Falcorans' Faith (13 page)

 “I do not truly understand genetic memories, as you know,” he said.  “But I wonder, why is it that the destruction of your home world, and what the sugea saw, not in them?”

Marqex nodded slowly, a small smile on her face.  “You ask the correct questions, Darck, once of Winicke.  I am proud of you.”

Darck smiled, surprised and pleased by such high praise from this woman that he respected so much. 

“Those Narrasti who reached Earth and, in time, became the Brethren, have no genetic connection to those of us who were here, on Onddo, at the time of the destruction.  Our genetic memories, our connection with those who once lived on Narrastia, ended with that world’s end.  The connection with those who escaped was broken.”

Darck thought about that.  “If I had genetic memories, then I would know what truly happened without the
Erekorra
,” he said.

“That is true,” Marqex agreed.  “It remains to be seen if your children will have genetic memories.”

“I hope they don’t,” Darck said.  “I would rather they not be burdened with the knowledge of their Earth ancestors.”

“That is the downside of genetic memories,” Marqex agreed.  

“What shall we do?” Darck asked.

“We will show our village the
Erekorra
, and what it contains,” Marqex said.  “And we will send a copy to the new village.”

“How goes the rumor mill?” Darck asked with a hint of a smile.

“Very well,” Marqex replied, then shook her head slowly.  “It is his own fault that a few words can so easily destroy the loyalty of his people.  In the beginning, Magoa understood that the people were his strength, and he used them carefully.  Then the Xanti came, and he forgot about the importance of the people.  His sudden decision to have Slater, a known sugea, with him at all times raised questions that he should have answered, but didn’t.  Bringing the Brethren to Onddo without explanation, and spending most of his time with the Xanti, made things worse.  The people were losing faith in him, but he was so distracted with his own plans that he never noticed.  The stealing of so many eggs infuriated everyone, further weakening his hold, and still he did not notice.  Magoa himself made the time ripe for the secret of the bio-engineered sugean eggs to be leaked.”

“How many have defected?”

“Nearly half the population,” Marqex said, much to Darck’s shock. 

“The site we prepared is not large enough for so many.”

“That site was meant only to make it easier for the first of those we approached to leave their homes,” Marqex said.  “They no longer need our assistance.  At last report, there are now two small settlements to the southeast, and a third is planned.”

Darck nodded.  The settlements of those defecting were all a good distance from their own.  They’d been very careful to keep their existence secret, and Darck wanted to keep it that way.  Magoa had access to Xanti ships and weapons, and they had no defense against either.

“I believe we need to find a way to share the knowledge of the
Erekorra
with those Narrasti who still live beneath Magoa’s claws,” Marqex said, interrupting his thoughts.

“How do we do that without Magoa finding out?”

“I do not yet know,” Marqex said as she stood up and stretched carefully.  “We must think on it.  And we must come up with an answer in the next few days.  We must summon those of our people who are still in town very soon.  Once we do that, we will no longer have eyes and ears on Magoa or the Xanti, but it cannot be helped.”

Darck stood up too, then picked up the pack of relics.  “You feel something coming, don’t you?”

“I’m afraid so,” Marqex said.  “I have long known that the arrival of the one called
Stalnek
would set certain events in motion.  I do not know what the outcome of those events will be, but I do know that they will mark the future of Onddo.  Stalnek’s arrival is now imminent.  Shortly thereafter either we, the peaceful Bakea will emerge victorious, or Magoa’s Hasen will.  There will be no compromise.”

“It is ironic that we who want nothing but peace must fight for it,” Darck said.

“Yes, it is,” Marqex agreed.  “But in all honesty, Darck, we want more than peace.  We want the bio-engineered eggs to be destroyed.  We want to clear the minds that Magoa has muddied, and let them know that his words were false.  We want the Xanti to leave Onddo, and never return.”

“True,” Darck replied with a smile.  “All true.  And all worth fighting for.”

