Fire Island: Book 3 of The Chatterre Trilody (Chatterre Trilogy) (11 page)

Annosha's look was cool and calculating, but instead of looking her in the eye, she seemed obsessed with something just beyond her shoulder. Abruptly, Annosha's arms emerged from the thin, fluttery layers of emerald fabric and her ring-ladened fingers grasped her hair and gave it a pull. With a yelp, Tem-aki jumped backward. Pain screamed through her mind, as several strands of hair ripped from her scalp. She put her palm to her injured head and glared at Annosha. "What the heck is wrong with you?" Of course, the obnoxious person totally ignored her question, since she probably didn't understand her any better than Tem-aki could understand their speech. What baffled her the most was that both Annosha and Cameron appeared to be fascinated by the blond hairs she had pulled out.

What was wrong with these people?

And why were they staring at her hair as if they had never realized it could be pulled out?

Did they not realize it hurt? Tem-aki clenched her hands, to stop herself from giving them that lesson. When Annosha opened her palm to display the seven golden hairs, and began another round of chattering, more of the saffron-robed ones crowded around to see. There were many hushed comments about pale roots and divine origins, whatever those things were.

Tem-aki slowly backed away from the cluster and went inside to find GEA-4.

~o~

Nimri sat down on the nearest rug to the skull and folded her legs into the hatha position, then she relaxed her neck and shoulders, placed her hands palm-up on her knees and began to tone the Ooooommmm Mantra to clear her mind.

"What are you doing?" Larwin asked, distracting her.

What a dumb question! He had been the one to teach her this mantra. "What does it look like I'm doing?"

"Meditating?

She nodded. "So why ask?"

"I've never seen you do that indoors."

Understanding dawned. "When I am outside, it is easier to link my energy with the energy of nature."

"Are both types the myst-energy you and Thunder talk about?" She nodded. "And do I have it, too?"

"You must, otherwise, I don't see how you could control the staff of power."

"But I don't," Larwin protested.

"Perhaps not consciously, but I believe you did," Nimri said.

"What makes you think so?"

She tilted her head toward the twisted black staff, which was leaning in the corner of the room. "Pick it up."

With two strides, Larwin crossed to the corner and grabbed the Staff of Power, then turned toward her. "Now what?"

She shrugged. "Just hold it."

Larwin looked at her as if she'd lost her mind, then shrugged and held the staff for a minute. Then, he apparently got bored, because he began twirling it round and round, like the blades of a wind-mill. Nimri, who knew that he was able to carry it, when she could barely keep a grip on the slippery thing, watched his control with amazement. "How long do I need to keep holding this?"

"You can stop whenever you wish. You've made my point."

The stubby bottom of the staff plunked to the floor. "What do you mean by that?"

"Don't you realize that you and Thunder are the only two who can carry that for very long?"

"I know that the tribe has all sorts of legend attached to it, so that people think it is extremely important and thus, they respect it."

"That's true, but its not what I meant." She worked a kink out of her neck. Seeing the strain that looking up was causing her, Larwin settled down on the floor, and casually laid the staff across his lap. She pointed to it. "You take holding that for granted, and it is easy for you, probably because your myst compliments its energy, but for me, trying to hold it is like trying to hold buttered peas without pinching them."

Larwin laughed. "You aren't going to let me live that down, are you?" He laughed harder, as they both recalled one of their first meals, when the peas he was trying to eat seemed to fly everywhere except into his mouth.

"Perhaps, but my main intention was for you to understand how clumsy I am with that staff."

"You're serious," he said. She nodded. "Does that mean that I need to practice learning how to use this?"

"It wouldn't hurt, but I can't tell you how, because great-grandfather never taught me."

"Figures." Larwin snorted. "But that could be a good thing."

"How so?"

"Well, it seems to me that half of what he taught you was complete nonsense, so we don't need to expect stupid stuff to work before we figure out the right way."

"I'd never thought of it that way, but you have a good point."

"Think Thunder knows?"

"I doubt it, but you could ask."

"Do you have any idea how I should begin?"

Nimri blinked in surprise. "Seriously? You are asking me, when you can twirl that staff like a pinwheel?" He nodded. She studied him for a moment, then said, "If I were you, I would probably begin the way you taught me at Thunder's." Both of Larwin's eyebrows briefly rose before he folded his long, muscular legs into the hatha position, visibly relaxed his wide shoulders, and placed his hands palm up on his knees. Nimri did likewise.

"Do you think this staff can help find my sister?"

"I don't know. I mean, I know it is powerful and great-grandfather used it to control the weather, but I have no idea what it is capable of. But it can't hurt to try one more way, can it?"

He shook his head then closed his eyes and began the Ooooommmm Mantra.

A moment before Nimri closed her own eyes to begin the mantra, too, she saw the skull begin to glow.

Chapter 15

Tem-aki found GEA-4 holding a candle at the back of the skull, in such a way that the light came out of the eerie, vacant eyes. She shivered so hard that gooseflesh popped out on her arms, but tried to sound calm as she asked, "Is that doing anything?"

"Unknown."

"Did you see Annosha?"

