The woman with the short hair that had spoken to her in the silo was the first to speak. “We’re honored to meet you, Salene. My name is Peg.” She frowned as she glanced around the circle of twenty six women and children. “Maybe giving you everyone’s names all at once isn’t a good idea?”
“I probably wouldn’t remember them all, and I don’t want to insult anyone because of my poor memory for names,” Salene agreed. “I’m sure that as I get to know each of you, your names will be easy to remember. As long as no one minds?”
“We don’t mind,” an older woman with gray streaked hair and warm brown eyes said. “You could do just about anything you wanted at this point and we wouldn’t mind. You saved us, Salene, and you freed us. We are thankful beyond anything we can express.”
“It wasn’t me alone, but on behalf of all of us, you’re very welcome.”
She’d spotted some worried expressions among the women and thought she had a good idea of the reason behind them. “Tonka told me that some of you are Khun. Is that right?”
Several of the women nodded, though some of them seemed reluctant. Salene smiled. “It doesn’t really matter. I’m just curious because I have a sister, Tani, who is Queen of the Khun of Garza.”
“Your sister is our queen?” Peg asked in surprise.
“I suppose that’s for you to decide,” Salene said. “I know only that the people of Garza are Khun, and some of you are also Khun.”
“Then you are Khun?” the gray haired woman asked, frowning.
“No, I’m Clan Jasani,” Salene said, then smiled. “I know you’re confused, and I don’t blame you. Not too long ago Tani helped a group of people who’d been stolen from their home world centuries ago to be used as slaves by the Xanti and the Doftles. They were forced to mine a metal that the Xanti wanted, and more recently they were forced to do the same thing by the Doftles and Nomen. Tani helped them to fight the Nomen and take back their freedom.
“Their leader, a man named Ganzorig Khan who goes by the name Steel, and my sister fell in love. He’s King of the Khun, and she is now Queen. The world they live on, Garza, is a beautiful and bountiful place filled with animals, birds, forests, lakes, everything you could ask for. But while the world is now rich in resources, it’s very poor in people. There are only a few hundred of them on the entire planet.
“I’m certain that Tani and Steel will welcome all of you with open arms, Khun or not. They can teach you to grow your own food, raise livestock, build homes and whatever else you want or need to learn. And they will understand you because they too lived under the rule of others, and they know what that means. You can live in peace and freedom on Garza if you choose to go there.
“If you don’t want to go to Garza, or if you go there and wish to go elsewhere, that can be arranged. It’s up to each of you to decide what you want. I just wanted you to know that we don’t intend to just up and leave you here on your own.”
“We are grateful and relieved, Salene,” Peg said. “We were worried, of course, since none of us have any idea how to live out here in the wild. But why can’t we stay here, on this world?”
“You can do as you wish,” Salene said. “You’re not slaves any more, and that means that you’re in charge of your own lives and your own destiny. But, I would have you know that to remain here, on this world, is to remain subject to the Doftles and the Nomen. Eventually they will find you, and they will either put you back to work in a silo, or kill you.”
“But the silo is destroyed,” Peg said frowning. “We all saw it.”
Salene returned Peg’s frown, then she sighed as understanding came to her. “I apologize. I assumed you had knowledge that, apparently, you don’t have. The reason that the silo was supposed to be destroyed with all of you in it was to prevent others from knowing what Tonka knows, and what the Doftles fear he shared with others.”
“And what is that knowledge?”
“That there are many silos on this world. Dozens at least, and possibly hundreds.”
The women grew silent as they absorbed that news. “That certainly puts a different light on things,” Peg said. “You’re right, Salene. We must leave this world if we want to remain free.”
“I’m sorry to disappoint you,” Salene said.
“We’re not disappointed,” the older woman said. “We just didn’t want to ask any more of you. You’ve done enough already.”
“Tesse is right,” Peg said. “You’ve done enough, and I apologize if what I’m about to ask is too much, but will you be able to help the people in the other silos?”
