Chapter 9

 

The strange woman Angara had called Iphini Bha fell over backward, tripping on a small stool and catching herself on a large desk-like piece of furniture in the corner. Some metal pen-like object flew from her hands. She was screaming the whole way, her blanched skin writhing with lines that looked like fine cracks. Her eyes, a strange pale blue, were wide with terror.

“No!” Angara reached out with one hand, trying to catch the frail-seeming woman. But she slapped the offered hand aside even as she fell, her feet scrambling for purchase. Soon she was braced behind the desk, crouched down staring at Marcus with those odd, alien eyes.

Marcus staggered back, not knowing quite what to make of this reaction. The high-pitched shrieks of the pale woman disoriented him even more than he had been. He was in a chamber that looked very much like a small conference room, with a table down the middle surrounded by strange constructions that must have been chairs. The large desk dominated one end, and there seemed to be some kind of tub or trough behind it.

At first he thought the walls had been decorated with mundane, if abstract, paintings. They had appeared to be gentle studies in pastel clouds when he first saw them, before the wailing began. He had lost interest in the artwork after the woman had her fit, but now, trying to put a little distance between them, he saw that the paintings were moving. They were shifting within the frames, the colors churning together, changing as he watched. And it wasn’t uniform, either. Those closer to the distraught woman were now dominated with jagged red slashes and splashes of black, while those at his end of the room remained somewhat peaceful; although the images were changing there as well.

He thought he could see a face emerging from the swirl of colors; a face he thought he should know. And then he realized that he did recognize it. It was a face that had been haunting him since before they had left for their little getaway weekend to the backwoods of Connecticut.

Clarissa.

It was still abstract, with the colors blending with light and shadow, but she was in there. It was a less-than-calming effect, all things considered.

He was staring in wonder at the nearest painting, the anxiety of an alien woman less pressing than it had been a moment before. He was vaguely aware, however, of Justin moving toward the woman, open hands outstretched. He turned to watch. If she shrieked at him, she should have a similarly heart-warming reaction to Justin as well. It would do his soul good to see someone else shrieked at, after the way Angara had been treating him.

But as the hood slid away from Justin’s bald, dark head, the woman, her eyes fixed on Marcus, barely registered him. She flicked a glance in his direction and then went back to staring at Marcus as if afraid he was going to leap across the room and try to eat her.

“Iphini, calm down!” Angara was standing on the opposite side of the big desk, her hands flat on the surface. “Everything is fine! I promise.”

The woman looked to Angara, then back to Marcus, her eyes still wild. “Fine? Fine?!?” The huge eyes narrowed, and she pointed one long finger at him. “Did he kill him? Did he kill Virri?”

“What?” Angara looked genuinely confused for a moment, and then put up her hands again. “No! Iphini, honestly, they didn’t kill Virri! They had nothing to do with it!”

The pale-skinned woman deflated somewhat at that. Her eyes flicked from Marcus to the dark-skinned woman with sad, wide eyes. “How did it happen, Angara? How did Virri die?”

The bodyguard’s eyes darted away. There was embarrassment there, but sadness as well. Marcus watched, fascinated. It was easy to forget that he was here because of the death of another person. Any reminder, especially involving the administrator’s bodyguard, was compelling.

“I can’t talk about it now, Iphini. There was an accident.” She looked back at the smaller woman. “I promise, I’ll tell you everything. Right now, we need to address the difficulties at hand. But you have my word: they had nothing to do with it.”

“They?” That seemed to stop the woman. She looked confused, and then turned to Justin, her eyes narrowed further, and her face twisted once more into horror. “Oh no. Another one? He’s another one?!? You brought two Humans to Penumbra!?!”

That brought a little satisfaction. Although, even in the moment, Marcus had the presence of mind to wonder why the woman hadn’t realized there were two Humans in the room the moment Justin’s hood fell, revealing his eyes.

“Iphini, you’ve got to calm down, or we’re all dead.” Angara’s voice was quiet, but there was an edge of steel in it that Marcus heard loud and clear through the bugs in his head.

The porcelain-skinned woman’s face screwed up at that, her eyes narrowed, and she stood a little taller. “What is that supposed to mean?” She looked back at Marcus and Justin, then her eyes widened. “No.”

The word carried such clear disbelief, Marcus desperately wanted to know what she thought was happening, and why it was so terrible.

