Doona Trilogy Omnibus

by neetha Napew

  “Ah, one of you is as good as the other’ Kiachif said, airily. “And I saw your assorted offspring going about handing out baked toties, salad, and fruit like very pros.

  You re raising “em right, young Hrriss, so you are.

  “Thank you,’ Hrriss said, extremely gratified. “I will see if there’s any miada in the house.”

  “Ah, this picnic is doing wonders for calming overstretched nerves, so it is.” Kiachif sat down on the porch seat to wait.

  Mllaba and Greene left their seniors engaged in the informal Treaty talks, and made their way surreptitiously as far removed from the party as possible. Grace Castleton and Captain Hrrrv were at the end of the fence waiting for them. There was a small tray table before each of them. Hrrrv’s platter was empty, and looked as if it might have been licked clean. Castleton’s food was virtually untouched. She toyed with a beaker, picking it up and putting it down again without drinking from it. She felt she couldn’t force anything past the tightness in her throat.

  “I could not zink what you were doing, Greene, in agreeing to enter formal discussions with these creatures,’ Mllaba said, as soon as they were out of earshot of the party. “But it was cleverly done. We can szretch out zuch dialogues for many weeks.”

  “Glad you caught on to my drift,’ Greene said smugly, settling on to a chair beside Castleton.

  “And it had the effect of disarming Reeve’s objections. The Admiral was very pleased when I reported back to him. The bruins have now sworn to abide by a peace accord. Now they’ll have one, and Admiral Barustable is personally involved in drawing it up. It gives the fleets time. This diplomatic immunity also allows us to keep track of where the Gringg go. They’ll have escorts everywhere. If once they show what they are capable of, we’ll have witnesses!”

  “How does the meeting go?” Hrrrv asked, in a low voice.

  “Second Speaker has become caught up in the dream laid out by Hrrestan and Rrev,’ Mllaba said, her eyes gleaming with faint disgust.

  “He will lose the election if he does not take care. All of them are so enamoured of the concept of unity that no one listens to reason.

  “They’d sign tonight if the Admiral wasn’t there, Greene said, grinning with malice. “He insists on discussing each clause in the Diplomatic Immunity Handbook over and over again, then letting himself be talked into the original wording already set down.

  “But very slowly,’ Mllaba said, laughing in short, breathy grunts.

  “A very cleverrr man, for a Hayuman.

  The Immunity Agreement will not be finished tonight.

  And yet they continue to look upon his involvement as helpful!’ The other two joined in the laughter, but it had a forced sound.

  Castleton took a sip from her drink, but did not taste it. The thought of deliberately sabotaging a safeguard for both Gringg and themselves worried her, almost more than the up-coming confrontation when the naval support ships arrived. Despite the tape, she found much to admire in the Gringg.

  “Now Reeve has committed himself, Greene said, “the confrontation with the Gringg will make him look the idealistic fool he is. All we have to do now is stall. When the fleets arrive .

  “They’re close,’ Grace said quietly. “The Terran fleet is within twenty-four hours of making orbit.

  Greene looked at her, almost for the first time, and his expression changed from triumph to concern as he saw how worried she was.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked, suddenly perceptive of her mood.

  “Nothing,’ Grace replied carefully, glancing at the two Hirubans.

  “All ship-shape, and observing radio silence.”

  “Ze Hrruban fleet will arrive just outside ze heliopause a few hourz later,’ Hrrrv added.

  “Very good,’ Greene said. “The Gringg are most likely to strike when we expect it least. Possibly while we conclude agreements and treaties they never had any intention of signing. We’ll hold up the final agreement as long as possible until both fleets are in position.”

  “It cannot be held long,’ Milaba said. “Ze movement toward accord is inexorable. Ze Gringg, Sumizral, and Rraladoon are in agreement. Zere are reasons why Second Speaker will sign zat I cannot discuss but no one will oppose him in ze Council.”

  “Then that trade agreement could be the last thing any Human or Hrruban does on Doona,’ Greene warned.

