Damia's Children Read online

  Praise for the bestselling novels of

  Anne McCaffrey’s Tower and Hive series

  THE ROWAN

  “A reason for rejoicing.”

  —The Washington Times

  “One of the best McCaffrey novels.”

  —Locus

  “The Rowan introduces readers to the Gwyn-Raven dynasty . . . complete with an interstellar love affair steamy enough to attract those not usually interested in science fiction.”

  —Calgary Herald

  “A well-told tale . . . McCaffrey’s popularity is immense and justified.”

  —Booklist

  “Charming . . . a warm and vivid picture of a struggling frontier society.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  “McCaffrey weaves believable characters with a well-written story to produce this entertaining science fiction romance.”

  —School Library Journal

  DAMIA

  “[H]olds the reader spellbound [with an] artful weave of romance and humor that infuses her characters.”

  —Calgary Herald

  “McCaffrey interweaves an engrossing romance with a coming-of-age story as she examines the issue of responsibility in a society where survival depends on the abilities of a gifted few.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  “McCaffrey is in fine form . . . interesting . . . amusing . . . tempestuous.”

  —Locus

  “[A] well-crafted universe . . . [Damia] both refines and extends characterizations, especially in interrelationships and the use of mental powers . . . a winning choice for the author’s legion of fans.”

  —Booklist

  “Well-written . . . McCaffrey has created another memorable, independent female protagonist and fully fleshed-out secondary characters who behave in a believable manner . . . a superb science fiction romance.”

  —School Library Journal

  “Anne McCaffrey has created worlds whose elements elude the imaginations of most other writers . . . [Damia] is a perfect example of what makes McCaffrey’s writing so much fun.”

  —The Globe and Mail (Toronto)

  “McCaffrey’s special talent is creating sympathetic and endearing characters.”

  —The Toronto Star

  DAMIA’S CHILDREN

  “Winning, carefully developed young characters, an attractive alien society, and an enemy drawn with more than a touch of mystery.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  “McCaffrey’s fans won’t be disappointed . . . hugely enjoyable . . . fascinating in its exploration of the brain’s potential and untapped powers.”

  —The Calgary Sun

  LYON’S PRIDE

  “Another exciting episode in the thrilling epic of the Rowan . . . Read and enjoy!”

  —Romantic Times

  THE TOWER AND THE HIVE

  “Readers looking for intelligent, heroic adventure will find it here, and Rowan fans will be especially pleased at this felicitous closing of a popular SF series.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  “McCaffrey maintains the high quality of characterization of humans and aliens alike, and, once again, she skillfully interweaves the plot threads, making it easy to follow the action on all fronts. A rousing conclusion to a most satisfying series.”

  —Booklist

  “Fans of the series will plunge right in.”

  —Kirkus Reviews

  Ace Books by Anne McCaffrey

  The Tower and Hive Series

  THE ROWAN

  DAMIA

  DAMIA’S CHILDREN

  LYON’S PRIDE

  THE TOWER AND THE HIVE

  The Freedom Series

  FREEDOM’S LANDING

  FREEDOM’S CHOICE

  FREEDOM’S CHALLENGE

  FREEDOM’S RANSOM

  DAMIA’S

  CHILDREN

  ANNE MCCAFFREY

  THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP

  Published by the Penguin Group

  Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

  375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA

  Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.) • Penguin Books Ltd., 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England • Penguin Group Ireland, 25 St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd.) • Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty. Ltd.) • Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd., 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi—110 017, India • Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, Auckland 0632, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd.) • Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty.) Ltd., 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa

  Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

  DAMIA’S CHILDREN

  An Ace Book / published by arrangement with the author

  PUBLISHING HISTORY

  Ace/Putnam edition / January 1993

  Ace mass-market edition / February 1994

  Copyright © 1993 by Anne McCaffrey.

  Cover art by Danny O’Leary.

  Cover design by Lesley Worrell.

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

  For information, address: The Berkley Publishing Group,

  a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,

  375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

  ISBN: 978-1-101-65960-1

  ACE

  Ace Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group,

  a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,

  375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

  ACE and the “A” design are trademarks of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

  Reverently Dedicated to

  RICHARD WOODS, O.P.

  aka Pendragon, Fullfret Faxdragon,

  Captooth Fangbite the Whistler

  Hurryfast Rushdrake

  Sir Walter McDragon

  Slipknife Ouchblend the Reckless

  Shortblast Spleenfume the Apoplectic

  Dragonrabbit Eggsnitcher the Wily

  Thickhead Diddlewit the Forgetful

  Snatchfinger Jewelheist the Avaricious

  Snapdragon Fastsnatch

  Harpmaker, Story-Teller, GOOD Friend

  Table of Contents

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER

  ONE

  LARIA reined Saki in at the curve, to let Tlp and Hgf catch up. She deliberately kept her eyes forward, curbing Saki’s intention to gallop up the last hill to home, because she knew the ’Dinis would have dropped to four legs to make the steep climb. Tlp and Hgf were awfully sensitive about being caught on all fours. Like Humans, the Mrdinis assumed bipedal stance as soon as their back muscles were well enough d
eveloped to support the long trunk. Her father said that he thought the ’Dinis had been much relieved to learn that Human children also had to learn how to walk upright.