Angara nodded. “Yes, but you have to listen to me.”

The woman shook her head, and again, Marcus had to wonder about the universality of gestures in the wider galaxy. Iphini Bha was definitely giving an emphatic ‘no’ with her entire body.

But Angara was equally as forceful. “Iphini, we have no choice. And you have to listen.” She fetched the pen from the floor and gave it to the strange little woman who took it absentmindedly.

Bha looked from Marcus to Justin again, her lip twisted as if she had tasted something rotten. “A Human? You’re going to trust a Human?”

“That’s enough!” Marcus stepped toward them, trying not to feel terrible when the slighter woman shied away. “What the hell’s so bad about being Human?”

That seemed to strike Bha as hilarious despite her shocked and terrified state, and she gave a bark of high pitched noise that he could, with a squint, call a laugh.

When she turned back to Angara, the little woman’s outrage was clear. “You cannot mean to place a Human as administrator of Penumbra. The city won’t stand for it!”

Angara shook her head. “Not permanently, I promise. But you have to understand, Uduta Virri gave them the Skorahn! It is bonded to this Human more deeply than I have ever heard or seen it bonded to anyone before!”

Again with the shaking of the pale, bald head. “Virri would have never given that medallion away. He knew what it was worth.”

“It was worth a lifetime of luxury and sloth, and to a Rayabell like Virri, that was a great treasure indeed.” Angara agreed. “But he gave it away all the time, and you know it. It was one of his standard ploys, knowing that primitives would sense its worth without understanding why. He used it as collateral for half a hundred ruses, and every time he did, he would get it back with equal facility.” She jerked her head at Marcus. “Until now.”

Marcus was getting sick of seeing the blue expanse of this woman’s eyes. “That one?” Bha dropped to her knees behind the desk, letting her head fall into her long-fingered hands. “Why did it have to be that one?”

“Okay, that’s it!” Marcus slapped the table with the flat of his hand and both women stopped, turning to look at him. “What’s so bad about me, eh? How come he keeps getting a pass?” He jerked his thumb at his dark-skinned friend. Justin, for his part, looked just as confused and curious.

But if he thought he was going to get his questions answered just then, he was mistaken. “There would be riots throughout the towers, Ksaka, and you know it.” Bha flung a gesture at Marcus. “No one will stand for it.” Her expressive eyes rolled. “And what about Taurani? It wouldn’t matter what ancient treaties and agreements keep them off our backs for now. If the Council knew there were Humans here, never mind one in charge of the city, they would send everything they have to destroy us!”

Angara sunk into one of the chairs, her shoulders sagging, with a nod. “I’m not saying it’s going to be easy, Iphini.” Her violet eyes were pleading, shadowed by the fall of her white hair. “I’m saying we don’t have a choice.”

The bodyguard turned to Marcus and gestured him forward. “You need to see the Skorahn. Maybe then you’ll understand why it has to be this way.”

Marcus moved forward, pulling the medallion out from the neck of his robe. He had taken to wearing it as a necklace on the Yud’ahm Na’uka. It seemed proper.

Iphini Bha watched him approach as if she was seeing a monster stalk toward her through a jungle. She peered at the medallion as he took it off and held it out for her to see. A ghostly image was floating within the central stone. It had been forming since before Angara had performed her little test back on the ship. Now it seemed to float even closer to the surface. It looked like a letter or a symbol of some kind, but of a design that he didn’t recognize.

She didn’t appear to be able to read it either, but its very presence seemed to frighten to her, and she backed away. The little woman, supposedly the deputy to the man … thing … alien that had commanded the entire city, looked up at him in awe.

“It cannot be.” Her voice was low and soft. Her grip on the pen tightened.

Angara nodded. “It is. It is bonded more closely to him than it has been to anyone from the records I have found in my time here.”

Iphini Bha’s face went from frightened to despondent. “Then there really is no hope for us.” Her words were bleak. “We will all either die as the city shuts down around us, or we will die when the Council decides we are more trouble than we are worth.”

Angara shook her head and reached across the desk to take the woman’s hands. “No, Iphini. Marcus Wells will only be administrator for a very brief time. We can find another more suitable being to replace him.” She looked back to him and her face was pleading. “He wants to leave. Do you not want to return to your home, Marcus Wells?”

