Crisis On Doona (40 page)

“Todd?” Ken said, trying his voice.

Todd was on a flat plank of a bed that was identical to his own. As Ken’s eyes grew accustomed to the dim light, he saw the bruises on the boy’s face, blood on his nose, cheeks, and chin, but old blood, dried. Torn clothes revealed bloody scratches and more discoloring bruises. But at least the blood was clotted and dried. Todd was breathing heavily through his mouth, not surprising, for his nose was probably broken. At least he was breathing. Ken remembered the two of them standing back-to-back, fighting for their lives against too numerous assailants.

When the transport mist had cleared after their departure from Treaty Island, Ken had been struck across the back with something hard, like a bar. The force of the blow had dropped him to his knees. Gasping with pain and surprise, Ken struggled to his feet to defend himself against the attacking Hrrubans. Demanding that they identify themselves and repeating his own name brought no answer save for grunts at the punches he landed wherever he could. Ken Reeve had wrestled a few steers in his day and, bigger though the Hrrubans were, they only had two legs. With a well-aimed kick, he forced one attacker to his knees, kicking the sheath knife out of his hand and ducking the claws that swiped at him as the Hrruban sprang up.

Then the prehensile tail wrapped around Ken’s waist like a snake. Their caudal appendages weren’t really very strong. They were made for holding, not subduing. Ken jerked an elbow down hard over the joint between two of the small bones under the fur. The Hrruban let out a wail of pain and whipped his tail out of reach. But then someone jumped Ken from behind, trying to throttle him. He kicked out at another who leaped at him in a frontal attack, catching him in the throat, snapping the fringed jaw shut, and knocking him unconscious.

Another Hrruban merely lifted both Ken’s legs off the ground while the one behind him forced his hands together. Ken knew from sounds beyond him that Todd had been acquitting himself well against such overwhelming numbers of assailants. As Ken waited bravely for his neck to be broken, he felt only that his hands and legs were being tied tightly. So they weren’t trying to kill him, just capture him. He looked toward Todd, struggling in the hands of three Hrrubans. One thing was certain with so many Hrrubans around: they were not on Earth. Had they been diverted to Hrruba?

Though Todd had the height and heft of his attackers, he couldn’t quite fight free. Years of riding and hard work had given him the strength of a mule, and the Hrrubans couldn’t pull him down. While Todd was still on his feet, Ken had hope, and filling his lungs, he started to yell at the top of his voice in Hrruban.

“Help! Someone! Help us! We are being denied honorable treatment!”

Todd added his voice, shouting in High Hrruban for the Speakers. Whether or not they were on Hrruba, such a cry should raise an alarm nearby. Their yelling upset their assailants. The one behind Ken began to clout him across the mouth to silence him. Ken writhed, trying to evade the blows with his bound arms. Suddenly he heard Todd’s shouts end abruptly. Then a pair of fists caught him on the point of his chin, and that was the end of his fight.

Now Ken squirmed and rolled until he got himself into a sitting position. The sound of a throat being cleared told him that the two of them were not alone in their small, gray prison. Ken glanced over to the far corner of the room. Two Hrrubans in the harness of official guards sat in chairs beyond the end of the small chamber, closed off to the corridor by a wall of bars. Ken peered at them. They were both of a very narrow Stripe. They looked unmarked, so they were unlikely to be part of the gang that had attacked them. The narrow Stripes wore only bare harnesses, giving Ken no idea of where they were and which faction had captured them. However, he could rule out Earth because of the presence of so many Hrrubans, though the corridors beyond the chamber reminded him of Earth. They could have been taken to any one of several dozen Hrruban-settled worlds.

“Todd? Wake up, son!” Ken whispered. He eased himself slowly along the bench until he was sitting opposite Todd’s head. Neither of the guards moved, either to help him or to make him lie down again. Trussed up as he was, guards were no more than a formality. His movement had been noticed and the Hrrubans muttered between them in Low Hrruban.

Todd stirred, and his eyes opened. Ken noticed that his chin was dark with stubble. They had been unconscious a long time, perhaps even a day. Todd started to sit up, and winced at the pain of his bruised muscles. “Where are we, Dad?”

“I don’t know, Todd,” Ken said. He caught Todd’s eye and then looked significantly toward the barred wall. “But it sure isn’t Earth.”

Todd turned his head and opened his mouth but Ken intervened.

“No, son, don’t. Don’t speak Hrruban. Just before you woke up, one of them said to the other, ‘They’re a lot more docile than Third said they’d be.’ ”

“Oh?” Todd raised his eyebrows at that indiscretion.