  When Saki’s twitching ears and a waft of a musky leathery scent on the breeze announced their arrival, she acknowledged them with a whistle/click. She couldn’t quite make the sound as well as her brothers Thian and Rojer, but she did better than Zara who hadn’t the hang of it at all yet. Kaltia wasn’t even trying though she signed well enough to be understood by the ’Dinis, as Morag did. Her youngest siblings, Ewain and Petra, were too young to have more than the most rudimentary contact with their pairs.

  Despite saddle bags full of the day’s catch, Saki marched vigorously uphill, careful not to tread on the flipper feet on either side of her. Tip and Huf—which were Laria’s mental tags for her ’Dinis—had taken holds on Laria’s stirrups to assist them up this steepest part of the climb. Well accustomed to hauling ’Dinis, Saki accepted the additional burden.

  Dropping the reins now that Saki was behaving, Laria had hands free to sign to her companions in excitement over their success hunting. They’d never hear her well enough over the clopping of Saki’s hoofbeats if she spoke aloud. Tlp and Hgf clicked and clacked happy sounds which echoed in their skulls. They could produce any number of identifiable noises that way, ranging from fear to bravado, agreement, dislike, curiosity, concern, enjoyment, and what passed for ’Dini laughter.

  Neither species could quite manage the varied sounds needed to reproduce the subtler nuances of the other’s speech, but Human body language could add emphasis to words and so could ’Dini body movements. Their five fingers were as dextrous in reproducing arbitrary patterns as their oral cavities were in producing understandable pitched noises that Humans could copy. Both languages, as spoken by the other species, were refined to somewhat limited vocabularies that fortunately could be extended into quite a few technical areas: such as space travel, basic engine design, biological and meteorological sciences, metallurgy, and mining.

  Laria’s mother and father, Damia and Afra Raven-Lyon, had spent the past fifteen years developing and refining this communications bridge—apart from the Dreamings—with Mrdini colleagues. Laria had been the earliest Human test subject. Constantly surrounded from birth by adult Mrdinis, and then young Tip and Huf, she had absorbed posture and sounds just as any child learns another language from early exposure. By the time she was six months old, she had had Tlp and Hgf as cribmates and had dreamed the pleasantest dreams in their company at naptime and at night. All the Raven-Lyon offspring had been similarly paired when they were six months old with ’Dini young.

  On Iota Aurigae, such partnering had become normal. Even before much interspecies communication had become viable, miners—who were so overworked they were glad of any assistance—had taken adult pairs of ’Dinis into the pits and shafts when the Mrdinis had “dreamed” their willingness to do so. The tough and suspicious Aurigaen miners had discovered that the ’Dinis were instinctive colliers, hard workers, and unusually strong.

  “Hey-YO,” cried someone behind her. Turning, Laria saw her brother Thian, his white lock flopping across his face, round the bend on his chunky black pony, Charger, Mrg and Dpl trudging along beside him.

  Not for the first time did Laria regret that the conformation of the ’Dini made it impossible for them, with their stout short legs and stumpy tail, to straddle the hardy little Denebian hybrid ponies that Humans employed. When they were younger, she’d occasionally put Tip and Huf up on Saki, Tip in front where she could hold on to it, and Huf riding pillion behind, its fingers latched tightly to her belt. But it wasn’t the most comfortable way to travel and now her mates were too heavy to ride Saki with her.

  “Good hunting, Thian?” Laria called back.

  “Plenty for pot and spit,” her brother yelled, grinning hugely. “Rojer’s right behind us, with their bag. He must have some secret source of scurriers, the amount he’s bringing in.”

  Hunting was a weekend occupation for the three oldest Raven-Lyon children, who were good archers while the ’Dinis were clever with traps. With such a big household to feed, small avian species and burrowing animals, scurriers, and the variety of rabbit that had adapted well to Aurigae were welcome additions to protein requirements, not always as well satisfied by the huge gardens.

  The Tower could, of course, have brought in any supplies needed but it had become a matter of family pride and honor for this household to supply its own needs—Human and Mrdini—either from the high plateaus and valleys behind Aurigae City or from their fields.

  Saki was too eager for her warm stable and supper to be held back to wait for Thian so Laria let her walk out, her tired young ’Dini mates hauled alongside.

  As they finally reached the terrace level, lights were already beginning to augment the dimming day and illuminate the broad courtyard. Saki’s hooves clattered across it, summoning the resident pets: Coonies, Darbuls, and what Laria had termed slithers, the Mrdini equivalent of a pet.

