*How did this happen?*
Picture of T’s’ai standing as she ran, V’a’een lifting the atori, T’s’ai and his aikiza moving to shield her, then the emotion of questioning again. With aikizai that were not of full intelligence, a conversation was difficult, but Laris needed to know how badly T’s’ai might be hurt.
*Anger—and pictures: of Laris running; V’a’een raising the atori, menace in his every movement; T’s’ai striking it to one side; V’a’een’s face, twisted, gusts of rage smoking from him; the atori coming around savagely as V’a’een slammed the butt of the weapon against the side of T’s’ai’s head; blood from the blow trickling down; T’s’ai falling. Pain, fear, don’t know what to do, cannot attack a liomsa, but this liomsa hurt my friend. What to do?*
Laris’s heart melted for the poor, bewildered beast. She put out a gentle hand to stroke the shoulder nearest her. *Reassurance. Friends come, will aid. Picture of the ship’s ramp coming down and her emotions of welcome, figures carrying T’s’ai, and the aikiza walking beside him to enter the ship.*
She raised her gaze to the ship to see that she was a true prophet. Storm and Logan behind him, both with stunners out, were already trotting towards her. There was a small commotion by the top of the ramp and then Prauo was also bounding towards her, his mind sending frantic questions. He passed Storm and Logan, landed on her in one jump, and stood staring ferociously at the forest as he straddled her prone body projecting a savage and almost desperate protectiveness.
Storm arrived with the small half grin that was characteristic of him when he was deeply amused. Logan assisted her to her feet, laughing. He grinned down at her, then enfolded her in a ferocious hug followed by a kiss so hungry that her senses reeled briefly. Then he held her back and looked her over.
“Are you okay? They didn’t hurt you?”
“I had a knock on the head and I was drugged, but I’m all right now,” and aloud still, to Prauo who stood by her side, his shoulder fur ruffled in anger. “Honestly, I am, brother-in-fur. No one hurt me, although V’a’een would have if T’s’ai hadn’t stopped him. V’a’een’s the one behind T’s’ai kidnaping me,” she added to Logan and Storm. “He wanted to use me to make sure Tani told him first about any solution to the problem of the failed bondings that she might find. Then he planned to kill me so I couldn’t talk and you wouldn’t know it’d been him.”
Logan’s gaze hardened. “Did he? And where’s this V’a’een now?”
“Gone. He saw the ship coming and ran, after he’d tried to shoot me and T’s’ai stopped him. He hit T’s’ai with the butt of the atori and knocked him down.” And to Storm, who had knelt to examine the injured liomsa, “Is he okay, it isn’t bad, is it?”
Storm glanced up. “If his skull isn’t too thin, he should be all right, but V’a’een wasn’t pulling his punches. That was a hard blow and T’s’ai’s probably going to have a concussion.” He stooped, lifting the unconscious liomsa in his arms. “Let’s get him to the medical cabinet and see what we can do for him. I’d like us all back inside under cover anyway, just in case this V’a’een comes back with some of his friends.”
T’s’ai’s aikiza was whining in distress. Laris turned, calling Prauo. *Tell him we’re going to see if we can make his liomsa better.*
*Relief, gratitude. Was she sure?*
Prauo paused, returned to touch noses, sending further reassurance. The big feline fell in to follow Storm. His nose lifted to touch a dangling hand, then he settled to pace along quietly beside T’s’ai. They marched up the ramp, which promptly rose to click into the wall slots and Laris heard the brisk snap of magnetic locks smacking into place.
There was no sign of Tani or the captain, and she grabbed for Logan as Storm headed for sick bay, T’s’ai still limp in his arms.
“Logan, what happened after T’s’ai took me away?”
Logan grinned at her, taking her hand as they followed Storm. “We all ran in circles a lot. At first we weren’t sure that you hadn’t been taken by a sea-beast while you were off down the beach. Prauo insisted you hadn’t been badly hurt or killed; he was sure he’d have known if you had been.
