by Chogan Swan
Though his emotions were distant, Kest could hear the conviction in her tone.
Tiana went on. “I suspect that the military coup is only a pretext for distancing themselves from the EMP rather than a true revolt of the military from their manipulation. The truth is, perhaps, in the middle... somewhere. Telling Aylie about this will endanger her chance of recovery from a path that could draw her into madness. When you think of this, the idea will be to your emotions only a fantasy, though you will know it to be true. You must watch, immune to fear, and do everything possible to prevent her from knowing it. Lying will be fully justified. If you find yourself dying, it will be better to leave her in ignorance than to warn her. I will not tell you the lengths to which you should go, I leave that up to you, your honor and your love for her.”
Tiana paused, looking into his eyes. Kest thought her eyes pleaded with him as he felt himself swimming up from the fog.
Tiana got up and brought him a glass of liquid. “Drink,” she said.
Kest took the glass and drank it to the bottom.
Nii milk.
His mind seemed to snap back into focus, but when he thought about the danger in her warning, it only stirred interest, not panic. The thought of hiding the truth from Ayleana did not seem amusing, but it held less emotional weight than concealing the true intent of a chess move.
“Kest, here is my measure of trust for you revealed, since, now, you will always know how to find that place of stillness to hide the truth from any nii or niiaH, even myself. You should never let anyone know you can do this. That could be fatal.”
Tiana stood and helped Kest to his feet. “We need to leave this room so the ozone effects on your scent will be neutralized before we get back. We will go a roundabout way so the ozone masking can dissipate.” Tiana paused and hugged him. Then put her arm around him and steadied him as they walked to the door. After a few steps in the hall, Kest felt normal again, but didn’t tell her to let go. Tiana took him outside where the sunshine and salty breeze rubbed against his body like a cat.
“When we get back,” she said, “I will tell the three of you where you are going and what you’ll be doing. The task is important and needed, and Aylie will be excited about it in a way that will be a healthy distraction. I’ve written instructions on how to avoid situations that will trigger her desire for sex with you, inspect it so you can review it later. I know your eidetic function has multiplied, but it’s still stronger for visual stimuli than hearing things, isn’t it?”
Kest nodded and scanned the paper, memorizing it. “Seriously?” he said. “Number three on the list? That is some weird stuff.”
Tiana laughed. “That's almost exactly what Jonah said.”
~~~{}~~~
Kest opened the door and walked into the room. Amber was teaching Ayleana to waltz. At least that might have been what she’d been doing a few minutes ago, now they were fighting over who would lead.
“You need to know the variations that exist already before you improvise,” Amber insisted. “The waltz isn’t about improvising as much as it is about doing it right.”
“Doing it right is too easy, and not nearly as much fun.”
Amber huffed and looked at Kest, throwing up her arms in disgust.
“Don’t look to me for support on this one,” Kest said. “I agree with her.”
“See, Kest will let me lead... Well, no, probably not for a while,” Ayleana said with a slow breath out through her nose.
“Yeah. That’s number fifteen on the no-no list,” Kest said.
“Excuse me,” Tiana said. “You have to stop anyway to get packed. You three have a new mission.”
“What?” Amber and Ayleana said together, though Ayleana was asking for details and Amber expressing outrage.
“Wait a minute,” Amber said. “Is she cleared for duty?”
“Not an issue.” Tiana waved her hand. “It isn’t a combat mission. It will be healthy for her to do something interesting and even exciting if it doesn’t require aggression or....”
“You can say it,” Kest reminded her, “Saying it isn’t on the list.”
“I know. Sometimes I still find myself stuck in 19th century speech habits. At any rate, I need Aylie for her knowledge of nii ships and their workings, because Edward has found the Valishnu.”
“Holy grail,” Amber said.
“Yeah,” Ayleana breathed.
“A parasite removing implement?” Kest said after scanning the Nii to English dictionary in his head. “What’s all the excitement about for that?”
Chapter 51 — Kaitlin
The diesel engine Land Rover Tiana had been watching since it turned onto Calle 13, pulled into the temporary parking spots across the street from the hotel. A red-haired, young woman—still a girl really—stepped out of the driver’s door. A tall, black girl with dreadlocks unfolded herself from the back seat. Then a young Native American man—a few years older than the girls—stepped out of the shotgun seat. The driver clapped a battered cowboy hat on her head, slung a gun belt around her hips with practiced speed and straightened the western shirt almost hiding her cutoff jeans. Then, she strode toward the hotel entrance, placing her boots one in front of the other as though she was accustomed to walking narrow paths.
The other two formed up on her shoulders. Both of them wore cargo shorts and t-shirts and moved with the grace of martial artists. Tiana recognized them as Kest’s friends and members of his roda.
