ex. "He's telling the truth," she told Taller . " The ship can defend itself."
Taller looked at the bold youngster thoughtfully. " Puff said nothing could
hu rt the ship , but now we know that in protecting itself , the ship can hu rt us. Let Loves - the-Wind look at your wing-she ' ll know how to help it . But first , we'll all talk to the humans." He moved purposefully toward the shuttle.
The yearling stepped up beside Tesa. " You're the new human!" he
signed as though his d re ssing-down was already forgo tt en . " The one who can't hear ." He eyed Tesa's small ears with open cu ri osity even as she noticed the few cinnamon - colored feathers around the
yearling's head.
"Yes," she signed. " I'm called ` Good Eyes .' And you?"
"Flies-Too - Fast ." The sign meant more than that - it meant re cklessness , fearlessness . The yearling ' s body language indicated that , at the moment , he was chag ri ned to tell her , though she suspected at other times he'd sign it with p ri de. "They told us you can dance. Would you dance with me?" As he finished asking , he sprang
into the air.
Tesa felt awkward. She didn ' t want to do anything clumsy that might
embarrass the youngster , but she was tempted by his high - spi ri ted joy . She tried a few steps. Flies-Too - Fast spun, leaped up, and she followed, startled at how high she could jump in the re duced gravi ty .
81
SILENT DANCES 81 "You can! You can really dance!" He seemed thrilled
with
Tesa's sho rt performance , and she was flushed with excitement, until she re alized that everyone had tu rn ed to watch. " You've given him quite an honor," Taller signed.
Is that good or bad? Tesa wondered. Meg's and Thorn's faces were equally
unreadable.
The Crane crew was out of the ship now, and as the Grus moved away ,
Tesa could see their drawn , anxious faces. Lauren's was pasty - white and she was c ry ing. B ru ce had an arm around her. Tesa noted their
nullifiers and Terran voders.
Peter' s dark face was bobbing in a sea of white bodies in the Baraboo's
hatchway, as G ru s heads snaked around on long necks, and black,
stick-thin legs moved back and forth.
Taller strode forward while Tesa struggled to keep up, FliesTooFast beside
her.
B ru ce was speaking to Lauren , who, after reading his words, hurriedly wiped her eyes and nodded. Dr. Li stepped out from behind B ru ce as she
took Lauren ' s readings with a mediscanner. The doctor jumped as
one of the Grus slid a sleek head over her shoulder and peered at the
glitte ri ng device . Her brown hand tightened protectively around the inst ru ment before it could find its way down a Grus gullet. The doctor gave Lauren the standard " okay" sign, then said something to B ru ce.
Tesa dug in her pouch for her voder and turned it on. What a nuisance , she thought, ir ri tated . It was one thing to use it to record the language an d customs of the G ru s , but another to need it to communicate with her own species.
She suddenly glanced at the cluster of humans. She was used to thinking
that hea ri ng people could hear everything, but on Trinity they'd all be deaf. What was it like for them? Did they feel funny using their voices?
Could they lea rn to see the way she did ? She suddenly felt sor ry for them-and then felt instantly confused . Was this how hea ri ng people
viewed her?
"Who was the ship's flyer today?" Taller signed to Meg. "It must ' ve been Lauren ," she signed . " She looks shaken."
"I'll speak to her, as would the yearling that caused the accident, if you'll translate for me," Taller signed. FliesTooFast was standing be hind
him , making himself small.
Lauren hesitantly stepped forward, looking haggard. "What should I say?"
she asked B ru ce.
" Just listen ... uh ... read," B ru ce told her.
"Did any of you suffer any injury because of this one's
82
foolish act?" Taller indicated Flies-Too-Fast with his bill. "No," Lauren said,
"but I was afraid we'd killed him." Meg translated impartially.
"It was a terrible moment that ended well," Taller signed. "Please don't feel this incident means we have poor judgment."
Lauren swallowed, as though gearing up her courage. "As the ... flyer of the
ship ... I do question the judgment ... of allowing your people to escort the
shuttle."
Scowling, Meg hesitated, but Taller stared at her, so reluctantly she
translated the sentence.
Thorn looked startled. After reading his voder, Peter voiced a warning,
before remembering Lauren couldn't hear it. The computer tech wasn't
paying attention to her voder; she was staring up at Taller. The other Grus
began milling, excitedly. Feathers were being fluffed, crowns expanded.
"It's too dangerous!" Lauren insisted.
Bruce put a hand on Lauren's shoulder to say something, but Flies-Too-Fast
stepped forward before he could.
"Please, don't," the yearling signed. "I'm at fault here, and I'm sorry. What I did was wrong, so punish me, but don't forbid the others the joy of flying with
your ship. It's the only way we can share the sky." He lowered his head and
moved behind Taller, who dipped his own head, acknowledging that the
youngster had signed well. The yearling's parents had returned, and
huddled with him.
"If the humans feel the escort is too dangerous," Taller signed, "I will forbid it."
Oh, no, Tesa thought, catching sight of Meg's drawn face. This is their world!
We mustn't tell them where or when to fly .