GEA-4 swiveled to face her. "What is an Annosha?"

"Not what. Who." Tem-aki pointed out the window to the far left, where the group of gold-clad men clustered in a tight group. "I can't see her from here, but she is the first woman I've seen here and she is wearing bright green from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. Half her face is even covered with semitransparent green cloth."

"Interesting. Where you able to determine her purpose?"

"Aside from pulling out a few strands of my hair, no."

"So you don't know if she is mother, sister, friend or foe."

"No."

"Pity. Knowing that could provide insight into their social dynamics."

"Then perhaps you should go observe her, instead of this skull."

"I need to complete this analysis."

"We don't know how long Annosha will be here, but if the past pattern holds, this skull will be wherever the gold robes are and since we are with them..." Tem-aki flicked the sleeve of her own robe and let her meaning sink into the stubborn robot.

As if a switch had been flicked, GEA-4 pivoted and strolled toward the door. Tem-aki watched her approach the group. Looking down, she realized the droid had left the lit candle. With a sigh, she blew it out, but then was surprised to notice what looked like two wispy forms sitting in the hatha position, inside the skull.

She blinked and leaned closer.

Was GEA-4 onto something with her theory that this thing was some sort of communication device?

She bent so close, that her nose touched the back of the skull. Gradually, the forms congealed enough for her to see that one was male and the other was female. She also had vague glimpses of a more distant face, or perhaps the third form wasn't as easy to recognize as human. In fact, she had the distinct impression it was not human, or at least the bold dark slashes were designed to camouflage its humanity.

Tem-aki was so intent on trying to understand what she was seeing, that she didn't notice that GEA-4 was just outside the window until she said, "The readings are unusual." Tem-aki's head jerked upright.

"Yes, they are. It almost looks like there are holograms of two or three individuals in it."

"Which could match the readings I have."

Out on the patio, the group of men began to speak louder. A glance confirmed that their attention still centered on Annosha, and they were now leading her from table to table, as they showed her the odd craft projects, which they had been working on. Perhaps the woman was their superior.

Tem-aki smiled at the idea of a society where women dominated.

While she didn't mind Guerreterre, where women could hold high rand, men still seemed to hold the highest-power positions and she had always wondered if their society might become calmer, like the ones on Tronos and Yarnera where women had an equal voice, if the leaders of Guerreterre adopted an equal rights policy.

"I can not be positive, but I believe these people's language might be an adaption of U-Tsang."

U-Tsang? "I've never heard of it. Can you translate that and build a language program?"

"I believe so. It is an ancient language, which has somewhat backwards grammar rules, but if my theory is correct, I hope to be able to compile a basic communication program within the next fifty hours."

"Excellent!" Having a solution in sight, Tem-aki turned her attention back to the skull, where the two human forms had gained definition, but the other vague face in the background remained unchanged. Now that there were some details in the haze, she could tell that the one she had thought was male had blonde hair to the middle of his back. He wore some sort of unfitted tunic and pants and his toes jutted out the front of hick-looking sandals. From what she could see of his body, he had a good, strong build, so she didn't know why he covered up a good body with unflattering garments. She glanced at the gold robes and focused on Cameron. The man in the skull wasn't the only one who she suspected had an excellent body, which he camouflaged with unfitted clothing.

"I wonder why Larwin, Nimri and Kazza's images are in the skull," GEA-4 said.

What? Tem-aki leaned close to the skull. The male's body structure might be similar to her brother's, but the skin-tone was much darker and the hair was much lighter as well as over twenty times longer than she had ever seen him wear it. Since Larwin entered the academy at age three, he always wore his hair short. The one time, when she had seen it cover his ears was the month they had backpacked in Uyrla's mountains.

No way would he have it halfway down his back!

Still, the vague image could be Kazza. She studied the dark-haired woman, who had strong cheekbones and the longest braid she had ever seen. "Is that what Nimri looks like?"

GEA-4 gave a short nod.

Tem-aki studied the female, whose loose-fitting tunic and pants hinted at a nice figure, but her attention kept returning to her long, dark braid. She had never seen anyone with hair that long and suspected that if the woman stood up, her braid could reach down to her knees.  Why did she choose to have it so long? Was this the style of wherever they were? If so, it looked quite primitive.

Maybe even as primitive as where she was.

"Why is the skull showing Larwin?" Tem-aki asked.

"Unknown," GEA-4 said.

"Do you have any theory?"

"It is possible that the information operates on thought waves of some form. You have been thinking of him."

That made sense, but it still didn't really answer any of her questions about how to actually find him.

~o~

Cameron noticed that the two strangers were back with the skull. Again. While it was gratifying to know that they, too, held the skull in high esteem, he couldn't understand why the short one always seemed to be hovering over it. And now, as he watched them through the window, the tall beauty was studying it so closely that her nose was pressed against the back.

The skull seemed to give a faint pulse of light. He squinted and noticed what looked like faint shadowy figures inside the skull. What had that pair done to the sacred object?

How dare they touch the Summoning Skull!

Without conscious thought, Cameron began moving toward the open window. As he got farther from the group, he realized Tem-aki and GEA-4 were speaking to each other.

