Borne On Wings of Steel (9 page)

Not good.

Ablek paused in thought, wondering if he should report the incident. But his body ached with renewed pain, and nothing of value had been damaged or taken. In the end, he decided to finish his shift and not report it. He desired no more dealings with these dangerous aliens.

He limped over to the last Search Console and paused a moment as waves of intense nausea overwhelmed him. Ablek bent over, trying to clear his mind. Finally, he logged off the last terminal, never realizing the Harg had infiltrated the User Information.

DINNER WAS LATE and very subdued that night.

Not only did Elise not show up, but neither Jaric nor Kyle showed as well. The others sensed something amiss as well, though they could not put their finger on it. Even Rok was not his normal self. Everyone ate in silence and quickly retired to their private cabins.

Mother watched all the occupants retreat to the privacy of their rooms and once again contemplated life and loneliness—something she knew all too well. It was a long night for everyone.

The next day began like most others.

"Rok, why don't you and I and Kyle take the Bullet-Cars back to the main Search terminals. We can check on the results and go from there.” Jaric motioned for the Kraaqi warrior to join him and Kyle at the ramp.

At that very moment, Elise, Krinia and Jysar entered the corridor. Elise watched impassively as the three turned to leave. Her eyes still reflected the pain from last night, but they reflected something else there too—a hardness, a determination.

"I want to help, too."

The trio froze in their tracks.

Jaric and Kyle exchanged uneasy glances before they turned around and faced Elise.

Inside his mind, Jaric's thoughts and emotions shouted at him, urging him to apologize for his words and actions of last night. But he wrestled with his inner feelings of shame and embarrassment, sensing not only Elise's guarded looks, but also feeling the weight of the presence of the others around him.

He wanted to apologize to her, but not in front of everyone—then he would have to explain his apology and his stupidity to everyone. Jaric couldn't bring himself to make eye contact with Elise as his mind whirled with confusion and embarrassment.

He felt terrible because of the way he acted to Elise last night.

And now Elise wanted to help.

Jaric looked over at Kyle, whose expression remained set like granite and emotionless. But Jaric could tell by Kyle's eyes—eyes that looked everywhere but not at Elise, eyes that revealed just a glimmer of sadness. Yes, Kyle also felt the pangs of his conscience.

The silence stretched on with no one acknowledging Elise's desire to walk for the first time outside Mother's hull as well as her wish to help Jaric and Kyle.

Mother watched intently, sensing the rising body temperatures and the dilated pupils which indicated high emotions ready to explode. Her processors hummed with activity.

Elise had yet to leave the protective confines of her hull. At all the other planets they had visited, she stayed behind to observe via Mother's sensors. Jysar and Krinia advised Mother that Elise needed to learn how to interact with others, something normally learned during childhood and adolescence—years of growth she hadn't experienced being a clone.

Because of her naiveté, unscrupulous aliens might take advantage of her, especially if she got separated from the others. After all, they lived in a dangerous universe.

But every child eventually grows beyond the apron strings of their mother.

"RahajMr is a very crowded place, Elise. And there are thousands of different races here, each with a different emotional makeup. It is a very difficult place for one so young as you are,” Mother advised with a soothing, electronic tone. “Why don't you view the city from—"

"No! I want to help Jaric and Kyle search for human survivors. I'm a human too.” Elise's eyes narrowed in challenge, not only at Mother's nearest optic, but also toward Jaric and Kyle.

Jaric sighed wistfully. He nodded momentarily, then realized Mother was correct. It might be too much trouble to baby-sit her in this maze of steel and countless aliens.

"Mother's right, there are some pretty rough aliens here. And when they're all bunched up together like this, it might get a bit, well, dicey.” Jaric grinned knowingly at Rok and Kyle.

"Yeah, you need to know how to handle yourself. But I think you'll be ready soon,” Kyle said, trying to be helpful.

But Elise heard the patronizing tone in their voices—including Mother's.

"Your fear and worry are a prison to me. I can handle myself just fine,” she said firmly.

