Maggie smiled softly and stood. The little picnic had been wonderful, but it was time for her to do what she had come to do. She ached for Gallant, but rejoiced as well. The long time of being alone was over for him. One day, it would end for her as well. She'd been given that promise when she'd wept with the pain and guilt of injuring him when she'd told him all. She couldn't see it in her future memory, but she too trusted Athena.
"Athena... Maggie, stay with me."
"Gallant, you know I can't. I told you why once. You didn't want the knowledge I hold. You chose to put it from you."
"I remember that. I can feel it pains you."
"You made the right decision. It isn't your burden to carry. This one is mine. Dumping it all on you was petty and, in a way, vicious. The time will come when I don't have to bear it all. Gallant, the Three will always be your only sons."
"Why? I know it's not physiological."
"You ask a question when you already have the answer."
"My daughters don't wield the power. I've given my three sons to the defense of life. It asks no more."
"I have given my child as well."
"Athena, Dez gave himself through Dutch."
"Dutch's love is the great gift you gave to us all. Love IS life to Dez."
"I understand that well."
"Ow, I felt that pang. You won't be alone again. You'll never have to hide all you are again. Don't go through the doorway."
"I'd never be able to convince Alice there was a good reason."
"She knows there was never a call for your aid that went unanswered. That part of your life has ended. This has begun."
"Can my sons call me as Dutch does Dez?"
"Of course. Dutch can call all the Knights Gallant. You, he will call often. Lane will be the first to see the change."
"Change?"
"Your time as Knight Hero of one universe has ended. Welcome to the multiverse, Lord Gallant, Knight Mentor."
Gallant dropped to his knees as the light of life washed over and through him. When he recovered enough to look around, she was gone.
Lane blinked. He'd seen the change clearly, but it hadn't made him dizzy. He 'remembered' it again, then looked at his brother across the kitchen table.
"Dutch, we've been given a change."
"Given? That's a bit confusing, Lane."
"Maybe I should say Dad's been given a change."
"Clete, why do his explanations always leave me with more questions?"
"I think he just likes having you ask him things. Give, Lane. You're feeling very pleasant. Let us in on it."
"He's been acknowledged again. Remember your Greek mythology? Or, more to the point, your Homer? The guise of Athena when she came to Telemachus."
"Mentor."
"Yes, Dutch, teacher and spiritual guide. He'll still wade in when anyone's overmatched, but his true role in the multiverse has been acknowledged. It's why he can't return through the doorway. He's Hero in that universe, but only that one. In all others, he's Lord Gallant, Knight Mentor."
"Still a knight?"
"He's still fighting the battle. Wait until you see the first time he draws his sword. It'll surprise him too, nice surprise. Dutch, when you call him, it's the reverse of when you call Dez."
"Help, Clete."
"Come on, Dutch. I know what he means. It's Dad he's talking about."
"Dez arrives kneeling and asks what service... Dad shows up and demands to know what's going on. And if I'm up to my elbows in hostiles?"
"Dad's practical. He wades in WHILE he demands. We'll need him before we finish this mission."
"More about the mission, please."
"We've usually been involved with anthropoids. The knikarkak are avians. Puck is going to be rather frightening to them at first. A two hundred plus K cat is going to send them scurrying to cover their chicks. That'll change as soon as he disposes of a kikkorak which has gotten through the defenses. Dutch, they've lost the power of flight, but not yet gained enough size or technology to protect themselves. Watch out you don't hurt them. Their bones are still porous, though no longer hollow. They've developed quite successfully, but now they're under attack and face extinction."
"Under attack by whom?"
"A very nasty society that wants their world. They don't even realize it's an attack. They're dying of a parasitic infestation, a tailor made parasitic infestation. Nasty, Dutch. Insomnia, insanity, then death. Slow and painful death. Nothing they have kills the parasite. They've found it, but they can't kill it. We can't either."
"WHAT?!"