From where she stood on her second-floor balcony, Tiana caught a flash of the red-haired girl’s green eyes as she scanned the hotel windows. When the girl caught sight of Tiana, she halted, meeting Tiana’s gaze.
At that moment, one of the hotel’s security staff at the front door noticed her gun. “¡Alto! Senorita, usted no puede tener una pistola aquí,” he called.
The two following the girl stopped where they were.
“He says you can’t go in packing heat, Kaitlin,” said the young man—his street name was Razor—Tiana recalled.
“I know what he said,” Kaitlin said. “Would you mind telling him I’m a member of the Ambassador’s security staff?”
“Like he’s gonna believe me?” snorted Razor.
“I wasn’t talking to you,” Kaitlin said.
Razor looked at the tall black girl beside him and shrugged.
“Umm, Kaitlin,” said the girl. “I don’t even speak Spanish.”
Tiana couldn’t help laughing. “Perdon, Senor,” she called to the guard. “No te preocupes. Ella es un miembro de mi personal de seguridad.”
The guard looked up and saw her. “Gracias, Embajadora Tiana.” The guard turned to Kaitlin. “Pueden pasar.”
Tiana turned from the balcony moving through her suite to the door. She wanted to meet them before bringing them upstairs. She swept her cape over her shoulders before leaving the room.
When Tiana reached the lobby, the trio waited for her, standing near the corner Tiana would have picked for most-easy-to-defend.
“Good morning, Kaitlin, Razor and Calypso,” she said. “Have you eaten breakfast yet? No? Then come, there is a very nice buffet here. Let it be my treat. You’ve come so far to see me, after all.”
She led them through the lobby and to the dining room, claiming a round table with good views of all the entrances. “I’ll hold the table down. Please go ahead and fill your plates. I’ll have them bring water glasses. The juice bar is quite good, I’m told.”
The three of them filled their plates high and returned to the table.
“Thank you for the food, ma'am,” Kaitlin said as she sat.
“Yes, thank you,” agreed Calypso.
Razor sat, looked up at her and smiled, though the look was a little wary. “Kest told me you were good people, so you are alright by me. I appreciate the food, but I’d appreciate knowin’ where he is a bit more.”
Tiana nodded and leaned forward. “I can’t vouch for the security of anything said here. Please, enjoy your meal and relax for
a few moments, and I’ll address those matters when we go to my rooms. Those are secure.”
Razor nodded reluctantly and bent to the task though Tiana noted he didn’t relax. Kaitlin ate with solid concentration on scanning the room and chewing.
Tiana turned to Kaitlin. “That’s a pretty big cannon for someone your size. I’m surprised you didn’t switch to something else. Daniels said he’d offered you a selection of more modern weapons.”
Kaitlin’s lips went up in a grim smile. “When someone throws you a life preserver, you grab it and use it,” she said. “You don’t criticize it and wait for better. Now I’m used to it, and it drives away casual annoyances without me lifting a finger. Besides that, Daniels tell me that I can deploy it successfully without undue time lag. I hold that to be a comfort.”
Razor snorted.
Calypso’s grin lit up their corner of the room.
Tiana smiled; from Daniels, that was high praise.
“And,” Kaitlin continued. “Amber and Ayleana threw me this particular life preserver and I owe them both. Not only that, something inside tells me I should be catching up to them. Guess I’m turning into a mystic.”
“It’s a valid way of choosing a path,” Tiana said. “At times the subconscious can direct us to places we never would have understood before and we only see the reasons later.”
Kaitlin nodded. “And sometimes the subconscious is a bitch,” she said and took another bite of eggs benedict.
Kaitlin pushed away from the table. She was the last one finished. It wasn’t that she was a slow eater, but she chewed her food thoroughly like someone who knows how to get the most calories out of a bite. Tiana guessed she’d been on her own for quite a while.
“Excuse me while I use the restroom,” she said as she stood and walked to the hall.
Tiana watched her go, reading her walk. Confident and calm, it sent a warning—not a mark—was what Tiana heard her saying.
Tiana turned to Calypso. “She’s unusually strong-minded, isn’t she?”
Calypso smiled her noonday sun smile again. “If legends be true,” she said.
“She’s the reason you’re here now, isn’t she?”
“Kest is important to me too, but I like her. I’ve learned things from her and she’s only sixteen.”
“What kind of things?”
Calypso hesitated. “What it means to be a warrior,” she said.
“By word or deed?”
“Both.”
Razor barked a short laugh. “I wish she’d teach me how to shoot like she does.”
