Kasturi leaned forward eagerly. "Ask if they kept voice records?"
"Oh yes," Beverly grinned toothily. "We figured you guys might be able to understand them;'
"You have them?" Kasturi stood up, eagerly holding out his hand.
The ex-air force general laughed as he reached for the sack that he had deposited on the floor at the beginning of the meeting and handed it over.
"Every last one we caught;'
"We leave. We listen. Where?" Kamiton asked Ray.
Ray glanced at Kris, jerking his thumb toward his private office, and she pushed back her chair to lead the way. She stayed to help because while Kamiton had been learning English with almost the same speed that Zainal had, neither could write English without a lot of false starts. So Kasturi made the initial transcriptions and then she and Kamiton translated them.
"They are convening the Mentats," Kamiton said suddenly, when they had gone through about half the recordings. He raised both arms, waving his fists with great satisfaction. He and Kasturi exchanged broad and gratified smiles.
"So how are you going to dust them?" Kris said, leaning back to rub the taut muscles of her neck and shoulders.
"Dust?" Kamiton asked.
She pantomimed inhaling and then fell to one side, twitching, as Kami-ton had done.
"Ah, plant dust. Yes, we are thinking;'
That was the same answer that Zainal gave her later that night when they finally returned home. Once again she had had to leave Zane to sleep over in the crlche but instinctively her head had turned to where his crib was when they entered the door.
"He is safe," Zainal said gently, circling her shoulders with one arm and drawing her toward the bedroom.
"I know that," she said, almost peevishly. "Sorry," she added instantly, rubbing at her neck again. "All that thinking in one language and writing down in another gave me a headache."
His strong fingers pushed hers out of the way and he began a restorative massage, all the time easing her toward their room. She chuckled. But she was not at all unwilling. Especially when the fingers of his other hand began to massage elsewhere.
WHEN SHE WOKE the next morning, and it was morning, not dawn, so she had been very tired indeed, his space in the bed was empty. She allowed herself the luxury of a leisurely awakening. She needed a shower so she took that, since the solar panel would have warmed the cistern water by now. Her hair was growing out from its last crop but she'd have to endure that again for the KDL's next spurious trip back to Catten. It was while she was soaping herself that she noticed a bulge in her abdomen and felt it. Firm and… She stopped and didn't move until the water turned cold once the tank had emptied. Her mind rapidly did a series of figuring, taking into account the length of the Botany day, the number of days since her last period and when she had had it."Could she have been fertile on Catten? Could she be pregnant by Chuck Micford? He'd been too drunk to… hadn't he?
But when she began to fasten the belt to her overall, she realized that she was buckling it two holes up from the usual one. She sat down heavily, as much because she needed to sit to put on her boots as to gather her stunned wits. Not that she would really mind having Chuck's child. But she hadn't been nauseated or had any morning sickness and her breasts weren't that tender-yes, they were a tad sore, but last night could account for that.
"Stop fooling yourself, Kris Bjornsen," she said out loud.
Well, it could be worse. But she couldn't tell Zainal. At least not yet.
He wouldn't let her crew the KDL, not if it was going back to the heavy gravity of Catten. Though gravity oughtn't to interfere with her pregnancy, not if she wasn't even showing the usual discomforts. She figured again. She was well into the first trimester. But she didn't want to have to admit a preg nancy, just when things were getting so interesting. And Zainal would need her help, wouldn't he?
She looked at the time. She did a swift deduction for the longer Botany day, reset the watch to what would be the local hour and figured she had time to see Zane, take him along to the mess hall and get her cup of coffee and something to eat while she played with her son. Boy, there'd be some explaining later on when each separately sired child wanted to know why.
No, why should they know why? That was the Botany way of doing things, not the Terran one. And even if they did manage to get Earth back-no, Kris Bjornsen, not if but when Earth was returned to its proper owners and governments-she intended to stay here on Botany. Catteni, even erstwhile heroes like Zainal, might not be appreciated on Earth for some time to come.
TODAY she had to comply with Botany ethics, which required everyone to do some "dirty work." She had drawn KP but that happened so infrequently that she could almost consider it a vacation day. Well, a change was as good as a rest.
She had her breakfast with Zane who was a vacuum cleaner at breakfast time the way he gobbled his cereal. Sarah joined her with her three children and offered to take Zane to the crche.
"Maizie's getting to be quite a help," Sarah said, smiling at the much-too-sober-faced orphan she was fostering. "Will you hold Zane's hand?"
Maizie nodded after a quick, too-mature evaluation of Zane. Then, with what was for this five-year-old an almost daring action, she picked another piece of toast from the plate in the center of the table. In an absent fashion, Sarah passed her the jar of sweet berry jam. Sighing with relief, Maizie slathered the jam over her piece.
"Yes, I saw that;' Sarah said without turning toward Maizie. "She is improving.
Now if we can get her to talk. I know she understands every word I say. Maybe I should have made her ask for the toast;' and Sarah made a grimace, then sighed. "It's hard to know:'
"What does Dorothy say?"
Sarah made a second, self-accusing grimace, "That I shouldn't just give her what I know she wants but make her ask for it." Then she laughed in a self-deprecating way. "When I think how firm I was with Tony here…"
and she broke off with a weak laugh.
"She may just start talking all on her own once she knows she's really, truly, genuinely safe, won't you, Maizie dear?" Kris said, smiling as she leaned toward the girl.
"Yes," Maizie said quite distinctly and continued licking the jam off her mouth with a pink tongue.
Kris and Sarah exchanged stunned glances.
"Would you like another piece of toast, Maizie?"
"Yes;' She reached toward the last one on the plate.
Sarah immediately snatched it out of reach, and Maizie sort of crouched in surprised terror. Quickly Sarah shoved the plate back in reach but Kris intercepted.
"First, it's good manners to say, 'yes, thank you: Can you manage that after 'yes'?"
Maizie, her face recovering its color, looked from Kris to the plate Sarah still held.
"Thank you;' came the almost inaudible reply.
"You're quite welcome," Kris said formally and removed her hand.
Still watching her, Maizie took the piece of toast but she didn't pick up the spoon to spread the jam.
"Would you like more jam with your toast?" Sarah asked.
"Yes… thank you." This time it was more audible.
"You may have jam with your tea, too," Kris said, as proud of Maizie's little step forward as Sarah was.
As it was time for Kris to start her day's work, she hunkered down by her son.
"Maizie's going to take you with her to the crche, Zane. Give me a hug and be a good boy."
Zane threw his arms about her neck and she could tell she had jam there for she had missed a patch earlier in wiping his mouth. Then she put his hand into Maizie's and watched, with a deep sigh, as the two small people followed Sarah who was carrying her youngest.
BABY REACHED THE HOLLOW ASTEROID where Kamiton had stashed his spaceship. They could take no chances with a ship of dubious identity. Nitin, ever the pessimist, had voiced a serious concern that, especially with a convocation of Mentats requiring extra security measures, a vessel that had supposedly been destroyed or lost could not suddenly appear. Security checks could be extremely thorough. They must cover every contingency, including the two non-Catteni crew members. Chuck Mitford at least passed, and his knowledge of both Catten and Barevi was an asset. Lean and tall, the Australian Bert Put, who might have to pilot Kamiton's ship, would never pass as a Catten. A hide must be constructed for him.