Hankura found Chelle sitting alone in their bed chamber after he finished putting their son too bed. She was in the dark on a plush padded chair in that small sitting area to the left as he entered the room.
He turned the lights up just a little as he entered the room and crossed to where the she sat staring blankly into space. He knew she was aware of his presence on a subconscious level, even though she didn't look up. She was still emotionally in shock.
"Chelle…?" He murmured, dropping down on one knee in front of her. Framing her oval face in his hands he spoke her name softly again and reached gently into her mind. As her eyes came to focus on his distinct handsome features, they brimmed with tears. Then she fell into his arms and they were sitting on the thickly carpeted floor clinging to each other while she wept softly against a shoulder.
Tears filled his own eyes and he felt no shame in them. His pain was as great as Chelle's, and for a time it overwhelmed them both as understood what was happening to their first born son.
Oh Hankura! We did this terrible thing to him. It's our fault that Jamerin suffers now. I should have listened to you. She mused guiltily.
No Chelle - - -you were right not to listen to my fears. We couldn't just stand there and watch Orin die when we knew there was a chance we could save him. We didn't know anything like this would happen to our son.
Yes, but we should have suspected when it was over. If it weren't for the strength of Jamerin's life essence, we would have all died. Yet, it still barely seems possible that this could have happened to him. Jamerin was barely conceived - - - just a few cells. How could he know? How could he remember in such a vivid detail?
I don't know. The only explanation is fantastic, yet it's the only theory that remotely makes sense… The unless we are to believe in divine intervention…
You think the event was somehow etched into his genes? Chelle stirred in looked into his eyes incredulously. That idea seemed almost more fantastic man divine intervention.
I know. But do you have a better answer? Recently been sure that terror with him otherwise. He responded. I believe that somehow this nightmare is tied to the genetic psi factor. If we could find that we could find the answer.
And you think we might find it on Velran?
I think it would be a good place to start. It would also be a good place for you to complete your Physician's certification. You are every bit as qualified as me. I'd say it was about time we made it official.
Right now, nothing seems more important than healing our son. It will be just something to fill my time until he is well and has been taught to control his awesome dawning power. We can't risk him hurting anyone like he hurt Nalina again.
Yes, and the biggest problem will be finding a way to get as all to Velran. Now that the Arius Mran has been sold, we should have enough credits for the journey - - - if we can find passage.
That's going to be difficult because of what we are in because of the children.
Yes. Hankura returned ruefully. Most people aren't as bigoted against psi paths as they were on Aledus, but there are still plenty of people who are superstitious or leery of us. He sighed.
Chelle leaned back to stare solemnly into his stark emerald eyes. It's because they don't understand. That they could only know what it's like to know another human being the way I've known you ---to love the way we have loved each other…
Hankura felt her hand caress his cheek as Chelle regressed from a conscious, verbal level to a more purely emotional one, expressing implicit tenderness and explicitly erotic imagery. He saw himself as she saw him physically pleasing and intellectually stimulating, and she saw herself through the eyes of his love---partner, friend, and lover, mother of his children. Hankura felt the inner warmth of the light shining in her blue eyes and smiled serenely. Then he met her soft seeking mouth with his own, reveling in the miracle that unfolded between them.
Touching her through the bond of their minds as he kissed her and caressed her supple body, he found and gave comfort and reassurance until the pain began to recede for them both. They kissed and caressed for a time on the soft thick carpet. Then they stood and began divesting each other of their hindering clothing. When they were naked, they embraced, pressing his tightly together as possible. The sensation was electrifying and exciting and their kisses deepened sensually. He - she loved the feel of her supple breasts against his chest and his hardness against her abdomen.
Eventually they move to the bed. Chelle lay back and opened her body, urging him to thrust his hardness inside her. The years may have mellowed their passions a little but desire was still a fire that burned hot and brightly between them. He moved slowly inside her, kissing her everywhere he could reach while staying inside her. She did the same, reveling in the feel of him with their hands and her body and her mouth and her mind. How she loved this man! How he loved her!
As their joy in their physical and emotional intimacy exploded inside of them, their physical arousal brought them to climax. Like the water rising high in the fountain of Narcaza they soared, then fell into the pool floating as they lay spent in each other’s arms. Still joined, they kissed tenderly, sharing their love mind to mind.
