Tella said, “If I understand the metaphor correctly, they have already begun to do that. But I think your people will have to begin to take a broader view also.”
The scientist nodded. “That’s not going to be simple.”
“It never is, but world by world, it happens. It is a path that you have to walk. You begin; you end. It is what it is.”
She nodded again and was silent. A small alarm sounded in Jim’s pocket. He took out a small black box.
Tella asked, “He is here already?”
“His flier is in proximity to ours.”
“That was too quick.”
“Will he see your craft? Is it in danger?” asked Nect.
“No,” Tella said, “he will not know it is there.”
“Neat trick.” Her eyes flashed at Jim.
“No, Madhar, you can’t buy it. Not yet.”
They laughed but soon became serious again.
“What’s next?” asked Madhar.
“In case he is already onto us, I must prepare,” said Tella solemnly. He handed the flier’s remote control to Jim without comment.
“Okay,” said Jim.
“What’s Tella going to do?” Nect asked Jim as Tella moved back into the control room.
“Take off its clothes.”
“Really? Oh. I see.”
“Or rather you don’t see. Hopefully, neither will Sopha Luca.”
“Another extremely neat trick.”
As they waited for Tella to come back out, Madhar Nect asked a question that had been troubling her.
“Jim, is Tella male or female?”
Jim raised his eyebrows and smiled at his friend.
“Remember never to ask Tella that question. Tell your students they may not ask it either; it causes great offense.”
Madhar buzzed to herself. “How about that.” She shook her head. “There’s so much to learn. I guess there’ll be weirder things ahead of us than that.”
“Too true.”
They looked around at the control building. Jim went inside and saw Tella’s robe, boots, and gloves tidied away under a desk.
“Tella?”
There was no answer.
Jim went back into the bright morning air and stood shoulder to shoulder with his Turcanian friend.
Jim and Madhar waited for more than half an hour. Birds flocked in the middle of the games field, rising suddenly and then quickly descending to resume feeding in the grass. The distant sounds of the Institute drifted over on the slight breeze.
“It looks like you managed to get everyone away from here.”
“Only this area. I said I was setting off a test rocket,” replied Nect.
“I guess they believed you.”
“Oh yes, they expect the unexpected from me. That’s the secret of my success. I had more trouble persuading my new bodyguards that they didn’t need to come after me this morning. I sent them off to guard my best students instead.”
“The price of fame?”
“It’s all your fault.”
“I guess so.”
“Don’t think I’m not grateful. Whatever happens here, I’m glad to have lived to see these days—my world knowing it’s not alone.”
***
A black speck appeared in the distance. It traveled overhead.
“What do you think?” asked Nect.
“That’s him. He’s checking out the area. Let’s get a little way inside.”
They stood in the doorway of the control building, craning their necks to see the flier return.
The noise of its engines came first. It slowly moved down over the field from behind the tower.
To Jim’s dismay, Sopha did not land but set the flier to hover twenty feet above the grass. The craft turned to point its nose and weapons at the doorway.
“Madhar Nect! This is Sopha Luca of the Third Order. Come out into the open where I can see you!” The Regdenir’s voice boomed across the open field.
“Oh shit,” said Jim quietly.
“He doesn’t know it’s you,” said Nect. “I’ll go out and see what happens.”
“Be careful. He’s got the scent of blood in his nose.”
“So do I.” Madhar inhaled sharply, drew back her shoulders, and walked out into the open before the menacing craft.
Jim stayed in the shadows, looking closely at the alterations Sopha had made to his flier. The missile battery was an old-fashioned design, requiring a landing to restock. Jim could see five missiles remaining to be fired. More worrying was the laser cannon hung below the cockpit of the flier. It looked like a thoroughly professional job. Sopha must have read the instructions very carefully. It was attached to the hull with two neat lines of spring-loaded grips. All the cabling was out of sight, as per regulations.
Madhar shouted in the direction of the flier. “Sopha Luca of the Third Order, greetings and welcome to the Latsin Institute. You are welcome to land.”
“Madhar Nect, you will cease the transmission of your call sign.”
“I don’t know what you mean. I am not familiar with the equipment in here. If there is a problem, perhaps you can help me resolve it? I understand your knowledge of technology is as great as, if not greater than, mine.”
Jim muttered under his breath, “Nice one. Keep it up.”
“You lie! Cease the transmission, or I will destroy this facility!”
“No! You can’t risk starting trouble like that. We can sort out this problem, I’m sure. Just come down and talk.”
“You are audnir; there can be no talk between us. Stand aside or be destroyed!”
“Wait! There’s someone...”
She turned in panic toward Jim.
“I’ll come out,” Jim called.
He walked toward the scientist, his arms in the air in what he hoped the Turcanian would realize was a gesture of surrender.
“Sopha Luca!” he called. “Don’t do this. Your own people are saying you have to stop what you are doing to Beauty!”
“James Able. You should not have returned. You have lied to all you have met. I will not let you defile my world any longer.”
Jim’s eyes flashed to the mechanisms under the wings of the flier. He saw a missile drop from its protected cradle into the firing clamps. At the same time, he saw something move under the center of the craft. A grip had sprung open at one side of the laser. The next grip popped open. Jim realized that Sopha had allowed the flier to drift closer to the ground. It was now only about ten feet above the field, low enough for Tella to clamber up onto the
