by Susan Kite
Corree dodged his outstretched hand with a laugh and headed toward the floor. Riss laughed with her as he continued toward the ceiling. They chased each other all over the chamber. Despite all her maneuvers, Riss tagged her. They kissed, floated around each other and did a zero gravity dance, only coming down when Greelon announced an end to the activity.
Corree woke just before sunset. As she sat next to her friend, she considered what had happened and wondered what she should do next. “Oh, Riss, I wish you were here. It’s my fault you’re dead. We should have stayed inside, then you’d still be…here.” There were still the Federation scientists to be considered…and stopped before any more of her people were killed. But how? “I wish you were here to help me figure out what to do about our world and the Federation,” she added in a whisper.
Chapter Fifteen
There was a slight drifting of air that had nothing to do with the capricious winds outside her rock shelter. She felt the warmth of the stone in the pouch that lay against her hip.
What would you like to do to the Federation? The voice in her head was familiar.
“I’d like to…” She jerked around and stared at the body. “You’re dead!”
Seem to be. Corree, it wasn’t your fault. I would have gone out anyway.
“If you’re dead, how can you be talking to me?” She was confused. Corree remembered when she had buried Migo in a hollow tree. Sometime later when the tree had crashed to the ground, there had been no body inside; not even any bones. However, Migo had never visited her.
She felt his shrug. I’m really not…talking to you, that is. You’re hearing my thoughts.
“But how can you think? You’re dead!” Corree almost wailed.
Calm down! I don’t know any more than you. But I’m here. So what would you like to do to the Federation?
“I’d like to make them go away!”
Okay, so the trick is how.
“At least they can’t come here.”
No, but they still have influence.
“The pods,” she said.
That’s a start, he replied. Of course, they won’t be happy we let the Ologrians settle on Mendel.
“Too bad. If they don’t like it, they can talk to us about it rather than do all these sneaky stunts they’ve pulled on us,” she retorted.
“Corree! Corree!” a voice echoed off the rocks.
“Good-bye, Corree, I will never forget you. You are the bravest person I know. You will do the right thing. Let my family know I have never forgotten them either. Be careful when you go to the pods…” Riss drew back, and then drifted into the corners of the cave like fog.
“No!” she called out. “Don’t go, Riss….” Corree opened her eyes to see Tanna in the mouth of the cave. Riss’s body lay next to her, unmoving. She rubbed her hand across her eyes. It was only a dream, wasn’t it? But was it trying to tell her something? Could there be an answer in the pods?
“You all right?” Tanna asked, his dark eyes bright in their concern.
She nodded. She wasn’t all right, but she wasn’t going to admit that to anyone right now. “Yes, I’m fine. Let’s take care of Riss, then I’m going to the teaching pod.”
“Teaching pod?” Tanna repeated. “Why? To destroy it?”
“Yes.”
Tanna grinned. “Then they can’t bother us anymore.”
Corree sighed. She realized they could. It was naïve to think they couldn’t. Still, she needed to find out what they had in mind.
Tanna must have picked up on her emotions. “They could send another one, couldn’t they?” he asked. “Destroying it wouldn’t do any good.”
“Maybe slow them down a little, but you’re right. They could send another pod.”
“Then you should stay away.”
“No. I don’t think that would be a good idea either,” Corree mused. “I think the scientists control the holo-man. I can communicate with them in the pod.”
“What if they try to give you another virus?”
Corree shuddered. But they hadn’t succeeded, so why would they try again? It came down to the fact that to not know what the Federation was planning was suicide.
“If they do, I’ll have to hope Greelon comes up with an antidote like he did before.”
“I don’t see how you can trust the Ologrians. I mean they’re so…so different.”
“Tanna, we’re different, too. Obviously the Federation doesn’t trust us, either. I know you’ll learn to understand the Ologrians in time. Greelon would never betray me.”
“Why does the Federation hate them so much if what happened on that other planet wasn’t just the Ologrian’s fault?”
“I believe the Federation thinks Ologrians want the same things here that they do.” The revelation astonished her in its simplicity.
Tanna still had questions. Corree didn’t want to talk now, but she wouldn’t ignore Tanna.
“How could someone make up something like that battle if it didn’t really happen?” Tanna inquired. “It looked so real.”
“Some of it was real, but I guess if they can make us, they can show a battle that isn’t entirely true.”
“I suppose,” Tanna replied with a tight smile. He glanced at Riss’s body. “Where are you going to put him?”
Corree cringed at his choice in words, but most of her family barely remembered Migo and his death. She had buried him alone. Maybe that had been a mistake. Corree realized they had been lucky. As harsh as the forest could be at times, it amazed her there had been so few injuries. “A little further into the mountains.” Her shoulders ached from the previous night’s trek, but that didn’t matter. She bent down to pick him up and found she didn’t have the strength.
“Let me help you,” Tanna said softly. He was already reaching for one of the carrying straps.