  “Admiral Barnstable has sent sealed orders to open fire on that Wander Den of theirs the moment their reinforcements arrive, or at any first hostile sign.

  “Zouzanns of lives are at risk,’ added MIlaba. “We have to stall until ze ships are in place to defend zem. Ze Gringg shipz must be blown apart before zey can attack.”

  “We shall be ready,’ Greene said, leaning over and speaking in a low voice so the others had to listen very closely. “Then we’ll support Hrrto by telling the Council that he was on the right side - the side of caution - all along. The Admiral has the tape to justify our actions. That’s our ace in the hole.

  Barnstable also wants to sabotage that scientific get-together planned for tomorrow.

  “It is already being zaken care of,’ Mllaba said, her yellow-green eyes watchful in the twilight. “I attend ze conference again in ze mrrning.” “Good! This charade has gone on long enough, Greene said.

  “In the meantime, we pretend to cooperate and thus allay suspicion until our fleets are in position.

  “Then we demand the truth of the massacre in the Fingal system,’ Hrrrv said, flourishing his claws. He stood up, bowed to Mllaba, and left.

  “I, too, must go,’ Mllaba said. “Ze Council expects me to report on ze Zreaty’s progress.” Her black robes whispering over the long grass, Mllaba glided away.

  Like a shadow, she passed between the hulking figures of Gringg and Hayuman, and disappeared between the gateposts.

  “What if we’ve been wrong?” Castleton asked Greene suddenly, in the thoughtful silence that followed the Hrrubans’ departure. Her voice was too loud, and she forced herself to lower it. “What if they truly are peaceful creatures? What will the Gringg think when our forces surround them? They’ll feel betrayed. They’ll never trust us again.

  Greene put a gentle hand on her wrist, and she shuddered slightly.

  “You’ve seen the tape, Grace. We can’t ignore that proof. We have every right to demand an explanation, and to take reasonable precautions.”

  “I still don’t agree with your conclusions,’ Grace said.

  “I’ll fight, and even die, if I have to, to protect Humanity, but I still can’t bring myself to believe in the Gringg threat.

  I’ll just be doing my job.” She lowered her gaze, and sat staring at the ground between her feet.

  “Yes,’ Greene said, moving closer to her. They were now knee to knee. She was aware of the warmth in his eyes and the scent of liis skin mixing with the cooler aromas of the night air. “After tomorrow we might be very busy.

  “Or dead,’ Grace said, her eyes fixed on his.

  “But not without having given a good battle,’ Greene said. He held out his hand to her. “Let’s go back to the ship and form our own plan of action.” With a sad smile, she nevertheless took his hand.

  Chapter 11

  COMMANDER FRiLL COURTEOUSLY PUSHED BACK HiS chair and stood when Milaba entered the conference room. He wasn’t sure if protocol for a Speaker of the High Council applied to his personal assistant, but it was better to err on the side of courtesy. MIlaba spared him an annoyed expression then made straight for his side of the table. He remained standing until she had taken a chair and he assisted her to draw it under the table.

  Cardiff, on his other side, glanced up at the Hrruban, but his conversation with a pair of Gringg engineers and the technician from the Hrruban warship did not falter.

  The Gringg were arguing a complex point about drive engines that the Hrruban couldn’t believe, but wanted to. Vocabulary was not yet adequate for high technology so most of the dispute was carried out in mime, with each si
de making subtle alterations in the technical diagrams showing on the computer screens set between them.

  Cardiff’s talk was peppered with untranslatable military and corridor slang that a couple of the Gringg were beginning to repeat back to him.

  Hurrhee, the chief scientist from Hrruba, interrupted his talk to pay heed to Second’s assistant. He was, as Frill understood it, a medium-wide Stripe, which put him among the upper class on Hrruba, but Milaba was his Superior. She muttered a long, low stream of grunts and growls at him, flipping off the control on his voder.

  Hurrhee submitted to that action but Frill frowned and pricked his ears, though he only recognized a few of the glottal changes as belonging to High Hrruban rather than Middle. He wished he knew that dialect, because whatever it was she was saying, it sounded important.

