The Legacy of Lehr (6 page)

“Oh, come now, Doctor,” Torrell continued. “Animals kill to survive. So do humans, for that matter. Besides, I'm sure that the good Doctor Lehr had taken his toll of the cats. What fate could have been more fitting?”

A wave of nervous comment rippled around the table much to the dismay of Wallis and Mather. But before they were forced to respond to this latest sortie, rescue of a sort came in the guise of a steward who bent to whisper briefly in Shannon's ear. The younger physician listened intently for several seconds, conversation dying around her, then put aside her napkin and smiled reassuringly.

“You must excuse me, ladies and gentlemen, but a doctor is always on call, I'm afraid. Captain, I don't think it's anything serious, but I like to be sure.”

“Of course, Doctor. I'll stop in later for a report.”

“Thank you, Captain.”

As Shannon rose, she glanced at Wallis. “Doctor Hamilton, perhaps you'd care to join me? You might find our medical facility of interest. And Commodore, I can show you those new suspensor units when we're finished, if you'd like.”

It must have been obvious to all that Shannon's invitation went beyond mere professional courtesy, but even Torrell was not rude enough to point that out publicly. When Mather had added his own apologies to Wallis's, the two of them followed Shannon out of the grand dining salon. Not until they had stepped aboard a staff lift and the doors had closed did Shannon look directly at them.

“Thank you for playing along,” she said. “I hope you don't feel that you've been dragooned into anything, but Muon apparently is having another anxiety attack. He's the Aludran who panicked when you brought your cats aboard this morning,” she added, at their looks of question. “I thought you might be able to help me reassure him that the cats aren't going to eat him—or whatever it is he's afraid they're going to do. You speak Aludran, don't you, Commodore? Aren't you a linguist?”

“Among my other dubious talents,” Mather said with a nod. “I'll be glad to help, if I can.”

“Thank you. In any case, the steward said Muon was delirious,” Shannon went on. “He keeps ranting about devil cats and demons in the dark—exactly what Torrell was talking about over dinner. My assistant is with him now, but he's only a student intern. I don't think he's experienced enough to handle something like this.”

Shannon fell silent as the lift came to a stop and the doors opened. She cautioned curcumspection as she led Mather and Wallis down a corridor, for other passengers were about. The door to the main Aludran cabin slid open almost before she could thumb the call button, however, the youngest of the four male Aludrans admitting them with a bow.

“Good you come, Doctor,” the alien said haltingly. “Muon, he plenty bad. You make well, eh?”

The hot, humid air closed around the three of them like a moist hand as they crossed the threshold: it was especially oppressive to Mather and Shannon in their high-collared uniforms. Across the room, Deller and a harried looking medical technician were gesticulating futilely at a hysterically weeping female who Shannon recognized as Ta'ai, Muon's mate. Deller had a hypo in his hand and seemed to be trying to persuade Ta'ai to let herself be sedated, but the alien woman only planted herself the more firmly between them and the farthest berth. Someone—presumably Muon—was thrashing frenetically in that berth, and the shadowed forms of other Aludrans appeared to be having no luck soothing the occupant. Nor did Deller, the technician, or another male Aludran seem to be having any luck in getting through to the distraught Ta'ai.

“Doctor Deller, why don't you let me take over now?” Shannon said quietly.

Her voice cut through the thick, humid air with quiet authority, and the intern's head whipped around in a glance of relief.

“Doctor Shannon, am I ever glad to see you!”

Leaving his reluctant patients, Deller crossed to meet Shannon and the others, his plain, serious face sheened with perspiration. “He's having some kind of seizure, Shivaun. He was almost convulsing a little while ago, but she won't let me near him, and I didn't dare force the issue. Maybe you can reason with her.”

“
Laia
Ta'ai,” Shannon said, brushing past Deller to confront the alien woman, “Doctor Deller was only trying to help. And pardon me for saying so, but you are not helping, so long as you continue to weep like a child and refuse to let us help
Lai
Muon.”

“They will kill us! They will eat us all!” Ta'ai wept, shaking her head frantically. “Muon has seen it. Muon knows!”

