Guardians (Caretaker Chronicles Book 2) (32 page)

Their early trip out to introduce the children to
the Vala this morning must have tired her out. It had been beautiful, seeing
her running through the forest and splashing in the river with the Vala
children. He wondered if she’d had a nap after Aria had taken her home today.
Maybe they should take her home a little early. He blinked and refocused on
what Theo was saying.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t help you the other day.
Veronika can make people feel . . . unwelcome.”

Ethan fought a wry chuckle at the understatement,
instead taking a quick sip of his drink. “It doesn’t matter. We just need to
get the blasting stopped around the karst peaks. Is there anything you can do
about that?”

Theo contemplated a moment. “Probably not without
a very good reason. I’ve heard you believe there’s something down there. Do you
have any kind of proof?”

“I’ve seen what’s down there. I could give you
proof.” This was not the closed-door, no options conversation he’d had with
Veronika and Saras. Theo had always seemed much more accommodating, much more
likable than his colleagues. Perhaps he could help. “If we weren’t in range of
Saras’s thought blocker, I could show you telepathically exactly what I’ve
seen.”

Theo blinked several times, quickly, apprehension
showing on his face. “I’m . . . uncomfortable with that idea,” he
said. “Perhaps you could introduce me to them? I could meet them?” Theo laid a
hand on Ethan’s arm. “It’s the only way I can help.”

Ethan tried to consider the implications of
showing Theo the Vala. He didn’t want to bring more danger to them through his
carelessness, but he needed someone on the inside of the Saras company. Someone
who could make decisions.

“Meet me at the docks about an hour before
sunrise tomorrow. We’ll go up the river.”

***

Theo showed up in a cruising boat fit more for a
lavish party than a trip into the wilds. Aria and the children stepped aboard
and immediately stationed themselves by a window to watch the river slip by.
Aria gave Theo directions as they cruised.

The boat was much more comfortable than the raft
made of crates, but Ethan worried that the motor might scare the flighty Vala
away. When they were nearing the cave entrance, Ethan said, “Can we quiet it
down? I don’t know how well they’ll respond to the sound.”

“Sure thing.” Theo cut the big engines, using
only a silent sol motor to provide navigation and just enough thrust to move
them against the current.

Ethan guided Theo to the little sandbar where he’d
been leaving the boat the last few times he’d traveled here. They departed and
walked through the jungle. The timing was perfect. Minea was on the brink of
waking. The mists hung heavy between the mountains and the sky lightened very
gradually as they neared the cave’s exit.

Ethan saw the surprise on Theo’s face as he saw the
Vala. They came to Ethan’s family, speaking rapidly. Polara, whose eyes still
held that weariness he had noticed the night before at the party, said a few
words in Ikastn, and the Vala children cheered her.

Ethan noticed that the children of the Vala avoided
Theo. He felt mildly bad for the man as the beautiful Vala children embraced
Aria, carried Rigel, and played a game of tag with Polara.

“They will get more used to you,” he said.

Theo’s eyes were filled with questions. “Where
did they come from?” he asked. Then piling more questions on top of the first, “How
did they get here?”

Ethan shrugged, “We’re still learning about them.
The translator isn’t very reliable with such an obscure language as Ikastn, and
I’m still learning myself, but we know they came fairly recently. Within the
last few Minean years.”

“But the orbital defense detected no ships until
the Asgre,” Theo protested.

“They don’t use ships. They are able to travel in
space without ships.”

Theo looked baffled by this. “Why are they here?”

Ethan thought of the dark, ominous Asgre ships.
He could not reveal that. Not yet. He still had a hard time fully trusting
Theo, or anyone at Saras.

“They are seeking a new home.”

“They should continue to seek,” Theo said, a
carefully controlled tightness in his voice. Had he guessed that the ships
above Minea and these beings were connected? Maybe that was okay. Maybe he
would help protect the Vala, not only from Saras, but also from the Asgre.

