“I…” I thought about it. Did I trust so random plant I’d just t? I didn’t know him. On the other hand, he’d taken Tikki’s side.
Tikki’s eyes widened. “Of course you can co with us. You helped . It’s the least we can do.”
Thinking about it, I knew that we had at least three jumps before we got to the their colony. Maybe he’d be willing to get off earlier?
“Just to warn you,” I said, “we’re non-Xiniti mbers of the Xiniti nation, and we’re escorting her people to a place I’m not even allowed to na that’s out in the middle of nowhere. So you may not want to go the whole way and you’ll want to keep it quiet.”
The plant made a humming noise that the implant translated as a grunt. “That’s sothing to rember. The Xiniti have a hell of a reputation and I don’t want to be on their bad side, but I’m still coming with you. A business deal went bad and my custor put up a bounty. I’ve got no chance to survive here. Sowhere else? Maybe.”
Tikki frowned. “He won’t get you in trouble, will he?”
I said, “I hope not.”
Marcus shook his head. “I doubt it. The way I understand it, we can get things done however we want as long as we get them done.”
Tikki sighed. “Good,” and then she smiled at the plant. “I know everyone else’s na, but not yours. “What should I call you?”
The plant’s branches rustled, giving a fleeting impression of the sound of wind. “My na is Crawls-Through-Desert.”
She cocked her head. “That’s… an interesting na for a plant.”
It’s branches humd again. “It ans that I go places where no plant should go. Knowing where I am right now, I can’t say my people nad wrong. By the way, what’s your ship’s berth? I should have my things delivered.”
I thought about that for a second. “We don’t have any cargo space, so I hope you don’t have that much stuff.”
The plant’s branches rustled again. “Don’t worry about it.”
About that ti, the train glided to a stop in front of us. After it disgorged its passengers, we stepped inside and found seats.
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As we were settled into our seats, Crawls-Through-Desert stuck its pot to the wall with so kind of adhesive. I missed exactly where it ca from.
Tikki looked between Marcus and . “How do humans join the Xiniti? I thought they hated us.”
Marcus shrugged. “I’m just here with my cousin.”
“They don’t hate us,” I said, keeping my voice low. “From what I’ve seen, I think they might like us a little. Anyway, it’s a simple thing. We killed a Xiniti outlaw and they made us citizens.”
“Damn,” Crawls-Through-Desert said, angling his leaves in my direction, “you’re very dangerous or very lucky.”
Tikki shook her head. “They’re strange. I don’t think any of us in the Human Ascendency ever have understood what they wanted. They destroyed the Masters, but they never destroyed us—and they could have. They’ve destroyed whole star systems when our people attacked them and when one group found ancient technology…”
She lapsed into silence, leaning back into her seat.
“So what’s your power?” Marcus asked. “It looked like you were controlling ti.”
She pursed her lips. “I think that’s what it is. We have active powers, but the Abominators viewed my gene line as a failure because we can only use our abilities a few tis a day. The only reason they didn’t destroy us is because they get speedsters when they breed us with the right lines.”
Marcus asked her sothing else, but Jaclyn called my implant. I answered the call.
Jaclyn’s voice appeared in my head. “How are things going? Are you going to be back soon?”
“About thirty minutes. We’ve got Tikki.”
“Thank God,” she said. “The colonists aren’t waiting. They’re still freaking out about being chased and they want to go the mont we’re ready. So don’t drop Tikki off with them. She’ll ride with us. Anything else I should know?”
I didn’t want to tell her, but I had to. “We’re bringing along a plant.”
“You bought a plant?” I could hear disbelief in her voice.
“No, Tikki got attacked by so hrrnna. A sentient plant helped defend her, and when it asked to hitch a ride, she said ‘yes’.”
Jaclyn’s voice rose. “Why didn’t you say ‘no’?”
“It’s in trouble. People want to kill it here, and she’d already said it could. I’m thinking we’ve got a couple stops before we get to the colony. We’ll drop it off at one of them. My implant says they’ve got decent populations and a lot of through traffic at their gates. He should be fine. Better, we’ll be using gates, so he won’t see our drive or anything else he shouldn’t.”
“If you’re sure,” Jaclyn said, “but this better not blow up in our faces.”
Half an hour later, we were on the ship. Crawls-Through-Desert’s cargo had been delivered. It was the size of a large refrigerator. Jaclyn shook her head as I stared at it, but there was nothing to be done. We all strapped in and I floated the ship out of of our berth and the landing bay.
Soon we could see stars again as we got into line with the colonists’ ship, a long oval shaped ship with stubby wings. None of the other ships registered to use the gate were obviously from the Human Ascendancy’s Genetic Managent Office. We went through the gate with the colonists’ ship following us. The world outside turned white and our ships flew toward Alliance space.
We didn’t arrive there alone.
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