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"I'm not sure I could live happily stuck landside forever," Benden said earnestly. "And we're grateful to be taken into your confidence, Shensu."
"My father would be pleased that his saving ways permit a Benden to save his kinsmen," Shensu said with a sly glance at the lieutenant. "But we will wait until late tonight, when there are few to notice our activity. Those marines of yours look strong. But do not bring that ensign. He talks too much. I do not want Kimmer to know of our transaction. It is enough that he will be rescued from Pern."
"Have you checked these sacks recently, Shensu?" Saraidh asked. When he shook his head, she crouched to enter the low cave and inspect the nearest. "Your father did well, Shensu," she said over her shoulder, peering at the sack she had tilted upside down. "I was afraid there might be some contamination from the plastic after fifty-odd years, but the fuel all seems to be clear, no sediment, well saved."
"What gemstones would be worth bringing with us?" Shensu asked casually.
"Industrial technology requires quantities of sapphire, pure quartz, diamonds," Saraidh told him as she left the cave, arching her back to relieve the strain of crouching. "But the major use of natural gemstones is once again decorative—for pets, high-status women, courtly men."
"Black diamonds?" Shensu asked, his lips parting in anticipation.
"Black diamonds!" Saraidh was astonished.
"Come, I will show you," Shensu said with a pleased smile. "First we will close the cave and then descend to our workshops. Then I will show you the rest of the Hold as I said I would." He gri
Benden was not sure whether going down was worse than climbing. Not only did he feel dizzy from the short arc of the stairs, but he had the sensation that at any moment he would fall forward down this interminable spiral. He considered himself competent in free-fall or in space walking, but this was a subtly different activity. He was only marginally relieved that Shensu was in front of him—but if Saraidh fell into him, was Shensu sturdy enough to keep all three from pitching down?
They passed several landings, which Shensu ignored, and seemed to descend a very long way before they emerged into another large room that must be under the main living chamber. It was not as high-ceilinged or as well finished, but it was clearly furnished for a variety of activities. Ross identified a large kiln, a forge hearth, and three looms. Worktables were placed near racks of carefully stored tools. Hand tools—not a power tool among them.
Shensu led them to a plastic cabinet a meter high and as wide, with many small drawers. He pulled out two, evidently at random, and scattered their contents on the nearby table: the facets of cut stones sparkled in the over-head light. Saraidh exclaimed in surprise, scooping up a handful of carelessly thrown stones of all sizes. Benden picked a large one out of her hand, holding it up to the light. He'd never seen anything like it, dark but glittering with light.
"Black diamond. There's a whole beach full of them below a dead volcano," Shensu said, leaning back against the table, arms folded across his chest. His smile was amused.
"We have drawers of them, and emeralds, sapphires, rubies. We're all good lapidaries, though Faith is cleverest in cutting. We don't bother much with what Kimmer terms semiprecious, though he has some fine turquoise he says extremely valuable."
"Probably," Saraidh murmured, still absorbed in ru
"The blacks are why I know you won't find any survivors in the north," Shensu went on, his eyes on Benden.
"Oh? Why?"
"Before the sled power packs died, Kimmer made two trips to Bitkim Island where he and Avril Bitra had mined both the black diamonds and emeralds. He brought me and Jiro with him both times to help gather the rough diamonds. I saw him leave our camp late one night and I followed him. He went into a big water cavern before he disappeared from sight. He had the light. I didn't dare go farther. But, in the cavern lagoon three ships were moored, masts lashed to the decks. They were plastic-hulled, and their decks were badly scored by Thread. It couldn't pierce plastic, but it could melt grooves on it. I went down into one of the ships and everything was neatly stowed aboard, even in the galley, where there were supplies in tight containers—everything left in readiness for the ships to be sailed out of the cavern again." Shensu paused dramatically. Shensu had a feeling for the dramatic, Benden realized. But that was not necessarily a fault. "Three years later, we came back for a last load. And no one had been near the ships. There was a thick coat of dust on everything. Nothing had been touched. Except there was a lot more algae on the hulls and windblown debris on the decks. Three years! I say there was no one left to sail them."
Saraidh had let the diamonds drip through her fingers to the table, and now she sighed. "You said there was a volcanic island? Was it active when you were there? That could account for that heat source we noticed," she added to Benden.
"Kimmer would stretch the truth every which way," Shensu said, "to make himself look good. But he desperately wanted to have a larger gene pool—for his own pleasure if not ours." The last was said with understandable malice. "If only a few more had survived, there'd be that much more future for all of us."
That gave both Ross Benden and Saraidh ni Morganz a lot to mull over as Shensu showed them around the additional facilities: the animal barns, the well-supplied storage areas. He paused at a locked door to a lower level.
"Kimmer keeps the key to the hangar, so I can't show you my father's plane," Shensu said. Then he gestured for them to ascend the stairs to the upper floors. Benden was relieved that these steps were wide and straight.
When they returned to the main level of Honshu Hold, they found the women busily preparing a feast: certainly a feast for those who had been five years on a mission. Not that the Amherst did not cater well, but ship food was nothing to compare with spit-roasted lamb and the variety of Pernese hybrid vegetables and tubers. The two marines assigned to stand watch on the Erica, despite the slightly sarcastic assurance from Kimmer that no enemies could be lurking on Honshu Cliff, were brought heaping platters and nonfermented beverages by Faith and Charity. Within the Hold, the evening was merry, and Kimmer, after a glass or two of wine, became expansive as a host. He had recovered his composure after a long rest, and tactfully, no mention was made of his collapse.
As prearranged, Benden, Sergeant Greene, and Vartry, the fourth marine, met Shensu, his two brothers, and the boys, Alun and Pat. Even with nine to tote sacks, it took four trips to top off the Erica's tanks. The boys, who were short enough to walk upright in the low cave, brought the sacks out to those who waited to haul them down. The marines, using slings, carried eight sacks at a time. Ross Benden decided that he had no reason to challenge the marines: four was quite enough. The Fusaiyuki brothers carried six effortlessly. When the tanks were full, there were still sacks in the cavern.
The next morning, hearing Nev's cheerful morning ablutions, Ross Benden stirred, then abruptly stopped. He was uncomfortably stiff and sore from the night's exertions.
"Something wrong, sir?"
"Not a thing," Benden said. "Just finish up and let me have a chance, will you?"
Nev took that in good part and shortly was out of the tiny cabin. Moving with extreme caution and hissing at the pain of abused muscles, Ross Benden managed to get to his feet. Bent-kneed, he hobbled to the handbasin and opened the small cabinet above that contained the medical kit. A thorough search revealed nothing for muscular aches. He fumbled for a pain tablet, knocked it to the back of his mouth, and discovered that his neck was sore, too. He took a drink of water. He made a mental note to drain the cistern and fill it with the excellent water of Pern.