By morning, a list of suspect planets had been posted throughout the Zaidus system. As Jip had thought, Vorla wasn’t on it, but Cholar topped the list, making direct passage between it and Lurgos impossible. Which meant we’d have to go to a non-suspect planet first and get a ship to Lurgos from there.
“We can travel to Lurgos openly,” said Jip, “but what about coming back, when the children are with us? They do not have passports, and with or without them, I am sure Lurgosian starport officials would recognize them and hand them over to Drazok. Even if they were not recognized, they are Cholarian children and would, under the false contagion fears, be quarantined.”
“Yes, we’ll have to think of a way around that,” I said.
Kirsty had a suggestion. “We could wait ’til they’re asleep, wrap them in blankets, and take them through as luggage, saying they’re life-sized robotic dolls.”
Simon rolled his eyes. “Oh, yeah. That’ll work.”
“No, it would not,” said Jip, missing the sarcasm.
“And just how would you go aboot getting them past the Lurgosian officials?” Kirsty asked Simon.
“Easy-peasy. Coming back, we stow away on a freighter.”
I gave a derisive snort. “We got caught when we tried that.”
“You got caught, but only because you were dumb enough to stow away on a passenger ship — and a V.I.P. passenger ship, at that. I stuck to freighters and was never caught. Besides, I wasn’t thinking of us all stowing away. Seven stowaways would be sure to attract notice, but if just a couple of us snuck aboard with —”
“— a baby who’s likely to cry at some point and the champion tantrum thrower of all time. You think they aren’t going to attract notice?”
“We’ll be in a part of the ship hardly anyone goes. The crew won’t hear them.”
“Him, maybe not. Her, when she gets going? They’d hear her three decks away.”
“Only if she has a tantrum,” said Jip. “If I go along as the other stowaway, I should be able to mentally head off a storm before it breaks. It is not mind control. Merely a calming technique Vorlan parents use.”
I looked at Kirsty and Arlyne.
“I suppose it is a better notion than life-size robotic dolls,” Kirsty admitted.
“And about our only choice,” said Arlyne.
Our best bet for a connecting planet seemed to be Borel, home world of Drazok’s masquerading friend. A small independent world that tended to mind its own business, Borel wasn’t on the suspect planet list, sat in between Cholar and Lurgos, and took less than a day to reach.
“We’ve probably got enough money to get to Borel,” I said as we weighed our transport options. “But there won’t be much left over for tickets to Lurgos.”
“We can soon get it,” said Simon. “We had considerable wealth bestowed on us for our services to the crown. It’s only titles and offices we can’t have until we’re older.”
“Wealth that’s in trust,” I pointed out. “We can only get at what’s considered a reasonable amount of spending money for our ages. And even that’s only accessible once a week, to teach us how to budget.”
Something only Kirsty and I had trouble with, the others being born savers.
“Leave it to me,” said Simon.
He went off to sort out the necessary travel funds, along with what he vaguely referred to as ‘other things’. By the time we were ready to set out, our accounts had become open access accounts and the amount permitted for withdrawal increased by, well, let’s just say quite a lot.
I didn’t ask how.
I didn’t want to know.
Even so, getting off Cholar wasn’t as easy as just going to Cholaris’s starport and booking passage to Borel. Like all the main starports, it was being watched by special guards charged with catching Drazok — if, by chance, he was on Cholar and trying to get off — and making sure anyone who might be working for him stayed planet-bound. Travel documents were being carefully examined, and people known to have been associated with Drazok in any way whatsoever, detained. That didn’t apply to us, as our association with him hadn’t exactly been cordial, but we were too well-known to get by even regular starport personnel unnoticed.
There was, however, a small starport on the edge of Chorathase that was mostly only used by naturalists and outdoorsy types from other worlds.
“And Borel is one of the planets it serves,” said Simon. “I know because Naka told me Kovo sometimes meets up with Borelian naturalists when he’s camped out there studying the flora and fauna.”
Arlyne gave him an odd look. “How long have you been calling Princess Zovia and Prince Mardis Naka and Kovo?”
