The Ninth Orb (21 page)

When Liz paused, Eden digested her comments in silence for several moments, trying to ignore the sick feeling in the pit of her stomach and view it dispassionately. “I’ve seen a lot of things that seem to support your theory, but it’s hard to imagine the minority, especially since, if you’re right, they’re much weaker than the males, could dominate their society.”

“I’m not saying I don’t find it as bizarre as you do, and ordinarily the strong do dominate. In this case, the ‘strength’ of the females is due almost entirely to their rarity. If I had to guess, I’d suppose that in ancient times the males tried dominating, but that would have produced wholesale slaughter when there were so few females to fight over--which might also account for the fact that the males have virtually no value to their civilization. And the need for ‘order’ would have arisen from the same circumstances. This is probably also why they seem so cold and emotionless to us. They would have a need to be emotionally detached besides the fact that being born in litters would make it nearly impossible for their mothers to lavish them with affection.

“The fact that the birthing has a crippling effect on the females compounds that problem, because it’s the males who care for the young.

“Most of this is speculation, though, as educated a guess as I can come up with, but still theory. I haven’t run across one that actually seems to know anything about the history of their civilization. They can recount their line through the queens, going back for generations, but their focus is on their clan or meznook.”

Discovering with a touch of surprise that she’d finished her drink, Eden eyed the empty glass with disapproval and set it firmly aside. “What did you find out about their selection process, or more specifically, our particular problem?”

“They’re trying to adapt,” Liz said flatly. “Ordinarily, their mother queen arranges a match for them. They are not, contrary to outward appearances and what that might suggest, subservient. I don’t think they particularly care what queen they get, so long as they get one and they have not, historically speaking, had choices. They don’t expect a choice, but they have the same drive to ensure their progeny as any other species. They’ll settle for one because they don’t know any different, but I have a very, very strong feeling that our choice is going to be to divide them up, all of them, or face a war.

“The good news is that we didn’t actually commit ourselves when we picked the men for the celebration. The bad news is that we showed favor, and that’s the next thing to a commitment as far as they’re concerned. That’s the way they’re interpreting it, anyway.

“Something you apparently said has led them to believe the final approval will only come once they’ve proven their value by building a meznooku worthy of the one who ‘smiled’ upon them.

“Right now they’re working out their aggression in creativity, trying to outdo each other in producing the most magnificent meznooku of all. If we reject them, they will be shamed because they have been found unworthy and chances are good they’ll seek lscindee, their word for ritual suicide, because it’s the only accepted way to redeem their honor. If we accept one brood and reject the others, and the rejected decide to challenge that decision instead of seeking lscindee, which they might since they’ve become somewhat ‘uncivilized’ since they came here and are reverting to the ‘old ways’, the chosen will try their best to kill the unwanted to prevent them from trying to steal their queen.”

Eden stared at Liz in horror for several moments and finally leaned back in her lounge, massaging her temples. “Oh god! That was stupid! Criminally stupid. I should have taped my mouth shut instead of trying to negotiate peace with them!”

Liz drained her own drink, but unlike Eden, she saw no reason to stop there. Rising, she helped herself to another glass. “I’m not going to tell you I wasn’t furious when I found out, even though I knew all along that you’d done your best to try to keep peace. But after I cooled down a little I realized that you were no more to blame than the rest of us. We all agreed to the celebration as a way of gaining a better understanding of the people we were dealing with.

“I felt like kicking my own ass when that occurred to me, but blaming anybody isn’t going to get us any where. We have to deal with this.” She settled in her seat again, studying Eden’s profile for several moments. “Ivy’s going to be fit to be tied.”

Eden’s eyes flew open. She sat up abruptly. “I’d forgotten she chose, too! This is a hell of a mess!” she cried, jumping to her feet and beginning to pace.

“Suggestion?”

Eden glanced at Liz hopefully.

“Give her the same ultimatum you gave the others. She knows she screwed up big time when she tried to usurp your powers and take control of the militia. That was a clear case of treason and under the circumstances she should be facing life in prison or death. The alternative might look a lot better to her.”

