Only Human (26 page)

He was not entirely certain of the
necessary formality called for when four Shantirs arrived on Feyd. The audience
had been requested politely but the purpose for it had not been disclosed. That
it was urgent was evident; Shantirs did not travel this far to visit a Factor
for social reasons.

Baroch decided to receive them in the
ornately paneled, secure dining room. Knowing what he did of members of the
sect, he was certain that they would prefer to sit in formal austerity rather
than lounge casually around a pitcher of tea. As an afterthought, his aide
replaced the humorous Nebdanese tapestry with a likeness of Phera.

The Shantirs were ushered in and guards
posted themselves outside. Normally, two or three would remain with Baroch as
standard security procedure. But to a Shantir even an honor guard would mean
immeasurable insult.

Introductions were made. Baroch knew one of
them, Shan Cy'lan. All three were Shantirs of the highest order and the Factor
made no attempt at small talk.

 "Your presence here is welcome, Elder
Brothers and Sister," he said. "How can I be of service?"

Cy'lan was their spokesman. Baroch
understood that his guests were telepathically linked and required only one
voice. "Lord Baroch," he began. "We are here to represent the
Shantir community, not the Clan Council of Delphi. An unfortunate incident has
occurred within our enclave in Chaib Psa. It was decided to report this
incident to you. We have also come to you to confirm a suspicion which we have
harbored for some weeks now."

"Tell me of the incident," Baroch
replied guardedly.

"One of our number has been murdered.
We discovered his body in our library."

Baroch sighed inwardly. A dead librarian.
Were these people suspecting rebels inside their monastery?

"He died while defending our stores of
most valuable archives. A so-far tamperproof access system was bypassed and
copies were taken."

"Copies of what?"

Cy'lan hesitated only briefly. "The
accessed file pertains to the removal of an artificially induced mental block.
One specific mental block. It is the one given to Kiran Tar Phera."

"By the Gods!" Baroch breathed.

Cy'lan regarded him shrewdly. Baroch knew
what he was talking about. Baroch had not asked why the child carried a mental
block. He had not asked why anyone would want this file badly enough to murder
a Shantir. Baroch knew! "Lord, since you appear to be aware of the reality
of the Tughan Wai, our suspicion is confirmed. People outside the Shantirate
know that he exists and they know who he is. Most likely, he is at large and no
longer on Feyd, or with Shan Tychon and his consort. Quite possibly, he is in
the hands of your enemy! Is that not so, Lord Baroch?"

Baroch glared at Cy'lan, furious for having
been put on the defensive. The old man sounded accusing. A number of retorts
ached to be flung back at the Shantir. You created this abomination! You let
him leave Delphi! You relied on a mindless machine to guard your secrets! You
failed. You made the mistake, Shantir!

The Prime said none of these things.
Mentally, he was already composing a few urgent messages. "Who was it that
broke into your information system?"

Cy'lan seemed uncomfortable now. "A
traitor, no doubt. Someone who has fallen under Tharron's manic
influence."

Baroch's blue eyebrows knitted into one
thick line. "Who would know where to find the file? Who can possibly train
the child? It was a Shantir, was it not? It had to be! One of your very
own!"

Cy'lan cleared his throat. "Jelani Tar
Phera."

"Impossible!" Baroch shouted.
"Are you saying that the boy's own uncle is a rebel?"

"He may be under Tharron's
influence," Cy'lan allowed. "It was his task to find the child and
bring him back to Delphi. Since Shan Tychon continued to refuse to return his
son to the Court, Shan Jelani spent many months in places where rebels come and
go freely. He was tempted, no doubt. The advent of the Tughan Wai is a
challenge of phenomenal magnitude." The Shantir paused, appearing to
listen to some unspoken comment. "He arrived on Delphi past
midnight," he continued. "A private liftplane brought him to your
Union base near Chaib Psa. It was shown that he left Delphi again by mid
morning. The indicated flight plan was false. It listed an intention to cross
the reach to Targon but the ship was traced as far as the jumpsite to
K'lar."

"Shaddallam," Baroch nodded to
himself, then suddenly lunged forward in his chair, nearly halfway across the
polished table. "K'lar? Did you say K'lar? Even a Union liftplane would
take at least fourteen hours to get to that 'site from Delphi. Are you telling
me that you have waited that long before coming here?" He calculated
rapidly. "Given the time it took for you to travel here, your 'incident'
took place three days ago!"

"Four," Cy'lan said. "Please
understand that this matter involves one of Delphi's most secret sciences. We
had to deliberate carefully over all possible consequences."

Baroch closed his eyes. Consequences! How
about tens of thousands of lives at stake? "What do you suggest?" he
asked with forced politeness. Carras! He had to send a message to Targon at
once. Did Carras know about the mental block? If Tharron now had a Shantir with
the secret to reach the Tughan, time was no longer on their side!

Cy'lan glanced at his silent companions.
"Of course, we would like to have the opportunity to study the Tughan and
its effects on the boy. When Kiran had reached an age of reason, we had
intended to take him into the Shantirate. It would mean much to Delphi to know
how our experiment fared. But, after much discussion and many reviews of all
information available, we now feel that the experiment should be aborted."

"Aborted?"

Cy'lan nodded. "Kiran is only six
years of age. The Delphian brain develops at a tremendous rate at that age. We
cannot know what will happen. He has not been under our supervision, he has had
no training. We do not know how tightly the Tughan may be controlled once
awakened."

"We know where he is," Baroch
said. "Our agents are even now infiltrating the planet on which the boy
has been detained. Our intention is to extract him quietly and return him to
you."

