Sabrina woke with a sense of anticipation, without quite knowing why. It took her a moment to remember; the medication the doctors had given her for her vivid, sleepwalk-inducing nightmares often produced disorientation on waking.
She had been on Allyria for more than a month now—nearly fifty days by Praxatillian time. They had come here to lose the effects of the Pharon crystal, and she and Tirqwin had immediately been hospitalized in the only modern settlement on the planet. Nllata had been isolated for observation; Scotty had put the Hand of Mara on course for the Allyrian sun and then left it in his EVA suit for pickup by the Wisdom's Heart, which had arrived to ascertain their conditions for both Homeworld and Praxatillus. He had briefly spoken to Haaron and Ambassador Olviron via the ship's com system, since it was judged dangerous for him or Sabrina to be in proximity to any Miahn, or even Praxatillian, right now.
Then Scotty had hung restlessly around, visiting his sister, harassing the doctors about Tirqwin's condition, and railing against the rule that he not visit Nllata. He had been hospitalized himself for a short while until the doctors found medication to suppress his nightmares; then he had been given a small house, and his hospital visits were restricted to twice a day. Sabrina had joined him there a week later, but her trips to the hospital were more frequent as she underwent therapy to help her regain normal use of her reconstructed right arm. She complained even more bitterly than her brother about not being able to visit Tirqwin, until the doctors finally allowed her to observe him from an adjoining room, separated by a thick plasticrete wall and sealed door.
The physical damage to his brain had been repaired, but there was extensive trauma that expressed itself in amnesia and what the doctors named "temporal dyslexia"—the inability to distinguish past, present, and future—all complicated by hallucinations and even worse versions of the Devons' nightmares. He was not the Tirqwin they had known. Mara and Khediva, who spoke to the Devons via interstellar link at least twice a day, reported their links active but blocked at his end, except for brief, distressing contacts as he slept.
But today, Sabrina remembered at last, was the day the doctors had reluctantly appointed to see if meeting the Devons could shake some of Tirqwin's memory and personality awake from whatever corner of his mind it hid itself in. He seemed a blank slate, and efforts to re-teach him even such simple tasks as feeding himself were slow and frustrating. He seemed to absorb nothing. Finally the doctors decided that the only hope was to revive his personality, to give him some motivation to learn.
Time was running out, Sabrina was aware, particularly when she spoke to Khediva. Still in spacedock at Homeworld, the Wayship was fully repaired, but if she and Tirqwin did not exercise their link soon she would lose her ability to navigate Ways. For once, Mara was the patient one, counseling the doctors not to rush his recovery against their better judgment. She arranged for Mukryilla to provide Scotty some study materials and a curriculum to bring his military education up to par with his service experience, with a promotion held out as lure if he should pass the examination at the end. And she occupied Sabrina by asking her advice on state matters, though, Sabrina noticed, Mara kept the ongoing negotiations with Homeworld strictly in her own hands.
As she dressed in the simple Allyrian robes, Sabrina heard the comconsole chime in the room she and Scotty had designated their living room. Scotty yelled out, "Get that, willya, Rina?" from the direction of the bathroom.
Raking a hand through her hair, Sabrina hurried to the comconsole. "Hello?"
There was a pause; Sabrina was by now expert at telling by the length of the delay whether the call was from Praxatillus, Lthos, or Homeworld. This was from Praxatillus, she knew before the picture stabilized and coalesced into Rassir's face.
"Prime Minister!" she exclaimed in surprise. "Is something wrong?"
"No," he said, after the agonizing few seconds' delay. "Do not be alarmed. I have good news for you, Lady Sabrina. As you know, Homeworld completed their analysis and confirmed the truth about the link."
"Yes, and they've been quibbling over the terms under which they'll accept Tirqwin's marriage and reinstate him," Sabrina said, trying to hide her impatience.
"No longer. The accord was finalized a few minutes ago." Rassir could not hide his jubilation. "I wanted you to be among the very first to know. Her Majesty is still occupied with Lady Chavadanafra, but I expect she will contact you herself later."
"Thank you," Sabrina said. She pressed her hands to her mouth, battling a ill-timed impulse to cry. "Thank you for thinking of me, Prime Minister. I'm...I can't tell you how overjoyed I am!"
"I thought you would be. This is your peace, Lady Sabrina. You should be proud."
"I can't take the credit," Sabrina said.
Rassir grinned at her, seeming much younger. "It doesn't matter; we will give it to you anyway. I must go, my lady, but please accept my wholehearted thanks for your role in this historic event. It is a greater achievement than even your father ever anticipated, I think, and wholly unprecedented in the history of the Miahn people." He paused and glanced off to one side, then smiled. "Commander Mukryilla wishes to break the news to your brother, if you have not already done so."
"I haven't," Sabrina said. "I'll get him." She turned away, stood quietly for a moment to compose herself, then yelled, "Scotty! The Commander's on the line! She needs to talk to you—now!"
