The Defector

by J. C. Andrijeski

  He knew that anomaly had a number of them concerned.

  The main theory now was Black Arrow, but apparently the signatures didn’t fully match what they had mapped of Black Arrow infiltrators or their training methods.

  Revik also knew his part of that probably wouldn’t take two hours.

  Well, not to do the preliminary work. He could probably start in an hour, then finish the rest after his meeting with Kali.

  Thinking about that now, with Dalejem’s hands on him, he didn’t move.

  He just sat there, feeling the other seer breathe, listening to his heart beat against his back. His mind flickered to the handful of seers talking by the fire not far away, and then to the fainter sounds of birds and monkeys coming from the jungle.

  He was happy, he realized.

  More than anything, the realization surprised him.

  It also made him inexplicably sad.

  Twenty-Six

  Intermediaries

  Revik stood outside a long, hut-like structure, overly conscious of stares as a group of indigenous humans watched them warily from a nearby fire pit.

  Dalejem stayed close to him, wrapping Revik in his light, but it didn’t really help all that much, the longer they waited out there. Revik found himself looking between the humans and the hut’s door, conscious that he knew both not enough and way too much about what waited for him inside the thatch-roofed structure.

  The not particularly friendly stares of the locals weren’t helping.

  He’d already been warned against pushing these humans.

  He couldn’t even push them to look away.

  While this particular tribe had no contact with outside humans at all, Kali was an honored guest here, having some tie that went back to her own childhood years, which Balidor explained had been spent in this part of South America.

  Revik didn’t ask how long ago that was, but he definitely got the sense it was the ancestors of these particular humans, rather than the humans themselves, who had been the ones to forge that particular bond with Kali herself.

  He also strongly suspected all of that took place long before official First Contact between humans and seers, and long before Europeans made their way to this part of the world, at least in large numbers.

  He didn’t know how old Kali was.

  He’d never thought to ask her that question during their brief time together in Vietnam, but he’d known she was significantly older than him.

  Now he wondered if perhaps she was older than Dalejem.

  She might even be older than Balidor himself.

  Revik had always struggled to discern the ages of female seers, even more than he had with male seers. He’d also learned, from trial and error, not to guess.

  Dalejem chuckled, clearly hearing him.

  When Revik glanced at the other male, Dalejem grinned, leaning down to kiss him on the mouth before he went back to sitting on the rock outside the hut, his arms folded.

  Revik watched him sit, then looked back warily towards the local humans.

  They definitely seemed protective of her, of Kali.

  Being an intermediary, she likely had the ability to create and cultivate alliances that differed from those accessible to more run-of-the-mill seers. Even so, this overt protectiveness of theirs raised questions in his mind.

  Did they know anything about the myths? Did they have some awareness that this baby was important, in addition to Kali herself? Did they see Kali as one of their own somehow?

  With the Barrier shield strongly surrounding the humans’ lights, it was impossible to tell, at least for certain. He picked up on the protectiveness, but that was about it. That much, he could feel without any ambiguity whatsoever.

  They stared at Revik and Dalejem warily.

  The fear Revik picked up was definitely more for Kali and her child than it was for themselves, or for their village more broadly.

  They stared at Revik even more than they did Dalejem. Revik wondered about that, too. He might simply be that they thought he looked human. Many seers––and humans––were thrown by how his appearance straddled the two races. Also, they weren’t close enough to see that his eye color was clear, not gray or blue.

  To them, he probably looked like a light-eyed human, if a tall one.

  Realizing he was staring again, and that it wasn’t endearing him to any of them, Revik shifted his gaze back to the long hut with its palm-covered roof.

  Most of the structure was open, to catch the breeze as it wafted through.

  They had created a private segment in the middle of it, however, so even with his military-trained seer eyes, Revik couldn’t see very far into the shadowed dwelling.

  His view as cut off entirely by what looked like organic and cloth curtains that hung from the rafters inside the structure itself. He saw gourds hanging from the ceiling and what looked like mats on the floor, woven grass and more palms, unlike the organic and semi-organic cloths the Adhipan used in their own tents.

  He continued to look around, feeling his light darting around in quick scans, when Dalejem wrapped an arm around him again, calming him with his light.

  They will come for us now, brother, he sent, soft. She is asking for you. She wants us each to come alone, though.

  Alone? Revik sent, tensing.

  One at a time, Dalejem clarified. His hands continued to massage Revik’s back, almost without Revik noticing he was doing it. Calm down, brother. Her husband is there. The child, too. You won’t be alone with her.

  Revik felt his irritation returning, but Dalejem blew more warmth over him.

  That wasn’t an accusation. Calm down. You’re not reacting to what you think you’re reacting to, anyway. At least not from what I can tell.

  Meaning what? Revik sent, looking at him.

  Meaning, I think Kali was probably right, Dalejem said cryptically, his light still gently probing Revik’s.

  Feeling Revik about to ask, he answered before he could.

  In Vietnam, he clarified. About you reacting to her daughter more than to her. The Bridge. I don’t think Kali is the issue this time, either.

