Part 24 (1/2)
He paused again, extending his arms as if to embrace them all, and, as Kranath had shown it to him, showed them their true homeworld. He explained their origins and their rescue from Terra. ”So,” he finished, ”you are our relatives, by ancestry as Terran as I am. The Empire has known as little of this as you have, but it will; and by its laws, you're already Imperial citizens.”
He felt their consternation at that, their unwillingness to believe they could be part of what they'd fought for so long. Then some began to realize the changes this revelation should bring, and he sensed their first stirrings of real hope. Satisfied with that beginning, he let his image and presence fade from all but two gathering halls, his own and D'gameh's. At D'gameh, he addressed one of the males.
”Arjen?”
The Fleet-Captain, wearing brilliant blue-and-gold robes in-clan, bowed deeply. To be name-called by such a one--! ”Yes, Lord. How may I serve you?”
Lord. Tarlac shrugged inwardly; it was his t.i.tle now. ”You did a pretty nasty job for the Circle when you picked me up the way you did, and I know how badly it upset you. We appreciate it, and I'd like to ask something else of you that may make up for it, a little. May I?”
”Of course, Lord.” This time it was Arjen who didn't know what was going on but couldn't refuse.
”It'll mean cutting your leave short, I'm afraid. I'd like you to have the Hermnaen ready for takeoff tomorrow morning, with just the s.h.i.+p crew, no combat troops. You'll be carrying the human prisoners instead, plus the Supreme, the First Speaker, my sponsor Hovan, and myself.”
”You, Lord?” Arjen knew he shouldn't question a G.o.d, but why would one want to travel by s.h.i.+p?
Tarlac understood Arjen's question. ”I could transfer myself--or all of us, for that matter--but humans aren't as ready for open divine intervention as Traiti. I'd rather let things seem as normal as possible. Can you arrange for the s.h.i.+p?”
”Of course, Lord. We will be ready at daybreak.”
”Thanks.” Tarlac returned fully to his mortal body at the Ch'kara clanhome. Arjen's pride in the a.s.signment pleased him; it would ease the Fleet-Captain's lingering discomfort at having violated the body-return signal, even by the First Speaker's--the Lords'--orders.
Many in D'gameh shared his uneasiness, and calling Arjen by name would repair the reserve Tarlac had sensed toward him there.
Ch'kara's gathering hall was beginning to empty, his n'ruhar responding to his desire for normality. Finally only a small group remained at the base of the dais: the First Speaker and Supreme; the two physicians, Channath and Jason; and Daria, Hovan, and Yarra.
Jason, the only human, was also the only one who couldn't quite seem to accept the human Ranger's new status. Tarlac appreciated the irony and was amused by it, but it didn't really matter. ”Doctor,” he said, ”I need your professional opinion. Are the prisoners fit to travel?”
The doctor was a professional; his expression hardened. ”No, sir, though I can only speak for those held in the same camp with me--”
”That is all of them,” the Supreme broke in.
”Okay. Go on, Doctor.”
”Yes, sir.” Dr. Jason began ticking off objections on his fingers.
”We've had marriages, so we've had pregnancies; one's near term, and transition might put her into premature labor. Then there are a couple of new ones, wounded, still on life support, and one the Sharks tortured for information. There are maybe half a dozen others with minor injuries or illness, nothing serious.”
He shook his head. ”Once the Sharks figure they've gotten all they can from someone, we get medical care the equal of anything the Empire could provide--especially the women.” His admiration, however grudging, was obvious. ”They're as good at trauma as I've ever seen, and a lot better at gynecology and obstetrics. My wife says she wants a Traiti doctor if she ever gets pregnant. d.a.m.ned if I know why they're so good.”
Tarlac seized that chance to find out how an ordinary Imperial citizen would react to the Traiti s.e.xual imbalance. ”I guess you've never seen a Traiti clan instead of their military, have you? Until now?”
”Sir?” Jason looked puzzled, then shook his head. ”No, sir, I haven't. Why?”
”How many women would you say Ch'kara has? It's typical.”
”I didn't see many, sir, maybe a quarter of the ones here. Guess not even Shark women like seeing someone get hurt.”
”He was the Ordeal taking,” Yarra said in English. ”All who could here be, him to honor, were. You the right percentage saw.”
Dr. Jason understood the implications at once. ”Jesus H. Christ!
They've got to be good with women, then--and childcare, too. But what about my patients?”