SciFi and Fantasy Stories: Heart of Stone, pt 1

Stacen watched his pretty Wind Dancer practice. Of the Sentient Races, only Veroshi could dance in mid-air as gracefully as this. Humans didn't have wings, and Grebsas were built like tanks and definitely not for dancing.

She landed near him, panting. Stacen gave her a drink.

"You are very graceful, Rora," he told her in her own language.

"Thank you, Father," she said.

She sat down beside him and drank her water. Beside him, Rora looked small and delicate, like a little wolf-fairy. Her fur and feathers were a beautiful sky-blue and she wore a silk dancing-robe of complementary colors.

"Probably. Humans will look for any excuse for a party. We aren't going to suspend the rules, though. No alcohol, and no weapons, and any human who enters Veroshi Quarter is subject to searches and criminal record checks going in and going out."

"Some of the junior priestesses grumble about having humans watching our religious festivals."

"That's funny. It was the priestesses who planned the whole thing. They said it would," Stacen recalled the exact phrasing as used by Senior Priestess Reona, "'promote greater understanding between the Sentient Races.' About all we did was sign off on the plans and arrange for the preparations. The humans won't see everything, anyway. They won't enter the temple and we have sections partitioned off for private observances."

The partitioned area vastly out-measured the area that would be open to the humans, which was hardly cramped. Even the entrance to the Temple was blocked to humans. Rora knew Stacen didn't really disapprove of Veroshi idealism, despite his tone. No Grebsa did. It was just that the Grebsas frequently saw the worst of human behavior during their law-enforcement sweeps and while protecting their Veroshi worshippers from self-styled rebels and troublemakers. That and their history tended to sour them on Homo sapiens . However, like Stacen had said, they had signed off on human participation in the festival on the understanding that security would be tight.

"The humans won't be trouble, will they?"

"We won't let them. There will be games and entertainment outside the Quarter, and the Guardians will handle security, as usual."

Lizzy Sulan walked along what passed for a boulevard in Veroshi Quarter. It was festive enough, she supposed. The humans had turned out in droves, professing kinship with the Veroshi, at least for a day. The bulk of the festival-at least, as much of it as humans were allowed to see-was just outside the Quarter, where Veroshi-themed stories, poems, songs, and games were bandied about and the standard festival fare was offered from a variety of vendors. Only a limited number of humans were allowed inside to watch the main events, and even those were searched for anything that might be used as a weapon. They had confiscated a slingshot from one boy who had entered just before Lizzy. That might have seemed unreasonable to some, but a mischievous human boy might have injured a Veroshi, and then the Grebsas would have gone absolutely berserk. Too many humans inside Veroshi Quarter made the Grebsas nervous.

The Guardians were also out in force, pretending to have a good time, but only a dull human would be fooled. The Grebsa Guardians, assigned permanently to protect the Veroshi, were there to make certain none of their wards were harmed by any human. Combined with the prohibiting of alcohol within the confines of the Quarter, it made for a festival that was more subdued than usual.

Lizzy paused to sample a Veroshi delicassy and listen to a nearby Veroshi choir sing in harmony. The song was in their own language, but only a stone-deaf human would have mistaken it for the mere baying of wolves. The melody was as beautiful as the singers were.

Delighted shouts yanked Lizzy's attention away from the singers. At least fifty of the legendary Wind Dancers had risen from places behind the walls and were winding in graceful patterns toward the center of the field. Until recently, no human had ever seen an actual Wind Dancer performance. Lizzy was certain it was the Veroshi's idea to allow humans to watch on certain days. Certainly, the Grebsas made no decisions regarding their lovely worshippers without first consulting them.

A band struck up a tune of pipes and drums and the Wind Dancers weaved in intricate patterns to the beat. The Grebsas gathered in a triple-ring around the watching crowd. No one who wanted to keep his skin intact was going to bother a Wind Dancer.

