Acorna shook her head, horrified at the image the cat sent her.
(I must get to them and help them. I can't let all of this prevent me from doing what I can. Soon, RK. Soon.)
To the others she said, "RK has sent me images of hundreds of domestic animals being slaughtered on the outskirts of the city for fear they have a disease. I must reach them if I am to heal them. And I certainly can't if I sit around here all day. So what are we going to do about this man?"
Nadhari had been searching the room and stood up, holding a pair of rough trousers and a long-sleeved, hooded tunic that reached her own knees when she held it up. "Tagoth, much as I like that scarf you're wearing, you're pretty obvious right now. If you want to blend in, you should put these on."
"I will. Nadhari, I know Miw-Sher will be safe with you. I must leave and warn the priests of the Aridimi Stronghold before Edu and his men find me here. They need to know the danger they're in, and what Edu intends." The priest pulled on the pants and slipped the robe over his head quickly, handing the scarf back to Miw-Sher when he'd finished.
"Yes, do what you must, but be on the lookout for us," Nadhari said. "Acorna can't accomplish what she needs to here in the city. We'll be leaving soon, too, and we could give you cover."
Nadhari didn't sound like a police officer. Her voice was breathless and urgent, and she stood very close to the man for the first time, her eyes locking onto his.
He smiled at her, turned, and skittered up the ladder. His body must have caught on to the fact that it was healed now, and he showed no trace of clumsiness or illness as he walked up onto the roof as if he were the house's owner.
"You there, girl, you and the healer should bring the mattress up here to air it," he said, the image of a householder ordering around his children and slaves. Acorna and Miw-Sher each took an end of the filthy sack of straw-and fleas, who were quite healthy without Acorna's help - and hauled it to the roof. Acorna was careful to keep the mattress between her and the street.
Tagoth pulled the ladder up behind them and put it down again behind the house, in the narrow alley where the backs of the houses faced each other. At a nod from him, they climbed down and the cats swarmed around them.
"What about Nadhari?" Acorna asked him.
"She went out the front. Go! I'll find cover. And I thank you for the healing."
Acorna nodded. She and Miw-Sher walked the length of the street in the garbage and filth that was stored behind the houses until they came to the end of the row. There Miw-Sher led them all to a well, drawing drinking water for the cats and wash water for her and Acorna to clean themselves with so as not to draw comment. Otherwise, anyone who saw them would wonder how they had managed to get so disheveled. Acorna was still in her dress uniform.
They walked out into the main street. It was scorching hot in the bright light of midday.
"There don't seem to be many people about," Acorna said to Miw-Sher.
"They stay in and rest if possible while the suns are high," Miw-Sher told her. "We should be free to move about the city. I don't think anyone was paying attention to us. Grimla would have warned us."
RK stood on his hind paws and sank his claws into Acorna's thigh. (Come on,) he thought.
"I must leave you here. I'm being summoned," Acorna told Miw-Sher just as Nadhari rounded a corner.
"I'll be fine," Miw-Sher said. "Grimla and I look after each other."
Acorna nodded but lingered until Nadhari was within a few feet of them. Then she followed RK's tail, which waved like a pennant ahead of her, leading her straight to the Federation post.
Twelve
Upon reaching the Condor, Acorna was disappointed to see Federation vehicles parked alongside and Federation technicians riding up and down the robolift with tools in hand.
She sent a thought to the bridge. (Captain Becker, what are these people doing aboard the vessel?) She thought something might be wrong with the captain, that he might be injured or ill. He never allowed outside interference with his ship otherwise. But Becker's thoughts were positively cheerful when he answered her.
(They had a few odd scraps of this and that, even some new equipment they were never able to integrate into the old system. They're letting me have it to replace the Khleevi stuff and repair the computers. It's great, but they're everywhere! I sent Mac with the Wats over to help our friend MacDonald so they wouldn't get in the way. Mac was asking so many questions he made the federales nervous. We'll be shipshape and ready to head out again in no time, at the rate these guys are going!)
(Oh,) Acorna replied. (Good.)
Even as she sent the thought to Becker, she was following RK's tail once more, this time to the bay where the Arkansas Traveler was docked.
She looked for a robolift until she noticed that this ship had a conventional entrance that could be accessed by a conventional gantry. As she registered that fact, a loading platform parked beside the scaffolding of the gantry began rising toward the hatch. Mac and Red Wat were riding the platform. Several oblong brownish objects sat at its base.
RK waited at the foot of the gantry, his tail waving patiently, for her to catch up, then hopped on her shoulders as she climbed the more conventional ladder to the hatch.
"Permission to come aboard, Captain?" she called. Mac and Red Wat had already disappeared inside the hatch by the time she and RK reached it.
"Ambassador, honey, sure, you come right on in and make yourself at home. Can I fix you something? Cuppa caf maybe or some tea?"
"No, I - may I ask what your project is?"
"Feeding the masses, honey, feeding the masses. I'm taking the Makahomian farmers some of the Metleiter boxes I prepared."
"What are they?" Acorna asked.
"Chemical beds that grow food without the need for much water. They're not dependent on the ground soil. You left before we had the conversation, I think, but it sounded to me like this epidemic they have here might be caused by a contaminated food supply, which could be caused by contaminated soil. I can fix that - or at least show them how to fix it. If that's the problem, those boxes and others like them will keep the people in food while we figure out what to do next."
"I see. RK-that is, I was looking over the city wall earlier, and they are slaughtering hundreds and hundreds of animals. Have you any veterinary medicines aboard which might combat the disease? I can heal some of the creatures, of course, but I'm afraid my-uh-supplies will not hold out for so many."
"I have a couple of things that might work. I got some wagons with those tall goat-type critters to pull them coming to pick up these supplies first thing in the morning. I asked Becker if I could take the Viking guys with me for muscle. We get along pretty well using sign language, and their Standard isn't as bad as Becker said."
"Mac and I have been working on their language skills," Acorna told him.
"Yeah, Mac is really okay with me. I never liked androids before, but he doesn't seem much like one - more like just a really smart, strong guy. A little quirky, of course, but that's part of his charm. Anyway, I'd love to have him along. He's been a big help and he's stronger than all of us put together, but Becker says he qualifies as technological taint, and if we can't even smuggle a little radio out past the gate, we sure as hell can't take Mac."
"Yes, I can see where that might be a problem. It is probably for the best for Mac to remain, anyway. I think Becker may need him on the Condor. Mac will need to familiarize himself with all the new modifications Becker is putting in."
"Was there something special you wanted, hon? Other than meds for the animals? Somehow, I think that was just a little bitty excuse to get you up my ladder."