"What about Nadhari?" Acorna asked him.
"She went out the front. Go! I"ll find cover. And I thank you for the healing."
Acorna nodded. She and Miw-Sher walked the length of the street in the garbage and filth that was stored behind the houses until they came to the end of the row. There Miw-Sher led them all to a well, drawing drinking water for the cats and wash water for her and Acorna to clean themselves with so as not to draw comment. Otherwise, anyone who saw them would wonder how they had managed to get so disheveled. Acorna was still in her dress uniform.
They walked out into the main street. It was scorching hot in the bright light of midday.
"There don"t seem to be many people about," Acorna said to Miw-Sher.
"They stay in and rest if possible while the suns are high," Miw-Sher told her. "We should be free to move about the city. I don"t think anyone was paying attention to us. Grimla would have warned us."
RK stood on his hind paws and sank his claws into Acorna"s thigh. (Come on,) he thought.
"I must leave you here. I"m being summoned," Acorna told Miw-Sher just as Nadhari rounded a corner.
"I"ll be fine," Miw-Sher said. "Grimla and I look after each other."
Acorna nodded but lingered until Nadhari was within a few feet of them. Then she followed RK"s tail, which waved like a pennant ahead of her, leading her straight to the Federation post.
Twelve.
Upon reaching the Condor, Acorna was disappointed to see Federation vehicles parked alongside and Federation technicians riding up and down the robolift with tools in hand.
She sent a thought to the bridge. (Captain Becker, what are these people doing aboard the vessel?) She thought something might be wrong with the captain, that he might be injured or ill. He never allowed outside interference with his ship otherwise. But Becker"s thoughts were positively cheerful when he answered her.
(They had a few odd sc.r.a.ps of this and that, even some new equipment they were never able to integrate into the old system. They"re letting me have it to replace the Khleevi stuff and repair the computers. It"s great, but they"re everywhere! I sent Mac with the Wats over to help our friend MacDonald so they wouldn"t get in the way. Mac was asking so many questions he made the federales nervous. We"ll be shipshape and ready to head out again in no time, at the rate these guys are going!)
(Oh,) Acorna replied. (Good.)
Even as she sent the thought to Becker, she was following RK"s tail once more, this time to the bay "where the Arkansas Traveler was docked.
She looked for a robolift until she noticed that this ship had a conventional entrance that could be accessed by a conventional gantry. As she registered that fact, a loading platform parked beside the scaffolding of the gantry began rising toward the hatch. Mac and Red Wat "were riding the platform. Several oblong brownish objects sat at its base.
RK waited at the foot of the gantry, his tail waving patiently, for her to catch up, then hopped on her shoulders as she climbed the more conventional ladder to the hatch.
"Permission to come aboard, Captain?" she called. Mac and Red Wat had already disappeared inside the hatch by the time she and RK reached it.
"Amba.s.sador, honey, sure, you come right on in and make yourself at home. Can I fix you something? Cuppa caf maybe or some tea?"
"No, I - may I ask what your project is?"
"Feeding the ma.s.ses, honey, feeding the ma.s.ses. I"m taking the Makahomian farmers some of the Metleiter boxes I prepared."
"What are they? " Acorna asked.
"Chemical beds that grow food without the need for much water. They"re not dependent on the ground soil. You left before we had the conversation, I think, but it sounded to me like this epidemic they have here might be caused by a contaminated food supply, "which could be caused by contaminated soil. I can fix that - or at least show them how to fix it. If that"s the problem, those boxes and others like them will keep the people in food while we figure out what to do next."
"I see. RK-that is, I was looking over the city wall earlier, and they are slaughtering hundreds and hundreds of animals. Have you any veterinary medicines aboard which might combat the disease? I can heal some of the creatures, of course, but I"m afraid my - uh - supplies will not hold out for so many."
"I have a couple of things that might work. I got some wagons with those tall goat-type critters to pull them coming to pick up these supplies first thing in the morning. I asked Becker if I could take the Viking guys with me for muscle. We get along pretty well using sign language, and their Standard isn"t as bad as Becker said."
"Mac and I have been working on their language skills," Acorna told him.