“This pair obviously don’t know we understand their language.” Ken smiled grimly. “If we keep listening, we may hear something even more valuable. Here, move toward me and I’ll see if I can’t undo your bindings. Hey, untie us, would you?” he asked the guards loudly in Terran. The two Hrrubans stared at Ken without saying a word and then went back to their own conversation.

“I don’t think they understand Terran,” Ken said with satisfaction.

“So does Third plan to kill us?” Todd asked with commendable detachment.

“I think not or they’d have done so during the fight on the grid,” Ken said grimly. “No, they want us alive and I’d give anything to know why.”

“So I can’t appear at that trial and Hrriss and I are judged guilty by my default?” Todd suggested.

“Could be, son, since it was Third Speaker who made your innocence a sticking point for Treaty Renewal.”

Both kept working surreptitiously to release their hands. If the guards thought them docile, so much the better for the success of their efforts to free themselves.

Plainly bored by a long stretch, the two guards leaned together and began to speak. They didn’t bother to lower their voices, believing that their bareskin prisoners did not understand Hrruban. Their conversation was less than complimentary about the cravens they had no real need to guard. When one said that the bareskins would be easy to subdue, after all, Ken and Todd redoubled their efforts to free themselves.

Todd got his hands loose first. He stifled an inadvertent gasp as blood rushed to his fingers, causing excruciating pain. As soon as they worked again, he moved closer to his father and unbound him. They’d have to be very careful getting their legs free. Perhaps if they pretended to sleep ... It was when Todd shifted cautiously onto one side that he realized what had been taken from him.

“Dad! They’ve taken it.”

“What?”

“All the documents we were going to show the panel, to prove me innocent, to prove Landreau’s conspiracy.”

Ken’s groan was genuine. In Third Speaker’s possession, those documents were pure gelignite! He closed his eyes, knowing total defeat of all he’d strived to build, all he hoped for the future of the Doona/Rrala Experiment. He couldn’t look at Todd, but the boy’s soft anguished moan told him that Todd understood the scope of the disaster.

ON THE DAIS
of the assembly hall, elders from all ten villages of Doona waited for the huge crowd of colonists to come to order. The transportation grid on the Hrruban side of the Friendship Bridge had been busy all day, bringing in anyone and everyone from all over the planet who wanted to help organize the celebration for Treaty Renewal Day. Carts and flitters full of food and decorations lined the paths outside and spilled over into the garden. Children caught the mood of excitement from their parents, who whispered among themselves about the upcoming great event.

“Please!” Hrrestan shouted over the din. “We have much to do before tomorrow. May we have your attention, please?”

“I’m glad I lived to see this day,” said Hu Shih, smiling through his spectacles at his friends, both Human and Hrruban. “The celebration tomorrow will be both a tribute to all the hard work we have put in and an acknowledgment of the cooperation between our races.”

“If there is any celebration to look forward to,” Anne Boncyk said sourly, from just in front of the dais. She had been passing on the whispers she heard to anyone who’d listen that Ken Reeve and his son Todd had disappeared rather than appear in court to defend allegations against them. “They’re probably headed for one of the outer worlds where they have all that money hidden away,” she confided out loud to Randall McKee.

But she picked the wrong target for such a statement.

“You know better than that, Anne,” Randall replied, rising to the defense of both Reeves.

“Yes, indeed,” and Vic Solinari joined McKee, facing down the woman’s gossip. “There’ll be a bloody damned good explanation for their disappearance, just you wait and see.”

“I’ll wait but I don’t think I’ll see,” she replied tauntingly. “Those Reeves never could run things right.”

“Confound it, Anne Boncyk,” and now Ben Adjei confronted the small woman, “if you mean how they run the Snake Hunt, I’ve told you three times for every pig you own, Anne, if you’d have chosen a different homestead than the one you did, the snakes wouldn’t come anywhere near your spread.”

“They’re supposed to make sure all livestock is safe all along the way,” Anne retorted, getting angrier.

“Those reptiles have been sliding up and back between the dunes and the marshes along that stretch since before your acres had even surfaced out of the sea. I showed you a dozen better sites when you came here. You’d be better off if you moved.”

“I might not have a choice, thanks to those Perfect Twins you all think so much of.” Anne sniffed, turning away from the burly veterinarian and looking around to make sure Hrriss was not within earshot. “What I’ve heard is, if they’re judged guilty, then the Treaty won’t be renewed. All along, you thought they were such saints, and look what they’re doing to us!”

“Todd and Hrriss are innocent,” Vic Solinari said. “Most of the charges against them have been proved bogus. You know that as well as anyone else here, Anne Boncyk, so stop acting the maggot.”

“If they’re so innocent, why isn’t Todd here to stand beside Hrriss and prove it? Because if they don’t, we’re off Doona! The Hrrubans will confiscate our homes, our stock, everything we’ve worked for.”

