And now the ancient words took on a different meaning. That was all she had to offer her people in their exile, that her songs would be theirs alone until they could be reunited with someone from their homeworld. They'd no longer need them then- such reunion could only mean their shame and exile had ended. They'd have new, joyous songs to sing.
All Loops seemed to understand, even to accept, her decision. He stood quietly for a moment, then he said, "Neither of us will live to see that day, Sunfall...."
She arched her whiskers. She knew. She also knew he was making no renewed plea.
He wrapped his tail around her waist and said, "Sunfall to-Ennien, I give you all my songs - to be Freed wherever you make camp at last. You and the others may have need of them."
She didn't trust herself to speak. Instead she curled her tail around him. Then, in unspoken agreement, they released each other. All Loops walked silently into the forest. Sunfall turned and walked toward the heart of the city and the great ship that waited there. She did not dare look back, for her heart looked ahead.
Evan Wilson stirred restlessly at the snatches of angry sound that leapt from deep in the forest. She propped herself up on one elbow, desperate to blink the sleep from her eyes and shake the confusion from her head. Chilled, she pulled the useful tighter around her.
She was alone. The realization brought her abruptly awake and to her knees; just as quickly, her phaser was in her hand.
The sounds were louder now but no more understandable- an argument? It sounded too complex for something that simple, and Brightspot's absence made her extremely wary.
She edged to the side of the swagger-lair and peered out. She couldn't see anything, either. To make the jump to the access branch would be risky in the dark, but to stay here- where she was expected to be- was riskier. She trusted Brightspot, but not Brightspot's absence.
She eased silently toward the outflung branch that was her only handhold, paused to clip her phaser to her belt. As she did, a tail shot down from above and slapped across her mouth- Brightspot's tail!
Looking up, she saw Brightspot clinging to a limb above the swagger-lair. Then she remembered seeing the gesture used to hush noisy children. She nodded and the tail flicked away.
Soundlessly, Brightspot dropped her head until it was directly above Evan's ear. "Wait here," said Brightspot in a very low voice. "You're too noisy in branches."
Evan nodded a second time, and Brightspot scrambled to another branch, making no noise that Evan could detect, and leapt into the darkness.
Watchful, phaser back in hand, Evan waited nearly two full hours by her internal clock while the noises in the forest continued in fits and starts. The argument or threats at last died down to a mutter, and the mutter came closer.
Brightspot reappeared as quietly as she had gone. A thrust of her tail sent Evan deeper into the swagger-lair; then she rolled neatly over the edge of the roof to land without a sound beside Evan. She knocked Evan on her side and, again, slapped her tail across Evan's mouth.
The muttering party passed directly beneath them. Evan Wilson was able to pick out a few words among those in range and translatable: "Stupid fools. Stupid, stubborn fools." It was Catchclaw's voice. "Humans don't know enough to squawk when they're hurt; Sivaoans don't know enough to stop squawking when the hurt's over." Then, just before she passed out of range once more: "You'll be sorry, Stiff Tail. This time you've stuck your tail into a slicebill nest, see if you haven't."
Several others passed beneath, but Evan heard nothing else. At last, Brightspot released her shoulders; they both sat up. Brightspot said quietly, "It's okay to talk now if we're quiet.... You didn't fight me when I pushed you over."
"It's your world, Brightspot. If there's trouble, I have to rely on your judgment. Sometimes you have to trust people. Now, what's going on? Are my friends in danger?"
Brightspot flicked her ears back. "Of course not! I just didn't want them to catch me listening in! How else am I going to find out what's going on around here?" That last was almost plaintive. "You're not angry because I eavesdropped on the adults, are you?"
"I'm not your mother," Evan said, "and in my book you're old enough to take your own chances. Did you learn anything?"
"You said you trust me," Brightspot said. "I have to think and put things together. I have to talk to- somebody. What happened is nothing that will hurt you, I swear in the Old Tongue, but I have to know more about it before I tell you how it happened. Can you wait?"
