This mention of Praxiteles’ lack of footwear reminded Rishi that she was still wearing a towel and clutching the bed covers in front of her. “Come talk to me this afternoon, Hari,” she said as she backed into the bathroom.
Once the door shut, she dropped the bed covers and stared at herself in the mirror. Had she gone crazy? What could have possessed her to behave as she had the night before? Maybe Hari was right, and she was working too much. Either that, or she wasn’t nearly as ethical and compassionate as she liked to think.
Rishi let out a sigh that almost turned into a sob. For someone whose days were packed with activity, her life was empty of emotional reward, like a child’s holiday candy that looked tempting until you realized it was hollow. And now she had gone and screwed her life up even worse by tarnishing her self-image. She picked up a hairbrush and brushed her hair.
“At least I didn’t actually abduct him,” she said to her reflection. “And at least he seems to want to be here.”
PRAX followed Hari through the corridors of the Golden Hawk with his mind whirling like dust in a windstorm. The outland woman didn’t want him after all. And yet, she had asked him to come with her. It was very confusing. He had thought he knew what she wanted from him, and now it seemed she had a totally different task in mind for him.
He had sensed no deception when she spoke to him, so it must be true that she felt no desire for him. Prax admitted to himself that he was a little disappointed. As shocked as he had been by her request, and no matter how badly he had felt at leaving his family, the thought of sharing the off world woman’s bed had not in any way repulsed him. On the contrary.
Still, it seemed incredible that she would take him from his world only to work in her army. Perhaps it had been the wine? Sometimes people did crazy things after drinking too much wine. Apollo’s wife wouldn’t drink it at all because it made her so wild.
Hari stopped in front of a set of double doors. When they opened for him, he stepped through to a little room with a railing all around it.
Prax followed, only to be confused when Hari turned around. He followed Hari’s example, and the doors closed. “Why did we come in here?” Prax asked.
“It’s a lift,” Hari said. He turned his head and spoke into a small circle to the left of the doors. “Level four, security office.”
Instantly, Prax could feel the little room began to rise rapidly. He dropped his saddle bags and clutched the railing. After a few seconds, the room stopped, and then it seemed to rush sideways.
Hari chuckled. “Don’t worry. It only takes a few seconds.”
Prax took a deep breath but didn’t let go of the rail until the room stopped moving and the doors opened. He picked up his saddle bags and followed Hari.
The older man led the way to a tiny room and then sat down in a chair behind a desk. Prax knew it was a desk because of his time in the cities, but he suspected that the many buttons and panels set into its surface made it more sophisticated than any desk he had seen in Pireaus.
“Sit down,” Hari said, indicating a chair on the other side of the desk. “I need to get some information so we can figure out the best way to train you.”
Prax sat down, putting his saddle bags and bouzouki on the floor under his chair. He tried not to notice how small the room was, and how closed in he felt.
“Now,” Hari said, leaning back, “have you ever done any fighting?”
Prax pondered before he replied. He wanted to be helpful, but he felt at such a loss in his surroundings that he no longer had any confidence in himself. “Are you asking about real fights or tests of skill?”
“Both,” said Hari, “or rather either.”
“I have had to fight many times,” Prax said. “The Elliniká do not live behind city walls. We have to defend ourselves against predators—animals and others.”
“Ever kill anyone?”
Prax nodded. “During attacks by bandits, I shot many of them.” He calculated in his head and decided he couldn’t count the man he had shot in his most recent battle. They hadn’t found any outlaw bodies except for Gemal’s remains. “I know I have killed at least six bandits, besides the man I killed with my knife.”
Hari’s eyebrows shot up. “You knifed someone?”
Prax tried for a matter-of-fact tone so he wouldn’t sound like he was bragging. “A raiding party attacked our herd one night. I was standing sentry, and a man tried to overpower me. I had to kill him quietly, so as not to spook the herd, so I used my knife.”
“How did you kill him exactly?” Hari sounded amazed.