Lauren was about to say something when Tesa interrupted. "We'd never do
anything to make your skies small, Taller, flying with your people honors us."
Tesa glanced at Lauren nervously.
"Good Eyes signs for all of us," Meg interjected quickly into the tense pause.
Everyone seemed to relax, except Lauren, who gave Tesa a tight smile, then
turned away.
Taller had one eye trained on Tesa, but did not respond. His crown,
however, returned to its "relaxed" size and color. Flies-Too-Fast stepped up
to Lauren and held something out.
His parents were close behind him, peering anxiously. A shock
83
SILENT DANCES 83 of sparkling white stretched across his long, black
hands.
"This is my hatching cloak ," he signed , one-handed. "My mother wove it from my father's design. I want you to have it."
The humans looked at one another, surp ri sed . Lauren opened her
mouth , but said nothing , just took the cloak as carefully as if she were being handed the Unicorn tapestry. "Thankthank you," she stammered. " It's beautiful. I'll treasure it."
This seemed to release everyone's pent-up emotions, and the flock burst
into a chorus , forcing the humans into a flur ry of nullifier adjustments .
Goose bumps swept over Tesa.
"Since that's resolved," Dr. Li said abruptly, "can Tesa put her index finger in here , please?"
As Tesa obliged, feeling the cold , stinging sensation that followed the
scanner ' s blood test , she watched Dr. Li st ru ggle to ignore Taller, unabashedly observing the proceedings.
"Well," Dr. Li spoke aloud , " going planetside was the right medicine for her ." She pocketed the inst ru ment , flinching away from an avian who was covetously eyeing the shiny tool.
"So," Peter said , " shall we unload the ship, now?" While the ship was unpacked, Meg brewed fresh coffee, as B ru ce and Lauren assembled
new equipment . Thorn and Peter stayed in the shuttle , moving things
a
round and unpacking. Most of the flock left, becoming bored or hungry,
but Taller remained . So did Flies -Too-Fast, hanging in the background.
Meg was showing Dr. Li new food items to be analyzed, when Thorn stuck
his head out of the ship and motioned to the avian leader . " They've
brought it," he signed , standing beside Peter in the doorway ., The two men stepped out, Thorn holding a small packing case with the StarB ri
dge logo on it . He glanced at Meg , guardedly . Peter looked uncomfo rt able.
Everyone stopped as Thorn placed the case on the ground and
unsealed it. A sparkle of whiteness caught Tesa's eye. With a shock,
she realized they were unpacking the G ru s skin, the one Rob had
shown her back at the school.
Thorn stepped back as Taller approached. Slowly the avian spread the
tanned skin on the ground. Tesa realized this might be the remains of
someone he'd known.
Taller touched the thing with his finge rt ips and the point of his bill . It was too monstrous to believe . He smoothed the feathers, t ry ing to
control his emotions, not wanting to lose
84
himself before these aliens-these beings that were tied directly with this
horror. What had he ever done to bring this horror on himself, on his people,
on his own children?
He looked up, his eyes following the sl an ting rays of the suns and called loud and long, heedless of the humans' delicate ears. The Sun Family would
not ignore him this time.
See this! He sent his prayer-thought on a beam of rage to the implacable
gods. This is my son. See what has happened to all the training , all the preparation ... all the love. Is it not enough to allow Death to destroy an
entire family? How can you permit this atrocity--my son, preserved?
He could feel it on his hands, his bill, taste it in his nares and on his tongue.
That stench was there, as it was on their "clothes," and on the things of the World that they would not permit to decay. And now on Water Dancer's
remains. The spirit of his child could never travel to the Sun Family if his
wings were here. And what could Taller possibly say to Dancer's mother
when he brought this sorrow home?
Facing the Sun Family, Taller called again, a short, bitter call. Then he
collapsed, folding his legs, spreading his wings across the ground, gently
touching his bill to the skin.
None of the humans moved. Bruce and Peter looked wooden. Lauren kept
swallowing as though to keep from crying, and even Dr. Li seemed gray and
shrunken. Thorn was wiping his own reddened eyes while supporting Meg
who was weeping.
Tesa had felt a numb horror as she read Meg's words. "It's Water Dancer, oh,
God ... it was packed and sealed when they gave it to me ... I never looked at
it ... but he knows ... just look at what it's doing to him ... he knows ..."
Taller's movements spoke of anger ... and hopelessness. A fat tear slid down
Tesa's nose and hung suspended off the end. Taller finally stood, seeming
smaller, shrunken. He draped the skin over the base of his neck, then turned
to Tesa, trying to appear normal, but his crown had dulled to an unhealthy
plum. "Will you come and see the egg?"
"As soon as I can," she signed to the avian.
Without another word, he started taking long, graceful strides toward the cliff
edge, his great wing flaps blowing leaves, dust, and instruction flimsies
everywhere.
Flies-Too-Fast stepped up to Tesa. "When the egg hatches
85
SILENT DANCES 85 and the son grows, there ' ll be a dance . You'll
dance then?" She signed, "Yes, of course."
"Then every thing will be right again . You'll see." He ran for the cliff edge, the last of his people to leave.