Because their years together and may not have always been kind, they found strength in the sweet desire that bound them together body and soul. The strength sustained them during the bad times until they could move beyond them.
Sometimes, it seemed like a lot longer than seven years since the horror of the Tregan prison camp almost destroyed them. Other times it seemed more like yesterday. The ominous shadow of the nightmare that threatened to destroy their son, their own nightmare seemed distressingly close at hand again---lurking, waiting to swallow them up.
Their passionate sexuality was a weapon as well as mutual comfort, and they used it now to hold their own nightmare at bay. Who could have guessed that the events of just fifteen days could have ripped their lives apart with such a devastating force?
They were captured by the Tregans when the exploration ship Searching Star put into orbit at Zevus Mar for crew leaves and supplies. The ship was disabled by a marauding Tregan warship and boarded by force. The Tregans killed nearly half the crew and took the rest prisoners to the surface of Zevus Mar. The men were forced into hard labor in the Verlian mines and the women became amusement for the brutal and sadistic dog soldiers.
For a long time afterward, Hankura loathed himself for all the Tregans he killed to set Chelle and the others free. Sometimes he hated himself, and others he felt guilty for not acting sooner to prevent some of the torment Chelle suffered. For a time, his inner conflict seemed to build a wall of the anger between him and Chelle that seemed unbreakable. It left their life together in a shambles.
Finally, after the Federation stopped the invasion, Hankura and Chelle decided to go back to help rebuild the mining colony on Zevus Mar. It was a kind of therapy that help them put their relationship back together, but there were still too many ghosts and horrifying memories for them to stay. Before Zevus Mar, they were planning to return to Oltarin, and they decided to go ahead with that plan.
Life was good to them here on the high plateau. They had their horses, and a great deal of land and crops overseen by Orin Hart. They grew the feed and hay for their four horses and a variety of food crops for profit. As on Hankura's family agricomplex on Aledus, care of the crops was automated, but Orin liked to tend their kitchen garden himself because other than tending the horses and upkeep of the property there wasn't that much for him to do.
Later, when passion ebbed and Chelle slept, exhausted both from making love and earlier strain of healing Nalina, Hankura lay beside her staring at the ceiling in the muted light. There was so much to be done in such a short time, his mind was just too full for sleep.
It was a swift thirty-minute flit from the high plateau to Mari-Sanna Starport in the desert north of Sapphire Lake in Hankura's sleek silver and black air wedge. When the hovercraft settled lightly to the pavement in the west hover station, Hankura waited for the computer to shut down the engine and opened the hatch. As it did, he climbed out squinting against the bright orange tinted morning sun.
A stiff breeze fluttered is cream colored tunic and pants, tossing his thick umber hair about his angular face. A low roar from above caused him to look up as a lumbering freighter slowly descended to one of the three primary landing pads. He stood watching until it settled to the ground and the engine noise died.
Lanimer and Jamerin loved to watch the landings and the launchings. That is, Jamerin did before… Orin still brought Lanimer. Sometimes, Hankura and Orin brought both boys, but the awesome sight had ceased to phase Jamerin since the onset of the nightmare of his dawning.
Hankura sighed wistfully at the turn of his thoughts and fought back the helpless feeling that threatened to engulf him. It was what had brought him out in the rising heat of the day to Mari-Sanna. Self-pity wasn't going to get him anywhere. With that resolve, he turned toward the Starport terminal walking to the entrance in long, graceful strides. Inside the dark tinted glass walls, the cool air jolted been refreshed him. He paused to let his eyes adjust for the muted light and continued across the main terminal for the dispatcher’s office.
From passing off worlders, Hankura drew curious stares, but friendly greetings from Starport personnel who recognized him. From his time at the rebuilding of Zevus Mar, he had worn the loose fitting practical clothing of the darker skinned native Zevians. He favored that clothing for casual wear.
Lyneda chief Starport dispatcher, was expecting him so there was no delay after a pressed the courtesy signal to announce his arrival. The dispatcher’s door slid open immediately in Hankura entered without ceremony. She smiled cordially as he came to stand before her desk and gestured for him to sit in the thickly padded chair in front of it.
However, Hankura sensed behind the friendly smile her curiosity as to what could possibly have warranted a personal visit when they generally did most of their business over the vidcom. He nodded politely, letting her curiosity pass for a moment as he lowered his tall, lean frame into the offered chair. Although he'd known Lyneda for seven years and considered the former starship captain a friend, it was still difficult to speak to her about the subject at hand.