“We plan to, yes,” Salene said. “Unfortunately, the location of those silos is unknown, and they’re all well hidden. While we were in the silo, Jinjie extracted as much data from the computers as he could. It’s our hope that the locations of the other silos will be in that data, but we need to get on a ship and put it in a computer before we’ll know for certain. I can tell you this much. Every effort will be made to find those other silos and free those people, no matter how long it takes.”
“That’s a relief,” Peg said. “Thank you, Salene.”
“We’re happy to help,” Salene said.
“Might I ask, how long will we stay here?” Tesse asked.
“Ships from my world, Jasan, will arrive soon. Tomorrow or the next day most likely. All who wish it will be transported up to the ships where you’ll be safe. I’ll send a message to my sister on Garza so that they can begin making preparations for your arrival.”
“How long will it take us to get to your sister’s world?” Peg asked, glancing uncertainly at the gray sky.
“Two or three days,” Salene replied.
“That’s not much time for them to prepare places for us to live.”
“That won’t be a problem. There is a place of caves where some of the Khun lived for a long time before they were finally freed for good. The caves are quite nice, with running water and electricity. Most of the Khun are now building more traditional homes, but even if they all still lived in the caves there’d be room for you.”
“It sounds wonderful, Salene,” Tesse said. “We thank you for telling us this.”
Salene frowned as a thought occurred to her. She debated for a moment, then decided to tell them. “There is one thing you should know about the Khun of Garza.”
“You sound worried,” Peg said.
“Perhaps a bit,” Salene admitted. “You all saw my men shift into gryphons, didn’t you?”
“We do not know that word, or the creature, but yes, we saw,” Peg said. “Jinjie told us that it was natural for your people to do that, and that they weren’t hybrids.”
“That’s correct,” Salene said. “The Khun of Garza are shifters now, too. They shift into dragons. It is a long and complicated story, but the end of it is that they are now strong enough and powerful enough to stand against the Doftles and the Nomen. No one can enslave them again.”
“Will they protect those of us who are not Khun?” Peg asked.
“Of course,” Salene replied, surprised by the question. “They won’t care whether or not you’re Khun. They’ll care only that you wish to live in peace and harmony with them, and each other.”
The women relaxed, then asked more questions which Salene answered as well as she could. After a while Peg noticed that the men were setting up shelters, so they thanked Salene once more, then went to help. Tesse hung back a little and Salene realized she wanted to talk privately, so she sent Mali and Tab ahead with the other children, then faced the woman directly.
“What is it you want to know, Tesse?” she asked, her question direct, but her tone polite.
“If you don’t mind my asking, I wondered if you’ll be keeping Mali and Tab?”
“Yes,” Salene replied, instantly on guard. “From what Tonka tells me, they have no blood family living. Is that not correct?”
“Tonka indicated that both Lei and Oberto have died. If that’s true then yes, they’re orphans. Again. It seems t
o be their lot in life.”
“I saw the bodies myself and can tell you where they are if you want to personally verify it,” Salene said coolly. “But Mali and Tab are not orphans any more. I shared my life force with them which makes Mali my daughter, Tab my son, and me their mother. I will not relinquish that bond for any reason. If there are objections, I would hear them now.”
“Objections?” Tesse asked, surprised. “You misunderstand me, Salene. I’m happy to see that little girl smiling. I didn’t think she knew how. I’d hoped for her sake that Lei would be the mother she and Tab needed and deserved, but she had other interests.”
“Yes, so I’ve gathered,” Salene said. She was cautiously relieved, but sensed that Tesse had more to say.
Tesse hesitated for just a moment. “Before I say anything else, I want to thank you for taking care of Tab. I’ve been more than a little worried about him these past months. If I’d known Oberto was planning to leave the silo and that he was taking the children, I’d have gone with them.”
Salene tensed again and though she tried not to show it, Tesse noticed. “I was worried about Mali too, and Oberto and the rest, but little Tab is…special. More special than you can know.”
