At The Edge Of Space (Hanan Rebellion) (76 page)

A fierce grin came to Tejef’s face. He seemed to grow, and set hands on knees as he fell to kneel on the carpets. His gesture of submission was itself insolence; slowly he inclined his body toward the floor and as slowly straightened.

Arle cried out, a tiny sound, piercing the intolerable heaviness in the air. Isande hugged her tightly, silencing her, for Ashakh sent a staccato message to the three
idoikkhei
simultaneously:
Do not move!

“Go!” Chimele exploded. “If you survive in the
nasul,
I will perhaps not seek to kill you. But there is
vaikka
you have yet to pay, o Tejef no-one’s-getting.”

“My
sra,
” answered Tejef with cold deliberation, “will have honor.” But he backed carefully from her when he had risen.

“You are dismissed,” Chimele said, and her angry glance swept the hall, so that Tejef had no more than cleared the door before others began to disperse in haste, projections to wink out in great numbers, the concourse clearing backwards as the iduve departed into that part of the ship that was theirs.

“Stay,” she said to the
nasithi-katasakke
when they would as gladly have withdrawn; and she ignored them when they had frozen into waiting, and bent a fierce frown on Aiela. The
idoikkhe
sent a signal that made him wince.

M’metane,
it is your doing that I bear this disadvantage. It is your doing, that gave this being
arastiethe
to defy me, to draw aid from others. Your ignorance has begun what you cannot begin to comprehend. You have disadvantaged me, divided the
nasul,
and some of us may die for it. What are you willing to pay for that,
m’metane
that I honored, what
vaikka
can you perceive that would be adequate?

He stared at her, pain washing upward from the
idoikkhe,
and was stricken to realize that not only might he lose his life, he might in truth deserve it. He had Isande’s misery to his account; now he had Chimele’s as well.

And in the disadvantaging of an Orithain, he had threatened the existence of
Ashanome
itself.

“I did what was in me to do,” he protested.

Ashakh saved him. He realized that when the pain cleared and he heard Isande and Daniel’s faint, terrified presences in his mind, and felt the iduve’s viselike grip holding on his feet.

“Chimele,” said Ashakh, “that was not disrespect in him: it was very plain kalliran logic. And perhaps there is merit in his reasoning: after all, you found
chanokhia
in him, and chose him, so his decisions are, in a manner of speaking, yours. Perhaps when one deals with outsiders, outsider-logic prevails, and events occur which would not occur in an iduve system.”

“I perceive your
m’melakhia
for these beings, Ashakh, and I am astounded. I find it altogether excessive.”

The tall iduve glanced aside, embarrassed. “I comprehend the
chanokhia
that Tejef found in these beings, both human and kallia.”

“You were responsible for swinging the
takkhenes
of
Ashanome
toward Tejef—your
vaikka
for Chaikhe.”

Again he had looked toward her, and now bowed his head slightly. “Chaikhe is
dhisais
—as Rakhi can tell you: beyond
vaikka
and no longer appropriate for my protection. I understand what you did, since you did not spare Rakhi, for whom you have most regard, and I admire the strength and
chanokhia
of your action, o Chimele. You disadvantaged me repeatedly in your maneuvering, but it was in the interests of
Ashanome.
”

“Is it in our interests—what you have done?”

“Chimele,” said Rakhi softly, and such a look went between them that it seemed more than Rakhi might have spoken to her in that word, for Chimele seemed much disquieted.

“Khasif,” said Chimele suddenly, “can you be
takkhe
with this matter as it is?”

Khasif bowed. “I have brought you Tejef; and that
vaikka
is enough. He is
sra
to me, Chimele, as you are. Do not ask me questions.”

“Chaikhe—” Chimele said.

“Orithain,” said Rakhi, “she has followed your orders amazingly well: but remember that she was scarcely out of the
dhis
when she acquired Tejef’s interest.”