Together they stepped out onto a shadowy path. The first moon was up, but it would be almost overhead before she could see it. They struggled through the narrow chasm and up even narrower trails. There were several places they could have laid Riss’s body, but Corree didn’t want him overlooking the desert. She berated herself for being silly, but she couldn’t help it. Riss belonged fully in the mountains. Thankfully, Tanna said nothing. He continued helping her without complaint.
The second moon had risen by the time Corree found something that looked promising. Leaving Tanna to watch over Riss, she crept inside and was shocked to see one of the cave dwellers curled up near the back of the cave. Corree started to back out, but the form stirred and opened his eyes. They were bright but unseeing.
“Who? Who is it?” he rasped. His skin was blistered from exposure to the sunlight.
“I am Corree from the forest.”
“You are the one that brought the alien monsters,” he wheezed.
“They brought me and Riss back home. I told them they could live in the place the Federation didn’t want.”
The cave dweller tried to push himself up but didn’t have enough strength. He began to cough and choke, struggling to get enough breath. Corree started toward him to help. “Go away. I want to die in peace. The Federation will come to save us.” He gasped and continued, “They will take care of you, too…”
Corree could not say anything. She backed out of the cave, and she and Tanna continued up the trail until they found another small cave, this one unoccupied. They carefully laid Riss’s body in the back. The bag he was in almost made it seem unreal, but she didn’t want to take him out or even open it enough to see his face. She would never forget those sightless eyes.
“I’m sorry, Riss. After everything you went through.” She paused, trying to control the tears that welled up. “At least you are back home.”
There was nothing else she could say. Corree motioned to Tanna, and they crawled out of the cave. She stacked rocks to hide the entrance from all but those who knew of the cave’s existence. Finally there was nothing else to do but leave.
Throughout the remainder of the night the pa
ir walked in silence. Shortly before the setting of the second moon, Tanna found a cave large enough for both of them to sleep in. He went out to hunt alone. Corree could do nothing except sit in the back of the cave and think. She wished she could shut off her thoughts.
By the next moonrise, Corree had managed to partially shake off her depression. She was ready to go home and be with her family. They met no one until they reached the last pass out of the mountain range. As they followed the trail that led down into the forest country, their way was blocked by Meeka and the rest of Riss’s family. Her eyes were steely in the early moonlight, glittering with grief and anger. Meeka knew.
“Where did you put him?” she demanded.
“Inside the second mountain valley from the desert; a cave near the summit facing this way.” Corree drew a crude map on the dusty path. Heading off Meeka’s next question, she added, “He was too heavy for us to bring him all the way…or we would have. I…I know how much he loved these mountains. And his family. He told me to tell you that he never forgot you.”
Meeka said nothing for a long time. Corree began to wonder if she and Tanna would have to fight their way to the forest.
Then Meeka sighed, her anger deflated. “Yes, he was big…and strong.” Her group formed back into a single file line. “We are going to see him. To tell him good-bye.”
Corree put her hand on Meeka’s arm. “He is in a death bag supplied by Greelon. Riss was in his Ologrian mutation when he…died.”
Meeka recoiled, but recovered quickly. “Was it bad?”
Corree shook her head, confused. “You mean his death? Or being in his Ologrian form?”
Meeka’s eyes filled with tears, but she shook them away. “No, I mean…no.” Her breath caught in her throat. “I told him not to go after you, but it was like a compulsion. He said he had to go.”
“It was a compulsion, Meeka.” It was hard to make out anything in Meeka’s thoughts except grief emotions; anger, loss, even a bit of panic.
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“It was a compulsion, planted somehow when we were in the teaching pod.”
Meeka’s grief finally tore from her throat. Her howls echoed through the pass.
Corree didn’t want to say the wrong thing, so she waited.
“Was it hard for him being a prisoner to the Ologrians? I mean, did they do anything to him? Hurt him?”
Corree couldn’t lie to Meeka. “Yes, at first, Riss tried to kill all of them. It was part of the compulsion…. Riss had it worse than me.” She outlined their adventures.
“You said he had mutated into an Ologrian form. So I guess that means we all have the ability to mutate more than once.”
“Yes, except for the cave people,” Corree replied. “I think they can only mutate the first time.”
“What are the Ologrians going to do?”
“Survive until they can find a world more suitable for them to live on.”
Meeka jaw dropped. “They aren’t here to kill us?”
“No. If that was the case, Riss and I would have been dead long ago. The massacre they showed us in the teaching pod is only partly true.”
“After we visit Riss we need to talk again,” Meeka said. She motioned to her family and they continued into the mountains.
“I’m truly sorry, Meeka,” Corree called after them. They didn’t stop.
It didn’t take Tanna and Corree long to reach the river downstream from the pod. That suited her. They picked their way down the steep embankment and stood by the rushing torrent. Tanna pulled out a braided rope, which he tied into a loop. It took several tries, but finally he threw it over a jutting rock. Tying it off on a similar rock on their side, Tanna grabbed the rope with both hands and his feet. He pulled himself across, hanging down; his head only a few inches above the water. Seeing the genius of his invention, Corree followed, doing exactly as Tanna had. Tanna shook the rope free from the rocks and they clambered up the other bank.
