Silent Dances (36 page)

ruined the delicate political ballet of that First Contact, Terrans were

forbidden, by Earth, to bring weapons onto new planets. They could only

protect themselves with sonar repelling devices and other defensive

equipment.

Peter glanced around the river. "The reason I wanted to talk to you here was

that I thought Black Feather might be back. He moves around so much, I

wanted to try talking to him, see if he's seen anything
unusual in
his

travels."

"I'll check tomorrow," Thorn said. "He should be back within the next few days." Sailor would probably take off by
then
, Thorn realized. Meg felt Tesa should go home for her surgery soon after the young avian left. If Peter was

right, Thorn wanted her back on Earth. Then he could stop worrying about

her.

Sailor saw Death behind them and gave an alarm call, but he still had a

child's voice, which wouldn't carry. He was terrified-more terrified even than

that time Good Eyes had lifted his small body to save him. Only predators

lifted you up-and never to save you.

He was heavy with food, but even if he'd been empty, he couldn't outfly

Death. Good Eyes was clinging to her flying device, her eyes wide with fear.

Could she fly ahead, warn his father, save herself? Maybe, but there

wouldn't be time to save Sailor, so she wouldn't leave him, he knew that.

He couldn't think about Death killing Good Eyes right in front of him, in the

air. All they had to do was damage her device, and she'd fall, unable to save

herself, and with no flock nearby to catch her. And what could he do, to save

the one who'd saved him? He felt his heart breaking from fear and
guilt.

Glancing behind him, he saw the terrible red and gold eyes that could

terrorize a victim into making a last, fatal error. Then Good Eyes was signing,

"Head for the forest."

Some of the ancient timbers had suffered from fires over the centuries, and

were hollow inside, though still alive. Those were her favorite trees, and she

loved climbing around inside them. Could one of those save them from

Death?

They'd been following the river, but the forest had traveled

177

SILENT DANCES 177 with them. He followed Good Eyes
'
lead
as
Death

gained on them.

"Whatever happens, keep going," Good Eyes signed. "Get inside a hollow tr
ee. They c
an'
t fly easily in the fo
re
st." Well, neither could he
,
but
Sailor couldn
'
t point that out to
her now.
And what did she me
an, "

whatever happens"? Without wa
rn
ing
,
Good Eyes dropped behind
,
placing her self between him and Death
.
He was terrified for her
,
but
an
g
ry
, too. He should be protecting
her
since he was the one who could fly!

Death drew closer
an
d the group began splitting up. Suddenly an

enormous female was on Sailor
'
s left
,
a male on his
ri
ght, pulling up
as easily as if the young Grus were standing still. He concen
tr
ated on

the forest.

With a scream that cut through him like ice, the female re
ached for his

unprotected back
.
And then a shadow passed over him
,
the
re
was a
thud,
an
d the female tumbled, loose feathers flutte
ri
ng past him
. Good Eyes
had actually slammed her device into Death and knocked her

away! Tesa hovered over Sailor and then veered after the male, who

folded his
wings and dropped out of sight, wary now of the alien contr

aption.

The youngster felt a wild surge of hope as the forest came
closer
.
Two mo

re
avians flanked him now, while two others
moved aggressively against

Good Eyes.

One female screamed and grabbed for the human. At the last second, Good

Eyes flipped her sled upside down and the
deadly talons clanged

harmlessly against its hard surface. The female jerked a foot up as if in

pain and clenched it into a fist.
She dropped back. The male flipped

upside down himself and tried to impale Good Eyes, but she righted the little

vessel and he, too, struck the underside. The pair drew back, confused.

Good Eyes had freed a mesh bag from its invisible bonds
and was

swinging it over her head
.
The four remaining avians called to one

another
,
unsure how to respond
.
What had ever fought Death in the

air, or had somersaulted as they did in the attack?

The human ru
shed them
,
then flung the bag. It smashed into a male,

exploding into a rain of black nuts. This sta
rt
led the avian
so much he just folded his wings and dropped out of
sight
.
She reached for another

bag, swung and let it go, but the others knew what to expect and

moved out of range. But

178

178 A.C
.
Crispin and
Kathleen
O
'
Malley
some of the fight seemed to have gone out of Death.

And then the forest was there,
and Sailor had to
worry
about trees that

could shatter a wing, as they rushed past him. He weaved
an
d dodged

through the heavy st
an
d, brushing a trunk
an
d bruising a finger, but
nothing worse
.
Then he spied a towering
tr
ee that had had its core bu
rn
t through
.
At its base was a small opening
-
but it was big enough.

He parachuted to a jarring lan
ding
,
collapsed his wings
an
d scur
ri
ed
inside
,
his slim form slipping through the nar
ro
w opening that led into
the wide center. He peered up through the chimney of the tree at thin

streaks of sunlight. There was a sudden cr
as
hing
,
then something

warm rushed in against him, sca
ri
ng him so bad he jumped
,
hi
tt
ing
his head on a narrow place.

