Sybil couldnt believe hed made a reference to her liaison with Anka! You have a point, but it might interest you to know not all of us carry diseases.
Those you have on your world were eradicated from ours long ago. We were already mostly immune, but they mutate and so we had to have immunities from the new strains.
Sybil stared at him. Seriously? You had some of the same diseases on your world as we do?
Yes. They arent confined to one world. The seeds are carried across the universe in the dust of comets and asteroids. Theyve been capable of space travel since long before we were.
Getting up, Sybil dusted the seat of her pants and took up her tool again. It wasnt a hoe, precisely. It looked more like an adze but it worked well enough for chopping dirt even it did look like a woodworking tool. So maybe we all evolved from the same bacteria? she said, only half joking.
He shrugged. Very likely. He flicked a look over her that was speculative. Just differently.
Sybil frowned, chopping at the dirt. You think were that different?
In some ways very clearly. In others not so much.
But you dont like humans, do you?
He frowned. I havent met many. I havent decided.
Well, Sybil said. At least youre honest.
He paused and looked at her. Commander lKartay trusts you. Thats good enough for me.
Chapter Sixteen
The Americans are accusing us of kidnapping Lieutenant Hunter and holding her against her will, Commander lKartay! I was sure it had to be a simple misunderstanding and now I learn that you have her in your quarters!
Anka ground his teeth together, struggling with his temper. She needed protection from them. She came to me.
Premier dZubi blinked several times and turned to look at the other council members as if he doubted his hearing and thought their reactions might help him clear up his misconception. Councilman Mortzay apparently decided to interpret the look as an invitation to join the discussion. Youre saying that shes asked for political asylum?
Anka considered the question. Something of that nature, yes.
Mortzay turned and frowned at the Premier.
Well is she a political refugee or not? the Premier demanded testily.
They coerced her to come here against her will, hoping to use her to gather information through me for their government. Shes carrying my child. I couldnt allow them to put her and the child at risk.
Now there is a child, as well? Councilman lBevridge demanded. How do you even know that its yours?
I know, Anka said tightly.
Premier dZubi surged to his feet. Well, I hope you know that this is a hell of a damned mess, Commander lKartay! We have just made treaty with them, gods damn it! You assured us that that would give us time to secure our colony and focus on internal problems-before we all starved to death! Weve barely even begun to solve the biggest threat to our survival since the disaster!
Im aware of that. I hadnt anticipated the complication, but I have a moral obligation beyond my affection to protect my family-just as I would any man, woman, or child of Sumptra.
Hadnt anticipated ? Councilman lBevridge exploded. You took her as your lover and you hadnt anticipated the possibility?
Ankas lips tightened. I assumed she would use protection.
So you used none to protect our interests? Mortzay demanded. It didnt occur to you that she might use the opportunity to place just this obligation upon us? It might be laughable if you were some callow youth, lKartay. It would certainly be more understandable when the young are so thoughtless and reckless, but it concerns me a very great deal, I dont mind telling you, that our lives are hanging on your experience and judgment when you obviously have none where this female is concerned!
May I remind you, Councilman, that it was the capture of the crew of the Mars II that gave us the opening, and the leverage, we needed to negotiate a treaty with the Earth people to start with? And that it was the bond formed between Lieutenant Hunter and me, because I had taken her as my lover, that convinced her to support the Sumpturians throughout those negotiations? We may or may not have succeeded in securing a treaty with them at all if she hadnt been willing to give us all the benefit of the doubt and refused to misinterpret our motives.
She has befriended our people and she is in trouble because of it. I have sacrificed as much or more than anyone here. I have worked as hard or harder than anyone here for the greater good. I will not sacrifice Sybil and my child because it would be easier for everyone for me to do so. If she was Sumpturian we wouldnt be having this discussion. You would have accepted that we are responsible for her welfare and that the greater good is not more important than the individuals that constitute it!
If she was Sumpturian we wouldnt have to be discussing it! Premier dZubi snapped testily. He sat back down, drumming his fingers on the table in front of him. Not but what I see your point. I dont mind telling you that it disturbs me that you have taken an Earth woman as a lover at all, politically expedient or not, and spurned good Sumpturian women in the process! Our society is crumbling! We have little left beyond our traditions of the old world. You are an example for our young people! Before you know it we will have all of them clamoring for Earth lovers and dragging them into their quarters and then our traditions will fall by the wayside like everything else!
What traditions do you perceive that we have left? Anka growled furiously. Without Sybil and my child I have no one! I have lost my mother, my siblings, their children! I have lost my lover of fifteen solars and the children we had together! What do I have left to build upon? What do any of us have to build our old traditions upon? There are maybe a dozen matriarchs among us and they have lost their families!
Do you mean to begin to dictate who we chose as our lovers? Because the moment you do, you have also done your part to destroy the very traditions you believe youre protecting!
I chose Sybil because I wanted her and she wanted me-It was not politically motivated-on either side! She did not get pregnant to bind me to her. She was terrified when she discovered it and forced by that circumstance to do something repugnant to her to protect the child wed made together.
She wanted to go back and pretend to help them so that she could help us and I refused to allow it. She knows as well as I do that the treaty is shaky at best, but it is signed and they have all agreed upon it. The Americans cannot break the treaty without just cause and they cannot use Sybil as just cause when she will dispute their claim that she is being held against her will!
To his relief, the members of the council exchanged thoughtful glances and fell to considering what hed said. They will want something in exchange-mark my words! the Premier said irritably.
Anka relaxed. Ive considered that. The atmospheric unit number twelve has broken down again and we have no parts to repair it. We will offer them that. They will be delighted to get the technology and very likely they can fix it. As long as they believe that we will keep the treaty and they can wheedle more technology from us from time to time, theyll be happy.
Premier dZubi scowled at him. You think too much like the humans, he growled.