"You all know where I sleep, Doctor. My cubby's at the center of the spiral."
Andrit lunged as quickly as anyone Waela had ever seen ship-side. But even though she felt heavily pregnant, Pandora had conditioned her reflexes to blurring speed. When Andrit hit the space where Waela had been sitting, she no longer was there. Before he could recover, Waela felled him with a blow to his carotid - every move automatic.
She felt strength flowing through her. It gushed from the fetus within her and out through every fiber of her body.
Hali, out of her chair by this time, looked from Andrit sprawled unconscious on the deck to Waela who stood poised and breathing easily in front of them. The sudden exertion had fanned the reddish glow under her skin to a blaze. As she turned slowly on one heel to see if there would be more attack, she was an awesome sight.
Dazed, Hali asked: "Why did he do that?"
Waela confronted Ferry. "Why?" She stood balanced on the balls of her feet. Andrit had threatened not her but her unborn child! Let any of them try to harm her child!
Murdoch chose to answer, an odd glint in his eyes. He appeared to be enjoying this.
"He wa.... personally upset, you understand? One of the stricken children is his son."
"What do those red dots really mean?" Hali demanded.
"Ahh, there have been some energy problems, we believe," Murdoch said. "We saw a similar thing in Lab One."
Waela took a step toward Ferry. "I want to hear it from you. Oakes left you in charge here. What's going on?"
"I, uhh, don't really know much about it." Ferry licked his lips, shot a glance over his shoulder at Murdoch.
"You mean you're not supposed to know anything about it," Waela said. "Tell us what you do know."
"Now, let's change our tone a bit," Murdoch said. "There's an injured man on the deck and this whole unfortunate matter does not require more passion."
He turned toward the Natali representative. "Doctor Usija, since the med-tech appears unable to respon...."
Hali looked down at Andrit who was beginning to stir.
"He'll recover," Waela said. "I pulled my blow."
Hali stared at her. The implication was obvious: She could have killed the man. Belatedly, Hali bent to examine him. Her pribox showed a bruise on his neck, some nerve damage, but Waela was right: He would recover.
"What happened in Lab One?" Waela directed her question to Murdoch.
"A.... artificial form of this phenomenon. You are the first natural example of this we've seen."
"Natural example of what?" Waela forced the words out.
"The draining of energy fro.... other people."
Waela glared at him. What was he saying? She took a step toward him and felt Hali's hand on her arm. Waela whirled on the med-tech and almost brought her down. Sensing this, Hali jerked her hand back.
"Waela? Just a moment. I'm beginning to understand."
"Understand what?"
"They think you're responsible for the sick children."
"Me? How?" She turned back toward Ferry. "Explain."
Murdoch started to speak, but she snapped an angry glare at him. "Not you! Him."
"Now, Waela, calm yourself," Ferry said. "This has all been an unfortunate mistake."
"What do you mean unfortunate mistake, you drunk? You set this up. You invited Andrit here. You knew about that spiral in your schematic. What were you trying to do?"
"I will not take that tone from you," Ferry said. "This is m...."
"This is your funeral if you don't tell me what's going on here!"
Hali stared at Waela. What was happening to the woman? Murdoch, Hali noted, was standing very still - no threatening movements at all. Usija and Brulagi were frozen in their seats.
"Now, don't you threaten me, Waela," Ferry said. There was a plaintive note in his voice.
She's perfectly capable of killing him if he doesn't satisfy her demand, Hali thought. Ship, save us! What has come over her?
Usija began to speak very softly, but her voice was compelling in the tense air of the room.
"Doctor Ferry, you are looking at the phenomenon of the threatened feral mother. It goes very deep. It is dangerous to you. Since Waela is Pandora-conditioned, I advise you to answer her."
Ferry pushed himself back in his seat as far as he could go. He wet his lips with his tongue.
"I, ahh.... your circumstances shipside, Waela. There has been some, ahhh, let us call it superstition."
"About what?"
"About, ahhh, you. We have tested you since your return an.... ahhh, we do not find usable answers. Even Ship is no help. Whatever it is, Ship has locked it away - Restricted. O...." He shot a venomous glance at Hali. "...we are referred to Med-tech Hali Ekel."
Hali could not repress a gasp.
Waela whirled and glared at her.
Hali realized suddenly that now she was a target.
"Waela, I swear to you that I don't know what he's talking about. I'm here to protect you and your baby, not to hurt you."
Waela gave a curt nod, returned her attention to Ferry.
Andrit groaned and pushed himself upright. Waela bent and, with one hand, hoisted him to his feet. In the same motion, she hurled him toward the couch where he narrowly missed Brulagi and Usija. The effortless way Waela did this made Hali hold her breath, then exhale slowly. Very dangerous, indeed.
"Tell us the circumstances where Ship refers you to Hali Ekel," Waela said. Her voice was like a bubbling volcano.
Andrit leaned forward abruptly and vomited, but no one looked.