Anne McCaffrey - Petaybee 03 - Power Play

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Powerplay
The Petaybee Trilogy 03
Anne McCaffrey & Elizabeth Ann Scarborough
CONTENTS
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Epilogue
This book is merrily dedicated to
Maureen Beirne
Good Friend Staunch Ally
Cheerful Companion Experienced Tour Guide for many kindnesses for many years
1
Outside Kilcoole
Contents - Next
Yanaba Maddock and Sean Shongili held hands in a darkness illuminated only by the glowing eyes of
hundreds of animals and the flames of hundreds of candles. The drumming had stopped now, replaced by
the sweet lapping of sliding water, the beat of many hearts and the breathing of many creatures. One
pulse was louder than all the drums had been, one breath a wind that guttered and flared the candles with
each respiration.
‘So how do we do it here?’ Yana whispered nervously to her love and the father of her unborn
children. ‘Does the planet give me away or what?’
Sean smiled and winked, ‘No-one has that right but you, love. Let's just say that the planet acts as
witness and honorary best being.’
‘…best being,’ an echo sang from the cavern walls, ‘best being…’
He stopped walking and she stopped beside him. All she knew was that they were getting married,
Petaybean-style.
She'd been so busy with her new duties as Petaybee's administrator over the last two months that she
hadn't had enough time to enquire as fully as she would have liked into the rite or folkways of the
Petaybean marriage ceremony before it was upon her. Sean's niece, Bunny Rourke, one of Yana's chief
informants on matters Petaybean, had told her that it was a special sort of latchkay with a night chant at
the hotsprings. Yana had attended the break-up latchkay when she first arrived. This occasion differed in
that the night chant was at the beginning of the latchkay instead of at the end. As at all latchkays, there
would be much singing, although probably more at this particular one. Both Sean and Yana were to
prepare a song for each other. Songs were how Petaybeans celebrated or commemorated all their most
noteworthy experiences. The mode was mostly either a rhyme scheme to some ancient Irish air or a
free-verse poem chanted Inuit style to the accompaniment of a drum. Yana, whose heart was full but
whose mind was too crowded with administrative details while her body was having to make physical
accommodations to her pregnancy, had finally created her song. Other than that, she simply hoped that
things would go well and allowed herself to be led through the proceedings by the people she had trusted
more than once with her life.
Two hours earlier Kilcoole's premiere couturiere, Aisling Senungatuck, had arrived with the gown
she had created for Yana - rabbit hides crocheted together with woollen yarn in a long, panelled design
with a flared skirt, scooped neck and long sleeves. The crocheted lace inserts were heavily decorated
with beads made from scavenged wire and the little Petaybean pebbles found in certain streams.
Tumbled, polished, and drilled, the stones were lovely and translucent. The gown was yellow, the
Petaybean wedding colour, Aisling explained, &lsquot;Because most of the plants make yellow
dye.&rsquot; The rabbits were contributed from the collecting places of all the village hunters. Sean's
vest was a darker shade of the yellow, trimmed with beaver fur and blue and white beads.
Now the motes of light formed a circle around the two, and Clodagh Senungatuck, Aisling's sister and
village healer, stepped into the centre with Sean and Yana. Yana noted with some amusement that as
many of Clodagh's orange striped cats as could crowd around her feet did so, their eyes eerie and
iridescent in the candleglow.
‘Sean Shongili and Yanaba Maddock, we've come here because we understand you got somethin' to
say to all of your friends and kin here where the planet hears you best, is that right?’
‘It is,&rlquo; Sean said. ’I have a song to sing for you all.’
‘Sing for us,' soft voices said from the shadows, accompanied by an underlying rumble of throaty
feline purrs, the whicker of the curly-coats, and the affirmative yips of the dogs.
‘Sing,' the echo said.
Yana had no idea how many bodies were clustered into the cave that day. The line seemed to stretch
clear back to the village and included every man, woman and child, horse, cat, the larger track cats,
everybody's dog teams. She could have sworn that she saw wild game emerge from the brush and join in
the procession just before Clodagh led them into the darkness of the cave behind the hotsprings waterfall.
Sean cleared his throat. The candleflame shadowed the chiselled planes of his face and softened the
outline of his mouth as he began speaking.