He frowned inwardly then raised his eyes to her dark, aquiline features. She was middle aged, just about 85, with a plump round faced, framed in short wiry silver hair swept are back from her face away from her shrewd brown eyes. After commanding she starship freighters for nearly fifty years and picking crews for them, she was in pretty good judge of people even without Hankura's kind of insight. It was highly evident that the Aledan Physician was deeply troubled and she was growing very curious.
"I know." Hankura grinned faintly, clasping and on clasping his long surgeons fingers together in front of him. "Now that I am here, what do I want?"
"I'm damned curious." Lyneda nodded. “I really didn't think you popped out here to exchange social niceties. We can do that over the com. Do you want to tell me what's bothering you? You know I’ll try to help if I can't."
"Well, you know I sold the mran? “Hankura sighed. "We were sorry to let her go, but we can use the credits more than the mran right now. It hadn't been out in five years anyhow." He shrugged. "You see; our son is having problems that we haven't been able to handle very well on our own. Chelle and I have decided to take him to Velran… For evaluation… And possibly therapy." He hesitated a moment before he went on. "You know a mran is too small to transport more than two people any great distance. Velran is at least a four jump voyage, it takes about six months from this sector."
"So, you want to book passage?" Lyneda still wondered why he didn't just com.
"Yes as soon as possible."
"So, what's the problem?" She asked finally, wishing he'd stop being so secretive and come out with it.
“My son is a dawning psi-path." Hankura breathed carefully.
Understanding flickered in the woman's deep brown eyes. "How strong?"
"Nine or ten at least, and he’s still growing. There are complications that prevent us from training him ourselves."
The dispatcher drew a deep breath and let it out. "Well, it looks like you really do have a problem. Just you and Chelle---I can get you passage anywhere you like in Federation sectors… But a dawner that strong is going to be hard to move."
" Yes, I know." Hankura nodded grimly. " We both know the situation is potentially dangerous. Chelle and I aren’t quite strong enough to keep him entirely in check, but we can run interference to help prevent accidental injuries.
" And that's why I came to you personally. I want this problem kept completely confidential. I didn't want anyone to accidentally intercept this conversation over the vidcom." Hankura added. "Oltarin is our home. But even here, some people might turn against us in fear if they knew. I've seen it happen before."
"And so have I," Lyneda nodded and reached to the beverage dispenser mounted on her desk. "Can I offer you something?"
"Cold jern, please." Hankura replied with a polite smile.
She pressed the appropriate panel in the cold liquid started to pour into a disposable cup. Passing that when to her guest, she ordered a second for herself and didn't speak again until she'd taken a good swallow from it.
"I'd like to help, Hankura. If you have the time to wait, I’ll start checking right now. A freighter just landed here and there are three in base. Most of them take passengers."
" I've got plenty of time. I have nothing more important to do today." He told her earnestly and sat back drinking his jern while the dispatcher started checking her computer for ships with registered courses through the Velran sector.
They were none.
Next, she checked for those with courses connecting with other ports where Hankura might secure passage for his family, and she found one that might have a connection. At least it was heading in the right direction.
"Okay, now I'll com the first mate and see what we can arrange." She said, glancing up from her terminal screen. Pressing the code sequence on the touch screen from memory, she waited for the image to materialize on her terminal screen. Momentarily the image of a thirtyish blond man filled the screen.
"Jade Wolf, first mate Grice speaking." He looked enquiringly into the screen.
"Morning Grice. This is dispatcher Lyneda. I understand you have an open cabin going out. I have a man here was interested in making connections for him and his family to Velran. Do you think the Jade Wolf could accommodate them?"
" Well, we're going as far as Rintalis before a break off and head in a different direction. I'm sure they can get passage to Velran from there." He replied, glancing to an unseen point. "How many in his family?"
"Four, including him. He has a wife and two children."
"Well it’d be a little cramped, but it would be possible. Could you give me a name and information for immigration records?"
Hankura shook his head vehemently. "No name." He murmured very quietly. "Just tell him the situation."
"All right." She nodded, turning her attention back to Grice. " I'll give you the background first. The man and his wife are psi paths in the son is a dawner. That's why they want to go to Velran."
