The Stars Blue Yonder (12 page)

Myell reached the other side and started back.

“I told you to wait!” he said over the rain as he drew close.

“I can do it myself!” she shouted back.

Which was exactly when her right foot slipped out from under her. She lost both her balance and grip. Her right knee slammed into a support beam, her left leg slid over the water, and something twisted deep in her left hip.

She was dimly aware of Myell grabbing her under her arms but he seemed distant, dreamlike. Maybe she had also hit her head. Twig was saying, “Nana! Nana!,” and Myell said, “Keep going. I've got her.”

Jodenny couldn't see much in the darkness but the pain in her right knee and left hip were like burning bonfires, hot and red. She felt Myell lift her. She didn't envy him that, not considering how heavy and ungainly she'd gotten with the baby.

The baby. She couldn't feel it kicking or moving at all, and fear made her gasp out against Myell's neck.

“He's not moving,” she said.

“Easy.” His broad hand cupped the back of her head. “She's fine. You're both okay.”

“She?” Jodenny asked.

“Sssh,” he said, and then they were moving again through the darkness and rain. “Let me do all the work.”

He sounded worried and that made her feel bad, because she hadn't wanted him to come all the way from the dead just to fret over her. Still, it was a relief to rest her head against his shoulder. She felt cherished and warm despite the pain in her knee and hip. Myell was murmuring again, soothing words that slowly took on a harder edge.

“It's okay, you're okay, but I need you to wake up now. Open your eyes, Jodenny.”

She thought her eyes already were open. Jodenny forced the lids apart and instantly regretted it. Light stabbed at her from the flashlight. She, Myell, and Twig were crammed into some dark sloping enclosure that smelled like mud and old leaves, and the ground was hard beneath her. She was resting with her back against Myell, who was in turn wedged up against a stone wall with Twig at his side. Junior was quiet, but when she poked her side he kicked back.

“There's no room for a real fire,” Myell said, apologetic. “But we've got a heat globe.”

From one of his pockets he produced a crystal ball and set it down on the dirt. A moment later, the ball flared red and began emitting a comforting warmth. She had seen some of those before, though she couldn't remember where.

“Where did you get that?” Jodenny asked.

Myell's answer was indistinct.

“A what?” Jodenny asked.

“Gift shop,” Myell said.

Twig said, “Kyle stole it. On Kiwi. Uncle Terry, I'm starving.”

Jodenny had been to Kiwi before, with Osherman. She pushed aside the memory and said, “There are some apples in my beach bag.”

Twig immediately began rummaging.

“How do you feel?” Myell asked.

“Confused,” she said. “Where did you come from? Why does she call you her uncle?”

“Well,” Myell said slowly, “we've sort of been coming from all over. There's a blue ouroboros. It drags us this way and that way, from the future to the past and back again.”

She stared at him in disbelief.

He put his hand on her belly. “This is Lisa. She'll get married one day and Twig is hers.”

“But—” Jodenny started, then stopped. She'd told Ensign Collins not to tell her the baby's gender. She said she wanted it to be a surprise. Yet she was sure it was a little boy.

“I want my mom,” Twig said, around the bits of apple in her mouth. She wiped at her eyes with a dirty hand. “We haven't been home in weeks and weeks.”

Jodenny said, “Come here, lie with me,” until the girl nestled against her chest. Jodenny stroked Twig's hair, soothing out knots. “Is Kyle your brother?”

“Cousin,” Myell said. “How's your leg? Did you break anything?”

“No, I'm fine,” she said, which was mostly true. She still hurt from the fall but not too badly. The heat globe was warm and her clothes were beginning to dry out. Myell was a comfortable cushion beneath her.

Myell asked, “Are they going to come looking for you? From town?”

“They shouldn't,” Jodenny said. “I'm supposed to be at the Outpost. Where's my gib?”

He held it up. “I think it broke when you fell on it.”

So it had. Jodenny put it aside and instead traced the line of Myell's jaw with her fingers. So strong, always so strong for her. She moved closer to kiss him, awakening the fire in her knee and hip. The baby chose that moment to kick so hard that Twig jerked backward.

“I felt that!” Twig said.

