The Power of Gnaris Read Free Page B

must
be caught.”
    “These things
will be done, oh Great One.”
    * * * * *
    Forster sifted
through his notes, trying to piece together all the facts he had
been able to establish from evidence of the day of the Arion
murders. He had seen this scenario many times before in the human
worlds that he had visited and worked in over the past three
hundred years, but this was the first time he had worked with the
Karavec. The scene of the crime and its enactment were familiar,
but the players in the crime, both perpetrator and victims, were
not.
    Several
thoughts passed through his mind. Why would a Karavec betray his
own people? Why did he use such a crude weapon? How did he gain
access to the Embrycultural Centre? How did he exit again, leaving
just one clue and leaving the centre locked to appear from the
outside as if nothing had happened? Most significantly, how had he
travelled to Hikon? Could there be another murderer on the main
planet? Unlikely. The killer must have found transport to Hikon . .
.
    . . . The
ferry ship. He must have travelled on the ferry ship. I must warn
Barrow. The ferry ship must not be allowed to carry passengers when
it leaves Hikon. No one should be allowed to leave the planet
except the crew.
    He moved
towards the door, intending to summon a servant to take a message
to the Great Savant, but took a pace back when there was an
unexpected knock on the door. He leaned forward and peered through
the peephole. He recognised the female Karavec, Elena, who had been
assigned as his assistant. He opened the door.
    “How can I
help you?” he asked.
    “I just wanted
to find out whether you have got any ideas about the murders
yet.”
    “Not yet, but
please come in. I could do with some company.”
    Forster
reached for the light dimmer to reduce the light in the room.
    “That’s
enough,” Elena said when he had partially dimmed the lights. “My
eyes became accustomed to the light when I lived on Earth. My
retinas are less sensitive to bright light than the average
Karavec.”
    “Can I take
your coat?”
    Elena removed
her coat to reveal a slim curvaceous figure, exacerbated by a
tight-fitting jumpsuit. She handed the coat to Forster.
    “Would you
care for some refreshment?”
    “No, thank
you. The Karavec only eat when food is genuinely required, and
that’s not often.”
    “Sit down,
please.” Forster motioned for his guest to be seated in an armchair
next to his own.
    “Thank you,
Captain.”
    “Please, call
me Jim.”
    Elena flushed,
and her face turned a deeper shade of green.”
    “We are
working together, so perhaps we should be more formal.” she
said.
    Forster bowed
his head. “As you wish. There are lots of questions I would like to
ask you, many things I need to know that might help me to better
understand what’s going on here. First of all, can you tell me why,
when I first set foot on this planet, I was not immediately frozen
to death? We are on a sunless world at the extreme of the Ogien
solar system. Your sun is barely visible, let alone a source of
light and heat needed to sustain life. When I stepped down from my
ship, I was cold, but not as cold as I had expected. This planet is
very different from any other I have ever encountered.”
    “The answer is
simple. We do not need light, but heat is necessary for our
survival. We have learned to enhance the heat stored at the core of
the planet.”
    “But how do
you grow food without light?”
    “All our
plants and animals are cultivated in cradles, similar to the embryo
cradles you saw in the Embrycultural Centre. These need heat, but
very little light. As for ourselves, we only use light when our
other senses elude us, and that is not often.”
    “Tell me more
about yourself, and your people.”
    Elena
hesitated before answering. “Karavec do not live in families. We do
not even know who our parents are. But the man who raised me when I
left the Embryological Centre on board the Endeavour was one of its
captains. He is