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  “What's so funny?” she asked.

  Eric squeezed her hand. “Nothing, Vani,” he replied. But what if she knew he was an alien?

  They stopped close enough to the waterfall to feel its spray and found another smooth rock, sitting and dangling their feet above a foaming pool a hundred feet below. Eric’s thoughts were returning reluctantly to the three-hour deadline when suddenly a creature landed on his shoulder, startling him, almost causing him to jump over the edge. Vani had let go of his hand, but quickly grabbed his arm. Then she laughed.

  “The Sila like you. That is rare.”

  A cross between a butterfly and a small bird was sitting not six inches from his face, peering at him with a triangle of three warm eyes. The wings were standing straight up, together, beautifully patterned, obviously insectile. The body was coated with a mammal’s fine fur. A tube-like snout protruded a couple of inches out from where the mouth should have been. Earth’s genetic laboratories would have trouble conjuring up this one.

  Eric swallowed and shook slightly. The Sila took a hop closer and stuck its snout in his ear. Either it had spotted his implant or else it just liked wax. Vani was delighted.

  “A Sila has never done that to me. How does it feel?”

  “It tickles,” he said. The computer had not translated Silama or Sila. Clearly there was a connection between the words. He watched as more of the creatures, one by one, flew out of the huge hived tree, alighting on the flowers. They’d been waiting for the windows to close. He assumed the Sila were removing pollen from the flowers and transforming it into Silama. He could envision pipes inside the tree pumping the honey-like final product over to the farms. No wonder all the food tasted like it was saturated with sugar. The Silama must be like a potent fertilizer.

  Vani couldn’t get over the little critter’s attraction to him. “I have not seen this happen with anyone since I was with Belri.”

  “Who is Belri?” he asked.

  “My brother. The Sila loved him. No one knew why.”

  “Where is he?” he asked, foolishly, not reading the signs. The opant light had shifted once again. Vani began to kick her dangling feet, looking down where the waterfall crashed over the rocks.

  “He is not here.”

  “Does he live on another world?”

  She hesitated. “Yes.”

  “Do you ever see him?”

  “We exchanged tapes last week.” She paused, a mild tremor going through her body. “He lived on Kashi.”

  Eric could have kicked himself for being so slow. Belri was dead. He may even have been one of the countless people they’d seen catch fire and turn to ash on the Kaulikan news broadcast.

  “All my family was on Kashi. I was the only one picked to go. I was the youngest. I was told I was fortunate. The greatest adventure, they said. I knew the sun was in trouble, but I do not think I really understood. Had I understood, I probably would have stayed.” She caught herself, struggling with her emotions. He half expected tears but maybe it was that Kaulikans didn't cry. “I am sorry. We have all left someone behind. Even First Councillor Rak had to leave his family. You have your own burdens. I did not want to give you mine.”

  He felt like a hypocrite. Strem and he were the only ones aboard the ship who had not suffered. He wanted to comfort her, but he had no sense of the Kaulikans’ philosophy of life and death, or of their religion, if they even had one. All he could do was sit stupidly, feeling his guilt deepen. Vani ran her fine fingers through the moist sandy soil beside the rock on which they rested.

  “I did not speak my thoughts clearly. Sometimes I do wish I had remained on Kashi, but usually I am glad that I am here. There will be no adventure for me, I know now. I will die before the stars can begin to change. But I will have children, if it is permitted, and they too will have children. And one day, some day…” her voice trailed off and she held up a fistful of the soil, letting it slip slowly through her fingers into the rushing waters below. “And my ashes will still be here. I will grow and be in everything.” She forced a wry smile his way. “Maybe I will be a flower, and the Sila will like me, as they like you, and liked Belri.”

  He put his arm around her shoulder and she leaned into him. The feel of her hair against his cheek was wonderfully soft. He might have kissed her then, or tried to, but suddenly, Sammy spoke in his ear.

  (“Eric, I must talk to you.”)

