The Space Between (16 page)

When he was satisfied that he was still
alone, Tuki bowed slightly and, offering a small prayer of
protection, stepped through the narrow gap that was the gateway.
Never would he have dreamed of stepping over the wall itself, even
on his own in the silent village and with the low wall hardly
standing at all.

At the first building Tuki stopped to look
inside. What he saw was the tumbled down remains of a wooden bed
decades out of use. The bed was large enough to hold two people,
and he wondered what huge woman had lived there. With another small
bow he hurried on, almost with his eyes closed, as he followed the
mo'shi's directions to the Glass Blower's Workshop.

When he finally reached the door to the
workshop, Tuki stopped to stare. When he'd been told of his task he
had thought it pointless, beyond channeling his thoughts in the
proper direction, but now he was not so sure. The door was solid,
as was proper in such an important structure, but also a thing of
great beauty. Colored glass beads had been set into the surface,
mapping out the constellations of Mid-Summer's Night. For as long
as he could remember, Tuki had not attended the Mid-Summer
Festival. Instead he had drifted away to a quiet place he knew.
There, he would lie back and watch the heavens wheel above him. He
remembered each point of light like the features of Keala's face,
and they were duplicated perfectly on the door. After gazing for
several minutes, Tuki carefully, and with a feeling of sacrilege,
pried the door away from the frame. With a grunt of effort he
hoisted it onto his shoulder and began the long walk home with his
ear pressed against a window that showed the sky two nights into
the future.

* * *

From his position just outside the village,
Tuki could just make out the fire in the plaza. The men were in the
light while the women waited elsewhere. Perhaps they were in the
darkness around the plaza or performing some ceremony of their own,
Tuki did not know.

The festivities had continued unabated since
dusk. The go'gan, the unmarried men, were dancing, beating out the
rhythm of the desert with their hands and feet, naked and chanting.
The go'shin sat in a semicircle to the south, clapping and chanting
as well, but still wearing their togas about their waists. They
were married, and therefore married to the Mother Blower, and it
would not be proper for just anyone to look upon them.

Tuki closed his eyes and listened to the
rhythms, watching in his mind's eye while his friends danced about
the fire. Attendance of the festival was not compulsory, but
everyone went. Except Tuki. He sometimes wondered if that were one
of the reasons he was not yet married, but it was not his place to
ask, so he did what he did and hoped that Poti did not hold it
against him. He valued the company of his friends and the good
favor of the women, but he also liked to sit in the quiet to think.
Especially on Mid-Summer's Night.

He opened his eyes again and pillowed his
head on his arms. The sky above was clear, the stars bright with
the promise of a new year. For a moment Tuki thought he saw a
meteor again, but this time he knew it was his mind playing tricks
on him, dreaming up proof of the earlier sighting. He sighed and
watched the stars wheel.

When Rapa, largest of the moons, slipped
into view between the trees, he knew that the women would be
emerging from the darkness to sit to the north of the fire in their
long, ceremonial robes. Moments later he heard their keening song,
like the wind across the desert, joining the chorus. Even the
mo'min would be there, skyglass held protectively in her lap, on
view this one time a year for the men to catch a glimpse.

"Tuki? Tuki are you out here?"

Tuki sat bolt upright and held his
breath.

"Tuki? Where are you?"

Keala emerged from the trees then, and Tuki
knew that staying silent would not help.

"I am here."

"Why didn't you answer me?"

He shrugged in the darkness. "I do not
know." He was very uncomfortable, alone with a mo'by like this. It
was not proper. "You should not be here," he said. "If they found
us we would be punished."

"They will not find us." She laughed softly,
pushing her braid back over her shoulder as she sat down by his
side. "None of them would leave the ceremony without instructions
written in stars across the sky." She glanced up then, as if to be
sure no such instruction were appearing.

Tuki was aghast. "Keala, you cannot say
things like that. What if the mo'min found out?"

