["Neither do I,"] Corsa said.
["If you'll follow Raldin and Mara, they'll show you to the guest quarters."] The man and woman smiled and stepped inside the door so it stayed open.
Cris put a hand to her shoulder. ["You'll be all right now. I'll see you later."] He winked and followed the others through the door.
He could be all right sometimes.
* * *
Lights glimmered in the night from the city outside the command center. Valdas stared out at the quiet sky lanes, the towers floating serenely over their anchor positions. A hundred thousand Inari lived in the city surrounding Heffin's Gate.
["Sir. Message from Lieutenant Sandral."]
She dropped her eyes to the technical officer seated at the panel below the window. A message scrolled across the screen: [Will be at Starfire Tower in minutes. Commence preparations.]
A smile spread across her cheeks. The scar pulled a little, but it didn't bother her. Starfire Tower floated in stationary position on the current daylight side of the world.
After losing the Crystal Keeper in the storm, her second chance dimmed.
A discussion with Sandral changed that. Now they could use Shartrael Raea to get to Naishurol Saffir. Two in one stroke.
["Contact General Maenast."]
["Yes, sir."]
The man at the controls spoke to someone else briefly and fell silent.
Finally. After all this time. The quest of the empress would be complete. She needed only one more piece of their plans.
["Ma'am. General Maenast is on the line."]
Valdas took the tri-comm he handed her and pressed it to her cheek. The general materialized before her, arms crossed.
["Prime Commander Alshouan. You have something?"]
In other words, she better have something worthwhile. That she certainly did. ["I do, sir."]
The general's wings lifted slightly.
["I have an opportunity to capture both shards of the Starfire."]
The general dropped her arms. ["How?"]
["Lieutenant Sandral is at Starfire Tower. Give me a full complement of vehicles and personnel and we'll capture both Crystal Keepers by morning."]
["You'll have it. Coordinate with Prime Commanders Dallars and Shourees. Well done. Capture Saffir and Raea and our plans can proceed ahead of schedule."]
Indeed they could. Starfire Tower would fall at last. None of their attacks had ever broken through the defense systems, especially when the closest cities came to the aid of Starfire Tower. Now, with Sandral on the inside to sabotage those defenses, they had the opportunity they needed.
["Thank you, sir. Alshouan out."] She gave a slight bow and the link clicked off. ["Contact Prime Commanders Dallars Maris and Shourees Sahra. Conference them to this tri-comm."]
["Yes, sir."]
After all this time—over twenty-one years since her predecessors lost Shartrael Padina when she escaped to Earth—they'd finally capture the last two shards of the Starfire. Empress Shirat Marin would complete her union of all of Inar'Ahben and cleanse the world of Keepers.
__________
Confronting Cris
The door opened to a balcony. Raea stepped out and smiled at the caress of the wind on her face. Far below stretched an ocean dotted by scattered islands at different levels.
The glass doors with their etched swirl design closed behind her. Tennara had left her in the vacant apartment to report to Saffir, a bit of a surprise since Raea expected the other Crystal Keeper to be waiting for her.
But what did she know. She had just arrived at Starfire Tower. Elis had told her a little about it, because he had trained there, learning to use the power of the Starfire in his genes. Sure, she could do more because she bore an actual shard of the crystal, but all Keepers had certain abilities. The Starfire had shared its power when it shattered five thousand years ago as a means of facilitating communication to make Inari understand its true purpose. It made itself a part of them, a perfect symbiosis at the genetic level.
It had destroyed other worlds and species that abused its powers in the past but spared the Inari. Why?
Maybe someday the Starfire entities would share their secret. For now, she could only wonder.
A few Inari flew into view from around the tower. She watched them, until a gentle music chimed from behind her.
