“What are they saying?” she asked, turning to Kiran.
He frowned. “Some of the words are familiar, but they speak strangely.”
Tempest looked at him in dismay. “You can’t understand them?”
“Some.”
“Ask them what happened to Niah.”
Kiran’s brows rose, but he asked the question. A hologram of the solar system appeared. The men spoke in droning voices for several minutes. Then the image of Niah was enlarged and they began to gesture at certain points. The image enlarged again, zooming in on particular areas as the dialogue continued. After a few moments, the image of the globe disappeared and a collage of other images began to flash and disappear. Even without a grasp on the language, Tempest began to get some idea of what had happened just from the images.
The planet had become destabilized at some point. It wasn’t clear how that had happened, perhaps because the Niahians themselves weren’t certain. One thing was evident, however, and that was that the destabilization had created killer storms, widespread flooding, and great loss of life. There’d been a global war, but Tempest couldn’t tell whether the war had caused the destabilization or if the war had arisen out of the chaos of the breakdown of the ecosystem, possibly because the survivors were fighting over the limited resources that were left.
She was on the point of telling Kiran to stop it when another image flashed into view, zooming in on a map location and then zooming closer still to show a building much like the temple of Zoe. This one, however, was in the side of a mountain that had two peaks. A wide valley separated them.
Kiran tensed. “The secret valley,” he murmured.
The image disappeared and was replaced by the interior of a building, the ‘temple’ Tempest presumed. The two men reappeared, walking in the building and gesturing to points of interest.
“That’s it!” Tempest exclaimed. “Tell them to zoom out and show us the location on a map.”
The computer complied and Tempest and Kiran both moved closer, examining it. “Does any of this look familiar?”
Kiran frowned, but after a moment he shook his head. “There is no place that looks like this .... Now.”
Tempest thought it over. “Tell the computer to show us this place in relation to the hall of records.”
Nothing happened. “Try, the government center.”
The map remained unchanged and Tempest frowned in frustration, then rolled her eyes as it occurred to her that she was using the wrong reference point anyway. “Tell it to show the facility in relation to our current location.”
An image was promptly displayed and Tempest felt a spurt of excitement and triumph. “Now overlay with cardinal compass points—now scale the distance.”
They studied it for some time. “How far, you think?” Tempest finally asked Kiran.
He shrugged. “Two days with the aquestans. Five walking.”
“Do you think Ta-li will let us take the aquestans?”
Kiran was quiet for some time, thinking. “We don’t know what will happen when we release this … whatever it is. Perhaps nothing at all, for it is ancient.” He looked around as if he’d suddenly become aware of the passing time. “We should leave here. We can decide what we must do when we are in a safer place.”
A flicker of reluctance leapt in Tempest, almost a sense of urgency to see if she could learn more while they had the chance, but Kiran’s reminder of the danger tamped it before it fully blossomed. Turning, they hurried back the way they had come. Tempest had to stop several times to catch her breath, however, for the climb back up was far more difficult than the walk down. When at last, they reached the main chamber of the temple once more, Ta-li met them, speaking rapidly.
“Mer-cay!” Kiran snapped. “We’ve been discovered. A group from the encampment is already on the way up.”
Abandoning the Temple abruptly, they raced through the outer gates. The Zoeans in the lead spotted them and, shouting furiously, charged. Kiran grasped Tempest’s hand and ran. As frightened as she was by the pursuit, however, Tempest was already winded from the long climb back up the corridor. She stumbled, almost falling. Without a word, Kiran caught her, tossed her over his shoulder and rushed onward. The impact of hitting his shoulder knocked the breath from her and black spots swam before her eyes, growing larger until they completely filled her vision and awareness drifted away.
When she became aware of her surroundings once more, she discovered that she was atop one of the aquestans, cradled against something hard and warm. She lifted her head and looked up at Kiran, still more than a little dazed. “What happened?”
“We managed to out distance them … most of them. Two of Ta-li’s men were killed.”
Tempest bolted upright with a gasp of horror. “Fighting?”
“Not much. They stayed to hold off the men in the lead. They were overwhelmed.”
Tempest looked at the men accompanying them and the three saddles, now empty, stunned, disbelieving. “But … we’re only trying to help … everyone.”
Kiran’s lips tightened. “You are naïve, star child! You did not think they would simply listen, did you?”
She deserved the rebuke and she knew it. She had only considered how devastating it would be to Kiran to discover his religion, indeed the entire society they now had, had been built upon a corruption of truth and deliberate lies. She hadn’t considered that it would create a breakdown that could end in war. “They will all die,” she said suddenly as the realization hit her that the only way to bring life to the ‘dead’ world was to bring water … vast amounts of water.
Kiran frowned.
