Tau Ceti (an Ell Donsaii story #6) (18 page)

Still staring up at the cliff, Syrdian nodded. Dex beat into the air to circle out and up, then land at the top of the cliff. The cliff had been a constant feature of
hies
life during the
winter portion
of the year when the tribe lived
at the cave above it
,
but
hie
’d never given it much thought. It wasn’t useful and, because
hie
could fly over it, it wasn’t a problem.
Hie
realized now that it may have hindered some of the land predators from reaching the cave and that likely
had been
a good thing. It was about six body lengths high and extended far to either side of the cave.
Hie
didn’t really know how far it was unbroken and that should be
hies
first mission
hie
supposed. Perhaps Syrdian could simply walk north or south a ways and climb where there wasn’t a cliff or there was a break in the
rock face?
Hie
looked up
toward
the cave a moment, wondering if
hie
should fly up there, maybe it would give
himr
an idea?

Instead,
hie
beat into the air and rode the
east
wind rising up the mountain, sliding to the north looking for a break in the cliff
side. Though the flight in the rising wind felt exhilarating after days of walking
,
Dex despaired at the unbroken wall of limestone, it would take a long time for Syrdian to walk this far and
hie
still hadn’t found a break. Dex turned and drifted the other way, passing over Syrdian with a little wave and coasting along over the cliff
to the south
. Again the cliff seemed to go on forever and Dex
eventually
turned back
,
hoping to find a way to help Syrdian climb it.
Walking around seemed like it would
take forever
. At best
walking around
the cliff
would be a way for Syrdian to
continue climbing the mountain. But
Dex would then have to
fly back to
visit the cave alone to
scavenge
supplies
so that Syrdian didn’t have to walk all the way back to the cave area
.

Dex coasted in to a landing next to Syrdian. It pleased
himr
to see that Syrdian had built a respectable little fire in front of a recess in the cliff face
that resembled
a shallow
roofless
cave.
When
Syrdian had seemed so pathetic at first
,
Dex’s infatuation had withered. But now that Syrdian displayed more capability and competence Dex found himr
very
attractive
again.
Syrdian had spitted the annoying flyers
hie’d collected during their trek
and suspended them over
the flames
to cook. Dex
sucked
a little air
in
over hies olfactory patches and the smell made
hies
mouth water.
Syrdian said, “Did you find a place for me to climb up?”

“No and then it started getting to
o
dim to see well so I came back. I’ll look again in the morning but I wondered if you could climb up one of these trees if we cut it so it leaned up against the cliff face?”

Syrdian tilted hies he
ad, “Climb a tree? I don’t know.
I’ve never tried.
But I’ll
try it now.” Hie walked to a nearby tre
e and looked up along the trunk. After a moment to gather resolve
,
hie reached up and s
a
nk claws into the bark. Raising hies left foot hie sunk a set of toe claws in too, Pulling up with hies arms Syrdian surged up and pulled hies right foot up to try to sink its claws too. Suddenly the claws on the left foot ripped the bark loose. The sudden weight on hies hand claws ripped
them
loose too
. As Syrdian fell back
,
hies wings ascended to beat for some lift and prevent a fall.

Behind Syrdian Dex shouted “No!
Hie
stepped forward, catching Syrdian beneath the wings with both arms.
Hies
primary
intention
was to prevent Syrdian’s wing beat
ing
and possibl
y
tearing the sutured lacerations. Dex, however, felt overcome to be holding Syrdian’s
body to
hies
. W
arm, firm, wonderful Syrdian.
The Syrdian that Dex ha
d dreamed of holding for years now.

Syrdian turned hies head to look at Dex with
hies
fore eyes. “Thanks Dex, I’m OK now.”

With a start Dex let Syrdian go. “Sorry, you scared me.”

“I
frightened
m
yself
too! I appreciate you catching me and keeping me from
tearing
my wings.
I don’t think I should climb this type of tree though.”

“You’re right, let’s try a couple of other kinds to see if their bark is more secure.”

Dex and Syrdian walked around
to several different types of trees, sinking in their claws and pulling. The bark ripped off fairly readily
from every type they tried. Dex shrugged hies wings, “Oh well, I was worried about how hard it would be to cut a tree so it would lean against the cliff anyway. Let’s eat, maybe we’ll think of something during the night. If not, I’ll fly the cliff again tomorrow and find a place for you to climb no matter how far it is.”

Syrdian said, “You’ll think of something.”

Dex thought that Syrdian’s statement
displayed an
unrealistic faith in Dex’s abilities
;
but
it gave
himr
a warm feeling.

Not as good as holding Syrdian in
hies
arms though.

