Silent Dances

by A. C. Crispin

  head and sneezing . Tesa ' s bedraggled , mud-spattered opponent was being set upon by two avians, the female that had helped Weaver and- -

  she squinted- - Flies-Too-Fast! They attacked fiercely , their dark legs leaping, kicking , slashing.

  Cradling the chick- inc re dibly uninjured, if muddy an d terrifiedTesa scu tt led out of re ach. Glancing around, fearfully,

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  for Taller, she saw that he was blood-spattered but seemingly tireless as he

  fought Kills-the - Ripper - and which was his blood and which his

  opponent's, she couldn't tell.

  Suddenly another shadow hovered, and Tesa leaped to her feet, only to

  curse in pain . Two black and white diamond - shaped flying sleds hung over her . Meg's and Thorn's anxious faces peered over the sides . No,

  thought Tesa, frantically, Taller's got to settle this without our help or he'll

  never hold his leadership.

  The bedraggled, stubby-billed female broke at the sight of the alien

  contraptions and fled , Flies-Too- Fast giving chase. The remaining

  female approached Tesa slowly.

  "I'm Shimme ri ng ," she signed , "Taller 's daughter . Are you all ri ght ?

  Is the chick ..."

  Tesa showed the female the muddy, protesting baby huddled in her hand.

  The sight of the sleds was too much for Sailor and Tesa could feel the

  vibrations in her palm from his panic-stri cken c ri es . She looked at Taller.

  He must ' ve heard his son's call over everything else, Tesa realized,

  because his crown suddenly flared anew, and recklessly he rushed his

  adversary.

  Almost immediately, Ripper ' s crown became dull and shrank. Then

  Taller felled him with a powerful kick. As the avi an collapsed , Taller hamme re d his enemy's skull with his bill, pounding the life out of him .

  Finally , when Kills-the-Ripper floated dead at Taller ' s feet , his limp feathers waving on the current, the blood-streaked leader stood tall, threw

  back his head , and trumpeted his victo ry. The water around his legs

  was st re aked with re d.

  Suddenly Weaver was at Taller's side, matching his call. Shimmeri ng

  answered them with her own , an d then FliesTooFast landed near and

  joined the chorus. Tesa was buffeted by sound waves so powerful they

  rippled the water. That victory call would be carried through the marsh from

  territory to territory. To kill the one who'd killed the Ripper-there'd be no

  challenges to Taller' s leadership now.

  Wearily, Tesa waded to the platform and plopped down, tucking the

  terrified , shive ri ng chick safely under her damp costume , against her warm skin . Thorn and Meg hove re d their sleds low, pee ri ng wor ri edly at her.

  Then Thorn moved to step off into the marsh, igno ri ng Meg's stern head

  shake . As soon as his feet hit the water, Taller was the re, blocking Tesa, staring wild-eyed at the hum an male.

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  SILENT DANCES 139 Weaver put herself between them . " There have

  been enough

  challenges," she told her mate in calm, measured signs. Thorn stared at

  Taller thin - lipped , his face drawn and nearly as red as Taller ' s crown .

  Slowly the male Grus lowered his stature . Moving his head closer to

  Thorn ' s face , he gazed at him unblinking . Thorn retu rn ed the stare levelly , never moving. As though that solved eve ry thing , Taller signed a greeting of fishing and f ri endship . The human retu rn ed it cautiously.

  Meg parked her sled a few feet above the water and approached Tesa. " Are

  you all ri ght ?" she signed brusquely. "What in the world happened ?

  Thorn was watching the shelter , t ry ing to see the chick , and the next thing I knew, he was grabbing sleds and signing like crazy ." Meg

  produced a medi-scanner and tu rn ed it on , forcing her to stop

  signing.

  "Tell me what happened," Thorn signed to Tesa as he joined Meg. Tesa had seen his expression before - on her father whenever she'd ignored

  her own safety and done something ri sky. You can ' t earn eagle feathers by covering your ass, she thought.

