by Jaleta Clegg
*I didn’t fully understand the possibilities. I must think.* It shut me out.
I dropped onto the cushion I’d dragged in earlier, shivering in the night chill. The dress I’d borrowed from Estelle was not very warm. I wrapped my arms around myself, too tired to try to find a blanket.
Tayvis appeared in the doorway. I’d forgotten how silently he could move. He carried a bright striped blanket from the bed in the back room. He sat next to me, draping it over my shoulders.
“You look cold,” he said.
I didn’t answer, overcome by sudden shyness. I wanted a chance to talk to him, alone, and now that I had it, I couldn’t figure out what I wanted to say. The gold clusters on his collar scared me, reminding me that I really didn’t know him despite the time we’d spent together on Dadilan.
“Was it that bad tonight?” he asked.
“We have a week before they sacrifice me to Sekkitass.”
“And the rest of us?”
“They’ll find a painful way for you to die.” I pulled the blanket closer. “Unless I can find a way to convince them not to.”
He didn’t answer. He put his hand on my shoulder. It was warm, incredibly comforting. He slid his hand across my back, pulling me against his shoulder. I closed my eyes, very glad he was there.
Chapter Twenty
He was gone when I woke. I rolled onto my back, studying the carvings on the ceiling.
*Do all humans sleep as much as you?*
“Most of them sleep more.” I pulled my bare feet back under the blanket.
Bare feet? I sat up, searching for my boots. They were next to the end of the cushion. Tayvis must have taken them off after I fell asleep. I slid them on. I felt too vulnerable without them, and vulnerable was the last thing I wanted to feel on Serrimonia.
“Breakfast,” Tayvis announced, setting a tray on the altar of skystone.
“She tends to bite in the morning,” Jerimon said, beyond the door. “At least until she’s been fed.”
Tayvis crossed his arms. “Couldn’t you have picked someone less annoying as your copilot?”
Jerimon stuck his head in the door. “I heard that.”
“Both of you just go away.” I scrubbed my hand through my hair, grimacing at the grit. I wanted to be alone. I wanted to take a long bath. My stomach growled.
“Some things don’t seem to change much.” Tayvis grinned.
I would have thrown something except I didn’t have anything throwable handy. And I didn’t really want to throw anything. I wanted him to sit and talk to me. I didn’t know what I wanted to say. I didn’t want to think about dying soon, sacrificed to a stone god on a planet far away from civilization. I hunched my shoulders, wanting time to sort out my conflicting emotions.
“Go away,” I said.
Jerimon left. Tayvis gave me a searching look before following Jerimon. I heard his voice, a deep murmur in the other room.
*Are they fighting over you or is there some other meaning to their behavior? Are they posturing? You humans have strange physiology. You must explain to me.*
“The Sessimoniss are the ones with the weird biology.” The tray held fruit, and more of the ubiquitous gray grain.
*Your rituals are most bizarre. Why do you have so few memories of them? You are past the age of mating and marriage.*
“Because humans do things differently.” The fruit was tart but juicy. “Why are you so interested in mating behavior?”
*Because it is the root of a civilization. All Sessimoniss status is based on a clan’s population. Only large clans with great resources can afford many breeders and non-breeders, either slaves or delayed maturing young. A clan may gain allies and status through marriage agreements. Do not humans do the same? There are stories of such things in your memories.*
“Sort of. But only among the rich. Most humans, as far as I know, marry for love.”
*What is love?*
I didn’t have an answer, I wasn’t sure myself. I sucked on a piece of fruit.
*Do they posture for you to gain this love?*
I ignored the Eggstone. It rummaged through my memories.
“Stop it.” I tried to push it out. It didn’t work. The bond between us had grown too strong.
*Why do you not share?*
“Because I don’t know, and it’s private.”
Jasyn stuck her head in the door. “Is everything all right? You were talking to yourself.”
“No,” I said crossly, “I was talking to the Eggstone.”
