As soon as the Thermopylae had settled comfortably into orbit, the crew began the process of unloading their cargo into shuttles. The two atmospheric shuttles were kept in their bays in the underside of the freighter, where they could be loaded directly from the main cargo bay. The Feldenneh colony was receiving so little cargo on that particular journey that the whole shipment was easily loaded onto the two shuttles in only one trip. Depending upon the type of shipment the colony had for export, loading their cargo could be as easy or it could take the better part of a week. Jon Addesin never knew what he would be carrying out until he got there, but he was expecting a fairly large shipment of cured wood.
When Keflyn followed Captain Addesin into the shuttle bay for the ride down, she had immediate reservations — the two aging transports were even more decrepit than the freighter herself, worn out from uncounted circuits into and back out of planetary atmospheres. The shuttles were an ancient and simple design, intended for slow, rough, atmospheric entries with low-powered shields that allowed a great deal of heat to leak through, deflected by the shuttle’s own ceramic composite hull. The low-powered design was slow and awkward, but it allowed for more of the shuttle’s interior room to be given over to cargo and less to massive generators.
Keflyn was even more alarmed when she entered the forward cabin of the first shuttle to find Jon Addesin at the controls. She was not particularly surprised; the Thermopylae was flying under a minimal crew, with just about everyone taking multiple duties. Jon Addesin was not only captain but helm and navigator, and it seemed that he fancied himself a pilot as well.
“Away we go!” Addesin declared as the shuttle fell away from its cradle out the bottom of the bay. “Have you ever ridden in one of these before?”
Keflyn shook her head. “I usually have more sense.”
The shuttles had no reverse-thrust engines, another weight-saving peculiarity of these machines. Addesin simply rotated the ship over on its back and engaged the main engines enough to brake their speed before rotating back to a nose-first position, letting gravity draw the shuttle down toward the planet. After a while the shields began to burn against the outer edges of the atmosphere, and from that point they were going down in a hurry.
Keflyn had never before ridden a ship down from orbit to landing entirely by gliding unpowered. The main thing that impressed her was how long it took, nearly an hour-and-a-half after leaving the Thermopylae’s bay, a leisurely trip of about fifteen minutes in her own fighter. Unlike most transports, which would stay at speeds of two thousand kilometers or more except at landing and take-offs, this lazy shuttle spent nearly half of its glide down drifting at subsonic speeds.
It did give her time for a good, long look at the Feldenneh colony. It was located well inland in the north of the smaller continental area, at the eastern base of the mid-continental range of mountains. Like Kanis, this was a heavily forested world, the inherent imbalance of the cold continental and polar areas and the warm equatorial seas driving a weather system that distributed a fairly even amount of precipitation year-round over almost the entire land areas. Keflyn had her closest look at the continental glaciers while they were still very far up, several hundred kilometers away.
The colony itself was not that large, it’s single impressive feature being the three-kilometer runway for the shuttles. Some distance away, tucked back under the edges of the forest, was the colony itself, some five dozen simple wooden houses and a few larger buildings. The Feldenneh were not farmers, their diet limited to nuts, bread, and meat, and they certainly had not come to this world to farm.
It occurred to Keflyn then that Jon Addesin was looping the shuttle around to align it with the runway, and that he intended to bring the little ship down in a rolling stop. She realized for the first time that this aging shuttle had not even been designed for field drive vertical landings. She had never made a rolling landing before. For that matter, she had never even been in a ship that had wheels, much less used them.
Fortunately the shuttle had been designed with large wheels and rugged landing gear for high-speed landings on unimproved runways. Addesin rotated the wings forward and dropped the flaps, and the ship shook and rattled as it protested the slower speeds. Moments later it bumped hard against the runway, and Keflyn was certain that the landing gear must have collapsed to leave the shuttle sliding in on its belly, the ship shook and vibrated so violently. She was contemplating abandoning ship when the machine suddenly lurched almost to a complete stop and rolled off the runway onto the cramped parking apron.
“There, that was something of an adventure even for a Starwolf, I’ll bet,” Addesin remarked happily as he began shutting down the little ship.
“Flying a Starwolf fighter is an adventure,” Keflyn remarked as she removed her belts, intent upon finding an open outer door. “That was a very inefficient attempt at self-destruction.”
“Inefficient?” Addesin was too surprised to be annoyed.
“We are still alive.” She stared at him. “I cannot imagine that space flight was ever that primitive.”
