Fire Island: Book 3 of The Chatterre Trilody (Chatterre Trilogy) (5 page)

Chapter 7

After GEA-4 finished recharging, she and Tem-aki began repairs to the android's damaged face. "It almost looks like you were in an explosion."

"I was."

Tem-aki blinked in surprise and waited for GEA-4 to continue, instead, the android silently continued bonding her damaged tissue. With a sigh, Tem-aki asked, "Do you think you will be able to find Larwin's coordinates, once your sensors are repaired?"

"Time will tell what is repairable." The android's hands paused and she raised her silvery gaze to meet Tem-aki's in an oddly human way. "However, even if I can determine that, the crucial question is if we will be able to get to him."

"What do you mean?"

"Probables indicate that the rocky landmass we discovered is an island. It is the only landmass within sensor range. Assuming my calculations are correct, while we are on the same planet as Colonel Atano, the land mass that he is on, is on the opposite side of this planet. Your suit does not have adequate air to walk that distance."

The tiny flame of hope, which she had been nurturing, died and tears of despair blurred her vision. "Cameron has the big boat. Couldn't he take us?"

"Unknown." GEA-4's hands paused, then she added. "I do not know of any world map for this world, so do not know if the water all interconnects."

That was a problem. Tem-aki chewed her lower lip. "Then what are we going to do?"

"That is the true question, isn't it?" GEA-4 went back to working on repairs.

"I always thought that the material covering you was pigment infused during manufacture, but your covering is stark white on the back and tan on the top."

"Nimri helped me look more human, so I would fit in better."

"Nimri?"

"The healer and protector of the Chosen."

"The Chosen?"

"Nimri's Tribe."

Again, Tem-aki waited for the android to continue speaking, but, again, she remained silent. "You have no intention of telling me about her, do you?"

"At the moment, Nimri is not relevant."

"Oh, really?" Tem-aki's fingernails dug into her palms, as she fought the urge to smack the infernal machine. "What is relevant?"

"Survival. Second: repairs. Third: assessing our situation. Fourth: once we know exactly what our situation is, what resources we have available and where Colonel Atano is located, then we can make a plan to reunite with him. Until then, planning anything is a waste of time and energy." GEA-4 bonded the largest torn piece of dermal-layer covering her cheek back into place.

"That makes sense." And it did, even though she hated to admit it and the only thing she really wanted to find was Larwin, immediately. "Since we have survived, and are now on step two, how do you propose that we assess our situation? Other than the fact that we are in the middle of water and have no way to go anywhere?"

GEA-4's hands, which were fitting bits of plastoid to repair her ear, stilled and, again, she turned her silver stare on Tem-aki in an oddly human way. "We listen and watch."

"Listen to what? Words we can't understand?" Tem-aki ran her hand through her hair. "Watch what? How he slices bread and makes something he calls a sandwich? Or maybe how to use a board to move a little boat through the water?" She exhaled, but the pressure inside remained. "Just what valuable information am I supposed to learn from that sissified dress-wearing guy?" The words exploded with a violence she couldn't hide.

"Draco O’ryan obviously lives here and if we watch him and his feline-companion, we can learn much."

"How do you figure that?"

"Do you not remember that he was waiting for us and he had lit a signal fire?"

"You think he expected us and went there to meet us?"

"On this world, that would be my best explanation."

"Why did you phrase it that way? Does this world operate that much differently from Guerreterre?"

"Nimri's tribe values natural resources and does not squander them, as Guerreterre does. She, Thunder and Kazza all have the ability to use myst power."

"Mist what?"

"The books you had as a child would have called it magic."

"You can't be serious!" The android ignored her and continued repairing the damaged tissue. Already, there was a marked improvement on the left side of her face. "Who is Kazza?"

"A feline, very similar to Saphera, though he has much more gold in his fur. He is approximately twenty percent larger and his eyes are amber instead of blue."

"And this so-called-feline works magic?" Her tone squeaked with surprise.

"Correct. I therefore postulate that Saphera could have the capability for magic, as well, and if so, there is a possibility that she could let Kazza know our location."

"You cannot be serious!"

"If you knew Kazza, you would not say that."

"Whatever." Since the android was now spouting crazy speculation, Tem-aki turned away. Walking to the railing, she studied the shore, and focused on the strange octagonal rocks, which had fascinated her. From this vantage point, she could see hundreds littered the shore. Calibrating her tricorder, she checked each for life signs. Only two other than the one she had taken readings from, while going to where Cameron had tied his small boat, showed life signs. Strange.

