JORR (Jim Able: Offworld Book 7) Read online

  “What have you done?” he cautiously.

  The helmet looked different. Tamric had not only removed the components from the sights but also cut openings in the helmet itself to mount them. There was no tape, no protruding parts. The optical sensors were installed as four studs: two front, two rear.

  “Try it, please. We need to verify we were correct,” Tamric urged.

  “Okay, let’s see,” said Jim, slipping the helmet on.

  “Whoa! What is this?” he said, laughing.

  “I found that the visor’s display was segmented. This was a resource we did not know before. It enabled the sensors to be attached so that each has its own field of view.”

  “But I can see almost a full circle!”

  “Yes, I positioned them to give the maximum coverage. I’m afraid it will take some practice to judge distances using it; they are not truly stereo images.”

  “This is amazing. I look left but see as if I’d turned around. This is going to make me dizzy. You try it.”

  Tamric put on the helmet. He turned his head slowly and then shifted round until his back was toward Jim. “There is a few degrees’ gap immediately behind, but if you move enough, I can see the motion.”

  “It’s amazing! Let me have another go.”

  Jim tried the helmet again, standing up and slowly moving around the cavity of the boat. He stubbed his toes several times and bumped the helmet on a beam.

  “Was our path correct?” asked Tamric.

  “I think it was. Can we alter the balance still? I need more visible and slightly less infrared.”

  “Yes, the gain will work as before.”

  Jim felt under one edge of the helmet for the visor controls.

  “Oh yeah...that’s better. This is good, very good.”

  “Thank you. Daum Robertus would expect nothing less.”

  Jim sat down opposite Tamric. “So that’s how you guys build ships? By meditating on every decision?”

  “Of course. In all we do, we strive for clarity, nirrovah, and quality.”

  “Wait, what’s ‘nirrorvar’?”

  “I’m sorry. There is no Standard word for nirrovah. It means...oh, it means so many things: the correct choice of resources, their appropriateness, their fitting well together. It is also the search we spoke of—the navigation of the path through the simple and the complex. I cannot translate it fully. I am only beginning to understand it myself. It is the foundation of true quality. You can produce something that seems of quality but does not work or is not right. Nirrovah is ensuring that what you built is the right thing. Only when you have nirrovah can you then concentrate effectively on the true quality of what you are doing.”

  “I guess it helps to have good tools too,” Jim said, nodding at Tamric’s miniature workshop.

  “Of course. The creation of this tool was achieved in the same way. In all our production shops, in all our distribution, in all our activities, we follow the one practice. It is who we are. It is what we do.”

  “I’m impressed. Thank you.” Jim took the helmet from him and held it up in salute.

  Tamric opened two protein packs and gave one to Jim. “We must now decide how to proceed with our tasks.”

  “Yeah. We learned a lot yesterday.”

  Tamric sighed. “The base will be locked down tightly. They know we are here and can rightly deduce our intent.”

  “They know we are here, but the timing is also important. They are near to launching the fleet. All this traffic and the gra’s...sensitivities...all point to it. The basic logistics of such a venture are our best hope.”

  “Go on, please.”

  “There will be constant traffic in and out of the base. With security at its height, they will need to check every vehicle. That’s a huge effort, requiring large numbers of troops. Now, they will have estimated the numbers they needed, but our showing up so close will panic them. They’ll probably have to pull guards off the less likely points of entry and redeploy them to check the main ones.”

  Tamric nodded. “That sounds logical.”

  “We just need to pick an unlikely point of entry.”

  Tamric nodded and thought for a while.

  “Do you think, now, we should wait for your Neraffan?”

  “Not anymore. We don’t know how long Tella will take with the Jorrs. I don’t think we have the time. I’m counting on Tella to get us out of here. But I don’t think we can rely on anything more.”

  “Very well. Let’s find our ‘unlikely point.’” Tamric pulled his map-pad out of his backpack and began to examine the images of the false lake. After several minutes of study, he offered the pad to Jim and said, “Notice the riverbed, where we currently are. It starts beyond the base but much farther north. It may flow through the entire complex. Once the road crosses the bridge where we crashed, it avoids the river. We are now in a dead zone between the canopy and the road.”

  “You think we could follow the river in?”

  “It seems possible. I’m sure there will be a barrier as the river comes under the canopy.”

  “More than likely, but one that might be considered low priority.” Jim thought for a few moments. “Let’s do it. I hope mud isn’t the only thing we have to walk on.”

  “We’ll soon find out.” Tamric smiled.

  ***

  Jim went first, wearing the helmet. Tamric followed with the map-pad, quietly steering them through the old channels and sinks of a once-mighty river.

  Their progress was slow and messy. The mud’s thickness varied every few minutes; many sickly streams fed through into the remaining flow of the stinking black water.

  “You know what?” asked Jim after a couple of hours.

  “What, Jim?”

  “I’m thinking there should be the remains of footpaths along wherever the banks originally were. I’m dreaming of firm footing.”

