Doona Trilogy Omnibus Read online

  “Ken,” she murmured as they passed Todd’s mourner’s bench, “what will Toddy do if the Hrrubans leave us?”

  “Rrala wouldn’t be the same, would it,” he mused, glancing back to the Commons. “But Todd’s done more than any of us to prevent their leaving. And he may well have pulled it off.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Ken was so tired the words did not come easily to his tongue. He

  half pushed, half dragged her to their room, sinking wearily to the edge of the bed.

  “Nothing’s more appealing than a cute kid and that crazy rope tail of Todd’s—“ he stopped to yawn. Pat was fumbling with her shoes and stretched out with a groan. He forgot what he’d been trying to explain and lay back, pulled both legs up onto the bed and was asleep.

  “Daddy—Dad. Hey, dad, wake up. Dad!”

  “Huh?”

  Even that monosyllable took tremendous effort. Ken’s mind seemed to

  grasp that someone wanted him awake, but his body could not be convinced of the urgency.

  “Dad!”

  The sound was accompanied by the touch of a small hand, warm where

  it rested on his chilled shoulder in an effort to move his rebellious body.

  “DAD!”

  Ken’s eyes flew open. Todd’s anxious face swam into focus. Ken could still only blink and wish the hell that Todd would leave him alone.

  Surprisingly, that was just what Todd did. The reprieve, however, didn’t last long. This time Todd brought coffee and the smell was the necessary catalyst.

  Groaning because his muscles were slow to function, Ken swung his legs over the side of the bed. The lower part of him was warm, the upper frigid. Then he realized that both he and Pat had fallen asleep fully dressed on top of the covers. He gestured to Todd to pull the blanket over Pat. Then he saw that Todd was fully dressed and in his best coverall, over which he wore his mda fur vest, a Hrruban belt with modestly carved knife dangling down and, of course, a rope tail. A new piece of rope, with the frayed end fluffy and neatly tied off to prevent further raveling.

  “Are the Hrrubans back, Todd?” he croaked.

  Todd’s face took on a closed look and suddenly Ken understood.

  “I’ll dress, son, and we’ll go wait at the bridge together.”

  The look in Todd’s eyes made Ken feel nineteen feet tall. The lump

  in his throat prevented him from saying anything until he’d melted it with coffee.

  “Make me some more, huh? And grab up some food. We’ll need our energy today.”

  Dawn was just tinting the sky a pale green, Ken noted ruefully as Todd skipped ahead of him down to the bridge. Well, if the First Speaker of Hrruba would see that Todd kept his promise, he could lose a little sleep to do the same. Unbidden, Pat’s words leapt to mind. “What will Todd do if they leave us?” Ken felt chilled with more than cool morning air.

  He had thought to bring a blanket and they wrapped that around them. sipping their coffee, eating stale bread and cold mda steak in a companionable silence.

  “How’d you get to learn the formal language so well, Toddy?” Ken asked at length.

  “Oh,” Todd scrunched his face up expressively, “Hrrula told me I had to. Hrriss helped. So did Mrrva,” and he giggled. “She’n’ Hrrestan took turns pretending they were very broad Stripes. And then some always turned up at the flat. Dad, they have aisles and corridors like ours only they call ‘em ‘narrow trails’ and ‘wide trails.’ Then Hrral—remember the old white-face in the village—well, Hrriss told me he’s way high in government. He’d come and make me talk and talk Me and Hrriss didn’t get that much time to play but I didn’t mind—too much. We’ll have all summer to play. Hrrula promised.”

  Fervently Ken hoped that promise would be kept.

  “Toddy, sometimes adults aren’t able to keep promises, no matter

  how hard they try or how much they want to.

  Todd let his bread drop back into his lap, staring at his father with penetrating accusation.

  “I know I did everything right. Hrruna told me I did and he used village talk. He said I remembered everything. And that it’d be all right!”

  Fleetingly Ken thanked the First Speaker for his kindness. How could he tell Todd that Hrruna, too, might have to break his word?

  “Son, you did so well everyone in this colony is bursting with pride. And the admiral called you his chief of protocol . . “ Ken couldn’t continue.

