Iduna

'Yes, sir.'

'Yes, what? Ten or eleven?'

'Eleven, sir-I think. Or I could be twelve.'

'Aren't you sure?'

'No, sir.' Dumarest looked at the man. 'Does it matter?'

'Earth!' The captain made a spitting sound. 'You poor little bastard!'

'Sir?'

'Forget it. I meant no insult. You've no family, of course? No kin. Nowhere to go and nothing to do when you get there. What the hell could you lose by stowing away? How were you to know you were committing suicide?'

Dumarest made no comment, watching the movements of the hands as they toyed with the scrap of agate, the stone carved he saw now in the shape of a figure, a woman depicted with her knees updrawn to the chin, back and buttocks and thighs all blending in a continuous curve. The stone was worn with much handling.

'What am I to do with you?' muttered the captain. 'Kill you, a boy? Toss you into the void because you acted from ignorance? Dump you like excreta into space? Were you born for such an end? Was anyone? Damn it, what to do?'

The stone slipped as he passed it from one hand to another, bounced on a knee and dropped to the deck. Dumarest caught it an inch before it landed.

'Sir!' He handed it to the man. Then saw the expression in the fading eyes, the lined face. 'Sir?'

'Do you always move as fast as that?'

'It was falling and I didn't want it to get broken.'

'So you lunged forward, stooped and caught it. Just like that.' The captain tossed the carving into the air, caught it, tucked it into a pocket. 'I've decided, lad. Are you willing to work hard? To learn? Damn it, I'll take a chance. You can work your passage. It's going to be a long trip and you'll work hard but, at least, you'll be fed.'

Fed and rested and taught and one journey stretched to another and more after that until the captain had died and he'd moved on. Traveling deeper into the heart of the galaxy where stars were close and worlds plentiful. Into regions which had forgotten the world of his birth. Where the name of Earth was cause for amusement, the planet itself assumed to be a figment of legend.

'You understand why,' said the captain. He had returned and was smiling. 'No ships, nothing in the almanacs, no star guides, no coordinates. You're looking, Earl, but you are the only one convinced you have something to find.'

'I'll find it.'

'Yes.' The man sobered. 'Yes, Earl, you will. What else do you have to live for? But this,' he gestured with a hand. 'You know what all this is about?'

'I do.'

'You'd better be sure of that.'

'I am. I'm here to find Iduna.'

'Yes,' said the captain. 'To find Iduna. So don't get yourself lost in the past. Childhood is over. And don't waste time in dreams-you have a job to do.' His face wavered and began to blur. 'You can call on me if ever you want someone to talk with.'

'I know.'

'Don't forget now. Don't forget.'

And then he was gone.

Chapter Five

The wind was too strong creating turbulences which caught the raft and forced her to grip the rails to maintain her balance. From the thick mass of clouds lightning stabbed at the peaks, illuminating the mountains with bursts of savage radiance; electronic fire which gave the scene an unreal appearance as if it were a painting made by an insane artist. A harsh and brutal panorama yet one holding a raw beauty Kathryn could appreciate. For too long she had remained cooped behind walls. It was good to get out and feel the surge of elemental forces stirring her blood.

'My lady!' Shamarre lifted her voice above the wind. 'We should drop. Drop!' She frowned as Kathryn shook her head.

The driver made the decision, dropping the raft and sending it heading away from the mountains and the dangerous air. An act she justified with a lifted hand pointing to a cluster of rafts high above.

Tamiras at work.

The vehicles were the largest available, cargo-carriers now filled with equipment and bales of prepared chemicals. Even as she watched they separated to climb high into the cloud, there to spray their loads of minute crystals which would trigger the reaction for the masses to release their water content in rain which would do little harm here over the mountains.

A hope and one he hadn't bolstered, shaking his head even as accepting the commission.

'We can try,' he said bluntly, 'All it will take is money for chemicals, but it could be money wasted. The formations are wrong. My other idea holds more promise.'

To create energy fields in the atmosphere and use them as sweeps to push the clouds from sensitive areas. Brooms in the sky to brush away storms. If nothing else the man had audacity.

Kathryn glanced to where he had vanished in the clouds with his team. Men who followed him with a blind faith she could envy. Now they were willing to risk their lives because he led the way. Women would have been a little more cautious. They would have wanted safeguards and an assessment of the odds and would base their decisions on calculated probabilities. A trait which was regarded as admirable but which lacked a certain romance. Would she have been willing to ride into the nexus of a brewing storm knowing that, at any moment, naked fury could blast her into drifting atoms?

'My lady!' Shamarre was uneasy. Her broad face was lined with anxiety and her eyes were never at rest as they scanned earth and sky for signs of danger. Never comfortable in the air, she longed for dirt beneath her feet. 'The storm-'

'Will break when it breaks and if Tamiras is lucky will do no harm.'

'To the crops, no. But to us?'

Rain wouldn't hurt them though some had been drowned in storms, but hail could pound them to a jelly and the lightning could sear them with the fury of lasers. Yet still she hesitated to order the return. If mere men could brave the elements how could she do less?

And, out here, could be found a little, relative peace of mind.

'Look!' The driver lifted her arm. 'The raft-look!'

It dropped from the clouds, turning, bales falling from the open body, bundles which jerked to a halt at the end of ropes as other shapes, also lashed, swung and grappled with the swinging loads. One of the fleet which had run into trouble, caught by opposing blasts, the driver taken by surprise or unable to maintain control. But he was skilled. Even as she watched, Kathryn saw the vehicle veer and swing, the crew shortening the ropes and heaving bales back where they belonged, the movements of the raft aiding their efforts.

From the carrier fell a shower of glinting crystals as one of the bales split open. A fall which spread in the wind to stream a swirl toward and above her. And, suddenly, the immediate area was drenched with rain.

It pounded on the raft, the housing, the people it contained, adding a fresh glisten to metal accoutrements and plastic fabrics. Rain which wet her face and hair and ran down her neck to send moisture seeping over her torso.

'He was wrong!' Shamarre was yelling her pleasure at this proof of the fallibility of men. 'Tamiras was wrong!'

Seeding could make the clouds shed their water; the accident had proved it-or had it been a coincidence? And even if it had not it could have been a matter of luck. The more massive formations could be of a different 'ripeness' and resistant to the primitive method which had seemed to work. Yet the man would try. No matter what, he would try.