“Not sure. A week or so, I guess. It slipped out, and they said I could. They don’t have any kids, and while I’m here I’m sort of their kid.”
“Hmm. Well, yes, I suppose you are,” I said. “They might even miss you a little when we go back to Yaix.”
“Yeah. More than Mother and Father at any rate.”
I was expecting Arlyne to protest and start in about how busy they were, but all she said was we’d better get going if we wanted to catch a ground bus out to Chorathase. An airbus would have been faster, but those went out of the Cholaris starport and we didn’t want to run the risk of being noticed.
There were only a few people at the tiny Chorathase starport, most of them aliens who’d just arrived or were heading home. We had no trouble purchasing tickets for Borel, but the only ship going out that day wasn’t due to board for a couple of hours. To pass the time, we went up into the observation tower and looked out over Chorathase itself.
It was a clear day and visibility was good. In the far, far distance, we could see an ocean. Immediately before us, however, swept a panorama of trees, hills, mountains, and lakes in beautiful, spectacular, abundance. Some of it was in Chorathase Park, the rest in the notorious restricted zone.
“The Shield of Beom might still be out there somewhere,” I said. “I wish we had time to go look for it. It could help us find the kids and protect them once we have them.”
“Och, people have been looking for it for centuries,” said Kirsty. “It’s not likely to pop up oot of nowhere just for us. And we already know where the we’ans are.”
“Yes, on Lurgos, which is quite a big planet, and the Quorlians’ hide-out could be anywhere.”
“Aye, I know, but a large metropolis with oodles of different races moving aboot would be the best place for them to lie low. Even Quorlians would think of that. I’m betting on the capital, Lurgo. Its starport will be the one oor ship will be going to anyway, so it’s as good a place as any to start.”
When we heard the boarding call for our ship, we went back into the main part of the starport, coming to a sudden stop when we rounded a corner and saw a familiar figure leaning up against some luggage chutes.
“Going somewhere?” Mr. Skoko inquired. “Do not bother to answer. I have already made inquiries and know you are booked on a ship destined for Borel. You will not be boarding it.”
We exchanged looks of dismay.
“How did you —” I began.
“— guess you might try something like this? Let’s just say I have come to know how the four of you think.” He pursed his lips and looked at Arlyne. “I suppose I will now have to put together a dossier on Miss Arlyne as well.”
“Och, come now, Mr. Skoko,” said Kirsty. “You must be for knowing we’re the only ones who can go to Lurgos and get Challa and Kadi. Cholarians canna do it, and neither can you. It has to be people from an AUP-member planet or a neutral world.”
“Supreme Ruler Taziol is working on recruiting some for the task.”
“Aye, maybe, but how long will it take him? Time’s of the essence.”
“I am aware of that. I am also aware His Royal Highness intends to have any rescue attempt of his children carried out by adults. He will not be pleased when he learns of this.”
“Does that mean he doesn’t know yet?” I asked. “And our guardians don’t either?”
“I chose not to inform anyone of my suspicions until I knew they were correct.”
“But you can’t take us back to the palace. You just can’t.”
“I can and will.”
“And naught will change your mind?” said Kirsty.
“No.”
“Och, well, I suppose it will have to be this way then.” Whirling round, Kirsty pointed at Mr. Skoko. “Help! Help! This wee mannie just made an improper suggestion to me.”
“What? No!” Mr. Skoko spluttered. “That is a lie. I —”
He got no further as Simon backed Kirsty’s play by hitting the button on the luggage chute behind Mr. Skoko and giving him a hard push.
This tactical manoeuvre wouldn’t have worked if most of the people at the Chorathase starport had been Cholarians. Mr. Skoko was too well known and regarded as one of Taz’s saviours. But the bulk of those around us were aliens and they came running to render assistance as he disappeared down the chute cursing all five of us.
“We’ve a ship to get to,” Kirsty told them. “And if we have to stop and talk to the authorities aboot this —”
“Do not worry, Miss,” a burly Delveckian man replied. “You go aboard your ship. We will make sure he remains where this clever young man had the forethought to deposit him.”
“And will hand him over to the authorities after the ship has departed,” a Bithian matron added earnestly.