  “We’re staying on Rrala, aren’t we, dad? Aren’t we?”

  “Yes, Todd,” Ken had to agree, looking away from him, down at the

  rushing river, “Yes, we’re staying on Rrala.” He made his mind blank so he would not communicate his fears to the child.

  The sun came up over the edge of the pass, slanting down into the valley, touching the exclamatory shafts of the three ships before lighting the lower colony buildings. Animal noises drifted up to them. The lights in Ben’s cabin came on. They watched as the veterinary made his way into the barn to milk the cows and grain the stock. The lights in Hu Shih’s house lit too, but the rest of the cabins were dark inert. Ken envied them their respite, yet he would not have traded this vigil with his son for anything.

  The decision to be made on Doona, Ken decided as his mind refused to ignore its uppermost concerns, was more than the justification of the colonists’ reports of the Hrrubans or which department had jurisdiction over their futures; or whether the colonists could pursue their interrupted dreams. It was more important than the terms written into any treaty, more than a symbolic expiation of the terrible Siwannah tragedy. Yet it was all of these and more. And it was two small boys of different races, listening very hard to each other’s words, and wanting to grow up together on a world with plenty of space to run and shout in. Mutual coexistence already existed on Rrala—between Hrriss and Todd.

  Suddenly Todd’s body stiffened, his head jerked over his shoulder. Ken was sure he saw the boy’s ears twitch. They were both on their feet, both eager for the sight of tall, tailed figures on the ridge.

  There are too many of them, was Ken’s first thought. It’s the guard come back. And he caught Todd by the shoulders for fear the boy would run forward to disappointment.

  “It’s all right, Dad. It’s all right,” Todd screamed. “They’ve got the grid with them. See. Lots and lots of grid!”

  Chapter XXVI

  TUMULT AND SHOUTING

  WHEN THEY TRIED to recapture the events of Decision Day, none of the participants had any coherent recollection. However, as the proceedings were fully taped by both Hrrubans and Terrans, the sequence was not distorted. And everyone had curious fragments that remained personally vivid.

  Ken remembered receiving innumerable cups of coffee and being unable to drink one. He remembered finding and losing Todd a dozen times, exhausting all patience but managing somehow to produce Todd as needed. For the boy had to do a great deal of interpreting at first.

  Pat recalled being yanked out of bed by her exultant husband, the only detail she grasped from his garbled phrases being that the Hrrubans were back and it looked as if they’d stay. The next thing she remembered was Mrrva arriving, almost unrecognizable in filmy jewel-dusted robes, a retinue of purring Hrruban women in her wake. She had acquired a startling fluency in Terran overnight—at least that’s what it seemed like to Pat -- as she outlined the day’s incredible schedule and asked Pat’s assistance.

  “Then I cooked for fourteen solid hours,” Pat would sum up the remainder of her day. Ken would grin indulgently.

  If Todd were in the room, he would wrinkle his nose at her and twitch his ears—a habit which was beginning to pall on his parents— and remark with utter disgust, “I didn’t get to play all day long! I had to talk!”

  Hrriss would counter, “Well, I had to stand without talking.”

  “As for myself, I was glad to be silent for I had talked myself

  hoarse the night before,” Hrrula said, grinning at Ken.


  “All in a good cause,” his friend would agree.

  Even as the Hrruban technicians crossed the bridge with the grid

  panels; Ken had sent Todd to blow the air whistle. As the Hrrubans passed him, they peered at Ken with a mixture of curiosity and interest but there was no doubt of their underlying excitement. Their leader was a tall dark-maned female who told Ken in faltering Terran that her name was Mrrim. She immediately lapsed into middle Hrruban.

  Mrrim offered him a tape, printed on the watery blue plastic film which Ken later realized was used for all governmental declarations, sealed with many odd designs which were the official signatures of the various participating or endorsing Speakers. Mrrim spoke Hrruban slowly, her eyes on his, and Ken understood that the Hrrubans wished to set up a grid installation on the Common near the mess hall for a meeting to be held several hours hence—after (and Todd arrived in time to translate) very important details had been satisfactorily completed. As soon as the grid was in place, other officials and dignitaries would arrive to direct preparations. Therefore, would the noble Rrev assist her, Mrrim, to complete her assigned task speedily?