She stood, facing her forest, and breathed in the rich, musty, pungent odors. She listened to the noises that told her she was home. Climbing into the canopy, Corree poked her head above the top limbs and gazed at the two moons. Their blue-white light caressed her, surrounded her and wrapped her like a soft-bark blanket. Corree climbed higher and felt the wind fill her gliding flaps. Almost torn from her roost, she laughed in delight at being back home. If not for Riss’s death she would be ecstatic.
Corree let her contentment settle deep inside. She felt the rest of her family approaching from the west. While she and Tanna waited for them, Corree glided from tree to tree, exultant in her freedom to do so, Tanna by her side. She realized there was more than just her family approaching. “Tanna?”
“Remember we were going to contact other forest families?” he asked.
Corree nodded.
“We did. After you didn’t come back and the pod said you had been kidnapped, we decided to band together.”
“Excellent idea.”
“We built a place among the trees where we can all live,” Tanna continued. “The others will be so glad you’re alive.”
Something had been bothering her. “Why were you the only one from our family who joined the attack group?” They were sitting on a broad branch near the trunk of a sleek-bark tree.
“We all felt the compulsion, but we didn’t think everyone should go. So I volunteered.”
“You were brave,” Corree told him. For the Ologrians’ sakes, she was glad they didn’t all join the war-party.
“Taleeha said it was brave, but I think Breedon thought it was dumb.”
“Breedon?”
“He’s the leader of the other group we found. He’s kind of been acting as leader for both of our families while you were away.”
Corree shrugged. “I guess what Riss and I tried to do was stupid, too, but we thought it was necessary.”
Her family showed up first. Joshee glided down and grabbed her in a fierce hug. Brekka and the rest scampered up the tree and vied with one another to hug Corree next. She wondered if the branch was going to break. The other two families waited quietly when they arrived, watching the reunion from nearby trees.
Her family was still pumping her for information when a muscular male about her age motioned the others to move away. The welcoming mood disappeared. Corree assumed this was Breedon. Her family shifted restlessly, their gazes moving from her to him. She nodded and all but Tanna and Brekka left. Breedon’s eyes flickered annoyance, but he didn’t say anything. Corree assumed that while everyone acted friendly, there were still some issues in the combined family, probably about leadership.
“I’m Breedon.”
“I know.” Corree looked over the enlarged group. “I’m glad Tanna found all of you. We needed to form a larger group.”
“We have done quite well while you were gone,” Breedon said, not without pride.
“I know that, too,” Corree replied. “Tanna told me back in the desert.” She hoped that would back him down a little. She was not in the mood to argue with him or play power games. Her hope was realized.
“So what do we do now?”
“Build a nest and take a long nap.”
“No, I mean about the Ologrians. What happened out there…in the desert?” His gaze flicked from her to Tanna.
“A group of our people attacked a group of Ologrian refugees. There were about eight casualties, both sides.”
“So what can we do now?” Breedon repeated.
Corree smiled. “I don’t know about you, but I am going to see if I can find out what the Federation plans to do next.”
Breedon looked surprised. He turned his gaze to Tanna. The younger boy had a smug look on his face. “So how do you plan on doing that?”
“The only thing I can think of is to visit the teaching pod again. I think it may surprise them to find out I’m still alive…if they don’t already know.”
“Then what?”
“It depends on them. I can’t imagine
the Federation giving up. Maybe I can find out something from them for a change.”
“What about the Ologrians?” Breedon insisted. “How do we get rid of them? Maybe the holo-man can help.”
“We don’t get rid of them,” Corree snapped. She was getting tired of this. Maybe it was because she was tired. “We get rid of the Federation. Don’t ask me how. I haven’t figured that out yet.” She told them everything that had happened to her and Riss since their capture.
Thankfully, Breedon believed her. “When are you going?”
It was tempting to wait a few days, but Corree felt she needed to go soon. “After the sleep period.” She gazed upward and saw the second moon reflected in droplets of dew lining the edges of the sunshade leaves. “I could go now, but I want to be rested.”
“We have a nesting area nearby,” Brekka informed her.
Her family rejoined her as they traveled through the trees. It felt good to be back. Corree pulled leaves and soft moss together for her nest. Joshee was at her elbow. He threw his arms around her waist.
“I thought you were dead, Corree.” He buried his face against her chest. She was shocked to realize he had grown while she was away, just as Tanna had. Like Tanna, Joshee would soon be as tall as she was. Tanna had done well leading the group while she was gone.
Joshee’s hand brushed against her carry bag. “What do you have, Corree,” he asked, his innate curiosity kicking in.
“Something I found on Alogol.” She pulled open the closure. The blue stones glowed brightly, especially the largest one.
“Oh! It’s like a piece of the sun,” Joshee breathed as the stones continued to glitter in the waning moonlight.
“Seems like it, doesn’t it?”
Greelon told her it was impossible, but Corree couldn’t help thinking the same thing. At the very least, it had to have something to do with Mendel.
“May I hold one?” Brekka asked. The other members of her family gathered around the nest on nearby branches.