Gratuitous Epilogue : Touchstone Extras (19 page)

The first Setari, three
of the Nurans, arrived at Atanra shortly after the
Isadore's
captain had opened the ship's exits. The massive was heaving itself
into range of the ship, and there were hundreds of people
scrambling over grass and rocks, trying to race a spiny octopus to
Atanra's fortified walls. Korinal, in lead, set Selreven and
Otarien to scoop up as many passengers as possible while she tried
to draw the massive away and avoid a large flock of escort
swoops.

Fourth arrived back in
real-space just as they were starting this manoeuvre, and were
flying as quickly as they could from the near-space gate to Atanra.
As soon as he had a direct look at the towering bulk of the
massive, Kaoren said sharply: "No elementals!" and Korinal, about
to fire a few Light bolts, veered away, then picked up a man-sized
rock and threw it instead.

And the thing caught
the rock and threw it back at her, a response she barely dodged. I
checked Zee's expression, and saw her frown deepen, and she only
looked grimmer as the Setari squads made it through to Atanra and
began collecting scattered passengers while struggling to draw the
massive away from the
Isadore
. The massive would pause
briefly to toss back rocks and snatch at any Setari who flew too
close, while continuing to head slowly toward the
Isadore,
where more than two-thirds of the passengers were still trapped –
and far less inclined to race out the exits when tentacles started
trying to force their way in.

It was Mara, ever
practical, who broke into the discussion of how to lure the massive
away from the ship with: "Why don't we move the ship? Do we have
enough lift between us?"

"Possibly when
enhanced," Maze said. "Let's clear as many of these swoops as
possible before making the attempt."

When Twelfth arrived
with Lira, Kaoren had Fourth waiting at the gate from near-space. I
blinked when I saw Lira emerge, since she was in a Setari uniform.
Zan had had Sora Nels, Twelfth's Ena manipulation talent, give Lira
her uniform harness and stay behind. Lira was white-faced and
looked impossibly young, and Kaoren briefly stopped being captain
and switched to Dad to hug her and tell her that he'd be with her
the entire time. She hadn't had my slow progression into travelling
through the Ena, and was being thrust into the deep end of Setari
work, facing the most dangerous massive I'd seen so far.

"It will absorb
elementals and gain strength from them," Kaoren said, as he bound
his suit to Lira's and lifted her closer to the battle. "It may be
possible to draw it with elemental attacks, at least so that it
separates from the ship. After that, stone bombardment, sonics, and
Atanra's weaponry, but we must be quick or its counterattack will
be devastating."

The squads split into
three groups – all the most powerful Telekinetic and Levitation
talents with Lira, a lure group able to attack and fly, and a less
mobile group trying to collect passengers between the ship and
Atanra, and protect them from escort Ionoth.

For the Setari who
couldn't enhance themselves, timing would be an issue for the ship
lift. It was going to have to be a quick, hasty haul, and as soon
as the ship was out of the way they would have to rush to bombard,
overwhelming the massive's ability to play catch through sheer
numbers.

The
Isadore
rocked and shifted with horrible groaning noise as the squads moved
into position – the massive had a good grip on it and was trying to
pry it open. The lure group began attacking immediately: Ice, Fire,
Light and Lightning. Light and Lightning only seemed to sting the
massive, but Fire and Ice were a little more effective, sending up
a cloud of (calamari) smoke, while other tentacles were locked in
mini-glaciers.

I'm not sure whether
the massive even associated the attacks with the Setari, or if it
just saw a cluster of people standing together unprotected by
inconvenient metal shells. Whatever the case, it writhed toward
them, leaving the
Isadore
free and suddenly flying, tilted
somewhat, and trailing metal plating and the contents of its holds.
It was a low, surging rush of a flight, the ship skimming barely
above the ground, dropping as the first of the enhancements failed.
But it was away, far enough for Atanra's weaponry – the kind of
explosive missiles I'm familiar with from Earth – to be
deployed.

