“They call themselves Linyaari,” Misra said with that odiously superior tone he so often adopted. “We know their planet of origin, but it has been totally destroyed by these invaders whom they call the Khieevi. They have reestablished a home world only to be forced to run again from these … these things. They thought to warn us, and they have other couriers doing the same task in the hope of finding some group strong enough, or militaristically advanced enough, to overcome the threat the Khieevi so obviously are. Let me remind you that all communications would now cease even if the Shield were not in place, in case these … predators … have equipment able to detect even planetary-based signals.”
“That,” Hafiz said, “could prove as expensive as not having the Shield at all.” No communications meant no trade, and how long could Rafik carry all the burdens of House Harakamian’s multitudinous business schemes by himself? Not only that, but he would be absolutely unable to complete some agreements without Hafiz’s personal authorization, and there were others he had not been told of. … Well, the boy had already proved his worth as heir to House Harakamian; he wouldn’t be a worthy heir if he didn’t have, somewhere, a source of information about ALL the House’s business plans, as well as a code key that would allow him to forge his uncle’s authorization. In that sense at least, one could always trust one’s family… . But to do exactly what? Rafik couldn’t protect Acorna and manage Hafiz’s business simultaneously. Hafiz paced his study and could not decide which choice would cause him most distress.
Rafik was somewhat surprised to receive a message from his uncle, who should know that the Uhuru was already orbiting Laboue and that Rafik would be reporting in person shortly. The message had obviously suffered some damage in transit, and the only word that came through unmutilated was “Acorna’s …”
Rafik fired off a request for a repetition of the message while he waited for confirmation of his first message, requesting permission to land.
The com board gave a warning beep; Rafik glanced over to see that his second message had been returned as undeliverable. There was still no response to the first one … and a new series of beeps alerted him to the possibility that there would be none. Laboues main communications satellite had stopped transmitting. “Check alternates, display visuals, trace,” Rafik snapped, and the visual-display screen came up showing a sphere of cloudy gray, to all appearances completely enclosing the green planet where he had just been preparing to land. The test of alternate communications routes returned a null; apparently none of the backup satellites was transmitting or receiving messages either. The red tracer line that showed the futile progress of his communications burst from one possible node to another also showed a strange ship, one whose beacon signal, if any, was unknown to the Uhuru’s computer … and Rafik would have sworn that his uncle Hafiz had access to every ship-recognition code, registered or unregistered, in known space.
What sort of threat had that little ship posed, to make Hafiz take the unprecedented step of shutting, Laboue off from the rest of the universe with the Shield? Should he stay and try to help from here? After a moments agonizing debate, Rafik decided against it. He had every confidence in Uncle Hafiz s ability to take care of himself. Besides, if this confidence should prove to be misplaced for once, Hafiz would surely not be pleased to see his heir run into the same noose that had captured him. And that garbled message had said something about Acorna… perhaps to warn of some danger threatening her? Clearly his duty was to return to Maganos Moon Base at once, to check up on Acorna, and once there perhaps to enlist Delszaki Li’s aid in finding out what disaster had cut off his uncle’s communications.
On board the Balakiire, joy and confusion almost overwhelmed the Linyaari envoys at this evidence that one had survived who had long been considered dead to them. They were not, however, so overset that Mehreenya, the communications specialist, failed to copy and trace the single message that emerged before a shield impenetrable even to their sophisticated equipment blanked out transmissions from the planet below.