The High Country, page 9
When she did speak, he heard it again. He covered his mouth.
It can’t be.
“Really fine Jubilee, folks,” she said. “We’ll have another one in a few weeks, as the moons go. But first, I’d like you all to share a moment with a brother of ours.” She gestured. “Come on up, Joe.”
Joe Magee rose from where he was seated with Jennie and hobbled toward the warden. He had a new piece of wood for a prosthetic leg. He looked terrified to be the focus of attention, but the woman tried to put him at ease. She placed her hand on his shoulder.
“Now, we all know Joe—and his daughter, Jennie—and many of you knew his wife.” She looked to him. “I’m real sorry not to have met her. Everyone speaks highly of her.”
Joe shrank a bit.
The warden looked to the crowd. “Now, I guess you all know Joe likes to fiddle with gadgets—and you know what it’s cost him.”
Pike knew. But his eyes were on the warden. That face—and that voice.
It can’t be. It can’t be.
“You may have heard what happened at the mill last night,” she said. “I’ve been in back talking with Joe all morning about it. I’ve told him, the Sorry doesn’t care how good a person you are or your family or what your intentions are. The Sorry is Epheska protecting itself. It was here before we got here, Joe—and with your help, none of us will ever have to see it.” She looked down at the slouching miller. “Will you help us, Joe?”
He let out an exasperated sigh. “I guess,” he muttered.
“That’s all right.” The warden looked up. “And I’d like the rest of you to help too. Help show Joe the way. Can you do that?”
Loud approval from the crowd—but not Pike. He said under his breath: “It can’t be.”
Not noticing him, the warden guided Joe back to Jennie’s care. “I want to thank you all for that—and for making a newcomer like me feel at home. If you have any questions about anything, just ask.” She tipped her hat and smiled—a smile that Pike knew. “Lila Talley will be sure to help you.”
The others rose from their positions, moving to greet the new warden, and to pledge their willingness to aid Joe and Jennie in the aftermath of the fire. Pike could only see her intermittently through all the bodies—but now he knew. “It’s her.”
Mochi, rising, looked back to him. “I thought I heard you say something. Do you know Warden Talley?”
“You could say that. She taught me how to ride a horse.”
CHAPTER 16 THE REUNION
Lila Talley loved a Jubilee as much as anyone. She’d even gotten to where she could tolerate public speaking, something she’d never figured on. It helped that she believed what she was saying. But she had no love for crowds of any kind, and where Seb Garr thrived on glad-handing, she couldn’t wait to get outside after her speech—and back home to the flock.
She thought she’d made a clean break until she heard someone calling out after her by Wright’s Run.
Nope, she thought. I’m out for the day. She prodded her horse into a gallop. Garr and his lookouts could handle any problem, she knew; they’d been doing it since long before she arrived. And nobody could catch Buckshot once he let loose. The stallion raced over the bridge and made for the opposite hillside.
Whoever it was, he was still yelling. “Lila! It’s Christopher!”
She slowed Buckshot to a trot just before the crest. She knew several Christophers in Havenbrook; it was a good, solid name from the First Days. But this one belonged to someone she hadn’t seen in half a lifetime or more.
She said it just as he yelled it: “Christopher Pike!”
Without thinking, Lila wheeled and turned. She raced back down the hill. The man on the far side sped toward her on a black horse. Lila didn’t go to the bridge crossing this time. She drove Buckshot straight into the creek, spraying water everywhere. Pike met her halfway.
The two horses stomped past each other. Both riders pulled up and dismounted into the shin-deep water. Lila threw her arms around him. “What are you doing here?”
“What are you doing here?” Standing in water to his knees, he beamed as he looked down at her.
During the time she’d known him, Christopher Pike had grown from a gangly kid to a strapping teen; this man was old enough to be the father of either of those boys. But the smile she knew was there. She embraced him again. “I can’t believe this!”
“You and me both.”
She caught her breath and found Buckshot’s reins. They led their horses onto the land—and with a million questions to choose from, she could think of no better topic as they walked than the one that had brought them together, years earlier. “This is your horse?”
“Shadow. He belongs to the Magees,” Pike said. “I guess you could say I’m staying with them.”
Still dazed, Lila connected the dots. “You’re the mysterious brother-in-law?”
He chuckled. “No, that’s something Joe told Garr.”
She started to ask why Joe would say that, but then she remembered the miller’s inebriated condition when he was brought to her attention. He might well have said anything. “But you are staying with them.”
“Yeah, I woke up at their place yesterday. When I arrived here, whatever happened must have knocked me cold. Joe found me.”
The implications of his presence dawned on her, and she looked about. “You didn’t bring all of Starfleet with you?”
“Here, it’s just me. There was an accident.”
Lila remembered the light she’d seen while leaving the Magee place the day before. She described what she’d seen, adding that it had been very high above.
“That was probably our shuttle,” Pike said. “We were transported off—at least, I hope we all were.”
“ ‘We’?”
“I have three other crewmembers to find. If I’m here, they might be too.”
Lila listened as he described his three companions. Pike looked at her. “Would you know if anyone else had seen them?”