He nodded without thinking, ignoring Justin’s face. “I do.”

That set Bha into another fit of laughter. “He wants to return to Earth? To Earth?”

“Iphini, please, you have to relax and believe me.” Angara leaned down again. “Marcus Wells will be leaving here. He will be surrendering the Skorahn. We need only find a suitable replacement.”

The laughter trailed off, much to Marcus’s relief. And Bha stood, still wary, still keeping an eye on him as if he might attack at any second. And still, he noticed with a bitter twist to his mouth, not tracking Justin at all. But now her eyes were thoughtful, and her lips pursed in an unmistakable expression of reflection.

“It could be something genetic. A match might require some amount of compatibility.” She flexed up on her toes, and then lowered herself down again. “An Aijian?”

Angara nodded. “That was what I was thinking. Alab Oo’juto is here. He would make an excellent candidate.”

Bha snorted. “He will not thank you. You know what Virri and his predecessors did to the reputation of this office.” She shot another look at Marcus, but this time it seemed to be shaded more with distaste and less with fear. “And he will not thank you, even if he can see the value, for any gift that comes from the hand of a Human.”

“Wait.” Justin raised a hand before Marcus could spit a comment back. “What kind of possible link could extraterrestrial wannabe dolphins have with Humans?”

Angara sighed. “The Aijians are not wannabe dolphins. All creatures you call dolphins are Aijians. Any who serve on Earth have been … genetically modified to carry the codes and markers for what your scientists believe is ‘Earth’ DNA, so as not to arouse suspicion.”

“But … why?” Justin was shaking his head, and Marcus did the same. “Why would an alien race want to be genetically altered to go to Earth? What is there to gain?”

Angara and Iphini shared a look, and then both turned to the Humans. “You would not understand that level of racial focus.” Iphini’s words were probably more hurtful in their matter-of-fact delivery than if she had been trying to insult them.

“The racial commitment to purpose shared by nearly all Aijians is ancient. They have been on Earth for almost as long as you have.” Angara seemed to be speaking more on the subject than she ever had, and that made Marcus suspicious.

Iphini turned back to Angara. “What if Oo’juto refuses to serve? It is a distinct possibility.”

Angara sighed. “I know. I am still trying to think of alternatives. I had thought, maybe K’hzan Modath?”

That brought a bark of laughter from Bha, and the bodyguard bowed her head with a nod. “Although it might do the Council some good to have their noses tweaked in such a fashion, I fear they would make quicker work of us with K’hzan at the helm than if we had these Humans announce to the galaxy their intention to burn the entire thing down!”

Angara looked disturbed by that, and Iphini Bha stopped laughing, an embarrassed look crossing her porcelain features. “I’m sorry.” She shot the two Humans another fearful look, as if she might have given them an idea.

Marcus shook his head and fell into one of the chairs. It molded itself to his body, almost bringing him jumping right out again. It wasn’t as quick or as complete as the furniture on the Yud’ahm Na’uka, but it was comfortable almost instantly. He had no interest in comfort at the moment, however.

“Listen, if you guys know the real story, and you’re still concerned about us being Human, how do you think you’re going to sell this to the rest of the city?” He didn’t like the idea of being thrust out into a galaxy of hostile aliens who hated him for no reason at all.

“I was thinking we would keep you hidden, actually.” Angara had the manners to look uncomfortable. “If we were to keep you isolated, keep knowledge of your actual origin a secret, we should be able to hold things together until a suitable replacement can be arranged.”

“If Oo’juto declines, we will most likely have to send a request to Omiaye and hope another Aijian can be found who will be more amenable.”

“That’s not entirely true. There are countless Children here, many of them will share enough of a link, I believe.” Angara looked distinctly distressed at having made the suggestion.

The suggestion upset Iphini as well. “No Child has been an administrator in the history of Penumbra.”

Angara tilted her head to one side. “Maybe there’s a reason for that.” She looked at Marcus and he felt his skin grow warm under her gaze. “There’s never been an administrator as deeply bonded to the medallion as him, as far as I can tell.”

“Who the hell are the Children?” Marcus snapped, sensing the capitalization. “And what is a Child?”

“It would be easier if it was this one.” Iphini Bha gestured at Justin, who looked as uncomfortable as Marcus now. “Change his eye color, keep his head shaved, shave the face? There would be very little problem with that.”

