Sword of Dreams (The Reforged Trilogy) (8 page)

"Maeve Cavainna." She took the offered hand briefly. Panna looked uncomfortable. "I am first mate of the Blue Phoenix. Your accommodations are prepared, if you wish to board."

"We should wait for Professor Xen and help him with the equipment," said Enu-Io.

Maeve nodded. Duaal appeared at the airlock and waved. "Are these our passengers?" he called.

"Hello again, Mister Sinnay," Panna said.

"Just Duaal. And who are the rest?"

The Hyzaari copilot came down the cargo ramp and exchanged introductions with the archeologists. He winked flirtatiously at Enu-Io. Maeve fished her com – short not for
communications
, but
compound phone/radio
– from her pocket and called Tiberius. There was a metallic clang and some shouting before he answered.

"Myles here. What?"

"Most of our guests have arrived. Professor Xen will join them soon, along with the majority of their equipment. Have you finished with Gripper? We could use his help in loading."

"We'll be there in just a minute. Keep your wings on!"

"Yes, captain."

Duaal was deep in conversation with the stout geologist, Phillip, who was familiar with Hyzaar. Panna was watching Maeve again, but colored and turned away when she noticed the Arcadian staring back.

At exactly seven o'clock, Professor Xen drove out onto the landing field in a flatbed truck piled high with crates and cases. He pulled to a stop behind the Blue Phoenix ramp and called to Panna.

"Would you supervise the loading?" he asked. "I need to have a word with Captain Myles."

Panna nodded. She climbed up onto the truck and began checking over the crates. Gruth, Phillip and Enu-Io went to help. Xen asked where Tiberius was.

"He is in the engine room with Gripper," Maeve answered. "He will arrive shortly."

The Ixthian professor looked at her for a moment with eyes shifting through a spectrum of colors too quickly for Maeve to read, then nodded. A moment later, Tiberius and Xia emerged from the Blue Phoenix. Xen exchanged a handshake with Tiberius and a hug with Xia. They all joined the rest of the team in grunting and straining as they unloaded the truck.

A few of the crates were marked with yellow biocontainment stickers and had to be handled with care, but most were just heavy. Only the large, strong Enu-Io was not streaming sweat. Maeve's feathers made Gruth sneeze every time they passed one another. Most of the work was done when Gripper swung down from the upper walkway and landed in the hold.

"Sorry, Claws," he apologized. "That last bolt got stuck. Had to replace it."

Xen stood to one side, alternately talking to Xia and checking over a datadex that Panna held. He caught sight of the Arboran and whistled sharply. Gripper looked at him and colored.

"Hi, I'm Gripper. Professor Xen, right?"

"Amazing. What are you, my boy?"

"His species is called Arboran," Xia said.

Xen's eyes flickered again through several colors. "Arboran? As in the
arborus
genox? Trees?"

"Um, yeah. The Lyra who found me gave it a name in Aver," Gripper said. "Back home, we didn't really have one. We called the forest
Weh-weh
, though. It uh… it means
tree-tree
."

"Amazing," Xen said again. "Simply amazing. How many other secrets are you keeping on this ship, Xia?"

"Gripper's the big one, I think. I'm sure you can understand why we didn't want to drag him across the university to meet with you."

Xen looked Gripper speculatively up and down. "I suppose I do, at that. This will be a fascinating trip."

"It won't be if we can't get this stuff loaded up," Gruth shouted from across the cargo bay. "Why doesn't the big whatever-you-are come help me with this drill? Bring me that NI pallet!"

"Yeah, sure," Gripper said and did as the Lyran asked.

"Absolutely fascinating," Xen murmured.

Tiberius waved Duaal over and hooked his thumb over his shoulder, in the direction of the nose of the ship and the cockpit. "Looks like we're about done here. Go submit our clearance to the control tower."

