Aari had begun to speak with his parents and Maati of his time alone and with the Khieevi on Vhilnnyar. Some of what he described was new to Acorna and even to Becker. Now that all of them had had such a close shave-Becker’s description, but an apt one-with the Khieevi, everyone understood Aari’s experiences much more fully. They were horrified for him, of course, but their reaction was one of grim comprehension, not shock or squeamishness.
With his new air of self-assurance, Aan faced the parade of faces on the com screen with a degree of comfort he’d never exhibited in the past.
Once everyone had been hailed, Acorna switched back to Calum. “Delighted as I am to see you, what are all these ships doing here?” Acorna said.
“We re en route to join HaŁz and his caravan at the House Harakamian Moon of Opportoooonity,” Calum said, deepening his voice into a parody of a Scottish brogue. “It’s on that moon you used as a base of operations to rescue the folks Ganoosh and Ikwaskwan captured.”
Becker chuckled. The wily Hafiz’s lust for trade reminded him of his own for salvage. “His timing coulda been a little better,” Becker told Calum. “According to-uh-our informant, this whole sector will be crawling with Khieevi before long. On the other hand, if the old pirate had waited till later, there wouldn’t have been anybody to trade with, so we’ll just have to deal with it, I guess. I presume you’re up for a bit of haggling over rescuing the galaxy once again?”
Caravan Harakamian had come to rest at its destination after sailing through vast distances of space. Along the way it stopped at various watering holes and oases to refuel and pick up a few forgotten but essential supplies, experts in various fields, security personnel, and general shopping. Its space-going “camels” were fat with the finest cargo by the time they arrived at the desolate moon.
In less time than it took the genie to build the castle of Aladdin, Hafiz and his colleagues in commerce had erected a gigantic trade center. Hafiz used his own hologrammatic magic to disguise the envirobubbles as giant Linyaari pavilions, such as those described to him by Acorna and Aari. From the inside the bubbles were all blue sky and flying birds, -waterfalls and forests and mountains in the distance. In the foreground was the flowering vine of goods and services, the commercial center that House Harakamian erected solely to attract the Linyaari and their allies to what Hafiz fondly hoped would be an exclusive trade agreement.
Calum Baird had taken charge of leading a second expedition of technicians who set up relays between the new sector and the old one, specifically Laboue and Maganos Moonbase.
Rafik, Gill, Mercy, Judit, Pal, Johnny, and Ziana ensured that the kids who came from Maganos Moonbase and the crew of the Haven were given all possible learning opportunities. Some of the older children were now of age for university training. Those whose brains had been damaged by deprivation or who had been kidnapped into slavery so young that they were still catching up on their educations remained on Maganos Moonbase in the care of trusted teachers and some of the more gifted older children. They would help coordinate future supply caravans, and the transmission of orders from the new Moon of Opportunity, as Hafiz had dubbed his trading colony.
Dr. Hoa’s weather wizardry created a climate both varied and pleasant, cycling through a temperate change of weather every thirty days. With the resident botanists, he came up with species well adapted for several days of warm rain with intermittent hard rain, interspersed with brilliant warm sunshine, followed by crisp autumnal days that caused the special trees to turn bright red and gold and drop their leaves before the snow that fell only on the lawns and in the mountains on the recreational portion of the moon, where residents and guests were provided with skiing, snowboarding, ice skating, sledding, and ski lodge activities.
In another part of the resort area, specially tailored palms swayed above a “white sand beach onto which surfable waves glistened and slid under sailable winds. Provisions were made for the alien recreational activities Hafiz had knowledge of as well, vine swinging (for the Limurian jungle dwellers), mudrolling (for the Porcinian beings of the Greater Ursine constellation), and of course, high and low gravity events-long distance jumping sports and soil diving among them. Hafiz’s brochure promised that more exotic entertainments would be offered later.