Reclamation

Ere whistled quizzically, but Kiv shook her neck. Ri and Sha wrapped their arms around her, dragging her with them in a complex knot. Dene and Ka bounded along behind them and made a great show of shutting the door.

Kiv wrinkled his snout and turned his attention back to his partner. Carefully, Kiv told how he had suggested that Perivar might come work for the Shessel, leaving out Gov's origin and his smell.

"What do you say, my partner? There's good money to be had from the Shessel."

For a moment the tension in Perivar eased. "That sounds good, Kiv. Let the Vitae and the Unifiers and the Diet fight this out on their own." He picked the chair up and set it back on its wheels. "But I can't just leave Eric…" He leaned heavily on the chair back. "I don't owe him anything, but I do," he said to the floor. "He could have used me a thousand times over, but he didn't. We agreed to keep quiet and we did until the Vitae decided they could start playing games." Perivar looked at Kiv from under his fringe of disheveled hair. "I've got to at least find out if there's something I can do. It's my responsibility. The U-Kenai's coming into port and I've got to meet it. Can you open the channel yourself?"

Kiv extended his arms all the way. "I can. Then I think you had better meet us at the Embassy." Uneasiness crept over him. "Humans do war over ground, don't they?"

"Frequently," muttered Perivar. "I was caught in one of those wars back home."

"Is it possible the Vitae are readying for war?"

"It's possible," he said. "I've never heard of them doing it, but I've never heard of them acting like this, either."

And I may have just denied them what they want, Kiv glanced back at his children. Yes. We need to get to the Embassy. All of us.

Perivar hit the CALL key for a bus and slid into his outdoor jacket. "Just let them know I'm coming. I'll be as quick as I can, but a lot depends on what this Adu's got to say."

Perivar left and Kiv closed the membrane housing.

"Ererishakadene," he called as he ambled into the living rooms. The children swarmed out of their sleeping holes and twined around and over him. "We've got to get ready for a trip to the Embassy. We may be staying for several days. So we have to pack what we'll need. Ereri, unhook the capsules. Shakadene, come show me what you'll want to take."

And after that, I'll need to get a download of…

The lights went out.

"Father Kiv?" called Ere. Sha, then Dene echoed her. "Father Kiv?"

Kiv dropped his secondary hands to hold the two of them. "Hold still, now. It's a power failure. I'll set it right." He whistled calmly, but his skin felt dry and loose from reasonless fear.

With all four hands feeling his way along the walls, Kiv stepped into the workroom and tried to remember where the emergency power switches were.

The membrane housing slid back. White light dazzled his eyes. His open eyes recoiled and his closed set pushed forward. Kiv made out two human silhouettes illuminated by the bare light from the hall. One of them raised a box and there was a hiss. Kiv felt all his eyes try to retract.

The membrane began to shrivel.

Kiv lunged toward the doorway and slammed the housing closed. He hit the emergency seal. Nothing happened. The power was gone and there was no light and already he could feel the burn in his veins as too much oxygen shoved through his pores. The housing slid back. The light fell across him. A round Vitae and a tall Vitae stepped across the empty threshold.

Dene whimpered. Ka and Sha twined around his ankles. Kiv snatched them into his arms. They were too light. The air burned his skin, too hot and too cold at the same time. His children shuddered.

"Murderers!" Kiv backed away from the pair, who stood there like statues, doing nothing but blocking the housing. He forced himself to think. Get the children to the capsules. Now! Move! Move! Move…

His terminal legs gave out. His children bleated and wailed his name and the burning cold air pressed against his ears and his whole skin and bore him to the ground.

"Ererish…" And he couldn't remember the rest of what he wanted to say.