Tempest gestured to the rolling desert around them. “The Niahten beneath the desert—This isn’t desert, or wasn’t. This is powdered stone and soil, most of it deposited here by flooding. All of the places you consider temples were built high in the mountains and dug into the rock … because it was the safest place. I don’t understand exactly what this device is that we’re supposed to activate, but I do know there’s only one way to make this world green again and that’s by water … a lot of water. There’ll be nothing to stop it once it’s released. If the flooding is rapid and widespread, anyone in the low areas could be swept away. We could end up destroying all life on Niah, not saving it.”
“Those who believe in the prophesy will be saved,” Kiran said with conviction.
Tempest looked at him curiously, wondering what was going through his mind. He’d seemed to accept that there was no true religion, no true prophesy—but rather warnings and instructions from the distant past. “How?”
“The alignment is their sign to move into the mountains for the coming. They must gather all that they cherish together and wait. When the great darkness falls upon the land, they must offer prayer for deliverance and wait for the light to come again. And afterwards, behold, acres of water shall await them to quench their thirst and the thirst of the land and all living creatures, water will fall from the sky and the land will become green once more with growing things.”
Tempest digested that for some moments. “All the believers? And they know that the alignment is within the next few days?” She thought it over for several moments, realizing that nothing they could do would make much of a difference anyway. As far as they knew, the alignment had a direct impact on the efficiency of the equipment. If they didn’t try now, following the instructions the best they could, it seemed doubtful they would have another chance. And Niah had no communications beyond word of mouth. There wasn’t enough time to reach everyone with a warning. “You said that the Mordune’s beliefs were similar, but not exactly the same. Do they know about that part of the prophesy?”
Kiran glanced toward Ta-li and questioned him sharply. Ta-li frowned, asked him something. After a brief conversation, Ta-li turned to his men and spoke at length. Within moments, they began to peel off, each taking a different direction.
“I guess that means no?”
Kiran shook his head. “Ta-li sa
ys his people know of the prophesy, but they are not true followers of the religion. Until they saw you, he didn’t believe either. He thinks they will follow the word anyway, but he doesn’t want to chance it. He and his men go to make certain that the Mordune tribes take refuge in the mountains.”
“They took the aquestan that I was riding.”
Kiran looked down at her. “You do not need it.”
It wasn’t going to be very comfortable for her to travel in such close proximity to Kiran for several days, however. Not that there was any point, now, in objecting. His arms tightened around her when she tried to sit up. “Do not move away from me, Zheri Cha.”
Tempest looked up at him in surprise. Before she could point out that the saddle wasn’t really big enough to put a lot of distance between them, he spoke again, smiling faintly.
“I meant in spirit.”
“Oh,” Tempest said, frowning as she tried to figure out what he meant.
He touched her cheek caressingly with the back of one finger. “Tell me how I have offended. I will undo it if it is within my power.”
Tempest swallowed against the sudden lump that had risen in her throat. “I don’t think I could explain. I mean, you really didn’t offend me. Anyway, it hardly seems the time.”
“There may be no other time,” Kiran said quietly. “Neither I nor you know what will happen when we enter the secret valley. And we have nothing but time, now.”
Tempest had avoided considering the possibility of danger in their task, but she knew he was right. It might well blow up in their faces. She sighed. “I doubt you’d understand even if I tried. We come from such different cultures.”
His lips tightened. “I understand more than you realize, obviously.”
Tempest frowned. “Obviously not, if you’re going to get insulted every time I try to explain.”
His lips twitched. “Then I will listen and try to understand without making judgment.”
Tempest shrugged, but found she couldn’t meet his eyes. “In the temple … when we had sex, you made me feel like I’d done something wrong afterwards. It didn’t feel wrong to me, or bad. I felt good about it because … because I thought .... Well, I guess I misunderstood, that’s all.” She hadn’t realized how hard it would be to try to put it into words. She threw a glance at Kiran and saw that he was frowning.
Kiran struggled with the sinking sensation in the pit of his belly, realizing she’d been right and that he would have no easy time trying to explain what she’d sensed in him the day he’d lain with her. Clearly, it was the difference in their cultures that had caused her withdrawal from him. “We are not paired,” he said uncomfortably, trying to explain without making her feel worse about what had happened. “The fault is mine. You are young, inexperienced. It was wrong of me to take advantage, to take the evidence of your purity so that you would not have it as proof of your virtue when you chose to pair.”
That made her feel ever so much better! She’d suspected that it was something to do with their culture, feared that to do what she wanted to would cause problems, and she’d ignored the warnings in her head.
She didn’t know why their archaic beliefs should bother her anyway! It was ludicrous to judge a woman by such a thing! It could only be ‘yielded’ once, for fuck’s sake! Thereafter, whatever she did, as long as she was discrete, no one would be the wiser as to whether she was ‘virtuous’ or not!
She realized fairly quickly, though, why it bothered her. Kiran’s opinion of her mattered. She didn’t give a damn about the others … but she didn’t want him to think badly of her.
Too late! Obviously, he already did or he wouldn’t have had sex with her the night before considering his views on having sex when a couple wasn’t ‘paired’. It angered her that he assumed, because it meant nothing at all to him, that it also meant nothing to her, but she sure as hell wasn’t about to tell him any differently!
