The Lereni Trade (9 page)

"
Seres
are…special, gifted individuals of the Onduun."

A shudder passed through her. "I'm not…special." Unless
that meant derided by everyone she'd ever met outside of her
family. She couldn't be what they described. "It doesn't make
sense. Why would the Tah'Na want me if I'm
Seres
—Onduun—and they are afraid of
that?"

Torik had a way about him that put her
at ease, as he did now. His face softened into that trusting
expression but with a hint of admiration that piqued her curiosity
and chased out her discomfiture.

"
Seres
possess certain qualities," Korr said. "Abilities to
influence others. That is what Karik fears—that you will use this
to hurt us, to deny us our freedom."

"No. I would not." How could
she?

"I know," Torik said gently. "I tried
to tell him. That's why he went after you. He thought you had
influenced me…I told him you weren't raised Onduun, that you
couldn't be influencing me. He said it doesn't matter. He's only
focused on…" He paused and looked to Korr, who tipped his head in a
nod. "On trading you to the Tah'Na for our world."

"One life for millions," Korr said in
solemnity from the foot of the bed.

A trade. Now she understood his
reticence in telling her, but it changed nothing. Rather, it gave
her a new purpose. She had the power to repay Torik for his
kindness.

"I would give it. In two days, you,"
she said to Torik, "are more my friend than anyone on
Earth."

The two Lereni exchanged glances, Korr
with a surprised look.

"That is what friends do. I have no life,
had
no life," she added
quietly. "It will mean life for the Lereni for a true
friend."

The sandwiching of her hand between
Torik's threatened to squeeze tears from her eyes.

"I'm sorry." The distrust and ferocity
melted from Korr's body and voice into something more like Torik's.
"You were right about this one."

"You see now?"

"Yes, but we must reach Rahmir and
make the trade."

"If the Tah'Na are honorable in their
agreement." The words spat with distaste from Torik's
mouth.

Korr gave a loud huff of indignation,
his ears lowering and his lip curling back from the sharp teeth.
"The Tah'Na have no honor."

"That is why we need
Mediators."

"But I fear the Tah'Na will find a way
to deceive them. It weighs on Karik's mind."

Torik let out a sigh and said, "All
will be for nought. The Tah'Na will use their
advantage."

Krissa stared in disbelief. The Tah'Na
were no better than playground bullies. "That is…wrong." On so many
levels.

"Without honor," Korr said.

"How can we get Mediators?" She looked
from one to the other for an answer.

"That is the problem—the Mediators may not allow the trade
of the life of a
Seres,
not even for our world." Korr's voice quieted at the
end.

"But Leisil should be free. It is a basic right of all
life. And isn't it
my
life? My choice? I will choose for myself and I want you to
live. How do I control the abilities of the
Seres?
How can I use that against the
Tah'Na?"

The smirk on Torik's face hinted of
righteousness.

"Karik would never accept this," Korr
said.

`

Torik recovered more quickly than Krissa expected, and
within that time, Theen joined them. Apparently, her sincere
sympathy for Torik had convinced Korr and Theen that she could be
trusted, but Theen expressed his objections about teaching her
about the Onduun
Seres
and threatened to report to Karik, despite the proof that
she wanted to do what she could to help them earn their world's
freedom.

On the second day after the
altercation, she sat with the three around the table in the lounge
when Karik stormed past. All fell silent in the tension that
thickened the air in his wake, until he disappeared into one of the
back rooms.

"How long can he hide in the command
center?"

"It is designed as a lifepod, but he
will not waste its resources," Theen answered.

They fell quiet again, waiting several
minutes until Karik marched back to the command center to isolate
himself once more.

"Can this table access the ship too?"
They had used it to teach her about their world and the Tah'Na
homeworld of Rahmir, and to provide instruction about some of the
larger political issues in the sector. But the question had been
growing with the knowledge that the main functions were in a
section of the ship that could be separated from the main ship.
Surely it couldn't be stranded. There had to be another way to fly
the rest of the ship if Karik decided they had all betrayed
him.

Next to her, Torik shifted on his
seat, a sure sign of his agitation, although he said
nothing.

The other two met each other's gazes
and one gave a slight nod.

She had her answer.

"I get it. You can't tell me because I
might cause trouble."

A soft hand gripped hers. She followed
it to the guilty look on Torik's face.

"Don't worry," she assured him. "I'm
not abandoning you. Your world will be free."

They sat in an uncomfortable silence,
until Torik's hand encountered the bracelet. He lifted it to the
light, a distraction, she guessed, an idle way to change the
awkwardness of not knowing what to say.

His hand closed on her wrist to hold
the oval, iridescent black rainbow stone almost two inches long
between his thumb and forefinger. His brow furrowed. "This
is…Inari."

Krissa pulled her wrist closer to see
the symbol.

Korr and Theen took a keener interest
and leaned over the table to see the stone while Torik held it up
for them.

"What are Inari?" she asked and pulled
her wrist back from their examination. "I found this symbol on
Earth."

"They have long visited
Earth."

Interesting. It explained why she
could find a translation. But what about Onduun?

"Inari can hide, like Onduun, among
the…" Korr's statement trailed away and he pursed his lips in a
look of frustration.

"Humans," she finished for him. "What
are the Inari?""

