Authors: Bernadette Gardner
Icarus Rising (4 page)
until the heat of the sun began to burn his naked back.
Don't melt. Don't melt
. He'd thought of the ancient myth of
the man who flew too close to the sun on wings made of wax
and wondered if he would die of fright on the way down if his
symbion suddenly decided to abandon him.
It spoke to him then. For the first time a structured
thought formed in his head, and he knew it was not his own.
"We are one."
27
Icarus Rising
by Bernadette Gardner
"We are I."
Another surge of adrenaline washed through his already
pounding heart at the prospect of actual communication with
the alien that now shared his body. The chemical wave made
the wound at the back of his neck explode in fiery pain, and
again he screamed.
"Whghh—" He couldn't form words with the air buffeting
his face and rushing down his throat. Every time he opened
his mouth, he choked on the relentless wind.
"Something is missing from us."
Missing? What could be missing?
"Are youghhhgh—"
Damn. Keep your mouth shut, Caleb. "Are you injured?"
"No. You are."
Realization made him shudder. Now he knew exactly what
had gone wrong.
It was his own fault. This was the chance he'd taken when
he'd agreed to the experiment.
"Can you fix it?"
"Time will heal."
The symbion's thought soothed him.
That's what he'd been banking on when he applied for the
bonding. It was a gamble he'd had no right to take, but now
that the initial terror had begun to wear off, he could believe
it might have actually worked.
"Higher!"
"Noghghg!" He couldn't control the damn thing. It really
did have a mind of its own, and it wanted to soar, to roll and
dip and revel in this freedom. Pain lanced through his wings,
and for one heart-stopping, gut-churning moment, he
plummeted like a stone toward the ocean. "Whaghghhh—"He
28
Icarus Rising
by Bernadette Gardner
tried to scream then rational thought took over for a split
second. Annoyed with himself, he clamped his lips shut and
aimed a thought at his symbion.
"What's wrong with us?"
"Assimilating."
His wings shot out and forward, pushing a great wave of
air beneath his body, and together they climbed.
"Doghhhg—" When would he learn not to talk while flying?
"Don't do that again!"
"How far away are we?"
The research station seemed like
a distant dream, barely real. His entire world right now was
the wind and the sky and the water so very far below.
"How high are we?"
At first he thought the symbion was ignoring him, then he
understood. The creature had no frame of reference. It lived
in the air and on the water, but it had no need to measure
height or distance. Wherever it was at any given moment was
its home, therefore it didn't concern itself with how to get
"back" to anywhere. That was something he would have to
teach it. But how?
He tried mind control. After all, he was the dominant
species in this relationship. Jidar had explained that while the
symbions were willful at first, over time they became so
attuned to their host's needs and desires, they simply obeyed
all mental commands without question.
"Land."
He concentrated on the word. "
I want to land
."
Almost immediately, the symbion wings flattened out
behind him, sending him into another terrifying nose dive.
"Not here! Not here!"
There was nothing but water below
them, not even an island in sight. "Langhhh." Again he had to
29
Icarus Rising
by Bernadette Gardner
force himself to concentrate on the psychic link with his
symbion.
"On land! On the ground
."
Up they went again. Caleb's stomach flip flopped. His legs
flailed, and he realized his balls ached like mad.
"My God, I think my dick froze off."
Tropical climate be
damned, at this altitude, it was
cold
. His fingers were numb,
toes too. He was afraid when he finally landed, he'd find his
gonads had fallen off.
"I'm cold."
The symbion seemed annoyed by his complaining but
began a more leisurely descent toward the water.
"No, no. We need to find an island. I want to go back to
the research station."
Up they went. Again. Caleb cursed, but then an image
formed in his brain.
The barrier island on which the research station sat came
into view in his mind's eye. He knew instinctively how far he'd
flown—an incredible distance. He also knew how long it would
take to get back. He'd be exhausted when he arrived, but it
didn't matter. He had to go back and deal with his
transformation.
He had to let Zara know he was all right.
"Fly faster,"
he told his symbion, and despite its own
fatigue, the creature flapped its wings harder and set a course
for what would become its new home.
30
Icarus Rising
by Bernadette Gardner
Sunset had turned the gently lapping ocean silver and
black and left only a faint, quickly fading smudge of pink at
the western horizon. As the last blush of daylight left the star-
filled sky, Zara's hope that Caleb would be found alive
disappeared with it.
She sat on the windswept jetty of volcanic stone, hugging
her bent knees and shivering with anxiety rather than the
cold. Ten meters above her, the brilliant halogen beacon of
the light station glowed, casting a ray of icy white light out
across the waves.
She clutched the remote control box for the beacon in her
stiff fingers. Every fifteen minutes for hours now she'd
changed the light's direction and intensity, sweeping it across
each quadrant of the horizon in hopes she'd point it in the
right place at the right time for Caleb to see it and make his
way home. She was prepared to stay here, glued to the chilly,
uneven rock on which she sat forever if need be.
The familiar snap of giant wings startled her, and she
almost dropped the beacon remote. Clasping the controller in
damp fingers, she scrambled to her feet. "Caleb?"
A shadowy figure had come to rest a few feet away on the
jetty. Immediately, Zara recognized the slim, graceful figure
of Namara, even before the Icarian matriarch spoke.
"Doctor Abbott, are you all right?"
