At least the Array is safe. t.i.tus struggled awake against the syrupy drag of nightmare. The Array is safe, but the probe is gone. Already the memory of horror was fading, as it always did, though the dream itself lingered in images of being buried alive under scentless bodies that screamed and writhed in slow motion. The nightmare was shorter now, and he was waking up sooner, healing inside.
And, he realized, for the first time since the sun had come up, he"d wakened refreshed, without the urge to vomit vying with ravening hunger. Still, what Inea had done to him the previous night rankled.
Sitting up, he discovered she had gone, turning off his magnetic field generator so he"d be sure to wake up eventually. A note was flashing on his screen. Scratching absently, he bent to read it.
"Couldn"t bear to wake you. I"m covering your shift with "Hm, and I"ve switched our gym appointments, too, so you take over from Abbot this evening. Don"t forget your Medical at noon.
" has it there"s some new treatment that takes an extra hour, So "e early because you have the Department meeting right after Colby wants those reports this afternoon, too. I"m on K.P."this evening. See you around midnight."
"Whoever said life here would be dull and boring was flat-out wrong," muttered t.i.tus, knowing full well what the new medical treatment would involve. He wasn"t worried about Inea She wasn"t under any Influence. The Mark she wore wouldn"t show up, and the silencing would be evident only if they knew what questions to ask. But for him, it would be a challenge.
As he might have expected, Abbot was on top of things though he looked ten years older than he had a month ago. Just outside Biomed, he took t.i.tus into a lavatory. "I"ve programmed the instruments to read normally, but there"s the problem of pupil dilation. t.i.tus, we"re going to have to help each other on this one."
"I can"t control my pupil contractions! And what about the contact lenses?"
"They"ll let you keep the lenses in. They don"t appear tinted. They want you to see normally, but think their way. I"ve read their recording and I know the cues. If you"ll let me, I can Influence your subconscious to provide the correct autonomic responses."
t.i.tus recoiled. Abbot pressed, "I"ll let you do it to me first. t.i.tus, we don"t have much time!"
He still doesn"t know I got his transmitter out of the Array! Maybe Abbot hadn"t been able to get back into the observatory yet. He might be a.s.suming the loss of control of the Eighth had come after his message was sent, under cover of t.i.tus"s use of the Array. The Taurus window had been opening at the time though t.i.tus"s message had gone a few degrees outside that window, to Earth, not deep s.p.a.ce. The instruments had not registered any antennas pointed wrong, nor had there been any abnormal power drain. Still.
t.i.tus a.s.sumed Abbot knew of the cargotainer project because he knew everything that went on. If Abbot thought that his message had gone out as planned, that he had summoned the aid he believed Earth"s luren needed, despite human opposition to revealing Earth"s location, and that his action remained undetected, then his offer of help in pa.s.sing the medical could be genuine.
Even if Abbot thought he"d been defeated again, his offer of help ought to be genuine because he felt that the secret of Earth-luren"s existence had to be kept at all costs, at least until the galactic luren arrived.
On the third hand, Abbot might know what t.i.tus had taken from the console and be totally unfazed by the theft. He might already have another plan brewing, despite loss of the Eighth. In that case, Abbot"s offer might be very dangerous.
What could he do to me besides plant physical-reflex controls? The exploitation of Influence had never been an interest of t.i.tus"s, but Abbot was an expert.
"Come on, t.i.tus. This will take at least five minutes."
"All right. Show me what to do."
Abbot had a notepad that displayed the list of verbal cues the hypnotist would use juxtaposed against a list of the proper responses. It took Abbot several minutes to teach t.i.tus how to direct the pencil of Influence to induce the effects. Then t.i.tus had to treat and test Abbot, to be sure he"d gotten it right.
By then, t.i.tus trusted Abbot"s motives and submitted to him with some confidence. But he was late for his appointment, and subsequently late the rest of the day. Inea did come in just after midnight, but fell asleep over the orl blood she brought for him. He choked it down, and it stayed down producing only a slight queasiness that pa.s.sed quickly.
The next few days, running late all the time, he had no chance to dwell on the impending arrival of the "tainers, or even to speak to H"lim about his advising Inea. H"lim was constantly surrounded by the Cognitive or Biomed people, and t.i.tus wondered how he could find a moment to work on the booster, "he day before the scheduled arrival, t.i.tus again overslept, tremendously relieved by the few ounces of her own blood Inea had surrept.i.tiously mixed with his ration of orl blood. Even the resulting quarrel, and lack of s.e.xual release, had not impaired his sleep. The sun was still up.
