Doona Trilogy Omnibus

by neetha Napew

  “A cry for help from other space travelers is not ignored with impunity.” As soon as they landed the Albatross back on Doona, they contacted the tower. Linc Newry was on duty.

  “Can you rustle your stumps, Linc?” Todd asked.

  “We got an official report to deliver.”

  “Official? Huh? Nothing to do with the Hunt, is it?”

  “Not really, but it’d be great if we could get through landing procedures and decontam and get the Hunt properly organized,’ Todd said with an encouraging grin.

  “I’m coming,’ Linc said, and obviously switched to a handset for he continued talking. “As you’re just back from that Hrrethan shindig, I think it’ll be okay if I just seal the lock on the Albie and we can do the decontam and stuff when the Hunt’s over.” So Todd and Hrriss gratefully disembarked, watched the seal be affixed to prevent entry, and, thanking Linc for his courtesy, hurried off to find Ken Reeve and detail the Mayday incident.

  “Genuine or not, you have to answer a Mayday signal,’ Ken agreed, though the affair obviously troubled him. He smoothed his hair back with a resigned hand. His thick, dark hair had receded above his temples, and lines were beginning to etch the fair, sun-weathered skin near his eyes. He and Todd were of a height now, but often, when he was confused and worried, as he was now, Todd felt himself still the small boy and Ken the adult.

  Maybe he relied too much on his father’s wisdom where experience and the study of law didn’t provide the answers. Hrriss sat beside him, his yellow-green eyes unwinking as he stared at the floor between his feet. Ken could tell the Hrruban was worried, but he was not as prone to outbursts as his son.

  Todd’s eyes were fixed hopefully on his father’s face. Ken shook his head and sighed. “Wise of you, Hrriss, to handle all the oral transmissions. Let’s hope that the pictures of that device and the possibly explosive ribbing show up.” He gave his head another little shake. “Such contingencies will have to be written into the new Treaty, allowing for legitimate rescue efforts and specifying penalties for abuses. I shall suggest the modification myself to Sumitral at Alreldep. But I cannot be easy that the incident was there, waiting to trap the unwary.

  He paused again, holding up his hand when Todd opened his mouth.

  “Were there any other representatives at the Hrrethan ceremonies likely to have taken the same warp jumps you did?” Todd looked abashed.

  “Dad, I just wanted to leave. My neck was rubbed raw and it was bad enough those Hrrethans insisted on giving the Albatross a clearance “They insisted?” Ken asked, his expression alert.

  “Yes, and we told them that Spacedep had already cleared the Albatross . . . Oh, I see what you mean. The recorder could have been tampered with there. You think we were to be the victims?”

  “We were not the only ship likely to pass that system,’ Hrriss said in a slow thoughtful tone. “I will inquirrre. It is worrth that much. And discreetly.” He dropped his jaw at Ken. “When one is hunted, one generally senses pursuit.” “Then I can leave you to mention this to Hrrestan?” Ken asked. Hrriss nodded. “I shall inform Hu Shih. That will satisfy the necessary protocol. Investigations can be initiated “Just don’t let that sort of time-wasting stuff interfere with the Snake Hunt, will you, Dad?” Todd was clearly apprehensive. “It’s only two weeks away and we’ve a lot to do.” Ken smiled. “The Snake Hunt is too important to the DoonaiRrala economy to have its leaders absent.

  I’ll handle all the necessary reportings. And inform Sumitral.

  He warned me to expect trouble from unlikely areas. Cunning of “our detractors, isn’t it, to start a controversy over a samaritan issue!

  And it has the flavor of something the segregationalists would try.” “The group that thinks Hrruba is only being friendly to get their claws into the best star systems?” Todd asked with patent distaste.

  “Or perrrhaps,’ and Hrriss let his fangs show, “it is those who sense we are arming ourselves for the conquest of your home planet.”

  “No one takes that foolishness seriously,’ Ken said quickly. “You don’t even know where Terra is.

  “Nor you Hrruba,’ and Hrriss winked.

