Only Human (12 page)

“Yeah, I noticed he’s hard to read.”

“He tries to get along with us Humans. More
than most of them do. I think he thinks we’re pets or something. Throws us a
bone now and again.”

 “And so you think he’s interested in
this
Human? I doubt it! He's been around for seventy years. What could he
possibly find interesting about me? He’s certainly not going to risk his
commission with an officer under his command.”

"Seventy-two, but it's all relative.
And don't cite me rules about fraternizing out here. That didn't stop the brass
from making you bunkmates.”

"Rules exist for a reason."

He shrugged. "Depends where you break
them. It'll never be acceptable on Delphi. They would never greet one of us as
equal, no matter how polite they are. The last thing they want is for a
Delphian to prefer an off-world mate instead of choosing one of their own.”

“Oh? Are they worried about half-humans
overrunning Delphi?”

“Impossible, in any case. You’ve got the
right parts, but not the right genes. Delphians are just a bit farther up the
evolutionary scale. I think the reason they don’t want us running off with
their own is their weird reproductive cycles. For such an old civilization, Delphi
has an amazingly low population, probably because they live so long. I think
this is also the reason why they don't want the Union around, taking their
people off-planet. They just don't have as many babies as other races to replace
them all." He lowered his voice. "That means they like to mate as
often as they can. I hear they're extremely virile.”

Nova snapped gun parts together with
renewed efficiency. "I don't know why we're even discussing this!"

He watched her, amused by her indignation.
"Because I'm trying to interfere and match make?"

"Don't bother!"

He laughed. "Come, tell me that you
don't find him tall, blue and handsome. How long do you think he can live with
you and still keep his circuits from overloading? He is a healthy male of a
compatible species. I've been aboard less than twelve hours and I'm mad about
you already!"

"You know, for a diplomat you're being
most obnoxiously forward. Major Tychon is my commanding officer, we're trying
to do a high risk job and neither of us has given any thought to anything but
kicking Tharron's ass out of Trans-Targon."

Anders clapped his hands. "Well said,
Captain! Now write that down and recite it to yourself three times a day.
Better make that four times when we're on Delphi. Their days are longer than
the days in this tin box."

She glared at him.

"Don't be angry. I am only pointing
out the obvious." He toyed with the flash modules scattered on the buffed
surface of the map table. "I've known Ty all my life. Gave me my first ride
on a solar cruiser. We had some big plans back then. He was going to do a
couple of years for the Union and then we were all going to head into deep
space. He's one of the best spanners I know - what's he doing chasing rebels?
We were going to reach the end of the galaxy and then see where we can jump to
next. I was going to find a new planet and start my own population with
whatever space girls I'd find there." He smiled absently and found his way
from his memories back to Nova. "Then Ty lost his wife to Tharron's damned
Rhuwac lizards. He joined the Vanguard and we never talked about any of that
again. I'd give a lot to see him care for his life again.”

She looked toward the open hatch in the
floor. "He told me about that day," she said. She pointed at herself.
"But
I
am not looking for a lifemate, Anders. I am not interested
in Delphian mating habits or whether or not he is free to take a second wife.
Give it up!"

Anders scrunched up his face in a
thoughtful expression. “I’m not talking about lifemates, Nova. The word means
what it is. He won’t ever take another wife. No matter what he says, he is
Delphian and his affinity is to the house of Phera. He has Kira to think about.
Nothing else matters.”

She drew back. “I didn’t know that. I don’t
know much about Delphi at all.”

“I’ll teach you. If you touch this spot on
their lower back they–"

“Anders!” she tried not to laugh.

He held up both hands. "Okay, okay,
I'm sorry I brought it up. He'd be disowned, anyway. Forget I said anything."

Nova turned away. "Fine! Consider it
forgotten."

He winked. "It's a long trip to
Targon, though."

"You figured that we would head there,
huh?" Tychon's voice reached them. He had overheard Anders' last words as
he climbed up from the hold with the box of filters.

Anders was still leering at Nova.
"Yup, just telling the Captain how well I know you, Your Blueness."

Tychon glanced from one to the other,
noting Nova's tension. He clapped Anders' shoulder hard enough to be taken as
warning. "If he had two mouths he'd talk with both of them."

* * *

Four standard days after Anders' rescue on
K'lar Four, the Eagle descended on the sparsely populated, water-rich planet of
Delphi.

D'Elph'Pi, the proud natives had proclaimed
this small orb to the first Terran-Centauri crew to land here. The
unimaginative explorers were quick to spell the name in a more easily
pronounced way. And, as with most off-world concepts, it was accepted by the
blue-haired inhabitants with an indifferent shrug.

"It's beautiful!" Nova marveled
during their approach, mentally comparing the image on their screens to what
she knew about the planet of her own origin.

Large ice caps and vast oceans separated
the landmasses, turning the planet into a colorful bauble fixed forever against
the velvet backdrop of space. Bright cloud patterns abutted severe mountain
ranges that, in turn, gave way to deeply colored lowlands. There were cold,
flat polar regions but no deserts.

Tychon understood her thoughts. "Those
that have been there say she reminds them of Terra. Too bad that we will not
have time to stay very long. Only enough to drop off our cargo."

"Cargo? Me?" Anders exclaimed
from where he sat on the steps behind them. "Hey, Nova, is he calling me
cargo? Cargo! I should tell you about how we once smuggled Ty through Camelot
Gate in a..."

"Shut up or I'll make room for you in
the bay," Tychon grinned, happy to be coming home.

Nova was at first a little disappointed to
see that the airfield here resembled any other Union installation. She had expected
haughty, blue-robed natives to meet them. Instead, most of the ground crew was
Centaurian or Terran. The two Delphians waving to them from the distant repair
station wore the Union's gray uniform. Like Tychon, they braided their hair
while working.