"Easy, Clete. The solution must lie elsewhere. They have one substance that they absolutely require to live. It's found in only one grain. That's where the parasite was seeded. Dutch, I see them dying out in five years. A population of millions to zero in less than a decade."
"What's the substance? Can we replicate it?"
"No. It's an enzyme, extremely complex and non-replicable. The plant produces it in small quantities. It serves the same functions as our pituitary hormones. Yes, all the functions; growth, sexual development, etceteras. I don't know why. It's one of the strangest developments we ever see. The parasite itself stimulates, what in us would be, the production of adrenaline. I can't see a way out."
"Change the plant structure. Develop a new strain."
"No good, Dutch. Won't even cross-fertilize without losing its enzyme producing capabilities."
"You've looked at all the normal ways to do this, haven't you, Lane?"
"Every way I can think of."
"Who wants the planet and why?"
"The tus-Mirabin. Their own population growth pushed them to colonize. Once colonization was begun, they became conquerors not colonizers. Anthropoids they enslave. The knikarkak are the first sentient non-anthropoids they've encountered. They see them as an abomination."
"Another seeded cluster?"
"In this case, much more than a cluster. Dutch, this, and not the puzzle of who seeded so much of the universe with early anthropoids."
"Dad said don't work on it."
"Yes, Clete, and it was your turn to remind us. Dutch, he's sure the mystery is intended to remain a mystery. It happened a long time ago. Someone, or something, spread anthropoid life to thousands of worlds. They may have been just looking for friends. Or it may have been the way they colonized. We have an idea of how long ago it happened and where it was begun because the oldest galaxies have the most. Now, back to the current problem."
"One more question. Why does the mystery bother you? Other than Dad said it's a no-no."
"It comes out of the future and the past. Why seed worlds with creatures who would develop sentience, and why like us, or even mammalian? Other life forms have developed it. It was carefully done. Some planets were left carefully alone. Did the seeders know life would develop sentience on them? A race of time travelers? Us?"
"Ooh, now I see why Dad wants us to leave it alone. I don't think I want to know either. OK, the tus-Mirabin enslave other anthropoids they encounter."
"We're the best. You're fit to serve us. Racists."
"Misogyny is punishable by death, Clete."
"What if we start with them? In the past."
"I looked, Dutch. In an odd way, they're the tool of evolution in this sector. The ones who escaped bondage were the brightest and the quickest. Over a few dozen generations, they become stronger. The tus-Mirabin capture a few now and then. The strengths and intelligence of the 'wild' mixes with the strengths and intelligence of the 'tame' and the species becomes stronger. The tus-Mirabin have already begun to lose their grip on several worlds. They're beginning to look for worlds with no indigenous peoples. The problem being their definition of people."
"How advanced are the biological sciences of the knikarkak? Oops, sorry."
"He's reeling dizzy, Dutch. You've made a choice he didn't expect."
"Fight fire with fire, Clete. A parasite to attack the parasite. Lane, do you need help?"
"A path. One. Not simple, but a path. Worth it."
"Uh, oh. There was pain and dread behind that 'worth it', Dutch. He sees himself getting hurt."
"No, Clete, I see all of us getting hurt. Dutch, you'll finally get your wish."
"My wish? What wish, Lane?"
"You get taller. First step. Clete, we need our bodies' full defenses. Time to put what Dad taught you to use."
"Taught isn't the right word. It's more a jump-start than a lesson. He wasn't happy about doing it. It hurt him. He said he was pushing us into maturity too soon. If we need it, we're going to get broken."
"Only bones, Clete. Our spirits won't be. And that's what they truly want. Let's begin. First the jump-start, then on to Knikarknik to meet those who need our aid. Puck, do you see it as I do?"
"He's not happy."
"No, Dutch, he'll miss you and worry about you, but he says the images are true. Look at it this way, Puck, you'll at least have the comforts of home. I'll reprogram the door for you. Should have done it before."
