"In that case, sweetheart, we'd better head for Paloduro so your folks can heal the stricken and we can return and all of us have the vacation this was supposed to be. You mind"-She was going to scream if Uncle Joh told her to mind Elviiz but instead he said- "that your pussycat doesn't get into too much trouble. He's a chip off the old cat."
"I will send messages of our progress through Elviiz's com screen," Uncle Maak said. "You must do the same."
Father's eyes glistened with tears. He had not wanted to let go of her during the good-bye hug. Mother patted his shoulder, and said, "Khorii, I have every confidence in your good sense and flexibility. The school on Maganos Moonbase is a great place to brush up on your interplanetary social skills. The young people there are from every human and humanoid species in the sector. By the time we return, you will probably have so many friends you won't want to leave."
Khorii nodded as if she agreed, but she didn't, and she hoped her parents weren't reading her just then because they had enough on their own minds already, without the burden of what she had on hers. What if these human and humanoid younglings didn't like her?
A new face appeared on the com screen. The boy had a roundish fair-skinned face and hair almost as white as Khorii's mane. "You're Lady Acorna's kid? Cool! I'm Hap Hellstrom. Come on out and I'll show you around. Is that a real Makahomian Temple Cat you have with you? I've never seen one of those before. I had a dog at home before-well, you know, before the place blew up. His name was Boomer and he was a pretty amazing dog. Everyone said so. People I didn't even know asked me about him after he died. I don't mind too much though. I know it's all the balance of nature- well, funny in a way. Not ha-ha funny but strange funny. Boomer died, and our planet went boom! But hey, that's how it goes sometimes, and you just have to roll with it, you know what I mean? How do you say your name again? And who's the other kid?"
"Khorii," she said. "My mother, whom you know as Acorns., is called Khornya among our people so my name is between hers and my father's, which is Aari. This is my foster brother, Elviiz."
"Cool sideburns, little brother," Hap said. "And I like the white suit with the studs on it."
"Thank you. My father made me so I resemble a Linyaari version of my namesake, the king of olden times."
But Hap was plunging along. Khorii had unsealed the hatch and opened it, and the boy came right inside, although there wasn't much room. He was as tall as an adult Linyaari and with his white hair and fair skin lacked only a horn in the middle of his head to make the resemblance at least superficially complete.
"Can I pet your cat? Would that be all right? I like cats. Boomer liked cats, too. Cats all liked him most of the time. Except when he tried to herd them. He was a Lothland herd dog. Hi, kitty. I brought you something. I heard there was going to be a cat coming down, so I made this just for you. Don't rat on me to Tab, though. She runs the 'ponies garden, and she's very strict, but I figured, hey, cats are entitled to catmint, so I sewed it up in this little packet. Ow! Wow! I guess he likes it. I almost lost a finger."
"Makahomian Temple Cats are like that," Khorii said. She leaned over to touch her horn to the welts Khiindi had slashed across Hap's knuckles but Elviiz pulled her back in time. This was going to be hard to get used to. When her cat hurt someone who was just being nice to them, it was only natural to want to heal his wound; but the humans weren't supposed to know exactly how Linyaari did it. Though from what she had been told about her mother's exploits in freeing the slave children who were the alumni of Maganos Moonbase, it didn't sound like she had concealed her powers very well, so surely some of these people knew what she could do already?
Elviiz put himself between her and Hap and extruded his bio-wash attachment to cleanse the wound, afterward sealing it with a cello-patch. "Removing the fingers of human benefactors is a traditional ritual with Makahomian Temple Cats," he informed Hap. "Khiindi's sire, the first mate of the Condor, Roadkill, or RK as we call him, removed two fingers from Captain Becker when they first became acquainted. The fingers grew back along with other appendages on both the cat and the captain, and now, of course, they are the best of friends."
"Hey, you are a droid, aren't you? Panko said you were-he was the one on com duty when your ship was in orbit-but you sure didn't look it to me. What's with the screw in the middle of your forehead?"
"I am a Linyaari, like my father, so of course I have a horn," Elviiz said, with wounded dignity.
"Oh, golly, I'm sorry, fella, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. I think it's cool. And Khorii introduced you as her brother, too. That's really great that you two are bonded like that. Good pals and all that."
"We are not merely friends or foster sibs," Elviiz said. "I am her tutor and her guardian as well to make sure the child does not blunder into harm's way."
"That's great. Really. I have seven brothers and three sisters . . . somewhere. We got split up during the rescue operation. I don't know where they were taken, but I'm trying to find out. Come on, and I'll show you where you're bunking."
Khorii started to protest that she had to get Khiindi, but the cat jumped up onto Hap's shoulders and marched back and forth as he led them forward. He didn't seem to notice. Aside from a friendly tug at Khiindi's tail, he ignored the cat's preference as if it happened to him all the time. Well, at least someone was making friends.
Like MOO, the moonbase was a series of bubbles encompassing an environment that would sustain the lives of the people enclosed within it. Unlike MOO, the environment was not especially luxurious or fancy.
Hap showed them to a small cubicle containing a pair of bunks and a couple of lockers for belongings. She and Elviiz sat on the bed.
"No, sport, your room is over in the boys' section with me."
"But I must be here to protect her," Elviiz protested. "If she comes to harm here, my father will be very unhappy with me, as will my foster parents. I prefer that does not happen. So I will stay with Khorii."
"Sorry," Hap said. "She's already got another bunk mate. If you stayed here, too, it might freak out the other girls."
"I am not a freak, Hap. In many ways, I am more useful than a human male of my age."
"I wasn't calling you a freak. I just meant the girls would get silly and maybe be a little inhibited, even when they know you're a droid."
"The way some fully organic beings behave, I am very happy to be a droid," Elviiz replied. He didn't sniff disdainfully, but he might as well have. The sniff was implicit in his tone. Still, he followed obediently as Hap led him away, promising to return soon to show them both where the dining room and classrooms were located. As they left, at the last minute Khiindi jumped down from Hap's shoulders. The little cat's claws skittered back down the slick-tiled hallway, and he barely caught himself from sliding by the doorway to Khorii's quarters. She scooped him up and sat on the lower bunk petting him, trying to calm him. "It will be all right, Khiindi. You'll see. Mother and Father will stop the plague, the grandfathers will come back, and, meanwhile, you and I will make lots of new friends."
As if on cue, a beautiful young girl entered the room followed by an adult woman.
Before Khorii could introduce herself, the girl spoke. "Get that beast off my bed! And what are you doing in my room?"
The dark-haired girl advanced into the room. Khorii tried to hold Khiindi back. After all, he was a Makahomian Temple Cat, and fierce protectiveness was bred into his bones.
He wriggled from her hands and leaped toward the girl. Before Khorii could utter a warning, Khiindi twined himself around the girl's feet and ankles, purring loudly, weaving figure eights in and out between her feet until she stumbled over him and fell. "It attacked me!" she screeched, and started brushing at her ankles, as if trying to divest them of cat fur. "I am very allergic. If I swell up and die, it will be your fault!"