Very strange.

No matter how hard she thought about it, there was nothing in her geology books that mentioned anything similar, much less had the silica-based readings that also could indicate life.

Could GEA-4 be correct about magic being a factor in this world? As a chill rushed over her, Tem-aki rubbed her palms on her arms and wished she had ended up somewhere understandable.

Somewhere, where she didn't need to worry about drowning.

Somewhere, where men dressed like men.

Somewhere, where rocks were rocks, not some form of living thing.

~0~

Cameron watched the tender way Captaintemakiatano touched GEA-4, and, again, wondered if they were related. And if they were not related in some way, why did GEA-4 allow Captaintemakiatano to touch her? Again, he studied the smaller one's extensive injuries.

Had she been attacked by a man?

That could explain why she had reacted to his touch the way she had.

However, he could not imagine how anyone had gotten close enough to hurt someone that strong.

Yet, when he had first seen her, she had been so badly wounded that she couldn't walk. Could that be done from a distance? It didn't seem likely, but then neither did the rapid way her torn flesh healed.

Cameron had no idea how any person could cause another such extensive harm, but was also aware that humans were capable of bad things. As a draco, he had watched far too many families suffer because one member became unbalanced by either mental or physical illness. And too often, their illness spread to those closest to them. Since he could not figure out how or why bad thoughts and deeds could move from person to person, he still accepted his mother's lesson that it was like having one bad apple in a basket, which tended to taint the rest of the apples, if it wasn't removed and the bad parts cut out.

And that made him think of Varlet, whose attitudes and laziness were already starting to affect Dirk and Malin. It was bad enough that their beliefs were attacked from outside, nearly unbearable that he had to tolerate Varlet's negativity from within their group. Yet tolerate it, he must. At least until Varlet gave him solid reason to dismiss him.

Cameron clenched his teeth until his jaws ached. Then, he forced himself to focus on GEA-4 and the way she and Captaintemakiatano were apparently healing her torn flesh, instead of think about the thorn named Varlet, which had been his problem for over a year. Shaka-uma willing, he would find a solution for Varlet. But right now, he needed to understand why she had sent him these two strange females.

Cameron wished he knew what to do to heal the injured one. Keeping his distance from the strangers, he noticed that Captaintemakiatano was not actually healing GEA-4, but somehow seemed to be supporting her while she healed herself.

Was that the secret?

Did the ill need to heal themselves instead of seek help elsewhere?

He chewed his lower lip as he contemplated the idea, which was the exact opposite of everything he had been taught.

Yet, the more he watched them, the more certain he became that they were some sort of supernatural beings. Even though, the only other way he might be able to describe their arrival from the underworld was speculating that they were demons, he had never heard of demons healing anything or anyone. And when he had first seen her, Captaintemakiatano wore the color of Shaka-uma's tongue. Though it was strange and troubling that he could not understand most of her words.

Regardless, a demon would not have come bearing the staff of power.

So, that doubt was settled. Whatever they were, they were not demons.

After over an hour of watching them and nothing dramatic happening, Cameron went outside and looked at the desolate coastline. Draco Shakura, his sect's founder, had controlled the dragon-mother, Shaka-uma with the staff of power, then lost it in a violent storm, which nearly cost him his life.

Now, it had been returned.

Why? There had not been a dragon sighted in generations. Why had the supernatural beings returned it, now, unless it was needed?

Cameron's gaze traveled around the peaceful bay. Were the legends true?

Had this bay once been a tall cone-shaped mountain filled with fire?

Had Shaka-uma lived here?

Had Shaka-uma been killed when the mountain exploded in the cataclysmic disaster which formed this harbor, as the profit-makers claimed?

Was his faction merely following an elaborate myth?

Or was Shaka-uma sleeping under Dragon Ridge as she waited for her eggs to hatch?

He remembered the thin tendril of smoke, which had risen toward the slender sliver of moon. Again, gooseflesh rippled over his back, along with the certainty that the eggs would soon hatch, Shaka-uma would soon wake and he would need to figure out how to control them with the staff of power.

