"By what authority?"
"His." Cat turned to Ddwng, and relayed a spot directive.
"Approved," the emperor said. Again, this was not harming the emperor, whose quest for further information was futile. It was merely enabling Cat to save its friends.
Boar and Sow escorted Cat from the chamber. They were trained never to question a directive from the ruler.
All other nulls on the capital planet were subservient to the Swine. No one questioned their progress to the ship. The door opened and the three boarded.
"Take us to Planet Chains," Cat told the captain. "By order of Ddwng."
Ddwng will message the ship to stop, Colene thought.
Seqiro sent Cat another thought. Cat spoke.
"Incommunicado—neither accept nor send any messages during this mission."
The ship departed. Now Boar recovered some initiative. "I heard no such order."
"You did not need to. I am the one whose service is required there. Obtain a stateroom and sleep; you are off duty for the duration."
Boar plainly wanted to challenge this. But in the absence of Pig, and the presence of a nudge from Seqiro's mind, he elected to obey. He and Sow retired.
In due course the ship arrived at Planet Chains. Cat directed the captain where to land. "Take off and orbit the planet until I signal you," Cat said, taking a signal flare. "Remain otherwise incommunicado."
The captain nodded. Cat stepped out near the Feline village. The ship floated away, and disappeared into the sky.
He'll send another ship, Colene thought.
Cat was aware of that. There was probably a ship already approaching the planet. Cat had to act swiftly.
A village Feline came out to meet Cat. "What is required?"
"Bring the Caprine trio and the four human nulls to me immediately."
"They are with the dragon."
Cat turned and ran through the forest toward the dragon's lair. Seqiro lent it strength, and it made good time. But then there was a shadow in the sky. Cat looked, and saw a ship descending toward the village. That would be the second one sent by Ddwng. There was less time than anticipated.
Cat's not going to make it before that ship gets its bearings, Darius thought. Darius had once had a mission on just such a ship.
You can give it super strength, the way you did me, once, Colene thought.
But that was useful only for very short duration. It drew on the reserve strength that living bodies maintained as a cushion. An extended use of it could be deleterious to health.
So how's Cat's health going to be if that ship catches it? she demanded. What about the health of the Caprines and Human nulls?
She had a point Still, it was not a kind decision. I could kill Cat, by pushing it too hard.
The hive held a quick consultation. Risk it, Colene decided.
Seqiro took over Cat's legs, propelling it onward. But this was depleting the Feline's resources rapidly, and Seqiro felt the damage to the Feline.
Tiring despite Seqiro's boost of strength, Cat staggered to the dragon's lair. All seven nulls were there, holding a dialogue with the dragon. "Caprines!" Cat gasped. "Nulls! You must—"
But the expense of energy was too much. Cat collapsed. Seqiro was able to remain in touch, and to hear through Cat's ears, but could not revive the Feline.
"Trouble!" Goat said. "This is the Cat who went on the Virtual Mode. How has it returned without its trio?"
Two ships have come, the dragon thought. This is surely mischief.
"But we don't know what kind!" a Dar null said. "Is the mission done?"
Doe knelt beside Cat. She put her mouth to its ear. "You must tell us what to do," she said. "We don't know."
But Cat was almost unconscious. The stress had been too much.
Damn! Colene thought. Cat can't tell them—and they need to act fast, before the troops get there.
The troops were not long in coming. The ship reappeared, floating over the group. They could see it through Cat's bleary eyes. There was no place for it to land, but it didn't need to. Its portal opened and bodies jumped out. Parachutes opened, and they dropped toward the trees.
"Swine!" the Dar null said. "Armed!"
I believe they are after you, the dragon thought. The mission must be done, and you are to be destroyed as superfluous or inconvenient. Retreat into my cave. I will balk them.
There seemed to be no choice. The two Dar nulls carried Cat, and the others moved into the dark cave.
"We must ascertain the situation," Goat said. "Perhaps the Swine are here merely to fetch us in for a reunion."
