Chapter 6
Hartan
My name is Hartan-Vastill-Halaman. I was a fighter pilot, a Prince, a husband, and father of two. I missed my home and my beautiful wife. I missed my scoop and my little children. By now, one of them would not be so little; she would be nearing adolescence. My little son, though, would still be, well…little. And half blind.
Finarel-Darrath-Elivat had been born blind in both main eyes, though, not noticeably. Medical examination by my wife—who is a doctor—confirmed that the retina had not completely detached, causing a second-degree blindness, meaning he could detect light and dark but no distinguishable shapes. I did not consider this to be of much consequence but our law stated otherwise: he was a vecol, and vecols are supposed to live their lives in isolation, away from society. So my wife and I decided to hide his defect as long as his stalk-eye vision was clear and precise. I suppose accepting my son's disability helped me to better sympathize with other vecols at home, though I still honored the law to them, letting them alone to live out their lives.
But now, I was far from my home, and from Finarel. Standing there, in the center of a culture which had been active for possibly a thousand years, with a race that Andalite society had communicated with but never before seen in the flesh, in an unimaginably huge ship, I was beginning to think I was prepared for anything, any strange phenomenon or shock or revelation. And then I saw her.
She was walking toward us—If you could truly call the staggering pace walking—accompanied by another of the Kelbrid; a man that looked a bit older than Toreador was. I was aware of the others beside me; one of the humans drew a sharp breath, or was it Menderash? I looked on silently, not quite believing what I my eyes were seeing.
It was an Andalite female. Fully grown but still young. As she and the man drew closer, I could see the emaciated body travelling on extremely thin legs. There were no obvious wounds but the bandaged front leg, everything else had been healed but leaving severe scarring in many places. She was clearly still very weak and could not even hold her tail off the ground and the smaller blade of the female dragged, uselessly, through the soft grass. The eyestalks stared into space, one of them looked withered but the eye seemed to still function. Reaching us, the man introduced himself and her.
"I am Garand," said he, and I recognized seeing him before with Toreador. "This is Lerinna." He motioned to her and she raised her eyes from the ground.
I wished she hadn't.
Her eyes…they looked up at all of us, at me. They sent a shiver down my spine. They stared out from hollow sockets; they seemed to…I couldn't describe it…they seemed to go right through me, as if she could see into my very soul. They were once bright eyes, darkened by the ordeals she had withstood, I couldn't even imagine. The melancholy gaze was so mournful and intense that I had to force myself to look away from it, or I feared I would go mad.
And perhaps that was it, she was mad. I wouldn't doubt it if anyone had told me that, after all she had been put through, this alarming female had indeed gone mad. At that moment I thought of Finarel, and a wave of pity washed over me, it was always a joke that I was softhearted, but I was genuinely saddened at this sight. An innocent youth had fallen into evil hands and come out as a horror of a vecol. A sad fate for anyone, but especially, it seemed, for this one female. Hate flared up inside me, suddenly. A writhing hate for all acts of cruelty and injustice and those who inflict them. I shifted my weight in agitation, my tail twitched. I was glad Sheten had left before meeting her, I could not imagine his reaction at being forced to acknowledge an Andalite vecol as well as a human one. He had always been abhorrent towards anyone with lesser physical standing than perfect.
I realized no one had said anything in return to Garand's greeting, Toreador was looking at us expectantly, so I stepped forward, «We are well met, Lerinna. I am Prince Hartan-Vastill-Halaman.» I inwardly cringed as her penetrating eyes stabbed mine but I suppressed my discomfort. She said nothing in return, only looked at me. I was relieved when her gaze was redirected toward Jake the Animorph who also introduced himself.
"I'm Jake," he said, unsure, "These are my friends." Gesturing with his hand.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Marco." Said Marco, he grinned hopefully but Lerinna's face remained unchanged. After Marco, introductions were easier. Captain Aximili was the last to give his name and he did so politely and without unnecessary words or expressions. When it was over everyone seemed relieved. Mara went up to Lerinna and gently took her hand.
"Come," she said, "I want to show you the Garden." And she led her away, matching the slow, shambling stride.
Tobias flew up and circled above our heads, I didn't know whether to get away or just because he could. Marco was the first to break the silence.
"Wow, that was the most awkward intro I've had to endure. And believe me I have endured them." Nobody smiled.
"She was so…" Jeanne searched for a word, "Sad."
"She has been through a traumatic experience." Garand stated, "How did you think she would be?"
Toreador said, "I have other duties which call for my attention. You Andalites have strange ways that I do not always understand. Your minds are alien; your thoughts are your own. Therefore, I cannot judge you, however," he paused and glanced at Timon, "as long as you are in our home I will not tolerate mistreatment of the defective, even if they are your own." He turned and walked swiftly away. After a few minutes the remaining humans and Kelbrid dispersed, leaving just us three Andalites: Captain Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthil, Menderash-Postill-Fastill, and myself.
After a few moments of silence Aximili spoke, «Menderash-Postill-Fastill, I know that you understood Toreador's meaning, but, Hartan-Vastill-Halaman, did you?»
He looked at me. «Yes, Sir.» More than most, I added silently.
«Good, when the others report this afternoon I will make it known to them that in the presence of these aliens this vecol is considered one of us though we are to leave her in peace if she so wishes.»
"The others, though they may obey you, will not agree with you." Menderash stated.
«I agree with Menderash,» I said, «Sheten, especially is younger and more stubborn than is usual.»
«So he is,» said Aximili, thoughtfully, «He is stubborn but he is also dutiful and will not disobey an order.»
After a brief pause, «Captain Aximili,» I said, hesitantly, «What did you think of her?»
«I do not know what to think, Hartan.» He sighed; his experience in living with humans had given him new insights on vecols. This, I knew.
«Captain—»
«There is no need for that title anymore, Hartan. I am not a Captain without a ship.»
«Yes, Sir. What of you, Menderash?»
"I…have nothing to say on the matter."
«But, is anything to be done for the girl?»
«It is a tragedy that has happened,» stated Aximili, «and there is nothing we can do that the Kelbrid haven't already done.»
«But, her leg…»
"I can guess that." Said Menderash, "The bone was probably broken and then healed crooked, in order to straighten it, it would have to be re-broken in the right place, but the bone tissue is probably inflamed or infected and it would be too risky."
«Ah yes,» said I, understanding. There were limits to medical technology, as advanced as it was. If there was inflammation in the bone, eliminating the infection would likely kill many blood cells in the marrow and the leg would possibly never heal at all. I, being wed to a physician, should have known that.