The Silver Ship and the Sea

by Brenda Cooper

  “What about Liam?” I prompted.

  Joseph answered. “He’s in, too, used his frizzer. It worked. He’s looking for Tom. But if anyone sees him, with the hunt on for Alicia…I don’t know. I don’t feel good about this.”

  Damn. We were too split—too many people in too many places. And the only choices I saw now made it worse. Wait here. Safer. But it left them alone, left Liam alone, and Joseph might not be able to stand it. We did have an open invitation to go to Artistos. “What condition is the ship in?” I asked.

  Jenna shook her head. “We need more time. Joseph needs to drill more, and I’m tuning the environmental systems. We could leave now, but it’s risky. I don’t want to leave until tomorrow.”

  “When?” I asked.

  Jenna frowned, and drew her brows together. It took her a moment to answer. “We could leave in the morning. After first light. If Joseph and Kayleen both stay to help.”

  Paloma’s face went white. “Can I help you?” she asked Jenna.

  “You’re not…you don’t have the training. You can keep watch.”

  “But we have to go to Artistos!” Joseph said. “We have to leave now.” He started toward the hebras.

  I grabbed him and turned him toward me. He nearly pulled away, then gave in, his eyes demanding that I let him go.

  “Can you talk to Liam?” I asked him. “Tell him to lay low. Tell him to find Alicia if he can and just stay out of the way. Tell him…tell him to tell Alicia we’re coming.”

  “When?” Joseph asked.

  “Not you. You heard Jenna. You and Kayleen are staying here.” I wracked my brain for the best of the choices running through my head. “Me and Akashi. We’ll say we’re following up on the conversation this afternoon. Negotiating terms. That will get us up there.”

  Joseph glared at me. “But I—”

  “No. Tell Liam—now—and I’ll get us packed.” I looked at Akashi. “Mind being part of a rescue party?”

  He gazed at me evenly. “My son is there.”

  Joseph still stood, watching us. I snapped, “Joseph—go!”

  He glared at me, but he stepped a few feet away and I waited until I saw his lips moving before turning back.

  I addressed Jenna. “Is the skimmer ready to go?”

  She nodded. “You can’t fly it.”

  “I know that. I’m crippled, remember, just like you. We need Joseph for everything.”

  Jenna took a step back from me, looking as if I had thrown something at her. I sighed, wishing I could bite back my words. “Sorry. I didn’t mean that. I’m just—worried about him.”

  Jenna nodded quietly. “I will watch over him.”

  “Kayleen, too?”

  “Yes.”

  I leaned in and gave her a little hug. She didn’t resist, didn’t lean into the hug, but she—softened. I backed off and whispered to her. “Thank you. I will try and buy you enough time to do all this, but I can’t promise anything. We’ll at least be a diversion.”

  She nodded, and then she reached for me, enfolding me in her one arm. I returned her hug, wrapping my arms tightly around her thin, strong middle, feeling the whipcord strength of the muscles in her back and torso. Solid. She felt solid.

  Kayleen tugged on my sleeve. “I might be able to fly the skimmer.”

  She was talking one sentence at a time. “Right now you can’t walk and handle that much data. Stay here, learn. Help Jenna and Joseph. Try to be sure he doesn’t exhaust himself with worry.” If Kayleen was out of her depth, how much was Joseph struggling? He was stronger, but in three days he’d gone from blinded to the nets to reading them all, to controlling them. To training to fly a starship. Flying the skimmer in between. I glanced at the hangar, at the pile of our stuff, the saddled hebras, the silent ship full of bustling robots and green plants; all to reassure myself this was real.

  Akashi was already walking Lightning and Stripes over to water. I needed Jenna, too, but she couldn’t be in two places at once any more than Joseph. I shook my head, overwhelmed again by how few of us there were. I had to get Liam and Bryan and Alicia back safely. Somehow.

  Joseph stepped back near me, looking earnest. “Liam has the message. I…thank you, Chelo. I wish I could go.”

  “Well, me too.” I realized I was tired. My eight hours of sleep had been the previous day, not last night. I sighed. “I should go. The sooner we get there, the better. You can communicate with us okay?”

