“Oh, good – who is that?” Croker asked.
“Commander Kennedy.”
With that pronouncement, a dead silence fell over the room, broken only by the entrance of Kapoor and Quan. Their hasty conference on deploying a rescue effort was interrupted by a hail from Decker to Lindstrom. Betang held her breath as they waited to hear what the lieutenant had to say. After apologizing for not immediately answering his hail, Decker announced, “I’m afraid I have some bad news, sir —” Vania watched the color drain from Croker’s already pale face.
***
When Decker made it to the clearing, in the darkness she could just make out the sight of Kennedy in a desperate fight. He was struggling to keep the wounded peerazu in front of him while maintaining a safe distance from its deadly saliva. Rifle blazing, she rushed into battle, firing over Con’s head at the furious animal. Charging closer, her heart lurched at the sight of Kennedy falling to the ground, apparently wounded. Using every bit of strength she possessed, Deck leapt in the air, sailing right over Con’s fallen body, while shooting the peerazu in its open mouth.
While executing the maneuver she knew the chances of success were slim but she’d decided that she and Con would either survive together – or die together. At that moment, no other outcome was acceptable to Decker. She braced for pain, expecting at any moment to feel the torrent of burning liquid shower over her. When the peerazu fell back, dead, Deck froze for a moment, certain she was dreaming. Until Con’s calls for help woke her from her stupor.
She rushed to his side to assess the extent of his injuries. “It’s my leg!” Kennedy screamed. “It’s on fire!”
Initially, she couldn’t see the problem – then she noticed three or four pin-prick holes in his right pant-leg. Decker tore the material open; it shredded easily, weakened from the exposure to the peerazu’s saliva. She found the flesh underneath burnt and raw, with the redness spreading rapidly. For the second time that day, she pulled her med-kit out of her pack to see what she could do.
By that time, Kay, who had been left to guard Moira, arrived on the scene with the girl mere steps behind him. Not bothering to greet them, Deck stuck a pain patch on Con’s leg and was glad that he soon fell unconscious – whether from the pain or the meds, she wasn’t sure. She started unraveling a chilled burn wrap which would sterilize and soothe the wound.
Moira stopped gawking in horror long enough to ask, “Can I help?”
Decker thrust her wrist light into Moira’s hand. “Hold this light – keep it on his leg.” When she did as directed, Deck murmured, “That’s good.” More to steady her own nerves, than to inform Finnegan, she explained, “As soon as I have this on him, I’ll carry him back to the Aurora. The med facility is excellent and Doctor Uddin is there.” She worked in silence until the light moved a few inches. Without looking up, she ordered, “No, move it back to where you had it.” Naiche sighed when the girl didn’t respond but kept working away in the shadows – until she heard Kay emit a low growl. Deck looked up to find that they were completely surrounded by Featay.
Chapter 8
The Heart of a Hurricane
“We held it in our hearts in the pouring rain
We made it through the heart of a hurricane
We tore it apart and put it together again”
Bruce Springsteen, ‘Don't Look Back’
Decker nearly started to laugh, on the edge of hysteria, when at that moment, Lindstrom attempted to hail them. She ignored her comm-link and put a protective hand on Con’s unconscious body. Naiche used her most menacing tone to warn, “I am taking my friend to our ship. If you try to stop me – I will kill you all. I swear I will.” Everyone froze in place and Decker was praying she’d managed to bluff them into backing off. In her heart, she wasn’t entirely sure it was a bluff – if these people interfered with her helping Con, Naiche wasn’t sure what depths of madness she might be driven to.
Suddenly one of the Featay moved towards her and Deck started calculating whether she should go for her pistol or just rush the individual, knowing Kay would jump right in. Before she’d could decide, she noticed the Featay was holding out a small wooden bowl, motioning for Decker to take it. “What is this?”
The Featay started chirping, and Decker heard, “Is for help of peerazu damage. Spread against damage for help.”