Waking to the groggy miasma of lunar daylight, t.i.tus realized he felt better than he had in months, and the mirror confirmed the impression. Despite the effectiveness of Inea"s treatment of him, his opinionated and willful woman had been given the worst advice in the galaxy, and, he decided, today was the day of reckoning. Tomorrow they might all be dead, or in the hands of the secessionists. But if they survived it all, he didn"t want to go through the whole ordeal he"d faced after leaving Abbot. If it"s not too late already. Dear G.o.d, don"t let it be top late already.
When he arrived at H"lim"s lab to relieve Inea, the guards let him through with a perfunctory warning that the security cameras were off.
Since Cognitive had tried to spy on H"lim"s private hours and he had caught them every time, t.i.tus knew he could speak freely and somehow tell the luren to b.u.t.t out.
Inside, Inea was seated on a tall stool leaning over the Thizan game board, looking tired but wholly absorbed. H"lim, welding mask over his dark gla.s.ses, was in the safety cage using an acetylene torch to mend a piece of gla.s.sware. His movements were deft, his concentration total, and a fog of absent-minded Influence filled the room brighter than the torch fire.
t.i.tus watched until H"lim had finished the delicate job and the subliminal throb of Influence had abated.
Inea looked up. "t.i.tus. I thought you"d be late."
"I am."
She checked her watch. "Ha! I must have lost track of time! Well, it"s only fifteen minutes. I forgive you."
t.i.tus looked at H"lim, knowing the luren had, perhaps unconsciously, Influenced her attention to the gameboard. His objection died on his lips, however, because he was more astonished at the deep tremor of violation he felt, and the pure animal rage lurking below it. Maybe it is too late.
Inea came to his side, gripping his elbow. "Are you all light-You seemed better. Look, I"m sorry I said all those really rotten things last night. Forgive me?"
t.i.tus shrugged that off, eyes on H"lim. "It wasn"t your fault." Did he Influence her to do that to me? He wouldn"t be surprised if H"lim"s touch slipped right through Biomed"s an hypnotic conditioning and past him. But the thought of himusing Influence focused on Inea made his lips peel back from his clenched teeth. He wouldn"t violate my Mark!
H"lim tilted back the welder"s mask and scrutinized t.i.tus. "Earth"s luren are very different from the parent stock. Only in the last few days have I come to see just how different-and how uniquely valuable-Earth"s mixed genetic stock is." His tone carried a note of apology that checked t.i.tus"s outrage, capturing his curiosity instead. "Last night, t.i.tus, I discovered, after I spoke to Inea about what she had to do for you, that I"d overlooked something vital."
t.i.tus"s arm went around Inea"s shoulders. "You only spoke to her?"
"I only spoke to her. You see, I thought the key fact was that a particular living orl provides its luren with a vital central nervous system stimulation, a personalized bioelectrical signature, that the luren may come to crave.
"From what Abbot said about you, I thought that"s what you hadn"t understood and so you were resisting a tie to Inea and sickening for lack of her blood. But I was wrong about your motives. I can see that now, in what"s happening between youa" and in your outrage about it. You knew very well what would happen, and had set yourself to avoid it. What I still don"t understand is why."
"Orl are animals. You don"t have to wait for their consent to have your way with them. And you don"t have to deal with having consent withheld or delayed. You don"t have to worry about overtaxing them because they"re replaceable. And you don"t have to contend with your own guilt if they break your patience and your hunger rules you."
"Ah. Well, consider this. A luren"s own signature changes, attunes to his herd-uh, string, as you say. It"s like Mirelle"s kinesics, only more so. That mutual attunement is what makes Marks so much stronger than yours, and so inviolable, not Sneer power of Influence, as Abbot a.s.sumed, and not the power Blood Law. The mutuality of the orl tie between human and Earth-luren, should solve the consent problem."
Suddenly, a covetous note beneath H"lim"s scientific tone jarred t.i.tus into a.s.sociating a dozen things H"lim had said and done. There"s some kind of stiff penalty for a luren who takes blood from a human, and that taboo makes luren crave humans even if the blood isn"t compatible. It fit. H"lim had refused Abbot"s stringer in favor of cloned human blood because he wanted to go home, and they had some way to tell if he"d used a human as an orl. Must have been a letdown to find human blood so vile, but he"s still wondering what it could be like.