Grice blew out his breath audibly and looked away from the screen uncomfortably aware that the man in question was going to hear what he didn't want to say. Shaking his head, he gradually met the gaze of the woman on his screen.
"Sorry ma'am. I can't do it. Driscoll would never approve it, not even at twice the going rate." He apologized. "We've got thirteen passengers and seventeen crewmen to consider; we're responsible. We have nothing against psi paths, but dawners are dangerous. Taking the kid to Velran for training is probably the best thing your client could do, but we can't help him---its policy."
"It's okay." Hankura murmured grimly "I had to try."
The fact that he wasn't surprised made the results no less disappointing. Not hiding his feelings very well, he stood suddenly in slammed is empty cup on the desktop soundly. "Thanks anyway, Lyneda." He muttered. Turning, he strode from our office not knowing exactly what he was going to do next. He only knew he had to do something.
After reconditioning, he'd gotten two million for the mran and there were six million credits in Aledan Trust for the children. Although he didn't really want to use those funds, he would for Jamerin. Maybe the broker who'd sold the mran for them could find them and other ship. With that in mind, Hankura headed for his office.
The broker was a dark complected had Zevian transplant of about sixty with black thinning hair and a stocky frame. Like Hankura and his family, Almed came to Oltarin to escape the memories of the Zevus Mar invasion. He gave Hankura a tentative, hopeful smile as he strode in through the open door way and came to stand before the service counter of the sparsely furnished room.
"What can---?" Almed began.
" I need a ship, preferably a small, semi-automated yacht that could comfortably carry 4 to 6 passengers and provisions. Nothing to elaborate." Hankura stated. "How much? And when can I have it?"
" Ahhh!" Almed grinned. "I think I have just the thing, six passengers, new star drive, a little guidance system. Just the thing. Com let me show it to you. It's in Bay Eight."
"Fine. How much?"
But before the short, chunky man could answer, Hankura read the answering inadvertently and the other man's mind. "Twelve million! Twelve million?" He exclaimed.
"It's a fair price." Almed insisted reproach fully. " Hankura, I'd like to help you out but you know I'm in business to make a profit on these things. The ship as many luxuries, and you know the profit margin isn’t inflated. At twelve million, I would only make fifteen percent. The very lowest I could take is ten million. And that is only from you my friend. Why is it so important for you to buy and other ships so soon after I just sold yours? I thought you planned to quit star hopping."
"I was. But now, I must take my family to Velran," Hankura said carefully.
"Well---couldn't you book passage more reasonably?" Almed asked, trying to be helpful.
"Probably---if I could find someone who'd take us. I thought---I hoped you might have a ship I could afford. But even ten million would be a strain. We have a trust on Aledus for the children, and the two million from the mran. Almost everything else is tied up in the clinic and the complex." Hankura explained. " I was hoping I wouldn't have to spend more than five mil. You see, I don't know how long I will have to stay on Velran or how much it will cost."
"I see." Almed murmured thoughtfully as Hankura paused. Then I thought struck him.
"A freighter?" Hankura looked at him with a flicker of hope.
"Yes. A small tramp liner put down here a few days ago. His star drive is out and he can't even pay his landing fees."
"So? Why did he come to you?" Hankura asked. He didn't want to upset Almed by reading him again.
"He thought maybe he could sell before the creditors for close; or maybe find a partner." Almed replied.
"How much?"
"But Hankura, I really don't think---?"
" Almed, how much?"
" Two and a half million for a thirty percent share."
"Will that pay off his creditors and get it back into space?" Hankura questioned urgently.
Almed shook his head. "Still need another million to rebuild the star drive and pay his fees. And Hankura, you may never see any return on your investment. You can't depend on a tramper---not this kind of tramper. He's the kind who takes cargo no one else will take, goes places no one else will go. They keep the ship together with a prayer and a promise. Interstellar travel is dangerous at best, and it's even more risky the way they go about it."
"I know all that, Almed. How the hell do you think Chelle and I got here in the first place?" Hankura grinned. "We were with the explorations, remember?"
"Yeah, I know. I just thought---"
"That this was the end of the line and we're going to stay put? Me too, friend. But things just don't always work out the way we plan." Hankura smiled ruefully and shrugged. "I've got to take Jamerin to Velran; it's imperative."
"For training?" Almed's nearly black eyes flickered with understanding.
"Yes," Hankura answered softly. Almed knew by the look in his eyes not to question further. "Who is the captain for this freighter and where will I find him?"