"He says make the lock read a claw inserted as a key. A bondcat claw, not isomorphic. If he's 'at least going to have the comforts of home', it means we won't. We're going to get hurt. We won't have Melissa. We're going to be gone long enough he misses me. I'm not sure this is a good path."
"Dutch, it saves the knikarkak and puts the tus-Mirabin on the correct path to free an entire sector. And does it with very little bloodshed."
"Uh, huh, and most of the blood shed is ours."
"There is that, Clete. Decide, Dutch. We do survive."
"Taller. I don't object to that, but I don't think I'll like the growing pains. Clete, we'll use your big bed for the jump-start. Puck says him too."
"Let's get it over with. Dutch, it's pretty intense."
"Yeah. I remember running for a cold shower when you, Dez, Tel and Con were triggered. Everyone in the psychic bond did."
"A lot of that was Sandy. He's an amplifier. Doesn't pick up as much as I do empathically, but gives off more through the bond. All our energy went into Dez. Sandy's in his bondgroup."
"Dez. He's the binding force of all the groups. His father in the Builders; grandfather, the Explorers; uncle and closest childhood friend, the Defenders."
"You left us out."
"Us? I don't understand, Clete."
"It's his incredible love for you, Dutch, that keeps him alive. And yours for him that keeps him happy to be that way. It always comes back to you. The love you give binds us all. Dad too. You brought him to us with the need of your love."
"You mean I got scared for the kids and yelled, 'Daddy!' That's his love not mine. It was his service that was repaid."
"Doesn't see it, does he, Lane?"
"Never will. Dutch, this will be hardest on you. Keep Dez out of your mind. Don't think of him. You'll pull him if you do. That would be disastrous. Think of Arpeth, Stel, Clessa, us, anyone but Dez. Do you understand?"
"Of course not, but I'll do it anyway."
Lane laughed and laid down on Clete's huge bed. Dutch laid down on the other side and Clete assumed lotus position between them. Puck laughed silver in Dutch's mind and stepped carefully on his solar plexus as he joined them on the bed.
"Oof! Puck! You did that on PURPOSE!"
"If it had been an accident, you'd have been struggling to catch your breath for an hour. Bring us together."
Clete could feel Lane was tense. It worried him. He tucked the thought away as Dutch drew their minds to his own, then surged into his power. When Dutch had carefully placed Arpeth foremost in his thoughts, he reached for the feeling that would trigger their bodies' best defense, growth. He heard Puck's silvery laughter and pushed.
Dutch cried out at the intense rush of sensual stimulation, then writhed in the need it stirred. Puck's warm, raspy, tongue brought him to reality in a hurry.
"Puck! I don't NEED a bath!"
"Sure you do, Dutch. You're dripping with sweat. So are Lane and I. Let's get showers and change. Damn. My bed's soaking wet. I'll have to change the sheets. Why you picked mine, wasn't it?"
"Why, Clete, of course not. Yours was just the only one big enough. Puck, let him up and come with me."
Lane smiled when he felt Puck's affirmation. He couldn't communicate with him the way Dutch did yet, but they'd worked out a pretty good system. When he'd closed the door to his rooms, he sat down and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank you, Puck. He'd have never understood. Or forgiven himself. Yes, we did well. Thank you for showing me the shadow. I didn't see it. Dez would have come and responded instantly to his need. Both of them in mindless response to the hormone rush in Dutch's body. The shock would have sent them running for opposite sides of the universe and they'd have both been badly damaged. It was still close, wasn't it? Yes, that's why the sudden bath. It was a change. I thank you too. His need was so strong... Yes, he's just too beautiful sometimes. I know you'll miss him. He's going to miss you too, but it just won't work any other way. I'll be operating Melissa's functions by remote. I'll also lay in coordinates before I leave her. You know when to come after us. Yes, too long. Take care of the knikarkak young for us. Call Dad if you need him. I won't tell Dutch you can yell for Daddy too. Yes, it means a lot to him to have him close. Here comes Clete. Come in!"
"Lane, what was that all about? Why was it so rough on him?"
