Reading the Wind (Silver Ship)

by Brenda Cooper

  She smiled, pleased. I blew out an inner breath of relief. At least she wanted to come.

  “Will Mom and Dad let me go?” she asked.

  “Akashi and the Chiefs and Tom are making decisions. They said they’d do this. Besides, you’re almost grown-up. Look how well you took care of my wagon.”

  She ducked and looked away, then back. “It was nothing. I missed you, too. When we saw that damned machine bob its wings and fly away, I didn’t know what to think. Akashi told me he’d seen it before, that it belonged to you all, that you must be doing something important.” She looked up at me, her dark hair falling across one brown eye, the wide white streak of hair down the right side of her head shining in the sun. “I wished every day for you to come back safely.”

  She lifted her hands and I saw that she was nearly done making a beaded sash. She held it up for me to see. It was knotted thread spun from hebra wool and dyed in reds and greens from local plants. Every few inches, she’d worked a row of tiny wooden beads into the design. “I made the beads myself.”

  I cupped the soft belt in my hand, feeling the fine knots and admiring the intricate designs and tiny round wooden and stone beads. “It’s beautiful.”

  “I made it for you,” she said. “I put a wish for your safety into every knot.” Her eyes shone. “And now you’ve come back.” She glanced down at the belt. “I can finish it tonight. I heard…I heard we might be attacked.”

  She had been conceived during the last of the war, and born after it finished. I swallowed. “I think it’s worse for Fremont than the ship my parents came on.”

  She pursed her lips and glanced away and then back. “We’ll be okay,” she said. “I know we will.”

  “We’ll have to be.” I took the belt from her and held it in one hand, running my other hand along its surface. There must be hundreds of knots. Maybe thousands. Thousands of wishes. Maybe Sasha’s wishes had helped us the day we let the dogs onto the strangers and fled. Surely something had—we were all here, all safe. “This is the most beautiful work I’ve ever seen.”

  Sasha spoke quietly. “Just let it keep you safe.”

  “Thank you.” I handed her the belt and cupped her chin in my hand. “And I will make a wish for your safety every day.”

  She smiled. “Come on. Let’s go see Stripes.”

  I thought of Windy and swallowed hard. I would wish for Sasha’s and Stripes’s safety every day, too. For everyone’s.

  40

  ENGAGEMENT

  Morning sunlight danced brightly on the rocks outside the Cave of Power. Kayleen paced between me and Liam and the sunshine, blocking the light and freeing it, back and forth on the ledge just under the cave’s opening. She had arrived home late the night before, after a visit with Paloma and her new wandering band of science guild members. “Paloma figured out how to make a new salve that heals burns faster than her old one, and she found a new plant that she says has possibilities for headaches.” She eyed me and made an exaggerated face. “She says she should have been a roamer all along, and wants to know why you didn’t take her with you when you went to the band.”

  I laughed, but I couldn’t help searching her green eyes for any sign that she might not be all right. For the first few days after we’d come back, I’d sworn I often saw a crazy girl peering at me from under her long dark lashes. But as hours dragged into days, into weeks, the crazy girl inside my friend came out less often. She looked haunted this morning, but all three of us looked haunted. And we were: by lack of sleep, by our own demons, and by the questions in everyone else’s eyes. The Star Mercenaries had stayed put on Islandia without so much as a skimmer sortie our way. Three weeks of convincing people to stay away from their homes had worn us out, worn out Gianna, and Akashi, and Nava, and Hunter. They still believed, but for how long?

  And why the wait anyway? To drive us nuts? Did we damage them enough they had to pause and fix the Dawnforce? Or had Kayleen been wrong, and they really didn’t mean to kill us after all?

  Kayleen stared in the general direction of Islandia. “They’re coming. Soon. I feel it, like there’s a shaking in the air. Maybe this morning.” She took my hand and squeezed it. “Come with me. Let’s get out of this cave and head down the High Road. Not all the way, but down to View Bend.” She licked her lips. “Maybe we can see the skimmers in time to warn people.”

  Liam said, “We should bring food and water.”

