19 When orders are orders
- - -
"Don't you think Jeanne's been gone a little too long by now?" Rachel asked suddenly, and at her signal Tom looked up from the game of garih on which the two had been concentrating.
Marco's head also snapped up. "Jeanne's gone?"
"She went to take a bath," Jake informed him. "Didn't you notice?"
Marco leapt to his feet, a fake display of shock on his face, as he fell back into the lines of the game he had constantly played while on the Rachel. "Jake, buddy, I thought we were friends! You could have warned me! Where did she go?"
"I advice you not to pursue that thought," Rachel said sensibly, grinning. "Jeanne would cheerfully kill you."
"I don't think she'd –" Marco began, but was interrupted.
«Think 'fly', Marco…» Tobias chuckled, and Marco's face flickered to worry and he glanced uncertainly at Jake.
Jake sighed, shaking his head, as Marco's mouth opened with yet another smart remark ready to be spoken. But Jake was quicker. "We'd better check on her, though," he said. "Cause Rachel's right. She's been gone too long as it is."
Rachel nodded.
"I'll go," Marco offered at once. "A lady might be in need…" He made a mocking bow and turned to leave.
But Rachel grabbed his arm, with accuracy that went against any notion of her being unable to see him. "You'll do no such thing," she said, firmly, and pushed him back to where he had been sitting on the ground. "I'm going. If there's trouble, Tom will be more useful than your lumbering monkey."
With that she left the clearing, Tom at her side, completely ignoring Marco's protest of "Lumbering monkey?". Tobias lifted from his perch to follow, and Marco glared after them.
"Oh, sure, the bird gets to go. But me? Noooooo." Marco sighed so heavily that both Jake and Santorelli had to laugh.
- - -
Rafatal only had to glance at the screen to know that he still had no idea where they and their ship was. It was his turn to guard the bridge, to try to make sense of the unfamiliar space around them.
And to keep an eye on Arayah.
He could feel her gaze watching him as he moved about the bridge, doing his best to ignore her. Sometimes, her eyes were sad, but mostly the weird green glow in them shone brilliantly and her gaze was icy, filled with calculating hatred, a combination that made the back of his neck prickle.
Finally, Rafatal had enough of it. He turned towards her. «Stop that!»
«Stop what, Andalite?»
«Stop staring at me like that.»
«Like what?»
But then, as many times before, the green glow faced and her shoulders sagged down, the arrogance gone, as if it had a mind of its own and had simply lost interest.
«I'm sorry,» she whispered, her four eyes aimed at the floor as if she was trying to hide them.
Rafatal hesitated, hating to see what had happened to his fellow warrior, even if he had no idea what it was. The question he had been asking for several days now bubbled up in his mind again. He sighed. «Why, Arayah?»
Arayah shuddered. Instead of answering his question, she said; «Have you ever received an order you did not wish to follow?»
Rafatal had no idea where she was heading, but found no reason to deny her a reply. «Yes… once or twice. But…» he flicked his tail uncomfortably. «Orders are orders. What has –»
«There is no choice,» Arayah interrupted, as if talking to herself, her face suddenly strained, her hands shaking in their shackles. «There is… nothing but the order.»
«Arayah, what has this got to do with –»
«Everything,» she snapped. «I shall try to explain… there was the order. No choice. No –»
«You mean someone ordered you to…» Rafatal first felt shock, but then anger. Steaming, blind anger. That was why they had been sent from the Blade ship! Arayah had betrayed them all. He felt his tail cocking behind him, felt his muscles tensing in fury. She was lucky to be on the other side of that force field. Otherwise –
«No-one on the Blade ship was one of your officers!» he spat. «No-one there was in your chain of command!»
«Prince Aximili was,» Arayah said lowly. Her eyes were closed now, head bent down, breath coming in rasps and she had staggered towards the wall, leaning on it to stay up.
Rafatal was too drowned in rage to notice. «Prince Aximili is DEAD!» he roared.
«No,» she said. «Prince Aximili… he… he…»
Rafatal barely noticed when she stopped speaking, halfway through that sentence… the exact meaning of her words was beginning to dawn on him. His eyes went wide, and he remembered the fierce green in the eyes of his Prince, how he now appeared.