‘Yanaba, she met the enemy
Coming to us, she met friends as well And honoured them.
She met me, and I met love.
Aijaiji.
‘With her friends, here around her
With her lover, I who take her hand,
For these people and this world embracing us
She met the enemy again and again.
It is in her name to do so.
Aijaija.
‘Yanaba, who knows my aspects
Yanaba, who has my heart
Yanaba, who honours my world and my people
Yanaba, who carries our future in her body
Yanaba, you are already part of my life
Yanaba, you already possess my heart
I tell you this here, with our world as witness,
I want you with me for ever.
Ajai.’
Yana's mouth went suddenly dry. Something soft and furry rubbed against her bare ankles. Her
stomach gave a heave and she wondered could the baby be moving so soon, pushing her to speak. She
took Sean's hands as much for support as encouragement and clung to them so tightly that she was afraid
she'd leave bruises, except that he returned the strong grip. That gave her the courage she needed. She
felt suddenly light-headed and needed to hold on to him to keep from floating to the top of the cave.
‘Sean Shongili, my truest friend and love.
Here I am, a woman whose only song
Was of war and death.
How can I sing what I feel for you?
You gave me life when I was dying,
A home when I had known none in
Many years of wandering,
A family when all of mine is dead,
A life to bear
When I thought I could give only death.
You showed me a new world and
Invited me to make it my own.
‘And I do.
In old songs by better singers
They say, "You are all the world to me."
I say so too.
Sean Shongili, you are all the world to me
And the world to me is you.
I love you. Take me as I take you.
As they used to say on Earth, "I do."
Sean took her in his arms then, and kissed her, letting his body rest against her belly which, although
firm and a bit fuller and rounder than usual, wasn't that noticeable yet.
Then Clodagh clapped her hands and everyone dispersed leaving Yana and Sean alone in the cave
but not in darkness. As the candles departed, a warm soft glow pulsed throughout the cavern and he
eased her to the rock which seemed to melt into a comfortable bed as she and Sean made love. They
always enjoyed that occupation but here, now, in the cave, where the planet was also part of this
communion, she felt as if she had never before been so consumed by the passion that always fired up
between them in the act of love. Sean felt it too, for his hands were tender, possessive in a fashion she
would once have resented, exciting in ways she had never experienced. The climax was so extraordinary
that she wept and knew, from the wetness of the cheek he pressed hard against hers, that he also had
been rocked by the intensity of their consummation. For a moment, she thought she had died.
This time they did not sleep afterwards or dress as they left the cave to join the throng waiting outside
at the thermal pools.
Cheers and laughter greeted them from the people and animals in the springs' three pools. Overhead
the stars and moons, real and man-made, lit the sky while the candles planted along the sides of the pool
garlanded it with ribbons of light. The big cats sported rather clumsily in the water while the dogs fetched
various things thrown by their masters. The smaller cats sat disdainfully on the edge of the pool. Yana
laughed when one of the curly-coats took a running jump and dived into the pool making a whale-sized
wave that swamped the shore and wet several disgusted felines who began furiously to lick themselves
dry.Then Sean pushed her in and a moment later, a seal appeared among the splashing, laughing, naked
company. This activity continued till daylight and was the merriest, raunchiest festivity she had ever
attended. Periodically, someone would hoist themselves out of the water and run bare-assed to the
baskets beyond the candles to fetch something to cram into their mouths before diving back into a pool.
Fortunately, all the food had been prepared in bite-sized portions, was easily chewed and swallowed, or
was fruit that wouldn't be harmed if it got wet.
At daylight, everyone went ashore and dressed and walked limply home except Sean and Yana, who
rode double on one of the curlies while Bunny led the village girls who spread flower petals and seeds on
the path before them.
‘I'm starving,' Yana muttered up into Sean's chin.
He nuzzled the top of her head. 'Good, you'll like this part then. The feast was prepared before we
left. But don't eat so much or you'll be too full to dance with me afterwards.’
‘Dance? You have to be joking! My legs feel like noodles. Umm, noodles. Do you suppose Clodagh
made hers? The ones with the smoked fish and dried tomato sauce?’
‘I have it on good authority that she did. Is all you think of your stomach?’
‘I'm eating for two!’
