These stood for the five neighboring Spheres, each with a curved side and one or two straight sides. Curve as in curve of Sphere, straight as in communication between points. Curve as in Polarian circularity, line as in Solarian linearity. The fundamental elements of Outworld society, the mergeance of two Spheres to form System and Segment Etamin. The combination of thinking that had made this a galactic power. All vested in this simple symbol.
There was a chill of terror that half paralyzed the host-body. Melody realized that it stemmed from the host-mind. "What is the matter, girl?" she demanded as the man approached.
"The magnet!" Yael screamed.
Now Melody saw something behind the man. It was a brilliantly colored glob that floated, yet it seemed quite solid. It was like a three-dimensional model of the Outworld emblem—a sphere with lines zig-zagging on it. "I see it, but it doesn't look dangerous," Melody said to Yael.
But the Solarian was upon them before Yael could explain. "How pretty you are, Yael of the Dragon World," he spoke, extending his hand as he glided to a stop. "Welcome to the Ace of Swords."
Of course they had not informed him of her real identity. The Society of Hosts protected the anonymity of those who wished it, and no one outside the Society could be completely trusted. So she used her host's identity as a cover, which delighted the real Yael. Here was adventure, in name as well as fact!
"Captain Boyd, I presume," Melody murmured past half-lowered eyelashes. This sort of signal was not as good as a throbbing harmony, but in an amusical body she just had to make do. She took the proffered hand.
There was the electric thrill of intense auras interacting. This was the Captain, all right; he had the highest Kirlian rating in the fleet, 150, and that was much of the reason he was captain. With the hostage threat, the only real security of command was to have top officers with Kirlian auras too high to be taken over by the enemy technique. The Society of Hosts had circled delicately, as the Polarians would have put it, or pulled strings as the Solarians described it, to get this officer into place in this crucial location. This single ship was capable of destroying the civilization of a full planet—and of course the only civilized planet within range of this ship was that of Imperial Outworld.
Captain Boyd's aura was even higher than she had been informed. It was on the order of 175, the most potent she had encountered apart from her own, and it was first cousin to hers in type. She wasn't certain whether this was sloppy testing on the part of the Society of Hosts, or sloppy records, or variance in standards of notation between the Spheres. Probably the Colonel had simply misremembered it, being more concerned with the actual hostage than with the other personnel of the ship. A pleasant surprise, though!
"Dash," the Captain said. "Call me Dash... Yael."
Melody made a little motion that accentuated her host's twin mammaries, and smiled. "Dash." Now that she knew that sexual interaction was possible apart from reproduction in this species, it was fun to see how well the equipment worked. So long as she never let it go too far. It was obvious that her body could never match the sheer physical power of the males of this species, so sexual appeal was also a potential equalizer.
Melody glanced at the hovering magnet that so upset Yael. "Might I inquire about your companion?"
He smiled. "Oh. Sorry. We tend to forget that planetaries aren't used to fleet ways. This is Slammer the Magnet, my bodyguard. Low Kirlian, low intelligence, but the most loyal friend an entity ever had. Say hello to the lady, Slammer."
Slammer shot forward so quickly that Melody's reflexes were caught short. The ball slammed into her chest —and bounced away without impact. A grossly powerful magnetic field impinged painfully on her aura as contact was made.
Yael screamed, and part of that scream escaped the host-lips. They could have been crushed, host and transferee together, had that thing not reversed itself.
"Impressive, isn't it," Dash remarked. "You can see I'm quite safe with Slammer around. He's faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive—uh, that's a cute expression from deep in human past, but quite applicable here. One word from me, and the living cannon-ball clears the way. If an entity tried to draw a weapon in my presence—boom, no entity. But don't worry, Slammer is your friend too." He turned his head to the hovering ball. "Protect Yael. Understand?"
