Tesa pulled up a screen from a table in front of her seat for a more complete
view.
The Grus clustered closely beneath the shuttle, temporarily
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protected, as the Aquila negotiated around the ship. Then, without wa rn
ing , the Grus dropped into a sharp spiral , losing altitude fast. As they did, the letters "APS ENGAGED" flashed on the screen, and suddenly the
Aquila were hurled from the ship in a tumble of wings and loose feathers, as
they were struck by the invisible force shield.
That blow bought the G ru s valuable time as they continued their
descent, but several predators had already pulled out of their tumble and
were rocketing after their prey.
Without warn ing , the ship tu rn ed on a wing and fell, leaving Tesa's stomach a hundred feet up. Meg and Thorn were coming right up the tail
feathers of a large female Aquila who was zeroing in on Taller. Tesa
stopped looking out the window whe re the world insisted on tu rn ing
upside down around her , and stared instead at the inst ru ment
readings on the screen.
Using the APS in a focused beam, Meg aimed it like a re pulsor ray and hit
the big raptor square , knocking her away. The avian fell, but grabbed
enough air to parachute into water.
Taller veered out of the spiral, the escort leveling out behind him, and again
the shuttle swooped to follow. This time Tesa couldn ' t ignore her
nausea . She th re w up all over the seat beside her, the bi tt er acid biting at her throat.
Taller was heading toward a young forest, drawing the Aquila far from his
territory. The predators closed in again. A male reached for Flies-Too-Fast,
but before the curved
talons could grab the young Grus, a brilliant blue and red wave flowed
between them, disorienting the killer. Like an airborne tide, the mass of color
engulfed the Aquila.
The escort swerved away from the woods as the air around the ship colored
with thousands of small jewellike birds. Taller had lured the Aquila to a
communal nesting site where predators would not be tolerated and the
Aquila were swarmed, pecked, and pursued for encroaching on the small
birds' territory.
The bronze predators struggled for altitude and began splitting up
haphazardly, fleeing the army of tiny but tenacious attackers. The shuttle
was also under attack and the viewport was alternately covered, then
cleared of the valiant little birds. The two pilots had turned the APS off to
prevent damaging the avians while the Patuxent maneuvered through the
flock.
By the time the ship settled onto the landing pad, Tesa felt
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as though she'd come through a combat mission . The viewpo rt was st
re aked with bird droppings and the odor from the seat beside her was
terrible . She unstrapped her safety ha rn ess and rubbed her aching
stomach . Meg came back and looked sympathetic.
"Poor kid," she signed , consolingly . " You got airsick?" Besides some tension in her face and shoulders , she revealed little of the turmoil
she'd just been through.
Tesa nodded. " That first drop was a religious expe ri ence."
"I'll bet . Well, the robot ste ri lizer will take care of it. Taller's here to take you home ... I got the feeling he d oe sn ' t quite trust us to let you go.
You can take your sled if you think you're ready for another flight." She
smiled tiredly.
Tesa eased out of the seat. Meg adjusted her nullifiers, reminding Tesa that
she didn' t need her voder now . Moving to tu rn it off, she remembered her file. The pilots had tu rn ed off the red ale rt once they were out of danger, but Tesa hadn't been paying attention to the voder then . Now
her screen was blank, as though waiting for a new command . She tried
to b ri ng up the file she'd captured on the Crane but it wasn't there.
Meg must' ve noticed her sta rt led expression. "Were you working on
anything when we engaged the red ale rt ?" she asked.
Tesa nodded, noncommittally.
"The emergency override' s pretty strong . If your file was open , it probably overwrote it. Hope it wasn't impo rt ant." Tesa shrugged . " No, it wasn ' t impo rt ant ." She checked the directory to be sure . It was gone . Tu rn ing the voder off, she masked her annoyance.
" Bumpy ri de , huh?" Thorn asked, coming alongside them. She nodded again . " None of the Grus were hu rt , were they?"
" Eve ry one made it home safe ," Meg assu re d her.
Thorn cracked open the Patuxent' s door and the light of Tri nity's setting suns flooded the ship . Stiffly Tesa eased down the ramp . Once she
had her feet back on T ri nity ' s soil, the delightful buoyancy eased her aches and lightened her hea rt .
The escort flock surrounded them as soon as the three humans moved
clear of the ship . Flies-Too - Fast stood proudly beside Shimme ri ng , his head scant inches above the tall female's.
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Taller moved forward, looking tired, one wing drooping. " It's been a long day, hasn ' t it, Good Eyes?" he signed. In spite of eve ry thing , Tesa g ri nned as he came over and enveloped her under his wing. Thorn moved
away, but this time with no outward show of resentment.
Taller directed an adult to escort the flock to the marsh, and after they
bounded off the cliff , he addressed Meg and Thorn. "Th an k you for retu rn ing our f ri end to our family."
The sign he used for "fri end ," Tesa noticed , was similar to the one she'd seen Weaver use, which delighted her.
"I than k you also," Taller continued , " for your help against Death . It was courageous flying. We'll never forget it."
