Acorna touched her horn lightly to her scratch and said, "Fortunately, I heal quickly." She set to work.
When a sufficient quantity of the vaccine was ready, she prepared to return to the Temple. Mac said, "Are you forbidden to use the flitter, Acorna? I have prepared quite a nice flitter for our use when planetside."
"Thank you, but not this time, Mac. You heard what Nadhari said, didn't you? These people choose not to use technology readily available to the rest of the universe, and the Federation wishes that their choice be respected. Given the warlike nature of the people of Makahomia, I can almost concur that the limitations make sense. By the way, speaking of warlike, how are the Wats doing? You have been keeping them fed, I hope?"
The robot looked concerned. "Yes, Acorna. But they are restless. They had understood they were going to a new home and are… disappointed, I suppose… that this is not it."
"Hmm," Acorna said. "Well, the Wats certainly pose no technological threat to the Makahomians and they are warlike people also, not remarkably different from the people here. Perhaps the Federation would give them permission to immigrate here."
"It is possible," Mac said. "But I do not think they could fill out the paperwork. Lieutenant Commander Macostut had many forms sent to our computer. I filled them out to the best of my abilities and returned them, but I do not think the Wats will be able to satisfy the local inhabitants with their answers, and I have insufficient data about them to fill out many of the questions on the forms. Whether they stay here or not, I sense trouble."
"So the Makahomians want to know who we are, including the Wats?" Acorna smiled. "I can see where that might be a problem. Especially when it comes to formal documentation. We might have to be creative. At any rate, I'll inquire with the local authorities later and see what I can do. I must get this vaccine to the Temple now. Please make sure RK remains aboard ship."
"Yes, Acorna."
But as Acorna was being lowered on the robolift, suddenly a furry projectile hurtled from RK's private exit and the cat rolled onto the floor of the descending lift.
"Shall I raise the lift again, Acorna?" Mac inquired on the intercom he had installed on the robolift. "The first mate escaped my grasp and I could not regain possession of his person without applying undue strength, which might have damaged him."
"We can try," Acorna said. But as soon as the lift began to ascend again, RK lightly leaped onto the ground and sat looking up at her, the scallop of his mouth broadening in a cat smile of deep satisfaction. "Never mind, Mac," Acorna said, laughing in spite of herself at the rebellious cat. "The first mate knows the risks quite well and is willing to take them. Who are we to restrain him?"
Seven
At Kando's invitation, Becker and MacDonald followed the Mulzar out the gate of the Federation post. A sort of old-time carriage waited for them.
There was a low haze over the flat roofs of the city, and the red air smelled like smoke. When Kando knocked on the side of the vehicle's cab, a sleepy-looking monk poked his head out and scrambled up to the driver's seat.
MacDonald stroked the vaguely equine oversized goats that were hitched to the front, looked into their eyes, checked their teeth, and joined Kando, Nadhari and Becker inside. "Looks like those critters escaped whatever it is that's been troubling you anyway, Preacher," he said.
"In the midst of our curse, we are blessed," Kando said piously.
Nadhari s silence hung so heavily over the carriage that nobody, not even the effusive MacDonald, said anything until they arrived at the Temple, which was shaped like a cat.
Becker was feeling a little dizzy from the wine, to which he was no longer accustomed, and the bumpy ride in the cart, not to mention trying to figure out what was really passing between Nadhari and her cousin, and the cousin and Macostut. Acorna would know that kind of thing. Personally, ii it wasn't for wanting to consult with her and see how she was doing with the pussycats, Becker would have made his excuses and returned to the Condor for the night. He had to get to work on his ship's computers pretty soon. Even though Mac knew a lot, the guy's programming was hardly competent to deal with all of the ins and outs of the delicate patchwork Becker had constructed to provide the Condor's control and information instrumentation. Becker wasn't sure there was a man in the galaxy capable of it… except him, of course.
So he was understandably peeved when they arrived at the Temple and were told Acorna had left to return to the ship on an errand.
"What errand?" Kando sternly asked the little girl-was her name Shari something? Nah, but that was close. The kid was flushed and harried-looking, hugging a tortoiseshell cat that would have been as big as RK if it wasn't so skinny.
She answered her boss in Makahomian, and Nadhari quietly translated for Becker and MacDonald.
"She said Acorna had to go to the ship so she could make a magic potion to prevent future guardians from acquiring the disease that has afflicted ours, even long after she has departed."
"You should have detained her, Miw-Sher," Kando said severely. The girl cringed as if she expected to be hit. Becker thought Kando was being too harsh. Becker knew it would take more than some adolescent cat priestess to keep his friend the unicorn girl from going wherever she wanted, whenever she felt like it. Of course Kando didn't know Acorna.
"I'm sorry, Your Holiness, but she said she needed to do it at once, for the future good of the guardians."
This time, Nadhari translated both sides of the conversation tonelessly and deliberately. Was she making some kind of point?
"But she might have been set upon," Kando told the girl. "You should have gone with her, at the very least."
"Oh, hut she was safe. She had a…" The girl stopped, looking trapped.
"A what?"
"A way about her that none would dare trespass," the girl finished lamely. Becker had the funniest idea she had been going to say "guardian" or "cat" or something that amounted to the same thing as RK, his stalwart furry first mate, who should definitely not have been seen here. But the temptations of shore leave may have overridden RK's good sense. How else was his friend going to make Makahomian Temple kittens if he didn't get out and mingle? For a supposedly unsophisticated people, the Makahomians sure had a lot of rules. They should know better than to make rules about cats. He had only one cat, and he knew better than that.
The girl stroked the cat in her arms.
Nadhari scratched the top of the cat's head and said to her cousin, "I see our Acorna has worked her usual healing miracle. This sacred guardian should be ready to take on an army after a day or two of rest. Are you sure there's not something you'd like to trade for Becker's cat food, cousin?"
Kando's mouth spasmed, as if he was trying to smile. He probably didn't appreciate Nadhari interfering while he was dressing down the troops. But Becker was kind of surprised to see that Kando looked less than thrilled by the recovery of the Temple cats.
Miw-Sher, that was the girl's name, not Shari. Nadhari told Becker Miw-Sher meant kitten and was likely a nickname. Anyway, Miw-Sher eagerly led them back to the Temple Guardians ' quarters. She was partly showing off for the newcomers and partly trying to jolly her boss back into a good mood by proving to him how well everything had turned out.
The three toms were-variously-eating, drinking, and sleeping, while the female, perfectly content in the girl's arms, fell into a bonelessly limp sleep. All the cats looked bright-eyed and bushy-tailed to Becker, though they needed to put on a few pounds to get back up to fighting weight.
"Where is Bulaybub?" Kando asked the girl.