Raea returned to the bare apartment. Bare was an understatement. Now she knew why Elis kept his room so sparse and tidy. A wide bed roll lay against a wall next to an arch that led into a bathroom. The dining table and chairs extended from the wall on the other side. No other tables. There were no light stands—lights projected from overhead only. No television. Man, she missed just sitting and watching movies with her friends. Only a lone picture decorated the wall above the bed roll, and that shifted slowly so it was never the same.
She so couldn't wait to get back to Earth and her bedroom with the corkboard cluttered with pictures of her and her friends, not to mention being with her friends again.
Raea stopped before the door. ["Come in."] She hoped that was right.
Good enough. The door slid away, revealing an older Inari woman with hair and wings of a few shades of blue. She reminded Raea of Nare, but with long hair twisted and wrapped up and her face lined by age. Her hands, or rather her arms, though...
Raea's eyes had to be fooling her. The woman's hands were covered by the aquamarine beyond her wrists with the rays wiggling out to her elbows. The woman wore a plain dark blue flightsuit with loose short sleeves, exposing her arms.
["Shartrael Raea. It's an honor to meet you."]
This had to be Saffir.
The woman stepped in, and the door closed behind her. ["I had only guessed Padina passed her Starfire on to another. I suspected she was pregnant when she vanished, but I never knew until a few years ago. I assume Elis found you."]
["Yes. Yes, he did."] Saffir had sent him; he'd told her that much. Better him than someone else.
["And he trained you to use the Starfire…"] She suspected something.
["Kind of. I really didn't know anything until six weeks ago."]
Saffir straightened, her face hardening.
Uh, oh. She didn't mean to cause trouble for Elis. ["No. It was mom's fault. She made Debbie swear—and Debbie made Elis swear—not to tell me. I thought I was human until the Starfire decided otherwise."]
["I see. That explains why you came to me to send you home. Elis knows how to open a portal, although without a shard, he can't."]
["That…that would be my fault. I didn't exactly stay focused. He wasn't happy either."] Except when she let the distraction be him.
One pale blue eyebrow lifted, and Raea winced. Yeah, she knew. She should have paid closer attention to Elis's training, but she hadn't expected this to happen. ["I'm sure the Shirukan are aware that you're here or suspect it enough to attack. You're safest on Earth, but when you return, you'll do well to practice harder to harness the Starfire's power to create a portal."]
["I will."] Definitely. No more running around trying to escape the Shirukan when she could go home any time. Now she knew why Elis pushed her so hard.
Saffir's expression warmed. ["Good. Now, your friends are probably wondering. We owe them our gratitude for rescuing you."]
["Um…Saffir?"]
She turned a patient smile to Raea. ["Yes, Keeper Raea?"]
Okay. She took the point. Out of respect, Keepers were addressed by title. ["Keeper Saffir, I…"] How could she ask this? All the visions playing in the story of Salera—did Saffir know? Who else might know about them? If Saffir didn't, she'd be surprised. ["How many shards are there?"]
["Four, of course."]
["Only four?"]
Ah. There—a look of recognition. ["They showed you."]
["I saw General Jakoru Vodin, a…partial Keeper called Rafael Talea, and Keeper Salera. I think my shard was hers."]
Saffir waved her hand before a black dot on the wall. A hologram of buttons projecte
d in the air before them. Raea didn't recognize the symbols on the buttons, Inari symbols. While she could speak and understand Inari, she had never learned to read or write it. She'd ask Elis to teach her when she returned. One more item to add to her lessons.
In seconds, Saffir pulled up records. Records in Inari. Now she really wished she could read her mother's language.
["Keeper Jenrashol Salera?"]
["I don't know. She went to Earth about four hundred years after the Starfire shattered."]
["Yes."] Saffir's eyes focused on the new projection of writing with a picture of the white-winged Keeper, exactly what humans described as angels. Salera radiated a gentle beauty, and was gorgeous besides. No wonder the general had a bit of a soft spot for her. What man wouldn't?
Saffir would have to read to her. A mild frustration not being able to read for herself. ["What does it say?"]
