More of the DoOon scheme was coming into view. Trap them here, learn their language, until in desperation they agreed to go for the Chip. The Feline nulls would be equipped to communicate by the time the Virtual Mode travelers surrendered. And if they didn't surrender, they would just stay here until they died. This was a gentler process than what Dictator Ddwng had tried before, but its object and tenacity was the same.
Actually, it also fit Colene's agenda. She would need time to develop her own scheme, and this would provide her with that. She regarded herself as being in a private battle with Ddwng. The emperor thought he held the high cards, but if Nona could recover her magic, that would change. "Okay."
Nona had finished admiring her flower. "What favor can we do for you?" she asked Tom.
Tom, stymied again, looked at Cat. Cat smiled. "Aside from agreeing to fetch the Chip?"
"Aside from that," Nona agreed, smiling.
"In the course of our preparation to meet your party, we made an alliance with a team of Caprine nulls, one of whom was injured. We should like to be sure they are well treated. It would be nice if they could join us here, nominally to serve."
"But actually to have a vacation," Colene said.
"We would not phrase it thus. They are worthy and compatible, and we value their association."
Colene nodded. She didn't know why Nona wanted to do the Felines a favor, but it couldn't hurt. "Do it."
Cat glanced at Darius.
"Yes, we wish to make this request," he said.
Cat faced the ship, whose door was now shut. "The Guests require the attendance of additional nulls. Summon the backup team."
The ship floated up silently. When it was some distance overhead, it suddenly shot forward, then vanished.
Colene touched Nona's hand. Why did we do that?
To win their favor. We can better trust them if they know we can help them achieve what they want.
Good point.
Cat spoke, but all they heard was a series of yowls. The translators were gone. The seven of them were alone in the field of flowers.
"Cat says they will be delivered," Colene said.
"You can understand their language?" Nona asked.
Colene hesitated. "Just guessing. What else would Cat be saying?"
Nona was not fooled. "Seqiro?" She was asking whether the telepathic horse had found their range and was connecting her mind to that of the Feline.
How Colene wished that were the case! "Not exactly."
Now Darius glanced at her, but did not comment. He knew that Colene had started to pick up some of the talents of those who had been around her, such as telepathy, precognition, and maybe magic. Her abilities were as yet fledgling, but she was working on them. Her hope was to be able to reach out across the Modes and find Seqiro's mind. That would not only restore her contact with her friend, but enormously increase her reach, and possibly enable her to restore Nona's truly formidable power of magic. If they could read minds and do magic here in the DoOon Mode, it would be a new ballgame. If. But it would be best if the Felines did not catch on.
Cat brought out several bead necklaces. It proffered them to the others. Tom and Pussy donned theirs, but Darius and Nona hesitated. "Is this a chain?" Darius asked. "Symbolizing agreement to seek the Chip?"
"No, it's the dragon repellent," Colene said. "But I guess I don't have any way to know that yet."
Darius nodded. He faced Cat. "What?" he asked, pointing to a necklace.
Cat was ready. It yowled to Tom. Tom withdrew a few paces, then lifted his hands, extended his claws, and charged at Cat. Cat held up a necklace—and Tom abruptly sheered off.
"Dragon protection," Darius said, as if just realizing. He took a necklace and donned it. Then he turned to the others. "These are protective devices, to warn predators away. Cat mentioned them before. We should each wear one."
Nona agreed, and took one. But Colene, true to her image, balked. "How can we be sure? Maybe it's a trick."
Darius drew himself up to his full height, frowning at her. "Take it, wench," he ordered.
Evincing extreme reluctance, she obeyed. Nona turned away to hide a smile, knowing how absolutely out of character their roles were. Darius was a competent but gentle man; it was Colene who could become imperious. But it protected Colene's secret.
Cat took the last necklace and went to Burgess. Cat set its hand on the hiver's surface, communicating. It wasn't exactly telepathy with Burgess, but contact did convey emotion, and the hiver knew when a person was to be trusted. Then Cat set the necklace around the base of the fore trunk.
Now they were all protected from dragons. What next?
Cat touched Burgess' surface again. Then Cat set off across the meadow, and the hiver paced it. That suggested that it was all right. Indeed it was; Cat was showing the way to the village where they would stay. But Colene waited for someone else to persuade her of that.
"Ask Burgess," Nona suggested.
Good idea. Colene ran to catch up with the floating hiver, and touched his aft trunk. The neuter Feline was a nice cat. That was Burgess' impression, coming through as her own thought, but she knew it wasn't. Maybe her nascent telepathy was helping, but she had to make a show of communicating with the hiver the same way as Cat did, to account for her conversion.
After a moment, she brightened. "It's okay," she said. "Burgess knows it's okay." Indeed, Burgess did know, and was satisfied. The manner Cat had related to the hiver was impressive. That, too, was worth noting: Tom and Pussy were straightforward in their male and female roles, but Cat was dangerously smart and rational.