“Will you talk to Saras about the blasting?”

“Why do they want the blasting stopped? Can’t
they just move to another cave?”

Into Ethan’s mind came the picture of the cavern,
filled with sleeping Vala.

“Not now. They need to stay here at least a few
more weeks.”

“What happens in a few weeks?”

“Their sleepers awaken,” Ethan said. “The Vala
children are depleted, and they are resting. Once they wake up, they can move
on if necessary, but I think we should consider letting them stay. They saved
us. They’re happy here. The planet has the resources they need.”

“Daddy! Come and see the fish!” Polara was
leaning over the river, her Vala playmates peering into its depths beside her.

“I’ll be right back,” Ethan said, slipping off
the translator and handing it to Theo. He went to see the fish, then chased a
froglike creature with the children. When he came back to Theo and Aemon, they
were deep in discussion about the caves.

Aemon was describing the white flowstone room
where the survey crew had found the symbols carved into the rock. “It is our
safe room, our sanctuary.” Aemon was saying. Ethan took the translator back,
remembering the delicate beauty of that room. It seemed fitting that it was
their sanctuary.

The sun was rising higher, and he saw the Vala
beginning to gather back together, preparing to go back into the cave. Their
shining skin reflected the sun. Aemon stood and bid farewell for the day.

“We must get under cover,” he said
apologetically, “the sun is difficult for us to bear.” He took Ethan’s hand and
pressed it to his forehead, and then Theo’s, before moving back toward the
cave.

Ethan heard Theo gasp beside him. He glanced at
the man, who held his hand in front of him almost reverently. “Wait!” he
called. Aemon paused.

Ethan followed Theo’s gaze and saw what had
frozen him so completely. Shining in the place his hand had touched the alien
was an oval of pure Yynium dust.

Theo’s voice was frantic as he reached his other
hand toward the translator. Ethan stepped to him and let him speak. “Where did
this come from? How did you get it?” He gestured at the Yynium.

“I think they have mineral manipulation
abilities,” Ethan answered. “They can remove whole blocks of that stuff from
the rock.”

As he said it, he realized the folly of putting
that kind of power in front of the most Yynium-hungry company in the universe.

“Maybe we should go,” Ethan said, waving to the
children down by the river.

Theo ignored him, walking instead
toward Aemon. “Where?” Theo begged. “Let me see.”

Aemon gestured to one of the other Vala and spoke
softly. She returned with a block of the Yynium from the staircase, which she
set on the ground in front of them.

Theo leaned over it, folding his tall frame down
to inspect it. He ran a hand across it, looking up at the Vala in wonder.

Ethan saw the opportunity. He remembered what his
salesman passenger, Chip, said about convincing people. You had to work through
their desires and fears if you wanted to persuade them.

“What would your boss pay for pure Yynium?” Ethan
asked quietly. “Yynium that doesn’t have to be refined? Yynium that could be
shipped out immediately for Earth, and would even be useful in the small
amounts you could send on an RST ship? How much?”

He saw the gleam in Theo’s eye and remembered
what Chip had told him. Make it personal. “And what would he think if you were
the one to give it to him?” Ethan asked. He lifted the chunk of Yynium, and
Theo’s eyes didn’t leave it as he rose. “What do you think? Could we work out a
deal to protect them if they could provide Saras company with the best Yynium
in the universe?”

He held out the block, and Theo took it
reverently.

“Can I trust you to talk to Saras?”

Theo caught his eye and held it. “You can.”

“Show him this, and I’ll answer his questions as
best I can.”

Theo nodded. As the Vala walked back into the
cave, and the children piled into the boat with Aria, Ethan and Theo navigated
the stones at the water’s edge. Theo, Ethan saw, was shaking, slightly. He must
be more excited about the Yynium than Ethan had realized.

Ethan heard Theo slip on the slick stones and
turned to see him go down. The block of Yynium fell, too, and fractured into
several small pieces.

