"However, and I do not say this to be unkind, you are not organically Linyaari. You are not descended from the Ancestors except perhaps to some degree spiritually, nor were you formed by the Friends. You are the child of your father, and, like him, are stronger and possess far more knowledge than any of our people. Have I mentioned recently how annoying that can be?"
"Yes, Khorii. But you see, my position is an ambiguous one. On the one hand I am your foster brother and playfellow, but on the other hand I am your tutor and mentor in matters of data and learning. And I am to look after you-"
"And protect me, right? And so, to keep me from being hurt, you protect Khiindi, too. Which you did. So now, can we please try to contact the grandfathers or the Condor from here again? It is possible that the bubble was not as conducive to your transmission as it could have been. Let us try from here."
"Very well, Khorii, but first I would like to clarify an error in the corollary to your initial hypothesis. I protected Khiindi because he is my friend, too. And there is a great deal of evidence to support the theory that those who harm the small and helpless four-footed beings will also harm two-legged beings when those beings are at their mercy. Therefore, the behavior of those who torture the weak should be corrected when it is first perceived."
"By breaking his arm?" she asked. "Perhaps a nice chokehold and a lecture would have sufficed."
"Oh, come on!" Hap said. "He had it coming. I'd have corrected the daylights out of his behavior myself if Elviiz hadn't done it first."
"In retrospect my reaction to Marl's treatment of Khiindi was- excessive, I realize," Elviiz replied. "I will have to modulate my behavior in the future to ensure that it does not happen again."
Elviiz seemed restored to full functionality, and sent hails to both the hospital frequency on Kezdet and the Condors private one. There was no answer from either. Khorii sighed and turned to go when the com receiver abruptly crackled to life.
"Maganos Moonbase, this is Rajan Taj, second officer of the supply vessel Maria of the Krishna-Murti Company subcontracting to House Harakamian. Do you read me?" The man on the vid screen had dark skin but still managed to look pale, a green undertone beneath the deep brown complexion. His eyes were red and he looked as though he had been crying.
He repeated the hail several times without success.
"Ooops," Hap said. "My fault. I'm supposed to be com officer tonight, but it's been so slow, what with the quarantines and all, I forgot."
A man's brisk voice replied to the hail. "We read you, Maria. This is Phador Al y Cassidro headmaster of Maganos Moonbase. What is it?"
The officer from the Mana spoke slowly and, Khorii thought, reluctantly. "Mr. Al y Cassidro, two things." The man paused for a breath, then said, "We came to resupply your base, but I regret that we cannot bring your supplies to the surface. Our crew has been stricken with what is surely the plague. Our captain was the first to die, purser followed him six hours ago, and my wife, who is the ship's first officer, and the chief engineer are gravely ill. I don't feel very well myself. I hope you have some food stored away somewhere because we cannot deliver this without bringing the plague to you."
"That is most unfortunate. Your parent company has always been reliable in the past. You realize I have many hungry youngsters to feed as well as a staff?"
"Yes. I realize this. And so I tell you the second part of my message. Our young daughter Jaya is on board, the only member of the crew who does not appear ill, though she is nursing her mother as best she can. But that is no longer her place. Please allow us to send her to you in our shuttle. If you will make a decontamination chamber for her, she will go through it, wash herself thoroughly, cut off her hair if you insist, and change her clothing before entering an isolation chamber of your choice until you can see that she is disease-free. But do not leave her up here with us-with our bodies-alone on the ship. Promise me you will do this."
"It's absolutely out of the question. I'm sorry for your daughter, but we are already on short rations, and since yours are unusable, we will have all we can do to feed the children we have. If you are amply supplied, I see no reason why the girl shouldn't do better than my students will, as she will have enough to eat."
Rajan Taj looked stricken. "Please, sir. It is not her fault that we are ill. She is only a girl. You must care for children to have so many there. Take pity on her, I beg you."
"I'm sorry. There is no use arguing. My decision has been made. When the quarantine is lifted, we will contact the Federation Health Authorities to decontaminate your ship and deliver the cargo we paid you for already. If your daughter survives until then, she is certainly welcome until some suitable arrangement can be made for her. That is the best I can do. We have student communications officers running our unit, and I hope that you will not distress them by repeating your futile entreaties. Maganos Moonbase out."
"Have I mentioned that we don't like that guy much?" Hap asked.
"What is the matter with some of these people?" Khorii asked. "Elviiz, get second officer Taj back."
Elviiz was already hailing the stranded supply ship.
"Mana, this is the space shuttle Crow currently under Linyaari command. Please come in, Second Officer Taj."
"I-read you," Taj said, a cough between the first and second word. His face was streaked with tears, and his cheekbones seemed even more sharply pronounced than a moment before.
Khorii stepped up so that her face would appear in the Manas viewscreen. "Mr. Taj, do you know of House Harakamian's connection with the Linyaari people?" she asked.
"Lady Acorna! Is it really you? We have all heard of you, of course, but never . . ." He broke off, coughing hard.
Elviiz started to correct the man again. Khorii was surprised that Taj mistook her for her mother, because she didn't think they looked very much alike. She took after her father's side of the family. But maybe outsiders couldn't tell. She said, "Well, perhaps you've heard that I'm here to help with the plague. We will board you and, using our people's special medical skills, heal your crew members of the plague, after which my friend here and I will decontaminate your ship and the supplies for the Moonbase. Permission to board?"
The man looked incredulous and hopeful at the same time. "What seemed a disaster now reveals itself as the best of luck. Gracious lady, we could not have picked a better place to come."
When Taj signed off, Hap asked, "Can you really do that? You're only a kid, and that guy thinks you're your mom."
"Yes," she said. "Only two people need to be healed and a relatively small ship-not like others I've seen-needs to be purified. My parents are doing a whole planet, maybe a star system! They would expect me to take care of small problems like this by myself. We-our healing technology-is certainly up to that. We-it-can heal anybody."
Chapter 14
Elviiz began the countdown and instrument check while Khorii took the copilot seat and Hap the "jump seat," an anachronistic term left over from inner-atmospheric flights when it was conceivable, with the use of a personal sail, actually to jump out of a craft and survive.
Before Elviiz finished his countdown, the hull came under attack. Pounding at first, then a horrible screech like-exactly like- claws scratching metal.
Khorii unstrapped and opened the hatch. Sesseli and Khiindi looked up at her reproachfully for a moment, then Khiindi, tail fully healed and waving majestically, marched aboard. Before Khorii could say anything to either of them, Sesseli darted after him.
"Wait," Khorii said, as Elviiz continued his interrupted countdown. "Sesseli, we are going on a special mission to a supply ship orbiting this moon. There are sick people aboard, and they might make you sick, too."