Rift (70 page)

Nerys stood on the edge of the freewomen’s compound. Bundles of crafts, disassembled weaving looms, and folded clothing lay stacked in the middle of the courtyard. Galen looked up from the bundle she was tying off and approached Nerys.

“Galen, Salidifor is uncomfortable about all this,” Nerys said. She had explained things to the women a dozen times, yet they still insisted on packing.

Galen set her mouth firmly. “He said we could bring a few things.”

“Yes, but this …” Here Nerys swept her gaze over the mound of belongings. “You won’t need any of this. They’ll make everything new once you arrive.”

“They can’t make
my weaving
for me.”

Nerys sighed. It was a test of wills between the women’s compound and the orthong. When they had been
her
tests, it was fun. But now the women were doing some testing on their own. The women were attached to their belongings. They had their favorite clothes and their craft work. Naturally, they wanted to bring these things with them. It was just that the orthong could not grasp the concept of traveling with belongings. They thought it bizarre in the extreme to carry things from one place to the other, especially over long distances. Some of the female orthong thought the women might be suffering a major loss of confidence. Salidifor was impatient.
All right, tell them they may bring a few things
, he’d said to her. It was the least of his concerns, but he expected her to fix it.

“Galen, each of you may bring one thing. Decide. And get rid of that stack of stuff. It upsets the females to see it there.”

“Oh, blast the females,” came the response.

But Haval and Odel had come up to them. Haval laid her hand on Galen’s shoulder. “No, she’s right. Tell the others to make their choices.” Galen made a face, but wandered off to organize the packing.

Odel looked into the upper outfold. “I see that pup follows you everywhere.” Her wrinkled face crinkled further with her smile.

Nerys shrugged. “I know it’s dangerous, but I can’t stop her.” Vikal disappeared behind a bulbous growth when she saw the humans regard her.

“Finally met your match, Nerys?” Haval watched her with a wry smirk.

“Perhaps. Children will be children.”

Odel raised an eyebrow. “Oh, it’s
children
now, is it?”

“I’m tired of the distinctions.”

“You never could stand them, Nerys, and you know it.” Haval spoke with some affection. The Lord only knew why Haval liked her, after all the trouble she had caused. But it was Haval and Odel who were the most enthusiastic about the instruction the orthong were promising. It was a point Nerys had negotiated with Divoranon, that the freewomen could have access to learning from their orthong lords. Though
lord
was a word the women still used, Nerys planned to come up with a new term as soon as she had time to think about such minor matters.

“Will you be ready to leave in the morning?” Nerys asked Haval.

Haval nodded wryly at the pile of belongings. “We’ll be ready.” She looked around at the outfold, which even here was beginning to look discolored and rangy. “Things are changing,” she said.

Odel regarded Haval with a squinting stare. “The only ones who think things don’t change are the young.” She turned thoughtful for a moment and then said to Nerys, “It seems the whole outfold is … hardening. Why can’t they just fix it?”

“I honestly don’t know. They’ve lost interest in the place. But they seem very excited about the new location.” Nerys turned to go. “I’ll see you soon, my friends. But it might be a little while.”

Odel raised her eyebrow again.

“I’m going to ask Salidifor if I can go with him.”

“Oh, Lord,” Haval responded. She shook her head. “Can’t you just wait with us at the new temporary camp and join him in the spring?”

“No.”

She backed up before they started in with their cautions.
“One thing
apiece, Haval. Everybody brings one thing.”

Haval nodded. “And you, Nerys. Make sure you bring some patience.”

“I
am
patient,” Nerys said. “Look how long I’ve waited already.”

When she entered Salidifor’s inner room, she saw that he had an elaborate meal laid out for her. She approached the familiar grouping of chairs and low table, greeting Salidifor in sign. He sat in his hooded chair. he said.

It was true. Venison steak and small, round potatoes smothered in butter. Baby carrots and broccoli. Blackberry compote.

She eyed him with mock suspicion. “What’s the special occasion?” She sat and bent low over her plate to inhale the aroma. The smells weren’t exactly right, but the tastes were almost perfect.

They would all be on the move in just a few more hours. Nerys wasn’t sure what the human women would be given to eat, but she didn’t plan on being choosy.

Salidifor was bound by airship for the lands east of the Stoneroots to prepare for the orthong immigration to their new habitat. The new outfold would be at exactly the same latitude as the old one, for reasons only the orthong could know, and would in fact be the location old Tulonerat had picked out on her journey seventeen years ago. The female orthong, the human women, and a contingent of orthong warriors would make camp in the foothills and then follow on foot in the spring, when the Stoneroot passes were open again.

The venison was medium rare as she liked it, but barely warm. Orthong could not be persuaded of the wisdom of ingesting warm food. It seemed to repel them, so Nerys had learned to eat cold food—and relish it.

