“Yes, I would prefer it,” Murdock said.
“I don’t blame you,” Mei Lee said. “This is much better than anything we are likely to have for some time.” Mei Lee fidgeted a bit.
“You have something to say?” Murdock asked.
“Like Rose,” Mei Lee started, “I’m also pregnant. It’s Tom’s.”
“I didn’t ask, nor is that my business to assume or inquire,” Murdock said.
“I know, but I mention it only because some of the others may not be as accepting as you and Rose. After seeing your house, I would also like my child to be born here, if you’ll allow it?” Mei Lee let out a deep breath. It took everything out of her just to ask.
Rose reached out to take Mei Lee’s hand. “Of course you can,” she said. Her simple statement contained the appropriate amount of empathy and caring one would expect from a blood sister. “You’re always welcome here. Always!”
Tears welled up in Mei Lee’s eyes. “I really appreciate that. I really do!”
Rose moved closer to Mei Lee and put her arm around her. “It’s okay, Mei Lee,” she said in a soft voice.
“Which do you want?” Murdock broke in to lighten the mood some. “We have a loft and a bed down here by the fireplace.”
“It doesn’t matter to me,” Mei Lee said in an undertone. She hadn’t moved away from Rose. “I would like to sleep with the two of you. It’s been a very long time since I’ve been close to another person. Part of the reason I came was to get away from the pressure of leading the others. I needed to just sit and talk with someone else, just to relax and be myself.”
Murdock had gotten up to make up the bed as best he could. “Are you okay with that?” he flashed to Rose.
“Of course, she needs to feel like she’s part of something and not alone,” Rose flashed back.
Murdock got into bed, and Rose cuddled with him. Mei Lee snuggled into Rose. All three felt safe locked inside the cabin with a small fire going and slept well.
The next morning, Murdock awoke first and coaxed the fire back to life, since it had almost burned out during the night. Neither Rose nor Mei Lee had moved in their sleep, and he had been so exhausted that he hadn’t moved either. That’s different, he thought. I’m finding it difficult to rest when I’m away from the cabin. Since landing here, I found it difficult to rest anywhere, except the cave. Is my edge being blunted by creature comforts?
“It could be that you’re comfortable in your situation.” Rose flashed. He turned sharply and saw her looking at him, though she still hadn’t moved, and Mei Lee appeared to still be asleep. “You may be comfortable being wanted and needed and not being alone to face everything.”
Murdock laughed to himself. “Could be,” he flashed back.
“You know, if you two want to talk privately, you may want to find a way that isn’t quite so disturbing to others,” Mei Lee said as she opened her eyes, rolled onto her back, and stretched.
Both Rose and Murdock stared at her with their mouths open.
“In my opinion, you’re getting used to the idea of being a husband and father,” Mei Lee said to Murdock.
“How long?” Rose asked, still surprised.
“I’m not sure,” Mei Lee said. “It wasn’t something that came on immediately. It was very gradual and only when you two were around.”
“Did you know we were coming to visit you before we got to the encampment?” Murdock asked, recovering somewhat.
“No, I can only hear you two when you’re close by,” Mei Lee said.
“Have you tried to contact us telepathically?” Rose asked.
“I wouldn’t know how to do that,” Mei Lee said. “Would you two help me learn to communicate with you that way? I would really like that!” Mei Lee looked from Rose to Murdock and then back to Rose.
Rose looked to Murdock. He could tell by reading her face that she was pleading for some help or an opinion.
“That’s something we need to discuss further,” Murdock said, “but I would like to eat something and wake up before we do. We all need to be clear-headed.” He wished he could talk to Beron and Rose privately.
“Who is Beron?” Mei Lee asked as they ate, looking at Murdock and taking another bite of fish.
Rose jumped as if someone used a cattle prod on her. Mei Lee turned to look at her. “It’s what he was thinking,” Mei Lee said with a shrug.
As Murdock turned his attention to Mei Lee, she suddenly stopped eating. Going outside the cabin, he saw Beron in the yard, walking toward him. Rose had followed Murdock outside and smiled when she saw Beron over Murdock’s shoulder. Without a word, all three entered into the sharing state.
