Anne McCaffrey - Tower Hive 2 - Damia

Damia

by

Anne MccAffrey

Of all the Rowan's children,Damia was the most brilliant,the most

difficult,the loneliest,and the one who had inherited the greatest

Talent.It was obvious from childhood that she was going to be

a Prime,with all the honours,burdens and strains of that elite

class.Her one friend was Afra-older,wiser,Talented in his own

way,but -belonging'almost exclusively to the Rowan and the

workings of Callisto Station.

As Damia grew up,her Talent became almost too strong to control,

and the solution was seperation-from her parents,from Callisto,

from her beloved Afra.Sent to the distant planet of Deneb,to her

strange and gifted grandmother,Damia began the training necessary

to turn her into a Prime of extraordinary gifts-a Prime who could

connect the minds of approaching aliens through space,some of whom

threatened to totally destroy the worlds of the Nine Star League.

One of the world's leading science fiction writers, Anne McCaffrey

has won the Hugo and Nebula awards for science fiction. Brought up in

the U.S. and now living in Ireland, she is the creator and bestselling

author of the unique Dragon senes.

The Dragon Books of Anne McCaffrey can be read individually or as

a series. However, for greatest enjoyment the following sequence is

recommended: DRAGONFLIGHT DRAGONQUEST DRAGONSONG DRAGONSINGER: HARPER

OF PERN THE WHITE DRAGON DRAGONDRUMS MORETA: DRAGONLADY OF PERN

NERILKA'S STORY DRAGONSDAWN THE RENEGADES OF PERN ALL THE WEYRS OF

PERN

Anne McCaffrey

Other books by Anne McCaffrey: RESTOREE THE SHIP WHO SANG DECISION

AT DOONA GET OFF THE UNICORN THE CRYSTAL SINGER KILLASHANDRA PEGASUS IN

FLIGHT THE ROWAN CORGI BOOKS and published by Corgi Books DAMIA A CORGI

BOOK : 0 552 13764 2

Originally published in Great Britain by Bantam Press, a division

of Transworld Publishers Ltd PRINTING HISTORY Bantam Press edition

published 1992

Corgi edition published 1993

This book is dedicated to SARA VIRGINIA JOHN SON BROOKS 'THE

FOLDING IS EXTRA' Copyright C Anne McCaffrey 1992

The right of Anne McCaffrey to be identified as the author of this

work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the

Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All of the characters in this book are fictitious and any

resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Conditions of sale 1. This book is sold subject to the condition

that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold,

hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other

than that in which it is published and without a similar condition

including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

2. This Book is sold subject to the Standard Conditions of Sale of

Net Books and may not be re-sold in the UK below the net price fixed by

the publishers for the book.

Set in 10/12pt Linotype Plantin by Chippendale Type Ltd, Otley,

West Yorkshire.

Corgi Books are published by Transworld Publishers Ltd, 6163

Uxbridge Road, Ealing, London W5 5SA, in Australia by Transworld

Publishers (Australia) Pty. Ltd, 15-25 Helles Avenue, Moorebank, NSW

2170, and in New Zealand by Transworld Publishers (NZ) Ltd, 3 William

Pickering Drive, Albany, Auckland.

Printed and bound in Great Britain by Cox & Wyman Ltd, Reading,

Berks.

Afra felt his sister's mental touch and told his mother that

Goswina had returned to Capella. Cheswina regarded her six-year-old

son with her ineffable serenity.

'Thank you, afra. You always could hear farther, and Goswina

better, than the rest of us. But don't intrude,' his mother added, as

afra jiggled about in his eagerness to make contact with his beloved

sister. 'Capella Prime will wish to debrief her on her training at

Altair Tower.

You may continue with your exercises.' But Goswina's excited about

something. Something that has to do with ME! afra insisted, for he

wanted to make sure that his mother heard him.

'Now, afra,' and his mother waggled a stern finger at him, 'you've

got a tongue AND a voice. Use them. No-one is to accuse this family

of bringing up a discourteous and ill-mannered Talent. You have your

lessons and you are not to 'path your sister until she comes in that

door.' afra scowled because, when Goswina came in the door, he wouldn't

need to 'path her.

'You won't ever be chosen for Tower duty if you cannot obey,'

Cheswina went on. 'Please assume a cheerful face.' If afra had heard

those admonitions once, he had heard them several thousand times. But

he stifled his vexation because what he wanted more than anything else

in the world was to be in a Prime Tower, part of the vast FT&T network

that handled communications and transportation between the star systems

that comprised the Federation.

