Sisterhood of Suns: Pallas Athena

by Martin Schiller

  “Vaalkomm,” the woman said taking Lilith’s hand. Despite her age, her grip was strong and firm. “You must be the Commander that Katy has told us so much about. A friend of my granddaughter’s is always welcome in our home.”

  “Thank you, Grötdaar,” Lilith replied, remembering the Zommerlaandar honorific for an elder.

  “Oh, call me Grammy,” the other woman said. “Everyone else does, although it’s nice to see someone with manners come a’visiting for a change. Zo, supper is on the way. Everyone go in and wash up.’

  “Ingrit, you show Katy and her friend to their rooms. They’ll want to freshen up before we eat. Gaane-an, afgaan. Zoop!”

  The troop of children ran back inside, laughing and giggling all the way while the adults followed behind them at a more decorous pace. It was obvious who ran the household, Lilith reflected.

  “Lilith,” Grammy said, offering an arm, “let me show you our home.” Lilith took hold and let the woman guide her. As they walked inside together, Ingrit motioned for Katrinn to wait.

  “Zo, sis,” she asked when they were finally out of earshot. “What’s the story with you two?”

  “No story,” Katrinn replied. “She’s my boss, that’s all.”

  Ingrit nodded with a calculating smile. “Gaanskaa gaad.”

  From the way that she was looking at Lilith, Katrinn had no doubts whatsoever about her sister’s intentions. On a planet of nothing but blonds, Ingrit's attraction to Lilith’s dark looks was perfectly understandable.

  “Yah,” Ingrit added speculatively, “she’s a pretty little thing, that boss of yours.”

  Katrinn smiled. It just might be what Lilith needs, she mused.

  ***

  After months in uniform, Lilith walked down to the kitchen feeling a little awkward in civilian clothes. But Grammy set her at ease immediately.

  “Ah, gaaf, verda baatar!” she declaired. “That’s got to be more comfortable than those old black button-oops you had on. Gaane-an, sit! We’ve a bit ‘afore everyone comes bursting in here for supper.”

  Lilith took a seat and Grammy handed her a bowl of vegetables and a small knife. “Peel those for me, won’t you Sötehaart? Taake.” As she started in on them, the old woman smiled. “So, you and Katrinn work together I hear, up on that big starship.”

  “Yes, Grammy.” Lilith answered. “She’s been with me now for the last three years. She’s a good officer.”

  “I know she doesn’t tell me much about what goes on up there,” Grammy said. “I ‘spose she doesn’t want to make me worry. Is it bad up there sometimes?”

  “No,” Lilith lied. “It’s mostly routine patrol, nothing special.”

  “It’s sweet of you to try and spare me,” Grammy said. “But I know better. People tell me things, and denn Maarkken tell me even more.”

  “The Maarkken?”

  “Yah, the Signs. Don’t you know what those are?” Grammy’s eyebrows rose in amazement. “Don’t they have the Signs back on your world?”

  “No, ma’am, I don’t think they do,” Lilith replied.

  “The Signs tell us things,” Grammy explained. “Like when you had those three ships pop out all of a sudden on you. Had a raven friend of mine let me know my Katy was in big trouble. I had to do some fast work there, I’ll tell you. Those fellows would’ve shot you up for sure otherwise.”

  “Ma’am?” Lilith asked incredulously. To the best of her knowledge, Katrinn hadn’t said a word about the Persephone raid to anyone outside the Navy. And a raven telling her things? Fast work? What on earth did Grammy mean? she wondered.

  Grammy didn’t elaborate. “A shame, not knowing about denn Maarkken,” she sighed instead. “Can’t figure how anyone could get by without them.”

  The door flew open and Katrinn’s nieces rushed in, interrupting any further conversation. “Is it supper yet?” Clara shouted.

  “Not ‘till you get your hands washed, its not,” Grammy admonished. “Get upstairs and wash all that dirt off. Mihn Gudinn what a pack of vaaldkaytin you are!” Ingrit and Katrinn filed in behind them.

  “You two!” Grammy ordered, “You have empty hands! Help me here with these potatoes!”