"It was about a shadow and Puck and I working out a way to get rid of the possibility it hid. We succeeded."
"I can tell. Puck's feeling smug and you're relieved. I shouldn't ask what it was, should I?"
"No, Clete. It's gone and one more of the enemy's traps has snapped shut with empty jaws."
"Still trying for Dutch."
"He's still young. It'll always be focused on him, but he'll be less and less vulnerable."
"All right. I'm on my way to a shower. See you in the kitchen. He's hungry. Used a lot of energy. More than it should have."
"Yes, Clete, but not as much as it might have."
"Dutch is right. Your answers just make more questions. Puck's laughing. Definitely smug."
Dutch began to feel like he was eating constantly. He got hungry every time he stopped. He'd finished a huge meal less than an hour earlier and was already getting hungry. Clete looked up when he walked through the living room on his way to the kitchen and he stopped.
"Clete, this isn't supposed to happen."
"Wrong, Dutch. Dad said we'd all grow. We didn't because he channeled it to Dez. He said you'd be furious with him if I got bigger."
"You will. We all will."
"Why am I not as happy as I thought I'd be? All right, Lane, what's next?"
"A landing on Knikarknik. We land Melissa as Lissa, drop Lissa and re-land Melissa nearby. Dutch, if your clothes are too tight, program a larger size in the replicator."
"Lane, I have already done that TWICE. You're giggling. All right, how much bigger will I get?"
"You're going to be the height I was."
"Five CENTIMETERS?! Even I know that's too much. Talk to me."
"For some reason, our bodies were even less mature than those of our children and grandchildren. The triggering sent us into a growth cycle. Have you looked in the mirror? Really looked? Or paid attention to Puck? He's growing too. As are Clete and I."
"ME?!"
"Yes, big man. You. Though not as fast as Dutch. If you wore pants as tight as his, you'd have noticed. Stand up and look at your ankles."
"They show!"
"Not much yet, but we're both going to need new clothes soon. Dutch, it's going to cause you some pain. You've barely begun. You've gained about two and a half centimeters. You'll gain even more. There are going to be other changes in our bodies. We're becoming denser. Actually, you two are becoming denser. I've always been heavier per centimeter of height."
"What do you mean about the mirror, Lane? What should I have noticed?"
"Your youth. Look at yourself. Look at all of us. We look younger. We're thirty-seven and about to look fifteen again. Don't worry, Dutch, you'll still have hair on your chest, but most other signs of maturity are leaving us. This won't be the last time it happens either. We were rushed, pushed to maturity."
"Hensk told Dad he had him altered. We'd mature faster."
"Yes, Clete. Our bodies are straightening themselves out, overcoming the tampering."
"Fifteen. Wonderful. You have no IDEA what I went through from about thirteen to sixteen. The doctor on the Pauling couldn't help. 'Not enough information on your father's species. Probably perfectly normal. Don't worry about it. I'm sure you'll outgrow it.' Bad, Lane. Hot dreams and cold showers. Half the time I couldn't think. The other half I could only think of one thing."
"My mom had a solution. Intense training. Heavy exercise. Work through it. It helped. A lot."
"Well, at least now I know I'm not the only one it happened to, Clete."
"Dutch, the only order Dad ever gave my sisters was absolutely no teasing. It was the only time I ever saw him truly angry with them. I was bright pink with embarrassment and he told them off, said they had a cruel streak that shamed him. I went to him and asked him to forgive them. He said of course he forgave them, they were children too, but it would be awhile before he was ready to talk to them. It was. Three days. They teased me about everything else, but never that again."
"Hesitation, Lane? You felt odd. Tease?"
"My sisters, Clete. They teased because their memories said they teased. It wasn't the same as the kids do, yet it fulfilled something in me. All but the one time. That hurt."
"Sounds like Mom had the best solution. Full training regimen. At least thirty days. High protein diet."
"At LEAST thirty days?! Clete, you're heartless!"