  “Yes?” he whispered. Vani was entirely used to him muttering to himself in a nonsensical language before he spoke to her in Kaulikan. But this time she waited and he said nothing to her.

  (“If you are with Vani, excuse yourself. You and I are going to get into an argument.”)

  Apprehensive, he let go of Vani and stood. “I have to be alone for a few moments,” he told her. Thankfully, she did not ask him why. He hurried down the stone path and around a thick hedge. The roar of the waterfall lessened.

  “What’s Strem up to?” he asked. “It hasn’t been three hours.”

  (“The temperature is way up, in the critical zone.”)

  “Have you tried the filtered coolant?”

  (“I’m afraid to.”)

  “Did this just happen?”

  (“No. We started heating up rapidly about an hour ago.”)

  “But why didn’t you tell me?”

  (“Eric, I have not been monitoring your talks with Vani, but I have been tracking you. For the last hour, you have remained in one area. You have not been searching for coolant.”)

  “That’s not true!” Actually, it was a perfectly accurate statement.

  (“Strem asked me not to tell you. I had to agree with some of his reasons.”)

  “His reasons? What were they?”

  (“He’s going to take the coolant from that place in engineering that Vani showed you. He’s going to stun the personnel on duty. He was afraid if you knew, you would try to stop him. But I decided I should call you now to tell you to start making your way back to the air lock where you stowed your pressure suit. Strem’s going to be in a hurry when he leaves and I don’t want him to have to go looking for you.”)

  “He won’t be in any kind of hurry! How, with forty gallons of ethylene glycol over his back?”

  (“This is what we’re going to argue about. Cleo and Jeanie have put on Kaulikan costumes and entered the ship. They’re with Strem now in engineering. They are going to help him carry out the coolant.”)

  “Have you gone as mad as he? You’re risking the girls? I can’t believe it!”

  (“We were risking the girls by doing nothing. They wanted to go, or at least Cleo did. Then Jeanie didn’t want her to go alone.”)

  “Why didn’t you go?”

  (“Believe me, I wanted to. I’d love to get a look at their engines. But I had to stay. I have to have Excalibur ready to leave the instant they get back.”)

  “But you know as well as I do that Jeanie won’t use a gun.”

  (“She brought one. Strem convinced her that we have no choice. He convinced me. The drive’s getting real hot.”)

  “Let me talk to him.”

  (“He said he doesn’t want to talk to you.”)

  “I don’t give a damn what he says! Put him on my channel now!” There was a slight crack of static in Eric’s implant. “Strem?”

  (“Eric, my boy, how’s your love life?”)

  “Listen to me, Strem, this isn’t going to work. Vani told me about a Guard the Kaulikans have. They oversee sensitive areas like engineering.”

  (“I didn't see any of this Guard. Did you, Eric?”)

  “No. But they’re around. They probably monitor certain areas by remote camera.”

  (“I knew you would start up like this. Look, buddy, get your tail back to the air lock. My two soldiers and I are not far from that fancy room with the big tanks of coolant. We’ll have the stuff in a few minutes and then we’ll join you.”)

  “You don’t believe me.”

  (“Well, now that you mention it...”)

  “T
hen ask Vani. They have a Guard!”

  (“So what if they do? We can take care of ourselves.”)

  “You have three stunners, for goodness sakes! There are a hundred thousand people in this ship. If an alarm is sounded, you’ll never get out. Think, Strem; for once in your life, think hard. Jeanie and Cleo are with you. It’s their lives you’re risking.”

  (“No, Eric, you’ve got it backwards. I’m trying to save their lives. And yours. Sammy, break this channel. I’ve got work to do. I can’t have all these negative voices in my head.”)

  “Wait!”

  There was another brief crack of static, and he was alone with Sammy on the band.

  (“Sorry, Eric. He needs to concentrate. His mind is set. Nothing you could have said would make any difference.”)

  “I guess you’re right,” he said with a sigh. “But do me a favor. Wish him good luck for me.”

