Marne's face darkened and he huffed. He glared at Sheleigh, then turned on his heel and stalked down the hall towards his office.
"He's gotten worse since I've been gone," Sheleigh mused.
"He took your marriage badly," Sarnia soothed.
Dr. Barazi moved aside and Rahwen came forward. He was horribly rumpled today and his hair stood up all over. "Dr. O'Brien, maybe we'll get more work done now that you're back."
Sheleigh laughed and pressed his arm. His eyes already darted looks toward his office. "I'm glad to be back, Dr. Suresh, and eager to get to work."
Rahwen nodded and with only that acknowledgement he moved across the hall into his office.
Sheleigh, Sarnia and Amin walked down the hall towards Sheleigh's office. On the way they met their assistant Deveria.
The young woman sized up Sheleigh curiously. "Welcome back, Dr. O'Brien. Does this mean we'll be seeing your dishy husband like we used to?"
There was an odd note in Deveria's voice that Sheleigh couldn't identify. She shook off the oddness and answered the question. "No, Kleet won't be visiting here for awhile. He's very busy in the council."
The girl lidded her eyes. "That's too bad. I liked looking at him." Deveria brushed past them.
Sarnia turned into her office, leaving Dr. Barazi to go with Sheleigh to her office. Sheleigh moved into the room, touching her shelves and her desk.
"We tried to put everything back where you had it, but some things might be misplaced. Harrier said he thought he packed everything from his office. I'm sure if something was missed he can send it over." Dr. Barazi tugged at his collar and looked around. "Sheleigh, what's going on?"
She turned to look at him. The color in his face was heightened. "What do you mean?"
"I thought you had to be near your husband, yet here you are."
"I'm human. The mate-bond has already released me from Kleet's presence." She rounded her desk and forced a smile. "I'm glad to be back here with the group."
His brow furrowed. "Your husband is well?"
"He went back to work weeks ago." Sheleigh controlled the fluttering of her hands.
"Sheleigh ..."
"Dr. Barazi, please, let it lie. We've got a lot of work to do."
He stared at her and she could almost see the wheels turning in his mind. The fact that they were colleagues instead of friends and of different genders stopped him more than her words did. He nodded, turned and left her office.
Sheleigh pulled out her chair and sank into it. She dropped her head in her hands. Damn the radicals and their hatred. Damn the winged and their intolerance. Would there be anything left when the violence was done?
* * * *
Kelfer came into Kleet's office and closed the door. "We found the radical who killed Councilman Circae's daughter. He's dead. Killed himself in remorse with a laser to the head. He left a note." Kelfer held out a personal com unit. Kleet threw down his stylus and took the com. He scrolled through the message:
"I didn't know the child was there.
I can never atone for her loss,
except with my life. We don't
make war on innocents, but on those
who subjugate the non-winged."
Kleet handed the com unit back to his father. "Inflammatory rhetoric with his last breath. Who was he?"
"A nobody. No family. He lived in the sandstone apartments on the west side of the city."
Kleet nodded. The poorer element lived in the sandstone cliffs. Sandstone was cheaper to excavate, so complex owners had less invested and could rent apartments cheaper. Sometimes a couple just starting their life together would rent a sandstone apartment, but they would move to a limestone as soon as they bettered their circumstances.
"How'd we find him?" Kleet asked.
Kelfer snorted. "Anonymous tip, untraceable. We're searching for his associates. Blast him for taking the easy way out. If he wanted to atone, he should have allowed a trial and execution."
"Have you told the councilman yet?"
"I'm going to the medical center now. The funeral pyre is tomorrow, by the way."
Kleet nodded. "I'll be there"
Kelfer hesitated. "I don't think you should bring Sheleigh. It might upset her. I don't know how humans treat their dead."
"We never discussed it." Or much else that was human. "I won't tell her about the ceremony."
His father's gaze was intent. "Do you talk to Sheleigh at all?"
Kleet looked away. His left fist clenched. "No."