‘So you are. Forgive me,' he said, lifting her down from the curly-coat's back.
During the feasting, she had ample chances to rest and gaze into Sean's eyes and messily feed him and
receive food from him, also part of the wedding protocol. The food was arrayed in the middle of the
meeting house, and Sean and Yana as well as the other adults sat on benches along the wall while Bunny
led the youngsters of Kilcoole in offering them food.
Meanwhile, everyone occupied themselves by singing the songs they had written for Sean and Yana.
Bunny sang of her first meeting with Yana and their wild ride down the river. Sean's sister, Sinead, told
how she knew Yana would be one of them from the time she went on her first hunt. Adak sang of the
hiding of Sean in the snocle shed with Yana, and making frequent clandestine trips which the powers that
be did not know anything about.
Even Steve Margolies, now residing in Kilcoole with his partner, Frank Metaxos, and Diego, sang of
how Yana and Sean had reunited him with his family. And Yana's neighbour across the street had a
hilarious pantomime song about Yana throwing Colonel Giancarlo out of her cabin with the burned fish.
That was one of the few songs rhymed and sung to an old Irish air instead of chanted to drums. Clodagh
said she believed the tune went originally to a song called 'The Charladies' Ball'.
As the other young people began to clear away the empty serving plates, Diego took his newly
crafted guitar and joined the drummers, Old Man Mulligan on his whistle, and Mary Yulipilik on her
handmade concertina. All together, they wheezed up a quite respectable dance tune.
Sean took Yana's hands in his, led her out onto the floor and then swung himself opposite her at the
top of the cleared hall. Two by two came Dr Whittaker Fiske, who had returned especially to dance at
the wedding, partnering Clodagh, followed by Sinead with Aisling, Moira and Seamus, Bunny and her
sister Cita, Frank Metaxos and Steve Margolies, Liam Maloney and Bunny's cousin Nula to form a
complete reel line. Captain Johnny Greene, who had extended his shore leave for the occasion, had
Captain Neva-Marie Rhys-Hall from SpaceBase as his partner for the dance in another reel line while his
fellow copter pilot, Rick O'Shay, gallantly led old Kitty Intiak on to the floor. Orange cats tiptoed daintily
to the food which had been put on the side for them, while the dogs went home to their kennels to
eagerly await scraps from the feast. Track cats lounged by the doors and on top of the roof and the
curlies grazed in the last of the green fields left by the unusually long, warm summer, now turning to fall.
Somewhere in the middle of the third dance, Terce, who was minding the snocle shed, tapped Adak
on the shoulder and he in turn tapped Johnny on the shoulder and whispered something in his ear. The
two men left, accompanied by Captain Rhys-Hall, and returned in time to rescue Yana from a fifth dance.
Marmion de Revers Algemeine and two Company corpsmen in dress white uniforms were with them.
Yana and Sean stopped dancing to greet their friend, elegant as usual in a royal blue tunic with a
purple underdress, the top heavily embroidered in jade and silver, matching Marmie's earrings and rings.
‘Marmie! How wonderful that you could come!' Yana cried and Marmion kissed both her cheeks,
then Sean's.
‘Yes, and in addition to your wedding present, I'm afraid I've come to take you away from all this.
The CIS court is reconvening a week from now and your testimony will be necessary to augment
Commissioner Phon Tho Anaciliact's decision on Petaybee. I thought you'd want to do it yourself, since
going off-planet would be lethal to native Petaybeans.' She glanced down briefly at Yana's middle and a
look of consternation flowed over her classic features. 'Oh, my. Time flies, doesn't it?’
Yana smiled. 'It does indeed. But I see no reason…’
‘I don't think it's wise for you to go off-planet this far into your pregnancy, Yana,' Sean said, his hand
on her shoulder tightening protectively.
Others in the room had joined them by now. Clodagh and Whit Fiske also greeted Marmie with
kisses on the cheeks and Bunny pushed her way through to them, trailed closely by Diego, who had
stopped playing and slung his guitar across his back as soon as he saw the newcomers arrive.
‘How long does she need to be gone, Marmie?' Clodagh asked.
‘Not long, I should think. Counting the journey, two weeks your time, three at the most.’
‘Huh,' Clodagh said. 'I'd never last that long. Sean neither.’