The green light of the One's eyes. Of the eyes of his Kelbrid.
And of Arayah's.
She had said… 'Prince Aximili'… which probably meant what was left of him.
Rafatal's voice was almost as low as Arayah's when he spoke. «Are you speaking of… the One?»
Arayah gasped for breath with her pain-struck lungs. She wanted to answer him. Really wanted to.
But even if she kept silent, Rafatal understood. «And… you took orders from…»
This time she could speak.
She had discovered a loophole in the One's first order; the one where she had been told to keep quiet about their "agreement". She could speak to those who knew – or, those who had figured it out.
«Yes,» she said.
She could speak. But the searing knowledge that the One would disapprove made it almost too much to bear.
Rafatal's tail twitching dangerously, but he forced himself to stay still. His tail was more than just shaking with anger over this… this betrayal. He was so livid that he did not notice when she sank to the floor, main eyes rolled into the back of her head and stalks jerking with pain.
«How could…» he began, but then took a deep breath and realised he could answer that question himself. How could the One convince her to switch sides? He knew only too well; the threat of infesting Langur and Arifur (he had been told about their trip to the infestation pier, and how they had been led away again – still free), and his own poisoning, probably something to do with Jakari as well… plus the offer of escape.
Foolish, he knew, to agree to any of it. Typical females to weaken over emotions. He briefly wondered what he would have down if he had been offered escape or watching the others being infested or killed… but dismissed the thought before exploring it further, afraid of what he might find.
But he also knew here must have been something else. Arayah was many things, true, but he had never known her to be a fool. At times, she was actually sensible.
He turned his attention back to her where she was trapped behind the force field, now with a different perspective, the anger more or less pushed away.
Only then did he notice what a horrible condition she was in. His eyes flared open in surprise and his first instinct was, of course, to help.
«Langur, Arifur, Jakari!» he called. «To the bridge!»
He turned towards the controls to turn off the force field, but had not yet done so when the weak but resolute thought-speech voice reached him; «No. Leave it up.»
Rafatal's stalks swivelled back towards her. She managed a smile. «Don't trust me. Don't let me out. I have my orders.»
Rafatal noted the edge of warrior's sarcasm in her voice, although it was the plea that made him listen. An Andalite asking to stay locked in a cramped space; obviously, it was important.
He wondered why. Then an idea struck him, which sent an involuntary shiver up his tail.
«The One…» he hesitated. «Is he here… with you?»
«No,» Arayah said. «But he… disapproves… of me… speaking about this.»
Neither of them said another word. Jakari, Langur and Arifur had all arrived on the bridge – the craft they had been given was very small, after all – and all watching Arayah with some note of uncertain worry. Waiting for her to recover from whatever had struck her.
Then she suddenly smiled up at them, eyes shining – this time with joy, not with that green glow, although her pupils remained discoloured.
«But you were wrong before, Rafatal,» she said. «Our Captain-Prince is not dead. I know. I spoke to him… he is alive!» Her stalks sparkled dreamily. «Alive enough to be rescued.»
- - -
Estrid hurriedly opened the door and Carali and Larynia, both gasping for air, sides heaving, burst into the Phantom and skidded to a halt halfway across the bridge. Estrid slammed the door shut and locked it. Then she joined Olana and Minalea by the controls, in time to hear Olana give the command that activated the shield.
Minalea was turned towards Larynia expectantly. «Well?» she said.
«Well what?» Larynia snapped.
«Was there a battle?»
«If that's what you want to call it,» Carali said, laughing giddily for some reason, feeling the tension in his tail and shoulders finally let go. «Larynia here snuck up on that thing and killed him.»
Larynia squirmed a bit, putting on a disgusted face. «It wasn't a battle,» she said, glancing at her tail-blade. «But I'm glad we're alive and he's dead.»
«Glad about what? And who's dead?»
All stalks turned towards the tunnel leading away from the bridge to see Aralgo standing in the opening. He looked a bit comical with his scalp swollen and the bandage tied securely around it, only the tips of his stalks visible.
