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Fledgling
...A Liaden Universe® Adventure
by
Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
...the story of Theo Waitley and how she came to have a "kind of complicated" problem to lay before the delm of Korval.
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Chapter Eleven
A sandy haired man wearing a green sweater and work pants, and carrying
a large roll balanced on one shoulder was turning away from their door.
"Hey!" Theo jumped off the belt, not bothering
with the safety grip, wincing when her sore ribs complained.
"Sir!"
The man continued his turn, sandy eyebrows up and an
amused look on his ruddy, unlined face. He had pushed the sleeves
of the sweater up, displaying muscled arms thick with blond hair.
"Student?" he said courteously.
"I'm Theo Waitley." She was panting a little, her
face hot and her hair sticky, and she made herself walk slowly, to
spare any more twinges from her bruises. "I think that must be my
rug. I'm sorry I'm late."
"Theo Waitley's the name on the delivery slip, right
enough, and nobody said you were late." He gave her a cheerful
grin. "Ms. Dail guessed fivebells would find you home after your
game, and I was a couple ticks early. Truth is, I was going to go
looking for a cup of something cold and maybe a snack before I came
back to see if you were home yet." The grin widened. "Ms.
Dail pays half up front on delivery work, the rest when we bring her
the signed chit. Untrusting woman. But smart as new paint."
"You're very nice to bring this in for me," she told
the man, whose name, she realized suddenly, she hadn't asked. "Mr
--?"
He laughed. "Just Harn," he said, and jerked
his head at the door. "If you'll get the door, I'll walk this in
and lay it out."
"Oh, you don't have to do that!" Theo protested.
"No problem at all," he assured her. "Besides,
you might need some help getting it down right, 'specially since you're
gonna be using stickystrips."
"Well, if you're sure you don't mind, I'd be glad to
have your help." She stepped past Harn and opened the door. He
walked in after her, deftly maneuvering the long roll in the small
space.
"My room's down here," Theo said, and led him down
the hallway. She triggered that door, scooped up Coyster as he
made a dash across the threshold and stepped back.
Harn walked past her at the absolutely correct
angle, dropped to one knee and let the rug roll off his shoulder onto
the floor. He looked around.
"Gonna need those stickystrips," he commented.
Theo stepped inside and dropped her pack near the
wall. Coyster squirmed and she put him down. He pranced
over, tail high, gave Harn's knee a bump and sniffed at the rug.
Harn grinned. "I've got a cat," he said.
"Not that friendly with strangers, though." He glanced at
Theo. "Where d'you want it?"
Theo looked up at the folded bed. Harn
followed her gaze, and nodded. "Want to have this under your toes
when you get up in the morning. Good idea." He picked
Coyster up and moved him out of the way before touching the bindings.
Released, the rug unrolled slightly, showing a flow of greens and blues around a plain white sealpack.
"OK now, Theo Waitley," Harn said, reaching for the
sealpacks. "I'm going to need your help keeping this friendly cat
of yours out of my way while I'm working. We don't want him to
get stuck in the strips, and I sure don't want to lay the rug over
him." One of the packs unsealed with a loud zzzzZZZIIITTTT and Harn looked at her over his shoulder. "Can you do that for me?"
"I'll lock him in the 'fresher and come back to
help," Theo said. Coyster wouldn't like that, but it would only
be for a few minutes.
"Nothing to help with," Harn told her, rising and sending another glance around.
Theo understood. Her room was so small, she'd only get in the big man's way if she stayed.
"Call if you need anything," she said.
He nodded, absently. She grabbed Coyster and carried him to the
kitchen, despite his demand to be put down this minute!
"You heard what he said," she muttered, holding his
squirmy furry body against her shoulder one-handed while she punched
the kaf's buttons with the other.
"Hey! Watch the claws!"
"Gnrrrngh," Coyster said, twisting so hard she
almost dropped him. She counter twisted, which hurt, but she
managed hold on to him and to the cup of soy milk she'd taken out of the kaf.
"You are not going back there to supervise," Theo told him. "You'll get in trouble."
Coyster sighed, deeply. Patiently. Theo felt a grin wobble around her mouth.
"I know, you never get in trouble. Except
sometimes." Just like me, she added silently, as she grabbed a
disposable plate from the kaf's supply shelf and carefully knelt on the
floor.