“Then I’ll leave you two alone,” she said and left.
I looked down at the remains of the breakfast tray. I wanted a bath, and clean clothes. No, I really wanted off the planet. In one piece.
The Eggstone picked through my mind. I found the memories of all the romantic vids I’d watched and romance novels I’d read and let the Eggstone have them. Maybe they would keep it occupied for a while. I picked up the blanket and went to try out the bath.
Jasyn had rigged a blanket over the doorway to the bathroom to give some illusion of privacy. I went in and filled up the basin.
The water was lukewarm, not warm enough to really feel good but not so cold that I couldn’t stand it. I rinsed out my clothes while I washed myself, wishing I had something clean to put on. All I had was my dress. It clung, wet and chilly against my skin.
The late morning sun poured down the shaft into the courtyard. I lay on the stones, spreading my skirts around me. The sun’s heat was intense, the stones warm. The water spouts around the courtyard gurgled and poured water over the lush plants. I stared into the turquoise blue sky of Serrimonia. I had to figure out what I was going to do that night, at the next Council session, provided they didn’t kill me before then.
Jasyn backed into the courtyard, dragging one of the couches. Tayvis pushed the other end through. Jasyn made him shift it around the courtyard until she was satisfied. They went back for another couch, Jerimon trailing them in. They set one near the far wall, the one unbroken by any doorways. The other went in front of the wide arch of the entryway.
“Those plants over there are a better view,” she said as she settled on the second couch. “I like the vines with the yellow flowers.”
Tayvis sat on the couch next to her, studying me. “We’re not going away until you tell us what we can do to help.”
“You can’t do anything.” I closed my eyes and pretended I enjoyed the hot sun on my face. A trickle of water ran from my hair into one ear. I wiped it away.
“I don’t think you heard me,” Tayvis said very slowly.
“Are you going to threaten to shoot me this time?” I opened my eyes. “Or just push me around a bit first?”
Jerimon glared at the back of Tayvis’ dark head, jealousy almost turning his whole face green.
“There isn’t anything you can do,” I repeated.
“Then at least tell us what you’re planning on doing,” Jasyn said. “Where did you go last night? Why are there guards in the hall that threaten to stab us if we even look like we’re going out?”
“You don’t have to do it alone, Dace,” Tayvis said. “Besides, I left my gun behind. You’ll just have to cooperate with me without it.”
“And just why should she cooperate with you?” Jerimon plopped on the other bench. “Just because your family bought you rank, doesn’t mean—”
“I earned my rank.” Tayvis’s voice was low, quiet. I shivered from the buried threat in it. “What have you done besides cause trouble?”
“Stop it,” Jasyn said in a voice that could have cut steel. “We have enough problems without the two of you trying to show each other up all the time.” She wiggled her finger at Jerimon.
He paled and shrank down on the cushion. I made a mental note to corner Jasyn later to teach me how to do it.
“Dace, tell us what is going on.” She turned her attention back to me.
“You said we have one week,” Tayvis put in.
I sighed and closed my eyes. I
t wouldn’t hurt to tell them, and maybe they could think of some way to help. The Eggstone wasn’t helping. If I concentrated I could almost hear it thinking about my memories. I explained as much as I could to the others. Some of the concepts were hard to put into words, Sessimoniss behavior was especially difficult. Their biology was so central to their culture that it was hard to separate it enough to really make sense.
I summed up our position in a few short words. The only thing keeping us alive was the tolerance of some of the clans and their respect for the Eggstone and tradition.
“All of the others who have landed here were killed,” I said. “Nobody who wasn’t Sessimoniss has ever left here alive.”
“Then we’ll be the first,” Jasyn said.
“There have been others?” Tayvis asked.
I picked through memories, fuzzy now that the Eggstone was in the other room. “Three ships, I think. The most recent was about a hundred years or so ago. A Patrol Scout. Maybe. It’s hard to be certain, I’m going from the memory of a Priestess who never actually saw the ship.”