The dance ended in a flourish as the Wind Dancers swooped to touch their Grebsa patrons' manes. The Grebsas greeted their loved ones with purrs that sounded like so many motors. Then, the dancers flew back behind the walls. The humans clapped. The triple ring dispersed. Some of the Grebsas returned to their patrols while others flew behind the wall to check on their favorites.

Lizzy roamed around, sometimes passing close to a Grebsa patrol as the crowd allowed. They took little notice of her except to, occasionally, sniff and peer at her. Grebsas had a keen, animalistic sense of smell and she didn't have the Mars "smell" that came from many years of living on this planet.

She paused and watched the Veroshi children in a cordoned-off play pit. They were watched over by Veroshi adults and Guardians. One or two human children tried to sneak in only to be warned off by a snarl from a Guardian and quickly whisked off by their human parents. Lizzy remembered this from the time she and her parents had visited the Veroshi Faith-ship, the sublight, generational ship that the Veroshi had arrived in and was still preserved as a museum. Veroshi and human children had separate play areas because the Guardians feared that human children might play too rough with the Veroshi.

Several young Veroshi spiraled in circles around each other. Lizzy wondered what game they might be playing, and then realized that they were mimicking the Wind Dancers' earlier performance. It was clumsy and there were one or two near-collisions, but a few of them might grow up to become Dancers.

She compared the Grebsas to a picture she had memorized. She had always had a good visual memory and she hoped she could find the Grebsa she was looking for without being too obvious about it. If she chose the wrong Grebsa, or was caught with the pad she carried in her purse, she might never find him and that would mean a wasted trip to Mars. Luckily, the Guardians at the entrance hadn't looked too closely. They were only interested in identifying the humans who might cause problems inside Veroshi Quarter, and causing trouble wasn't high on Lizzy's agenda.

He wasn't here. Lizzy walked on. The Grebsa was a Guardian, she knew that much. She was betting he was one of the several hundred assigned to providing security. She snorted softly. With her luck, it wasn't likely be that easy, and, even if it was, she might have a hard time getting him to remember her.

Lizzy was so lost in thought that she nearly ran up the back of a Wind Dancer who was stroking a Grebsa's mane. She was about to ask what a Wind Dancer was doing on this side of the wall when the Grebsa turned to snarl at the offending human. Lizzy's question died on her lips. It was Stacen!

Stacen ducked out of the human's hug. Why did humans have to be so undignified? Even Rora, who always greeted him with a kiss and a wag of her tail, would not jump up and down like that, or hug a complete stranger's neck and yell in his ear.

Rora touched his ear. He flinched. One of the human's fingernails had dug into the base, leaving a scratch even through his fur. Rora called over the wall for hranna and a bandage for his ear.

"It's all right, Rora. Not major," he told her gently in Veroshi. Then, he switched to Universal. "Who are you? Why did you hug me?"

"Stacen, it's me, Lizzy. Remember? I'm your sister."

Stacen sighed. "I have no human sister. I am Grebsa."

A Veroshi flew over the wall with the first-aid supplies Rora had asked for. Stacen let her spread a little of the hranna, a pain-killing and antibacterial cream the Veroshi made from herbs, on his ear, then put the bandage on.

"Did I hurt you?" asked the human.

"You might want to watch the fingernails. They're almost as good as claws."

Stacen flexed his own, letting her see. At the same time, he asked Karine over the telepathic link about any security breaches on the Moon. Lizzy smelled like a Moon native. After a moment's hesitation as Karine looked up the pertinent records, she told him someone had hacked into the Search records three months ago. Expert programmers were investigating the matter.

"You were Searched when you were five years old. I won't blame you if you don't remember."

"I don't," he said bluntly. "But we can discuss this."

Stacen continued his patrol with Rora on one side, still touching his mane, and Lizzy on the other, chattering rapidly but not really saying very much except for details on how she had found him. Apparently, she was a good computer programmer, for a human, and had managed to hack into the Grebsa Network's classified Search records, and then liquidated most of her inheritance and used part of the money to buy passage from the Moon to Mars. Finally, the festival was mostly over, except for a handful of stragglers who were being hurried along by Guardians.