Angara nodded. “I know. I had thought that. He did not bond with the medallion, however. The pale one did. And so he is the being with which we must now deal.”

“Wait,” Justin raised a hand. “What’s this all about now? Change my eye color? Keep my head shaved?” He slid one hand across his smooth dark scalp as he settled into a seat. “That’s the plan, by the way. But why would it matter?”

Another frustrating gaze passed between the two women, and Iphini Bha answered. “With your midnight skin tone you look very much like a Mnymian, a race familiar throughout the civilized galaxy.”

“We saw those in the docking bay from afar, if you will recall. Although they have bright red hair and completely white, featureless eyes.” Angara included. “Both easily addressed. Alas, it does not matter. The Skorahn bonded to Marcus Wells.”

“Dude, someday you are going to owe me so bad!” Justin snarled.

“Yeah, that’s fine.” Marcus launched himself out of the seat and began to pace. Not caring at all when Iphini Bha jerked back behind the desk, raising a marbled hand to her mouth. “Hide me in a closet for all I care. The sooner you get me out of here the better. I’ve only dealt with you two, and it’s already been too much.”

The pent-up frustration had pushed him to the breaking point. His pacing became more and more erratic. He could not honestly have said if he was going closer and closer to the desk to serve his sudden need for motion, or because it was making Iphini Bha more and more uncomfortable. “I don’t care why you hate Humans, or what you think I did, or why he,” he jerked a thumb at his grinning friend, “will make such a great … Nya-mumbo-jumbo, and so a better Human being.”

“Not, actually, a—” Bha began, but he cut her off.

“Just find a replacement as soon as you can so I can go home. I’m only going to be able to stay under lock and key for so long, before I go insane.” The threat struck home with Iphini Bha for sure. And the effect was entirely ruined as he moved to settle his back at last against the wall.

It was not the wall he was standing before, but the secure door. A door, furthermore, that should only open at the express desire of a duly-delegated executive of the city.

As he moved toward it, the door opened smoothly, dropping him on his ass just outside, into the bustle of the outer office.

All of the movement and commotion died away as the menagerie serving the many stations stopped their work to turn and stare. The array of creatures gaping at him would have been impressive under different circumstances.

He almost expected it when the first scream echoed off the low ceiling of the bunker-like room. When others joined the chorus, he couldn’t stop himself from nodding with a sigh.

Several beings rushed past him and out through the massive blast doors, their cries fading into the distance down the bending corridor outside.

Iphini Bha and Angara rushed out after him, lifted him up by his arms, and dragged him back into the office.

“Everything is alright, everyone!” Bha’s voice was far more commanding than he would have expected. “This is not what it appears to be. Everything will be set to rights soon enough.” They had Marcus settled back in a chair, where he could start to realize that his back hurt from his unanticipated fall. “Please, go back to your duties, and I will let you all know exactly what is happening as soon as the situation allows. But I promise you, all is well.”

“Where’s Administrator Virri?!” One of the creatures shouted the question. Marcus saw that it was the big hulking green brute sitting in the fancy chair on the low stage.

“Please,” Bha was begging now. That wasn’t a good sign. “Go back to your duties, and I will explain everything in due time.”

Before anymore comments could be launched, Bha jumped back into the office and waved the door closed behind her.

“Well, we could have done without that.” Marcus couldn’t help the small smile on his face. These two women had been speaking about him as if he wasn’t even in the room since he had arrived. It was nice to see they didn’t know everything.

Of course, his own safety might very well be in jeopardy now …

Angara and the smaller woman stood staring at the closed door, their breathing heavy, their eyes wide.

“Maybe they’ll stay quiet.” Angara didn’t sound like she thought that was likely.

“No. Several ran off down the corridor in a panic. There will be no hiding them now.” Bha shot Justin and Marcus a poisonous look.

“Okay,” Justin pushed himself up from his chair, hands raised in surrender. “This is insane. Why in the name of all that’s holy on God’s green earth are you people so against Humans? We haven’t even made it off our own planet! I mean, sure, we can generally screw things up pretty good when we’ve got a mind to, but we haven’t even had a chance to mess around with your corner of the galaxy yet. What gives?”

Marcus nodded. “You’ve been treating us like animals since you forced us onto your ship.” He waved away the look Justin shot him. “And now, between this air-raid siren and the freak show out in the office there?” He gestured first to Bha and then to the closed door. “I’m not going another step until you tell me what the hell’s going on.”