Kaoren had shifted Lira
to meet with Alay and the Nuran, Serray, to enhance their sonic
attack, and the lure group hastily whizzed as far out of the way as
possible. Bombs and sonics and fortunately KOTIS could make the
bombs explode rather than be thrown back, and then a wave of rock
hurled from above, the full force of gravity on our
side.

And then Kaoren was
shouting. "Counterattack! Cover or distance!" even as he was
thrusting Lira, Alay and Serray down into the grass behind the
nearest tumble of rocks. The massive was fairly thoroughly damaged
by then, most of its spines broken, tentacles severed. Only a
handful of the spines were able to fire, and I can't imagine what
it would have been like if it had done that fully armed.

Each spine broke apart
at the tip, then sprayed countless arm-length needles in every
direction. Everyone on the ground had dived behind rocks, but all
the Setari in the air had been able to do in the time was climb,
gain as much distance as possible, and try to dodge what
followed.

For the Setari with
Combat Sight that was almost possible. For too many – for Zan – it
was not.

No Setari died during
this massive attack. But almost half of them were injured, and Zan
was one of the worst, speared through the chest. Even those hiding
behind rocks on the ground didn't all escape, as the low-travelling
spines hit with such force that they produced stony shrapnel.
Fifty-seven of the passengers of the
Isadore
died, most in
the crush at the exits, or in the tentacles just outside them. The
danger of massives in deep-space isn't going to go away, not so
long as we continue to travel through it, and the days since then
have been filled with discussion of how to deal with that. The
suggestion which is carrying the most weight is using small conveys
of more manoeuvrable ships, rather than ones as large and unwieldy
as the
Isadore
.

My days have involved
two main things: dealing with Lira's nightmares, and visiting Zan.
Despite the wave of adoring comment which followed, and the
knowledge that they would not have been able to lift the ship
without her enhancement, Lira never wants to go near combat again.
She particularly has trouble seeing so many people she knows in
medical – not just Zan, but Glade and Par as well. Par's become a
particular favourite of hers: his quiet consideration often defuses
her temper, and since Lira hates it when anyone she cares about is
sick, she's spent the past week wracked with uncertainty and lack
of sleep.

We've been haunting the
medical section of the Setari building, a place I'd been avoiding
lately since the greysuits still can't resist scanning me at every
opportunity. Tyrian just makes me more interesting to them. But I
was there when she woke up, and had fun competing for bed-side
space with half her squad. And Lara, the captain of
Fourteenth.

Despite the real
struggle Fourteenth had after being caught in the Ena during the
post-blast storm, Lara's as sleepy and relaxed as ever. He doesn't
say much to Zan when she wakes up, just checks on her, and then
makes way for any other visitors. Zan's very strange about him in
return – she looks to see if he's there, and almost seems to flinch
at the sight of him. That worried me enough that I had to ask
Kaoren what was going on, whether we needed to arrange for Lara to
not bother her.

I don't usually ask
Kaoren to tell me the more private things he sees with Sight Sight,
and on the rare occasions in the past when I've hinted that I'd
appreciate some goss he's quietly discouraged me. This time he
laughed.

"Guilt," he said.
"Namara is too hard on herself."

I had a perplexed
moment, trying to work out what Zan had to be guilty
about.

"Because Fourteenth was
caught in the Ena-storm," Kaoren said. He half-closed his eyes,
considering the situation. "Lara has had an extremely difficult few
years, and while Namara knows on a logical level that she is not
responsible for that, she still does not forgive herself for
failing to do the impossible. She struggles to deal with
him."

"Then why doesn't Lara
stay away from her?"

Kaoren just looked
amused, giving me one of his fractional smiles, then left me to
speculate.