  “What is it, madam?” Hurrhee asked with just a touch of asperity.

  “I am in a most interesting conversation. I do not wish to get left behind in the details.

  The assistant’s gold-green eyes glinted with impatience.

  “What have you learned?”

  “About their grasp of matter transport technology?” The military tech glanced up at the words. Mllaba stared around her in alarm, but no one else had comprehended.

  “Yes,’ she said. “Speak not using terms, but concepts.” Hurrhee lowered his voice further. “Most interesting, madam. I spoke in a general way about crystalline focusing systems from deliberately impure mineral complexes.

  Those,’ he nodded towards the hugest Gringg, a female, who sat beside the Hayuman scientist and a large, brownpatched male bear, “began to study the false diagrams I gave them. To my great delight, they have an idea how to prolong the life of the tuning crystals, madam. But I am now absolutely positive that the purralinium they are willing to trade us has the impurities we so urgently need. Though that metal did not come up in conversation, the dark-skinned Hayuman has made a suggestion that could very well result in still further protection for our supplies.”

  “What?” Mllaba replied, deeply troubled.

  “How could he? Hrruba has sought such advances for centuries.”

  “But a fresh eye,’ Hurrhee said in a grunting whisper, may see things a jaded one cannot. I am most enthusiastic about pursuing this discussion.

  And Sixth Speaker for Production was eager that I should continue.

  “If the Hayumans suspect what aim you serve, they will be in possession of valuable information regarding gr-That technology,’ Milaba said sternly. “Discredit anything which comes too close.” Hurrhee shook his greying mane, disbelievingly. “But should these things be secrets, madam? Science is the only universal language which cannot lie. Sooner or later they might deduce it on their own. The Hayumans seek it now, and I believe the Gringg have a fair idea that purralinium is what powers the grid systems. The large female has asked several leading questions. I hate to keep putting her off, since who may know what advances she may lead us to?”

  “But it would be advances the Hayumans might be able to share to the disadvantage of Hiruba, and that must not be. Our secrets must remain our own. Can you not equivocate?”

  “No,’ Hurrhee said, bluntly, but still in a whisper. “The facts would swiftly bear against me. There is more. A few of the naval Hayumans are quite upset about it, and in fact tried to speak out against open discussion.

  “Could you tell what the subject was?” Hurrhee shook his head slightly. “I think it had to do with spaceship technology, maximizing poor resources for greatest effect. It may well be, madam, that both our technologies are short of essential metals to increase our respective transportation mediums. In my deepest heart, I feel cooperation, total cooperation, would benefit us more than the current secrecies.” Mllaba eyed him coldly. “Then it is as well that you are not in any position to make policy.” Her voice was devoid of expression. “Follow the instructions given you and do not deviate.

  “Madam,’ Hurrhee replied, with great dignity, “how can I, in my capacity as a leading scientist, ignore the chance to gain advantages which will result in massive leaps forward in many fields? I must know what these Gringg have to say, and to do so, I must be honest.”

  “Honesty!” Mllaba was astonished. “What is that when our security is at stake?”

  “False security, I would say,’ Hurrhee replied haughtily.

  Mllaba didn’t trust herself to speak further. An outburst here would only serve to disgrace her office and that of the Speaker she served. Angrily, she pushed back her chair and stalked out. Hurrhee watched her depart, then returned to his discussion.

  “Ah, Koala,’ he said, pleasantly. “Now, where were we?”

  “Hrrestan, may I speak to you?” At Second Speaker’s voice, the senior Hrruban administrator glanced up from a stack of angry messages scattered across his desk, then rose hastily to his feet. The older male seemed agitated. “But of course, honoured Speaker.

  Please be seated. How may I serve you?” The Hrruban settled himself into the padded chair opposite and attempted to compose his thoughts. “May I take you into my confidence, Hrrestan? You have always held the Hrruban cause dear.”

  “This sounds ominous, Speaker Hrrto,’ Hrrestan said, infusing a light tone into his voice. “It is true, I act for the best of all Hrrubans, but also to secure prosperity for my Hayuman neighbour.”