By the time she'd poured some milk into the plate,
Coyster was squirming to get down again, the need to supervise Harn
apparently forgotten. Theo let him go, and he climbed down her
shoulder, face in the milk and visibly vibrating along his entire
length. Milk was a rare treat; too much wasn't good for cats,
Father sa --
Theo caught her breath against a pain that had
nothing to do with her ribs. She counted to twelve, then drank
some of the milk left in the disposable cup. What did Marjene
know, anyway? she thought, and drank some more milk. Coyster,
finished with his tithe, propped his paws against her knee and bumped
her elbow with his head.
"No, you can't have any more," she told him.
"And if you make me spill mine, I'll have to lock you in 'fresher while
I clean up the mess." She looked at him dismally. "Maybe
I'd better lock us both in the 'fresher."
Coyster's response to this was interrupted by a loud voice, echoing weirdly off the walls.
"Hey, Theo Waitley! Come see what you think of this!"
"That was fast." She gulped the last of her milk, rose carefully
and dropped the cup in the disposal on the way by. Coyster
galloped past her, tail up, and by the time she got to her room, he was
on his back among the shimmering blues and greens, feet in the air,
eyes slitted in a cat-smile.
"Looks like you made a good choice," Harn said from his lean against the desk.
"Ms. Dail made a good choice." Theo walked over to
the rug, put her foot on it and deliberately shifted her weight.
The foot braced against against the floor slid a little, but the rug
stayed put.
Harn nodded. "Those stickystrips are
top-grade. If you do ever want to shift the rug, just roll it up,
then peel the strips off the floor, reset 'em where you want 'em and
put the rug over 'em." He pointed at the folded-up bed.
"What I did was make it so there'll be some rug on both side of the bed when it's down."
"Thank you for your help," Theo said, "and for coming all the way from -- from Efraim."
"What Ms. Dail pays me for," he said cheerfully, and
pushed away from his lean. He pulled a datastrip and a light pen
out of his pocket. "What I need you to do is sign that you got
the rug all right, so I can get the rest of my pay."
"Sure." She signed the strip; he slipped it and the pen away, and gave her a nod.
"I'll be on my way, Theo Waitley. Nice meeting you."
"It was nice to meet you, too," she said politely,
leading him down the hall. She stopped suddenly as they reached the
parlor, suddenly remembering --
"I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed, feeling her face get hot. "I -- did you want something to drink, or --"
Harn laughed, holding up a big hand. "I'll
take care of that on the way home." He smacked his sizable
chest. "Not gonna fade away for lack of food for a while yet, eh?"
In spite of herself, Theo smiled. "If you're sure," she said. "I really do thank you."
"No trouble at all," Harn assured her as she opened the door. "I like to deliver inside the Wall."
"You do?" Theo looked up at him. "Why?"
"Reminds me of why I like living down in town," he
said and stepped out into the hall. "Have a good evening, Theo
Waitley. You and your cat together."
* *
Coyster was right, Theo thought, the rug did feel
nice. Just sitting on it made her feel better. 'course, it
also made her feel better that, except for Coyster, she was finally
alone, with hook and thread in hand.
She closed her eyes, letting her fingers shape
whatever they cared to, finding calm in the patterned movements.
Her ribs hurt, and so did her head, and she should really get up in a
minute...or two... jack in her 'book and finish her solos. Thread
slipped between her fingers, the needle moved, and she sat cross-legged
on the rug, Coyster's purrs helping to relax her, and to relax her some
more, until she was more asleep than awake, and --
Her mumu chimed.
Theo jumped, eyes snapping open; mumu at her ear before it chimed a second time.
"Theo?" Lesset whispered loudly. "How are you?"
"Terrible," Theo said. "Why are you whispering?"
There was a pause, as if Lesset had blinked.
"I don't know," she said in a more normal tone. "But -- terrible,
you said. Is your side hurting you?"
"Some," Theo admitted, "but..." She bit her
lip and looked down at the shape her fingers had been making. Not
a flower, but something kind of uneven and blobby. An amoeba,
maybe.
"I had to see Marjene after team play," she told Lesset.
"Oh, no! Did she already have the report?"
"Worse than that, she yelled at me --"
"Marjene yelled at you?" Theo could picture Lesset's eyes getting round, rounder even than her mouth.
"Close enough. And she acted like it's some
kind of Crime Against Society to call Father like I always have, and
..." Theo paused to draw breath, and ran her hand over the rug,
watching the nap flow from green to blue.
"Well, it is," Lesset said. "I mean, not that
it's a Crime Against Society. But it is kind of ...strange to
hear you calling Professor Kiladi "father" when your mother's set him
aside and --"
"Kamele has not set Father aside!" Theo interrupted hotly.
There was a pause. "He's not living with you, is he?" Lesset asked pointedly.
Theo sighed. "No, he's not living with us."