‘I mean to be there too, Yana, though as an Intergal board member,' Marmion said, 'my testimony is
assumed to be biased and self-serving in one of those peculiarly bureaucratic fashions that people can't
really explain anyhow. It's too bad there's no qualified native Petaybean to testify.’
‘I qualify and I think I could go too,' Bunny said, pulling at her sleeve. 'I'm young enough to go
off-planet without any ill effects and I know everything that's happened. I could sing them the song I
made about it. Though Diego's songs are better.’
‘If you're going, I'm going,' Diego said. 'Now's my chance to show you all those technical things you
keep telling me couldn't possibly work! Besides, I wouldn't want your head getting turned by all those
guys in uniform. And I could see my mom,' he added with a glance at Marmion, as if the more
conventional reason might sway her where his desire to be with Bunny might not.
‘We need Colonel Maddock - or is it Shongili now?' Marmie asked with a twinkle.
‘I think for courtroom purposes I'd better remain Maddock for the time being,' Yana said.
‘Yana, you're four months pregnant,' Sean said. 'With my child.' The emphasis, Yana knew, was not
merely possessive. Because of Sean's dual nature as man and seal, he was concerned just how many of
his traits his children would inherit and how deeply an off-planet experience would affect them.
‘Matty women are on duty right up until delivery now, Sean,' she said, dropping her hand to his arm
and giving it a reassuring squeeze. 'And you heard Marmie, it will only be three weeks. If I have Bunny
along…’
Clodagh touched Sean's hand. 'It should be OK that long, Sean. And Petaybee needs her to do this.’
‘I suppose so. I only wish I could accompany her.’
‘I'd take good care of her, Uncle Sean. You know I would,' Bunny said, throwing her arms around
his waist.
‘And I'd take care of both of them, Dr Shongili,' Diego said, with a challenging look at Marmion.
Marmion smiled at him and said, 'With you as adult guardian, I see no problem in Bunny and Diego
accompanying you, Yana. In fact, I'm sure CIS Anaciliact would appreciate all the support he can get. I
don't suppose little Cita…?’
But Sean denied that choice with a firm shake of his head. 'After all she's been through she's much too
fragile in my opinion. Cita stays here. Besides, Coaxtl frets herself into moulting mountains of hair if the
girl is out of sight for any extended period.’
‘I can tell what needs to be told, to anyone who asks,' Bunny said at her staunchest.
‘Sean,' Yana said, turning to look into his dear, worried face. 'Duty does have a way of calling
regardless of personal convenience, love.’
‘I wouldn't stop you from doing what you think you need to do, even if I thought I could get away
with it, Yana.' His grin was slightly strained and anxious and so were his eyes. She understood his
concern, and maybe more than just 'understood' after their union in the cave. 'But be careful.’
Two hours later they were ready to depart, though Yana deeply regretted the necessity of leaving her
new husband so precipitously. She consoled herself with the knowledge that what they had between
them would keep, on the ice and in the heat, come what may.
Clodagh gave each of them an almost ritualistic kiss and embrace, putting a little leather bag on a
thong around their necks.
As she hung Yana's around her neck, Yana asked, 'What's this?’
‘It's dirt,' Clodagh said simply.
‘Dirt?’
‘Yes. Petaybee wants you to have something to remember it by. The dirt's from the cave.’
Not long before, Yana would have been stymied how to receive such a statement, but now she
squeezed Clodagh warmly in an embrace of her own. 'This makes me feel a lot better.’
Then Sean clasped her in a farewell embrace and she, Bunny and Diego boarded the Company
shuttle that would take them to Marmion's executive space-liner, waiting in orbit. In Yana's carryall was
Sean's wedding vest, to sleep with, and a hastily made town recording to Petaybean relatives in
Company service. Bunny carried a frozen fish for her cousin Charlie from his parents and a basket of
pemmican from the wedding feast for homesick Petaybeans. Diego carried letters from his father to his
mother and a basket of his favourite Petaybean foods plus nutrients to keep himself and Bunny healthy on
the journey.
Once aboard the spaceliner, Sally Point-Jefferson, Marmion's aide, tenderly placed Charlie's fish in
the freezer. Bunny remained glued to the viewscreen, watching Petaybee shrink into a tiny point of light in
the vastness of black space. She bent and unbent her fingers against the port in farewell as her home
disappeared altogether.
