Mai started at one of the more popular taverns. It billed itself as a cafe, but she knew that this was a sham. Any ‘coffee’ served here was more than likely brewed from used grounds that someone had ‘rescued’ from the garbage bins.
She went inside and scanned the room. This was evidently a meeting place for the ship captains and their crews. The tables were populated by men and women in typical ship suits of varying colors and styles. Most were merchants like herself, some were those looking for passage, and a few were miners, ship bound or ground diggers.
Mai found the barkeeper and ordered a small drink. She paid him twice the cost of the beverage.This got his attention. Mai kept her voice low. “I’m looking for something I lost.” She took a sip from her glass. “I wonder if you can help me find it.”
The barkeeper leaned on the bar to get closer. “That will depend on how many of those you can buy.”
She took another sip and put the glass to the side. “I’ll have another.”
Mai paid double for the drink he brought. “I’m looking for a lost pet, a large blue bird.”
He chuckled and took her first glass away. After he emptied it, the barkeeper said, “Hmm. I may ‘ave seen such a bird recently.”
She took a sip from the glass and put it aside. “I’ll have another.” Again, Mai paid double when it was placed in front of her. She said one word, “Where?”
Now the barkeeper outright laughed and pointed over Mai’s shoulder. “Right there by the door!”
In one swift motion she turned excitedly to see what he pointed at. Near the door was a stand on which was perched a large blue bird, like Lu’ipara, but this one had a gold breast and white cheeks with black stripes. Mai’s hopes fell, but she walked slowly over to see it.
She said, “Hello.”
The bird sat perfectly still, not reacting. Mai reached out and touched it. Still nothing. Its eyes were dull and its head had a coating of dust. She turned to the barkeeper and said, “This bird has been stuffed!”
He looked at her with a smile and said loudly, “Awk! Give us a kiss, darlin’!”
Mai raised her hand and gave him the universal gesture of contempt. Then she stormed out.
Robert was making his way through the alleys and avenues of the warehouse units. He had been searching for a while and was conscious of the darkening sky. Soon any meaningful chance of finding Lu’ipara would be gone until dawn.
He turned toward a darker section and switched on his light. The units here were windowless block-houses with an articulated door. It was also deathly quiet here as the active section was on the other end. This was also why he came this way.
It reminded him of the time he was searching for Maisie’s cat, that had run away. Robert searched an entire industrial park using his cell phone’s light until the battery died.Upon returning to his girlfriend’s house, she told him that Pinkie had come back to her an hour earlier.
Most of the lights on the bays here were broken, leaving huge unlit sections, and the security cameras were either broken or completely missing. Walking in the dark, Robert idly played his light on the locked doors.
Some of the units here were not so secure, with damaged doors that didn’t close as tightly as they should. One unit was locked, but the door was jammed, leaving a gap a few hand-spans high from the bottom. An odd smell came from the unit. He tried peering inside, but his view was obstructed.
Continuing down the alley, he had decided to call the search off for the night when he heard noises from the open unit. Robert hurried back to it and called, “Hello? Is someone in there?” Suddenly there was a cacophony of sounds coming from the unit, flapping of wings, squawks, chirps and other bird-like sounds. He called again, “Hello?”
A succession of squawks quieted some of the sounds. Robet called again, “Hello? Is someone in there?”
The answer came from a familiar voice. “Rahhh-bert? Robert? Is that you?”
“Lu’i?! Are you in there?”
“Rahhh-bert help-help Lu’ipara. Call-call Mai. She can help.”
The first thing he did was tap the com bracelet. When Mai answered, Robert told her the situation and where he was by the unit number. Then he signed off.
“She’s coming, Lu’i! I called the Captain!”
“Lu’ipara and friends need help, Rahhh-bert!”
Robert examined the open space between the door and the bottom. Making a calculation, he laid down and squeezed himself under the door with his flashlight. On the other side there were a few cardboard boxes, the ones that had blocked his view. He stood up and played the light around the unit. What he saw revolted him.
The area was enclosed like a huge cage of wire fencing. The cage was filled with birds like Lu’ipara. They were clinging to the walls and the ceiling. The floor was covered with feathers, droppings, and birds that were dead or dying, dozens of them. The smell was overpowering.
Lu’ipara was clinging to part of the cage near where Robert stood. He had been chewing away at the wood that held the fencing together in one spot, forming a door. Being as the cage door was chained in several locations, the bird’s action were quite futile.
“Robert help-help us!” he said.
He grabbed the fencing at the chewed section and tugged. It felt like it would give. “How the hell did you get in here?” he said as he began jerking at the door, trying to break the wooden frame.
Lu’ipara said, “Captured during freedom flight. Tell tell more later.”
A section of the fencing near the floor came free as Robert continued pulling. Lu’ipara squeezed through the gap. Before he knew it, Mai was beside him tugging at the fencing, enlarging the hole with each pull.
“How did you find him?” she gasped between tugs.
“Just dumb luck,” said Robert. “I was about to give up!”
Quietly he heard her say, “The Great Provider provides.”
