"You are correct, Captain MacDonald. Becker has the ship all torn up, installing new equipment. I wish to contact our home base and my own people again, if it isn't too much trouble. We never intended to be away for so long, and I… am hoping for some news."
"Thought so. Be my guest," he said, leaving her to it.
To Acorna's relief, she was able to communicate with MOO without problems. She was so glad to hear Melireenya's voice and see her face on the com screen she almost wept.
Melireenya was effusive. "Khornya! Oh, it is good to hear from you again. Maati has come up to the moon, and Neeva is here as well. And Hafiz will want to speak to you, and Miiri and Kaarlye and the aagroni. Oh, and-what is it, Thariinye? Yes, I'll tell her. Thariinye says to say hello."
Acorna had to laugh, since she was not, after all, going to let herself weep, which would have been highly inappropriate under the circumstances. How like Thariinye to have to be in the middle of things! "Hello to Thariinye, too, then. And to everyone. Is there any word from Aari?"
"I truly can't say. I haven't heard anything myself. Wait! Maati is here. She would know."
Maati's face appeared on the com screen. How grown-up she looked! "Khornya! How are you? We miss you! When will you be back?"
"Captain Becker has received assistance in repairing the Condor from the Federation troops stationed on this planet, and he thinks it will not be much longer before the ship is operational. But there are some problems here that may need our attention before we can return. Have you heard… anything?"
"Well, a few anomalies have been showing up, but they don't have anything to do with Aari exactly, but maybe he's closer than he was, hmmm? It's nothing much, really, but we've been wondering-oh, here's the aagroni."
"Khornya, have you interviewed any Makahomian subjects about the relationship between Riidkiiyi and our pahaantiyirs?"
"Aagroni, they are having something of a crisis here. Many of the Temple cats died before we arrived. We were able to save four, and I am told others still survive, but for how long, I don't know. I - I really can say no more on this channel. I will of course learn what I can."
"I thought the cats were held sacred by those people?" Karina Harakamian broke in.
"Yes, they are. But being held sacred is not necessarily protection against an epidemic. Other animals are dying, too. You can see that I must help."
"Of course you must, Khornya," said Miiri, joining the others. Each of their faces was now visible in a separate window on the com screen.
"I'll be home as soon as I can. It probably won't be too long," Acorna said, but she felt desolate. If they were free to go soon, it would only be because they had failed in their mission to save the cats of other Temples and all the other animals in trouble. And yet she felt, seeing the faces and hearing the voices of her friends, as if she couldn't bear to wait until she could embrace each of them again. Their farewells sounded sad and concerned as she ended her transmission. Now she had worried them about her, too, and not just Aari.
And what was it Maati meant about "little anomalies" that might indicate evidence concerning Aari?
Before returning to the Temple, Acorna asked Captain Mac-Donald when he would be leaving. "Kando is sending some men and wagons over to help us load up first thing in the morning," he replied.
That information could prove useful, she thought. While she remained determined that the former Brother Bulaybub's fate was not in her hands, it wouldn't hurt to mention to Nadhari and Miw-Sher about the wagons.
She returned to the Condor. The Federation technicians and their vehicles were gone. Becker apparently saw her, for the robolift descended to meet her.
"Hiya, Princess," Becker said, meeting her at the robolift deck and slipping his arm through hers chummily. "We are once more fully operational, you'll be glad to hear, and can leave whenever we're ready."
"That is very good news, Captain," Acorna said. They ascended to the bridge and folded themselves into the command chairs, turning the chairs to face each other. "You certainly got those repairs done in record time."
"Yeah," Becker said, pleased. "Apparently the Mulzar put in a word for us and Dsu Macostut couldn't send me help fast enough. These guys know what they're doing when they're using their own stuff. They-uh-had a few problems with my adaptations, but mostly they thought they were really-what was the word?-oh, yeah, inventive."
"You are that. I wonder why the Mulzar decided to be so helpful."
"Nadhari, maybe?" Becker frowned. "But then, he is kinda wanting to be a kissin' cousin with her, from what I can tell, so I don't think he'd be in any hurry for us to leave and take her with us."
"Unless her going with us isn't a part of his plan," Acorna suggested.
"Oh, I don't think he could keep her… she, uh, hasn't said anything about wanting to stay, has she?"
"Not to me. Not so far," Acorna said. "But the Mulzar is used to ruling. Perhaps he isn't used to considering the wishes of his women."
"Do ya think? Naaah. He's okay. In fact, I've enjoyed getting to know him a little. He's a little high-handed sometimes, but you know, he's trying to do just what the old-time high kings did - unify his world and rule it so they can get on with progress instead of everybody fighting everybody else all the time. Like King Arthur and Camelot, except Camelot wasn't cat-shaped."
"No, I suppose not. But I wonder how united the world will stay and at what cost its unity will come. I wonder how often he will use violence and war to subdue the other peoples."
"You gotta break some eggs when you make-uh - scrambled eggs, Acorna," Becker told her. He sounded a little irritated with her. Acorna guessed that was because she was questioning a concept integral to the belief system of most humans - that some things had to be fought for. Perhaps because she had been raised among humans, she actually shared that belief to some degree. The Khleevi had needed fighting. They'd needed killing, in fact, and Acorna had arranged to kill them all. She'd done it gladly and would do it again in the same situation. Other humans-bad ones, like Edacki Ganoosh, were also no great loss, in her opinion. But she didn't think Edu Kando would bother sorting out the good from the bad - or that his criteria for sorting them if he did would necessarily be based on their worth as individuals or their moral value.
"You've got him wrong," Becker said. "He doesn't want to make war on everybody. He's sent food and supplies to the other parts of Makahomia to try to help people."
That surprised Acorna, who had heard nothing of it.
"I'm very relieved. I was afraid he might mind when I leave the city tomorrow to try to heal some of the other animals who have been stricken by plague. RK has particular concerns about the Temple cats elsewhere on the planet."
"He does? He told you that, did he?" Becker asked, twisting to glower up from under his eyebrows at his first mate, who was curled on the high back of his command chair.
"Yes, he did. RK is fully telepathic when he feels like it, though he appears unable or unwilling to use more than his standard forms of communication unless he's decided it's an emergency."
"The old rascal," Becker said, scratching the first mate's head. "I always knew he was smarter'n most people."
"So, from what you say, the Mulzar should be happy that I am going to help with the epidemic, even though the illness is in other lands. That is very good news indeed. Perhaps I'll get a chance to discuss it with him this evening. If so, I'd better hurry. Are you coming?"
"Not tonight. I need to wait here till Mac and the Wats return from the Traveler, and go over the new equipment with Mac. Besides, it's hot down there and we have central air again!"
Acorna smiled. "So we do."