  Joseph reached into his pocket and handed me an earset. “I don’t need one of these. I can talk to you anywhere you can get signal.”

  I looked at him, startled again. Of course. Hadn’t he just contacted Liam that way? I was getting used to miracles. In another month, a year, would I still know him? If he left…if he had access to a world built for us…“Just…just take care of yourself. I’ll call if we need help, or need you to come get us in the skimmer.”

  He smiled. “I’ll be watching you.”

  “Not every minute. You have work here. I’ll call if we need you. How do I do that?”

  “Just say my name. I’ll plant a program in the nets to listen for it.”

  “Did you turn off Artistos’s access to the satellites again?”

  He nodded. “Except Gianna. I gave her a password entry. I need her…to interpret.”

  “Good.” How long would Gianna protect him, though? How much information would she hide from Council? No way to tell. I could hope. “Can you…” I hated to ask him for something else. “Can you find out where Bryan is and how he is, and let me know?”

  He nodded. “I’ll try. The hospital net has been protected. I can crack it, but I think they’re hiding something and they’re afraid I’ll find it.”

  “Let me be sure I understand. The nets are off for them, but on for you?”

  He swallowed. “Their perimeters are down. But not all of their communications. They can use earsets between each other, and query individual nodes with readers. I had to leave some communications up so they’ll chatter on it. It’s the only way I can get information.”

  “Can you leave their perimeters up, but turn off the bells? So you can see what’s happening? That way you can warn them if you see anything dangerous coming in.”

  “Great idea.” He pursed his lips, momentarily lost in thought. “I’ll have to work a few minutes on that, but I think I can. That will give me better information about you, anyway.”

  I looked away, once more overwhelmed with what he was becoming. “God, little brother. You’re growing. Be careful—don’t get too sure of yourself. You could make bigger mistakes now.”

  He laughed softly and I turned my gaze back to him as he said, “You’re not doing so bad yourself.”

  My voice shook. “So are you as scared as me?”

  He nodded. “Probably.”

  I leaned in, gave him a hug, and Kayleen stepped forward and joined us. Paloma’s arm slid over my shoulder, and she called out, “Come on, Akashi.” Soon, all six of us, including Jenna, were in a single large hug, a warm and hopeful and supporting hug.

  We stood that way, a huddle of altered and not, old and young, friends. A brief image of Steven and Therese, watching us, pleased, crossed my mind, and I laughed, and soon we were all laughing, edgy tired laughter, but its core was warmth and support.

  We drew apart. I stopped at the keeper’s cabin before heading for Stripes, procuring two pieces of kitchen twine and a scrap of leather from a utility drawer. I wrapped the gun in the leather, being sure it could be drawn out easily, and used the twine to tie the bundle, including the microwave gun, to the inside of my calf where I could reach it mounted or standing. It felt cold against my skin and the twine chafed.

  We loped slowly along the wide road, heading for the closest entrance; up the cliff switchbacks. The wind blew harder and cooler and clouds had begun forming over the ocean. In the two hours it took us to get near the top of the switchbacks, the clouds thickened and darkened, and the air crackled with electricity. Perhaps the p
lains would have ignited today if we hadn’t already done the lightning’s job.

  We crested the cliff road with a few hours remaining before darkness fell. I entertained myself with hopeful daydreams. Town Council would talk to me and Akashi; I’d be around if anything happened, and maybe, just maybe, I could push Nava to our side. Council wanted Joseph, and not me. Yes, they could use me as a hostage, but they had one already. They would be happy with a go-between.

  Joseph was supposed to call me if anything happened, so it was safe enough to presume that Liam and Alicia were still safe, and hopefully together. So we walked Stripes and Lightning placidly through the boundary with no comment at all from the bells. Joseph would know we were here.

  The great winch stood just a few meters inside the boundary. The hebra barns spread out just down the road, the deep brown and yellow stubble of harvested cornfield waiting to be turned just ahead of them. Lights shone from the center of town, and farther away, from the smelter across the river. The scent of rich earth and a whiff of the goat pens and someone baking bread rode to me on an eddy of back breeze, and then blew away in the prevailing smoke-scented wind from the plains.

