The Silver Ship and the Sea (11 page)

Ruth leaned forward to speak, but Nava put a hand up. “Let us hear from the girl first.” She turned toward Alicia. “Alicia, please state your complaint.”

The crowd quieted as if, as one, they leaned toward Alicia to listen to her. Alicia spoke slowly, her voice carrying well. “As you heard on Story Night, there was a death in the East Band, a young man named Varay. He was my friend, one of my few friends in the band.” She licked her lips and glanced briefly at Ruth.

Ruth watched us, not Alicia. The naked animosity in her gaze made me want to look away. I held her eyes for a long moment before turning to watch Alicia continue with her story. “Varay fell to his death, and I was with him. It was…it was the most awful experience of my life, to watch him fall, knowing I was above him, and could do nothing.” Her voice trembled, softened, and it seemed like everyone there leaned forward slightly, quietly. “To see him dead, to carry back his broken body, wishing with every step that he was still alive.

“A few days later, I began to hear something disturbing from my few other friends in the band. They told me that Ruth was telling people I killed Varay. At first, I believed this must be a rumor, but when I heard it over and over, it began to feel, to sound, like a truth.” Her hands clasped the edge of the chair, her knuckles white. “People in the band began treating me worse than before, turning my daily life from something tolerable to something”—she paused, as if struggling for the right words—“hard and painful. I have been accused, but never openly. I have no idea how to clear my name, because only Varay and I were there….” A tear slid down her cheek and she stopped for a second, clearly struggling for control. “Only he and I know that his death was an accident, and he cannot speak about it. Since I cannot clear my name, I wish to be removed from the East Band.”

Liam’s hand stole into mine, warm and comforting, strong.

Nava asked, “How did you get the bruises?”

“Bella and Michael locked me in the wagon. Some of these came from them.” Her hands rose to her bruised face. “Others I gave myself, trying to get out.” Her hands returned to her knees.

The crowd’s murmur rose and fell again. We had a jail, but it had lain unused since I was about ten. We did not lock each other up.

Nava asked, “Is there more you want to say?”

Alicia looked quietly in front of her. “Not now.”

Ruth stood, her posture demanding attention. Nava nodded at her.

“First, I think we need to be clear about Alicia’s status. She was given into my care as a prisoner of war, not as a family member, or a band member. As such, we have treated her extraordinarily well. A prisoner of war is not entitled to a hearing, but only reasonably good treatment.” She sat down again. “There is no reason for me to respond to her accusations. This Council should reject her claims.”

Tom leaned forward. “Alicia came by our house briefly last night. After her visit, I looked up the meeting record from the day we took the six children left behind into our care. Ruth is correct. The term in the records is ‘prisoner of war.’” He stopped a mo
ment, glanced at Nava, and took a drink of water. “But we are a body of community law. Our charter and original ideals demand flexibility in response to the actual, current situation. That’s how a successful colony responds. We are not, after all, treating any of the other five
children
like prisoners.” He stopped and glanced directly at Ruth. “In fact, we rely on them to help us in a number of tasks.”

I thanked him silently for his words, and turned to look at the crowd, watching their varied reactions. Some nodded, some leaned into neighbors and whispered, others sat, still, their faces unreadable. A few looked hostile, but it was hard to tell toward whom. My eyes scraped past Garmin’s, and he scowled hostilely at us.

I turned back to Tom, to find his eyes briefly on me, then on Paloma. He smiled faintly, then began again, his voice strong. “It is true that our ancestors fled inhabited space because they had no desire to be changed in any way, because the core and center of our beliefs is that we are best off as original humans. But these six”—he glanced down at us, his tense expression relaxing some—“did not choose to be
altered
. To reject their humanity for it is similar to rejecting a child for having a birth defect. But we don’t do that. We take the injured and broken—the different—and give them work.”

I smiled, hoping Tom could see my approval.

Wei-Wei spoke, her voice hard and clipped. “Our people came here to find a place where all humans could be on equal ground, where money or privilege or better science did not separate us. Where we could be free of the power of those who chose long lives and health over their very humanity.” She glanced at me, at us, and I saw fear behind the anger in her words. “The very existence of these children here threatens our peace, and to grant them full rights threatens it even more.”

