Children of the Old Star (15 page)

Ellis dug around his coat pocket for his pipe. He filled it and watched G'Liat pace the room. The commander held up the pipe. G'Liat noticed and waved acquiescence. Lighting the pipe, Ellis fell into silent thought. He began to wonder at the fact that he had done something that a trained communicator could not do. Also, he began to ponder if there was anything he could do without training, especially in light of G'Liat's claim that there was something he should know about the Titans. Taking a puff on his pipe, he looked back to the warrior. “What if the two of us faced the Cluster together?"

"That would be interesting,” said G'Liat. “But how could we achieve it?"

"I could sell my property on Nantucket. That might be enough to buy us a ship,” speculated Ellis. “I'd have to do it soon, though. The value's dwindling fast. Also, I'd have to get my mother's permission."

"Would it buy us a solid star vessel with enough range to track the Cluster wherever it happened to appear?” asked G'Liat, skeptically.

"Probably not,” said Ellis, realizing that the plan would mean displacing Coffin. He closed his eyes against the image of Coffin being forced to leave the island. “However, aside from a Confederate military vessel, the only kind of ship I know that has that kind of range is a mapping vessel."

"Do you think it would be possible for you to get a job with the Gaean mapping service?” asked G'Liat.

"Maybe,” mused Ellis. He sucked on the pipe stem for a moment. “I've heard they are always on the search for good captains. The problem is getting an interview..."

Ellis was interrupted by the buzz of the teleholo. G'Liat excused himself. The commander could hear two voices speaking Rd'dyggian. To him, it sounded agitated. However, most Rd'dyggians sounded agitated in their own language. After a moment, G'Liat returned. “Your friend Arepno has arrived,” he said. “He brings a guest."

"A guest?” Ellis stood, clamping the pipe between his teeth. He followed G'Liat to the door of the house and stepped out with him to the grounds of the compound.

Arepno emerged from the fog, holding a limp body by the collar and seat of the pants. It took a moment for Ellis to realize it was Clyde McClintlock. Arepno threw McClintlock to the ground at Ellis’ feet. He knelt down and felt for a pulse. While weak, it was present. Ellis looked up at Arepno.

"We do not abide slavers on this world,” growled Arepno's translator box. “Nor do we abide humans who want to convert us to their brand of religion.” Ellis was astounded at how the translator box could be made to put a particularly nasty turn on the word, religion. “I have sent his friends back to Gaea, unharmed. He insisted on coming to you. Here he is. I bid you good day, John Mark Ellis.” Arepno turned and bowed to G'Liat and then stormed off into the fog.

RETURN TO THE STARS

"I presume you know this man,” said G'Liat staring down at the prostrate form of Clyde McClintlock.

Mark Ellis, clamping the pipe stem in his teeth still knelt beside the one-time colonel. “He's alive,” said the commander around the pipe stem. Looking along the body, Ellis noted that McClintlock's suit was relatively clean, indicating that there had not been much of a fight. Using sensitive fingers, he felt along the spine, checking for any evidence of injury. “As far as I can tell, he's simply unconscious. We should be able to move him."

"Who is he?” asked G'Liat, growing more curious, but seeming unconcerned about human flesh against cold, hard ground.

"He's McClintlock, the leader of the Tejan ground forces on Sufiro I told you about,” stated Ellis, his eyebrows crossed. “He's the one who laid down arms and made peace with New Granada.” Puffing furiously on the pipe, Ellis remembered seeing the colonel's face in the ceiling that morning. His brow knitted slightly and he looked back at the form on the ground. “We should get him inside where it's warm."

Resuming a more human poise, G'Liat nodded. He helped Ellis pick up the limp body and haul it back to the compound. Inside, they sat McClintlock in the comfortable chair where G'Liat examined his brain using the scanner. McClintlock's head rolled to the side causing the scanner to tip slightly. A soft moan escaped the evangelist's lips. G'Liat set the scanner to the side of the chair.

"Colonel, can you hear me?” asked Ellis.

McClintlock's eyes fluttered for a moment. Shortly after that, the evangelist took a deep breath then opened his normally bright, blue eyes. Looking groggily around, those eyes seemed, at last, to focus on Ellis. Briefly he opened his mouth, then shook his head, as though trying to clear cobwebs from his brain.

"Bring him a glass of water,” ordered Ellis, softly.