  Lilith shook her head and went back to her work, completely mystified by what Grammy had said about the Signs and the Persephone raid. She recalled that Katrinn had mentioned from time to time that her Grandmother was something special on Zommerlaand, a holy woman of some sort, but she’d never paid much attention to it.

  Now, she was starting to wonder. How had Grammy known about the second Hriss battle group? Was she some kind of psi? The answer, for the moment at least, eluded her.

  Supper made its appearance a few minutes later; a generous table full of food that looked so fresh and appetizing, that it put the Athena’s cooks, as good as they were, completely to shame.

  “It’s a good thing that Sa’Vika isn’t here to see this,” Lilith remarked to Katrinn as they took their seats. The SAO would have collapsed from the inferiority complex the repast would have caused her. Katrinn smiled in agreement, and passed a dish of greens her way.

  Lilith piled her plate high like everyone else, and she was just about to bring the first appetizing forkful to her mouth, when little Clara spoke up.

  “Aren’t you going to give the Klaana Aamskaand some?” the girl asked. Lilith realized that she’d missed something important.

  She put down her fork. “The who?”

  Clara looked at her like she was addled, and shrugged with exasperation. “The Little Cousins, the Little People. You know, denn Aalfen. The Alfs, silly. They want some supper, too.”

  Then Lilith noticed that all the women and girls around her, including her Second, had pushed a tiny portion of their meal off to one side of their plates. She’d seen Katrinn do it many times on the Athena, but she’d always just assumed that her Second was a picky eater. It suddenly became clear that this was actually a custom that all Zommerlaandars observed with great seriousness.

  “Now, Clara,” Ingrit reprimanded, “she doesn’t know our ways, so don’t be rude. Why don’t you show her how it’s done then?”

  “Well,” the little girl said, assuming an air of great authority. “You take some of the best parts and you put them on the side, so that the little people can fly down and get them. They usually like cream and cheese, and sometimes meat, and they always like something sweet.” She looked at something in the air that Lilith couldn’t see and added, “Don’t you?”

  Satisfied with whatever had just transpired, she looked back at Lilith. “Also make sure not to lay your fork down in what you give them. They don’t like metal things.”

  Lilith glanced over at Ingrit, and Katrinn, and realized that they had been listening closely to little Clara, and nodding their approval as she had gone through the details of the ritual.

  “May I ask you a question, Clara?” she inquired.

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Why do we give the… little cousins… part of our meal?”

  “So, that they’ll help us and give us good luck. Besides, some of them are my friends,” Clara smiled.

  “Well,” Lilith replied, “I don’t want to offend your friends. And I like good luck, too.” With that, she took a small portion of everything she had and put it on the edge of her plate. “How do I know they’re eating it?’ she asked.

  “Because you’ll see them!” Clara returned, amazed at Lilith’s denseness. “They’ll fly down and take a little bit. See? There goes one now!”

  Lilith wasn’t certain, but something, an insect possibly, had flown by just then, but when she looked directly at her plate, she saw nothing out of the ordinary. Clara smiled enigmatically, and began eating her supper along with everyone else. Different planets, different ways, Lilith reminded herself.

  She started in on her supper, and it proved to be just as delicious as it had looked.

  “You like the fish?” Ingrit asked as she helped herself to a second portion. “We raise them here.
Caught them this morning for supper.”

  “Yes, I do. It’s quite good,” Lilith answered with a touch of shyness. To her shame, she realized that she was having a hard time meeting the other woman’s eyes. Ingrit seemed to be able to bring out the schoolgirl in her. “What kind of fish is it?” she finally managed to ask.

  “A survival from the days when Zommerlaand was first terraformed,” Katrinn answered. “They were some of the first fish the settlers brought here. We call them catfish.”

  “Catfish?” Lilith asked. That seemed like a very strange name to give a fish.

  “Yah,” Ingrit said. “I’ll take you by to meet them tomorrow. We’re quite proud of them this year. They’re nice and big.”

  “That would be nice,” Lilith managed to stammer.

  Gretta, who’d been sitting quietly with the other children, interrupted them. “Aunt Katy? Have you seen any aliens?”