31
Icarus Rising
by Bernadette Gardner
"Have you found Dr. Faulkner?" Zara hated sounding rude,
but she had only one concern at the moment. Pleasantries
could wait.
Namara bowed her head, and her curtain of pale hair
momentarily obscured her face. "I'm afraid not yet. I'm sorry
I don't have better news."
Zara's shoulders slumped. How far could one winged man
have gotten in a day that dozens of able-bodied searchers
couldn't locate him? "Are they still looking?"
Namara stepped closer, moving with perfect confidence
across the slippery planes of basaltic rock. She pulled open
the carrying pouch she wore slung across her naked chest
and rummaged in it for a moment. "Jidar has ordered the
search to continue to the north. He suspects Dr. Faulkner is
no longer in the air. His symbion could not have—"
"They're searching the water then, looking for his body?"
"I'm sorry. Yes." From her pouch Namara produced a
protein bar and a small pod of water, which she held out to
Zara, a feeble substitute for Caleb's safe return but a kind
gesture nevertheless. "Dr. Danson hopes you will come back
to the station and rest, but I told him it was unlikely you
would abandon your vigil."
"You're right." Zara tried to smile. She accepted Namara's
offering, realizing for the first time that her lips were dry and
stinging from the salt air. She broke the seal on the water
and sipped, cringing when the cold liquid hit the back of her
throat. "Thank you."
32
Icarus Rising
by Bernadette Gardner
Namara nodded. "Jidar has assigned me a search route,
but I can find a replacement if you would like me to stay with
you."
The starlight was bright enough that Zara could see the
concern in Namara's eyes. Jidar's mate was perhaps the only
person who fully understood Zara's devotion to her task.
She'd guessed Zara harbored more than platonic feelings
for Caleb some time ago, and though she'd only mentioned it
once, Zara knew Namara sympathized with her fear that once
transformed, Caleb would be found eligible to receive an
Icarian mate.
"I'm all right, Namara. Go and search. I'd feel better
knowing as many people were looking for him as possible."
"A symbion is dedicated to protecting its host. It will do its
best to keep him from injury."
"If it can function. You saw him, Namara. Something went
wrong with the joining. What if the symbion died or
disengaged from him? We might never..." Zara clamped her
mouth shut and looked away. She knew voicing her darkest
fears would only give them more power over her raw
emotions. Speculating aloud on every terrible scenario would
not make her feel any better, especially if the Icarian female
confirmed they might be plausible.
Silent now, she transferred her attention to the beacon
remote. "It's time for me to turn the light. Thank you for
bringing me these. If you go back to the station, please tell
Dr. Danson that I'm fine. I'll return at first light after I shut
the beacon down."
"The nights on Icarus are long."
33
Icarus Rising
by Bernadette Gardner
Zara sketched a weak smile. It hurt her face. "I've got the
light to keep me company. I'll be fine."
Namara's majestic wings began to unfold behind her,
giving her the appearance of a beautiful, avenging angel. "If
you do not return to the station in the morning, I will come
back for you."
"I'll be there. I promise."
With a rush of wind, Namara leapt off the rock. Her wings
flapped, pulling her into the dark sky. In a moment she was
gone, leaving Zara alone again in her misery.
How could she drag herself back to the station in the
morning, knowing the most she could hope to find was that
Caleb's battered body had been retrieved during the night?
With a sigh, she sat back down and placed the water and
the protein bar on the rock beside her. A few simple
commands entered into the keypad on the remote had the
beacon shifting once again toward the north. Maybe the light
would guide Caleb toward the search area and make it easier
for the airborne Icarians to find him.
Exhausted by her vigil, Zara stared out to sea, praying
dawn would never come. At least if the night went on forever,
she wouldn't have to face her first day without Caleb.
A brilliant star shown on the horizon, and Caleb focused his
waning vision on the heavenly light.
"There
." He tried to force his heavy eyelids to stay open
and concentrated on the distant light.
"Go toward that."
His symbion seemed to have abandoned conscious
thought. It hadn't communicated with him in what seemed
34
Icarus Rising
by Bernadette Gardner
like days. With almost robotic cadence, it flapped its wings,
pushing forward relentlessly through the darkening sky.
"There!"
Caleb tried to reach the creature, who now shared
both his mind and his body, and guide it toward the flickering
light, but he got no response. Eventually he lost the battle to
keep his eyes open and he drifted off, lost in dreams of warm
water engulfing his aching limbs and an overwhelming desire
to sink down beneath the waves and sleep forever.
It seemed like only a second had passed before he woke
up, choking on salt water and tasting gritty sand. His eyes
seemed to be glued shut, and his body weighed a thousand
kilos.
He tried to push himself up, but apparently someone had
thrown a heavy blanket over his back. The damp covering
held him trapped against the ground. Its rough texture on his
back itched and irritated him. Who would have thought to put
something so uncomfortable on him?
Since he didn't posses the strength to sit up, he
concentrated on crawling out from under the sodden mass.
Clawing his hands into the sand, he threw every ounce of his
remaining strength into hauling his exhausted body across
the beach. He groaned with the effort but made no progress.
It almost seemed as if the blanket was secured to his body.
After several tries, he gave up and lay panting. Realization
came upon him slowly. Soaked from having landed in the
water, his wings held him pinned to the sand. He
remembered seeing the ocean racing toward him, his feet