“Haven’t heard a thing.”
“Nobody said anything over that communication system back there?”
She didn’t know what he meant for a second. “What, you mean the rondure? No.”
She stopped walking and smiled at him. “I just can’t believe we’re here, having a conversation.”
He paused as well. “A long time since the Bar T Ranch.” He lowered his voice. “I heard your parents passed some years ago. I’m sorry.”
She nodded. “Thanks. They liked you.”
And they had, for a while.
It had been a long time since she and Pike had conversed on anything. He’d gotten his own stable and had stopped coming to ride—and then had started hanging out with a different crowd. The way of teenagers.
After that, he had set his sights on Starfleet Academy. If ever there was a path leading away from the Talleys and the simple life they favored, that was it. Her father, James, had hated the notion.
“Someone told me you made captain,” she said. “But that was the last I heard.”
“I did. Enterprise,” he added. “Pure exploration vessel.”
“That’s a relief.” She lowered her voice. “I was afraid you were in…”
“What, the Klingon War? We missed it, in fact—we were trapped somewhere else.” He looked about. “And now I guess I’m trapped here.”
Lila nodded. Yes, you would be. “It’s called the Baffle. Nothing technological works.”
“You’ve found that out?”
“I had to get here somehow.”
He shook his head. “I’m sorry—I’m still shocked you’re here. Your dad, rest his soul, would have moved heaven to keep you on the Earth.”
“Nice way to put it.” They began to walk their horses again, and she explained. “I’m here because of how I was raised, because of what I knew how to do. I was brought in to help an anthropological expedition.”
“Don’t tell me. The Braidwood.”
Lila gawked. “You know it?” She looked down and put two and two together. She slapped her forehead. “Don’t tell me you’re here to find us!”
“That’s what we do—sometimes.” Pike regarded her. “I can see it was a landing you could walk away from. Are your crewmates here?”
“On Epheska? Sure. But not nearby.” She added, “I kind of went my own way.”
“That sounds like you. Still, I can’t believe you signed on.”
She had an explanation. “It’s funny you mentioned Enterprise. You know I was always in love with the story of the people of North Star, right?”
“We both were. I remember when Taliyah visited.”
“Do you know why she called on us in the first place? She found she had a human ancestor who descended from the abducted settlers. Last name Talley.”
He laughed. “She’s a cousin?”
“Far removed, but yeah. That was the only time Dad ever let any of us have our DNA tested!” Lila’s smile faded, and she looked to the side. “I talked to her again over the years. She was dead set on finding out where the Skagarans had come from—what they had originally intended.” She glanced at him. “You were at the Jubilee?”
“I saw it. The whole story.”
“What’d you think?”
“Quite a production.” He scratched his head. “There were parts that don’t add up.”
“How do you mean?”
“Miss Bethany—the schoolteacher Archer met—said the Skagarans who took people from Earth did so because they wanted them as slaves, to work a colony they were founding. Hoshi Sato’s log translations from the Skagaran wreck said the same thing.”
“I know that, Christopher. I’ve read those records—thanks to Taliyah, I could read Skagaran before I ever came here. I’m not sure anyone ever had the whole picture.”
She turned and gestured back down the hill they were climbing. There were fishermen much farther up the creek, and back at the bridge a family was crossing in a wagon.
“Tell me, do these people look like anyone’s slaves?”
“I don’t guess they do.”
“There’s nuance neither Bethany nor Hoshi caught,” she said, approaching the top of the hill. “You probably heard the ship’s directive was to deliver the humans to a place where they would be ‘bound to work the soil.’ ”
“I remember that.”
“It actually said they would be ‘bound to the soil they worked.’ Very different!” Atop the hill, she showed him the valley—and the beautiful patchwork of farms populating it. “People here are bound to the soil, Christopher. Everyone on Epheska feels that way. The planet owns us.”
“But the humans were enslaved. The sheriff that Archer met—”
“MacReady.”
“—MacReady told him that the humans were in bondage until they revolted.”
“I looked into that,” Lila said. “And I asked the Skagarans here about it. They don’t really know, but they suspect their rescue party went off the ranch.”
Pike’s brow furrowed. “Somebody wanted to set up their own colony?”
“Maybe. They didn’t come back here, at any rate. The Delphic Expanse existed then—you know it was nobody’s idea of a place to settle. It was a place for a bad actor to hide.”
“And get stuck.” He nodded. “Interesting. So North Star was a mutiny before it was a revolt.”
“You’re sharp, Christopher. You always were.” She stopped walking and put her hands on her hips. “Why would anyone with the ability to cross light-years and transport an entire settlement need to bother with manual labor?” She snorted derisively. “Aliens didn’t build the pyramids and the Skagarans didn’t take slaves. Why else have we never found the species—or any other colonies?”
He seemed to take it all in. “I’ve always wondered that.”
“Taliyah wondered too. She’d been looking into it herself. Remember, after the humans revolted, the Skagarans weren’t allowed to educate themselves. Theirs was an oral history. That, and a judgment call made by Hoshi—a talented translator who had never seen the language before—is what got you the story you knew.”
Pike nodded. “Drayko’s version does make sense.”
