Ivan Cat - The Burning Heart of Night

Tlalok was oblivious to the humans' state of undress. His muzzle curled into an expression of dislike.

"All of them, as far as Tlalok knows." His colors became hopeful. "Shall Tlalok kill them for Jenette?"

"No, no," Jenette said quickly.

"Tlalok would not be inconvenienced."

"I must talk to them," Jenette insisted in a friendly manner.

Tlalok was clearly disappointed. He turned his attention to Karr. "The human Karr owes Tlalok a sacrifice."

Karr felt as though the newly formed ground had been pulled out from under him. At long last he had found a place to belong. It wasn't perfect, with the death of his ship always nagging somewhere in a corner of his mind, but it was as good as it had ever been. And now this.

"Tlalok will collect now," the alien said. "Not for the original reasons. For new reasons. Tlalok has seen that he was wrong about some things. Wrong about the False Radiance. Wrong about humans. The Balance has righted itself, as wise Kthulah once told a savage it would. Humans and Khafra can exist in harmony. And it is good. Tlalok must quell his instincts to fight. Tlalok must not lead the Pack of Gnosis back into imBalance. The new harmony must endure. But... Tlalok hears whispers. Other humans are saying that the 'fugue' from the 'fugueship-spawn' will wear off. And when it does old human needs will be as strong as before. Is this true?"

"It is true," Karr admitted.

"It must not be," Tlalok said firmly. "There must be another source of fugue for humans!"

Tlalok was talking about Long Reach, Karr realized. He felt sick to his stomach at where he saw

Tlalok's reasoning headed. "The Burning Heart of Night must die. It wants to die. It deserves to die. Even your Prophecy says it must."

"Let the Prophecy be cursed!" Tlalok swore. "Tlalok will make new Prophecy."

The Judges looked on calmly. Fortunately for them, they would never be able to hear, let along understand, human language. Karr hung his head.

"Can the Pilot Karr not extend the Burning Heart's life?" Tlalok demanded.

"Maybe," Karr answered truthfully.

"Then maybe will have to be enough," Tlalok decided. "This is the sacrifice Tlalok demands."

"When?" Karr asked simply.

"Now," said Tlalok.

Karr turned to Jenette. It was doubly awful. He must now go against the wishes of his beloved ship and keep it alive long after its natural time to die was passed. And he was losing Jenette. He would return to his ship, to fuguetime. Days would pass, perhaps even months; he did, after all, know his Pilot skills very well. He might be able to keep Long Reach alive and in torment for a very long time. When he came out again, Jenette would be gone.

"You will be keeping us all alive while our scientists search for a cure," Jenette said, equally aware of what was about to happen, and just as sad.

Karr took her hands and clasped them in his own.

"Come with me," he asked. "You will go to sleep, and dream pleasant dreams, and wake up and it will be like no time has passed. We can continue our lives just like nothing happened...."

One look at Jenette's ice-blue, watering eyes was enough for Karr to see that such a fantasy could not be.

Jenette was a prisoner of her duty as much as Karr was a prisoner of his, and she knew it.

No matter how hard she had fought it, it had found her. Just like her father always said it would. His dying words were a trap that had snapped tightly about her. She must do what she thought was right, always. She must make the hard decisions. And she must be responsible for every single human on the planet she must guide, cajole, manipulate, threaten, and punish ? but never abandon.

Jenette had not promised her father that she would abide by those principals, but now she found that it did not matter. He had ingrained them into her by example. She could not now abandon those traitor humans back on the Enclave, no matter how repugnant their behavior had been, no matter how much she wanted to go with Karr? and she wanted to go with Karr very, very much. No, she had to find a way to bring those errant humans back into the fold, to drag them kicking and screaming into the new harmony forged between humans and Ferals.

She was, after all, a Tesla.

"I cannot," she said to Karr.

Karr kissed her and left with Tlalok. The Judges lingered, sensing the grief of their new human friend.

Consulting their tallies, they sighed, Choices seldom

Become easier

Only more

Inevitable.

Arrou sat in the middle of the field, tearing up grass.

He was free.

The fugue in the exploding fugueship-spawn had given freedom to all domestics, and all Ferals too. It was the time when all bonds are broken, all Pacts made anew. Most Ferals were now re-bonding with their bondmates, reaffirming old attachments with new vigor. But Arrou did not know what to do.

He was concerned about his friend Jenette. He still cared about her. That would never change. But he did not have to go and find her right now. It was enough for him to have heard from Liberty that Jenette was all right. He would, of course, go and see Jenette soon. But first he must sort through his confusion.

Arrou had never wanted to be free.

In his estimation, everyone served something, it was just a matter of what. The trick was to find the right thing to serve. He had been lucky before; that choice had been made for him. So why fight to be free from that which he would have chosen anyway? But now he must choose for himself. What would he do? Probably, he would help Jenette, he decided. There was still much to be done to make things right. Probably she would still want his help. It would just be in a slightly different way from how he had helped her before. That made him feel a bit better. If it did not completely fill the strange void that his new freedom left in his heart, then, well... maybe he just needed to be patient.

Arrou kept pulling grass, pawful by pawful, slowly turning on his haunches to reach more stalks.

A female feral appeared prowling across the field. It was Kitrika. She padded closer and observed Arrou's activity. Arrou had denuded all plant growth an arm's length from himself in every direction.

Arrou has made a circle of nothing, Kitrika flashed.

Yes, sorry.

Do not be sorry. It is a blessing. What does Arrou bless?

Arrou thought he had no answer, but one popped into his head and he said it, Bigelow. Arrou blesses his brave friend Bigelow. The scientist's death had troubled Arrou much lately. He told Kitrika how he had spared in-robert's life and what the inhuman had done to Bigelow.

Then it is appropriate for Arrou to bless his friend for being so brave. And to forgive himself for making the wrong choice for all the right reasons.

Arrou sighed. Too bad the circle will not last long. New Ascension plant growth would fill the raw ghutzu ring in no time once Arrou stopped plucking it. Green shoots were already squirming into the brown circle.

Kitrika sparkled sympathetically. Silly. That is the idea: a purification, clearing away the old to make way for the new. Watch.

Kitrika moved a few paces from Arrou. Raking her powerful rear talons across the ground, and

spinning on her forepaws, she rapidly cleared a large circle of nothing.

That's how Kitrika and Kitrika's friends make circles of nothing when they are kits.

Oooh, that good, Arrou said. Fast. What Kitrika blesses?

Hapfelumps.

Hapfelumps?

Yes, Kitrika flashed mirthfully, for tasting so good.

"Urrr?"

In short order, Kitrika made circles of nothing for sunny days, pushing friends into cold sinkhole bogs when they aren't expecting it's and sleeping late. Eventually Arrou's mood lightened, he laughed and, using Kitrika's faster technique, made nothing circles for being high-up, telling embarrassing secrets about people you don't like, and especially for going fast.