"No, Dutch, practical. If our bodies are changing, it'll throw us off badly. We train until we quit growing and stabilize."
"No, Clete, just thirty days. The fact we're growing saves our lives. We become interesting. We also need to grow our hair to the length of Dutch's."
"To our SHOULDERS?!"
"Yes, Clete. It's a sign of youth among the tus-Mirabin. We really are young, you know. Dad said about the equivalent age of eleven. To be honest, I think he added a couple so we wouldn't feel bad."
"Nine?"
"Yes, Dutch. Think about it. His race, if they really are his race, matures at about a hundred. We're about forty percent of that."
"Lane, I don't WANT to think about it."
"I'm not fond of the idea myself."
"Lane, I've heard you say your mother died. Is it just to keep people, including us, from asking what you mean when you say she left?"
"He didn't expect that at all, Dutch. It was a change and it really bothered him."
"Yes, Clete, it did. She said the strength was needed too much for her to remain in the physical realm. The next morning, she was gone."
"Did she go back into the pool?"
"Lane! Dutch, he's really reeling!"
"I'm sorry, Lane."
"I'll be all right, Dutch. It was time I stopped avoiding asking myself that question. My sisters never went into the bower. I once tried to coax Auri into playing with me in it. She said it wasn't there for them. I knew she wouldn't and what she'd say, but I never attached any significance to it. It was just a memory I followed."
"Enough, Lane. It hurts you."
"Yes, Clete. It's part of... missing my mother so badly and knowing my sisters didn't. Knowing... she was somehow still with them, but not Dad or me. They always knew they'd be with her again someday. I always knew I wouldn't be. But I had memories of being with you two in my future and they didn't. I felt a bit sorry for them. I don't think I had realized that before either."
"Whoa! What was that?!"
"I... It's..."
"Lane, even I felt something shocked you."
"I suddenly wondered if the only reason Mira, Andrea and Marie existed was to BE my sisters and they didn't need to be as real as Auri because she was needed to bring Con into existence and send him to my daughter to father Maggie."
"Uh..."
"Dutch, he's sure he needed to see it, talk about it. Lane, he feels guilty for hurting you."
"It was a good change, Dutch. It hurt, but it helped me. Clete, are you all right?"
"Yeah, but don't say that to Con. He felt real odd when he learned Maggie was the fourth Athena."
"Is she, Clete?"
"What do you mean, Dutch?"
"I don't really know. Just the way Butch said it and... a feeling that there's more to it than that. More to Maggie."
"Drop it. You're both sure you should. So's Puck. Let's get back to the subject of the mission."
"Yes, Clete. Lane, the mission."
"This is a very long trip in time and space and we're going to take our time as well. We have the thirty days we need to train."
Dutch groaned and Clete grinned. They had VERY different attitudes about training, but Clete knew some of Dutch's reluctance was tease.
"Look at it this way, Dutch. You need the training because you're getting taller than your granddaughters."
"Yes, there is that. How big before we're done, Lane?"
"About eight cens each. You'll weigh about one twenty kilos. Clete, about one fifty. He'll always be more massive."
"My goodness, I'm not sure I want to be THAT big. Puck's laughing. He says wait'll I see how big HE gets."
"He'll be about two thirty K and a hundred thirty-two cens at ear tip. He doesn't get hurt. Dutch, the early maturation we and our children went through is a survival trait. Hensk was a servant of the Dark One, but his plan backfired, a big swing of the pendulum. If we and our children hadn't been able to have children before we were a thousand years old, we'd have been incredibly vulnerable. His tampering is why our kids look seventeen at thirteen and fifteen at forty. Also why they 'come of age' at seventeen."
"Enough talk. Time for work. Dojo in ten. Full thirty day begins then."
"Clete, Dutch and I might not hate this so much if you didn't enjoy making us work so much."
"You only dislike it, Lane. I'm the one who HATES it."
It didn't take long for Dutch to realize he really did need the full thirty days of training. His timing was off and that was dangerous. The day they finished it, he was standing in front of the mirror when Lane walked through the open door to his rooms.
