Silent Songs

by Kathleen O'Malley

  then followed the spine down into the short, stumpy tail. He remembered the ancient predator... with its tiny, primitive brain ... was this brain more like the Mate Kai's?

  Taniwha followed Jib's thought and flung his fear down the guard's spinal channel into the separate nerve cluster hidden there. Instantly the soldier spasmed, collapsed onto his sled, and went into seizures.

  Jib grunted as the entire herd joined his mind, searching for the image of the tiny hindbrain. The overload was too great for the human. He felt as if he were being killed by ecstasy and lost himself completely as, with one powerful mind, the Singers united against their enemy.

  Bruce felt the warning surge of vibration before he heard anything. "Hurry, Nadine, Szu-yi, your nullifiers!" Their door opened with a rush, and soldiers stormed in,

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  grabbing them roughly, hustling them outside with no warning, no explanation. Szu-yi seemed preternaturally calm, though usually the very sight of the soldiers set her twitching.

  They're going to kill us, Bruce decided. We're too much trouble, so they're just going to finally kill us.

  When they left the building, the guards pushed them and other human prisoners toward the forest.

  What the hell's going on? He searched the sky and saw the great clouds of avians. Then the first bomb hit.

  The force of the explosion threw them to the ground. A handful of humans bolted for freedom, and were shot down by the guards. They were playing for keeps, now.

  Yanked to their feet, the group was pushed into the forest, but within minutes, something was stampeding toward them, something big. The entire group dispersed before the rampaging Quakers, and most of the guards were lost in the shuffle: Bruce grabbed hold of Nadine and Szu-yi and they ran for it, nearly slamming into Meg's sled before they saw her and Old Bear.

  "Get on! Get on!" the Russian scientist urged as Bruce shoved the two women aboard, then leaped up behind the Lakota elder.

  Meg was waving wildly at the humans as they scattered into the forest, and the ones who saw her followed them deeper into the woods. But within minutes they were surrounded by more Anurans and were forced back toward the River.

  He could see Szu-yi plucking at Meg's sleeve, asking her in sign if Weaver had told everyone about the Anurans' brains. She seemed obsessed, the way she often got about odd bits of information these days. Meg patted her, assured her Weaver had told them, but Szu-yi kept signing it over and over, something about the aliens' brains. Bruce was lost.

  The Anurans herded Meg and Old Bear east along the River. Hopeless, Bruce thought, but a damned good try. When he saw soldiers capture Tesa, it broke his heart.

  Then, suddenly, the guard nearest him dropped his weapon and blinked dully. Slowly, almost casually, he toppled off his flyer. The Anuran beside him watched in amazement, then collapsed in his turn. One by one the invaders went down, as if the effect were contagious. Some of the fallen ones seizured. Bruce saw a huge shadow growing over them and looked up.

  The big ships were gliding downward, out of control. They were going to crash.

  Waving his arms at everyone nearby, Bruce signaled, "RUN!"

  K'heera pulled her wards down the bank of the river, as far from the fighting as she could get. The terrified Industrious,

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  the three drum dancers, and the gravid One-Touch followed her blindly. She turned back in time to see soldiers collapsing, just before Lene fainted.

  Within minutes, the Industrious fell prostrate, twitching helplessly. The Simiu halted, baffled, then glanced up in time to see the falling ship.

  The drum dancers, unaware of the crashing spacecraft, had continued on.

  They waved at her, urging her to follow them. Desperate to stop them, she raced-forward, tackling two of them to the ground. The third stopped to help his friends ward her off, just as the ship sliced off the tops of the nearest trees and demolished the forest beside them. The shock of the crash flung the third Simiu to the ground.

  The drum dancers stood dazedly, realizing that the Anurans were helpless, and that K'heera had saved them from being crushed. They glanced nervously at one another, then at K'heera.

  She felt the division growing between them again, and would not yield to it.

  She had no reason to hang her head anymore, and if they treated her dishonorably, she would not tolerate it.

  Then, the three dancers faced her. Kh'arhh'tk, the leader, spoke to her rapidly, no doubt in their own language, completely forgetting that she could hear no more than he could with his sound nullifiers. As he spoke, he gestured at his companions, and K'heera wondered what he was saying.