“Thank you kindly,” said Kirsty.
“He’s never going to like us, is he?” I murmured as we made our way to the ship.
Simon grinned. “Not in a million years.”
The trip to Borel took less than a day We got there without further incident and were able to take ship for Lurgos almost upon arrival. By then there was little chance of pursuit from Cholar as it would have taken a while for Mr. Skoko to be arrested, recognized, absolved of any wrongdoing, and apprise Taz of our plans in person rather than risk having a communication intercepted. And even when he had, Taz couldn’t very well have anyone follow us and try to bring us back. Not just because of the ban, but because Drazok would be watching for even the smallest hint as to where Challa and Kadi might be.
A day and a half later we went into orbit around Lurgos, having again travelled without incident. None of us had ever been to the big, sprawling city of Lurgo, but we knew better than to call attention to ourselves by specifically asking where criminals might hole-up. Instead, we went to the nearest tourist information booth and asked where the seedy parts of town were.
“Just so’s we can avoid them,” Kirsty explained.
The woman we spoke to nodded understandingly and let us download maps into our pocket computers highlighting all the disreputable districts.
Kirsty, Simon, and I took the nearest ones and Jip and Arlyne the farthest. We didn’t think we’d be in too much danger as, on AUP-worlds, disreputable usually just meant the people were poor rather than criminally and/or immorally inclined. AUP-backed governments were known for being tough on crime that didn’t do anything to enrich its upper echelons, who eschewed minor thieving and thuggery and preferred to take a percentage of the greater profits to be had from the gambling, prostitution, and other lucrative enterprises going on in more upscale neighbourhoods.
We were also armed, Simon having managed to obtain two stun-guns before we left Cholar. Again, I didn’t ask how, because, again, I didn’t want to know. I carried one, and Jip the other.
The tentative questions Kirsty, Simon, and I asked about Quorlian friends didn’t net us anything, but when we joined Jip and Arlyne in the small park we’d arranged to meet in, they did have something to report.
Vorlans usually come across as being vague and dreamy. Some people even think they’re non-verbal, and to some extent they are. Until you get to know them. Once you do, once they establish a rapport with you, it’s just like having a conversation with anyone, only with some of it going on in your head. They can’t read minds, or anything like that — and wouldn’t if they could — but can reach out to request a mind conversation. I thought they had to be in very close proximity for it to work, but apparently not. If they really concentrate, they can talk to people streets away. Jip had only had one visit with Challa and Kadi since her return to Cholar but the rapport she’d built with Challa some months earlier was still in effect.
“So, you found her? Talked to her?” I asked eagerly.
“No. Merely sensed her. I think she may be asleep.”
“But you know what building she’s in?”
“Yes. I did not want to leave Arlyne alone in the street while I went into it through another dimension but will do so now she is back with you.” She turned to Simon. “Did you happen to bring the wildlife observer with you?”
“Right here.” He pulled it out of his belt and handed it to her.
“Then I will take it with me, return to the initial plane long enough to set it in some unobtrusive place, and come back here so we can watch what is going on with the children and come up with a plan for getting them away from their captors.”
“Jip, no,” I protested. “Their captors might capture you if you’re on the initial plane.”
“I will not be on it long and intend to wait until their attention is diverted in some way.”
She took the observer and disappeared.
A few minutes later, she was back.
I gave a sigh of relief. “I take it their attention was diverted?”
“Challa appears to have woken up in a bad mood and was having a tantrum.”
We settled down on some park benches and brought the observer’s observation feed up on our computers. The screens showed a dingy room with a table, three chairs, and three beds. One of the Quorlians, Mux, was in a chair rocking Kadi back and forth in two of his arms while holding off a kicking Challa with one of the others.
She wasn’t screaming — though I imagine she had been — now preferring to apply herself to inflicting as much damage on Mux as a small Cholarian could inflict on a big Quorlian. Which wasn’t much, but Mux still didn’t care for it. He tried to ignore her and concentrate on Kadi.
“Good baby,” he crooned. “Good baby.” He looked across to his brother, who was shuffling around the room. “I like baby. He nice. That one not. She all the time yell and kick me. We keep him. Sell her.”
