Venus Rising by Flora Speer Read Free Book Online Page A

had
never had the chance to think about it. She had obeyed always,
wanting her father’s approval. She obeyed still, following all
regulations to the smallest detail. “I am a good officer,” she
insisted.
    “You are the best navigator I have ever met,”
Tarik agreed. “But you do leave something to be desired when you
are faced with totally new circumstances.”
    Before Narisa could protest, he raised one
hand. “I’ll call back some of what I just said. You handled
yesterday’s emergencies remarkably well. Perhaps there is hope for
you. Do you know why Belta is called Belta?”
    “No, sir.” She wondered where this change of
subject would lead.
    “It was originally Beltane,” Tarik informed
her. `The first settlers there many centuries ago claimed to be
descendants of the Druids of Old Earth. The twin volcanoes erupting
at each solstice reminded them of the ancient Beltane fires once
lit on Earth, and so they named the planet. It was later corrupted
to Belta.”
    “I’ve never heard that story before,” Narisa
said.
    “You wouldn’t know of it. It’s not part of
the approved’ history that the Races are taught. Change history and
you change reality.”
    “I’ve never heard of these Druid people,
either.” Narisa was becoming angry at what he was suggesting.
    “Of course not,” he told her slyly. “Some of
them were telepaths. Their descendants were forced to leave Belta
after the Act of Banishment, and a new Race settled the planet. A
Race with no unfortunate tendency toward telepathy.”
    A deep silence followed Tarik’s last
words.
    “So we come back to the birds.” Narisa
finally found her voice again.
    “And to the fact that we are in the Empty
Sector, on an unknown planet where Jurisdiction laws do not
apply.”
    “I see. This has all been a lecture, some
kind of lesson for me.”
    “Make of it what you will. Think about what
I’ve said. Keep an open mind and follow your instincts, not the
rules you were taught at the Capital.” He caught her chin in one
hand, holding her face steady to look directly into her eyes. “How
very young you are, Narisa. How innocent.”
    “I am twenty-six years old,” she
declared.
    “And I am thirty-two, and a thousand years
older than you in experience.” He released her and stood up. “It’s
time to go.”
    “Go where?”
    “Where duty calls, of course. To find a place
where we can communicate with the Capital, if such a place exists
here. Fill the water container, Lieutenant. We may need it later.
I’ll take the food and the tool kit.”
    “Are you well enough to travel?” she asked,
watching him rub at his ribs.
    “Almost completely well, thanks to your good
care and the bird’s medicine. There is just a little pain in my
side, and that will disappear soon. Ready? Then follow me.”
     
    Narisa had no quarrel with the direction he
had chosen. He headed downstream, and that made good sense. A
stream was likely to run into a river eventually, and a river into
a lake or sea. If there were intelligent beings on this world,
chances were they would inhabit areas near water. So said the
Service manual written for those who visited unknown planets.
Narisa had memorized it, as she had memorized everything given to
her to study during her training. She had an excellent memory, and
was proud of her ability to recall the most obscure details. That
was one reason why she was such a fine navigator. Even Tarik said
she was the best he had ever known.
    She frowned, thinking of the other things he
had said. She had been aware that there existed a large body of
knowledge to which she, along with most other people, had not been
given access. It had never bothered her because she had not needed
any of it to do her job. Immersed in navigational charts,
astrophysical computations, and the latest course-setting
instruments, she had convinced herself that what she did not know
was unimportant. Now she began to wonder about all the things she
had never