  “I’ll get it.” I turned toward the makeshift communal kitchen.

  Sky and Sasha were setting up for the group breakfast: dried apples from our stores, dried djuri jerky, and a plethora of fresh berries gathered the day before from high up along the ridges. As Sky bent down to set the food out, her long dark braids periodically swept at the table like little brooms. She looked up as I came near. “What can I get you?”

  “Some of all of that, and water.” I looked from Sky to Sasha, making sure I had both of their attention. “Kayleen thinks they might come today.”

  Sky frowned at me. “That’s not the first time she’s said so.”

  I hoped they weren’t joining the community of skeptics. “Please stay alert. We need you all to worry even if some of the townies won’t.”

  “We will,” Sasha said. “You can count on us.”

  I loved her for her loyalty.

  Sky began to gather berries into a soft bed of leaves, and I chose three strips of jerky from the smallish pile on the table. Supplies were already dwindling. “How are you holding up?” I asked them.

  Sasha smiled at me. “Better than the townies. They’re whining to go home. Stile is on your side, and Hunter, and most of us roamers.”

  I put a hand on Sasha’s soft, dark head. “It’ll be okay. Hunter will keep them here. He promised us.”

  Sky finished wrapping up the berries and handed the compact package to me. “I don’t know. There’s more people grumbling about work than doing work.”

  I tucked the berries, jerky, and some water into my small traveling pack. “I know. You do more than your share of the chores.”

  Sky gave me a wan smile. “We’ve always helped protect the town. This is only a little worse.”

  “If nobody attacks us today, we’ll hunt tomorrow.”

  Sasha’s eyes flicked to the table. “That would be good. The townies will be unbearable if they get hungry.”

  “I know.” War preparation had turned out to be less about weapons than food. “I’ll find you two tonight, and we can plan some games for the kids, keep them busy and happy.”

  Keep the kids happy, and you kept the adults happy. Most of the families had been sent off with bands farther away, but we’d kept Eric the Shoemaker, since he was good at designing and making things, and he had two daughters. One of the doctors stayed with us too, Doctor Hij, and he and his wife had three kids.

  Sasha lifted a hand to my waist, where I wore the sash she’d knotted for me. “Stay safe,” she said.

  I ruffled her hair one more time, and she beamed up at me, her face alight. “I will,” I said. “You stay safe, too.”

  “I wish I could go with you.” Sky frowned at me, one hand on her hip. “I understand why the townies want to go home. I’m trapped inside this cave.”

  “I know,” I said. She deserved to go, but we couldn’t take original humans. Sky would never be able to keep up with us. “We’ll take you hunting tomorrow.”

  She narrowed her eyes at my answer, unsatisfied. “Will you be back before dark?”

  I nodded. “Sure we will. See you then.” It had been a good move to keep those two here—they were both very good with people, and in spite of their teasing, they cared about the townies. I turned one more time on my way out. “We’ll call if anything happens. Listen, okay?” Liam carried one of the rare earsets, and the camp had one, too.

  Sky jerked her head toward Sasha. “This one has listening duty right after breakfast. I’ll be sure she pays attention.”

  I laughed. One of the most important jobs, and o
ne of the most boring. Good thing Sasha was patient.

  Kayleen and Liam stood where I had left them, holding hands and gazing out in the general direction of the town. I wriggled in between, savoring the smell and feel of them. We were seldom alone together. Kayleen worked the nets everywhere, traveling, and Liam and I stuck in the cave and around the lake, hunting and studying weapons and data buttons.

  At least we would be together and alone today.

  After scrambling down the path from the cave, we fanned out along the High Road. Kayleen led us quickly down, her feet almost a blur. A light wind full of blooming redberry scent and dust cooled our sweaty faces.

  We threaded through the old rock fall and stopped at View Bend, the best overlook for Artistos. Here, the High Road curved out, its edge near a sharp drop down to the Lace Forest, and then Artistos below. Kayleen led us to the overgrown rocks between the road and the steep drop-off.

  Two hours had passed since we left the cave, and the sun now warmed our backs and cheeks. The night-closing flowers along the edge had opened like bells, and the summer’s growth of trip-vine waved ominously around our feet. We looked down on Artistos.

