`Send a coded fax to the Arapahoe and the KTTS, for captains’ eyes only.’ He was silent a moment, looking at the forward screens and the distant glow of the G-type star. None of the planets that Rojer had sent probes to were visible, just a tight pattern of winking stars of all kinds.
`Mr Lyon, have you had lunch?’ Rojer shook his head, unable to say that he’d gone to the messroom but the moment he’d been seen, the place had gone very quiet. He’d left, his `Dinis tlocking in distress behind him.
`Then it’s high time you did eat. We need your particular talents again and we must be extremely delicate in our investigations.
Engineering, security, astrogation, exec, join us in the ready room.
And Doplas, inform Captains Quacho and Prtglm that we’d like them to join us if they’d signal the time to be `ported over after lunch.’ Of all her relatives, only her great-grandmother Isthia proved truly understanding of what became known as Zara’s Antic. Granny Isthia had raised one beautifully arched eyebrow and said `You do teach them that where there’s a will there’s a way!
If they implement their teachings, don’t fuss.’ Even her father who was the most understanding kind of dad you could want had replied, `What if she’d been killed?’ `She’s half Denebian. We’re born survivors!’ was Isthia’s imperious reply to that.
Zara had actually spent a lot of time and thought on how to achieve her end. The will to the way was also well researched.
Eventually her mother gave her credit for that. What really incensed Grandmother Raven had been Zara’s shameless and often unethical use of her Talent. The redeeming part of that was that Zara had not abused or misused anyone or more than bent a few laws.
For days after Rojer left – and the nights in which Zara had had horrible nightmares all involving him in lethal situations – Zara had alternated Queen watching with her planning. Ever since hatching, the Queen had been stationary. You couldn’t call the use of one palp to draw food to her mouth `activity’ though she did that from time to time.
Roddie had deftly replaced foods by the one palp used and put more enticing offerings near the other forward limb. She stayed where she was, her hind end in the mound of mixed shavings and eggs.
A theory was now circulating that this species of orthopterus might require a male fertilization of the eggs after laying, not before. There was endless discussion on the merits of every theory put forth: sometimes rather loud and furious debates in which speakers lost their temper with colleagues in other camps.
These discussions did more to make up Zara’s mind than deter her from her wild scheme, for it became painfully obvious that no-one knew what to do for the Queen. Something would have to be done soon or Zara was afraid she’d be lost. She was sure she would know if she could only get close enough to `sense’ the need. Roddie was doing as well as a male could be expected to do. But the Hive Queen was female. It had been females like her great-grandmother Isthia and her great-aunts, Besseva and Rakella, who had `heard’ the Hive response to the arbitrary return of the one scout to survive the Rowan-Raven Repulsion above Deneb.
And that act had brought the great ship to Deneb to be vanquished in Deneb’s hot sun. That was, of course, before the Mrdini had made contact with humans: in fact it was why `Dinis had made contact with humans. But that didn’t exactly exonerate either from current actions in Zara’s estimation.
The only female on the Observation Module was the non-empathic Captain Waygella. Why under the suns hadn’t either her grandfather or grandmother thought of putting a Talented empath on board that Module?
They hadn’t. She had to supply the need.
That took timing as well as planning for although there was a lot of FT&T traffic out of Aurigae, not as much as served her purpose went to either Earth or even Callisto. That’s where she had to be unethical – listening in to `pathed messages to keep informed of what shipments might be made to either Earth or Callisto. She’d secreted in her own room a breathing unit in case she was obliged to go by carrier drone, and a comfortable padded blanket.