Her lips tightened. “Indeed,” she said, and after a moment: “Aiela, the
harachia
of yourself and your asuthi is a disturbance for the moment. You did serve me and I rejoice in the honor of your efforts. You are dismissed, but you still owe me a
vaikka
for your presumption today.”

He owed her at least the same risk he had taken for Tejef, to restore what he had stolen from her, though every instinct screamed
run!
“Chimele,” he said, “we honor you—from the heart, we honor you.”

Chimele looked full into his eyes. “
M’metane,
” she said, “I have a
m’melakhia
for the peculiarity that is Aiela Lyailleue. Curiosity impels me to inquire further and to refrain from dealing with you as you have so well deserved. You are the only
m’metane
I have seen who has not feared to be
m’metane
among us. You are
Ashanome’
s greatest living curiosity—and so you are free with us, and you are getting into the perilous habit of taking liberties with
Ashanome.
The contagion has spread to your asuthi, I do perceive. In moderation, it has been of service to me.”

“I am honored by your interest, Chimele.”

Her attention fumed then to Ashakh. By some impulse that passed between them, Ashakh bowed very low, hands upon his thighs, and remained in that posture until Chimele’s agitation had passed. He seemed to receive that too, for he straightened without looking up before, and slowly lifted his face.

“Chimele, I protest I am
takkhe.
”

“I perceive your approval of these outrageous beings.”

“And I,” said Ashakh, “feel your disapproval of me. I am disadvantaged, Chimele, for I do honor you. If you insist, I shall go
arrhei-nasul,
for my
m’melakhia
is not adequate to challenge you, certainly not at the peril of the dynasty itself. You are essential and I am not. Only permit me to take these kamethi with me.
Arastiethe
forbids I should abandon them.”

Chimele met his eyes a moment, then fumed aside and reached for Aiela’s arm. Her incredibly strong fingers numbed his hand, but it was not an act of anger.

“When we deal with
m’metanei,
” she wondered softly, “are we bound by the
kastien
you observe? I protest we are
akita, m’metane.
”

“I do not understand,” Aiela said.

“We are
takkhe,
” she said to Ashakh then, and walked away into the inner recesses of the
paredre.

One did not often see the
nasithi-katasakke
on the kamethi level; and the presence of Rakhi caused a mild stir—only mild, for even the kamethi knew the eccentricity of this iduve. So it was not a great shock for Aiela and Isande to find the
nasith
greeting them in passing. Beside them the great viewport showed starry space, no longer the sphere of Priamos.
Ashanome
was free and running again.

“Sir,” the kamethi acknowledged his courtesy, bowing at once.

“And that third person?”

“‘I am here,’” said Daniel through Aiela’s lips.
Trouble, Aiela? What does a
nas
want with us at this hour?

Be calm. If Chimele meant harm, she would do that harm for herself, with no intermediary.
Aiela compelled his asuthi to silence and kept his eyes on Rakhi’s so the
nasith
should not know that communication flickered back and forth: this three-way communication bemused one to a point that it was hard not to appear to drift.

“Is the
asuthithekkhe
pleasant?” Rakhi wondered, with the nearest thing to wistfulness they had ever heard in an iduve.

“It has its difficulties,” Aiela answered, ignoring the feedback from his asuthi. “But I would not choose otherwise.”

“The silence,” said Rakhi, “is awesome—without. For us the experience is not altogether pleasant. But being severed—makes a great silence.”

Aiela understood then, and pitied him. It was safe to pity Rakhi, whose
m’melakhia
was not so fierce. “Is Chaikhe well, sir?”

“She is content. She is inward now—altogether.
Dhisaisei
grow more and more that way. I have felt it.” Rakhi silenced himself with an embarrassed glance toward the viewport. The body of
Ashanome
passed under the holding arm. For a moment all was dark. Their reflections, pale kallia and dusky iduve, stared back out of the viewport. “There is a small amaut who mentioned you with honor. His name is Kleph. Ashakh bade me say so:
arastiethe
forbids the first of Navigators should carry messages. This person was greatly joyed by the sight of the gardens of
Ashanome.
Ashakh procured him this assignment.
Arastiethe
forbade—”

“—that Ashakh should admit to gratitude.”

