Freedom's Landing
- Автор: Маккефри Энн
- Серия: Catteni Sequence #1
- Язык: английский
- Жанр: Научная фантастика
Электронная книга - «Freedom's Landing». Краткое содержание книги:
The alien Catteni value strength and intelligence in their slaves—and Kristin has managed to survive her enslavement while hundreds of other humans have not. But her trial has just begun, for now she finds herself part of a massive experiment. The aliens have discovered a new world, and they have a simple way of finding out if it’s habitable: drop hundreds of slaves on the surface and see what happens.
If they survive, colonization can begin. If not, there are always more slaves.
By the time the first batch of flfty moved slowly out on their way to Camp Narrow, Mitford had taken Kris off wake-up duty and put her onto debriefing: getting names, occupations, origins, and lastly but just as importantly, what they might know of recent events - recent to them - on Earth. The mere fact that people were resisting the Catteni continued to boost morale. Today's encounter on the field also ranked as a major plus.
"Getting something out of the Cats without having to pay for it," was the happy summation.
When she took a few moments to eat her lunch, Mitford approached her for a synopsis of her findings.
"So far the humans I've got originated from North America, Canadians as well. Then there seems to be a whole raft of English, French and German. Resistance', and she grinned, "is increasing and the Catteni have had to call in reinforcements to deal with stoppages and sit-downs and all kinds of passive movements. There's also active sabotage, too - blowing up Catteni supplies or shipments destined for Catten or Barevi." "Shipments? Arty things?"
"Not that I heard.
Somehow, Sarge, I don't think our artistic tastes would parallel Catteni.
"Hmmm. Possibly. Any useful professionals?"
"Two Canadian dentists, nineteen teachers - it seems the Catteni emptied a private school for one reprisal.
They took…all the girls away," and the words came reluctantly out of her. "Some of the teachers are nuns.
They resisted the kidnapping. One said she had had her arm broken. It looks a bit crooked, and I can feel the excess calcium where the break was but basically it's completely knitted."
"A long time coming here, then. What do they use for this stasis junk?" Kris shrugged as she flipped over her sheets to pick out the more interesting occupations. "Five hairdressers, two masseurs, a reflexologist "A what?"
"Makes your feet happy.
"Argh."
"You should try it, Sarge, it can really relax you!"
"I said useful occupations!"
"How about two chemists, five pharmacists, a structural engineer, nineteen housewives, three with kids still attached, and…you know, there's not a single person over fifty among those I've talked to."
"Don't give me nightmares," Mitford said.
"Two jewellers, three ex-soldiers and a detective inspector." She came to the end of her report on the morning's interviews.
It took the rest of the long Botany day to process everyone.
Zainal talked to the new Deskis and sent several up to watch for fliers but Mitford felt that, having disassembled the garages, whatever mecho summoned the fliers had also been disabled, but he was quite willing to post sentinels, "just in case' Three hundred and two dead were left on the field.
Some could be identified by others who had been captured with them at the same time so their names were recorded.
Kris had to look away from the small bodies of the children.
Those under five could not endure the stasis.
Their deaths, so needless, so terrible, distressed her.
"You never knew them," Zainal murmured to her when he saw the tears in her eyes.
"No, and no-one will now.
She turned away, fighting with the fact that Zainal was Catteni, too, and a member of the species who had caused the deaths. She told herself flrnly that Catteni or not, Zainal had done all he could to help and certainly he had been able to reduce unloading injuries. They should also give thanks that he'd been able to ensure just one drop site. Even Mitford's talents as an organizer would have been stretched to mount multiple rescue operations and get everyone undercover before the scavengers emerged from the night ground.
Zainal touched her arm gently. "We go now. Night falls."
"Yes, it does," she said, heaving a sigh against the stresses of the very long day in which she had been going all-out most of the time.
The rescue teams were somewhat cheered by the hot meal awaiting them at Camp Narrow. Having so many barns available for housing since the resident population of the Camp was only a few hundred - made the difference between total chaos and mere confusion. Many of the newly arrived did their best to help, either settling their injured comrades, or lending a hand with the chore of feeding the multitude.
Leon and his medics had set up an infirmary for the injured and the weak. Kris saw Zainal and Leon examining the contents of the tester kits, Zainal carefully translating the properties of the various vials to the doctor.
Since there were a number of totally frightened aliens in that category, Leon had Zainal stay on to translate. Slav could at least reassure members of his own species who, Kris noticed as she ate, seemed quite cheerful. They were certainly inspecting Slav's weapons and even trying to pull his bow, hissing in the Rugarian equivalent to laughter.
Several of them were females which might account for Slav preening as much as he did. She hadn't really thought about how the other species would manage, either in relationships or propagation. If what was dropped on a planet stayed down, at least mating would be possible for all five species. Except Zainal. She put that exclusion to the back of her mind.
Mitford was everywhere, encouraging, detailing jobs, trying - it seemed to Kris watching him from the corner of the kitchen barn where she had wearily slumped - to make himself known to all the Terrans. To her surprise, she even heard him speaking a few words of German and French to representatives of those nationalities. She knew French well enough to tell that his usage was rudimentary, but he was trying. And the folks responded with a little more hope in their manner. Then she saw Aarens, hunkering down by a very pretty girl and chatting her up in what sounded like extremely fluent French. She was clearly flattered and, as clearly, recovering from the shock of the journey. Aarens, who wore a vest of many pockets and a belt of tools including an assortment of screwdrivers of all sizes, was making her laugh.
"Come," and Zainal held out a hand to her. "You sleep.
Tomorrow is another day." Grinning at his unwitting use of the famous Scarlett O'Hara phrase, she extended her hand and let him haul her to her feet. She couldn't help but notice that many eyes followed them out of the barn. Maybe she should paint "one of the good guys' on his forehead. Then she ffinched, remembering her own recent and less than charitable thoughts. But she'd been tired and upset when she'd thought them. And she'd had the grace not to voice them. She was even more tired now and where on earth was Zainal taking her? Halfway to the Rock? He turned her in at the last barn which, she noted, was relatively empty. Others were already sacked out - or would that be strawed out? She giggled.
"Soft bed," Zainal said when he had gently herded her to the far corner where a huge mound had been carefully prepared.
"Oh, thank you thankyou thankyou," and turning, she just let herself fall backwards into it. She was faintly aware that Zainal was tucking her against his body and then she was out for the count.
She and Zainal both drew debriefing duty the next day, she with humans and he with the various aliens. As they were in the same barn for that job, she saw how he handled the different species: the forty Deskis with dignity, the twenty-nine Morphins with a cool, diffident manner, and the thirty-eight Turs with a sharp, very Cattenish delivery. Slav had been handling contact with his own species of whom there were sixty. Since there were over eight hundred humans, there were five other debriefers besides Kris, three of whom could speak other languages: German, French and Italian.
Late that afternoon, Mitford called a meeting in the garage of the Welcome Committee and his aides to organize the dispersal of the huge addition to Botany's population. Worry and Esker had made the trip over from the Rock, Tesco and the Doyles who were in charge of Camp Narrow were on hand, and Aarens was conspicuous by his absence. She'd last seen him breakfasting with a half-dozen girls.