The nose of the shuttle split vertically just under the cockpit and opened to either side, and a ramp rolled down. By the time Keflyn reached the cargo deck, a cool, fresh breeze was stirring through the wide hatch. She stepped out onto the ramp, looking across a long, narrow meadow of deep, dense grass surrounded by forests and low mountains. It was a perfect day. The sun was bright but not hot or intense, and a gentle wind stirred through the grass in green waves.
A flatbed land transport, loaded with crates ready for shipment, rolled along the road from the settlement to the base of the ramp, and a pair of male Feldenneh stepped out of its front cabin. Vaguely wolf-like in appearance, with slender, thickly-furred bodies and long, narrow heads, they were both nearly a head taller than Keflyn, no doubt chosen for their tasks as loaders because of their considerable size for their kind. They were about to board the ramp when they saw her standing at the top and stopped short, staring. Nothing betrayed the Starwolves more for what they were than their second set of arms. Keflyn was dressed in a conventional manner for a Kelvessan civilian, in burgundy pants and tunic with a black vest, all of heavy material, but with no cape to hide her lower arms.
The smaller of the two relatively husky Feldenneh seemed to consider the meaning of this unexpected appearance of a Starwolf for a moment, then stepped quickly up the ramp to meet her. It had never occurred to Keflyn to wonder if Jon Addesin would have warned the Feldenneh what he was bringing them. It seemed that he had not.
“I am Derrighan, shipping master,” he introduced himself simply, his voice the soft, rich purr of his kind. “How may the people of Denneshyann serve you, warrior?”
“I am Keflyn of the Methryn,” she answered, a little disconcerted by his intent and slightly bewildered stare. “I have been sent to seek the answers to a very ancient riddle. We believe that this may have once been a major world of the Republic.”
“You will have to ask our Speaker, Kalmedhae, for any answers to your questions that we may have,” Derrighan said guardedly, “but I think that you will not be disappointed.”
Keflyn helped to unload the shuttles, since she could lift so much more than anyone else, before she rode the last transport into the settlement. She thought that she should do these people a favor or two before she came asking for handouts and hospitality… not that the congenial Feldenneh where likely to refuse her. More than anything, she was busy reviewing her strategy, because nothing in the greater universe outside the Methryn’s hull had gone at all the way she had expected.
She had been watching her father’s techniques for years, and that had let her down from the start. Velmeran’s method of operation had always been quite simple; everyone he had ever met had been frightened to death of him. His reputation alone made his enemies afraid to cross him, while he would approach a would-be friend with that spontaneous innocence and understanding of his and win loyal supporters. That system adamantly refused to work for Keflyn. The Feldenneh found her cute and charming, and perhaps even a little lost. Jon Addesin fancied himself in love. The Feldennye shipping master Derrighan was in love, and too polite to let on. But no one was in the least bit frightened except Keflyn herself, who needed a bit more cooperation and a few less alien admirers.
Her meeting with Kalmedhae was to take place that night over dinner in the Speaker’s own house. Kalmedhae was an older Feldenneh who served the colony as Speaker, as far as Keflyn understood a combination of mayor, judge, and social councilor. Aside from Kalmedhae’s own household, the other guests at dinner were Jon Addesin and the shipping master Derrighan. She could imagine why Derrighan had wrangled himself an invitation to dinner; he stayed close to Keflyn’s side to insure his place beside her at the table. Addesin was, at least at first, too annoyed to notice that he had competition. He was forever trying to raise extra money for his ship by selling goods on speculation to the colonists he supplied. Because of a mistake in labeling the shipping crates, something he had bought to sell to the fur-bearing Feldenneh had turned out to be five thousand bottles of suntan lotion.
So there Keflyn sat, trapped at the table between her pair of strange suitors, knowing that there might be trouble as soon as Jon Addesin recovered from his mood of annoyance enough to notice. Keflyn entertained some hope that Addesin might never know. Despite his occasional obvious and very self-conscious attempts at acting the part of the daring young pirate captain, he was too absorbed in nursing his shaky business and ailing ship to be aware of anything that did not present itself as a profitable venture. The possible romance of a Starwolf and a Feldenneh would not interest him beyond its threat to his own plans… unless he could figure out some way to sell tickets.
Leave them both alone, Keflyn told herself. You will soon be going back to your own ship and your own kind. One is furry, and the other is descended of baboons. Why would you want to become involved with either one?
It would be different?
She told Kalmedhae everything about her mission that she had been willing to tell Addesin, not daring to allow even the Feldenneh to know the greater scope of her search. The Feldenneh gave their wholehearted support to the Starwolves, who protected them from slavery under Union control. At the same time, they were a part of the Union and often found themselves forced to fill the roles of non-combat technicians in the Union military, and they seemed to feel that that did not compromise their loyalty. Unlike Addesin, however, Kalmedhae was honestly interested in her quest, and shrewd enough to realize its implications.
