The Crucible of Empire (58 page)

Which meant, logically, this huge fleet must have been sent by the Humans. But why so many ships, Jihan wondered, as her hands flew over the little Starwarder craft's controls, unless they meant to fight the Lleix after all?

And even that did not make sense. The
Lexington's
armaments could easily have destroyed the colony if the Humans had so wished. But then they were aliens. Much of what they thought and did would likely make no sense to Lleix and they had already revealed themselves, at least to her, to be exceptionally duplicitous. Jaolore was a failure. The three of them had never understood their ancient enemy's mind. She just hoped the Jao did not turn out to be as insane as the Ekhat themselves.

After Hadata ordered her to assume a high orbit where they could monitor the emerging alien fleet, Jihan tuned the radio to the same frequency as the three assault craft that Tully had commanded and broadcast a call for him. It took much time, but finally she received an answer.

"Major Tully here," she heard in English.

"Tully, this is Jihan of Jaolore," she said. "What are these strange ships? Have they come to destroy the Lleix after all?"

The radio crackled. "No," the Human said, "these are Human and Jao ships, well, mostly Jao, come to transport the Lleix to safety."

And the Jao were not human slaves, but the
elian
did not know that. "When we arrive on Terra, will you tell the Han about the true relationship between Humans and Jao?" she said, keeping her voice low, though she did not think Hadata had picked up much, if any, English yet.

Tully hesitated. "We will tell them now, before we leave the system," he said. "As soon as a meeting of the Han can be arranged."

Jihan's mind whirled after the conversation with Tully. As disagreeable as preservation of the untruth had been, revealing the deception now seemed the worst possible decision. The Han would not trust either the Humans or the Jao. And most certainly they would refuse to leave Valeron under their protection.

Fear coursed through her, bitter and dark. She had played a part in this, a terrible part. It was her fault as much as theirs. They were aliens. It was understandable that their actions would not benefit the Lleix, but she should have known better. Her aureole throbbed with dismay and she did not know which way to turn. The Starsifters had been right to send her away. She was woefully short, but she had let herself forget that for a brief span of time. When Caitlin had revealed the truth, Jihan should have laid this problem at the large and capable feet of her elders and let them decide, rather than taking that right upon her inadequate self.

In a daze, she relayed the Humans' wish to speak at the Han to Hadata and then requested permission to pilot the Starwarder ship back to the landing field at the edge of the colony. It was a difficult approach and for a while she lost herself in the complex calculations. The rest of the Lleix ships were coming in, too, most of their pilots short on experience so that they crowded all the best approach vectors.

Once safely down, she disembarked, pushing past the rest of the crew in her distress. Though all of them were taller, they edged back out of her way. Outside the ship, the early morning was crisp with the promise of more snow, though the air stank with the unharmonious exhaust of burnt fuel. She looked around, seeing the crews of the other ships as they swarmed out, then promptly fell to servicing their vessels. This time they did not have to flee the Ekhat, but that day was almost here. All ships had to be ready to launch now at any moment. The Lleix could not afford to be caught unprepared.

Although she knew she should stay to help with the Starwarder ship, she instead padded over the nearest bridge, seeking solitude so that she could force her brain to think. She passed servants and youngsters who were coming to the landing field, as well as elders, but acknowledged none of them.

Leaving behind the unnerving racket of landing ships and shouting voices, she found herself outside an abandoned house elegantly decorated with
Boh
. She traced the carvings with her fingers. The ancient faces gazed past her, their eyes enigmatic, looking somewhere else as they had for so long,
not-seeing
the Lleix here in their exile.

In the west, the mountains stood under leaden clouds, angular and gray against the gradually brightening dawn. To the east lay the plains, clear gray-green sky, the
dochaya
and the landing field. She was mired in the middle, caught between two extremes, the Jao and the Ekhat, and did not know what to do.

The Eldests had agreed to leave with the Humans if they offered, but they would never go with the Jao once they understood the truth of the matter, not even to escape the great devils who ate the Universe. The Jao had presented untruth most grievously. The Humans had supported them in the deception and then she herself had kept silent when she knew better. Jao might well be every bit as savage as the ancient recordings indicated. She had been a fool to trust them.

Finally, exhausted and hungry, she trudged home to Jaolore, speaking to no one she passed. Inside the
elian
-house, Kajin and Pyr had already risen for the day. A simple meal was cooking in the kitchens so that the air was fragrant with sourgrain porridge, but she found the pair already in the Duty Chamber, examining the old records, industriously attempting to learn more about these duplicitous creatures. All was as it should be and yet nothing was right.

"Set aside your studies for now," she said, then returned to the kitchens to sag onto a bench before the cooking unit. There, she stared at the rising steam from the pot, finding herself too weary and agitated to even think of eating.

The two Jaolore followed her. "I have reason," she said, "to think that the archives have little more of relevance to teach us about the Jao. The records are simply too old and out of date. Matters have changed. Things are not as we thought. Jaolore would do better to study the living Jao who walk among us."

Pyr only bowed his head, but Kajin's elegant black gaze regarded her shrewdly. "You have learned something about the Jao," he said with a flick of his fingers, "something that disturbs you."

"Yes." She could not look at him, but instead studied the ceiling with its lovely exposed beams. They had been anointed with red-seed oil day after day by diligent servants down through the generations until they gleamed. Such care had been taken in the construction of this house, and then in its maintenance. Now they must either abandon it or die beneath its broad rafters when the Ekhat returned. She felt so miserably inadequate. It was Last-of-Days on this world either way.