Salene stopped walking and turned to face the older woman. She’d never liked beating around the bush, and she liked it even less now when the subject was her son. She opened her mouth to ask Tesse to get to the point and spit it out, then paused when she spotted the grayish blue cloud that announced Nia’s arrival. She closed her mouth and turned to face the spot where Nia was taking shape, not missing the fact that Tesse seemed surprised, but not shocked.
“Greetings, Princess Salene,” Nia said, smiling. Then she looked at Tesse and hesitated.
“You’re a princess?” Tesse asked in surprise, ignoring Nia for the moment.
“Yes,” Salene replied, her eyes narrowing slightly. Tesse just smiled, then turned back to Nia and bowed.
“I greet you, Lady Nomad.”
“You are of the Lurra,” Nia said in surprise. Then she smiled. “It was not known that any of our people remained in Silo 56 after Tab’s mother crossed to the Light.”
“Tab isn’t human?” Salene asked.
“Is that a problem?” Tesse asked with obvious concern.
“Since I’m not human myself, no, it’s not a problem,” Salene said. “I’m just surprised is all.”
“I apologize, Highness,” Nia said. “As I told you before, I cannot tell you of things that have not yet come to pass.”
“I get that,” Salene said. “But one or two things have come to pass so it’s time for an update.”
“Up date?” Nia asked. Salene scowled, her patience at an end, and Nia’s eyes widened. “Yes, of course, Highness,” she said with a quick bow. “I told you that many of our people were taken by the Doftles and the Xanti and brought here, against our will. But there is more to the story. Much more. For one thing, our people can no longer reproduce.”
Salene frowned. “What about Tab?”
“He has much human blood in him,” Tesse pointed out. Then she shrugged.
Salene had reached the end of her patience with all the bits and pieces of information dropped here and there like crumbs, leading her on a path she never seemed to reach the end of. Nia had started it, and now Tesse was doing the same thing. “I ask that you start from the beginning and tell me the whole story,” she said, using her best imitation of Prince Garen’s tone when he was at the end of his patience. “Please.”
“Of course,” Nia said, bowing again, lower than ever. “Our world is called Kinah, and our people are divided into two different lines, the Hegal, and the Lurra.”
“Different lines?” Salene asked.
“Kinahns are somewhat like your men, Salene, in that they can alter their physical form,” Tesse said. “We do not change into different creatures, though. The Lurra Tribe, of which I am one, are of the earth. The Hegal Tribe are of the sky.”
“What does that mean, exactly, of the earth and of the sky?”
“She is much too sharp,” Tesse said wryly to Nia, who smiled.
“Those of the sky have wings, though we are able to hide them for brief periods of time,” Nia said. “Those of the earth are able to blend into the ground, trees, plants and the like.”
Salene sensed that there was a lot more to it than what Nia had said, but it wasn’t truly her business to question them more closely on matters that had nothing to do with herself, or her children. She’d tread heavily on the line of propriety as it was. “All right, I’ve got it. Sky, earth, tribes.”
“One day, many hundreds of cycles past, four ships visited Kinah,” Nia continued. “Our people had not ventured into the heavens, so the ships alone shocked and frightened us. But the two races of beings inside those ships proved to be far more dangerous than even our worst imaginings.”
“Let me guess,” Salene said. “The Xanti, and the Doftles.”
Nia nodded solemnly. “Just so. After informing us of their identity, they forcibly took a small group of our people away to their ships without explanation. Half of the people taken were Lurra, the other half, Hegal.”
“Several days later they demanded that two thousand healthy female volunteers, half from each Tribe, aged 15 to 20 cycles, board their ships as willing slaves. They offered no explanation as to what those young women would be forced to do, or even where they would be taken. They said only that if their demand was not met, they would take the people they wanted anyway, but destroy our world before they left. They gave us three days to comply.” Nia closed her eyes for a moment and pressed her palms together. Salene politely looked away, giving her what privacy she could.
