Webdancers (23 page)

Chapter Forty-Seven

Noah has invariably tried to see the positive side of things, despite extreme difficulties. It’s one of the things I love about him. I haven’t been able to see Noah for awhile, but I’ve been told that he seems to be g rowing increasingly darker … as if he is losing some sort of an internal battle.

—Tesh Kori, remarks to Eshaz

Accompanied by men and women in MPA and Guardian uniforms, Tesh boarded a podship at the Canopa pod station, and found a bench seat at the rear. She did not like to magnify herself and ride as a passenger in one of the sentient vessels as she was doing now, but if she wanted to get to Siriki quickly, this was the only choice she had. Doge Anton, while permitting her to visit Noah in this manner, had forbidden her to take her own podship,
Webdancer
, on such a mission.

She thought back on the conversation she’d had with the youthful doge that morning, and of the child growing in her womb.

“Think of what you’re asking,” Anton had said to her. They were standing in the tower of an airgrid station on Canopa, where the Liberators were setting up one of their ground bases. “
Webdancer
is my flagship. I can’t have it flitting around the galaxy on personal missions. What is it you want to discuss with Noah anyway?”

“As I said, sir, it is a personal mission and I’ll only be gone a couple of hours. The round-trip flight shouldn’t take long, and allowing for the time to … “

“My answer is the same. No.”

Tesh had looked away, at airgrid planes landing and taking off on the field, using their vertical take-off and landing systems.

“You and I were once close,” Anton had said, but it was not our fate to remain together for our entire lives. Or, I should say for
my
entire lifetime, in view of your longevity.” He glanced over at his wife, Nirella (who was out of earshot), and exchanged smiles with her. “I’m happy with the choice I made,” he added, “even though you forced it by leaving me.”

“I prefer to say we drifted apart,” she said.

“If I’d been paying attention, I would have noticed that you had a wandering eye. I took you away from Doctor Bichette, and in turn Noah spirited you away from me.”

“Noah and I have no relationship,” she said, bristling.

“Only because there hasn’t been time,” Anton said. “I’ve seen the way the two of you look at each other, the way you act around one another. There’s electricity in the air, even when you argue. Anyone can see it.”

“I won’t deny that. All right, I’ll leave
Webdancer
here.”

“Leave the sectoid chamber unsealed, so a Tulyan pilot can operate the vessel if necessary.”

After a moment’s hesitation, Tesh nodded. “Unsealed it will be.”

Now the other podship was loaded with passengers, only around twenty for this trip. The vessel taxied out of the orbital station and prepared to engage with the podways. Tesh saw a burst of green light outside, and then a dimmer, barely perceptible green hue out in space as the vessel sped along one of the strands of Timeweb.

This particular flight was part of a military procedure that General Nirella had established: regular courier runs linking Canopa and Siriki, using designated podships. Since both planets were among the original merchant prince worlds, they still had functioning nehrcom stations at each, a technology that could have been used for communication. However, the Humans now knew that the cross-space communication system had been compromised by Jacopo Nehr’s treacherous brother Gio, who had revealed the secret of the operation to the Mutatis almost a year ago. The Mutatis had, in turn, revealed what they knew to the Adurians. While some of the MPA leaders had suspected that the technology had been leaked for some time now, they now knew details of how it happened—information that had been provided voluntarily by their new allies, Hari’Adab and the Mutatis.

It was early evening on a moonlit night when Tesh rode the shuttle down from the pod station and landed on Siriki. The Golden Palace, which she had seen lit up in past visits, was now darkened for military purposes, as was most of the planet. With modern infratech systems, she knew darkness only provided limited concealment benefits, so she wondered why the authorities didn’t just blaze all the lights they had, as a means of flaunting and aggravating the enemy. Maybe that was the answer; maybe they didn’t want to provoke the emotions of their foe. At least not yet.

Emotions
, she thought.
That’s why I’m here.

Having sent a comlink message down from the pod station, she hoped it had gotten through to Noah. She waited at the main entrance of the terminal. For just twenty minutes, but it seemed like an eternity, as Humans, robots, and Tulyans looked at her in peculiar ways. Around her, everyone seemed to have their lives organized with military precision, but hers was anything but that.

