Icarus Rising

by Bernadette Gardner

  "What—"

  "Shh. Don't speak. We have only a few minutes to

  escape."

  "Escape why?"

  The lovely Icarian woman put her hands on Caleb's hot

  face and stared into his eyes. "This is a big planet. You and I

  can find an empty aerie so far from here and so remote that

  no one will ever find us. We can live out our lives and raise

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  our young in peace, and in ten years when our child reaches

  maturity and joins with a symbion, we can send him back to

  take his place in the tribe, to become Jidar's successor."

  The rush of blood into his long unused limbs left Caleb

  light-headed. Confused, he sat up slowly, stretching his wings

  and rubbing his sore wrists. "What are you talking about?

  Running away with me?"

  "Of course." With expert care, Arilani began removing

  Caleb's IV. Trained in human medical procedures by Danson

  and his team, she knew exactly how to shut the IV pump off

  to avoid having its alarm sound. "I was to be your designated

  mate. I won't allow Jidar to banish you or Danson to destroy

  your symbion."

  Her words disturbed the creature, sending a tide of panic

  through Caleb, but this time he tamped down the

  uncontrolled emotion and managed to calm the beast before

  it could attempt to take flight in the confines of the small

  isolation room. Caleb grabbed Arilani's wrist, and she stilled.

  "I won't run away from what I've done."

  "Caleb, listen to me. You did not kill Zara. She fell. It was

  not your fault."

  "Yes, it was." Caleb forced himself to whisper, though he

  wanted to yell. He was tired of everyone telling him he wasn't

  guilty and feeling sorry for the crazy man with the alien brain

  on his back. He knew what he'd done to Zara ... he...

  Slowly he let Arilani's arm slip from his fingers. She

  pushed the equipment away from his bed, making room for

  him to stand and stretch his wings, but he didn't move.

  Instead he stared at her.

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  "I didn't kill Zara."

  "Of course you didn't."

  "But you told me I did. After you drugged me, you said—"

  "No, I didn't. I drugged you on Danson's orders so you

  could control your symbion long enough to fly back to the

  station. I told you Zara had fallen, but the biochemical

  imbalance effected your perception."

  He rose slowly, still trying to process his thoughts which

  now seemed free of the symbion's emotional quagmire. He

  could think clearly, just as Danson had predicted.

  Reluctantly, he thought back to his last moment's with

  Zara. They'd made love, and he'd been in control then, not

  the symbion. He hadn't hurt her. He'd been gentle and

  attentive. She'd sent him in search of her missing shorts ...

  which he'd removed from her and dropped in the center of

  the aerie, near the bed. There was no way the garment could

  have blown off the edge of the island from inside the rock

  enclosure.

  He stared at Arilani for a long moment. "You want me as

  your mate?"

  "More than anything." She smiled at him, a primitive, feral

  expression that held no humor or warmth.

  "How badly?" He held her gaze, commanding her full

  attention until finally, she had to look away.

  "Don't you see that our lives depend on this? Without your

  symbion, you will die, and Danson only needs an excuse to

  break the bond. He's desperate to prove that the problems

  you experienced won't happen to another human. If he

  doesn't, then his life's work is a failure. I'm one of the last

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  generation of my race. There is no one among my tribe that I

  can successfully mate with. My ability to have a child depends

  on you. If I don't conceive before the end of this mating

  cycle, I will not get another chance." She stepped close and

  her deep-set eyes glittered. "Together, you and I can

  survive."

  "Did you know how I felt about Zara?"

  Arilani whirled away from him, her wings ruffling in anger.

  "I won't discuss Dr. Abbott. It was never your right to mate

  with her. The moment you pledged your fealty to Jidar, you

  gave up your right to choose your own mate."

  "And who gave you the right to choose for me? Jidar never

  said we would be paired up."

  "It is given. I was next in line to be mated. I was to

  receive you and become the first of the new generation of

  Icarian mothers. My child was to be the leader of a new age."

  "My child," Caleb echoed. He'd been prepared for the

  prospect of fatherhood, but now it seemed like a travesty. He

  could never give Arilani a child, even if Jidar ordered him to.

  He could never love her when he'd lost his heart forever to

  Zara.

  " Our child," Ari said, a hopeful thread in her voice. "It can

  still happen if we leave now before anyone sees us."

  Caleb clenched his jaw and moved toward the soundproof

  door of his isolation room. Arilani had left it unlocked, and he

  pulled it open now. "I'm leaving, Ari. But not with you."

  "What?"

  "I'm going to look for Zara's body. And not coming back

  without her. I'll stay out there searching for her until I die."