A few people clapped, and I wanted to turn and see who, but Nava held her hand up to forestall the crowd’s reaction, and looked at the tall blond woman who sat beside her. “Lyssa, what do you think?”

“Both points have merit. We do not need to make a decision about how to treat these six as adults for”—her brow furrowed—“almost
a year. Today, we only need to decide if Alicia has the right to lodge a complaint against Ruth. I say that she does. Not because of who she is, or isn’t.” She spread her hands wide in front of her, taking in the crowd with them. “Because we are fair and we should not let anyone be so bruised and persecuted without being able to speak up for themselves.”

Nava nodded. “Akashi?”

Akashi looked over at us, smiling, his eyes catching Liam’s. “My son is due his full measure of rights. So are his peers.”

“Hunter?”

I watched him closely. His damaged hands rested on the table and he spoke slowly, deliberately. His voice was soft with age, but still carried the authority of a leader. “Lyssa is fundamentally correct. Ruth raises an issue that does not need to be answered now, to veil a question that does. Allow Alicia to make her complaint, and hear Ruth out. We should keep our deliberation focused on Alicia’s complaint.” He stopped and sipped water. “Separately, we must finish planning for the time when the
altered
will be adults. That question is something to debate this winter, to explore slowly, to resolve in spring when the bands return. There are issues of security I want to discuss.”

Up on the dais, Nava’s face and neck flushed red.

So everyone, except Ruth and Nava, was willing to at least address Alicia’s challenges. But only Tom and Akashi, so far, supported full rights. Next to me, Paloma shifted and licked her lips. Liam withdrew his hand and leaned forward, chewing his bottom lip. I felt the absence of his touch, and wanted to reach for him, but sat back instead, watching.

Ruth crossed her arms in front of her chest and leaned back in her chair, sharing a glance with Nava. “Very well,” she said gruffly, “I withdraw my objection to discussing Alicia’s complaint. But it is spurious. She is, in fact, sullen and difficult, and Bella and Michael and I have gone out of our way to treat her fairly while still treating her as Hunter requested when we took her in: as potentially dangerous. Nothing said here has changed that. I would not turn my back on this girl.

“As to whether or not she killed my nephew? He was a brilliant climber, and would not have simply fallen to his death. As I said, she is sullen and sometimes angry. Perhaps he said something she resented, and she pushed him. It would be easy for any of them, one on one, to kill any of us.”

Paloma drew her breath in sharply, Liam stiffened next to me, and even though I couldn’t see him, I felt Bryan’s anger rise. Alicia sat still, bone still, as if Ruth’s words had slapped all sound from her.

I couldn’t sit still. I stood, looking at Nava, drawing her eyes. “Chelo?” she said. “What do you want?”

Alicia’s exoneration. To be seen as human. “May I address the Council?”

She hesitated. “Certainly. Come stand here, so the crowd can hear you.”

I walked up to the dais, blinking in surprise that I was allowed to talk, my feet unsteady, unsure of what I was actually going to say, but knowing I couldn’t stand there and let Ruth treat Alicia, treat us all, so poorly. I stood beside Alicia’s chair, my right hand on her shoulder. The crowd seemed bigger, almost like a single living thing. At first no words came. Alicia put a hand briefly on my arm, and smiled up at me. I swallowed, and started, hoping for the right tone. “Yesterday, Trading Day, a festival for all of us, Liam and I both felt shut out by many East Band members, and we didn’t understand why. We, the four of us who live in Artistos, Bryan and Joseph and Kayleen and I, have tried to be part of this colony. I believe Alicia and Liam have both made the same choices.” After a moment of silence, I added, “It is the only choice we can make.”

The crowd murmured, and I looked out across them, trying to read their mood. Many nodded; others looked unsure, and a few hostile. I glanced up, half expecting Jenna to be gone, surprised to see she had actually moved down three steps, and was watching me closely. She nodded, nearly imperceptible, and an approving smile flashed briefly across her features.

I continued. “Allow us to participate in the discussion about us. Regarding Ruth’s accusations, I believe Alicia is innocent.” I
glanced at Ruth, wanting to take her on directly, to treat her as openly rudely as she had treated Alicia, but I was scared to. My citizenship status was in question and I was not yet a legal adult. “In the meantime, surely Alicia can stay in Artistos.” Swallowing hard, hoping I had said enough to matter, I started back to my seat.