  “My request does not counter either of those purposes,’ Hrrto said. “You are aware of the scientific conference going on in the Treaty Centre?” Hrrestan inclined his head. “But of course. Your interest honours us.

  What is your request?”

  “It is not a simple one to explain. I must tell you I disapprove of the openness which pervades there. Instead of discussing generalities, as I thought the conference was meant to do, the participants seem to have gone straight on to sensitive topics, discussing engineering and space sciences as if they were exchanging recipes.”

  “Scientists do tend to become enthusiastic about their pet topics,’ Hrrestan said. “If you wanted them to learn only names and formulae, that could have been done with simple teaching tapes, instead of allowing free-thinking beings to participate. The Gringg have their own sciences, some in advance of ours, from what I have been told. Evidently our own inventors and technicians have discovered they can proceed quickly to the satisfyingly and interestingly complex.”

  “No! That is not the way it should be operating,’ Second insisted, raising his voice almost to a shout. He stopped, surprised at his own lack of discretion. “There are reasons why we should be more discreet. I . . . I cannot be more candid at this time, but I am greatly worried that indiscretion reigns with creatures unknown to us a mere four weeks ago.” And Second Speaker allowed his alarm to colour his tone. He controlled himself and went on firmly.

  “We take quantum leaps before we understand walking with them as partners. So much is at stake here.”

  “Indeed, but what exactly alarms you so?” Hrrestan asked earnestly.

  “I beg your pardon?”

  “From what I have heard, there has been accord and much exchange of information among our scientists while others are busily discussing trade agreements. What specific problem agitates you so, Second Speaker?”

  “Mllaba has been attending on my behalf while I dealt with the Diplomatic Immunity Affair,’ Hrrto said in a testy tone: he had the right to use his assistant as an information gatherer. Hrrestan did not react adversely.

  Perhaps he, too, had spies. “Her sources suggest that the Gringg may have already deduced the workings of our grid transport system!” He paused to let Hrrestan absorb the significance of that before he continued. “We know they have purralinium on offer as barter. We must obtain all, ALL of the material. We cannot allow the Hayumans to have any. Surely I do not need to remind you why.”

  “Pure purralinium is also on offer and the Hayumans seem much more interested in that,’ Hrrestan said soothingly. “They like quality and insist on the purest assays.

&nbs
p; “But the danger exists and you should by now know how Hayumans can grasp a single word and end up with a statement! If they ever connected the impure purralinium with our grid technology Second Speaker threw his hands up at such a catastrophe. “MIlaba has tried to slow the talks or divert them from discussions that would inevitably lead to its disclosure, but she has been unsuccessful.

  These scientists are so single minded! Therefore, you must disband the science conference!”

  “I must not do that. For shame, Speaker Hrrto,’ Hrrestan said, his large eyes flashing. “For shame that you will not allow the Gringg to prove themselves as strong and supportive allies. If they can deduce our poor technology by casual examination - as our Hayuman friends have never yet managed to do - and yet have offered their friendship and their assistance instead of taking advantage of us, you should be pleased and grateful instead of treating them with distaste and fear. I shall be proud to have them as friends which is much more preferable than making them rivals or potential enemies.

  As you have said, I support Hrruba, and I say that Hrruba would benefit greatly by frank and honest interaction with such a race.

  Hrrto regrouped his arguments. “But you do not fear them yourself? You do not find their size frightening?”

  “Not at all,’ Hrrestan said, his jaw dropping in a slight smile. “Their voices are annoying, but they cannot help that. We become accustomed and nape hair no longer rises when they speak too loudly. If they are large of Stature, what of it? They are intelligent, caring beings.

  Yesterday, at the incitement of my grandchild, one of the Gringg picked me up and held me in the air like an infant. You were at the barbecue; you might have seen it yourself. It was a game the two of them were playing together, and yet the Gringg is the size of a large horse.

  My rambunctious grandson considered him a playmate. If my children and their offspring trust them, can I do less?