  Ken and Todd both laughed with their friend, whose full-throated chuckle would have sounded to many like an ominous growl. Laughter eased the tension lines from Ken Reeve’s face.

  “Go on, the pair of you. We’ll deal with the matter after the Snake Hunt. Which is going to be brilliant this year, isn’t it?” He pinned the two friends with a mock-stern glare.

  “Absolutely!” The friends chorused that assurance and left Ken’s office.

  In only a fortnight’s time, Doona would be inundated by foreign dignitaries and guests eager to witness, and participate in, the famed Doonan Snake Hunt. Hundreds of people would converge on the First Villages for the semiannual migration of the giant reptiles, and Todd and Hrriss were in charge of coordinating the Hunt. Which was not so much of a hunt as a controlled traffic along the snakes’ traditional path.

  While there had been intense arguments both for and against annihilation of this dangerous species.

  the conservationists-many of them colonists-had won. The immense snakes were unique to the planet, but their depredations1 which affected only one area of the main continent, could be controlled. The reptiles ranged in size from two- and threeyear1d tiddlers of three to five meters in length to immense females. nicknamed Great Big Mommas, growing to twelve to fifteen meters. They had incredible speed and strength and, although they ate infrequently, they had been known to ingest an adult horse or cow in one mouthful. Their vision was so poor that they could not see a man standing motionless a few feet from their blunt snouts1 but they would strike at any movement: particularly one that gave off an enticing odor.

  Their traditional route from the sea to the plains just happened to lie by the river farms of the settlers where quantities of livestock grazed. too numerous to be shut up during the migration. So the settlers had devised a method of herding the snakes, making certain by a variety of means that few escaped to wreak havoc among the herds and flocks.

  At first the settlers resorted to crude methods of keeping the snakes in line. destroying far too many for the conservationists’ peace of mind. Then hunters from other planets learned about the drives, as they were originally called, and begged to join in for the thrill and excitement of adding such a deadly specimen to their trophies. These men also had some excellent suggestions to give the DoonaiRralans, gained from similar drives of dangerous species to which Ken Reeve, Ben Adjei. the colonists’ veterinarian, and Hrrestan listened with interest.

  “Make it into a real Hunt,’ they were advised.

  “Attract the thrillseekers and you’ll not only make some money out of it, but you’ll have enough help to keep the snakes on the right track,’ So the Hunt became an organized sporting feature; one which put considerable credit into the colony’s treasury and one which became safe enough to advertise as a spectator sport for those who wanted titillation without danger.

  At first, Ken and Hrrestan, with Ben’s advice, organized the Hunt, but gradually, as Todd and Hrriss showed genuine aptitudes as Hunters and leaders, the management had been turned over to them. Much had to be arranged to insure that injuries were reduced to a minimum; that visitors were always teamed up with experienced Hunters or in safely prepared blinds; that the horses hired out were steady, well-blooded animals, accustomed to snake-stench and less likely to plunge out of control and drop their riders into the maw of waiting Big Mommas.

  There were hundreds of minor details to be overseen by Todd and Hrriss before Hunt Day.

  When Todd and Hrriss got to their office, they found that much had already been put in hand by their assistants, based on assignments and duties from the last Hunt. Scouts had been given their pests in the salt marshes from which the migration began. Every homestead within ten klicks of the long-established route had had fences, walls, and buildings reinforced. “Sighters’ who would fly above the swarm and mo
nitor its progress had been chosen and their aerial vehicles serviced. “Lures’ had volunteered. Mounted on two-wheeled motorized rough country bikes, they were specially trained to lead maverick snakes back to the main swarm and to kill snakes that could not be turned.

  Lures usually performed what had become a rite of passage for young DoonalRralans: capturing or killing two snakes on a Hunt, or succeeding in stealing a dozen eggs from the marsh nests. In fact, this rite had become an honor sought after by hunters of every system.

  Many now came just to win accolades as proof of courage and to have their names added to this new legend.

  Those who did not wish to expose themselves to physical danger were accommodated in snake blinds, built along, but back from, the river trail.