Chapter
Eleven

Tristan, Gray, and Jon stood in the hall outside Faith’s cabin in the early hours of the morning, their bodies tense, fists clenched at their sides, eyes closed, as they all focused on Faith,.  A few minutes later they opened their eyes and cautiously relaxed. 

This was the fourth night in a row that Faith had awakened screaming.  They hadn’t entered her room since the first night.  Faith’s worry and fear had been clearly communicated to them, even though she hadn’t spoken of it.  They’d had the lock on her door replaced immediately, which she had appreciated.  If necessary, they could easily manipulate the lock without damaging it, but Faith didn’t know that, and they saw no reason to tell her.  

Each night they remained outside the door and sent their Water magic in to calm her nightmares and send her into a deeper, more peaceful sleep.  It was more difficult for them when they couldn’t actually see her, especially when they weren’t sure where she was.  But seeing Faith relax more and more each day made the effort worth it.

When they were sure that she was safely beyond her nightmares, they turned away from the door.  “It’s too late to go back to bed,” Tristan said, leading the way to the control room.  “I wish there were some way for us to know what it is that she fears so much.”

“I’m not sure that matters at this point,” Jon said.  “She’s never going to tell us what she’s afraid of until she trusts us, and she’s never going to trust us until she stops being so afraid.”

“We’d never harm her,” Tristan said.  “Surely she must know that.”

“Even if her senses tell her she can trust us, I’m not so sure she trusts herself enough to listen,” Gray said.  “I agree with Jon.  We need to find a way to increase her sense of safety.”

“If we can’t get her to trust us to keep her safe, I don’t know what we can do,” Tristan said, running his hands through his black hair in frustration. 

“I think I have an idea,” Jon said.  Gray and Tristan looked at him hopefully.

“We should get her a
raktsasa,”
Jon said.  His brothers stared at him in surprise for a long moment.  Then they closed their mouths and considered his suggestion.

“They can be dangerous,” Gray said.

“That’s the idea,” Jon said. 

“They bond for life,” Tristan added.  “It would have to accept the three of us.”  Tristan sighed when he felt his brothers’ hope rising.  “Whether we claim her or not, whether she allows it or not, I do want us to maintain a relationship with her.  Besides, she’s agreed to remain on the
Eyrie
during the Onddo mission in order to search for more jump points.  If she is to have a
raktsasa
, it must accept us. Otherwise we can’t risk having it on the ship.  It wouldn’t be capable of seriously harming Clan Jasani, but we have many human Jasani on board to think of.”

“Only
raktsasa
that don’t receive love and affection from their bonders become temperamental and dangerous,” Gray said, reining in his disappointment at Tristan’s continuing refusal to agree to claim Faith as their Arima.  “Faith’s nature is gentle and sensitive, so that will not be a problem.”

“And we’ll be with her throughout the selection and bonding process,” Jon added.  “I think it’s exactly what she needs.  Once bonded, a
raktsasa
will defend her to the death and they are formidable creatures.  Once Faith realizes that, she will feel safer.”

“When can we do this?” Tristan asked.  “We’ll only have one day on Jasan before we’re scheduled to depart for Onddo.”

“One day is enough time so long as there’s a broker in Badia when we get there,” Jon said.  “I suggest we begin making arrangements now.  We have two days before we dock, which is ample time to get a broker in place.”

“Make the arrangements,” Tristan said.  “But make sure that the broker knows not to mention price in Faith’s presence.  They are extremely costly as I recall, and I don’t want her balking because of it.”

“Good point,” Jon said, walking toward his vid terminal.  “Shall we keep this a surprise?”

“I think so,” Gray said.  Tristan nodded in agreement.  “Let’s offer to take her shopping in Badia.  She mentioned a need to pick up a few things before leaving for Onddo, so I’m certain she’ll agree.”

