Nimisha's Ship

CHAPTER 11

We are emerging into normal space, Captain Rustin, in precisely nine minutes at my mark," Helm said. "Mark."

"About bloody time," was Caleb's soft murmur.

He had risen well before time and enjoyed a leisurely breakfast before translation could occur. Kendra had joined him; since she was such a light sleeper, she woke no matter how carefully he had tried to slip out of the bed. He devoutly hoped that Nimisha would accept his new alliance without rancour. He suspected she would be sensible, but she'd been alone a long time. Would Kendra understand? Probably. They'd developed a very good rapport. Although the Five B's initial orders had only covered a three-month trial run, he had been careful to match the psych profiles of all aboard the Five B to form a good environment for Cuiva's benefit. The result had been felicitous, if startling, when Mareena favoured Gaitama and Nazim and Perdimia had paired off. He wondered how Cuiva would take to that, but Perdimia had made it clear to Nazim that Cuiva remained her first order of business. Since he was a Rondymense employee, he accepted that equably.

Kendra joined Caleb in the pilot compartment, slipping into the second seat and netting in. Translations out of Interstellar Drive were not likely to be as rough as entering, but this was totally unknown space. There had been bets that Nimisha, discovering herself alone in a strange section of the galaxy, had taken the obvious out and gone into cold sleep. So the Fiver would be nearby. Knowing Nimisha better, Caleb wagered that she'd been exploring-if that had been an option-since she was not the sort of person to avoid a challenge. They'd soon know, and Caleb had Helm plot reentry well away from the beacon so that, if the Fiver were there, they'd not run into her.

Nine minutes can seem a long time. Kendra was tapping her fingers on the armrest by the final second countdown. By then, the entire crew had gathered in the main lounge in the couches that had security straps.

"Eight… seven… six," Helm's voice counted down, and then exactly on "one" they were out of the dark gray interspace and back into black space and a bewildering mass of unfamiliar stars. Helm went into instant evasive action, veering away from a tumbled mass of twisted metal.

"lasassssusss," Kendra said, tightening her hold on the armrests. "That can't be the Fiver!"

Caleb's heart had twisted violently at the fleeting view he'd had of the object, but a second's sober thought steadied his heartbeat. Nimisha had managed to send pulsed messages. So what was that tangled mess of wreckage?

"Messages are pouring in from the beacon, Commander, and analysis suggests that the debris is the remains of the Wormhunter Space Station, not the Fiver."

"What the hell would the space station be doing on this side of the fragging wormhole?" Caleb demanded.

"Latest messages first, Captain," Helm said. "From Captain Meterios-"

"Meterios?" Kendra's voice squeaked in dismay.

"-of the Acclarke courier stationed on the other side of the probable site of the wormhole."

"She shouldn't have been drawn into it," Caleb said. "Her position was a hundred thousand kilometres from Nimisha's beacon."

"How do we know that that wormhole has a stable point of entry?" lan Hadley asked. "The space station wouldn't have stood a snowball's chance in hell if the wormhole opened within even fifty thousand kilometres of it. Can Helm check to see if there are any pods in the wreckage?"

"Later, later," Caleb said. "Let's get the latest reports."

"1 shall screen the earlier ones in the lounge, sir," Helm said. "The Acclarke reports that it saved eleven out of twelve pods, chief astronomer Dr. Qualta having sustained the worst injuries."

"How did the Acclarke weather the passage?" Nazim asked excitedly. He had helped build the Fours that Vegan Fleet had ordered.

"Later, later," Caleb said again, shushing them. "Go on, Helm."

"Messages in the beacon indicate that the Acclarke proceeded immediately to the coordinates left by Lady Nimisha for the first of three M-type planets."

"Nimisha went exploring?" Caleb grinned, having won that bet.

"There are reports of her investigations, with Commander Jon Svangel, of the other two M-type planets relatively close to the initial one. She has named it Erehwon."

"Erehwon?" Kendra exclaimed.

"That's nowhere backward," Cherry Absin-Hadley said with a grin. "Appropriate."

"There is also an encrypted message for you, Commander, which I will forward to your cabin," Helm said. "Numerous pulsed messages have been sent back to Vega, sir. Including the latest from Captain Meterios, dated five days ago, Vegan time."

"What's she still doing here?" Caleb demanded in a rhetorical tone. "I know what orders the Acclarke was given. In the event the courier got drawn into the wormhole, she was to ascertain if Lady Nimisha was alive and then proceed with all possible speed back to Vega."

"She would first have had to deposit the space station survivors wherever Lady Nimisha is," Kendra remarked. "The Acclarke could not manage eleven more passengers."

"In cold sleep it could." Caleb said grimly. Because the entire complement of the Five B's crew was listening, he did not voice his private thought: Whatever had possessed anyone at Vegan Fleet Command to give Nesta Meterios a tour of duty on the Acclarke? He answered himself: It was possibly one of the few places in which she could do the least damage, excluding the sudden appearance of the wormhole, which it should have had the speed to outrun. The Acclarke Helm had been programmed to take command in any emergency, including the reappearance of the worm-hole. Nesta the Nothing would have been merely a passenger.

While Helm kept trying to present a coherent report, everyone had questions, especially about the world Erehwon. Caleb wished to know who this Commander Jonagren Svangel was. Mareena handed him hard copy access from Fleet files, and consequently he learned that Poolbeg had been the last known ship missing in this general area. Captain Panadus Querine had been captain of record, with Lt. Commander Jonagren Svangel listed as executive officer. The Poolbeg was an exploratory service vessel with a crew of ten. Caleb experienced intense relief that Nimisha had not been alone for nearly six years. Not that she wasn't capable of surviving by herself, but to have had company-and the Poolbeg had had a mixed crew-would have made her life there more agreeable.

"Captain," Kendra said suddenly, "they have made contact with aliens also shipwrecked."

"Aliens!"

Kendra grinned at the vehemence in his voice. "Sapient ones, too. since their ship crashed on Erehwon."

"Ship? Space-farers? How fascinating! Work for you, my sweet," lan said to his semantics-trained wife.

"Well, I never," was her astonished response, her green eyes sparkling with anticipation. "Oh, dear, I'd better see if I can locate the translators. I brought them along sort of as an afterthought. Never for one moment thought I'd need them."

"You signed Cuiva off on their use, too, you know," lan called after Cherry, who was running across the lounge. "We'll have plenty of time, honey…" He shrugged as she continued on her way to find the equipment.

"Pretty good detail on the pulsed reports," Gaitama called out, as she was the only one watching the screen in the lounge and the earliest reports. "Planet has some real nasty life-forms. Mareena, come take a look."

Mareena joined the biology ensign in the lounge and gulped when she saw the size of the avians and the immense shaggy creatures. Nimisha had added a human figure to the image to show comparative size.

"Nimisha found other wrecks, not as lucky as the Poolbeg," she added, rewinding the tape to show those.

"That's ancient," Nazim said. "Must have been First Diaspora."

"All right, crew. Helm has stripped the beacon of formal messages," Caleb said, half an eye on the screen as he delivered orders. "Helm's sending a pulse beam indicating our ETA at Erehwon. They've put up an operational comsat so they'll know we've made a safe translation. I'm assuming that the Acclarke has informed them of our imminent arrival."

"An operational comsat?" Kendra repeated with a respectful gleam in her eye. "Well done."

"Any crew member wishing to add a message to a pulse going back to Vega III should have it ready in twenty minutes," Caleb went on. "I don't intend to hang about here. We'll be resuming IS drive in twenty minutes."

"Hey, that's not long enough, Caleb," Nazim protested.

"Write your reams during IS drive, Nazim, and Helm will relay them when we reach Erehwon. Our first priority is to deliver our sleeping beauty to her mother as fast as possible."

"Aye, aye, sir," was Nazim's prompt reply, and he bolted down the corridor to his own cabin.

"Twenty minutes, Nazim," Caleb called after him.

"Helm, is there anything worth saving from that space station?" Caleb asked.

"The metal and perhaps smaller objects," Helm replied.

"I shot a warning and light beacon over to it, Captain," Kendra said, "to ward off any possible collision."