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  "No!" Arilani lunged toward Caleb, clawing at his arms and

  chest. "I won't allow you to throw away the only chance we

  have."

  "Danson will find someone else."

  Arilani screamed again, but this time rather than following

  Caleb, she threw herself backward, crashing into the

  disconnected monitors that clustered around the empty bed.

  Alarms went off all over the station, and the dim lights

  flared brilliant white, alerting the late-night staff to a breach

  in the iso unit. "He's escaped! Dr. Faulkner, please don't hurt

  me..."

  Caleb growled. His wings threatened to spread in panic,

  but he controlled his symbion's fear response and remained in

  the doorway, unmoving while his colleagues rushed at him

  from all directions.

  "For God's sake, Ari. Why?"

  "I needed you, Caleb ... and you destroyed everything."

  [Back to Table of Contents]

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  Chapter Sixteen

  In the middle of the night the net broke.

  Half asleep and delirious with pain and cold, Zara plunged

  into the white-capped water. She gasped, drawing salty sea

  foam into her mouth and lungs. A convulsive cough sent

  unbearable agony shooting through her chest.

  She flailed for the nearest rock, nothing more than a black,

  shapeless mass in the moonless darkness. Her hand collided

  with the hard surface and bones snapped. She screamed in

  renewed misery. After a moment of panicked disorientation,

  she cursed
and clawed her way to a precarious hold on a

  slippery shelf of basalt.

  The ancient alor vines, now slack, had begun to sink

  beneath the water. They coiled around her legs like serpents,

  threatening to draw her under the surface.

  She refused to die this way. She refused to go without

  leaving at least a sliver of evidence to mark her grave.

  Summoning the last ounce of strength she possessed, Zara

  vaulted out of the water and dragged her body onto the tiny

  ledge. A broken piece of vine clung to a stone anchor nearby

  and the length was just long enough. Painstakingly, Zara

  worked her way along the ledge until her bloody fingers made

  contact with the water-logged fibers of the vine. She rolled

  onto her stomach which gave her another few centimeters of

  reach and enabled her to grab the vine and wrap it around

  her wrist. If she died here tonight, at least her body wouldn't

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  sink. Someday perhaps, a passing Icarian would find her

  bones here, tied to the rock, and be able to guess her fate.

  Someday maybe Caleb would know she hadn't abandoned

  him.

  Exhausted, Zara closed her eyes and concentrated on

  breathing, hoping she would fall asleep soon and drift into

  oblivion. The insistent flapping of wings overhead disturbed

  her, though, and finally she managed to turn her head and

  observe her guardian symbion swooping curiously close. "Go

  away." Zara swiped at the bird with her free hand. "Let me

  be."

  The symbion circled close to the treacherous rocks, its

  wing tips brushing Zara's back. "I'm sorry," she murmured

  when her eyelids grew heavy. "I know you tried to take care

  of me, but I'm too far gone. Just leave me alone now."

  An indignant squawk startled her, and she found the

  strength to laugh. She had never heard a symbion call before.

  This one seemed very agitated, angry, in fact. Perhaps it had

  grown impatient for its dinner after fattening her up with an

  offering of crab meat and couldn't wait for her to die so it

  could eat her.

  "Go ahead." She waved her hand at it. "Just leave a few

  bones for someone to find."

  Her delirious laughter stilled when the bird descended on

  her. Its weight on her back was crushing, but Zara had no

  strength left to fight. "No, no ... I didn't really mean... Oh

  Caleb, please help me."

  She sobbed and clenched her eyes shut waiting for the

  killing bite, but it never came. Instead she felt a strange,

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  electric warmth spread down from a spot at the nape of her

  neck.

  Terror at the odd sensation washed through her for a

  minute, and then all her pain and discomfort ceased.

  Suddenly she felt completely at home, comforted by the

  pounding surf, refreshed by the relentless ocean spray and

  undaunted by the sharp, slippery landscape of the volcanic

  rocks. This was her nesting area. This was her territory.

  "We are now one." A wordless voice in her head told her.

  "We are safe and whole. It is time to rest."

  Zara closed her eyes, giddy with the absurdity of her

  delusion and no longer able to fight her need for sleep.

  Content to let herself go, she drifted off into oblivion.

  Two Icarian males held Caleb's wings and arms,

  preventing him from fleeing or taking flight. It didn't matter

  to them that he had no intention of escaping. Whatever came

  of the proceedings, he was prepared to accept the

  consequences.

  Jidar stood before him on the beach, in roughly the same

  spot he'd occupied on the day of Caleb's joining.

  The Icarian leader wore a mask-like expression, and

  beside him, her head bowed in grief, Namara stood silently

  weeping.