  "It was an attempted coup," she signed . " But ... we won." Meg and Thorn shared a look , then glanced at the floating bodies. They were probably

  ready to send her back to StarB ri dge . No, not StarB ri dge . Go past StarB ri dge , do not pass Go, do not collect 200 credits , go straight to Ea rt h . Just because she was a little banged up.

  Actually, Tesa had to admit that she looked ter ri ble. She was plaste re d with mud , blood , and broken feathers , and her leg and shoulder bled sluggishly . Her once-beautiful Grus costume had a ragged hole , which alone made her want to c ry . The rest is just a flesh wound , she thought inanely . That cliche, from one of Dr . Rob's tacky, racist weste rn s , seemed crazily approp ri ate.

  "'An attempted coup,'" Thorn repeated . " How many of those can we expect now that you ' re pa rt of the royal family?" Before Tesa could respond, Meg began to itemize her injuries. "Tesa , this is se ri ous .

  Your leg is punctured, and infection is setting in. Your shoulder ' s not

  much better, and there ' s joint involvement there . Your nose and

  cheek have hairline fractures and there ' s swelling building up around

  your eyes. You've got two cracked ribs, and we ' ll have to do a body

  scan to make sure your kidneys aren ' t compromised." She stopped ,

  as though to compose herself , her blue eyes glistening.

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  "We saw the beating you took, Tesa. We thought you would be killed."

  Ti re dly, Taller peered at Ripper ' s dead body , feeling an emp ty re vulsion . Later, others would car ry the bodies away an d leave them somewhe re whe re no others had ever been left. Kills-the-Ripper would be ostracized in death , even as his mate an d the others that had sided with him would depart in shame an d travel the world in solitude , never again lifting their voices to the suns . He pitied them, an d himself , for being unable to p re vent this wasteful tragedy.

  "Say something to Flies- Too-Fast ," Weaver signed, "and to our daughter . They ri sked themselves an d their status." Had Taller been killed , it would have been his allies that

  flew the skies alone. It was always safer to h an g back an d declare loyalty to the victor.

  His daughter was the last of his children still in this flock. Her mate had

  been dead a year, yet she ' d found no other to re place him. If she

  didn't soon , he knew , she never would. Today, Flies - Too-Fast ' s re ckless courage made him seem older th an his years . Taller nar ro wed his eyes as he watched the two. Weaver could make the arr an

  gements . She was an excellent matchmaker , an d who would deny her after today?

  Yes, he decided , it would be a good pai ri ng . He would let them stay he re and feed Sailor . The p re sence of the chick was bound to stir up

  their rom an tic feelings . He felt be tt er. Something good would come of this , after all.

  Then he looked for Good Eyes an d felt uneasy all over again. Relaxed an

  d First - One-The re we re hove ri ng over her with things not - of-the -

  World . The hum an s still felt re sponsible for Good Eyes , but they had to realize that that was no longer true. Especially Relaxed . Why had he given the hum an that name?

  Taller and Weaver moved to stan d on either side of Good Eyes. "What

  kind of customs do your people have," Taller asked, "that you worry over

  survivors instead of calling to the gods your gladness that she saved

  herself and our child?"

  The two humans glan ced at each other.

  "Forgive us," First- One finally signed , " but our f ri end's taken a ter ri ble beating . We're wor r
i ed about her."

  Taller supposed it was one of their un-Worldly things that had told them

  about her inju ri es since poor Good Eyes was so muddy it was hard to

  see what had happened to her.

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  Suddenly Sailor popped his head out th ro ugh the laced-up

  shirt, plainly sta rt ling Meg and Thorn . Almost as a reflex, Tesa

  snagged a shimme ri ng off her arm and pulled it apa rt . The chick

  gobbled the soft pa rt s greedily . Taller felt a g ri m amusement as his human pa rt ner stolidly grabbed another insect, c re atures she had

  seemed loathe to injure barely an hour ago.

