Eternity Row (21 page)

Since I couldn’t face off with Xonea and expect my marriage to hold together, I decided to use the opportunity to combine one problem with another, and sent a signal to Qonja, inviting him to join me for a practice session.

My one-man fan club politely refused. “It would be inappropriate for me to spar with you, Healer.”

I didn’t argue with him, but only waited until he went off duty before I tracked him down. I took the precaution of arming myself before overriding his security code and opening the door panel to environome two.

Inside, the psych resident stood stripped to the waist, working out with Yarek Torin. Both of them were heavily armed, multibladed swords in both hands, and dancing around each other like soundless ghosts as they defended themselves against multiple attackers.

Multiple League and Hsktskt attackers.

I cleared my throat when there was a slight pause, and both men stopped in their tracks. Yarek groaned as he saw me, then sheathed both of his swords. Qonja swore under his breath and went to the panel to shut down the program.

“Healer.” Yarek tried to look nonchalant. “We were not expecting you to attend… my student’s demonstration.”

“Nice try, ClanCousin. You might want to head home and explain to your bondmate why she’s going to get a signal from me later.” I smiled and shook my head when he made as if to protest. With a quick bow, he hurried out of the environome.

Qonja, his back toward me, secured the door panel again.

I shrugged off my outer tunic. “Tell me who you are.”

“As I have said before, I am a psychiatric resident.” He turned and frowned as he watched me take out my
goreu
staff out and extend it. “What are you doing?”

“I may not know much about Joren, but I know plenty about those swords you and Yarek were swinging around. Multibladeds take years to master.” I whirled the black staff between my fingers, showing off a little. “Many, many years.”

“It is an exercise I am quite fond of.”

“That’s the thing, Qonja. Medical students don’t have time to become fond of anything but medicine. You seem to have missed a few things at Medtech, but here you are, an expert with a sword. Now, it seems to me if someone wanted to impersonate a medical student, he’d have to pick the kind who has no practical medical experience. Like a psychiatric student.” I tucked my staff under my arm and started toward him. “I’ll ask you one more time: Who are you?”

He put one sword aside, but held on to the other. “I cannot answer your questions.”

“You will before we leave this room.” I kept advancing.

Qonja touched the symbol hanging from his vocollar. “You cannot mean this, Healer. Perhaps we can discuss-”

I flipped out my staff, planted one end, and used it to vault to his left. As I landed, I swept the planted end up and knocked the sword out of his hand. It clattered to the deck, several feet away.

He didn’t come after me, but I moved out of range anyway and entered the first of the attack patterns Wonlee had taught me. “Who are you and why were you sent here to watch me?”

Qonja ducked to avoid my staff, then grunted as I whirled the other end around and knocked the air out of his diaphragm. When he could breathe again, he wheezed, “Healer, stop.”

“Stop now?” I laughed. “I’m just warming up.”

He crouched over into a defense stance I’d seen Xonea use. “This serves no purpose.”

“It’s certainly making me feel better.” I tapped him on the cheek before he could jerk back, then blocked him from getting his arm up before tapping the other. “Come on, you’re better than this.”

His white eyes narrowed. “It is inappropriate for me to spar with you.”

“You keep saying that- why? Because you think you’re better? Faster? Oops.” I slammed my staff into his right knee, forcing him down on the other, then hefted my staff up over his head. “Maybe not quite so fast as you think you are. By the way, the wood used to make this
goreu
is so hard that the Esalmalin prefer it over some alloys.” I rested the end against the top of his head. “One good hit, and I can split your skull in half. Tell me who you are.”

“You will not kill me.”

“I won’t beat the information out of you.” I moved the end of the staff so I could tip his chin up. “However, I will protect the ones I love, and if that means killing you, I won’t even hesitate. Do you understand?”

He nodded.

“Then this session is over.” I folded up my staff and walked out.

A few days after my sparring match with Qonja, the
Sunlace
assumed orbit above Taerca. Hawk’s destination was the fifth planet out from the system’s white dwarf star, and the only habitable one at that. As a result, traders rarely bothered to jaunt through the region, possibly the reason for the noticeable lag time in getting a response from the planet surface.

Or so Darea theorized over tea with me and Alunthri in the galley. We had taken to meeting there since her bondmate had accused me of betraying the HouseClan.

“Salo was not particularly impressed by the quality of the relay we received from Taercal Main Transport,” she said. “Their request for us to delay the sojourn for three rotations seemed rather unfriendly.” She offered me a slice of morningbread, which I refused. “My bondmate may exaggerate, as he has been very irritable of late…” Her hand moved in a discreet gesture meaning she wasn’t sure why.

I knew better. “Since I ruined our friendship?”

The Chakacat’s whiskers twitched. “Perhaps Salo needs some time to think through the situation.”

“What say you Terrans? ‘Don’t hold your breath’?” Darea shook her head. “He remains steadfast in his opinions, that much I will grant my bondmate.”

I decided to change the subject. “How is Hawk taking the news?”

“They sent no images of the surface, which disappointed him, but he found the physical appearance of our contact something of a comfort.”

The native Taercal must have had some of the features that Terran doctors had worked so hard to erase from Hawk’s face. “I hope these people are a little more open-minded than his mom’s side of the family.”

“Having two parents seems at times a disadvantage,” Alunthri put in. “Darea, has there been any word from the ship we are to meet at Oenrall?”

