The creature barked as if telling her to be quiet.
Someone please help. She whimpered in fear, but the more she cried, the louder the creature growled. It twisted its head and snapped its jaws at her arm. She instinctively pulled away, which gave the creature a chance to lunge.
In that instant, she found the resonance and released it from the mark on her hand. The creature yelped and backed off, whimpering with half its bloody face gone.
Finally. Breathing hard, she pulled her left hand to her chest and winced at the jolt of pain it sent through her arm.
Exhausted by the fight, she laid still and wiped her eyes with her right hand, trembling and sniffing with the fear and pain accosting her. Maybe she should have left the predator to kill her. Maybe she should never have come to Earth. Maybe she should return home and give the Shirukan what they wanted.
NO!
She shuddered at the strength of the emotion. It hadn't come from her, yet it had come from within her; the entities of her shard wouldn't allow her to give up.
She served the crystal shard she wore. It was her duty since they had chosen her as their Keeper. She had to go on, despite the pain and loneliness.
Movement hurt; an understatement of immense proportions. Her right leg also ached, and in the wan light from the posts above, she saw the red growing below her knee. It soaked through her leggings, which had ripped from the creature's teeth. She had healed others with the energy but she couldn't heal herself. Now she needed help more than ever.
She had to go on, to seek the humans and their healing, and hope the Shirukan didn't find her first. What she had done to him was nothing compared to what the wild creature had done to her.
Padina winced with each movement to get her feet under her. After some time, she stood and hobbled forward, holding her aching left hand as still as she could. Each limping step jostled her arm, and pain branched through her hand and wrist. A staggering trail of blood followed her from the leg wound.
The street brightened with the lights from buildings rising on each side. Shadowy figures strolled along the sides while vehicles occasionally passed between, their lights on the road ahead. A couple people passed her, but only stared.
"Help, please."
They didn't do anything. Didn't anyone care?
She stepped into a cross street and stumbled to her knees. Instinct thrust her left hand out with her right. Bad move. Pain shot through her arm to her skull.
2
In what seemed like seconds, lights flashed around Padina. People talked hurriedly. Several arms shifted her onto a firm pad, but anything was softer than the ground. Straps tightened around her chest and thighs.
After a little jostling and a hiss and the brush of air over part of her face, Padina opened her eyes. A strange face stared down at her. A soft voice from the woman, who wore a white shirt and gloves, spoke to her. If only she understood! But the tone of the voice was reassuring.
The stranger asked a question.
"I don't understand."
The woman called something to someone else as the tiny room bounced slightly. The mask over her face shifted.
SAY THIS…'I NEED HELP.' The Starfire knew their language. They could translate. Her shard had been to Earth before.
Forming her mouth around the sounds, she said, "I…need…help."
"You bet you do, miss. You're obviously not from around here. Can you tell us your name?"
She hoped the Starfire had translated that right and replied, "Shartrael Padina."
"Must be foreign," someone else said.
"No kidding." The woman's eyes focused on something else, her hands hidden by the mask partially blurring Padina's vision.
"You fractured your hand, Shar."
Shar? Why did the woman call her that? That was part of her familial name, not her individual name.
"And it looks like you lost a lot of blood, but we don't have your type. Did something attack you?"
"Yes."
Someone outside her range of vision spoke, his voice blending into the background with the strange intonation of another voice.
"All right." The woman patted her arm and smiled. "You're gonna be all right. We're taking you to the hospital. Do you understand?"
"Yes." She understood. Someone had helped her when she needed it most.
"You rest, Shar. We'll take care of you."
"And…baby?"
A rubbery touch settled on her good arm. "Was there a baby with you?"
"Inside." Her baby. Their baby. She'd arranged for her and Jerantis to fly to one of the islands for vacation in a few days, where she planned to tell him. Now, he would never see their baby, if it had survived the portal.
The Starfire gave her the word to tell the humans, so the baby must have been all right. That realization melted away her worries. Her baby lived. Later, after a few months, she could return home to raise their child on the homeworld and, hopefully, the empire would be no more. The free cities wouldn't allow Empress Shirat Marin to spread her lies.
"Oh, hell."
Rubbery hands fumbled with her good hand and pinched it. She looked down to a tube taped on the back of her hand.
"Easy. I just need to replace the line." The woman patted her shoulder. "Just breathe deep and relax. We'll be at the hospital soon."
Padina closed her eyes and tried to forget, focusing on the conversation between the humans—two if she heard right. It distracted her with attempting to understand, but most of it escaped her.
Her baby was alive, and the humans had helped her. That's all that mattered, for now.
* * *
Taren watched the flashing lights on the red and white vehicle disappear down the street. On his scanner, the Crystal Keeper's signature hurried towards the edge of the screen, out of range. He'd never catch her without flying, but it wasn't worth exposing himself.
She had injured herself, or something had injured her, and the people who had loaded her into the vehicle appeared to be medics. Where there were medics, there was an infirmary. If he found that, he would find her, and she would be at his mercy.
But he needed help to find this human infirmary.