Inea tugged at his sleeve. "He explained it all to me, t.i.tus. With Earth"s luren, the ability to make the orl-tie is vestigial. But you and I, t.i.tus, we have it. I know we do." Her eyes shone. "I"m going to make it as beautiful for you as you"ve made s.e.x for me."
He hugged her closer. "I don"t care what you call it, Inea, it"s not a healthy thing. I"m going to break it. I"m not going to take your blood again. Not ever."
"t.i.tus," said H"lim, "your fears are groundless. One never harms an orl one is tied to."
"A luren doesn"t harm such an orl, perhaps, but you"ve a lot to learn about humans and Earth"s luren." t.i.tus remembered all too well how he"d felt about the humans he"d fed on and then killed. They"d even enjoyed it.
"Why are you holding her like that?"
t.i.tus jerked away. Inea nestled closer and he froze, aware of his need to possess having gone far beyond the normal s.e.xual need of a male. Just holding her, he was soaking ectoplasm from her.
"You see, that"s what I missed! I never saw you two, only Abbot and Mirelle, and there"s no tie there, despite his practices. But when Inea told me how ill you"d get on orl blood, even after I"d filtered out the irritating component, I realized what brain site that component stimulated-the vestigial orl-tie site! You were sick because you resisted the natural completion of that tie. But what I didn"t grasp is that this isn"t exactly the same as an orl-tie. You see, Abbot was instantly and repeatedly sick because his brain receptors differ from yours, so his nutritional absorption is different, and so he reacted to other trace chemicals as well as the absence of various human blood components."
H"lim interpolated, "I don"t think Abbot can survive on cloned blood. The differences between the Residents and the Tourists may be physiological, not philosophical."
I hope not! thought t.i.tus, clutching Inea. If so, it would come to a war of extermination when it was discovered there was no way to persuade the Tourists to stop killing humans. "Abbot"s been controlling his appet.i.te."
"At a terrible cost," agreed H"lim, pacing back and forth, warming to his topic. "I wish I knew enough math!"
"Surely, I know enough math! You got it all from my mind."
"Just words I don"t have the concepts for!" Waving his hand in a gesture t.i.tus recognized from a favorite physics professor he"d had for three courses, H"lim continued, "The difference between what you and Inea have and an orl-tie must be at the ectoplasmic/Influential interface." He wagged a slender white finger at Inea. "If you knew how, you could augment t.i.tus"s power to Influence! No orl could ever do that! But I"d wager it can"t be done to a genetically purebred luren.
"Even without access to my library, I swear there"s nothing else like it anywhere. But there really isn"t so much on the genetics of consciousness or the conservation of volition-"
Genetics of consciousness? Sometimes H"lim put words together grammatically and still uttered nonsense. As usual when that happened, he lapsed into luren terms. This time, as he paced back and forth, his lecture sounded like a physics lesson on the relationship between s.p.a.ce and time, conscious will, metaphorical vision, and the life force. At the same time he seemed to be talking about the evolution of human brain chemistry as the result of the "genetics of volition." He mixed up orl-tying with ectoplasm absorption and cross-linked them to Influence, but t.i.tus only understood every third word, and missed half the tenses. He can"t be saying that all of Earth"s biology is the product genetic engineering, that the nature of human brain chemistry done to us!
"Which is of course," concluded H"lim, "why human stringers having s.e.x with each other is insufficient to replenish the human, and the luren must service his string."
"Of course," said t.i.tus dazedly in the luren language, glad Inea didn"t know a word of it. How could he ask all the questions surging into his mind?
H"lim came out of his creative reverie, and reverted to English. "So now you understand, t.i.tus, why you don"t have to be afraid. She can defend herself handily."
"Against what?" asked Inea blankly.
"Against t.i.tus."
"Why would I want to do that?"
"Or against Abbot, or any Earth luren." He shrugged.
t.i.tus interrupted, "H"lim, you"re a galactic-cla.s.s geneticist, not an Aikido instructor. She may have the genetic potential, but she doesn"t know how to use it and there"s no teacher. Besides, I don"t attack people I love, and that"s that. I won"t take any more of her blood."