86
CHAPTER 8
The Crew
Meg sat heavily in the chair, its unyielding blue plastic hard against her
spare frame. It never took long for the Crane crew to come inside and that
last incident with Taller had been all the excuse they needed. They weren't
comfortable outdoors, even as she and Scott had never been comfortable
indoors. The older woman shifted. She ought to get up, make tea, do
something to break the tension-to erase the vision of Dancer's skin and
Taller's grief. Right now she felt any thing but buoyant.
Bruce was busy closing the windows and activating the sound shutters.
Once they were sealed, everyone could remove their nullifiers. Meg frowned.
She and Scott hated the sound shutters. You couldn't get any fresh air when
they were down, you had to rely on air conditioners and filters. You might as
well be in a city high-rise as on a wilderness world.
Besides, watching Bruce draw the shutters was like getting one of his pre-
accident lectures. The building should be kept shuttered for safety. You
might need it in an emergency. After the accident, however, he'd said
nothing. She could
87
SILENT DANCES 87 still see his st ri cken expression as he'd strapped
her onto the stretcher.
She closed her eyes. It had been their choice to keep the shutters up, hers
and Scott's. They knew the risks.
A hand touched her shoulder. Thorn smiled warmly and tapped his ears.
Returning the smile feebly, she tu rn ed her hearing on.
Tesa entered, glancing at the clear shutters. "What're they for?" she asked Meg.
"Sound," Meg explained. She hesitated awkwardly.
"So you can hear safely?" Tesa asked casually. "I didn't know the shelter had these . They weren ' t down last night."
"I don't like them, but they make it safer"--she indicated herself and the others- -" for us."
Tesa made a motion that seemed to say, "I understand," or maybe it said,
"too bad." As though wanting to change the subject , she pointed to a cluster of small holos grouped on a nearby shelf. "Are those people part of your original crew?"
Meg looked at the short scenes that replayed endlessly. "Yes-that ' s all of us in this scene ." She indicated fifteen happy people horsing around , ete rn ally making rabbit ears over one another's heads. Were we ever really that confident? Meg wondered. "We took the holo the day after we
found Trinity," she told Tesa. She named the people and described their
duties.
Meg moved on to another holo. "I' m sure you recognize Scott, and myself,
Bruce, and Lauren. These other two people ..." She looked at the clean-
faced , sandy-haired man whose arm hung casually over Bruce ' s
shoulders . Jim Maltese had been Bruce ' s closest f ri end , and Deborah , the black woman in the picture, had been like a daughter to
Meg. She missed Deborah so much ... but they hadn ' t been interested
in a First Contact ... and they had never forgiven Meg and Scott for calling
the CLS.
The elderly woman shook her head. "These people were f ri ends of ours, then."
Thorn came forward with a cup of hot tea. "Thought you might like this," he said to Meg. Smiling at Tesa , he said aloud, "How about you, can I get you anything?"
Tesa met his eyes, then glanced at the voder on her w ri st. Shaking her
head , she tu rn ed away . Thorn looks stung, Meg 88
thought. I've got to be more patient with him. He'd done everything asked of
him all the months Meg had been gone. He might've handled the situation
with Lauren a little better, but. no one takes re
jection well. However,
because of that, Meg hadn't anticipated his sudden infatuation with Tesa.
Sipping her tea, she felt its welcoming warmth travel through her.
"Well, Lauren," Peter spoke suddenly into the uncomfortable silence, "how does it feel to be a wealthy woman? Almost makes our rodeo ride down here
worthwhile."
The technician, who'd been carefully packing the Grus cloak into the same
case that had held Water Dancer's skin, gave him a wry look. "Let's see you
say that when you're piloting and one of them puts the ship into a spin."
Lauren ran a gentle hand over the gleaming cloak. "It's beautiful," she said
wistfully, "but it isn't mine. It belongs to the people of Earth. "
Tesa tapped Meg. "I don't understand," she signed. "FliesTooFast gave it to her."
"It's in our contracts," Meg signed and spoke, so her conversation with Tesa
would include the others. "Anything the Grus give us is a diplomatic gift, not a personal one."
"That's what happens when you stop being an explorer and start developing
a First Contact," Bruce said, looking at Tesa. Meg frowned, knowing his
words weren't really for the young interrelator's benefit. "If they allowed
people to make a little profit on these endeavors, there might not be so much
outside interest in scuttling them."
Bruce can never keep his politics out of any discussion, Meg thought with a
scowl.
"At least we can keep this on the Crane until the next supply ship comes
through, and enjoy it," Lauren said, ignoring Bruce as she usually did when
he dragged out one of his many soapboxes. "It'll probably end up in the
Smithsonian."
"When I think of what might've been," Bruce continued, shaking his head.
"Tesa, there's a plain about six hours from here. When I first saw it, I thought,
that's where I'll put my town-Carpenterville! In a few years it'll be
Carpentertown, then eventually-the city of Carpenter! I can still see it. But
then, of course, we had no idea what we were going to find. If we had, we
could've guarded our transmissions better ..."
89
"No doubt," said Szu-yi evenly, "they would've been so well guarded that no one would have ever known."
Silent Dances Page 11