The base had been built over the initial
objections of Delphi's Clan Council when the planet had joined the Union less
than twenty years ago. It was therefore small, no more than a token embassy.
All foreigners lived on the base, immigration and settlement of off-worlders
was discouraged outside the strict perimeters of the compound. What little
trade existed was restricted to appointed agencies that rented space on the
Union base. Few off-world Union members were granted visas and their visits
were always closely monitored. Trespassers were subject to the strict Delphian
penal system and tourism was nonexistent.

So far, Delphi allowed its own people to
leave the planet as they wished, although grudgingly. Tychon had gone against
convention by enlisting. When he had encouraged his wife to join him, he had
enraged those who held with tradition. Delphians who had followed his example
and entered the Union's military had, like Tychon, become able soldiers. It was
their surety of eye and movement as well as their inborn ability to channel
stress into productive energy that was coveted by squadron leaders as far away
as Ud Mrak. Nova did not know that the lack of Delphian support staff on the
airfield was because nearly all of the recruits were quickly moved on to train
as pilots or engineers.

The Clan Council had been furious over
losing so many of their young people to the military. The Union's presence on
Delphi meant protection against Tharron's growing rebel force but the Council
cared little about battles fought elsewhere, nor were they interested in trade
revenues and the free exchange of thought and friendship among the Commonwealth
of United Planets. Their only interest was the preservation of D'Elph'Pi and
its population.

But the people of Delphi listened to the house
of Phera. That clan had long ago ceded its rule to an elected Council,
reserving only a few seats for itself. A fierce loyalty remained for Phera and his
kin and when Phera expressed his views, the people listened. It was only
because of his views that the Union had been accepted on Delphi at all.

Anders Devaughn, despite his sunny
disposition and easy ways, had become an able ambassador. He kept the Council
at bay, working hard to establish a sound relationship between the Union and
Delphi, all the while spiriting gifted new recruits off to training camps as
fast as they came to enlist. He was one of the few outsiders who had access to other
parts of Delphi.

Today Tychon, as one of rare Delphian Vanguard
pilots, was received with enthusiasm. When the service shuttle delivered them
from the airfield to the main administrative building of the base, a crowd of
people surrounded him and his companions. Everyone seemed to talk at once. Nova
had never seen more than two or three Delphians in any one place and here now
were at least ten of the tall natives, some in uniform, some not, eager to have
a word with Tychon or to welcome Anders back home.

She observed a blue-haired officer leaning
close to Anders in conversation. Although his face remained carefully neutral,
his hand rested lightly on the Terran's arm. Nova saw through the guarded
expressions around her that even the civilian Delphians were glad to see him
safe.

Colonel Jervada sent word that the base was
to observe a day of celebration to mark Anders' safe return and to honor the Vanguard
officers' presence on Delphi. Messages were sent from the base to the cities of
Delphi and Phera's residence, requesting the presence of Tychon and Anders'
civilian friends and the few pro-Union Council members.

Nova wondered if their arrival here was
just one of many occasions that called for celebration. More likely, she
thought, there were too few reasons to enliven the segregated existence on this
small base.

She returned to the Eagle in the short lull
between debriefing and dinner. There she exchanged her uniform for an
opalescent sheath purchased on her visit to Feyd. She was only mildly
scandalized by the way the sheer envelope of fabric clung to her figure. She
used a stiff brush to bring her thick copper tresses under control, for once
allowing her hair to fall unrestrained over bare shoulders.

"Now I will look like a peasant next
to you."

She looked up into the mirror to see that Tychon
had also returned to the ship. He had stopped by the door to her tiny cabin to
regard her with undisguised appreciation.

His casually unzipped combat jacket
revealed a loose shirt bearing a Feydan advertising logo. The long legs were
encased in real Terran-made cotton trousers. As always, he looked neglectfully
casual although it did not take a second look to notice the military crispness
that seemed to permeate his being nor did one miss the deadly weapon lashed to
his thigh.

She smiled, unsettled by the look that had
crossed his sharp features before she was able to read its meaning.

He watched her reflection in the mirror.
"I have put you up for a commendation. You did well on K'lar Four."
He did not append the usual 'Greenie' to his sentence. His hand touched her
shoulder. Nova turned at the contact but he was already walking toward the cargo
bay door.

A large group of people had assembled by
the time Tychon and Nova arrived at Colonel Jervada's suite. Most were high
ranking Centauri, some Delphian pilots, and Nova spotted a few of the red-skinned
Bellacs and one or two Pelion natives. There was even an Aramese visitor, his
furred body crisscrossed with a network of coolant tubes. The murmur of
conversation blended the languages of dozens of regions from several Union
planets. Despite the fact that Delphi resented foreigners, it still remained a
vital crossroads, close to several charted jumpsites.

After the solitude of space, the lively
gathering was at once refreshing and a little overwhelming for Nova. She searched
the crowd for Anders and was disappointed to hear that he had not yet returned
from the base hospital. A stranger here, she remained at Tychon's side.

He seemed to know everyone. A tall woman,
her silvery blue hair cropped to chin length, clasped a hand possessively on
his arm. "Shan Tychon," she purred in a delightful lilt, her sapphire
eyes barely registering the Human beside him. Most of her words were
incomprehensible. She used a dialect foreign to Nova, who took the time to
study this elegant creature carefully.

"I am based on Targon now," Tychon
said politely, using Delphi's mainvoice for Nova’s benefit.

The woman looked shocked and replied
something that conveyed a mixture of affected sympathy and absolute disgust.
Nova felt offended; she had always liked Targon.