Jeanne G'Fellers - Sisters Flight (21 page)

"You
miss her, don't you?" asked Tessa.

"Very
badly."

"Your
face lights up when you talk about her." The comment had come without
mental prompting from my companions. "Tell me more about her."

"Like
what?"

"Everything."

I
entertained my sister with the story of Myrla. How we'd met, our separation,
our reunion. Tessa drifted in and out of consciousness while I spoke, waking
when a small cry pierced the night air.

"My
baby?" Tessa's grin was faint.

"Your
son." Kaelan placed the infant beside his mother's head. Tessa gazed at
the boy then looked up at me.

"Take
him to M'ma."

"I
can't possibly."

"Promise
me."

"Tessa,
I—"A second cry, much stronger than the first drew my attention.
Evangeline held the chubby, pale sister babe up for us to see then passed her
to Kaelan, who swaddled her against the cold.

"Take
the girl for your people, but my son should be raised by his own."

"I
can give him to Auts that live with us, to someone, anyone else, but I can't go
back there."

"Promise
me!" Tessa's lifeblood leaked around the drape's edge. "M'ma will
take him."

"I'm
sure she would, but I can't go back there."

Tell
her you will.
Kaelan looked up from
the bundle in her arms.
Give her some peace.

I
could find no logical argument. "All right, Tessa."

"Promise?"

"I
promise."

"To
M'ma?" Tessa guided my hand to the infant boy.

"To
M'ma Tessie."

"Good."
Tessa's other hand reached up to Rankill’s face. "I'm tired."

"I
know you are." I didn't flinch as Tessa traced the scar that dominated my
face.

"Is
this what Uncle Tisph did?"

I
breathed deep, trying to keep control, master my instincts, the memories, the
child that was a part of me—keep it all at bay. I gulped, trying to purge
him
from my mind. This time, however, the pain was too far away to pull me in,
and the child side of me stayed close, unfettered by what once terrified us
separately.

We
were inseparable. After a moment, my breathing slowed, and I looked up at
Evangeline, certain she had kept me from falling into a flashback.

You
did that all on your own.
Evangeline
nodded approvingly.
Now answer Tessa.

I
returned my gaze to Tessa, whose face expressed open concern. "Yes, he
caused that."

"You
weren't the only one he chased," she said. "He just didn't have to
hide what he wanted from you."

"Oh,
Tessie." I clasped Tessa's hand and held it tight. Tears welled in both
our eyes and a different sort of silence fell between us, one that continued
until Tessa reached up to my face again, this time to finger the paint that
lingered on my cheeks.

"This
stuff stinks." Tessa smiled faintly.

"Doesn't
it though?" I smiled back.

Subtlety
but with force enough to make her presence known, Evangeline slid into my
thoughts.
I've done all I can.
She dropped the drape across Tessa's
body.
Ease her to sleep.

How?

Follow
your instincts. She's your kin. You can touch her deeper than anyone else. I’ll
help you in, but the rest is up to you.
Evangeline
drew behind me, placing one hand on my forehead, the other on Tessa's. Though
the touch was merely symbolic, I sought my sister through it, finding her,
floating on the numbing cushion Evangeline had created. Tessa reached out to me
as I approached.

I
know you want to go home, but please do as I ask.

But
my family ...

My
son is your family too.

I
couldn't argue, but the fact didn't decrease my fear.
I'll take care of him.
Are you ready?

You
promise?

I’ll
do it.

Good.

As I
released the last of my reservations, my phase deepened inside Tessa. For a
moment our minds were one—shared memories, shared pain, shared triumphs—each
offered a new understanding. We were closer than I thought possible, Tessa and
I. Women. Friends. Siblings. Sisters in the truest sense of the word.

You
won't leave me alone, will you?

No,
Tessie, I'll stay with you until you sleep.

Promise?

Yes,
sister, I promise.

I
held Tessa in my mind and arms until her last breath escaped. Only then did I
venture to open my eyes. The storm had lessened and a bit of morning seeped
through the closed shutters. Olitti slept beside the dying fire.

Kaelan
sat on the floor near Olitti, dripping water from a cloth into the hungry
newborn Taelach's mouth. Evangeline sat on the hearth, similarly employed with
the boy, satiating his hunger with melted snow.

"I
will take care of her." Evangeline eased Tessa's body from my arms.
"Kaelan told me that your Autlach bury their dead."

"Bury
her next to Granny Terry." I released Tessa's hand and placed it gently by
her side.

"The
ground is frozen." Kaelan passed the Taelach baby to Norlynn, who ruined
her brusque reputation with her tenderness toward the child. "Let me help
you."

We
used scrap wood and our sword points to loosen the ground and dig Tessa a
shallow grave. We said no prayers. There wasn't time, but I did briefly speak,
not of grief or laments of the past, but directly to my sister. "A promise
is a promise." I placed the final stone on the grave. "I'm taking
your son to M'ma, and then I am going home."

Chapter
Fourteen

At
the Ready

Apprentice:
So much is happening at once, which way do I go?
Master:
Sometimes,
the best action is to charge in. Where you land is where you need to be.

