Anne McCaffrey - Decision at Doona

Reeve, shooting as he moved forward, emptied the rifle into the mda in a wild fit of relief, anger and fear.

Hrrula and he stood looking down at the twitching corpse, the one with spear poised, the other with a smoking rifle.

“I heard the beast coughing and knew he had something trapped,” Hrrula said. “It filled me with concern to see it was Zodd.”

Reeve, trembling with reaction, nodded weakly.

“It was a deed of great bravery,” he managed to say, a tremor in his voice he couldn't control, “for certainly your life is worth more than that of a child.”

Reeve was amazed at the savagery in his tone when he spoke of Todd. Hrrula looked at him with an expression akin to dismay.

“Is it not true in your world that a leader is known early by even his childish actions?”

“Leader? Todd? No! Troublemaker, yes!”

Hrrula smiled, leaning against the spear he had grounded.

“The father of my mother's mate, Hrral, and Hrrestan, spoke most highly of your youngest.”

Reeve snorted, annoyed that these natives could see something in his child that he did not.

A thin cry of “Daddy,” uncertain and frightened, came from the direction of the river. As one, the two moved off to rescue the child of whom the Hrrabans thought so highly.

BY THE TIME Ken and Hrrula had found a log and thrust it out across the supporting boulders to Todd, Hrrestan and other catmen had joined them, roused by the cries of the mda and the shots.

White-faced, Todd scrambled across the log, his rope tail dangling into the river. Reeve gripped the small shoulders tightly and gave the child a fierce shake, the urge to beat him soundly postponed by the presence of an audience.

“You're lucky you weren't killed, you little fool,” Reeve said between clenched teeth.

“I was all right out there,” Todd replied stoutly. “But I got scareded that Hrrula'd get killed. He only had a spear.”

"If he had been killed, young man," and Reeve broke off significantly, shaking Todd. "Can you understand what would happen?" Can you?"

“We'd have to leave Doona?” Todd cried, tears unexpectedly starting down his cheeks.

“We'd have to leave,” Reeve reaffirmed, expressionlessly. How could he explain to a six-year-old the colonists' dilemma.

“I only wanted to see Hrriss,” Todd cried with plaintive snuffling.

God give me patience, thought Reeve, he is only a child!

Todd sneezed, looking cold and small with the tall men of both races towering over him. Reeve's mood switched from frustrated resentment to concern.

“The child is cold and must be warmed. Come now to our fire and eat with us,” Hrrestan offered them graciously.

Todd planted himself squarely in front of Hrrula, looking up at the young Hrruban, tugging at his hand for attention.

“Hrrula, please forgive me for nearly getting you killed. Don't make us leave Doona,” he said earnestly although his teeth were chattering.

Hrrula hunkered down to Todd's eye level, one hand under the boy's chin. “First, promise never to walk in the woods alone again,” he demanded.

“I promise, oh, I promise,” Todd agreed fervently, his eyes wide and solemn.

“Good,” purred Hrrula, releasing the square little chin and standing up.

When they had started off toward the village, Todd wrapped in his jacket and cradled in his arms, Reeve realized that the Hrruban had made his demand to the child in good Terran. Before he could pursue this, the women had rushed out with much purring and hissing over Todd.

Reeve was glad enough to sit in front of a warm fire and let its warmth ease the tension in his body. He didn't protest the delay when the women insisted that Todd be given a warm bath and be dressed in a furry robe. He enjoyed the thick soupy beverage that was served him, delighting in its aromatic vapor and the feeling of well-being it spread through his system.

Then there was the matter of skinning and gutting the mda. Ken tried to mask the revulsion he felt during the process, particularly since the business was done under Todd's fascinated eyes. At first pleased that the boy did not disgrace them by becoming ill, Reeve turned mildly surprised at Todd's detachment as the carcass of his former hunter was butchered and hung.

Todd grinned at Hrriss with pleasure when Hrrula told him, in Hrruban now, that the skin would be cured for Todd's use.

At least, Ken thought grimly, the skin would provide enough credit to soundproof a room for Todd back on Earth.

Hrrula then cut thick steaks from the flank, rolling them up in the wide leaves of a river plant for Reeve to bring home.

Reluctant to leave this pleasant scene, Reeve was finally roused by the unmistakable roar of a blast-off. He grinned to himself in sudden relief and self-awareness; by God, he'd been procrastinating in an unconscious desire not to be jerked away from Doona a moment sooner than necessary. And now that Hu Shih hadn't been able to persuade Kiachif to remain until the Codep reply arrived, they had another reprieve.

“Todd, we've got to get home. That was Kiachif's ship leaving.”

Todd nodded solemnly but clung to Hrriss's tail. As if looking for a cue, Hrriss turned to Hrrestan. The Hrruban growled a brief spate of sound at the cub, who hung his head sadly. Gently but firmly he uncurled Todd's fingers from his tail and put the hand down at Todd's side. He flipped his tail straight out behind him.

“Tomorrow?” asked Todd with plaintive resignation.

Hrriss's eyes flicked back to his father, saw the assent and his jaw dropped in a smile. Todd's face lit up beatifically and he moved to his father's side.

“I have promised the big one (the Hrruban description of Ben) to help with the hrrsses,” Hrrula said to Reeve as he accompanied them out of the village after the farewells required by Hrruban etiquette.

Reeve grinned back at the Hrruban, amused by the catman's obsession with horses. Since they'd probably have to leave the beasts here, they'd be well cared-for. Maybe, even – Ken cut off that half-formed thought. He set a pace easy enough for Todd to follow and the three moved along in a companionable silence.

The moment they reached Saddle Ridge, Reeve sensed something else must have happened down at the colony. There was no activity in the clearing by the river or among the houses. He held up his binoculars and, training them on the Common, brought into focus the colonists sitting in small groups at the tables, obviously waiting.

He tried to tell himself that perhaps Hu Shih had ordered a day of rest for everyone to recuperate from yesterday's feverish unloading and last night's festivities. But these people weren't laughing or enjoying themselves. They were waiting anxiously.

“The sky ship has left,” Hrrula said at Ken's shoulder.

“Yes, thank God,” Reeve sighed, lowering his glasses. But, he told himself, it is only a reprieve by any stretch of the imagination, won by a conniving captain. But Ken was grateful.

If the message capsule had arrived before the ship had left . . .

Reeve swung around to look back at the hills. Christ, he and his could live comfortably in those hills. Caves had been found. It'd be hard, dangerous, but anything was better than a return to the constrictions of over-crowded earth. Let those who liked that sort of semi-existence, regimented, regulated, restricted, have it. His eyes had had to learn to see distances. He could no longer entertain the thought of shortening his vision to the confines of the standard 10 x 12 room in an apartment warren or the straight, short horizon of a Corridor or Hall. He lengthened his stride, an unconscious revolt against a return to a planet where a free-swinging stride was a social insult.