"It doesn't matter," Kando replied. "And it is right that Nadhari is here now. She will come around once she sees the breadth of my vision. Our vision. She lives in the modern universe by preference, after all. You have the chemicals?"
"Oh, yes. But you're on your own as far as getting them to this lake you told me about. If I flew you out there, it would blow my cover and I'd be replaced before our operation got off the ground."
They watched their troops approach the strange patchworked ship. Macostut's last sentence trailed away as a flap of the Condor's skin opened and something large and white with curlicues of color and swags of gilt bunting decorating its wings flew away, out over the wall protecting the port, high above the city and out toward the desert.
"What is that?" Kando demanded, pointing.
"It appears to be a flying horse," Macostut said, shaking his head in disbelief. "How did my people miss that during the inspection?" To his ground troops he said, "Lock that ship down, men, along with any remaining personnel."
But moments later they reported back, as they came out of the Condor. "We are sorry, sir. Whatever personnel were aboard seem to have evacuated on the flying horse thing."
The Makahomian troops wore thoughtful and awestruck expressions as they watched the sky.
Aboard the Condor, white hands burst from the soil in the hydroponics garden and Mac sat up, brushed the dirt and plants from his uniform, considerately replanted Acorna's crops, and returned to the bridge to see what he could do about breaking the just-installed locks on the new computer system without alerting any possible Federation monitors. It would be tricky, but so was he.
Fifteen
Do you still think this is merely political, Ambassador?" Tagoth asked Acorna.
Acorna shook her head. "No. I looked into the Mulzar's mind. Edu Kando started the plague himself on purpose."
"That's terrible. Why would he do a dumb thing like that?" MacDonald asked.
Acorna said, "The Mulzar seems to want all the things he considers modern and technologically advanced. I think he feels that if he destroys his planet's agrarian economy and undermines the people's religion by killing the sacred cats at the same time, he will force the people of this world into accepting a different way of life for Makahomia. A more galactic way of doing things. He also hopes to force the Federation to aid Makahomia by driving the planet into such a terrible condition that the Federation will have to help. By giving the people, through him, the things he thinks will help accomplish his own goals, the Mulzar hopes to set himself up as both leader and savior of this world. He even expects that all its people will be grateful to him." She brushed the dust off of her face and clothing as she thought, then said, "But I didn't get the sense from the crowd at the temple that he's really in touch with how the people feel. They care about their families, their animals, and the sacred cats. What they don't much care for is the Mulzar."
"Then he'll want to kill us as well as our Temple cats, so no one can stand against him," Miw-Sher said, looking up at her uncle. "Every priest on this planet is in danger."
Tagoth nodded.
Nadhari jumped down from the wagon and stamped a bit to stimulate the circulation to her feet, which had fallen asleep after being braced during the long, bumpy, and-by Makahomian standards-lightning-fast drive from Hissim. She said, "I have to go back to town. I can't let Edu keep lying to the people."
"What will you do?" Acorna asked.
Nadhari shrugged. "Start a little coup all my own, I suppose. I've done that sort of thing before. And these are my own people. It shouldn't be that difficult."
Miw-Sher asked, "We've come a long way. It will be full night before you can reach the city. How well do you see in the dark?"
"Better with an infrared scope on a high-powered laser," Nadhari replied. "Otherwise, about average."
"That is something worth knowing. You and the High Priest share ancestry. If you don't have the gift of night sight, then he probably lacks it as well. The ability runs strongly through family lines. I see as well in darkness as any guardian."
"Nice for you, but I don't see what good it does me. I should have known Edu would try something like this. When he was young, he liked pulling the wings off insects. When he was a bit older, he tormented songbirds, then hawks, that sort of thing. The priests were appalled by the waste of life, but my uncle said Edu was just practicing his warrior skills. I don't think Edu has changed much. He's just more ambitious."
"That's interesting," Miw-Sher said, "for I regret to inform you, Lady Nadhari, that the most recent thing that the High Priest publicly pulled off was the arms and legs of your uncle. When the old Mulim objected, the Mulzar had him walled up."
"His was the voice I heard when I took the passage you showed me?" Acorna asked.
Miw-Sher nodded. "A little food is passed through a slot in the wall for him - I know, because feeding the Mulim has been among my daily duties, and I often take Grimla to spend a few moments with him. There are ventilation holes on the top of the tail-wall. There were once several anchorites like the old Mulim, but they've died to this world."
"I see," Acorna said.
Tagoth and Nadhari were now standing very close to each other. "Be careful, Nadhari," Tagoth told her. "I hope I don't have to tell you how dangerous Edu can be. I would go with you to help you, but my duty lies elsewhere. I must warn the Aridimi priesthood and help them to defend the sacred lake. My path lies deep into the desert, at the Aridimi Stronghold."
"I've always known Edu was a sociopath," Nadhari said. "I had good reason to find out quite early in life."
"I know." Tagoth's voice dropped almost to a whisper.
"But I am not a child any longer." Nadhari's own voice hardened with anger. "Edu is not the only one who is dangerous."
Their conversation stopped suddenly as an amazing apparatus appeared overhead. Acorna recognized it at once as the flitter the Linyaari techno-artisans had been modifying with their distinctive artwork before the Khleevi attack. It was in the shape of a flying Ancestor with wings decorated in gilt, embellished with all of the colors worn in Ancestral livery and tack. Becker and Mac had salvaged it. Now it swooped down, Becker at the helm, to settle onto the sand, its wings still upraised. RK hopped down from the wagon and strolled over to the flitter, where Becker stretched out his hands to receive the first mate's paws as RK sprang from the ground onto Becker's shoulders.
"Hey, he's glad to see me. Tired of being worshipped, are you, old man?"
RK closed his eyes and purred. Miw-Sher carried Grimla, while Pash and Haji leaped from the wagon to the hull of the flitter. Sher-Paw alone approached more slowly, sniffing around and curling his lip.
Acorna said, "I can see that your hands are full. I can take the helm, Captain."
"Well, uh, I had to leave in kind of a hurry, Princess. Seems we've worn out our welcome back in Hissim. There's half an army sitting there, waiting for our return. I'm not quite sure where we ought to go from here. And on top of that, there's only room for three of us with all this cargo I've got stuffed in here."
"Tagoth and Nadhari won't be coming with us. They have other plans," Acorna told him. "Miw-Sher and the cats should come with us, I think. There is room for the cats, isn't there?"
He felt a lightness on his shoulders and looked around. All four of the Temple cats and RK were up to their hind legs in the open bag of cat food he'd brought with him.
"Yeah. Looks like it," Becker said.
"Guess that leaves me with the Vikings to hoof it," MacDonald said.
But as Acorna climbed into the cockpit of the flitter, the sound of an approaching mounted force thundered from beyond the dunes. A dozen riders galloped up on the ancestor-like beasts and slid to a stop, raising a cloud of dust as they surrounded the wagons.