Second Wave by Anne McCaffrey Read Free Book Online Page A

into puddles.
    Khorii stopped by Sesseli’s room to tell the child she had returned, but the little girl was not there. Probably she was in the common room helping Abuelita with the baking.
    Khiindi rode her shoulders all the way to her room, but when she tried to shut the door he became agitated again, so she propped it open before throwing herself onto her bed. In a few moments she was back on Vhiliinyar with her family.

    E veryone was there, grazing and racing with the ancestors, Mother, Father, her, Ariinye, Elviiz, Maak, Uncle Joh, Khiindi, and RK. Their meadow was the one near the entrance to the time caves, surrounded by the mountains on three sides with the lake on the fourth. All around the tops of the mountains stood their friends and relatives including both sets of Linyaari grandparents, Father-Sister Maati, her mate Thariinye, Great-aunt Neeva, Khaari, and Melireenya of the Balakiire, Mother’s old ship. Maarni and Yiitir, the resident experts on Linyaari folklore and history were there and even Uncle Hafiz and Aunt Karina, who looked oddly Linyaari from this distance.
    In the lake, their distant relatives, the alarming-looking sii -Linyaari dived and played with some of the poopuus, the sea-dwelling humanoids Khorii had befriended on Maganos Moonbase. They were visiting especially for the occasion and to meet the sii -Linyaari, about whom Khorii had told them so much.
    But what was the occasion exactly? It was a party, that much was evident. She felt as if she’d just arrived, but she wasn’t sure how she knew that. “Are we having a festival?” she asked her mother.
    “No, yaazi, we are celebrating the homecoming. Now that the plague has been conquered and our people have returned, we have plenty of cause to celebrate, don’t we?”
    “And best of all, you’re here,” Ariinye said, taking Khorii’s hands. It was like looking into a lake and seeing her own reflection. Ariinye’s hair was even styled and streaked like Khorii’s, though hers bore an aqua streak instead of fuchsia. “I missed you, sister. Let’s race.”
    Their hooves pounded across the meadow making an alarming racket, much louder than they should have sounded in the tall, luscious grass. Then something soft touched her lips. She opened her eyes to see Khiindi looking down at her. Someone was pounding on the door of her room.
    “Khorii, the Balakiire has just landed,” Elviiz said. “It would be courteous for you to greet them.”
    She rose, dumping Khiindi off onto the bed. It was a dream. Of course it was a dream, she thought, sad for a moment, and missing her family. She should have known it was a dream. She didn’t even have a sister, much less a twin. She was a bit like the Condor, with Elviiz as her android brother and Khiindi as her feline brother. It would be great to have a sister. A tear surprised her, and she wiped it away. She was still tired. That was why she felt teary over a silly dream. She should have listened to Elviiz and let Marl stew in his own filth for a while longer. He hadn’t seemed to mind particularly or been the worse for wear except to be dirtier and chubbier. Now that the Balakiire was here to take her on a mission to save sick people, she wasn’t ready.
    “Do not hurry on our account, Khorii,” Aunt Neeva’s thought touched Khorii’s mind like a balm. It was so good to feel her there again. “Elviiz explained the situation to us, and you did well. You must rest before we set out again, but we can spare the time. The quarantine successfully contained the plague in many areas, and in those that were stricken, it seems to have run its course. No new outbreaks have been reported. We will need you to do a sweep with us soon to affirm that, but unless we hear differently from one of the other ships, our healing missions may be over. We may need fresh teams to help rebuild and restructure the societies on the stricken worlds, perhaps even improve that aspect of them, but many of us can go