Jeanne G'Fellers - Sisters Flight (3 page)

"We're
without one until training is complete, or until it rains," I said as
Genevic shrugged. "Wish we could be of help."

"Well,
that leaves you two out this time of season." Isabella pushed away from
the table. "I'll just have to recruit elsewhere. If you'll excuse
me."

"I'd
better go with her." Genevic grabbed their mugs. "Ironic, isn't it?
She works with strangers all day long but finds it difficult to approach people
outside that environment." Smiling with a mate's understanding, Genevic
scurried off, calling back over her shoulder, "Evening, Myrla. See you in
the morning, Rankil."

"Lesson
two, scopes and sights," I quoted, trying to replicate Captain Tara's
raspy alto.

"Don't
wear yourself out in the Pit." And Genevic went to work, encouraging timid
Isabella to join a table of acquaintances.

"
'Bout fucking time you showed." Easton Outbrook bucked against the
restraints holding her to her chair. A woman of brains and persuasion, she was
also psychotic, believing violence acceptable in most every situation. Mostly
though, she was my friend, a very different friend than Genevic or anyone else
outside the Pit, but my friend nonetheless, and many times the only one who
understood what was going through my mind.

A
thick, amber glass blinder covered Easton's eyes and locked around her head,
keeping her phase from hurting anyone. The blinder, along with the wrist and
ankle tethers, had worn marks on her skin, but they kept her restrained during
our visits. It wasn't that Easton disliked me, she simply had a peculiar way of
showing her like, one which could've cost my life if she had been free to
express herself.

"Where
you been? I've been waiting all damn day."

"Well,
wait no more." I dropped my cloak in the opposite chair. "And it's
not even full dark out, so you haven't been waiting that long. I only got your
message this afternoon."

"Time
doesn't move down here." Easton strummed her fingers on her chair arm and
peered at me through the hairs draping her eyes. "So update me."

"About?"
I settled into my seat. This chair had a padded seat and carved details, unlike
Easton's with its thick, rough-cut frame that held scratches from the buckles
of her restraints.

"You
damn well know what I mean."

"Do
I?" I wasn't sure whether amusement or anger crossed Easton's face. It
didn't matter. They could be and often were one and the same. Still, I enjoyed
teasing Easton during our visits. I alone dared to joke with the woman about
anything. It was good mental exercise. Our exchanges were often vulgar but were
always meant in a way only misplaced sisters understood. It was that connection
which kept me coming back to see Easton, that link which allowed us to say
things to each other that neither of us, or at least I, would ever dream of
saying to another.

"Bitch."
Easton bared her teeth then smiled. "What's going on up there?"

"They
found interesting written material in one of the compartments a while
back." I pulled a thin book from my pocket. "They're calling it a
technical manual."

"An
artifact?" Easton extended her fingers. "Lemme see."

"No
way in a sinning Aut's hell." I kept the book from her grasp but opened it
toward her and thumbed through the pages, showing her the images and words.
"I almost had to swear away my place by the Mother to get this from the
technicians at all, but I thought you'd like to see it."

"So
let me see it!"

"This
is as close as you get." I shut the book and placed it in my lap,
chuckling as Easton squirmed in her fetters. "You have any idea how you
look when you do that?"

"Damn
good," she spat, throwing her hair back from her face. "Damn
good."

"Fish
out of water."

"Fuck
you."

"You
should be so lucky."

Easton
roared with laughter until she gasped for breath. "Okay, okay." Tears
streamed from beneath the amber lens keeping her burning mind phase at bay.
"Damn, but it's good to see you."

"You
too. So why'd you ask me to come by?"

"I'm
bored." Easton rocked to the invisible music in her head, humming while
she avoided my eyes.

"And?"

Easton
said nothing but rocked all the harder.

I
sat for a minute, watching before I spoke again. Easton's body language was
hard to read, but I had learned to understand it. She wanted something,
something she wasn't sure how to get.

"What's
going on?"

Easton
stopped moving but kept her gaze aloof. "Just wanted to see you," she
mumbled then looked up toward her cell's only door as her mouth knotted to
match the slight shake in her voice. "But, hey, if you have other things
to do."

Easton
was frightened! She needed something but was afraid to say what, and Easton was
never afraid to say anything.

"No
place I'd rather be right now."

"Liar,"
muttered Easton, still gazing at the door. "Nobody comes to the Pit
because they want to."

"So
I come because you're here. And you asked me to, so what gives?"

"I
told you I'm bored."

"Now
who's lying?" I adjusted in the chair for what might well be a lengthy dig
into Easton's twisted thoughts.

"Screw
you." The curse held none of Easton's usual strength. "Go away."

"Easton?"

"I
told you to go the fuck away!" Easton's eyes blazed with tear-filled
hatred as she pulled against her restraints. She may have been fifty-two,
almost middle age for a sister, but constant rage had taken its toll, etching
permanent lines onto her forehead and mouth. These highlighted her fury. And
her fear. "Go!"

"I
don't know what's eating you, but if you say go, I'll go." I took my cloak
and knocked on the door, signaling for Dee, Easton's main caretaker, to open.

"I
heard," Dee whispered when I stepped through. "Never seen her this
way."

"Me
either." I shook my head. "What do you think?"

"Come
back." Easton's voice, small and quivering, barely slid through the almost
closed door. "Please."

I
returned to my seat, motioning for Dee to close the door behind me.
""I'm here."

"They
say I need an exam." Easton gripped her armrests.

"Go
on." I extended my hand over Easton's forearm without touching her.

Easton
stared at my hand, squinting and trembling as her fury subsided.
"Don't."