"You were so happy with her. I've never seen you so animated as you were with her."
"It was a mistake to take a mate."
"There's nothing you can do about it now. You'll have to work things out with her."
"I'm going to break the bond," Kleet said quietly.
He heard his father's indrawn breath. "It can't be done."
"She's human. It can be done."
"Why would you do such a thing?" Kelfer demanded. "Sheleigh didn't hurt you, radicals did. Why would you punish her?"
"It's not to punish her--it's to free her. I'm crippled. I have nothing to offer her."
"You're the heir. You have everything to offer her. You're her mate, the father of her children."
"Not for long." Kleet took a deep breath. "I think you should choose another heir."
"No!" Kelfer thundered. He slammed his fist on Kleet's desk, rattling the items on the top. His eyes were infernos, as Kleet had never seen them directed at him before. "You're my son, my first born. I chose you to be the heir, not your brother or sister. I could have chosen any of my children, as is my right as Avatier. But you showed the most promise to be a good leader. You were the most like me. You're a good man, Kleet."
"Father, I'm non-winged." Kleet felt like he was once again a little boy seeking his father's help. Only this was a man-sized hurt, an adult problem.
Kelfer came around the desk and placed his hand on Kleet's shoulder. Dark eyes looked into pale ones. Kleet knew all the desolation and pain he felt were there for his father to see.
"You're not non-winged." It was the rumbling voice that had guided Kleet for thirty-five years. "You have the wings you were born with, although you can't fly now. The reconstructionists know of your need, and even now they're looking for the answer. I believe you'll fly again some day."
"But the technology and knowledge we have now we got from aliens a long time ago. We haven't changed that much since then."
"We have great Averan minds, too, Kleet. Not everything we have came from aliens. Some things our own scientists invented. What you need will be a new and great invention of an Averan mind. But it may take awhile. You have to be patient and not despair."
"I never really thought about flying before. I didn't even fly that often. Now it's all I think about. I hate being crippled." His last words dripped with bitterness.
Kelfer drew Kleet against his chest. Kleet's arm wrapped around his father's waist. "I love you, son. Nothing's ever going to change that."
Kleet swallowed the lump in his throat. "I love you too, Father."
Chapter Seventeen
Kleet sat at his desk poring over the reports of the search for the radicals when his com unit spit to life. His father's voice on the other end was terse. "The Brucyron forest is burning!"
All other thoughts fled from Kleet's brain. "It's not the storm season. Is the cause natural or radical?"
"It's not natural. Gods, the hardwoods are burning. Those trees are priceless. Will you go supervise, Kleet?"
"Yes, I'll leave immediately. Did you send out the alarm? How many guard units can we spare?"
"I sent the alarm before I called you. The water tankers should be filling right now. Every person who knows how to fight a fire should arrive at Brucyron in the next few hours. Take every guard unit except one. Kleet, be careful. Keep a guard with you at all times. I don't want a radical getting to you in all that chaos."
"I will, Father. I'll send you reports from Brucy
ron."
Kleet strapped on his wrist com and laser pistol, and grabbed his computer. On the way out of his office he gathered Captain Steller and his squad.
There were running boot heels in the corridor and a man yelled at his back, "My Lord Kleet! Is it true the hardwoods are burning?"
Kleet turned to see one of the younger councilmen looking wild. "Yes. Can you spare workers from your district?"
"Yes, my lord. Anything you need. The hardwoods!" The young man turned and fled in the other direction where Kleet knew his office was located.
Kleet was accosted four more times on his way to the roof by council members confirming the rumor and offering support. Two of his age mates rode up in the hydrolift with him. They spent the ride calling for their transports on their wrist coms.
As Kleet turned toward the landing area where his large transport was just setting down, one councilman grasped his arm. "Kleet, be careful. The radicals are growing bolder."
Kleet grasped his friend's arm. "I will. Thanks for your concern and your help."
His friend nodded and ran off to his transport. He gathered people to him as he ran.