It was Good Eyes,
alive
an
d safe
!
His relief was so overwhelming
,
he
became a child again
,
pur
ri
ng and trembling his wings, wrapping his
long neck around her for comfo
rt
.

She slid her arms around his body,
pur
ri
ng back at him with her funny

off-key rumble that he loved so much
.
Both their hea
rt
s we
re

pounding
, an
d she was sticky with the sweat she released when she

was hot. He gl
an
ced up quickly
.
Something was not
ri
ght
.
On her arm
was not sweat
,
but blood. Her blood.

Her feather shirt
was
ri
pped, her flesh showing through, and a slash ac

ro
ss her arm seeped blood
.
He stared at it
,
eyes wide. "It's nothing
,"

she signed
. "
It doesn
'
t even hu
rt
."

He peere
d in amazement. She'd been touched by Death and lived
.
She

said it didn
'
t hurt. This parent of his was more str
an
ge
-an
d more
powerful
-
than he could have ever imagined.

Tesa looked around
,
confused
, as
her h
an
d grazed the rough,
carbonized inte
ri
or of the old
tr
ee
.
Had she d
re
amt of eagles, or
flown with Aquila
?
She
ru
bbed her eyes to
ri
d them of their g
ri
t
ty
feeling
,
the sense of un
re
ality she couldn't shake.

She looked up the chimney of the tr
ee-the light was waning. She and

Sailor had lapsed into an exhausted sleep after their narrow escape
,

their bodies demanding immediate relief after pumping out enough

adrenaline to fuel
an
army. She
re
ached for him folded up beside her,
his head tucked.

As he lifted his head, Tesa pushed herself to her feet. She ached.
Except

for the talon scratch on her arm
,
she would've go
tt
en out of this

unscathed if she hadn
'
t leaped off the sled

179

SILENT DANCES 179 and misjudged her footing
.
She'd gone

sprawling ass-over-teakettle over a huge root
,
skinning her knees and

palms.

"Come on,
Sailor
,"
she signed, "we've got to go."

"Is it safe?"

"I can't believe they'd wait for us this long," she assured him with more

confidence than she really felt.

Poking her head out of the tree
,
she gazed around
.
Afte
rn
oon light
slanted through the multicolored leaves, throwing shadows of orange
,

green
,
and red
,
like sunshine through a cathedral window
.
The angled
shafts were like the pola
ri
zed light Sailor could see. She stepped out

cautiously and moved to her sled. It had some new dings and small

dents
,
but it was still functional
.
She couldn
'
t shake the feeling that
they were being watched
.
Tesa tu
rn
ed her sled on, setting it to hover.

She turn
ed back toward the entrance
,
where the tip of Sailor's bill was

peeking out
.
She waved at him to emerge, and he stepped out slowly
,

ne
rv
ously, pee
ri
ng eve
ry
where
,
his feathers standing straight out.

Tesa wanted to console him, but she couldn't. They
weren't alone
,
they

just hadn
'
t found their obse
rv
er yet
.
She inched around the tree and
soon found their watcher
.
A female Aquila clung with one foot to a

limb
,
about fifty feet off the ground. The other foot was injured and she

held it in a fist,
re
sting on the wood
.
This was the same female that had
attacked her, Tesa realized
,
the one who
'
d struck the underside of the
sled so hard. There seemed to be something else ee
ri
ly familiar about

her.

The Aquila eyed her,
first with one ruby eye
,
then the other, but made no

move to attack. Sailor touched Tesa with his bill, then slid his head over

her shoulder
,
staring in wide
-
eyed fear at his mo
rt
al enemy
. They
could get to the tree
'
s entrance before the Aquila could reach them
,

Tesa decided
,
and that injured foot made her seem less threatening.

Then Tesa re
alized why this Aquila seemed familiar. This was the same

female that had scolded her the day she ar
ri
ved on T
ri
nity.
And she's
the
same
female
I'
ve been obse
rv
ing in the study nests,
Tesa decided with a cool cert
ainty
.
The cynical pa
rt
of her brain t
ri
ed to deny the
coincidence, but the instinctive pa
rt
of her knew she was
ri
ght.

She wants to communicate,
Tesa felt.
She was t
ry
ing to tell me
something that first day, and she's come back to t
ry
again.
Was it just luck that made Scott
pick
that
nest for his camera,

180

or had he interacted with this same female?
If he had, that might've been

what made him pl
an
t those cameras against eve
ry
one else's edict
.

But wouldn
'
t he have w
ritt
en about it?

Not if
eve
ry
one would
'
ve thought he was cra
zy
,
she re
alized. She
suddenly felt Scott
'
s presence ve
ry
strongly
-
his memo
ry
and his spi
ri
t
-
and a shiver washed over her,.

Help me do the right thing, Puff. Mitakuye
oyasin
.
Igno
ri
ng Sailor's sta
rt
led expression
,
Tesa stepped forward and signed a g
re
eting to the avi
an
.

The female leaned forward,
clutching her precarious perch, and spread

her wings th
re
ateningly
,
opening her beak. Tesa tu
rn
ed her voder on,
calling up her weak translation program.