  CHAPTER TEN

  Vani rose when he returned to the waterfall, seeing his anxiety. “What has happened?” she asked.

  He had only known her a few hours. Even though he knew she liked him, he couldn’t very well tell her his partner was engaged in theft and expect her help. He simply told her he had to get to engineering as quickly as possible.

  “Has something happened to Strem?”

  “Not yet,” he said, “but he’s in danger.”

  “But how do you know?”

  He let her peek inside his ear. “This is a communicator,” he explained. “Strem told me he’s in danger.”

  Vani questioned him no further, though the implant must have been as strange to her as the opant coat. They left the garden at a swift pace, catching a padded elevator leading directly to the central shaft. As his weight decreased, his tension increased. He didn’t know what to hope for. If Strem and the girls got caught, they’d be in terrible trouble, and if they pulled it off, they’d be leaving the Kaulikans in the same mess as before. And he’d never see Vani again. It seemed he couldn’t win.

  The elevator ceiling opened and they dove into a cushioned area, complete with guiding poles, that was similar to the place they’d encountered on their first trip to the hub. But this time they were in the forward section, not the rear. As they donned their scooter packs, Eric reemphasized the need for haste and indicated he wanted to use the jets at maximum velocity. At first Vani protested, saying it was not allowed, but when he insisted she led him out of the well-lit mattress area into a dark region beside a mammoth curving wall. His earlier guess had been correct. The forward portion of the shaft was essentially a fuel tank. Phosphorescent bands lined the giant container, stray Kaulikans drifting around its rim. Vani took Eric’s hand, and they pressed the scooters’ control knobs for top speed. Compressed air sprayed out their backs as they rocketed forward.

  Wind whistled in their faces. It was as though they were falling down a deep well. People rushed by, some crying out for them to slow down. Twice they escaped what would have been serious collisions by inches. Vani’s hair waved in the wind, and Eric could feel his wig loosening. And all the while, he was afraid he would be too late.

  They left the fuel tank behind and plunged into the wide space where they had previously caught the pulleys. Vani motioned to turn the scooters around. The cave’s wall of pipes became visible as they braked forcibly. There was a moment of panic for Eric when he doubted they could stop in time, but by the time they reached the web of girders that encased engineering, they were coasting at a relaxed speed. The throb of the ion drive filled his ears. They landed on the same edifice as before, but on this trip he had to go on alone. Vani did not like that idea.

  “I can help your friend Strem. You will need me to find him.”

  Eric assured her he knew his way and that she could do him the most help by waiting in this exact spot. She began to protest, but he was firm. As he turned to go up the tunnel, he hugged her briefly. “Don’t go away,” he said in English.

  Of course he got lost. He was drifting aimlessly along a row of the sparkling coils wrapped in their gaseous cases when he decided it was time to call Sammy. “I’ve gone to engineering instead of the air lock. How close am I to our SWAT team?”

  (“How did you get to engineering so fast?”)

  “I flew. Where are they?”

  (“They’ve already entered the chamber. You’re too late.”)

  “Where are they?”

  (“Facing the rear of the ship, they are at ten o’clock, eighty-five yards from you and slightly forward. Don’t interfere, Eric.”)

  Eric reoriented himself and, using handles fixed to a pipe that was going his way, pulled his weightless body toward the coolant chamber. But all of a sudden he began to slow. He was too late. Strem was going to use force, and there would be no talking him out of it now. And if Strem and the girls did get caught, what good could Eric Tirel do keeping them company in jail?

  “Sammy, can you switch me onto Strem’s channel? Please?”

  (“He’s even switched me off. He wants the three of them totally focused on what they’re doing.”)

  “Do you still have video?”

  (“Yes. Strem has positioned them in separate corners. The people on duty are beginning to wonder what’s going on.”)

  Eric rounded a loud pump and spotted a circular opening in the ceiling that he remembered led to the room with the coolant. One hard push and he could be in the middle of the action. He stayed where he was.

  “Sammy?”