"Good idea," Caleb said, as he netted in for translation. "Though why Meterios neglected to do so is something I shall have a word with her about. I suspect there'll be more traffic rather than less if Nimisha's planet has aliens. Just like her to find some."

"Some people do have a knack of turning disaster into triumph," Kendra said with a mischievous grin.

"Nimisha certainly does," he agreed, and gave her hand on the armrest an affectionate squeeze.

Her ability to maintain a light touch was one of the qualities about her that Caleb particularly enjoyed in their relationship. He'd never been quite sure when Nimisha was being humorous or subtly sarcastic; being able to relax with Kendra had been an especial boon on this long voyage. She was also assiduous in separating their personal life from their professional.

"Fifteen minutes," Caleb said over the com. "Sent your pulse, Kennie?"

"First in," she said.

"If you'll be good enough to send the official pulse to Fleet Headquarters. I'll have time to send Lady Rezalla reassurance."

She nodded and began to key in the obligatory notice while Caleb, pausing to word his note carefully, sent a privately encrypted message to the Boynton House. He discreetly commented that Lady Cuiva was enjoying excellent health, had completed all the lessons and tutorials sent for her instruction, and was looking forward eagerly to rejoining her mother.

"Translation in thirty seconds," Helm announced and in the main lounge, Caleb and Kendra heard the scurry of people making for secure seating.

"I don't know what it is, Karpla," Doc said, and Nimisha had an image of Lord Naves stroking his chin and shaking his head in perplexity as he regarded the state of Brad Karpla's naked body under the plastic canopy. She could see the dust that oozed in little gouts from the pustules.

He had been complaining of a skin irritation for several days and, although he had seen the Acclarke medic, when the irritation began to spread with alarming speed to cover even the soles of his feet, Captain Meterios had insisted that he consult the more sophisticated system. They had been a ludicrous pair on their entry, the smaller captain supporting the taller, heavier gunnery officer up the steps and to the diagnostic unit. Traces of the gray powder that the irritation exuded clung to her uniform, and she had asked permission to use the Fiver's facilities to wash and brush it off.

"Use the farthest cabin, Captain," Nimisha said. "The children are presently asleep in the two closer ones."

"Where have you been, Karpla?" Doc went on, his extendibles busy brushing the powder onto slides, disclosing the odd boil-like pustules covering Karpla's body.

"Hunting," Karpla said, squirming on the couch in an attempt to ease the intolerable itching on his back. "Took a gang of the Sh'im kids-with permission, sir," he added, craning his neck around to address Jon, "to hunt in the mountains."

"Did they warn you about any of the vegetation?" Doc asked.

"Well, I guess they did, but it was much quicker to go through the thickets. We'd spotted a covey of a-alli and you know what good eating they are. 'Sides, these coveralls are pretty impervious to most of the thorns and prickers this planet grows. Would you for mercy's sake stop the fraggin' itching, Doc?" The gunnery officer's plea came out as a nearly hysterical invocation.

"I've already given you a broad antihistamine, Karpla. It should be working," Doc said. "Let me get some idea of what causes it, and I'll knock you out until we come up with a remedy. You'll skin yourself if you keep on doing that." Karpla was writhing violently.

Jon could now see how Karpla had scratched all over himself in an effort to ease the discomfort. His fingernails were bloody and broken, with the gray powder caked under them.

"That fragging thicket caused it. Nothing else on this fragging planet's bothered me. Has to be that."

"Describe the plant?"

"lasssus, will you stop the itching!"

"I must be sure no one else is caught out as you've been."

Karpla wailed in anxiety.

"I suspect the Sh'im tried to make Karpla avoid the bushes. Surely you've enough for analysis now, haven't you?" Jon didn't have much use for the dedicated hunter, but the man's suffering need not be prolonged.

"Pullease." Karpla was patently in anguish.

Jon didn't see the hypospray, but abruptly Karpla's arching body relaxed, eyes fluttering shut in the next instant.

"Don't come any nearer, Jon." The extendibles within the diagnostic unit were spreading a sheet over Karpla's inert body right up to his ears. The pustules, which had crept up his throat to his face, had stopped on his chin, giving him a vile gray lumpy "beard" along the jawline.

Suddenly the air circulatory system came on full blast, plastering Jon's coverall to him.

"Nimisha, stand near Jon and let the vents clear any possible spores that might have reached you, too," Doc said. "I suspect the powder is airborne. Whether it's infectious or contagious, I haven't yet decided. But you don't want to run the risk."

"The children?" Nimisha realised she'd sent the captain down the passageway past the doors to their cabins.

"Good tight seal on those doors, and Helm's already ordered a complete vacuuming."

"But what is it?" Nimisha asked, hand on her throat in her anxiety. Jon started to put a comforting arm about her and cancelled the action.

"Should we shower?" he asked.

"I'd advise it, and I'm preparing a thoroughly stinky but quite effective gel to use."

"How do you know it's stinky?" Nimisha asked, irritable with anxiety. "You have no olfactory organs."

"Because my program tells me the components stink."

"Oh."

"Go shower."

Quite a breeze whipped through the ship since Doc had Helm open the garage hatch and all doors but those on the children's cabins.

"What is going on?" Captain Meterios demanded, leaning into the wind as she returned. It abated just as she reached one end of the medical unit. A quick peek proved to her that Karpla's body was now decently covered.

"Clearing the air, Captain," Doc said.

"What's the matter with Karpla? You've sedated him?"

"The irritation was quite unbearable, Captain. If you will call a stretcher team, he can be returned to his own quarters on the Acclarke."

"Your diagnosis?" Meterios stood hands behind her back, looking quite provoked.

"An extreme allergic reaction to vegetation. I have found no comparison for either the dust or the pustules in my exotic disease data banks. An empirical treatment to relieve his extreme discomfort was necessitated."

"Allergy?"

"Karpla, on his most recent hunting expedition, apparently ploughed through bushes which the Sh'im avoided. I suspect he would have been wiser to follow their example," Doc said at his mildest.

Meterios was severely irritated as she spoke into her wrist com and ordered a stretcher team on the double. "How long is he likely to be afflicted with this… this local allergy?"

"I am running tests on it at this moment, Captain, and will forward the results to you at the Acclarke."

"I shall have to set up a watch on him, I suppose."

"That won't be necessary, Captain. I've put him in cold sleep."

"You what?"

"Medical necessity. Can't have him infecting anyone else until I've discovered what antidote can prevent its spread."

"Its spread?"

"It could, you know," Doc said. "But you had the good sense to wash immediately when you arrived, Captain. I would suggest that you shower with this gel as soon as you return to your ship." A phial of a dark brown liquid rolled into one of the unit's apertures.

Jon and Nimisha exchanged quick glances, and just then the gurney team arrived. Doc's extendibles had by then encased Karpla in a full cold suit.

"Put him in your medical unit in the Acclarke and advise it to monitor him. I'll send what information I discover directly there," Doc told Meterios.

She gave a sharp nod toward Parappan and Amin, who had brought the transport, and left without further comment.

"What happened to him?" Ace Parappan asked as he and the yeoman, Fez Amin. loaded Karpla's body on the gurney.

"Went where the Sh'im told him not to," Jon said succinctly.

"Yeah, he liked hunting with the little guys," Ace remarked.

"Good shot all right, but won't listen to anyone," Fez said.

"You put him in cold sleep, Doc?" asked Parappan.

"Only safe place for him right now. Don't touch the body bag again. Roll him into the cold sleep unit and when it's closed, take a thorough, long shower with this gel." Two phials rolled out of the dispenser drawer.

As Fez put the phials in his thigh pocket, he turned to Jon and said casually, "We got our four-month resupply, sir, just before the wormhole ate us. In case there was something you might need."

"C'mon, Fez," Parappan said, but he winked at Jon as they guided the anti-grav gurney out of the hatch.

Doc waited until they had left.

"Into the shower with you, too. Grab the gel in the dispenser and scrub yourselves well. I'm closing the ship and will add a powerful detox to finish cleaning the air."

"The children…" Nimisha started toward their rooms as Jon scooped up the large bottle of brown liquid.

