She was so conscious of Halvo’s every reaction that she was immediately aware of his repressed anger at Rolli’s words.
“There is no point in keeping it from you, Perri.” Halvo spoke when Rolli did not answer Perri immediately. “In addition to the device implanted in Rolli’s circuitry, the main instrument panel here on the ship has been fitted with a homing signal.”
“Which is no longer functioning,” Rolli said. “I have destroyed it.”
“First the Regulans tried to blast us into smithereens,” Perri said, chilled to the heart by this latest revelation. “Then, in case they failed to kill us that way, they reprogrammed Rolli to destroy us. Now you tell me they arranged a signal so they could follow us and finish the job if their first two plans didn’t work out. They aren’t leaving anything to chance, are they?”
“Apparently not,” Halvo said.
“Why are they so determined to see us dead? Do we know something they don’t want us to tell? What could it be? I don’t have any information that is vital to Regulan interests. Do you, Halvo?”
“I think it is more a matter of who we are,” Halvo said. “I am beginning to formulate a theory about Regulan motives. Rolli, how are the repairs coming along?”
“Most of the systems are just barely operational,” Rolli said. “Without a complete overhaul, the Space Dragon will not be fit to lift into space.”
“Are you saying we must stay here until the Regulans find us?” Perri cried. While it was wonderful to have her old companion in one piece
and working again, Rolli had been giving them nothing but bad news over the past hour. Every sentence the robot spoke indicated new problems worse than the previous ones. “We can’t stay here, Rolli. If we do and our pursuers find and kill us, then Elyr and the Chief Hierarch will win – and I won’t let them win! I want to see justice done to those two and anyone else who was involved in their immoral schemes.”
“So you have repeatedly declared,” Rolli said, adding with a robot’s typical logic, “However, what you want does not matter if the Space Dragon will not fly.”
“You should have heard her before we put you back together.” Halvo addressed Rolli with dry humor. “She has calmed down considerably. Now, she will be content with justice; then, she was screaming for bloody vengeance.
“But Perri is right,” Halvo said, still speaking to the robot. “Our first order of business must be to get off this star-blasted world.”
“Star-blasted world is not an entirely accurate term, Admiral, since we are presently sitting on the floor of a crater formed by the collision of a meteor with this planet. No stars have blasted this world. Only meteors have crashed here.”
“Rolli, be quiet,” Perri said, interrupting her literal-minded friend. She tried to speak with calm assurance, though what she felt was cold fear. “I have been studying the specifications for this ship. The Space Dragon has a double hull. At strategic locations throughout the ship it also has hatches that can be sealed in case the hull is breached.”
“Go on.” Halvo was watching her with interest.
Knowing he would listen to whatever she had to say and give her suggestions serious consideration eased Perri’s fear a little. “The worst damage we sustained was in the aft section. Could we seal the interior hatches to that section, cut off the life-support systems to the sealed areas, and live just in the cockpit and the galley? We ought to save a fair amount of energy that way, and air leaks through the cracks in the hull that we are not able to repair won’t matter because we won’t be using those parts of the ship.”
“The cracks could widen during the stress of takeoff,” Halvo said, “and the ship might break apart completely when we try to land again. Rolli, give us your opinion on Perri’s idea.”
“I must defer to your experience in this matter, Admiral,” Rolli said. “I am not programmed to repair battle damage. I am confined to piloting the ship, to navigational functions, and to making simple repairs on the computer.”
“Perri, what you have suggested is so dangerous that I deliberately have not mentioned the possibility of using the ship under those conditions,” Halvo said.
“Then we must not risk it,” Rolli said. “Not if the attempt would endanger Perri’s life.”
“Perri’s life,” Perri said in a sharp voice, “is in danger every moment right here on this planet. To begin the list of our problems, we do not have sufficient food.”
“The processor is working again,” Rolli said.
“It will not continue to work for long,” Perri snapped. “We cannot repeatedly run the ship’s engines so the food processor will function, or run the engines to moderate the temperature inside the Space Dragon. If the Regulans do not find and kill us first, we will exhaust our fuel supply sooner or later. Then we will be forced to take shelter in the cave, where we will die of starvation or cold. Halvo, will you please explain this to Rolli?”
“Why should I when you are doing an excellent job of laying out our options?” Halvo asked. “I am impressed, Perri. You have been studying constantly and learning your lessons well.”
“What I have learned from the ship’s computer and from you,” Perri said, “leads me to believe we have only two options. We can remain where we are, in which case we will surely die. It will be a long, slow, and painful process. Or we can accept the risk involved in helping ourselves. If we die trying to leave this planet or trying to land somewhere else, at least it will be a quick death.