Kleet turned and hurried to his transport. There were half a dozen guards already on board. He and his squad climbed in. Kleet sat beside Captain Steller to plan strategy during the twenty-minute flight.
Kleet called up the topography maps of the hardwood forest on his computer. The location of the fire showed as an angry red blot on the map.
"It's in an easily accessible area." Steller scanned the notes. "Luckily the radicals had to get in and out quickly, so we can get in just as fast."
Kleet's wrist com bleeped, but he couldn't hear the speaker because of the distance. He unhooked the com from his wrist and handed it to Steller. "Have the co-pilot patch the message through the transport's communications."
Steller tapped on the co-pilot's shoulder and relayed the message and the wrist com. When he turned back Kleet pointed to a number of spots on the map. "It's going to be tight for so many transports to unload personnel and equipment on the flats. We'll have to use the flats on the terraces above and below the terrace where the fire is."
"At least they have flats. At the price of hardwood I heard they wanted to plant trees on all the flats."
"Greedy," Kleet scorned. He looked at Steller. "Where'd you hear that, by the way?"
"My mate's brother knows somebody who works there."
Kleet snorted. "There are no secrets anywhere." He sobered. "I wonder how much of the Avatier's movements are known by the radicals simply because one friend told another something."
Steller stiffened in his seat. "The guards are loyal. Captain Clanga is highly respected as head of the Avatier's guards. We would never betray the Avatier or you, my lord."
"I didn't think you would, not intentionally. But if you know what's going on inside Brucyron, don't you think someone in Brucyron knows what's going on in the Avatier's office?"
Steller looked thoughtful. "I see what you mean. I'll talk with Captain Clanga about security awareness."
"My lord," the co-pilot interrupted, "Brucyron reports the first water drop is complete."
The knot in Kleet's chest relaxed a little. "Good. They should get at least one more drop in before we land."
As they neared Brucyron, the pilot drew his attention forward. The sky was black over Brucyron. "It's a big fire," Steller remarked. "We're going to lose a lot of trees."
"Not if I can prevent it," Kleet averred.
Kleet's transport was allowed to land on the flat level with the burning trees. He and the guards exited the transport quickly and it practically jumped into the air again. In moments another transport landed to disgorge personnel prepared to fight the fire.
A stocky man wearing Brucyron insignia ran to Kleet. His face was sooty on the left side and his left shirt sleeve was burned jaggedly. "My lord, it's a disaster! My hardwoods!"
"Give me your name and what you know," Kleet demanded.
The man swallowed, took several deep breaths and ran a sooty hand through his brown hair, leaving disorder behind. "I'm Cooley, my lord. Caretaker for the hardwoods. My family has raised the hardwoods for Councilman Berrara for ten generations. Nothing like this has ever happened before. What aquila mancer would destroy trees?" He wrung his hands and wailed, "The hardwoods take generations to grow!"
"How many personnel are responding to your call for aid? Give me numbers, Cooley."
Cooley scrubbed his face, leaving finger tracks in the soot. "Twenty from Vrook Vineyard, fifty from Kennard mine, seventy from various council members."
"You're getting six guard units from the Avatier."
Cooley bowed his head. "Thank you, my lord."
"Tell me what you've done so far and what you plan to do." As Cooley pulled Kleet towards the command station, the thunder of a huge water tanker roared overhead, blocking out the sun. It moved beyond their sight to dump its precious cargo.
* * * *
Three days later Kleet sat gingerly on a transport co-pilot seat. He nodded his head to the pilot. "This is Kleet. Go ahead Avatier."
His father's voice was like the balm the medic had smeared on the burn across the back of Kleet's hand. "What's the status there now?"
"The fire's under control. Sector six is still burning, but the next two water drops will douse most of it. Personnel on the ground will put out what's left."
"How much burned, Kleet?"
Kleet sighed. "Sixteen pictars."
He heard his father's indrawn breath. "So much."
"The wind blew hard from the south yesterday and fanned the flames. It took a lot longer to get the fire under control than we thought."