“Shall we be talking to Captain Kitcher again tonight?” Nerys had served as translator between Salidifor and the
Quo Vadis
, in the underlay chamber. It had been great fun to see the old walrus puff and frown at Salidifor’s terms; but in the end Kitcher capitulated. He was tired of the intrigue and machinations. He was too old to captain a big ship, Nerys concluded, and certainly no match for Salidifor.

Nerys doubted that. Salidifor had conveyed Divoranon’s decrees to the
Quo Vadis
regarding fuel and the transfer of passengers. The
Quo Vadis
could have all the fuel it wished, but it must leave and not return. It was to take onboard all former Stationers who still desired to go, and it was to allow any ship passengers who wished to come to Lithia; as it happened, many did wish it, despite the uncertain future. Kitcher was loath to head back out again, and bargained hard for one with so little bargaining power. In the end, though, he was at Salidifor’s mercy, believing the orthong’s threats to destroy the ship. Whether the orthong were capable of this or not was apparently not to be put to the test.

Nothing was kept from Captain Kitcher. The story of Bonhert and his schemes to destroy Lithia was met with a long silence. Finally, Kitcher had said, “Aye, that would have done us in, to have a man like that among us. I had an inkling he was that sort.”

“Next time listen to your intuition,” Nerys offered.

“I have a desire to see your orthong on the viewer,” the captain said. Up to then, he had seen only Nerys.

She persuaded Salidifor. The captain was an old man, and might be given a small favor.

When Kitcher saw Salidifor step forward, he narrowed his eyes and frankly stared. Then he nodded. “Thank you.” He looked off to one side, where, no doubt, his advisors were still experiencing the shock of the orthong’s appearance. “We have all wondered what other creatures the worlds hold,” he said. He shook his head back and forth. He seemed lost, and for a moment Nerys pitied him, though she could not guess his thoughts.

That was yesterday. Tonight, apparently, they would have to themselves. Outside, the light slipped from the outfold, and the room grew deep shadows. Nerys toyed with her steak and then put down her fork.

Salidifor immediately became watchful.

She gazed absently at her food. “Do you think, Salidifor, that I might be of some use to you at the new habitat?”

Nerys paused a respectful beat. It was an unequivocal answer … as far as it went.

He continued:

“I can visit Vikal, by airship. Her mother doesn’t want me around much anyway.”

“Loon told me.”

He made a gesture of impatience, as though to say,
There you go again, nosing around in things you shouldn’t
.

Leaving the topic of the pup, Nerys pressed on: “You may have need to communicate with clavers, or even Reeve, should he prove successful in his venture. I could help translate.”

“Yes, of course. But for some conversations you need subtlety. When sign can’t convey certain nuances.”

The color drained from his eyes in the darkening
room.

She sighed. “Maybe I’m not thinking of what others need.”

She looked down at her plate, watching the butter congeal. “There is the matter of the bond I feel toward you.”

She held up her hand. “I know, I know. There isn’t any bond. And if there were it would be a terrible idea. I’ve already got one orthong bond and everyone is unhappy over
that
one.” She looked up at him. “Did I miss anything?”

“Oh, by the Lord of All Worlds! I’m getting to know orthong homilies. Please, spare me.” She stormed up from the table and paced, dancing out her frustration. are
. I want to learn everything. The humans know little right now, and what they do know is all big tech, and I want to … I want to … know
you
. You and your people.> She looked at him directly, challenging him.

After a very long time she sat down again. There was no hurrying his response. Finally he said.

“I won’t be at your side, then. I’ll stay in the background.”

He stared at her, and she had the grace to look away. Offering to stay in the background, she realized, might be more than she should promise. But she pushed on. “Divoranon will have enemies one way or the other. But she has many more supporters, including Golanifer. Loon is making a great impression among the weavers.”

She watched him as he watched her. And then she had it, the whole dance. “Salidifor … this isn’t about Divoranon, is it?”

At length he signed,

Nerys stared at her food. A small current of cold air ran up her arm, causing her to shiver. She thought back to the lean-to in the deep outfold where she’d found Salidifor that day in the snow. His hand had come around her upper arm, clenching it tight … and he hadn’t shielded himself. He’d thought he was an outcast, soon to leave for wide-ranging duties far from the outfold, far from Nerys. And he’d been curious. Whatever his motives, he had … bonded with her, at some level where such a thing was possible between orthong and human.

They sat in the deep-bermed room as night came on. They left the lights off, the darkness matching the silence between them.

“Do we share a bond, Salidifor?”

His chin rose, in a gesture so minute, it was only by long practice that she recognized it as a
Yes
. After several moments, she spoke very softly: “We could learn together, Salidifor. Learn what this means. And how to lead others down a good way when it happens again. As it will.”

His face seemed to hold a trace of amusement, or perhaps it was affection. She hoped to learn the difference someday.

She regarded him with fondness, catching herself
before she said,
Say please
. He had already said it, in his own way.

she gestured, with a gradual rise of her chin.

Then she picked up her fork and began on her dinner, chewing slowly, and enjoying every morsel.

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