  Now Hu Shih came running across the Common, followed by Ben and Lee. The air whistle’s shattering summons had also roused the three ships and a land vehicle raced up from the field, necessitating more explanations and delays while Mrrim waited with growing impatience. In the back of his mind, Ken swore that whatever government existed on Rrala, it would stay small enough to be manageable. However, while Ken was trying to explain matters to the Alreldep messenger, Lee and Mrrim locked glances. With a jerk of his head, Lee indicated that Mrrim should follow him. By the time the Alreldep messenger had returned with the clearance for the installation, it was already completed and misty with the first scheduled transmission.

  From then on, Hrrubans poured into the Common: soldiers first, carrying supplies and flags and bales, their side arms secured at the back of their belts. Shih adroitly ordered all Terran marines to do likewise.

  Hrrula arrived with the first contingent and quickly separated Ken and Shih for a hurried conference. Ken noticed that Hrrula’s eyes were enlarged and that he had difficulty controlling his tail. He didn’t know then that Hrrula had been up all night organizing this meeting.

  “The popular vote favored the resumption of the Rralan project— for the time being and subject to review,” Hrrula told them, purring as he talked. He kept lapsing into Hrruban but Ken and Shih were able to follow him. “Oh, that Zodd!” he exclaimed fervently. “He did the trick with that rope tail. No one could fail to see the compliment of imitation. And his manners were perfect. “Just like a well-brought up cub,” and Hrrula mimicked some high quavering voice, his eyes gleaming wickedly. “You can just imagine the panic when the rest of the Speakers realized where First had gone with Zodd. Ha! Well, Third did exactly as First hoped he would when he threw the circuits wide open on Rrala and pre-empted all communication channels.

  “Then we shall be permitted to stay?” Shih asked, adding when Hrrula nodded, “Then our problems are over.

  “Oh, no,” the others disagreed in chorus, “they’ve just started.”

  But no one appeared to object to the challenge.

  “Now,” Hrrula began again, briskly, “these are the things which must be accomplished before the meeting can start, and these are the details which must be observed.” He pulled out two tapes. When he had finished them the colonists were apprehensive.

  “Sumitral’s not going to like that at all,” Shih remarked slowly.

  “He will have to.” Hrrula replied with a shrug. “True, we never

  meant for Zodd to be burdened with such responsibility when we taught him high formal Hrruban. And true, it would not take long to instruct Sumitral in the proper usage, but we have no time. We must catch the interest of the people now, with yesterday’s scene fresh in their minds, or suffer endless, ridiculous delays. Believe me, never has any major decision been made with such speed before. Middle Hrruban can be used among us,” Hrrula indicated the crowd of Hrrubans busy in the Common, “but not to our highest officials at such an important table. Zodd is the only one who can cope with the necessary language tonalities.”

  “I think Sumitrals reconciled to Todd,” Ken said thoughtfully. “He hasn’t got any choice.”

  “No, he hasn’t,” Hrrula agreed drily. “I have a child’s ceremonial dress for Zodd to wear. It’s a shame to take him out of the mda fur and the tail but it is expedient.”

  “If you promise Todd Hrriss, he’ll move mountains.”

  “He has. He moved the High Council here. Now, do you men have more

  formal clothes than these?” Hrrula asked, indicating their utilitarian coveralls.

  “I believe there are sufficient Alreldep uniforms for most of the men;” Sumitral remarked, joining their conference. “Will that suffice?”

  “Red is an excellent choice,” Hrrula said. “Now, to save time, Admiral, may I continue? Someone can bring you up to date on the background. Now these are the things you must not do.” The list was, as Sumitral agreed readily, not inconsonant with the highly circumscribed Hrruban culture.

  “But a damned bore and time-waster,” Ken added with an apologetic nod to Hrrula.

  “We shall dispense with that here on Rrala, but remember, Rrev, there is much time to be passed and accounted for on Hrruba. Ceremony helps.”

  “Coming directly to the nub of the matter, Hrrula,” Sumitral broke in crisply, “just what can we expect as terms of the treaty?”