2
Shipside
Contents - Prev/Next
Bunny turned away from the window, a little gasp of dismay escaping her throat, her eyes misty with
suppressed tears.
‘I never thought I'd see the last of Petaybee,' she said in such a mournful tone that Diego immediately
took her into a warm embrace, murmuring reassurances and some of the silly names that he had created
for her.
‘Now, gatita,' he said, the name meaning 'little cat' or 'kitten', 'it's not as if you won't be coming back,
or anything. It's only for a little while. And I bet that no-one from Kilcoole has ever seen Petaybee from
space like you just did. Looks like one of those stones Aisling polishes up, the bluey ones with the white
bands.’
‘Yes, I guess it does at that,' Bunny said, sniffling until Marmion handed her a tissue. 'Oh, sorry.
Didn't bring anything to blow into.’
‘What the well-appointed vessel has in quantity - things you don't remember to bring with you,'
Marmion said kindly. 'I forget how hard it is to leave a place you love. Only think how excited you'll be
to see it in the viewscreen on your way back. The better view!’
Marmion then organized everyone into doing things: like settling into their cubicles, getting food,
getting comfortable. 'I've had Sally acquire clothing for you or you'll all be over-warmly dressed where
we're going. It's also very important, I think, that we choose garments that will seem appropriate to our
mission.’
‘What's wrong with what we're wearing?' Bunny wanted to know for she was wearing the beautiful
Gather Blouse Aisling had made out of the material Yana had gifted her with. The blouse made her feel
very elegant and adult, and Diego said it was the nicest thing he'd seen her in.
‘I'm not suggesting you change your style, dear,' Marmion said in a conciliatory tone, 'and that blouse
is certainly lovely but you can't appear every day in it. So Sally and I scrounged around to see what
would be you as well as ah… not too conspicuously different. Oh,' and she gave an exasperated sigh as
she saw the defiant look on Bunny's face, 'for all I'm supposed to be so diplomatic, I'm not putting this in
the right words, am I? But then, where we're going, one is not often judged by what they are, but what
they seem to be. You know what I'm talking about, Colonel Yana dear, don't you?' And Marmion
appealed to Yana on more than the one count she was trying to explain.
‘I do, indeed, Marmion…' Yana tried to pull a fold over her belly from the material of her one-piece
suit and failed with a laugh. Til need a size larger, I know.’
‘Oh, you're easy to do, Yana,' Marmion said. 'Wasn't she, Sally?’
The aide laughed and nodded. 'With trouser pleats for expansion,' she said. 'And a tunic tailored just
that little bit fuller across the… ah… hips.’
‘It isn't my hips that worry me,' Yana said with a grin, hoping to clear Bunny's troubled expression.
‘Diego, we've ordered you the very latest,' Marmion went on and then giggled in one of those
displays of amusement which charmed her friends. 'In fact, the whole operation was a great deal of fun.
Why don't you and Bunny go see what's in your wardrobes? We'll still have time to discard what you
really can't possibly be seen in before you have to be seen in it.’
Diego escorted Bunny firmly to the cabins they'd been assigned. Only when the panel had slid shut
behind them did Marmion's expression alter to one of concern.
‘You do know what I mean, Yana?’
‘Oh, yes, Marmion. I know precisely what you're trying to do and so does Diego. He knows the
drills. So do I. So, now what? Or do we wait for the others to return before you tell us the bad news?’
‘How ever did you know there is some?’
‘Because you're taking such especial pains to make us seem normal, look normal and yet different
enough so we'll still be "original" as well as acceptable.’
Marmion, hands loosely clasped in her lap, considered that. 'It will not be smooth sailing, although I
have every confidence that common sense, at least this once, will prevail. Intergal, as well as other
holding companies that have vast numbers of star systems held in fief as Petaybee is, will be watching.
The scientifically acute are fascinated by the idea of a sentient planet. You must know that, with all the
paper that's flooded your desk since they got a name to send messages to.’