"I
won't." But I kept my hand where it was. "Just know I'm here."

"They
say I need an exam," she repeated, biting her lip so hard it bled.
"One of
those
exams."

I
nodded. "And you don't like being touched."

"Everyone
knows," mumbled Easton. "Everyone knows, but this time they said it
didn't matter. I have to have one of those exams."

"A
physical?"

"Yes,
a fucking physical." Easton's nails left marks on the chair arms. Blood
trickled out her lip and onto her chinstrap, spreading red up her jaw. "A
fucking physical. A fucking physical."

"That's
perfectly normal."

"For
you, maybe, but Easton doesn't like to be touched!" Easton kicked back,
scooting her chair, creating a loud moan as it scraped the stone floor.
"Easton won't be touched."

"What
did Healer Garrziko say?" Garrziko, a mental healer and Easton's
physician, had been my physician during my brief time in the Pit and my counselor
for some time after that. I always found our sessions soothing.

"Bitch
Ziko is the one who says I have to have the damn exam." Easton gritted her
teeth. "Won't be touched!"

"Why
did Garrziko say you need the exam?" I looked straight into Easton's eyes,
not in challenge but in search of the truth.

"I
bleed," she said, dropping her head in the closest to shame I'd had seen
from her. "I'm bleeding like an Aut bitch."

"What?"
I fell back in my seat. "Bleeding? Where?"

"From
there, you idiot!" Easton pointed to her pelvis. "Do I need to
fucking well show you?"

"No,
I get it." I glanced over my shoulder for Dee, who might be able to help,
but her face wasn't watching from the door's small window. During most of our
visits she was there, making sure Easton kept her violent tendencies subdued,
but not this time, which may have been the only reason Easton had been willing
to admit her dilemma. I turned back to find Easton staring at me.

"Let
me loose."

"You
know I can't."

"Then
what fucking good are you?" Easton wailed, rocking the chair so hard it
nearly tipped over. "What good are you?"

"You
ask me to do the one thing you know I
won H
do and then you get pissed
when I refuse? Enough!" I rose and turned in a single movement. "We
may both be misplaced sisters, but that's where the likeness ends." I
raised my arm to knock on the door but stopped and turned around again to
return to my seat.

"No.
Not this time. No way. No matter what you say, I'll stay right fucking here
until you say what you're wanting. You aren't going to win this one. I'm too
damn stubborn these days."

"Then
sit here all night for all I care." Easton closed her eyes. "I don't
need you."

"Yes,
you do." I folded my arms across my chest. "So here I'll sit."

We
sat in silence for what felt like hours, but I later came to realize was no
more than twenty minutes, until Easton finally twitched in her chair and opened
her eyes. "She's not going anywhere," she said to no one in
particular. "Might as well fess." She seemed to struggle with
internal voices for several more moments and then looked up. "Be here that
day."

"For
the exam?" I relaxed in my seat.

"Yeah."
Easton's voice cracked. "They can't phase me out, and I don't respond well
to anesthesia." Tears streaked down her face. "Damn it, girl, say
you'll be there. They're gonna tie me down all spread out and I haven't got
anyone else to ask."

How
could I not? She wanted a protector during what was a very vulnerable situation
for a Taelach raised by Audachs. It mattered little that it was an exam done by
other Taelachs. The terror and sense of helplessness were engrained. "I'll
be there."

Easton's
face brightened just a bit, and she took a ragged breath, clearing her throat.
"Better be or I'll thump your brain right out of your ugly little
head." Bitter laughter rose from her, and she bucked forward, scooting the
chair toward me. "Got it?"

"Promises,
promises." I joined her laughter. "That's all I get from you."

"Yeah,
yeah," Easton said. "Now let me see that artifact again."

"Nope.
I have to take it back."

"Bitch."

Our
talk returned to normal and continued far later than either of us realized. I
did finally bid Easton goodnight, but not before I repeated my promise to be
there at the appointed time. Then I walked with Dee to the Pit's main gate, filling
her in on what she hadn't overheard. Dee agreed no one found those exams
comfortable, but she'd never considered how they might be terrifying to someone
like Easton. I nodded but said nothing. I understood. I understood more than
anyone besides Easton would ever know.

It
was storming in the distance when I emerged from the Tekkroon central cavern. I
returned home to the Gretchencliff colony housing to find Myrla asleep in one
of our front room's overstuffed chairs. A portrait from our shelves rested in
her lap.

Myrla
opened her eyes when I placed a blanket across her lap. "What time is
it?"

"Late."
I took the portrait from her and held it in my hands. It was one of Myrla's
most precious possessions and something she had begged an artist to do for us
shortly after our arrival on Tekkroon ground. It was a simple but realistic
line drawing on stretched white hide. I touched the two images etched into the
surface and looked up at Myrla, sharing her pain. What I wouldn't have done to
change things. Kaelan and Jewel had raised Myrla from birth. In fact, Jewel had
helped deliver her from her Autlach mother. She was their daughter in every
way, so she naturally had a deeper attachment than I'd gained during my brief
but memorable time as their daughter. The most difficult part for both of us, I
believe, was the lack of closure. Kaelan and Jewel had disappeared during an
attack by Longpass's men, and despite our searching, we'd never found any
evidence of either their deaths or survival. As a result, Myrla had
painstakingly overseen the portrait's creation, describing our raisers in such
fine detail that their likenesses were uncanny.

I
placed the portrait on a shelf and took Myrla's hand, leading her to the
bedroom. "I lost track of time. Sorry."

"As
long as you're okay." Myrla slipped out of her clothes and under the
blankets. "You are okay, aren't you?"