His parents and his older brother and sisters were either part of

or working towards being in that great network.

The family were also lucky enough to live in the Tower Complex.

As a baby, he had been lulled to sleep by the throb of the

enormous generators with which the Prime Talent made the gestalt to

perform her miracles of transportation. His first mental effort at

fourteen months had been a cheerful greeting to Capella's Prime who had

taken the professional name of her posting. Although she had been

addressing the Earth Prime with her 'good morning', afra had heard her

voice so clearly in his mind that he had responded. His parents had

been shocked by his impudence.

'He was not impudent at all,' Capella had reassured them with one

of her rare laughs. 'It was really quite charming to be greeted by a

sweet chirping "good morning". Quite sweet. We will encourage such a

strong young Talent.

Though it would be as well if you can make him understand that he

is not to interrupt me.' Cheswina was a T-8 telepathic sender and her

husband, Gas Lyon, a T-7 kinetic. Every one of their children had

Talent but afra's was not only apparent early but was also the

strongest, possibly even a double - telepath and teleport. This did

not keep his parents from being considerably embarrassed by their

youngest son's precocity.

So they immediately initiated gentle methods of curbing him

without inhibiting his potential Talent.

Either father, mother or Goswina, the eldest sibling, had to be

sure to awaken before afra did and curb a repeat of that performance.

For several months, this was a splendid new game for the toddler:

to see if he could wake up first so he could chirp 'good morning' to

the velvet voice that invaded his mind. . . Capella. Whoever was

minding him that morning had to engage his attention in an alternative

occupation - like eating. For young afra loved to eat.

Not that it showed. Like the rest of his family, he was a healthy

but lean baby; ectomorphic with the sort of energy levels that burn up

calories. Placing a msk or a piece of fruit in his hand would

instantly divert him. As most tots, he had a very short attention span

and these ploys worked until he was old enough to understand that his

'good mornings' should be limited to his immediate family.

Goswina, a loving and caring sister, had not an ounce of meanness

in her temperament and never found this duty a chore. She adored her

clever brother and he reciprocated so warmly that a strong tie was

established between them.

The mental exercises his Gossie used to divert her lively brother

had a salutary effect on her own Talent and she was upgraded to a T-6

by the time she was sixteen. That made her eligible for the

special training courses that Earth Prime Reidinger initiated on

Altair.

This was a very mixed blessing, for sixteen-year-old Goswina had

developed such a deep attachment for a T-5, Vessily Ogdon, that both

families had earnestly discussed a possible alliance. However, Goswina

was asked to put aside her personal plans for the chance to participate

in the Altair course. Only afra knew how painful that choice was for

his sister. Once Gas Lyon invoked family honour, she had complied,

demonstrating an obedience that seemed genuine - except to her brother

who howled loudly at Goswina's departure.

afra missed his slender, gentle sister dreadfully. Altair was so

very far away that he could not maintain the light mental touch that

reassured him through his daily trials.

afra was not a natural conformist and trouble seemed to seek him

out at school, and even at home. He was not as biddable as his brother

and sisters had been and his parents found his impetuosity and often

'wild', or 'aggressive' behaviour a trial.

Aware of young afra's problems, the Capella stationmaster,

Hasardar, tactfully had the boy doing small 'jobs' for him, jobs which

the worried parents could not take exception to as they were aimed at

developing his potential.

afra willingly did the 'errands', delighted to be considered - for

once - capable of doing something properly.

One of these errands took him to a large freighter with a packet,

requested by the captain. afra was agog with the prospect of actually

meeting spacemen. He'd seen ships come and go from Capella all his

short life but had never actually encountered off-worlders.

As he trotted up to the open hatch, he saw big burly space-tanned

men, lounging within. He also heard a babble of sound which made no

sense at all to his ears. His mind, however, translated the meaning.

'This is no place for leave, boys. Straight as dies, these folk.

Methody believers, and you know what that means.' 'Sure, Chief, no

hanky-panky, no funsies, no drink, no smokings. Hey, what's coming

here? A pint-sized greenie!

Don't they grow 'em a decent size?' 'Ah, it's a kid.' And one of

the men swung down the ramp, grinning. 'Good morning,' he said in good

Basic.

afra stared up at him.