"Then Kamele's set him aside. My mother says
that's a good thing. Professor Kiladi has served his purpose, she
says, and now Kamele's sub-chair of her Department, and --"
"That's only a temp assignment," Theo protested.
"My mother says Chair Hafley's out of favor with Admin. Your mother could be the next EdHist Chair. That would be tenured and published!"
Theo's stomach twisted.
"Will you invite me to your apartment on TopThree?"
"We're not going to TopThree," Theo said,
breathless. We're going home, she told herself. Kamele's
going to finish her temp post and then we'll go home.
"You don't think Kamele's good enough to be chair?"
"Kamele's at least good enough to be chair!" Theo
snapped, then blinked, seeing the trap too late. "I just don't
think Admin'll pick her, is all," she finished lamely.
"Well..." Lesset let the word drift off,
unwilling to argue on Admin's side, and Theo grabbed her chance to
change the subject.
"What're you going to do for Professor Wilit's solo?"
"Whose solo?"
"Professor Wilit," Theo repeated patiently.
Lesset tended to put off her work until the last second, which Theo had
never understood. She probably hadn't even opened her 'book
yet. "There's a --"
"Hang on," Lesset interrupted. A woman said
something unintelligible in the background, to which Lesset answered,
"Theo." Something else from Lesset's mother, her voice fading as
she moved out of mumu range. "Yes, ma'am," Lesset said, and then,
"Theo, I've got to go. I'll see you tomorrow, 'k?"
"OK," Theo said, but she could have saved herself the trouble. Lesset had already cut the connection.
Sighing, put the mumu on the rug beside her.
She picked up her handwork, but couldn't seem to focus on it.
Finally, she put it next to the mumu and stretched out, carefully, on
the rug.
So soft...she thought, and closed her eyes -- then opened them as Coyster put his nose against hers.
"Prrt?" he asked, amber eyes staring down into hers.
Theo rubbed his cheek. "Quiet," she said. "I've gotta think."
"Prrt!" Coyster stated, and curled around on her shoulder, purring immediately.
The last thing Theo remembered was thinking how nice that was...
* *
Kamele dropped her research book on her desk, and
rubbed her eyes. Tired... She was going to have to stop running
at triple speed soon -- and a decent night's sleep wouldn't be amiss,
either. And, yet, there was so much to do. She sighed,
thought about going down to the Department's lounge and pulling a
coffee -- and decided against it. She'd had enough caffeine for
one day -- no, she'd had more than enough -- and caffeine was the only reason to drink coffee from the departmental kaf.
She sat down, and pushed the 'book aside, glancing
at the privacy panel as she did. Yes, the door status was set to
'open.' Office hours would be done by sevenbells and she could go
home. Perhaps she'd stop at the co-op on her way and pick up a
bottle of wine. She wrinkled her nose, remembering the last time
she'd had wine out of the co-op.
Or perhaps not.
There being no students immediately in need of her
attention and advice, Kamele pulled out her mumu and tapped the screen
on.
There was a message from Ella in queue, assuring her
that the Oversight Committee was already moving on their request for
the forensic lit search; they at least, said Ella, took the possibility of an accreditation loss very seriously indeed. Kamele nodded, pleased.
After Ella's note, there were a dozen or so routine
messages from colleagues and Admin. Below them were two marked
'urgent' -- one from the L&R Department and the other from Marjene
Kant.
Panic pinched Kamele's chest. She took a
deliberately deep breath to counter it, and opened the message from
L&R.
Professor Viverain wrote a clean, almost terse,
hand, and Kamele was very shortly in possession of the facts of Four
Team Three's scavage game. Viverain took the trouble to state not
once, but twice, that Roni Mason had put herself into a position of
peril, in defiance of the rules of both the game and of good
sportsmanship, and, upon being injured, had immediately begun to kick
Theo, who had already been knocked to the floor by her impact with the
bigger girl.
In summary, Viverain praised both Theo's teamwork
and her growing skill in scavage and hoped that Professor Waitley would
not hesitate to contact her with any questions she might have about the
incident.
Kamele closed her eyes, briefly. Roni Mason
was spoiled and unprincipled, following, Kamele thought uncharitably,
properly in her mother's footsteps. Well. There was more,
she was certain.
And indeed there was. The appended Safety
Office report suggested that the incident might have been avoided, or
at least not come to bloodshed, had Theo not been involved. This
also fielded the theory that Roni Mason had been trying to kick the
dropped ball, not realizing, in her distraction and pain that (1) the
game was over and (2) she was kicking Theo.
