The Silver Ship and the Sea

by Brenda Cooper

  As they came closer, Stile and Ken stopped, holding back. Bodyguards.

  The other three continued. Paloma looked at me questioningly, and I shook my head. Let them come to us.

  When Nava was about five meters away, I called out, “Good morning.”

  She stopped. Looking at Akashi, she said, “Where are the others?”

  I spoke. “Which others? I came to talk, and that is what I promised.”

  Hunter rode up next to Nava, sitting straight in his saddle, his gnarled hands holding the reins loosely. He gazed at me evenly. “I came for Joseph.”

  I bet he did. “I’m the only one of us here.”

  Regardless of how age had curled his hands and bent his back, Hunter’s eyes peered out of his wrinkled face with a deep distrust. He spoke slowly and clearly, as if I were a recalcitrant subordinate. “Do you remember, on your way out, you promised me that you would take care of your people?”

  I nodded.

  “Here is what I believe. I believe your brother regained his skills, and more, and that he has made our networks unstable for the past two days. I believe he and Alicia are not even with you anymore. I believe you failed to keep your promise.”

  The combined gazes of Hunter and Nava made me want to squirm. I drew in a trembling breath and let my own anger at them help me steady my voice. “I took care of them all, and we never disobeyed Paloma or Tom.” That was all I had promised him. I had never promised him we would not learn.

  Ruth rode up on Nava’s other side, gazing at Akashi. Her eyes were dark and flinty, her hair pulled back tightly behind her head. Like Akashi, she wore a stunner in plain view. “Akashi, what are you doing? Why aren’t you with us?”

  Akashi’s eyes looked concerned, compassionate, but his voice was cool and distant. “Because you are wrong.”

  “Where is Joseph?” Hunter asked.

  Paloma and Akashi were silent, waiting for me to respond.

  Was the power here Hunter or Nava? Nava still led Artistos. I nodded to Hunter, acknowledging that I had heard him, but I spoke to Nava. “We have done nothing wrong. You asked us to fix the networks. We did. We were not with Bryan, and I can’t say why he chose as he did, but I know we have all been taunted by Garmin and his friends more than once, and I know they beat Bryan afterward, that you did not keep Bryan safe.”

  I let a beat of silence fall, and then followed up. “We have often stayed together to keep each other safe.” I made sure Nava watched me. “You sundered us, and then you failed to protect Bryan.”

  A flash of guilt touched Nava’s eyes. She shivered a little, but didn’t reply.

  I didn’t give her a break. “We have simply been ourselves. You and I, Nava, we talked once about how we might grow into ourselves.”

  A light wind blew Nava’s hair from her face, blew up fine ash so it swirled around the hebra’s feet. Nava’s eyes roamed across us three, drinking in details silently. No one spoke.

  I wasn’t sure what to say next. I knew what we wanted, and that it started with acknowledgment that we had done nothing wrong. Had I made my point? Not if I looked at Hunter, who regarded me calmly, with the same exact condescending look on his face. Ruth simply watched us, her eyes narrow, her mouth a hard line in her thin face.

  Nava’s voice grew more formal, her eyes harder. “You must all come back. Chelo, Joseph, Kayleen, and Alicia.” She looked at Paloma, a brief smile crossing her face. “Kayleen may continue to stay with Paloma, Joseph and Chelo with me.” She addressed me next. “But you must stay in town, and you must not gather together. You must not protest any decisions that we make. We expect you to continue your work in the science guild, Chelo, and Joseph to continue strengthening the nets, but only at our command. He is to stop taking unilateral actions.”

  “And Alicia, and Liam, and Bryan?” I asked.

  Nava hesitated a moment, then continued. “Alicia may choose between living with me in Artistos, or returning to her band.” Nava glanced at Ruth. “She has not earned more freedom than that.”

  Alicia and Nava would be oil and water, and she would not go meekly back to the East Band. Besides, she was off making her own consequences at the moment. “And Bryan?” I asked.

  Nava wiped a stray hair out of her face, and looked at Akashi warily. I remembered them standing at the fork, each holding a stunner drawn and ready to fire. She swallowed. “Liam can stay with Akashi.”