“We didn’t know if it was possible for them to destroy our world,” she said a few moments later. “Not even our most gifted seers could see the answer to that question. There was a debate in the House of Meeting between the leaders of both Tribes, but it was a short one. It was a risk that simply could not be taken. The Lurra King and the Hegal King, their hearts filled with sorrow and regret, made the announcement together. They called for volunteers to show up on the day and time specified, in the place the Xanti and Doftles had chosen, which was an empty field outside the royal city.” Nia’s chin went up and her eyes suddenly shone with pride. “Nearly five hundred thousand of our people answered that call, both men and women of all ages and of both Tribes. There would have been more had we more people, but except for the children, the elderly, and the infirm, that crowd consisted of virtually every able adult on Kinah. They filled the fields around the city, overflowing into the forests to the north and the hills to the south, each and every one of them willing to sacrifice all for our world.”
Salene raised her fist to her heart and bowed her head in silence, honoring the selfless sacrifice of so many. When she raised her head again she saw faint tears on Nia’s face and knew that she hadn’t heard the worst of it.
“The Doftles were angered by what they called our arrogance,” Nia said, her voice colored with bitterness for the first time. “They looked upon the bravery of our people as an insult, and chose to punish us for it. They took every female between the ages they’d specified, and then added as many more as they could squeeze into the holds of their ships regardless of age. When their holds were stuffed with nearly ten thousand females, they released a virus designed to kill the remaining population.”
“Bless the Creators,” Salene whispered in horror, struggling not to throw up.
“The journey was a nightmare that those of us who survived will never forget,” Tesse said. “Of the ten thousand women taken, less than three thousand of us survived. Eventually the ships stopped. They took one hundred women from the holds and, not long afterward, traveled on. They stopped again and repeated the exercise many times without ever telling the rest of us what they were doing. It was then that we learned how much worse fear of the unknown can be than any other kind of fear. In time they stopped at this planet and left a hund
red of us before leaving again. It was only then that we understood what they’d done to the other women.
“After the ships left us here with a small group of Doftle we were divided into twenty five groups of four and placed in silos scattered around this planet. As far as we know they did the same with all of the other women who survived the journey.”
“You never told your fellow prisoners about the other silos,” Salene said.
“We couldn’t,” Nia said. “The Doftles told us that their virus hadn’t completely wiped out our people on Kinah. If we didn’t comply with everything they asked of us, they promised to go back and destroy the entire planet. They had ways of knowing all that we said and did that, in the beginning, we did not understand. When we eventually learned more of their technology, it made no difference. We couldn’t stop it from working, and we couldn’t gamble with the lives of those left behind.”
“How do you know they weren’t lying?” Salene asked. “How do you know they didn’t really kill everyone else on your world?”
“We didn’t,” Tesse said. “Not then, anyway. But it was a risk we couldn’t take.”
“Does that mean that you know now?”
“Yes,” Nia replied. “Among the women taken were a number of us blessed with special abilities, such as myself. I am a Nomad, able to wander without my physical body, and also able to make myself known to others if I choose. As I’ve already told you, we had a seer, though she’s long since passed to the Light, along with another Nomad who was much more talented than I.”
“I gather that you’ve been able to visit Kinah?”
“Yes, though it took many, many cycles to do so,” Nia said. “It is one thing to wander about on the world in which you find yourself. It is another to set off among the stars, especially when you’ve no idea which direction to go.”
Salene shuddered inwardly at the idea of sending her spirit out into the vastness of space. “I can only imagine,” she said softly.
“Eventually I was successful,” Nia said. “I learned that a handful of our most talented Healers who were, thankfully, too old for the Doftles’ purposes, managed to counteract the virus. Unfortunately it took time for them to find a cure, and in the meantime the virus spread very quickly. When it was over a mere fraction of our people remained alive, and of those, all were sterile.”
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