  A thin tendril of smoke curled up from one of the common kitchens. A handful of people moved slowly about the apple orchard, tending trees.

  The crippled, old, and crazy. Left behind to tend crops. The culture guild, monitored by a handful of townspeople and roamers who’d volunteered to stay. From this distance, it was impossible to tell who was who.

  Kayleen pursed her lips. “I don’t like people being down there.” Her voice dropped to a whisper and she turned to fix me and Liam in her gaze, her blue eyes wide. “They’re coming.”

  I glanced toward the ribbon of sea brightening the horizon beyond Artistos, beyond the Grass Plains. Sunlight glinted off a pair of skimmers. No, three skimmers.

  I squeezed her hand, whispering. “Now what? What can we possibly do?”

  She shook her head. She closed her eyes tightly, gone searching for them in the nets. “I can’t feel them.”

  Liam spoke low and forcefully into the earset. “Three enemy skimmers above the Grass Plains. A few moments from Artistos.”

  I took a deep breath to calm my stomach. The day was bright and blue and green, and a little gold. Everything below us sparkled with hope and peace—except for the sun on the three skimmers. Tears sprang to my eyes.

  The War Council had ordered us not to participate directly in any defense.

  The tiny figures in the apple orchard scattered, running for the metal shop and the storage buildings.

  Two skimmers slowed and looked ready to land. The third climbed. The cave! I grabbed Liam’s arm. He mouthed the word “no,” then spoke into the earset. “Ware the cave. One headed toward you. Go deep.”

  The Burning Void fit inside the Cave of Power. But the invaders’ skimmers were bigger. So if everyone went deep inside they might be okay. We’d drilled for it.

  One of us should have stayed behind.

  Hunter was there. He’d keep people safe.

  My blood raced and my heart pounded in my ears, and I stood trembling, waiting, adrenaline coursing through my body, demanding action.

  The higher skimmer circled, while the other two landed in the un-harvested hay fields out beyond the hebra barns. So it was protecting the other two. Maybe it wasn’t going all the way to the cave. I glanced at Liam, who shook his head. He whispered, as if the noisy faraway skimmers had ears. “Let them hide. They’ll be safer.”

  Figures climbed out of the big skimmers. Kayleen whispered, “Ten each. That’s twenty. Plus whatever’s in the other skimmer.”

  More than half their total force. They were serious. Except they hadn’t brought the Dawnforce. Surely, they couldn’t wipe out the town with three skimmers. Or could they?

  The third skimmer continued to circle. It didn’t land. At one point in its circle it came close to the High Road, still below us, but too close. Kayleen murmured, “Please don’t see us.”

  Someone came out from Artistos to meet the mercenaries, walking slowly, his hands open. He or she fell before they even got close.

  Kayleen gasped and my tears slipped free. But anger followed them—a hard, hot anger that demanded voice. I bit my tongue to keep from screaming both at what was happening and that I couldn’t stop it.

  The invaders moved through town in two groups. Two more people fell, silently, surely killed. I flinched each time. Once, three people rushed at the invaders. “Fools! Hide!” Liam hissed.

  But no one heard him.

  They died, too.

  Birds sang all around us. The sun shone on our arms and haloed Kayleen’s red hair and people below us died.

  I held my breath. Liam spoke quietly into the earset, relaying what he saw. “One group just went into the science guild. The second one is walking through Commons Park. They’re heading for the amphitheater.” The invaders crossed the street and went into the park.

  One of them fell.

  They all turned together. A body fell from the canopy, landing at the feet of the invaders. The mercenaries leaned down and helped their fallen comrade stand, and they all kept going, ignoring the body on the ground. Apparently the death hadn’t bought us anything.

  “Look,” Kayleen whispered sharply, pointing.

  I followed her finger, saw the invaders who had gone into the science guild. Every one carried something. Smoke curled up from the roof of the Guild Hall. I ground my teeth while tears stung my eyes again. So much knowledge there. Our main computers. Gianna’s best telescope. The special chair Steven had made for Joseph so many years ago.