"So, what do we do now?" asked Lizzy.

"Actually, I have to arrest you on hacking charges." Stacen sounded almost apologetic as he unhooked his handcuffs from his belt. "You do have the right to remain silent."

"Very funny," said Lizzy.

"Rora, you go on ahead to the apartment. I may be late for dinner."

"Okay, Daddy."

Rora flew away, and Stacen took Lizzy into the Government Quarter and two levels down to the jail. He walked rather than have to carry Lizzy on his back. One had to earn the privilege of riding a Grebsa and this human hadn't. He booked her with the local prison warden.

*She's very good,* he told the warden through the telepathic link that all Grebsas shared. *Almost on a par with our best programmers. It takes real skill to hack into our Search records.*

*And she confessed?*

*Completely. She wanted to find me pretty badly.*

*I would imagine so. Well, thanks.*

*And thank you.*

Stacen flew back to his apartment, where his adopted daughter and mate waited. Gana was curled up on her favorite couch. Her belly was bulging with a near-term pregnancy. Even considering her complaints that it was impossible to find a comfortable sleeping position, she was taking it well.

*I hear you found your birth-sister,* she said.

Stacen snorted.

*It's more like she found me. Most humans know we ch'nai are taken from our human families and bio-engineered into Royal Grebsas, but the actual Search records are classified for a reason.*

Rora came out of the kitchen, carrying a large bowl of stew for her adoptive father. Stacen sat up, looking very much like a begging dog-though he would have considered it impolite to say it to his face. He was a great, hawk-winged cat, complete with thick lion's mane, capable of walking on all fours or sitting up and using his forelimbs like humans used arms. He was dark brown with glowing yellow eyes and, in the right lighting, looked very much like a demon. As a Grebsa, he was one of the rulers of Sol System, Captain of the Guardians of the Veroshi, and not someone to cross.

Lizzy supposed she shouldn't be so upset over Stacen's reaction. There was absolutely no reason why he should choose her over those who had raised him or that darling Wind Dancer of his. He didn't care about the sacrifice she had made. He loved them, not her.

Stacen ch'nai Karine! The "ch'nai Karine" part of his name indicated that he was the adopted son of Karine. Only a small minority had the ch'nai moniker anymore. Most were th'nai , or biological children, of their mothers. The number of Grebsa ch'nai were declining, they said, because they were getting it out of the human gene pool.

Naturally; they had been Searching for their human-born peers for a few millennia, now. Ever since they had come into power, they had claimed the right to take, raise, and train what they called the next stage of human evolution. No human liked it, and the Grebsas claimed it was a lot of trouble for them, too, but it was worth it, for the members of their telepathic Network who would never be understood by any human family.

Lizzy slammed her fist against the wall. All it did was hurt her hand. The wall was as implacable as the Grebsas were. They thought they had no choice. Human-born or not, Grebsa was Grebsa, and humans were what they were. One would think the Human-Grebsa Wars had never ended.

A Grebsa opened the door and pushed a hover-tray in, never coming in farther than the entrance. She then turned away, as uncaring as Stacen had been.

"Have you ever had a human family?" Lizzy called to her.

The Grebsa didn't answer. She just closed and locked the door again. Lizzy lifted the lid on the covered dish. Spaghetti with meat sauce. They might not care to speak with their prisoners, but at least they fed them well. Lizzy arbitrarily decided that she wasn't hungry and left it alone.

When the Grebsa came to retrieve the hover-tray, she didn't notice or didn't care that the human had barely touched it. Lizzy just lay on the bunk with her face to the wall.

She slept until the rumbling in her stomach woke her again. The Grebsa was just pushing another hover-tray into the cell. She wasn't going to force the human prisoner to eat if she didn't really want to, but she wasn't inhuman enough not to provide food.

"Can you give a message to Stacen ch'nai Karine from me?" asked Lizzy.