"The Humans and the Jao have sent many ships," she said. "Enough to transport our entire population. They wish us to flee before the Ekhat return."

Kajin blinked, plainly not understanding her agitation. "That is what the Han previously discussed."

"Yes." She returned her eyes to the overhead beams, though she could feel both of her Jaolore staring at her.

"Eldest, that is a good thing," Pyr said finally, "is it not? The Ekhat have found us. We cannot stay here and survive."

"After today, the Han will not agree," she said.

Kajin's aureole fluttered. "But the Han already decided to accept Human assistance."

"That," she said, "was before." Her robe gaped open and she was too frazzled to care. Indeed, she was so exhausted, she did not know if she would ever be able to rise from this bench again. Tully had decided that it was time for the truth, though, so truth was going to be told. She might as well begin telling it here. Everyone would know soon enough, once the Humans and the Jao spoke to the Han. She would not shame her
elian
further by withholding the information.

Kajin's eyes glittered. "Before what?"

She tried to speak, but the terrible words would not come.

Pyr edged closer. "You are tired, Eldest." He ladled steaming sourgrain into a bowl and held it out. "You must eat and then rest."

She waved the well-meaning youth aside. "That was before they knew the truth," she said.

"And what exactly is there to know?" Kajin said, catching the implications when Pyr clearly did not.

But then, she thought, Kajin had spent many seasons studying the duplicitous Ekhat. His mind was far more prepared for this devious situation than hers.

"I will tell you," she said. The two pairs of eyes followed as she rose on shaky legs and headed for the Application Chamber, the most appropriate setting for such a discussion. "Both of you," she added, in case the overly reticent Pyr thought to exclude himself. "What I say can go no further than this
elian
for now, but I think soon, perhaps even by tonight, everyone in the colony will know these things."

She took the Eldest's seat in the Application Chamber, letting Kajin and Pyr arrange themselves before her by seniority. They were a small
elian
, but they would do things properly.

"A great untruth was given to us after the battle," she said, though the words were leaden upon her tongue. "Jao are not and never have been Human slaves. Instead, some time ago, Jao traveled to Terra, homeworld of Humans, and conquered them."

Pyr's startled gaze never left her face, though Kajin stared over her head. She went on. "The Human, Caitlin, is not Queen of the Universe."

After the human ship returned to Valeron, Lim and her three companions hastened to the
dochaya.
Tully wanted to go with them, but given the possible repercussions when the Lleix learned the truth, knew he had to stay with his unit.

Fortunately, Caitlin had returned with the assault ships. Ed hadn't been at all happy about that, but Ronz was calling the shots and he thought having Caitlin on the scene might be a help.

"You go with them, Caitlin," Tully said. "You too, Lieutenant Miller."

Caewithe's eyes widened. "And, ah . . . Do what, exactly? Sir?"

He smiled crookedly. "Damfino. But you both know the situation. Just do what you can. Nothing else, at least we'll know what happened."

He turned his head. "I'll detail a squad to accompany you."

Caitlin shook her head. "I'd recommend against that, Gabe. Look, as oppressive as their setup is, from our point of view, we've never seen any indication at all that the Lleix are prone to violence."

"She's right, sir," said Miller. "Makes no sense to me, personally. Where I come from, any boss conducted himself the way these
elian
do, the least you'd have is a walkout. But, there it is. The point being, sir, that I think we're perfectly safe—and dragging along a squad is more likely to cause trouble than prevent it."

Tully had read Miller's personnel file, since she was one of his subordinates. "Where you come from is San Francisco, Miller." Even a quarter of a century after the Conquest, the city was famous for being the most liberal city in the continent. "What—"

"Stereotypes, stereotypes," she said, clucking her tongue. "I don't come from Nob Hill, sir. Or Haight-Ashbury. My family are dockworkers. Have been for at least three generations." She and Caitlin began putting on their outerwear, preparing for the trek back through the cold. "We don't take kindly to management, you might say."

She gave him a sly smile. "Except for military management, of course. Most of us do a term of service, too."

As they slogged toward the
dochaya
, Caitlin thought about Miller's remarks. They'd been offhand, of course. More in the way of wisecracks than any serious suggestion.

Still . . .

"Do you really think the Lleix in the
dochaya
could organize a union, Caewithe?"

The young lieutenant's shrug was barely visible under her heavy outerwear. "Probably not, ma'am. I don't know if I think the differences between humans and aliens are genetic or cultural, or most likely a combination of both. What I do know is that changing their attitudes is awfully damn hard. I mean, look at how often we still clash with Jao—and how often the underlying reason is simply because we're misunderstanding each other. And we've been dealing with them for a generation."

They slogged on further. By now, the figures of the four Lleix they were following were barely visible in the distance. "Here's what I do know," Miller continued. "Major Tully has been talking to these
dochaya
people about our notions of equality and justice since the minute he got wind of what was happening to them. And even though they're incredibly capable when it comes to learning languages, and listened carefully to everything he said, I think the words still don't really mean a thing to them. Or whatever they do mean to them, they're not what we mean by the terms."

Caitlin was sure she was right. Human social arrangements and customs—trade unions being just one of many—were the product of centuries of history. Even if you assumed there were no genetic differences between humans and Lleix when it came to determining their social customs, it was unlikely that the Lleix would adopt human customs so quickly. Even underdog Lleix, much less a hidebound and ossified elite like the
elian.