  Revik felt his jaw clench.

  He didn’t answer, though.

  Anyway, he didn’t have time.

  One of the local humans showed up at the opening to the hut, and pointed directly at Revik’s face. Revik found himself looking at the bright orange paint on the man’s skin, and the piercings and tattoos on his face and in his ears.

  The man pointed to him again, saying something sharp in his own language.

  Revik didn’t try to read him for the specifics.

  Anyway, the message was pretty clear.

  Nodding, then holding up his hands in a peace gesture, Revik started to move towards the opening of the hut… but Dalejem caught hold of him first, pulling him back before he got very far. Revik had only just turned around when the seer was kissing him, putting light into his tongue and hands as he clasped Revik’s arms.

  Dalejem coiled his light into Revik’s intensely enough and possessively enough that Revik let out a surprised sound, then got instantly hard.

  He kissed the other seer back, losing himself in light, then pulled away when the male human started shouting at him again from the doorway.

  When Revik broke off the kiss, looking over, the male human shouted louder, gesturing sharply from the dark opening between the two wooden poles. When Revik still didn’t move, the human stomped his bare foot.

  Feeling more eyes on him as well, Revik glanced over at the fire pit as he took a step away from Dalejem, and saw the female humans there staring at the two of them, their eyes wide in dark faces, as if he’d just turned into a ghost.

  He didn’t probe that any deeper, either.

  Come back to me, brother, Dalejem sent to him softly.

  Glancing at him, Revik nodded, swallowing a little as he released the other’s hand.

  Then, hardening his light against any more outside impressions, he followed the paint
ed human into the darkness of the palm-roofed hut.

  The human pulled back the curtain, pushing Revik through the opening before Revik had really wrapped his mind around entering.

  He found himself standing just inside of the door, in a warmly-lit space taken up mostly by what looked like a Western-style bed.

  A dark-haired woman sat on the thick mattress, leaning against a wooden backboard and surrounded by pillows. The mattress itself looked to be resting on a frame made of the same type of wood as what formed the outside frame of the hut.

  The mattress might have been palm fronds stuffed inside cloth, or maybe something the seers had brought with them from the United States, but it looked comfortable.

  A man lay sprawled on the mattress next to the woman with the dark hair, looking down at a small bundle wrapped in a blanket who rested between them.

  Revik realized that must be the baby.

  He avoided looking at all three of them directly, especially Kali.

  He shifted his eyes up instead, to look at the netting that surrounded their little enclave, seeing human fabrics wound in and around with the organic cloths that kept out insects and at least some of the heat and humidity. He followed the construction with his eyes, seeing where the morphing organic cloth hung from rods, creating a makeshift roof, like they’d built a full-sized tent inside the hut.

  It was definitely cooler in here.

  The fabric must have properties with which he wasn’t familiar.

  Someone had hung what looked like indigenous religious totems over the bed, along with a Christian cross, something wooden, that looked old.

  Above all of those things, and dwarfing them in size, hung a traditional seer image of the sword and sun in silver and gold.

  The more local-looking totems evoked protection to him, so were probably meant to keep out bad spirits. Revik studied them briefly with his eyes and light, then felt a ripple of amusement from the bed, from a presence that had to be Kali.

  “Do you plan on acknowledging me at all, brother?” she said bemusedly.

  Feeling at least two sets of eyes on him now, Revik tensed, his face warming despite the cooler air inside the tent.

  He lowered his gaze reluctantly, and found Kali smiling at him.

  She looked genuinely happy to see him, which threw him a little.

  It also rendered him briefly mute.

  Clearing his throat, he bowed, formally.

  “I hope you are well,” he said.

  She laughed, and he flinched a little.

  He remembered that laugh.

  It sent a shiver of memory through him, of standing on the banks of the Saigon river with her, flagging down a boatman so he could get her the hell out of there. He pushed the memory from his mind, even as he glanced at the male lying next to her.

  The male seer had looked up from the bundle on the bed, although his fingers continued to stroke a small arm Revik could see. Feeling a strange pain in his chest at the sight of that pale, soft skin, Revik flinched, then looked up, and found the male watching him warily.

  Revik shifted his weight on his feet. He looked at Kali.

  “You wanted to see me?” he said.

  She laughed again, clicking at him in mock annoyance. “Gaos, brother! Do I warrant so little warmth from you? Won’t you come here at least? Give me a kiss?”

  Revik shifted his weight, glancing at her husband.

  “I would rather not, sister,” he said. “No offense.”

  At that, the male grunted.

  It was almost a laugh.

  “I won’t hurt you, pup,” he said, his voice darkly amused. “Not that I want to discourage that concern in you…”

  He trailed, glancing at his wife, sharply enough that Revik got the sense she’d poked him with her light. Rolling his eyes at her, the big-shouldered male clicked under his breath, then gave Revik a more measured, if only marginally more friendly look.

  “I am Uye,” he said.

  Staring down at the tiny fingers wrapped around his thumb, Revik swallowed.

  He still didn’t make any move towards the bed.