"Admiring yourself?"
"Trying to get used to it. Why didn't the white streak in my hair go away, Lane? It's a scar."
"You like it."
"I do?"
"Yes. The white streak in your gold mane makes you very distinctive, adds a bit of mystery to you."
"Reminds me I'm mortal."
"That too. Well, what do you think?"
"I think I look like Clete at sixteen. I've put on a lot of mass. Some of it even shows. Lane, how big are these people? We'll frighten them, won't we?"
"The knikarkak are avian descended and pretty small, about two thirds our size and less than half our weight. They get over their fright very quickly. The tus-Mirabin and other anthros are a spread. Some larger, some smaller than average as far as anthros go."
"In other words, Clete's going to see them all as 'little ones' and we're going to help him take care of them."
"Dutch, this is a rough one. There are still choices to be made. Follow your instincts, not your anger. Love is always the right choice."
"We're going to be separated. I like this less and less."
"Call us to you when you know the time is right."
"Call you?"
"Dutch, if you can call Dez and Dad..."
"Then of course I can call you. Lane, it's more power than I want. It makes me uneasy. I don't like it."
"That's why it was given to you. You'll get used to it, but you'll never like it. We'll be landing in about three hours. I've rigged Lissa to appear to self-destruct. The key word is appear. I'll be operating Melissa by remote control to pick her up, direct mental."
"The comp the boys built for you. There's more or you wouldn't be sitting on my bed. What happens to Clete?"
"The tus-Mirabin learn he's an empath. He's very entertaining."
"They're going to hurt others to get a response from him, aren't they?"
"Yes, Dutch, but we'll save them in the long run. You've got to control the rage when it hits you. It's the enemy's one chance to defeat us in this. If you give into it, we won't die, but we won't save the others. The tus-Mirabin will get rid of us as too dangerous and I won't get the chance to learn the method of creating a counter agent."
"And Clete will never get over it."
"That too."
They teased Clete over dinner. The length of his red-gold ringlets bothered him, so did looking fifteen. The two cens he'd grown and the mass he'd gained did not. He was slightly surprised to realize Lane's white-gold shoulder length curls bothered him almost as much and looking fifteen bothered Dutch a great deal more. He teased back. He could feel them trying very hard to hide the ache they both felt. He knew it was for him. He carefully hid his knowledge of the pain.
Lane asked Melissa to assume the shape of the sleek little spacecraft she carried within her for landing on Knikarknik. Dutch crossed his fingers. The shape of Lissa would be strange to the knikarkak. If Melissa suddenly materialized as a small scarf-draped fortune telling booth, they'd probably never stop running.
Lane nodded and Dutch, Clete and Puck left their large living room, passed through Lissa and exited. They heard the sound of Melissa's departure and waited. Lane would land Melissa in her favorite shape somewhere deeply secluded and join them by Lissa's hatch. He stepped out of the bushes a short time later. He was breathing a bit heavily so they knew he'd been sprinting.
"She's a half kilometer south in a small cave, Puck. I set up a full menu on the synth for you. You're welcome. All right, Dutch, lead the way. Keep your hand on Puck. They've had exactly two visits from spacefarers before. Neither did them immediate harm, but the feline species of this world are dangerous predators."
"Understood, Lane. How soon?"
"They're all around us. Got here right behind Lane. Nervous and curious. The curiosity is stronger than the nervousness."
"Hmm, thanks, Clete. Puck trip me and give me a bath. Yes, I know it's more fun when I'm not expect--Oof!"
Dutch burst into laughter. Puck had still managed to catch him off-guard. Lane and Clete sat down on the ground and laughed with him. Puck's silvery laughter cascaded through their minds. He let Dutch up and sat beside him.
"Perfect, Dutch. They're not nearly as nervous."
"It was a very nice small change. It reduced the time it takes for them to trust us. Give them our full names very formally, then be fifteen and we're just Dutch, Clete and Lane."