This was so transparently mendacious that it seemed
unlikely that anyone would believe it. On the other hand, Theo
had a long string of notes in her file documenting instances of her
horrifying clumsiness, all the way back to first form. Whatever
her discipline problems -- and Kamele had heard they were not
inconsiderable -- Roni Mason was not tagged as 'physically limited.'
Lips pressed tight, Kamele called up the A-Team
report: bruised ribs; the A-Teamer had administered analgesic and
muscle relaxant, suggested that the same be given before bedtime to
prevent stiffness and insure a restful night.
Kamele took a deep breath and exhaled,
forcefully. Unfortunately, the exercise did very little to
prepare her for Marjene's message.
I feel compelled to inform you, it began without preamble, that
Theo ended our scheduled meeting this evening precipitously, standing
up while we were in the middle of a discussion and announcing that she
was expecting a delivery. I understand that her problem on the
scavage court had distressed her, and that the topics we had before us
were unsettling, but this sort of rudeness toward one who --
Kamele closed Marjene's message and filed
it. After consideration, she also filed Viverain's report,
with attachments. Half a dozen taps sent a message to her
students and the Department Chair that she had canceled her office
hours.
That done, she slipped the mumu away, changed the
room status from 'open' to 'closed,' gathered up her 'book and
left the office, walking rapidly.
* * *
Someone close by was singing something soft and
abstract, like honeybees in the flowers. Beneath the song was the
familiar and comforting click of keys. Kamele sang like that
sometimes, Theo thought, drifting comfortably awake, when she was
concentrating. It was a different kind of singing than she did
for the chorale -- more like a cat purring contentment. Theo
sighed, broke the surface of wakefulness and opened her eyes.
Barely two hand-spans away, Kamele was sitting
cross-legged on the rug, her 'book on her knee, face down turned,
fingers moving gently on the keys, her hair escaping its orderly knot
in wispy, disrespectful waves. Coyster was sprawled on the rug at
her side, snoring.
Theo sighed again, and her mother looked up from her work, the song murmuring into silence.
"I'm sorry," Theo whispered.
Kamele's eyebrows rose. "Sorry for what?"
Sorry for the song ending, Theo thought, but what
she said was, "There's another note in my file -- probably two."
She bit her lip. "I guess you got the report from Viverain..."
"Professor Viverain was extremely
complimentary," Kamele said. "She praised your skill and your
commitment to your team."
Theo blinked. "She did?"
"She did," her mother answered, looking down
to fold up her book and set it aside. She looked back to
Theo. "The Safety Officer was another matter."
"I know," Theo whispered, remembering the red-haired
safety. "She said I had a societal obligation not to hurt other
people." She tried to sit up, gasping as her ribs grabbed,
sending a bright spark of pain along her side.
"Easy." Cool hands caught hers, and Kamele
pulled her up. Theo closed her eyes, waiting until the sparks
subsided into a sullen ache.
"The report said your ribs were bruised, and that
the A-Teamer gave you an analgesic and a muscle relaxant. Have
you taken anything since you've been home?"
Theo shook her head. "The rug got delivered,
and then I talked to Lesset, and then Coyster and I ...took a nap."
"An excellent idea," Kamele said, not even asking about solos. "You haven't eaten anything?"
"I...had a cup of soy milk."
Kamele half-smiled. "That's something, I
suppose. Well..." She pulled out her mumu, and sent Theo a
questioning glance. "I'm calling out for dinner. Would you
like something?"
"Um...veggie fried rice?"
Her mother nodded, tapped a quick message into her
mumu and put it on top of her 'book. On the rug, Coyster extended
his back legs, pink toes stretching wide, and then relaxed with a tiny,
satisfied moan.
Theo smiled, and leaned over -- carefully -- to rub his belly.
"I went to see Marjene," she said slowly, watching
Kamele out of the side of her eye. Her mother nodded, looking
politely interested, which, Theo suspected darkly, she'd probably
learned from Fa --
She took a breath and sat up, her hand braced on the rug next to Coyster's tail.
"Marjene says -- she says there are drugs that can
..." she stumbled, not liking any of the words available.
Marjene had said cured, but was being clumsy an illness?
"She said, if I may make a supposition," Kamele said
coolly, "that there are drugs which can prevent you harming other
people through your well-documented 'physical limitations.' Is
that correct?"
Theo nodded, all the misery of the afternoon
suddenly back, and her stomach starting to ache again. "She said
that -- you refused them -- the drugs -- for me?" She paused,
took a breath and said, properly. "I'd like to understand why."
Kamele put her elbow on her knee and her chin in her
hand. There was a tiny line between her eyebrows, and her eyes
were serious.