Tiana smiled. “She’s on her way back. We can meet her on the way.” Tiana stood and adjusted her cape. She led them to the hall, noticing in the window’s reflection that Razor and Calypso were both fascinated by her tail. Ayleana had managed to keep hers a secret then...
When Tiana opened the door to her rooms and let them in, she stopped in the foyer. “I will answer some of your questions before we go further into the room. It is safe to talk here without being overheard. After I answer what questions I can. I will ask questions to see if I can tell you more. Razor, you wanted to know where Kest is, but I can’t reveal that without risking his life and Ayleana’s too. What I can do is send two of you with two others who will be meeting them if you wish to go. I’m sorry it can only be two.”
Razor nodded. “I like that you are being careful, and I understand that I don’t need to know, but can you tell me anything? I know there’s no way I could talk either of these two out of giving up their spot. And, since Kest led me to the quilombo we’d been searching for, I can’t leave it when it needs defending.”
Tiana considered. “I can tell you we are all in danger and being hunted. Our enemies don’t know where they are, and I want it to stay that way.”
Razor nodded. “I suppose, if you two are stepping past the point of no return, I should bring your gear up from the Rover and take off. Shall I say goodbye now, or when I come back up?”
“I can send someone down to get the luggage,” Tiana said. “Better do it now. And, Razor, if you are interested in defending your new home, I’ll talk to Daniels about putting that to work. Would you like that?”
“I’m open to hearing more.” Razor said. “Bye, you two. Safe travels.”
“Come here, you,” said Calypso, holding out her arms, she grabbed Razor and squeezed him, shaking him back and forth.
“Geeze, Caly,” said Razor, patting her on the back awkwardly.
“What? I can put you in a leg-lock till you tap out, if that makes you more comfortable.”
“Aw, goodbye, Caly. I’ll miss you, ya know,” Razor’s voice choked a little. “Come back safe.”
“You take care too,” Calypso said, letting him loose from the bear hug.
Kaitlin stepped forward, hand outstretched. “It was good riding with you, Razor. Keep your head down, and I hope we’ll see you later. Tell Daniels I said goodbye, please. And tell Drew not to do anything stupid if he can manage it.” Her lip twitched up on one side.
“Heh, right.” He shook Kaitlin’s hand then saluted Tiana.
“I messaged the front desk,” Tiana said. “Someone will meet you in the lobby. And one of my security staff will check your vehicle for explosives it may have acquired during lunch.”
Razor’s eyes widened. “Cool, thanks.”
Kaitlin handed him the keys to the Rover, and he tossed them in the air and caught them behind his back before walking out the door.
Tiana waited until she had the girls’ full attention. “This is your last chance to back out,” she said. “Going forward will require a long, grueling journey. I can’t guarantee you will be safe.”
“I never thought for a second that it wouldn’t be dangerous,” Kaitlin said.
Calypso nodded.
“Then come, meet your traveling companions,” Tiana said, opening the door to the adjoining room. “Kaitlin, Calypso, allow me to introduce you to my branch sister, HumanaH and ShwydH her companion.”
“Pleased to meet you,” Kaitlin said, her eyes narrowed as she regarded the two new aliens. “May I ask how many of y’all are there on Earth? Not that I’m objecting, everyone I’ve met so far has been square with me, and that’s more than I can say for humanity.”
“Sorry, that’s a secret,” Tiana said and grinned. “We don’t even tell each other.”
“Do either of you have experience with motorcycles?” said ShwydH.
Kaitlin shook her head. “I hear it’s like riding a bicycle, though, and I’m pretty good on a mountain bike.
“Just a moped... and bicycles,” Calypso said.
“On the job training then,” Tiana said. “You leave tomorrow for Brazil. I’ll get Austin and Jacksie to give you lessons this afternoon.” She grinned. “I think you’ll like those two.”
* Epilogue
The stars seemed to roll back and forth in slow motion as the Tick Scraper danced through the long waves of the deep ocean. Kest and Amber had pulled cushions on deck while they kept Ayleana company as she stood lookout in the prow, scanning the sea for navigation hazards. Kest suspected, she was mostly enjoying looking for sea life.
They’d been at sea thirty days now, and soon they’d need to stop at a port to pick up supplies.
“Aylie,” Amber called. “Are you concerned that you haven’t had a download from the memory crystal in all this time?”
“No, I’ve just been glad I didn’t have to deal with that while I learn these mental disciplines Tiana prescribed for me. Look!” she pointed as a shower of meteorites streamed across the sky.
Kest snuggled closer to Amber.
Ayleana laughed and sang the first words of the Pledge Song of the Dymba.
Kest and Amber joined in the best they could to form a four-part harmony.
The night is dark, the way is long...
~~~{The End for now}~~~
Hi! Chogan Swan here.
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