The gap was finally large enough that the rest of the birds were starting to come out. He could not fail to notice that some had injuries to the eyes, feet, or wings. Still, those that could move came out to find their freedom.
Mai squeezed back out of the unit followed by Robert. A few stragglers followed them out.
“What should we do with them?” she said.
“We can’t leave them here,” said Robert. “They’ll end up back in there, or worse!”
Lu’ipara perched on Mai’s shoulder. “Take-take us home.” he said.
She said, “First we need to keep them safe. Can you lead them back to the ship? The top hatch is still open.”
Having calmed down a little, Lu’ipara said, “Yes. I can take them to the ship.” He took off from Mai’s shoulder and began a series of squawks. He was answered by several different responses from the flock as they all took to the air from the ground or rooftop and followed Lu’ipara into the darkening sky.
Robert and Mai watched them go, but noticed that some were not flying very well. What was worse was that more than a dozen could not fly at all and were still on the ground at their feet.
Mai looked at them in despair, “What can we do with these?”
“I don’t want to leave them here.” He was looking around, playing his light on them. “See if they understand you. I have an idea.”
She balked. “What? Why would they understand?
“It’s worth a try. Didn’t Lu’i come to you knowing your language?” Robert squeezed back under the door and came out moments later with two large cardboard boxes.
Mai said, “Several of them responded to me.”
Robert put the boxes on the ground with the open side facing the birds. “See if they will go in. We can each carry a box back to the ship.”
Mai spoke to them and two leaders shepherded the rest into the two boxes. She and Robert then carried them back to the Hula Kalale and brought them into the cargo hold.
Mai closed the boarding ramp. “I only hope that no one witnessed what we did. These belong to someone.”
“If so, they were not being cared for. Aren’t there laws against this sort of thing?”
Mai’s voice cracked in anger, “Of course there are! We don’t mistreat animals, and generally don’t keep pets. Until today, Lu’ipara was the only bird I knew that talked!”
Robert said, “Apparently there are a lot of them.”
Taking the wounded birds up to the main deck via the lift, Mai said, “I don’t know what we can do. The medical bay is for humans.”
He made an uneasy face. “I just couldn’t leave them there in good conscience. Maybe the birds know how to help. Either way, I couldn’t leave them to die alone.” In his mind, he remembered the dozens of dead birds on the floor of the cage.
The lift doors parted to reveal bedlam on the main deck of the ship. Birds walked about on the floor and were flying the length of the corridor. There were deafening screeches and squawks. Mai led Robert into the med bay with their boxes. She put hers on the floor, went back to the door and whistled the same unmelodic sequence that Robert had heard when he first came on board. She repeated it several times before Lu’ipara flew to her.
“We brought these wounded birds with us,” she said. “Can you help them at all?”
Lu’ipara dropped down and walked among them. He made noises that may have been questions. A few answered him. Finally he flitted up and perched on a table.
“Only a few can speak to me,” he said. “We do not know how to heal many things among the flock.” He squawked quietly. “With such things, the flock can only feed them and give them company until they take their final flight.”
Mai put her hand to her mouth as she held back tears. “The poor things. I’m so sorry.”
Robert said, “Lu’i, can the flock go into the domes, or are there too many?”
He fluffed and stretched out each wing in turn. Robert noticed that a few of his wing feathers were broken. “Many of us are hungry,” said Lu’ipara. “We can get them in the domes, but can we have nuts and berries to eat?”
Mai looked uneasy, but nodded. “Yes, of course,” she said.
“I can bring some up from the hold,” said Robert. He looked at Mai, and she nodded confirmation. Quietly she said, looking at her navigator, “We can’t let them starve.”
Lu’ipara said, “I will tell others and we will wait in the domes. I have found others in this flock who understand me.” He flew out the door, screeching for attention.
Robert said. “Can you tell me which of your cargo is the least valuable?”
Mai was looking at the wounded birds on the floor. She sat down and gently put one into her lap. “Start with the fresh berries,” she said offhandedly. “They’ll be the first to spoil.”
He left and Mai began gently stroking the bird she held. One of its eyes was wounded and its left wing did not look good. The bird held it away from its body. A weak peeping was its only vocalization.
Soon other birds began coming in with bits of food to give the wounded ones. They stayed for a time, making soothing noises and then left to be replaced by others. Each bird brought a morsel with it. The bird in her lap received a few bits of food from its friends. Mai did not notice that what they were bringing was stock from the galley.
As she cradled the bird in her arm, stroking it gently, she was reminded of a time two years ago. Mai’s niece had been born a few months before she returned home for her family’s decennial Celebration of the Ancestors.
Her sister had placed the babe in Mai’s arms and she had rocked her gently, booped her nose and had even fed her. Babies, like this wounded bird, were so helpless, so innocent, and needed the care of others.
Mai was gently stroking the bird’s back when suddenly, it squawked weakly. Its wings went out, and it went limp, and no longer moved. She gasped, raising it up so that its wings naturally closed against the bird’s body.