“What has he seen,
Laia
Ta'ai?” Shannon asked, quietly reaching one hand behind her for the hypo that Deller had been trying to administer. “No one aboard this ship is going to eat you, I promise. You're perfectly safe.”

Despite Shannon's caution, Ta'ai saw the hypo change hands and shook her head, backing away wide-eyed.

“No, I must not sleep!
He
must not sleep! The Screamers in the Night will—”

But before she could tell them what the Screamers in the Night would do, one of the other aliens came from behind and pinned Ta'ai's arms to her sides, nodding for Shannon to move. Ta'ai screeched and hiccuped and tried to twist away, but not before Shannon pressed the hypo firmly to her throat, quickly confirming the setting before she triggered it. Even as the hiss of the hypospray died away, Ta'ai was slumping into her captor's arms. The alien deposited her in an empty berth opposite Muon's, then motioned Shannon closer to the weakly thrashing elder.

“I am Bana, brother to Ta'ai,” he said haltingly as the med tech moved in to monitor Ta'ai's condition. “You help Muon now?”

“I will, if you can tell me what's wrong,” Shannon replied exchanging the hypo for a medscan pickup that Deller handed her and bending closer to run it along the length of Muon's body. As Wallis and Mather edged a little closer, Bana swallowed visibly and bowed his head.

“I think we all in very great danger, Doctor. Muon is seer. He has second sight.” He glanced up cautiously, as if expecting a rebuff, and added, “Is true.”

“I don't doubt it for a minute,” Mather murmured. “Please go on.”

Bana glanced nervously at the gold bullion crowns on Mather's shoulder boards and collar, then at Shannon.

“Is—is all right to talk in front of crown man?” he ventured.

“Yes, he's a friend,” Shannon said. “And the lady is another doctor. Tell us, Bana.”

“I—I tell.” Bana sighed. “Short while ago, Muon go into—worship trance. I not know your word, but that is close to idea. Muon fine at first. He one of best seers I know. But soon see devils in dark, with eyes like fire sparks—and fangs. And devils in dark named Death. Muon very afraid.”

“What do the devils look like, Bana?” Mather asked, afraid he already knew all too well.

“You should know, Crown-man-
Lai
,” Bana returned. “You bring devils on board ship. Maybe you not know. Butfsobrirtob late for all of us.”

“Why don't you step over here and tell me what you mean by that?” Mather said, taking the uneasy Bana firmly by the elbow and drawing him aside. “Muon will be fine with Doctor Shannon.”

The other aliens clustered closer as they reazlied Mather had shifted into their own language to continue questioning Bana, leaving Shannon and Wallis to examine the still delirious Muon in peace. The elder alien had stopped his violent thrashing and was now merely moaning and rolling his head from side to side, eyes closed.

“He's going to burn himself out, if he keeps this up,” Shannon said, frowning as she clamped one hand to Muon's thin wrist and carefully lifted an eyelid with the other. “Del, let's give him three units of Suainol. Even for an Aludran, his heart rate and pressure are too high, and there's something else going on that I don't begin to understand.”

“He still in worship trance,” Bana stated firmly, craning his neck to see what Shannon was doing before Mather recalled him to his questioning.

As Deller passed another hypo to Shannon, Wallis's hand shot out to close around her wrist.

“Wait,” Wallis said. “I have an idea. Give him only half that dose for now. If you give him all of that, he'll be out for a full sleep-cycle—maybe even longer. I'd like to try to find out more about why he's so frightened.”

Shannon glanced pointedly at her hand, and Wallis slowly released it. Though Shannon withdrew the hypo casually, she made no move to change the setting.

“I'm responsible for this patient's physical well-being, Doctor Hamilton. I'm afraid that my responsibility has to come before your curiosity.”

“It's more than curiosity,” Wallis replied. “Look: Mather and I are somewhat familiar with this worship trance that Bana was talking about. I think we can use it to our advantage. There's been an implication that our cats are responsible for Muon's condition, and Muon himself has given a warning. I respect the Aludrans' abilities far too much to discount that warning without further investigation.”

“Are you saying that your cats
are
Devils in the Dark, Doctor?” Shannon said. “Come, now. That's superstitious nonsense.”

