Jeanne G'Fellers - No Sister of Mine (27 page)

“Ockson is a fool who’d never seen LaRenna before today,” interjected Krell.

“True,” agreed Firman. “I’ve seen her work. That little Kimshee left more than one mark on Cance’s face. If Krell’s convinced she’s alive then I am, too.” He patted Krell on the shoulder and winked at Tatra. “Hey skinny, did Ockson say when the search teams were setting out?”

“They’re assembling in an hour on landing deck two and I am not skinny.” Tatra ran a lean hand down her side in demonstration. “My proportions are perfect for my framework.” She gave each of them a disbelieving glance then sighed. “Guess I’ll be going as well.”

“Why?” asked Krell. “Belsas didn’t call for you to join the teams.”

“I know, but if you have to insist so solidly that LaRenna is alive then I’ll have to give you the benefit of the doubt.” Tatra stepped onto the level lift then turned back, holding the door long enough to return Firman’s wink. “I’ll see you in an hour.”

Firman elbowed Krell’s ribs as the lift door slid shut. “You see that? She’s flirting with me. Me!”

“She does have her moments.” Krell’s eyes were back on the viewer. “Enjoy them. They’re few and far between.”

“Well, she needs more of them.” Firman scrambled to catch the next lift. “I think they make her unbearably attractive.”

Sister sister close your mouth

And dare not make a sound

The Taelach hunt is drawing near

 Don’t let yourself be found

Help the children cover up

Cloak their silver hair

Take the back way through the caves

We can flee from there

Sister sister close your mouth

And dare not make a sound

If Autlachs find us

Taelach blood will spill upon the ground

—old Taelach teaching rhyme

Several seconds of cold waking fear passed before LaRenna remembered her surroundings. She took a slow breath and rolled back to warm against her brother only to find him gone. “Trazar?” He didn’t reply. Easing up, she quickly silenced her fears and crept to the open window, stopping when a familiar shape caught her eye.

It was Cance’s inhaler, conveniently within reach. She picked it up and held it before her face. One puff and her pain would be bearable. The reaction would be better this time. Her system had acclimated and she would be able to enjoy the full effect. One hit, that was all. It would calm her, soothe away the agony. She’d never let it get to the addictive level of her attackers. Just one.

Go ahead, my beauty. Numb away the hurt
. Cance’s echoing whisper knotted LaRenna’s insides.
One won’t hurt. Go on. You need it and so do I.

“No!” LaRenna tossed the inhaler outside. Cance’s specter faded along with it but didn’t disappear entirely. She still held a place in the darkest corner of LaRenna’s subconscious. “No dead procker is going to run my life! Get outta my head!” She shook off a chill then leaned out of the launch in search of her brother, desperate for his presence. “Trazar?”

“Just a minute.” He had slid out and to the rear of the craft to relieve himself, hoping to return to her side before she awoke. He had wanted to spare her the fear he now detected in her voice. “You okay?”

LaRenna glanced at the inhaler. It lay in a puddle, contents leaking harmlessly into the ground. “My leg feels huge.”

Trazar trotted over as he retied his waist lacings. In a single fluid movement, he scooped her out of the launch. “Best get you out of there, little sis. By Talmshone’s odor, he’s dead.”

LaRenna crinkled her nose as she became aware of the stench. Trazar laughed at her expression then held her up to view the crash site.

The launch had smashed into the canyon’s rock face and tumbled end-over-end until it had reached a flat area near the sandy bottom. The stream of the night before was now a raging river of mud and debris. “We were lucky to have survived. Your faithful Mother was watching over us yesterday.”

“About time she took a moment for me. My belief was wearing thin.” LaRenna held on to Trazar’s tunic as he settled her onto a long metal panel. “Think they’ll have trouble finding us down here?”

“Doesn’t matter. We can’t stay.” Trazar pointed toward the churning waters, the surrounding area, then the sky. “We crashed onto a wet weather riverbed. Look at those clouds. It’s going to rain again.”