"Do I have to?" Duaal asked plaintively. He looked around the field and lingered on Enu-Io, who had removed his shirt to keep it clean as he repositioned crates in the Blue Phoenix hold. "The view in here is much nicer."

"Go call it in," Tiberius told him.

"And then take the Phoenix up?"

"And then wait for me."

"Come on! I'm wasted on you, captain," Duaal sighed. "I really am."

He looked around for someone to agree with him. Maeve just shrugged, but Xia put a silver hand on Tiberius' shoulder. "It's a clear day and should be smooth flying," she said. "He could use the practice."

Tiberius considered. "Sure. When you get clearance, you can fly out, Duaal. Just watch out for the morning traffic. These eggheads can't fly straight before they've had their first pot of coffee."

"Yes, sir!" Duaal snapped a silly, over-elaborate salute and ran up toward the cockpit.

"Is he your student?" asked Enu-Io in a deep, quiet voice.

Tiberius grunted, still watching the door through which Duaal had vanished.

"He's been the Blue Phoenix copilot for five years," Xia said. "He's pretty well qualified, if that's what you're asking."

"He doesn't look much like a pilot," Panna said with a smile. "More like a fashion holo for deep club types. Where's he from?"

Before anyone could answer, the engines howled. The Blue Phoenix lurched under their feet, throwing everyone to the ground. Maeve flapped her wings hard to keep her balance. Professor Xen arched a white eyebrow at Xia.

She smirked back at him. "You wanted a cheap flight, Xen."

"I better go check on that," Tiberius said, heading for the stairs.

________

Dinner the first night out was fresh fare from Tynerion, mostly fruit and vegetables with a dessert of strawberry ice cream that had everyone picking seeds out of well-fed grins for hours afterward.

"Sorry," apologized the red-haired Phillip, who had prepared it. "I forgot to strain the pulp."

"It is still better fare than we are used to," Maeve said.

With the addition of five more bodies, the room that served as the ship's kitchen, lounge and crew dining room all at once was quite crowded, forcing everyone to sit close together around the table or at the couches. Despite the close quarters, Panna still managed to stay across the mess from Maeve.

Gripper burped happily and then covered his mouth. "Oops. Thanks, Strawberry. I haven't had ice cream in months."

"Strawberry?" Phillip asked, afraid that Gripper was making fun of him.

"For the ice cream and because of your hair."

"Oh." The geologist covered his coppery hair with his hands. Gruth barked a short laugh.

"We never use birth names," Gripper explained quickly. "It's a sort of nickname. I use them for everyone. Smoke and Shimmer. Claws and Little Claws for his hawk. Silver for Xia, because she's so shiny and pretty…"

"That she is," said Xen. He pushed his bowl back and rested his sharp chin in one palm. He peered across the table at Xia. "You're as lovely now as the day you left, my dear. You did cut off your hair, though, and I must confess that I miss it."

"I didn't cut it the first time. Someone else did," Xia replied. She brushed a six-fingered hand over her scalp. "I guess I just got used to it after that. I hadn't really thought about it. Maybe I should let it grow out again."

"I like it short," said Gripper. "It's all fuzzy."

"Fuzzy?" Xia frowned.

"Yeah…" Gripper bit his brown-mottled lip and gave her an uncertain smile.

"We have a lot of catching up to do," said Xen. "Why don't you show me the ship, Xia? You have medical facilities, I assume?"

"A small medbay," Xia told him demurely. "There's not much to show, but come on."

She deposited their ice cream bowls in the sink and led Xen from the room. Gripper watched them go with his mouth hanging open.

"Perhaps you should not have told her that her hair looked fuzzy," Maeve suggested gently.

Duaal stifled a laugh and Gripper looked mortified.

"But it does!" he groaned. "Like my favorite moss!"

Duaal could contain his mirth no longer and began giggling. Gruth and Phillip chuckled, too.

Tiberius did not seem to get the joke. He stood and cracked his knuckles loudly. "I've got to feed Orphia or she'll have my fingers. Duaal, check our vectors before bed."