  “You are with someone now,” Kali said.

  Revik turned, and found her green eyes studying him shrewdly.

  “You are,” she said, glancing up at his face. “Are you not?”

  He nodded. “Yes.”

  “Will we meet this mystery person?” she said, quirking an eyebrow at him. “Why did you not bring him with you?”

  Revik felt his confusion worsen.

  Hesitating, he glanced behind him, at the curtain that covered his exit. At a loss, he looked back at her, his voice uncertain.

  “He is here,” he said. “Outside.”

  She smiled. “Why did you not bring him in?”

  Revik’s frown deepened. “I was told you wished to see each of us alone.” Seeing confusion rise now to her light and expression as she exchanged looks with Uye, Revik added, “You asked to see him. He is here because you summoned him, sister. I thought you knew.”

  Kali’s lips pursed.

  She glanced quizzically at her husband a second time.

  Revik saw the big male shrug, no expression in his blue eyes before they shifted back down to the bundle lying below him. Once he was looking there, his eyes grew instantly warmer and softer, holding a love Revik could almost feel.

  The feeling of protectiveness emanating off the other male was so tangible, Revik couldn’t help but feel that too, even with his light mostly closed. He found himself noticing that Uye had a healing burn on his neck, cuts on his hands and arms.

  He remembered Uye had been in Guoreum with Kali, and that the Rooks and Black Arrow agents put him in solitary to try and recruit him. They would have beaten him, if only to disorient his light, and probably starved him too––not to mention the games they would have played with his mind and aleimi, looking for pressure points.

  It must have been bad if Uye was still healing from the ordeal.

  Looking back at Kali, Revik found her watching him again, that denser scrutiny back in her pale eyes.

  “Why did you want Dalejem, then?” Revik said. “What do you want with him?”

  There was a silence.

  Revik saw understanding flicker in her eyes then, even as she and her husband exchanged another brief glance. Then Kali looked up at him, smiling, and Revik found himself reacting to the warmth in her light, in spite of himself.

  Uye gave him a sharp look, and Revik took a step back, so that his back was nearly to the door of the small enclosure.

  In the same instant, he shielded more of his light.

  “Do you not want to hold the baby, brother?” Kali said, her voice holding affection.

  “No,” Revik said, unthinking.

  Uye grunted another laugh, glancing at his wife.

  “You do not?” Kali said, puzzled.

  Revik shook his head, once. “No.”

  That pain returned to his chest, sharper.

  Revik saw Uye staring at him once it had, a harder look in his blue eyes. That time, when he looked at his wife, Uye frowned. Revik saw the male look at the baby on the bed, then back at Revik, right before Uye’s light thickened perceptibly, enveloping the baby lying on the bed in an even denser shield.

  Kali clicked at her husband, a gentle rebuke.

  Revik could tell by the expressions on their faces that they were probably talking.

  “Did you want something from me, sister?” he said finally.

  Both of them looked over, as if he’d interrupted them.

  Realizing he had, Revik made an apologetic gesture with one hand.

  “I am sorry,” he said. “I don’t know what I’m doing here.”

  Kali sighed at that, sitting up more on the bed, and combing her dark hair out of her face with her fingers. Shoving the covers aside, she swung her long legs over the side, and Revik saw that she was wearing a pale green skirt, lighter than her eyes, along with the tunic-like shirt he’d noticed already. The s
tyle of the clothes almost looked Indian in origin.

  She got to her feet, and walked right up to him.

  Revik just stood there as she embraced him, closing his light even as his eyes flickered nervously to the male on the bed.

  When Kali smacked him lightly on the chest, Revik looked down, startled.

  “I thought you would want to see her,” she said reproachfully. “I thought you would want to see me,” she added, even more reproachfully. “Instead you stand there, refusing to say hello, acting like I am torturing you, brother, by even inviting you here. Is Uye really so frightening? Or is it the baby you are so afraid of?”

  The male on the bed chuckled softly, glancing up.

  Smiling at Revik for the first time, he rolled his eyes a little, looking fondly at his wife.

  Revik found himself relaxing slightly.

  “I’m sorry,” he said.

  She smacked him again, and he jumped.

  “Don’t be sorry!” she scolded. “Say hello.”

  Revik rolled his eyes a little, clicking under his breath. “Hello, Kali.”

  “Are you glad to see me?”

  “I am glad to see you are well,” Revik said, feeling his jaw harden. He glanced at Uye before adding, “I was worried about you. I am glad you will be leaving soon. All three of you,” he added, seeing Uye’s quirked eyebrow.

  “And you are afraid of my daughter, too?” she said.

  He shook his head. “No.” Fighting to think, he sighed then, clicking more normally. “Kali, I feel strange. What you told me in Vietnam… how am I supposed to react to that?”

  Uye grunted from the bed, glancing at his wife.

  Revik distinctly got the impression it was an “I told you so” type of look.

  Kali only laughed, sliding her arm around Revik’s waist. “You don’t want to hold your future love interest in your arms then, brother?”

  “As a baby?” Revik retorted. “Not particularly. No.”