  “The granary,” Liam said. A second fire, in our biggest food storage area, where the grains and gathered grass and dried corn were all stored. We’d taken much of it to the cave, spread it among the bands, but more than half remained.

  It burned well.

  A silo erupted, flames shooting into the air. From above like this, it looked like a giant candle.

  Liam kept narrating into the earset. “Both groups are heading back to their skimmer. The third one is still in the air. The north granary and the Guild Hall are burning. The Guild fire could spread.” The granaries all stood alone, but the Guild Halls stood in a row just across the street from the park. Liam grabbed my hand, holding it tightly, and I held Kayleen’s, my gaze glued to the scene in front of me. The two skimmers rose up and streaked toward Little Lace Lake.

  “Where are they going?”

  “I don’t know.” Liam watched the third skimmer, which stopped circling and followed the others.

  41

  THE BURNING GUILD

  We watched the skimmers veer into the hills where our people were scattered. I said a silent prayer for everyone’s safety, including special ones for Sasha, Akashi, and Mayah. And Stripes.

  Below us, smoke rose from Artistos, a scent of war carried up to us on thermals. “Can we go down there?” Kayleen asked. “Maybe we can help someone.”

  Damn our promises. I started down, and they followed, all three of us running. From time to time I looked up over my shoulder but the sky stayed clear.

  Halfway down, Liam grabbed my arm, stopping me hard. I turned, panting. He pointed to his earset. Kayleen, ahead of us, stopped and came back. Liam nodded, color bleeding from his face. His right hand started to shake, and Kayleen took it in hers. I put my hand on top of hers. Whatever it was, we were together.

  “Have you seen my dad?” Liam queried whoever was on the other end of the earset. He paused, then said, “Okay—we’ll go. I’ll report in”—he glanced down at Artistos—“in an hour. Can everyone report then? Thirteen hundred hours?” He nodded and his blue eyes flicked to meet our gaze. His free hand came up and covered ours. His voice shook. “They split up and went after three places. The cave, and two bands.”

  “Is everyone okay?” I asked.

  He blinked back tears and cleared his throat, his face a mask of controlled fury. “There’s no list of the dead y
et.”

  “Are Akashi and Mayah okay?”

  “Mom’s hurt. Not badly—it’s her wrist—and they haven’t seen Dad yet. But he was in-between bands, so they think he’s okay.” He swallowed and glanced up at the sky and back down at us. “I’m sure he’s okay.” At the bottom of our pile of hands, his fist clenched, a hard rock inside our clutching fingers, and his hand on top of mine squeezed hard. “There’s more.” He pulled his hands free and gathered us both into his arms. “Gianna. They killed Gianna. And a few at the cave, but no one there has reported out yet.”

  Not Gianna. We needed Gianna. She was our best scientist. My friend! Who else? “Sasha,” I said. “Sasha had radio duty.”

  “Apparently she’s not talking. Maybe she’s okay.” He glanced downward. “Look, we’re closest to Artistos and no one is reporting from there. I said we’d check and report back—see if we can help. The skimmers are gone.” He looked at Kayleen.

  She lowered her head and closed her tear-filled eyes. When she opened them again, they didn’t quite focus right. Her voice squeaked out. “They’re gone.” She ran her hands through her hair and shook her head, hard. “Let’s go.”

  But Sasha. And Gianna. And Liam would want to be with Mayah. I glanced down at Artistos, torn. In war, who the hell got to do what they wanted? When had I, ever, anyway? I took off down the hard-packed path to Artistos. The others’ footsteps pounded behind me.

  We passed Little Lace Park and plunged down the gentle slope to Artistos. Wind brought the brown-gray smoke of the Guild Hall and granary fires to us, like a stink of burning dinner spiced with things never meant to burn. It stung my eyes. At the edge of town, we stopped, looking frantically around. Where to go?

  “I’ll check the park,” I said, swallowing, breathing hard from the run, tasting the sharp, acrid smoke.

  Kayleen grabbed my hand.

  Liam barked, “We stay together.”