Silent Dances (8 page)

back
a li
tt
le
shyly,
still not
sure of what Meg thought of her or how the older woman felt about having her on this project.

Dr. Noisy picked up his own stilts. "I know you will earn much honor
on this

assignment
," the Simiu said formally. "And
as you humans
say, I wish you luck, as do many of my people." Tesa looked at him with a little surprise.

"I wanted you to know, Tesa," the Simiu continued, "that while
some
of my people have bitter feelings about the past,
many
more respect your people's

differences and do not judge you by our code. As your teacher, and your

friend, I wanted to wish you well. I'll miss you."

"Your friendship has always been a great honor to me. Dr. Noisy," Tesa

signed, clouding
up. "I'll miss
you, too."

"You're scheduled to meet with Dr. Xto in an hour," the

Simiu reminded
her abruptly. The wasplike Apis was scheduled to teach

Tesa how to handle the diamond-shaped portable flying
sleds
. "Now, flying

an air
scooter is my idea of
real
fun!" Without another word, the Simiu turned and left the mockup
in a typical Simiu wordless departure.

Tesa realized he was trying to give
her something else to

36

think about,
instead of dwelling on their farewell
.
Glancing at Meg, she

saw the older wom
an
reading the Simiu
'
s words on her own voder
.

Tesa would be glad when she and Meg had enough of a l
an
guage

base to dispense with the damned things.

At least that was one are
a where Tesa knew she'd impressed the

biologist. Her almost
-
instinctive grasp of the Grus language
had

allowed Tesa to meet Meg with the appropriate Grus greeting when she'd

arri
ved
.
That
'
d been a g
re
at icebreaker and, the younger woman
hoped, had shown Meg just how much the
chance to go to Trinity meant

to her.

"Don't look so forlo
rn,"
Meg said in Russian
,
while signing
in Grus.

Tesa's voder showed the literal translation--"Your feathers are needlessly

fluffed"--plus the English equivalent. The humans on Trinity also found it

necessary to use the English
m
an
ual alphabet to spell words like "Miza
ri"
that had no literal translation
-
at le
as
t until the Grus would c
re
ate
new signs for them.

"This is a good mock-
up," Meg continued
, "
but the gravity's not right.

Maybe it's psychological, but when you're on Trinity you feel ... well,

buoyant.
Like you could fly away with the Grus." She brushed wispy, silver-gray curls from her face. "
Rob said you used to work with birds, doing

rehabilitation work."

Tesa nodded. "On the plains when I was a kid. There's a
big rehab place

near our summer tipi camp
-
where the powwows are held
.
We had

raptors
,
songbirds, and sandhill cranes. One year I helped with some

peregrine falcon studies
in the Grand Canyon and got to do some old-

fashioned rappeling."
She'd ea
rn
ed one of her eagle feathers there

when she'd saved a pe
re
g
ri
ne
chick from
becoming a mountain lion
snack.

"That experience will certainly help you on Trinity." She
gave Tesa a long
,
appraising look. "I think you'
re
going to
do just fine with Taller's chick."

With that casual statement, Meg confirmed that Tesa was indeed going.

There would be no formal tapping ce
re
mony, but she didn
'
t ca
re-
the
thought
of Trinity'
s untamed l
an
d filled her with a deep yea
rn
ing.

"I checked on our tran
spo
rt,"
Meg signed
. "
We're leaving tomorrow."

Those words hit Tesa hard, an
d she felt her emotions go to war, th
ri
ll

and
re
g
re
t all at once.
"Tomorrow?"

37

Meg nodded. "You'll have time for that flying lesson, then you'll have to pack.

We'll have two months on the ship ..." The older woman looked drawn. "Two

months to cram three years of research into you. I bargained, but we'll have

to spend the last month in hibernation. It's the best I could do. We'll arrive

about five days before the hatching."

"Meg," Tesa asked curiously, "why didn't you want to raise Taller's chick yourself?"

"A couple of reasons. For one, I'm too old."

Tesa looked shocked. It was the first time Meg had ever referred to her age

as a restrictive handicap.

"Don't look like that, it's true. I love living outdoors, but these days I'm only

good for a week on the ground and then it starts affecting my mobility.

"Besides, I raised my own kids a long time ago and found out I wasn't great

parent material even then. Every time I go home and one of lil' darling'

descendants calls me babushka, I want to slug the little beast. I've got most

of them trained to call me by my first name, even though the in-laws

disapprove." Her expression clearly said, "too bad about them," and Tesa had to laugh. Meg returned it goodnaturedly.

"Scott used to tell people I was `nobody's grandma,'" she continued. A

shadow crossed her face at the mention of his name. "And, besides, the

person who raises the chick should be more of a sibling than an elder."

Meg looked at the young woman solemnly. "I want to tell you how much I

admire your willingness to postpone your ear surgery for this project. There

aren't that many people who would make that kind of a sacrifice. I couldn't

wait to get to Shassiszss. It's hard enough to have to wear sound nullifiers,

but when I thought I'd lost my hearing forever ..." Meg shook her head as she

trailed off into her own thoughts.

Tesa kept her expression under control with an effort. She wished Meg

hadn't brought that subject up.