“He kicks a lot at night,” Jodenny said, gasping around the discomfort. “Or she, I guess. You're sure it's a girl?”

Myell kissed her forehead “A daughter. Lisa.”

Twig said, “Mom's the town doctor. In the future.”

Jodenny's goosebumps rose again. That the unborn daughter in her womb would one day have this daughter was an idea too bizarre to contemplate.

Myell shifted. “Kyle's still out there. I have to go look for him.”

“No.” Jodenny clutched his arm as fear flared in her, bright and cold. “You can't go.”

Carefully he slid out from beneath her, though he couldn't really go far with his arm trapped under her fingers. He met her gaze squarely. “I have to. He's only thirteen years old. He could be hurt or stuck somewhere.”

“And he has to be back before we leave,” Twig said.

The fear inside Jodenny transmuted into a full-fledged panic. “Leave for where?”

“We're not going anywhere,” Myell said firmly, with a pointed look at Twig. “Don't scare her.”

“The ring comes and takes us away,” Twig said. “Whether we want it to or not.”

Jodenny said, “I'm coming with you,” but when she tried to move her hip and knee both flared into hotness.

“Kay, listen to me.” Myell crouched low. “I have to find Kyle. I'll be back as soon as I do. You and Twig will be fine here until I get back.”

Twig shook her head vehemently. “No! I want you to stay.”

“You're not going anywhere,” Jodenny insisted.

Myell kissed her cheek, his breath hot. “I have to. He's just a kid. I can't leave him out there. I'll be back right away, I promise.”

Jodenny had never met Kyle. He was just an idea, an abstract grandson. And right now Myell was more important than he was, even if that made her the worst grandmother in the galaxy. She was sure her feelings showed on her face, because Myell cupped both cheeks and kissed her again. Hard and claiming, his lips tasting like salt.

“The sooner I go, the sooner I'll be back,” Myell said. “I promise.”

He was a damned liar, of that she was sure. He was going to walk out of the cave and out of her life again, and Jodenny couldn't do anything to stop him. She let go of his arm and wiped at her watery eyes.

“You better be,” she said, her voice cracking.

Myell gave her a shaky smile, grabbed the flashlight, and stepped over Twig to exit into the rain.

Jodenny turned her attention to her granddaughter.

“Tell me about this ring,” she said. “Tell me everything.”

The torrential rain had eased to a steady cold drizzle. Myell didn't worry too much about it. Wet was wet and no amount of complaining
would make it better. He eased himself carefully down the slope outside the river caves and started back across the bridge.

“Kyle!” he yelled out. “Answer me!”

If the kid was smart, he'd have found some kind of shelter for himself and holed up until the storm passed. The possibility existed that he'd hiked all the way to Providence in a quest to find help, though things hadn't gone well there in the last eddy they'd swung through. It was hard to say what Kyle would do, however. He was stubborn to the point of muleheadedness, like his grandfather. Wouldn't accept a helping hand unless he was dying. Maybe not even then.

The dark trees whipped back and forth, and the wind drove water into Myell's eyes. He tried wiping them clear but rain filled them up just as fast again. His shoes squelched in the mud.

“Kyle!” he yelled again.

He made it over the hill and down again, following the river upstream through thick woods. Myell kept his arms wrapped over his chest and tried to think of warm memories, sun, deserts, barren hot wastelands, anything but this sodden forest and wretched storm. He slipped and went down hard, and rested for a moment in the cold mud with his face turned to the rain. He was drenched and uncomfortable but in a way the weather was better than explosions, than people dying or being disappointed in him.

A face appeared over him.

“What are you doing?” Kyle asked, scornfully.

“Nothing,” Myell forced out. “Looking for you.”

“I'm right here.”

Myell hauled himself up and nearly banged up against Kyle's companion. Osherman, drenched as they were, his face startling white in a lightning strike. Osherman gazed at him without any sign of familiarity. Myell might as well have been a total stranger. True enough, they hadn't spent much time together on the
Aral Sea
. But they'd been trapped in the Wondjina network together for a short time, and the lack of recognition was unnerving.