Cameron's grip tightened on the railing, as his gaze traveled to the distant formation named Dragon Ridge. Soon, it would be time for the annual pilgrimage to its summit, where, for centuries, dracos had built bonfires on what they claimed to be the top of Shaka-uma's head. It would be the first time he officiated at this most sacred ceremony.

Legend said that fire built this island.

Fire protects and feeds the faithful.

Fire burns out poisons.

And supposedly fire called for Shaka-uma to return.

Would she come for him?

Or, had his strange guests brought the staff to use themselves?

A pinging sound from GEA-4 caught his attention. He turned in time to see a spark leap from her fingertip. Had the sound she made been the same tone dracos had used in their healing ritual for the past thousand years? He couldn't be positive, because it was so short, but he thought it was the same frequency he used to move a sick follower from a place of imbalance to a place of balance.

He cocked his head to one side and concluded that this could be another clue about his guests' divine origin.

Like fire, sounds helped facilitate shifts in thoughts. By using rhythm and frequency, it became possible to change thoughts from normal waking consciousness to sleep, where healing could happen.

Sound therapy could be both passive and participatory, but he had never known anyone to practice it on themselves. For one thing, the passive aspect was achieved by lying down and slowing your breath. Cameron squinted at GEA-4's chest and marveled at her control. Never, in all his years of training, had he known anyone who could slow their breathing so much that no inhalation was detectable.

Had sound helped GEA-4 create the pathway to perfect stillness of meditation?

After she finished healing herself, would she teach him how to transcend the need for air?

And would Captaintemakiatano teach him how to use the staff of power?

Chapter 8

As the sun neared the horizon, Cameron hung up two hammocks in the salon for his guests, then, he went topside to bring them down. Oddly, neither of them seemed to know how to get into a hammock, so he hung his, then demonstrated.

Captaintemakiatano gamely gave it a try and nearly flipped over before she collapsed, white-knuckled, into the wildly swinging bed. GEA-4 tentatively tested the fabric's strength with her palm, and apparently decided it was not strong enough, because, without uttering a sound, GEA-4 turned, walked back to the ladder and went back above-deck.

After his startling dunking, he was unwilling to urge her to give the comfortable hammock a try.

Watching her leave, Cameron noticed that the last rays of sun were shining through the eyes of the huge feline crystal skull, as it sat in front of the porthole. The skull had been given to him when he earned the rank of high draco. But, for the first time since he had seen it, it looked like something was moving inside the skull. He took a step closer, to get a better look and squinted at the tiny moving figures inside. It looked like Saphera, who appeared to be the size of an ant and some even smaller people were inside the skull and either dancing or fighting with some fiery, golden dragons, which appeared as large as dragonflies. Having never seen such a bizarre phenomenon previously, he bent forward until his nose pressed against the skull.

Now that he was closer, he thought that he recognized himself and was even more certain that one of the two cats was Saphera, but he did not recognize the other humans or understand why they seemed to be fighting three dragons. He was also surprised that by comparison, one of the dragons looked larger than Sirocco's hull.

He blinked as he stood upright and wondered why he would fight something as revered as a dragon.

Suddenly, the crystal skull filled with a blaze of blinding light, then a few moments later, it was back to normal; the vacant eyes staring out the porthole to the last rays of the setting sun.

Heart hammering against his enclosing ribs, Cameron continued to stare at the skull. He nearly forgot to breathe, as he tried to understand not only what he had just seen, but why he had seen it.

The only explanation was that this had something to do with the tendril of smoke and the two strangers, who had arrived with the lost staff of power.

The vision couldn't be an omen, could it?

No draco in the entire history of his faction had ever considered harming one of the magnificent, life-bringing creatures.

Yet he had seen himself and others fighting the dragons in the skull, hadn't he? Had he actually recognized himself or had it been his imagination?

Before the light totally faded to shadows, he climbed into his hammock and tried to relax enough to rest, but all he could think about was the tiny figures, and the more he thought about it, the more certain he was that they had looked like they were locked in mortal combat.

Saphera padded into the salon, curled up on her pile of cushions and began to purr. Cameron couldn't recall the last time he had felt so agitated that she had purred him to sleep, but he soon felt his muscles relaxing and his breathing return to normal.

Then lapsing into sleep, he dreamed he was high in the night sky, soaring, like a bird and looking down at Sirocco's deck. He woke in the middle of the night thinking his dream had almost been as disorienting as the vision inside the skull.