'You got a package for the captain, boy? Stationmaster said he'd

have it hand-delivered.' afra continued to stare, extending the package

with both hands, puzzled by the strange words and especially by the

description of himself.

'What does "pint-sized greenie" mean, please, sir?' afra flinched

at the laughter from the lock and then from the angry glare the chief

directed at his crewmen.

'Don't be offended, laddie,' the chief said in a kind tone. 'Some

spacers have no manners. You understand more than Basic?' afra wasn't

sure what response to make. While he knew some people could not 'path,

he didn't know that there were many different forms of language in the

galaxy.

However, as his family would expect him to give a courteous answer

to a friendly question, he gave a nod.

'I understand what you say,' afra replied. 'I don't understand

"pint-sized greenie" The chief hunkered down, being conscious that it

was wise not to offend locals, even a kid. And a kid would be more

likely to repeat what had been said to the stationmaster. It was also

smart for freighter crews to be on the best possible terms with Tower

stationmasters.

'It's like this, lad,' and he rolled back his sleeve, showing a

brown-skinned arm, then he pointed to afra's hand. 'My skin is brown,

your skin is green. I'm a brownie,' and he ignored the hoots from his

crew, 'and you're a greenie.

Just a matter of what colour we got born with. Now, "pint-sized"

means small, and I'd be gallon-sized, 'cause I'm much bigger. Get me?'

'More like barrel, Chief!' one of the crew chortled, again using the

different sounds though his mind made the comment clear to afra.

afra cocked his head at the chief, noticing other differences

between himself, a Capellan, and these visitors. The man had brown

skin, streaky grey hair and brown eyes. He was the widest man afra had

ever seen, with forearms twice the size of his father's, or even

Stationmaster Hasardar.

'Thank you for explaining to me, Chief. It was kind of you,' afra

said, giving a respectful bow.

'No problem, lad. And here's something for your trouble,' the

chief said, reaching for afra's right hand and closing the fingers

around a metallic object. 'Put that by for a rainy day. If it rains

on Capella.' afra looked at the round object, 'pathing from the chief

that this was a half credit, a reward for delivering the package. He

had never seen credit coins before and he liked the feel of its edges

in his palm. He gleaned from the chief that a 'tip' was normal

procedure so he bowed again.

'Thank you, Chief. It was kind of you.' II r 'Tell you one thing,

they teach manners on this planet,' the chief said in a loud voice,

trying to overwhelm the rude comments his crewmen were making about

afra's courtesies.

afra didn't catch the meanings behind some of the strange words.

'Off you go, lad, before you become contaminated by this sorry lot

of spacers. Ain't any of you guys got some couth? Back inside, the

lot of you. You've had your smoking time.' As afra trotted across the

plascrete back to the stationmaster, he decided that he wouldn't tell

anyone about the coin. It had been given him in return for completing

his errand. It was for him, not Stationmaster Hasardar who had said

nothing to him about collecting any sort of payment or to expect a tip.

If Goswina had been home, he would have confided in her as a

matter of course, but his other sisters considered him a nuisance and

his brother, Chostel, felt that he was too old to associate with kids.

So afra decided he didn't need to say anything about his coin. He

would save it, but not for a rainy day. When it rained on Capella,

no-one went anywhere.

This was yet another occasion when afra found himself deprived by

Goswina's absence. And, now that she had returned to Capella, he

simply had to renew contact as soon as he could. So, despite his

mother's stricture, he reached out his mind to his sister in the main

Tower building.

Not now, afra, Capella said but not unkindly as his mind linked to

Goswina's in their conference mode.

Oh, mercy, afra, not now, was the simultaneous message from a

mortified Goswina.

Fearful that his parents might receive official reprimands from

the Prime herself, afra shrank away and coiled so tightly into his own

mind that he genuinely didn't 'hear' Goswina until she opened the door

of their quarters an hour later.

OH, GOSSeE, afra cried, tears of joy streaming down his face, as

he jumped into her arms.

Theirs was not a physically demonstrative family, as much because

they enjoyed a sufficient mental rapport that touch was redundant as

because tactile contact between Talents allowed deeper readings,

sometimes an inadvertent invasion of the private mind.

Today, Goswina ignored such considerations as she hugged her young

brother tightly. Through that close contact, she also managed to

convey many things such a reserved girl would find difficult to say out

loud.

afra caught rapid shifts through scenes of her landing on Altair,

the forested mountains behind the Port City, the raw look of the

Altairian Tower, the faces of her fellow students in a hectic montage,

with one face dominating the group, rapidly scrolling through the

school room sessions, meals, the room Goswina had shared with two

girls, then pausing at a musical interlude which was abruptly deleted,

overlaid with her excitement at returning to the home she had missed,

and her Vessily.