Nava called my name. “Chelo. Stay a moment.”

I stopped, and looked at her. She regarded me thoughtfully. “Chelo, you say that you work for the good of the colony?”

I nodded, wary.

“All of you.”

I glanced at Joseph, suddenly sure I knew where this was going. After him. But what could I say? I swallowed. “All of us.”

She turned to the crowd. “Many issues raised today clearly require long discussion, and can be resolved later.” She glanced at Tom, drew her brows together, and turned directly to me and Alicia. “There is a possible compromise.”

Next to me, Alicia nodded. I didn’t like this, yet the weight of the entire community’s eyes on me trapped me into silence. “I’ll listen.”

“Much of our data network remains earthquake-damaged.” She pursed her lips, as if suddenly aware of the need to gain the other Councilors’ approval. She looked up and down the table, waiting for heads to nod.

Hunter waved his clawed right hand impatiently. “Go on.”

“I’d like you and Joseph and Kayleen”—she paused, looking at Tom briefly—“and Tom and Paloma to go on a trip to fix the network. I want Joseph’s help.” Nava glanced at Joseph and then at Alicia. “And if you will do that, Alicia may go with you.”

That would get Alicia out of the East Band, at least until they returned in spring. If Joseph agreed.

“And while you are gone, we will continue this conversation.”

No! But Nava had me backed into a corner. I swept a glance across the dais. A small smile played on Ruth’s face. Lyssa nodded. Wei-Wei frowned. Confusion and curiosity played across Tom’s face as he watched Nava closely, as if unsure of what she had just said. Hunter’s face was unreadable, Akashi’s wary.

I turned around and glanced up. Jenna stood, silent, watching us.

Nava turned to Joseph. “Will you go and fix the nets?”

My gaze slid down to Joseph. He stood, looking around, as if caught between needing to save Alicia and fear of the data nets. “Don’t,” I whispered under my breath. “Not yet.” If he gave in too easily, I’d lose any chance to negotiate for more. Joseph would want to be noble for Alicia. I glanced at Paloma. Surely she’d see it, she’d stop him, but Joseph chose that moment to speak. “I will go.” He spoke clearly. He didn’t even sound reluctant.

I bit my tongue. I could have argued for Bryan and Liam to go with us. We needed a voice here, but did it have to be Bryan, the angriest one of us? Was that part of Nava’s plan? And what if Joseph couldn’t fix the nets?

The other Councilors quickly agreed.

Tom nodded with everyone else, although he shot another puzzled look at his wife. Perhaps he was unsure why she was sending him away. I thought I knew; Tom supported us, and had done so publicly during this discussion. If he weren’t here, and Paloma was gone as well, then our two biggest supporters would be with us, excluded from the discussion. And more practically, Tom was the only adult besides Paloma whom Joseph trusted. Nava would know that, too. I did not like this.

But it was decided.

Nava and Ruth had outmaneuvered us.

Ruth probably didn’t mind being rid of Alicia, and she’d never had to even defend herself against Alicia’s accusations. She didn’t seem to have expected to. Perhaps she and Nava had plotted our absence in the kitchen this morning. We would be gone, Tom and Paloma, who stood up for us, would be gone, and so would Akashi. The only bright spot was that Ruth, too, would be gone.

Left behind, there would be only Hunter, Nava, Wei-Wei, and Lyssa. And Lyssa was not truly a champion. She was a devil’s advocate; the best she’d do is mitigate.

On the way out, I noticed Jenna sitting, watching me, her cloak now on her lap and her chin on her hand.

I hesitated. People would notice if I sat beside her, but the
power of her coming, and staying, was so strong I sat beside her anyway. Everyone already knew Jenna and I were alike; they’d spent all night being reminded of our differences from them. Jenna smelled like cat hide and the Lace Forest. She smiled briefly when I sat down next to her, although her gaze stayed on the dais. In a soft voice, she said, “I will help you.” She and I sat together in the dark, watching others begin to drift up and away. Joseph, Liam, Bryan, Kayleen, and Alicia came up the stairs. Jenna faded away into the background before they reached me, wrapped in her own silence. The others, joining me, watched her leave with expressions varying from puzzlement to avid curiosity. Liam’s mouth quirked up, nearly a smile. He watched the place she disappeared into, as if he were not surprised at all that she had been there.