  (“They’re reaching for their guns.”)

  “What kind of shot is Cleo?”

  (“She shot at me with a stunner once. She didn’t miss. Oh, no.”)

  “What is it?”

  (“Jeanie is losing her nerve. She’s shaking her head, putting down her gun. Strem’s shouting something. I don’t know what.”)

  Faintly, Eric could hear the shout: “Now!”

  He couldn’t bear it any longer. He launched himself toward the round door, catching the rim of the entrance with his outstretched hands. Peeking over the edge, he saw a flash of light striking a Kaulikan in the chest, sending him toppling. Strem was the marksman.

  The room erupted in dazzling beams, and Cleo joined the hunt. Jeanie, pressed into a corner, watched in frozen fright. One Kaulikan let out a cry and tried to grab Cleo. Pivoting smoothly in the free fall, she shot him directly in the face. There came another cry, but it was Strem shouting in victory. There had been ten Kaulikans on duty instead of the expected eight but it had made no difference. Moments after Strem had started the attack, the Earth people were the only ones left standing.

  Strem put away his weapon and pulled out the inflatable container from beneath his shirt. Cleo fetched Jeanie from the corner. Eric, watching from less than forty yards away, couldn’t utter a word. Strem placed Cleo next to the alarm button and fit the mouth of the bag around the coolant nozzle. He turned the handle, and ethylene glycol began to expand the folded sack. The alarm remained silent. Cleo pulled out a second bag as Strem topped off the first. All was going as planned. The floating bodies were ignored.

  Then something dreadful happened. The portal through which Eric was watching suddenly slammed shut, almost taking off his fingers. He backed away, feeling himself sinking inside. Now the alarm went off. But this was not some insignificant-sounding bell signaling that a valve had been accidentally opened. This sound reverberated throughout the entire central axis, overriding the throb of the ion drive, a high-pitched ringing that could inspire panic in the guilty and the innocent alike.

  “Sammy!”

  (“Get out of there!”)

  “But Strem…the girls...”

  (“I know, I know. But you can’t stay. Get away. Come back here. We’ll think of something…somehow.”)

  “I’m on my way,” he said. He had warned them but he had also helped put them in the desperate state where they could not listen to his warning.

  Eric took one last look at the locked portal, turned and activated his scooter. He headed for the tunnel
through which he had entered engineering. Kaulikans were moving toward the coolant chamber in waves, among them a few darkly clad individuals he was almost sure were members of the Guard. They ignored him – why shouldn’t they? Eric remembered Vani – and all was not lost. He was returning to Excalibur but not before he got what they had come for.

  Vani was still waiting where Eric had left her. The alarm had obviously been hard on her nerves. The ringing halted just as he spotted her at the end of the tunnel and she flew toward him, embracing him with her good arm much harder than he had hugged her when he had said good-bye minutes before. The cessation of the bell did not reassure him. If Kaulikan security mistakenly believed their people had been killed, instead of knocked unconscious, who could blame them if they reacted violently?

  “What has happened?” Vani cried. “Where is your friend?”

  He indicated he had to speak through his communicator. Looking out over the void between engineering and the fuel tank, he could see flocks of Kaulikans materializing out of the inky darkness. All of a sudden they didn’t look like such peaceful people.

  “Sammy?”

  (“They’re trying to cut through the door.”)

  “It’s two feet thick!”

  (“It’s melting.”)

  Seeing the stunners transformed into high-energy generators would not help alleviate the Guard’s paranoia. “Have you been able to talk to them?”

  (“Not really. Strem keeps cursing, and Jeanie’s crying and Cleo...I don’t know what Cleo’s doing.”)

  “Patch me in.”

  (“Right away.”)

  A hissing buzz shook his ears, overlaid with heavy breathing and obscene language – the lasers and Strem. “Strem, this is Eric.”

  (“Damnit, this stuff is harder than these people should be able to make! Yeah, buddy, I know, you told me so. Cleo, stay focused on that one spot!”)