"His ship is in Bay Ten. You might check there---it's the a Sential Trader and his name is Otian."
"Thanks Almed. I'll be seeing you. Give your family our good wishes."
"And likewise, my friend." Almed smiled with a parting gesture.
Returning it, Hankura nodded and took his leave. Emerging from the clerical wing, he crossed the main terminal exchange and headed out to the docking days. At the security checkpoint he was routinely scanned and printed. He was then required to state his business and destination which was also recorded.
"Bay Ten, to see captain Otian's of the Sential Trader on business." He stated into the microphone.
A blue light flashed with the bleep and the doors slid open for him to pass. Since he was identified as an Oltarin citizen who regularly conducted business at the Starport, he was not questioned and further.
He walked onto the raised deck and preceded casually along the walkway. He had to stop and wait at several Otian ramps for droid tram surpass that were loading a cargo shuttle in the small freighter. At last, he came to Bay Ten at the end of the row, standing before the Sential Trader. He paused to survey the Sential Trader before he approached.
It was an unremarkable silver gray hull, small by freighter standards, but huge compared to his fast, sleek mran. A craft was more a less oval, nearly twice as long as it was wide with a retractable wings that gave it eyed nearly triangular shaped for landings. The Sential Trader was from an early of FTL, but Hankura knew those models were generally reliable. More than likely, her recent breakdown was caused by neglect rather than engineering flaws; not an unusual circumstance for tramp freighters.
The ship could do the job once the repairs were made. Hankura just had to convince her young captain to take it. Yeah, that's all. He mused silently, gazing at the ship for a moment longer before he started down the loading access ramp to the hatch way. Inside the outer hatch, Hankura stopped before the inner air lock and pressed the ship's com courtesy signal. Then he waited.
"First Mate Norsen here. May I help you," a voice responded in heavily accented Galactic Common. However, the com screen before him remained blank, but Hankura sensed the other man was looking at him.
"I sure hope so," Hankura replied, crossing his arms in leaning against the wall and a relaxed manner to wait. Although he sensed some activity of board and the presence of several people---including an average level telepath, courtesy restrained him from really delving into their minds any further. The Normals would probably not notice the difference, but the telepath would. Hankura couldn’t afford to bias any of them against him before he even had a chance to state this proposal.
About five minutes later, the inner air lock slid open and the Aledan straightened to a more dignified position. Two men came through the air lock; a tall black man with a well-groomed dark beard and mustache and piercing brown eyes, and a boyish faced young man with thick red hair in even more fiery then Chelle's.
The black man was the telepath Hankura's had sensed aboard the a Sential Trader. " Good day, Hankura," he spoke in thickly accented Galactic Common. "I’m Jake, ships navigator an interpreter. This is Captain Otian." He gestured to the smaller man beside him. "But now that we stand face to face, I sense my services are not needed."
"Otian," Jake said, switching to a lesser used dialect with roots in Aledan. "Our visitor is a high level telepath, as high as me. So I think I can safely leave this to you."
The young man looked at the navigator querulously and slid a leery glance in Hankura's direction. But the Aledan grinned back half mockingly, resting long slender hands over his hip bones.
"Good day, Otian," Hankura offered in the sub Aledan dialect. "I don't think we'll have any problems. I also speak seven other languages fluently. However, my situation will take some time to explain. May I buy you and drink in the lounge?"
"Uh---sure." Otian answered slowly. Turning to his navigator, he added, "okay, Jake. I guess I can handle this myself. I'll be back in a while"
"Okay, kid. I’ll be here if you want me. See you later." His companion murmured amiably as he turned and retreated to the inner hatch way.
"Well, what can I do for you?" Otian asked bluntly. Norsen said Almed the broker referred you to us. Did he also lay out the situation for you?"
"He did." Hankura nodded, eyeing the wiry, shorter man's speculatively. His fiery hair, freckles, and boyish features made him look very young to be a starship captain. Otian looked a good ten years younger than his 27 years. However, although he looked very young, Hankura's sensed in him an inner strength born of the responsibility of his position and the turns life’s path had taken him.
"I know about your ship." Hankura went on after a long moment. "That's why I'm here. I think we can help each other."
Otian cocked his head upward inquisitively, and Hankura didn't miss the flicker of hope and the young man's pale green eyes.