Finally, when she was about to give up and go in search of him, he arrived in a military staff car, driven by a robot. One of the rear doors slid open. Not even getting out, Noah leaned through the opening and said, “Get in. I can only talk for a little while.”

“Perhaps we should make this some other time.”

“No. With my schedule, it’s always something.” An interior light brightened, so that she could see him better. Noah hadn’t shaven in a couple of days, and his eyes looked tired. His curly, reddish hair was mussed. He smiled disarmingly, and this broke her momentary anger.

“I suppose that’s understandable.” She sat beside him, and the door closed behind her. The interior light dimmed.

“What is it?” Noah said, as the car made its way back toward the palace, without visible headlights.

“Aren’t you glad to see me? It’s been too long.”

“Of course. It’s just that there’s a lot going on here. I was about to leave for Yaree, but something important came up and I’ve been forced to change my plans. EcoStation is orbiting that planet, so I wanted to check on it. The unaligned Yareens are potential military allies, too.”

“Sure, EcoStation. I worked for you on the orbiter, remember? But how did it get to Yaree?”

“It’s one of the things I want to investigate. I still hope to go, but later. Until I can get there, I’m sending a recon team of Tulyans, diplomats, and military officers.”

“What made you change your plans?”

“You remember Acey and Dux?”

“Sure.”

Noah went on to tell her where the teenagers had gone, and how the robot Kekur had sent a distress call that they were under HibAdu attack in the back country. “We’re organizing a rescue-and-attack squadron right now,” he said. “I’m going with it.”

“But you have so many other responsibilities. Surely you can delegate that one.”

“HibAdus are a priority. Besides, those boys may not always be near, but they’re Guardians through and through. I’ve always seen them as future leaders, after they finish sowing their wild oats. And as for you, Tesh, I’m always glad to see you. From the moment I met you, I knew you were a … special case.”

“You make me sound like a fugitive from a nut house.”

“In this war, aren’t we all?”

“I suppose. Look, I don’t need much of your time. I have to get back to my own duties, piloting Anton’s flagship.”

“Pull over there,” Noah said to the driver, reaching forward and pointing so that the man could see what he wanted.

Noah and Tesh got out in a shadowy garden area, where pathways and a pond were illuminated in moonlight.

“Here,” Noah said, handing a pair of night-vision glasses to her. “I don’t think you’ll need these with the natural lighting, but just in case.”

“Thanks.” She tucked them into a pocket of her jacket, as he did with his own pair. “It’s kind of heavenly out here tonight, and maybe that’s a sign.”

“A sign?” he said.

“Just the observation of a hopelessly romantic female.”

“You’re anything but hopelessly romantic.” Noah leaned down and kissed her affectionately on the lips, then grasped her hand and led her toward the pond. His grip was warm and strong, and she felt his steady pulse against her magnified skin.

“Since we don’t have much time, I’m going to be very direct,” Tesh said.

“Normally we men prefer that, but coming from you, I’m not so certain I want to hear it. I’ve never been able to figure you out, or what we mean to each other.”

“Odd that you’d say that, because I’ve been stewing over the same thing. There hasn’t been enough time for us, has there?”

“No.” He kissed her again, longer this time, before they continued on the walkway. The moon reflected on the pond, an image broken by a wooden boardwalk that led to a small island at the center.

As they walked along the creaking boardwalk, Tesh said, “From the beginning, I knew something about you, too. Or should I say, about
us
. Sparks were always there between us, a physical passion that neither of us could deny. As a Parvii, I’ve lived a lot longer than you, and I’ve had more … relationships, as your Human women like to call them. From the beginning, I couldn’t stop thinking about you, Noah. I’m sorry to be so direct, but the war forces my words, compresses our lives.”

“That’s all right.” He led her to a bench on the island, and they sat down, still holding hands, to gaze out on the reflections of the pond.

“We had our one time together. You thought it was only a dream since you were with me through Timeweb, but it actually happened.”