After a short silence, Saffir said, ["She was chosen to bear the Starfire in her first year of training, went to Earth when she was only eighteen years on a research vessel to study human civilization. She returned with the ship. That's all it says about that mission, except for sociological data."]
But it wouldn't say anything about another shard. That was the great secret. ["What about General Jakoru Vodin or Commander Rafael Talea?"] Who were the people she'd seen?
Saffir punched a few keys projected in the air. Two images Raea recognized popped up with data.
["That's them."] She wished she could read it herself.
Saffir read in silence, scrolling through the odd text and finally shrugging. ["Nothing more."] She touched something that made the whole projection vanish. ["Not surprising. No one knows of any more than four shards."]
And as long as the Shirukan thought only four existed, Inar'Ahben was safe from the destruction the Starfire had shown her almost a month ago. ["They left a shard on Earth I think. It was supposed to be a secret, but Salera found out by accident."]
["And the Starfire showed you this?"] Saffir's wings shifted behind her.
["Yes."]
Saffir dropped her pale blue eyes, her fingers rubbing the shard hanging on her chest. The frown on her face left a sinking feeling in the pit of Raea's stomach.
["What's wrong?"]
["Maybe nothing."]
["Maybe?"]
Saffir looked up. ["The Starfire entities only show us what we need to know. Why would they reveal this to you?"]
Good question. It had all started when the man in the car put his hand up…bearing a strange symbol, an Inari symbol.
["I need to check something. We have a few hours before night on the area of Earth where you live. You may want to bathe and change. Shirukan uniforms are unwelcome at best here."] She passed a critical eye down Raea.
Raea had almost forgotten the black uniform. She'd gladly give it up.
A few hours, then she had time to clean up, change, eat, and make a final visit with the three rebels who risked their lives to get her there. She had already taken a nap on the shuttle, but she hadn't bathed or eaten in too long.
A few hours and she'd be home. Finally.
["I don't have a change of clothes."] Not since she left hers in Naviketan. Her favorite jeans too.
["I'll have someone bring a fresh change for you."]
["Thank you."] Something else nagged at her mind, something that had bothered her for almost a month, but which she dared not pursue with human doctors. ["Um…Keeper Saffir?"]
Blue eyebrows lifted with a hint of bemusement.
Oh, man. This wasn't as easy as she expected. ["I…um…If , um…"] Say it! Saffir waited patiently. ["When the first Shirukan found me on Earth, he, um…did something to me. And I was wondering if I could, um, see a doctor."]
Saffir's faced dropped into a frown. ["Did something to you?"]
Did she have to say it?
["What did he do?"]
She had to say it. ["The Starfire showed me."] The horrible scene returned. She was unconscious, but the Starfire had recorded it, as they recorded everything. ["I have to be sure."]
["The infirmary is in Tower Two, level twelve."]
["Thank you."] Especially for not making her say it.
["Would you like me to show you?"]
["Yes."] Raea followed Saffir from the apartment, rubbing her hands along the silent trek through the bright, rounded corridor. After a brief walk through the skyway and a ride in a transport tube, she arrived at the infirmary with its etched glass doors. There, Saffir left her to her needs.
Not long after, Raea returned to her temporary room with a weight lifted from her shoulders. Not only was she not pregnant or carrying any horrible disease, but she wouldn't even be fertile until well into the bonding process. Now, she only had to worry about returning home.
First, the shower called to her, along with her stomach.
* * *
So much better. A hot shower and a fresh change of clothes. They gave her a choice too, but Raea couldn't resist the two-piece with its waves of three-tones of green. It exposed her back and her abs, and was so much better than the all-covering Shirukan uniform. After all the exercise lately—not to mention the lack of food—she never noticed the definition of her muscles. Her tummy flattened, while her back muscles bulked up.
She looked good. Damn good. The mirror in the bathroom showed her an image of a slender young woman with shoulder-length brown hair that matched her wings. It couldn't be her reflection. But it was. It so was! Maybe she was pretty. Not beautiful, but not the ugly duckling she always thought she was.