Wallis shook her head. “Perhaps part of it is. But I think it's worth a little investigation to find out what triggered this particular superstitious response in this particular Aludran. They don't normally succumb to emotional scenes, Shannon—especially a
lai
of Muon's caliber. If you merely brush it off, you'll be doing him and us a great disadvantage.”

Shannon sighed and glanced down at the still moaning Muon, at her medical scanner, then reluctantly slapped the hypo into Wallis's open palm and stepped aside.

“You leave me little choice, don't you, Doctor? If I were to refuse at this point, your husband probably would invoke the authority of the Imperial government and you'd still have your way.” She folded her arms resignedly as Wallis readjusted the instrument. “At least the half dose should bring his vital signs closer to normal, which is the critical factor right now. I guess it can't hurt to try to talk to him.”

The hypo hissed against the inside of Muon's thin wrist. “No, and it might help,” Wallis said. “Mather, I'll need you in just a minute.”

Mather, who had continued to converse quietly with the other aliens while his wife and Shannon argued, came closer as Wallis took Shannon's scanner, checked its readings, then administered a small additional amount of medication. The other aliens crowded in behind and around Mather as he pulled a chair closer to Muon's bedside and sat.

“He should be ready,” Wallis murmured.

Mather nodded. “Okay, let's give it a try.
Lai
Muon, my name is Mather Seton. Bana said it would be all right if I talked with you. Are you more comfortable now?”

Muon nodded slightly, his eyes peacefully closed, the hawklike features relaxed. Mather, with a quick glance at his wife, then at Shannon, let one hand lie lightly across Muon's wrist. With his other hand he shaded his own eyes, resting his elbow on the chair arm.

Lai
Muon, I am going to ask you a few questions. I want you to relax and listen to what I say. To make it easier for you, I will speak your language.
Essa di?
”

Again, the slight nod.

“Farsh. Durada-dan i?”

“Muon Vai-di-Chorrol, Lai Murrata gogorros e-do.”

“Farsh. Sura-kei?”

The dialogue went on for nearly a quarter hour, Mather speaking in a soothing monotone and Muon responding at first in monosyllables, then in more complicated patterns of which Wallis caught the general drift, even if Shannon did not. Finally, Mather sighed and raised his head, then stood and signed for Wallis to give the rest of Shannon's previously prescribed medication. The other aliens gave him respectful nods as he glanced at them before turning back to Shannon.

“You might ask Doctor Deller or one of your other people to stay with him through the night. He's been through quite an ordeal today, between his visions and my questioning. I'm afraid I pushed him pretty hard.”

Shannon nodded. “I can't spare Deller for very long, but Jacy can stay,” she said, nodding to the med tech. “Did you find out anything useful, after all that?”

“We can talk about it on the way to the hold,” Mather said, making a slight bow to the Aludrans as he began moving toward the door. “I'd like to check on the cats again, before turning in.”

With a nod to her assistant, Shannon followed Mather and Wallis out into the corridor. The normal ship's temperature was like the cold of deep space by comparison, and their fatigue came sinking down on them with the return of normal gravity.

“Well?” Shannon asked, as they headed again toward the crew lift.

Mather managed a weary smile. “I'm not sure how much of this is going to make sense to you, Doctor, but it explains a lot to
me
, and I think it will to Wallis. It fits in with what Torrell was saying at dinner, too, though I'm not about to tell
him
that. Apparently the Aludrans have a mythic tradition—call it a racial memory, if you like—in which large, catlike creatures figure as the local equivalent of devils. They're actually more green than blue, and they have tiny tentacles instead of proper cat whiskers, but the similarity is close enough, when one is dealing with the subconscious.”

“Then you think that this … racial memory was triggered when Muon saw the cats this morning, and that's what brought on the attack?” Shannon asked.

Mather nodded. “But that doesn't explain tonight's episode, at least not directly. Oh, seeing the cats earlier certainly didn't help, and it's possible that this worship trance that Bana mentioned somehow allowed Muon to do waking dream work of some kind—and in this case, all the terrors associated with the racial memories came flooding to the surface.”