«And finally, who's greased the floor outside my quarters so it's impossible to pass without slipping?» he wondered, and Minalea grinned. At that Aralgo tried – without much success – to roll his stalks and added; «Forget I asked.»
Estrid's surprised look had turned to annoyance. «Who allowed you to get up?» she demanded.
«I didn't know I wasn't supposed to,» Aralgo said, but brought a hand up to his head and realised maybe Estrid was right. «Whose ship is this? And where are we?»
«My ship,» Olana snapped. Then blushed. «Well, ours, actually. But I'm in charge of it.»
«We're on a planet we shouldn't be on and Larynia here just murdered a local,» Carali added.
«Why am I not surprised?» Aralgo snickered.
«Estrid? Are you sure it was necessary to let him wake up – ever again?» Larynia wondered innocently. «I think I like him better asleep.»
«I forgot to check on him after what happened this morning,» Estrid admitted. «How's your head, Aralgo?»
«My head? I keep wishing I could get rid of it.»
«We should be able to arrange that,» Minalea muttered, swiping at air with her tail.
«Are you sure you'd be up for that?» Aralgo asked. «I mean, considering that your average strike couldn't hit the side of a Dome ship.»
Estrid ignored the arisths' gibbering and said to Aralgo; «You've got a concussion there, as well as that crack. But can you morph? It will go away if you morph.» She glanced at Carali, who still wore the deep slashes across his back. «You might want to morph as well.»
Carali nodded and did as he was told. Aralgo focused, and began morphing as well. While he did, Carali summarized the events of the last few days for him into a couple of short sentences.
When Carali reached the end, Aralgo spoke. «One minute now. Let me see if I got this straight. No bossy tactical officer. No boring first officer. No moralizing Captain. No warriors at all. Our own ship. Me, you, and –» his glittering eyes formed a wide grin. «– four pretty females. Have I died and gone to a better place?»
«Better place, no,» Larynia commented. «But you still have a chance at dying.»
«We all do unless we get out of here,» Estrid said bluntly. «Olana? How is the ship doing?»
«We have enough energy to last another two days,» Olana said. «Enough to find another planet to shelter on.»
Carali was about to speak, but a loud, shrill cry from outside the ship made them all turn towards the window. Further away from the ship, outside the shield – fortunately – was a group of the green-pupilled, horned creatures, whipping their horns against the force field, angrily giving air to their piercing battle cries.
Aralgo surprised them all. «Kelbrid!»
Larynia spun towards him. «What?»
«I…» He stared at the horned beings. «Well, I overheard Captain Kandion talking to the… the Head of Council. The Head of Council gave a description, and… those are Kelbrid, I'd bet my stalks on it!»
«The Head of Council?» Minalea said sceptically.
«Just our bad luck!» Estrid commented. «We land on a planet, almost by accident, and which species does it belong to? The Kelbrid!»
«This is a typical tell-the-grandkids story,» Carali remarked.
«If we live that long,» Olana added, yanking nervously at her left stalk.
«I think the 'live' part is an excellent idea,» Larynia snapped. «So what are you waiting for, Olana? Get us out of here!»
- - -
Jeanne saw the familiar red-tailed hawk circling, far above, and felt an instant wave of relief.
«So, you stayed in thought-speech range, did you?» Tobias's voice laughed in her head. «Got us all a bit worried. Stay there. Rachel is on her way. And she's got Tom with her.»
Jeanne did as she was told and waited patiently.
Not long after Tom arrived. He was no more than a golden blur. Her eyes saw him leap past her; or they did not, she might as well have imagined it. He was just a flash of movement that headed for the Touched Kelbrid's tree and threw itself upward. The Touched was too slow to pull away, and Tom yanked her down from her perch with a grip around her tail, that had hung down beneath the branch to balance her.
The next second the Touched was on the ground, with Tom standing, front paws on her chest, snarling, tail whipping from side to side, his great muscles rippling with anger under his skin. It was obvious that her horns would not do much good to help her – one horn was steadily wrapped around Tom's neck and front leg, and the other was curled into a neat coil, held as a shield over her face, but Tom ignored them both. Kii-raja would not have evolved into Kelbrid-hunters without being able to cope with horns.