"Battle Swine?" the Dar asked. "They are used only for carnage."
Indeed, now they heard it outside the cave. The dragon was fighting the Swine. The dragon was a formidable predator, but it would be overwhelmed by their numbers and weapons.
A boar appeared at the mouth of the cave, carrying a shielded lamp. He also had a sword.
A sword? Colene thought.
No power weapons are allowed on Planet Chains. Pussy explained. It is kept deliberately primitive.
A second boar appeared. They advanced on the group. "Stand forth!" one cried. "By order of Ddwng!"
They hesitated. They had always obeyed that authority, but did not trust this.
Doe got down beside Cat again. "You must tell us," she said desperately. "Why do they want us?"
Seqiro sent power, and Cat was able to respond slightly. "Must escape," it whispered. "Torture. Gather round me."
"Torture!" she exclaimed. The others stared at her, shocked. They had done nothing to deserve this.
The two boars charged. Buck leaped up to intercept them. The first one cut him down with a single chop of his sword. Doe screamed.
"They mean to torture and kill us!" the Dar null said. "We must fight them."
The two boars stood before them, one with gore on his sword. "Surrender, miscreants. Now!"
All four human nulls ran at them, the Dars swinging their fists, the Cols their hooked fingers. The swords came up, skewering the two Dars, but the Cols landed on the boars and scratched at their eyes.
More Swine appeared at the cave entrance. They had evidently dispatched the dragon and were coining to finish the business. The situation was hopeless.
Doe tried once more. "Cat! What can we do?"
The boars were crowding in toward them. Twin screams sounded the end of the Cols. Goat charged, head down to butt, and brought down one boar, but another sliced through Goat's head. Doe screamed again, hugging Cat protectively in a pathetic attempt to shield it from the savagery.
Invoke! Cat thought. That was all that was required for this specialized Key.
Cat and Doe appeared at the mesa, tangled together. Doe was sobbing and Cat was unconscious.
Pussy dropped down to hug them both. "You are safe now!" she cried.
Doe stared wildly around. "What is this?"
"This is Darius' Mode. The Swine can't reach you here."
"But what of Buck and Goat?"
Pussy looked up at the others appealingly. But they had no suitable answer. "Help her," Pussy said.
Seqiro sent a mental command that rendered Doe unconscious. That was the best he could do for her, for the moment.
EIGHT
Monster
Pussy looked up. "Thank you, Seqiro. Now we must see to Cat." She spoke as if this were routine, but it could never be that. She had seen and heard, though Cat's senses, their friends the Caprine and Human nulls brutally slaughtered. Cat had acted to save them, but in the end had been able to save only one, and that after witnessing horror.
Darius picked Cat up and carried it to a comfortable mat. Pussy and Colene took Doe by shoulders and knees and hauled her to another chamber. Pussy saw that she still wore the chain of paper clips Darius had given her.
"But the alternative would have been worse," Colene said, answering Pussy's prior thought. "They each would have been slowly tortured to death, to try to make Cat tell what it
didn't know. Ddwng's paranoia wouldn't let them go. At least now they're out of it."
"True," Pussy said. "But what will I tell Doe?"
"I don't know. Maybe it wasn't kind to save her." She paused reflectively, gazing at the chain. "And she loves Darius."
That made it even more complicated, Pussy realized. The last thing Colene needed was another pretty female loving Darius. What made it worse was that of all the nulls, Doe was the one Darius liked best. If it had been Buck saved, or Goat, there would have been no such problem. In fact, Buck could have paired off with Pussy, to mutual satisfaction. Nulls understood each other. Instead it was Doe, feminine and decent and horribly bereaved. What were they to do with her?
"What, indeed," Colene said.
They sat by the bed, pondering the awfulness of it. Instead of getting better, things had gotten abruptly worse. Ddwng could not reach them—yet—but they had problems enough regardless.