“The coyotes tracked you and then found T’s’ai’s scent trail cutting across yours. After that, Tani found the place where he’d pulled his boat up onto the sand. So we knew you’d been kidnapped, and we guessed it was T’s’ai’s group. The problem was that your locator beacon wasn’t signaling.” He halted, pulled her gently into his arms and kissed her again—lightly—while smiling at her.
“It was pretty upsetting for everyone. But we made a few more guesses and lifted off to start scanning along the shoreline. We checked your cabin to see what you had taken and realized you must have your communicator with you. We hoped you’d be able to signal us even if your personal beacon was out.” He smiled at her, taking her hands into his. “You did. We were just about to go higher and see if Prauo could touch your mind when the Morse code started coming in. I suppose Tani taught you that one?”
He said nothing of their desperate relief when the ship’s main intercom began transmitting the signal over and over: SOS, SOS. The ancient distress call that was still used—along with the Mayday call—by the spaceships of the Terrans and their allies.
All four of the humans had bolted upright in their seats. Prauo had howled in excitement, a long, eerie sound, and the captain had hurled himself at the control panel to find the call was coming from almost immediately below them. Without asking anyone, Captain D’Argeis had slammed the ship in for a quick landing.
“We checked the viewscreens and there you were,” Logan added, moving them along after Storm again. “Prauo was just about trying to jump through the wall to get to you, but we could see you looked unhurt, and Storm wanted us to come out first in case we needed to cover you with the stunners.” He chuckled. “Prauo wasn’t feeling very cooperative on that.”
Laris clutched at his hand, lowering her voice. “Logan, I’m sorry I was horrible to you. I was worrying about Prauo, and I took it out on you. I’m really sorry.”
“So am I. I should have seen you were upset and made allowances.”
“Then we’re okay?”
His free hand went out to tighten over hers. “Always.”
By now they were at the sick bay, where Storm was laying T’s’ai gently on the med-cabinet bed. He ran the med-scanners over the limp body and nodded thoughtfully at the results, checking them again, before turning to look at those with him.
“I don’t know how much we can depend on our scanners. T’s’ai isn’t built quite the same way as humans, but it looks as if he may not be too badly hurt. I think he’s been very solidly knocked out, but he should come around soon, although he’ll have a heck of a headache. Tell his aikiza we think T’s’ai will recover.”
Laris reached out to touch the agitated feline, sending as she did so, with Prauo’s sending reinforcing her own.
*All will be well we believe, do not fear. T’s’ai should wake soon.* And in response to a burst of fear and query. *No, we do not think he will die. Wait, be patient. Stay beside him.*
The aikiza lay down beside his liomsa with an air of one who plans to stay right where he is—for the next ten years, if necessary—and Laris suddenly realized she didn’t even know the beast’s name.
To her alone Prauo sent, *His name is Arrraal. He fears for the life of his liomsa. He is ashamed that he did not protect him.*
*Tell him he obeyed the law. He did right,* Laris said. In this case she felt Arrraal probably should have forgotten the law, but she could understand how he’d failed to do so. A lifelong indoctrination would have held him back. It would be unkind to say that he should have acted, and the poor beast was suffering enough without being upset further.
*He is grateful to us that we understand.* Prauo tightened his sending making sure it would reach Laris only. *I would have killed the liomsa who threatened you. But he is not as I am.*
*That is true.* And, with a burs
t of love, *No one is, my brother. No one. But Arrraal could be almost what you are, if Tani can ever find a solution for his people.*
Prauo’s sending was surprised. *Oh, you have not yet been told?*
Laris seized his shoulder fur. *Told what?* Aloud: “Storm, has Tani found out something about the aikizai?”
Storm turned from where he’d been checking monitors for T’s’ai. “A couple of somethings, or so she thinks, but it may be complicated. It’s why the others hadn’t seen for themselves. They have the science to know one half of the cure, but they weren’t far enough along to spot the other half. Neither half works without the other, so they may have assumed they were wrong. That’s if Tani is right about what she thinks is the problem.”