Prax didn’t understand his fascination, but he was willing to demonstrate his knowledge. “I slit his throat. It’s the quickest way, and the surest, especially if you need to keep them quiet.”
“I see.” For some reason, a note of disapproval had crept into Hari’s voice. “Well, you’re going to learn some new ways to fight. For one thing, we have much less lethal ways of taking out an opponent. Did you ever hear of a stun gun?”
Prax shook his head.
“Well, you’ll learn to use one,” Hari said. “How about tests of skill?”
Prax didn’t understand the question. “What about them?”
Hari sat up. “Don’t your people ever fight as a contest. Not really trying to kill each other, just to see who’s the best at fighting?”
“Of course. Every year, in the summer, the Elliniká hold a gathering of the clans. There are competitions in wrestling, shooting, knife throwing, boxing.”
Hari looked intrigued. “Men and women?”
The suggestion shocked Prax. “Only men fight among the Elliniká. If anything, the contests are held so that young men can impress young women with their skills. That’s what gatherings are for.”
Hari grinned. “How did you do in these contests?”
Prax answered honestly. “I was the champion at knife throwing, three times running. I did well at shooting but never well enough to win more than third place.”
“And that wasn’t enough to impress some young woman into marrying you?”
Prax could feel the blood draining from his face. “No.”
Hari frowned, but he didn’t press Prax for details. “Can you read and write?”
“Of course,” Prax said, offended.
“In Standard?”
It took Prax a moment to figure out that Standard must be the name for the language spoken in the cities. “I learned enough so that I could read the signs in front of stores.”
Hari shook his head. “That’s going to be a problem. You’ll have to learn to read and write in Standard as well as you speak it. There’s no way around it.”
Prax shrugged. “I am willing to do whatever I must to pay our debt.”
Hari grinned at him. “I know that. I just hope accomplishing that goal doesn’t prove fatal to you or anyone else. It occurs to me that we’ve taken you out of your natural setting and plunked you down somewhere where you have no idea what the rules are.” A thought seemed to strike him. “I don’t suppose you’ve ever seen a non-Terran before?”
Prax frowned as he tried to decipher the word. Terra was where people had first come from. He knew that. “What is a non-Terran?”
Hari sighed. “People like us—humans—come from Terra originally. There are other sapient species that didn’t originate on Terra. Away from sleeper colony worlds like Celadon, the various species live and work together—the ones that can tolerate the same atmosphere and gravity, anyway.”
Prax puzzled through this answer, which was, to him, no answer at all. “What are sapient species and what is gravity?”
Hari’s grin evaporated. His face took on a sour look. “This could be tougher than I thought. Sapient species means intelligent beings, like you and me, only not all sapients look like us. You and I are Terrans. Rishi is a Terran.” He waved a hand to enco
mpass the room. “Everyone you’ve met so far on this ship is a Terran. Subidar, the world we’re going to, was started as a Terran colony, so it’s mostly Terran, but there are some non-Terrans there.” He rubbed his chin as he looked at Prax. “I think the best thing is to set up some educational programs to fill you in on the last thousand years of history. I’ll look into that right away. In the meantime, you can wait here. I’ll have someone bring you breakfast.”
The room seemed to have gotten even smaller, but still, the idea of wandering around the enormous ship by himself also held no appeal. And he was hungry. Prax nodded. “Very well. I will wait here.”
RISHI finished dressing just as Lidiya brought her breakfast tray.
“There you are, Mistress,” Lidiya said as she set the tray on the table. “I thought I was going to have to bring breakfast and lunch at the same time if you slept any later.”
Rishi looked at the rolled crepes sitting in a puddle of berry sauce and sighed. Draghnachh was a good cook, but she missed Thulan’s cooking. “I don’t think I can eat anything this morning. I’ll just have coffee.”
Lidiya poured a cup of coffee and handed it to her. “Of course, Mistress.”
