ARC: Under Nameless Stars (5 page)

“I see. Are you in pain now?”

“No, no, it’s nothing.”

“But you were hurt, then, when this sharing happened?”

“No, not me. The Skirni was in pain, and I… it was like…” The realization struck her at once. She jumped up from the chair. “That’s it…”

“It is?”

“Yes! They were all in pain. Or… or afraid. That’s the common element – the thing that was happening every time. That must be the trigger. Why didn’t I see it before?”

“I am not understanding you.”

“Each time I linked with an animal, it was in trouble,” she went on, speaking fast, wanting to get it all out, to see if the pattern held. “Katie was trapped. The hooshrike stuck in the cage bars. The whalehound’s eye.” She thought back, ticking off each event, trying to remember them all. “Gil’s sick sandhog. Zeus, Liam’s cat, when he was injured. Then the Skirni when Katie attacked it. They were all in pain or distress. That’s when the link happened. That’s when they connected with me.”

Jules cocked his big head at her. “So, an animal’s pain creates a mental state that allows them to reach into your thoughts? Every time you encounter such a situation?”

“No. At least, I don’t think it’s every time. It must be when I’m especially focused on them or something.”

“But how? And why? Why would they connect up with you? Is your brain in some way special among humans?”

“Not that I know of,” Zenn said, combing her fingers back and forth through her hair in agitation, as if that would shake loose some helpful insight. “All I know is I’ve connected with certain animals. And maybe it’s because they were stressed when it happened.” She sat down and put her head in her hands, suddenly weary. “Or maybe I
am
just a deranged lunatic.”

“Possible. But unlikely, I would say. In any case, it is a mystery. Something to be turned over in the mind and considered. You will perhaps understand it at some later juncture. Or perhaps not.”

The dolphin was quiet for a long while, watching Zenn, head tilted to one side, as if working something out in his mind. At last, his legs whirred into action and he strode over to stand before her.

“If I may be so bold,” he said, soundly oddly formal all of the sudden. “Your story has brought me to propose a path forward. It is my conclusion the best way would be for you to reside here, in this cabin, while you search out your father. I have rooms too many for my use. We will not be overcrowded.”

“You’d do that? Let me stay, here, with you?”

“I would! It will be our adventure, the two of us who are seeking others.”

A wild rush of surprise and relief flowed through Zenn, followed quickly by the image of her uncle saying on more than one occasion that anything which appeared too good to be true generally turns out to be just that. But she could see no alternative.

“Can you agree to this proposal?” he asked.

“You know what? I can,” she told the smiling dolphin. “I can agree.” She wanted to hug him. Do dolphins hug?

“Outstanding decision,” he said, extending a mech-hand. “We must clasp hands to seal our new association. It is customary among friends.” She took the metal-and-neoprene hand and marveled at the delicacy of its touch.

Yes,
she thought, smiling up at him. This is what a friend would do. Something just like this.

Still holding her hand, he put his large head down close to hers. “Your hair really is quite red. Shocking, almost.”

From the chair where Zenn had left her backpack, there was a trilling sound, followed by the appearance of a violet-and-cream rikkaset. Katie yawned, then climbed out of the pack, sat on the arm of the chair and gave Jules an intense, inspecting look. She signed at Zenn:

“Walking-fish-man have food for Katie?”

SIX

After Zenn introduced Jules and Katie, the rikkaset was given an apple from the bowl of fruit to nibble. Jules showed Zenn to one of the cabin’s bedrooms. It was small, but displayed the same opulence as the rest of his quarters, with fine, colorful weavings covering the walls. At first, the dolphin looked on from the doorway as Zenn stowed her backpack in the room’s small closet. But when she looked up again, he was gone. She found him standing before a large mirror in the small hallway leading to the cabin’s exit door. He was twisting his body awkwardly in a futile attempt to check the back portion of his walksuit.

“These devices are always getting out of alignment,” he muttered, gingerly poking at one of several dozen small nozzles mounted at various points on the suit. The nozzles periodically puffed out tiny mistings of water onto the areas of his skin not covered by the suit itself. “If they are not properly directed, I get dry patches…” Zenn couldn’t suppress a grin.

“Mister Vancouver, I just wanted to thank you again. For letting me stay. For trusting me, when you don’t even know me.”

“‘Mister Vancouver’?” The dolphin threw back his head in an open-jawed, chittering laugh. “You make me feel like a family-elder with dull, broken teeth! I am Jules, please.”

“OK. Jules. Thank you.”

“It is my own pleasure to have your company. And the small one Katie as well. As for trust…” His bright eyes narrowed just a bit. “I have this positive feeling concerning you, Zora Bodine. And I am generally correct in my impressions.”

“Zenn,” she said, coming to a decision. “My name isn’t Zora. It’s Zenn. Zenn Scarlett. You should know my real name.”

“A secret name? But this is even better. This is a key ingredient in the printed-on-paper adventure novel, you know. Secret names. Kidnapped persons and scoundrels. I wager you are also carrying… a treasure map. Am I correct? Do I win?”