The magnet dipped in an obvious acquiescence. Melody made a mental note to learn a lot more about magnets, soon. She didn't like being around a living cannonball, and now understood Yael's terror. This creature was dangerous!
The captain put his hand on the narrow section of her back and guided her gently forward. Again their auras overlapped delightfully. Instinctive attraction, Kirlian affinity—by any designation, it was a potent force.
"It's such a pleasure to encounter a genuine Kirlian," Dash said, echoing her thoughts by no coincidence. If his 175 had such impact on her, what did her 223 have on him? "Your beauty is more than physical; it surrounds you."
"Naturally," Melody agreed, making a little bounce to enhance the physical. In this fractional gravity, she bounced too high; only his hand on her kept her from rising to the ceiling. "That is the nature of the aura."
"Hey, he's on the make!" Yael warned.
"On make? Oh, I gather your thought now. He wishes to make an offspring, to impregnate this body. And we don't want that."
"Actually, it might not be so bad," Yael mused. "I've never actually done it. My folks always kept me away from the boys, saving me for concubinage. But with a real space captain.... I've had my antipreg shot, of course."
So there was no risk of impregnation, regardless of sexual activity. That was good to know, but hard to adjust to, after Melody had so recently been forced to realize the close connection between the two, for Solarians.
Still, a good tool should not be used indiscriminately. "Let's not rush it," Melody said to Yael. "I'm a bit curious about this phenomenon myself, but I haven't stayed female for eighty years for nothing. Actually it's the aura that dazzles him."
But privately she wondered. She was aware that Solarians were thoroughly sexual creatures, with the males constantly stimulated by the visible attributes of the females. Her experience in a Solarian host, combined with the pervasive sexual aspects of the Solarian Tarot, made that abundantly clear. But even so, there were conventions, such as the compulsive wearing of clothing, that modified it, lest humans degenerate into perpetual sexual orgies. Captain Boyd was coming on very strongly, near the permissible limit of social convention as she understood it. After allowing for the impact of their extraordinary auras, was there still too much sexual push? If so, why?
March had emerged from the shuttle. He exchanged salutes with the Captain, who directed him to the personnel sergeant. Then Boyd showed Melody through another airlock into the main ship, and they took a slow slide toward the outer rim. Gravity increased as they progressed down the chute, until it was Solarian-norm. They debouched in a narrow hall many levels down; space was not wasted in space. This was not because there was no room, but because of the value of building materials. A larger ship required great quantities of precious substances, and more fuel in order to maneuver. So economy was the keynote. But still this was a very large, elegant, powerful vessel.
There were handholds along the walls and ceiling, reminding Melody that ships of space were not always operating with convenient gravity. Up could become down, and complete freefall would make perambulation awkward. So one had to be able to grab and pull.
They entered a fair-sized room, well furnished with bolted-down couches and tables—the officer's lounge. There was a quick round of introductions. Melody dutifully shook hands with each man and woman, mentally noting the names and aural intensity of each. They were all high-Kirlian entities—surprisingly high, in the fifty to one hundred range. Sphere Sol must have impressed every Kirlian available into service in the space fleet! Had the other Spheres done the same for their own ships?
"And here is your cabin—next
to mine," Dash said.
"Thank you. I will not be needing it, as I am returning to my home immediately after the completion of the mission," Melody said briskly. "If you will show me the subject and set up the equipment...." She avoided the term "hostage"; surely the Captain knew her mission in detail, but the other officers would not.
"I assumed you would want to acclimatize," Dash said. "A young girl like you, first visit to the fleet...."
"He's on the make, all right," Yael remarked. "Why don't we go ahead and—"
But Melody still had the caution of age. "Let's keep him guessing," she told Yael. And to the Captain: "I appreciate your solicitude. You can express it most conveniently by facilitating my mission."
"You certainly are businesslike. That's good," he commented ruefully. "I would not have reported the, shall we say, subject, if I had not anticipated an efficient and circumspect response. This is a most important matter."
