When the door opened to him, he wasn’t so sure about that from the stony looks he received.
“I’m extremely sorry, Marmion, but an emergency’s come up and the shuttle has come to collect me,” he said with a disarming smile. “I really hate to abandon you like this.” He turned to Aisling, and only then noticed that Marmion and the large woman were the only two in the place.
“Oh dear,” Marmion said, “I had hoped to have longer …”
“I don’t see why you can’t, dear lady,” Torkel said, smiling at Aisling. “Is it possible Sinead could guide Madame Algemeine back to SpaceBase, or would it upset her schedule too much?”
“Oh, and isn’t it a shame, with you in a hurry, and Sinead not here to ask, but sure I couldn’t speak for her and me, I’m hopeless in the out-of-doors,” Aisling said, gushily, twitching her fingers through the fabric of her voluminous dress. “She won’t be that long, and you’ve hardly had a chance to finish your coffee. Let me just heat it up a bit for you.” She had already taken the cup and was lifting the kettle lid to check the water. “Ah, and that will be more pleasant to drink …”
“Really” Torkel held up his hand, trying to forestall the courtesy. “I absolutely must return immediately to the shuttle and”
“Good heavens, Torkel, did you fall in the mud?” Marmion asked. “Is there a brush about, Aisling?” She’d taken up a kitchen towel and was advancing on him. “A stiff one, so we can get the rest of this off. You don’t want to ruin your reputation by appearing back at SpaceBase looking like something a cat dragged in, do you, Torkel?”
Torkel tried to reassure her that he could change the moment he returned, and anyway, it had dried out and wasn’t a problem, but this did not suit Marmion de Revers Algemeine. Controlling his temper, Torkel was forced to submit to their ministrations. He hoped that Satok didn’t take it into his head to disappear.
It took a long time to get him neat enough for Marmion’s satisfaction, and by that time Sinead had returned from her errand immediately, she agreed that she and Aisling had better return to Kilcoole and could certainly guide Marmion back to the SpaceBase.
Torkel was nearly quivering with rage and frustration by the time he was allowed to leave. As if to deliberately delay him further, Marmion thought of a message she’d better send to keep others from worrying about her. It took time to find paper and a stub of a pencil Aigur used for making pattern drawings. but in the end, with the note in his cleanly brushed pocket, he was allowed to leave.
“Where the frag have you been?” Satok demanded. “I didn’t expect you to take the rest of the day to get back to me.” His hirsute face turned even slyer than before. “You didn’t make some private deal for yourself in there with the company on a private comm unit, did you?”
“Don’t be stupid,” Torkel snapped, striking out toward the clearing and the shuttle. They walked in tense silence for the twenty minutes or so it took to reach the shuttle. Torkel banged the Open button, then swung into the shuttle and took the passenger seat while Satok closed the door and assumed the pilot’s place. They took off and headed northward.
Back in Aigur’s cabin, Marmion looked sadly down at the limp body of the orange cat. Her throat was tight; she really wanted to weep at the sight of the beautiful intelligent little animal laid low by such a savage attack. A track-cat was gently licking the graze wound across the smaller creature’s spine. She and Aisling had shielded the cats from Torkel’s view by hiding them behind the covered loom frame, but now the big cat tended its smaller cousin while the girl who had first brought it to Aigur’s house looked on agitatedly.
“Can’t we do more for the poor thing?” she asked, wringing hands covered with rock dust and bleeding from scrapes and scratches.
“Now, now, the cat’s already getting the best treatment possible, really, Luka,” Sinead told her. Sinead’s hands, like Aigur’s, were covered with dust, scrapes, and bruises. She’d had to keep them in her pocket while Torkel was present. “Takes a lot to kill one of these cats, and the others all escaped without injury.”