Myrla

The
battle line was now deep in Tekkroon land and threatening the pasture where the
spacecraft sat. We seemed able to maintain our ground there, and with the
snowstorm's help, had temporarily halted the advancing Auts. The fires they
started were visible from the far side of the volcano dome where sisters,
myself included, prepared themselves for what seemed to be inevitable. We might
be fighting a losing war, but we would never stop fighting. Harlis seemed to be
preparing as well. She had taken to wearing her finest clothing beneath her
winter cloak and armed herself with the best of her weapons. An impressive
figure in daily wear, she now exuded authority more than ever. Not even the
bend in her spine, a result of a battle early during her time as a trooper,
failed to deter from her stalwart persona. Her resolve was inspiring, so much
so that other sisters began mimicking her whenever possible. The remaining
stores were raided for clothing, and those garments were passed out during the
lull created by the heavy snowfall. Everyone shared in the distribution and the
accompanying surge in morale. One sister could be seen wearing a new tunic over
her filthy leggings while another donned a bright scarf over the bandage on her
arm. I had claimed an intricately braided hide belt and wore it low on my waist
so I could carry my dagger and revolver against me.

Since
the recovery teams had left, there had been no clear days, no opportunity for
the solar cell to build energy enough to work the scopes and com. I stood watch
on Transport One as Genevic tried desperately to placate Harlis's frustration.
The helm had become the site of Harlis's strategy sessions with the other clan
leaders. From the higher vantage point they could see the Aut forces' progress,
their whereabouts, their steadily growing numbers as they spilled through the
pass. The latter threatened us the most. We had the weaponry and the spirit,
but we lacked the population to fight back Longpass's forces indefinitely.

"I
thought this metal box would be of more use." Harlis shook her fist at the
helm screen. "All this equipment, all these new means of communication and
none of it works like we need it!" Harlis stood beside Gen who glowered at
Transport Two's blank screen. "This is what I get for not sending runners
with the expedition." Harlis pulled at her braids. "Gets any darker
in here and we'll need lanterns."

"There's
a couple in one of the storage bins." Genevic rose from her pilot's chair.
"Just give me a moment."

"Don't
bother." Harlis pulled her scarf across her throat then wrapped it over
her head to cover her ears. "Keep your post. Since the stalemate seems to
be continuing, I am returning to my workroom for a bit. You know where I'll be
should anything change." With that, the clan leader departed.

"Yes,
Harlis." Genevic strode down the darkened corridor to where I stood at the
shuttle's main hatch. "How many generators did Maeminya say the techs were
building?"

"The
computer said we have to have thirty to work the helm and scopes." I
wrapped my cloak a little tighter.

"Thirty?
Criminy!" Genevic leaned against the open hatch. "Last I knew we only
had four."

"The
techs and smiths are working on it. I think they're up to fifteen or so
now." I scanned the horizon, left to right then right to left. Nothing had
changed. The Auts were waiting, waiting for more of their own.

"And
until they get thirty?"

"Until
then we're freezing our rears in this oversized canister." I pulled my
cloak tighter still and wished I had a second. "We got anything to eat in
there?" Maybe chewing would warm me a bit or at least take my mind off the
winter air.

"Some
duty biscuits and jerked nassie." Genevic strummed her armrest with a
gloved hand. "But nothing to drink besides the tea you brought. Got any
left?" Genevic started to lick her lips but stopped to pucker them.
"Did Bella slather you with that winter salve of hers?"

"On
my windburn," I said as I glanced around again. "It works."

"Yeah,
but she didn't put it on your lips."

"You're
not supposed to taste it," I said with a laugh. Bella had indeed pursued
Genevic throughout the evacuation caverns with her infamous winter salve until
Genevic had given in and endured Bella's loving chiding about what happens when
one licks her lips in cold weather. The salve was actually a marvelous concoction,
bitter tasting, but Bella hadn't mixed it for eating.

"That
salve is one thing she could have left behind. Tea?"

"There's
some, but the crock's gone cold."

"Oh,"
said Genevic. "I've never felt so useless in all my life."

"You
and me both." I moved beneath my cloak to touch my lover's marker tattoo
on my shoulder. "I miss Rankil."

Genevic
peered at me reflectively. "Things will be fixed soon enough and then
we'll be back in touch with her."

"I
hope so. I feel like, well, like I'm sometimes intruding when I'm with you and
Bella."

"Intruding?"
Genevic's hand crept to her shoulder, where it lingered over Bella's personal
mark. "We're sharing space with the entire clan! If it weren't for you,
Bella would have crawled back into her shell. She hates large groups."

"Still,"
I said. "I think a great portion of her confidence is your doing, Gen, but
thanks anyway."

"You
know how Bella is."

"Sister
Myrla?" Harlis's personal runner, a lean girl some fourteen or so passes
old, appeared on the helm followed closely by a trooper. "Clan leader
Harlis requests your immediate presence in her office."

"Did
she say why?" I tucked my scarf about my neck and pulled my hood.

"No,
Sister Myrla, she did not. I'll inform Harlis you're on your way." The
runner turned, but the trooper stayed, ready to take my place at watch. I
paused in the hatchway. "I'll be back soon."

"Don't
hurry on my account." Genevic returned to the helm. "I'm here until
the next watch change."

The
runner was long out of sight when I emerged from Captain Tara's craft. I
followed the girl's tracks in the snow, walking then trotting through the main
square to Harlis's office. The guard waved me in.

"It's
about time." Harlis motioned me toward the worktable.

Pilta
smoke curled through the room, drifting between the women filling the office.
All the leaders appeared to be present, and they were all looking at
me.
Harlis
chewed on her unlit pilta, watching as the other leaders made a path for me.
"We need a translator."

"I'm
at your disposal, Sister Harlis." I glanced about, taking in the
importance of the company I kept. Most of the other colony and clan leaders
were indeed there, as were many of the former leaders of clans the Tekkroon had
absorbed. Recca, the aged leader of the former Serpent clan, the clan of my
raising, was among them. She nodded to me and I nodded back, but only because
it was polite. After she had let one of her warriors cheat during Rankill’s
challenge for my autonomy, there was no love lost between us.