"You sound tired, son."
Kleet clamped down on a yawn. "I am. It's been hard work. Yesterday I thought we were going to lose more pictars than we did. We had the luck of the gods with us, though." He ran a hand through his soot-filled hair.
"Avatier, we've got to find these radicals. Brucyron lost millions in revenue that they'll be generations recouping. This isn't just a loss to councilman Berrara, it's a loss to Avera itself."
"I know. The council, what there is of it right now, and I have been working hard on a plan to catch those responsible. They'll be made to pay for their crimes."
"I hope so. We can't afford many more losses like this." Kleet did yawn then and scrubbed his face.
"When will you be finished there?" the Avatier asked.
"I should stay until the last fire is out. Maybe tomorrow?"
"We'll see you then. Sheleigh's been asking about you."
Kleet's gut clenched. He hadn't thought of Sheleigh in days and his conscience hadn't bothered him a bit. What a state they were in: mated only a few months and already their relationship had deteriorated. It was what he'd hope for in order to set her free to find a whole man.
He answered his father. "Tell her I'm fine and I'll be home tomorrow."
"Don't you want to call her yourself?"
"No. I don't want to encourage her. Nothing's changed."
"I'd hoped being at Brucyron would make you change your mind about things."
"I'm no different than I was before I left, you know that."
"But you sound different," his father disagreed. "You sound tired but more alive than you have since you were hurt."
Kleet was astonished to tell his father, "I feel more alive."
"Then I was right to send you."
"Father ..."
"We'll talk about it when you get home. Will you call Sheleigh?"
Kleet heard his name shouted from the command center. "No. Father, they're calling for me. I'll see you tomorrow."
"All right."
"Kleet out." Kleet stepped down from the transport and stretched his sore muscles as Cooley approached him. It would be another day of hard work by the look on Cooley's face.
* * * *
Kleet exited the hydrolift onto the floor where his bedroom was located. He just wanted
to lie down on something soft after a hot shower. The door to Sheleigh's room was open and she called to him as he passed by.
"Kleet!"
He stopped, stiffening as though preparing for a blow.
"Kleet." Her musical voice grated against nerves raw from three days of waging war against fire. She rounded to stand in front of him. She wore a silky cream-colored two piece and looked good enough to eat. Her warm body could comfort a weary warrior. He stiffened again. Sheleigh was not for him to sate his lusts. She was mate material, nothing less.
"Your father said you'd be home tomorrow," she said.
"One of the councilmen took over for me. The fire's almost out."
"You didn't call me while you were away."
"I was busy saving valuable raw material."
"Kleet." She lifted a hand to him.
"Don't, Shel."
"It's been so long. When are you going to talk to me again? Spend time with me? When are you going to be my mate again?"
He gritted his teeth. "I'm not. That's over."
She flinched and her green eyes opened wide. "How can you say that? We just got married."
"Yes, that human word describes our situation exactly. You said humans dissolve marriage legally when they want to be free. It's time for you to be free, Sheleigh. Free of me. I release you."
"No. That's not what I want at all."
"It's what I want. It's for the best. I won't hold you here any longer."
Her face set mutinously. "I won't leave you."
"Stay until the babies are born if you want. I'll raise them and you can go wherever you like."
"You don't know anything about what I want. You can't see beyond being crippled."
He snapped. "Yes, I'm crippled. I can't be a man to you any more. I can't fly and I can't do anything else with you. I sever you from me."
"Kleet, no!"
"I'm tired. I'm going to bed." He walked away from her even though her pleading was palpable. He could direct hundreds of people to put out a fire, but he couldn't be the other half of the woman behind him.
He turned into his room and closed the door, then leaned against it. She was the best thing that had ever happened to him and he had to let her go. He'd loved her before he was crippled, and because he had, he couldn't keep her. He couldn't tie her to him, not as he was now. No, she should go away. Then he could begin to forget during his long, lonely life alone.
Mating Flight Page 15