  Timidly, Flies-Too - Fast stepped forw ar d , head lowe re d, offe ri ng a silver - blue fingerling fish to the chick . Taller indicated his approval , and Sailor grabbed the fish. The ye ar ling glanced nervously at the two

  Grus adults, maintaining his deferential posture . Shimme ri ng also

  seemed unsure whether to stay, but the chick was too much for her to

  resist . She peered cu ri ously around Flies - Too-Fast , and then they suddenly shared eye contact . Embarrassed , the two slowly backed

  away to leave, but Weaver indicated they could feed the chick . After all

  their years together , Taller and Weaver rarely had to speak to sh ar e the same plan . The two young avians began se ar ching the ar ea, st ri ding the water side by side.

  Taller looked at his son, exposed to war and death and aliens at the tender

  age of five days. Well, it was what the shimme ri ngs had promised ,

  wasn't it?

  "Taller," First - One asked solicitously, "are your wounds se ri ous?"

  The bloodied avian eyed her for a moment. " My people will suppo rt me

  now in what I wish to do . Are the wounds se ri ous? Dissension among

  the people is always se ri ous." He tu rn ed to his human pa rt ner with a piercing st ar e . " But it will all make for a glorious dance , won't it , Good Eyes?"

  "But, Taller," First-One signed , " you' re bleeding so much."

  Suddenly she looked old to Taller, really old . She had changed since

  Puff had died , and he realized that she was too old to make a new pa rt

  nership, that she would fo re ver be alone. He felt an incredible sadness

  for his human friend. "Weaver will help me ," he signed , to comfo rt her .

  " The wounds are minor."

  "Taller," Relaxed interjected , " we've got to take Good Eyes with us to our sky shelter."

  Good Eyes let out a sound, which start led Taller and Weaver so much ,

  Taller had no chance to react to Relaxed ' s outrageous statement . The human male was igno ri ng Good Eyes' ang ry exp re ssion and p ro testing signs . First - One was chewing her lip,

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  seeming torn between agreeing with Relaxed and fearing the intrusion

  into the avian family.

  Taller wondered, not for the first time, what made humans think they could

  speak for someone they weren't partnered with?

  "I know you have your own special medicines there," Taller signed slowly,

  "however. .. "

  "I'm all right," Good Eyes protested. "I just need a few days rest. It's really just a..."

  "You're not all right!" First-One-There argued. "You need treatment!"

  "Can't you bring your medicines here?" Taller asked. "She needs to be examined with special equipment that can't be moved," Relaxed

  explained.

  Taller held Relaxed's gaze with his own. For the second time today, the

  human didn't flinch or look downward. He was telling the truth , at least

  about the medical care , but there was something else behind his eyes,

  something Taller didn't understand . " Take her then , if you must ," the leader signed.

  Good Eyes seemed stunned, and the other humans gave each other a

  look that Taller didn't find the least comforting. "Return her to us by nightfall,"

  Taller added. "No later." Their expressions did not change. Once they had

  her aboard their shelter they could find excuses to keep her there.

  "They have no intention of le tt ing me re turn ," Good Eyes signed to Taller, angrily. "They're afraid, because of Puff."

  "What kind of people would we be if we weren't afraid for you?" First-One

  signed, her temper flaring. "You don't have the sense to be afraid for

  yourself. I swear, you're just like him. Rushing in where fools fear to tread..."

  She wound down suddenly and hung her arms limply.

  Relaxed turned to Taller. "We can't promise she'll be back by nightfall. We

  don't know how badly she's been hurt." Weaver stepped between the

  arguing sides . " F ri ends!

  There's been enough combat for one day. If Good Eyes can't go to the sky

  shelter and re tu rn the same day, she must stay here . This infant has seen enough to scar the soul of an adult, and now you ' ll take away his

  pa re nt ? He'll think she died."

  Taller turn ed to First - One-There . " You' re ri ght , she is like Puff , and like Water Dancer , too. They were like two eggs from the same pa re

  nts . They we re fearless and rash , and far

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  seeing . They had great hea rt. And they were willing to sacrifice

  themselves for the good of others."

  He addressed them all. " Don't you think the White Wind people will tell

  the sto ry of this day so that all the people of the World will know it ?