Though it was obviously dead, Mai continued carefully stroking its back. She ignored the tears streaming down her cheeks. After some minutes, Lu’ipara flew onto her shoulder. He rubbed his head on her cheek and made a small squeak.
“You did not leave this friend alone for his final flight. You gave him comfort until the end.”
Mai sniffled, wiping her eyes. “What do we do now… now that he has flown?”
“Do what is right according to you,” he said. We have no cave on the ship to deposit the dead in.”
Mai wrapped the bird in a large wound dressing from a cabinet and placed it in one of the boxes they had brought from the storage unit.
It took Robert some time to bring up enough food to sate the birds now living in the bio-domes of the Hula Kalale. Exhausted, he made his way to the galley only to find the cabinets had all been opened and raided.
Mai came around the corner. Her hair was disordered and her eyes were red. Seeing the state of things, she said, “Is there anything left for us?”
“The coffee safe is untouched,” said Robert. He started poking around in the open cabinets. “It looks like they got it all.”
“The poor things must have been starved,” she said.
There was a screeching and then Lu’ipara flew around the corner. He turned in his flight and landed on Mai’s shoulder.
“You saved many of the friends,” he said. “We are all thankful to you.”
Mai reached up to scratch the bird’s cheek. “I’m thankful that we found you, and the others.”
Robert said, “Where did they all come from?”
Lu’ipara said something that sounded like, “Kawchitrrr. That is what some of us call our home.” He spread his wings and shook his head vigorously. “I tried to find our home in the star charts, but it is not there.”
“At the time that Lu’ipara came to me,” said Mai, “I tried one of my contacts to find out where he came from. Nothing there, either.”
“And yet here he is, along with his friends,” said Robert. “I wonder if my uncle could find out…” He had encountered his grandfather’s brother, Flandor not long after leaving Earth. Flandor served on a Koplushian exploration vessel.
“It could take days to send and receive a message,” Mai said. “I think there is an easier way. Whoever owns that storage bay is probably the one who acquired the birds.”
Robert said, “Captured them, I would say.”
Lu’ipara chirped. “We were taken by humans and brought here.” He flit from Mai’s shoulder to a high chair back to face them both. The humans came with nets and took us out of the trees. We were put in a cage on a ship and brought here to Ho’u Makabu. Then they put us, cage and all, in the storage bay.”
He described how they were kept in the dark and fed occasionally. Periodically someone would come in and take a few of his friends from the cage. They never came back to the flock. Lu’ipara was taken out one day and given to a pair of humans. It was not until much later that he realized he had been sold to them.
The humans that owned him put him in a large cage by himself and fed him fruits and nuts. They spoke to him in Nidian. That is how he learned a human language. Sometimes they would take Lu’ipara from the cage and play with him. He tried showing them that he was bright by sorting his toys by color or size, but this went unnoticed.
Even though these humans treated him well, Lu’ipara wanted to find his friends. They were not happy in a dark cage.
“One day my humans left a window open in their dwelling. I knew how to unlock my cage and I escaped outside. I found the spaceport and flew into the open cargo bay door.”
Mai said quietly, “I remember I found you in the hold. You were eating nuts from one of the open crates.”
“You did not chase me away,” said Lu’ipara. “Instead, you were kind to me, keeping me safe and feeding me. You also did not put me in a cage. When I showed you that I was smart, you taught me to help you fly between stars.”
“It is hard flying alone.” Mai glanced at Robert. “This is a lot of ship for just a pilot.”
Lu’ipara squawked once and flapped his wings several times. Continuing his story, he said, “We do not often land on Ho’u Makabu. This time, I left the ship to look for any of my friends.” He stretched each foot in turn. “I found a free friend in the nearby forest. She told me where the others were. I went to the storage bay and was trying to talk to any captured friends when I was caught with a net and put inside with them.”
“Who captured you?” said Mai.
He squawked again. “A man. I do not know who. I barely saw that it was a man.”
Robert said, “I’m just glad we found you… and your friends. The real problem is, what do we do with them?”
Lu’ipara turned to look at him and then to Mai. “Please, take us home.”
There was a silence until Robert spoke. “Didn’t you both say that we don’t know where you came from.”
Mai, obviously in thought, raised a finger and shook it slowly several times. “I have an idea. The Portmaster here knows me. With some monetary incentive, Old Soma’esus might tell us who owns that storage bay.”
“You’re going to bribe him?” said Robert.
She gave him a dirty look. “I’m purchasing information. It’s perfectly legitimate” She ran a hand from her forehead to the nape of her neck. “But it’s too late to do anything tonight. We all need sleep. At dawn, I’ll go make my inquiries.”
“While you do that,” said Robert, “I’ll buy us something for breakfast.”
Lu’ipara fluffed. “Mai and Robert are good friends to me.” He flew off and into the port bio-dome.
In a tired voice, Mai said, “I know where there is some food for us. The shuttle and the cuddy are stocked with food packs. There’s not a large variety, but it’s something.” She yawned and scratched her head again. “See you in the morning.”
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