"They're in no danger. I instigated emergency closure and oxygen the moment I had a good look at Karpla's condition," Doc said. "Get scrubbed."

They did, with none of the foolery that often accompanied their showers.

"We didn't need this," Nimisha said, dressing in fresh clothing. She could see that their cabin had been vacuumed, and the air had a decidedly medicinal taint to it. Fortunately when they reemerged into the main lounge, the air there smelled once again of Erehwon's summer aromas.

"Doc, Meterios was in close contact with Karpla. Will that detergent keep her from getting it?"

"Too late for her, I fear," Doc said. "The dust is contagious. She had it on her hands and face and then tried to brush it off when she came in here. Helm informs me there is no trace of powder now in this ship."

"Fraggit!" Jon muttered.

"I don't think I'd wish that sort of allergy on anyone, much as she makes me dislike her," Nimisha said. "How long before she starts scratching?"

"1 can't tell, Nimi, but I suspect by tomorrow, she'll be showing signs."

"Then tell her crew to stay the hell away from the Acclarke," Jon ordered.

"Helm has already done so since I declared a medical emergency," Doc said.

"I have warned everyone," Helm said.

"What about those poor guys carrying the stretcher?" Nimisha asked.

"They'll be fine," Doc said easily. "That's why I put him in a body bag. No further danger of contamination. Hopefully the cold will also wither the powder, since it thrives in heat." The medical AI made a throat-clearing sound. "It occurs to me, Lady Nimisha and Commander Svangel," he went on formally, "that treatment for this condition may only be available back where exotic diseases have been studied. And often cured."

Jon and Nimisha exchanged glances, and Jon began to chuckle. "You didn't have a hand in this, did you, Doc?"

"Me, sir? No, sir," Doc said with what sounded like a genuine indignation. "But it does give us a legitimate reason to send the Acclarke back to Vega as fast as Helm can take it. Karpla is, and Meterios will shortly be, dangerous to both humans and Sh'im. Their condition is unlikely to deteriorate once they are both in cold sleep…"

"Especially since those were Meterios's original orders," Nimisha said drolly.

"And they can be dealt with by medical authorities on their arrival. I strongly urge you to take my advice in this matter."

"Doc?" Nimisha began, her expression severe.

"One grabs occasions as they arise, Lady Nimisha," he said at his most courteous and cryptic.

"What was it they used to say about gift horses?" Jon asked, raising an eyebrow as he gave her a charming lopsided grin. "And whatever they got in that four-month resupply should be appropriated as fast as possible."

"Jon, we shouldn't," Nimisha said, aghast.

"Why not? Those two won't need it, and if there's some fresh homegrown produce-"

"There is," Doc interrupted. "I had Helm check with Four's Helm. D'you want the manifest?"

"We can make sure the crew it was designed for get it, love," Jon said, touching her elbow. "Sure won't last four years back to Vegan Headquarters. And we'll be having visitors who'll have run out of the supplies they came with."

"Yes, we will, won't we?" Nimisha wavered.

The next few days were fraught with nervous tension, begun when Captain Meterios informed Captain Svangel in a tone bordering on hysteria that she had awakened to find herself itching unmercifully.

"Your Doc can handle it," Jon said, "but if you have anyone else in the Acclarke, get them out!"

"As you well know, Commander," she said, her voice dripping venom, "my crew-" She paused to emphasise her displeasure. "-prefer the native accommodations."

"As mine do, for that matter, Captain. Get into the medical unit. We'll be over-"

"You shouldn't risk it." Nesta Meterios said, her voice frantic.

"Once you're in the medical unit, our Doc will tell yours the procedures to instigate, Captain Meterios," Jon said firmly. "As I am senior serving officer, I hereby formally relieve you of your command, Captain Meterios, and it will be noted that your illness came about in succouring a member of your crew. Please proceed immediately to the medical unit."

When there was no outraged refusal, Jon and Nimisha exchanged surprised glances.

"You heard Karpla," Doc said. "She can't be as bad off as he was when she brought him here, but that doesn't mean she isn't suffering a lot."

Jon strode down the passageway.

"You will, of course, not go in there without full decontam gear," Nimisha said.

"Damn sure," was his reply as he hauled open the storage units.

"That won't be necessary," Doc said soothingly. "Helm'll decontam the entire ship once Meterios is in the medical unit. And she's wasted no time either."

Nimisha crossed her arms over her chest and, foot tapping, regarded the medical unit. Somewhere it should have eyes that she could pin with her glance when necessary, like right now. She could almost appreciate those who did not like dealing with AI units on the grounds that there were no eyes to contact or anything humanoid about them except their programmed voices.

"How often do you AI's talk to each other, Doc?"

"Only in emergency situations, my dear Nimisha. And this is one, you'll grant."

"Yes."

Jon came back into the main cabin, properly accoutred, masked, and wearing an oxygen tank.

"I told you that it won't be necessary," Doc said, sounding peeved. "As if I would risk anyone else."

"You risked Meterios," Jon reminded him.

"I did not. Karpla did. The contagion had already passed between them when she assisted him here. I even give Meterios full credit for that act of mercy."

"She probably couldn't stand Karpla's complaints," Nimisha said unkindly.

"Lady Nimisha!" Doc said in a chiding tone. "Surely that good deed must redeem her in your estimation."

"I'll try to let it," she replied.

"Helm, muster the Acclarke's crew at the skiff hatch," Jon said. "We can get those supplies off now that the captain's… being taken care of."

Nimisha was almost shocked at the malicious twinkle in his eyes as he waved her a farewell.

A\s soon as Jon left, Nimisha went to the bridge of the Fiver and watched him trudge across the sun-baked dusty landing field to the other vessel. Fortunately, decontam suits used air-conditioning, so he wouldn't be too uncomfortable in today's heat. On the way, she saw first Globan, then Drayus and the other crew members, fall in beside him. Whatever explanation he gave them stopped them in their tracks. Then Globan started giving orders, and Ace Parappan and Fez Amin, with Tezza Ashke right behind them, found an empty four-wheeled cart, which they pushed to the stern hatch of the Acclarke. Some of the Sh'im came along to either investigate or help.

"Now hear this, Nimisha Boynton-Rondymense speaking," she said, using the traditional hail. "Captain Meterios has become infected by whatever allergen Brad Karpla brought back from his latest hunt. The Acclarke is officially in the strictest quarantine. If anyone is experiencing a body-wide itching, please report here immediately. You there of the Acclarke crew, do exactly, and only, what Commander Svangel orders."

"That includes the Sh'im, Nimisha," Doc said sternly.

"Including Sh'im. We'd like to speak to those who accompanied Brad on his most recent hunt, to determine which plant caused his condition. Karpla and Captain Meterios are resting comfortably while an antidote or a treatment can be found."

"Which I can't find without the full resources of a naval medical facility," Doc added sourly.

Jon had barely returned from his several duties on the Acclarke, telling Nimisha that Captain Meterios had been put into cold sleep, when Helm announced a contact.

"Fiver, this is Fiver B calling." Nimisha gulped at the sound of Caleb Rustin's unmistakable baritone.

"Fiver B, this is Nimisha receiving you loud and clear. Where are you?"

There was a brief pause that told both Nimisha and Jon that the Fiver B was still a long way off.

"We have just translated to Insystem drive at heliopause and are reducing our speed preparatory to landing at the coordinates on record."

"Is Cuiva with you? May I speak to her?" Nimisha said, knowing she didn't need to shout but doing so in her excitement. Tears ran unheeded down her cheeks, and she felt Jon's hand gripping her shoulder in comfort.

She thought she'd expire during the time it took for her message to reach the incoming ship and the answer to get back to her.

"She's in cold sleep. I promised Cuiva not to wake her until her birthday morning, Nimisha," Caleb replied. "She's also a junior officer now. She put her travel time to good use."

"Then she has her Necklace with her?"

"Yes, and yours, too."

Nimisha could not restrain her sobs then. "Oh, the dear, dear girl. Oh, my darling Cuiva!"

Jon edged into the second seat and took over.