“Hrrubans do not intend to confiscate Hayuman homes,” said Hrrula, stepping through the crowd around them. “I, Hrrula, know that Zodd Rrev is innocent.”

“Well, we’re not sure of that,” a Human woman cried out.

“Yet your system of justice, like ours, clearly states that one is innocent until proved guilty. If, after knowing how hard both Todd and Hrriss have worked to make this colony succeed, you think they are guilty, then this great Experiment is already over.”

There was a moment’s stunned silence as Hrrula’s words condemned many for their lack of faith. Hrriss, standing well back in the crowd, lowered his head in shame. He had endured much calumny and heard his dearest friend slandered. Nothing he had said, or proved with the precious documents they had worked so hard to gather, would change the minds of many of these distressed folk, Hrruban and Hayuman, when they realized that all their hard work could be swept away at any moment by the dissolution of the Treaty and the Doona/Rrala Experiment.

“No, the Experiment has not failed,” cried Hu Shih, struggling to the dais. “Not if we, Hayuman and Hrruban alike, present a unified front. We must be of one mind now, more than ever, putting aside petty questions of innocence or guilt. The Colonial Department and the Speakers will have to realize that we, Hayumans and Hrrubans, are sincere and dedicated to the principles of the Decision at Doona and the Cohabitation Treaty.”

“Well said, well said!” Clapping his hands above his head in Hayuman fashion, Hrrestan jumped to the dais to stand beside the slender little Hu Shih. “This colony is a state of mind as well as a place for both species to live and prosper. It was founded on hope. Let us keep that hope alive. Now! Let us hope that our faith in those young men is vindicated as I know it will be!” And to the surprise of everyone listening, Hrrestan threw his head back and uttered an ancient Hrruban challenge.

It had barely died away when others repeated the challenge, Hrrubans with their uncanny howl and Hayumans with wild ululating cheers.

“Okay, folks,” and Vic Solinari leaped to the dais. “No one’s called off the ceremonies so let’s make sure they start on time. Senior dignitaries from Earth and Hrruba are due in shortly. Let’s show them as united a front as we did twenty-five years ago. They didn’t believe us then, and we made them as united a front as we did twenty-five years ago. They didn’t believe us then, and we made them. Let’s revive that spirit and show ’em now, today! We’re here to stay,” he motioned the Hrrubans and Hayumans for silence. “We got a lot of work to do now, everybody, so let’s hop to it. First Village has sent rails of brrnas for roasting, and Wayne Boncyk’s given us four of his boars to roast. Norris has donated a hundredweight of those special sausages he makes, Phyllis here has ssliss eggs by the cartload, and I dunno how many women have been baking. Let’s get organized, folks!”

He sprang down from the dais, genially pushing one group one way, another toward the doors, gesturing at the fire pits that were already glowing.

“We have the crop of our berry harvest to offer,” called out Hrrmova of the Third Hrruban Village. “A bounty of blackberries and drroilanas.”

“The Launch Bar will donate beer, mlada, and wine,” the owner called. “If any spacers come wanting a drink, they’ll have to find me here. I don’t want to miss a minute of the celebration.”

“That’s the spirit,” Vic Solinari cheered him. “Hrrestan, where should I put my two hundred kilos of good aged urfa cheese?”

“We shall find a place, my friend,” the Hrruban said, “for I know that many Hrrubans are particularly fond of that commodity.”

“And the hunters of First Village,” Hu Shih said, “have made a record catch of the hatchlings. Snake stew must be on the menu.”

“We’re doing all this for nothing!” Martinson of the Launch Center shouted, pushing through a crowd which had recovered its hope. “We’ll all be off this planet before that food can be cooked, much less served.”

But this warning elicited more jeers than agreement.

“You may leave now, if that is how you feel, Martinson,” Hrrestan replied, letting his eyes slit as he looked at the portmaster. He didn’t show the irritation he felt at this attempt to puncture the delicate mood of optimism that was beginning to build. “Go if you do not share our hopes. We will not miss you.” And resolutely he turned away.

Martinson stared after him, looking around the room, but others had turned away, too. He stamped out of the Hall, cursing fools and fatheads and men who wouldn’t face reality.

Soon even the most pessimistic caught the growing spirit of hope and resolve. There was a lot to be done, however the events of the next day turned out. After all, twenty-five years ago, there had been less hope for those who remembered that fateful day. Was it wrong to expect a second miracle?

Hrrestan hoped that he sounded more convinced than he felt. If some worked only because it was something to do, that was better than doing nothing. And so the preparations for the feast began, Hrrubans and Hayumans working side by side.