Her head spinning, she was trying to decide whether or not to trust these people, when from behind the main group she recognized a small limping figure, now wearing a much better cast on their leg. The child moved closer and piped up, “We hurt not – we share help. As help you share at me.”
Once again, the Featay adult thrust the bowl at Decker, explaining, “We mark much these same damage among Featay. Leckma help when use made directly. It grips well the….”
That last word hadn’t translated at all, but Decker got the gist. She took the bowl and quickly scanned the contents to ensure nothing present was harmful to humans, all the while hoping the Featay weren’t insulted by her actions. The data indicated it was wholly benign, so she moved the cooling wrap aside and spread the dark brown paste liberally on Con’s leg. The Featay who’d given her the medicine said, “Come. We make ready a bed to him. It is far not. Come – comfort more he will keep with we.”
Still feeling somewhat dazed, Decker allowed the Featay to help her carry Con’s unconscious form to their nearby village, with Moira and Kay trailing close behind. On the way, Decker decided she’d better inform Lindstrom of their situation. She hailed him, started the conversation with a short apology for the delay, and then launched into the tale.
The Featay village, consisting of a cluster of low-slung stone houses arranged in a triple semi-circle, was located on a nearby plateau. The settlement was surrounded by strong walls with two massive iron gates. In one of the larger homes, was the room they’d designated for Kennedy. It was warm and inviting, if somewhat low-ceilinged, which made sense considering that the Featay seemed to top out at a little over five-feet tall. They’d actually had to push two beds together in order to comfortably accommodate Con’s six-foot-one-inch height. Deck was sitting beside him now, in a rough-hewn wooden chair, her med-scanner on continuous monitoring mode. The therapeutic paste the Featay provided had worked wonders; the swelling was going down and his pain was greatly lessened.
Immediately after settling in, Decker had again contacted Lindstrom via comm-link to describe their present situation. She’d assured their CO that there was no need for him, or even Dr. Uddin, to pay a visit to the village. The Featay had confirmed Betang’s hunch that tremors presaged the presence of peerazu, and they were still being plagued by regular tremors. Therefore, in Deck’s estimation, the danger was too great – even with Kapoor and Quan as escorts. Lindstrom finally agreed after she’d relayed Con’s med-scan to Uddin, and the doctor had pronounced that Con was doing well, and a transfer could wait until morning.
With the more official business over, Deck was using her hand scanner to send a video feed of Con to Aqila and was on the comm with her discussing his condition. Kennedy had woken long enough to mumble some assurances to his wife but had now fallen back to sleep.
“You know, if you want,” Deck offered, “I could come to the Aurora and escort you here.”
“No, that’s okay. Just being able to talk to Con and see him was enough for me. Anyway, didn’t you say it was too dangerous to be out tonight?”
Laughing, Deck answered, “Oh, that means other people – not me.”
“That attitude is precisely how you and Con get yourselves into this kind of trouble.”
“Nah, it’s just the nature of our job.”
“I believe the root cause is multifactorial.”
“Oh, you’ve dazzled and defeated me with your fancy science-talk.” Naiche was glad she’d been able to make Aqila laugh, as well as reassure her, and Lateef signed off in much better frame of mind than she’d started out with.
As she shut the hand scanner off, Decker noticed Kaya
tennae was resting his chin on the bed, watching Con sleep. She reached over to scratch the dog’s head, saying, “He’s gonna be okay, buddy.”
“Does he understand what you’re saying?”
Decker looked up to find Moira standing in the doorway. “I think so. Probably not all of the words – but the reassurance, yeah, he gets that.” She gave a small snort of laughter. “When this is all over, maybe we’ll get him one of these….” Naiche pointed at the Silver Tongue on her shoulder. “…and see what it can do for his word comprehension.” Deck had hoped for at least a smile but Finnegan continued to frown down at Kennedy’s sleeping figure, so she asked, “Is something wrong?”
“This is all my fault.”
“Unless you’re somehow channeling Prince Croker, that is in no way true.”