"Lieutenant Commander Jonagren Svangel speaking. Lady Nimisha is temporarily overcome with joy at your message."

Pause.

"Svangel? Delighted to know that Nimisha has not been alone on that planet."

"Not half as glad as we were, Captain, to see a fresh face, and have the advantages of such a well-equipped ship."

Pause.

"Best ship ever built for this type of duty. Has Meterios departed for Vega III?"

"Captain Meterios and a crew member, gunnery officer Brad Karpla, have been stricken with an unknown, virulent allergic reaction to local vegetation. Medical advice has put them in cold sleep until they can receive treatment."

Pause.

"How long has Meterios been in sleep?"

"Since this morning, Captain Rustin."

Pause.

"She had orders to return immediately to Vega as soon as she had found Lady Nimisha and established her well-being, Captain."

"Lady Nimisha pointed this out, but Meterios felt obliged to remain until you had arrived."

Pause.

"Too bad. What of the rest of her crew and the surviving space station personnel?"

"They have all been accommodated in other quarters since their landing here and were not in contact with the affected personnel."

Pause.

"That's fortuitous." Even the distortion of their relative distances did not quite rob the remark of its drollness. "Captain Svangel, I am sending you the necessary data for the Acclarke Helm to return immediately at the fastest possible interstellar speed to Vegan Fleet headquarters. Under the circumstances, it's reassuring to know we have that capability in the Fours. They are much in demand."

"I shall so enter that order in the log and dispatch the Acclarke within the hour."

Pause.

"We shall send a pulse message, announcing the ship is in a quarantine status and must so be regarded. Have Helm answer any hail with that warning."

"Yes, sir. Complying."

Pause.

"Is Lady Nimisha still there, Captain?"

"She is." With that, Jon tactfully removed himself from the cabin to allow them privacy. Nimisha had got over her initial reaction to the long-awaited news, although the brilliance of her eyes told him how excited she was.

"I'm told she has the Necklace with her, is that right, Caleb?"

Pause.

"Yes, it is. Lady Rezalla was determined that Cuiva's own mother would do the honours, and Cuiva voluntarily went into sleep to be sure you were able to follow that tradition."

"Has she changed much since I last saw her?"

Pause.

"You'll notice it." Caleb replied and Jon-though he tried not to listen-heard a chuckle. "She's not a little girl anymore. But I need to know more about the aliens. Nimisha. There's some consternation about that situation, to judge by the messages at the beacon."

"They must be relatively new," she said, "but then, I have to admit we've been pretty busy and don't strip the beacon as often as we should. Then the Acclarke XO told us the beacon had suffered damage so we actually didn't receive earlier messages." She felt a little miffed at Caleb for changing the subject. "The Poolbeg's an exploratory ship, with appropriate crew, and the three survivors had enough training so that we could make a proper contact, according to FSP protocols, when we encountered the Sh'im. That's what they call themselves. Their ship was also caught by the wormhole while they were on an exploratory voyage, hoping to find a new colonial world. So they fall into the same classification humans do. We've managed to adapt speakers to catch their language; some of their sounds are out of our auditory range, but we have established very good working relationships."

Pause.

"We have a semantics expert on board who will be most disappointed," Caleb said and chuckled.

"I doubt it. We haven't got more than basic words, action verbs, and general ethical ideas. No abstract philosophy or much history yet. We're beginning to need better communication on the mechanical level, so they can learn how to manage some of our equipment."

Pause.

"They're that intelligent?"

"They probably have had space travel a lot longer than we humans have," Nimisha said.

Pause.

"Accepted, Lady Nimisha. Now get that quarantined ship off your planet."

Jon slipped back in. "Helm has programmed the Acclarke, Captain. You will be able to see her in the night sky in approximately two hours from my mark." He watched the bridge chronometer. "Mark."

Pause.

"Over and out for now. Check with you later." The speaker went dead.

"How'd you program the Acclarke Helm from here?" Nimisha asked Jon, surprised.

He pointed to his wrist unit. "Actually, I did most of it when I went to check on Meterios. She was out of it already, so what she didn't know wouldn't give her a chance to complain."

"I could almost feel sorry for- There she goes." The Acclarke was making a stately vertical liftoff, her thrusters stirring up dust from the landing area. Nimisha flicked off a salute. "Bye, bye, Nesta. Oh, fraggit, Jon, did the crew have time to get their gear off?"

"Crew have already had their gear off a long time, luv," he said with a chuckle. "Longer than Meterios knew."

They went to the hatch to watch and saw that many were observing its departure, its crew saluting until the main engines kicked in with the telltale flare from the rear tubes.

As Jon pulled Nimisha back into the Fiver and into his arms, they both heard the muted wakening cries from the open comunit in the babies' cabin.

"You're not anxious, are you, luv?"

"Of Cuiva's coming? No, no. I've longed for the sight of her." She jerked her thumb at the babies' cabin. "She'll be surprised, but I think she'll be glad to have brothers and sisters."

"I hope so because she's got a passel of them."

"Passel? Where do you get such language, Captain?"

"I was raised wrong." He kissed her to prove it before they went to see to the needs of their offspring.

/\s the Five B neared its destination, conversations became easier, pauses shorter. Syrona conferred with Kendra Oscony on how she had constructed the comsat she had sent up, and Kendra approved. It would certainly suffice until the pulse message load increased. Oscony informed Syrona that there had been advances in pulse messaging: The current pulse time to this area of space had had two months shaved off the original year and four months, Jon and Casper spoke at length to Chief Engineer Ian Hadley, who was able to offer advice on the mining operations. Much botanical data was uploaded to bring Mareena Kawamura up to speed on those parts of Erehwon that had been investigated in any depth. There was plenty left to be explored and documented.

Nimisha had conversations with Perdimia Ejallos about her daughter and was much reassured that Cuiva had coped well when the voyage had been extended past the initial three months. Perdimia told her how hard Cuiva had worked to get her Junior Practical Officer's rank and had "signed off" in all she had studied. She spoke also with Gaitama and with Nazim, who was disappointed that the Acclarke had already left. It was one of the ships that he had personally test-flown and he was sorry to miss her. Nimisha did not remark that he was the only one who did. Hadley had long discussions with Dr. Qualta and Valina Kelly concerning their progress in charting the new stars. He didn't wish to duplicate their efforts, since there was so much to be analysed and documented.

Fiver's Cater was informed of the need for special dishes for Cuiva's Necklacing ceremony, slightly complicated because it would have to be held outdoors so that the Sh'im might witness the event. Tim explained to his friends that it was a sort of coming of age for a dark-coat's eldest child.

"I am not a dark coat," Nimisha said, pretending to take umbrage and tossing over her shoulder the thick braids in which she kept her luxuriant dark hair. "Not by a century or so, but the analogy is basically correct," she added, relenting when she saw that her teasing remark had startled Tim.

"The Sh'im are cooking up a storm and I've got to go hunting, Nimi," Tim said, settling around his waist the heavy belt to which he attached his various weapons. He was tanned, well muscled, and looked more like an ancient primitive hunter than a modern space-age ten-year-old. "Oh!" He turned back at the hatch. "Can I go on calling you Nimi? Will I have to start with the lady bit?"

"We're all in this together, Tim, but it might be proper for you to be formal during the Necklacing ceremony, when we'll all observe strict protocol as tradition decrees." She'd said the last in a very haughty tone.

"Oh, of course, Lady Nimisha," he replied in a plummy voice, having a keen ear for mimicry. He leaped from the hatch to the ground, giving the liquid-tongued call to assemble his fellow hunters. He was the best Sh'im speaker of all the youngsters: but then, as they grew older, they'd acquire a more useful vocabulary, too.

The hunters would be after a-alli today, the small treehoppers of Karpla's last hunt. They used their wings only to glide from one branch to another in the forested slopes east of Clifftown. Their dark flesh was very tender and succulent, so the creatures were much prized as a protein source, but they were not easy to catch. Hunting them was reserved for special occasions and could occupy several days before sufficient numbers were acquired. Their feathers were of various hues, helping them blend into the blossoms or leaves of their roosts, and were used as adornments in the crowns, or wreaths, the Sh'im wore on special occasions. The down could be stuffed into winter robes for extra warmth, the offal used as bait in fishing, the tendons dried for thong ties, and bones crushed for fertiliser.