The Shantir eyed him coldly. "Lord,
that is a risk that must not be taken. We have brought information that
illustrates the possible consequences should Jelani complete the
creation." He reached into his belt pocket for a few disks and placed them
before the Factor. "Kiran is too young. Of course, he could die but we
cannot hope for that. You must move at once to end it. He must not leave that
planet. Order your agents to destroy the boy on sight!"

"That is extreme!"

Cy'lan nodded to the Shantir seated on his
left.

"Lord," Shan Yriam said, gesturing
toward the disks. "These will explain the extremes we consider necessary.
If you care to study them you will come to agree with us."

Baroch sighed, then called for a monitor.
He went through the motions of installing the first of the disks, his mind already
dealing with his message to Carras.

Yriam began to explain the data on the
tape, her voice monotonous. Baroch watched, wanting to get this over with. Then
a few phrases caught his attention. He leaned forward, now absorbed with what
the Shantir had to tell him. Soon he was listening raptly, his eyes widening at
what he was shown. Unaware of it, he gnawed at the skin of his knuckles in some
attempt to keep his hands from shaking. The Shantirs were merciless, going on
and on with their dreadful tale, oblivious of the terror that was growing
within the Factor.

He was not aware that the display had
ended, nor did he rise to usher the Shantirs from the room. When his aide
cautiously approached him, he looked into the face of a man who had aged ten
years in one afternoon.

* * *

Nova jarred into consciousness as though
catapulted out of a nightmare of vast proportions. She recognized the foreign
sun above and then the ground below her as something having to do with her
personally. She blinked, becoming aware of the pain that engulfed her entire
body. That, too, was to be taken personally. She crawled into a covered
doorway, waiting for her head to clear. A sharp wind blowing from the plains
had turned the day very cold and she shivered as she tried to understand what
had happened.

"Ty?" she looked around,
expecting to see his body in the dust of the road.

Nova?
came
the faint reply.

Ty!
Nova
projected.
Where are you?

Tychon's mind pulled up a protective blank
to ward off her signal.
Easy!
he warned.
Pe Khoja is taking me and
the Eagle north. Kira is there and I'm beginning to think that Tharron is, too!
I cannot continue to speak to you like this. But through this khamal you will
be able to follow us.

You're going north?

He sent an affirmative.
Looks like
mostly flatlands. See if you can get a skimmer or something.
He paused, his
signal fading.
Hurry, please, I don't know how long I can tolerate an open khamal
with you.
Tychon retreated but his presence stayed with her like a distant white
noise in her mind.

Nova took a moment to focus her thoughts,
using her mind the way Tychon had begun to show her to attain the sort of
tranquility that seemed to come so easily to him. It took a long time before
she felt well enough to even stand up and look around. She raised her arm to
activate her com system before she realized that it had been taken. Vanguard
One was searching for the same tree only a continent away and now she had no
way of reaching them. She staggered back through the village, grumbling and
groaning and wishing for nothing so much as a warm bed to fall into. Few people
had dared to move outdoors again and even fewer noted her distress. None
offered help. She was barely able to knock on the herb grocer's gate.

She stumbled into the room when he opened
the heavy door.

"Hey now, the Terran!" he
exclaimed.

Seeing nothing resembling a chair, Nova
collapsed onto the floor. "Got shot."

He shook his head. "I knew you'd be
trouble. Didn't even make it to Shad Laika to find it."

She groaned. "Need air car. Transmitter."

"Do you really? Well, I have neither
of these things." He began to move about the room, looking through jars
and bins. "Air car, dear me. Can hardly walk and wants to fly!"

Nova barely listened to his mutterings,
feeling herself pass out again. Her vision was edged in red.

"Here, Terran."

She blinked. "What?"

"Drink this."

She shook her head. Her test kit, along
with her guns, communicator and other tools was in the belt that now likely
graced the waist of a Caspian.

He laughed. "I'm not about to poison
you. I assure you that our foodstuff is quite safe for Humans. I've not seen
one fall dead because of it. This remedy will do much to restore you."

 She reached for the vessel and drained it,
not without much gagging. "It smell bad."

He helped her to her feet for which she was
grateful even though she was a full head taller than he. "Our she-warrior
is rude. Maybe I won't help, then."

Nova smiled weakly, sorry for her behavior
and beginning to feel better. "You already have, old man."

He led her into a back room that was just
as filled with vials and jars and the tools of his trade as was the rest of the
store. He walked her toward a cot on which several stacks of books and scrolls
competed for space with some sort of furry pet, possibly a rodent.

"You can sleep here in safety for a
while." He pushed the clutter off the bed.

She sat down. "You find air car?"

He shook his head. "You are still
going north?"

"Yes. Must. Enemy have..." she
cleared her throat. "Enemy have my mate."

The much-wrinkled brow furrowed even more.
"I cannot get an air car here. But I can try to find something to help you
get there. It will be expensive."

"No matter." She reached into the
neckline of her jacket and removed a long necklace. "Need supplies, too.
This pays." She looked around the jumbled room and picked up a long metal
prong, possibly some sort of eating utensil. Carefully, she used the tool to
pry the Delphi sapphire from the back of Tychon's sigil. She bit her lip when
she handed the crystal to the shop keeper.

The merchant held it to the light of the
only lamp in the room. "This is the best I have seen in a long time."

Nova did not look at it again. "Take
it," she grumbled. "Get guns, too." She closed her eyes. By the
time that the little man had locked his doors and had gone on his errands she
was already immersed in a deep, healing sleep. It was a dreamless rest, made
possible by the grocer's potion.

She awoke as abruptly as she had fallen
asleep. The darkness seemed to bring the walls around her closer with every
breath she took. Adjusting her eyes to the gloom, Nova studied the many strange
objects piled on shelves or hung from pegs in the walls and ceiling. A small
movement in the bend of her knees startled her. It was the rodent, curled in a
small fur ball, sharing Nova's warmth.