  Akashi eyed her back, the same wariness on his face that hers held. “And Bryan?”

  Nava swallowed. “We will decide what to do with Bryan when he recovers. We may base our decision on the behavior of the others.”

  So she liked having a hostage.

  Ruth had worked her way to the side. I glanced at Stile and Ken. They, too, had fanned out. So it wasn’t just a game of talk, even if I was the only prey here. “Call Ruth and Ken and Stile back, keep them where I can see them.”

  Nava looked startled, but made no move. I glanced at Hunter. “We are three to your five, and at least three of you are armed. Smart that none of you has drawn your weapons. I suggest that you don’t.” I regretted placing the microwave gun in my pocket, where I couldn’t reach it easily. Except that sight of it could drive them to violence I still hoped to avoid. I opened my hands. It was hard to keep my voice from shaking. “I am not carrying a stunner. There is no reason for you not to hear me out.”

  Hunter gave a hand signal and Ruth rode back toward him and Nava.

  “The others,” Akashi said.

  I glanced at Paloma. Sand pranced lightly under her. Paloma’s face had gone white and her knuckles, where she clenched her reins, were white also, but her eyes flashed determination and anger. She said nothing.

  Hunter called, “Stop where you are for a moment,” loud enough for Stile and Ken to hear. They stopped, still too far apart for me to watch.

  “Where I can see them both at once.” I smiled at Hunter, hoping my smile made up for my trembling hands. “You remember the war better than I do, but I don’t want to repeat it, either.”

  He sighed and nodded at me, his look no longer condescending. “Come closer, you two—stand behind us.”

  Stile and Ken brought their hebras in closer to the path, not quite as close as I wanted, but it would do. I cleared my throat. “Here is our proposal. Joseph and I and Kayleen will come back, and Joseph and I will live by ourselves, in town. We will do you no harm; we will help you, like we always have. We are part of you now, we have fought Fremont like you have, helped rebuild it after the earthquake like you did. Joseph will continue to work on the nets, and to do more. He can build them better and stronger, weave in a better warning system. He will show Gianna everything he does. Bryan will stay with us when he recovers, or by himself if he prefers. Liam and Alicia will go with the West Band for the rest of this season, and be under Akashi’s care.”

  I glanced at Akashi. I had only just thought of this solution for Alicia. He didn’t react, and I took it as a sign that he would support it. I turned back to Nava. “Akashi is Town Council. There are four of you here this moment. You can decide. We will promise to work for the good of Artistos, and not to harm anyone unless they harm us first. That is the best promise I can make.”

  Ruth snapped out, “Alicia cannot simply run free.”

  Hunter put a hand up, asking Ruth for silence. He spoke slowly. “You are not adults to dictate terms to us. Our terms stand.”

  “I will be an adult in a year,” I said. “Artistos’s children have married at my age, and younger, and they are treated as adults when they marry.” I watched Nava’s face closely. She gave nothing away, just watched me as closely as I watched her. “Akashi will agree, and Tom will.” I took a risk. “Lyssa, too.” I looked from Nava to Hunter. “You need us. We have skills the colony can use.”

  Nava looked uncertain. I could see it in her eyes. But it was Hunter who spoke, and his eyes were flint and determination. “We do not negotiate with children. I expect you to come back with us now, and then
you can explain your demands to the whole Council.”

  And become another hostage? If I went back, I could be there, where Alicia and Liam were. Maybe. If Liam didn’t stop Alicia. If he had to follow her all the way into Artistos. If she didn’t do anything stupid. But I’d be out of touch with everyone else. Jenna had told me not to trust them. “I can’t go with you. Please talk to me now.”

  Hunter shook his head. “You’re making a mistake, Chelo. If you speak to the Council they are more likely to believe you.”

  Nava looked past me, at Akashi and Paloma. “Tell her. Tell her to come back with us.”

  Paloma said, “It is her choice.”

  Nava pursed her lips, her eyes flashing anger. “Akashi?” she said.

