Pathways - Jeri Taylor [182]
Toscat surveyed the group for a moment, then threw open his hands. “I can’t make this decision myself. I must convene all the Elders. It must be discussed thoroughly before we find the true course.”
“When will you convene?”
“I’m not certain. I’ll have to discuss scheduling with the others.”
“It’s not as though you have a great deal to do,” said Kes, unwilling to let him procrastinate indefinitely. Toscat drew his breath in sharply and glared at her.
“How would a child like you know what responsibilities we must shoulder? You have no idea what our days are like—”
“When, Toscat?”
He drew a breath and sighed wearily. “I’ll try to convene everyone tomorrow.”
“We’ll call on you before nightly rations, then.”
He nodded and disappeared back into his office, shutting the door firmly. Kes, Daggin, and the others exchanged a triumphant look. “See you tomorrow, Marlath,” said Kes, and they all filed out with feelings of great victory.
Of course, the Elders didn’t convene the next day, nor the next, nor the next. And when they finally did, under great pressure from the militant and tenacious group of farmers, they didn’t make a decision. They kept this delaying tactic up for days, and would probably have continued it indefinitely, if something extraordinary hadn’t happened, something so bizarre and unexplainable that even the Elders became worried.
One afternoon, as Kes, Daggin, and the others sat in the Assembly hall, discussing what further measures to try to bring pressure on the Elders, there was a sudden and unusual sound, a ringing, a shimmering, that seemed to come from nowhere and which became almost painfully loud. People covered their ears in discomfort, and gradually, the ringing faded away.
When it was over, two alien beings lay on the floor of the hall.
Awed, wary, a few of the braver souls crept toward the beings, who were clearly of a species unlike theirs. Their skin was covered with a thick white fur, they were much taller than Ocampans, and their heads were elongated into a spherical shape. They were quite the strangest beings Kes had ever imagined.
“Where did they come from?” someone asked, but received no answer. People moved closer, and noticed that there were what appeared to be sores dotted on the arms and shoulders of both aliens. Glances were exchanged and shoulders shrugged as no one knew what to do next.
Kes moved through the group to stand over the alien beings. “They’re sick,” she announced. “We have to help them.” She knelt down and ascertained that both were breathing, but apparently unconscious. “Daggin, get the medical service.” Daggin hurried off, and Kes was glad there was someone there who wasn’t stupefied into immobility by this amazing appearance.
Within minutes, Toscat and two of the other Elders had arrived, followed shortly by physicians from the medical service. Toscat surveyed the situation, and the unconscious aliens, and made a pronouncement: “The Caretaker has sent these beings to us. It is our duty to care for them.”
How he had arrived at this conclusion was a question Kes would like to have asked, but she didn’t want to ruffle Toscat any more than she already had. She still had hopes that the Elders would relent and grant access to the historical writings. Besides, she agreed that they had a responsibility to help these aliens, regardless of where they had come from or how they had gotten there.
The two large, furry beings were carried off to the central clinic, after which no news of them was forthcoming.
However, within days, two more arrived in the same manner.
These beings more closely resembled the Ocampa, except that their ears were tiny and unembellished, and their skin was a dark red color. They had no hair on their heads. They, too, had the sores which had appeared on the first pair, and like those first arrivals, they were carried off to the medical center.
These strange visitations became a regular occurrence, every several days witnessing the advent of two more sick beings, all of them different from the Ocampa,