Read Online Dreamsnake by Vonda D. McIntyre - Free Book Online Page B

sheet.
    Little more than an hour had passed since Snake had examined Jesse last. The
bruises down her side had darkened and deepened, and her body was unhealthily
flushed. Snake felt her forehead. It was burning hot and paper-dry. Jesse did
not respond to her touch. When Snake took her hand away the smooth skin looked
darker. Within minutes, while Snake watched, horrified, another bruise began to
form as the capillaries ruptured, their walls so damaged by radiation that mild
pressure completed their destruction. The bandage on Jesse’s thigh suddenly
reddened in the center with a stain of blood. Snake clenched her fists. She was
shaking, deep inside, as if from penetrating cold.
    “Merideth!”
    In a moment Merideth was awake, yawning and mumbling sleepily. “What’s
wrong?”
    “How long did it take you to find Jesse? Did she fall in the craters?”
    “Yes, she was prospecting. That’s why we come here—other artisans can’t match
our work because of what Jesse finds here. But this time a rim gave way. We
found her in the evening.”
    A whole day, Snake thought. She must have been in one of the primary craters.
    “Why didn’t you tell me?”
    “Tell you what?”
    “Those craters are dangerous—”
    “Do you believe all those old legends, healer? We’ve been coming here for a
decade and nothing ever happened to us.”
    Now was not the time for angry retorts. Snake glanced at Jesse again and
realized that her own ignorance and the partnership’s contempt for the danger of
the old world’s relics had unwittingly granted Jesse some mercy. Snake had
treatments for radiation poisoning, but there was no treatment for anything this
severe. Whatever she could have tried would only have prolonged Jesse’s death.
    “What’s the matter?” For the first time Merideth’s voice showed fear.
    “She has radiation poisoning.”
    “Poisoning? How? She’s eaten and drunk nothing we haven’t tasted.”
    “It’s from the crater. The ground is poisoned. The legends are true.”
    Beneath deep tan, Merideth was pale. “Then do something, help her!”
    “There’s nothing I can do.”
    “You couldn’t help her injury, you can’t help her sickness—”
    They stared at each other, both of them hurt and angry. Merideth’s gaze
dropped first. “I’m sorry. I had no right … ”
    “I wish to the gods I were omnipotent, Merideth, but I’m not.”
    Their conversation woke Alex, who rose and came toward them, stretching and
scratching. “It’s time to—” He glanced back and forth from Snake to Merideth,
then looked beyond to Jesse. “Oh, gods … ”
    The new mark on her forehead, where Snake had touched her, was slowly oozing
blood.
    Alex flung himself down beside her, reaching for her, but Snake held him
back. He tried to push her away.
    “Alex, I barely touched her. You can’t help her like that.”
    He looked at her blankly. “Then how?” Snake shook her head.
    Tears welling up, Alex pulled away from her. “It isn’t fair!” He ran out of
the tent. Merideth started after him, hesitated at the entrance, and turned
back. “He can’t understand, he’s so young.”
    “He understands,” Snake said. She blotted Jesse’s forehead, trying not to rub
or put pressure on her skin. “And he’s right, it isn’t fair. Who ever said
anything was fair?” She cut off the words to spare Merideth her own bitterness
over Jesse’s lost chances, snatched away by fate and ignorance and the remnants
of another generation’s insanity.
    “Merry?” Jesse groped in the air with a trembling hand.
    “I’m here.” Merideth reached out but stopped, afraid to touch her.
    “What’s the matter? Why do I … ” She blinked slowly.
Her eyes were bloodshot.
    “Gently,” Snake whispered. Merideth enfolded Jesse’s fingers with hands soft
as bird wings.
    “Is it time to go?” The eagerness was tinged with terror, with unwillingness
to realize something was wrong.
    “No,