  Akashi gathered himself, as if he were on stage. He sat very straight in his saddle, gazing evenly at them, his stunner clearly visible. “I believe these young people have demonstrated they are adults. No matter what we call them. I will abide by Chelo’s wishes, as long as she and the others don’t harm the colony. Tell Town Council I support her suggestion, and that we’ll take Alicia in the West Band for now.”

  The three of us held our ground, watching the five of them. A standstill.

  Ruth addressed Akashi. “You will regret taking Alicia in if it comes to that.”

  Akashi ignored her. Time stretched, long moments of quiet, filled by the scent of burned grass carried on a freshening breeze. Hunter nodded at me, his face impassive, his eyes cold and untrusting. “You will be welcome in town if you change your mind.”

  I returned his nod, hopefully returning to him the same look he gave me. “Thank you.”

  Ruth and Hunter and Nava turned and rode through Stile and Ken, who let them get a few meters down the path while they watched us.

  I glanced at Paloma. “Come on, let’s go.”

  She turned Sand around and she and I started back, Akashi continuing to watch the others, guarding us. After Paloma and I had been riding back for about ten minutes, Akashi rejoined us. “They are all going back,” he said.

  So that was twice they came for me and returned empty-handed. Would a third time come out the same? “Should I have gone with them?” I asked.

  As usual, Akashi didn’t exactly answer. “The choice was yours.”

  “I know. Did it make a difference? Did it even help to talk to them?”

  Paloma spoke up. “They would have made you go back if you had Joseph with you. They’re afraid of him.”

  Akashi said, “I agree. If Joseph had been with you, they would have used force. We’d better post careful watches tonight.”

  I frowned. “At least Jenna has her extra day.”

  Akashi looked at me, a wry smile on his face. “I hope that turns out to be a good thing.”

  “Me, too.” I pushed Stripes into a gallop. Maybe Joseph had heard from Liam by now. Maybe I would go to Artistos tonight. I was dead tired of talking and no one listening. I had counted on this meeting, put all of my attention on the solution that scared me the least. I should have had backup plans. Jenna had backup plans. If we made no progress, the only choice for all of us here would be to leave. I was beginning to warm up to the idea.

  26

  A Ride into Town

  As we rode back into the spaceport, no one came to greet us. The light wind that started during our talk with Nava now whipped ash steadily around the hebras’ feet, rising in little eddies that made us blink. Legs and Longface, still tied in the corral, called out to Stripes and Sand and Lightning as we rode up. There was no sign of people. Ash blew across the concrete pad like dour smoke, in keeping with my mood.

  Surely Jenna would have left someone on watch? A long look in every direction produced no sign of movement. I glanced at Akashi. His brow was creased and his eyes searched the concrete pad. I sighed. “You two stay here, don’t dismount. I’ll go on foot—I’m faster.”

  He glanced at Paloma. She’d stripped the brace from her foot for the ride, but she still couldn’t walk fast or far. He would stay.

  I swung down from Stripes, tying her near the other hebras but outside the corral, and headed toward the keeper’s cabin. Ash collected in a long line along the windward wall and dusted the windows. The cabin was empty. I darted over to the hangar, calling out as I pushed open the door. No answer. Circling around the building, I spotted Kayleen huddled out of the wind, sitting with her head down on an arm thrown over drawn-up knees. She still wore the headband, and although this spot was sheltered, she’d clearly been in the wind; her dark curly hair was tangled and gray from the ash.

  She didn’t move as I walked up to her and bent down. “Kayleen?” I whispered, looking to see if she breathed. Her back rose and fell. At least she was alive. But she didn’t respond to my whisper….

  I shook her and she opened her eyes, blinking against the bright late-morning light. “Wha…oh. You’re back.”

  Relief washed over me. “Are you all right? Are you supposed to be keeping the watch?”

  She nodded, sitting up straighter. “Sssorrry. I—I stopped over here to get away from the ash, and I started getting good readings on the perimeter data. I figured I could tell when you came back in; I can hear it all.” A dazed look decorated her face. “I’ve never been able to do that before, hear the whole network.”

  “But you didn’t notice when we came in,” I pointed out gently.

