To avoid the temptation tooffer an honest opinion on that fact, she said to Con, “You finishlaying out the plan for them. I’ll go round up the gear along withKapoor and Quan.” As she left the room, she called, “Be back by0900 hours.”
Kennedy nodded to her,asking Croker, “Will it be just you, or are otherAurora crew joiningus?”
“Just me, but that will bemore than enough.”
Deck waited until she wasat a sufficient distance to safely mutter to Kay, “Ain’t that thetruth?”
On the way back to L3, hercomm-link came to life and she heard, “Jacoway to Decker. Do youcopy?”
“I copy, Tal. Why the secure channel? Something wrong?” In ateasing tone she asked, “You’re not breaking up with me – areyou?”
“No, you’re stuck with me.I just wanted to give you a private place to vent about theLothario of the Aurora – if you need it.”
Decker sighed and rolledher shoulders to release some of the tension. “Thanks, but no. Idon’t want to give up precious time with you discussing that…umm…is‘Lothario’ an N’daa word for jerk?”
“Pretty much. That’s whatSasaki christened him after that first holo-conference.” Talchuckled before musing, “I wonder if the captain regrets havingthat holo-con from the bridge….”
“I don’t know, but I bethe regrets getting involved with these people in this first place.”She tucked a stray strand of hair into her crown of braids,muttering, “I sure do.”
“Really? Even though thisdetour means you’re probably gonna miss the Cadet OrientationSessions?”
“I hate to admit it, buteven leading an orientation session would be better than dealingwith these Tsiͅłkizhénendé.”
“Foolish they may be, butout here we have an obligation to help other humans. The cosmos isa dangerous and unforgiving place.”
“I know you’re right – butthese people are hopeless. Avery already knows moreabout the workings of the Aurorathan Yang, their chief scientist doesn’t evenunderstand their own tech, and look who Maddox chose as her firstmate. When Con asked her if Croker was in charge of ship tacticaloperations, she asked him what he meant by that.”
“Yeah, it does sound likethey had no business trying to colonize a new planet – but it alsoseems like that’s not entirely their fault.”
“Then whose fault is it?Those Lignatians?”
“I guess we’re gonna findout. Ramsey’s closing in on the exact location of Jileesa, so we’llbe heading there within the next twenty-four hours.”
Decker calculated theirchances of wrapping up the present operation beforeLovelace left orbit –the result was not promising. “Damn it. I wish Ricci wouldwait.”
“Afraid of missingout?”
“Afraid of theLovelace going into aconfrontation with a highly advanced species without their Tacticalleads.”
“Hey, we’re looking for aconversation with the Lignatians – not a confrontation.”
“Famous lastwords.”
She hadn’t clarified thather mother’s final mission was at the root of that bitterdeclaration but Tal’s gentle reply told her that he’d understood.“Naiche, if you feel that way, then you should share those concernswith your father.”
“I did. Con and I bothasked him to hold off. Con as chief tactical officer and me…with amore personal appeal.”
“What did hesay?”
“He told Con his concernswere duly noted and told me he’d been a captain since I was acadet. In short, he patted us both on the head and said he knewwhat he was doing.”
“I see.” There was a shortpause and Naiche figured Tal was mustering a defense of herfather’s decision. “As captain, it is his call.” In a more consolingtone, he added, “The Lignatians don’t sound at all hostile – making this verymuch a calculated risk he’s taking.” While Naiche was mulling thatover, Tal ventured, “And if we’re gonna talk about risks, you’rethe ones left behind to deal with acid-spewing dragons and a shipof fools.”
“You worried about me,Jacoway?”
“Always.” Deck smiled atthe warmth Tal had managed to infuse into that one word. “So howabout ensuring any risks youtake while we’re gone are also of the calculatedsort?”
“Well,” she drawled, “I’mnot entirely sure this is the time to be trying something new….”With that, they signed off with laughter, declarations of love, andpromises to take care.
***
As the rescue team hiked along thedusty, rocky canyon, the green valley and forest below lookedextremely inviting to them. From his vantage point, Kennedy spiedmovement on the valley slopes and whipped out his oculiscope tostudy the source. Once he focused in, Kennedy could see some short,stocky creatures, covered in shaggy golden-brown fur, their facesappearing almost foxlike. They were clothed in coarse, homespunshirts and sarongs and looked to be at work harvestingcrops.
When Con looked up, Decker wasusing her own scope to study them, too. “Must be the Featay,” shesaid.
Croker, who had donned atransparent visor which evidently gave him vision equal to a scope,agreed. “Yes, they look much like the Maykure, save for theirclothing.” He pointed towards some discarded white domes visiblenear one of the neat terraces which had been cut into thehillsides. The domes matched the shape of flattened areas in theterrace. “You can see where the scouting party had set up camp. Intheir hurry after the attack, they left behind two of theshelters.”
“They set up their camp in aplanted field?” Deck exclaimed.
Quan and Kapoor had arrivedon the scene and were listening in. Upon hearing that declaration,Yenlin said to Priya, “No wonderthe Featay attacked them.”
Croker turned towards thecorpsmen. “I am sure it had nothing to do with the land beingreserved for the Featay. They were no doubt looking to secure ourcrew as a source of fresh meat.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure of that,”Con said. “What about the crops growing there?”
Croker drew back in surprisebefore asking, “You believe the Featay grow food in the ground – asin ancient times? The Maykure do not; they have hydroponic gardenslike ours.”
“Of course, theydo. They’d almost have to – they live in a domed city,” Deckerexplained. “But it’s plain to see these people do grow crops – in theground.”
“Not plain to us. We have neverseen such things. Do people of Earth still employ such archaicpractices?”
“The smart ones do,” Naichesnapped. “How were you people planning to colonize this so-calledNew Earth if you weren’t going to plant any crops?”
“The Lignatians provided all weneed to grow hydroponic gardens on a new planet. Why should we toilin fields?”
“Are you sure you wanted a NewEarth? It sounds