  “A few,” Katrinn replied.

  “Really?” Fryya asked, her eyes going wide as saucers. “Were they ugly? Were you scared?”

  “No,” Katrinn said. “I wasn’t scared.”

  “Tell us about it,” Clara asked, “Please? What were they like? Did you fight any battles with them?”

  “I can see someone who has been watching too many holos,” Katrinn’s sister Marina observed. She and her pairmate, Hanna, who sat next to her, had been introduced to Lilith as the children’s mothers.

  “Now, all of you, you let her be about that,” Hanna said reproachfully, “I imagine she’d like to put that aside for a bit.”

  “But,Modaar!” Gretta pleaded. The topic was simply too exciting for her to let it go.

  “It’s all right, Hanna,” Katrinn replied. “I don’t mind talking about some of it. We’ll sit after dinner and I’ll tell you all a few stories. But first, I’ve a few gifts I want to give out. Zo, finish your supper!”

  That did the trick; the children dug into their portions with a will. The promise of gifts from off world and stories was simply too much to resist.

  After supper everyone went into the big gathering room and Katrinn brought out her luggage. Grammy and her sisters were pleased with their gifts, but it was the Biobots that made the biggest impression on everyone. In short order, the children soon had the toys telling them story after story, and completely forgot about Aunt Katy’s promise to talk about space. Lilith knew that that had been Katrinn’s plan all along. They were far too young yet to hear about the harsh realities of life outside of Zommerlaand and the Inner-Systems.

  ***

  The following morning, Ingrit invited them to go horseback riding. Lilith had seen horses in realies, and even ridden them there, but encountering the real thing was even more magnificent than any simulation could manage. Her own mount was a green and purple mare, with big intelligent eyes. The moment that it saw her, the horse lowered her head and nickered. Lilith gave the animal a tentative stroke, amazed at how soft its coat was.

  “Jenny likes you,” Ingrit said. “That’s good. Let me help you up.” She came over, and grabbed her by the waist, lifting her so she could reach the saddle. A delicious tingle went down Lilith’s spine at this brief contact. Then the moment was over, and she felt herself blushing again.

  Ingrit smiled knowingly and mounted her own horse, and then the trio left the stables and rode down to a large pond near the barn.

  “That’s were supper came from,” Ingrit told her as they reached the pool. Lilith saw nothing where the woman had pointed but muddy water.

  Ingrit rode over to the water’s edge. “Heyas, Roont, been a while since you seen them. Wanna call Grandmother and her kinfolk up to say heyas?”

  “Sure,” Katrinn agreed, reaching into her saddlebag. She brought out a small pouch, took a handful of something and threw it out over the water. The pond exploded as huge black forms rose to the surface, and began feeding.

  Lilith watched this activity with mild horror. It was hard for her to believe that such ugly looking creatures had tasted as good as they had.

  Smiling broadly, Ingrit turned around to face her. “Beautiful aren’t they? They got nice and fat this summer.”

  “They’re something all right,” Lilith agreed. ”Do you swim in there too?”

  “Sometimes,” Ingrit informed her. “They don’t bite that much and we keep the little ones out of the water, just in case they get too hungry.”

  “Ingrit!” Katrinn said in a scandalized tone, “You stop that! Lilith, don’t listen to her. She’s just having you on. They might look awful, but they aren’t dangerous at all. Now, let’s ride on before she gets going with another lie.”

  Ingrit laughed, and the three of them rode out into the fields towards the woods.

  For Ingrit and Katrinn, the woods were something they took for granted, filled with things that they had both grown up with. For Lilith, it was another matter altogether. Her own motherworld, Ara, had been a barren place with few life forms and only patches of lichen here and there to lend color to the otherwise lifeless grey-black rock.

  Every time she visited a greenworld, the incredible variety and beauty of the life in such places always enthralled her. Traveling under the welcoming arms of the trees, Lilith drank in the delicious sights and sounds around her.

  A harsh, croaking call interrupted her reverie. She looked up and spotted a huge black bird that seemed to be looking right back down at her with an appraising gleam in its eyes.