With so much to do, even with everyone organised to help, Nimisha did not have much time to worry about the long-awaited meeting with Cuiva, or the problem of explaining so many siblings.

In planning the actual landing, Caleb decreed that it should be dawn, to keep his promise to Cuiva that she'd be awakened on her birthday. Every human was awake well before sunrise that day, making last-minute preparations. Caleb had suggested a private breakfast for mother and daughter on board the Five B.

"The crew will want to be out and about and as far away from the B as possible the moment we land," he said, chuckling. "And I need to have some time to speak to the other naval personnel before the ceremony begins."

"That sounds ominous," Nimisha said, wanting to be present at the first meeting between Jon and Caleb.

"Why should it? It's to their credit that the three of them survived as long as they did." Caleb replied. "Anyway, one of the pulses I collected from the beacon are commendations and promotions for them, which I will take great pleasure in presenting."

"Oh, why weren't they forwarded to us then?" Nimisha asked. A promotion for Jon would have given him more clout in dealing with Meterios.

"Navy regs," Caleb said.

As the Five B settled gracefully onto the landing field at Clifftown in the predawn light, Captain Jonagren Svangel, Lt. Commander Casper Ontell, and Lieutenant Junior Grade Syrona Lester-Pitt, sweating in their dress blues-the only uniforms they had left- formed an escort for Nimisha, stylishly dressed in a cool tissue gown, one of a closetful of elegant outfits she'd never bothered to use once she landed on Erehwon. She and Syrona had altered the dress to fit Nimisha's new dimensions.

The main hatch of the sleek golden ship opened, the steps were lowered, and the crew emerged, fanning out and trying not to break their attention stance to eyeball their new environs. All of them were in dress whites, the naval contingent saluting while those not in uniform placed their right hand on their hearts, a gesture that caused Nimisha's heart to jump. Jon pressed her arm against him and then brought them both to face Caleb Rustin.

"Sir, Lieutenant Commander Jonagren Svangel, welcoming you and your crew to Erehwon," he said, with a crisp salute.

"So good to see you, Caleb." Nimisha said. She stepped forward and greeted him with the four cheek kisses of long-term friendship.

"It is very good to see you, Lady Nimisha," Caleb said, bowing formally. "May I present the crew and its civilian members?"

"You may, of course."

Then Caleb bent toward her and added in a murmur, "Cuiva is not quite awake yet, so we're stalling a bit until she is." He gestured toward the woman first in the lineup. "My executive officer, Lieutenant Commander Kendra Oscony, Lady Nimisha."

Between Oscony's smart salute and then her acceptance of Nimisha's handshake their eyes met, and Nimisha's smile broadened. She need not worry about Caleb. Kendra had paired with him on the voyage. Relieved on that score, Nimisha concentrated on meeting the other naval personnel. To both Gaitama and Nazim, she gave the two kisses that acknowledged their long acquaintance and her pleasure in seeing them again. Perdimia was last in line, and although Nimisha did not know her, she accorded the bodyguard two kisses and warmly shook her hand.

"I owe you much, Perdimia Ejallos, for protecting my daughter so diligently."

Perdimia, flushing with pleasure at the accolade, dipped in a respectful curtsy. "She has been a pleasure to serve, Lady Nimisha."

Then Jon introduced his shipwreck companions and the Acclarke navy personnel who had remained behind, as well as the Wormhunter contingent. He introduced Valina Kelly, Roscorn Granjor, and Adjudic Kwan, explaining the absence of the others by saying that Dr. Qualta had done a long night's duty with her staff and they were sleeping late this morning.

"If you've granted shore leave, Captain Rustin, I think our group would be very happy to show your crew around a bit. The Sh'im aren't up yet." Jon gestured to the tip of the sun just showing over the forested eastern slopes. "Tim's here to help with translations until your units can be programmed to Sh'im speech."

"Ready when you are, sirs and ma'ams," Tim said, lifting his translator from his chest in demonstration.

"Let me add that Tim is an indigenous human resident of Erehwon, having been born here," Jon said, "as well as our most valuable translator."

"I may ask for an hour or so of your time later, then, Tim Lester-Ontell," Caleb said without any condescension.

"Happy to oblige, sir," Tim said, beaming broadly.

Caleb turned to Nimisha then. "Now that we've acquitted the formal courtesies, Lady Nimisha…"

"Let's ditch the titles, shall we, Caleb?" Nimisha said, an edge to her voice. She kept finding the return of formality annoying. Without further delay, she marched up the steps. At the top, she stopped and turned.

"Permission to go aboard, Captain Rustin?" she asked in a meek tone.

"Permission enthusiastically granted, La… Nimisha," Caleb said, grinning as he waved her up the steps.

Though she could hear the others breaking ranks at Caleb's "Dismiss!" and Tim renewing his willingness to translate, she was stricken with sudden hesitation as she stood in the hatchway.

"Go on, Nimi," she heard Jon say, softly, supportively.

So she did and stopped because, although the dimensions of the Five B were the same as her Fiver, it was subtly a navy ship, and furnished as such without the more homey touch she'd managed on hers.

"She's just rousing, Lady Nimisha," Doc said, startling her. The AI's voice was that of Lord Naves, which she hadn't expected.

Her "oh" of surprise elicited a chuckle. "Well, I am the best they have in medical AI's, you know, Lady Nimisha. Captain Rustin chose me because Lady Cuiva would recognise my voice and be comforted. Come around to the unit. Speak to her. That will complete awakening."

Nimisha felt her eyes fill with tears as she walked around to catch the long-awaited sight of her daughter. Cuiva was stretching sleepily, arching her back and pulling her knees up. Nimisha indulged herself with a long look at the rousing child who was a child no longer, having developed a slender womanly form during their separation. Cuiva was subtly Rhidian with the line of her brow, but more Boynton than Farquahar-Hayakawa in colouring and form. She'd been dressed in a knee-length tunic the same colour as her eyes, the neckline leaving the body-heir tattoo on her neck uncovered. Nimisha drew in a long breath, trying to slow her joyfully beating heart and shaking hands so eager to embrace her daughter. Her eldest daughter-and that mental correction settled Nimisha's nerves. Of course, without Lady Rezalla to glare disapproval for a totally unacceptable display of excess emotion, Nimisha could do what she damn pleased, but she did not think she should confront her waking daughter with a tearful mother, and took firm control of her emotions.

"Cuiva dear, happy birthday," Nimisha said lightly, joyfully, and dropped a kiss on a sleep-flushed cheek. Cuiva smiled, still not fully awake, and hearing a dream voice.

"She's in excellent condition, Lady Nimisha," Doc murmured. "We've been careful to maintain muscle tone during her sleep, so she should have no ill effects. She's to have small meals to reacquaint her stomach with food, but Cater knows. And she can have judicious portions of her Necklace banquet food."

"Thank you," Nimisha murmured. Then, in a stronger, teasing tone, no longer able to delay, she said, "Cuiva, you sleepyhead. Wake up. It's your fourteenth birthday and there's a lot to be done before your Necklacing."

The gentian eyes flew open, caught sight of her mother's grin-which Nimisha hoped was neither doting nor dopey-and then the girl was clasping her mother to her with strong young arms, cheek against cheek.

"Oh, Mother, Mother, Mother," Cuiva cried, standing up and then whirling her mother around and around in an exultant dance.

"Easy does it, Cuiva," Doc said.

"Oh!" Like a child caught misbehaving, Cuiva put one hand to her mouth and grinned mischievously at her mother. Nimisha felt the girl's body quivering and deftly upheld her, walking them both to the nearest chairs.

"And it is my birthday? Caleb kept his promise?"

"He has indeed. It's just dawn on Erehwon-that's what I named the planet," Nimisha hastily explained.

"Nowhere?" Cuiva's fingers squeezed tightly on Nimisha's hand, which she had not released. She giggled, "just the name you'd pick, isn't it?"