“Um, sorry, no. No map.” And she actually felt a kind of remorse at failing to fulfill his expectation.

“I see. I neglected to state an amount of this wager. Which I have lost, fairly and squarely. You may name a reasonable amount.” He produced his credit relay and held it out.

“Oh, no. That’s not necessary, Jules.”

He quickly put his relay back in its compartment on his walksuit.

“That is very generous of you. To allow me to get down off of the hook, as they say. Thank you.”

Zenn grinned at him. She was starting to feel that, yes, this dolphin was in fact eminently trustworthy.

They went back out into the main room, where Katie had fallen soundly asleep, curled into a ball in one of the chairs.

“So, Jules, you’re going to Enchara?”

“I am not pointed at Enchara. I travel to the water-planet Mu Arae. I search for a friend. A close friend.”

“A friend from Earth?”

“Yes, my First Promised. She was on a ship bound for Mu Arae in the past year. It went missing. One of the vanished Indra craft, you understand. I intend to find her. It matters.”

“Jules, I’m so sorry.”

Zenn had met only one or two others who’d lost anyone on a hijacked Indra-drive ship. The ships had been disappearing periodically for two decades, leaving no trace or any indication of the cause. Lately, the frequency of these events had increased alarmingly. It was getting bad enough to start threatening communications and trade with some of the outlying planets of the Accord.

“Yes, the vanishing of Indra-type spaceships in our Local Accord is a serious and growing dilemma. And yet, all investigations have produced to date no hope of a resolution.”

“I know. But people are trying,” Zenn said. “My mother, Mai, was actually working on the Indra problem when she… when she was lost. She specialized in treating Indra.”

“I am saddened to hear of her passing. When was this terrible event?”

“Four Mars years ago. Almost eight Earth years. I was only nine. I don’t remember all of it. No.” She stopped herself. “I do remember. I just don’t want to.”

“Then we will not speak of it.”

“So,” she said then, more than willing to change the subject. “By First Promised, you mean promised as in marriage, to have a family, that kind of ‘promised’?”

“A family? No, I think not. But as in marriage and lifemate, yes. Inga was scheduled to be my first wife, you see.” He stepped over to the bowl of fruit and began unwrapping bits of dried fish. He popped several into his mouth, swallowing them whole. “The first is the most important of the wives that will follow. It makes the most sense.”

“I’m sure it does,” Zenn told him, determined not to be judgmental about cetacean mating customs.

“So you see it concerns me intensely that I find her.”

“Of course. But, Jules, do you have any information to go on? The missing ships – they just disappear. No real leads have been found about the cause. Do you have some reason to think you’ll learn where she is when you get to Mu Arae?”

“No. No good reason, actually.” Another morsel of fish. “It is the one clue I possess, however. There seems to be no other place that makes the most sense to go looking. Where would you look?”

He appeared genuinely interested in her opinion on the matter, which made Zenn feel even sorrier for him.

“No, I’m sure you’re doing the right thing. It just seems… It must be very difficult for you.”

“It is difficult. She is an outstanding mate prospect, and we became very good friends before she went on her voyage. She overlooks my wearing of the walksuit and going about on land, which others of my kind criticize me for. But I belabor my own problems, which is rude behavior, isn’t it? I will speak of something else.” He looked around the room, as if he might spot something that would suggest another topic of conversation. The last piece of fish disappeared into his smiling face with a clack of his jaws.

“This Skirni, the one you followed here,” he said. “You saw in your dream-sight that he was with your father? And you believe your father could also be aboard this ship?”

“I don’t know. Maybe. At first, Dad was in his office, I think, on Enchara, in the… dream-sight. And then he was in some room with medical equipment.”

“But what of this Liam Tucker person? He is helping to locate your father?”

“Not really. Liam has his own reasons for wanting to get off Mars. It’s kind of a long story.”

“Are you thinking of finding this Liam? Could he help in your searching?”

“Well, yes, I’d like to find him. I mean, yes, he has tried to help me before. And I can use all the help I can get if I’m going to track down my dad.”

“I have a concept to aid in your searching,” Jules said. “I will put a tail on the Skirni.”

“A tail?”

“It is an expression of craft in certain of the antique printed-on-paper-novels involving criminals and those who detect clues in order to apprehend them. I will follow the Skirni surreptitiously to gather information about his activities. I will then make my report to you. Yes! It will be our case together.”

“Our case…” Zenn was a little dubious about the cetacean’s childlike enthusiasm for what, to her, was very serious business.

“Why not? Tailing and reporting the accumulated clues form the basis for almost all successful mysterious adventures of this variety. It seems the best way until we come upon some better solution. Now…” He lifted a bunch of bananas from the fruit bowl, looked underneath, but found no more fish. “I am exceptionally hungry.” His attention had shifted abruptly once more – a trait Zenn thought she should probably get used to. “The food on this ship is quite adequate. And in main dining areas they do not ration the amount one consumes. Are you hungry as well?”

Zenn realized that she was, in fact, famished. Deciding it was best she remain in the cabin, Jules hurried out into the corridor and Zenn found herself alone with the sleeping Katie.