  Hrrula’s face and tail were still. “I do not know. My people need time to think beyond themselves. We considered ourselves to be unique in the galaxy, you realize. Time is needed for them to learn to accept the startling concept of a race their equals—if not their superiors—to grow used to the sight of your bareskins, to understand that their comfortable apathy is not threatened, but enriched.”

  Sumitral gazed thoughtfully around, pursing his lips slightly and rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet. If he had a tail, Ken thought irrelevantly, it’d be a-twitch.

  “Do not press for any commitment that robs both our races of time to adjust. The rest will follow when the time is ripe for further change.”

  Sumitral nodded slowly.

  “You do realize, Admiral,” Hrrula went on gravely, “that you must

  speak through Zodd as he is the only one of you who can handle formal Hrruban.”

  Sumitral raised his eyes skyward, shaking his head ruefully.

  “Yes, I got that message loud and clear yesterday, but I somehow

  feel that that will improve the Treaty rather than hamper it. ‘Out of the mouths of babes,’ you know! By the way, that’s going to be quite a strain on young Todd, Reeve. Is he up to it?”

  “Just threaten him with no Hrriss,” Ken suggested and was suddenly conscious that he hadn’t seen Todd lately. “Hrrula, Hrriss hasn’t sneaked in, has he?”

  “Probably. Anyone who understands Terran was ordered here.”

  By the time Todd and Hrriss were located, in the hayloft of the

  barn, Ken was ready to threaten Todd with a good deal more than the lack of Hrriss’s company. For the Council was all set to convene and here was Todd, filthy with hay dust. He was unceremoniously dumped in the horse trough, roughly washed clean, and jerked into the pale red robes that had been supplied. He was scared and sullen by the time Ken manhandled him to the Common in time to see the Council arrive.

  Soldiers from each race were interspersed at parade rest around the Common, brilliant with flags and banners. On one side the mass of Hrruban workers were now ranged; on the other, the Terrans and the original Hrruban villagers. The day was brilliant and clear, the air heady with the sweet smells of spring and cooking, and electric with excitement. The huge grid was wreathed with the familiar transmission mist. Solid forms coalesced within the mist, which suddenly dissipated. On the rectangle of the grid appeared an assembly as awe-inspiring as the most pagan heart c
ould wish.

  Centered on the rich pale blue rug which covered the metallic mesh was a magnificently carved table of a gleaming silvery wood. In equally ornate chairs sat seven male Hrrubans, dark-furred and heavily maned with age, their face hair grizzled. On their shoulders were clasped jeweled neckpieces holding colored capes in place. From the waist down they were clad in the long kilts of the Stripes, each man wearing a different shade. Regal they were as they appeared enthroned on their side of the gleaming table. Seven empty chairs faced them, each one as beautifully contrived as those occupied.

  “God, you guys set quite a scene,” Ken whispered to Hrrula. “The natives are awed.”

  “Which ones?” retorted Hrrula in a soft purr.

  “Who’s Third?” Sumitral whispered as he glanced down the row of

  Speakers.

  “Second from left, by Hrruna, and he’s scared. See his tail?”

  Hrrula replied.

  Ken grimaced because he couldn’t see from where he stood without bending, which he couldn’t do. Todd’s hand twitched in his and Ken suppressed the inclination to squeeze it admonitorily. The kid would have enough to contend with today.

  At that moment the Hrruban herald called the meeting to order and, as rehearsed, the Terran delegates took their places in front of their chairs: Lawrence, Landreau, Shih, Chaminade, Sumitral, Todd and Ken. Hrrula stood beside Todd, Hrrestan by Shih, for they would act as auxiliary interpreters. Todd, however, was the only one who could address the Hrruban Speakers. He seemed to know the Hrruban directly opposite him at the table, and even to Ken the man looked slightly familiar. Todd tried not to fidget during the long peroration in Hrruban announcing the background and circumstances of this momentous occasion. He squirmed a little during the monotonous recital of the previous day’s popular vote. Then everyone was allowed to sit down. Sumitral rose immediately to give a resume of Terran’s history on Rrala which he kept to short sentences for easier translation by Todd.