“There’s our way off,” Tayvis said thoughtfully. “We find the ship and we’re home free.”
“They didn’t take off again?” Jerimon asked.
“They were brought to Council briefly, before the priests of Sekkitass sacrificed them.” I shuddered and shoved that memory away. Sekkitass had demanded an open air sacrifice where everyone could see, or so the priests claimed. They butchered the poor Patrol crew out in the plaza.
“Where is the ship?” Tayvis asked.
“I don’t know.” I squirmed onto a drier patch of stone.
“Are there records? Anything that might give us a clue?” Tayvis asked.
“I couldn’t read them if there were any,” I said.
“Are you sure about that?” he asked.
I frowned. Some of the priestesses had known how to read. Maybe if I used their memories, I could puzzle out the language. Just thinking about it gave me a headache, but it might work. I got off the floor, shaking out my still damp dress. “I’ll ask for the records. They might decide to cooperate.”
I threatened the guards in the hall until they admitted to having records. I claimed I needed them for Council. After more threats, they finally sent someone to fetch them.
“Bring paper and writing tools,” I added, struck by an idea. If I could somehow write down key symbols, the others could help look through the records.
“What are you doing?” Tayvis asked.
“I’m going to teach you to read Sessimoniss, at least key phrases. Then you can have something to do.”
“Besides sit here and worry?” He didn’t look very happy.
“You chose to come.”
He frowned.
“I’m glad you did,” I added. “I just hope we can manage to leave in one piece.”
“We got off Dadilan, we’ll get out of here.”
I wished I had his optimism, wished I’d never touched the Eggstone, wished I’d never gotten tangled up in any of this. But then, I wouldn’t have met him again so soon. I studied his face, not sure of what I felt. His brown eyes were warm.
“Are those the records?” Jerimon said. He pointed at the door, still hanging open. A dozen Sessimoniss carried in a very large pile of scrolls and parchments. Tayvis stepped away, the moment lost. Whatever he had been about to say, he wasn’t going to say it now.
I let the Sessimoniss in. They dumped the piles on one couch. They kept coming. The entire couch was five feet deep in scrolls before they quit. Parchment spilled onto the floor on all sides. I looked at the mound in dismay. Months wouldn’t be long enough to sort through the stack.
“How do we sort them?” Jasyn asked.
“I don’t know.” I went to fetch the Eggstone.
“Dace? You can’t leave us with this,” Jerimon said, his voice whining.
“Just start somewhere,” I said over my shoulder. “I have to learn how to read them.”
I entered the small room. The altar glowed as blue as the sky overhead in the courtyard. The Eggstone rested in the center, a glossy black ovoid. A piece of the altar flaked off, leaving a small crater behind. It was about the size of my palm, a perfectly shaped and polished skystone. I held a fortune in my hand, but it wasn’t going to do me any good on Serrimonia. I put it back down.
*Your memories, though borrowed, are most intriguing.*
“If you help me get off this planet, I’ll give you everything I have.” I hated doing it, I hated giving up control, but I didn’t see any other way out.
*And why shouldn’t I just take them anyway?* The Eggstone’s tone was cold, as distant and unreachable as any I had ever heard from it.
“You could, but I would fight you every step of the way. I need your help to escape.”
*No one escapes. Secrecy is the Sessimoniss’ best protection.*
“They’re dying, you know that. Isn’t that why you brought me here? I will do all I can in the week that they’ve given me. But I don’t want to die on the altar of Sekkitass. They need what humans can offer them.”
*Do they? Or will humans kill them?* The memories of my own cruel childhood rose to haunt me. *Humans do not treat their own very well. How can you promise they would treat others better?* The Eggstone used the Sessimoniss word that meant outsider-not clan. It was not a nice word.
