Children of the Old Star (11 page)

Ellis heaved a deep sigh. “It will help answer where I want to go."

"It's an inside joke.” Cordova smiled showing teeth that seemed too big for her small features. “St'rac is an animal a little like raccoons on Earth, except they're feathered and can tear the arm off of your average human. They have a reputation for stealing food and just about anything else not nailed down."

"I see,” said Ellis slowly. “So, someone with Fleet St'rac is a thief ... a privateer, perhaps?"

"Perhaps,” admitted Cordova. “They use it to throw off outworlders. So you want to see a privateer?"

"Retired,” admitted Ellis. “He's a friend of my grandfather's."

"Your grandfather has some interesting friends,” said Cordova suspiciously. “You ain't transporting any stolen goods?"

"In that bag?” Ellis gestured to his tiny traveling bag strapped next to him.

"I've seen some pretty dangerous explosives in even smaller bags,” said Cordova straight-faced. “So, now that I've answered your question, where do you want to go?"

"I just have some coordinates and info I copied from the computer on the transport."

"Hand them over,” sighed Cordova, growing slightly impatient. She scanned the slip of paper and then entered the coordinates into her computer. Some words appeared on her console. “Your grandfather really does have some impressive friends,” whistled Cordova.

"What do you mean?” asked Ellis, all innocence.

"Those're the coordinates for the home of Arepno, the hero of Sufiro. You sure you want to go down without an invitation?"

Ellis blinked a few times. He grew curious about how the Rd'dyggians viewed Arepno. “Hero of Sufiro?"

"Yeah, you know that little backwater planet out on the far edge of the galaxy? The one threatened by the Cluster? Arepno was there. They say he saved it from certain destruction.” Cordova shook her head. “Don't you read the papers?"

"I guess I missed it,” muttered Ellis. “Anyway, yes, that's Arepno, friend of my grandfather's."

Cordova told the computer to implement the coordinates she had entered. The tiny ship spun on two of its axes and began to move toward the planet. Ellis saw that they were en route to the reddest of the continents. The descent through the atmosphere went smoothly. They careened through dark gray, almost green, clouds. Soon, they were swooping over tall, unmoving purple vegetation. The mountains, made of oxidized iron, looked almost soft by comparison. Within minutes, Captain Cordova settled the shuttle gently to the red ground.

Ellis craned his neck, looking through the windows trying to discern where they were. They were sitting on an empty patch of red ground in the middle of a grove of purple trees. The trees were vaguely reminiscent of palms, but more arched and foreboding.

"Where the hell are we?” asked Ellis.

"We're right outside Arepno's compound."

Again, Ellis peered through the glass trying to find evidence of any sort of habitation. “The nearest city must be miles away."

"You really didn't do your research, did you?” asked Cordova. “Rd'dyggians don't have cities the way humans have cities. They have family compounds, spaced as far apart as possible. They don't like intruders,” she cautioned at last.

"You don't recommend going up and knocking on the door then,” asked Ellis, tugging on his beard.

"I'd use the teleholo in the back to see if your ‘friend’ wants to accept visitors,” recommended Cordova.

Ellis did as suggested and stepped back to the rear of the shuttle, where the teleholo console was. The ship's computer had found the number of the compound based on the coordinates fed into the flight computer. Soon an image, like a Grecian bust, shimmered and appeared on the dais in front of the ex-commander. The head had the familiar orange skin, black eyes and purple mustache. Still, the features were not as worn as he remembered, nor did this Rd'dyggian have Arepno's trademark eye patch. Ellis took a deep breath. “May I speak to Arepno, please?"

After a moment, the “mustache” moved. A second later, words issued from the speaker. “Who, may I ask, is calling?"

"Commander John Mark Ellis. Arepno and I met at Sufiro."

"One moment please.” The head shimmered as the person who answered the holo stepped out of view.

After nearly two minutes, another head appeared. This one had the wrinkled brow, slight twinkle to one eye, and an eye patch over the other, which Ellis remembered. “Young Ellis,” boomed the speakers. “How nice to see you."

"I was wondering if you would mind a visitor,” asked Ellis, sheepishly.

"When?” asked Arepno. Despite his time with humans, the Rd'dyggian was still the complete pragmatist.

"Actually,” said Ellis, wringing his hands. “I'm in a shuttle, near your compound."