Evan Wilson thought about that. "Brightspot," she said, at last, "I can wait a lifetime for the answers to all my questions. But there are people on another world who cannot afford the time. I ask only that you consider them as well. They are my responsibility."
"I think that makes them my responsibility, too," Brightspot said. "Will you be afraid to stay here alone?" She wrapped Wilson's wrist with her tail and explained, "You smelled afraid before."
"If it will help, I can live through it," said Wilson.
"Good. Get some sleep. I'll wake you when I'm done." Once again, Brightspot flung herself out into the darkness and vanished.
Evan Wilson lay down and closed her eyes, but she did not sleep.
Chapter Twelve
Jim Kirk woke at the first pale rays of sunlight and, remembering Left Ear with hope, gave Spock a cheerful, "Good morning, Mr. Spock. I trust you slept well?"
"I did not sleep, Captain. Just after midnight there was considerable disturbance in the forest not far from here. I felt it best to remain on watch."
"You might have waked me," Kirk said.
"I might have, but I did not. I saw no further cause for alarm."
Damn Spock's literalness, anyhow. Short of a direct reprimand, there was never a way to tell him that his behavior bothered you. And, of course, there was no need for a direct reprimand. It was a very annoying habit of Spock's. "What sort of disturbance?"
"An argument, or so I would judge from the types of sounds I heard and from the behavior of various members of the camp this morning."
Kirk took in the few Sivaoans who were up and around. He saw what Spock meant: they greeted each other the way Brightspot greeted Fetchstorm, with the twitch of a tail tip. I don't like that, he thought.
Seeing his concern, Spock said, "I merely report the fact. I have no reason to believe we are the cause of the disruption or that we have anything to fear from it. I am, however, curious."
"Curiosity-" Kirk stopped in mid-sentence. He had been about to say, "Curiosity killed the cat"; he thought better of it. "Nothing, Spock. I suppose we'd better see to breakfast. Even curiosity has to be fed."
"I believe Mr. Chekov is preparing something."
Kirk grinned. "Mr. Chekov is certainly full of surprises. I may recommend that Starfleet Academy look up that teacher of his in Volgograd; the skills she teaches are remarkably useful planetside."
"They are indeed, Captain. And the attitude she instills toward 'primitive' people could be extremely valuable when dealing with native cultures that lack the high technology of this world."
"Good morning, Keptain," said Chekov. "Breakfest should be ready in a minute, sair." He brushed his hair back and wiped sweat from his forehead. Apologetically he added, "I thought we'd eat outside, es long es we hev the chence."
Kirk waved aside the apology and examined breakfast, a sort of shishkabob of various items roasted on a green stick. Chekov, brushing a sauce over them at intervals, said, "Local shashlik- Distant Smoke gave me his recipe."
Bemused, Kirk rejoined Spock and said, "Shashlik."
"I am unfamiliar with the term, Captain." Spock did not turn; he was watching the activity in the clearing with interest. Kirk followed his stare.
Across the clearing, a crowd gathered quickly around Catchclaw's tent. "Captain? I should like a closer look."
"Of course, Mr. Spock." The two of them walked across the clearing. Kirk searched the crowd for Brightspot- her interpretation might be useful- but she was nowhere to be seen. They pushed to the fore.
Catchclaw emerged from her tent carrying a pair of small, neatly wrapped bundles, dumped them on the ground and glared at the crowd. Her tail lashed. "Well?" she said. "Haven't you ever seen a to-Ennien move on before? Where are your manners?" All the ears in the crowd flicked back in amazement, then two Sivaoans leapt to her assistance. She gave a few sharp directions and they began to remove bottles and dried herbs from her tent; these they took across the clearing to store in the chem lab.
From the tent nearest Catchclaw's, Settlesand came out to look. She too flicked back her ears. She vanished back into her tent and, when she reappeared, she was carrying another pair of small, neatly wrapped bundles. She walked over and, without a word, dropped her bundles beside Catchclaw's. Catchclaw curled her tail briefly about Settlesand's wrist.