  Dances will spread from one marsh to the other , telling about Good

  Eyes , a land - bound being not-of-the - World who became bound to us with her blood and pain. Isn't that why she came here , to become one

  of us, so your people and ours could be allies? This is an impo rt ant

  memo ry for Sailor , for all of us. Good Eyes is a pa rt of this family, forever ." He turned the full force of his gaze on the humans who

  wanted to take his pa rt ner away, who might be reluctant to b ri ng her back.

  "Return her to us by nightfall, healed," he told them, "or I will fly to the sky shelter to get her myself."

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  CHAPTER 13

  The Stories

  "If you weren ' t so beat up , I'd be really pissed at you," Thorn signed as he checked the re adings on the null - grav couch that would protect Tesa from the worst of the shu tt le's thrust.

  "You are pissed at me," she signed. The numbing cold from the ice wraps coveri ng her wounds only compounded her discomfo rt .

  "Do you have any idea what I was going through 'watching you get the shit kicked out of you down the re ?" the biologist asked , then gently molded an ice wrap around her face.

  "Not half what I was going through gett ing it done!" She yanked it away , smacking his hand. "Am I going to have to console you because I got

  hu rt? And I am not your helpless lover, so just stop acting like a nursemaid ." She slapped the ice wrap back on her face too hard , and saw spangles.

  He lifted the wrap, to be sure she could see his signs. "You're not my

  lover," he reminded her, bitterly. "You're the partner of a feathered alien."

  Her hands moved tire dly , " You can ' t build a relationship on jealousy , Thorn ."

  "Relationship!" he signed . " What re lationship ? I've let you 144

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  know how I feel , but you tell me nothing . I'm not even su re if we' re friends!" He sat on the couch, turning away from her.

  With an effort, she sat up and touched his shoulder. He gazed at her

  solemnly. "Of course we're friends," she signed. "If I've been cool to you, Thorn ... it's not that I don't care about you ... but I ' m not su re how much I wan t to ca re ."

  She stopped then, hesitant to say more. What was the point in worrying

  about her feel
ings toward someone when she'd be re tu rn ing to Earth in a

  year? How soon befo re she'd re sent him, resent that he'd be able to stay and work on Trinity? She thought of Mahree Burroughs and Rob Gable--

  thought of how much longer their separations were than their times together.

  Could any relationship be worth that?

  Without answering, he touched her face gently and kissed her mouth-one of

  her few unswollen places. Her eyes closed as she accepted the kiss. There

  was no pressure in it, no demands-just a ple asan t , c aring touch , with a hint of passion behind it. When Thorn pulled back, Tesa surprised herself

  by following him, sliding an arm around his neck an d kissing him back.

  They separated and Tesa sank back down, exhausted-and more confused

  than before. She couldn't help but smile. "Will you try to deal with my

  situation with the Grus any better?"

  He smiled weakly, looking chagrined. "I'll work on it. But Meg was worried,

  too, you know."

  "Meg has an excuse. She's already had one friend die."

  "And now I know we are, at least, friends." He laughed good-naturedly.

  "Okay. But I won't be your biggest problem aboard the Crane. Just wait till Bruce sees you." He strode toward the front of the ship to his copilot' s seat.

  Tesa groaned inwardly, anticipating that reception.

  When they'd docked with the Singing Crane, Meg watched Thorn pull off his

  sound nullifiers . "How're you doing?" she asked.

  He shrugged. "Trying to decide if I want to kiss her or kill her. Incredibly

  relieved that she's here, out of danger."

  Not good, Meg thought. Thorn could see his own place at Trinity, but he still

  didn't understand how critical Tesa's role was. Having gotten over the shock

  of the battle, Meg knew Tesa had done what she'd had to.

  "Bring that couch through here," Dr. Li's crisp, business

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  like voice came through the open airlock. The small woman marched into

  the ship and leaned over Tesa's prostrate form. "We got your

  transmissions , Meg. Looks like you ' ve done eve ry thing for her that's in the protocol. Let's get her to the infirma ry ."

  Meg sighed. Would Szu-yi ever address Tesa personally? Thorn had

  moved over to the couch and was translating what the doctor had said ,