And he couldn't speak the language of the humans.
This would not be easy.
He had to keep her in range and took up the chase on foot, but at the rate of her movement, she'd be out of range very soon.
With his eyes on the screen, he hurried along the walkways, aware of the humans and dodging them.
She neared the edge and he picked up a jog. This wasn't good. He'd lose her.
A blaring horn startled him.
A human shouted angrily at him in their language, but he ignored the man in the vehicle and continued after the moving dot so near to disappearing.
This wasn't working. If he wanted to track her, he'd have to fly.
Taren turned down a dark, narrow street between buildings, where trash receptacles stood out of the main flow of human traffic.
A few shadows detached from the walls rising high on either side and stepped into the light over a couple of doors.
From the looks on their faces, they intended trouble.
He turned—
And discovered his way out cut off by two more.
They spoke in their language, but certain sounds repeated. One of them stepped closer, an arrogant smirk on his face and kept repeating the word "money", which he assumed was something important.
One of the others pounded a fist into the palm of his other hand in a gesture that made it clear they intended to fight.
If that's what they wanted, that's what they'd get, as he'd been taught in his academy training.
Taren glanced at the scanner, but the green dot was gone. He was on his own to track her down, but first, he had six thugs to contend with. Mindful that his one means of tracking the Crystal Keeper wasn't damaged, he tucked it back into the flightsuit pocket and sealed it.
The fight started with one behind him. At the clat
ter of feet, he kicked back in a precise move that made hard contact with the young man's chest and sent him crashing into one of the track receptacles. Two others proceeded from opposite sides. They were nothing but boys, untrained and easily outmaneuvered. They struck head first into the solid wall to crash on the ground. The last three were joined by the first, who dusted himself.
The four rushed him together, but they were unskilled in combat. A couple lucky punches from the boys contacted his sides, but they all fell in the end.
Afterwards, Taren twined his fingers in the black ropes of hair on one of them and lifted the young man off the ground amid winces and stammering. He looked in the dark eyes and said, "Money." If it was valuable, he might need it.
The young man blabbered and spat. Impatient, Taren pulled out the hand-length AVER rod standard issue to all Shirukan and pressed the firing end to the young man's forehead. He flicked it on so the end glowed ready to fire against his skin.
The human's eyes went wide and crossed to focus on the weapon, and he reached into the pocket of his pants. He pulled out a wad of paper, his tone pleading pathetically as Taren took the paper. It didn't look valuable, but their willingness to attack him with the assumption he would give them any proved otherwise.
He tucked the wad inside a pocket of his flightsuit and went around to each of the young men to collect. His efforts proved fruitful from two more.
Hopefully, he could use that to his advantage. The Crystal Keeper was injured, as was he, and wouldn't be going anywhere soon. Once he found her, he could relax until night returned. Flying would be safer from human eyes in the dark.
* * *
Morning came, and with it a new perspective and less pain.
Padina watched the television box. Quaint but effective. Holograms took up far less space, especially when off. But the images occupied her morning while she ate the strange food the nurse had brought to her. It also showed her how humans now lived—far different than their last records. When she returned home, she'd suggest another expedition to observe the humans. They advanced at an ever-increasing pace in technology and science. Maybe they would be ready in the next century or two to learn about Inari.
Padina took a sip of the white liquid, cow's milk—whatever creature that was—and nearly gagged at the bitterness. How could they drink such nasty stuff? It must have been an acquired taste. One she wouldn't acquire. The rest of the food was tolerable. She finished it off with a glass of ice water from the pitcher on the wheeled tray extending over her bed and pushed it all away afterwards.
Her leg hurt less, and the nurse had expressed some surprise at the swift healing. When Padina asked if that was all right, the nurse had said it was faster than normal. Padina could only suppose humans must take longer to recover from injury. Already the purple and green bruising of her left hand had shrunk noticeably.
They also said she would be released after the doctor saw her again, which she interpreted to mean they wouldn't let her stay. She would have to find another place to stay until she could return home, but no one told her where she could go. At home, Keepers were provided all the necessities by whatever city they chose as their home, as an appreciation for their services to the public.
But she didn't want to reveal her powers here, not among the humans, especially not when they had their own wars for power.
After watching the television, Padina understood the dangers of exposing her power to humans. Like Empress Shirat Marin and her Shirukan, which had full authority over all citizens of her little empire, the humans would seek Padina's power for their own selfish means. Inari information about Earth had revealed that of past studies of human cultures, and Padina suspected it still rang true.
While Padina watched the television in disappointment of the world that was supposed to be their sanctuary, a knock on the door interrupted.
She sat up, expecting one of the nurses or the doctor. Instead, a strange man in odd clothes peaked around the door and pushed his glasses up his nose—an archaic but effective contraption for correcting vision. Short, reddish-brown hair topped his head. His long, narrow face above a young, trim body added to an illusion of height.
He blinked small eyes behind his glasses. "May I come in?"
"Yes." Curious. The nurses hadn't mentioned a visit by anyone else, and he didn't dress like one of the medical staff she had seen. Over a buttoned jacket matching his dark pants, he wore another jacket but a brown one worn open and loose.