The leggings matched the top that looped around her neck and fastened below her wings on her back.
Better yet, they'd left shoes that fit. Someone had figured her size perfectly. No more oversized Shirukan boots or restrictive, ugly black uniform. The new clothes totally made up for losing her best jeans.
Now for food. Her stomach ached. Oh, Great. No one told her where to go or what to do.
First task—find someone who could help her. That meant going out into the corridors. She didn't know anyone or anything. What an idiot she'd be.
Relax. You belong here. And she had friends there, if she could find them.
Raea keyed the door open and stepped through when it slid aside. A familiar face faltered in mid stride while taking a step around the corner ahead and stopped. Dressed in a plain gray flightsuit, Cris stared.
Oh, no. Did she do something wrong? She shouldn't have come out. Every cell in her body screamed to hide. She turned back to the apartment—
["Wait!"] His rushed steps clapped on the smooth floor
What? Did he want to tease her now? Raea crossed her bare arms, or, rather, wrapped them around herself to hide.
["I…was…hoping…you might join me?"]
Her insides growled. ["As long as it involves food."]
He chuckled. ["For starters."]
Oh, no. Not again. Couldn't he quit hitting on her? ["Where's Leksel?"] He always moderated Cris's behavior.
His amusement dropped a notch as he led her through the curving corridor. He was so jealous of his brother. So what if she liked Leksel more? It wasn't like she would ever sleep with either one. ["I don't know. He wasn't in the room they assigned him when I stopped. He's probably already in the dining hall. I'm sure we'll see him there."]
["You know where to go?"]
["It was on the map."]
["What map?"]
He stopped at a set of doors with a vertical line of lights next to it. ["The file map."]
The door opened to a transport tube.
["I'm not familiar with this world. Remember? I grew up on Earth, Cris."]
["I forgot about that."] He followed her inside.
After the doors shut on them, he leaned against the back of the car. ["Level twelve."]
Raea hiccupped at the sudden drop, despite knowing it would come after her ride with Saffir.
A few seconds later, the car stopped without that gentle bounce that left her wobbly-legged
the first step out of elevators, nor did she feel it any other way. With all the technology of the Inari, she speculated they used some sort of reverse gravity to lighten the stop. If they could make cities float in the sky, she wouldn't doubt it.
They stepped out into a large room full of tables and chairs among thick pillars. Glass lined the outer walls all around. The sun high in the sky shone bright.
["Dining hall. All you can eat, especially if you've been running from the Shirukan."]
All right, Cris. She caught his easy grin and elbowed him in the gut. They didn't need to attract attention. A few of the scattered faces looked up and she scanned those faces. No sign of Leksel. And the dining hall took up only half of that tower; a flat wall extended behind them both directions.
["Where is he?"]
["He can take care of himself."] Chris strode for the food counter to the left, a shadow over his mood.
Now she knew why the dining hall took up only half the pie of the tower—the kitchen and storage area must have filled the rest. A wide door behind the serving counter allowed a glimpse into a kitchen.
None of the food under the glass appealed to her, but her empty stomach refused to wait until she reached home.
The woman behind the counter wore a cloth over her wings, giving Raea the impression of being a hunchback.
Raea shook her head. ["You pick. I have no idea."]
["You're sure? You trust me?"]
Not when he asked her like that, but she didn't have much of a choice. That smug, teasing grin sent a shudder down her back. ["Just do it, before I change my mind."] As if that could happen. She had no idea what anything was.
Cris ordered her a plate of what he took. They sat down at a table away from the others, near the tinted window blocking direct sunlight from blinding anyone in the room, and looked out over clear sky.
The food was good, although her hunger may have overridden her sense of taste. Too much time had passed since her last meal. The searoot spores had filled her, but those were hours ago.
Raea almost cleared her plate by the time she sated her hunger and slowed down to talk. ["That was good."]
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