Jeanne G'Fellers - Sisters Flight (22 page)

"One
of the team members has returned." Harlis indicated the padded chairs in
front of her desk where two young women sat, one of them weeping. "And
brought with her one of the Yauld."

"That's
good news!" I clasped my hands.

"We
really don't know if it is or not at this point." Harlis sat back in her
seat and pointed to one. "This one won't quit crying long enough for us to
understand what she's saying, and the other won't speak to anyone but the
crying one."

"I'll
see what I can do." I dropped to my knees beside the crying woman.
"I've seen you before. You're Evangeline's apprentice, aren't you?" I
asked in Old Tongue.

"Not
anymore, I'm not." Laszlo's face was smeared with something that smelled
horrible and irritated her skin. "She dumped me just before the second
raid on the mine."

"Dumped
you?"

"She
dismissed me from my apprenticeship." Laszlo gulped back another round of
sobs. "I failed her. I don't know what to do without her."

"So
the mission was going well?"

"It
seemed so when we left," the former apprentice sniveled. "We were
driven out really, or at least I was."

"More
likely she was detailed to bring back the other young woman," Harlis spoke
over the general murmur my translation caused. "That is not being driven
out. What else can she tell us about the mission's status?"

When
I asked, Laszlo swiped her nose on her sleeve then continued. "We made an
initial raid on the camp, disguised as Autlachs, and we came out with
fourteen." Laszlo bit her bottom lip to stop its trembling. "Plus
Helaine here."

"What
was planned when you left?" I caught Laszlo's hand in my own. "And is
Rankil okay?"

"They
were planning a raid on the mine."

"And
Rankil?"

"She
was to head one of the three raiding parties."

"What
was their goal?" asked the Bowriver colony leader as soon as I finished
translating.

"To
shut down the mine." Laszlo began weeping again. "It was an awful
place. Disgusting. And the awful things they do there!"

"Tell
her to contain herself." Harlis sat forward in her chair. "We know
what goes on in such a place."

"Quite
right," said one of the few clan leaders adept in Old Tongue. "Now
what of the raiding party's plans?"

"Evangeline
didn't tell me." Laszlo swallowed hard. "She told me to hurry here,
and we tried to, but it took us a while to sneak around that Aut
encampment."

"What
Aut encampment?" said several of us at once.

"A
half hour ride or so from the hidden opening."

"How
large an encampment?" I prompted.

"There
were hundreds of them."

"Did
you actually see the encampment?" said Harlis.

"Just
a few distant glances through the trees." Laszlo swiped her nose on her
sleeve. "We were trying to keep low."

"Understandable,"
Harlis said with a quick nod in Laszlo's direction. "Just knowing they're
near the opening but not on top of it is a blessing for us. The rest of the expedition
and the Yauld might just make it through after all. Do you have anything else
to tell?"

"Commander
Stiles did give me a message to forward to clan leader Harlis."

"And
that was?" Numerous voices echoed Harlis's words.

Laszlo
made a concerted effort to speak outside her emotions. "She said that
things aren't looking too good on their end, that you'd better think up
something pretty fucking spectacular." Laszlo looked up at me.
"That's what she said, honest."

"Did
she say anything else?" I asked.

"Just
that Captain Tara herself would have to do a striptease to slow down what's
coming this way."

"Captain
Tara naked." Harlis repeated the words, considering each at length before
she spoke again. "Seventeen generators are ready for use," she said.
"Not quite the thirty the computer called for, but fraught times call for
resourcefulness, something we Tekkroon"—Harlis looked about the room at
the other hardened clan leader faces—"something we Taelach are known for.
Myrla, please take these young women to the infirmary. Tell my runner I am in
need of Technician Maeminya's presence, then return directly to your post. You
will be updated shortly." Harlis pulled a full hide from the map rolls
housed in her office shelves and spread it across the worktable. "Now how
many able bodies do each of you smaller clans still have available? What I plan
on doing..."

I
found the runner just outside Harlis's office, told her of her errand, then
escorted my weary charges to the infirmary, where they were accepted into the
triage area. I could barely contain my fear and excitement when I arrived back
at the spacecraft. All the time and training were finally going to pay off!
"You'd best clean this helm," I called to Genevic as I stepped
aboard. "Harlis is thinking of something big, and I think it involves
Captain Tara!"

Chapter
Fifteen

Return

Master:
It is surprising how we hold the images of our past. We think they and the
people in them should never change
—
even when we do.

Rankil

As
we galloped toward my childhood home, my angst grew. Memories caused both my
child self and my adult self to fear, but we feared together and came to the
joint conclusion that there was nothing more important than getting back to the
Tekkroon, more specifically Myrla. We would deliver my nephew to his home then
we would hurry back to ours.

"Been
a while since I did this." Milk splashed into the bucket at Olitti's feet.
Kaelan squatted next to her, calming the milker with a warming touch to her
flank. I stood in the center of the barn, rocking my nephew, keeping him quiet
by letting him suckle my finger. The barn was still the dank, dusty place I
remembered, but it didn't seem as well kept. Numerous stall boards were down,
and shingles had blown loose from the roof, admitting tiny streaks of moonlight.

"Something
wrong?" Kaelan left the milker's stall to stand beside me.

"Memories,"
I mumbled. "Can you take the baby? I want to find a basket to put him
in."

"Good
idea." Kaelan took the infant from me and held him to her shoulder, where
he nuzzled into her neck. "Blessed babe. Losing your m'ma is such a hard
way to come into this world." She kissed the infant on his forehead.
"Let's line the basket with hay and a saddle blanket."

"Will
do. And we'll take one to wrap the other baby with. Danston always did keep too
many saddle blankets."