  Arrayed behind the Icarians, the research station staff had

  assembled. They stood silently, eyes averted, as was the

  custom when Icarian justice was meted out.

  "Caleb Faulkner, you stand before me accused of killing Dr.

  Zara Abbott, an act to which you have confessed. Jidar's voice

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  rang like a granite bell, in heavy, inarguable tones. "I am told

  you have retracted your confession."

  "I have, my liege."

  "Why?"

  "I have no memory of killing Dr. Abbott. I know now that I

  did not intentionally harm her, but I am still responsible for

  her death and I am ready to accept my punishment."

  "You understand that you may forfeit your symbion and

  face charges under human law, which may treat you more

  leniently than I will?"

  "Yes, my liege. I understand. I chose to become Icarian. I

  pledged my loyalty to Icarian ways and laws and made them

  my own. I will not forsake my symbion even if it means a

  more lenient punishment."

  Raymond Danson spoke up now. "Jidar, please. You can't

  punish Caleb for Zara's murder. If she fell, it wasn't his fault."

  "Dr. Danson, I believe your people call it negligence. Dr.

  Faulkner took Dr. Abbott to a dangerous environment where

  she was not equipped to survive. While her death may have

  been accidental, and we will never know the truth of it, Dr.

  Faulkner is responsible in either case."

  "It's okay, Ray. Jidar is right."

  "Caleb—"

  "Silence, Dr. Danson. There is nothing more to say. For the

  crime of negligent murder, I must sentence Caleb Faulkner to

  one mating cycle of exile."

  The research staff murmured their disapproval, and the

  Icarian delegation, dozens of males and females from

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  surrounding islands, all knelt in submission to their leader's

  decree.

  The guards restraining Caleb let him go. Though still in

  their custody, he would be free to fly under his own power to

  a distant island. There, the longest feathers of his wings

  would be removed by force, a painful process that would

  leave him unable to fly for most of the ten-year term of his

  sentence while the damaged areas re-grew. He would be fed

  and provided with other amenities, but he would not be

  permitted to return to Icarian society until the beginning of

  the next mating cycle.

  Somewhere among the research team, a woman cried.

  Caleb ignored the sound of grief and set his gaze on the

  horizon. Ten years in exile might not be long enough for him

  to forget.

  In the brightening sky, a winged shape appeared then,

  likely on some pre-arranged command from Jidar. Caleb

  assumed this new arrival would be another one of his escorts.

  One by one, all heads turned in the direction of the

  approaching Icarian, and once again a curious murmur circled

  through the assembly.

  Arilani was the first to cry out. Her voice broke with what

  sounded like stunned surprise. "It's Zara!"

 
; Everyone scrambled now. Human and Icarian alike ran

  toward the breakers where the winged woman descended.

  Only Caleb remained in his spot, rooted in the soft sand, too

  shocked to believe what he saw. A golden-haired angel, her

  naked form perfect from head to toe, had landed among

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  them. She shook drops of ocean spray from her silvery blue

  wing tips and folded the regal appendages against her back.

  Before Zara could answer any of the breathless questions

  hurled at her, Arilani took flight, launching herself frantically

  into the air.

  "Stop her!" Zara gestured to the fleeing Icarian healer.

  "She tried to kill me."

  Caleb's guards wasted no time. As though Jidar himself

  had given the order, the two males jumped into the air.

  Stronger and faster than Arilani, they overtook her easily and

  within minutes had wrestled her back to the ground.

  She screamed and struggled against their grip for a

  moment, falling silent only when Jidar approached her.

  "Is this true, Arilani?"

  "Of course not! The human lies. She wanted Caleb for

  herself. She mated with him. I saw it happen. She did this to

  destroy the breeding program before it could even begin."

  Caleb still could not force himself to move. Instead, he

  stared in awe as the woman who held his heart marched

  across the beach to confront Arilani.

  "She poisoned me with some of the tranquilizer meant for

  Caleb's symbion, and she dropped me into the water."

  "How did you survive?" Namara's voice seemed small and

  distant. The leader's mate rushed up to put a soothing hand

  on Zara's shoulder, the Icarian equivalent of a hug.

  "I'm not sure. I fell between the rocks and I think the

  symbions nesting there helped me climb out onto an old alor

  net. I was dying ... and then they saved me."

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  She gestured to her magnificent, blue-gray wings. "This

  one sensed I needed help."

  "Are you in pain? How do you feel?" Danson's questions

  were drowned out by Arilani's screams.

  "She will not bear his child. She will not become Icarian.

  Take the symbion from her. She has no right to it!"

  Ignoring Arilani's outburst, Zara addressed Jidar. "I feel

  fine. There was no pain at all. Whatever happened to Caleb