  “It’s possible. I don’t see anything on the images we have. That’s not to say they aren’t over there somewhere.”

  Tamric stopped to turn and gaze at the low ridge, marking where the old riverbank might have been. He tensed and whispered, “Jim! Down!”

  They squatted in the mud. Jim saw, without turning, the flare of a flier’s exhaust. It came from under the canopy and flew almost overhead.

  They waited, silent and still, for several minutes. They waited for a second flier, but none came. They waited for the one they had seen to turn back to investigate. They waited until the strain of immobility overcame Jim and he whispered, “Let’s move on. How about the bank?”

  “Let’s try.”

  They climbed a slope to find that the low ridge gave them a view of a sunken trail beyond. It was sheltered from the base by patches of dead shrubs and tall brown grasses.

  “My dream came true!” said Jim softly.

  Tamric hesitated, “I like it, but it confines us if we are spotted.”

  “But we’re less likely to be spotted.”

  “Agreed. But we can’t see as far ahead if someone approaches us; we must go slowly.”

  “True. Let’s go.”

  Tamric hesitated and looked at Jim. “Jim, let me have the helmet. I’ll be able to spot anyone coming from behind.”

  Chapter Four

  The Gul-Raeff called out in the night. Ajeer felt a tremor in her soul. This was something new. She moved silently into his room. He was crouched down next to the ruin of his bed. His eyes were unfocused, and as she watched, one rolled independently of the other.

  “Can you hear me, Loff?”

  He said something she did not understand. It could have been mindless babble, or it could have been spirit-words. General Dol would assume the former; she knew she must assume the latter. She flushed with a sense of awe. She had heard rumors of the spirit talking directly through a Raeff. Could it be that she was witnessing such an event?

  Calna had left her a recorder, with no instructions other than to keep it on her at all times. Was this why? She turned on the small machine at her belt. “Tell me again, my Raeff, what the spirit says.”

  He swung round to her, on all fours, growling. She saw the play of primal power in his jaws and the rippling muscles of his back. She saw in him the dignity and ancient beauty of their race.

  He barked a stream of spirit-words. Still his eyes were wandering. He stood and staggered into the low table, plunging his claws through it. He heaved it over his head to smash it into the wall.

  She heard the footsteps of his aides approaching from behind. She held up her hand for them to come no closer.

  He gasped and shuddered. With a last stream of words, he toppled to the floor.

  “Are you hurt, Luminant?” whispered an aide.

  “Not at all,” she replied. “The spirit has come to him in great measure.”

  “Yes, Luminant.”

  “Shall we call a physician?” asked another.

  “There is no need. Bring him to the couch. I will stay with him until he comes back to us.”

  They carried the Raeff into the larger room and stretched his limp body along the couch. She brought a blanket to cover him.

  “Tidy the bedroom and leave as quickly as you can. No one else is to be here when he wakes.”

  “Yes, Luminant.”

  She had no idea in how long, or even if, he would wake. She recorded three more sets of words before his eyes opened.

  “Gritta?”

  “She is not here, my Raeff.”

  “Ah! Don’t do this to us!” He threw off the blanket, rose, and stood swaying above her. “Where is our Luminant?”

  “I am she.”

  He frowned and said, “No, you’re not the one. Where is she?”

  “Let the spirit speak to you. Remember, she has gone, and I am here. Sit, and talk to me. I will hear you.”

  “Yes...of course...”

  He sat down again, and she stroked his shoulders and massaged his neck. He sighed and lay back.

  “Do you remember what the spirit said to you?”

  “When?”

  “Just now, while you slept?”

  “No...we don’t remember.”

  “Listen to this. What does it mean?”

  She replayed some of his spirit-words.

  “Who is that?”

  “It is the spirit. Can you understand its words?”

  “No,” he whispered, closing his eyes, “I don’t know that language. Do you?”

  “Nor I, but there may be others who do. May I play it to them for their opinion?”

  “Of course, if it pleases you.”

  She watched over him as he slept the rest of the night in peace.

  Chapter Five

  Tella was watching television. It had found the signals in the morass of noise being transmitted from Tanna Jorr, the planet slowly spinning below. The flier’s decoding circuitry had successfully rendered the images onto one of the display consoles.

  Tella hated watching television.

  “What have you done to me, James Able?” it said quietly to itself.

  Tella’s preferred method of learning about a new planet was to be there. It could land, hide its clothes, and conceal itself anywhere. Previously, to be on a new planet unseen and be able to listen, watch, smell, and touch was all that had been necessary.

  Then along came Jim, this strange human with odd ideas and surprising tricks. He had said that he always watched the local television if he could interpret it. Sometimes he would spend many days just watching and learning.

  “Always tune in to the evening news programs,” Jim had said.

  Tella was watching the evening news from Brurass, the city that hosted the planetary authority.

  But what do you see when you watch this garbage, Jim? What is there to learn from this?