" Let's walk and I'll tell you what I have in mind." The Aledan gestured subtly toward the loading ramp. Otian nodded in agreement and fell into step beside him as they started up the ramp.
They walked in silence for some time before Hankura spoke again. "It's very simple really, Captain Otian. You need a star drive and we need passage to Velran as soon as possible." He said in low tones. "I am in a position to provide the credits you need in order to clear up your outstanding debts and repair your star drive. Now I will do this in exchange for passage for my family and me to Velran---plus a percentage of your gross profit in return until my investment is repaid over expenses."
"But why? I don't understand," Otian frowned and looked at him suspiciously. He figured it must be something illegal.
" Let's get a drink," Hankura said coolly. "We can sit down in that corner over there and discuss this privately."
Otian agreed, not exactly hiding his impatience as they entered the lounge and ordered a bottle of a Wholaskan liquor called carava. Leading Otian to a quiet corner in the dimly lit lounge, they seated themselves comfortably on the sofa that curved intimately about a small, round pedestal table. Momentarily, a service droid entered with two squat glasses and a bottle of the thick almost syrupy, magenta carava.
Still silent, Hankura to open the bottle and half-filled each of their glasses before he began to speak.
" I'm a Physician--- Aledan born and Velran trained. My wife is a Terran. Before we came here, we spent five years with the Federation explorations. Near the end of our tour, we were caught in the middle of the Tregan invasions. We lost a lot of friends in that conflict; we barely escaped with our lives. And even though we're psi-mates, it's taken us along time to put what we had back together again. Putting Zevus Mar back together after the fighting stopped helped. We made a lot of friends who wanted us to stay but we couldn't. We had planned to make our home here on Oltarin.
"I’ telling you these things so you understand that I'm not playing games with you. I haven't got time for that and I'm certainly not in the mood."
Pausing, Hankura took a swallow from his glass and Otian followed suit, waiting for him to continue.
"Is it fair to estimate that 3 1/2 million credits will pay off your creditors and repair your ship?" Hankura asked bluntly.
Otian swallowed, choking a little on the fiery tasting liquid. "Y-yes."
" All right, then I can provide that without too much trouble. In exchange, as I said, I want passage for my wife and our two children and me to Velran as soon as possible." Then Hankura paused, quirking a dark eye brow knowingly at the young man across the table from him. "What's the catch, right?"
"It crossed my mind," Otian admitted, keeping his youthful features schooled into an emotionless mask. But even without deliberate probing, Hankura could sense his churning in her emotions.
"As I said, Chelle and I are psi-mates---grade eight. I’m mainly a telepath, but she is also a cycle psychokinetic healer. Our five-year-old son is dawning…"
"That's it!" Otian snapped irritably, shaking his head ruefully. "You must really think I'm desperate if you think I'd take on a dawner."
"I think you are," Hankura countered earnestly. "I think you're just as desperate as I am, Otian. Do you know what we've been through? My son has existed in a nearly unbroken catatonic state ever since his powers began to emerge several months ago. Chelle and I can't reach him. There's nothing we can do to help him. Nothing!"
Hankura raised his glass to his lips again in took a deep pull, closing his Emerald eyes as the fiery drink burned its way down to his stomach.
"Jamerin needs more help them we can give him. Will never have a normal life without the kind of help he can get on Velran. Velran is our only hope." He paused. "I won't lie to you Otian. There is some danger. Jamerin did have one lapse, and fortunately the damage to his governess was reversible. But--"
"And you want me to take you to him on it my ship? Do you think I'm insane?" The young captain demanded indignantly.
" He's my son." Hankura murmured vehemently.
Otian calmed a little in the face of Hankura's quiet dignity.
" Look, Otian. I can't deny that he's potentially dangerous. Any psi-path is potentially dangerous. If we had been there when he reached his particular crisis, his governess may not have been injured at all… But, we weren't there. On your ship, Chelle and I would both be there to monitor him constantly." Hankura continued. "It's most likely that none of your crew would have any contact with Jamerin at all. And I assure you, Otian that if you agree to my proposition, Chelle and I will do everything humanly possible to keep him under control."
"What about your other child?"
"Lara is three. Even though she's dawning too, her situation is entirely different. Her powers are coming gradually and she is in control. She is a lovely, gentle child, and we have no reason to suspect but she will have Jamerin's problems."