Jysar grabbed her by the arm and held her still. “They are right, Elise. There are so many unknown scenarios and so many aliens with short fuses. We must pick a better planet for you to walk upon for the first time."

Elise's face expressed shock at her close friend. “So, you think I'm still a child, too.” She shook her head firmly. “And I would've thought you of all of them would know what I'm capable of."

"It's not that,” Jysar said quickly, a hurt expression on his face. “I'm thinking of you personally."

Elise snatched her arm out of his grip and marched back toward her room without a second glance.

Jysar looked helplessly around the room until he met Krinia's harsh gaze.

"You're all wrong. She has to go out into the world one day, and today's as good a day as any.” Krinia whipped her head-tail a few times to emphasize her anger. Her smooth green complexion deepened with emotion as she turned and quickly marched after the retreating form of Elise.

Jysar took a deep breath and walked silently back to his quarters.

"I will talk to her,” Mother said. “But I want you boys to realize that soon she will join with you in your search. If not today, soon."

Jaric wrinkled his nose in thought while Kyle stared into space.

"Sure,” Kyle said unexpectedly.

Jaric's eyes widened with surprise. “Sure?"

Kyle looked at him as a teacher does his student. “Of course, she's human too.” Kyle looked up at Mother. “But when the time is right."

"I agree,” Mother said. “I will work with Elise in order for that time to come soon."

"Let's go, the morning wastes away and we have not yet begun our journey.” Rok motioned with his arm toward the ramp.

"Be careful,” Mother said after them.

"Oh, we will. There's not an alien here we can't handle, right, fellas?” Kyle laughed.

"Not a one. I'd bet that we three are more than a match for anyone we're likely to run across,” Jaric said with a twinkle in his eyes.

Rok grunted ominously. “Just let anyone dare to cross us, it'll be a day they'll rue for a very long time!” He laughed heartily as the others joined in his mirth. The three walked away as one, ready to take on the universe.

"WELL, I HOPE OUR young warriors are half as good as their talk!” Minstrel's flowing body swirled into the corridor.

"I am glad the authorities here on RahajMr do not allow weapons to be carried by anyone entering their floating cities,” Mother said.

"A very prudent law,” Minstrel agreed.

"But, three overconfident young males can still get themselves into a lot of trouble without realizing it."

"Imagine that!” Minstrel laughed.

Mother's processors focused on her other child. “I must talk with Elise, she is very upset.” Mother paused, more to allow Minstrel to follow her train of thought than her own need.

"I understand. I am planning on entering the city today totally incognito—with my dampening field active around my natural body. I want to observe some new species and learn of them while unseen.” Minstrel's twinkling body flashed out like a light simply switched off.

Mother waited a few moments before she closed her hull door. Even the most sophisticated Mradian sensor would not detect Minstrel now.

Krinia entered Elise's room as Mother watched silently.

The Mewiis sighed deeply, a compassionate expression on her green face as her head-tail grew limp. She sat down beside the sobbing form, then ever so carefully she began to caress Elise's shoulders.

"There, there, my young friend. No need for tears."

Elise looked up and wiped the wetness from her cheeks. “I—I'm just tired of being treated like a baby. And a non-person.” Her breathing grew ragged, but as she looked into her friend's face, she began to breathe more normally. And most important, she felt comfort simply from Krinia's presence.

"I know, it must be very hard for you. But look how far you've come these past months. Look how much you've learned,” Krinia said soothingly. And then her face changed to surprise. “And why is it you want to help Jaric and Kyle all of a sudden anyway, the way they've treated you!"

"I want them to like me."

Elise's voice trembled with emotion, her eyes a mirror of forlorn sadness. She looked away quickly, wiping her eyes again. When she spoke, she kept her face hidden. “Didn't you see how Jaric and even Kyle looked at me just now—like they were uncomfortable with me just being there?” She sniffed loudly. “I just want them to like me ... and ... and I thought if I offered to help them with their precious search, well..."

"Elise, it's not all you. A lot of this is their problem. Theirs, not yours.” Krinia began softly stroking Elise's long blonde hair. “And they will learn to like you. They will."