Rishi shot her a suspicious look. Lidiya rarely called her Mistress when they were alone, certainly not twice in two minutes. “You know about Praxiteles, don’t you?”
Lidiya nodded. “Aside from what Hari told me when I put you to bed last night, it’s all over the ship.” She glanced around the room. “Where is he?”
“Hari took him away.” Rishi let out a breath and decided it wouldn’t hurt to have someone to talk to about Praxiteles. “Sit down and I’ll tell you about it.”
Lidiya sat on a chair. Her eyes grew wider as Rishi related her evening among the Elliniká and her morning awakening to an unexpected guest in her bed.
“And of course, all I had on was a towel.”
Lidiya gasped and laughed at the same time. “So what happens now?”
“I talked to him, and he didn’t want to go back to Celadon. He says he has to pay off his clan’s debt.”
Lidiya’s expression formed an unspoken question.
“Not that way!” Rishi said at once. “I would never do that—exploit someone out of gratitude. No, Hari came up with a plan to train him as a security guard. That way he could feel he was paying his debt, but with a less personal kind of service.”
Lidiya’s eyes twinkled with amusement. “Ingrid says he’s gorgeous.”
“Ingrid?”
“Ingrid Nakamura. She works in Security.”
“Oh, Nakamura.” Rishi frowned. “She’s not homely herself.”
“I know, and she’s tall, too.” Lidiya’s voice held a wistful note.
The door chimed in Hari’s special pattern. Lidiya stood up at once and lifted the tray. “I’ll take this now, if you’re sure you’re not hungry?”
Rishi made a brushing gesture with one hand. “Take it away, please.”
Lidiya opened the door. “Good morning, Hari,” she said, stepping past him.
He glanced at the tray of food and frowned. “Morning, Lidiya.” He turned to Rishi. “You’re not eating?”
“I’m not hungry.” Rishi lifted one eyebrow, but Hari didn’t look impressed. “I guess committing felonies makes me lose my appetite. And to think that before I went to Celadon, I was perfectly law-abiding.”
Hari’s grin was too stern to reflect genuine amusement. “Very funny. You may have flouted the Non-Interference Accord by rescuing the Elliniká, but you didn’t kidnap Praxiteles.”
Rishi sipped her coffee. “Close enough. What are you doing here? I thought you weren’t coming to see me until afternoon?”
“It’s almost afternoon.” Hari stepped farther into the room and hooked a high-backed chair with one hand. He spun it around and sat on it backwards, with his forearms laid across the chair back. “And we have a problem. You may have bitten off more than I can chew.”
This time Rishi raised both eyebrows. “Praxiteles?”
Hari nodded. “The man speaks Standard so well, I failed to consider just how much he’d have to learn to fit in on a modern world.”
Rishi frowned. “You’re giving up already?”
“I’m not giving up.” Hari held out both hands, palm up. “I’m just pointing out some things. I’m not sure it’ll ever be safe to let that young man lose in Shembor.”
The statement struck Rishi as extreme. “Why not?”
“Because he’s killed seven people, that’s why not. Seven that he knows of for sure, that is. He very politely explained to me that slitting a man’s throat is the best way to kill him if you need to be quiet about it.”
“Seven people?” Praxiteles had seemed perfectly civilized to Rishi. She gave Hari a suspicious look. “Why did Praxiteles kill these seven people?”
Hari waved a hand. “I’m sure it was in defense of himself or his people. But the fact is, he’s been trained to kill without worrying about legalities. He’s also never heard of a non-Terran, let alone seen one. He’s got no idea what gravity is. Asking questions won’t do him much good if he can’t understand the answers.”
Rishi could see how that would be a problem. “Maybe he could watch some educational programs—sort of catch up on things in an entertaining way?”
Hari grunted. “I’ve got Rurhahn working on compiling a list so we can order them before we start spatial fold. But even the most sophisticated program isn’t going to know how to handle questions from someone who’s lived his whole life in the virtual Dark Ages.”
