Farfetch

Darllanyu wavered unsteadily, and Storm made her lean on him, urging her back toward the knot of Dushau and Outriders who had appropriated a stretch of bulkhead on the other side of the chamber. Krinata counted. Five of the Oliat had survived—a pentad, if anyone was strong enough to hold it. Some of those Dushau had lost Oliat zunre twice in the span of months. It was a miracle any of them survived.

People were breaking open the ration containers, looking for water. "I found the Medic Aide's Supplies!" called someone, and a small stampede flowed to the other end of the bay until someone else called, "A native! No, two!"

Jindigar perked up at that. "Chinchee!"

Krinata followed Jindigar to see what she knew had to be there—Chinchee and one of the shellfolk, a hivebinder. The two were huddled by a stack of first-aid supplies. Chinchee seemed to be feverish and unconscious, more emaciated than when they'd first found him but with no visible wounds. The small, dark creature clinging to his shoulder was unmoving except for a faint trace of respiration.

Krinata cut across the babble. "They didn't know how to open the containers—or maybe even that they are containers. Let's find them some water! And they can eat ration bars."

Shorwh and Irnils wrestled a water container over and began forcing drops into the two natives. After a few moments she realized that Jindigar was no longer beside her. "Cy!" He turned, and they saw Jindigar lurching across the wide, open floor toward the pentad. Krinata raced to catch up with him.

People crowded about them as Darllanyu met them halfway. Krinata began to understand as the duad link wavered, sending disjointed images blinking behind her vision. Darllanyu apologized, "We—I can't stop it, Jindigar." She glanced around, only a trace of the Outreach's distance in her ma

Jindigar swayed, and Cy took his elbow to steady him. "What are you doing to him?"

Krinata took his other elbow. "You've got to stop it, Darllanyu. You'll throw him into the Archive!"

Her eyes widened, her hands coming up to cover her face as if to fend off a horror. Krinata hammered her words home through gritted teeth. "He'll drag you all down into it again, like at the grieving!"

Jindigar seemed to pull himself together, tightening his grip on Krinata to stem the flow of her fears. "They're a constituted pentad and we're a duad," he explained softly. "They can't help it."

The images flickering behind her mind showed creatures, thousands and thousands of creatures, ru

Jindigar turned to the crowd behind them and raised his voice. "This fortress has grievously wounded the network of hive symbioses in this region, and now hundreds of hives have sent their protectors against it. Thousands of animals are stampeding toward the fortress in a mindless, thrashing rage, determined to destroy as they have been destroyed. Billions of insects are swarming toward the settlement. There may be nothing left alive here tomorrow."

Considering the fortress's defenses, it was hard to regard animals as a threat. But the hives of this world had already reduced a proud force of the Imperial Guard to a rather sad state. "Including us," said Krinata.

Jindigar added more softly, "Unless Chinchee and his friend will help us."

Storm peered into the gloom to where the white figure was now stretched out, head propped on a water bag.

"What," asked Terab, "could we say to get him to help? He's seen two hives destroyed by offworlders. And what could he do against thousands of tons of mass?"

"I don't know," answered Jindigar in a thin voice, breathing deeper, as if determined not to faint. "But I'll do my best to find out. We haven't got much time."

Krinata looked around at the bay. Stowage for the standardized cargo crates lined the walls, but in spots machinery blossomed, panels of controls bristling with complex knobs and screens. Cargo handlers.

She was blinded by a sudden light in the eyes. It flashed, and then passed on—the onboard Sentient grabbing ID data on them, no doubt. They hadn't much time. She wouldn't put it past that Cassrian Commander to start ordering executions before they'd finished identifying everyone.

With Jindigar she went back to the natives, sure she could already feel the deck vibrating under her feet.

ELEVEN

Efficacious Helplessness

"Chinchee!" whispered Jindigar. As he transferred concentration to the native he seemed to forget to keep the duad link constricted. His headache pierced her, and the pentad's perception of a living wall of herbivores stampeding at the grounded fortress intensified. Behind that, Krinata felt the kaleidoscopic whirlpool of Archive images enticing her attention. But she'd learned that was deadly.

Jindigar went down on one knee beside the natives. Chinchee was feeding a ration bar to the shellperson on his shoulder, the job seeming to take all his strength. But he acknowledged Jindigar by patting the Dushau's cheek.

Jindigar began gabbling at him full-speed. Chinchee dropped the ration bar and gabbled back, talking at the same time as Jindigar, who never stopped. Soon the shellperson was twittering and hooting with them. The pentad and everyone else gathered to watch this demonstration, and every once in a while, Shorwh put in a squeak or howl.

The duad link gave Krinata the gist. Jindigar was asking nun to stop the attack, and Chinchee was objecting that it was impossible. Jindigar insisted, and Chinchee's resolve weakened as the hivebinder rang in on Jindigar's side. Its nature was to bind mind-groupings, and that's what it wanted to do. But Chinchee overrode that with the edict of the plain's hives that the destroyers must be destroyed.

Before Jindigar could point out that the herds would also destroy people who respected the land, the main hatch clanged open, and armored feet marched into the bay. There must have been more than a dozen fully battle-armored troopers surrounding the fortress Commander. "Stand to! Which one of you is in charge here?"

As his troopers spread out to cover them, a few guards accompanied the Cassrian Commander down the center of the bay toward them. Krinata rose. This is the one who threw Chinchee in here without food or water. He deserves the same treatment.

The native was still too weak to stand, but the others gathered protectively in front of him. No one answered the Commander. The chairman of the defense committee for the settlement wasn't there. Terab was, but she had not been elected by the settlers.

The Commander surveyed them all, then zeroed in on Krinata and Jindigar, his ma

He about-faced and started for the hatch, his guards closing on Krinata. He wants something from me! He knows who we are–why hasn' t he lifted off? She stood her ground. "Wait a moment!" The Cassrian turned. "First, we don't go by rank. Second, I don't go anywhere without Jindigar. Third, I won't speak for this whole group. You'll have to negotiate with all of us."

"Negotiate? You're hardly in a position to negotiate."

"No? We can stop the stampede."

The silence was profound. Even the faint wheezing of the armored breathing apparatus suspended. "Stampede," said the Cassrian at last. "How did you know—"