“This was once Republic space,” he observed, watching her closely with his large, solid black eyes. “Do the Starwolves consider that it still is?”
“That depends upon the level of ownership you wish to define,” Keflyn answered carefully. She was well aware of all the members of Kalmedhae’s household seated about the table, watching her expectantly. “At this time, the only people living on this world are your own. If your loyalties are to the Union, then the Starwolves will respect that. If you wish to sever your ties to the Union and be independent, then the Starwolves will defend your decision to do so. If you wish to open this world for Republic expansion, we would be grateful.”
Kalmedhae considered that carefully. “What would the Republic find of interest in this world?”
“Essentially nothing,” she admitted freely. “The export of wood or other materials, or your own products. But the Kelvessan, my own people, would find it very interesting. This is one of the few worlds cool enough for us to live comfortably. Our metabolisms are so high-powered that they produce excessive heat, and we must be artificially cooled to tolerate human environments. Here, we can live very comfortably.”
She glanced at Jon Addesin, who was wearing a lined jacket even indoors. He did not notice, still distracted with thoughts of suntan lotion.
Kalmedhae considered that, arid nodded. “That is well. Kelvessan would make very good neighbors. I had not known that there were those of your kind who do not lead the lives of Starwolves.”
She shook her head. “There are now several million Kelvessan, but only a few thousand Starwolves.”
“There are secrets in this world that you should see,” the older Feldenneh announced suddenly, as if coming to some important decision. “But it has a price. The Union must not know these things. Once the Starwolves know the secrets of this world, then they will have the responsibility of defending those secrets. You will agree, when you see for yourself and understand.”
“You have had that promise already,” Keflyn assured him. “What are those secrets?”
“Perhaps it would be better for you to see those things for yourself.”
Jon Addesin looked up suddenly, like a startled animal. He apparentiy had not been in a world completely of his own. “Ah, I’ll be bringing down the Thermopylae’s skyvan, as soon as we get our load on board. I know that your colony has nothing suitable for long, quick trips.”
“Yes, that is so,” Kalmedhae agreed, and Derrighan’s look of quiet dismay supported that. But the older Feldenneh still had a trick to play for his own side. Although Feldenneh did not smile, he still looked enormously pleased, like a chess player who had just moved his opponent into an unexpected check. “Well, the day grows old, and night is upon us. Derrighan, perhaps you could find a place where your new friend can stay the night.”
“Kelvessan do not sleep,” Keflyn answered guardedly, watching the two Feldenneh closely. “Of course, I must have someplace where I can stay.”
Derrighan’s ears were standing straight up with anticipation. “I live alone. I came to this world in advance of other members of my household, who have not yet come.”
“You’ll not be going back up to the ship with me?” Addesin asked, looking panic-stricken. He knew that she planned to stay, since she had brought all of her bags down on the shuttle with her.
“I will never return to the Thermopylae now,” Keflyn reminded him. So if you want your chance, she added to herself, you will get your business concluded as quickly as you can manage so that I can be about mine.
“And I do have to get back to my ship,” Addesin mumbled to himself.
Derrighan just sat there in silence with the most surprised, frightened, and bewildered expression on his lupine face, knowing that he had won something and not at all sure what, or if he really wanted it in the first place. Keflyn hoped that she could take that as a measure of the sincerity of his interests, that he had been competing for her favor in spite of a logical uncertainty about whether or not he should.
Now that she had him, she was also facing the question of what to do with him. She wondered about that as the two of them used the transport to move her bags to his house near the edge of the settlement. Both Derrighan and Jon Addesin had stirred her interests, although not to any great extent. Anything that did happen would be nothing more than play. Jon Addesin looked the most like one of her own kind. Derrighan was most like her in thought and spirit. The Feldenneh would spend most of a long night in gentle, affectionate lovemaking. Humans had sex in a matter of minutes and went to sleep.
She was by no means certain that she wanted things to go that far with either one of them. Her advantage was that the choice was entirely her own.
The evenings of this world were marked by spectacular displays of light, a constantly changing display of long streamers and sheets of brilliant colors filling the western sky. She had been told that the sun of this system was slightly unstable, fluctuating on a cycle of slight expansion and contraction every sixteen hours, and pouring out a tremendous blast of charged particles and strong magnetics as it did. Keflyn wondered that this world had ever been chosen for major settlement. Unshielded electronic and electrical systems would never work properly.