"Will do, captain," Duaal wiped a tear from the corner of his eye.

Gripper glared at the mage for a moment, but then stared wistfully out the door as Tiberius departed. "What do you think they're talking about?" he wondered after a moment.

"Tiberius and Orphia?" asked Maeve.

"No. Silver and Shorts."

"Shorts?"

"Professor Xen. Shorts. Because he's so short."

It was easy to make light of Gripper's infatuation with Xia. He was absurdly inept in his courtship. But for all of its comedy, his pain was no less real. Maeve put her hand on top of Gripper's huge one and gave it a small, reassuring squeeze.

"As the professor said, they have a lot to catch up on," Panna answered. She rose and collected the remaining bowls from the table. "They haven't seen each other in years. They used to be quite close."

"Close?" asked Gripper. "Like what kind of close?"

"They were involved, back when they were both still students," Panna told him.

"Involved?" Gripper's voice was tiny and breathless. "Like they were dating?"

Panna deposited the dishes beside the sink and leaned against the counter. "And they were pretty serious."

Gripper looked down at Maeve with such a look of boyish lovesickness that her heart ached, all jokes forgotten. Young love was hard. Maeve thought of her Orthain, and of her brother, Caith, and his love. She laid her cheek against Gripper's rough brown skin and really wanted a drink.

________

There was not much to show Xen in the medical bay. It was more of an alcove than a proper room, but even that was an improvement on the Blue Phoenix's original design. The starship was made for short distance travels, not the sort of long hauls that required the presence of a doctor.

"Then your superluminal engines and NI generators must be modifications, too," Xen said. He leaned in the door, surveying Xia's small domain.

"I believe Tiberius had to install more powerful models. They're both a little more than the internal systems can handle. The repairs kept us in port longer than Tiberius likes, so he hired Gripper on to keep the Phoenix flying."

"Is there a lot of call for a medic?"

Xia gestured around the medical bay. "I've used everything in here. I had to update everyone's immunizations this morning. Six months ago, I delivered a baby. Duaal can singe himself quite badly with some of his fire spells."

"I've been meaning to ask you about that boy. Soon."

"Maeve gets into a lot of fights, too. It used to be worse, when Coldhand was chasing her."

Xen's long antennae twitched. "Coldhand? Is that a name I should know?"

"I hope not. He's a bounty hunter," Xia explained. She sat down on the corner of the examination table. "He and Maeve spent a year trying to kill each other. At least, that's what it looked like. As it turned out, Maeve had posted her own bounty and was trying to get Coldhand to kill her. He's gone now."

"That sounds rather convoluted. You've landed yourself on a very mysterious little ship and I hope you'll tell me more. I want to know all about that alien, Gripper, and your mage. I've never heard of a human one. He
is
human, isn't he? But later. It's going to be a long flight to Prianus." Xen sat beside her. She could smell his warm, sweet pheromones. "Most of all, I want to know about you. What happened, Xia?"

"What?"

"We all expected great things from you. You were so dedicated to your medical studies, even more devoted than you were to me."

There was no bitterness in Xen's voice. Xia supposed it was a testament to her years away from other Ixthians that it surprised her. Though their genetics had been compatible, their career goals were not. Once the young couple realized that, there was little reason to continue their courtship. But they had remained friends for years after.

"I'm still a doctor," Xia pointed out.

"But after you graduated, you just… vanished. For the longest time, I heard nothing. Then you appear on a tiny, unaffiliated ship as their medic. This was never one of your ambitions, my dear, and I knew your ambitions well. What happened? Where did you go?"

"You heard that I won the grant from the Alliance to open an office on Koji, right?" Xia asked.

"I heard. I bought a round for everyone at the campus bar when I found out. I sent you a dozen Hyla roses," he said. Xen brushed his fingers over his curling pewter antennae. "I guess you never got them."