Syrdian handed himr a couple pieces of flyer and
hie
took a bite. Hies eyes widened,
these flyers may be annoying but they’re tasty!
Hie wondered about hiking
into
the forest with a branch in the future
just to try
to bring some
flyers
down. Maybe even some of the flyers that didn’t attack?
Could
there be some way to catch some of them? Some kind of snare? Hie took some more pieces of flyer Syrdian held out to
himr
as hie tried unsuccessfully to picture a snare that could catch a flyer.
Hie
couldn’t imagine
catching
one of the small flyers, they were much too
agile
and would easily dodge such attempt
s
.
Hie
wondered a moment about
trying to put a trap
on
their nests, but the nests hie’d seen were high in trees in thick branches that a dalin couldn’t
fly into
.
Hie
’d just learned that
hie
couldn’t climb trees
very well.

Dex and Syrdian finished eating the three small flyers that night and
they talked a little while. Syrdian said, “It’s getting pretty hot. I sure hope you’re right about it being cooler higher up the mountain.”

“I
know
it’s cooler
.
I’m
worried about what we’ll eat up there.” A
s they drifted off to sleep Dex wondered what they would eat in the morning.

***

Ell’s car dropped her off a couple of blocks from Vic’s new club in Carrboro. As the car headed off to park
,
Ell pulled her hoodie up over her ball cap and started down the sidewalk. She appreciated the brisk evening air since it made the
hoodie seem reasonable attire. She smiled to see a dispirited line waiting beside the ticket booth. Ell stepped up to the window and cleared her throat. The man in the booth uncrossed his arms and
pointed to
the “Sold Out” sign, “Gotta wait in line for someone to leave.”
Ell
leaned close to the window, “I think you’re holding a ticket for me?”

He rolled his eyes, “Name?”

“Donsaii.”

His stool, propped back on its rear legs
,
dropped
forward, “Sorry
,
Ms. Donsaii! W
e’ve been
hoping
you’d come!” Since she was only twenty, he issued her a red, “non-drinking,” wrist band
,
then popped the door open.

Ell wandered in and headed to the bar for a Coke. Velos seemed to be on break. The place was packed but not as noisy as she would have expected. Coke in hand, she looked around and realized the
diminished sound level
came from
all
the sound absorbent materials
covering
the walls. The crowd seemed boisterous and people were talking just as loud as you might expect from a vibrant throng, it just didn’t echo around.
Instead
of struggling to understand
people
in the
normal
cacophon
y of a crowded bar scene she could hear them clearly.

She leaned up against a post and watched the crowd. To her amusement the couple beside her were arguing about whether Velos sounded great because they were “an awesome band,” or whether they sounded great because
“
the acoustics in this place are amazing.” Ell was just happy that the consensus was that “they
and/or the place
sounded great.”
She saw Emma and Joe Chan standing near the dance floor. Joe
wasn’t staggering,
making
Ell
think that he hadn’t had anything to drink.

Though the stage remained empty, the guitar lick from the intro to Velos’ new hit single “
Al
ive at the End of the World” came over the PA. Ell surreptitiously looked around, surprised that they would play a recording of their hottest song
at one of their live shows
.
The lick repeated itself, then again. A spotlight up on the stage faded on and slowly pivoted around until it pointed out over the crowd. It gradually drifted to the right wall and then down until it lit the curly red hair of someone facing the wall. Gordon slowly turned around and the spot expanded to reveal his guitar in his hands as he stroked the lick again.
The crowd went wild, hooting enthusiastically. T
he next time
Gordon
played the lick, the bass came in on it
too
. Another spot came on, swung slowly around the club and focused on the bass player
standing over on the left wall of the club. They cycle
d through the intro licks again. T
hen the snare began to pop on the backbeat
. Another spot came up on the drummer who’d mounted the stage while everyone was focused out front. He brought in
the powerful thump of the kick drum on the one and the three.
The lights snapped off and the music paused for a four beat. Ell felt the tension building in the crowd as a long sustained note faded in on the Hammond D3
organ
. As another spot faded in on the keyboard player he began arpeggiating the same chord that the intro guitar lick covered.
A spot faded in on Gordon, now standing in the middle of the dance floor
beside
a mike on a stand. He leaned into the mike whispering the words of the first verse; Ell felt goosebumps at the eerie sound of the whispered verse over the
Hammond
. The words paused and Gordon played the guitar lick again, then the entire band came thundering in on the chorus while the crowd went even crazier than they had when Gordon first appeared in the spot.

Standing in the shadows,
Ell pulled the hoodie back far enough to be sure it didn’t affect her hearing. The music was loud! She felt the thump of the kick drum resonat
ing
in her chest. Gordon’s traditional rough guitar sound was powerful to the point of being intimidating. Yet everything sounded so clear! Ell shook her head in amazement—she’d never heard live music sound so good.

When the song had faded away to enthusiastic applause Ell slowly became aware of a large presence on her right. She glanced over and saw Vic grinning at her. “
Ms. Donsaii, thank you for coming
—and thank you for what you did for us all, as the President reminded us in th
at
ceremony
.
” He waved around the club,
“
What do you think?”