"I think we must decide what is to be, before she wakes," Pussy said. "She—I am an animal null, and I know how she will feel. We Felines made a deal with the Caprines, to support each other and not to betray each other, and we honored that, but we never anticipated this pass of events. I separated from my male component, and I endure because I know he is fulfilled. I thought my neuter component would die, and I am relieved that it survived and returned. But most of all, I am satisfied because I can continue to serve the one I love." She looked down at Doe. "But she has seen both her male and her neuter die horribly. Her closest attachments are lost. She will not survive, unless—"
"Unless she serves the one she loves," Colene finished. "And that is Darius—the one I love."
"Yes. So if you do not wish that, it may be better to kill her."
"Kill her!" Colene's shock was a blast of feeling. "I couldn't do that."
"You don't have to. Seqiro can do it with his mind, just by—"
"No! No killing anybody! That's not an option."
"But she may die of emotional neglect, if not allowed to be with her only remaining emotional tie. Just as I would, in that situation. I dislike speaking this way, for it smells of betrayal, yet I know what kind of anguish she will suffer. She is a fine and loyal creature, and does not deserve such torture. Deprived of her trio, she must serve the one she loves."
"But she loves Darius!" Colene cried.
"Yes. So it may be kindness to put her down before—"
"No!" Again the hard wash of emotion as Colene's tears of frustration flowed.
Pussy was hurt. "I apologize for offending you." Her own tears were threatening. Death was kinder than what Doe faced in life.
Colene reached across the bed and took her hand. "No, it's not that, Pussy. It's that you're facing me with a choice I can't make. I can't kill Doe, or let her die in grief. But neither can I give her to Darius. He likes her too well."
"I understand. When a null loves, there is usually some mutuality."
"Some what?"
"Some return of emotion. Not on the same scale of course, or necessarily of the same type. But the master or mistress generally does like the null. That is of course all that is to be expected, for the duration of the master's interest. Then the null is reassigned or recycled."
"Darius is not fickle like that. He would never throw her away, and I wouldn't want him to. That's the problem."
"Yes. He would not. He would be the ideal master, from the null's perspective."
Colene pondered for a while. Then she looked at Pussy again. "Something you said—about serving the one you love. Whom do you love?"
Pussy was surprised. "Why, you, of course. I have served you from the start."
"Me!"
"I thought you understood. The way we nulls are made and conditioned, we must be devoted to those we serve. When I served Darius, before—"
"You were eager to serve him fully. I remember." In fact, in the guise of giving him a massage, Pussy had attempted to seduce Darius, and would have succeeded but for a fortuitous appearance by Colene on the video screen. Pussy had believed that was what he wanted, and had not been seriously mistaken. He was, after all, a man.
"Yes. Now I serve you, and will not touch Darius."
"But I'm no lesbian!"
Pussy was blank. "I do not know that term."
"It's a woman who is turned on by other women, instead of by men."
Pussy was still confused. "Women must not be friends with women?"
"Friends, sure. Sex, no. Unless they're gay."
"I have no sexual interest in women. I want to be humped only by a man. Of course I would have no choice if a mistress required it, but it is not my nature."
"But you said you loved me."
Pussy was set back. "Perhaps I misused the term. I was speaking of emotion, not sex."
Colene's relief pervaded their space. "Oh, you mean as in a sister or friend."
"Yes. I mean one I want to be with, to support and assist, whose companionship provides me with pleasure, and whose loss would devastate me."
"Oh, Pussy—that's the way I feel about you!"
"I am glad, Colene. I think that even if you were not my mistress, I would value your nearness. You have so much power."
"I'm a fouled-up kid! A vessel of dolor."
"You are also a great woman."
Colene shook her head. "And you believe that."
"I know it. I feel the power in you, though it shows only occasionally. But I think that you do not know it."
"You bet I don't know it! I mess up everything, especially my own life."
"I am thinking of the way you read minds, and sometimes anticipate the future, and sometimes have magic."