She went into her bedroom amid the sudden silence, which was then broken by a faint chiming tone that sounded from a hidden speaker somewhere in the cabin, followed by a bland female voice.

“Greetings to our recently arrived guests, and welcome aboard the LSA LumiLiner
Helen of Troy
,” the voice intoned. “The ship is commencing orbital exit maneuvers. We will soon be departing Mars and Sol Sys space for Sigmund’s Parch, Luveern Transfer Hub, Enchara and Fomalhaut, with connecting services to Mu Arae, the Moons of Altair and the Outer Reaches. Our estimated transit time to the Sol space tunneling coordinates is two standard days, seven hours. Thank you for traveling with LumiLiner, and please have a pleasant voyage.” The message then began to repeat, first in the hissing, sibilant sounds of Alcyoni, then in the low, melodic tones Zenn recognized as the language of the Zeta Reticulans.

So, this was it. She was really leaving. For the first time, she was now truly on her own, beyond the reach or assistance of anyone back on Mars.

She sat on the bunk to think. There was still the problem of letting Otha know where she was. What would he say? What would he do? And Liam. Was he looking for her? Was he even still aboard? A sinking hollowness opened deep inside her. But at the thought of her father, helpless, imprisoned, maybe hurt, she stood up again, her entire body electric with fury and resolve. Yes, she was on her own. And whatever happened from now on was up to her and her alone.

She went to the cabin door, hesitated just long enough to wrap her scarf around her head and lower face, took a deep breath, and stepped up to the door. Looking back to see that Katie was still asleep, she quietly asked the door to open, leaned out into the passageway and checked both directions. No one. When she had followed Jules to his cabin earlier, they’d passed a viewport just down the corridor. Deciding that one last look at Mars didn’t necessarily mean she was already homesick, she hurried down the passage.

The perfect disc of Mars hung suspended in the circular, floor-to-ceiling viewing window, a majestic expanse of browns and rusty reds rotating slowly far below. Gauzy white clouds trailed from the higher volcanoes like ragged pennants. Here and there, thin lines of green zigzagged through the barren wastes – pressurized valleys where the colonists maintained their fragile toehold on the planet. Zenn scanned the surface, trying to get her bearings and locate her home valley and Arsia City.

Something moved into view from one edge of the scene outside – a ferry, dropping away from the starship. Zenn assumed it was the one that had brought her, Katie, Liam and the sandhog up from the surface. Glinting in the stark sunlight, the little craft emitted a silent burst from its thrusters and fell toward the planet. Zenn watched the ferry grow smaller and smaller before it disappeared into the atmospheric haze.

A moment later, another bell-like chime sounded three times. Far off in the depths of the ship, she heard the rumble of machinery – that would be the sound of the ship’s immense solar sails deploying, folding out like a vast, glittering gold umbrella with the ship like a handle in its center. Propelled by the solar wind, the huge sails would take the ship to the void between the asteroid belt and Jupiter, where the Indra and its groom would have the room required to commence tunneling.

The panorama framed by the window slowly shifted as the starship veered out of Mars’s gravitational pull and began the slow ballet of orbital exit. She wrapped her arms tightly around herself and watched her world sliding away. She recalled the scent of fresh-cut switchgrass, of Otha waving at her as he drove his beloved old pickup truck into the cloister’s dusty courtyard, Hild’s weathered face glancing up from her workbench after firing up a near-dead diagnostic computer; Hamish in the brew house, holding four mugs of ale aloft in his four upper insectoid arms, saying he’d named this batch “Sexton’s Very Best Bitter”. She saw her mother and father laughing together, joking with each other the way they did, before… She thought of her father after Mai Scarlett’s death, the permanent cloud that seemed to veil his moods, even when he tried to make her think he’d found the trick of being happy again. More than anything in the world, she’d wanted him to find that trick, to have her father back, the father she’d known when he still had her mother to be so deeply, amazingly in love with.

Mars continued to drift sideways in the portal, then vanished from view as the starship pointed its bow toward open space. The viewport filled with stars burning in the blackness, the nothingness shot through with unblinking, pinprick light-holes.

She leaned against the corridor wall, and the ship’s mechanical systems thrummed against her back, beneath her feet. She had just two days before the starship would pass through the asteroid belt. Then, in the empty space that lay beyond, the Indra would work its uncanny sorcery. The immense “stonehorse” would awaken and uncoil its body into the cavernous Indra chamber. The groom would perform the arcane rituals of astronavigation, and the Indra would open the wormhole-like tunnel, dissolving the fabric of time and space. Once the interdimensional pathway materialized, the Indra would cross the threshold and, in an eyeblink, take the
Helen of Troy
across the unimaginable distance to Sigmund’s Parch and, in its next tunneling, onward to Enchara.

So, she had two days before they would leave Sol Sys space. What if she hadn’t found her father by then? She couldn’t imagine where she would finally end up if she failed, what she would do, how she would ever get back home. And, she realized with cold, clear logic, if she didn’t find her father, none of the rest mattered.