“I got Grandpa,” Kyle said. “So he could help. Where's Twig?”

“What did you tell him?” Myell asked.

“Everything. He believes me.”

That was in doubt. Myell knew that this Osherman couldn't talk yet. It would be a long time before the effects of his Roon captivity wore off enough for him to start communicating. But he'd come with Kyle into the woods, so that was something.

“How did you convince him?” Myell asked.

“Birthmark. We've got the same one.”

“What birthmark?”

“Wouldn't you like to know,” Kyle said, and there was a definite sneer in his voice. “Where's Twig?”

“This way,” Myell said.

On the muddy, wet hike back to the cave Myell imagined a dozen different ways Jodenny and Twig could have come to harm in the short time he'd been away. Maybe the water had dislodged mud and rocks, sending down a torrent to bury them alive. They'd be entombed in that hillside forever, like he was in his grave on a hill on the other side of the valley. Or maybe the fall had made Jodenny go into premature labor or start hemorrhaging, or done some other harm.

He hurried onward, careful to make sure Kyle was keeping up but less worried about Osherman. Occasional thunder shook the air and trees, but by the time they reached the caves the rain had thoroughly abated. Myell scrabbled up the hill, sure of the worst, but Jodenny and Twig were both sleeping peacefully.

“Thank you,” Myell said aloud, and Jodenny opened her eyes.

“Hey,” she said. “You okay?”

He couldn't help a crooked smile. “Fine. I brought company,”

Osherman and Kyle squeezed into the cave behind Myell. Jodenny blinked at Osherman several times. “How'd you get here?”

“Kyle,” Myell replied.

Osherman retreated as far as he could without actually leaving the cave. He slid down to a wary, hunched crouch. Kyle met Jodenny's gaze and said, “We brought stuff from your house. In case we couldn't get back in the storm.”

Jodenny sat up. “You're Kyle?”

He nodded, hesitant.

“It's nice to meet you,” Jodenny said, and to Myell she sounded sincere. “What stuff did you bring?”

Kyle distributed blankets, clothing, and food as if it were Christmas morning. Myell almost woke Twig, but decided to let her sleep a while longer. Osherman remained as far apart from them as the small space permitted. In the light of the heat globe, he and Kyle resembled father-son more than grandfather-grandson. They had the same narrow face and long nose, and chins that could take a solid punch. Myell could see Jodenny staring at them.

He opened up a tube of analgesic healing cream from the ship's infirmary and said, “How's your knee and hip? Some of this might help.”

“A lot of that might help,” Jodenny agreed. She wasn't deterred off the topic, though. “Twig said you two are cousins, Kyle. Who's your mom?”

Myell tried to shoot Kyle a warning look, but Kyle ignored him.

“My mom's named Teresa,” he said. “She's your other daughter.” Jodenny caught Myell's fingers just as they started to spread the cream. “How can we have another child?”

“Not
his
,” Kyle said. “Him. Grandpa Osherman.”

Osherman, busy staring at Jodenny, didn't react at all. Myell felt a flush go through his face for no good reason at all. Jodenny smiled uncertainly, and cupped her belly as if to protect it.

“That's not possible,” she finally said.

Myell smoothed the salve on her knee, trying to be careful with the swollen, tender skin. “It sort of is. In the future.”

“You marry him later.” Kyle shook out a blanket and wrapped himself up in it. “And my mom is Teresa, your daughter. And she marries my dad, and here I am, and then he showed up, and we've been jerked around in time ever since.”

The “he” of Kyle's bitterness was Myell himself, who capped the analgesic and tucked it into his pocket. “That's about right. Look, it's late. We're all tired and with this weather, we're not going anywhere. Can we talk about everything in the morning?”

Jodenny gripped Myell's hand. “Twig says the ring comes for you every twenty-four hours, sometimes less. How do I know you'll still be here in the morning?”

He smoothed the hair from her forehead. “We're not going anywhere. I promise. Close your eyes, and I'll be here when you wake up.”

She curled up against his side. Myell tried to tell himself that he hadn't just lied to her. Osherman stared at him, eyes burning and bright, from the other side of the cave. Outside, the rain picked up again and began battering against the hillside.