  “That’s Old Meg. She’s a friend of Grammy’s,” Ingrit said. “She’s been around near as long as anyone can remember. And it looks like she’s got her eye on you.”

  That must be the raven that Grammy mentioned, Lilith thought. As if to confirm this, the bird cried out again.

  “Grammy told me about the Signs last night,” she said, “but she didn’t tell me what they were.”

  “That’s Grammy all right,” Ingrit replied with another smile, “She can never go too long without talking about denn Trowaarei, the Magic, and then its all shadows and cobwebs from there on out. It’s really very simple; the Signs are the things around you that tell you things. The way a wind blows at a certain time, the way the moons faces are, and--”

  The raven cawed again, even louder. If Lilith hadn’t known any better, she would have thought that the bird was becoming impatient with Ingrit.

  “I’m gettin’ to that part!” Ingrit yelled up to the creature. “And the way some animals act. If you’re watching for the little things, they’ll tell you what’s going to happen, or what you have to do to set things in your life a’right.”

  “That’s kind of what Grammy said,” Lilith said. “She even claimed that Old Meg actually talks to her.”

  “That she does,” Ingrit replied. “Sometimes Old Meg talks to me too, but not like she does to Grammy. The Old-timers who settled Zommerlaand way back used to say that the ravens were messengers of the Gods, and I guess that’s so.”

  Old Meg ruffled her feathers and made a loud clicking noise, as if to scold Ingrit for not getting to the point faster than she had. Then the bird flew off towards the farmhouse.

  “Zo,” Ingrit shrugged, “let’s ride on. There’s a nice lake I want you to see before we head back.”

  Lilith followed Ingrit’s lead as they made their way up through the forest towards the lake. At one point in the track, the normally conversational Zommerlaandar suddenly quieted and took off her hat. Then she stopped her horse and made a sign over herself. Katrinn, Lilith saw, did the same.

  At first, she assumed that they were making some kind of warding gestures, but as she drew up next to them, she realized that they were actually salutations of respect.

  “We are entering the High Place, the grove of my Family,” Katrinn stated solemnly. Her Second inclined her jaw towards the clearing ahead of them and then spurred her horse forwards.

  Trailing behind her, Lilith realized that the trees in the grove were quite different than the rest of the forest that surrounded it. They were a mixed lot; some o
ak, some pine, some ash, a few that she recognized as rowan and willow, and still others that she could not identify, all clustered together in a greater variety than would have been natural for such a setting.

  Their ages also differed widely. Some were clearly ancient and their limbs towered over them as they came into the grove. Others had obviously only taken root in recent years and barely reached the horns of their saddles. No matter their size or age, however, the trunk of each tree had been carved with Zommerlaandar characters, and wore ornaments tied into their branches.

  These were made from knotted cordage, or fabric which was either bright and colorful, or faded with the years and the weather. But some were simple strips of wood, suspended with string and intricately carved with geometric designs. All of the carvings were painted, and they varied in shade from bright red to dark-almost-black depending upon their age.

  A gentle wind passed through the tree limbs as they reached the center of the clearing. It stirred the decorations and created a sound that almost resembled the melody of wind chimes, only far more subtle and delicate.

  “That’s the ancestors talking,” Ingrit said in a hushed voice. “You can hear them speaking and laughing with the wind. Grammy says that if you listen long enough, their words can even become clear enough to understand.”

  “What do you mean, ‘the ancestors’?” Lilith asked.

  “Ancestors. You know, family,” Ingrit replied with an expansive gesture. “They’re all around us here, from the oldest ones that came from Old Gaia, to the newest of us. Even the Mehnz, the males from before the Plague are here, with the women that knew them as helpmates.”

  “You mean that each tree represents one of you, is that it? They’re symbols of each person in your family?” Lilith had heard of similar customs on Old Gaia, Nemesis and on Larra’s Lament, and she presumed that this was also the case on Zommerlaand.

  Ingrit shook her head “No, not symbols, they are us. Each one of them is a part of us.”

  “I don’t follow,” Lilith admitted.