Dazed, Hali asked: "Why did he do that?"
Waela confronted Ferry. "Why?" She stood balanced on the balls of her feet. Andrit had threatened not her but her unborn child! Let any of them try to harm her child!
Murdoch chose to answer, an odd glint in his eyes. He appeared to be enjoying this.
"He wa.... personally upset, you understand? One of the stricken children is his son."
"What do those red dots really mean?" Hali demanded.
"Ahh, there have been some energy problems, we believe," Murdoch said. "We saw a similar thing in Lab One."
Waela took a step toward Ferry. "I want to hear it from you. Oakes left you in charge here. What's going on?"
"I, uhh, don't really know much about it." Ferry licked his lips, shot a glance over his shoulder at Murdoch.
"You mean you're not supposed to know anything about it," Waela said. "Tell us what you do know."
"Now, let's change our tone a bit," Murdoch said. "There's an injured man on the deck and this whole unfortunate matter does not require more passion."
He turned toward the Natali representative. "Doctor Usija, since the med-tech appears unable to respon...."
Hali looked down at Andrit who was beginning to stir.
"He'll recover," Waela said. "I pulled my blow."
Hali stared at her. The implication was obvious: She could have killed the man. Belatedly, Hali bent to examine him. Her pribox showed a bruise on his neck, some nerve damage, but Waela was right: He would recover.
"What happened in Lab One?" Waela directed her question to Murdoch.
"A.... artificial form of this phenomenon. You are the first natural example of this we've seen."
"Natural example of what?" Waela forced the words out.
"The draining of energy fro.... other people."
Waela glared at him. What was he saying? She took a step toward him and felt Hali's hand on her arm. Waela whirled on the med-tech and almost brought her down. Sensing this, Hali jerked her hand back.
"Waela? Just a moment. I'm beginning to understand."
"Understand what?"
"They think you're responsible for the sick children."
"Me? How?" She turned back toward Ferry. "Explain."
Murdoch started to speak, but she snapped an angry glare at him. "Not you! Him."
"Now, Waela, calm yourself," Ferry said. "This has all been an unfortunate mistake."
"What do you mean unfortunate mistake, you drunk? You set this up. You invited Andrit here. You knew about that spiral in your schematic. What were you trying to do?"
"I will not take that tone from you," Ferry said. "This is m...."
"This is your funeral if you don't tell me what's going on here!"
Hali stared at Waela. What was happening to the woman? Murdoch, Hali noted, was standing very still - no threatening movements at all. Usija and Brulagi were frozen in their seats.
"Now, don't you threaten me, Waela," Ferry said. There was a plaintive note in his voice.
She's perfectly capable of killing him if he doesn't satisfy her demand, Hali thought. Ship, save us! What has come over her?
Usija began to speak very softly, but her voice was compelling in the tense air of the room.
"Doctor Ferry, you are looking at the phenomenon of the threatened feral mother. It goes very deep. It is dangerous to you. Since Waela is Pandora-conditioned, I advise you to answer her."
Ferry pushed himself back in his seat as far as he could go. He wet his lips with his tongue.
"I, ahh.... your circumstances shipside, Waela. There has been some, ahhh, let us call it superstition."
"About what?"
"About, ahhh, you. We have tested you since your return an.... ahhh, we do not find usable answers. Even Ship is no help. Whatever it is, Ship has locked it away - Restricted. O...." He shot a venomous glance at Hali. "...we are referred to Med-tech Hali Ekel."
Hali could not repress a gasp.
Waela whirled and glared at her.
Hali realized suddenly that now she was a target.
"Waela, I swear to you that I don't know what he's talking about. I'm here to protect you and your baby, not to hurt you."
Waela gave a curt nod, returned her attention to Ferry.
Andrit groaned and pushed himself upright. Waela bent and, with one hand, hoisted him to his feet. In the same motion, she hurled him toward the couch where he narrowly missed Brulagi and Usija. The effortless way Waela did this made Hali hold her breath, then exhale slowly. Very dangerous, indeed.
"Tell us the circumstances where Ship refers you to Hali Ekel," Waela said. Her voice was like a bubbling volcano.
Andrit leaned forward abruptly and vomited, but no one looked.
"When we asked if it was the child causing this or if it was you," Ferry said.
Hali gasped, her vision suddenly blurred by memory of a dusty hillside, the setting of a blazing yellow sun, and three figures tortured on crosses. What kind of a child was Waela carrying?
Waela spoke without turning. "Hali, does that mean anything to you?"
"How was your child conceived?" Hali asked.
Waela turned a startled look toward her. "Kerro an.... . for Ship's sake, you know how babies are made! Do you think we carry axolotl tanks on those subs?"
Hali looked at the deck. The legend said immaculate conception - no man involved. A go.... But it was only a legend, a myth. Why would Ship refer the questioners to her? Many times since that trip through time, Hali had asked herself why? What was I supposed to learn? Ship spoke of holy violence. The accounts concerning the Hill of Skulls which she had scanned since the experience certainly confirmed this. Holy violence and Waela's child?
Waela continued to stare at her. "Well, Hali?"
"Perhaps your child is not confined to this time." She shrugged. "I can't explain, but that's what occurs to me."
Apparently, this satisfied Waela. She glanced at Andrit, who was holding his head and remaining quiet. She turned back to Ferry.
"What is it about my baby? What're you afraid of?"
"Murdoch?" It was a desperate plea from Ferry. Murdoch crossed his arms and said, "We got the reports from Ferry an...."
"What reports?"
Murdoch swallowed, nodded at the holoprojection with its spiral of red dots.
"What were you supposed to do to me?" Waela asked.
"Nothing. I swear it. Nothing."
He's terrified, Hali thought. Has he seen this feral threatened-mother phenomenon before?
"Questions?" Waela asked.
"Oh, yes, of course - questions."
"Ask them."
"Well, I wa.... I mean, I discussed this with the Natali and, we, that is, Oakes, wanted me to ask if you would return ground-side to have your baby?"
"Violate our rules of WorShip?" Waela looked at Usija.
"You do not have to go groundside," Usija said. "We merely agreed that he could ask."
Waela returned her attention to Murdoch. "Why groundside? What did you hope to do there?"
"We have stockpiled a large supply of burst," Murdoch said. "It's my belief you will need every ounce of it you can get."
"Why?"
"Your baby is growing at an accelerated rate. The physical requirements for the cellular growth ar.... very large."
"But what about the sick children?" She turned toward Andrit. "What have they told you!"
He lifted his head, glared at her. "That you're responsible! That they've seen this before groundside."
"Do you want me to go groundside?"
They could see him battling with his WorShip conditioning. He swallowed hard, then: "I just want it to go away, whatever's making my son sick."
"How do they explain my responsibility for this?"