Silent Dances (54 page)

Then the young avian
stood up
ri
gidly
,
th
re
w his head back,
an
d called
to the skies
.
Taller
,
Weaver
,
Lightning
,
all joined him until the enti
re
esco
rt
flock w
as
calling
,
calling
,
lifting Shimme
ri
ng's spi
ri
t up
,
pushing her on her way to the suns.

262

Tesa threw her own head back and whooped till her throat was sore, until

she began to feel that the body at her feet was empty of everything that

Shimmering had filled it with.

Now it was over. Really over.

263

Epilogue

Tesa dashed out of the shower
,
her towel draped ca
re
lessly over her
d
ri
pping hair
, an
d b
an
ged her shin on a dresser. She w
as
n't used
to such a cluttered environment
an
ymore. She d
ri
ed herself hastily
,
then pulled on a fresh StarB
ri
dge jumpsuit. There was so much to
do
today,
but she couldn
'
t afford to be late for the first human
/
Grus
intercultural d
an
ce
an
d powwow. Especially since the whole thing had
been
her
idea.

She glan
ced over at the Ripper robe and clothing. Tesa's mother had

worked on them after she'd arrived, improving Tesa
'
s hasty t
an
ning
.

They looked g
re
at, but she wouldn't wear them today
.
Tesa lifted her
feather shi
rt
and appraised it. It had taken quite a beating
,
but Weaver
had labo
re
d days over its
re
pairs and it was beautiful again. Tesa had
proudly shown her pa
re
nts its subtle designs with the UV lamp.

Tesa'
s parents
an
d grandpa
re
nts had arrived two weeks ago, only a

week after the battle with the p
ri
vateers
.
Two days later, the CLS
re
presentatives had docked with the
Crane
, an
d suddenly the tiny space
station beg
an
to look like an intergalactic po
rt
. When Tesa had

explained to Taller the political importance of the new visitors
,
he'd

graciously invited
all
part
ies to

264

camp on the knoll and get to know his people and his World. It was good for

leaders to know one another, he'd said. That's how compromises were

forged.

Rain, however, had been highly suspicious of this new human
invasion
,

but Tesa had finally convinced her it was only
temporary, so grudgingly,

she'd finally agreed.

Tesa slid the glistening shirt over her jumpsuit and shrugged into it. Pulling

damp hair out of her eyes, she turned and was startled to find her entire Grus

family standing behind her. Taller was cautiously watching his step, while

Weaver peered about the alien structure nervously. Lightning, however, only

glanced at the strange setting casually.

"How do I look?" Tesa asked, modeling her feather shirt. Taller and Weaver

exchanged a look. "Different," Weaver finally decided, looking at her with

one eye.

"Adult,"
Taller signed.

Tesa grinned at the compliment.

"We wanted to speak to you alone for a
moment
," Lightning told Tesa. Tesa smiled wryly. These days getting a private
moment was seldom easy
. "

The
re
we
re
some things"--the
Grus youngster made the slinky sign for the Mizari Liaison, the Esteemed Shirazz-` `told us that we wanted to ask you

about."

Tesa knew what they really wanted. The many-tentacled, serpentlike Mizari

had lidless eyes. The Grus had found, to their discomfort, that the Mizari

could withstand "the look" without even trying. Whenever they spoke to the

Liaison, they felt the need to confirm with Tesa whatever it was the Mizari

had said.

"Shirazz tells us," Taller began, "that the two murderers you captured will be punished. We understand that they and their cohort"--he was referring to

Lauren, Tesa knew--"will be sent away, ostracized by all decent people,

possibly forever?"

"That's most likely what will happen," Tesa assured him. Dr. Li doubted that

Lauren would ever be able to function normally again, and after the

disastrous ending of the privateers' schemes, Deborah and her surviving

crew member had seemed almost relieved to be taken away for a long

imprisonment.

"My concern," Taller signed, "is this. How will we know that humans like these will never come to the World again?

265

How can we be sure that we'll never again be victimized by beings with

such power
?
Shirazz t
ri
ed to explain to us, but First
-
One-There had
trouble with the translation
.
I thought you might be able to explain

better
,
since you are one of us."

Tesa sighed.
The Grus had a tendency to glaze over whenever she t
ri

ed to explain economics, and with humans that was often their

strongest motivation.

Choosing her signs carefully,
the young wom
an
assured her avi
an

family that they shouldn
'
t have to wor
ry
about evil Terrans coming to
the World in the futu
re
and skinning their children
.
It was only because
the Simiu had been willing to finance these p
ri
vateers that the
re
had
been
an
y profit for them in marketing the illegal skins. T
ri
nity was
simply too far off the established space lanes to be economically

attractive for such limited
--
and
ri
sky
--
exploitation
.
Colonizing the
planet was one thing
,
stealing from it was another.

Tesa could tell that the Grus family still wasn'
t sure they understood the

fine points
,
but they had complete trust in her word
. "
You c
an
trust
Shirazz, too," Tesa promised. "Even if she doesn
'
t blink."

