Read Online Silent Dances by A. C. Crispin, Kathleen O'Malley - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: A. C. Crispin, Kathleen O'Malley
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is."
the alien offered. Tesa had suspected that Doctor Blanket could release her subconscious
memories, but it wasn't something she had actually expected seloz to offer.
She shook her head. "You're the elder. I'm supposed to tell you the dream
and you're supposed to interpret it for me. If these eagle dreams are
significant, I should remember them myself."
Even before her scheduled tapping with the Ashu, Tesa had felt a vague
apprehension, a sense of impending something. If she'd been at home she
would've prayed for a vision.
She closed her eyes and thought of Trinity. There was the marshland,
becoming savannah, then forest, and before she knew what had happened,
she was seeing again the glint of sun on a bronze wingtip. Gliding beside
her was another Aquila, its red eyes staring into her own. The image was so
powerful, she could feel the rush of air against her arms/wings, against her
face/beak. She opened her eyes to find she was standing, arms
outstretched, poised as though performing the Eagle Dance. She looked at
the Avernian, lowering her arms.
"Couldn't the Aquila be intelligent?" she asked. "If they are, couldn't they change, couldn't they stop killing the Grus?" Doctor Blanket replied.
On Trinity, she could live the way a human was meant to live, with sky
overhead, on land teeming with life.
Doctor Blanket "said" cryptically.
In spite of the fact that her problems still loomed ahead unresolved, she felt
better. Impulsively, Tesa snatched up the light form of Doctor Blanket and
tried to hug seloz.
Undulating rapidly, the alien managed to convey that fierce hugging was not
good for a being with seloz' anatomy. Apologizing, Tesa made it easy for the
creature to again drape about
45
SILENT DANCES 45 her shoulders. Gently she touched her cheek to the
waving cilia . Good-bye, Doctor Blanket , she thought. And ... thank you.
It was almost time to board the shuttle that would take Tesa and Meg to
StarBridge Station, where they'd board the S.V. transport Norton. Jib was
double-checking her luggage.
He glanced at the pile. "What a mess of stuff!"
"That's all StarBridge issue," Tesa complained. "Stuff they think you can't live without. This is all I wanted to bring." She showed him her bow and
arrows, a lariat, a piece of flint, the Clovis point she'd made herself, and a
small hatchet.
"Yeah, but you're still missing something," Jib told her, then tossed her a
small box.
Surprised, Tesa opened it. It was a Swiss Army knife.
Jib had one, a deluxe model. It had been his mother's, and was his pride and
joy. Whenever anyone needed an obscure tool, Jib always seemed to have
it on his knife.
Tesa had coveted that knife, that perfect all-tools-in-one. She looked at her
friend, dumbfounded, and turned the knife over in her hands. On the other
side, engraved in the red plastron, were the initials of Jib's mother.
Tesa looked shocked. "Jib, this is yours!"
He shrugged. "I couldn't let you go to this wild world without the right knife. I
changed some of the tools." He eagerly unfolded the new items. "Here's a
micro cell analyzer, and I'll bet you can't guess what this is!" He pulled out a
short tubular thing with a telltale on the end.
She shook her head, still stunned.
"It's a bioscanner," Jib signed. "If someone comes within twelve meters of you, this light will flash. That's in any di rection, land, sea, or air!"
"Jib," she signed, "I can't take your mother's knife .. She ran her fingers over its stiff leather case, decorated with curling, intricate Maori designs.
"You told me that you're supposed to give away the stuff that means the
most to you," Jib
the alien offered.
memories, but it wasn't something she had actually expected seloz to offer.
She shook her head. "You're the elder. I'm supposed to tell you the dream
and you're supposed to interpret it for me. If these eagle dreams are
significant, I should remember them myself."
Even before her scheduled tapping with the Ashu, Tesa had felt a vague
apprehension, a sense of impending something. If she'd been at home she
would've prayed for a vision.
She closed her eyes and thought of Trinity. There was the marshland,
becoming savannah, then forest, and before she knew what had happened,
she was seeing again the glint of sun on a bronze wingtip. Gliding beside
her was another Aquila, its red eyes staring into her own. The image was so
powerful, she could feel the rush of air against her arms/wings, against her
face/beak. She opened her eyes to find she was standing, arms
outstretched, poised as though performing the Eagle Dance. She looked at
the Avernian, lowering her arms.
"Couldn't the Aquila be intelligent?" she asked. "If they are, couldn't they change, couldn't they stop killing the Grus?"
On Trinity, she could live the way a human was meant to live, with sky
overhead, on land teeming with life.
In spite of the fact that her problems still loomed ahead unresolved, she felt
better. Impulsively, Tesa snatched up the light form of Doctor Blanket and
tried to hug seloz.
Undulating rapidly, the alien managed to convey that fierce hugging was not
good for a being with seloz' anatomy. Apologizing, Tesa made it easy for the
creature to again drape about
45
SILENT DANCES 45 her shoulders. Gently she touched her cheek to the
waving cilia . Good-bye, Doctor Blanket , she thought. And ... thank you.
It was almost time to board the shuttle that would take Tesa and Meg to
StarBridge Station, where they'd board the S.V. transport Norton. Jib was
double-checking her luggage.
He glanced at the pile. "What a mess of stuff!"
"That's all StarBridge issue," Tesa complained. "Stuff they think you can't live without. This is all I wanted to bring." She showed him her bow and
arrows, a lariat, a piece of flint, the Clovis point she'd made herself, and a
small hatchet.
"Yeah, but you're still missing something," Jib told her, then tossed her a
small box.
Surprised, Tesa opened it. It was a Swiss Army knife.
Jib had one, a deluxe model. It had been his mother's, and was his pride and
joy. Whenever anyone needed an obscure tool, Jib always seemed to have
it on his knife.
Tesa had coveted that knife, that perfect all-tools-in-one. She looked at her
friend, dumbfounded, and turned the knife over in her hands. On the other
side, engraved in the red plastron, were the initials of Jib's mother.
Tesa looked shocked. "Jib, this is yours!"
He shrugged. "I couldn't let you go to this wild world without the right knife. I
changed some of the tools." He eagerly unfolded the new items. "Here's a
micro cell analyzer, and I'll bet you can't guess what this is!" He pulled out a
short tubular thing with a telltale on the end.
She shook her head, still stunned.
"It's a bioscanner," Jib signed. "If someone comes within twelve meters of you, this light will flash. That's in any di rection, land, sea, or air!"
"Jib," she signed, "I can't take your mother's knife .. She ran her fingers over its stiff leather case, decorated with curling, intricate Maori designs.
"You told me that you're supposed to give away the stuff that means the
most to you," Jib
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