  Was this the last time I would ride into Artistos?

  I needed information. I pulled Stripes to a stop under the big winch, looking out over the charred plains. The clouds obscured the sea, a wall of grayness to the west, sea and sky and plains confused on the horizon line. Akashi stopped next to me, watching the road. “Joseph?” I spoke softly.

  His reply was fast. “You made it.”

  “So far. What do you know? Did you find out anything about Bryan? Did Alicia get caught yet?”

  “Shhhh…slow down. You sound like Kayleen. Yes, and no.”

  “Sorry,” I hissed. “Yes what?”

  “Bryan’s in the hospital. I finally got through their security a few minutes ago. He was beat-up pretty bad. His records show four broken ribs and seven of the bones in one of his feet.”

  “His foot?”

  “Yeah. I guess from kicking something. The records don’t tell me how it happened, just what’s wrong. Anyway, he didn’t do too well on some of the pain medication they gave him. There’s a doctor’s note that he seems to be allergic to something. They suspect his genetic modifications, of course. His heart stopped once.”

  “What!”

  “Shhhh…he’s doing better now. In pain, but not medicated, except for normal headache pills. We’ve had those before with no side effects, so that’s what they were willing to give him. But that’s got to be like giving a parched person a teaspoon of water.”

  I winced, agreeing with Joseph’s assessment. “Can he walk?”

  “With most of the bones in his foot broken?”

  “Is it set, in a cast or something?”

  “Hang on, I’ll check.”

  In the ensuing moments of silence I looked around. The road was empty. I expected a lookout at the top of the path into Artistos. Was Hunter slipping or was something else going on? Or had there been a lookout who ran off to deliver news of our coming already?

  “It’s in a cast. That doesn’t mean he can walk. I don’t understand medical terminology well enough to tell what they’ve done.”

  “Okay. What about Alicia and Liam?”

  “Liam’s still to ground, and he still hasn’t seen her. I’m worried.”

  “Me too. But you’d know if they’d caught her, wouldn’t you?”

  Dry lightning forked across the sky, brilliant even in the afternoon light. “Did you see that?” I asked.

  “What?” he asked in return.

  “Lightning. Are you in the ship? At least watch a camera—you love storms.”

  “Yeah. In my spare time.”

  “Where is everyone? It’s too deserted here.”

  “Council told women and kids to stay home because of the meteors. A stupid idea, but I think they’re really afraid of Alicia. Everyone else is at the amphitheater, or looking for Alicia. They’re running the search for Alicia from the amphitheater.” He giggled. “But there aren’t very many of them—they couldn’t use the gather bell.”

  I struggled to suppress my anger, to keep my voice low. He was laughing at the wrong thing. “Look—since you turned off the data, you’re responsible for everyone’s safety here. Don’t laugh at the lack of bells.”

  “All right, Miss High-and-Mighty, would you have preferred to have the perimeter on? Or to have seventy people looking for Alicia?”

  “No. Sorry. I’m edgy.”

  Joseph sighed, a soft hissing in my ear. “We all are.”

  I glanced at Akashi, who gazed up and down the path, his eyes never stopping. I could tell he wanted to move on. He was right—we stood exposed here. I told Joseph, “We’re going to keep going.”

  “Where?”

  “To the amphitheater.” We had to go where Council was.

  “Be careful. Tell Liam where you’re going.”

  “Won’t they overhear?”

  “I won’t let them.”

  He was playing with his new powers. I needed him to think strategically. “Look—I don’t want to draw their attention yet. You tell Liam. Tell him he can call me when he needs to, but we’ve got to keep going.”

  A full beat of silence passed. I imagined his face set, his eyes smoldering because I was telling him what to do. He would obey me, though. Sure enough, his next words were laced with careful control. “Okay, I can do that. Call back when you need me.”

  “Thanks, I will.”