"It's what any f ri end would do, Taller ," Meg assured him. "Let me get your sled, Tesa ," Thorn signed , and headed for the camp shelter.
"Tomorrow," Taller signed , as he, Tesa , and Meg strolled easily after the man , " we will thank the Blue Cloud people. It's been a long time since we ' ve needed their help."
" You mean the small blue and re d avians ?" Meg asked. "Yes. My father negotiated a compromise with them before I was an egg , and
occasionally , it comes in handy."
Tesa and Meg gave each other a look. "How does someone of your stature,"
Tesa asked diplomatically , " negotiate with such a tiny creature?"
"I wasn't there," Taller admitted, "but the Blue Cloud people are so
numerous , and so inclined to overpopulation, my father got them to
agree not to overrun our feeding grounds. In exchange , we stopped
eating them ." With that , the avian casually drew up one foot to delicately scratch an itch behind his eye.
"I see," signed Meg, though her expression was so dismayed, Tesa nearly
burst out with ne rv ous laughter.
Taller turn ed to Tesa . " Sailor has been difficult to feed all day, an d keeps watching for your re tu rn . I suspect he won't sleep until he sees you safely settled in your bed. "
Thorn arrived with the sled, setting it to hover, so Tesa could comfo rt ably pull herself up on the diamond - shaped flier.
The Indian woman exchanged good- bye hugs with Meg and Thorn , then
eased herself onto the sled , adjusting the controls. It was usually
better to lie flat on your stomach for long t ri ps, but for sho rt , easy flight she preferred to sit. The hand g ri ps that permitted manual
maneuvers were still easy
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SILENT DANCES 165 to re ach, and the re straining field held you
snugly on , either way. It was possible to lower the force- field, so y
our upper body was free, but Tesa didn't need to have the wind in her hair right
now.
Taller waited until she signaled she was ready, then moved toward the cliff
edge. She signed to the sled to follow.
As they lifted away from the cliff, Tesa was thrilled to realize that she was
really flying with Taller. Her heart raced.
Taller kept a careful eye on her, she noted, as they spiraled slowly over the
marsh. They passed over groups of yearlings, and pairs near nesting
shelters who lifted their heads and called. Tesa felt Taller's answering cry
tingle over her arms. Finally, they circled their own nest shelter, and she was
surprised by how calm and peaceful everything seemed. Nothing remained
of the deadly battle that had been fought hours ago.
But then she saw strange hatching cloaks attached to the nest shelter. They
must belong to Kills-the-Ripper, and the male that Weaver had beaten. Not
trophies, they were hung to mark the days of grief that Taller's family would
have to mourn for the members of their flock that they'd been forced to kill.
Taller set down in the water without a splash, as Tesa cautiously hovered
the sled beside the platform and stepped onto the slick reeds. She intended
to carry the lightweight sled up to the platform, but then a small, cinnamon-
colored head popped out from the slitted doorway. Tesa dropped the sled in
the mud, stretching out her arms.
Wings outstretched, Sailor hurled himself down the ramp with such abandon
that he tumbled right into Tesa's shins. He picked himself up to flutter
against her legs, imploring her to feed him, brood him, and never leave
again.
Tesa plopped down, cross-legged, letting the happy tears flow, as Sailor
clambered into her lap. When she looked up, Weaver and Taller were
standing near, their angular faces close to her and Sailor. It was wonderful to
be home.
When she finally stood to follow them into the nest shelter, she remembered
to pull the sled out of the mud. As she propped it against the shelter's tule
mat walls, she glanced back at the cliff. There, sitting at its edge, watching
the last shreds of the sunset, were Meg and Thorn, yet even at this distance
Tesa could tell that Thorn wasn't looking toward the
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horizon. He was watching her. Hesitantly , she held out her hand , as
she ' d once done as a child , and made the ASL I-love-you sign . Then she stepped into the nest shelter, leaving the humans behind.
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CHAPTER 15
Sailor
Why do children grow so fast? Tesa wondered, watching Sailor preen the
long, black primaries of his fully grown wings. He's almost as tall as his
father, she marveled, recalling the tiny cinnamon chick that cuddled in her
lap only six months ago.
His color was more golden now, with white feathers peeking through. His
eyes were a stunning aquamarine, as they changed from blue to golden
yellow and the long, dark rapierlike bill seemed outsized for his face.
Every day his movements were becoming more graceful, his flying more
powerful. Tesa watched him with both admiration and dread, knowing that
soon it would be time for him to leave on his "flyaway," his rite of passage
into adulthood.
When he comes back-will I even be here? she wondered. The human crew
expected to receive confirmation of the _Grus' status any day now. By the
time Sailor took his flyaway, the first of his people to have a close
relationship with a human, Earth would have a successful First Contact and
would have been voted full membership in the Cooperative League of
Systems.
Tesa wanted to be happy, but she couldn't.
168
She felt guilty, but her departure from T ri nity was looming too close for
her to celebrate any victo ri es . She found herself understanding Bruce
' s feelings.
She noticed Sailor laying his head along his back, looking at her like the
child he still was despite his incongruously adult body , and her conce
rn s slid off like so many dream shadows. "Let's go flying ," he signed, plaintively.