  Could he be thanking me? she mused. She dismissed the notion. These proud males would never acknowledge being rescued by a Harkk'ett.

  Finally, Kh'arhh'tk stopped speaking. He stared at his companions and then, ceremoniously, the three males performed the Mizari honor gesture, a symbol of the highest respect one intelligent creature could have for another.

  It was a moment before K'heera let herself realize that they'd performed it for her.

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  Epilogue

  Tesa was warm, and finally safe, so when she felt herself being jostled, she rolled over to avoid it. Brushing against a soft bundle of feathers, she snuggled against it contentedly. Then she was jostled again. She waved a hand, telling whoever it was to stop, but it wouldn't. Opening her eyes grumpily, she saw a familiar, and normally welcomed, face.

  First-Light, she thought, pulling him down on top of her.

  He resisted. "Tesa, not now. We're not alone!"

  What? She glanced around. They were in her lean-to, Javier kneeling over her. Lightning was on her left, it was his warm feathers she'd cuddled into.

  Flies-Too-Fast was sleeping soundly on her right, his head still tucked. The sun was bright. Javier must've been up for a while. Whenever he left, the cohort took advantage and resumed their previously privileged positions.

  "You've got to get up, Good Eyes," he told her. "The League Irenic Captain, J'karthha, is here to see you."

  How did she ever get hooked up with a morning person? Tesa wondered blearily. She'd have to talk to Weaver about that. She sat up, wiping the sleep from her eyes. Then she remembered everything.

  It had been a month since the Singers had devastated the Anurans. Two days ago, ships started arriving--Tesa couldn't believe how many ships.

  Every vessel that had been within range of Bruce's aborted transmission had responded immediately. They'd come from every Known World, freighters, and barges, and every kind of transport, from economy ships to luxury vessels. Fifteen had arrived in the last two days, and many more were still being turned away.

  Last night, two armed ships from the CLS Irenic force arrived. The officer in charge, a Simiu female named J'karthha, had wanted to debark immediately, but when Bruce explained that they had everything under control, she was willing to wait until morning. Now, Tesa couldn't put this off any longer.

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  Javier pressed a cup of coffee into her hand. "Try this. It'll help. Old Bear made it."

  She nodded, staring at the cup incredulously. Where did he get coffee! Oh, yes.

  Two days ago Bruce, Martin Brockman, and his crew had taken the repaired Demoiselle back to Taller's territory, to find out what happened to the Anurans who'd been left there. They'd carried the Anurans' own weapons ...

  something K'heera had suggested.

  The Anurans at the quonset hut were either dead or in the same condition most of the others were in--brain-damaged or so physically injured they were no threat. Like the aliens on the River of Fear, only the Industrious seemed undamaged. They'd wakened from their faint confused, but with no other problems.

  Good thing, Tesa thought. Without them, they'd never have been able to care for all the survivors.

  In fact, the first crew that had arrived had boarded the space station and were amazed to find that the Singers' mental retaliation was so powerful, it had devast
ated the Anurans even aboard the Crane. There were only a few Industrious, but they knew how to operate the food servers and had kept the injured alive.

  Bruce and his crew brought the aliens from the Hedford Shelter back to Florida, so operations could be centralized. The weatherman would've remembered to bring back coffee.

  Tesa sipped it carefully. It was wonderfully fragrant, and so reminiscent of the coffee she'd grown up with she almost wept.

  "You all right?" Javier signed.

  She'd always been emotional, but lately it'd been worse. She was tired all the time, and sometimes burst into sobs for no reason. She wondered how long Javier would put up with it; she was getting on her own nerves.

  "Fine. I'm fine," she reassured him, enjoying the coffee.

  Lightning was hock-sitting beside her, and she offered him a sip. He had a hard time getting any out of the cup, but took such pleasure in the taste he did get, she had to smile. He handed her her woven Grus shirt. "I've preened it for you. I thought you'd want to look your best for the Irenic Captain."