"If he wants to listen."

"There are some items in the apartment I rented that I want him to have. I just wish I had the chance to give them to him myself."

The Grebsa waited. Lizzy gave her the address and a list of the items.

Stacen stopped by later to see Lizzy.

"This is against my better judgement, but Karine wants me to take you to the Moon for the trial. I also got your message from Tera th'nai Gina. People are delivering your things to my shuttle."

Lizzy allowed herself to be handcuffed, and then Stacen opened the door for her. She kept her hand on his shoulder all the way to the space port. The humans who passed knew not to question a Grebsa and gave them a respectable berth. When they got near the government shuttle that would take them to Earth, Stacen touched noses with one elderly, creme-colored Grebsa.

Lizzy stared. She knew they existed, of course. She had seen pictures of Grebsas who lacked the deep brown coloring of most of their people, but they were widely believed to be their version of a human albino, a rare mutation. She had thought the cremes were confined to Earth until researching Stacen's adoptive family and seeing a picture of Commander Karine.

*Everything's as it should be, Stacen. I'll miss you,* the creme told her son.

*I'll miss you, too, Mom.*

Lizzy knelt. "Greetings, Commander Karine."

Karine sniffed her. "You would be Lizzy Sulan."

"Yes, Mighty One. I think you did a good job with my brother."

Karine chuckled. It was a powerful sound. She lifted one arm and revealed a scar on her wrist.

"I still have the scar, see?"

"Did I do that?" Lizzy laughed. "I used to have this toy sword. I used it on Karine. I thought I was protecting you," she told Stacen.

"One might be forgiven a childhood fantasy," he answered blandly. "That must have been one sharp toy sword."

"It was," Karine rumbled. "It was minor, though."

*Where's Rora?* Stacen asked his mother.

*I saw her enter the shuttle. The ramp's up just now.*

Just then, Gana's roar echoed through Stacen's mind. He winced. It was possible to shout through a telepathic link, though Network etiquette forbade it in anything other than an emergency.

*Stacen! Rora's gone! I can't find her anywhere!* shouted Gana.

Gana was on the shuttle already. Karine also heard the panicked cry.

*I'll organize a search,* she told Stacen. *I left for a few minutes to handle something. She could have left the shuttle then. It shouldn't take long to find her.*

"What's wrong, Stacen?" Lizzy asked. "What happened?"

"My Wind Dancer, Rora, is missing. It's not like her to wander off, especially in the human quarter. We're in a bad part of town, so we need to find her fast."

It was Stacen who spotted her, being chased by a gang of scraggly-looking human adolescents. He called to his fellows and swooped. He snatched up Rora and flew to the top of a tall building. He held his crying daughter close.

The rest of the Grebsas rounded up the gang members. Stacen could hear the screams of a few especially uncooperative ones. He didn't sympathize.

"Are you hurt?" he asked her.

"They tore my wing. I'll never be able to dance again."

"We'll fix the wing. For now, we should get back to Veroshi Quarter."

"What about your assignment?"

"That can wait."

"Are you angry?"

"No, though I would like to know why you ran away."

"I think I'm pregnant," she sniffed. "That's why I snuck out. I didn't think you'd be very happy with me for mating without your approval."

"We can sort it out later, though I don't think you should punish yourself or your unborn puppies for something that can't be changed. I'll carry you back."

Rora rode on his back to Veroshi Quarter and the hospital. On the way, Stacen sent an update to Karine and Gana. Gana was understandably annoyed.

*I'm just glad that senseless Wind Dancer lived through it. Maybe she'll be less foolish next time. And puppies?!*

*She says she thinks so. I'll have the doctors check.*

He took her to the Veroshi healer's hall and waited in the visitor's room. From what he could see, the wing wasn't as badly injured as Rora made it out to be. She was just terrified. The reports from the other Guardians indicated that ten of the gangsters had been captured. Eight were dead, having pulled guns on their pursuers. Grebsas preferred not to take chances when their prey had teeth. The Guardians were chasing three others.