Laris was shifting from foot to foot. “What did she find?”
“Wait until we can all be together again and we’ll talk about it.”
“You are going to tell the liomsa, aren’t you?”
Storm sighed. “It may not be so easy. We should talk to the Patrol before that, but we’ll discuss everything over dinner. First, though, I want to run the scanners over you. I gather T’s’ai hit you on the head and kept you drugged for a long period. I’d like to make sure your skull isn’t damaged and that the drug won’t have any long-term effects.”
“I think I’m okay,” Laris assured him. “I had a headache when I woke up the first time, but that’s gone now.”
“I’ll just make sure.” He checked carefully, nodding at the readings as he included a general scan. From what he’d gathered, the girl had been drugged for hours and strange alien drugs could have even stranger effects on humans sometimes. “You were right. T’s’ai can’t have hit you too hard, and whatever drug they used is almost out of your system and was fairly harmless—luckily.” He scowled. “You do know they could have killed you quite easily?”
“I know.” Laris’s voice was small and worried. “I just forgot about it all once the ship came. “You’re sure everything is okay now?”
“It’s fine. The scanners say it would have been dangerous if you’d been given the drug for much longer; it depresses the central nervous system in humans. But you didn’t have that much for too long, and you’re young and fit. You’ve thrown most of it off already. Do you feel hungry?”
Laris suddenly recognized the void her stomach had become and groaned. “Yes!”
“We’ll be eating very shortly. You may want to go and clean up first.” His smile was kind.
For the first time since her friends had appeared, Laris was reminded of her state. She winced in horror and fled for her cabin, Prauo bounding after her. By the time the dinner bell rang she had showered, washed and dried her hair, changed into different clothing, and was luxuriating in the feel of being clean again. She hurried into the mess, sat, and looked around happily at the faces of her friends. Prauo, from his position beside her, reached over to touch her hand with his nose.
*It is well you are back, sister. The ship was not home without you.*
Laris shivered, remembering V’a’een. *Believe me, I much prefer being on the ship with you.*
They ate, talking of various things almost at random, but once they were sitting back, comfortably full, with mugs of swankee in their hands, Storm spoke, nodding to his wife.
“Tani thinks she may have found a reason why some of the aikizai don’t fully bond.” He looked at Tani who took up the explanation.
“What we actually have is not two levels of bonding, but a number of forms. The bonding may fail to complete any variation of the final physical stage and the two final mental stages. The main thing.” Tani continued, “is that by percentage, about one half of the aikizai aren’t bonding in stage one. About half of the remainder bond at stage two, and only some twenty-five percent bond at all levels. This is across the board and seems to apply to the numbers I’ve tested so far.
“However, a percentage like that should show up more evenly. The test results came in odd geographical clumps, so I ran speculations on the computer. The reasons for the imperfect bondings are environmental, caused by two factors. Both are the results of their civilization. Or rather”—she smiled—“to be exact, the original ability to bond was helped by two environmental changes that when only partially applied result in the bonding not being fully sustained.”
Logan grinned back at her. “What about skipping all the science and telling us in plain English?”
“All right.” Tani leaned forward. “Some of this I had from E’l’ith; other information I’m extrapolating from the murals. Roughly, it works this way. I don’t know exactly what the liomsa used as weapons during their war. Some form of radiation, apparently, that caused mutations. With their civilization destroyed, the liomsa needed strong aikizai to protect them, and the aikizai mutations favored a mental bonding that bootstrapped mental developement.
“It seems—from what the liomsa’s history says—that aikizai had always been semi-intelligent, around the level the imperfectly bonded are now. Some liomsa had always bonded with aikizai, but it wasn’t until the radiation became intense that full bondings developed. There was only one other factor I could find. About then, as they recovered some technology, the liomsa moved into using electricity to power almost everything. It was a renewable, clean source of energy and it didn’t remind them of the way they’d wrecked their own civilization.