“As Rolli says, you are far more experienced in this area than we are, Halvo. But if you were to ask my opinion, I would vote in favor of attempting to get into space again and, once there, to find a more pleasant place in which to make full repairs. We will also increase our chances of survival if we can lose the Regulans who are following us.” She stopped because Halvo was grinning at her, and she could not help smiling back at him.
“We still do not know where we are,” Rolli said. “Nor will we until we are in space and our navigational instruments have been fully activated, assuming they can be fully activated.”
“We’ll manage,” Halvo said, his eyes still locked on Pern’s. “We’ll find a way. Let’s give the Space Dragon one more work period. And we will take two more long rest periods before we leave because once we are on our way we won’t have time for sleep.” The tone in which he spoke that last sentence told Perri that rest was not all he had on his mind.
“Yes,” she said.
Much later, it was Halvo who had a question to ask Perri. They were back inside the cave, sheltering from the cold. Once again Halvo had raced from ship to cave entrance, where he had arrived gasping for breath, though it seemed to Perri that he was neither as weak nor as dizzy as the first time he had made that brief trip. To protect Rolli’s main circuitry from the extreme temperatures they had again brought the robot’s head with them. Securely wrapped in a sheet, it rested with their supplies. Perri knew the main circuitry was not working at the moment, but even so she was glad to have Rolli’s eyelights covered.
Perri knew she and Halvo would make love soon. She had been aware of his building desire all day. What astonished her was the realization of her own eager need. It had never been so with her before, but Halvo had changed the way she felt about many things.
“Eat all of it, Perri.” Halvo noticed how she was picking at her food. “You are going to need every calorie before we reach safety.”
“Safety?” she said, smiling. “You cannot promise that we will ever again be safe. And if you could, I am not sure I would be happy to arrive at such a place. Since this adventure with you began, my life has been far more exciting than I ever dreamed was possible. I am beginning to suspect that I am of a temperament to be bored with a safe existence.”
“I have been bored on occasion,” Halvo said. “When I was on active duty I endured occasional regimented dullness without complaint because propriety is expected of the Admiral of the Fleet and because I knew such times would not last long. The dullness was interspersed with periods of great excitement, thus I never had reason to be seriously bored. Planning new space ventures, fighting the Cetans and negotiating the treaty with them after they were defeated, visiting planets that were considering Membership in the Jurisdiction – those were good times. Then I was wounded and the boredom began, relieved only by my need for therapy. The boredom continued until I met you.
“First you reawakened my curiosity, next you jolted me out of my despondency. Whatever happens to us, I am glad we met.”
“Perhaps we were fated to meet,” Perri said.
“I don’t know much about Regulan philosophy. Do you believe in predestination?”
“I think I do now, though it is strange to think of those wicked men, the Chief Hierarch and Elyr, as the agents of some great cosmic plan.” Perri lapsed into a pensive silence, and Halvo asked a serious question. “Perri, when he visited your bedroom, exactly what did Elyr make you do for him?”
“We never did what you and I have done,” she cried, suddenly defensive.
“I know. Technically speaking, the first time we made love you were a virgin. However, you definitely were not inexperienced.” They were sitting side by side while they ate. Reaching toward her, Halvo smoothed her hair away from her face, telling her without words that he did not despise her, no matter what she had done with her betrothed. “I have my suspicions about Elyr’s demands upon you, but I think you and I ought to discuss the matter so there is no misunderstanding between us.”
Perri sighed and relaxed. It was only fai
r to explain to him what her compliance with Elyr’s wishes had meant, and how much she had always disliked what she was commanded to do.
“If you wish, I will show you,” she said. “I do not mind, Halvo.”
“I will only consent if this is something you truly want to do,” he said.
“How could I not want to help you in any way I can?” she cried. “I have been kissed more in the last few days than in all the years since Melri died, and as for the way you made me feel when you demonstrated your Demarian customs – Halvo, I never dreamed such joy was possible.”
“You still believe you have an obligation to please me,” he said. “You are not obligated, Perri. You have a right to your own pleasure.”
“In that case, after I have shown you what you want to know, I will ask you to pleasure me again.”
“You do learn fast, don’t you?” he said.
Perri loved the way his face lit up when he smiled. He always made her want to smile back at him.
“Do you wish to remain sitting?” she asked. “Or would you prefer to stand or perhaps to lie upon your back?”
“Why don’t we adjourn this party to your blanket?” he asked.
“Whatever you wish, Halvo. You will not have to remove your clothing this time.”
“What a pity. I like the sensation of my skin next to yours. But just this once, we will do things the Regulan way.”
Perri followed him across the sand, then stood waiting while Halvo stretched out on her blanket. He clasped his hands behind his head, crossed his legs at the ankles, and smiled up at her.
“I trust you, Perri. I put myself completely in your hands.”
“Have you any special requests?” she asked.
“How can I make a request when I don’t know what you are planning to do?”