"It has seemed appropriate," Nimisha agreed. "Whatever, subjectively, this is the morning of your fourteenth birthday."

Cuiva looked around. "Where is Caleb?" she demanded, seeing no one else. "And Perdimia?"

"Did I hear my name?" Caleb said, poking his head through the open hatch.

"And Perdimia!" Not that Cuiva had released her firm hold on her mother.

"Perdimia," Caleb called out the open hatch, "your presence is requested."

Perdimia, with a respectful bow to Nimisha, stepped into the lounge, at which point Cuiva lost all formality and, jumping up, hugged the woman, kissing her cheeks four times in the formal manner before she started effusively thanking her for all her care.

"I think food might be the next order of the day, Cuiva," Doc said firmly. "Cater, I do believe you have organised the appropriate sustenance for Lady Cuiva?"

"But where is everyone else?" Cuiva demanded, looking about. "I can't start my birthday without Gaitama and Nazim and Cherry and Kendra and lan and Mareena. That wouldn't be proper, would it, Mother? They all cared for me. As you did," she added, raising herself on tiptoe to kiss Caleb's cheek. The way she hung on his arm made Nimisha wonder if she had a young girl's crush on the attractive man. Caleb had developed quite an air about him, new to Nimisha; a subtle improvement.

"We thought to give you a little private space with your mother, Cuiva," he said.

Cuiva stood upright, reminding Nimisha so much of herself at that age and on the day of her Necklacing that she thought her heart would burst. "It is my birthday and I've waited long enough for it. So I do the choosing, now that I'm legally old enough to have a say in what I want to do."

Caleb scratched the back of his neck. "Then I apologise for not discerning your wishes first, my dear, because I dismissed the crew. Some of your mother's friends are showing them about."

"Oh, how selfish of me," Cuiva said, remorseful.

"Not at all," Caleb said quickly. "Very thoughtful to wish to include them. Give them a little walkabout time and then I'll recall them for elevenses. This is a glorious planet at dawn."

"They have all been cooped up longer than I was," Cuiva said, still repentant.

"We'll join you while you eat, dearest," Nimisha said, going for the dish that had just appeared in Cater's dispenser. Returning to Cuiva's table, she spotted Jon lurking outside. "Well, there's one who hung about to meet you. Jon, please come in and meet my daughter."

"Permission to come aboard, Captain Rustin?" Jon asked formally in the hatchway.

"Permission granted, Captain Svangel."

Deciding to make it plain where Jon stood in her regard, Nimisha met him, linked her arm in his, and led him to the table. "Cuiva, this is Jon Svangel, one of the three survivors of the Poolbeg, which had the misfortune to meet the wormhole that snatched me, too. He and the others have been my very good companions."

Cuiva gracefully held out her hand, but at the angle to be shaken, not kissed.

"My congratulations on achieving your minor majority, Lady Cuiva," Jon said, shaking her hand first and then turning it to drop a light kiss on it. "This is just as much an occasion for us as it is for you."

Cuiva smiled back at him and shot a mischievous glance at her mother and a quick sideways one at Caleb.

"I am most relieved to know that my mother had companions." Her formal phrasing was accompanied by a radiant smile of relief.

Jon shot a quizzical look at Nimisha and then at Caleb, who shook his head.

"There's a lot more you'll need to know, my love," Nimisha said, slipping into her chair again. "I could stand caffeine, Cater, and something more substantial for breakfast. Caleb, Perdimia?"

"I'll get it," Jon said, giving her shoulder an affectionate pat that he intended everyone present to notice.

Perdimia didn't know where to look.

"What more should I hear first?" Cuiva asked, though her eyes followed Jon to the dispenser.

"You weren't awake when we arrived at the beacon, Cuiva," Caleb said, "Your mother and her friends have also made contact with aliens. Sapient aliens."

"Oh, Mother, you didn't! How marvellous! What are they like?"

"We haven't seen any either," Caleb said with a laugh.

"I have," Perdimia said. "They're small, gray, furry, I think-" She looked to Nimisha, who nodded. "-and there seem to be a great many of them."

Nimisha laughed. "We're in the largest of their six settlements. This is the main one. Their wrecked ship is on the other side of the cliff."

"Oh, Mother, how wonderful. Sapient aliens! But, if their ship crashed, then they're not indigenous, right?" Cuiva's curiosity did not allow her to make much progress with her bland breakfast.

"Eat," her mother said. "Quite right, they're not indigenous to this planet, but they are space-farers, so we can treat them as equals." Nimisha settled a stern look on Caleb and Cuiva. "We- or rather Tim Lester-Ontell-have acquired a fair amount of basic terms and verbs. We've managed to program translators, but we're nowhere near understanding abstract terms yet."

"Cherry Absin-Hadley will be glad to hear that," Caleb remarked with a grin.

"The main point I'm making," Nimisha continued, "is that we haven't compromised the evolution of a new species. That would be a major breach of FSP regulations."

"They couldn't exactly expect you to hide in a cave for five years, could they?" Cuiva asked indignantly.

Jon laughed. "No breach, and as my ship was on an exploratory mission anyway, we followed protocol. In fact," he added, turning to Caleb, "we've been adapting the Poolbeg's gig for three-fingered hands, so they can learn how to fly it. That is, Captain Rustin, if you have no orders to the contrary. We've found the Sh'im to be intelligent, quick to assimilate and learn from demonstration…"

"They're allies," Nimisha said firmly.

"No reason not to continue on that footing," Caleb said, raising his hands in accord. "They've obviously impressed you."

"We've mining operations under way, since we've exhausted what we found in the freighter-"

"Freighter?" Caleb asked, surprised. "Your initial report mentioned four wrecks. Where did that come from?"

"First Diaspora, from the design of it," Jon said. "Most of its pods survived the rough landing and we put them to use."

"Meterios took exception to that." Nimisha began.

"To your use of jetsam?" Caleb frowned. "Survivors have the right to use any material to hand."

"We felt that included recycling whatever we could use of the Poolbeg," Jon went on.

"Of course it would," Caleb said firmly. "Don't worry about Meterios. She's in trouble anyhow for delaying her return."

"Actually, her delay worked to our advantage, Caleb," Nimisha said, grinning. "We couldn't send the rest of her original crew back on a quarantined ship. And most of them were on short-term tours, so…"

"So, as senior serving officer, Captain Rustin, I take responsibility for keeping them here until proper orders could be transmitted. Were there assignments in the messages at the beacon?" Jon asked.

"Not yet," Caleb replied with a slight grin, "considering the time it takes for a pulse message to get where it's going and return. Frankly, Svangel, I doubt Headquarters would fault your decision to retain them here when you can use their skills to advantage."

Jon started to shake his head in the Sh'im manner, but Nimisha's nudge had him change it to the appropriate human one.

"A tip on local protocol," she said, leaning across the table to Caleb. "The Sh'im have reversed the meaning of nod and shake. When they shake their heads, they mean yes. A nod implies the negative. We're used to it now, but you'll need to know."

"Sorry to mar your birthday breakfast with naval matters, Cuiva," Caleb said.

"I don't mind, Caleb. It made this goo go down without me noticing that it doesn't taste like much at all," the girl said, regarding the final spoonful with no great enthusiasm. "And it's so good to be awake. You don't dream in cold sleep, you know. And now I'll have to catch up on all that's happened. So confer away."

Caleb acknowledged the invitation. "Since Headquarters does know from your flow of pulses that an alien contact has been made, you couldn't be in better odour with Fleet and the Federated Sentient Planets right now."

"That's a relief," Jon said.

Caleb started to shake his head-then nodded, practicing the Sh'im fashion, grinning as he switched. "Forget Meterios. She had her head so far up her ass her eyes were brown."

They all laughed at that, though Cuiva's laugh was more tentative, having never before heard that particular phrase.

"I beg your pardon," Caleb said hastily, bowing to both Nimisha and her daughter.

Nimisha was laughing too hard to do more than shake her head.

"Incoming avians," Helm announced, startling everyone at their leisurely meal. "The Fiver forwards the alarm. How do I respond?"