"Are you going to tell her, Tuki? From what
I hear you would not get anywhere near the mo'min right now."

"What have you heard?"

"Oh, so now you suddenly want to talk with
me!"

"What?" He tried to shimmy away without her
noticing. She was scaring him.

"I have been trying to talk to you for days,
but you keep avoiding me."

"I do not." But he did. If
she knew he had seen a meteor when there was none to see, she would
laugh. Her laugh normally warmed his soul, but it certainly would
not if were directed
at
him. "You should not be out here,
Keala."

"Yes, I know. But I could not talk to you
any other way."

"You can simply send for me."

"No, I cannot." She lowered her gaze.

"The mo'min has said you are not to talk to
me? And yet here you are!"

"What happened, Tuki? Why do you have the
extra duties? Why are the mo'shi laughing at you?"

"The mo'shi are laughing?" The mo'by were
one thing, but to have the mo'shi laughing as well.

"I am sorry."

She placed a hand on his knee, and he
flinched. He dared not push it away.

"Tell me what happened. I am worried for
you."

"You are?"

She shifted closer so that her whole side
was pressed against his. "Of course I am."

"I should not say," Tuki said.

"Just because Ko'uka is a mo'shi, she does
not know everything. They are just people like everyone else."

"Keala!" Tuki would have risen to his feet
but was afraid he might hurt Keala, or upset her, and he did not
want that. "You cannot say things like that. Please."

"If the mo'shi knew everything, they would
have let me marry you by now, Tuki. You are the only man I would
ever want to marry."

Tuki turned to look at Keala and
inadvertently brushed his nose against hers. She was so close to
him, leaning in. "You have asked? You have asked for permission to
marry me?"

"Of course, Tuki. I ask almost every week,
but they keep saying no."

Keala did not let Tuki reply. She leant
forward further, crossing the tiny space between them, and pressed
her lips to his. She took the words from his mouth along with the
breath. He backed away slightly, but she followed, only allowing
the contact to break for a moment. After that, he stayed where he
was, helpless, as if she were a demon drinking of his soul. But it
was a wonderful release, and he soon started to respond. When he
did, the mo'by slipped her tongue between his lips and, feeling
slightly faint, Tuki laid back on the ground. Keala followed him
again, laying a hand against his cheek as her tongue continued to
probe.

She tasted of sweet jilaberries.

An eternity, too short by far, passed before
Keala pulled away slightly. She ran her fingers up his arms, making
it feel as if the tattooed ants had come to life. She used her
thumb to trace the edges of the three pointed star on his chest —
the gateway to heaven caused by the joining of the three moons. She
touched her fingers to his tingling lips. "That is called a kiss.
It is a simple thing, a wonderful thing, isn't it?"

She kissed him again, quickly, biting his
lip.

Tuki steeled himself and wrapped an arm
around her, praying to the Mother Blower that he was doing the
right thing.

"The mo'shi show us," she whispered. "They
show us all but say we cannot do these things with men until we are
married. Not all the rules made by the mo'min and the mo'shi are
good ones, Tuki."

"Why? Why would they not let us do such a
thing?"

"They show us so many things."

Tuki swallowed, eyes growing wide. "There's
more?"

"Oh, yes. There's a lot more."

Tuki swallowed. He didn't dare ask.

Keala kissed him again, running her tongue
along the tips of his teeth. "Not now. Next time."

"Next time?"

"Yes, but now I must get back. They may not
miss you at the Midnight Ceremony any more, but they will miss
me."

"
I
will miss you." He felt embarrassed
before he finished uttering the sentence.

"And I, you." She was gone then, running
quickly away through the trees.

Tuki watched her go, silent and
marvelling.

* * *

Tuki carefully wiped the last layer of soil
away from the tuber and then worked his large fingers down the
sides until he could pull it from the ground. He set the vegetable
on the cloth with the others before a sound from the trees, a
slight rustle amongst the dry undergrowth, disturbed him. He looked
out across a narrow irrigation drain, but the sound did not repeat,
so he returned his gaze to the ground as he tried to find more food
to add to the community's supply.

