Deluge
- Автор: Маккефри Энн, Скарборо Элизабет
- Серия: The Twins of Petaybee #3
- Язык: английский
- Жанр: Научная фантастика
Электронная книга - «Deluge». Краткое содержание книги:
Meanwhile, the powerful and avaricious Company is making another attempt to take over the world of Petaybee for its resources, and the twins parents, Yana and Sean, along with the entire planet, must fight for the independence of their sentient world once and for all...
We should let them know I, er, mentioned them. I wonder if they’ll want to stay here or come back to Petaybee?
Murel snorted. That’s a no-brainer. There’s nothing here for anybody. I even feel sorry for the squid getting stuck here. It’s hot all the time, Ronan. Who would want to live like that?
Apparently people do, he said.
They snuck away from the proceedings, thinking they were leaving Sky still nestled next to Zuzu, and slipped into the water, swimming out to the squid trough, where they very carefully remained close to the surface. Mraka? Puk? Don’t suppose we could get a lift in the fishing beam, could we?
Halfway across the trough they heard a ripple behind them, as of something coming at them very fast through the water, and Sky said, Hah! Where river seals go, otters go too.
We thought you were napping with the cat, Murel said.
The cat does not need help napping, Sky replied. So I followed you instead.
Before they could say anything else, the telltale bump of surface water that hid the projecting whirling ray beneath it shot out like a frog’s tongue and snapped them into it.
They were so used to it now, they had come to regard it as Sky did, a wild ride and rather fun.
Mraka and Puk were in the control room, but Kushtaka, Tikka, Kisha, and some of the others they had met were there too.
Why do I get the feeling this is good-bye? Murel asked. You want to stay here, on your original home planet, don’t you?
Kushtaka said, Stay for now. There are no sharks here to eat my children.
The humans who’ve been in charge here are just as nasty as the sharks on Petaybee, Ronan said.
Fortunately they haven’t found your city yet.
One did, Kushtaka said. We’re sorry.
Sorry why?
We didn’t mean for it to happen, Mraka said. She came after you left. We let her in. We thought she might be like you. But-well, you can see. Bring the human, she said, and four of her people left, to return a short time later bearing the stiff uniformed body of the small dark scientist. She did not survive our atmosphere. We tried to push her back out into the sea when she began dying, but she was gone. Do you want her back?
Murel and Ronan exchanged looks. What do you usually do with your dead?
We give them as fuel to the vent.
The twins consulted each other briefly. Would Rory want her back? Would his mother? They thought not.
Seems like as good a place as any for her to me, Ronan said.
They watched while the package that had contained their enemy was shoved into the glow below. Just a brightness enveloping darkness, a feeling of heat, a dip of the power, and nothing was left of Mabo.
That was the end of it then. They said their good-byes.
Mraka and Puk waited for them to jump into the ray again, but after a quick glance they declined. We’ve a lot to think about. We want to catch fish and have a leisurely swim and hope everything will be sorted by the time we return to the mainland.
Good, Tikka said. I will swim with you. Sky and I will fish and play along the way.
Sky and Tikka popped out through the dome’s membrane. Aw, Murel said. I think the little guy likes her.
It’s about time he got interested in other otters, Ronan said. But trust Sky to go in for long-distance romance when it comes to choosing a mate.
Maybe Kushtaka will change her mind. Or maybe Tikka will bring some of them back with her and start her own colony. Oh, Ronan, I do want Sky to be happy.
He could stay, Ronan said. Surely he knows that.
I don’t want him to do that! I’d miss him terribly.
Me too, but you know, when we get home, I think we should make some other friends as well. Boy friends, girl friends, not all of them completely other species from us, you know?
What are you saying?
Well, take Pele, for instance. She’s really young, but kind of cute, don’t you think?
I hadn’t noticed. But she’s noticed you. She looks at you like you’re Petaybee’s gift to little girls.
He dived, splashing her hard with a flip of his tail.
CHAPTER 23
THE TRIBUNAL WAS not entirely over by the time the twins returned, but many of the issues had been settled. Marmion’s property had been reinstated and she was to be compensated for the expenses and business losses she had suffered during her incarceration. Additional ships, including the pilfered Piaf, arrived to transport the former prisoners back to their homes and duty stations. The twins were glad to see that Rory was no longer in uniform. Of all of the kids who had enlisted, only Kai chose to remain in the Corps. No one had said anything about the others, and all were allowed to leave with their parents.
The cases of many of the prisoners who had been at Gwinnet when Marmie arrived were being reviewed, in light of the evidence of false arrests Marmie had uncovered in the vaults. The prison’s management was summarily fired, and some of them were sentenced to join the inmates.
The tribunal itself had been adjourned until it could reconvene on Petaybee, to investigate the forcible relocation of the Corps troop ship commandeered by Marmie’s allies and the disappearance of the crew and landing party.
It seemed strange to be back aboard the Piaf with the giant tanks removed and no turtles or sharks to consider, as they had on their previous trip. Everybody slept and ate a great deal, even though there was nothing stocked onboard except Corps rations until they reached Versailles Station, where Marmie’s chefs from other holdings had gathered to prepare a feast for her homecoming. Once the station personnel aboard the Piaf had disembarked to return to their duties, Marmie threw a pool party for her guests at her station-top mansion.
Pet interrupted the party with a few quick words in Marmie’s ear. Marmie signaled to the twins to follow her into the house. “We have a com link to Petaybee. Would you like to say hello to your parents? We have spoken officially already of the tribunal that has been held and the one that is to come.”
It was a splendid link. They even had good visuals, with Mum and Da looking at the twins oddly. Then Murel realized their parents hadn’t seen them with their heads shaven before. “It’s very hot there and there are bugs,” she told them simply.
“Ah,” their mother said. “Bugs.”
They exchanged a few more words, and the twins could tell that their parents would have liked to talk them all the way home to Petaybee, but finally Mother said, “While the link is clear, we have a few more coms to send so-see you soon. Slainte, my darlings.”
“Slainte, Mum, Da.”
Father smiled, gulped, and nodded, then waved. The twins realized with both shock and amusement that their handsome, important da was trying not to cry.
“We love you,” they said.
“We love you too,” their parents said in unison before the com went blank, “be safe.”
“A bit late for that,” Murel said aloud, but she smiled tenderly. It would be good to be home again.
AFTER THE PARTY, everyone who needed to return to Petaybee, either because they wanted to or because the tribunal needed them there when it reconvened, piled back aboard the Piaf. Without the personnel from Versailles Station, including Rory and his folks, the ship seemed empty.
The twins slept much of the rest of the journey, but the closer the ship came to Petaybee, the more alert they became, and soon it was impossible to sleep. Shortly before they arrived, crew members passed through, distributing long johns, parkas, and snow pants. The twins had retrieved their dry suits and substituted those for the long johns everyone else wore. The Piaf ’s thermostat was lowered to keep people comfortable in the extra clothing.