After his long and vehement speech, Kristo turned and stalked back into the mouth of the closest cave. He stood there staring at the sky, arms folded and legs apart.
Innis climbed groggily to his feet and backed away into the darkness.
Cass Mulravey didn’t move from where she sat, nursing Mira Fedor’s adopted baby Vito. Trin couldn’t see her expression clearly, but her inaction was enough for him. She did not support her brother. And what did Kristo mean by ‘last time’? What had Innis done to a woman? He would tell Juno Genarro to find out. His trusted carabinere had become friendlier with Kristo over the last few days.
Trin shifted back to the centre of the circle and executed a slow turn. ‘We must take great care to be sure nothing of our presence can be seen from the air. Hide the entrance of the caves and keep water and food supplies inside. We need be able to survive several days without leaving the caves, in case the island is searched.’
‘How do we hide the caves? That’s impossible!’ said one of the miners.
‘Then we must make it possible,’ said Josefia Genarro. She sat at Juno’s side, her hand resting on his leg. They were a good couple, Trin thought, resilient and clever and not easily defeated. It didn’t matter that they were cousins, not now that their numbers were so few.
‘We could hide the openings with boulders,’ suggested Cass Mulravey. ‘Make it look as though there’s been a rockfall. We’ll need to stop treading the same route outside, though. Our feet are flattening the ground and making a path.’
‘It would be cumbersome, but we could make a rope entry from the rocks above,’ suggested Juno.
‘Not all of us would be able to negotiate such a thing.’ This came from Jilda Pellegrini. Trin’s mother had spoken little at group gatherings so far, her energies spent on keeping up with the others and watching her son. It seemed hardly believable that his fragile madre had survived the Saqr invasion when his powerful vigorous padre had not. It was true that her servant Tina Galiotto had cared for her, yet even so Jilda had showed an ability to endure.
Trin had always thought of her as weak, in mind and in deed. Perhaps he’d been wrong. Or perhaps her suffering had made her stronger in some way. It had done that to many of them.
‘The principessa is right,’ said Djeserit. ‘Not all of us could do that. It would be better if we scatter small rocks around the boulders to hide the entrance, and simply climb over them.’
‘We need weapons,’ said Kristo from behind them. ‘Hidin’ won’t be enough. And what if there’re other things on the island—like them giant lig? We got to be able to protect ourselves.’
A murmur of agreement went up from most.
The enormous ligs that had attacked them down on the flat of the island had been chasing the nectar of the night flowers. They had not ventured further up the mountain. But Kristo was right—hiding wasn’t enough. They had stopped running, and now they must secure their position.
‘Juno, pick a group to find the strongest branches, to sharpen and make into spears. Joe Scali will take the rest and begin placing the rocks around the entrance to hide our footprints. Those that aren’t strong enough for either will see to the food.’ Trin turned to where Djes sat, near the korm. ‘Tivi and the korm will carry
your catch from the beach to the caves. Make sure some fish is dried, for storage.’
‘Anything else?’ said Cass Mulravey.
‘Collect more roots. And we need more receptacles. Some for drinking water and others to store the energy pods. They are more potent when they are kept wet.’
‘That means more trips back to the spring,’ said Juno.
Trin nodded. ‘It’s the only place we’ve seen fresh water. Once you’ve made some spears or clubs, take two others down there with you. Bring as much water as you can carry.’
‘There’s a rock hollow in the back of our cave,’ said Cass. ‘We can store water there while we’re making more containers.’
‘Buono,’ said Trin. Semantic had risen, casting more light on the faces watching him. ‘I will look for another spring, closer. Now, let’s eat and work.’
Trin ate his share of the remaining xoc and chewed a small piece of seaweed. Although salty and unpalatable, Djes assured him it was high in nutrients. When his hunger had eased enough for him to move, he got up and left the circle, walking to the large flat rock that served as the group’s evening table.
Juno hastened after him.
‘Principe, is it wise to go searching for water alone?’ he said quietly. ‘In the dark you might trip and fall.’
