Power Play - Anne McCaffrey [3]
Somewhere in the middle of the third dance, Terce, who was minding the snocle shed, came in and tapped Adak on the shoulder; Adak, in turn, tapped Johnny on the shoulder and whispered something in his ear. The men left, accompanied by Captain Rhys-Hall, and returned in time to rescue Yana from a fifth dance. Marmion de Revers Algemeine and two company corpsmen in dress-white uniforms were with them.
Yana and Sean stopped dancing to greet their friends. Marmion was elegant as usual, in a royal blue tunic with a purple underdress, the top heavily embroidered in jade and silver, matching her earrings and rings.
“Marmie! How wonderful that you could come!” Yana cried. Marmion kissed both her cheeks, then Sean’s.
“Yes, and in addition to your wedding present, I’m afraid I’ve come to take you away from all this. The CIS court is reconvening a week from now and your testimony will be necessary to augment Commissioner Phon Tho Anaciliact’s decision on Petaybee. I thought you’d want to do it yourself, since going off-planet would be lethal to native Petaybeans.” She glanced down briefly at Yana’s middle and a look of consternation flowed over her classic features. “Oh, my. Time flies, doesn’t it?”
Yana smiled. “It does indeed. But I see no reason . . .”
“I don’t think it’s wise for you to go off-planet this far into your pregnancy, Yana,” Sean said, his hand on her shoulder tightening protectively.
But others in the room had joined them by now. Clodagh and Whit Fiske greeted Marmie with busses on the cheeks, and Bunny pushed her way through to them, trailed closely by Diego, who had stopped playing and slung his guitar across his back as soon as he saw the newcomers arrive.
“How long does she need to be gone, Marmie?” Clodagh asked.
“Not long, I should think. Counting the journey, two weeks your time, three at the most.”
“Huh,” Clodagh said. “I’d never last that long. Sean, neither.”
“I mean to be there, too, Yana,” Marmion said, “though as an Intergal board member, my testimony is assumed to be biased and self-serving in one of those peculiarly bureaucratic fashions that people can’t really explain anyhow. It’s too bad there’s no qualified native Petaybean to testify.”
“I qualify, and I think I could go, too,” Bunny said, pulling at her sleeve. “I’m young enough to go off-planet without any ill effects, and I know everything that’s happened. I could sing them the song I made about it. Though Diego’s songs are better.”
“If you’re going, I’m going,” Diego said. “Now’s my chance to show you all those technical things you keep telling me couldn’t possibly work! Besides, I wouldn’t want your head getting turned by all those guys in uniform. And I could see my mom,” he added with a glance at Marmion, as if the more conventional reason might sway her where his desire to be with Bunny might not.
“Still, we need Colonel Maddock—or is it Shongili now?” Marmie asked with a twinkle.
“I think for courtroom purposes I’d better remain Maddock for the time being,” Yana said.
“Yana, you’re four months pregnant,” Sean said. “With my child.” The emphasis, Yana knew, was not merely possessive. Because of Sean’s dual nature as man and seal, he was concerned about just how many of his traits his children would inherit and how deeply an off-planet experience would affect them.
“Many women are on duty right up until delivery now, Sean,” she said, dropping her hand to his arm and giving it a reassuring squeeze. “And you heard Marmie, it will only be three weeks. If I have Bunny along—”
Clodagh touched Sean’s hand. “It should be okay that long, Sean. And Petaybee needs her to do this.”
“I suppose so. I only wish I could accompany her.”
“I’d take good care of her, Uncle Sean. You know I would,” Bunny said, throwing her arms around his waist.
“And I’d take care of both of them, Dr. Shongili,” Diego said, with a challenging look at Marmion.
Marmion smiled at him, then