Finally, the Veroshi doctor came in.

"The wing injury was the worst, but she'll be able to dance again once the feathers grow back. She's upset because she thinks she disappointed you."

"I'm just sorry she didn't confide in me. She told me she thinks she might have puppies."

"Yes. We found three fetuses."

Stacen followed the doctor to Rora's bed. Her eyes were still glazed over from the anesthetic, but she was conscious. The doctor discreetly left, closing the door behind him to give them some privacy.

"Do you still love me, Daddy?" she asked sleepily.

"I always love you, Rora. Why didn't you tell me? We could have saved a lot of trouble."

That was the closest Stacen ever came to outright scolding Rora. He didn't need to. If he showed the slightest bit of disappointment in her, she would go into a wiggling mass of guilt until he reassured her that he wasn't, really.

"I had the puppies without your approval. I thought you would be angry."

"My dear, when was the last time I was angry with you?"

Rora thought about it for a moment. "You don't get angry with me."

"And I'm not going to be angry because you're having puppies."

Rora reached to give him a hug and Stacen gathered her into her arms. He had gotten a scare, but he was more inclined to blame that pack of adolescent ruffians. Definitely not Rora. Veroshi were very gentle and sheltered and had only a vague sense of how things were outside their Quarter.

Rora fell asleep in her father's arms. When the doctor came in again, he found Stacen holding her on his lap.

"She can go as soon as she wakes up. As long as she doesn't do anything to tear up that wing again, she should be fine," he whispered to Stacen.

"Thank you, Doctor."

Lizzy paced in Karine's office.

"I don't see what the big deal is. You have people out looking for her, right?"

"Stacen isn't doing it to deliberately annoy you. I would have thought you would understand. You went through all that trouble to find your brother, didn't you?"

"I don't see what that has to do with anything."

"Rora is Stacen's adopted daughter."

"Oh! Well, that's different. Though I don't see why Rora would run off like that."

"It happens every once in a while, when they think they disappointed us in some way. They can punish themselves worse than we ever would."

"What do you do when they do?"

"We find them as quickly as possible and reassure them that we love them, even if they did make a mistake, and we help them fix the mistake. We've never run into one so bad that it couldn't be fixed." Karine cocked her head. "Stacen found Rora. She says she thinks she's pregnant and that's why she ran."

"That's silly!"

"Not to a Veroshi. They think they need our approval to have children. About all we do is make certain they're healthy and mature enough and can handle the responsibility of raising children. Rora didn't ask Stacen and she feels guilty about it."

"But why would they need your approval?"

"It's a thowback to the millennia they spent travelling in their Faith-ship to Sol System. Space was a premium, so they needed to control the population." Karine shrugged. "We don't really mind since it cuts down on us having to find new places for the Veroshi to live."

"That would be difficult."

"It is. We like to carve it out according to Veroshi preferences. They say they can make sacrifices for us, but we prefer that they not have to."

"Why do they worship you, anyway? Do you make them?"

"Oh, no. They worshipped us for many millennia before they ever saw us. All because one of their best prophets foresaw that they would."

"But you don't make them stop, either."

"That would break their dear hearts. We let it be. All that really matters is that we love them and they love us."

Lizzy's instinct was to rail about it. She was certain the Grebsas were exploiting the Veroshi somehow. Humans really knew very little about the extrasolar Sentient Race other than that they had made a many-millennia-long trip in their Faith-ship, which had impressed the Grebsas. The Veroshi professed to be searching for their gods, and latched onto the Grebsas, who promptly agreed to protect and provide for them. But what did the Grebsas get out of it? They weren't known to do anything without a reason. Lizzy bit her tongue, though. Alienating her brother's adoptive mother would not help matters any.

"How long will it be before Stacen can take me back to the Moon?"

"When he's sure his daughter is all right. He says he doesn't think she has any serious injuries, though. It might be sometime tomorrow."