“I know. The storm scent is stronger than Talmshone’s.”

“Another soaking like last night’s and this entire canyon floor will be underwater.” Trazar checked her bandages and loosened the strips securing the brace. He said nothing of the red marks stretching up her leg. “How are your rib bindings?”

“Better than my bladder.” She moaned. “Could you help me find a place I can balance before I explode? The water sound is almost too much.”

“Why didn’t you say something earlier?” Trazar gathered her in his arms and carried her to the launch’s rear. There she balanced on one leg, a disgusted and almost jealous look on her face.

“Sometimes I think life would be easier if Taelachs were physically male.”

“Then you wouldn’t be my sister.” Trazar turned politely away. “Besides, you are what you are for a reason.” He ducked into the launch to gather their supplies. “Call me when you’re through.” Trazar pulled the Iralian’s cloak free of his body and bundled a few things into it, his hand throbbing with every stretch of his fingers. The cut should have received a few stitches but would heal decently enough without them.

“Is there a clean rag about?” called LaRenna. Trazar opened the bundle and removed the remaining piece of Talmshone’s trouser leg for her use.

“Here you go.” He backed toward her, his arm extended behind. LaRenna thanked him and swiftly tended to her personal needs.

“Don’t go. I’m almost finished.” She pulled the nightshirt straight and hobbled over to him, grabbing his shoulder for support. “I’m ready.”

“No you’re not. We can’t have you barefoot in the mud.” A drizzle began to fall as Trazar carried her back to the metal sheet. He set her gently down then scrambled to the shrubs at the water’s edge before Cance’s remains washed away. Her took her belt, bow, and boots, tucking them under his arm as he returned to his sister’s side.

“They’ll be big but they should keep your feet dry.” He pulled a boot over her good foot, lashing the gaping top shut with a strip of the twisted belt leather. The second boot refused to slide over her misshapen ankle. “I’ll fix that.” Trazar split the hide shaft and peeled it apart to the sole. “Now you’ll stay dry.” He carefully wrapped the open boot about her foot and secured the top as tightly as he dared.

“We ready then?” She eyed the rising water.

“Almost.” Trazar draped the Iralian’s cloak over her and snapped the neck closed. Its padded shoulders fell nearly to LaRenna’s elbows, giving her the appearance of a girl playing dress-up. “You’re certainly small to be Taelach.”

“Like I haven’t heard that before.”

“Don’t get me wrong. There’s nothing wrong with your size.” Trazar fastened the front of her wrap. “In fact, I’m glad you’re small. It would be hard to carry you otherwise.” He shoved their meager supplies into his pockets and tossed her the plasma bow. “Is it usable?”

LaRenna examined the weapon then handed it back to him. “The power housing has a hairline crack. The charge could reverse if it’s fired.”

Trazar immediately disposed of the weapon. He knew little of Taelach-style weaponry but enough to be wary of the weapon’s potential for radiation poisoning. “Won’t it leak if the housing is busted?”

“There’s a safety cage around the core tank but I’d rather be safe than sorry.” LaRenna shivered again and sneezed. “I think the weather is getting to me. Let’s go.”

At the suggestion, a torrential downpour began to blanket the area. Trazar pulled her close and hurried away from the rising waters. The going was slick, every direction they took ending in an incline too steep to climb without the use of hands.

“I think we may be trapped down here.” He brushed the wet hair from her face. “How’s your swimming?”

“Taelachs don’t swim,” she replied through her stuffed nose. “We sink well though.”

Trazar took the ill-timed jest seriously. “We get out of here, I’ll teach you.” He lowered her to the forking branches of a squat tree and stared up the mud-caked slopes. “I can’t carry you in my arms and scale these walls. You’ll have to ride on my back. Feel up to it?”

“Do I have a choice?” LaRenna wiped at the tickling stream that dripped off her chin.