Yana nodded ruefully. 'No kidding. There's been so much of it I haven't even begun to read it all,
much less answer it. Sean's been doing a lot of the footwork, I suppose you'd call it, and that leaves
Diego as the only other literate person in the north, other than his father and Steve Margolies, who are
busy enough with their own work. Loncie Ondelacy is able to do some in the South. Diego's been
teaching Bunny to read and write but, fast as she is, she can't learn enough in a couple of months to do
more than help with alphabetical filing. Most of the letters seem to be from people who want to come to
Petaybee for some reason or other - I can't believe there's so many out there all of a sudden when the
planet's been so quiet for years. 'We've had several enquiries from drug companies too and I have no
idea how Clodagh's cures can be reproduced at this point. Even with a good growing season this year,
the planet so far has provided just about enough to keep native Petaybeans supplied - if we're actually
going to try to farm some of Clodagh's plants and produce her cures for a wider population we'll have to
do it in some way that doesn't overtax Petaybee. Clodagh's not even sure, at this point, if some of the
ingredients can live off-planet. I knew this was going to take a lot of work, but it seems to me that
someone's been broadcasting outside the committee a lot of what ought to be classified information about
the planet's sentient nature. It's pushing us to go much faster than we're equipped to do at present.’
Marmion said, 'I understand your concern, and discretion certainly has been urged on all parties
where Petaybee is concerned. I'm afraid what you're dealing with now is only, if you'll pardon the
expression, the tip of the iceberg. Some of our board members are expressing concern that other
colonized worlds might try to claim similar status. They're worried that Petaybee will set a precedent. If
there were some way to reassure them that this is a one-off case of planetary sentience…' and she
cocked her head hopefully at Yana.
‘You expect me to be able to answer that, Marmion? I can barely cope with the knowledge that
there's one . . .’
‘And that's exactly the attitude you ought to take, if I may make such a suggestion. Reaffirming it
whenever asked just as you did to me now.’
‘But suppose Petaybee isn't a one-off…' Yana liked to know she was telling the truth, inadvertently
or otherwise.
Marmion sighed. 'All the more reason, from the board's standpoint, for keeping information about
Petaybee hush-hush. They'd just as soon not give inhabitants of other terraformed planets any ideas but,
at the same time, I expect CIS is going to want some sort of poll to try to determine if other worlds
formerly considered habitats are indeed sentient beings.’
She gave a gusty sigh. 'It all seemed so easy back there,' and she flicked her fingers in the general
spatial direction of Petaybee. 'Lots of things seemed easy back there.’
‘Mostly because there weren't so many things to cloud perceptions,' Yana said.
‘Well, that's item one, Yana,' Marmion went on briskly. 'We have no way of knowing if there are
more sentient planets so we'll pretend Petaybee's an exception. As such, it will make our job that much
easier. I think.’
‘What's item two?’
‘Matthew Luzon is recovering from his injuries and…’
‘Determined to somehow make us all pay for the indignities he suffered?' Yana supplied when
Marmion hesitated.
‘Yes, not to refine too much on it. That's why I've put some precautions in train. Sally…' and she
gestured to her aide who immediately handed Yana a slim device which had a variety of depressible
keys. 'This is precaution number one. Carry it with you at all times and as inconspicuously as possible.
It'll fit nicely in your brassiere. Put it on the left, depression side up and memorize the positions of the
various function keys so you can just…" and she placed a casual hand over her left breast '… signal
what's needed.' She grinned. 'As you'll see, it's got a sensitive recorder and a few off-stage tricks that can
be implemented. Rather handy.’
‘Have you needed such a device?' Yana examined it, noting the icons as well as the abbreviations like
REC and MAY which were self-explanatory.
‘Not "needed" precisely,' Marmion allowed, 'but I always felt more… secure… when I was in
unknown space as it were, with that gadget in place. Then I've also appointed you "assistants",' and now
she did look slightly embarrassed.
‘Assistants?' Yana cocked her head at Marmion.
‘Yes, well, everyone who is anyone has them…’
‘And I must appear to be "everyone" or "anyone"… And who's my assistant?’
‘You have three, Sally and Millard Ephasios for show, and someone you don't need to have named
as undercover guardian,' Marmion explained, finishing with her charmingly ingenuous smile immediately
counteracted by a sly wink. 'And you won't know who that is.’
‘Hmm. All these subversive measures’
‘Discreet, my dear Yana,' Marmion corrected her.