  Neither reptile nor bird, neither furred nor feathered, but loving, affectionate, dependent on assistance to survive anywhere, slithers had—to everyone’s great astonishment—become accepted by Coonies, ignored by Darbuls, and endeared themselves to the Humans as useful household creatures. Their existence and nurture by Mrdinis had been a curiously important factor in the acceptance of the aliens: “Any critter that cares for a pet—even one as repulsive as that slithery reptiloid er . . . ah . . . entity,” the Fleet Commander had remarked, “can’t be all bad.”

  As slither diet consisted of Aurigaen insects and small bugs unappetizing to other life forms, the creatures kept the large sprawling Raven-Lyon residence and neighboring fields clear of pests that often caused humans on Aurigae considerable discomfort or nuisance when they fed on the crops.

  * * *

  Laria was already giving Saki a rub-down when first Thian and then Rojer arrived in the stable, to tend their own beasts. While one ’Dini brought the catch up to the kitchen wing, the other helped with hay and feed for the horses. That set the already stabled animals to stamping and snorting.

  Have all the ponies been fed? Laria asked, broadcasting her thought more than directing it to either parent.

  Please, darling? Had some late Tower traffic, replied Damia. What splendid hunting you’ve all had!

  Laria ’ported the feeds into the mangers, adding the special vitamins and salts that two of the newest ponies required until their digestions altered to Aurigaen grasses. As usual, the four ’Dinis clacked in loud appreciation of her kinetic skill.

  WE FEED PONIS, WE MAKE PONIS ’APPY, Tip and Huf chanted, although they themselves had done nothing, but as Tip and Huf were hers, any of her achievements were also theirs. Laria gave a small, almost inaudible sigh of resignation: for all their years in a Talented household, the ’Dinis were always more charmed by small teleportations like this than any of the major workings from the Tower. Cargo and ships just disappeared from or appeared in cradles, whereas now the ’Dinis could see the movement from one place to another.

  WE FEED PONIS PLUS, Thian’s pair, Mur and Dip added.

  WE FEED FIRST, Tip began, turning its poll eye back over itself to pin Mur with a steely glance.

  She signed it quickly not to be so silly and tlocked with her tongue a disapproving note. Tlp shrugged that off, swaying its upper body and head in reaffirmation.

  As her parents had cautioned her as soon as she began to experiment with her telekinetic abilities Laria was careful in its usage. The young Raven Lyons did ’path more than most Talented parents would recommend for family communications but then the circumstances were unusual. Conversations between Humans—when the ’Dinis could not follow verbal speech—would be rude, so they often ’pathed rather than discourteously speak what their guests could not understand.

  The entire Raven-Lyon family, including eight-month-old Petra, was considered by the Governmental Authority to be acting as official liaison rep
resentatives to Mrdini. Telepathy allowed the family the privacy and ease to discuss intimate matters which might have to exclude the ’Dinis.

  As soon as Laria, Thian, and Rojer had seen to the comfort of their ponies, they and the other ’Dinis went up the ramp from the stable complex to the Hall where most of the combined household’s activities took place. With their ’Dinis’ help, Morag was already plucking, skinning, and eviscerating the catch. Zara, who would not butcher animals, was washing and preparing vegetables and greens. Afra and Flk were trussing bird and scurrier beast for the spit while Damia and Trp were doing multiple tasks with the rest of the meal. The ’Dinis were also carrying on a voluble conversation with their returning young. Despite the differences in shape and origin, there were many similarities between Mrdini and Human in the care, education and nurture of their progeny.

  Laria caught only half of what Flk and Trp were saying to the younglings but the sounds merrily ranged up and down the pitches available to ’Dini vocal cords so she knew that nothing was amiss. ’Dinis might not use body-language supplements when speaking to their own but tone could be interpreted in this home of sensitive Talents.

  Anything new? Laria asked.

  Nothing at all, darling, Damia said. Can you do some more carrots? You know how Flk and Trp adore them but they haven’t got the hang of using scrapers.

  Vitamin A! Laria replied with a mental grin, and ’ported two more bunches from the storeroom, holding them up for her mother to approve the quantity. A nod sufficed and Laria began preparing them.

  Tlp and Hgf immediately came to her assistance, their single poll eyes glittering for they were as fond of carrots as the adults. Once she had scraped, they sliced, Tip and Huf twitching their upper torsos happily, their “heads” bent so that their single poll eyes were focused on what their hands were doing. Ordinarily, ’Dinis brought whatever they were working on up to eye level but when attempting a Human task, they tended to adopt Human postures.

  Some people said they couldn’t tell one ’Dini from another but that’s because they didn’t work closely with a pair. Laria recognized, and knew the names, of every pair living on Aurigae. ’Dini Pairing itself was another mystery that hadn’t been adequately explained, though biologists were trying. They had had to accept the fact that Mrdini always came in pairs. Laria did not know if Tip and Huf were the young of her parents’ Flk and Trp: she didn’t know if Flk and Trp were birth pairs, or had paired off by mutual choice when mature. There were still gaps in communication levels.