  From these, spectators could enjoy this unique sight and excitement. The blinds were sturdily constructed of sealed rla wood, strong enough, though in truth any Great Big Momma Snake could have knocked one into splinters with its powerful snout. However, experiments with various odors had proved that a heavy citrus smell liberally poured on the outside of the blind covered the scent of the juicy morsels within and was a powerful deterrent to the snakes.

  Twelve Teams of from twenty to forty. horsemen and women rode in escort of the snake swarm.

  Clever riders on the quick, well-trained horses could head off renegades or stragglers, for some of the tiddlers were always breaking off the main group, looking for something to eat. These were considered fair game for Hunters wishing to kill, or capture, in proof of their prowess.

  Approved weaponry-for the Treaty did not permit heavy weapons in the colony - were projectile rifles, metal-headed spears, compound bows and arrows, and any sort of club (though bludgeoning a snake to death, even a tiddler, was extremely dangerous.) Crossbows were the most popular for a quarrel and could penetrate right through a snake’s eye to its brain. The only problem was to then keep out of the way of the thrashing body in its death throes.

  The worst headache for Todd and Hrrestan was still the composition of the Teams, for they had to intersperse novice and experienced Hunters without jeopardizing team effectiveness. There were also some “solo’ or small Teams of off-world hunters but they had to produce qualifications to hunt on their own: proof that they were experienced riders and projectile weapon marksmen; preferably letters from other authorized Hunts or Safari Groups.

  As Todd scanned the list of those on his Team One, he noted with satisfaction that Kelly Solinari was on it. So, she’d be back from Earth! She’d be a good team second5 even if she had been away from Doona for four years learning how to be a good diplomat at Alreldep.

  Another name, scrawled so badly that he couldn’t quite decipher it, was new to him but documentation showed that this J. Ladruo had participated in several well-known Safaris. Well, Team One had to take its share of novices.

  He put that minor detail from his mind and went on to designate the places where they’d have to place charges that could be detonated to startle the snakes back into line. Usually the Beaters managed that, with drums, cymbals, flails and small arms fire, but he pored over the accounts of the last Hunt, to see where breakthroughs had occurred and how he could prevent them. He almost suspected the snakes of rudimentary interngence the way some evaded Teams and Beaters. He’d begun looking at meteorology reports, too, for a wind from the wrong direction would make a shambles of the most careful plans. Drafting contingency plans for windy conditions was his next task, “The first Hunters have arrived,’ Hrriss told him, coming in with their documents.

  Todd looked up, startled. “So soon?”

  “Zooon?” Hrriss dropped his jaw in a grin.

  “You’ve been working too hard, my Zodd. Only two more days before the deluge!” Todd groaned as he took the papers from Hrriss and checked the names off against the Hunt application list. Then he brightened.

  “Two more days and Kelly’ll be home.” Hrriss’s grin deepened.

  “You’ll be happy to see her?”

  “Sure, she’s the best second I ever had.” He didn’t notice the odd look his friend gave him.

  Of the many people making their way to Doona for the Hunt, Kelly Solinari was probably the most excited. She couldn’t wait to breathe fresh air again on Doona. On Earth, you felt that taking a deep breath was a crime against your fellow Humans and besides, it didn’t smell good so why contaminate your lungs with government issue. She knew that Earth’s air had improved with stringent reductions of pollutants and the careful control of waste products but her lungs didn’t agree.

  She was also looking forward to eating “real’ food again: the absolute calorie rationing on Earth was nothing short of a sophisticated form of starvation. For a born Doonan such as she, these four years were a prison and she was about to be set free.

  There had been a lot of change on Earth since her father and mother had left the stagnant, crowded planet: and they’d been considered radical for wanting to emigrate. Now there was an active desire, especially among the young, to break away from their crowded, depleted home planet and go out to settle among the stars. New opportunities had created an aura of hope, lightening the general gloom of the population. The success of the Doonan experimental colony begged the question of when more planets would be made available.

  Without the Hrruban element, of course.

