Resurgence

Her heart froze in her chest, until she realized that those were human arms encircling her. Louis Nenda, pawing her again! She felt a little guilty at refusing to go to dinner with him, but didn’t the man ever learn? Terror changed to anger, and she spun around ready to give him the hardest slap he had ever felt.

Her hand was already raised and moving when she saw who was behind her.

“Hans!”

“Who else has hugging rights on you?” He was smiling.

“Hans, I had no idea that you were coming to Miranda Port. Where have you been? I’ve sent message after message for two months, and never had one word of answer.”

“None of them got to me. I wasn’t where I could be reached.” He was holding her at arm’s length. “Darya, you’re looking really good.”

“I wish I could say the same for you. Hans, what have you been doing to yourself? You look like hell.”

“If you think this is bad, you should have seen me a week ago. Darya, I didn’t get your messages because I couldn’t. I was in jail on Candela.”

“Why?”

“I’ll tell you about it later. Just now, I want to know why I’m at Upside Miranda Port. Being called here probably saved my life. Let’s get to the meeting room.”

“Hans, there’s a Zardalu in this corridor.” Darya stared ahead. “Or there was. Where did it go?”

“The only place it could possibly have gone—into the meeting chamber.” He was moving forward.

“Hans, slow down. I’m telling you, it’s a Zardalu.”

“All right, so it’s a Zardalu. I feel sure it’s sedated, or brain-dead, or some form of simulacrum. Otherwise nobody would let it loose.”

He had reached the entrance to the chamber, where he paused. Darya followed and moved cautiously to where she could see what was happening inside.

Her idea of getting to the meeting early had occurred to plenty of others. A fresh-faced, dark-haired human male whom she did not recognize was already seated where she wanted to be, right at the front. Behind him was the Cecropian, Atvar H’sial, flanked by the little Hymenopt, Kallik, and the Lo’tfian, J’merlia. And behind them, in the chamber’s biggest open space, stood Louis Nenda.

She owed him an apology, but this wasn’t the time for it. Because in front of Nenda, sprawling its great length along the floor, was the Zardalu. It was making a series of clicking and snorting sounds.

Nenda snorted right back at it. He said, “Yeah, yeah. Don’t gimme that,” and made his own set of clicks. After a few seconds of hesitation, a thick meter-long tongue of royal purple emerged from the Zardalu’s head.

Louis Nenda said, “I should think so. That’s a damn sight better.” He stepped forward and placed his right boot on the outstretched tongue.

Darya gasped in horror, expecting to see Nenda picked up in thigh-thick tentacles and dismembered. He heard the gasp, glanced her way, and nodded a greeting. “Morning. Archie here has been gettin’ above himself while he was down on Miranda. I had to use Zardalu slave lingo to remind him who’s boss an’ who brought him here in the first place.”

He lifted his foot from the Zardalu’s tongue. “Now, Archie, you get over to the back of the room. You’re too big and ugly to sit in front with the rest of us.” He produced another set of clicks, and the Zardalu rose, bowed its great head, and slithered away to the rear of the chamber.

Nenda turned back toward Darya and seemed to notice Hans Rebka for the first time. “I’d say that little and ugly ought to sit in the back, too.”

“Don’t let me stop you, then. Go there if you feel you ought to.” Rebka calmly made his way toward the front row of seats.

Louis Nenda growled and was heading for Rebka when Atvar H’sial placed her great body between them. She raised her forelimbs, one over Nenda’s head and another above Rebka, and hissed menacingly.

“All right, all right.” Nenda stepped around the Cecropian so that he could see Hans Rebka. “Just so you don’t get the wrong idea about why I’m layin’ off now, it’s because Atvar H’sial says that the meeting’s ready to start—she can smell Julian Graves in the corridor. If we try to fight she says she’ll hold us upside down an’ shake sense into us. She can do it, too. You don’t understand pheromone talk, but J’merlia will confirm her words if you have any doubts.”

“I’ll believe Atvar H’sial.” Rebka continued to the front row of seats, followed by Darya Lang. “As for you, we can take this up some other time.”

“The pleasure will be mine.” Nenda squeezed into the last place up front, next to Darya, just as Julian Graves entered the room.

If the councilor felt surprise at finding an audience already in place—it was well before the official start time of the meeting—he did not choose to reveal it. He nodded his bald, domed head at Hans Rebka, said, “I heard of your arrival. Good,” and turned to face the whole group.

“Since everyone is here, and since you all know each other, I’ll get down at once to business.”