“If it wasn’t for me, you’d have been with him the whole time.” Moira plopped down in the chair next to Decker. “You even said that I endangered people.” At Naiche’s questioning look, she explained, “I looked up the word ‘histrionics’.”
Deck closed her eyes in frustration at her past self, before explaining, “Okay, that was not a nice thing for me to say. I’m sorry – sometimes my temper gets the better of me.”
“Perhaps…but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t true.”
Deck swiveled her body so she was facing Finnegan. “Remember what I said about not holding children to the same standards as adults? That goes for you, too. You can’t be more than what? Eighteen?”
“I have completed over four age-cycles.”
“Okay, I have no idea what that means but I’d bet my next paycheck that you’re well under twenty.” Naiche leaned forward, declaring, “I don’t blame you. Honestly.”
Since Moira simply nodded, Decker was about to offer additional assurance but was side-tracked by the girl asking, “What’s a paycheck?”
“That’s how we get our salaries – the money that the UDC pays us for doing our jobs.”
“You still have that?”
“What – checks? No, of course not. The word ‘paycheck’ is just an artifact from—”
“No, what I was saying is…you still have money?”
“Ohh.” Another layer of the cocoon these people had been reared in was suddenly revealed. “Uh, yeah, we certainly do.”
Anything further she wanted to say on the subject was interrupted by Ekno Formay, the Featay who’d supplied the medicine for Con’s leg, and whose house they were in, asking them to partake in the evening meal.
***
They went down to find that Ekno had gathered the village leader and elders to eat with them. Deck knew this was undoubtedly a significant honor and she thanked them lavishly for their kindness. Also present was the child, Outra, whom Decker had helped. At the sight of the humans entering the room, Outra’s pointed, floppy ears twitched wildly. Decker was coming to realize this mannerism was a Featay greeting of happiness, pretty much equivalent to a human’s smile, which she in turn gave the child.
The long trestle table, covered with a homespun cloth, was spread with appetizing platters of roasted meat and stewed vegetables. After sitting down to eat, Deck saw Ekno watching closely as Moira hesitated to accept a serving of the meat. She rushed to tell Ekno, “She’s used to only synthetic meat. She’s never seen a cooked animal before.” Naiche urged Moira, “Go ahead and try it, I bet you’ll really like it.”
Ekno’s ears drooped while emitting some chirps that had no translation. Finally, the healer said to Decker, “She holds fear of meat from tales marking Featay as Tolutay-flesh-eaters. From Maykure such tales have spread. It is so?”
“Moira really has never eaten actual meat before.” Deciding anything less than the truth would be disrespectful, Decker reluctantly agreed, “But, yes, we did hear something like that from the Maykure.”
Radiating resigned disappointment, Ekno answered, “Maykure keep belief of such tales, wrong and bitter – so will spread them on.”
“Why do they believe it? What happened between the Featay and the Maykure?”
Over dinner, the Featay leader, Ixnea Rijal, shared their history. Before the gamma ray incident, the Featay, Maykure, and Intabet had all lived as one people – the Tolutay. Even after the retreat undercover because of the gamma ray burst, they stayed in contact and helped each other where they could.
Ixnea said, “A sickness foul attacked Featay. For help we cry out but no help is shared at we. Maykure share only their backs at Featay, their once-kin, so fear great they hold of disease attacking them. Death beyond measure came to Featay, together so close we dwell in our city, Featah. Death as same came to our food-animals, and our under-roof gardens held rot. What Featay lived, cry out in hunger great. Knowing still that peerazu hold danger, we leave Featah to hunt forest and field for food. Never return did we to the under-roof great. Maykure keep belief that those living out gladly where peerazu fly hold no sense. We hold memories of suffering graver than peerazu.”
“But where did the cannibal story come from?”
“So many generations passing by make tales malformed.” Ixnea hesitated before admitting, “At the season of hunger great, some Featay ate of the dead.” There was an air of challenge to the next question. “Would you share not this practice, if hunger attacked your offspring?”