“There are those who will help,” I said, choosing my words. “There are those who will not, just as there are Sessimoniss who tolerate me and those who do not.”
The Eggstone chuckled, the sound echoing in my head. *You give clever answers, and yet you believe you will find those who can help. What is it you wish?*
“You gave me the technical specs of the ship. Can you do the same for the Sessimoniss language?”
*I have. You speak as well as your human throat will allow you.*
“I need to read it.”
*So you can find the ship and find a way to leave.*
“Yes.”
*I will help you as much as I can. I find a strange sadness at the thought of you going to feed Sekkitass.*
“Thank–”
A flood of information filled my mind. I swayed dizzily. It was too much, too fast. I slid down the altar to sprawl on the floor. It was as if a thousand Sessimoniss were writing in my head, words scratching through my brain. I fought to stay conscious, sinking into darkness as the claws continued to scratch out a language older than human civilization.
Chapter Twenty-One
I woke with a pounding headache. Strange symbols and words danced in my head. I thought I understood the Sessimoniss before, but my understanding had been filtered through the Eggstone. I had another piece of their culture directly in my head now. There were deeper, richer meanings to words. I sat, leaning against the altar until my head stopped spinning.
*Do all humans have such trouble assimilating knowledge? I have found memories of a hypnoteacher in your mind. Is it not a similar thing?*
“Probably. I don’t do well with it. Most humans are fine learning that way. At least facts. Real learning takes experience.” I quoted one of the teachers at the Academy, an admiral so old he actually looked his age who taught a beginning course in ethics and philosophy. I hadn’t really understood what he meant, but I was starting to get a glimmer of understanding now.
“What now?” Tayvis held a sheaf of parchment and one of the weird inksticks the Sessimoniss used for writing.
“Crash course in the Sessimoniss language.” I rubbed my aching head.
“Jasyn and Jerimon are sorting the pile, matching the symbols at the top. It’s tough, though. If you can understand any of it, it might help.” He held out the parchment.
I drew a series of symbols across the parchment. “These represent the Priestess at the time the ship landed. These four are dates. Maybe.” I needed time to assimilate the language, but time was what we didn’t have.
“Is there a title or something similar we could look for?” This was a side
of him I hadn’t seen before. He crouched next to me. “Do you need scrolls to look at?”
“It can’t hurt. Take this paper to show the others.” I closed my eyes, trying to think past the pounding in my head.
Tayvis patted my shoulder, then left.
*You wish to know how they write scrolls?* The Eggstone rummaged through the information dumped into my brain, tugging at the knowledge like strings. Things shifted and settled. The knowledge came clear. I knew how the Sessimoniss kept records and which ones covered the time when the ship landed. I pulled a sheet of paper close, writing the symbols, year by year, ten years before and ten years after. I had to think hard to write the translation in Basic.
Tayvis came back with a handful of parchment scrolls.
“Let me see them,” I said. My headache was receding.
“Are you sure you’re feeling all right?”
“I’m fine,” I answered irritably, then realized I’d been speaking Sessimoniss to him. I had to concentrate to go back to Basic. “Sorry.”
“Are you going to grow three feet taller and sprout scales next?”
“Only if it will help, although the poison claws might do more.” I was relieved to hear my normal voice.
I leafed through the scrolls he brought. They were extremely similar, following the same format. Each one had the date at the top followed by a brief summary of the scroll’s contents. The dates were from several different centuries.
“Up here,” I said, pointing at the scroll. “This is the date. Don’t bother with any that are too much different from this.” I handed him the sheet I’d written. “Look for these other symbols underneath the date. The first section of the scroll should be enough.” I yawned, suddenly exhausted. I still had a very difficult night ahead; I had to keep the Council interested enough to keep me alive longer. “Tayvis?”
He paused near the door.
“You’re trained for this kind of thing, aren’t you?”
“What kind of thing? Being kidnapped by xenos we know next to nothing about?” He shook his head. “You’re the expert here.”