Scotty came tearing down the hall, his hair wet and spikey, wearing only boxers and a towel around his neck. Sabrina bit her lip to keep from laughing as he pushed past her to the comconsole. "Yes, ma'am?" he said to Mukryilla.
Sabrina couldn't see Mukryilla's expression, but from the longer than necessary pause she gathered the Commander had to struggle for composure as well, as Scotty stood there, dripping and anxious. Mukryilla was as concise as ever, and the first sentence was barely out of her mouth when Scotty let out a whoop of triumph and thrust both fists in the air, then began to laugh. Sabrina went over to stand beside him, and he grabbed her up in a bear hug, then swung her around in a circle.
Sabrina laughed, "Scotty, put me down, you'll drop me!"
"Rina, we did it! We did it! The peace!" he cried, letting go of her.
"Mara did it," she reproved gently.
"We all did it!" Scotty retorted, grinning. "Aw, man, we did it! I can hardly believe it! Aw, man!"
Mukryilla said, "Believe it, Captain. The Prime Minister is already arranging the celebrations for your return home." She sobered a bit. "Is there any indication when that will be?"
Scotty shrugged, and Sabrina said, "The doctors say that when our nightmares subside, that'll mean the Pharon influence has faded."
"Well," Scotty said, "I'm only gettin' one or two a night now. And at least I don't get 'em in broad daylight anymore! That was the freaky part!"
Sabrina said, "We didn't expect the negotiations to be over so quickly. How did they ever agree so fast?"
Mukryilla said, "Homeworld knew what they wanted from us before they finished their analysis. The Queen knew what she wanted. They were not unreasonable terms. But Her Majesty will tell you more about the terms later, I am sure." She paused. "Homeworld has also finished their analysis of Malvarak's tampering with Khediva."
"Tell us," Sabrina urged.
"The conditioning was lodged in the part of a Wayship's brain that deals with what in a body are called involuntary functions—regulating heartbeat and so on. In a Wayship, certain functions are equivalent, including regular identification and location signals to Homeworld. The conditioning modified those so that, instead of sending signals to Homeworld, Khediva was sending them to Malvarak's ship. Since Khediva had blocked off this function when Homeworld cut communications with her, she did not notice. When Malvarak realized she was in Pharon space, he knew his chance had come."
"And has there been any attempt to recover him—his body?" Sabrina asked after a moment.
"No. Homeworld wants nothing more to do with Pharon space. Nor do we," Mukryilla said. "He can rot in orbit there for all anyone cares."
Sabrina looked down at her clasped hands. "He was once a kind and valiant man, Commander."
"I am sorry," Mukryilla replied. "For that man, we may grieve. But for what he became...he was a danger to the universe."
Scotty quickly changed the subject. "So, I guess we're gonna miss the big party, huh?"
"The Queen has not yet revealed the details of the signing," Mukryilla said, "but it will be a huge ceremony, I expect. She may even combine it in some way with her coronation. Though I know she wishes for that to wait until the Tirqwin can return." Mukryilla looked over her shoulder. "I must go now. I am sure the Queen will speak to you herself very soon. Congratulations on your achievement. It was well done, both of you."
"Thank you," they chorused as she signed off.
"Wow!" Scotty said. "I can't believe it. It's over. We did it!"
"Yes," Sabrina mused. "I wonder what Mara had to give up to bring them around."
"Well," her brother grinned, "at least this time she can't blame you for it!"
"Go get dressed," Sabrina said. "It's almost time for us to go see Tirqwin."
_______________
The visit was not a success. Tirqwin wore a vague, troubled frown, almost but not quite recognizing them. When they said their names, his expression lit; but in the next moment he had forgotten. It was heartbreaking, and Sabrina was in tears by the time they left.
Scotty was silent most of the walk home. Finally he said, "It's like his brain is short circuiting. Or like somebody's jamming it. He can't hold the connections."
"Could the Pharon Way have messed him up that badly? Khediva thought that since he was unconscious, nearly dead, it shouldn't have affected him so much."
"He was dead," Scotty said. "Remember? The doctors thought that's what the amnesia was at first, some kind of death trauma."
"They have to be wrong, Scotty; if he was dead, how did he come back like that? We didn't bring him back, that's for sure."
"I dunno." Scotty grimaced. "I wish they'd let us see Nllata. Maybe there was somethin' funny about that Way that did it to him."
Sabrina said, "The doctors are afraid if we get near her, some of the Pharon influence will affect us. Our nightmares and hallucinations could come back as bad as before."
"It's not affecting Nllata that way," Scotty pointed out. "The docs told me she was fine, just bored and depressed." He sighed. "If we could find out where she is...."
Sabrina looked at him closely. "Are you willing to take the risk, Scotty?"
"If it'll help us bring Tirq back, then yeah. You?"
"Yes. We're running out of time."
"I know."
They looked at each other for a moment, then went into their house. Sabrina said, "I'll call Fyshanna."