  "Thanks." Taking the lovely garment from him, Tesa slipped it over her camisole. Was Lightning giving her a subtle hint that she hadn't been taking very good care of herself lately? She found her hairbrush and pulled it through her knotted mop. "Has the Captain been down long?"

  "About an hour," Javier signed. "Bruce has kept her occupied, showing her the Anurans' barracks."

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  Tesa nodded. They'd destroyed three barracks, but two had been

  untouched. That's where they held the Chosen survivors.

  She finished the coffee, tossed her brush in the corner, and crawled out. The small shelter had been built under a copse of trees, next to a pile of massive felled logs that lay strewn everywhere like a giant child's pickup sticks. The lean-to faced- the River, and now, the first thing she saw every morning was utter destruction. Crushed and fire-ravaged buildings were everywhere, as were broken trees and foliage. Damaged feathers littered the landscape.

  It had taken them a whole day to remove the corpse of the Quaker who'd passed out in the River and drowned, trapping Jib and Taniwha. Tesa had lost count of the a-grav units they'd had to use to lift her. Fortunately, that old matriarch was the only mortality. The other collapsed behemoths had recovered and wandered off. However, because humans had attempted to stampede them, the giant animals held them responsible for their loss. At the first sight of Terrans now, they would attack.

  And how long had it taken to remove all the dead Wind people, all the dead Hunters? Tesa remembered holding the body of Frost Moon and sobbing .. .

  his large body had weighed so little with the life gone out of it. When they'd found Snowberry's shattered corpse, she could not make her voice carry his spirit to the Suns, she could only weep.

  Thunder's mother, Rain, had suffered a broken wing, and they weren't sure if it would heal well enough for her to fly again. The Grus healer in Taller's tribe, Loves-the-Wind, had lost her mate and was so grief-stricken they didn't know if she'd recover. Four Singers had drowned before they'd learned their enemies' secret.

  At least Jib had been able to convince the Grus and Aquila that the River Spirits were now their allies, that they would never hold their loved ones'

  souls again. That had been the only relief the grieving avians would have from their war.

  Javier squeezed her shoulder, and she returned to the present. He'd been busy since the day of the fight, helping the Grus healers, grafting feathers, assisting Szu-yi. And keeping Tesa together. She patted his hand and turned to see Thunder, who was perched on top of the lean-to.

  "Good morning, Good Eyes," the raptor greeted her. "Did you sleep well?".

  "Very well, my friend," she signed honestly. She hadn't dreamed in two weeks. "And you?"

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  "I never opened my eyes once the Suns set. I'm still catching up from all the sleep I missed these last weeks."

  Tesa smiled. "Have you eaten yet?"

  The avian stretched a wing. "Not yet. I'll wait a little while .. . maybe take another nap."

  "I'll bet we can get someone else to find some food for you," Tesa assured her. The colony was ringed with Hunters, the trees laden with them. They would not leave until the last Anuran had left the World.

  She followed Javier to meet the Captain, as Lightning, FliesTooFast, and the remnants of her cohort trailed along. Even Thunder hopped off her perch to join them. They'd become obsessively protective of her, since the war.

  Many of the Grus had already left the colony for their own territories, except for a core of leaders, their mates, and cohorts who'd also vowed to remain until the last Anuran was gone. A group of young Gray Winds scouted breeding territory along the River. The Singers welcomed them and the Hunters, now.

  Javier brought the group to a large building that had been some sort of science station. The humans had turned it into their center of operations. It was the building K'heera had been brought to when she'd been captured.

  Tesa had never been inside it. She didn't intend to enter it now.

  First-Light anticipated that, and went into the building without her and brought the Captain out. Bruce came with her, as well as a Heeyoon male who was her assistant.

  The aged female was heavily scarred. Those marks indicated challenges in the Arena-of-Honor and were badges of glory her people considered attractive. J'karthha, obviously, had long ago earned the experience to be in charge of a troop of peacekeeping soldiers. Like most Simiu, the Captain wore nothing but an armband indicating her rank and station. The salmon-colored female's vivid purple eyes twinkled when she saw Tesa and she gave her, first, the Simiu greeting gesture, then followed it with a deep Mizari honor bow. Her assistant copied her gestures regally.