  “Ohhh…yeah, I guess I didn’t. I filtered out friendly entry. I’ve been trying to figure out how to get the alarms to be more sensitive to animal entry. It’s an exercise Jenna gave me.” She shook her head, as if to clear it. “I can’t get it working yet.”

  The headband was clearly tuning something in Kayleen like it had Joseph. A good thing, except that Kayleen seemed dazed. Jenna and Joseph were undoubtedly in the ship. How was I going to get their attention from out here? Throw stones at the ship and hope they made it ring?

  I glanced back at Kayleen, who was beginning to look more alert. “How are you supposed to let them know if you need help?” I asked her.

  She frowned. “They trained cameras on the spaceport and they can hear the perimeter. Besides, Joseph can talk to me over the nets.”

  “Oh?” That implied a connection between our nets and Artistan nets. “Can you call him?”

  She drew her brows together and swiped at her unruly hair. “Not yet. He has to open a channel. But he calls every fifteen minutes.”

  “Has he heard from Liam?”

  She shook her head. “What happened?”

  “They don’t care about you or me or Liam. Joseph scares them—if he’d gone, they would have taken him back. Or killed him. I think the only reason they didn’t just ride past me like a fly was because Jenna scares them, and they don’t know who’s here. I don’t think they know if Akashi brought a small army or not. They act—respectful—of him. They don’t seem to know about the skimmer, but they weren’t exactly a river of information.”

  “How’s Bryan? Any word?”

  “No.” I reached a hand down to help her up. “They won’t say anything about Bryan. Wanted the rest of us to come back and do their bidding, except Alicia—they want to send her back to Ruth—and Liam, who’s supposed to stay with Akashi. But I think that was meant to soothe Akashi.”

  Kayleen stood, dropping my hand.

  I stepped toward the corral. “Come on, Paloma and Akashi are waiting. It felt weird to ride in and find no one watching for us.”

  “I’m sorry. I can hold on to a lot of the net now, more than ever, but it pushes the physical world away from me. It’s like a flood.” She shook her head again, not moving with me, but standing and blinking as if some great light shone in her eyes. “Joseph says I’ll get used to it.”

  “I hope so,” I said, worried for her, for us. We were all overtired. Kayleen looked almost drugged. I took another step, and this time she followed. We left the lee of the hangar, stepping into the cool wind, the blowing ash. We’d taken no more than ten steps when Kayleen stumbled, fall
ing all the way to her hands and knees. She turned to look up at me, her eyes rolled so far back in her head I could see mostly whites. “Kayleen! Are you okay?”

  She sat down on the concrete and put her hand on her head. “Yes. Joseph says he’ll be right down—says Liam called. He wanted to know if you were back.” She sneezed.

  They’d had a conversation and I couldn’t hear either side of it. Spooky. “Did Liam find Alicia?”

  She pushed to her feet. “Joseph didn’t say. He’ll be here soon, though.” Between her wind-tangled hair, the circles under her eyes, and the odd, skewed look on her face, Kayleen seemed like a caricature of her usual self. The next thing I knew, she was going to start talking in simple sentences, one at a time.

  “Come on.” I held my hand out for hers, offering support. She took it, and we walked close together. I watched her steps carefully the whole way. She made it to the corral without any further stumbles.

  Paloma and Akashi dismounted as soon as they saw us, and Paloma started loosening Sand’s girth rope. I eyed the saddled hebras. “Leave them saddled. Joseph is on his way with news from Liam.” I squinted at the New Making, trying to see if the ramp was up or down. Just closing—so they were coming. Was anyone in Artistos watching?

  Joseph pelted up to us, running all out, followed by Jenna who moved at an easy lope. He stopped near me, struggling for breath. His eyes were wild. “Alicia got in, but she set off the alarms. They’d programmed her as unfriendly entry—loud bells. Everyone in Artistos is looking for her. I turned off their perimeters, so she won’t telegraph her location if she leaves, but I’m worried about her.” His face showed mixed defiance and desperation. “I…I found her once—she was in the park—but now, with the nets off, I can’t find her anymore.”

  Jenna caught up, and stood watching us, her face a mask.