* * *

The next day dawned, for better or for worse. Pat forced herself out of bed and set about kneading bread dough which had risen during the night. She put the loaf pans on the sun porch to rise again. Deftly she put fancy touches on each, spread glazes on some and sprinkled seed on others. For someone who had never baked a loaf of bread before she came to Doona, over time Pat had mastered the skill until she had pride in it. If she worked, she didn’t think about how frightened she was. Once again she was alone on Doona without Ken: she hadn’t liked it the first time it had happened twenty-five years ago and she didn’t like it now. He should be here with her. Where was he? Where was Todd? And where were Kelly and Nrrna? Safe, they said, but where
was
safe these days? Kelly had given her so much support, ever since Todd had woken up to what everyone else had seen—that he and Kelly were so well suited to each other. The bread made, she had only to wait until it was ready to bake. Only to wait? That was the hardest part of all. Wait for what?

The handle of the front door rattled, and Pat flew to answer it. On the doorstep was her daughter Ilsa, and her two small daughters.

“Oh, sweetheart,” Pat gasped. “I’d almost forgotten you were coming.”

Ilsa put down her bags and threw her arms around her mother.

“Happy Treaty Renewal Day, Mom,” she said happily, embracing Pat, and then stood back at her expression. “If it is. What’s wrong?”

Pat bent to cuddle her two small granddaughters, four and seven they were now.

“How would you two like to help me make bread?” she asked, diverting them as well as herself. “Wash your hands now,” and when they had, she showed them how to shape spare scraps of dough into little loaves and left them to it.

With them happily occupied, she explained to Ilsa what had been happening since their last contact.

Ilsa listened quietly and thoughtfully to the most recent troubles. Knowing her brother’s sense of honor, Ilsa had expected Todd to have cleared up all that nonsense about smuggling and stealing and things. She kept to herself her anxiety when she learned of the disappearance of both her father and brother.

“Why didn’t you comp-line me, Mother? If Dad and Todd are on Earth, we could have gone to Poldep to instigate a search for them.”

“I didn’t want to worry you, dear,” Pat replied, knowing that she hadn’t considered her gentle daughter could be much help in such circumstances. “Every minute I expect them back, to walk in that door and explain where they’ve been. And there’s no time left now. Nothing they could do even if they do make it back today.”

“Now, now, Mother, I’ll just make us a nice cup of tea and think what to do.”

* * *

When the baking was done, the two women put the still-steaming loaves and buns in the flitter and went to the Assembly Hall kitchen. The room was uncomfortably silent. The previous day’s ebullience had dissipated when dawn brought no sign of the missing Reeves. Preparations for the feast were proceeding, but the mood was of people performing chores by rote or by sheer and dogged obstinacy, with none of the laughter and joking and excitement that should infect such a task on a day of such historic importance.

Those who would cling to their hope and faith until the bitter end of all expectation tried to resist the spread of despair. Some of the faces were stunned and incredulous, others resentful. A few doomsayers murmured to any who would listen that there was no way to avoid or escape the inexorable end of this sad day.

Hrrula, Hrrestan, Mrrva, the Solinaris, and the Shihs moved constantly about the work parties, encouraging, complimenting, urging people to greater efforts. The preparations continued in spite of the general depression. It looked like it would be a magnificent feast, in the very best tradition of Doona. Even if it did turn out to be the last one, the condemned would eat heartily.

“You always present food so beautifully, Miranda,” Pat told one of the young women who had just been carving Doona blossoms out of root vegetables. Smiling, the girl glanced up at the compliment and her smile turned to a sneer as she swiftly moved away.

Pat felt as if she had been slapped. She glanced up and met the eyes of one of the Hrruban males who were helping trim roasts, and he too turned his head, without changing expression. Pat cast wildly about for Ilsa and found she’d watched the whole thing. The young woman’s eyes were full of shocked hurt. Pat was embarrassed that her daughter had to be witness to her mother’s humiliation. It was so obvious that people unconsciously blamed Todd, and Ken, for their predicament.

“Pat, I’d appreciate your help outside,” Dr. Kate Moody said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and escorting her firmly to the door. Once they were hidden behind a cultivated hedge which separated the rear of the kitchen from plain view, Pat let go and sobbed bitterly on Kate’s shoulder.

“You’ve been a model of fortitude, Pat, don’t spoil it now,” the colony pediatrician murmured to her, patting her on the back. “This isn’t a personal rejection of you, you know. Everyone’s tense, frustrated. I don’t have a notion what happened to Ken or Todd but I’m damned sure they’d be here if they could! And I keep hoping any minute now they’ll come striding over that bridge and set everything straight. Mind you, they may be cutting their timing a bit close, but they’ll come.”