“The Jado have signaled several times, confirming their heading. Their ClanLeader knows Xonea and Salo from their service together during the territorial conflicts.“ Darea watched Ilona Red Faun enter the galley, and inclined her head as the Terran girl gave her a wary glance. ”If anyone can bring peace to the League and the Hsktskt, it is Teulon Jado.”

After our tea, I went to see Hawk and find out how he was coping with the prospect of meeting his father’s people.

The crossbreed welcomed me into his quarters, which had been cleared of most of the furnishings. A number of Ilona’s brightly patterned wool rugs hung on the wall panels, along with bundles of ceremonial corn and several huge, carved masks. Four intricately woven Jorenian yborra mats formed a square on the deck around an elaborate sand painting.

“Very authentic,” I said, foregoing a suggestion that he get some
regular
chairs. “The sojourn is tomorrow; any last-minute jitters?”

“Some. Have you seen the signal?”

He took me over to his terminal and pulled up the replay for me. A dark image appeared on the screen, a barely discernible humanoid face shrouded in darkness from all sides.

Hawk’s paternal species weren’t very handsome in a Terran sense, but the aquiline features and intense, all-black eyes were certainly startling. Evidently evolved from an avian life-form, the Taercal showed their genetic heritage with their dark-feathered derma, curved beak-mouths and, of course, their wings. The native on the screen had some sort of gilded ornaments stuck all over his, what I could see of them. The official’s grossly overweight body swelled to fill the screen.

“He’s a pretty big bird, isn’t he?” I leaned closer to hear the translator kick in.

“Star vessel
Sunlace
, This is Tadam Ortsac.” The Taercal sounded a bit nasal, but that could have come from the synthetic translator voice. His face emerged into the light a bit farther, and I saw small, irregularly spaced skin growths at the base of some of his feathers. “Our governing priest will allow a party of no more than ten to visit the surface of our world, in three rotations, for a period of twelve stanhours. No trade will take place during this interval, nor will any immigrants be accepted. Acknowledge your comprehension.”

You didn’t get much snottier than that. “Tadam certainly knows how to roll out the welcome mat, doesn’t he? Warts and all.”

“Salo assures me such reticence toward unexpected visitors is not uncommon among isolated worlds,” Hawk said quickly.

“Once they find out you’re one of their own, they’ll probably be much more congenial.” I couldn’t knock on wood three times-everything around us was alloy or plas. “Did your grandparents ever tell you what your father’s name is? It would make it easier tracking him down.”

“They used his name often, when praying to the gods to cure my afflictions and curse Father to eternity in the void.” Hawk’s expression became slightly bitter. “He is called Fen Yillut.”

“Have we been granted access to the planetary database? Maybe you could give him a call, warn him his prodigal son is about to show up?”

“The Captain already requested permission, which was denied.”

A paranoid species couldn’t be expected to hand the keys to their planetary mainframe to an unknown ship in orbit, but still, there were other ways. The Taercal attitude was starting to match the Terran’s for outright hostility.

“Don’t worry, we’ll find him. Now, why don’t you let me take a look at those wings one more time? You’ll likely be in the air most of the time while we’re down there.”

Hawk agreed to an impromptu exam, which revealed him in excellent shape. Hours of flying in the largest launch bay had strengthened the twin feathered appendages sprouting from his spine to the point of prime condition. As I scanned his musculature, I noticed the face in the center of the sand painting.

“That looks like Rico,“ I said, nodding toward the visage.

“It is.” His mouth turned down as he studied it. “I should have a sing to guide his spirit to the next life, but I have not been able to bring myself to do it.”

As
hataali
to my brother’s underground crossbreed tribe on Terra, Hawk had regularly performed healing ceremonials. The “sings” were elaborate rituals involving special songs, foods, and sand paintings, and sometimes lasted for days. I had a feeling bad memories were making him procrastinate-the last time Hawk had been with my brother, Jericho had nearly beaten him to death with his fists.

On the other hand, maybe the memories were more painful than simply bad. Hawk had loved my brother so much he would have let Rico beat him to death, to prove it. Kao’s smiling face popped into my mind, oddly enough, until I realized why. I had loved Xonea’s brother, and yet had killed him trying to save him. In a way, Hawk had done the same. “You still miss him, don’t you?”

“With each breath I take.”

“I know how it feels, but I still don’t understand why. Jericho may not have started out as a monster, but he sure got there fast. Why did you stay with him?”

“You know the traditions of our people. Homosexuality remains a stigma among the tribes.” He went over and knelt beside the painting. One of his strong hands reached out and touched the image he’d created. “Yet Rico never feared the love of another man. He welcomed it.”

I didn’t have such a starry-eyed view. “Rico would have mated with a snake, if it had served his purpose.” I saw the brief flicker of pain cross Hawk’s face, and knelt beside him. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to trample on your feelings. I know you loved him. I wish things could have been different.”

“It is done now. I must look beyond, not behind.” He turned to me. “When I left Terra, I decided I would never hide what I am again. Here”-he touched one of his wings-“and here”-he touched his chest-“yet what if the Taercal have such stigmas?”

“We’ll deal with it. You know you don’t have to stay with them, Hawk. You have a home here.” And if Reever and I stopped bickering long enough to take our kid and leave the ship, Hawk could certainly come along.