‘Are necessary, you feel?’
‘I don't like the weather report,' Marmion said.
‘Have you minders for Diego and Bunny?’
‘I do and I know they'll suit right down to the ground.’
‘Are you giving Bunny one of these?' Yana held up the slim device, which was no more than two
fingers long and two knuckles wide. 'She loves gadgetry.’
‘No, their bracelets should be adequate. As I'm sure you noticed, Bunny's unsettled enough about the
venturing forth. I don't want to upset her further. She's naturally shrewd anyway and what she doesn't
know about human nature, Diego knows about space-faring ways.’
‘This trip will do her understanding of the galaxy a world of good,' Yana remarked and, when
Marmion gave her a startled look and started to laugh at her choice of words, she joined in. 'Where's the
galley on this boat? You'd think the way I eat, I hadn't seen food since break-up!’
‘You go with Sally to see your wardrobe and I'll just fix a little something to tide you over to dinner
time,' Marmion said.
‘You? Cook?' Yana said.
Marmion smiled a trifle archly. 'Actually I'm rather good, aren't I, Sally?' And when her aide nodded
affirmatively, 'But I only do it for very special people.’
‘So you get to bear-lead me, huh, Sally?' Yana said as she followed Sally to her cabin.
They passed the ones assigned to Diego and Bunny and heard the spirited discussions within.
‘And people wear things like this? I'd freeze…’
‘You're not going to be on Petaybee and it's a great colour for you, gatita…’
‘Well, I dunno about the way it clings…’
‘Trust me,' Diego said, 'it's terrific.’
Yana grinned to Sally as they passed.
The selection made for Yana quite took her breath away. She'd never had many occasions to dress
up and the extent of the apparel displayed for her approval ranged from severely tailored to rich formal
attire.
‘Whenever would I wear something like this?' she asked Sally, holding out a gore of the garnet
synthi-silk full skirt, even as she was mentally trying it on. Then she noticed the decorations - copying
Petaybean designs - on the neck and sleeve bands.
‘There will be one or two formal occasions when you'll need to be extra elegant,' said Sally, taking
another fold and holding it up to Yana's face. 'Yes, I thought this would be a good colour for you.’
‘I've never had anything so… so soft and…' She couldn't resist stroking the fine fabric against her
cheek.
‘Feminine?' asked Sally. 'About time, then.' Then she went to the more tailored semi-uniform
garments. 'You'll have more use of these and’
‘Oh,' and Yana's wondering fingers caught at the Petaybean designs discreetly worked into the
pocket flaps.
‘Marmion was so taken with the Petaybean designs when we first arrived on the planet that we asked
Aisling to do us some treatments. Subtle but noticeable and definitely smart. That woman has an excellent
clothes sense. Too bad it's been limited to rabbit skins and handwovens, not that' - and Sally hastily
corrected the impression that she might be disparaging -'those haven't been handsome fabrics - just
more… ah… practical than you'd need on Station.’
‘Which are we going to, by the way? Marmion didn't say.’
‘Oh,' and Sally tossed out this bombshell as nonchalantly as she could, 'Gal-Three, of course.’
Yana gulped and her mind raced from one consideration to another: it was the largest of the Space
Cities, certainly in this sector of inhabited space, the headquarters of half a dozen of the more massive
and prominent diversified enterprises as well as CIS, Gallegal, Gal-naval and other galactic agencies. It
was immense and was constantly updating its facilities with state-of-the-art technologies. Bunny would be
totally overwhelmed and Yana understood why Marmion was going to such lengths to dress them -
clothes can give you confidence just as uniforms can bestow anonymity at times - and why they would
need hidden alert devices and 'assistants'. Yana hoped that Diego knew something about Gal-3 - at least
摘要：

PowerplayThePetaybeeTrilogy03AnneMcCaffrey&ElizabethAnnScarboroughCONTENTSChapter1Chapter2Chapter3Chapter4Chapter5Chapter6Chapter7Chapter8Chapter9Chapter10Chapter11Chapter12Chapter13Chapter14Chapter15Chapter16Chapter17Chapter18Chapter19Chapter20Chapter21Chapter22Chapter23Chapter24Chapter25EpilogueTh...

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