"Are you Miss Padina?"
"Shartrael Padina." Not Miss. These humans were frustrating.
A bemused smile stretched up his face and he closed the door behind him before approaching her with a hand held open to her, his other occupied with a rectangular case of some kind. "Scott Dahlrich, or just Scott, if you like. Immigration and Naturalization. I help immigrants to the United States. Do you mind answering a few questions?"
She shifted away from him, and he lowered his hand. What kinds of questions? What was the United States?
He took a seat on one of the chairs near the bed. "I'm not here to cause trouble for you. Don't worry."
That didn't change the fact that she didn't know him and still had no reason to trust him.
"My job is to help foreigners find residence in this country, if they seek it." He stared at her a moment, as if waiting.
Was he asking if she wanted this "residence"? Maybe only temporarily, until it was safe for her baby to travel through a portal home.
"I'm…" He dropped his eyes a moment with a nervous grin. "I don't know how you got here or where you're from, but if you want my help, you only need to let me know. Do you understand?"
What other choice did she have? Padina took a deep breath, hoping he was sincere. "Yes."
"Good." Relief poured over his expression, softening it and lifting his posture. "Then why don't you tell me how you got here."
"I…am." The Starfire entities didn't help her much with giving her the words to describe the portal.
"Yes, but how did you get here? Bus? Plane? Train? Did someone force you here?"
"Yes." The Shirukan, she wanted to say but couldn't. Emotions tightened in her chest at the memories replayed of Jerantis dying. Tears burned in her eyes "They killed…" She choked on a sob. "They killed him."
"Who? Who are 'they' and who is 'him'?"
"Bad…shot Jerantis. He protect me, helping escape." Tears flowed uncontrollably. Crystal fire! Why did he have to ask? She had pushed the pain aside with the distractions of this world. Now it ripped through her like the shots last night through Jerantis. He was gone.
"I'm sorry," Scott said quietly. "Jerantis was important?"
"My…mate…bonded," she repeated through the tears from the words the Starfire gave her.
"I'm so sorry, Miss."
"Pa—Padina." She sniffed and wiped her face on the sleeve of the gown the nurses had helped her into last night.
"Padina…That's a beautiful name. What nationality is it?"
Why did he ask that?
"I'm sorry. I don't mean to sound insensitive, but I need to know, so I can help you. If someone is after you, or you were persecuted…" His words trailed off as if expecting something. "I can help you gain asylum; but I need information."
The translation struck her numb. That was the word she needed—asylum—not just residence. She needed protection. Was he sincere? "You help can this?"
"That's why I'm here." Scott opened his case and pulled out a tablet and a stylus. After a quick push of his glasses with his finger, he scribbled on the tablet. "But I'm going to need some information to put in the paperwork. Do you mind answering a few questions? I don't want to seem rude if it's too hard."
"I…being…better." She sniffed and wiped her eyes, relieved by his offer of asylum.
His smile promised hope. She needed that. To the best that she could, she answered his questions, even if he seemed confused by names and places.
"And you just came here."
"Yes."
"You landed in Minneapolis."
"This place. Yes." If that's what he meant.
He tapped his stylus on the tablet a few times. "Do you have your plane ticket?"
What was a plane ticket? "Not…understanding."
He wrote something. Was that bad?
"You…helping me?"
"Yeah." Scott looked up and blinked as if returning from a stray thought. "Of course. But I don't understand how you got here."
Nor would he if she could tell him the truth. He'd have to accept what she said. The Starfire wasn't very helpful with giving her words and meanings if they didn't want to. Her perfect memory served to fill in what they'd already taught her, but it would take time to build a vocabulary and learn the grammar to understand and speak without their help, time she didn't intend to spend on that world.
"Not…telling? Not say?" Damned be the language! If only she could speak for herself.
"Is something wrong?"
Everything was wrong! She and Jerantis were supposed to live the rest of their days together, raise a family, serve their world in negotiations and explorations. It wasn't supposed to be like this.
The tears returned to cool her burning eyes, but they couldn't soothe her aching heart.
"I'm sorry. Here…" Scott handed her a flimsy cloth, which she used to wipe her tears. "I can leave if you'd rather be alone."
"No. Stay." The empty room now would leave her more alone than she had been. She wanted company, and he seemed like a good person.
"All right."
"Say…more." More to help her learn the language herself and more to keep her thinking of anything but last night.
It wouldn't take the Shirukan long to recover. They could absorb some of the Starfire energy; they had some Starfire in their genes. They could only alter their appearance, which meant he could also hide among the humans.
"All right. Um…Here's what we'll do for you…" Scott spoke about the possibilities of a life there and the process to ensure she could stay.
It sounded all right for a human, but it wasn't home. Her heart ached for home, for her own kind, and for all that she knew. She wanted to return to the skies of Inar'Ahben and the searoot islands floating in those skies among the cities and the clouds. Earth was so fixed and low, the sky so empty…like her.
When Angels Cry Page 2