I missed you terribly, afra.

More than you missed Vessily?

As much, though not quite the same way, afra, and Goswina's gentle

thought teased him. But it was a splendid trip. I met so many

marvellous people. And oh, afra, how you'll love the Rowan when you

meet her. She said that she would consider you when you have finished

your training, because you are my brother and because we two knew our

temperaments weren't complementary. But I told her that you would be

because you're so clever and understanding. I missed you terribly,

afra. Just wait till you see the trees they have on Altair. Whole

forests of trees, darling . . . big trees and small ones, different

shades of green and blue and many different shapes of trunk, branch and

leaf All of them fragrant. Altair's not as large as Capella but it is

a good place. I did so well in my course that Capella said that she

will definitely place me in this system, and, as she held afra from her

to peer into his face, 'to work in a Capellan Tower.

Did you 'Aloud, please, afra,' she said, hearing her mother come

into the room.

know that Stationmaster Hasardar gave me some special training,

after school hours? He said I had Tower potential, too!' He offered

that praise as a homecoming present for her, but he didn't mention the

credit coin aloud. Or even in his mind.

'How very good of Hasardar. How clever of you, afra dear,' she

said, releasing him from her embrace and rising to greet her mother

more formally. 'Mother, Capella was very pleased both with my course

of study on Altair and with the report Siglen of Altair sent her of

me.' Cheswina smoothed her daughter's hair in a brief, loving gesture

and smiled 'You bring honour to our family' 'afra will bring more,

Goswina said, looking fondly down at him.

'That remains to be seen,' Cheswina said, her expression bordering

on the severe, for she did not believe that it was right to praise a

child for what he or she could be expected to do. Reward should never

be a consideration of effort.

However, Goswina did merit some special indulgence for having

brought honour to the family so her favorite dishes were served at

dinner that evening and she'd be allowed a visit from Vessily Ogdon.

On returning from his Tower shift that evening, Gas Lyon smiled in

benign approval at his daughter. When everyone had eaten a sufficiency

of the excellent meal, he handed her an official note. He contained

his pride as his overjoyed firstborn communicated to everyone at the

table that Capella had appointed her to the staff of the southern

Tower, one of the busier local FT&T facilities.

That means you're going away again! afra cried out in distress.

Silly! I won't be so far that we can't keep in touch all the

time. 'Forgive me, Father, Mother,' Goswina added hastily, blushing

for such a gross social lapse, 'but afra was so disturbed 'afra must

learn to control his feelings,' Gas Lyon said, bending a stern gaze on

his youngest. 'Tower staff must always contain their emotions. To

splash about personal reactions exhibits a woeful absence of discipline

and an abysmal lack of courtesy and consideration. I'll have no child

of mine so ill-mannered. One can never learn respect too early in

life.' Later, dear. Goswina shot the very private thought tightly to

her brother, so fast her parents would not have caught it, being less

telepathically Talented than herself. But she had to do something to

relieve the woeful expression on afra's face and unwind the tension of

his small thin body. Shrivelled by the parental disapproval, he had

curled in on himself, arms clasped tight across his chest, head down.

Prior to her course at Altair, she would never have dared even

think of criticizing her parents. She didn't entirely approve of

Altair's social manners but she had also seen a different sort of

society that apparently worked quite well.

And afra was so very sensitive to his father's disapproval and,

sometimes, very privately, Goswina thought her parents could be a

trifle more lenient and understanding.

After all, he was the most Talented of them all and needed extra,

specially astute handling.

'Now, now,' Gas Lyon said, realizing that perhaps he had been too

severe with afra, 'I know you meant neither disrespect nor

disobedience, afra. Tonight is a time for rejoicing.' His soft words

and gentle tone, as well as the shaft of love and reassurance directed

at his son, had the desired effect on afra and he was soon smiling when

Goswina began her almost day-by-day account of her Altairian sojourn.

afra also 'heard' unfinished sentiments and, once, caught her

remembered alarm. He fervently hoped that her 'later' would come soon

so he'd find out all those bits and pieces she left out of the public

recital.