“Other female unique/special. Has accessible mind,” Beron explained. “Allow her to hear thoughts. I train to select who talk to.”
“She is asking to be trained to communicate like we do,” Rose said to Beron. “Is that permitted?”
“Yes, but need to meet, but not alone,” Beron explained.
“How did you freeze Mei Lee, but not Rose or me?” Murdock asked Beron.
“He did no such thing,” Rose explained with a small laugh. “We aren’t here. We’re still inside. All this is taking place while we’re inside eating, between the fractions of a second of passing time.”
“Will Mei Lee know about this discussion?” Murdock asked quickly.
“No,” Beron flashed. “I hiding thoughts of us from her.”
As quickly as it had started, the sharing ended and Murdock was surprised to find he was still inside the cabin, the cabin door still closed and bolted.
“Are either of you going to answer me?” Mei Lee was asking. “Who is Beron?”
Rose nodded to Murdock to proceed.
“You’ll find out in due time,” Murdock answered. “We have agreed to teach you how to send your thoughts. If it works out, you’ll be able to send thoughts to us from the encampment.” Mei Lee’s mouth dropped open in disbelief.
“From that far away?” Mei Lee asked in awe. “Will it work both ways?”
“Yes.” Murdock laughed. “It’ll work both ways, and it’s as easy to do as it is to speak aloud. But it will take time and lots of practice.”
#
Over the next several days, Murdock, Rose, and Mei Lee chinked the cabin with mud and grass. While they worked, Rose and Murdock taught Mei Lee how to send her thoughts. At the end of each day, having agreed that nothing was more intimate than an individual’s thoughts, all three took a bath together in their spa. Each night, Beron entered Rose’s and Murdock’s minds to train them on focusing thoughts they wanted to send while keeping other thoughts private.
Even though Murdock, Rose, and Mei Lee shared the same bed, Mei Lee had no idea that instruction went on each night. Each day, Murdock and Rose taught Mei Lee how to control and focus her thoughts. Every few days, Murdock stopped work on the chinking long enough to catch some fish, clean them, and hang them in the smokehouse.
On one of those fishing days, Beron decided to show himself. Mei Lee was on her way to fetch Murdock from fishing and wasn’t being very attentive to her surroundings. She was a fair distance from the cabin when she looked up and saw Murdock walking toward her. Directly behind him was the biggest bear she had ever seen, and it was closing in on Murdock.
“It’s okay, Mei Lee,” Murdock flashed to her to soothe and steady her emotionally. “We aren’t in any danger. He’s a friend.”
“Beron,” Mei Lee said, still not moving. Beron flashed acknowledgement of her recognition.
“He’s wanted to meet you,” Murdock said aloud in his most soothing tones. “As long as you respect him, you have nothing to fear.”
“What does he want?” Mei Lee whispered, still skeptical. Murdock could tell by her tone that she was close to panic.
“Rose and I do something Beron calls sharing with him,” Murdock reassured her while he turned her around to walk with him toward the cabin. “He wants to share with all of us. With any luck, you will get some answer
s to some of the questions you’ve been asking.”
“What does this . . . sharing entail?” Mei Lee asked.
“It’s a way of sharing our thoughts,” Rose, who had exited the cabin, said soothingly as she rubbed Mei Lee’s shoulders, “and telling our stories. It’s far more intimate and defies explanation.” Rose felt Mei Lee trembling. “You’ll be in control of what you want to share. No one is going to rip any memories from you. Anything you wish to keep private will remain private. This is Beron’s way of getting to know you, really know you, and for him to determine if he can trust you.”
“I see that you’ve been through this,” Mei Lee said, calming herself, “and you survived, obviously.”
Rose laughed a little. “If you can trust us, you can trust Beron,” she said.
After everyone was willing and ready, Beron initiated the sharing state. In the sharing, Murdock and Rose saw the abuse Mei Lee had suffered at the hands of Whittier and his men. They saw Mei Lee’s grandfather teach her some of the old ways of behavior and respect. They saw Mei Lee’s father insisting on her learning martial arts at a very young age. They saw how she loved Collier and the devastating effect his death had on her.
