“It’s all right,” she said. “I know you’ve come for me. Don’t worry about these others; they’re not used to psychic manifestations on this plane of being.”
Acorna-for surely it must be she: there was no other like her-tilted a long, shapely face and said something like, “Lllrivhanyithalli? “
“Charmed, I’m sure,” Karina replied. Why hadn’t anyone mentioned that Acorna didn’t speak Basic Interlingua? Oh, well, they could communicate on a psychic level. She beamed and projected, as strongly as she could, the image of herself and Acorna together and surrounded by the rosy pink light of perfect love and accord. When Acorna still looked puzzled, she put one hand to her moonstone pendant and asked it to lend her its energies for the projection.
Acorna turned away from her!
(See, Neeva? This one wants to come with us! Can’t you sense it?)
(It feels confused to me. If it can thought-talk at all, it’s doing so very weakly. Are you sure about what it wants?)
(Thariinye, I’m not so sure either,) put in Melireenya. (From your thought-images, it seems to be baring its teeth. In carnivores, isn’t that usually a threat?)
(Not in these carnivores.) Thariinye had watched randomly captured vids from intercepted satellite transmissions while they had followed the other ship across space to the lunar base where it had landed. (They bare their teeth to indicate sociability and greeting.)
(Oh, all right, if you say so. Anyway, I suppose we can reassure it later.)
Karina let out a sigh of relief as Acorna turned those large golden eyes back upon her and extended a … hand? Whatever-the digits were thick and clumsy compared to human fingers, but soft like a hand. Karina grasped the offered hand and felt a twinge of unease. Was she picking up some trouble from Acoma’s mind? Or was it the fact that Acorna s eyes were golden, not silver as in the stories? Or was it the fact that she seemed taller and more muscular than Karina had pictured her? Almost masculine in her aura. Perhaps it was the effect of the loose navy blue tunic she wore; it was so severe-looking, not the way you’d expect a young innocent girl to dress-unicorn or no. Well, perhaps Karina had been Sent to teach Acorna how to dress … among other things.
“Just a minute,” she said firmly when Acorna beckoned her toward the open door. “I need to get my bag.”
That occasioned another interlude of panting, wriggling, and apologizing as Karina fished her carryall out from among other passengers’ feet. She emerged from the struggle flushed and anxious that Acorna would have become impatient, so she did not demur when Acorna gestured that she was to go first up the aisle and through the door. The golden glow outside the door blinded her, and she thought about Higher Powers and stepped into it with complete -well, nearly complete – Love and Trust anyway.
Only when the other ship appeared in the glowing light, when she saw even more unicornpeople excitedly awaiting her appearance, did Karina realize that she was just as badly off as the other passengers on the shuttle.
She didn’t have a clue what was really going on.
four
Rudhlma, Unified Federation Date 334.05.17
While the Starfarer vessel was orbiting Rushima, it was not at the moment in a position to see the arrival of t}ie Aca^ecki. Nor did Calum bother to check on any orbiting spacecraft since the Galacticapedia resume on Rushima indicated the planet was in the early stages of its agricultural development and had only a message beacon. As he and Acorna saw no need to leave a message that would undoubtedly not be retrieved until whenever the colony remembered to look for messages, they thought they would simply identify a decent-sized settlement and land there. Rushima, being new with only one generation born on-planet, would not be startled or surprised by a single ship arriving. They could pay for anything they needed by transferring credits from the Li Alining Company to whatever credit institution the Rushimese nominated.
But as the Aca^ecki made its approach, Acorna frowned. “This is the sickest-looking agricultural planet I have ever seen. Whatever can they be growing? It looks all brown, and yet this is the summer for this hemisphere. Something should look green. Even the forests look sick.”