'Later' was going to really be 'later' for Vessily Ogdon arrived

at the door, on time as usual, palpably eager to see his betrothed.

afra didn't like staying in the same room with Vessily and Goswina

because he was acutely aware of their attachment. Since Vessily was a

T-5 and even older than Goswina, afra thought that he ought to know how

to control himself. He was amazed that his father didn't say anything

about leaking emotions to Vessily.

As afra retired to his room, he heard the depth of Vessily's

discontent with Goswina's posting to the Southern Station. But he

heard Goswina's telepathic reassurance - and Gas Lyon who was

chaperoning the couple, said nothing about that! - afra was also vexed

to hear Goswina say exactly the same things to Vessily that she'd said

to him - only her tone was much different.

afra puzzled over that. How could the same words sound so

different coming from the same mind? Goswina loved him, but he knew

that she also loved Vessily. afra understood that everyone should have

love enough to give special friends, even many special friends.

Goswina loved him and she had a special tone for him, but she also

loved Vessily - and hadn't wanted to leave Capella for Altair because

of Vessily, or so she'd said out loud - and she had another special

tone for Vessily. That was very strange, and afra went to sleep

pondering that mystery.

Goswina kept her word to him, even if 'later' was the next morning

at first light. He woke the moment he felt her mind brush his. Of

course, she no longer slept in with him as she had when he was a baby,

but her room was adjacent to his. As had long been their custom, he

put his hand up on the wall that separated them, knowing that she did

the same thing. Not that they needed contact but it was a friendly

remnant of childish habit.

What bothered you, Gossie, that you couldn't tell Father and

Mother? He shot her a glimpse of the scene of her panicky flight to

the parking lot.

Well, it wasn't anything -- Huh? That's not what you really

think.

Well, one evening, we got permission to go to a concert in Altair

Port. She showed him a picture of them all driving off together but

she was still concealing something. You don't need to know every cross

on the Ts and the dots on the Is, afra.

Sorry!

It's just that Altairian concerts are different from ours. And I

don't mean the music they played. I mean, they have a much more

flamboyant way of performing.

How? Since his encounter with the freighter chief, afra had taken

every opportunity his duties afforded him to meet other crews, with

their variety of skin shades and physical attributes. He also liked

hearing the different languages, and the odd things crews said from

time to time, most of which he didn't exactly understand. It was often

hard to find someone willing to explain variations to his enquiring

mind. Some Talents had a way of wriggling past public shields to the

real truths but he didn't expect to be able to do that for some years

to come. Now that Goswina was back, maybe she'd tell him. But he

wouldn't interrupt her with his questions now.

They are. . . far more demonstrative than we would be, and i6

-r afra could tell that she was carefully editing the thoughts she

let him see. She was falling into his parents' habit of 'protecting'

him. He wasn't a sissy. He was over six - nearly seven.

No, you're not a sissy, afra, and you're a very clever nearly

seven or Hasardar wouldn't let you run errands for him. It was an

adult concert, Affie, and not something you would understand or enjoy.

afra caught her mental disgust. It's not as ?f I'd start acting

like a nutty Altairian, Gossie.

Please let me see!

Oh, don't push me around, afra. I have absolutely no intention of

contaminating an impressionable young mind like yours.

I said, and Goswina's mental touch unexpectedly firmed against

him, don't probe, or I won't tell you anything else.

afra projected compliance because he couldn't bear for Goswina to

shut him out and not tell him the exciting thing that was at the edge

of her mind.

So Goswina did tell him about her dismay at what she would only

term a lewd public display of affection, her mind so tightly shielded

that he couldn't catch a glimpse of what had made her leave the concert

arena so abruptly.

afra hadn't heard 'lewd' before but it couldn't be an acceptable

word, considering the way she coloured it in her mind - a slimy muddy

yellow brown.

The music had been wonderful. Music always is, Goswina continued,

and then they had to spoil it. The Rowan left with me. I was glad

because she was much too young to see that sort of thing, even if it is

her native planet and she might be accustomed to such displays. That's

when I found out that she was the reason so many Talents were invited

to go to Altair.

You see, the Rowan is really a Prime so of course she couldn't

leave Altair, what with the way space travel sickens Primes, soFT&T set

up the course to introduce possible Tower crew to her, when she's old

enough to have her own Prime Tower.

You didn't get space sick, did you? afra would have been

disgusted, even with his beloved Gossie, if she had.

Of course not, but I'm a T-6. The sickness only affects Primes.

All of us on the course thought the Rowan was just a T4.