Krinia smiled as Elise turned to her.

Elise smiled shyly back at her.

"But there must be more?” Krinia asked.

"Yes! I want to meet other aliens now. The only life-forms I've ever been around much are you and Jysar. And Mother.” Elise paused, a puzzled look on her face. “And Rok. And Jaric and Kyle, if I can count them, although they've mostly avoided me."

"And maybe that's a good thing.” Krinia smiled, merriment in her eyes.

Elise laughed for a moment, then put her arms around her friend. “That may well be, Krinia."

They laughed at their shared joke. But Elise looked away again, a serious expression on her face.

"But you still want to meet new aliens,” Krinia said, guessing her thoughts.

"Why can't I?” Elise looked at her with urgency. “You could keep an eye on me, keep me out of trouble. I know, I know,” she said quickly as Krinia opened her mouth to speak. “I may not have learned the basic skills of protocol or know how this race greets each other or how that race says good-bye, but how does anybody else learn those things if they don't go out into the universe?” Elise's eyes burned with her need to take the next step in her life. “I need to meet new life-forms, if I'm going to develop social skills. I can't learn that from lessons and holovids."

"But Elise, there is so much you don't know—cultural and social protocols—or how to beware of aliens with evil intentions. You could be taken advantage of so easily,” Mother reasoned, breaking into their conversation.

"
Mother
,” Elise groaned. “I know enough not to get mugged or raped or something like that!"

"But what about other subtle ways you could be taken in?” Mother asked.

"MotherShip,” Krinia said confidently. “I think I could watch out for her long enough to mingle and perhaps take in a part of this city. We could go out for a couple of hours and come straight back. And she would see others up close and personal for the first time, and somewhat safely, in these constant crowds of RahajMr."

"Oh please, Mother,” Elise pleaded. “We'll be safe, I promise. I won't even talk to anybody, I'll just watch them as they pass by!"

Mother observed the earnestness in Elise's eyes and heard it in her voice. She realized that maybe she had been wrong earlier.

"Krinia,” Mother said.

"Yes."

Both women looked up at the optic.

"I am contacting Jysar. He has not left yet. Perhaps if you and he escorted Elise, and especially if you both aided her in any personal encounters with other beings she might run into, then it would be safe enough for her to investigate the city."

Elise laughed with glee as Krinia hugged her.

"Where shall we go?” Elise suddenly asked.

Krinia smiled. “You want to help them search, you said earlier. Let's go to the Search-Terminals first, maybe you'll be able to help them. After that, we'll go to one of the main shopping levels, do some window shopping and observe the other shoppers too."

"Great!” Elise gasped. “And I've thought of something the boys have never tried, something obvious if an alien race receives only an audio transmission from any human survivors."

"Cool.” Krinia smiled. “And what is your brain-storm, my young detective?"

Elise brushed her blonde tresses back from where they had fallen across her face. She smiled cunningly, her blue eyes twinkling with conspiracy. “Well, with audio-only contact, especially a remote automated beacon, any alien ship picking it up but never making contact would file the transmission and upload it to their master system to be analyzed at a later time. Any transcription would be translated into their native language ... well, how would they know how to spell some of the proper names!"

Krinia's eyes lit up with excitement. “You're right, their translation computers would only be able to approximate some of the proper names without a human dictionary to compare with."

Elise nodded. “And so, I will not simply search for ‘human’ or ‘Earth’ or whatever. I will input some common misspellings an alien race might use like...” Elise leaned closer, as if somebody might be eavesdropping on her fantastic idea. She sounded each letter in a low whisper. “The word human might be found as h-u-m-u-n. Or misspelled as h-o-o-m-u-n or something like that."

"Or they might list Earth as U-r-t-h, or something even more bizarre, depending on the alphabet of the aliens that intercepted the transmission,” Krinia whispered, getting the idea.

Elise sighed. “And this is the first really comprehensive computer system that's been searched since we left the Three Kingdoms. The boys have normally only interrogated systems of a single planet or individual starships. So, we will stress some obvious misspellings when the system asks for our keywords, in addition to their correct spelling."