G'Liat inclined his head studying McClintlock for a moment, then went off to do as he was bid.

Ellis sat cross-legged on the floor and used his thumb to re-tamp the partially burned tobacco. Looking up, he lit the pipe again and smoked for a couple of minutes, contemplating the groggy form of Clyde McClintlock. At last, G'Liat returned with the water. The warrior helped the evangelist take a sip. With the first drink of water, McClintlock seemed to gain strength. He took the glass gingerly and drank the rest of it down. Blinking a few times, he looked around until he found Ellis again.

"I've found you, at last,” whispered McClintlock.

Ellis arched his eyebrows. “Found me?” He held the pipe by its stem and contemplated McClintlock. “Was I lost?"

"Your mother tells me, you had the same vision I had. You had the vision of the Cluster,” said McClintlock in a daze.

Ellis nodded. “She told me about your discussion in Roanoke.” The commander came slowly to his feet. “I thought you were still on Sufiro."

"The people of Roanoke put me on the path to truth and light,” said McClintlock dazedly. “From what your mother told me, I've come to understand that God favors you, as he does me.” McClintlock's voice was gaining strength though his eyes, while more focused, still seemed lost.

Ellis looked at G'Liat who shrugged slightly. “I only used the scanner to check that his brain was not seriously harmed. I would have to examine him more closely to determine what, if anything, you have in common."

Looking back at McClintlock, Ellis sighed. “What's this about God? What does it have to do with the Cluster?"

"Surely you see!” said McClintlock, excitedly clapping his hands together. The shock of the clap seemed to startle the reverend. “The Cluster is the hand of God. It brought peace to Sufiro when peace was unobtainable any other way. It sent a vision to you and me. A vision that humanity no longer needs to suffer the tragedy of warfare."

Ellis grew tense. He removed the pipe from his mouth and set it gently on a table. “Colonel, if that's true, what about all the ships it destroyed?” He snorted. “If anything, the Cluster has seemed more the devil than anything else."

"It's God's vengeance,” said McClintlock with a slight smile. His eyes drifted off toward the corner of the room. “God always strikes out at evil-doers,” he said in a dream-like tone.

Ellis clenched his teeth and ground them slightly. “My father was aboard one of those ships.” G'Liat eyed Ellis cautiously. The commander fought to maintain control of his emotions.

Clyde shrugged; his voice still distant. “I cannot speak for the morals of your father, though given what I know of your mother..."

Ellis bolted forward and grabbed the evangelist by the lapels of his coat and shook him. “How dare talk that way about either my father or mother!"

With two quick supple movements, G'Liat sprang between Ellis and McClintlock and pushed them apart. He stood between the two with his hands on his hips. “This is not the time to fight,” he said gently. Ellis opened his mouth to protest, but the warrior cut him off with a stare. McClintlock stood, too dazed to deal with his rumpled coat. G'Liat looked at Ellis reproachfully. “The fact of the matter is that McClintlock is valuable."

"Valuable?” asked Ellis, incensed. “It seems to me that he's gone completely round the bend."

"McClintlock's presence only helps us. Instead of only one person who has had contact with the Cluster, there are now two here,” explained G'Liat, his voice infuriatingly rational. “I can look for similarities in your brain patterns, find out what's missing in my own to successfully contact the Cluster.” G'Liat heaved his chest in an imitation sigh. “From the scan, I know he's suffering from a concussion. Now you're trying to make it worse by shaking him around."

"Why would you want to side with him?” Ellis gestured toward the evangelist. “After all, like Arepno said, he's a slaver. I thought Rd'dyggians hated slavers."

G'Liat turned and helped the dazed McClintlock back to the comfort of the chair. At last he faced Ellis once again. “I thought you said he's the one who laid down arms. Now it's time for you to put aside your feelings."

"But, what about our plans?” Ellis began pacing the room, agitated almost to a frenzy. “I thought you were anxious to go out and try to contact the Cluster personally."

"Indeed, I am,” said G'Liat, straightening and putting his hands behind his back. “In fact, I'm more anxious than ever."

"Spending time mapping his brain patterns and mine will delay us. We need to get out there.” Ellis pointed to the ceiling. “We need to get out and find the Cluster and stop it."

"I couldn't agree more,” said G'Liat. Ellis blinked a few times, as though stunned. “We'll take him with us."