  Tella shook its head. The news seemed to be a highly selective editing of events. There was little analysis of the meaning of the news items. The writers sometimes picked trivial aspects of a story to emphasize while glossing over the important. Overall, Tella felt the program was merely a piece of nightly entertainment.

  What am I missing?

  Tella’s flier was in a high orbit in full stealth mode. There was no sign yet of orbiting patrols, the massing of planetary defenses, or any sign the Jorrs were expecting an invasion.

  The news anchor smiled and said, “And, finally, there was a reception held today in the Brugala, at which the overarch honored the achievements of the Corps of Biological Sciences. In attendance were Professor Larrant Tule, recent winner of the Medal of Service; Professor Frarrun Liga, Arch of the Corps; and Professor Gritta Mel, recently revealed mother of a Jorr-Gul child. Tomorrow the overarch travels to Harn-Da for the celebrations of Metha-Harn. Good night. Join us again at the same time tomorrow.”

  Tella replayed the final item several times, listening and watching the fleeting images of the professors. Several hours of work writing a search routine to examine stored television programs provided Tella a list of forty-seven other references to Professor Gritta Mel.

  Most of them mentioned the professor had nearly lost her job when the news had broken. Several items concentrated on how she had managed to conceal her shame for so long; the child was already eight years old.

  There was more detail than Tella ever wanted to know: when, according to researchers, the professor became pregnant; how difficult the gestation would have been; when and where the birth took place; and where the child had been hidden for so long.

  Tella found useful information in the diagrams and images of Jorr anatomy. Three things clearly distinguished them from Guls: a shorter, rounder snout; lower height—the average Jorr would never tower over Jim the way Marhan had; and the body covering tending more to fur than the coarse hair of their neighbors. Despite such visible differences, much of their internal anatomy mirrored the Guls—an interesting aspect—but Tella did not delve into the various theories of common ancestry and the speculations about which planet hosted their ancestors first and under what conditions.

  Most commentators assumed that the child was mentally handicapped, saying he needed to be kept in an institution specializing in the care of such individuals.

  Tella also learned that Professor Mel had worked on the ark projects. She had traveled to Tanna Gul several times for extended periods. She had given birth during her final flight home, and the youngster had grown up entirely within the confines of the Corps of Biological Sciences compound.

  Tella set to finding the compound and extracting a map of the area from the Jorr public network. She will know what to do with information about an invasion fleet from the father’s planet. As Tella pondered, two possibilities came to mind.

  She may have been happy to leave him.

  She may be happily waiting for him.

  The misgivings that arose from the latter convinced Tella that its preferred approach was the only possibility in this case—an unseen entry into the compound followed by a period of surveillance of the professor.

  The map of Brurass showed the eastern part of the city was a cluster of parks and botanical gardens among the residences. Farther east, the residences grew fewer and the Biological Sciences compound took over. Tella was interested only in the main buildings. The news analysis had pinpointed the Higher Life Sciences building as the professor’s workplace and an apartment building, a short walk away, as where she and the child lived.

  Excellent, now I can stop watching these appalling programs.

  Chapter Six

  The Raeff’s attendance at a staff dinner was Ajeer’s chance to slip away. The aides would call her if anything happened.

  The vehicle she chose had no markings and its windows were darkened. No one would see her leave. No one would know where she went. It was her duty to prevent unnecessary alarm.

  ***

  “Gror Dil Ajeer? This is an unexpected honor!”

  “Thank you.”

  She burst through the door, brushing the acolyte aside. She strode up the long staircase ignoring the calls from behind her. The familiar smell of the place was overwhelming. She had no idea she had missed it so. Her superior was in the office talking to three Luminants-in-waiting.

  Ajeer swept in, saying, “This is ideal. You must all listen to this.”

  She placed the recorder on the desk.

  “Gror Dil Ajeer, we are not expecting you,” said Arna Fal Fal.

  Ajeer almost quailed at the stern and censorious tone. Had she not already faced down her Raeff, she would not have had the courage to face down her former tutor.

  “Listen! Tell me what you hear.”

  She pressed the control, and Loff’s shouting filled the room. The three trainees gasped, their ears twitching and eyes staring at the machine. Fal did not look at it; she studied Ajeer’s face.

  When the recording was done, Fal said, “And what do you hear in these words?”

  “The spirit.”

  “And that is why you run to us?”

  “You are the one who has heard this before. I know you have. Calna brought you recordings like this, didn’t she? Why didn’t you tell me of this? Why have I not been taught to understand this? You told us only of spirit-words; this is a language!”

  The old tutor closed her eyes and sighed. The four others waited patiently. All knew her well enough; she would not speak until she was ready.

  “You students may leave me now. We will address this matter tomorrow.”

  Their disappointment and hurt were visible, but none spoke. They retreated from the office in silent obedience.

  “Sit.”

  Ajeer also obeyed.

  “We mortals are limited creatures. This I know you know. We can only know the spirit because the spirit reveals itself to us. We cannot force the spirit to do anything. We cannot discern anything of the spirit, except that which it chooses to let us understand.”