“I guess it’s a good thing I’m Earthling, then, and it wasn’t something against our customs. I don’t have to feel guilty about it. I do appreciate the fact that you’re willing to take the blame, though,” she muttered, completely unable to keep a note of sarcasm from creeping into her voice.
He sighed, irritation in the sound. “You have decided that you will return to the place of the star people with the others from Earth?”
Tempest shrugged, trying not to feel completely miserable over the fact that he hadn’t even challenged her comments. “I suppose. If they want to and it seems safe to go back.” She forced a smile. “It would be nice to be around people that shared a common background with me, to be around things that are familiar. And, of course, I wouldn’t have to worry about getting in trouble because of unfamiliar customs or having everyone look down on me.”
Kiran was silent for quite some time. “It is only for this reason that you wish to go? It is not because of something that I have done … or failed to do?”
That was a hard question to answer without making it patently clear that the only reason, at this point, that she wanted to go back was to escape Kiran. She swallowed with an effort. “Why would you think it would have anything to do with you?”
He stiffened at that and she thought the barb might have struck home. It was unfortunate that she couldn’t enjoy the possibility that she’d wounded him as he’d hurt her … because she didn’t want to hurt him even it was possible.
An uncomfortable silence settled between them. It grew lengthy before Kiran spoke to her again.
“I think I did not explain that well,” Kiran tried again after a while.
Despite the length of time that had passed it only took Tempest a few moment’s search to realize what he was referring to. “Don’t!” she said. “I got it! I really did.”
“You do not understand or you would not be angry!” he said angrily.
“I’m not chaste anymore,” Tempest said tightly. “That’s the bottom line, right?”
She could tell the slang confused him.
“I took your chastity,” he said a little hesitantly.
“I was there, remember?”
She heard him grinding his teeth. “You are right to be angry with me for what I did ….”
“Well, at least we fucking agree on something!” Tempest snapped.
“I am only trying to say that I realize that the fault is mine. I cannot undo what I have done, but I will pair with you and none need ever know ….”
Tempest turned around and glared at him. “I don’t think so!” she said tightly.
“Zoe’s teeth!” he snarled. “You would test the patience of the goddess!”
Tempest looked away from him. “I don’t need you to ‘fix’ it by pairing with me,” she said when she’d managed to regain some control over her emotions, beat back the urge to burst into tears. “I told you it wasn’t against our customs. Nobody thinks anything about recreational fucking … nothing bad about it, anyway. It’s considered healthy and normal for a woman to enjoy it as much as a man. I’ll find companionship among my own people and it won’t be an issue.”
They rode in angry silence for the remainder of the day. Near dusk, Tempest spotted the craggy outline of an oasis in the distance. A mixture of relief and dismay filled her. She was desperate to get off the aquestan by that time—tired, hungry, and sore from the hours of riding. She was looking forward to putting a little distance between her and Kiran, and yet she knew it would only be a fleeting relief. They only had the bedroll they shared, which meant she would have to maintain the pretense of being indifferent once they curled up in the pallet together.
Kirry bounded ahead of them as she caught the scent of water, disappearing into the rocks before they finally reached them. Shifting in the saddle, Kiran dismounted. Tempest nearly fell off when he did. He caught her, settling her carefully on the ground and steadying her before he released her.
The aquestan, catching the scent of water as Kirry had, balked, uttering the unpleasant squawking noise it make when in distr
ess. Catching the bridle firmly, Kiran led it up the rocks in the direction in which Kirry had disappeared.
Apparently everyone smelled the water but her, Tempest thought wryly, stopping to dig up an armload of Niahten for the campfire before trudging tiredly behind them. She dropped the Niahten once she reached the area where Kiran had unloaded the packs. After assembling the makings of a fire, she dug into Kiran’s pack, where she’d stowed her ignitor, and dragged it out to start the fire. She’d almost given up on the thing when it finally produced a spark and lit the Niahten.
Staring numbly at the tiny flame as it slowly grew, absently feeding the fire, Tempest wondered if she was so weary from the travel or if it was only that she was worn down from the struggle with her emotions.
She’d managed to build the fire to a respectable size for cooking by the time Kiran returned with food and set it across the blaze to cook. Sensing his gaze on her, she searched her mind for something to say to break the uncomfortable silence that had held them both throughout the afternoon since their discussion. “I’m pretty sure my ignitor is almost out of fluid,” she said finally.
Kiran flicked a speculative look at her.
She frowned at the ignitor and finally tucked it away again. “I don’t know how to make fire without it,” she finally confessed.
“There are more in the place of the star children?”
Tempest frowned. “I expect so,” she said finally, wincing inwardly that he’d thrown that at her.
His expression tightened, but whatever his thoughts, he kept them to himself. Sighing, Tempest rose and headed in the direction he’d come from in search of the water. She caught a flash of red eyes as she squatted at the water’s edge that momentarily penetrated her fog. The tension eased from her when she realized it was Kirry.
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