“I’ve been here nearly a year in your reckoning, Christopher. They’re in earnest. Nobody is a victim.” She gestured behind her, in the direction of town. “The worst trouble anybody ever gets in is what you saw with Joe Magee. Nobody put him on a rack. We just talked—and downed a lot of what they call coffee around here.” She sighed. “They use tree bark. By far, it’s the worst thing about the place.”
“I had some.”
“Then you know. I give ’em credit for trying.”
Pike raised another matter. “What about the floating fire? Garr called it the Sorry.”
“That’s what the Skagarans call it—sah’ree, the traveling flame. I don’t know what it is. Nobody does. But we know what it doesn’t like, and we don’t have any problem with that.” She looked at him. “Joe said you were with him when it struck. Do you know what it is?”
“I don’t know—but I’ve been around. Intelligent planets that try to keep people from leaving is not the craziest idea. It might even have something to do with—what did you call it? The Baffle.”
“You’re reaching, there.”
“Yeah, it’s one reason I depend on my science officer. He’s better with theories.”
Lila saw Pike’s expression change when he thought of his crewmate.
“I do need to find my people and leave,” he said. “Would the Skagarans help? I ought to be able to approach them now with the whole story, given the Prime Directive.”
“What’s that?”
“Starfleet used to call it General Order One. It’s our noninterference doctrine. I should be able to tell them where I’m from, since I know they are warp capable.”
“Were. They’re done with all that—including bringing anyone new to the planet. That phase of the project ended long ago.”
“Why is that?”
“Dunno. You’d have to ask them.”
“That’s what I’d like to do. They might know something that could help. They gave you a title, so I assume they’re okay with offworld visitors.”
She crinkled her nose. She knew about her own case but couldn’t say what the Skagarans would make of arrivals from Starfleet. She paused while she considered how to respond.
“The locals here will help you find your crew,” she finally said, “just like Joe taking you in when he found you. They’re good people. But the part about being from space—Christopher, it just doesn’t matter. The Skagarans can’t help you leave. Everyone here was from somewhere else, at some point—and they’re all here to stay. That includes them, and me—and now you. And your crew.”
Pike looked about. “Much as I like this place, I can’t let my responsibilities go. Or let my people down.”
She expected that. She was a warden all the time; she knew Starfleet’s officers had the same level of commitment. “Well, take a few days,” she said, climbing back aboard Buckshot. “It grew on me.” She nodded to the south. “My spread’s that way. Sheep and pigs, descended from the ones the humans here had in Dry River.”
“Dry River?”
“That’s the Earth town the humans of Havenbrook were originally from. Eastern Colorado, before the Civil War.”
“You’ve moved light-years to raise pigs from Colorado.”
“Some Epheska critters too. You should come check it out.”
Pike looked behind him. “I took off with one of the Magees’ horses. I really should get him back to them.” He climbed onto Shadow and stopped to stare at her. “It’s great to see you, Lila. You look good.”
“I look like I was up all night trying to talk sense to Joe Magee. Not the easiest thing to do!” She cracked a smile. “I’ll see you again, Christopher.”
Starting for home, she knew she’d told no lie. Neither of us is going anywhere.
CHAPTER 17 THE AMBUSH
While Christopher Pike loved old Westerns, he’d also sampled stories set in other times. He’d noticed something: even as technological progress improved the lives of fictional characters, it had made the jobs of the storytellers who created them more difficult.
Not the physical act of writing, of course. That had gotten easier. No, he thought more about the dilemmas that made drama. Hamlet didn’t need to see his father’s ghost; he needed to see his father’s toxicology report. Rick Blaine could have found Ilsa Lund’s marital status if only he’d had a computer to ask. And secret agent Lanie Sundergard could have simply transported into General Quarto’s headquarters, saving a whole lot of ammunition.
Comedy had particularly suffered. Missed connections were the mother’s milk of farce. How many story ideas had writers been forced to reject, simply because of the invention of the telegraph, portable telephone, and communicator?
It was thus inevitable that Pike’s unplanned foray into rustic life would confront him with obstacles that otherwise would never have troubled him. He had one of Joe’s horses but didn’t know how to get back to the farm. He knew the way back to Havenbrook, and how to reach the Magees’ place from there—but he had no idea where Joe and Jennie were. He figured he needed to reach them before night fell—and before they judged him for racing off right after the Jubilee. Pike had a responsibility to them, and he was riding it.
There’s nothing worse than a horse thief.
The ride back to town gave him time to think. He was still reeling over Lila’s presence. The Braidwood sponsors had never supplied Starfleet with a crew list, and Pike doubted he’d have thought his Lila Talley aboard.
He wasn’t sure how she remembered the end of their friendship. Looking back, he didn’t feel good about it. He’d started hanging out with Evan Hondo, a future Starfleet washout who’d introduced him to a souped-up hovercraft: high speeds for high spirits. The simple pleasures of the ranch had faded in his teenage mind before the thrills technology could offer, and his rides with Lila had grown less frequent. Her family didn’t want her hot-rodding around and she thought his new friend childish. She felt the same way about his growing interest in Starfleet.