"Fifteen. Hard. I'll try."
"Coming. Three of them. Young adults."
"Thanks, Clete. Oh, hello."
Dutch rose slowly to his feet and bowed to the three small avians. Lane and Clete followed suit.
"We're visitors to your world. I'm Sir Roberrin Duchelle Gallant. These are my brothers, Sir Apollo Avelaine Gallant and Sir Pericles Buchannon Gallant. This is our friend Puck."
"You are very large, Sir Roberrin."
"I was just thinking you were pretty small. Guess Dad's right. People come in all sizes, but they're all just people. Gosh, I'll bet you're not much older than us. Look, I did all formal 'cause Dad said it's polite, but call me Dutch. He's Clete and he's Lane. What's your name?"
"Tikakikak Akik all formal, but I'm just Tikki. That's Rikik. She's Kikka. I'm sorry, but you should probably go. We've got a lot of sick people."
"Gee, can we help? We're pretty good help. I mean we're pretty different to catch anything."
"The disease is parasitic and I don't--"
Dutch ran for the terrible scream. Puck ran after him. Lane and Clete weren't far behind. Dutch dropped to his knees beside the small avian. Puck ran on. He was after her attacker.
"Clete, medunit! She's hurt pretty bad."
"Easy, baby. I'll help. Yes, I can feel it hurts. There. Start to feel better soon."
"Tikki! Tikki! It killed it! The big white feline killed the kikorak!"
"Yes, and his big anthro friends have saved little Dikka. You have done a wonder, Clete."
"Not really, Tikki. Some peoples' sciences are just farther along than others'."
"Does your Puck wish us to store his kill for him, Dutch?"
"Store his-- Oh, no! Tikki, Puck's a person. He's not a predator. He killed that whatever because it was. I mean, that's the only reason he would. I mean, I think that's why. Lane, help."
"Tikki, if Puck killed it, he did it because he thought it was still a threat."
"It was. A very large one. I suppose I'd better check the defenses. Abikbik has become sleepless."
"I'll go with you. I've got more muscle. If there's a hole, we can fix it. Besides, I don't think any of those kikor things will attack you if I'm along. Dutch, I think Puck is probably checking to see nothing else got in."
"Probably, Lane. Clete's found an injured little one. Puck will have decided to include them all in his 'take care of them' instructions from Dad."
"See, all better and all safe. Come on, I'll carry you home to Mommy."
"You're so BIG."
Clete smiled at the little girl. He was glad for the excuse. Dutch and Lane playing fifteen would have had him chortling if he hadn't had an injured child to worry about. He put on his best 'fifteen'.
"My people are just bigger than yours. I'm not even done growing. I'm Clete. What's your name?"
"Dikka. Your people are LOTS bigger than mine. You made me well. Thank you. Can you make my Grandma well?"
"We can find out. Let's find your mommy. I won't scare anybody, will I?"
"No, Akkik ran to tell everybody you were nice."
Dutch smiled as Clete carried the small chattering girl in the direction she had indicated. He turned toward the young female standing near him and was VERY surprised to see warm interest in her eyes.
"Kikka, will you guide me? I'd really like to meet your elders or whatever you call them. I mean, well, I feel like I should. We're kind of trespassing."
"I'll take you to meet my mother. She's on the council. I think I'm older than you are."
"Do you think so? We could probably work it out, but I don't want to do all the math involved. It's easier to just say I'm pretty close to full grown and, since you think you're older, you are too."
"Will your friend Puck be able to find you?"
"Puck can ALWAYS find me. So can my brothers."
"You're very close, aren't you?"
"Yeah. Never any closer. We're actually half brothers. Different mothers, but the same dad. We've been close ever since Dad came and got us all. Well, Lane was always with him."
"Among us, it's usually mothers who raise the chicks."
"Ours too, but Lane's mother and mine both died when we were young. Clete's decided he belonged with us. Dad's the best. He's never far away when we need him, but he doesn't hover over us."