Quietly, Deck admitted, “I don’t know. I hope I never have to find out. But I can’t condemn those who made that choice.” After considering the tragic story for a moment she asked, “What about the Intabet? Did they turn their backs, too? Do they condemn your ways like the Maykure do?”
Ekno answered, “Intabet are consumed by homage of peerazu, leaving no scope to share help at Featay.”
Having heard that through the Silver Tongue on Deck’s shoulder, Moira exclaimed, “Homage? What does that mean? They worship those monsters?”
“It is so,” Ixnea said. “Of peerazu, they hold knowing all-embracing, keep traditions of peerazu soothing, so suffer not attacks yet live they in the mountain realm. Tales are kept that such knowing Intabet share not.”
Decker said, “Have you asked them recently? Maybe they would help if they understood how bad things are for you. You said yourself, you haven’t been in contact for a very long time and ‘stories get malformed.’”
After a prolonged silence, Ekno acknowledged, “It is so. Yet, talk systems between we and Intabet hold rot beyond times of memory. And the travel ways to Intabah hold danger great.” After ensuring that the humans had eaten their fill, Ekno added, “To travel in the ways of danger knowing no reward is likely shared at travel’s end – we would exactly hold no sense as Maykure keep belief.”
***
A short while later Decker, with Moira tagging along, was taking Kay for an evening stroll in the village square. She was explaining to the girl that yes, the Earth’s night sky looked similar, full of stars, but with a different set of stars visible when she received a surprising hail over her comm-link. “Ricci to Decker, come in, Decker. Do you copy?”
She said to Moira, “I have to answer this hail,” then activated her end of the conversation. “Decker here. Is something wrong, Captain?”
“I should be asking you that. How’s Kennedy?”
After giving him a run-down on Con’s condition and the events which led up to it, Naiche said, “I didn’t know the Lovelace was still within hailing distance.”
“You may not realize this, considering what a day you’ve had, but we left less than ten hours ago.” She could hear definite amusement stealing into his voice as he added, “Though, in full disclosure…we’re not actually in normal hailing range. It just so happens that Ramsey is playing around with some new technology right now – I decided to take it for an early test flight.”
“That sounds pretty cool. Rank does have its privileges.”
“It should – considering what comes along for the ride.” Ricci took a deep breath and his tone grew chiding. “What happened to that promise of yours, by the way? Did you really nearly ju
mp down the throat of a peerazu?”
“I sense Commander Lindstrom’s penchant for exaggeration here.” Keenly aware of Moira listening in, Decker gave him a brief summary of the battle, promising, “I’ll tell you the whole story, in excruciating detail, when you get back.” Before Ricci could object to the evasion, she asked, “How’s Commander Jacoway?”
“He’s fine. He’s busy piloting the ship and worrying about you.”
“Please tell him I said hello and that there’s nothing to worry about.”
“Yes, to the first part but as to the second, I never lie to my crew.”
With a laugh, Naiche admitted, “I walked right into that one.”
“You sure did. You and Kennedy both need to stay out of any further trouble until I get back. That’s an order.”
“Acknowledged. Take care and good luck, sir.” With that they both signed off.
Moira asked, “That was your captain?” When Decker confirmed that it was, she offered, “He seems nice.”
“He is nice.” Naiche tossed her head, admitting, “As long as you don’t piss him off.”
“That rather sounds like you.”
Chuckling, Decker answered, “No surprise there – he’s my father.”
“Oh! That is most unusual – is it not?” After she admitted that even in the UDC it was, Moira flooded her with questions about their relationship that segued into questions about the rest of her family. Decker ended up pulling out her moonstone locket to present holos of her various relatives. Moira stared for some time at the holo of Naomi Decker holding an infant Naiche. “You look very much like your mother.” Deck had no response other than a nod; Finnegan then asked, “Is she also based on the Lovelace?”
“No, my mother died when I was ten. She was a Corps diplomat and was murdered trying to negotiate a truce with the enemy.”
The Risks of Dead Reckoning Page 9