Trin put a reassuring hand on his lieutenant’s arm. ‘As we all might, Juno. Everyone is needed for a task. I will walk around the summit at approximately this level, returning from the west side. I would estimate only a few hours. If I am not back by early light, do not attempt to come for me until the next night. I’ll take pods and roots.’ He reached across the slab and took a collection of edibles, including several pods, slipping them into the pockets of his ragged fellalo. He filled the robe’s water-sleeve and checked the drinking tube. Its end was damaged, allowing precious water to leak out if he did not hold it upright. He pinched the valve between his fingertips.
‘You need both hands to climb,’ said Juno.
Trin tied the tube in a knot to make his carabinere happy. ‘I will see you before light.’
Djeserit walked with him until they were out of sight of the caves.
‘Take care, love,’ she said. It was the first time she had used an endearment.
He peered into her face. Her tight skin, a tribute to her mixed heritage, had aged in the harsh environment. She looked more mature than the girl he had first lain with, in the dry-gardens of Villa Fedor. He touched her hair. Despite spending less time in the water, it still felt stiff, as though the sea didn’t want to relinquish its effect on her.
At least she was cleaner than the rest of them. How long since he’d washed with a cleanser? How long until he would? ‘And you, Djes. Let the korm and Tivi carry what you catch. Don’t tire yourself by doing too much. Or overuse the pods.’
Her thin lips parted in a smile. ‘You, also.’ She slipped her hand into his pocket and shook the pods.
Her touch near his groin sent a shot of pleasure through his body. Though they lay together every day when she returned from fishing, neither had the energy for more than the comfort of being close. In addition, Trin found the proximity of the others inhibiting in a way that did not seem to bother some of the other men.
He took her hand from his pocket and drew her further away from the caves. Above them was the sheer rock of the summit; below, the line of brush clinging to the dirt.
‘Trinder?’ she whispered.
Without answering, her steered her to a spot among the bushes and then pulled her close. His lips tasted of her briny skin and his hands felt the taut lean warmth of her muscled body.
She responded by pulling away and slipping her robe off, to stand naked before him. She pointed at the ground, but he shook his head and turned her from him, bending her over. The ground was too rough for her bare skin. He would not risk injuring her, so he pressed himself inside her this way.
She stiffened at first but he stroked her back and murmured gentle reassurances. Her body began to soften in his grip. Instinctively, she started to move in rhythm, arriving at her climax before him.
His success in pleasuring her quickly fuelled his own fervour, and he reached release almost straight away. He stood, hugging her to him, his hands cupping her narrow waist.
‘Trinder, there is—’
‘Hush,’ he said. ‘Do you hear something?’ A crackling sound, at odds with the island’s night noises.
Djes slipped from his embrace and pulled her robe on. ‘No. But I must go and fish now.’
‘Si,’ he agreed.
They pressed their lips together, and then she cupped his face. ‘I’ll think of you.’
He smiled, turning his lips to the palm of her hand, feeling th
e webbing between her fingers scraping his cheek. Perhaps he had not lost her to the sea yet.
They climbed up from the brush to the rock line, where she left him to return to the caves. Trin stood for a moment, savouring the solitude and the physical release from their moment of intimacy. He and Djeserit had paired under the worst of circumstances, yet their regard for each other sustained itself. And now the passion had returned. For a moment he felt content, a ridiculously impossible feeling under their circumstances but real enough.
Another noise in the brush behind him shattered his moment of peace. He scanned the shadows but could see nothing other than the shapes of stunted trees. Perhaps there was an animal in there.
A sense of uneasiness crawled into his stomach.
Keep moving.
MIRA
Mira stared at Linnea. ‘It’s a girl. It must be. There is no—’
‘Not according to this thing.’ Linnea had placed the baby in a bubble crib by the bed and was watching the diagnostic display.
Another cramping pain struck Mira before she could reply. Not as intense as the birthing contractions, but deep even so.