Clyde McClintlock shook his head. The way he stared blankly into the corner of the room indicated that he hadn't quite recovered from either Arepno's or Ellis’ assault. “You'll take me where?"

"On a spiritual quest,” said G'Liat, his mustache seeming to outline a smile. “We are going to seek God."

McClintlock smiled, his face softened. “I knew I was right to seek out John Mark Ellis.” McClintlock looked to the ceiling, his hands upraised. “Praise be to the Cluster."

John Mark Ellis shook his head, retrieved his pipe and stormed outside.

G'Liat saw to McClintlock's comfort. He gave the evangelist a mixture of herbs that would speed the healing of the head injuries. Once done, the warrior helped the human to the same room where Ellis had spent the previous night. Suppressing his natural revulsion for the small, fragile human form, G'Liat stripped McClintlock of his mildly soiled clothes and helped him into the mud bed. He would clean the evangelist's clothes as he had done for Ellis. The warrior left the dirty laundry near his desk to be dealt with later. That done, the hulking warrior made his way outside.

Standing at the threshold, G'Liat took a deep breath of air. To him, the day seemed warm and a bit dusty, though he knew his human guests were chilled. The sunlight, filtered by the clouds, seemed very cheerful. In point of fact, G'Liat had gotten more than he could hope for, two humans who had contacted the Cluster. The only question he faced was whether or not he could keep them from killing each other while he sought the answers he required.

G'Liat stood silent, not even breathing, and listened to the forest around him. He could hear the faint sounds of Ellis sucking on his pipe. Until G'Liat had been in Ellis’ brain, he had never understood what humans found appealing about the drug, tobacco. Even now, the sensation seemed too subtle to explain. Following the sound, G'Liat found Ellis, his head obscured by a billow of smoke, his arms folded, shivering in the glade.

"Do you find McClintlock to be an honorable man?” asked G'Liat, quietly.

Ellis inclined his head, but did not turn to face the warrior. Many humans, G'Liat knew, would be put off Ellis’ refusal to turn. The warrior actually found the posture to be quite Rd'dyggian. “Honestly, I haven't thought much about that. I don't know much of anything about him."

"Yet, you are justified in judging him almost instantly.” G'Liat did his best to imitate the human gesture of a smug nod, though he let himself slip into a native Rd'dyggian accent. He moved around to face Ellis. The bearded human still would not look into his eyes. It only bothered G'Liat because he knew that meant Ellis was still resisting. He waited for Ellis to speak again.

"What do you make of this talk of God's vengeance?” asked Ellis, at last looking G'Liat in the eye.

"It's an interpretation of the visions he saw,” postulated the warrior. “They were certainly powerful enough to have religious connotations. What do you make of it?"

"It gives me the creeps.” Ellis removed the pipe and examined it for a moment. “What did Arepno mean about McClintlock being a missionary?"

"You were on Earth more recently than I.” G'Liat lowered his neck between his shoulders, a gesture that looked remarkably like a shrug to humans. “I assumed you had heard about Clyde McClintlock's Cluster religion."

"I wasn't exactly in touch with current events,” grumbled Ellis. The commander shook his head. “For someone so aware of events on Earth, you seemed awfully ignorant of McClintlock's appearance."

"One human is much like another.” G'Liat waved the question aside.

Ellis returned the pipe to his mouth and began to pace. “Do you really think we should take him with us?"

"Indeed,” said G'Liat, gently, but firmly.

"Cluster religion,” mused Ellis. “Won't his followers, I presume he has followers..."

"Quite a number, from what I hear."

"Won't his followers want guidance? Won't they come after him?” Ellis rubbed his beard.

"It's possible,” admitted G'Liat. He thought for several minutes. If he did not come up with a convincing argument, Ellis might argue to leave McClintlock behind. “However, they might be willing to help us fund our expedition. In that way, they could be extremely helpful."

Ellis looked toward the sky. “I still like the idea of looking for a job aboard a mapping vessel, though. I think McClintlock could be a hindrance to that."

"His military experience, like yours, could be presented as an asset.” G'Liat followed Ellis’ gaze, mostly out of curiosity, to see what the human saw in the clouds. “I also think the plan of joining the Gaean mapping service is best. Still, it is good to have a backup plan, if necessary. Any backup plan we have will require money."