Silent Dances (27 page)

Tesa slid her han
ds into the th
re
e black
"
fingers" at the end of each
arm
as
Weaver fi
tt
ed them to her, making them smaller. The wom
an
stood like
an
obedient d
re
ssmaker's dummy,
an
d soon w
as
wearing a
white
,
thigh
-
length, feathered garment that laced up the front
an
d had
a cowl to cover her head
.
With black p
an
ts, the shirt made her, in colo
ri
ng at le
as
t, a Grus.

While Weaver was
busy knotting up the other sleeve seam, Tesa

examined the workm
an
ship
,
but
as
she finge
re
d the mate
ri
al
,
she
received a shock when she
re
cognized the t
an
ned skin that had once

belonged to Taller
'
s son
.
The garment was pieced together
,
like a
quilt
,
from weavings
an
d Water D
an
cer's skin
.
Under other circumst
an
ces
,
it would have been a perfect d
an
cer
'
s costume.

Taller,
watching f
ro
m the doorway
,
must've seen the ch
an
ge in her
exp
re
ssion and realized she was upset. "We couldn't use it for mou
rn
ing
,"
he signed
, "
because it won't decay. Then
,
Weaver saw your
blanket
an
d decided that by wea
ri
ng it, you might help D
an
cer
'
s spi
ri
t reach the suns."

Weaver had stopped working an
d looked at Tesa with concern.

"I'll wear this with re
spect for Dancer's honor," Tesa signed
, "an
d in the
hope his spi
ri
t will lend me his hea
rt
." The two Grus bobbed their
heads
an
d said nothing more. Tesa r
an
her h
an
ds over the shirt
an
d
thought about Water

Dan
cer
...
and his death
.
Where was his
nagi,
his soul, now? The chick was oblivious to the adults'
discussion
an
d continued beseeching them

through body gestures to be allowed outside
.
His comical insistence

on doing something he was plainly f
ri
ghtened to do broke the somber

mood.

As Weaver finished the last seam of Tesa'
s costume
,
Taller

134

slipped outside, pretending to take little notice of his son's alarm. Weaver

went next, bending down for a moment to purr some confidence to the little

one. When Tesa followed them the chick could do nothing but scramble

along behind or be left alone.

The shimmerings had multiplied fantastically after the rains and the shadow

shapes of animals slipped in and out of the reeds. Flocks of jewel-colored

birds swooped around.

The chick watched his parents walking away and finally jutted his wings out

and jogged after them down the embankment, running right into the back of

Tesa's legs. Picking himself up, he shook himself and marched resolutely

between his two mothers. But when they stepped into the water, he stood

hesitant.

Tesa waded out without stilts
until
she was thigh deep while the Grus adults

stayed near, probing for delicacies underwater. Within seconds, the chick

launched himself after them and was paddling around their legs.

"I had no idea he'd be able to swim so well," Tesa signed. "We're born to water," Taller told her. "It's not something we
learn,
we just know. But chicks can drown, or large fish and hardshells can pull them under to eat them."

Tesa's eyes widened, and she stared at the water until her eyes burned.

"Do human children swim?" Weaver asked.

"Yes, but we have to be taught." Tesa had been a water baby, something the

therapists thought would help her coordination. She'd never feared water--an

advantage during her training for the Ashu, hours that now weren't going to

be wasted after all.

Soon the two Grus moved away, hunting. The youngster followed them, then

sailed back to Tesa, swimming around her, making her laugh. He
could
see

her better now that she wore the costume.

"He sails along the water like the shuttle
sails
the air," she signed to the Grus, casually. They gave each other a significant look and Tesa thought,

horrified,
I think I just named him
Shuttlecraft!

Taller made a sign.
Sailor,
Tesa thought, pleased.
I can live with that.

She uprooted a grass plant to feed him the soft pith. "Hello, Sailor," she

signed, but he was distracted by a shimmering

135

SILENT DANCES 135 that landed on his back
.
Spinning in the water

like a puppy after his tail, he struggled to catch an insect almost a qua
rt

er his size
.
Tesa watched
,
smiling
.
She had given him his name, and
he could see her as clearly as Taller or Weaver
.
How could things on

Trinity get any be
tt
er?

As Taller and Weaver ran
ged fa
rt
her away
,
she fed the chick water

plants
an
d halfhea
rt
edly t
ri
ed to catch him a fingerling fish. Sailor
was watching her a
tt
empts with childish fascination when he was dis
tr

acted by something behind her
.
Befo
re
Tesa could pull her attention

from the fish that had just slipped through her fingers, Sailor
'
s eyes

widened in panic
,
his beak opened
,
and he reared back in the water
,
flaring his little wings. Ter
ri
fied
,
he spun and paddled furiously toward
Weaver, who was back at the platform. Tesa felt a burst of vibrations

from the female
'
s call that sent shivers down her back. This felt

different from the other calls, it felt f
ri
ghtening.

Oh, shit,
she thought
.
What
'
s behind me
?
Slowly
,
fea
ri
ng what she
might see, Tesa tu
rn
ed her head.