The meadow gave way to a scrub forest of flowering trees though which wound a moderately worn path. Evidently there wasn't a lot of traffic to the spaceship landing area. Colene was also impressed by the manner in which the ship could travel rapidly between stars, yet land so gently as to do no damage to delicate foliage. A ship like that could revolutionize things back home on Earth. But it would never happen, because that was in another Mode: an alternate universe.
Not far along was the village: a collection of mud-brick houses with thatched roofs. Felines were coming and going, carrying bundles of sticks, baskets of fruits, strings of fish and the like. Evidently a subsistence economy. They took little note of the visiting party, except to get out of its way. But Colene did catch more than one of the sultry females eyeing Darius sidelong. Why were they so interested in him, when there were plenty of Toms available?
Her question must have intercepted a Feline mind, because suddenly she had the answer. Nulls were not allowed to breed with their own persuasion! Indeed, they did not truly breed at all; they were made as children, and given to formed adult trios to raise and train. All nulls were sterile; they had sex only with nulls of different persuasions, and never productively. It was literally impossible for them to form their own breeding communities.
These folk were existing in a kind of hell, as Colene saw it. Yet they did not seem discontented. They didn't know that any other way was possible. They did have some private satisfaction, though, and a lurking fear.
Before Colene could run that down, they came to a larger structure, buttressed by rough-hewn timbers. This was evidently the village guest house, able to accommodate their party. It turned out to have five chambers and a privy alcove: one for each person from the Virtual Mode, and the fifth for the three Feline nulls.
"We don't need separate rooms," Colene said. "Darius and I bunk together anyway, and Nona and Burgess don't mind sharing." But of course the nulls couldn't understand her speech now. So she demonstrated by choosing one room for the married couple, and another for the other two. As a matter of general principle, none of them wanted to be alone in a hostile Mode.
Once they had chosen their rooms, Cat gestured to show that it had something to convey. This was a sign language session, and the basic signs were obvious: when Cat beckoned, Pussy came to it, and when Cat made a push-away gesture, Pussy retreated. Danger was shown by covering the
head with the hands. Sleep was laying the head against the flattened hands; food by a hand lifting something to the mouth. Simple enough, and the lesson was soon over.
"You know," Colene remarked, "This stay promises to be totally boring. I mean, after admiring the flowers, what's left to do?"
"That may be the point," Nona said. "Boredom is a great inducement to agree to their mission."
"Well, I want to do something. I'm going out to meet the people. Anybody want to come along?" Someone had to, or she couldn't go, per their agreement.
Darius preferred to rest, and so did Nona. But Burgess was curious about this land, so they started out together. Immediately Pussy was there to accompany them; it seemed that the nulls had their own agreement. Pussy was Colene's guardian.
This turned out to be just as well, because Pussy was able to explain things to the villagers in their own language. The adults continued about their various businesses, but a number of children came up to admire Burgess. They ranged from about five years old to ten, though that was assuming that they had started as babies. They were made young, she gathered, but not that young. They had never seen a creature like him before, which was scarcely surprising, as there had never been a creature like him in this universe.
"Let's give them a thrill," Colene said, seeing potential in the situation. These were Felines of three genders, but they were still typical children. She touched Burgess, clearing it with him, then addressed the group: "Free rides, kids. Like this." Of course they couldn't understand her words, so she demonstrated. Burgess sank down to the ground and she climbed onto his carapace behind the fore trunk, grasping two of the contact points. The hiver blew out air under the curtain of leg panels, and floated just over the ground. Then he moved forward a body length, and settled back to the ground.
Colene climbed off. "Now who else wants to try it?" she asked, looking around at the impressed faces. She pointed to a little girl. "How about you, kitty?" But the girl, abashed, hung back.
Pussy stepped forward and spoke to the child. Then the girl stepped forward. She was clearly nervous to the point of fear, but had to do it.
Colene realized that further reassurance was in order. "We'll do it together," she decided. "Come on, kitty." She took the child's hand and helped her climb on. Then she climbed back on herself; Burgess could handle this much weight.
They made another float-and-drift forward. The child was frightened but thrilled. Then Colene helped her off, and put two other children on, this time without riding herself. They were less frightened, and just as thrilled. And Colene discovered something: she was good with children. At fourteen she wasn't a lot older than the larger ones, but she had seen considerable adult experience, on and off the Virtual Mode.
The adult Felines continued about their business, but Colene could tell they were watching. She felt their emotions, first of concern, then of pleasure as they saw that the monster was harmless. That pleased her; she and Burgess were making friends with the locals. This was something she wanted to do, because she suspected their stay here would be a lot more comfortable if the visitors were liked.
After all seven of the children had had rides, their little party moved on to explore the neighborhood around the village. There was a lake nearby; that was where the fish were being brought from. Burgess immediately floated out over the water, evidently startling Pussy, who had not realized the capacities of the cushion of air he utilized. Burgess loved it; he sucked water into his fore trunk and blew it out his rear trunk. This looked like sheer sport, but Colene knew he was also feeding, seining nutrients from the water as it passed through him.
A bell sounded. Colene glanced at Pussy, who made the eat sign: time to eat. Colene realized that the afternoon had passed, and she was hungry.