~0~

Tem-aki woke from a dream where she had been heavy with child. By the time she had blinked away the remnants of the strange dream, she realized she was staring at the big translucent plastoid, alien skull, which, if she understood what she had witnessed yesterday, was apparently some holographic display, but judging by the way Cameron had reacted, he didn't understand it any better than she did.

'Skull of doom, skull of death' flickered through her thoughts, making her shiver. She continued to stare at the unusual artwork. At least she thought it looked like some sort of artistic creation, even though it might be some sort of entertainment system or maybe even a communication device.

What if it had supernatural powers?

The small hairs on her arms stood on end. She quickly glanced around to see if Cameron was watching her, but his hanging bed was empty.

Darn, she'd hoped she could watch how he got out of this unstable thing, again. Yesterday, when he had demonstrated getting in, it had looked simpler than putting on socks. Then, she had tried to do it. Tem-aki swallowed at the memory and was still amazed that she had gotten in without landing face-first on the floor.

But now, she was stuck in the darn thing.

The cat was gone, too, so there was nothing to grab onto, except a saffron robe, which was useless.

At least, there was no one around to watch her make a fool of herself.

Tem-aki carefully sat up. The flimsy fabric jiggled. Quickly, she put one leg over each side to balance it, then sat up the rest of the way. She began to move her left leg to the other side, but that sent the hammock rocking so violently, that she quickly grabbed on with both hands and put her left leg back. Sitting there, felt surprisingly stable, as long as she didn't move.

Was this odd bed some form of prison?

She shook her head, quickly discounting the idea. The man had slept in one, too, and she could see where several ropes had previously been secured to hold over a dozen of the things; it was most likely that this was a normal thing for their culture.

She sensed a gentle movement through her feet. Picking them up, the hammock began rocking, again, so she put them back down. She realized that before her feet had touched the floor, the boat had seemed stable as a normal building. So maybe whoever had come up with this bed's design had been clever. Except this was one of the most treacherous things she had ever tried to get on or off of.

Well, this and that slick tunnel floor.

After several failed attempts, Tem-aki grabbed the hammock's sides with both hands, folded her legs around the crazy bed and flipped the thing over. Once she was suspended under it, she released her grip with her legs, then lowered herself the short distance to the floor, and then she released her hands. She quickly got up, dusted herself off, flipped the crazy bed back and draped the saffron robe over it.

Now free, she went to the skull and took out her tricorder.

To her surprise, instead of plastoid, it had a 4 on the hardness scale. Further analysis revealed that it was made of a single piece of quartz crystal. She blinked in surprise, having assumed a culture where men wore tent-like dresses and moved their little boats by muscle power, was too backward to use, much less build, technology. And now, she learned that Cameron had the technology to shape a giant quartz crystal into a complex 13.0 by15.1 inch sculpture, which not only had a mirror-like finish, but was capable of some sort of visual depiction.

Amazing.

Had the holographic aspect been a trick of the light?

Was this thing capable of verbal communication, or did this culture use ESP or something else equally bizarre?

For certain, Cameron was not much of a talker.

The only other things her tricorder was able to verify about the skull was that the jaw was articulated and that there was no electromagnetic current. In short, the oddly beautiful piece seemed to be nothing more than an inanimate sculpture.

A lump of artistic quartz with a moveable mouth. Yet no sound had come from it.

Yet, she was sure it was much more.

As she contemplated that riddle, she smelled something delicious. Mouth watering, she headed up the ladder to the eating area.

~0~

Cameron used two bamboo cooking sticks to turn the strips of bacon in the deep skillet and wasn't surprised when Captaintemakiatano followed the aroma into the galley. In fact, the only thing that surprised him was that she had not put on the robe he'd left for her. The rest of the group should soon return from their pilgrimage to Dragon Ridge, where they had begun preparing things for the Summer Solstice Ceremony.

While he could appreciate how comfortable it was to walk around in one's under-garments, many of the others would not. In fact, some, like Varlet, who seemed to think that everyone should be perfect clones, would be outright hostile about anyone being in public half-clothed. Particularly a female.

What a boring, repressed world it would be, if Varlet and his pals had their way.

Pain in his hand brought Cameron's attention back to the cooking. As he moved out of range of the bacon's spitting grease, he had to admit that perhaps Varlet had a point about how distracting a half-naked woman could be. Moving the pan to the side, he hurried below, grabbed the robe he had laid out for her, brought it up and handed it to her.