  A few moments later, riding slowly and deliberately toward town, we passed three men walking out of the hebra barns. I’d seen them all, and knew two from watching their children. I waved. “Hello, Gary, Louis, how are you?” I called.

  They raised their heads and two of them stopped, whispering between themselves. Gary kept walking toward us. His eyes were wary as I drew Stripes to a halt. He nodded a greeting. “Chelo, Akashi. I heard…I heard you were against us. But I didn’t believe it.” He jerked his head toward the other two. “But they do. They said we were going to kill you all, and here you are riding into town.” He brightened. “But I knew it was okay.” He put a hand on Stripes’s front shoulder, stroking her. His eyes were full of concern and confusion, but I read no fear or animosity in them.

  I wasn’t sure what to say. Akashi beat me to it. “No, it’s not okay. But we hope that it will be. Chelo and her friends mean no harm, but some people seem to be afraid of them. We came up to stop the rumors, to assure people that there is no reason for fighting.”

  Gary shook his head. “Fighting. None of us want that.” He looked at me. “Chelo, you were always good with my little ones. They like you. I hope it turns out all right for you.”

  I smiled at him, grateful for the support. Perhaps it was a good sign that the first person we met was friendly. “I hope so, too. You can tell people we don’t want to fight either.”

  “Is your little brother doing better? I heard he’d gone crazy.”

  I raised my eyebrows. What was Town Council saying about us? “Joseph’s fine. Never better. Who told you he was crazy?”

  “My wife, Lucy, she told me they said that at a Town Council meeting. I wasn’t there. I was watching Julie and Kim.” Gary looked puzzled, then he said, “I told her it was probably just grief, just ’cause you lost your parents that way.” He shuffled his feet. “I’m sorry about that.”

  “Me too, Gary. Will you tell Julie and Kim and Lucy hello for me?”

  He blushed. “Sure. Good luck, Chelo.”

  “Thank you.” I nodded and directed Stripes to keep going. As soon we were out of earshot I said, “Well, at least the whole town isn’t up in arms.”

  Akashi smiled back. “Maybe not. But that was a two-one split. Not as good a sign as I’d like. You handled that well. You sounded calm.”

  I blushed. Praise from Akashi had once seemed so rare. We passed the fields—empty except for two people who appeared to be searching for someone, but paid us no atten
tion—and started into Artistos proper. The next group we saw included May and a few other girls I knew vaguely. Neither Klia nor Garmin was with them. They stayed on the other side of the road, watching covertly, with no greeting. When I looked back a few moments later, they were running up a side road. So much for secrecy. I glanced at Akashi. “Get ready.”

  “I know. We have a saying in the West Band—when we scatter into small groups for summer research, we say, ‘May you find only small deaths.’ That means change—death of ideas, and learning, death of ignorance.”

  He was talking philosophy now? I smiled. “Last spring, when you came back and one of your people had died in a fall, but only after he’d found some new herb that you were raving about at the time, you talked about treating death as a friend, as your companion in risks. Might that be more appropriate?”

  Akashi looked both surprised and pleased. “If you can learn that from talk. Truly understanding death and change takes years. But death can be your friend through the small deaths as well.”

  I’d certainly changed in the last few weeks. “You too, Akashi. May you have only small deaths today.”

  His smile was warm and approving. We continued riding, slowly, as if we had no worries. Just a fall ride. Perhaps that was why some people walked by as if we were not there, as if they didn’t see us at all.

  No one stopped us. We rode straight through the neat outer streets. A few faces looked out of windows at us, and a child I knew, Fern, waved at me once.

  Even the town dogs seemed to be inside.

  Activity picked up near the park. People milled about singly or in small groups, most heading to and from the amphitheater. A figure ran from the park, away from us, intent on a goal. Tom.

  Eric the shoemaker passed us and waved a greeting, furtively, but turned quickly away, continuing on whatever errand he was intent on.

  Akashi leaned in close to me. “Be careful, Chelo.”

  I swallowed, imagining death riding behind me, but wanting me to live. A weird image, not exactly cheerful.

  Should we run after Tom? Or talk to Council? “Come on, Akashi, we can’t ride the hebras in there.”