"Yes," Melody agreed as they proceeded down another hall. "Do you have her under sedation?"
"No, of course not," Dash said. "We don't know how many subjects there are, but cannot safely assume this is the only one. If we showed that we were on to her, the others would act, perhaps killing her before we could interrogate her, and possibly going on to sabotage the ship. Since this is the command ship of the fleet, that would be problematical."
"Yes, I understand," she agreed.
"We would also lose whatever chance we had to crack this mystery, and that is far more important than either this ship or this whole fleet." He paused. "I'm going to introduce you to her as the daughter of an Imperial Minister, so she won't be suspicious. Our Ministers (no offense to Etamin!) are not necessarily overly bright, and they tend to meddle in things they hardly comprehend, and their children do the same. So your behavior will not seem peculiar to her. It will take us a while to get the equipment moved in and set up and tested, and we don't want to alert her. Don't get near enough for her to pick up your aura; if she recognized its strength she would take alarm."
"I am not entirely ignorant of the requirements of the situation," Melody reminded him primly, giving her bosom another twitch to abate any implied criticism. She had verified by her observation of the females aboard ship that her host's architecture was indeed superior to the norm.
"She's an officer in the medic corps," Dash continued, giving that architecture a lingering glance. Whether as lowly as an exile crewman or as elevated as a seasoned captain, they all looked. "She is the officer in charge of atmospherics, among other things. A peculiarly vital spot. In time of crisis, she could sabotage this entire ship merely by making an 'error' in the computer setting for the craft atmosphere. We hype our air a bit for action, you see, and damp it in periods of inertia."
"You play a dangerous game, leaving her there," Melody remarked.
"There are very high stakes."
"How did you discover her?"
"My intense aura. Not quite in a league with yours, of course—but still, the highest in the fleet. I can tell a lot about a person merely by shaking hands with him. High-Kirlians have sensitivities that low-Kirlians hardly suspect, as you know."
"Yes." The normals thought that no Kirlian aura could be measured or typed except by the use of complex equipment. For normals, that was true.
"When I touched Tiala—"
"You are good at touching people," Melody remarked.
"Quite. I'm not quite as aggressive as I seem. I allow myself the repute of a Cassanova as a pretext to touch people long enough and intimately enough to analyze their Kirlian auras properly. I am assured, for example, that you have what may be the highest rating in our galaxy, though no prior information was given me about you. You must be well over two hundred! In Tiala's case—"
"How do you analyze male auras?"
"We have frequent physical fitness sessions, of course. We indulge in sports and unarmed combat. I happen to hold the ship championship in encumbered wrestling. It can take some time to overcome a man when your feet are bound."
"I can imagine." She could also imagine how difficult it would be to get away from this man, once he had hold —even if the magnet were not hovering close behind.
"In Tiala's case, I took her to bed—because I was suspicious. I made sure she had no inkling of my real interest in her. I am an excellent lover."
"I believe it!" Yael said eagerly. But Melody kept silent.
"And I verified that there was a fundamental difference in her aura; it wasn't what it was supposed to be. For one thing, it was too strong, a good ten units above its official rating—or so I thought. But personal judgment is largely intuitive; only the machine can make a really precise readout. So I photographed the aura secretly and sent the picture to Imperial Outworld for analysis. And it didn't match at all. So we knew an alien had made her hostage."
"Very perceptive, Dash." And ruthless. He had played sex with a girl to trap her aural secret. Did she think he loved her?
"Thank you. It is part of my job to protect my ship." And what else would he do—to protect his ship? "It is important that I come to know the subject without arousing her suspicion," Melody said. "Perhaps I should play a game with her."
"Well, I'm not sure the daughter of a Minister would—"
"Who can guess what the daughter of a Minister might do? I know some very good games. Tarot, for example. It—"
"Tarot!" Dash exclaimed. "I happen to be a scholar of that discipline myself."
Melody appraised him with renewed interest. "Temple?"