"That"s beside the point. Don"t you see, this means Earth might become the richest planet in the galaxy! What we have here is genetic coding for enhancing-oh, I don"t know your terms! Just take my word for it, this could be the key to a giant leap forward in s.p.a.ce-faring technology. It"s so basic, it could solve the biggest riddle in the galaxy. But even if we can"t work out the applications immediately, it"s sure to win the w-" He broke off to stare into infinity.
"Sure to what?" prompted t.i.tus. His mind was spinning. He"d just gotten more information out of H"lim in the last ten minutes than he had in the previous ten days, but he felt less informed than at the moment he"d fathered the alien.
H"lim is an ambitious adventurer who is working everything out as he goes along. But that a.s.sessment told him nothing except what he"d already known. He didn"t dare trust H"lim"s word that it was safe to send his message. It was a good thing that he"d pulled out Abbot"s Array transmitter.
"Never mind," shrugged H"lim. "There"s something so hauntingly familiar about this genetic algorithm, or maybe its just some random a.s.sociation it keeps triggering off when I try to translate human/Earth luren gene structure into other notation systems. I know I"ve never seen anything like this before, and yet. . Well, perhaps it"s a word you gave me that I don"t have a concept for, or some Earth-evolved redefinition of one of your luren words." He paced away.
"None of that matters, t.i.tus. One thing is straightforward." From the refrigerator he extracted a flask of clear purple fluid labeled only with a strange luren symbol. "Finally, it"s ready for testing! Considering what I"ve just learned about your biochemistry, it ought to work on the humans and you, maybe on Abbot, too, if he"ll try it."
Inea cried, "We"ve made it! We"ve won!"
In her jubilation she spun t.i.tus around in a low-grav dance. t.i.tus stopped her. "H"lim, your message didn"t go out as Abbot planned. I"ve destroyed the transmitter he embedded in the Eighth."
"Because of what I told Inea to do for you?"
"No. Before that." He eyed the purple fluid. "You don"t owe me any more help."
H"lim leaned against the refrigerator as if he needed the support. He swirled the flask thoughtfully. "I didn"t make this to bribe you into betraying your oath and your conscience. I knew you opposed Abbot, and I didn"t expect you to change your mind. I just hoped he might win-not an absurd hope since he"s your First Father, but by no means a certainty. My filial duty does not derive from my chance of getting home, but only from the renewal of my life."
The ache of dashed hopes was plain enough as H"lim added, "I"m ready to test this whenever you are. I need a volunteer, but we must go carefully. I don"t want a repeat of the orl blood disaster if I"ve missed something else."
"I volunteer," said Inea. When t.i.tus strangled on his objection, she added, "t.i.tus, he"s already tested it on human "one marrow the surgeons supplied and it increased blood Production. It"d be a big to-do to get bone marrow from you or Abbot without anyone knowing, so test it on me first!"
"It doesn"t make sense to risk the life of someone whose life isn"t at risk to begin with," argued t.i.tus. "If you had a bad reaction, how could we explain it to Biomed? Abbot"s a genius at covering for us, but they"re getting awfully close." Abbot"s method of coping with the new anti-hypnotic conditioning had been pure desperation and t.i.tus knew it.
Abruptly, H"lim shoved the flask into the refrigerator. t.i.tus didn"t like the thoughtful frown that flickered across Inea"s features. He"d seen that look before and it made him very nervous. But before he could say anything, H"lim announced, "Someone"s coming." He turned on the recorders just as Colby arrived at the head of an entourage.
As she introduced the engineers and physicists who hadn"t met H"lim before, Inea left the luren in t.i.tus"s care saying, "I have to log some gym time or Biomed will be all over me. I skipped yesterday, and skimped the day before."
t.i.tus had no chance to reply because everyone was talking to him, as if he had to translate to make H"lim understand what they wanted of him. He held up his hands for silence, then said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present Dr. Sa"ar, H"lim." Feeling a bit foolish, he turned to H"lim. "I never have discovered which name actually comes first, family or given."
H"lim laughed, breaking the ice easily. "Actually, neither, but the rest of my designation is irrelevant. My family name is Sa"ar, my given name H"lim, and you may use them as you see fit."
With that said, they began "Dr. Sa"ar-ing" him from every direction on topics ranging from computer conventions to Kylyd"s drive a.s.sembly and power plant.