Rachel stumbled into view just as Jeanne got to her feet, one hand in front of her to make sure she did not run into anything.
"Tom!" she snapped as she heard him growling not far away, and stopped, hands planted firmly on her hips. "What do you think you're doing?!"
Tom turned his head towards her. Jeanne had guessed correctly; the horn did little to hinder his movements. His ears played forwards and his tail sunk a little lower, ceasing to twitch, as if he was ashamed.
«What did he do?» Tobias asked, swooping down to land on Rachel's shoulder.
"He ran away from me!" Rachel said. "He's never left me before – unless I've given him expressed permission!" She stroked a wisp of hair out of her face and sent a glare in the general direction of her enormous pet, adding; "Do you hear me, Tom? Bad kii-raja. BAD."
Tom's tail sank even lower. He glanced guiltily at Jeanne, and then down at the shaking Touched.
Rachel took one look at the explanatory pictures he sent her and raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Well, Jeanne, it seems you've got yourself a new friend."
"What – who? Tom?"
Rachel nodded. "Yep. You've been feeding him. And the route to a kii-raja's heart goes through his stomach. But we've got more important matters to deal with. This Touched, to begin with. Tom?"
Tom hurriedly – and enthusiastically – sent her a series of pictures, almost as if trying to make up for leaving her.
But suddenly, the Touched spoke. In a weak voice, first, but stronger and stronger, with more and more certainty.
Rachel listened, a note of confusion on her face. Then she paled. "Tom, leave her alone. Get over here."
Tom lifted his head and leaned it to the side, confused, but did as he was told. He planted a firm paw on the Touched's face and threw his neck and shoulder sideways, to force the Kelbrid to either let go of him or have her horn ripped out. It was an easy choice, and Tom leapt free to trot up to his usual place next to Rachel. But he kept his eyes on the Touched.
Tobias focused both eyes on the Kelbrid and listened to her nervous chanting. Then asked; «Am I actually recognizing what she's saying? Have I heard that before?»
Rachel licked her dry lips and dug her fingers into the skin on Tom's neck. She nodded. "You should. I was right. He did leave a clue."
Jeanne, again puzzled, listened to the Kelbrid's words. She understood nothing. But she did make out a single word that was being repeated over and over.
"Arnaha."
- - -
JaLa'an flew up from where he had been sitting when the group returned. The human called Jeanne was, as far as he could tell, unharmed, and so was the hawk, cer Rachel and her kii-raja… Tom. The only kii-raja in the universe with a name. But walking with them, under Tom's guard, was a Touched.
Sira'aki was also on her feet, claws clicking, and he saw her ready her horns. KEdi'ir, though young, was not far behind, although he kept half-behind his mother.
But cer Rachel gave a slight jerk of her head, and all three Kelbrid lowered their horns again, although none of them relaxed.
"This is LuRi'il," the cer y'yhan explained, in their own language.
"Have you lost your sanity? She is a Touched!" Sira'aki hissed in a shrill voice, claws still clicking – and she made no effort to hide it.
The cer y'yhan shook her head, and told the three about a prisoner – a Touched called TaKi'in – and what he had revealed. About the resistance group; that, LuRi'il had explained, called itself Arnaha – the word for 'freedom'. The reason for TaKi'in's last plea; "Tirish jha'arnaha" – 'must find freedom'.
"It is a trick," Sira'aki theorized, eyeing the other Kelbrid with her cold, white-pupilled eyes.
"Which is why I have Tom keeping an eye on her. And why you'll be tying her horns."
Sira'aki hesitated further, but it only showed if you looked closely at her face – and knew Kelbrid expressions. For she immediately dug into her bag and brought out the long, thin metal chains used for tying horns.
The Touched sank obediently down on her knees and stayed still while Sira'aki and JaLa'an worked. But she was visibly trembling; only that and her rapid breaths betrayed her fear – and possibly the pain that came from doing what she knew would displease the One.