So they talked to each other! He'd suspected as much.

Listening more closely, he realized he couldn't understand what they were saying. Why were they communicating in some unknown language?

Did they want to exclude him for some reason?

Could this be their normal language?

But why would their language differ from his?

Cameron got close enough to see that a feline similar to Saphera plus two humans, one male, one female were depicted inside the skull. He stopped and stared at their strange attire.

What was the meaning of this?

As he watched and listened, Cameron began to suspect that Tem-aki and GEA-4 were as surprised by the Summoning Skull's strange message as he was. Silently he watched them watch the images inside the skull. The strangest thing was that from his perspective, he could see the couple seated on the ground through the side of the skull, but when he focused on looking into the skull's interior through the eye sockets, all he saw was empty space.

How could that be?

Suddenly, the woman opened her eyes.

Emerald green eyes, the color of a priestess.

Cameron gasped.

~o~

Nimri stared at the skull. Was it a trick of the light or did she see a face smushed against the inside of the skull? She blinked, but the only thing that changed was that beyond the flattened nose, which might – or might not – be part of a human face, she recognized GEA-4's eyes. Stranger still, off to the side of the skull a pair of brown eyes watched.

Did this mean the meditation had worked?

Or was her imagination going haywire?

"Larwin," she said softly, "do you see any difference in the skull?"

His eyes opened and turned his head, until he was looking at the back of the sun-bathed skull, as its vacant eyes gazed at Sacred Mountain. Two creases appeared in Larwin's forehead, then he leaned slightly toward the skull and squinted. "Is there something in there?"

"So you see them, too? It's not a trick of the light?"

"If you mean my sister, GEA-4 and a disembodied pair of eyes, yes."

Nimri blinked several times, then studied the flattened face. She had never imagined that Larwin's sister would have a smushed-in-looking face, but since he immediately recognized her, this must be how she looked.

"If she appears in there," Larwin paused to swallow, "does that mean she's dead?"

"I wish I knew," Nimri admitted, as she studied the poor woman who had apparently gone through life with a wide, flat nose. Had that affliction been something she was born with or due to some accident? She chewed her lower lip for a moment. "Did Thunder mention a third person?"

"Beg pardon?"

"He said Tem-aki and GEA-4 were missing, but who belongs to those other eyes?" Gooseflesh rippled over her arms. "It looks like the third person is watching her, and I was wondering if Thunder told you about a third person, or what the meaning of the eyes might be."

"He didn't mention anyone else to me." Larwin scowled. "You were the one he told about meeting her, first. I just learned about that a bit ago." He studied the distant image. "Do you think that other one is a threat?"

"I have no idea," she admitted. "Worse, if they are still alive and in danger, how can we help?"

"You've already begun to help."

"How so?

He gestured toward the skull. "Your guess about myst power seems to have opened some sort of communication link."

Nimri rubbed the tense muscles at the back of her neck. "I guess it is a start." But she wished she knew how she'd done this and how she could use it to find the information they needed to find Tem-aki and GEA-4 – hopefully alive and well. Unfortunately, since their images were inside an emblem of the dead, Nimri didn't have much hope of that.

"At least we now know they are alive and well," Larwin said.

Nimri turned to him, mouth half-open in surprise. Had she said something aloud? Snapping her jaws shut, she swallowed, then asked, "How can you know that?"

Larwin pointed beyond Tem-aki's shoulder to the lumpy black box in GEA-4's hands. "One, I don't think deactivated 'droids would end up in the same place as humans. And two, I suspect they might be seeing our images somehow, because Tem-aki is obviously staring at something and GEA-4 is using her tricorder to analyze something."

Could he be right? Nimri studied the vague images and was surprised to notice that now, there were two pairs of disembodied eyes in the background. Four eyes! Despite the fact that one pair of eyes appeared chocolate brown, and the other blueish, they reminded her of the cold, golden gaze the guardian's of the Star Bridge had fixed on her when she had guided Larwin to their world. Nimri shivered at the memory and looked for a tell-tale golden glint. But, if the original dark eyes had any color, it was more like a warm chocolate-brown and the newer eyes, now had a familiar green glint that looked a lot like Thunder's eyes.

She was almost positive that Thunder could not have died and passed to the next life, since she'd seen him. So, assuming he was alive, why was his image in the skull? Nimri rubbed her aching neck, as she asked Larwin if he thought the eyes looked like Thunder's.

"Could be." He looked deep into her own eyes, then back at the skull. "Same green, so probably."

"But how?"

"He's got a skull in his bedroom, doesn't he?" She nodded. "Then his theory about these things being for communication could be on track."

Nimri assumed that 'on track' meant correct. Larwin frequently made strange little remarks like that, which reminded her that he'd had a whole different life and other-worldly experiences before he came to her world.

She sighed and turned her attention to the skull, which needed to be understood if answers could ever be found.

Another question popped into her mind: if or when they found Tem-aki could she heal the poor woman's face?

And would it be rude to try?

For all she knew, big flat noses were considered beautiful on Guerreterre and nice, normal noses, like her own and Larwin's were considered homely.