During the sharing, Mei Lee saw a brief history of Beron and the Oomah, as well as Murdock’s history before coming to this planet. Then she saw Rose’s history before she came to be with Murdock. Mei Lee also saw a recapitulation of Murdock and Rose after Beron contacted Murdock. She saw the inside of the cave in which Murdock saved the life of Beron’s favorite mate, as well as the fairy bridge as seen at dawn.
All three humans discovered that the sharing was more than just an efficient method of distributing information. When someone entered the sharing state, all minds were attuned to each other. Sharing was the mechanism that allowed each one to communicate over large distances.
The sharing seemed to go on for days, but Rose and Mei Lee finally came out of it. Mei Lee stood up and looked down at Murdock and Beron.
“They seem to be quite close,” Mei Lee observed, helping Rose to her feet.
“Yes, they are,” Rose said. “Sometimes I think Beron is Kevin’s father,” she said with a slight laugh. Then she asked, “So, what was your impression of the sharing?”
“It was . . . different,” Mei Lee said in a guarded tone. “How accurate are the images we saw?” she asked.
“How accurate were the images we saw concerning you?” Rose asked.
“Good point,” Mei Lee said. “I had no idea Beron held Murdock in such high esteem. Do you know firsthand how powerful they are?”
“Are you asking as the leader of the encampment?” Rose asked warily, “or are you asking as Mei Lee, the newest member of our family?”
“There’s no difference to me,” Mei Lee said in a soft voice.
“To be honest, I haven’t seen how powerful Beron and his kind are,” Rose said, “but I wouldn’t want to test them to find out. They made this whole planet to suit their needs, not ours. I, for one, would not want to be evicted from the planet, and I don’t doubt for a second that they could and would.”
“I was afraid of that,” Mei Lee murmured.
“What’s the problem?” Rose asked.
“What do they want from us?” Mei Lee asked.
“From what Murdock and I have been able to ascertain,” Rose said, “the Oomah want nothing from us but to be respected and left alone. If this was an issue for you, why didn’t you ask Beron yourself?”
“I don’t know Beron — not the way you two do,” Mei Lee said.
“Ask Kevin, when he finishes with Beron,” Rose suggested. “We should get some food together for them.”
Mei Lee shrugged, decided to drop the discussion for the time being, and help Rose.
When Beron and Murdock ended the sharing, Murdock awoke and picked up one of the fish that he hadn’t cleaned yet. He threw it over to Beron, who was also awake, snagged it skillfully out of the air and took it away to eat in private.
While Rose, Murdock, and Mei Lee ate, Rose talked to Murdock, explaining as best she could the conversation between herself and Mei Lee. When she had finished, Murdock called Mei Lee over.
“What’s wrong?” Murdock asked Mei Lee.
“Honestly, I don’t know for certain,” Mei Lee answered. “I just have some misgivings about the Oomah.”
“Like what?” Murdock asked.
Mei Lee frowned and thought for a moment. “What happens if they decide to evict us from this planet? What happens when they want something from us that we’re unwilling to give?” Mei Lee bit her lower lip, looking very concerned.
“What would happen,” Murdock asked Mei Lee after a short pause “if a meteor hit the cabin tonight while we’re sleeping? Or what if a huge earthquake happens and the cabin is swallowed?” Mei Lee shrugged and looked at the ground. “Would our worrying about those things change them in any way?”
“No, I don’t think it would,” Mei Lee said while still looking at the ground.
“So, wouldn’t it be better to wait until something like that happens before we worry ourselves into an early grave over it?” Murdock asked. “We should be mindful of such things, but worrying about things you can’t change is a waste of energy.”
“I admit you may be right,” Mei Lee agreed, “but I don’t trust easily!”
“Then you have something in common with Beron,” Murdock said. “He doesn’t trust easily, either!” Murdock laughed to himself. “I’m not asking you to trust anyone blindly. I am asking you to give Beron a chance. That’s all, just a chance.”