"Oh, that. Seqiro links me to those who can do such things, and I pick up a bit of them. But that's not really me."
"Perhaps." Pussy would not argue long against a mistress, but she knew that Colene sometimes showed powers that could not be accounted for by mere telepathy.
"I'm nothing. That's what I know."
"Yet because of you, we all are here and well, and Tom is happy and Nona is queen of Oria in the Julia Mode."
"In spite of, not because of. Still, I'm glad we got your feeling clarified. You love me like a family member, not a lover."
"Yes. Now, with Seqiro's help, I comprehend the distinction in uses of the same word."
Colene suddenly sat up straight. "Doe! Is that the kind of love she has?"
"Of course. Only since Darius is male, she will gladly serve him sexually if he wishes it. Nulls are made for just such interaction."
"But she doesn't have to."
"Well, if he required it, she would have to. She would not be dismayed. His desire would immediately become her desire. We live to please our masters."
"And if he doesn't require it, what then?"
"Then she has no need of it. She can be humped by any man, as I can, without affecting her relationship to her master. As long as the master wishes it to be that way."
"So it's the same as it is in this Mode," Colene said, brightening. "Love, sex, marriage—three different things."
"Yes. Tom, I think, has all three with Nona, but love is what sustains him. She could have married elsewhere, and indulged sexually elsewhere, and he would have been satisfied, as long as he could continue to serve her. I have no jealousy of your other relationships, marital or sexual, so long as I can be your friend."
"And Doe can survive the loss of her trio—if she can just be close to Darius, and serve him, even if I am his wife, his lover, and his friend."
"Yes, of course. Just as I will be well satisfied to be with you when you achieve these things with Darius."
"And she will not try to seduce him?"
"Not if he tells her not to, as he did when they traveled together." Pussy paused, then concluded that an amplification was appropriate. "If given leave, she and I could go out and develop sexual relationships with ardent young men for our own pleasure. That would make it clear to all that neither of us serve master or mistress in th
at manner, for sex tends to inspire jealousy."
Colene was deeply gratified. "Pussy, I know you and I trust you. Doe's another null. I should be able to trust her similarly. I know she won't do what Darius doesn't want her to do. So I guess it's between me and him. I have to make sure he doesn't want her to do it. And that solves one problem, and points up another. We can save Doe—but how can we save me?"
Pussy hesitated. "I am not certain you wish a candid response."
"Forget what I wish! Say what I need to hear."
"Colene, you must overcome your sexual inhibition. Darius is a sexual man, and he desires you. It is only his supreme power of will that keeps him from you. Now, with the mission over, and other desirable females available, you can not afford to balk him longer."
Colene nodded. "That is exactly what I wish I didn't have to hear. If he came to you and wanted sex—"
"Not without your directive."
"And if I can't get over my own hang-up, I'll have to give you that directive. Or send him to Ella again. Or Doe. That really kills me! Pussy, how can I change? I have tried and tried, but I just can't do it."
"Again, I am not certain—"
"Damn it, tell me!"
"I think you must defeat the mind predator."
Colene stared at her. "Pussy, that's the one thing I can't possibly face."
"No. It is the other thing."
The girl was thoughtful. "Sex—and the monster. You think they're connected?"
"I am sure of it. Because our minds have been much related, especially since Seqiro joined our party, I have received your emotions along with your thoughts, as they occur. I know you well, Colene, because I have been feeling what you feel, including your balked passions. Maresy is the same, and so she is unable to accommodate Seqiro, until you resolve your issue. This is what you call the downside of such powerful telepathy: those around you receive your negatives as well as your positives. The entire hive is suffering. You must resolve your problem, for the sake of all of us. Your deepest horrors, perhaps even your deathwish, are sexual in nature. The mind predator merely animates your weakness in order to consume you. I think that if you could conquer your sexual aversion, the predator would no longer have much power over you. Conversely, if—"