"Yeah, Mac is really okay with me. I never liked androids before, but he doesn"t seem much like one - more like just a really smart, strong guy. A little quirky, of course, but that"s part of his charm. Anyway, I"d love to have him along. He"s been a big help and he"s stronger than all of us put together, but Becker says he qualifies as technological taint, and if we can"t even smuggle a little radio out past the gate, we sure as h.e.l.l can"t take Mac."
"Yes, I can see where that might be a problem. It is probably for the best for Mac to remain, anyway. I think Becker may need him on the Condor. Mac will need to familiarize himself with all the new modifications Becker is putting in."
"Was there something special you wanted, hon? Other than meds for the animals? Somehow, I think that was just a little bitty excuse to get you up my ladder."
"You are correct, Captain MacDonald. Becker has the ship all torn up, installing new equipment. I wish to contact our home base and my own people again, if it isn"t too much trouble. We never intended to be away for so long, and I... am hoping for some news."
"Thought so. Be my guest," he said, leaving her to it.
To Acorna"s relief, she was able to communicate with MOO without problems. She was so glad to hear Melireenya"s voice and see her face on the com screen she almost wept.
Melireenya was effusive. "Kh.o.r.n.ya! Oh, it is good to hear from you again. Maati has come up to the moon, and Neeva is here as well. And Hafiz will want to speak to you, and Miiri and Kaarlye and the aagroni. Oh, and-what is it, Thariinye? Yes, I"ll tell her. Thariinye says to say h.e.l.lo."
Acorna had to laugh, since she was not, after all, going to let herself weep, which would have been highly inappropriate under the circ.u.mstances. How like Thariinye to have to be in the middle of things! "h.e.l.lo to Thariinye, too, then. And to everyone. Is there any word from Aari?"
"I truly can"t say. I haven"t heard anything myself. Wait! Maati is here. She would know."
Maati"s face appeared on the com screen. How grown-up she looked! "Kh.o.r.n.ya! How are you? We miss you! When will you be back?"
"Captain Becker has received a.s.sistance in repairing the Condor from the Federation troops stationed on this planet, and he thinks it will not be much longer before the ship is operational. But there are some problems here that may need our attention before we can return. Have you heard... anything?"
"Well, a few anomalies have been showing up, but they don"t have anything to do with Aari exactly, but maybe he"s closer than he was, hmmm? It"s nothing much, really, but we"ve been wondering- oh, here"s the aagroni."
"Kh.o.r.n.ya, have you interviewed any Makahomian subjects about the relationship between Riidkiiyi and our pahaantiyirs?"
"Aagroni, they are having something of a crisis here. Many of the Temple cats died before we arrived. We were able to save four, and I am told others still survive, but for how long, I don"t know. I - I really can say no more on this channel. I will of course learn what I can."
"I thought the cats were held sacred by those people?" Karina Harakamian broke in.
"Yes, they are. But being held sacred is not necessarily protection against an epidemic. Other animals are dying, too. You can see that I must help."
"Of course you must, Kh.o.r.n.ya," said Miiri, joining the others. Each of their faces was now visible in a separate window on the com screen.
"I"ll be home as soon as I can. It probably won"t be too long," Acorna said, but she felt desolate. If they were free to go soon, it would only be because they had failed in their mission to save the cats of other Temples and all the other animals in trouble. And yet she felt, seeing the faces and hearing the voices of her friends, as if she couldn"t bear to wait until she could embrace each of them again. Their farewells sounded sad and concerned as she ended her transmission. Now she had worried them about her, too, and not just Aari.
And what was it Maati meant about "little anomalies" that might indicate evidence concerning Aari?
Before returning to the Temple, Acorna asked Captain Mac-Donald when he would be leaving. "Kando is sending some men and wagons over to help us load up first thing in the morning," he replied.
That information could prove useful, she thought. While she remained determined that the former Brother Bulaybub"s fate was not in her hands, it wouldn"t hurt to mention to Nadhari and Miw-Sher about the wagons.
She returned to the Condor. The Federation technicians and their vehicles were gone. Becker apparently saw her, for the robolift descended to meet her.