Kills-the-
Ripper was bearing down on her
,
wings spread, yellow eyes

filled with murder
.
How could you let this happen?
she chastised herself.

Then her brain sc
re
amed,
MOVE!

The avian'
s lethal black bill came down like a
knife
as Tesa dived into

deeper water
,
kicking off hard
.
She was too slow and the rapier point
punctu
re
d her calf
,
but she kept on kicking in spite of the fie
ry
pain
,
striking out for clear water
,
drawing Ripper away from the nest shelter,

away
fr
om Sailor, using speed she'd developed when
tr
aining to live

with the Ashu.

The water churn
ed violently as the Ripper l
an
ded almost on top of her
.

She jackknifed
ri
ght
,
knowing she couldn
'
t get far enough fast
enough to save herself
.
Then another pair of thin, black legs splashed

beside her
,
blocking her attacker
.
Gasping for air
,
blinking, Tesa s
tr
ained to see what was happening.

Taller had come down in front of his enemy and the two avians were

battling
.
There we
re
no social p
re
liminaries, no d
an
celike moves
.

They
'
d thrashed to the shallows for their deadly kick
-
fighting
.
As if
their bills weren
'
t weapon enough, their small,
innocuous-looking
claws
were sharp as quicksilver scalpels, inflicting deadly, bloody wounds.

Ripper'
s after the leadership
,
Tesa realized
.
He'll have to kill us all.

Suddenly the male combatants dre
w apa
rt.
Taller was bleeding, dark red

blood streaming down his white neck and

136

spat
teri
ng one wing
.
They circled
,
looking for an opening. Then, to
Tesa
'
s amazement
,
Taller beg
an
to p
re
en his back.

He's stalling,
Tesa thought.

"You've destroyed our way of life!" Ripper'
s signs we
re
devoid of
re
spect
.
One of Ta
ll
er
'
s eyes was f
as
tened on the challenger
,
even
while he adjusted plumes
. "
You a
ll
ow this monster
"--
Ripper pointed
to Tesa--"to pollute your child
as
their alien bodies pollute the World. I
will kill you!" But instead of attacking Taller
,
the challenger flew at
Tesa.

Before
she could
re
act
,
Taller took to the air
.
At the same time
,
th
re
e
other Grus
,
a male
an
d two females
,
exploded from the
re
eds
,
winging down on Weaver
.
Weaver stood her ground on the platform
,

shielding Sailor with her body.

Save our son,
Taller had said.

Tesa dived underwater,
heading for the platform, trusting Taller to stop

Kills-the
-
Ripper
.
She struck shallows and stagge
re
d to her feet yards
from the platform
,
whe
re
Weaver struggled to keep herself between

her enemies
an
d her chick. Tesa gulped air
an
d wonde
re
d what to do,
when
,
th
ro
ugh the fo
re
st of legs, Sailor spied his alien pa
re
nt. As
Tesa sta
re
d
,
hor
ri
fied, the tiny chick dodged through the gauntlet of
limbs
an
d hit the water, swimming
.
The two attacking females pivoted
an
d came after him.

Weaver used the distraction to go after the male with a fury
. As Sailor

swam straight to her
,
Tesa spl
as
hed toward him, then snatched him,

one
-
h
an
ded, out of the water
.
Then she tu
rn
ed
an
d r
an
. F
ri
ghtened
,
Sailor flailed, scratching her hands with his small, sharp

claws
.
Tesa raced through ankle
-
deep water,
re
fusing to think about
the pain shooting up her leg with eve
ry
stride. If she could only reach

the reeds
,
she and Sailor might be able to hide.

How futile it was
to t
ry
to outrun someone who could
fly.
Tesa'
s lungs
were sc
re
aming when one female l
an
ded easily befo
re
her
.
The hum
an
spun
,
but the other
,
a much sho
rt
er avi
an
with a stumpy bill
,
was
behind her, neck stretched to attack.

Tesa dodged to one side,
then feinted to the other
,
all the while cradling

the chick against her
.
For a moment she was able to evade the females

'
outst
re
tched wings
an
d slide past them
,
only to be quickly blocked
again
.
She m
an
aged to shield Sailor f
ro
m one of the attackers, only
to feel a stab of searing

137

SILENT DANCES 137 pain knife through her shoulder from the other's

bill. Tesa sagged to her knees in the mud.

The taller female aimed for Sailor,
still g
ri
pped tight in Tesa
'
s hands.

Dimly, Tesa was aware of Weaver winging her way to them
,
her own

opponent floating dead in the water, but another
,
new female was

behind her. Desperately Tesa t
ri
ed to get to her feet
,
but skidded in
the slick mud and fell
.
Curling her body around the chick
,
she fought
to keep both their heads above water
.
A powerful kick struck her

kidneys. She inhaled mud.

Gagging,
Tesa saw a stubby
-
bill bearing down on her. She couldn
'
t

endure another stab, so she rolled
,
taking it in the side
.
She was