"Caleb, tell your crew to seek immediate shelter and do not, I repeat, do not attempt to return here," Nimisha said, as she and Jon leaped out of their seats and toward the bridge. Jon grabbed her arm before she automatically took the pilot's chair. "Your permission, Captain?" Jon said.

"Helm, Lady Nimisha and Captain Svangel share the conn." Caleb said, and then spoke urgently into his wrist com.

He was no more than a step behind them into the bridge as they slipped into the seats, Jon touching in orders for the missile launchers as soon as he could reach the pad.

"Helm, Nimisha Boynton-Rondymense here. Accept orders from Fiver on emergency procedures."

"I am accepting emergency procedures from the Fiver," Helm replied.

"Magnify main screen to northwest at eleven of a clock port side," Jon said. "Arm missile launchers. Targets are coming in fast in uneven deployment. Fire when locked on."

The forward screen magnified the advancing waves of avians, looking so evil that both Perdimia and Cuiva, standing out of the way at the entrance to the bridge, gasped at their appearance.

"Aren't we going airborne?" Caleb asked.

"No need," Nimisha said. "Lordee, they've got some big ones today, haven't they, Jon?"

"Are they all that size?" Caleb sounded properly awed.

"I mean the boulders they're carrying to drop on us," Nimisha said. "It's not the size of the predators that makes them so dangerous. It's their payloads."

"Why?" Caleb asked. "Repellers should be able to cope with rocks."

"Screen's giving you a false picture of their actual size, Cal. Some are bigger than the Fiver from that armed tail to the nasty snout," Nimisha said. "The Sh'im are as good marksmen as we are, but we've learned to shoot down as many as possible before they get in too close, because any hits over the repeller shields leave an awful mess to scrape off. Not to mention a stink in the summer."

"I think we'll catch most of these before they get anywhere near the perimeter of the shields," Jon said, making a minute correction in trajectory just as the Fiver opened up. "Good man, Casper."

"Not if Globan got there first," Nimisha said, her expression gleeful.

"Not this time. Globan's manning the gig, don't you remember? Syrona's in the skiff." He turned his head slightly toward the three observers. "We managed to fit the Fiver's skiff with homemade rockets. And our allies are operational, too," he added as the batteries on the heights began bracketing the still distant avians. "Used the Poolbeg's ordnance-what hadn't been destroyed by scraping along the wormhole. That's proof enough for me of the wisdom of having AI helms for emergencies."

"1 gather that the Acclarke's AI took over when it was sucked into the wormhole?" Caleb asked.

Nimisha gave a wicked laugh. "I got the distinct impression that Meterios went paralytic."

"Then wasn't it fortunate that the AI was preprogrammed," Caleb said wryly. "I gather the Poolbeg was not?"

"Captain Querine was a damned good pilot, and Peri Swanick was the jig on helm and had taken us safely through two asteroid belts earlier on-" Jon nodded Sh'im-like. "-but no human reflexes are fast enough to handle a transit as treacherous as that wormhole. You'll see that from the state of the other wrecks."

"Fiver got off with only minor scrapes and Helm is still apologising," Nimisha said.

"I think I see what you mean about the attackers." Caleb pointed to the screen as they all watched avians disintegrating in the air, their disparate parts leaving bloody trails as they dropped to the plains well before the spread of the settlement. "Your confederates are good marksmen."

"More avians attacking from starboard, coming in over the hills," Helm said.

"Order Globan and Syrona to intercept," Jon said. "Hoping to catch us with the sun in our eyes, are they?"

"The avians have that much intelligence?" Caleb asked, surprised.

"Whatever they use for brains is sufficient to make them a real nuisance," Nimisha said. "We'd hoped that Doc's little ploy would work."

"What was that?" Caleb asked.

"Leaving out treated bait that would inhibit yolk-formation in the females," Nimisha said. "We haven't had a raid in so long I was hoping that had done the trick. In the last two spring seasons we've cleared out as many nests as we could find."

"Don't you hunt them?" Caleb asked.

"Constantly," Nimisha said.

"You never hunted at home, Mother," Cuiva said in a scared little voice. She was standing right up against Perdimia, who had a comforting arm about her.

"Hunting here is not a sport, Cuiva dear. It's a necessity-both for food and survival, as you are witnessing," Nimisha said.

"I perceive the distinction, Mother."

"We'd've spared you this, believe me," Jon said, his fingers busy on the touch panel to adjust the launchers' trajectories. "The avians have an uncanny instinct for appearing at precisely the most inappropriate moments…"

"Like when our crops are ready to be harvested." Nimisha added, desperately trying to find some way to alleviate Cuiva's distress. "You don't have to watch, you know."

"If this has been part of your life, Mother, and will be part of mine, I must learn to accept it."

"Well said, Cuiva," was Caleb's accolade.

Cuiva stood up straighter, gently disengaging herself from Perdimia's support. She watched for a few more moments while the Five B's missiles joined the hails from the smaller ships, cutting down the avians as they tried to swoop down on the eastern side of the settlement.

"Aren't aerial displays often put on to welcome visitors to new planets?" Cuiva asked, trying for a lighter tone.

"Not quite this kind," Nimisha said, but she gave her daughter a grateful glance. Then a heartbeat later, she added, "I think that might have been their last fling. At least today. We certainly have decreased the numbers they can put in the air. Fiver?"

"Yes. ma'am?"

"Do the cliff batteries see any more incoming from the east?"

"Casper here, Nimisha. Syrona, Globan, and I are going to make sure. Reset the trajectories to lob shots over the hills, will you? Just in case?"

"Will do," Nimisha said, glancing over to see Jon's fingers busy on the touch controls.

"Reset," he said, his hands poised to hit the toggle at the first hint of more trouble.

"Any ground casualties?" Caleb asked with understandable concern.

Nimisha started to nod, then switched to shaking her head, and asked Helm to bring up the side screens to show where his crew, the other humans, and the Sh'im had taken refuge well under the repeller shield that protected the settlement. A siren blared out the end of the emergency. Those in the Five B could see the excited reception of the all clear, with humans dancing around with the much smaller Sh'im as if they had established friendly relationships during the air raid.

"There's no ill wind that doesn't blow some good, is there," Nimisha said, rising and stretching the tension out of her shoulders before she embraced her daughter. "Better now than during the Necklacing."

When Jon saw the stricken look on the girl's face, he added hurriedly. "They're dawn or dusk attackers, Lady Cuiva. Your ceremony's safely scheduled for noon."

"So my birthday fireworks were a little early," Cuiva said and, though her voice was a little shaky, she managed a fairly humorous grin.

"Attagirl!" Jon grinned approvingly at her.

"D'you have any more surprises like this on your Erehwon?" Caleb asked in a dry tone.

"None quite as dangerous as those," Jon said. "As Nimisha mentioned, we haven't had a raid in a while. Either they saw you landing and thought to catch us off guard…"

"If they're clever enough to think of such a thing," Nimisha put in.

"Which I doubt," Jon replied. "They should have got the message that now we've got ships, the cliff batteries and enough ammunition to keep hammering them until they leave, that maybe they should give up."

"Or," and Nimisha didn't like to voice the suspicion, "they've called in reinforcements from the other continents and that means they're more intelligent than we've suspected."

"Fiver's Helm wishes me to inform you that the number of avian casualties are the largest so far on record," reported the Five B Helm.

"I can't say I'd be sorry if the species does commit mass suicide," Nimisha said. "Oh, I shouldn't say such things, love," she added when she saw the stricken look on Cuiva's face. "But those monsters killed so many of the Poolbeg's crew."

"My deepest apologies, Captain Svangel," Cuiva said with formal but sincere remorse. "I had no idea you had suffered any casualties from those dreadful creatures."

"How were you to know, Lady Cuiva?" Jon said kindly.

"Briefly, are there any other predators of that ferocity that we have to guard against while we're on-planet?" Caleb asked.

"There's a smaller continent," Jon said, "that has some very large grazers that can be dangerous if something stampedes them but we tend to stay clear of their herds whenever possible. The smaller grazers are easily frightened and very fast in making strategic retreats. We haven't seen any of the slime slugs on this continent…"

"Which is just as well," Nimisha said with a grateful sigh.