"Ah, I see,” mused Arepno. “You are the one who landed. I will meet you in a few minutes, outside. Welcome to Rd'dyggia.” With that, Arepno's image vanished from the teleholo.

Ellis retrieved his bag and coat, then stuck his head through the door to the cockpit. “My friend will be out to meet me, thanks!"

"You paid in advance,” said Cordova, slight dimples forming around her smile. “That's all the thanks I need.” She looked out at the planet. “I'll wait long enough to make sure you haven't changed your mind about having a breathing mask."

"The air's breathable enough,” grumbled Ellis. “Thanks, again.” With that, Ellis donned his greatcoat and pushed the button next to the shuttle's door. He was immediately assaulted by the smell of rotten eggs. Ellis closed his eyes against their watering for a moment, trying not to gag and glad he had only eaten a meager meal before coming down to the planet's surface.

"Hey, you're letting the air in,” called Cordova.

Ellis waved his apology and stepped out of the craft onto deceptively soft and powdery soil. As he stepped onto the soil, a layer of dust swirled up. The smell was heavy in ammonia. It was like being hit in the face by cat urine. Ellis held his breath as long as he could, then cautiously inhaled some air, but almost threw up.

With a grimace, he looked up to see Arepno, adorned in golden robes tied with a red sash. “Let me help you, my friend,” he said, with the assistance of a translator box.

"I think I'll be okay,” gasped Ellis. Suddenly a chill passed through his bones. The air was only about 10 degrees Celsius. He pulled the coat closed around him.

Arepno came to Ellis’ side and put out a helping hand. Ellis took it. As they passed by the front window of the shuttle, Ellis forced a calm smile and waved to Cordova. Soon, the shuttle ascended into the sky, kicking up a spray of the cat urine-smelling sand. Ellis looked toward the shuttle lifting up into the orange sky, thinking he had been deposited right in the middle of hell itself. “Great planet,” he commented to Arepno.

"Now you know how I felt, being on Sufiro,” said Arepno.

"People keep saying that to me.” Ellis shook his head slightly.

"Let's go inside,” said Arepno with a tilted head. “We can get you warm and you can tell me what brings you to my humble world."

WARRIOR PHILOSOPHER

Arepno's house was a squat, circular structure. The building had a reddish hue like the surrounding dirt. At first, Ellis thought it was small, but that was only a matter of perspective in this alien landscape. It took much longer to walk from the landing site to the house than Ellis had expected. Among other things, his estimate had been based on the sizes of the trees that came almost to the roof of the house. As it turned out, those squat-looking trees were nearly ten meters tall.

After his initial difficulties breathing Rd'dyggian air, Ellis found his respiration returning to normal. At least the smells of sulfur and ammonia no longer made him gag. Actually, the air itself was quite breathable. It was almost the same ratio of nitrogen to oxygen as was on Earth and the atmospheric pressure was just slightly higher than that of Earth. The water vapor content seemed high to Ellis, even though he had grown up on an island in the North Atlantic.

Being able to breathe more normally, Ellis found he could walk without Arepno's help. Looking at the warrior, he realized that his bright orange skin did not seem quite as overwhelming in the light of his own planet. His skin looked more a ruddy tan here. In fact, his purple mustache looked nearly black. In this light, Ellis thought Arepno looked almost handsome.

Wordlessly, the seven-foot tall warrior invited Ellis into his house. Inside sat three other Rd'dyggians. It was impossible for Ellis to distinguish male from female. All three had the prehensile purple mustaches. One was slightly taller than Arepno. Two were slightly shorter. They were lounging on the floor. One of the shorter ones appeared to be scanning a ledger of some form and wore a loose fitting copper-colored gown that draped around the entire body. The taller one was writing and wearing more of a long tunic adorned with some floral pattern Ellis did not recognize. The other of the shorter ones was working on some cloth with what appeared to be a staple gun. This Rd'dyggian wore a silver jerkin and pants cut to resemble the shape of Arepno's robes.

The room itself seemed Spartan. Unlike a human living room, nothing adorned the walls. Other than the objects used by the people, the room was empty. The walls seemed made of the same dirt as the ground outside, though the air seemed devoid of the ammonia smell.

"Allow me to introduce my two wives, Arepnon and R'landan, and my co-husband, R'landa,” said Arepno, first in Rd'dyggian so his family could hear, then with the translator so Ellis could understand.