“The way they generate their electricity produces very strong fields of electrical and electromagnetic radiation in the immediate area of any of their machines. I believe it is a combination of this and the continuing radiation levels that produces bonding.”
Storm looked thoughtful. “The brain produces electricity.”
“Yes, I think their electrical fields stimulate both the aikizai’s and the liomsa’s brain activity to assist bonding. But they also appear to require a minimum amount of radiation during that period.”
“So,” Storm asked, “with the radiation, electricity, and electromagnetic pulses they get a full bonding. Not enough of any one of them, and they don’t develop the last mental ability, which E’l’ith has hinted is some form of ESP; not enough of both radiation and electricity or electromagnetic pulses, and they bond imperfectly, the same as they did originally without radiation or electrical fields.”
Tani nodded. “Which brings us to the problem.”
Laris shook her head. “I can’t see any problem. I mean, they still have radiation everywhere—you said so when we checked before we opened up the ship. It just doesn’t hurt us in the short term. But it’s there, and I know they still use electricity and electromagnetism for most things. E’l’ith said so when we were talking. We just tell everyone that they need to be sure they get both, and there’s no more problems and they don’t have to kill any more aikizai.”
Tani looked at Storm, who spoke quietly. “Laris, that’s possible, but Tani could be wrong, too. There is also another point; the radiation from the original wars on this world is finally dying down. Are we to suggest that they increase it? We’d have to run tests, then experiment, using some of the liomsa and their aikizai as test animals. Even if Tani’s right, the big question is, do we have the right to tell them what we believe?”
Laris gaped at him in anger and disbelief. “Do we have the right to save lives? To stop E’l’ith and her group murdering thousands of aikizai and wrecking the lives of their liomsa? Did you know that T’s’ai had two aikizai before Arrraal? E’l’ith’s people had them both murdered because they weren’t properly bonded. That’s why he ran away to join the rebels. That’s why there are rebels!” She remembered the grief T’s’ai had shared with her. “You can’t not tell them, Storm. It’d be cruel and wrong. They need to know.”
“Laris, we all agree it’d be cruel. But it may not be wrong. What if telling them raises another set of problems, one that will destroy them?”
Before he could continue Laris had interrupted again. “It’s destroying them now. E’l’ith said so. Tani said that when we c
ame in to the first landing the scanners detected about one million pairs of bonded liomsa and aikizai on this continent. But fewer and fewer of the aikizai develop full intelligence. They’re slipping back again. Are we going to sit back and watch the loss of an intelligent people because they could have different problems down the trail? If they keep their intelligence, at least they’ll have that to help if they do find it causes other problems.”
Her face was flushed with anger. “It’d be wrong, immoral, not to tell them the truth—and if you don’t, I will.”
Storm rose and reached a hand to his belt, unsnapping the cover from a small plastic oval. “No, Laris. Not until we’ve talked this out completely and reached an agreement we can all accept.” He clicked the small oval and there was a low hum. “That seals all outer doors. You don’t leave the ship without my permission.”
She whitened and Logan grabbed her arm. “Laris, listen to us. Do you want to have Prauo taken away from you?”
It was almost the only thing he could have said at that moment that would have stopped her. She halted what had been an instinctive move for the door.
“What? Why would I lose Prauo?”
“Because of the law. The one that says you can’t interfere with a people on their own world.”
“I don’t want to interfere with . . .” She stopped, thinking about that. “Well, I do, but it’s for their own sake . . .” She stopped again. “I think I see. I guess a lot of people have said that and made a mess of things on some planet.”
Tani walked over to hug her. “Laris, Storm isn’t saying we won’t tell the others. Just that we should be sure about what we’re doing. The Patrol signaled while you were gone. They found the Antares. What their crew have been doing makes us feel we should be a lot more careful on this world.”
Laris winced. “I suppose the Patrol was right and the Antares crew found an inhabited world?”
“The Patrol was, and the crew did. The worst of it was I don’t think the crew set out to destroy the people there. They wanted to run the place, certainly, but some of them also taught the people things the crew thought the people should know.”