‘Afterbirth,’ pronounced Linnea. She left the crib and slid more absorbent film underneath Mira’s thighs. ‘One more push now,’ she said, as she pushed down on Mira’s stomach.
With the final effort, the pain left her.
‘Good ‘n’ healthy one, far as I can see, but small. Mine was all threaded. Too long in the womb.’
Mira heard the door open.
Linnea deftly wrapped the baby leftovers up and transferred them to a large receptacle. Then she pulled a sheet up over Mira’s lower body.
Dolin was first to enter the room, hurrying to the crib. He pored over the readouts before, finally, lifting his gaze to Mira.
She sipped on a sweet juice Linnea had produced for her and wondered at the expression on his face. He seemed confused.
‘I want to hold my baby, Dolin,’ she said.
‘Of course,’ he said. ‘Just a moment.’
More clinicians arrived, crowding around the crib.
‘What? What is it?’ Mira demanded.
Finally Dolin lifted the baby from the observation bubble and passed her to Mira.
As she took her child in her arms, an overwhelming swell of emotion and responsibility surged through her. She had brought this child to life, and now she must ensure her survival.
Mira pressed her lips to the baby’s tiny wrinkled forehead and studied her features. Fine dark hair covered her peeling scalp, and her lips were pursed in a red slash that gave colour to the palest of little faces. She hadn’t cried or uttered a sound, and her eyes were open. She stared back at Mira with open curiosity.
‘She can see me,’ said Mira, startled. ‘Her eyes are focused.’ She knew enough of babies, from Villa Fedor, to know that humanesques did not focus their eyes immediately. It could take weeks, sometimes longer.
‘Yes,’ said Dolin. ‘The baby has some unusual characteristics, as we suspected.’
‘Please stop saying that and explain.’
‘Baronessa, there is no other way to say this than plainly. Your baby doesn’t have reproductive organs of either sex.’
‘My baby is a eunuch?’
‘I’m not sure... We need to do further tests to determine exactly.’
‘What sort of tests?’
‘Genotyping, and more... neurological and body scans.’
Mira took a deep breath. She could deal with anomalies in the baby’s reproductive organs. But neurological anomalies... What had the Post-Species done to her child? ‘I will be present during the tests,’ she said decisively. She did not trust even Dolin to take the baby from her sight.
‘The tests will take time, and you must be tired. We can take the child and feed—’
‘No!’ Mira held the baby close. Something told her not to trust the seemingly benign scientist. ‘I will feed her myself. And I will be present at the tests.’
Dolin glanced at the others. ‘Very well.’
‘Is my baby sick?’
‘No.’
‘Is she in danger of dying from her prematurity?’
Dolin scratched his head. ‘Remarkably, no. The gene accelerant seems to have worked better than we could have hoped.’
‘Thank you for saving her. But please leave now, while I acquaint myself with my daughter. Your other tests can wait that long, at least.’ She stared Dolin down, until he nodded and motioned everyone out of the room again.
Linnea stood at the foot of her bed with her arms crossed. ‘You’ve got a way with you for someone so thin and pale. What’d you do, swallow a whale’s backbone?’
Mira wasn’t sure that she properly understood the woman’s meaning. She shrugged and lifted the baby to a more comfortable position on her lap. ‘Please. Could you show me how to feed my baby?’
Linnea’s mouth dropped open, and she burst into a loud laugh. When she finally stopped, she shook her head and wiped tears from the corners of her eyes. ‘You just stared down a roomful of our most high and mighty scientists, but you don’t know how to feed your own baby. Where the hell was it that you said you came from?’
‘Araldis,’ said Mira, her face warming.
‘That the place where those aliens landed and killed everyone?’
‘Si.’
‘Been all over the ‘casts. So you’re the one that escaped.’
Mira nodded.
The woman gave a heavy sigh. ‘You’ve been through a lot, love. Here, let’s teach you some mothering things, before the fermenters come back.’
‘Fermenters?’