  Tesa started to reciprocate, but the matriarch stopped her with a hand. When her mouth moved, Tesa remembered to turn her voder on, something she'd gotten out of the habit of doing.

  ".. . to greet you is my privilege, Honored Interrelator," the Captain was saying. "I am J'karthha, and this is my aide, SwiftPace. You're well? You suffered no injuries?"

  Tesa thought of Snowberry and Frost Moon. She thought of Rain. Of Szu-yi.

  She shook her head. "No, I'm fine, really."

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  "A terrible thing, what you endured, and all your people," the Captain said, after reading Tesa's answer. Sound nullifiers were perched prominently in her ears. She stepped down from the building, moved beside the Interrelator, and started walking. Everyone followed them. "You know, I've been in the Irenics for many years. It's been an exciting life. Lots of travel. I've dealt with colony skirmishes. A few small civil wars. A lot of diplomatic missions. But none of us has ever had to deal with a full-scale invasion. As you humans would say, we're treading water, trying to figure out what to do."

  But Tesa had trod water harder than everyone else.

  "Have you heard the good news?" J'karthha asked, glancing at Javier. He shook his head.

  She stared at him. He had good news, and hadn't told her?

  "Two Mizari vessels with a squadron of Irenics and some specially trained diplomats have overtaken the Brolga."

  That was good news, and she was heartened by it.

  "The Captain and crew were all alive, if a little the worse for wear. It took a few hours to get the Anurans to surrender, but they finally did. Captain Stepp and her people were offered transport to the nearest space station, but they refused. They insisted on bringing the Brolga back here, so that's what they're doing. Additional crew from the Mizari vessels have joined them so they can have medical care and rest."

  "Martin and his crew will be happy to hear that," Tesa signed to Javier.

  "Yes, he will. . . but, you know ... I don't think they'll be going back with their ship," he told her.

  "You mean, they want to stay here?"

  'That's what I've heard," the Simiu reported. "You've got a lot to do to repair this damage. You'll need extra hands."

  How odd, Tesa t
hought. She'd expected them to take the first ship out of here. She looked up, saw a familiar building, and halted abruptly. "Where are you taking me?"

  Javier glanced at her guiltily.

  "Take it easy, darlin'," Bruce suggested.

  The Simiu touched Tesa's arm gently. "We'll be transferring the Anurans onto our vessels today. We thought... as the Interrelator.. . you should speak to their leader before ... he leaves."

  She felt manipulated and shot an angry glance at her lover, then at Bruce.

  The cohort, including Thunder, read her body language and clustered around her protectively.

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  "Good Eyes," Javier signed pleadingly, "you need to face him. This one time. If you don't..."

  She wouldn't heal, he'd told her. He insisted she had Posttraumatic Stress Syndrome. Szu-yi agreed with him. Even she had recommended her confronting the alien leader. Tesa had never actually refused, she'd just kept putting it off.

  The Captain and her aide glanced at each other uneasily.

  Javier moved closer to her. "You can put this behind you," he signed to her privately. "But first you've got to finish it. You need to do this, for yourself ...

  for us. So we can begin. ..."

  Tears filled Tesa's eyes, and when she tried to blink them away, they fell in a small flood down her face. She didn't want him to be right, but he was. She swallowed hard, wiped her face, and nodded, then glared halfheartedly at Bruce. "Don't think I haven't noticed the way you two are always scheming against me."

  "Who, us?" Bruce protested with feigned innocence.

  When she turned back to the Simiu, the Captain acted as if she hadn't witnessed her sudden bout of emotion. "Okay. Let's do it." Taking a deep breath, she started up the walkway. Only then did she notice Old Bear, Nadine, and Meg. She stopped to greet them.

  Her grandfather pressed something into her hand. She gazed at it. It was a medicine bundle. "I had a dream," he signed, "so I made this. Nadine and Meg helped me put it together."

  The bag was woven from the ruddy-colored reeds, and tied with the long stems of blood-of-the-World. It smelled like oranges and mint. "What's in it?"