Tuki had hardly returned to his search when
he heard the sound again. He turned quickly, heart racing, to
discover Keala leaning against a tree, one foot raised to press
against the rough bark behind her.

"Hello, Tuki. How are you?"

Rising to his feet, Tuki wiped his shaking
hands on his toga. His heart was still racing, but for other
reasons now. Whenever possible, Tuki made an effort to be alone
with Keala, or made it possible for her to find him alone. Then
they would kiss. The thought of the promised 'more' kept him awake
at night. But so far it had not eventuated.

"Aren't you happy to see me?"

He walked to the edge of the irrigation
drain in two long strides, pausing for a moment to gather his
breath. He looked about, over his shoulder towards the village, to
his left, towards the nearest trail. Nobody was in sight. He took
another step, across the drain, and a moment later was kissing her
gently on the cheek.

He wondered at his boldness.

"No, Tuki," she said. "Don't."

"What?"

"We cannot do this."

"Nobody will see us."

But she pushed him away slightly. "Stop it."
The sound of command was strong in her voice, and he had spent too
long doing as women asked not to obey.

Tuki took a step back. "What? Why?"

Keala walked a short distance away. "We may
not like the laws that the mo'min has made, Tuki, but they are the
laws. I feel guilty about what we have been doing. But at the same
time, I love you so and wish to be with you all the time."

"Then what can we do?"

"I don't know, Tuki." Keala pushed a lock of
hair away from her face. "But until we are wed, or the law is
changed, we cannot kiss again. We just cannot. Please
understand."

"Then we must get married." Tuki stepped
forward again and gripped Keala's hands. "We must get married."

"Oh, Tuki, you know that I would in an
instant, if only they would let us. But they will not let us. We
cannot get married without the approval of the council of
mo'shi."

"Then we must change the law."

"But, Tuki, only the mo'min can change the
law. You know that."

"So you must become the mo'min."

Keala laughed at that. "Tuki, you know very
well that the mo'shi choose the mo'min from amongst their number.
Unless..." For a long moment Keala looked thoughtful, then shook
her head and slumped to the ground.

"What?" Tuki asked. He sat by her side and
rested his trembling hand on her arm. "What were you thinking?"

"Nothing. It's just, the mo'min is the
mo'min because she is the rightful holder of the skyglass."

"So, you take the skyglass."

"Now you are really
thinking with your wishbone, Tuki. I said the
rightful
holder, not the person who
happens to have it."

"What are you talking about then, Keala?"
Tuki could not resist. He leant forward and kissed her cheek again.
She did not complain, so he moved to the corner of her mouth.

"I was just thinking, if I
had
another
skyglass I would have as much right to be called mo'min as the
current mo'min." She finally responded to his kiss for a moment
before turning her head away. "Tuki, there were other mo'min
before, long ago. There must be more skyglasses
somewhere."

Tuki heard what she was saying but did not
really care. "But where will you find one?" he asked absently,
knowing that such a question had to be asked.

"One of the younger girls brought me a book,
Tuki. An ancient book. She says she found it in a buried box. It
explains where one might be found."

"Does it?" What a book might be he could not
guess. More women's secrets, like kissing, he supposed.

"Yes. Tuki, if you find that skyglass and
give it to me, I can be a mo'min as well, and I can change
laws."

"Yes." He kissed her again.

"Tuki," Keala said a moment later, "when I
see you I cannot keep my longing at bay, so until you find that
skyglass, I don't think we will be able to see much of each other
at all."

Tuki groaned. "Of course I will find it,
Keala. Where is it? Do you know?"

11: Engineer

Keeble grunted and made his way down the
aisle towards the rear of the train. He examined the little, stiff
piece of parchment Kim had given him. There were lines of neatly
printed writing, but nothing understandable. Through the next
hydraulically powered door, he threw the paper onto the floor.