I don’t think I was ever jealous of Arlyne, or her of Simon. We were all company for each other. But Challa was still working on sharing the limelight with Kadi. Taking exception to this blatant declaration of favouritism, she kicked Mux again, even more forcefully.
“See?” Mux said plaintively.
“We sell both,” said Zud. “Get rich.”
“When we get rich?”
“When father pay. Or other man pay. He say he give most money. Has friends to help.”
“I’ll just bet he does,” Kirsty muttered. “AUP friends. And that’s not to the good. AUP’s substantial coffers could provide Drazok with enough money to outbid Taz.”
“Why he not pay us yet?” Mux inquired.
“He not know where we are. I not trust him, so I not tell. Get money first, then tell.”
“Och, so he dinna trust Drazok, eh? Can’t be as dense as Chief Rupin thought, then.”
I gave a short laugh. “Oh, they’re smart enough about some things. They knew to go hide on the cloaked ship. And leave orbit before it uncloaked.”
“How we get money first?” Mux asked.
“Not sure. Have to think about that.”
They talked about pay off options for quite a while, never really getting anywhere.
Bored, Challa stopped kicking Mux and said, “I’m hungry.”
“Okay,” said Zud. “I feed.”
He reached into a hold-all with one of his hands and pulled out what looked like a package of mixed fruit. He then opened it and placed the fruit in a bowl before giving it to Challa, who had clambered up on a chair and was sitting at the table in readiness.
“I feed baby,” said Mux.
He rummaged through the hold-all and brought out a bottle filled with milk, of which there appeared to be several, but Kadi pushed it away and started to cry.
“Why cry?” said Mux, puzzled. “Is good milk. Nice milk. Babies like milk.”
“Not just milk,” Challa said scornfully. “You always give him milk. He’s not a really little baby. He eats other things too.”
“What things?”
“Things like this.” She pointed to her bowl. “But you have to squish it up first and give it to him with a spoon.”
“Oh. Okay. I do that.”
“They seem to be looking after them,” said Arlyne. “Or at least trying to. But how can we get them away from them? Wait until they’re asleep and have Jip sneak them out through another dimension?”
“I cannot do that,” said Jip. “Dimension-travel requires training and a suitable metabolism. Challa and Kadi have neither.”
“How, then?” Arlyne wanted to know. “They’re too big for us, even all of us together, to overpower.”
“Stun guns are a great equalizer,” said Simon. “Jip can go in through that other dimension again, pop out, and blast them.”
“What is it with you and blasting things?” I asked, glad I’d taken the stun guns away from him and even gladder he hadn’t been able to get his hands on any liquidators.
“It’s a good idea,” Simon insisted.
Actually, it was, so we decided to go with it. Not the popping out of another dimension and blasting them bit, just the Jip going back in through another dimension bit.
The room Mux and Zud were in was on the ground floor. We thought if we waited until they were asleep, Jip would be able to slip back onto the initial plane and pass the kids out to us, with me keeping my stun gun out in case one or both of the Eth Thulos brothers woke up.
Late that night, we put our rescue plan into effect. The observer showed Mux and Zud snoring in two of the beds and Challa and Kadi asleep in the other, with Challa clutching her musical baton, just as she must have been when she was abducted. I was pleased to note two of the chairs had been placed against the sides so neither child could roll out.
As soon as the rest of us had stationed ourselves under the window, Jip disappeared into a dimension corridor, reappearing onscreen moments later.
According to Jagri, Challa and Kadi had not woken up when Mux and Zud took them. I was keeping my fingers crossed they wouldn’t on this occasion either, but Challa did. Fortunately, she recognized Jip and merely nodded when Jip put a finger to her lips to warn her to keep quiet. Jip then passed her out to Arlyne and went back for Kadi.
She was halfway across the room with him when he woke up too and was not as willing to go along with this interruption of his slumber as his sister. He didn’t full out cry, but he did make little protest noises, and that was all it took to alert Mux to his distress.
Mux instantly stopped snoring and went from sound asleep to fully awake in about a second. He sat up, blinking, and glared at Jip.
“Who you? And why you have my baby?”