"He trusts your friend Puck to watch over you."
"So do we. Hi, Puck. Yeah, Lane's gone to work on getting the hole fixed. Kikka, he says he didn't find anything else that looked dangerous. I see by your expression you heard him laugh. Seems to be the only thing most people pick up from him though. Gee, that's pretty, a nice town."
"Dutch, you surprise me. The last anthro who came didn't even realize that's what it was."
"Really? Well, yeah, I can understand, I guess. But you're not the first avians we've met. The others were cliff dwellers too, but they didn't have ANYthing like your hanging gardens."
"My mother is going to like you. I know I do."
"Uh, Kikka, maybe you should, uh, just hold my hand or something."
Dutch honestly didn't know what to do. She was actually starting to get a bit fresh. He estimated her age as the equivalent of about eighteen. She'd evidently decided he was old enough to be interesting, VERY interesting. He should have been so big and so different the interest was purely academic. Evidently, SHE didn't think so.
"Kikka, please, that's not fair. I'm about to meet your MOTHER."
"Mmm, hmm, she'll like you too."
Oh, brother. If Kikka's mother was half as beautiful and half as fresh as she was, he was in REAL trouble. He put on his best 'fifteen' and hoped she'd think he was too young. Puck was laughing at him.
He stopped in the doorway and stared. She was exquisite. The feathers of her headcap were iridescent blue-green. The fine down on her arms shimmered like satin. Her large dark eyes glowed with intelligence and humor. He was definitely in trouble.
"Madame, I'm Sir Roberrin Duchelle Gallant. Kikka tells me you are a member of the council. I give greeting on behalf of myself, my brothers and our friend Puck."
Clete dove into the lake and swam over to Lane. Puck was in the water too.
"You could have warned me, Lane. Matter of fact, you could have warned him. He's pretty nervous and a bit overwhelmed."
"Exactly what he needs to be, Clete. Overwhelmed."
"Yeah. Even the thirty day regimen wasn't enough. I woke up running for a cold shower a dozen nights."
"You'd have found Puck and I in the pool."
"They're pretty fragile. Ah, the warning you gave him about their bones."
"Yes. Talk to me about Dikka's grandmother and what you found. In fact, talk to me about ANYTHING. We'll be doing laps in a few minutes, but talk to me. Now."
"Parasite all right. They're really caught..."
Lissa had enough lab for them to confirm what Lane had told them about the parasite and a bit more than the people of the world knew. Dutch told Kiddik and Kikka what they'd learned.
"The parasite isn't natural. It didn't evolve on this world. You've been attacked. My brothers and I are going to see if we can learn who and why. Our friend Puck will stay here to protect you from predators."
"Dutch, you are far more than you present yourselves to be."
"Shh. Kiddik, we're older than we look, but our appearance isn't really deceptive. Our race is very long lived. We're youths. Our father's people would call us children. My brothers and I really do believe we can save your people."
"If you believe, then I will have hope. We have kept many of our young from the habak, but if they don't have it in their diet soon, they will begin to suffer permanent damage. The situation is the same in all the towns."
"I know. It's one of the reasons we're so sure it's deliberate. No infestation just appears planet wide. Lane thinks it may be possible to create a counter agent. Keep your children free of the parasite as long as you can."
"We shall. Dutch, if you're gone long..."
"I know. We'll hurry."
"Mother, he didn't say good-by."
"Perhaps the words would have been bitter to him, Kikka. Yes, far more than they seem. Oh, hello, Puck. You aren't happy being left. No, I didn't think so. Thank you for staying. In a very short time, our children will need your protection. Yes, we will miss him too."
"Mother, you can understand him!"
"Of course. Pay attention to the world around you, Kikka. I realized all the little ones could, so I set myself to learn the way. Come. Let's try to sleep. Each hour of rest delays the disease a day."
* * * *
Paradox Equation Page
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Copyright © 1999 Sharon L 'Spinner' Reddy
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