Bha and Angara exchanged a worried look. By the writhing of their expressions and the twitching of their eyes, it was clear they were trying to decide how much to tell the two Humans, and who would have to do the talking. The silent battle ended with Bha collapsing onto the little stool by the door and the tall bodyguard sighing in frustration.

Angara rounded on Marcus and Justin with iron in her eyes. Her fists rested upon her narrow hips, and her lips curled into a half-snarl that set them both back into their chairs.

“The Humans on Earth are not the only Humans in the galaxy.” She held up a hand to silence their rush of questions at that. “There are small, vicious, nomadic splinter fleets that wander the galaxy, sewing violence and death wherever they go.” Her eyes burned as she continued. “The Humans left roaming at large are not beings you would want to associate with, trust me. They are a barbaric, malicious race of killers trying to resurrect a past they cannot possibly understand through unspeakable acts of horror.”

“What did they splinter from?” Justin was as angry as his friend now.

Marcus’s eyes narrowed. “What kind of past? Where’d these splinter fleets come from? How far back are you talking?”

 “Not far enough.” Bha spat the words, then shook her head as Angara gestured for her to take over.

 With a sigh, the dark woman finished. “You will not be well-received. That’s really all you need to know.”

Justin and Marcus looked at each other, then back to Angara. She would not meet their eyes.

“It is a truth you must accept.” She said it with authority, but Marcus had the distinct impression that this was even more an evasion than it seemed. “Suffice it to say that Humans are nearly universally reviled, and our work now will be much, much more difficult because of that last little stunt.”

Marcus wanted to object to that. He hadn’t consciously asked the door to open and drop him into the outer office! But he was so close now to so many of the mysteries that had plagued him since Angara Ksaka had whisked them away.

“I assume this splintering happened a long, long time ago?” He shook his head. “How long ago, that you folks still hold such a grudge? And Justin’s right: what did they split from? Where are those Humans?”

Angara’s eyes rose to meet his, and tightened as she looked at him. “I understand your anger; I am more likely to empathize with you than any other being in Penumbra. But the truths you seek do not exist. They are myths and legends now, woven into the very fabric of the galactic society you will have to contend with.”

It was Justin’s turn to shake his head. “Bullshit. This makes no sense. We’re going to be damned for something someone did thousands of years ago that obviously has nothing to do with those of us who grew up on Earth?”

Again the women shared a hooded glance, and then looked away. Angara cleared her throat, and moved to the desk. “Well, do not forget that those feral Humans are still a threat today.” She glanced at Iphini Bha and then continued. “There are many, even here in Penumbra, who live with the scars of their attentions. As for the deeper, more general animosity you will experience, I am afraid I am not qualified to speak to that. It will have to wait for another day. We need to get the two of you situated, and try to consolidate our position with the command staff before fear and rumors carry us all away.”

Bha nodded, standing. “Our task will be much harder now. We will need to move quickly if we are to have any hope at all.” She moved to the desk and two spheres of colored mist rose up from the surface. She stuck her hands into the light and began to twist them about.

“We will need to schedule a full public audience. It is the only way we can hope to curtail the pressure that will be building against us.”

Angara looked back to the Humans. “We will get you to suitable quarters, and then make the preparations for the public audience.”

Marcus felt his heart beating faster. He was great with small groups, but he had never been overly comfortable in front of a large crowd. He was terrified to think of what might be at stake for both of them this time around.

He shook his head. “I don’t get it. What if they find out there’s a Human in charge? What’s the worst that could happen?”

The look Angara gave him was icy cold. “The resulting panic could cause a mass exodus from the city, destabilizing everything and throwing all of Penumbra into a spiral of chaos and destruction. But before that, there are many in the city whose violent natures are not nearly so suppressed as galactic society would like to believe. They could well kill you both out of hand long before the city itself perishes.”

He swallowed, unable to take his eyes from hers, and nodded. “We’ll do what we have to do.”

Bha looked up. “You will do better than that, Human.” She shot a sour look at Angara. “All of our fates are tied to yours, now.”

The bodyguard looked like she wanted to deny this, but then her proud shoulders slipped, and she only nodded.

He hadn’t thought it was possible, but that made Marcus feel even worse.