Broken Wings (3 page)

["Commander Montran Pallin returned
barely alive. He was badly burned and told us little before going
into shock. I need to know what you know about his activities. He
said you paid for his stay on Earth."]

["Yes, I did, but I wish I hadn't. You
know he risked our presence here?"]

["He said a reporter
knew."]

Tarolis crossed his arms. ["Because he
told her. He begged me to clean up his mess. Some idiotic idea that
she could help him. Now it's all over their news that he killed her
because he was after some high school girl."]

["A girl?"]

["The Crystal Keeper. She's been
raised by humans."]

["Shartrael Raea. Yes, he mentioned
her, along with Jasheir Elis, Naolis and Mennara's youngest
child."] Naolis was one of the two Crystal Keepers whose shards now
powered Heffin's Gate. Their last surviving child had escaped
capture two years ago, when Saffir sent him to Earth, apparently to
protect the Crystal Keeper there.

Tarolis stepped away from
whatever he leaned against and stood upright. ["If the authorities
here make the connection to me, our activities may be compromised.
Commander Montran was a fool, Valdas. He risked everything. I can't
afford this right now. I'm this close—"] He held his thumb and
forefinger close together. ["—to proceeding with our mission here.
I can't afford any mistakes right now. Soon,
NeoGen Labs
will be ready for a live
test. The others are in places of authority around the world,
manipulating these humans for our benefit. And it could all crumble
with media attention at the wrong time if they connect him to me.
Bad enough all the attention on 'angels' in that small
city."]

McClarron. Small was right at only
about four thousand inhabitants. It was supposed to be in some
remotely populated area too. She wouldn't have expected it to gain
much notice beyond its own borders.

City nothing. Unlike Inari cities or
islands, which floated in the sky, humans had built their homes on
the ground, of which their world had plenty. Inar'Ahben was a
unique world, as they had discovered in their
explorations.

So was Earth, the only world where the
top sentient species—in this case the only sentient species—were
nearly identical in appearance, with a few ugly details. It had
proven a valuable asset to Keepers over the last five thousand
Earth years, but no longer. The empire would soon change that,
starting with conquering all of Inar'Ahben.

["That is unfortunate. It seems we
both have to clean up after his mistakes."] In her case, she would
have to send in a team to retrieve the Crystal Keeper, since Pallin
had failed.

["Yes. This world is far more complex
than it once was. Their technology is advancing at an unprecedented
rate. It complicates matters for me."] Tarolis folded his arms.
["It's all in my reports. I trust you've read them."]

["I have. What of the atmospheric
distortions of the portal?"]

["The scientific
communities are speculating on the phenomena, but religions are
predicting the end of their world by that and the appearances
of
angels
."]

Valdas smirked. Angels, indeed. So far
advanced yet still so very superstitious these humans, but they
could use it to their advantage, as the Keepers had.

["And,"] Tarolis added
while handling a small device, ["others are connecting the dots, as
they say here, on their
internet
. I suggest any move you make
is done and over while a portal can be maintained. I'm sending an
aerial image from one of their satellites. Commander Montran
supplied me with the location of the Crystal Keeper's residence
while he was here."]

Her tri-comm beeped.
["Received."]

["They make our job too easy in many
ways."]

["But difficult in
others?"]

Tarolis smiled. ["Do
not
underestimate these
humans, Prime Commander Alshouan."]

["No. We won't make that mistake
again."]

He tapped a strap on his wrist. ["I
have to be somewhere soon. Is there anything else you need from
me?"]

["Nothing more."]

["Prime Commander Loran out."] He
disappeared from the room. But he had never been there, simply an
image in her mind.

Valdas pulled the tri-comm off and
placed it in a slot at her console. With a few keystrokes, an
aerial image projected in a flat two-dimensional holograph before
her. A white line circled one of the structures amid a grid of
lines framing several structures in each square. This one lay at
the far edge of that grid with open land beyond.

She would not fail. In fact, she would
personally lead the team to extricate the Crystal
Keeper.

__________

What
Are Friends F
or?

The empty chair in every class
reminded Raea of what she missed. She caught Josh's questioning
gaze in English when she looked past him to where Elis usually sat.
He hadn't shown up for school that morning, and it ate at her
conscience that she had hurt him over a simple misunderstanding. In
her imagination, she could see him brooding in his room, alone and
sad. She hadn't meant to hurt him, but he was so sensitive about
everything. That made it difficult to not feel sorry for him,
especially when Nare was the closest family he had and she gave him
trouble. Raea sympathized, given her cousin Dave's determination to
make her life miserable.

He had forgotten to tell her about
bonding. So what? She'd bet every Inari knew their own biology,
just as she'd learned human and animal biology growing up on Earth.
He probably took it for granted, never really considering that she
didn't know better.

It was probably nothing more than an
honest mistake. He wouldn't force her to do anything. She'd always
had to make the first move.

No! She couldn't forgive
him like that. He really ought to have said something. He
knew
she didn't know. Why
did this have to happen now, when their lives were finally on the
right path? The bullies had stopped teasing her about dating
"Creepy" Elis, and all the commotion of four weeks ago was finally
settling down and being forgotten.

She still needed time to decide. This
was turning into a miserable day. How would she last one day like
this, much less two or more?

Maybe that was her answer.