Rishi bounced out of her chair and started pacing. Praxiteles was a problem that needed solving—just her strong suit. “So we’ll get him a tutor.”
Hari’s eyes followed her as she paced. “We can try. But I still think buying him a ticket home is an option we need to keep on the table.”
Rishi tapped her lower lip with one finger, unwilling to consider Hari’s suggestion. There was no reason Praxiteles couldn’t stay with her. No reason at all. “It’s too bad there’s no one aboard who could tutor him. It’s a shame to waste this time.”
“Rishi!”
She turned to look at him. “What?”
“Did you hear one word I said?”
“Yes, yes!” She waved a hand. “Praxiteles has a lot to learn. Your staff will have to keep an eye on him for a while. I need to find him a tutor right away.” She put one hand to her forehead in alarm. “Oh, and I just realized, as soon as we come out of folded space, I need to send a message to my lawyers in Shembor. They’ll need to arrange entry papers for him at the spaceport.”
Hari leaned his chin on his forearms. “Why do I feel like I’m a passenger on a starship where the captain’s brain is still in spatial fold? You’ve gone mental, Rishi.”
She stopped pacing to glare at him. Really, he was being very judgmental. Was what she wanted so terrible? The thought made her pause. What did she want? “It’s not crazy to think obstacles can be overcome.”
He snorted and sat up. “No, but it’s foolish to refuse to see how big the obstacles are.”
Rishi started to argue, but Hari’s wrist com beeped.
“Ijeomah here.”
“Chief,” a voice said. “It’s Chio.”
“Yeah?”
“I brought that breakfast tray like you said, but I think you need to get down here.”
“Why?”
“Because this guy is sitting on the floor rocking back and forth, that’s why. He’s scaring me.”
Hari made a noise—half a snort and half a sigh. “Stay there. I’ll be right down.”
Rishi watched him anxiously. “Where is Praxiteles?”
“My office.”
“Let me know how it goes.”
Hari gave her an annoyed look. “I most certainly will.”
PRAX fought panic. He told himself that he had nothing to worry about, even though the room seemed smaller every second he was in it, and he hadn’t seen the sun since yesterday.
The man who had brought the tray of food stood with his arms crossed and his back to the wall, watching him. Prax recognized him. He was the one called Chio, the one who had guarded the lady when she had brought her blue lightning to the plains.
Prax had opted to sit on the floor. Hari hadn’t said that he shouldn’t, and somehow, sitting in a small open space on the floor felt less confining than sitting in a chair, embraced by its arms and back. After he had tasted the food, Prax had returned to the floor and begun to rock back and forth.
When the door opened suddenly with a loud whoosh, Prax jumped to his feet. One hand went to his dagger before he could stop himself.
Hari stared at him. “Hello, Praxiteles. Are you okay?”
Prax drew in a deep breath. “I’m well enough. But I need to go outside for a while.”
Chio made a choking sound that told Prax he had said something funny without intending it.
Hari never so much as smiled. “I’m afraid that’s not possible. We’re in deep space. Ah, anyway, in the vast spaces between worlds there’s no air, and it’s freezing cold. No one can go outside until we get to Subidar.”
Praxiteles had never thought about what the space between worlds was like. “How long will that take?”
“About seven days to reach Subidar’s system, then another three days to get to Subidar.”
Prax felt as if his heart had stopped. It was more than three times as long as his sentence in the prison wagon. “Ten days?”
Hari nodded. “If you’re okay, why were you rocking back and forth on the floor?”
Prax wavered between annoyance and embarrassment. These people’s manners made no sense to him. “Is there a rule against that?”
“No. I was just worried that you were distressed about something.”
Prax indicated the tray. Chio had identified the meal as scrambled eggs and ham, but Prax hadn’t known what that meant. “The food distressed me. It’s doesn’t feel like food in my mouth.”
Worlds Apart (ThreeCon) Page 7