Colby shouted the babble down. "We came here, H"lim, to take you on your oft requested and oft promised tour of your ship." With that, someone walked a s.p.a.cesuit forward that had H. SA"AR stenciled on the helmet.
"Now?!" exclaimed H"lim glancing at t.i.tus in a panic.
s.h.i.t! It"s daylight out there!
"I doubt there"s any danger of us being bombed today," said Colby. "I regret we"ve put it off this long, but your suit has just been finished. The outcome of the war may end our investigations, and though your lab work promises to change minds back on Earth, still we mustn"t overlook the chance that you may know something about the ship that will trigger even more impressive advances."
"Impressive advances," repeated H"lim, circling a workbench and nervously repositioning gla.s.sware. "Here in this lab, I know what I"m doing. I won"t accidentally provide you with some bit of technology you can"t yet control. But the ship-Dr. Colby, that"s not my field. Some offhand remark could do your civilization a great deal of damage."
"You won"t come?" asked someone in the back.
"I will go," answered H"lim gravely. "For my own reasons, I must. I"d prefer to explore Kylyd in solitude, but I understand that is not to be. Therefore, I"ll go." He tapped a used Petri dish on the bench, frowning at it. Someone had cleaned pizza crumbs off the bench into it.
t.i.tus could almost see the thoughts churning in H"lim"s mind. For the first time, he no longer cherished hope of escape and riches. t.i.tus had won. Abbot"s message had not gone and, with the probe destroyed, neither had the humans". "I"ll answer your questions, but only to satisfy your curiosity, without providing any "impressive advances." At least I hope I shall not destroy my generous hosts."
He snapped the dish down onto the hard surface and strode out the door. As they all crowded out of the lab, Colby edged over to t.i.tus who was wrestling with his own whirling emotions. "Have you any idea where Abbot"s gone? He was supposed to meet us here. I"ve left messages for him everywhere, but n.o.body"s seen him in hours."
Oh, no, now what? "You tried my lab?"
"Several times."
"Maybe he"s in Kylyd and plans to meet us there?"
"Maybe, but it"s not like him to just disappear."
t.i.tus grunted noncommittally. He didn"t even have time to drop Inea a message warning her that Abbot was up to something new. As H"lim"s trusted escort, he had to hurry to catch up. Maybe it"s a false alarm. Maybe Abbot"s sleeping.
On the way to the locker room, Colby walked beside H"lim a.s.suring him of the various protective features Biomed had designed for his suit. When they"d all dressed, she led the way back to Biomed, saying, "Protection or no, we won"t make you face the direct sunlight."
As soon as they emerged from the airlock into the connection tube to Kylyd, H"lim"s knees sagged, and he eyed the flimsy material around them with distrust. t.i.tus, too, felt the drag of the sun like the impact of the noise of an unshielded jet engine. When they reached Kylyd"s hull, the luren leaned against the bulkhead and closed his eyes, taking attention away from t.i.tus as they both recovered.
Seeing the alien wilt, everyone spoke at once. "Are you all right?" "My G.o.d, if we"ve hurt him." "It can"t be ultraviolet this time." "He"s sensitive to magnetics, remember?" "Hardly any flux out there." "Less in here, by Dearman"s measurements." "What about particles? This hull stops everything-maybe even neutrinos. Has anybody measured. ?" "Quiet!"
That last was Colby"s voice. t.i.tus stiffened his knees and moved up beside H"lim. "Better now?" he asked the luren, only then noticing the single Cognitive representative, who had a camera trained steadily on H"lim.
"I wish I could stay in here." H"lim"s voice gained strength and he finally stood away from the wall and looked around as if to get his bearings.
This corridor was distorted and crumpled in spots, but had been cleared, leaving gaping holes in the walls. H"lim scanned a wall, muttered something about human lights in the luren tongue, then led off with purposeful strides. t.i.tus, squinting at the spot where the luren had stared, imagined he saw some dim variations in the paint that might have been symbols. There might be spectral studies of the interior on file by now, but t.i.tus hadn"t had time to look them up.
And suddenly, he was more excited than he"d been since he was a boy. H"lim was finally in a mood to reveal the very things t.i.tus had always wanted to know. But more, he might well give away the secrets t.i.tus had been digging for-how both Earth"s peoples would be regarded in the galaxy.
As escort, t.i.tus had the privilege of clinging to H"lim"s elbow, catching every gesture, every prolonged look, and he intended to make the most of it.