Read Online Beyond Varallan by S. L. Viehl - Free Book Online Page B

and let the child hold it to see that it wouldn't hurt him. I made a quick scan, and my mouth tightened to a flat line. “Someone shot him with a pulse rifle.”
    Tonetka approached now. The little one curled up next to me and squinted up at the huge Jorenian. She made soothing sounds as she examined the child’s wound. The other survivors lost their fear and gathered around us. All of them had suffered nearly identical wounds. Tonetka used her hands to point to all the burns, then to show we didn't understand how they had been hurt.
    All but one of the children stretched out on the ground, paws behind their heads. The one left standing pantomimed shooting them in the back by sweeping an imaginary weapon from right to left. The ones on the ground rolled over and writhed, then went still.
    “The raider who shot them didn’t realize he missed the back of their heads,” I said. “They faked him out.”
    We were grim as we helped the children back up. The Omorr suggested treating this group, but Tonetka shook her head.
    “Not here. Look. They want to take us to the others.”
    The largest was pointing to one of the few buildings left standing just outside Main Transport. Other shuttles had landed by now. I saw Reever sprinting across the docks with his team to catch up with us.
    About time.
    “Senior Healer,” he greeted Tonetka, then turned to me. “Doctor.”
    “Linguist Reever.” My boss smiled with relief. “I am very glad to see you.”
    In order for our vocollars to work outside the confines of the Sunlace , a portable terminal was normally brought from the ship and set up on the planet. However, since the Jorenians had made no previous contact with this species, it was useless.
    Reever was going to be a very busy guy.
    The children led us to the other survivors. It was slow going, because we had to stop along the way to check the bodies. There were plenty of stops. They were all dead. The kids began whining miserably as they apparently recognized some of the corpses.
    Here in what had been a city, there was no breeze to take away the smell of death. Sweat beaded my brow as the temperature continued to rise. I hoped the climate on this world wasn’t too warm. The odor would be the least of our problems.
    The airless interior of what had once been a storage facility was crowded with the injured. Many, I saw, were already dead or dying. The living coughed and growled their pleas through raw throats as they had for days. We found no power, water, or food supplies. Puddles of blood and waste were everywhere. The stench was as thick as the bodies.
    It soon became apparent there were no medical professionals among the survivors. What supplies they had before the attack were evidently gone or destroyed. The wounded themselves were terrified of us, and fought when we tried to examine them.
    “Linguist Reever.” Tonetka’s hands made a gesture of frustration. “We must relay our intentions. Will you interpret for us?”
    “Of course.” Reever listened as the Senior Healer quickly outlined the emergency aid plan. He then approached one of those still ambulatory and made a gesture known throughout the system as one of peace and friendship. He reached, took one small paw. The small creature gazed up at him.
    They remained locked in a still, silent regard for some time. Then Reever growled. The survivor did. too. That went back and forth for a minute. At last Reever released the creature’s paw and went directly to the Senior Healer.
    “I have informed him of our intentions. Their computer core was damaged during the assault on the colony. This one believes enough information remains to download their linguistic files into our database.”
    “We also need access to medical data, if possible,” I said.
    The Omorr, who had been hopping between the puddles of filth, got indignant. “Why must we access native data? They are warm-blooded, mammalian life forms. Even you, Doctor, can surely handle—”
    “Squilyp?”