HUNTER OF WORLDS BY C. J. CHERRYH

“Chimele,” Rakhi said by intercom, “projections incoming from Tashavodh and Mijanothe.” “Nine and ten clear, Rakhi.”

The projections took instant shape, edges blurred together, red background warring against violet. On the left stood a tall, wide-shouldered man, square-faced with frowning brows and a sullen mouth: Kharxanen, Isande read him through Aiela’s eyes, hate flooding with the name, memories of dead Reha, of Tejef, of Mejakh’s dishonor; he was Sogdrieni’s full brother, Tejef’s presumed uncle. The other visitor was a woman seated in a wooden chair, an iduve so old her hair had silvered and her indigo skin had turned fair—a little woman whose high cheekbones, strong nose, and large, brilliant eyes gave her a look of ferocity and immense dignity. She was robed in black; a chromium staff lay across her lap. Somehow it did not seem incongruous that Chimele paid her deference in this her own ship.

“Thiane,” Isande voiced him in a tone of awe. “O be careful not to be noticed, Aiela. This is the president of the Orithanhe.”

“Hail Ashanome,” said Thiane in a soft voice. “Forgive an old woman her suddenness, but I have too few years left to waste long moments in hailings and well-wishing. There is no vaikka. between us.”

“No,” said Chimele, “no, there is not. Thiane, be welcome. And for Thiane’s sake, welcome Kharxanen.”

“Hail Ashanome,” the big man said, bowing stiffly. “Honor to the Orithanhe, whose decrees are to be obeyed. And hail Mejakh, once of Tashavodh, less honored.”

Mejakh hissed delicately and Kharxanen smiled, directing himself back to Chimele.

“The infant the sra of Mejakh prospers,” he said. “The honor of us both has benefited by our agreement. I give you farewell, Ashanome: the call was courtesy. Now you know that I am here.”

“Hail Tashavodh,” Chimele said flatly, while Mejakh also flicked out, vanished with a shriek of rage, leaving Chimele, and Thiane, and Aiela, who stood in the shadows.

“Au,” said Thiane, evidently distressed by this display, and Chimele bowed very low.

“I am ashamed,” said Chimele. “So am I,” said Thiane.

“You are of course most welcome. We are greatly honored that you have made the harathos in person.”

“Chimele, Chimele—you and Kharxanen between you can bring three-quarters of the iduve species face to face in anger, and does that not merit my concern?”

“Eldest of us all, I am overwhelmed by the knowledge of our responsibility.”

“It would be an incalculable disaster. Should something go amiss here, I could bear the dishonor of it for all time.”

“Thiane,” said Chimele, “can you believe I would violate the terms? If I had wished vaikka with Tashavodh to lead to catastrophe, would I have convoked the Orithanhe in the first place?”

“I see only this: that with less than three days remaining, I find you delaying further, I find you with this person Tejef within scan and untouched, and I suspect the presence of Ashanome personnel onworld. Am I incorrect, Chimele sra-Chaxal?”

“You are quite correct, Thiane.”

“Indeed.” Her brows drew down fiercely and her old voice shook with the words. “Simple vaikka will not do, then; and if you do miscalculate, Chimele, what then?”

“I shall take vaikka all the same,” she answered, her face taut with restraint. “Even to the destruction of Priamos. The risk I run is to mine alone, and to do so is my choice, Thiane.”

“Au, you are rash, Chimele. To destroy this world would have sufficed, although it is a faceless vaikka. You have committed yourself too far this time. You will lose everything.”

“That is mine to judge.”

“It is,” Thiane conceded, “until it comes to this point: that there be a day remaining, and you have not yet acted upon your necessities. Then I will blame you, that with Tashavodh standing by in harathos, you would seem deliberately to provoke them to the last, threatening the deadline. There will be no infringement upon that, Chimele, not even in appearance. Any and all of your interference on Priamos will have ceased well ahead of that last instant, so that Tashavodh will know that things were rightly done. I have responsibility to the Orithanhe, to see that this ends without further offense; and should offense occur, with great regret, Cbimele, with great regret, I should have to declare that you had violated the decrees of the Orithanhe that forbade you vaikka upon Tashavodh itself. Ashanome would be compelled to surrender its Orithain into exile or be cast from the kindred into outlawry. You are without issue, Chimele. I need not tell you that if Ashanome loses you, a dynasty more than twelve thousand years old ceases; that Ashanome from being first among the kindred becomes nothing. Is vaikka upon this man Tejef of such importance to you, that you risk so much?”

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