"Pleased to meet you,” said Ellis nervously. He cursed inwardly that he had not brought any kind of translation device along. It seemed rude to make his host restate everything he said.

Arepno introduced Ellis as another hero of Sufiro. Arepno's family nodded courteously. The warrior then turned to Ellis. “Let us retire to my chambers where we may talk freely."

Arepno led him through the large common room to a room at the side. Like the common room, the side room had no corners; it was completely round. There were no chairs. However, there was a table of sorts in the center of the room. On it was a plate that Ellis recognized as a Rd'dyggian computer. Next to it were several of the ledgers like the type one of the shorter people was reading in the common room.

Before Arepno said anything, the taller Rd'dyggian appeared in the doorway with two glasses of water. Ellis noticed that this Rd'dyggian's tunic was not actually floral, but a mishmash of colors that resembled the flowers of Earth. The Rd'dyggian handed one glass to Arepno and the other to Ellis, then nodded to Arepno. “Thank you, R'landa.” Arepno nodded. Again, he spoke in Rd'dyggian, but used the translator to speak for Ellis’ benefit.

As R'landa left, Ellis turned to his host. “I am terribly sorry I forgot to wear a translator."

"Apology accepted,” vocalized Arepno with a lift of his hand. “You seemed in a great hurry to be here. You did not contact me before coming to my world."

Ellis nodded. “The problem is ... that ever since Sufiro, I can't get the vision of the Cluster out of my mind."

"I have heard,” said Arepno, slowly, almost measured, “that you encountered another Cluster on your way home to Earth. They say a ship was destroyed."

"I was charged with cowardice,” confessed Ellis, bluntly. He took a deep breath, then picked up the glass of water, sniffed its vaguely rotten-egg smell and put the glass back on the table. “The fact of the matter is that the Cluster communicated with me through a vision of some sort. The power of the vision caused me to pass out.” Ellis, his throat almost too dry to speak, grabbed the glass, held his breath and swallowed the water. “Unfortunately, I passed out right as we almost had the civilian ship under our protection."

"So, why come to Rd'dyggia?” Arepno folded his arms.

"An old friend, on Earth, recommended that I seek out one who knew communications, understood the hunt and its consequences. He recommended I talk to a philosopher named G'Liat."

Arepno's dark mustache wiggled momentarily, though he made no sound. Finally, he sat forward. “There are no philosophers on Rd'dyggia,” intoned Arepno, at last.

"I know that,” growled Ellis. He shook his head, then silently gathered his thoughts. More composed, he continued, “but, I have to know whether or not I committed an act of cowardice and fainted on the bridge of my ship during a crisis situation, or whether I really and truly communicated with the Cluster in some way that is not understood."

Arepno sat silent, his mustache wiggling. Ellis got the impression that the warrior was holding something back.

"Damn it, Arepno! I was booted out of the fleet! I've been dishonored.” Ellis put his face in his hands. “I don't even know if it was my fault. If so, I'll have to learn to live with what I did. If not, though, I'll have to seek justice."

"Why should I help a coward?” asked Arepno. He picked up the glass and let his mustache-like protrusions slide into the water.

"Because, I might not be a coward. My honor is at stake. The honor of my family,” pleaded Ellis.

Arepno looked over the glass at Ellis. “Honor can be a dangerous concept. Humans do not have a sense of family honor. Not like Rd'dyggians."

"I do,” said Ellis firmly. “The Cluster took the life of my father. Despite that, I risked my career on an attempt to talk to the Cluster rather than destroy it. That attempt might have succeeded. I don't know. Is there a G'Liat? Could he help me?"

Arepno lowered the glass and made a noise, not unlike a human sigh. “There is a G'Liat,” he said at last. “He is not a philosopher, but a warrior. He is a giant among Rd'dyggians—perhaps the greatest warrior of all. Some say he is a sorcerer. He was my teacher for a short time.” Arepno turned down the speaker volume on the translator box. “He knows the hunt. He knows death. Most of all, he understands the abstract world of the mind. Not just Rd'dyggian minds, but the minds of off-worlders. He taught me of humans and Tzrn, but he understands them all. If he learns of a species, he goes to meet it, to understand it."

Ellis licked his lips. “Has he met the Cluster?"

Arepno shook his head, in an imitation of the human gesture. “He has tried and failed."