A Bug's Life (7 page)

“They had been.” I pointed to the Birthing
Sac. “By their children. And I’m sure they lied because they knew
why the Diamante Families wanted to destroy them.”

“But how did the Diamante families figure it
out?” Kyle asked. “If an Espen couldn’t tell the babies were
telepathic, how did a Diamante manage it?”

“Probably the same way we did,” Tresia said.
“The Diamante Families visited all the worlds first, before they
destroyed them. Perhaps one or more of them felt emotionally
manipulated, made the same logical leaps that DeeDee, Fren, and I
did, and then reported back.”

“By the time they were being warned, they
would have had their children remain…hidden,” Ciarissa
added.

“But why would they have shown their power to
anyone even remotely connected to the Diamante Families?” Doven
asked.

I shrugged. “They were children. Children are
curious. Or maybe they were afraid. Or excited. It doesn’t matter
why – it matters that there is a reason, a real reason, why the
Diamante Families are trying to destroy this race.”

“Why, though?” Roy asked. “Based on the little
we know, they aren’t as powerful as an average Espen, and the
moment they leave their Birthing Sacs they have no more telepathic
power. Why hunt them down and leave Espen alone?”

“Espen acquiesced,” Ciarissa said sadly. “In
order to preserve our world we took oaths and agreed to the
tele-restraints and more when we were off-planet.”

“And the Pillar did not wish to capitulate to
evil,” Dr. Wufren said. “Any more than the Seraphin
did.”

“And the result was the same.” I took a deep
breath and let it out slowly. “Roy, none of us have acted normally
since we spotted the wreckage. You, in particular.”

“What do you mean? Because I wanted to get out
of here and keep our crew alive?”

“Frankly, yes. And I think you resisted and
Willy was species-ist and you both angered me and Tresia enough
that we went against your orders because, as I said before, we were
all being tested. The Pillar with us are young children. They’re
curious and, right now, they’re very afraid. Horror and devastation
cause beings to not think right all the time, as our good doctor
mentioned earlier. They wanted to be sure that the beings rescuing
them weren’t worse than the beings that had destroyed their entire
colony.”

“I didn’t feel emotionally manipulated,” Roy
protested.

“Me either, and I don’t buy it,” Willy said.
“I think you’re all jumping to a heck of a conclusion, little
girl.”

“I spent most of the time we were hiding from
the Diamante Cruiser being afraid. Of Roy, of all of you deserting
us. Of other things, things I’ve never worried about since our
first mission together. I firmly believe my emotions were
influenced by the Pillar, so they could see if their fears were
grounded or not.”

Tresia nodded. “I experienced the same – the
same fears, and the same reasoning that my fears were
groundless.”

“I’m not a fan of the Pillar,” Willy said.
“Don’t wish ‘em ill, but they were never my favorite aliens. So how
did they affect me?”

“I think they just helped you speak out. Note
that you still helped rescue them. I don’t think they care that you
don’t want to hang out with them, Willy. I think they care that
you’re trying to help figure out how to keep them alive, despite
not having affinity for their race.”

Doven nodded. “It proves you are not like the
Diamante Families and their troops.”

“That makes sense, but why affect me to not
want to search for them?” Roy asked.

“Because the proof of what kind of beings we
are was based on that, my boy. What would we do when our captain
and leader told us to let them die? What would that captain do when
we were insubordinate?”

“Get pissed off,” Kyle muttered.

Willy cocked his head. “Yeah, the kid’s right.
So, Roy was angry with the situation, I wasn’t happy, but you three
went and helped anyway. Four, really, because Kyle couldn’t wait to
get a spacesuit on.”

“Everyone likes to get in on the action
sometimes,” I pointed out. Then went on quickly, lest Roy start
lecturing Kyle about how he shouldn’t risk himself ever. Basically,
if Roy could keep his entire crew wrapped up safe and tight and
still manage to do the work we needed to, he would. “But are you
angry now?”

Roy sighed. “I’d love to say yes, but I’m
frankly far more worried than anything else.”

“I hear the babies talking, in that sense,”
Willy said. “They’re alive and happy to be so. So, no, I’m not
angry.”

“I feel them as well,” Doven said. “They seem
to…like us.”

“All of us?” Roy asked a little
suspiciously.

“Ask them yourselves,” I suggested.

“I don’t know how,” Roy said. “I don’t feel
anything different.”

Willy barked a laugh. “Roy, if they’re talking
to me, they’ll talk to you.”

“Maybe they won’t –” Roy jerked. “Oh.
That’s…different. Are you sure they’re telepathic? It feels all
emotional to me. They’re kind of…hugging me and apologizing for
being afraid?”

“Probably they are, yes.” I felt the Pillar
tell me I was correct.

“Empathy is rare,” Ciarissa said, “but not
unheard of, and it’s definitely a telepathic trait. A specialty, if
you will. Most Espens don’t focus on emotion manipulation because
controlling the mind is more effective.”

“Or the body,” Dr. Wufren said cheerfully.
Then he looked at me and no longer appeared cheerful. “You’re going
to be the only one capable of doing what must be done.”

“I know.”

“What do you mean?” Kyle asked. “They’re in
Round Form. We can get them into one or two Polliskins easily
enough, same with the space suit or suits.”

“Yes, but that won’t be enough. And I don’t
think we actually want to remove them from the Birthing Sac.
However, your idea is still a good one, Kyle.” I went and gave Roy
a kiss. “Help me get into a Polliskin or six, will you?”

“Why?” he asked, looking worried.

“Because I’m going to shift into something
dangerous.”

Roy shook his head and hugged me to him. “Why
did I know that’s what you were going to say?”

“You’re smarter than the average
spacer.”

“Yeah? I don’t think that can be proven by
anything that’s happened in the last couple of hours.”

Roy and I both would have liked to have done
something more than just get me into a Polliskin, but time was
running out and we’d spent more than enough of it explaining what
was going on.

Per Willy, Polliskins were like wetsuits from
Old Earth, only they were far more adaptable and also good
protection for anyone who wasn’t a Polliwog who was visiting
Polliworld. They were also incredibly hard to get into. Getting
more than one on was a challenge of major proportions. Whether the
effort would be worthwhile, based on what we wanted the suits to
do, was, currently, anyone’s guess.

“Why are you willing to die for them?” Roy
asked me as we finally got the last suit on. “Because what you’re
going to do means you’re at as much risk as they are. More,
really.”

I leaned against him. “Because they need
someone who loves them.”

“That’s true of every being, babe.”

“Yes, but the Pillar are different from
others, in many ways. And one of those ways is that they require
the love of others to survive. That’s part of why they create music
– to spread love.”

“You got that from floating around in space
for a while?”

“No. I got that from what the Pillar told me
emotionally, both while floating around in space and once we were
back here.”

He sighed and hugged me tightly. “I need you,
too, you know. We all do. And not just because of what you can do.
But because of who you are, and who you are to us…to
me.”

I buried my face in his chest. “I know. I feel
the same way about you, you know that. But…”

He kissed the top of my head. “But you can
never truly have a Seraphin child. And we don’t know if we can have
children of our own. And there are a dozen children in my cargo
hold who need a mother who loves them. I get it, babe. But I don’t
see it as a long term solution.”

I laughed. “Roy, when we met, you said taking
me with you was a short term solution. Trust me, we’ll manage. We
always do.”

He kissed me. As always it was amazing, but
not as long as either one of us would have liked. Not smart to
spend too much time making out when our enemies could be back and
in greater numbers.

We went back to the cargo hold. I put on a
Polliskin helmet and my spacesuit. Then I shifted.