They entered the garden. Pastel-colored streamers floated vertically, anchored by organic weights and floats. They formed arches and passages, and they spread a flavor in the water that was delightful. This was a miniature Spican paradise!
There were unlikely to be any mechanical listening devices here; the plants didn’t like electrical things, and they also tended to damp out sounds. They glowed faintly, their hues indicating their types. Some, she realized, were actually animals, with intricate filaments combing the water for sustenance, and long vinetails descending to the bottom. The plants needed some light, but the animals could get by without it. The ship’s main food supply was a special lake containing hardy, edible species of such animals, together with masses of plankton. But the Captain’s garden was more natural, seeded with sea-insects as well. Now Melody heard the gentle chirruping the animal-flowers made to attract those insects. Oh, this was lovely!
The Captain halted. “Your message, Datok?” Gently spoken, but it had better be good!
“I am not Datok,” Melody said. “I am a high-Kirlian transfer agent from Sphere Mintaka. If you touch me, you will feel the strength of my aura.”
This was another social gaffe, with homosexual overtones, as Spicans did not touch each other apart from mating. But the Captain’s broad-mindedness rose to the occasion again. He undulated toward her, until he touched—barely. Melody felt his aura now: about 110. Very high, for such a position; had the segment had more warning of this crisis, he would have been conscripted for transfer duty.
He evinced surprise. “I did not know auras of that magnitude existed! It must be double mine!”
“Correct, Captain. Mine is the strongest aura recorded in Segment Etamin. I have taken over the body and mind of Datok in order to implement a mission for our galaxy. We are at war, again—with Galaxy Andromeda.” Quickly she explained the nature of the hostage threat, and her counter to it.
“This is most serious business,” Captain Llono said. “I must accept your statement of the threat of hostaging, for you are obviously not Datok, and there has been no opportunity for any substitution of physical entities. But I have no certainty that you are not yourself Andromedan.”
That made Melody pause. “Captain, you are astute! I had feared you would not accept my thesis. You are right; I must prove myself to you. But how may I do this?”
“I am inclined to believe you. You would not have informed me of this Andromedan plot if you were yourself such an agent. Still, I am disinclined to take action without verification; your mind might operate more deviously than mine.”
“Yes.” Melody remembered how she had assumed that Captain Dash Boyd of the Ace of Swords was loyal. Assumptions were treacherous. “I could relate to you certain obscure facets of Mintakan culture—”
“I am not conversant with Sphere Mintaka, except with respect to space armament.”
“I don’t know anything about armament, Captain. I was a mere old maid, unversed in military—”
“Interesting you should mention your mating status. In this lies the proof.”
“Captain, I don’t understand.” But she had a cold premonition.
“When a Spican trio merges in the act of reproduction, the flesh and nervous systems overlap. The thoughts of each become known to the others, enhancing the unity. Generally these are notions of copulative appreciation— but a question of identity would also be clarified.”
Beautiful! No deceit among lovers. But—“Captain… I can’t do it.”
“Does the notion of merging with me repulse you?” Llono inquired sardonically. Obviously it was her galactic loyalty he was questioning; interpersonal attraction had little to do with Spican mating. Her refusal threw her whole statement into doubt.
“Captain, such mergeance would very likely destroy me,” she said. “I would be unable to return to my human host.”
“Why would you want to?”
“I—” She stopped, unable to explain because she did not understand it herself. If she became male, she could transfer to male hosts, and eliminate some of the male hostages that seemed to be in the majority. Why not? “I’m an old female neuter,” she said, aware that this concept, virtually a crutch to her thinking, was not particularly clear to a non-Mintakan. “I can’t change now.” Ridiculous but true. She saw suddenly that this was another reason that she had never budded; she had become accustomed to her status, and didn’t care to change it. Such shifts of sex were all right for young entities, who could adapt to the new set of relationships, but she was far from young, and had grown much accustomed to her present status. She simply could not feel herself as male.
“I regret the necessity,” Llono said. “But the matter you have raised is too vital to the welfare of our galaxy. I must insist.” He made a short piercing call.
Another entity appeared. It was a Sibilant, jetting rapidly toward them in answer to the Captain’s summons. The third sex.
For a moment Melody froze in place. She knew Llono was correct; the matter had to be decided, and this was the way to do it. She could not preserve her sex at the price of her galaxy. She played an internal chord of leave-taking from her human host, Yael of Dragon. Melody had come to love that girlchild, in her fashion. And there was another hidden motive surfacing in this instant of truth. How would Yael function by herself, bereft of transfer aura?
Then she recognized, via the host/hostage minds, the approaching Spican. It was Zysax the Sibilant, ship Communications Officer—and a hostage.
Melody’s flippers churned the water as she stroked rapidly away, almost getting snagged on one of the plants. Now she was really in trouble! The hostage would quickly catch on—and convince the captain that Melody, not Zysax, was the enemy. Even now Zysax and Llono were coming together, comparing notes…
“What the discordance am I made of?” Melody demanded of herself. “The hostage is the very one I want in this trio!”
She turned and stroked even more vigorously back toward the pair. Zysax did not see her; he was preoccupied by what the Captain was telling him. Llono saw her, but stayed put.
Melody gave a final heave of her flippers and launched into the pair. The force of the collision shoved her flesh right through theirs.
Suddenly they were in the throes of mergence. “What have I done?” Melody asked herself in the despairing ecstasy of union, knowing that she had had to do it, whatever the personal consequence.
You have proven your identity, Melody of Mintaka, Llono answered along her/their nerves. And you, Zysax—are hostage to a :: of Andromeda.
:: I am betrayed! :: the alien entity cried.
Melody sympathized, for her own reasons.
They climaxed in literal explosion. The three entities flew apart, and a mass of merged flesh was torn from the bodies of Llono and Zysax. The Sibilant was now the parent of a little Sibilant, and Llono was the sire.
Zysax and her baby slid out of sight beyond the veil of plants, driven by the force of the reproductive schism. It was important that there be an immediate separation after mergence, so that a trio would not be trapped into another cycle of mating. The Captain swam back, his body reorganizing after the loss of a sizable segment of flesh. Spicans were not solid in the manner of Solarians or Mintakans; their flesh was frothy and malleable, and the deletion of a chunk meant only a temporary inconvenience.
“Now I possess data,” Llono said. “I shall promptly dispatch the remaining hostages, and send you back to your ship. In fact, I believe I will volunteer for transfer service myself; my aura is higher than that of most hostages.”