Goswina's thought brightened with delight at having been the first

to learn the truth. She's not much younger than I am but ever so much

stronger.

She's being trained in her duties by Siglen, just as our Capella

was.

I suppose all Primes were young once, like the Rowan, Goswina

added thoughtfully. She's an orphan. All her family, everyone who

knew her, were killed in an avalanche when she was only three years

old. They said that the whole planet heard her crying for help.

Goswina did not add the other things she'd heard about how Siglen

had behaved at that time because it wasn't proper to criticize a Prime

for any reason whatsoever. But the Rowan is very strong, and so

clever, and generous, and brave. I could never have done what she did

when those awful boys attacked us.

ATTACKED YOU? There're indent gangs on Altair? So that was what

Goswina hadn't told the parents. Not that afra blamed her. They'd've

been very upset at the insult to their daughter and there could have

been embarrassing repercussions. What sort of a barbaric place is

Altair?

Now, afra, it isn't barbaric. It's really very - very

sophisticated; much more worldly than Capella is with no Method to

guide them. And I wasn't hurt. I was scared. Anyway, the Rowan took

care of them. afra could hear something akin to righteous satisfaction

tingeing Goswina's thoughts. She just flicked them out of the way as

we'd brush sandflies and without any gestalt to help her. Then, cool

as you please, she ordered a cab and we got back safely to the Tower

complex.

That's when I told her all about you.

Me?

Yes, dearest brother of them all, you. Because your minds will

match. I just know they will. afra heard her hand slap the wall for

emphasis. And she has promised me that she will see that you take the

course at Altair too, when you're old enough.

She will? But I'd have to be away from you afra, dearest, Talents

like us aren't more than a thought away.

I couldn't think at you when you were on Altair.

Well, I'm home now. . . and the Southern Station is well within

your range, brother dear. Now, it's time for us to be up. And for you

to study hard so you'll be ready when the Rowan needs you.

As afra grew up, that promise began to assume more and more

significance - mainly as the passport off Capella and the strict,

almost stifling, code of conduct expected of him by his parents. His

interactions with freighter and passenger crews, with occasional

visitors whom Hasardar had him conduct from their personal capsules to

the Tower, had broadened his experience of different cultures and

systems.

He encountered the gallon-sized brown chief on a regular basis

over the next nine years. Chief Damitcha liked the odd dignity of the

'pint-sized greenie', though that description rarely crossed the chiefs

mind after he learned afra's name. It was Damitcha who introduced afra

to the art of paper-folding, origami, which had been part of his

ancestors' culture.

afra had been fascinated to see Damitcha's thick fingers

deliberately and delicately creasing, folding and producing the most

elegant creatures, objects and flowers from coloured sheets.

'Old fashioned sea sailors used to carve things in their off-duty

hours,' Damitcha explained, deftly making a bird he called a heron,

with outstretched wings, long legs and neck. 'Scrimshaw, they called

it. Have museums of the stuff on old Earth and I seen it once on leave

there. But spacemen gotta watch weight and so paper's perfect. Beats

the hell outa watching fractiles or such like. Keeps my fingers supple

for finicky board repairs, too.' When afra begged to be taught how to

do origami foldings, Damitcha produced an instruction tape for him and

even gave him several sheets of his special coloured papers.

afra told Goswina about this hobby but Goswina was so involved

with being a new Tower technician and wife that her response was more

automatic than enthusiastic: all part of her detachment from her

previous ties. afra did understand that she had other claims on her

time, that she still loved him but that working in the Tower was far

more exciting than listening to her little brother. Hasardar was

handier and could be relied on for approval and amazement at what afra

could create out of a sheet of paper. He pinned samples of afra's

handiwork on his bulletin board and took the manipulable ones home to

amuse his children.

On his next trip into Capell, Damitcha presented afra with a box

of origami papers, all sizes and many beautiful shades and patterns.

He brought historical tapes about Oriental arts and even a small

paper book on Japanese brush calligraphy.

As afra grew older, and assumed other duties, Damitcha would join

him in Hasardar's office for chats, for meal breaks, for long evening

discussions. So afra learned far more details about other systems than

were taught in his classroom.

Damitcha retired from active service with the freighting company

and, though he frequently sent messages to his 'pint-sized greenie' to

which afra usually responded, the boy did not find another so

congenial. The curiosity that Damitcha had generated in the young afra

would never fail and the boy continued to make far more contact with

other cultures than his parents knew, or would consider advisable for

their impressionable son.