“On that subject,” Gray continued, walking toward his vid terminal and pressing a few keys.  “I got a copy of the meal plan she worked out with Joseph, and did some research on her dietary requirements.  Several small meals a day, high protein content, low sodium, low fat, etcetera.  After a process of elimination, I came up with several possibilities.  Since she told us specifically that disease was not a factor in her condition, that narrowed things further.  Eventually I was left with only one probability.”

“Which is?” Tristan asked.

“Severe abdominal trauma resulting in reduced stomach and/or gastrointestinal function and/or size,” Gray said. 

Tristan thought about that for a few moments.  “If she were injured in such a manner, wouldn’t a healing tank have effected repairs?”

“Not necessarily,” Gray said.  “Healing tanks have limitations.  If an arm is severed, and a physician reattaches the limb before placing the patient in a healing tank, a human will almost certainly regain full use of it.  However, if the arm is missing, the healing tank can only heal the open wound left behind.  It can’t create a new arm.  The same is true for internal organs.  If a large portion of the stomach were completely destroyed, it could not be regenerated by a healing tank, or even by an Alverian Healer, for that matter.  If it’s a small section, then there’s a good chance it would be healed without so much as a scar left behind.  It’s a matter of degree.”

“What other limitations do healing tanks have?” Jon asked.

“They can’t heal disease, birth defects, injuries caused by radiation or anything else that effects the genetic integrity of the tissue.  Nor can it recreate complex organs, or correct injuries that have already been healed.  It can’t be used to remove scars, or straighten bones that have healed crooked, for example.  On the other hand, a bone can be rebroken, then healed correctly in a healing tank, so there are ways around some limitations.”

“Lets assume, for the moment, that she does have an injury such as you describe,” Jon said, keeping his eyes on the screen in front of him, “would the transformation ritual correct it?”

Tristan and Gray both thought about that for a moment.  “We know that it recreates the body using altered DNA,” Gray said slowly.  “It didn’t cure Saige Lobo’s disease so much as it erased it, much as it erased the scars Berta Falcoran had.  I think there’s a good probability that it would reconstruct her internal organs to their optimal size and shape since the requirements for those organs will exist in the new DNA.  But, since a great deal of the transformation process is magical in nature, there is no way of knowing for certain what can, or cannot, be done until someone tries it.”

Jon nodded, then began preparing a message to the
Eyrie
.  He flagged it High Priority Red, and Secret so that no one on the
Eyrie
would inadvertently say anything ahead of time.  He sent the message and leaned back in his chair.  He had a good feeling about this.  So long as Faith didn’t have an aversion to small, furry animals, he thought a
raktsasa
was just exactly what she needed.

Chapter
Twelve

Xi-Kung was troubled.  Something wasn’t adding up, but he couldn’t quite decide what that something was.

The service ship had finally arrived in the Terien system, the ‘back end’ of the secret portal carved into the Jasani system.  Service ships were always escorted by battle cruisers since they were not battle ships themselves, though they intentionally looked the same as any other battle cruiser.  It was critical that service ships be guarded at all times since the service techs were not Xanti.  They were a cross section of the enslaved races who’d actually created and built the ships, weapons, and other technologies used by the Xanti, which was a closely held Xanti secret. 

Xi-Kung had exchanged pleasantries with Commander Orq-Nunq of the escort ship as politeness demanded, then he’d gone back to worrying.  After waiting nearly twenty hours while the service techs crawled all over his ship inside and out, he’d been told that everything was in working order, including Blind Sight.

Xi-Kung had reviewed the recordings of the Jasani incident and knew damn well that the Jasani had known they were there, though he was not sharing that information with anyone outside of his own ship.  If Blind Sight was working, what had happened?  Had the Jasani broken through the newest Blind Sight system so quickly?  It was possible, of course, but he doubted it.  The manner in which the Jasani cruiser had followed their movements hadn’t been as precise as it should have been.  He strongly suspected that the Jasani had been aware of their presence in some way, but that they hadn’t actually been able to see them.