“Two months ago, right?”

“Sixty-eight days,” she said, with a hard stare at him.

During all that time, until just a few days ago, Tesh had been carrying his seed within her, until she finally made her decision about what to do. Now she felt their child growing inside, and she wondered how to tell him, what to say. She needed to choose her words carefully. This was no ordinary man, and she could not predict how he would respond if he knew.

Unsure if she should tell him at all, and especially now, she hesitated. Noah was a busy, important figure now.

“As complicated as our lives have been,” she said, “neither of us have had time to explore the real potential of our relationship.”

“I have to admit, I’ve always found you intriguing,” he said. Looking at her intently, he said, “This is going to sound like a line, but whenever I look into your pretty green eyes, I see a universe of stars and planets, a universe of possibilities. I see the past and the future in you. You are one woman, and you are all women who have ever lived. I love the depths of you.”

“That was quite a mouthful. You can see the color of my eyes, even in this light?”

“Do you think I would forget what you look like?”

She kissed him, and asked, “Did you just tell me that you love me, or that you love all women in general? Do you only love the ‘depths of me,’ or do you love all of me?”

“That’s a complex question.” He grinned as he considered how to reply.

While she held his left hand, her fingers wandered inside his sleeve, and she felt rough skin on his wrist and forearm. Odd. It must be the scars of an injury he hadn’t told her about yet. Not wanting to make him uncomfortable, she quickly withdrew.

Just then, they heard voices, and on the far side of the pond—away from the palace—Tesh saw dark figures in the moonlight. Five Human shapes, moving furtively through the garden.

Noah put on his night-vision glasses, and so did she.

“It’s … “ Tesh hesitated. “One of them looks like Princess Meghina. Is she here?”

“Yes. She’s led an interesting life.”

“Look,” Tesh said. “They’re moving strangely, going in a circle. What are they doing?”

“I don’t know.”

Rising to his feet, Noah went back on the boardwalk the way they had come, moving slowly and keeping to the side, where the boards squeaked less.

Following him, Tesh did the same. So far, she had not gotten to say what she’d intended, and now she might not get the opportunity. As they left the magical, moonlit island, it seemed to her that a spell had been broken. She sighed. Maybe it was for the best. For his own safety, Noah needed to keep his full attention on his important duties. That was the case with her, too, and she wondered if she should have waited longer before commencing her pregnancy.

What’s done is for the best
, she thought.
If I had waited, it might never have happened
. And it needed to happen. Tesh was sure of it.

She followed him to a stand of high shrubbery, and they peered through an opening in it.…

* * * * *

Princess Meghina had been feeling peculiar, and almost giddy. For her, always conscious of her duties and of making the proper impression on others, this was most unusual. But around the other immortals, especially now that Kobi Akar was gone, she’d been feeling more comfortable. After jumping off the cliff, her companions had all healed at varying rates, and they were fine now. Meghina still didn’t think she would ever make that leap.

She wanted to maintain her dignity, but she also wanted to be part of this special group, a group that was elite in its own, ineffable way. Not that living forever was a sign of status, or of some bonus that the gods had given to them. At least she didn’t see it that way. Sometimes, she almost felt it was a curse, a burden that she and the others had to bear. The Salducian diplomat had failed in his responsibilities, and now he was paying the price for it. He would spend a long time incarcerated, a long time being miserable. Of course, they couldn’t give him a life sentence, because that would never end, and he had not committed a crime that warranted the death sentence. He was a unique prisoner. No doubt about it.

Now she held hands with Betha Neider on one side and Paltrow on the other, and all of them were linked in a circle with Llew Jarro and Dougal Netzer, circling in the moonlight, circling, circling.

On one level, the one that was most obvious to her, this all seemed silly, and almost a cliché. But they weren’t
dancing
in the moonlight, not exactly. It was more an improvised thing for them to do together in this private place where they could let off some of the pressures and behave in an impulsive, childlike manner. But this wasn’t childlike, she quickly realized. As they moved around and around, it occurred to her that they were doing something very important.