"Mediators. Peacemakers." Torik's jaw
dropped as he met the eyes of the other two.

"Karik," Theen and Korr said
together.

She looked from one shocked Lereni
face to another. "What are you saying?"

Torik regained his calm and said,
"Inari are trusted, peaceful—"

"Not all."

"The Shirat were defeated," Torik said
to Theen.

"What do they have to do with
me?"

"This appears to be a gift from the
Inari."

"But they would not support an
aggressive species," Korr objected.

"Then maybe the Tah'Na lied about
Onduun."

"Wait," Krissa interrupted. "You mean
you've never met the Onduun?"

"No." Torik's lips twitched in a hint
of emotional unease. "We relied on the stories told by the Tah'Na.
We were not advanced in space travel and had limited contact with
outsiders before the Tah'Na. Others came to us and introduced us to
the possibilities."

Then they had been as primitive as
humans? She bit her tongue on the statement, not wanting to offend
them.

"Misinformation to frighten us?" Korr
asked.

"It would seem," Torik said. "If the
Inari support the Onduun…"

"The gift could be from long ago,"
Theen said in a note of caution.

"It could." A hint of a smile glinted
in Torik's eyes when he caught hers. "Or it could mean the Inari
are trying to help us."

"How would you know?" Krissa looked
from one to the other. Torik had said the Lereni had no space
travel before the Tah'Na. She could only hope he was right about
the other species.

"I met the Inari when I was very young. Before the Tah'Na
invasion, Inari visited Leisil—my family raised
quorok
, a plant that produces an oil used
for lubricating metal joints. They likely traded with the Onduun,
but we were not familiar with your people. We didn't even know the
Tah'Na until they invaded."

Then she supposed that would make it
easy for them to believe lies about Onduun.

"And they're peaceful, you said? These
Inari, I mean?"

He nodded.

"Then they wouldn't trade with the
Onduun if they were aggressive?"

"No."

"But the Onduun might have found it at
a market off-world," Korr said.

Her heart sank to think that. She
wanted to believe that the Inari they spoke of in such esteem had
ties to her species, that they could help. It resurrected a hope
inside her that had died long ago. Now that she had friends, she
had a reason to live and a reason to die; but for the first time in
a long time, she felt like she might belong somewhere.

And Torik had not shied from her,
despite being a completely different species.

Her species appeared human. And they
said the Inari hid among humans.

The Inari hid among humans…

"Were they on Earth, these Inari?
Would they have been watching me?"

The three Lereni looked to one another
and Torik finally shrugged. "Possible. Why would they be watching
you?"

"I don't know, but it says
'Protection'. I found some translations on Earth."

Torik looked down at her wrist again
and the stone barely exposed from the end of her long sleeve. His
gaze turned distant, a frown on his face all that she could
read.

"What do they want…" He mumbled the
question and looked up at something on the ceiling. She tried to
see what he saw but could make out nothing that seemed out of
place.

"I hope he contacts the Inari," Korr
said, his eyes on the same spot.

"If he really wants what's best,"
Theen muttered.

What were they looking at?

Krissa tried but saw nothing but the
girders and heavy beams that formed the skeleton of their
ship.

"If he doesn't?" Korr refocused on the
others. "Karik doesn't trust outsiders."

"But we need a back-up
plan."

"We need to figure out how to make the Tah'Na fulfill their
side of the agreement." Korr keyed a series into the holographic
display controls, which pulled up an extravagant Tah'Na structure.
"House Raou's
Menio K'tark
."

"It's a palace," Krissa
said.

After a moment, Korr tipped his head
with a shrug. "Yes."

"Just call it their
palace."

"It is more. As the current ruling house, it is also the
capitol of their empire. It is the
Menio K'tark.
"

"All right. What's important about
it?"

He entered a series of keys, which
converted the three-dimensional outer image to an outline showing
all the inner rooms and passages of a pyramid in the
center.

"These rooms—" Theen pointed to
several around a large chamber containing a pyramid-like structure
of steps that looked like the ancient temples in South America.
"—are the residences of the heirs. They are said to play bedroom
games."

"Bedroom games?" She didn't like where
this was going.

"Your
Seres
powers will give you an advantage over their
desires."

"By desires, you mean…"

"Mating." The disgust in Torik's voice
left a sinking feeling in her stomach. She wished he hadn't
confirmed her suspicions. "The Tah'Na engage in all forms of
entertaining themselves. They have no sense of loyalty to even a
single mate."

"There is the risk that you will be
killed before you can pose a threat," Korr warned.

Then she could do no damage to this
nobility, if she figured out how to use her powers. Still, she had
no other options. "I'll do what I can."

That seemed to satisfy Theen and Korr,
but Torik remained agitated, a steel set to his jaw.

"I only hope Karik is able to notify
his Mediators to be there," she said in a voice she hoped was loud
enough for Karik to hear. He had to know they were plotting ways
that she might cause damage to the Tah'Na before they killed her.
If he was smart, he would help them.

If only she could figure out these
powers they said she had.

While Theen and Korr discussed
possible actions she might take, Torik relaxed next to her. After
long hours of planning, she grew tired and rested her chin in her
hand and closed her eyes, but caught her head from hitting the
table.