Her confused expression was comical. It almost looked like no one had ever given her clothing, before. It also looked like she didn't have a clue that he meant for her to put it on.

Before he thought about the possible ramifications, he grabbed the robe out of her hands, shook it out than flipped it over her head.

There, she could not mistake his meaning, now.

Recalling what had happened, when he'd touched GEA-4, Cameron quickly stepped out of range, before Captaintemakiatano got her arms through the sleeves, and went back to tending their breakfast.

"You expect me to wear this tent?" She flapped around in the robe, as if she was a fish caught in a net. "Are you serious?" she demanded.

He plucked the cooked strips of bacon out of the pan and placed them on parchment to drain off the grease, then, he poured the excess fat into the canister and placed the egg-soaked day-old bread in the hot pan.

"Are you going to tell me why you put this thing on me?"

Cameron flipped over the fried bread.

"You aren't going to talk to me, are you?" Captaintemakiatano stormed out of the galley. "GEA-4 where are you?"

Her companion, who had made no complaint about putting on a similar robe, answered from the bow. "What?"

"He made you wear one of these ugly things, too?" After that, there were more unintelligible words, but softer.

Cameron grasped the fully cooked slices of fried bread and put them on three plates, then added two eating sticks and a few slices of bacon to each dish. Even as he placed the dishes on the table, he couldn't understand why Captaintemakiatano was unhappy over wearing the robes of an allocate. Putting on his first robe had been a high point of his life.

With a sigh, he rang the bell, then sat down to eat.

~0~

Nimri opened her eyes to find both Larwin and Kazza staring at her, concern in their expressions. "What's wrong?"

"You were having a nightmare."

She struggled to sit up, the bulk of her pregnancy, plus linens damp with perspiration, making this simple task difficult. "Did I kick you out of bed, again?"

Both Kazza and Larwin nodded.

Wow, it took a lot to move Larwin and even more to budge Kazza; she was in better shape than she'd thought. The baby kicked her ribs, making her wonder if her unborn baby had helped clear the bed. Nimri winced. "Sorry about that."

"Do you feel alright?"

Larwin's expression was so serious, that doubts began to nag her thoughts. "Yes." He arched a brow, letting her know that he knew she was not telling all. "Well, aside from being hungry, that is."

He didn't move. Neither did Kazza. Worse, now both of Larwin's brows were arched in question. This was not good. "Did I do or say something – aside from kicking you out of bed, that is?"

"You were kicking, scratching and screaming that someone stole your cone."

Memories of the tiny pinecone she had magically received made her clutch the amulet bag at her throat. "Did I hurt either of you?"

While Kazza snorted in disdain, Larwin shook his head, and asked, "Is our child all right?"

Now that she understood what he was so concerned about, Nimri smiled, took his large, callused hand in both of hers and placed it on her abdomen. Almost immediately, their son began kick-boxing his hand. Larwin smiled with relief.

"In my nightmare, there were four madrox. Three smaller ones plus one huge one." She swallowed. "It was difficult, because they moved fast and confusing, because the small ones looked alike."

Larwin's smile vanished. "They attacked us, here?"

"No, that's another thing that was strange. They seemed to be cooler and were able to dive in and out of water without problems." She frowned as she tried to remember the details of her bizarre dream. "There was a lot of water. Not like our river... when I stood on the shore and turned my back to the land, there was water as far as I could see and it looked like it was rolling." She shivered.

'Was it rolling because the dragons were diving into it?"

"I don't think so."

"So the water was rolling for no reason?" She nodded. "And there was no sight of land." She nodded, again. Larwin frowned. "Do you think you dreamed that because Thunder and Raine told us about Kalamar?" he asked.

She chewed her lower lip and considered that possibility, but the certainty increased that wherever all that water was, it was not on Raine's home-world. "No, not really." Nimri wondered if she should tell him that wherever it was, his sister was there and she'd held the staff of power, as if she knew how to use it. And a man, who was garbed in the same saffron-gold as Tem-aki, was trying to direct them how to deal with the madrox without harming them, which didn't make sense. There was also a white feline, who acted more lady-like than Kazza, and oddly enough there had been three crystal skulls. In many ways that was the strangest thing about the dream, because it was well known that she and Thunder were caretakers of the only two skulls in existence.