  In the back of every mind lingered the warning of Siwanna, the awful memory of the destruction of another race. In Kelly’s diplomacy courses, the Siwanna Tragedy was brought up again and again to warn the eager young diplomats-to-be that such an error could be repeated. It had been an unforgettable and tragic shock that the Siwannese had suicided as a race when the colonists from Earth encountered them.

  They had been a gentle people, with too fragile a culture to survive contact with another intelligent species. Siwanna was empty now.

  Codep had erected a memorialo the race there, and had forbidden anyone to settle on the world whose inhabitants had been accidentally destroyed. And that was the beginning of the Noncohabitation Doctrine.

  No Human colony could be initiated on any planet already inhabited by sentient beings.

  The Hrrubans’ strong culture and identity made them, in the administration’s eyes, a statistical rarity. The Doona colony was an exception, where colonization teams from two cultures had met accidentally. The first-contact groups were to regard all new races as fragile and potentially selfdestructive. Depending on which teacher you were talking to, this meant Hrruba was Earth’s partner in the great task of opening up the galaxy for exploration and colonization. Or, conversely, Hrruba was an obstruction to Earth’s efforts. Kelly, who had been born on Doona, and had more Hrruban than Earth-born friends, was always ready to defend her Hrruban mates, and no one could match a Doonan in an argument.

  Younger Terrans and her classmates generally shared her views.

  They wanted to see Humans allowed to live and prosper on new worlds.

  In the back of their minds was the idea of meeting and making friends with new alien races, though that thought was rarely voiced, not with so many older folk with ingrained habits ready to report them to noise monitors for loud talking. Who could have a decent argument in whispers?

  It was so good to be home, even if Doona was crowded this season!

  Well, crowded for Doona, but only marginally inhabited compared to Terra. Kelly stared out of the hatch at the swarming mob on the landing field waiting for friends and family. It looked as if every single Human on Doona, all 45,000 of them, must be waiting to greet someone.

  There was even a cluster of Hrrubans, who enjoyed the spectacle of homecoming for its own sake.

  She searched the crowd eagerly, hoping to see her own loved ones after her long absence. She’d be unlikely to see them, lost as they were in the mob of welcoming committees waiting to greet the important visitors who had traveled with her from Earth for the Snake Hunt. It had meant more ships coming in, a cheaper fare for her in consequence.

  And
, to judge by the shuttles bearing the markings of other systems, Doona was already awash with those eager to be part of this primitive event.

  One of her fellow passengers, Jilamey Landreau, had bored everyone at their table with his simulated-hunting triumphs. He considered that it was essential to his consequence to be at the Doonan Snake Hunt and kill “one of the big ones.” Preferably from horseback, to prove his prowess against a living target. Even as they were making their way down the gangplank, he was still blathering on about it to anyone who would listen.

  Kelly, who had hunted snakes on horseback herself, had been the patient listener many a time.

  She’d recognized his name and decided that it was smarter for her to play it cool in his presence. Her diplomatic training had taught her how to hold her tongue. She was also too kind to make fun of someone who had so far defeated only computersimulated prey.

  She turned her back on him gratefully when her mother and father, Anne and Vic Solinari, approached her from the other side of the field, crying out their welcome, gesticulating for her to notice their position.

  “Sweetheart!” Anne said, gathering her into her arms. “Oh, Kelly, welcome home!”

  “Oh, Mom,’ Kelly said, hugging her mother and suddenly feeling like a little girl again. “I missed you. Hi, Daddy.”

  “You look so grown-up,’ Vic said, embracing his daughter in turn. “I wasn’t sure we’d recognize you.

  You look just fine. How was the trip?”

  “Long,’ Kelly said, wrinkling her nose.

  “Cramped. Very smelly. All they had was canned Earth air.” Vic laughed. “It’s the second thing that’s kept me from taking a trip back to Earth: the first is living in the crowded conditions. I sure don’t miss those little granite boxes! Well, come on! Your brothers and sisters are waiting to hear all about what you’ve been up to. All voice and video this time, not taped transmissions.”