Eden considered it for several moments. “Even if she went for it, do you think she could be trusted to stay in line? It’ll only make things worse if she appears to go along and then offends the Xtanians.”

Liz thought that over and finally shook her head. “I am as certain as I can be that Ivy thought she was doing what was best for everyone or she wouldn’t have committed treason to start with. She’s as by-the-book as they come. I don’t believe her loyalty is really in question. She’ll do her best to protect the colony, even if she doesn’t like your politics or like what will be required of her.”

Relieved to discover that Liz’s assessment matched her own, Eden hesitated and finally went to pour herself another drink. “I’d hoped to avoid having to choose a pazaan,” she said reflectively. Ignoring the look of surprise on Liz’s face, she settled on her lounge again with her drink. “You said they didn’t seem to care what female they got so long as they got one?”

Liz was studying her with frowning intensity when she looked up again. “You’re suggesting sending someone to take your place?”

Eden found she couldn’t maintain eye contact with her long time friend. She shrugged. “I’m thinking it might be best if I remain unencumbered, particularly in light of the information you’ve gathered. We don’t know that all of the colonists would be in agreement on taking a pazaan. In fact, I know they won’t. They’re very divided on this. Some of them are almost too eager, others nervous but intrigued, and still others completely revolted at the thought. I could manage, I suppose, but I don’t like the idea of emptying New Savannah and casting our lot with the Xtanians. We’d be divided and vulnerable.

“Add to that the fact that it could be a year or more before we could even conceivably prepare the ship for an evacuation, and that puts us all in a very dangerous situation.”

“That’s the very reason I don’t think we have an alternative at the moment,” Liz pointed out. “We can’t evacuate, and they’re working like hell to get those domiciles erected. My guess is we have a matter or weeks, not months, to decide.

“Every day I go out to check the progress, I find another group that’s decided to build a meznooku to attract a queen. And the broods are forming triads. They know exactly how many females are in New Savannah. Don’t ask me how, but they do.

“And I haven’t got a clue of how to stop them or even to slow them down, but, at a guess, I’m thinking the Xtanian compound will be emptied in a lot less than a year.

“If we want to keep the peace--even if it’s only a ruse to allow us time to escape, everybody, and I do mean everybody, is going to have to choose a pazaan of their own.”

Eden went back to rubbing her temples. “I was afraid you’d say that.”

Liz set her glass down and moved to the lounge beside Eden, giving her a reassuring hug. “It’s Baen, isn’t it?”

Eden gave her friend an unhappy look. “It’s that obvious?”

“Do you want me to lie to you?”

Eden sighed. “I think it would be better to choose a different group, if I must.”

“You think it’s going to make you feel better to know he belongs to someone else?” Liz demanded, shaking her head in disgust. “You are gone or you’d have enough sense to know that would only make things worse--all the way around. I said they don’t seem to care, but that was a generalization. Baen and his brood do care. They’re expecting you and I don’t think disappointment would even begin to describe how they’d feel if you rejected them. Hardly a day passes that one or another of them doesn’t come up to pump me for information about your likes and dislikes.

“You can do this, Eden. You’re stronger than anybody I know. I know you can do this.”

Anger surged through Eden. She wanted to scream at her friend that she couldn’t, that she wouldn’t. Whatever Liz said, she didn’t think she could bear being with Baen all the time and not being with him … ever.

Almost as if she’d read Eden’s mind, Liz spoke again. “It wouldn’t have to be forever. We’re in power here, unless we give it over to the Xtanians. We can yield now, and try to teach them our own customs--at least in so far as the maintenance of the colony and the jobs we’re committed to. When we’ve had the time to prepare the ship, if we still find the situation intolerable, we can leave. Even if some want to stay, those who don’t will have a choice. Right now, I don’t see a lot of options for us, unless you want to declare war now and try to wipe them all out. And I’ll be honest with you. I think we’d have a hell of a time convincing the majority of the colonists that war is in our best interest.”

