And her son firmly under the influence of her daughter Tahy, who was groundling to the depths of her short-sighted, narrow heart.
/ never knew you! Tahy's voice, Tahy's face, nose wrinkled in anger. That ship, always that ship-
And Kara, big lad, inheriting height from both Khym and herself.
And brains from neither.
The gfi arrived, in Fiar's careful hand. She sipped it. It was overstrong. It hit her stomach like acid. But the warmth comforted. That much.
"Send to Gaohn," she said. "Pyanfar Chanur to the Llun. We call on Gaohn station to release the Ayhar ship and crew. The ships out here constitute sufficient of the han to make a temporary quorum. You have that authority. Officers of the han will respect this order or deliver themselves to the protection of Llun Immunity. We take possession of the station in the name of the han. End message. List the clans out here. Put all of them signatory to it."
It was a drunken, arrogant move. It was also fast, and it gave the down world han no time to organize or decree.
"Good bet the han's in session," Sirany said. "Down there."
"They would be. Yes. Let 'em debate what to do. Let 'em debate till the sun freezes. Dither and stew and argue. We've got an emergency out here. Send my apologies to the other ships for using them on signature, we got no time for transmission lag. We're operating under stress out here. Ask them to send a confirm and back me. Tell them we've got to get into Gaohn and get Banny Ayhar out of there.
"We're already getting confirms on that quorum call," Sif said.
It hit slowly. Like a wave of cold and heat. My gods, it's going to work. What do I do?
Jik! gods rot you, Jik, what do I do?
"Call the clans in front of us. Ask them would they return to Gaohn and secure Ayhar's safe release."
"Aye," Sif said. "Sending." And a moment later: "Llun responds. Ayhar crew is in process of release already. Prosperity is being serviced. Llun sends its compliments, ker Pyanfar, and asks what about the kif, quote, What are we facing? End quote."
The relief was giddy. She probed it a moment, replayed the statement that echoed in her skull, whether it was real or stim-induced hallucination. Good news, my gods, it's still working."
"We're coming in. Tell them that. Tell them I'm coming in for conference and if any of the han downworld want to get themselves up on the next shuttle, they're welcome. Tell them no danger from forces with me, repeat, with me. End message. Just that way, ker Sifeny."
"Understood. Re-request on order to the ships in front of us?"
"Tell them stand by. Does Llun need help onstation? Query them that while you're at it." I'm muddling. Not thinking of things. I'm dangerous up here. "Ker Sirany. I'm resigning operationals. Policy I'll handle. Refer to yourself and the other captains- all other-" She gave a desperate wave of her hand. "-stuff." And fumbled after the belt and tried to stand up.
"Help, cap'n?" Sif reached and grabbed her arm. "Ker Haral!"
I'm doing quite all right, thank you.
And the whole bridge went gray and dark.
Operations chatter. Quiet stuff. She got to her feet hanging onto the chair and held to the back of it.
All in gray. Dark a moment. And the blood rushing in her cars.
Someone got to her. Someone held onto her. "You want to walk," Haral said.
"I'm walking." Legs insensate as dead meat. Equilibrium gone. Haral had one side, Khym had the other.
It was a long, long walk to her quarters. The corridor lights writhed like the spine of a glowing snake.
"Just gone too far," Haral said. "Knew her like this once at Ajir."
Liar. I was drunk then. I'm scared, Hal. I haven't got anything left and they need me.
"I got her." When the whole universe did a sharp and sudden tilt. Khym hauled her along with an arm about her. Might as well have been flying, upside down and sideways.
Bed then. Mattress. Sheets. Pillow.
"Chur's room," Geran's voice said, hoarse and panting und utterly exhausted. "Haral, tell 'em. We can fall in there."
A body landed beside her. Thump. The safety restraint hummed and clicked.
Dark then.
Till the gravity shifted and she came awake with a reflexive clench of the claws into what was not mattress, but her I husband; he hissed and shifted and jerked as he came awake weighing less than he ought and with gravity not where it' ought to be.
"Uuuh!"
"Docking. It's all right, it's all right, we're at Gaohn." Mumble. Even that was not sufficient goad to get the body moving. The brain dimmed down again, with too great a load to push. More G-shifts. Clang and thump. Not safe to stand, in the condition she was. Prudent just to lie there and catch the few extra moments of drowse she could. Before the clangs and thumps of contact told her the grapples were secure. Then was time to get on her feet and clean up.
Safety hummed into retraction. It was Fiar standing over them, with a tray in her hands and an ears-back worried look on her face. The ship was miraculously stable and quiet. "Captain. M'lord. You want to try to eat something?"
We aborted dock? Backed off?
I slept through the grapple-noise? The connects? Gods, we're not on rotation.
She levered herself up on her arms. Khym stayed unconscious beside her. The place smelled. They did. Everything did. Her eyes were sticky and her mouth felt awful. "Situation," she said.
"We're in, captain. Berth thirteen. Got a solid line of our ships out there beyond us. Just everybody sitting, except us, except our lot-Harun and Pauran and Faha and all, we're in dock right together. So's ker Rhean and Chanur's Fortune. Ehrran too. Anfy Chanur held 'em under her guns on the way to dock, she's still got Light standing out right nearby, but Ehrran's still talking for Naur and them, but spacers are mad, captain, they're not having any of it. They want to see you. We told 'em you were in no fit condition. But my captain asks, she says maybe you should get Up there and see 'em soon as you can, captain-we got a whole lot of kif and a whole lot of hani eyeball-on out there around Tyar; but she wants you to have a breakfast and take it slow, her word, captain."
"Gods." She shut her eyes with force and opened them again, trying to focus. Fiar looked exhausted, ears flagging in a curious, lopsided way that made her look younger than she was. Stable at dock. Other ships having had time to make it in. Anfy and Ehrran in standoff. She reached and took the offered cup. Biggest they had. Full of savory soup, steam going up like a wish to the gods. "Unnnhh." She took a sip. Blinked the kid back into focus. "Ayhar. Where in a mahen hell's Ayhar?"
The ears sank. "They still got them hostage, captain."
"Where?"
"Up in station. Ker Rhean and Harun and my captain, they're working on it, but there's some holdup, and they got fighting at the shuttleports downworld, some on our side and some on theirs, and they can't launch, except a couple got away-The Llun are mediating that, captain says, trying to get the shuttles clear to launch, and some of the Immunes onworld, they're trying to negotiate-"
"A mahen hell with that."
"Meanwhile your crew is coming on, captain said they should take their orders from ker Haral, and ker Haral said-"