Silent Songs by A. C. Crispin, Kathleen O'Malley Read Free Book Online Page A

Moon took their places. Before long, a tightly organized vee was winging ever upward.
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    The wind whipped through Tesa's hair and the feathers on her woven shirt.
    The rapid one-two, one-two beat of powerful Grus wings made her want to go faster, higher, until the air was too thin to breathe and the cold cut through her clothes.
    Soon, the escort surrounded the Patuxent, spiraling around the descending ship. Bruce and Meg waved to them from the cockpit, as Tesa searched the windows, finally glimpsing a shock of black curls, then a flame-colored crest.
    The flight was over too quickly. Soon, the Patuxent soft- landed on the bluff's pad as the escort backwinged onto the ground, blowing leaves and debris everywhere. Szu-yi and Old Bear emerged from the Hedford Shelter, the elder Lakota holding his perpetual coffee cup in hand. Szu-yi, more accustomed to working with Simiu than any of them, had dressed as though she were about to greet an ambassador. Tesa parked her sled.
    "You're always so exhilarated after one of those flights," Szuyi signed to her in passable Grus. "Ready for our guests?"
    "Ready or not," Tesa signed, smiling, "here they come."
    The Patuxent' s lock unsealed, and Meg exited. Jib was out next, and when he saw Tesa he grinned. Forgetting her planned speeches, she bounded over, throwing her arms around him.
    "You're almost as tall as I am!" Tesa signed when they'd released each other.
    "I'd thought you'd shrunk!" Jib replied. The two dark heads moved together and performed the hongi, the traditional Maori nose rub greeting, then they hugged again fiercely.
    Someone tugged Tesa's shirt, and she turned to see Meg.
    "We might need you to run interference," Meg signed.
    "What do you mean?"
    "K'heera doesn't want to come off the ship," the older woman explained.
    "She says she's sick. . . but I think she's afraid of them." She moved her head toward the waiting Grus.
    Tesa turned to the ship. "Actually, there's someone better suited to that job than me.. . ."
    K'heera had known fear before, but she'd never had to suffer it alone. For the first time in her life, there was no strong family member to console her or give her words of courage.
    Any honorable person would welcome this test, she thought, looking onto a world in which she was the only one of her kind.
    She told herself it was the change in gravity that overwhelmed her, but as her stomach rolled and twisted, she realized this was only part of the problem. The months she'd spent
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    dreading this moment had infused her with horror. Even her odor had changed--she stank of fear. As K'heera gaped at the huge, white-feathered aliens her family had so violated, she could not force herself to step onto the soil of their world.
    When K'heera remained perched at the lock's threshold fighting vertigo, the human called "Bruce" turned to her.
    "You okay?" he signed.
    The Simiu glanced at him nervously, knowing he disliked her. It was etched around his eyes, though he tried to hide it. She'd seen similar expressions on her own relatives whenever they were forced to interact with humans.
    Why was he pretending to care?
    He extended a hand toward her. "You'll feel better once you walk around in the fresh air."
    His gray alien eyes seemed to bore into K'heera. He knows I'm afraid! It makes him feel superior; that's why he's acting the uncle to me. She moved her hand in a Grus refusal.
    "Have it your way," he signed, his expression stiff.
    You only draw attention to yourself K'heera castigated herself. Step outside!
    Slowly, the Simiu placed one palm on the ramp, then another, finally drawing her rear legs after her.
    A female human approached. "I am Dr. Li Szu-yi. If you are suffering from nausea, dizziness, or other symptoms of low-gee illness, I can help."
    "Yes, please," K'heera responded, hoping she might yet screen her fear from these humans.
    The slight Asian woman rummaged around in her medical kit, then pressed a small patch against K'heera's inner forearm.
    The