Eden digested that for several moments and finally rose and began pacing. “You’re right. I know you’re right. But that doesn’t change the fact that even yielding is incredibly dangerous. We’ll be divided. Even if we insist on coming in to work each day, that’s going to leave us vulnerable to them probably two thirds of the time.

“And what about the vast difference between us and their women? They’re going to be expecting us to produce--and not just a baby. Even if we take the fertility injections a lot of us aren’t going to be able to produce at all, and I doubt many will be looking at multiple births.”

Liz frowned. “Going along still gives us time we wouldn’t have otherwise. Like I said, if things don’t work out, we can always evacuate and find a new location for the colony if we stick to the plan and re-equip the Plymouth.”

Eden was not happy with Liz’s report or her suggestions, but once Liz had left and she’d spent hours, and then days trying to come up with an alternate plan, she finally conceded defeat and called a council meeting to announce Liz’s findings and open the floor for discussion.

The council was divided. Weeks of meetings produced more arguments instead of bringing them closer to a solution, primarily because everyone felt the pressure of time limitations.

The first meznookus were nearing completion.

A decision had to be made.

Finally, the council arrived at the same conclusion that Eden and Liz had. The Plymouth was a long way from being even adequately prepared for another trip and they had no choice but to at least appear to concede to the Xtanians. Thankfully, it was the council members’ task to explain the situation and to convince the people in their sectors, not only of the appearance, at least, of full compliance, but also of the necessity to keep their contingency plan a secret, and to insist upon the freedom of movement needed to implement the contingency plan, because that one deviation from the customs of the Xtanians was going to be a major stumbling block in and of itself.

The solution to that was to make that a non-negotiable point of acceptance.

Eden thought she’d prepared herself.

She hadn’t.

When her prospective pazaan presented themselves at the gates of New Savannah to request an audience she took one look at the team of men she was supposed to accept as her ‘grooms’ and felt her knees turn to water. “Oh my fucking god!” she whispered.

Liz slipped an arm around her waist for moral support. “You’d think they would have enough sense to pick one to represent them,” she snapped angrily.

“I feel a little lightheaded,” Eden gasped, struggling to keep from hyperventilating.

Liz pinched her, hard enough it drew a yelp of pain and a glare. “There you go,” she said bracingly. “Better now?”

Eden rubbed her abused flesh, still glaring at Liz. “I’d rather have fainted.”

“But it wouldn’t be a good example. Remember, you’re the queen. You’re the boss. Tell them point blank that you’re flattered, but you won’t take no for an answer. You have to ‘rule’ the colony and they’ll just have to get along without you while you take care of business.”

Eden nodded, thankful that Liz had had the presence of mind to remind her because she wasn’t really capable of thinking for herself at the moment. Straightening her spine, she steadied her nerves with an effort.

“Uh … did I mention that they have a consummation ceremony?”

Eden’s head whipped around so fast a bone cracked in her neck. Liz wasn’t smiling, however, despite Eden’s hope that it was some sort of sick joke prompted by a misplaced attempt to distract her from her anxieties.

Liz quailed before the look in Eden’s eyes. “Guess I didn’t.”

Gritting her teeth, feeling much, she thought, like a felon facing a death squad, Eden moved to the entrance to the safety corridor. Liz caught up to her again when she was almost halfway through.

“There’s something else …. I don’t know how important it is, at this moment, but I thought you should know. I just discovered it myself or I would’ve told you before,” she added hurriedly.

Eden contained her fear, anger, and impatience with a strenuous effort. “Something I should know right now? Because I have to tell you if it’s more bad news I’m not sure I can handle it at the moment.”

Liz bit her lip. “It’s about the fertility.”

Eden felt the blood rush from her face. “Don’t tell me! They kill the queen if she doesn’t produce.”

Liz blinked at her. “The queen kills them.”

Chapter Seventeen

Eden thought for several moments that she was going to disgrace herself by throwing up. “How?” she finally managed to ask weakly. “You said their queens were virtually helpless.”