"Evangeline
will appreciate the forethought." Kaelan glanced out the open side door to
the outer shed where the Kimshees hid with the Taelach infant.

I
do appreciate the thought, and so does your niece.
Evangeline's phase, weary though it was, seemed to
bounce among the moonbeams before settling into our minds.
Be alert, my
friends. There is movement in the closest dwelling.

I
sense it.
Kaelan shrunk back behind
the hay mound in one of the unoccupied stalls.

Someone's
coming out the house door. A female. And she is carrying a lantern. Hide
yourselves. Let the woman find Olitti but no one else.

Why
Litti?
I asked.

The
woman expects someone to be out here.
Evangeline's
rushed reply created an uncomfortable grating in my mind.
Hurry. You have
but seconds.

I
whispered the situation to Olitti then crouched in one of the empty stalls.

My
mother, Meelsa, in the same ragged night robes I remembered and an old pair of
her husband's boots, hesitated just inside door. "Tessie?" she called
in a loud whisper. "That you? I brought you and Jin some food. It isn't
much but—" She stopped when she saw Olitti emerge from the milker's stall.
"Who're you and what're you doing here?"

"I
know where Tessa is." Olitti placed the milk bucket on the ground before
she dared a step forward.

"My
Tessie?" The lantern in Meelsa's hand shook, and her weary face became
more so. "Where is she? Why didn't she come herself?"

"She—"
Olitti struggled for what to say. She tucked her red gown back under her cloak.
"She, she was expecting a baby and—"

"Whatcha
you mean 'was'?" My mother's eyes grew large. "Did she have the baby?
Is that why she isn't here?"

"Well—"

The
kerchief of food fell from Meelsa's hand as she bridged the distance between
them. She grabbed Olitti by the arm to shake her hard. "Tell me,
girl."

"Let
her go." I stepped from my hiding spot. Even from a distance, I could
sense Meelsa's fear. I was considerably taller than her and broader in the hip
and shoulder. She thought me a man.

"Who—?"
Meelsa stumbled back a step, taking Olitti with her. "Sallnox? Is this
your idea of a joke?" She held the candle higher and squinted into the
dark.

"No,
ma'am, no joke."

"Jin,
this isn't funny."

"I'm
not Jin." I produced a striker from my pocket and struck the flint before
my face. "Look close and remember."

When
Meelsa's grip loosened, Olitti bolted behind me, and I could feel her hide her
face in my back. Meelsa peered hard at my face, but no familiarity lit her
eyes. "Who're you and what've you done with my Tessie?"

It's
been a long time.
Kaelan mind-mumbled
through the dark.
And you still have bits of paint on your face.

And
she has tried to forget,
added
Evangeline.

"I
know Jin abandoned Tessa at Granny Terry's." I dragged my sleeve across my
face, wiping away the remaining paints. "I know she gave birth last night,
and I know you're Tessa's m'ma." I brought the burning sparker to my face
again. "And my m'ma too."

Meelsa
stared for a moment before her mouth tightened with forgotten disconcert. Her
eyes, however, betrayed her—they brimmed with old wounds. "What're you
doing back here?" Her voice cracked. "What've you done with my
Tessie?"

"Tessa's
gone, M'ma."

M'ma
caught a quick breath. "What'd you do to her?"

"Do?"
I balled my fists then, after taking a deep breath, released them.
"Tessa's babies came during last night's snow." I sensed Kaelan's
presence urging me on. "We—"

"There're
more of you?" M'ma began to back down the alleyway toward the door.
"You brought others?"

"We
didn't set out to come here."

M'ma
stopped but continued to quake as she tried to understand. "Then why have
you come?" she finally asked, her eyes darting back and forth as she
searched for my companions.

"I
have something for you." I made no attempt to lessen the distance between us,
but placed the striker in my pocket and pulled my cloak tighter. Even in
winter, I remembered the barn being warm from the animals. Now, however, I
shivered from its emptiness. "Tessa made me promise."

"Why
won't you tell me what you did with my Tessie?" wailed M'ma. Flight
instinct overwhelmed her, and she began to back away. "Come any closer and
I'll yell for Danston."

"I'm
not scared of him anymore." I breezed past my mother to block the open
doorway. "But if you bring him here, he will insist on fighting me, and
that's not the reason I came. I'm through fighting my family, M'ma, through
fighting the memories, through fighting the anger, through with the hurt. I
came to keep a promise I made Tessa."

"But
where is Tessa?" M'ma sobbed. "Where's my daughter?"

"Tessa
died in my arms last night." I called for Kaelan to bring the Aut infant,
startling M'ma so completely that she fell to her knees and prayed. Kaelan
passed the infant to me and, taking Olitti and the milk bucket with her, fell
back to where Evangeline stood watch over the other baby. "She left behind
two babes, M'ma. This boy"—I placed the infant in her arms— "And a
girl who belongs with the Taelach."

Meelsa
stared at the infant for a moment then looked up. "He looks like
Tessa."

"So
does his sister."

"Tessie
birthed a—" The piteous expression on M'ma's face blackened. "I told
her sneaking off with Jin would come to no good. I told her Raskhallak would
see to her punishment." She took the newborn into her arms and stepped
toward the door, rousing a little dirt cloud from the packed floor. "Just
like I was with you."

I
felt nothing but pity for my mother as I stepped out of her way. "A baby
is not a punishment."

"No,
but a pale babe is. The Stipulations say so."

I
tightened my cloak. "I didn't come here to argue. I came to deliver
Tessa's son, to honor her last wish. Will you take him?"

"Of
course I'll take him." Meelsa placed the baby in the basket I had been
preparing. "I'll tell Danston someone left him in the barn."