“No.” Trazar bent to her level so she could wrap her arms and good leg around him. He stood up slowly, shrugged to redistribute her weight, then shifted to take the brace into consideration. “Here we go.”

LaRenna twisted her hands into his tunic and leaned into his ear. “When we get to the top, head north. The Taelach Training Grounds are in that direction.”

“You’ve been to Saria Four before?” Trazar latched on to a protruding rock and began his ascent.

“Schooled here.” She stifled another sneeze into his back. “We’re in the Glory Lands.”

“
Glorious
is not the term I would use. Does it always rain like this?”

“Just in the spring.” LaRenna gritted her teeth as her leg skidded across a projecting stone.

“Sorry.” Trazar continued their dangerous climb. Behind them, the water had risen until it lapped several inches deep inside the launch. LaRenna looked over her shoulder and shuddered. Sharing her fear, Trazar picked up his pace, climbing stone to stone. When they reached a fair-sized outcropping, he set her against the stone face so they could rest.

“You all right?” He squeezed the water from his tunic.

“Freezing.” LaRenna followed his lead, wringing some of the moisture from her weighted cloak. Her hands were streaked in color. The thorough soaking was removing the semi-permanent dye from her skin, returning her to Taelach paleness. She rubbed at one hand with the tail of her wrap and held it, palm forward, to her brother.

“You’re washing away!” He pushed back her hood and repeated his surprise. Her face was streaked in the same fashion as her hands. He jerked his tunic cuff over his wrist and rubbed at her skin, LaRenna flinching when he mashed the tender bruises spotting her face.

She pushed his hand away. “Stop it. You’re pinching my nose.”

“Be still. I’m almost through.” Trazar scrubbed all the dye from her face except in the immediate vicinity of her stitches. “So that’s what my sister looks like.”

“Minus the dark hair and bruises.” LaRenna rubbed her nose.

“A little more rain and the hair color will be gone, too,” he replied. “The dye’s streaking down your neck.” Thunder shook the canyon walls, pelting the roof of their temporary roost with a shower of small pebbles. “We’d better climb out of here before we end up in a landslide.” Trazar kicked away several rocks that had landed near his feet.

LaRenna’s death grip properly entangled in his tunic, he shimmied up the outcrop’s ironstone covering. A gusting wind began to blow, slathering them mercilessly with mud and small, biting stones. Trazar cursed their luck and strained to pull higher. Below, the launch bobbed in the current.

“I can’t go much farther in this wind.” Trazar blinked the water from his eyes. “Start looking for a spot we can wait this out.”

LaRenna looked upward then released her hand long enough to point to their upper right. “What about there?”

“No matter what it is, it’ll have to do.” Trazar began climbing in that direction. The climb seemed easier the nearer they came to the opening, as if a rough ladder had been carved into the canyon wall.

“Wait a second!” LaRenna touched the eroded symbols etched between the handholds.

“What does it say?” A violent gust blasted away any answer she may have given and LaRenna clutched his tunic as he scaled the last ten meters to safety. Trazar crawled several lengths into the opening before she would consider loosening her grip and then still held a handful of his dripping tunic.

“Crazy climb, wasn’t it?” Trazar peeled her loose then dumped the water from his boots. “What were those symbols?”

“They’re Taelach markings of a safe haven.” LaRenna gazed around their new surroundings. “This is a Hiding Cave.”

“Hiding Cave?” He looked up in the same dumbfounded manner.

“A place to which Taelachs can flee in times of crisis.”

Trazar stopped what he was doing. “Why would your people need something like this with all your technology?”

“We’ve had them since the time of the Hunts.” LaRenna briefly explained the Kinship’s history to her brother. He listened with locked interest, gaining new understanding and respect of how survival had influenced Taelach culture.

“Amazing,” he muttered when she paused. “Autlach teachers never teach any older history.”

“They should.” LaRenna rasped. “Taelachs learn their own and Autlach history in detail.”