‘That what we call ‘em. Ferment anything in a dish, they would.’
Linnea put the baby back in the crib and helped Mira to wash, finding her some clean lab overalls to put on. She also got some absorbent film from a drawer for the residual bleeding. When she was dressed, Linnea helped her back on the bed.
‘Bleeding might go on for a few days yet. Just keep yerself changed and clean, and there should be no problem. Like I said, the placenta looks healthy enough.’
Then she showed Mira how to hold the baby in the crook of her arm and manipulate her breast so that the baby could attach its mouth to her nipple. Mira found it easy to overlook her natural modesty with the woman’s practical ways, and after several painful tries the baby began to suck.
‘Now, all yer gotta do is relax.’ Linnea laughed again. ‘Damn easier said than done. Nothing like a hungry babe working its gums to put you through the roof.’
Mira smiled through her discomfort. Something about Linnea soothed her.
‘What you gonna call this babe? Can’t be going too long without a name. Not good for your bonding. Yer got someone you c’n name her after?’
‘My sister Faja. Or her friend Estelle. They died on Araldis.’
‘What about the father? I’m assumin’ if you’re from that planet, you still choose fathers the old fashioned way.’
‘They choose you,’ she countered abruptly.
Linnea pulled a face, but was smart enough not to pursue it.
Mira stared down at the baby. The infant looked back at her, even though it was feeding, and its tiny fingers curled and uncurled against her breast. How could her child be so alert? It seemed unnatural.
Milk blew in little bubbles from the corner of the baby’s lips, and Mira thought of Vito’s solemn face and quiet manner. Her heart contracted. Linnea was right: she must name her child.
‘I’ll call her Nova. Because she is new and fresh.’
Linnea shrugged and nodded. ‘Seems to fit. Now, time to swap over.’
The galley supervisor helped her move the child to the other side, and went through the same steps. But Nova fussed, and kept pushing Mira’s breast away.
She lifted the baby so that their faces were close. ‘What is it, little one?’
The blue-grey eyes blinked with intensity, as if trying to tell her something. Mira stared into them, remembe
ring how active Nova had been in the womb, especially in times of danger.
The next moment the doors swung open and the clinicians returned, led by Dolin. He stopped alongside the bed and held out his hands for Nova. ‘It is time.’
Mira refused to hand her over, sliding her feet onto the floor. ‘What do you want to do?’
‘I would simply paste a little trace substance in her mouth.’ He waved at the wall. ‘The nanites will transmit their analysis here, and we will be able to verify your daughter’s health and many other things.’
Mira hesitated. Did she really want to know those other things?
Nova flailed her small fists in the air, her fingers curling and uncurling again. She seemed irritated, but that was ridiculous. A newborn could not be that way.
‘Can the nanites harm her in any way? What will happen to them when they’ve done their job? Do they remain in her system? What if she is allergic to them?’
‘They are completely benign, medical-grade, and will degrade and be excreted within a short time.’
Mira sought Linnea for reassurance, but the scientists had pushed her to the back of the room.
‘Very well,’ she said. She stood on shaking legs, and pushed determinedly past the observers to stand in front of the screens. ‘But I will administer it, and you will explain everything to me as the nanites transmit.’
Dolin hesitated, glancing around the group.
Mira wondered why he’d been appointed spokesperson. Was it because they thought she would relate best to him, because of his biozoon experiences? Had they hoped to make her more sympathetic to them?
Dolin moved closer to her and produced a small tube from the pocket of his coat. Detaching a small applicator from the lid, he squeezed some paste out onto it.
Mira took it from him and held it near Nova’s mouth. The blue-grey eyes stared at her again, and the little lips pursed.
‘Come, little Nova. Just this once, so that we can better understand you.’
To Mira’s astonishment, the baby’s lips parted in compliance. She tilted Nova towards her to hide the extraordinary behaviour, and slipped the applicator in her mouth, sweeping the nanite-infused paste across her gums.
The Sentients of Orion Page 101