Theo swore, scrambling to pick them up. Ethan
walked over and helped him, gathering chunks of the sharp orange material. He
handed some to Theo and slipped some in his own pockets. Polara would like some
in her rock collection, and Theo had plenty to show Saras.

***

Kaia was with
her father on the base when Galo’s big Asgre ship moved to the edge of the city
and began easing itself to the ground.

“They’re coming out.” Reagan said, and she heard
a mixture of relief and fear in his voice. The moment he knew exactly where the
Asgre were going to disembark, he assembled the ground troops. And they moved
together, stopping just outside the curve of the last houses on the edge of
Coriol, where the ship was landing. Kaia saw her father put himself between the
aliens and the humans, and she moved to stand beside him.

The troops behind them were trained Coriol
Defense Troops, at the ready. Kaia watched the ship descending through the
atmosphere, feeling its heat and breathing the dust it stirred up as it landed.
As it neared, she saw something she hadn’t noticed before. Below it seemed to
be a small suspended cage, half-hidden by the landing gear and tarnished with
eons of warp travel. Inside the cage was a small, fragile being. Kaia took two
steps forward before she remembered what Ethan had said: “Warnings.”

She stopped, waiting.

When it landed, six beings disembarked. Clad in
black flexible suits, with masks covering their faces, the Asgre approached.

They had four arms. Kaia shuddered to think of
the advantage that would give them in a fight. They were angular, sharp. Kaia
thought how much Saras’s VP, Theo, looked like them, with his skeletal face and
long, gangly arms. She wished he were here so she could compare them.

Kaia was glad to see that they were much smaller
than the Others of Beta Alora. Judging by the hiss of the suits, they were not
perfectly suited to this atmosphere, either. That could be an advantage.

Reagan stepped forward. He spoke his own
language, relying on the translators the Asgre carried with them to convey his
message.

 “You have not been cleared to land here. I am
Admiral Reagan,” he said, and Kaia heard his name come out as Ray-gun through
the translator. “This is a colony of the United Earth Government. You can’t
come here and—”

The Asgre at the front of the little pack, whose
black suit bore several red bars, stepped forward, bowing slightly and raising
a hand courteously. His wheedling voice cut the air and the translator formed
the words: “I am Galo, of the Asgre. We do not wish to inconvenience you.”

“Why have you not responded to our hails?” Reagan
demanded.

The alien took a step back, as if surprised. “We
have not received any communications from your planet.”

Kaia could see that the response was not what her
father had expected.

“We’ve been sending them for weeks,” he replied.

Galo conferred with his companions. He fumbled
with a device on his forearm, switching through various frequencies. Finally,
he paused.

“Ahhh.” The translator brought them his words, “I
see. This is my own error.” He tapped the control and the humans’ message began
to play clearly, sounding tinny in the evening air. He listened to it all the
way through and then switched it off. “This line came through only as an
unintelligible buzzing before my translator was online and I foolishly disabled
it.” He bowed. “I offer my sincere apologies. We are not here for combat. We
are simply here to retrieve our property. When we have gathered them all, we
will leave your planet with haste.”

“What do you mean? Your property?” Kaia saw
Reagan move forward. “We have nothing of yours.”

Galo inclined his head and spread his four arms
wide, possibly trying to judge Reagan’s sincerity. “Then it is your assistance
we require. Our slaves have escaped.” He gestured at the miserable little being
in the cage below his ship. “They are called the Vala, and they are vital for
the transport of our ships. I must reclaim them with haste.”

Reagan spoke forcefully. “Don’t be so hasty. We
don’t allow slavery here.”

“I’ll just gather them and take them immediately
out of your atmosphere,” Galo said smoothly. “And you’ll never have to see any
of us again.” He smiled. “Unless you need something shipped, of course. Then I
would ensure its safe arrival by transporting it in my own Cliprig.” Galo
gestured to his ship.