" Goddess, Jesus, Buddha, and Allah!" Otian muttered and took an eye opening swallow of carava. "You've got me against the wall and you know it! If I turn you down, I'll lose my ship for sure. If I agree---I might still lose my ship and everything else."
"Otian, I can't deny the facts, but I wouldn't risk my wife and daughter’s lives as well as my own if I believed anything like you fear would happen." He asserted.
” No, but we're talking about your son." Otian answered slowly. " I can't ignore the fact that your feelings might be clouding your judgment. Hankura, there's no getting around the fact that this could be an extremely dangerous proposition for us all."
" And there could be no danger and all!" Hankura countered impatiently. " Damn it! He's my son." He glared, slamming his glass to the table so hard that the thick magenta liquid sloshed over the sides. "Because of Chelle and me, he's the way he is now. We have to take whatever risks there are to help them, or we will lose him forever. We have no choice!"
Anger and frustration overwhelmed him, and Hankura felt himself quickly losing his perspective on the situation. It was just no good. Why couldn't load Ian see what this meant to him? Why wouldn't he understand?
Hankura shook his head and jumped up from his seat without warning, his eyes flashing green sparks. He felt just as helpless now is when he was trying to claw his way out of the concrete cell in the Tregan prison camp to help Chelle.
" I gave you my offer," Hankura growled, fighting back his rising temper. "I'm in the directory. Com me by noon with your decision." With that Hankura started toward the exit.
"But Hankura, I---" Otian protested, but the Aledan was already nearing the doorway on the far side of the lounge. "Hey, Hankura, wait!" The young captain called after him
Hankura! It was the silent beckoning of his mate that stopped him just outside the lounge in the corridor, not Otian's voice. My darling, your feelings are clouding the issue. You know as well as I that Otian's fears aren't totally unfounded. Help him understand why we need to take the risks. Let yourself understand that he is troubled as well.
"Hankura, you gotta understand…" Otian asserted and stopped abruptly at the vacant look in at the Aledan’s eyes.
Then Hankura blinked his eyes into focus. "Yes, you're right Otian. I'm sorry." He said quietly, soothed inwardly by his mate's calmer assessment of the situation. "Our problem with Jamerin has become increasingly more difficult for me to deal with. I want to help him; I need to help him… But I haven't got the knowledge or the power to do it myself. Our only chance is to seek help from the Wholaskans on Velran. If I have to buy a ship to get there, we'll probably lose our home."
Shoving his hands into the pockets of his khaki lounging slacks, Otian nodded. "I sort of know how you feel. You're offering me something I desperately need in exchange for something that seems simple on the surface. If it were just that simple, I'd jump that the chance. I'm tempted to take the chance anyway just so I can keep my ship. I want to help you, Hankura; you seem like a right kind of guy, but I might lose my ship either way I'd try it. And I've got 14 other people to think about besides myself. So far, since my father died, I haven't done very well by them. I don't want to make another mistake."
" Well, I don't want it to be a mistake for either of us." Hankura said. "Why don't you discuss the matter with your crew. Maybe then, the dilemma will seem less formidable. You are welcome to come to our home and meet my family if it will help you make your decision---at your convenience. I will provide transportation."
"Thank you." Otian nodded graciously. "I'll com you after I meet with my crew and let you know when we can come out."
"Good, but make it soon. If we can't come to an agreement, I have to make other arrangements quickly. Chelle and I have waited too long already."
"I understand." Otian nodded again. "I’ll call a crew meeting as soon as I return to my ship. I'll com you soon.”
"Fine." Hankura agreed. "We'll be waiting to hear from you."
Then, with nothing more to say, Hankura headed through the terminal toward the hover port and his waiting craft. As he walked, he considered that maybe he shouldn't have sold the mran. Maybe he should've taken his son to Velran and booked passage for Chelle in Lara elsewhere.
No. The mere prospect of six months’ separation from them left him aching inside. Separating the boy from his mother wouldn't help either. Too often, she was the only one who could soothe him when anger and fear drew him away from than living nightmare. Taking Jamerin to Velran just wasn't something he could do alone and a part of him was glad. So was Chelle.
This had to work. It just had to.
Otian watched the retreating figure's slip into the crowd and then started down the corridor to the docks and his ship. He knew what he had to do. Now he just had to convince the others it could work---and hope by the Goddess he was right!
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