"It's a complex issue," she said gravely, "but I'll do my best to answer, all right?"
Theo nodded.
Kamele sighed, then said slowly. "It is,
of course, our obligation to do what we can to promote order and safety
within our society of scholars. In a perfect intellectual
society, such as the Founding Trustees envisioned, tending our personal
obligations and responsibilities would be enough to ensure that order
is preserved." She smiled slightly.
"Unfortunately, the Founding Trustees had been... a little too
optimistic about human nature. So, we created the Office of
Academic Safety, to help us maintain the environment to which we
aspire." She paused.
Theo nodded to show she was following this.
She knew the story of the Founding, of course, but her teachers hadn't
even hinted that the Founders were human, must less capable of
what Kamele seemed to be saying was an... well, it was a protocol
error, that's what -- but Kamele was talking again.
"Sometimes, because it has so much to do, the Safety
Office...becomes overzealous. When this happens, so some of us
feel, it is our responsibility to oppose it, just as much as it is our
responsibility to work for orderliness in our everyday lives."
There was a pause. Theo frowned.
"So you decided not to follow the safeties advice
because of a... philosophical difference?" she asked slowly.
Kamele actually laughed. "Not quite.
What I mean to say is that we're obligated to scrutinize the
recommendations the safeties make to us; to do our own research and to
draw our own conclusions. We're scholars, and this is how
scholars deal. So," she waved her free hand -- maybe at her mumu,
maybe at the desk.
"So," she said again. "When this issue of the
drugs -- of the so-called 'cure' -- first came up with the Safety
Office, I did what any scholar would do; I did my research. And I
found a number of ...interesting... facts.
"The first is that there is a ...small but
significant... proportion of the population who share what the Safety
Office terms your 'physical limitations' who...find that those
difficulties resolve themselves at some point after their Gigneri."
Theo sat up straighter, ignoring the snap of pain from her ribs.
Kamele nodded. "Yes, that's an interesting
fact, isn't it? But the second fact is even moreso." She
paused, as if to make sure she had Theo's full attention. "It
seems that the recommended drugs are not ...quite... as benign as the
Safety Office assures us that they are. Indeed, several of the
offered 'cures' measurably limit learning, and adversely effect the
ability to concentrate. These findings also seemed significant,
especially for someone who is in the process of acquiring her Base
Information."
On the rug, Coyster yawned, noisily, and rolled to
his feet. He gave his shoulder a quick lick and headed for the
back of the room, bumping Theo cheerfully as he passed by.
"Now," Kamele said. "Since Marjene has brought
this issue to you and made it your responsibility, you may wish to
exercise your right to research, and to form your own
conclusions. I can, if you wish, send you citations from my own
research, and that of Professor Kiladi. They may be helpful as a
starting point, or you may wish to construct your own protocol,
independent of our findings."
Theo licked her lips, thinking of Marjene, of how certain she'd sounded. Maybe, she thought, Marjene trusted the Safety Office too much? That was an interesting idea Kamele raised, the notion that the Safety Office could -- in some cases should -- be opposed...
"I'd like the citations," she said to Kamele, "very much, please, Mother."
Kamele nodded. "I'll forward them to you
tomorrow, along with the list provided by the Safety Office, of those
drugs they deem safe and effective."
"Thank you," Theo said, around a slight shiver. Hadn't, she wondered, the Safety Office done its research?
She looked up. "I -- Marjene's pretty...upset
with me. If you haven't gotten a note, you will," she said
slowly. "I, she -- well, I left in the middle of our
meeting. I didn't --"
"Marjene was pushing you," Kamele said
tartly; "and interfering where she had no right. Perhaps a little
distress will clear her thinking." She straightened, stretching
her arms wide.
A gong sounded. Dinner, thought Theo, suddenly ravenous, was here.
"Right on cue," Kamele said and got up. She
held her hands down, and Theo took the boost to her feet. "I'll
meet you at the table," she said, heading for the door.
"Kamele!" Theo bit her lip, but it was too late. Her mother turned, one hand on her door.
"Yes, daughter? Is there something else?"
"I -- will you --" she took a breath, feeling
perilously close to tears. "Are you going to, to take another
onagrata?"
Kamele closed her eyes, opened them, looking tired.
"That's my decision, Theo," she said quietly. She slapped the door open as the gong sounded again.
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Base page created December 1, 2006 by Sharon Lee
Chapter updated April 9, 2007
technical revision posted April 9, 2007
Update March 15, 2008, 12:08 p.m. EDT
copyright © 2006-2007 by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
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