"Without Taller and Weaver ?" she asked . "We should wait."
"We'll go by ourselves."
A month ago he wouldn't step into the reeds unless he could see one of
them, but now he only wanted to be with Tesa. Soon , he'd go without
her, as well. He treated her sometimes as a pa re nt , sometimes as a
coho rt, because of her smaller size. Some nights, as they slept side by
side , and he re sted his long neck across her, she ' d remember Szu-yi '
s wa rn ing. She couldn ' t imagine him leaving her behind, and not
loving her when he re tu rn ed . Or her not being there at all.
Sailor was distracted by something swimming around his legs. There was a
flash of blue and silver, and the sudden jab of his sleek head , and then a
moment of wrestling with a fish that seemed much too big for him to
swallow . In a moment it was gobbled down , headfirst . "I'll go alone,"
he threatened, while the bulge in his throat slid downward.
"You'd better not," she wa rn ed.
He gave her a one-eyed look, then sta rt ed running , stretching his
wings , finally his legs lifted up , trailing water.
He's bluffing, thought Tesa. No, this time he was really going, just
because he could . She tu rn ed her sled on so fast it almost left without her, and flopping onto her stomach across the flat flyer , she quickly
pulled up beside him. "Your father will kill us," she signed , but he couldn't answer in the air. All she could do was follow him-and enjoy
herself.
Tesa activated the shields that protected her from the wind, set up the
passive re straint field , and called up her mapping g ri d, set flush on the sled . She knew where they were headed.
Just as Thorn had predicted, Sailor ' s flights usually ended up in Black
Feather ' s ter ri to ry, to see if his brother's group had retu rn ed from their annual southe rn migration. Today was no different as they
banked over Black Feather 's river.
"They're not back yet ," Sailor signed as soon as they'd alighted on the bank of the wide ri ver . The meande ri ng water
169
way, edged on its opposite bank by a dense forest , played host to
many avians , but, at the moment , no Grus. Sailor ' s whole body spoke of his disappointment.
" Well, it was a nice flight ," Tesa signed consolingly. "Look!" Sailor pointed to a group of squat - legged birds, who carried comical ,
flapping pouches on their long lower bills. They were "Travellers ,"
ungainly avians who were adventurous explorers -- the Johnny
Appleseeds of Trinity . They carried genetic material in their pouches to
seed barren waters.
"Black Feather," Sailor signed admiringly , " follows the Travellers . They know the best routes to eve ry where . If they're here, it won ' t be long before he will be, too."
As Sailor grew, Tesa had lea rn ed that the Grus could converse with
many of the World ' s beings. Signs were involved, some body
movements or gestures, and occasionally vocalizations. She recorded
it all on her voder , but this cluttered up her files and slowed its ability to translate the Aquila vocalizations she'd collected from her " study
nests.
"
Weaver felt that Sailor' s aptitude for the World ' s languages was greater
than her other children ' s had been , because of Tesa ' s influence . The young woman taught Sailor some American Sign Language and Plains
Indian Sign - a language more adaptable for him since it required no
facial exp re ssions . Sailor eagerly lea rn ed those "un-Worldly signs."
"Well," Sailor signed cheerfully, determined to make the best of their t ri p,
"we may as well get something to eat." Tesa g ri nned . " Anything special in mind?"
"How about black nuts?" he signed . " They grow at the edge of that forest ." He pointed farther west with his bill. Tesa was familiar with that forest . The trees there dwarfed
Eart h ' s Sequoias and we re so wide that it took minutes to walk
around them . One of her Aquila study nests was located the re . Over
the months she ' d watched the Aquila pair finish their nest and lay a
single egg. As Sailor' s adult feathers began to come in, that egg had
finally hatched . Unlike the Grus, this chick was helpless, its legs too
soft to even suppo rt its own weight , and its black-tipped predator's bill was constantly open in endless screams whenever it was awake . Its
only activities seemed to be eating and sleeping in a bo ri ng, repetitive
cycle.
Even her translation program seemed redundant. Eve ry thing the voder
repeated was either untranslatable or involved hunting or flying . It was
all becoming a sad letdown.
170
The only interesting thing that had happened re garding Aquila while
Sailor was growing - or actually, hadn't happened- was that ever since the esco rt flock had been attacked, the Aquila had not been seen
again.
"This is the best season for black nuts." Sailor ' s signs snapped Tesa out of her musings. "We could take some home."
Even though the big raptors nested in that forest, Tesa an d Sailor would be
in less danger there . The Aquila preferred to attack in open areas near
water , since it was hard to maneuver those tremendous wings around
huge trees.
Tesa hopped up onto her sled. " Let's go. I'm starved!" Miles from Black
Feather ' s roost site, Sailor and Tesa found the heavily laden trees .
Greedily Sailor wolfed down small, dark nuts, as Tesa easily cracked
the pape ry shells and enjoyed the rich , sweet ke rn els . They collected four mesh bags of nuts while stuffing themselves on the delicious
Silent Dances Page 21