Rakhi frowned, even he a little nettled to be thus interrupted by a
m’metane.
“It was not
chanokhia
for this amaut to have delivered Ashakh in a helpless condition aboard the base ship. This being could not appreciate
vaikka
in any reasonable sense, save to be disadvantaged in this way. Has Ashakh erred?”

“No,” said Aiela, “and Ashakh knows he has not.”

The ghost of a smile touched the
nasith’s
face, and Aiela frowned, suspecting he himself had just been the victim of a bit of iduve humor, straightfaced in delivery. Perhaps, he thought, the iduve had puzzled out the ways of
m’metanei
more than the iduve chose to admit. Yet not even this most gentle of iduve was to be provoked: one had to remember that they
studied
gratitude, could perhaps practice it for humor’s sake. Whether anything then stirred the cold of their dark hearts was worthy of debate.

Let be with him,
Isande advised.
Even Rakhi has his limits.

“
M’metanei,
” said Rakhi, “I should advise that you go soft of step and well-nigh invisible about the
paredre
for the next few days. Should Chimele summon you, as she will, be most agreeable.”

“Why, sir?” asked Isande, which was evidently the desired question.

“Because Chimele has determined a
vaikka
upon
Tashavodh
that the Orithanhe and its ban cannot deny her.” The iduve grinned despite himself. “Kharxanen’s
m’melakhia
for a bond with the dynasty of
Ashanome
is of long standing—indeed, the origin of all these matters. It will go frustrated. The Orithanhe itself has compelled Kharxanen and Tejef to deny they are
sra
to each other; so Kharxanen cannot claim any bond at all when Chimele chooses Tejef for the
kataberihe
of
Ashanome.
Purifications will begin. One child will there be; and then this
nas
Tejef will have a ship and as many of the
okkitani-as
and kamethi as Chimele chooses to send with him.”

“She is creating a
vra-nasul?
” asked Isande, amazed. “After all the grief he has caused?” Resentment flared in her, stifled by Daniel’s gladness; and Aiela fended one from the other.

“They are
takkhe,
” said Rakhi. “
M’metane,
I know your minds somewhat. You have long memories for anger. But we are not a spiteful folk; we fight no wars. Chimele has taken
vaikka,
for his
sra
as a
vra-nasul
will serve
Ashanome
forever; but the
sra
she will take from him under her own name as her heir will forever be greater than the dynasty he will found.
Vra-nasul
in mating can put no bond on
orith-nasul.
So Tejef will make submission and both will keep their honor. It is a reasonable solution—one of your own working,
m’metanei.
So I advise you keep secret that small
vaikka
of yours lest Chimele be compelled to notice it. She is amused by your
chanokhia:
she has struggled greatly to attain that attitude—for if you know us, you know that we are frequently of a loss to determine any rationality for your behavior. We make an effort. We have acquired the wisdom to observe and wait upon what we do not understand: it is an antidote for the discord of impulses which govern our various species. I recommend the practice to you too, kamethi.”

And with a nod of his head he went his way, mounted into the lift, and vanished from sight.

Aiela,
came Isande’s thought,
Chimele sent him.

We have been honored,
he replied, and expected argument from Daniel.

But Daniel’s consciousness when it returned to them dismissed all thoughts but his own for the moment, for he had suddenly recognized across the concourse a human child and a red-haired woman.

He began, quickly, to thread his way through the traffic; his asuthi in this moment gave him his privacy.

Glossary of Foreign Terms

THE KALLIRAN LANGUAGE: like human speech in its division of noun and verb concepts. There is, however, a fossilized Ethical from the time of the Orithain Domination. Although the Ethical corresponds to the Verb of Orithain speech, it has been made an Adjective in the kalliran language.