However, that same curiosity troubled afra for it made him

uncomfortably aware that he found great interest in matters his family

considered quite trivial or useless. afra spent hours in his early

teen years examining his inner self, trying to find the flaw in him

that wanted more than he could have on Capella; that was fascinated by

'other worldly notions'; that resented the loving supervision of his

parents and the path they had chosen for him to follow.

The fact that he knew they loved him burdened him in his striving

to be different. Their main concern was to keep the family's honour

unsullied, which meant adhering to proven ways. With their love,

wisdom and (they thought) insight into the characters and abilities of

their children, Gas Lyon and Cheswina were convinced that they knew

what was best. Especially for afra.

From Goswina on down, his siblings were quite willing to have

their lives ordered by their parents. As minor Talents, they each

moved serenely into secure careers in the service of FT&T and that was

as far as any of them looked. Goswina's happy marriage and her skills

as a technician made her conclude that following parental example would

also lead afra to happiness. So she did not understand his rebellion,

nor that he had been exposed to different standards over the years.

Certainly his interest in 'other worldly' things extended to

unusual species, like the barque cats on the liner Bucephalus.

Damitcha had told him about these strange space-faring variants of

Terran felines.

'We don't have one, but next time the old Buc cradles down here,

ask the chief - a woman named Marsha Meilo - if you can see theirs.

They gotta new litter but - sorry lad, they're not planet beasts.

They stay in space.' afra looked up 'barque cat' and the screen

showed the current prize-winning sire, Garfield Per Astra, a

magnificent beast of tawny brown with his undercoat a tan, with black

stripes, and face markings that made him look both benign and

exceedingly wise. His eyes were yellow, like afra's, but that wasn't

what endeared him to the boy as much as his air of arrogant

independence did.

There were many halos of the unusually marked felines, long

histories of their pedigrees, breeding and nurture, their deftness in

finding tiny holes in hulls and giving warning to the crew, their

almost incredible talent for survival in space wrecks. FIND THE BC!

was the motto of every space salvage group. Any vessel harbouring

a barque cat would have BC ABOARD in huge letters in various positions

on the hull.

The next time the Bucephalus rocked into a Capellan cradle, afra

deserted his immediate task and was in the group hovering by the crew

gangway.

'Whatcha got, kid?' a spaceman asked, noticing afra, who was

almost dancing about in his anxiety to get someone's attention.

'Chief Damitcha of the freighter Zanzibar gave me a message for

your Chief Marsha Meilo.

The crewman vacillated between annoyance and curiosity.

'Yeah? What's the message?' 'I'm to give it to her,' he said.

'Oh, he did, huh? Didn't know he knew -- What's the matter, kid?'

For afra had just seen the barque cat who strolled indolently to the

gangway to peer out in as supercilious a manner as the highest Methody

preacher 'Oh, that's Treasure Island Queen,' and the crewman's pride in

the beast was obvious.

afra extended his hand to the cat, for they were on a level,

Treasure on the ship and afra on the ground. The crewman kicked his

hand away and afra jumped back in alarm and hurt.

'Sorry, kid, we don't like our barquie picking up any planetary

germs. No touchee. Just lookee. She is a beauty, ain't she?' and the

crewman, rather ashamed of his defensiveness, hunkered down to pet the

cat.

afra, hands clasped tightly behind his back, could not tear his

eyes off the sleek and elegant creature. Treasure, luxuriating in the

crewman 5 caresses, murmured her appreciation and turned her

aristocratic face towards the wide-eyed boy.

'Hmmmmrow!' she said, plainly addressing afra.

'Hey, kid, you rate. She don't usually speak to landlubbers.'

afra listened with all his heart and heard the satisfaction of

Treasure's mind for the caresses she was enjoying.

Delicately she sniffed, as much in afra's direction as in general

at the atmosphere of Capella, but he took it as a personal accolade and

desperately wanted to be able to stroke her, to have such a lovely

creature for his own.

You are the most beautiful creature I have ever seen, afra dared

to say.

Mmmmmmrow! Mmmmmrrr!

There seemed to be no mental equivalent for that except pleasure.

Abruptly she leaped away from the door and out of his sight. Just

then a group of uniformed men and women emerged and quickly the crewman

gestured for afra to make himself scarce as he stood to attention,

Anne McCaffrey - Tower Hive 2 - Damia

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