Part 15 (2/2)

”His idea, but Mother had to agree to parting with you,” Laria said, linking an arm about their shoulders and hugging them into her. ”Oh, but it's good to have family here. Now, are you hungry or do you want to settle in? You may, once you've got accustomed to Clarf, wish to take an apartment together in the Human Compound because there's a lot more going on there than here. I've asked for another ground car since I know” she c.o.c.ked a finger at Morag-”that Dad pa.s.sed you for driving years before he let me solo.”

”Had to,” Morag said with a grin.

”We can settle in later. We came here to work ” Kaltia said, rubbing ' ' O.

her hands together with a roll of her eyes.

”You will,” Lionasha said, gesturing to the load of disks. ”We've some heavy drone freighters to go . . .”

”Ah, piffle,” said Morag, with a toss of her heavy dark hair, the silvered lock that was the family's trademark falling neatly down the center of her tresses. ”We've done big-daddy ore drones until it's second nature.”

”Why else do you think you're here?” Vanteer remarked dryly, but he was grinning at the ebullience of the sisters, which had lightened the semigloom that had emanated from Laria since she'd 'ported the unwanted T-2 back to Blundell. Surprised as he had been at Laria's precipitous removal of Yoshuk's brother, he had been intensely grateful. Vanteer had just a touch of prescience in his Talent, and warning ripples had gone down his spine the moment the man entered the Tower. Morag and Kaltia, by their very presence, eagerness to work and delight in being able to help their sister, had dispelled the last of that unpleasantness. He knew that Kincaid had visited the Lyon home on Iota Aurigae, and both girls were obviously glad to renew the acquaintance. The nebulous worries that he recently sensed in the Tower dissipated in the giggles of two more Lyons. ”Is there anyone left at home?” he added.

”Sure, Ewain and Petra,” Kaltia said, and dismissed them with a wave. ”But they're still too young, so Grandfather sent in a strong kinetic T-2 to help Mother and Dad.”

”Really?” Kincaid said, to break a stunned silence, since all the adults in the Tower had a good idea just who that T-2 could be.

”We had to leave but he's supposed to have more than enough heft for the big daddies. And Mom and Dad will break him in properly.”

”Yes,” Laria said, an odd look on her face, ”I'm sure that they will.”

Lionasha suddenly started sorting disks, Vanteer retreated to the generators, and if Morag caught some undercurrent, Laria quickly urged them to follow her to their quarters.

”We won't really have much time before the Tower's busy, but as near as 1 can remember, you'd've left home at about nine-thirty?”

”On the nose, sis, or do we have to call you Prime?” Kaltia said.

”Have you ever called Mother Prime?” Laria retorted, chuckling.

”Only Grandmother,” Morag said pertly.

”Oh, but I am glad to have you here!” Laria repeated.

”And we're glad to be allowed out,” Morag said, ”but that sun is incredible!”

They all heard the unmistakable sound of generators turning over and speeding up.

”I don't think you'll have more than time to look into your rooms,” Laria said, sliding open a door on one side of the hall and pointing to the one just opposite it. ”See which one your duffels are in, wash your faces or whatever, but come on back to Tower. Today'11 be so easy.”

And it was, despite six hefty drones loaded with machinery and spare parts, two large pa.s.senger vehicles and the usual incoming shower of message tubes. That caused Morag the most astonishment.

”It's raining tubes out there,” she cried, watching the canisters falling into and all around the cradle.

”We could use something else,” Kaltia said. ”Like a big round bin. They're too short to land in a cradle and too many to stack neatly.”

Bins are a great idea, Lionasha said. Why couldn't we thinly of that?

Because we've been too busy catching, Laria said with a note of exasperation.

New brooms sweep clean, Kincaid said, grinning at the girls.

Or a ramp to slide them into a big enough enclosure so it doesn't matter how many come in at once, Morag suggested, projecting the image of such a device.

Roll 'em in line like bowls in an alley, Vanteer said. Good notion. Let's get the 'Dinis on it. They'll know where to get the stuff we'd need.

And we thought the mining companies got lots of messages! Morag exclaimed, remaining in the Mind Merge but at the same time 'porting loose message tubes into an orderly pile. How long's this been going on?

Since Talavera, Laria said. We've one more crate . . . Easy does it! It's fragile.

The crate, the machinery inside it visible through the slats of its carrier, landed without so much as a b.u.mp.

What's the waybill on that, Lio? Kincaid asked.

A return to the FCR Wois at Fl. Malfunction. Needs recalibration.

Well, let's put it in the shed, out of the way, then, until FCR tells us it's ready to receive it, Laria said. They'll have to reschedule to ta^e on repair worl(.

”That's the lot for the morning,” Lionasha said. ”Be right up.”

Morag stretched, arms above her head, toes pointing out, and Kaltia turned on her side and a.s.sumed a brief fetal position-each relaxing in a different fas.h.i.+on. Kincaid looked casually over at Laria. As deftly as he could as the next in line to Laria in the Mind Merge, he'd drawn more heavily on the vibrant young strength of the girls, knowing they'd have enough experience to ease some of the burden that fell to the Prime.

She turned her head slowly toward him and c.o.c.ked her finger at him, letting him know that she was well aware of what he'd been doing. She was not, apparently, going to reprimand him.

”That was good work, kids,” she said as she heard Lionasha coming up the steps with the restorative beverages.

Kaltia took a long swallow, her eyes widening with pleasure at the taste. ”Hey, where does this come from?”

”The ever tropical planet of Clarf,” Laria said. ”There are some advantages to it and this is one of the nicest ways to drink replacement electrolytes. Of course, the 'Dinis prefer lemonade, but they're not s.h.i.+fting tons about.”

”Do they grow citrus fruits on Clarf now?” Morag asked, licking her lips to be sure she'd got all the liquid.

”A varietal grows here but it's Earth lemonade they adore,” Laria said. ”Now, we all take a siesta at this time of day, especially newcomers.”

”Why? We haven't been outside or anything,” Morag said.

”I'm conserving your energies for the afternoon session, which can be heavier,” Laria said, swinging her legs to the side of her couch before she finished her drink. ”Besides, you should get settled into your rooms.”

Sliding from their couches, the girls went down the steps, where Morag halted, eyes widening at the stacks on Lionasha's desk.

”Hey, I can help with that. I used to do it on Iota and you've far too many. May I?” she said, already finding a chair to draw up to the littered desk.

”I really would appreciate the help. It's all those tubes” The word came out with an emphasis short of resignation.

”Vanteer? Do you think we could rig some sort of a ramp to channel the tubes into stacks?” Kaltia said, stepping down into engineering as he began to drop generator power to idle.

He handed her a stylus and a pad. ”Go to it, gal.”

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