- - -
Jake found himself giving up the notion of sleep quickly. It had been hard enough to sleep on Dina'amm, knowing where and exactly how unprotected they were – even with sentries – but with LuRi'il sitting by a tree, staring into space, it was as good as impossible.
He was beginning to have more faith in Rachel's kii-raja, on the other hand. Tom seemed asleep where he lay, lazily stretched out about halfway between Rachel and the Touched as if he couldn't decide who it was most important to keep an eye on. But as soon as LuRi'il moved, even the slightest twitch, his upper lip curled, revealing a row of glistening teeth, and he let out a warning growl that only a fool wouldn't take seriously.
At least their prisoner wouldn't be escaping.
But Jake could still not sleep. When he finally gave up the idea he sat up, listening to the sounds of the unfamiliar forest around them.
Silence. Everything around them was quiet, except for the breathing of his friends and the wind rustling in the branches above.
Then, suddenly, Tom lifted his head and gazed intently out into the woods, ears pricked. Jake watched him, wondering what the kii-raja had heard.
But Tom made no attempt to do something about the noise, whatever it had been. He stayed where he was, soon lowering his head back down to rest on his paws, and his eyes half-closed as he dozed off into that slumber that was always on the edge of being awake.
A perfect watchdog. But unlike the kii-raja had, Jake couldn't as easily dismiss something near enough to be heard. Considering Tom's decision to do nothing, it was probably not a danger to them, but Jake was curious. So he left his place, left camp, and set off in the direction Tom had been staring.
He had not gone far when he heard the voices. He stopped walking, almost freezing in place, listening to them for a few moments – long enough to realise that some of them were human. Not Kelbrid. They were not far away, either, but he could not make out any words.
As silently as possible, he started moving again and took off towards the voices. The closer he came, the nearer the ground he stayed, and finally he was crawling along, under the cover of very thorny bushes.
Soon he came close enough to see the speakers. There were two humans, three adult Kelbrid, and a young one. One of the humans was a small, pale-haired woman who had her back to Jake. From the way her arms were crossed over her chest and the others kept glancing away, she was in charge. And not happy.
"Are you certain about this?" she snapped impatiently. "If this is just another minor detail…" The sentence was left hanging threateningly in the air, unfinished.
The second human, a taller, black-haired and at the moment very nervous woman let her eyes dart questioningly at the Kelbrid. She was acting as an interpreter, Jake realised. The young one spoke, and in an almost timid voice the human said; "She says it isn't a minor thing, lieutenant. She says her mother never averts from habit, but now she has."
"And this activity is suspicious because..?" the flaxen-haired woman – the lieutenant? Did Yeerks use that title? – snorted. "She might have fallen and broken her neck. She might have been called to duty at the last moment. What do I know? What do I care? Tell these… Kelbrid… exactly what I think about being bothered without any real reason – especially at this hour."
The other woman nodded, and turned back towards the Kelbrid and spoke again – in their tongue, but her grip on the language could not even be compared to Rachel's. She did not seem especially happy about what she had to say, but knew to do as she was told.
Jake watched the pale-haired woman carefully. Woman – more of a girl. His own age, perhaps. Not older. And there was something familiar about her… something he could not quite put his finger on. He wished she would turn around so he could see her face.
She did not, unfortunately. But Jake took note of one more thing; the three adult Kelbrid were Touched; their eyes gleamed like fireflies in the dark. The young one, though, was not. Not as far as Jake could tell. And neither so was the woman who spoke Kelbrid.
A controller. Jake felt a thrill of anticipation; he had not been that close to a Yeerk in a long time, and still it made his blood rush in preparation of battle. He toyed with the idea of morphing and attacking… but no. Not with the Kelbrid there. Their horns were trouble, and three – no, four – of them plus the potentially morphable humans against one tiger…
All too soon the humans turned to leave. Jake, still wondering who that pale-haired girl was, was overcome by curiosity and moved forwards for a last attempt to see her face.
The cubic leaves on the bushes above him crackled softly as his shoulder brushed past them. Jake stopped moving, but the Kelbrid had already cocked their ears and raised their horns. The silence that followed was complete.
Jake knew little about Kelbrid senses, but he knew enough to guess that if he made one more sound, it would be his last.