"No. Free lance. I was never a Tarotist, just a casual student. But I dare say I know it as well as any."
Marvelous, if true. Melody had spent most of her life in the study and practice of free-lance Tarot, and would quickly be able to determine his level of proficiency. But that could wait upon convenience. "Really? What is your Significator?"
"King of Aura," he said. "Cluster deck, of course. Yours?"
"Queen—of Aura."
"Oho! I should have known! High intelligence, strong will, intense aura. We are much alike."
Very much alike. Melody could feel herself being drawn to this ruthless man, compelled by the commonality of qualities. She had never mated because she had never encountered an entity who was her equal, though a number had supposed they were. Or so she liked to tell herself. Perhaps the better, bitter truth was that after the Star of her hope and loss, so long ago, nothing in the universe could satisfy her. What weird chance had brought her to this handsome Solarian? Or was this Perseus, come to rescue the chained lady from the monster?
She decided to fend him off a bit longer, until she had opportunity to do a reading on this problem. There was still too much she did not know. "Alike within a twenty percent tolerance," she said. Since there were five Kings and five Queens in the Cluster deck, and these were the only cards normally used as Significators for grown entities, the chances of matching suits were hardly remote. And entities in matching suits could be quite dissimilar in practice—as different as Solarian from Mintakan. She could not afford to attach undue importance to something which was really not a coincidence, but a reflection of their high auras.
"Do you think you can use Tarot to mask your purpose?" Dash inquired. "It will require several hours, as I said, to set up. We've never done such a procedure aboard ship before. If she gets suspicious, the task may become impossible."
"A necessary risk. I am a transferee myself; we shall thus have four auras interacting. This will be complex. I must have some clear notion of the personal situation, or failure is likely."
Dash sighed. "I see your point. Well, I shall introduce you and ask Tiala to take charge of you. Have you any medical training?"
"No." Anything she knew would be Mintakan, at best inapplicable here, at worst dangerous.
"Too bad. Then we can't use that as a pretext for extended dialogue. Still, you are both attractive young women; perhaps that will be enough."
They arrived at the life-support section. A female Sola
rian came forward to meet them. "Sir?"
"Tiala of Oceana, this is Yael of Dragon, daughter of the Minister of Segment Coordination. She is touring this vessel." He gave a slight human shrug, as though implying that he was humoring a spoiled child for political reasons. Tiala smiled fetchingly; even Melody's nonhuman nature recognized the appeal of that expression. Dash would not have had to force himself very much to make love to this female, hostage or no. So Melody smiled back, trusting that her expression was as winning.
"I wonder if you could show our distinguished visitor around," Dash continued. He used just the right tonal emphasis to suggest that he had better things to do himself than squire around such intruders. The hostage had no reason to be suspicious of what was in fact an order. "I would be most grateful." And the final, calculated hint: Humor this important nuisance, and perhaps I will make love to you again.
"If she doesn't mind waiting for the end of my watch," Tiala said. "Half an hour...."
"I don't mind," Melody said. "Unless my presence interferes with your job performance."
Dash made a slight nod to Tiala.
Responsive to the directive, the hostage replied: "No, I'm only keeping an eye on the dials. Actually, it's dull right now."
"Very well," Dash said, smiling again at Melody. Despite her awareness that it was a doubly insincere expression designed to deceive Tiala in the guise of deceiving the visitor, she found herself moved by it. That was something that didn't exist on Mintaka: a smile. It was like a complex harmony of camaraderie, very pleasant to receive. It was amazing how much could be conveyed on the purely visual level.
The Captain left, followed by his deadly magnet. Now Melody was alone with the hostage. She had to be very careful, for if the sapience that invested this nice-seeming girl were to realize what Melody knew, it would probably kill. The first intergalactic war had made plain that Andromedan agents were pitilessly efficient, virtually without conscience except for their absolute loyalty to their galaxy.