"And your parents were so supportive when you explained why you wanted

to delay the operation! They must be wonderful people. They'll be very proud

of you, Tesa, and don't worry--the time will go by fast. Grus chicks are fully

grown in six months, and by then he'll be flying. I'm confident that even

before that we'll convince the board of the Grus' intelligence. Before a year's

over, you'll be free to go. Just think, when you're hearing, we can have
a real

talk. I'll bet you have a

38

lovely voice. Your
laughter is almost musical."

Tesa knew Meg would interpret the flushed look on her face
for a modest

blush when
in fact she was fighting anger and
frustration
. Hearing people were always so smugly
convinced
that their language was
better than hers, that speaking was superior to
signing
, that sound was critical to the

enjoyment of life-that theirs was such a better way to live! Gritting her teeth,

she forced
a smile
. Meg couldn't understand how she felt, any more than

other hearing people could.
Tell them how you really feel,
prompted

something inside her.

What for?
she responded bitterly. It wouldn't do a damned bit of good.

"The transport will be leaving StarBridge Station tomorrow afternoon," Meg

said, pulling Tesa's attention back. "I hope that'll give you enough
time to

say good-bye to your friends."
Say good-bye?
Tesa thought inanely.

Meg patted her shoulder comfortingly. "I know how hard
it is
to leave people you love." She brushed herself off, preparing to leave. She was small, and

Tesa tried not to loom over her.

The Indian woman picked up the stilts, feeling overwhelmed. In twenty-four

hours she'd be leaving StarBridge! She'd always hated good-byes.

Wrenching her mind from the thought of saying farewell to so many people

that she'd come to love, she quickly changed the subject. "When the First

Contact's completed, would it be possible for me to get involved in another

project on Trinity, so I could stay two years instead of one?"

Meg looked thoughtful, then shrugged. "Well, it's a big planet, there's a lot to

learn."

"I was thinking ... with all my work with raptors ... maybe, when there was

time, I could study the Aquila, their ..."

Meg's blue eyes suddenly blazed with fury, surprising Tesa so much she

stumbled, slipping on the mud.

"Aquila!" Meg's rapid mouth movements and the way her head moved told

Tesa she'd spit the word out. "Those filthy carrion-eaters! Tesa, you have to

understand that those creatures are
taboo
on Trinity. The Grus don't even

have a sign for them-they use the sign for death and move their heads as

though they were throwing up a casting. Didn't Rob tell you about them?

About what they
did?"

39

"He said they were
...
predators
...
He said T
ri
nity had
lots
of pre
dators ..." Tesa
'
s signs trailed off.

Meg visibly tri
ed to calm herself, but her anger was still so palpable
,

Tesa could feel it
. "
I shouldn
'
t blame Rob ... I've gotten so used to
avoiding the subject, I don
'
t think I ever told him." She took a deep

breath.

"It was the Aquila that killed Water Dancer and his entire
family
,
Tesa
.

They
car
ri
ed the Grus' futu
re
leader away like a chicken and
ate
him.

They lifted him ... so close to us, so close to Scott ..."
Meg trailed off, lost in
bitter memo
ri
es.

"The cameras filmed the whole thing. Later,
I made myself watch it
...
I had
to know
.
That
sukin sin
hauled Water Dancer up over the ri
se as if he
knew that .
..
Dancer would have to call out to his people
,
to wa
rn
them
...
he
had
to,
even though he knew his call would hu
rt
Scott
..."

Meg swallowed. "They were f
ri
ends
,
Tesa. Good f
ri
ends
.
Alien to
each other
,
but still ... Scott watched Water Dancer be car
ri
ed off for
lunch and Dancer watched his wa
rn
ing to his people kill his f
ri
end."

Tesa gaped at her
,
stunned.

"You must
never
bri
ng the Aquila up! Don't even mention their name to

the Grus
.
It's their worst taboo
."
Meg looked exhausted
,
as though all
her youthful vitality had drained away. "Dancer couldn
'
t help what he

did
.
He would never have deliberately hu
rt
Scott
.
As far as I'm conce
rn
ed
,
the
Aquila
killed Scott Hedford."
Tu
rn
ing abruptly
,
the older
woman splashed out of the mockup.

Tesa'
s mind reeled from Meg's revelation
.
Suddenly her mind
'
s eye

filled with the glint of sun on a bronze wingtip and the bluest sky she
'
d

ever seen. And talons grasping a tanned skin with ragged holes across

its back.

Late that night,
Tesa still couldn
'
t close her eyes. After finding out the

bitter reality of the Aquila
,
she was afraid to sleep
,
afraid to dream
.

She'd almost called Rob, but what she
re
ally wanted was an elder, a

shaman who could interpret d
re
ams.

After tossing for hours,
she'd felt the gentle touch of Doctor Blanket
'
s

telepathy
,
bidding her to come
.
Eager to talk to the Ave
rn
ian
,
Tesa
had left her room
,
wearing nothing but her oldest StarB
ri
dge nightshi
rt,
its logo of a glitte
ri
ng rainbow b
ri
dge connecting two planets faded
from too many cleanings. Using her quilt as a robe
,
she'd gone to the

Ave
rn
ian's dark

40

quart
ers and, as she had many times in the past
,
draped the whisper
-

light alien on her shoulders like a cape. Protecting the
Avernian
with a

Miza
ri
light damper
,
since visible light could actually burn the alien
'
s
delicate cilia, Tesa went to the obse
rv
ation dome.

Doctor Blanket liked the dome and its panorama of brilliant stars. Tesa

enjoyed it, too. StarBri
dge Academy was built on an asteroid in a part of