Becky's Gift

Time To Think

Through the clear yellow wall, I saw the buildings of Rainbow. Healers carried people to mud marshes, or let them walk to look at displays in the festival.

Tom slept peacefully, and I longed to share my day with him and all I saw! Why did people go pale when they mentioned Lisbaar? Why did Pirad make all the scientists come here? All our worlds are here, in Alb. Aren't they safe, like we're safe? But, are we safe with Dosillians around? I wanted to go to the other cities tonight! But it took several hours to visit all the buildings in Rahn Estar. That's our capital. It's bigger than the other cities, isn't it?

I looked at a map. Exactly the same size, in land area, but Rahn Estar the world still has 20,000 people. They didn't come here? Rahn Estar the city has 650. Esta Faho has 400. Calladia has 502. Kin Para has 575. Sara Kia has 542. And a note says they all had 400 before Pirad started waking people up from Burial Chambers. They can do that? So why doesn't Esta Faho have more people now?

Pirad's work stopped. No explanation. He healed people, he talked to Ella with Via outside, hours ago, and he left. Suddenly.

That just made me nervous. And, they moved the weapons facility except for one little building. Why didn't they move it to Rahn Estar, too?

Then, I noticed an outline on the bed. On our bed. The side where Farley and Ella were. Ella sat there with a frown of concentration, writing progs. Her blond waves had lavender ribbons holding them out of her face. Do I look that fat? Hope nobody heard me thinking! Farley slept. Occasionally, she held his hand or smoothed his blond curls. He wasn't sweating now, if I can believe that a diplomat's not hiding. Math~an was up healing people, and he didn't look happy. His wife worked beside him.

But, that outline worried me. Didn't they run hygiene on it? A curled-up body. An Xchou body. How do I—an Xchou girl was looking at it, but she didn't see anything but lavender blanket. But she saw something.

Challet took his hand. "Be calm. The facility existed long before our worlds became part of Elshar Zheiea! Wasa Mai had grave concerns, but the Council insisted—and Mican was on it. O, if I knew! But what could any of us do, against a Councillor? He is gone, and Pirad, you were able to secure the weapons?"

"I destroyed them all! As the Council once decided all such weapons must be destroyed. I ported them all in a red portal, to a sun far from us. The sun is destroyed, but it was almost ready to nova. All the weapons are gone. The building is gone. All the scientists will now work on more peaceful pursuits. None of them understood the weapons, so they did not try to dismantle them. I got their permission to collect their memories, and they are going to my lab now. One is coming here to advise me on these terminals. They are not slaver terminals, but those for soldiers. They should be easy to remove, by design."

I didn't feel any better about this.

An Xchou came in and bowed.

Farley smiled. "Tasafier! It is good to see you, my friend."

The man's fire-engine red skin paled to white. "Friend? How do you know me? All of us had strict instructions from our queen, Gedda Dier, to have no contact with any colony that might come!"

Farley sweated. "But, you tutored me in weaponry, before I went to Sigan Mas! You took me into the weapons facility and showed me weapons and how to use them, every day for a year!"

Milly, our clone of Molly, helped the man get on the bed and he laid down! "How can this be? No one is allowed in our facility but myself, Father and Mother! We are Xchou Elders, from Vohl. Was our last recloning tampered?" He shivered.