The three avians merely exchanged a questioning glan
ce. "There's one

more thing, Good Eyes
,"
Weaver signed. "Something your mother said
to us today."

"Yes?" Tesa had been pleased and surpri
sed to discover that her family

had diligently studied Grus sign language as they traveled to T
ri
nity
.

They had w
an
ted to be able to talk directly to the people who had t
re

ated their daughter like family, the people who had seen her last
.
Fo
rt
unately, they'd been able to get the good news of Tesa
'
s "resurrection

"
a few days before they
'
d docked
.
It had been a th
ri
ll for Tesa to
have her hum
an
family step off the shu
tt
le and greet her avi
an
family
in their own l
an
guage
.
And Lightning had proudly welcomed them--in

Plains Indi
an
Sign L
an
guage.

"Your mother seems to feel that you'
ll be leaving the World
,"
Taller
signed solemnly
. "
She tells us that you want to be hearing
,
as they
are
.
Is this true
,
Good Eyes?"

So, this was the
real
reason for the visit.

"If you were
hea
ri
ng
,
Good Eyes
,"
Taller signed
, "
it would be difficult
for you to live with the people
.
We would always wor
ry
about you,
an
d
be afraid there could be
an
other accident, that we could harm you
,
as
we did Puff."

Weaver an
d Taller gl
an
ced at each other almost shyly. "We

266

think
," Weaver
signed tentatively
, "
that there may be another egg next
year
.
We thought you would raise that child with us."

"
Don't worry about what my mother thinks," Tesa reassured

them
. "
I ... haven't yet talked to her about this. I'll explain
it later. Could you do me a favor now? Could you take the
quilt to my grandmother
?

Some of the seams are split and she
wants to repair them before the

dance."

Weaver took the autumn
-
colored quilt from the hum
an
, and
the three avians cautiously left the shelter. Tesa grabbed a brush and pulled it through

her tangled, damp hair. She'd
never
have time to get everything done now!

She noticed the distinctive spicy-musky scent of the Simiu Ambassador

before she felt his dry, leathery touch on her arm. "Ambassador Dhurrrkk',"

she signed, "you're positively
gleaming!"

The handsome Simiu male's sorrel-colored crest stood straight up at her

compliment. "Thank you for noticing, Honored Tesa," he signed, his violet

eyes twinkling. It was odd
for Tesa to watch the alien attempt the

elaborate Grus signs,
but Dhurrrkk' worked hard to be precise and graceful.

His
aptitude for languages was well known
. "
I had to look my best for

the celebration
!
But, first ..."

I wanted a
minute
to speak with you alone, Tesa filled in
mentally.

"I... I felt I had to speak with you alone.
It is about"--his
crest drooped--"my people, and their involvement in the
events that happened on this world."

"Oh, please, Ambassador, you must know that no one blames your entire

race for the actions of one family ..."

"
We must all share the dishonor
,"
Dhurrrkk' insisted. "Not

enough has been done in the pas
t to reconcile this bitter issue
between

our two peoples. I fear now that it has festered so long that many of my

people will never change their thinking."

"I'm afraid you're right," Tesa agreed. "And it's no differe
nt among the hum
an
s
."
She thought of Bruce
.
She had to admit that the meteorologist
was unfailingly polite to Dhurrrkk
',
but he always gave Tesa the feeling

that he was mentally smirking over the
"
Terran victo
ry
" whenever he
add
re
ssed the Ambassador.

"However,
my people c
an
make sure nothing like this ever happens

again
,"
Dhurrrkk
'
p
ro
mised
. "
Regarding the members of Kh
re
kk
'
s
family who were involved--m
an
y of them

267

have fled to Sorrow Sector
.
Those that have remained were not party

to this c
ri
me
,
but their dishonor is g
re
at
.
I am working on a plan
,
now, for
re
paration to the people
of Trinity."

"I have complete trust that your people will do the honorable thing
,"

Tesa
signed
,
graciously.

Dhurrrkk'
s crest rose again until he was once again his ebullient self
. "

Enough of this solemn talk!" he declared. "Hono
re
d F
ri
endMah
re
e
sent me after you. She has finally
re
ached Hono
re
d F
ri
endRob
.
They
are t
al
king now on the holovid. You must come speak to him."

Tesa nodded,
reaching for her Clovis-point spear
.
Thunder had found it

in the marsh
,
and as Tesa detached the feathers from its staff
,
she

remembered Bruce calling it her coup stick, after she
'
d batte
re
d Jim
M
al
tese with it, saving Thorn
'
s life.

Dhurrrkk'
watched as Tesa ca
re
fully tied four feathers in her hair
-
two
Terr
an
eagle
,
one Aquila
-
and one of Shimme
ri
ng's pure white ones.

They
left the sleeping area together.

In the shelter'
s common
ro
om
, Tesa
saw Mah
re
e Burroughs standing
before the holo transmitter
,
talking animatedly to the man with whom

she'd shared one of the universe's best-known adventures
. A cool wind

blew through the open windows, sending bits of down gusting th
ro

ugh Rob Gable
'
s holo
-
vid apparition
.
The sho
rt
, slender CLS