"Plenty of scavengers, usually small and ground burrowers that are attracted by the smell of blood. In fact, I suspect they're already at work on this morning's carnage," and Jon gestured to the hills from which the last attack had come and then the distant area beyond the repeller screen, "cleaning up the… remains. Lakes and rivers, other than the ones we have seined out and made safe here at Clifftown and the five Sh'im towns, are not suitable for bathing. I'd warn your crew, sir. We have domesticated deer-like creatures to use as a farm and draft animal and the Sh'im are trying to get some other types that might be stronger for such things as hauling heavy loads."

"Sir-" Kendra Oscony, lan Hadley, and Nazim were all trying to get through the hatch at the same time. Kendra, being the slimmest, slid in sideways, saluted. "Reporting for duty."

"Good of you, XO," Caleb said, "but I'm given to understand that the natural… denizens of the planet will remove the… remnants of the recent air attack."

"They will?" Hadley asked, his eyes wide. "Some of those-" He cleared his throat hastily and rephrased what he had been about say."-monsters are the biggest things I've ever seen alive."

Jon explained about the scavengers, and Caleb issued the warnings with the advice to pass them on until he could post the notice as well as vids of the indigenous wildlife.

"Those Sh'im arc dead shots." Hadley said, shaking his head in approval.

"With only three digits to work with, too, on controls built for five," Nazim said.

"I gather you had a chance to become acquainted with our allies?" Jon asked, grinning.

"Hell's bells-sorry, ma'am," lan interrupted himself with a grimace at his rough speech. "Before your com message reached us, we'd been tackled and sat on, so we couldn't make a dash back here to assist."

"Whoever was flying that gig is some pilot," Kendra said approvingly.

"Globan Escorias, formerly of the Acclarke," Jon said.

"Escorias has a reputation for being a clever pilot," Kendra said with a grin. "Then who was manning your Fiver, ma'am?"

"Please address me as Nimisha, Kendra," she said firmly, and Kendra made a grimace of apology. "Helm handles the Fiver's offensive."

"And the Five B's, as well," Caleb said, forestalling Kendra's next question.

"Sort of makes gunners redundant, doesn't it?" Hadley said with dismay.

"Only if you're shy of personnel, lan," Nimisha said. "We need marksmen when we hunt for food here on Erehwon, so if that's an interest of yours and your commander has no objections, I'm certain you can join a hunt."

"Young Tim tells me he leads them," lan said, still slightly miffed.

"Young Tim?" Cuiva asked.

"Syrona's ten-year-old," Jon said. "He's our resident language specialist."

"He was displaying his skill during the raid," Kendra said, grinning. "And taught us a few words and when to nod and when to shake our heads," she added with feeling.

"That's where Cherry is," lan Hadley said. "She's got units she'll want to adapt but she's vowel deep in the sounds the Sh'im make. You never mentioned their size or their three fingers."

"There's a lot we haven't had time to mention," Nimisha said, thinking of the other surprises in store for her daughter.

"I think Lady Cuiva's feeling a bit faint, Lady Nimisha," Perdimia began.

Even as Nimisha rushed to help get Cuiva to the nearest chair, she added, "Nimisha, please, Perdimia. And Cuiva. We don't have my dam to scowl at us for dispensing with formalities. Sometimes we've precious little time to worry about protocol on Erehwon. Cater, what's Cuiva to have next?"

"Broth and it's ready."

"Oh. Would you get it please, Perdimia?"

"Is it just dizziness?" Caleb asked, anxiously.

"I'm fine, really I am," Cuiva replied, but the hand she tried to use to dismiss her problem was noticeably shaking.

"What do you expect, overloading the girl with so much excitement barely out of sleep?" Doc said. "Cater's put the necessary additives to the broth."

"Perhaps if you took her to the relative quiet of the Fiver," Caleb suggested.

Nimisha and Jon exchanged guilty glances. "Relative quiet" with young triplets depended entirely on their whimsical feeding times.

"Casper's?" Jon suggested and immediately cancelled that idea. "No, Hope and the twins will be there."

"What's the matter with the Fiver? It's only a step away. I'll carry her," Caleb began.

"Let's let her drink the broth first, shall we?" Nimisha said brightly.

"She can stay here, of course," Caleb said, "but we thought you'd like her with you."

Kendra cleared her throat. "I think that perhaps there are others staying in the Fiver?"

She managed to avoid direct eye contact with Nimisha by striding over to the dispenser and asking for two coffees. She brought one back to hand to Caleb, who absently thanked her.

"Yes," Nimisha said, still not quite having the moral courage to deal Cuiva yet another shock, "that's right, Kendra."

"We have children," Jon said bluntly. "We had no way of knowing how long any rescue mission might take," he went on, addressing Cuiva more than the others.

"Understandable," Caleb remarked amiably. "First duty of the marooned explorer is to survive."

Nimisha was relieved at how well Caleb reacted to the initial announcement. If only he doesn't fault (on when the full truth is known.

"It is one reason exploratory crews are mixed," Jon added, carefully choosing his words and still looking straight at Cuiva.

"You mean, I have a brother or sister?" Cuiva asked.

"Not slow on the uptake, is she?" Kendra remarked dryly.

"Twins, in fact," Jon said very brightly. "They run in my family. I'm a twin."

"Oh, Mother, if you knew how I yearned for siblings…" Cuiva had recovered sufficiently to hug her mother enthusiastically. "Boys or girls?" she asked Jon.

"Actually, both." He cleared his throat, and rattled on, trying to get to the critical part-the recent arrival of the triplets. "Tim was the only child who survived our initial attempt to increase the human population. There was a pretty nasty fever we couldn't seem to reduce with what medicines we had left. Just before Nimisha arrived, Syrona got pregnant with Hope, who's four now. Then Syrie had twins, too."

"She did?" Cuiva replied, blinking.

Caleb was beginning to wonder at the curious recital of Erehwon genesis, but all Cuiva heard was the last.

"Twins?" She exclaimed, her eyes round, "Mother, you had twins?"

Nimisha gave a nervous laugh.

"Two sets of twins did much to increase the esteem in which the Sh'im hold us humans," Jon continued laboriously.

"More than your ability to destroy those avians?" Caleb asked, more confused than surprised. "And erect repeller shields?"

"I think it's a species sort of thing," Nimisha put in. "Sh'im females start breeding at two years, have two to three offspring every year for the next ten."

"But we're humans," Caleb said in objection.

Kendra cocked her head and then ducked away, grinning.

"Oh, please, Mother, could I meet our twins right away? How old are they?" Cuiva asked eagerly.

"I'd say about three years," Kendra said. "They were with Dr. Qualta and Valina Kelly when the attack started. Your sister resembles Lady Rezalla. Don't know who the boy looks like."

"Then will you kindly tell me exactly what's bothering the pair of you?" Caleb asked in a command tone. "You've acted with common sense and practicality, considering your situation."

"What bothers us-" Jon began again, and stopped.

"Is that our Doc"-Nimisha rushed in with the rest of the explanation-"is of the opinion that there's some element in the soil of this planet that encourages fertility. Grazers and even the boks have multiple births, too."

"So who's on the Fiver?" Cuiva asked.

"Triplets," Nimisha said and pointed a finger at Jon and then at herself. "We've named them Tionel, Tyrone, and Teresa."

Cuiva stared, shocked, for a long moment at her mother, gulped and then burst out laughing. "So I'm big sister to five brothers and sisters?"

"I'm afraid you are, dear heart, but don't for an instant think that diminishes my love for you, my firstborn and body-heir."

Cuiva embraced her mother so tightly that Nimisha gave a little squeak. "Of course not, mother mine. Only we'll have to figure a way to keep such news from Lady Rezalla. She'd be appalled!"

The tension that had been growing during that drawn-out recital evaporated in laughter and congratulations.

"I must say, Mother, you have certainly provided me with a spectacular birthday," Cuiva said, standing and urging her mother to her feet. "I must see them. I really must." She turned to the Doc. "And don't you dare deny me."

"Joy is a far greater stimulant than any I could give you, young Cuiva."