They returned to the village, where a large communal table had been set out and piled with assorted foods. The visitors had places along one side, together. Colene found that she was much more comfortable with the assembled Felines now. There were seven trios, or twenty-one individuals, and the seven children, one with each trio. Those were the family units. Father, mother, and what? There was more to learn about the social structure of these null people.
"Each trio has a child," Nona remarked. "And our trio has us."
That was one way of looking at it. The food was basic but good, and there was plenty. There were no utensils; bare hands were used, then licked off. A saucer of water at each end of the table served for those who were thirsty; they took turns lapping it up. But cups were provided for the visitors, who lacked lapping skill. Their own trio used cups also; Colene wasn't sure whether this was in deference to their charges, or because they had learned more civilized ways at the capital planet.
Colene also saw that there were a few non-Feline nulls just arriving, joining the meal. A Bovine trio and Equine trio, each with one child of their persuasion. They must have been traveling, and had to stop here for the night. They seemed to be welcome.
As the meal ended and the sun descended, several villagers brought out gourds with holes and strings and began playing them. They were musical instruments, with odd but pleasant tones. Others danced, in sinuous patterns. "Oh, lovely!" Nona exclaimed, delighted, for she was a musical creature.
Cat spoke to Tom. Tom stood, faced Nona, and bowed, extending a paw. "He's asking you to dance!" Colene said, picking up the thought.
Nona needed no urging. She joined Tom, and in a moment was moving as sinuously as any feline. She did have the body for it. Colene tried to stifle her jealousy; why did the women have to be so damned good at being female?
"Perhaps we should join them," Darius murmured.
"You can dance?" Colene asked before she thought. There was still a lot she didn't know about him.
"I can do this," he said.
So they danced, emulating the feline motions, and Colene made another discovery: she loved this. Being social, doing social things—she had never really gotten into it at school, because the boys were mostly creeps and the girls were mostly clothes horses, even at her age. A dance had been a grope session with little art. But this was different, and great.
The Bovines and Equines were dancing too, not trying to emulate the Feline moves. Their style was more like tap dancing, and their hind feet were hoofs, good at it.
Then something horrible happened. A great dark shape slid into the group. Felines screamed in terror, and then in horror: a serpentine monster was among them, its huge awful jaws clamped about a male, bearing him away. In a moment monster and man were gone, leaving only a trail of fresh blood.
"What was that?" Colene half screamed. But already the answer was registering: it was a dragon.
"Maybe we can save him," Darius said, casting about for a weapon.
But Cat intercepted him, shaking its head no. They couldn't go after the dragon—and with burgeoning horror, Colene discovered why. The dragons were a protected species. They preyed on villagers, but could not be fought or hunted.
Colene turned away from the group, bent over, and vomited out most of what she had just eaten. It was not the death or the blood that got to her; she was on intimate terms with both. It was the realization that these feline people were not ordinary residents; they were prey.
She recovered in a moment; she had always been good at masking her feelings. Pussy was there to clean her face. "Here you are helping me, when it's your folk who got savaged," Colene said, feeling the irony. Of course the cat woman could not understand the words, but maybe the tone conveyed the essence.
Then Colene felt a shock of a quite different nature. Pussy understood her words. There was no doubt; the meaning came through clearly, and was appreciated. But the Feline gave no indication; instead she kept her face carefully blank and continued to minister to Colene.
For the moment this discovery blocked back the horror of the dragon attack. Pussy—and therefore surely the other Felines of her trio—understood her language, but were pretending not to. They had spoken freely when the
translator balls were present, using their own language, and now were much more limited. But they understood. Why should they do that?
The answer was hardly obscure. They wanted to learn things about the Mode travelers, who might speak more freely among themselves when they thought they were not being understood by their captors. If the travelers plotted to get away, the Felines would know. So this ruse made sense. Nevertheless, it angered Colene. She never liked being played for a patsy.
But two could play this game, and Colene was good at it. She had had years' experience fooling her parents, teachers, and friends about her suicidal depression. The few times she had been fooled by others, she had regretted it greatly. Such as the time she had gotten raped. There was nothing like getting raped to sharpen the senses to small signals. And now that she was able to read minds, a little, she was not at all easy to deceive.
Time to get back to the role playing, which had a lot of genuine feeling. "But what's the point in talking to you, when you don't understand? You've got problems of your own. What are you going to do about that dragon?"
Pussy gave no sign. She just attended to Colene. But her mind confirmed what Colene had already picked up: they would do nothing about the dragon, because if they ever fought back, their entire village would be obliterated. Not by the dragon: by an Empire ship. In any event, the dragons were infernally smart, having been crafted by the same biological technology that made the nulls. They had virtually human intelligence. So trying to avoid them was useless; they could track any creature they chose. Only those creatures who wore the beads were protected; the dragons were conditioned to avoid them. And only the travelers and their three nulls wore the beads. All of the villagers were vulnerable.
Colene turned back to those villagers. They were clustered around a female, a neuter, and a girl: the family of the victim. The woman was in tears, and the girl looked stricken; the neuter was trying to comfort both, without success. Meanwhile Darius, Nona, Burgess, and the other two beaded nulls were standing aside, not interfering.