Near the end of her history class, a
knock on the door quieted the usual whispers and hushed clowning.
Raea looked across two rows of desks to the door open a
crack.

That short-cut icy blue hair stood out
from anything natural, although it was natural for an Inari. With
her hands covered by black fingerless gloves like Elis wore in
public to hide his Starburst marks, Nare motioned for
Raea.

Whispers flew around the room, mostly
from the guys: "Whoa!" "Check it out." And the one that made her
gag—"Who's the babe?"

Guys! The drooling put dogs to
shame.

"Quiet," Miss Devon said. She adjusted
her glasses on her tiny nose and stepped away from her desk in the
front corner of the classroom.

If only Raea could sneak out. No such
luck, and Miss Devon wasn't the type to let her go without a good
reason. If Nare was there, it had to be because of Elis. Raea just
wanted to know that he was all right. A minute. That's all it would
take.

Stupid clock. Time could go a little
faster. Ten minutes until the bell rang. Ten minutes until lunch
break. Then she'd have plenty of time to talk with Nare about
Elis.

Miss Devon motioned her
forward. Yes! Raea jumped from her desk and hurried around the rows
to the door, her heart pounding.
Please let
it be news that he's all right.

She stepped into the quiet hall and
closed the door behind her. No one else needed to know.

"He said to bring this right away."
Nare slipped her hand into her pocket and pulled out a folded
paper. "He's so pathetic right now."

Raea unfolded the paper, her hands
trembling. A small black feather floated out, and she caught it.
Her heart stopped. He'd gone through the trouble of pulling a
perfectly good feather. Her poor Elis. "How is he? Is he all
right?"

"He'll get over it." Nare waved away
her concern and pointed to the note.

Get over what? She read the
note…

Raea,

This is the
32
^nd
time I've started trying to write to you. I'll try again, but
I don't know if I can say it any better. I couldn't say it in
person, because nothing sounds right, and this probably won't
either.

I thought about you all
night and what you said. I never meant to hurt you or force you
into anything. I knew it was wrong of me. There's no excuse for
upsetting you, and nothing else I can say sounds more adequate. I
just want you to know how sorry I am and that I would do anything
for you.

I will always love you.
Please come back.

Elis

He admitted his mistake, but what
about the next time? Would there be a next time?

"Typical." Nare's eyes jumped from the
paper to her, her arms crossed.

What was her problem?

"They never think before
they act. Do they?" Nare's bitterness softened away with a sigh. "I
heard him crying last night, even though he denied it. He locked
himself in his room. I tried to talk to him, but he told me to go
away, said I shouldn't be there and that this was my fault.
My
fault. As if I had
anything to do with his stupidity. Besides, Evelyn invited me to
stay, and it's her house."

Crying? Over her? Her poor Elis. What
had she done? Her stomach twisted into a wretched mess.

Elis…

"Anyway, don't worry too much. Take
your time, Raea, and don't let him push you."

But he didn't push her. She wanted to
be close. In fact, he'd pushed her away all last week. Elis had
been the one encouraging her to spend time with her friends. "He's
never pushed me into anything. He was just there, waiting." He'd
never expected anything. And her perfect memory—another mixed
blessing of the Starfire—returned of that moment she admitted her
feelings. He'd been so surprised, as had she to find out he liked
her the same way, but he'd never indicated he felt anything for her
until she admitted it first. He'd always waited for her.

"Good. At least he did something
right."

Raea opened her hand on the
small curl of feather ready to lift away with the slightest puff of
air. A part of him that he wanted her to remember. She would never
forget. If only she could be sure now. But what would she give up?
Bonding to one man the rest of her life sounded risky—shared
pleasure and
pain?
What did that mean?

"He did everything right, except this.
I just need time. I'm not abandoning him."

"But he's afraid you will."

Yes, he was. The letter said that.
What if she did? She couldn't imagine being with anyone else, but
she had to know without a doubt that he was right for her. Why
couldn't Inari relationships come with instructions?

Raea sighed and closed her fingers
gently around the tickling softness of the feather. "I'm not ready
for that kind of permanent commitment yet, but I love
him."

"Elis better count himself lucky to
have you, or to have had you."

What? No. Past tense was wrong, so
very wrong. Nare misunderstood. "I'm not leaving him. I just…" Why
did she say that? All she was doing was spending some time away.
Nare had a cruel way of making him into the bad guy. She totally
didn't get it.

"Whatever. I should get back to the
house. He's probably panicking or something. He told me a few times
exactly how to get here and find you. Idiot. I remember everything
as perfectly as him. We're all—" Nare lowered her voice and leaned
close. ["We're all Keepers."]

Raea sighed and folded the note. Nare
so didn't get it, but Raea knew no one else who could understand.
"Thanks, Nare."

"No problem. See ya later?"

"Later?"

"I thought, since you wanted space to
think but are still training, I could take over for a
while."

Nare annoyed Raea with her critical
view of Elis, but maybe she was right. Besides, hearing about Elis
from someone else might reveal an important detail or at least
provide some interesting stories.

"All right," Raea mumbled.

"Later." Nare strode away through the
quiet halls.

Raea returned to class, where someone
had to ask about the blue-haired woman she talked to. Disbelief
poured from the guys that Nare could be any relation to Elis. She
was too hot, according to them.

With a little trouble, she tucked the
small feather into the wire holding her crystal shard. It curled
around it to tickle her chest under her shirt.