Another November

Tyrian

Tyrian arrived
excitingly early, almost a full month ago. I do wonder if I
triggered my own labour, since I was thoroughly sick of being
pregnant by then. It at least came on very abruptly at lunchtime,
without any hint for Kaoren's Sights to pick up before he left for
the day. Mip had shed his collar and I was trying to hook it out
from under the couch, and was so frustrated by my inability to
simply crouch down enough and look to see exactly where it was. In
a bit of a temper, anyway, and then pain, and mess.

My discussions with
Alay and Mara had led me to expect a slow build, and I had myself a
little panic attack while, bizarrely, getting a mop and bucket and
cleaning up the floor. I think I was trying to convince myself that
it was a mistake, that I'd just had some kind of super-cramp, and I
had to clean up just because.

I calmed down at the
second contraction, even though it was quite soon, and went to
stuff important things into the bag I'd been planning to pack, then
sent a text to Kaoren, despite him being in the middle of a
scouting mission at Telezon.

"Tyrian's coming. I
think it's going to be quick. Going to get Nils and Zee to take me
to medical."

Kaoren immediately
opened a channel to me, but only said: "Heading back. Keep the link
open."

Mori tells me that he
stopped in the middle of the ruined street they were exploring, and
just stood still for an exceptionally long time, then ordered them
back to Pandora in such a curt tone that she thought some major
disaster was underway. But he seemed to remember himself after
they'd started flying back to Telezon's platform, and said quietly:
"Sorry, Cassandra's in labour." Mori says it's the first time she's
ever heard him apologise.

I'd gone on to tell Zee
and Nils, who were at the 'guard quarters', and they came around
immediately, and took me back to the mainland and were calm and
amused and Zee stayed with me till Kaoren arrived, while Nils went
and collected the kids and kept them distracted and entertained. I
did have a baby-focused doctor, but also Ista Tremmar, who is my
favourite of the Setari medics. Taren drugs handily kept me aware
that pain was happening without obliging me to truly experience it,
and even though my labour was barely more than three hours, Kaoren
arrived in plenty of time to suffer through it with me.

Tyrian was a tiny
newborn, and is still undersized for his age, but his lungs were
fine and other than keeping us in overnight for observation, the
medics consider us problem-free. He's also not a touchstone, which
gave me a great sense of relief. Today we took him back for baby's
first brain scan, and found he has the same power set as Kaoren,
but with Ice instead of Light, though I knew after the first few
days that he was Sighted. If I watch anything upsetting while
holding him, he gets distressed, so I have to make sure only to
read happy books while feeding him.

Overall I guess Tyrian
would be considered a quiet baby, but he still poops and pees and
cries enough to leave me feeling ragged most of the time.
Fortunately Kaoren's Sights effortlessly translate baby shrieking,
so we can usually address the cause of the shrieking, except for
the "shrieking because I want to" occasions. If I hadn't fallen so
instantly and utterly in love with the little screamer, I'd be
wondering why I'd gotten myself into this.

He looks so much like
Kaoren. But there's just a little hint of me. I have a lot of
trouble letting him out of my sight.

When not changing
nappies, Kaoren has organised all the kids into doing a little
project, creating
The Book of Arcadia
, which was meant to be
a surprise for me until Sen told me all about it. Ys has done the
maps, Lira and Sen have been pressing flowers and leaves, Rye has
been contributing information about all the animals, and Kaoren has
been doing illustrations. Once he realised that I knew, Kaoren
roped me into the process, and I've added an ongoing history. After
I'd kissed him rather a lot.

The Last January

This is the year

In just over two
months, my two families will meet properly for the first time. I
hope. Five minutes seemed like a long time when I learned how long
the gate stayed open, but now I'm convinced that our calculations
will be off, that we'll be a day late, that the way Earth's years
work, the way leap years work, means that I've told Mum the wrong
day.

I've been stressing
over it, enough that I went through a patch of not being able to
eat well, and had Ista Tremmar giving me stern lectures and
threatening to medicate me. Kaoren went over the comparative
calendars with me, and then we had a visit to near-space to
visualise Mum to do the same thing, and check that everything was
going to plan on her end.