Power Play - Anne McCaffrey [107]
“Well, I can see why they wouldn’t want this lot back,” Johnny said, with a jerk of his thumb at what was left alive of those on the floor. “But it’s only human to try to do something for them. Is there no way at all?”
“Nothing we can do from here,” Yana said. “We came because Coaxtl called and we thought you and ’Cita were in danger.”
Johnny shook his head. “No more. Them though . . .”
Loncie Ondelacy said, “Well, I for one don’t blame Intergal a bit. If we don’t want them to rule us, we can’t expect them to jump every time we holler. And whether they caused this problem or not, we can expect more of the same. We have got to figure out a way to solve our own problems if we want to be autonomous. Yana and Sean, why don’t you give Johnny a lift back to his bird, along with some of the council members to help dig it out and make a run back to Bogota for food, blankets, and medical supplies. Also to organize a dogsled evacuation here, although it’d be better if they could be flown out, given the shape they’re in. You could take ’Cita, too.”
But ’Cita shook her head. Her voice was small, but her eyes were shining with excitement. Children did tend to love a crisis, Yana reflected—especially somebody else’s. “Though I may be much in the way and a bother, Coaxtl is needed to keep Nanook informed and the other beasts from deciding that these ones”—she indicated the ravaged bodies around them—“are easy prey. Since Coaxtl honors me by speaking to me, I should remain to pass messages between her and my elders and betters.”
Sean nodded. “You can come back with Johnny when he returns north, then. I’m sure you’ll be a big help to Loncie and Coaxtl.”
They ferried Johnny and five of the councilmen back to the helicopter. The soft new snow had drifted deeply around it, and it took them some time to dig it out again. Once its runners were free and Johnny and the others were airborne, Sean and Yana returned to the cave and carried out six of the most severely damaged among the illegal harvesters, Zing Chi and the father of Yo Chang among them, and returned to Tanana Bay.
The dog teams were being hitched as they landed. The dogs set up a fierce howl when the shuttle set down, and the whole village came running to investigate.
Back at the Murphys’, Yana and Sean saw for themselves the state of Dinah and the other pirates, who had had to be taken from the communion cave and cleaned before being bundled into the shuttle.
On seeing Dinah, Sean said, “Maybe we’ll have to rethink letting the planet dispense its own justice. It’s fair enough, but we can’t handle the casualties. Bad enough that people have to remain badly maimed or die because we don’t have the technology to get them to help, but when we have it, just not enough of it, it fairly breaks your heart.”
“It does,” Muktuk agreed. “Even when it’s such as them.”
“I’m most concerned about Dinah,” Yana said.
“Perhaps you’ll be less so when we tell you what we found on her,” Marmion said acerbically. “Do you want to do the honors, Namid?”
He fished in his pocket and suddenly disappeared, to be replaced by the ugly Aurelian visage of Onidi Louchard. “I am the pirate Louchard,” said a voice that sounded exactly like the pirate Louchard’s. “Who are you and why do you seek me?”
Yana, Bunny, and Diego all jumped away from the piratical image.
Muktuk began to laugh. “You mean that little bitty gal pretended to be that thing to control all those big ferocious pirates? Ah, Sean, your governorship, sor, you’ve got to save her, you do. She’s purest O’Neill stock through and through, that one.”
“You wouldn’t be so crazy about her if you’d been on the pirate ship with her,” Bunny told him angrily.
“We’ll do our best to save her, Muktuk,” Sean said. “If you’ll bring along one of our current passengers, that will make room for her . . .”
“We could come by dogsled, too,” Diego said. “It’ll