Mei Lee looked at Murdock and came up onto the balls of her feet, obviously tense. “I will try . . . to keep an open mind.”
“That’s all anyone can do,” he said to Mei Lee, smiling.
Over the next few days, Murdock was called to several places to collect deer hides while Rose and Mei Lee stayed at the cabin to work on a few things. Rose tried her hand at fishing as Murdock did, but with only moderate success. Mei Lee, however, did better at fishing when she tried it. And more than once, they both went out to see if they could harvest a deer. Rose had some idea of what to do should they get one. Mei Lee went with her more for moral support than anything else.
Rose found out that Beron had instructed Murdock on focusing his thoughts during the sharing session. Some of the instruction dealt with allowing other Oomah to communicate with Murdock in order to let him know more hides were ready to be harvested. Beron had also instructed Murdock in communicating privately with Rose. Rose thought that was a good thing. She thought of Mei Lee as a little sister, but there were times that a little sis listening in on conversations with her husband was decidedly inconvenient.
Rose and Mei Lee missed having Murdock around, especially at night. The two women would sometimes let their imaginations run wild and end up not sleeping that night. Murdock came home a few times to deposit the hides, rest, and eat, but soon they had more than enough hides. The number surprised Murdock, even though he had harvested them.
Once Murdock began bringing the hides to the cabin, Rose taught Mei Lee how to process them. Even with Mei Lee’s help, Rose and Murdock could not keep up with all the hides that he had brought back. On the day that Mei Lee returned to the encampment, none of the fresh hides were ready, so Rose gave her the two hides they had slept on.
The walk to the encampment seemed longer than it was. Rose and Mei Lee cried for no apparent reason, and they had to stop walking until the women settled down. Murdock couldn’t decide whether the crying was hormones or whether they had just enjoyed each other’s companionship and would miss it.
When they did arrive at the encampment, Murdock visited the armorer to check on his arrow order. After inspecting them and picking out the acceptable ones, he paid for them with two of the hides that needed only smoking to be finished. Murdock showed the armorer how to smoke the hides. Then he went to Mei Lee’s camp. He wasn’t pleased when he saw her site. It looked as if others had gone through everyt
hing and taken whatever they found.
“What happened here?” Murdock asked as he handed the arrows to Rose.
“I have no idea,” Rose said in a low voice as she stowed the arrows in her quiver. “It was like this when we got here. Mei Lee is looking for her second-in-command to find out what happened.”
They didn’t have to wait long. When Mei Lee returned, both Murdock and Rose could tell she wasn’t happy. She began taking down the tent that Murdock had put up and stowed it on Murdock’s cart.
“What’s going on?” Murdock asked Mei Lee in low tones.
“It appears that I’ve been replaced as leader,” Mei Lee snapped. “Apparently, everyone expected me to always be here and to not associate, socially, with the two of you.” Murdock and Rose waited for Mei Lee’s anger to wind down. “They’ve released Whittier and Krysia on good behavior and have elected Richard Jameson to be leader. I guess all that I’ve tried to do is well on its way to being undone. Any tools you need, you had better get them now, because something tells me that we’re not going to be welcome here after today.”
Murdock turned and went back to the main encampment. “Get Mei Lee’s stuff packed up on the cart and be ready to leave in a hurry.” he flashed to Rose. Then to both Mei Lee and Rose, he flashed, “I need to talk to some people. Wait for me at the edge of the encampment.” Neither argued with him, which was a blessing. He had gotten worked up hearing what had happened to Mei Lee’s leadership role.
Murdock spoke privately with the cook, the armorer, and the tanner, asking each one what had happened in the ten days or so that Mei Lee was gone. He also asked each if they were willing to trade with him for raw materials or food, even if it went against any leadership decrees. He learned that Whittier had been talking to James for some time before Mei Lee left for her visit – no one was certain how long. Thus the takeover began two days after Mei Lee left. Though Whittier did not have direct control, he was an advisor, and they had determined that they would allow trade with Murdock for now. However, they could terminate that trade at any time, for any reason.
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