The four children were wildly excited. They bounced and bounded and poked all the bundles with their tails- and began making tiny packs in imitation of their elders.
Grabfoot, in his excitement, pounced on every foot in reach; Kirk could trace his route through the crowd by watching adults jump in reaction. At last, it was Kirk's turn. Grabfoot pounced, then swarmed up to his side and clung to his chest, staring nose to nose. "To Sretalles!" Grabfoot said, "We're going to Sretalles! You come meet us there! Catchclaw says!"
Kirk didn't know what to say but gave in to the impulse to scratch Grabfoot fondly behind the ears. Grabfoot looped his tail delightedly, then he climbed to a better vantage point on Kirk's shoulder to peer at Spock's ears. "Not touch Mr. Spock," he said, almost sadly. "You come to Sretalles! Maybe different there- maybe okay to touch! Tell how it happened CloudShape came to Vulcan. Good-bye for now, Mr. Spock!"
"Good-bye for now, Grabfoot," said Spock gravely.
Grabfoot scrambled to the ground and led his siblings in a mad charge across to say good-bye to Chekov.
There was a touch at Kirk's elbow. He looked down to find Wilson at his side. "Captain," she said, "have you seen Brightspot this morning?" There was a note of urgency in her voice.
He shook his head. "Mr. Spock?"
"Nor have I, Dr. Wilson. Is there some problem?"
She shook her head. "I'll tell you after I find Brightspot. And she should be here, dammit. She's missing Armageddon."
"I beg your pardon, Doctor?" It was just as well Spock asked, thought Kirk, it saved him the trouble.
Catchclaw pulled tent pegs. Now she reached inside and struck the main supporting pole. The tent collapsed in a flutter of bright-colored fabric- and a collective gasp ran through the assembled crowd. Catchclaw glared at them defiantly and, stripping the poles of their usefuls, began to roll up her tent. A moment later, Settlesand's tent collapsed with a soft whoosh.
Wilson, distracted, finally turned back to Spock and whispered, "Brightspot must have been right about Catchclaw. You'd think none of these people had ever seen anybody pack up to move before."
Spock said, "I see, Dr. Wilson. I agree with your assessment. Captain, it is our conjecture that these people have never before seen Catchclaw decamp."
"Armageddon," said Wilson darkly, "I told you. When scandalous people start behaving respectably, watch out!"
The two tents were packed in a remarkably short length of time. Settlesand brought two quickens. She held a muttered conversation with Catchclaw and shooed Catchclaw away from the work. Distant Smoke, ears still flattened in surprise, stepped over to offer his assistance, and soon he and Settlesand were at work loading the packs.
"Dr. Wilson," said Catchclaw, "I would like to check your wounds, for safety's sake." She motioned and Wilson followed.
"Interesting," said Kirk, watching where she led, "I'd say Catchclaw wants to make sure Stiff Tail knows she's going."
"She could hardly be ignorant of the fact, Captain, given the attention paid the event by the other members of the camp."
Kirk watched Catchclaw evict Stiff Tail from her own tent and usher Wilson inside. "Ignorant, no, Mr. Spock. But I'd say Catchclaw was twisting the knife." Stiff Tail paced outside her tent, her tail lashing. "Catchclaw could, after all, have examined Dr. Wilson's wounds before she struck her own tent."
"You are right, Captain. And Catchclaw need not have chosen Stiff Tail's tent for the purpose when we have our own shelter."
"Exactly. I'd be a lot happier if Dr. Wilson didn't look so grim."
"I fail to understand why Dr. Wilson's purely emotional response to such a situation should affect your own."
"Her instincts are good, Spock."
"While I agree with your assessment of Dr. Wilson's talents, I would object to your use of the word 'instincts'. It bears a strong resemblance to Dr. Wilson's own 'gut reactions.' And it is still my observation that-"
