Chapter 15.2

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Sabrina tucked her hair behind her ears and knelt beside the pedestal, taking the engine control wires in her hands. "Tell me about Nolizar," she said. "I want to know the story."

Therenden smiled as he knelt beside Sabrina, following Khediva's instructions in carefully splicing the wires back together. "I have known this story since I was a small child, but I have never heard Homeworld's version."

"Sabrina, I think you have missed that first connection—I cannot access it."

Sabrina frowned and jiggled the wire a little. Khediva said, "Ah. There."

"Is this going to hold up if we get into rough stuff?" Sabrina asked worriedly.

"Once we get the backups reconnected, we should be stable," Khediva said. "Whether we can escape ultimately depends on what Maratobia can accomplish, not I." She paused. "Nolizar äié Üdahar were Wayfarers, back when Deltarr had been settled by the Azhwani for only a few generations under the joint protection of Homeworld and Lthos."

"Who were the Azhwani?" Sabrina asked.

"Remnants of a powerful race. You now know them as Deltarrans," Khediva said. "Now get on with your work, Sabrina—be careful with that, it is a power conduit—and let me tell the story. If you interrupt me every other sentence we will never get through it."

"Yes, Khediva," Sabrina said contritely. Therenden grinned.

"When the Trsai invaded the galaxy, Homeworld sent Nolizar äié Üdahar to monitor them. There was a confrontation in the Debron system; the Wayship was hit while Nolizar was trying to repair the crystal matrix."

"Crystal matrix?" Sabrina echoed in surprise.

"Hush," Khediva reproved. "Mine is undamaged, so you have no need to know anything about it."

Therenden murmured, "As this story reveals, the Wayfarers and Miahns have a great deal in common, Sabrina."

"In short, Nolizar was badly hurt, and Üdahar barely managed to limp to the Praxera system, to Deltarr. Nolizar was put in the care of Awani A'Ptel, a psionics healer. She found that Nolizar's mind was still connected to the Way from the Debron system, and with the help of other Azhwani, she managed to drag his mind back to real space. While Nolizar recovered on Deltarr, he and Awani became lovers, unaware of the effects his accident had had on his genetic structure and bio-control. Therenden, that connection is wrong; try the adjacent wire. Thank you.

"Upon his return to Homeworld, Nolizar was examined, and it was determined that he had taken on Wayship characteristics as a result of his accident. He entered the Wayship Candidacy Program, and about that time, received a message from Awani that she was pregnant, and that the fetus was not normal. Awani was brought to Homeworld, where it was discovered that the fetus was undergoing evolutionary mutation as a result of the same sort of radiation poisoning to which Nolizar had been exposed. Awani gave birth, with great difficulty and despite those of Homeworld who advocated abortion, to a daughter, whom she named Miah.

"Sabrina, let that be for now; it is a delicate connection that could damage me if done wrong. Let Maratobia do it."

"Oh, thanks a lot!" Sabrina said. "Mara's done far less work down here than I have!"

"Mara also has access to a portion of Tirqwin's knowledge, and therefore does not need as much coaching," Khediva replied.

Sabrina considered sulking, then decided not to embarrass herself in front of Therenden. "So Miah was born on Homeworld. What happened to make her an outcast?"

"Her abilities frightened those around her. She was assigned a companion, named Koran, after her tutor's death; they became quite close. Koran was a builder of crystal matrices, and Miah often visited him at his work. They discovered by accident that she could use särad crystal to boost her matter manipulation abilities. This frightened Homeworld even more, and there was an attempt to assassinate her. She prevented it only by stopping her assassin's heart, and after that, Homeworld grew openly hostile toward her. Awani and Koran spirited her away on a Lthosyenne ship bound for the Outer Rim."

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