Chapter 27 
            After a year of adjusting to their new home, life had settled into a comfortable pattern for Empyrean’s pioneers. Exploring parties came and went on foot at regular intervals, and those citizens who expressed an interest were given opportunities to take aerial tours within a half-day flight radius of the developing community. The tours were kept to a single day due to the reliance on solar power for all of their energy and no one wanted to get stranded too far from the settlement. 
            The field outside of the silver grove had become a busy little town, and a well beaten path ran from the larger field through the orchard to the inner field where the warm pools resided. The settlement had been named Polaris by popular vote, with only a few groans. The men and women once of Earth and recent colonists of Empyrean now considered themselves experts on all things having to do with space and its components. 
            On the ground, discoveries were made by the hour. People clamored to have organisms or landmarks named after them; or to at least be able to choose a name. With so many objects and places to be categorized everyone got their wish, which led to quite an eclectic dictionary. 
            As prosperity and hope returned people were also finding themselves thinking beyond basic survival. They once again had the luxury of considering their future, however brief it may be, and no one wants to see themselves alone in that future. Love was blossoming faster than the first fruits of the new season, for most. 
            “I think we need some rules around here, and the first one that I’m proposing is that that should be done inside.” Magnar grumbled and pointed, not bothering to be furtive, to a couple kissing passionately beneath a tree, equally indiscreet. 
            “Aww, you’re just jealous.” Kato said with a wink, himself being one of the recently enamored. 
            Magnar gave him a glare that would have silenced anyone else. 
            “Seriously, isn’t there anyone that you’re interested in?” Kato raised his eyebrows and cut his eyes back and forth between Magnar and Jahira. 
            Jahira, walking on Kato’s right, placed a hand on his arm and shook her head slightly when he glanced back; she thought she knew why this was a touchy issue for Magnar but she was still concerned about the violence of that glare. There had been couples in the compound and he’d never been so vehemently opposed to their public displays of affection. 
            Magnar had been acting strange in general lately, more distant if that were possible, and uncharacteristically surly. He also looked as though he hadn’t slept in a month. Jahira didn’t think that he was upset about Trevelyan’s interest in her, but she couldn’t figure out why else he suddenly seemed to be avoiding her. Of all the survivors, Magnar was the only one who seemed to be growing more bitter since their arrival on this planet. Perhaps he was just one of those people who needed everyone else to be as miserable as he was, and now that they were not he didn’t know where he fit. She really needed to find some time to talk to him. 
            Now was not that time. 
            The trio, followed by seven more individuals, had drawn gather duty today. Aside from searching out the known edible plants to begin storing for the anticipated winter, Medic had been working on a variety of tinctures and had requested more of the vegetation that seemed to have useful medicinal properties. All ground expeditions consisted of parties of ten or more in hopes of preventing a run-in with one of the elusive predators of Empyrean whose dwelling and hunting grounds were still unknown. The rare glimpses of the animals had all been from the air, and the settlers had named the predators Shi cats. The name had started as Cheshire since all one saw was a tail here or flash of teeth there and then they were gone, but Cheshire was quite a mouthful, so eventually the nickname Shi cat became the common reference. 
            “What does this stuff look like again?” Kato asked as they approached the undergrowth of the dancing forest. 
            Jahira held up the dried specimens, sealed between two sheets of paper-thin but unbendable plastic, for the whole party to examine again before they began picking. 
            It was a beautiful day. A few puffy clouds drifted slowly across the sky and though the average daily temperature was growing cooler it was still comfortable at mid-day. The planets primary sun was almost directly overhead now. The secondary sun was not visible at this pole of the planet this time of year, but would be faintly visible in four more months according to Rylan’s simulation. 
            Jahira was excited by the prospect of seeing two suns in the sky. Rylan said it would be so far away that it would just look like a star does at night, but visible in the day. Whatever, it would still be amazing after years of never seeing the sun at all. Oddly, both suns would be visible when the cold season began, but according to Rylan that was due to the fact that the primary sun moved farther away from the planet on its own tight orbital pattern. He had happily gone into the intricate details but Jahira had zoned out partway through the explanation. Maybe she would ask him again sometime. 
            Jahira filled her basket quickly, one which she had woven with her own hands from the long thick field grasses, and went to see how the others were doing. It didn’t take long for all ten gatherers to reach the maximum capacity of their various containers. They returned to the settlement after only a couple of hours. 
            Medic was, as usual, in the laboratory aboard The Last Hope but was not accompanied, which was unusual, by Rylan. Medic had set up a small workspace within his own dwelling among the other settlers, but his most sophisticated equipment was still attached to the ship or linked to the ship’s computer. He was currently surrounded by numerous simmering beakers and looked up from his data screen as the gatherers entered the lab. 
            “Fantastic!” Medic exclaimed as he rifled through the various leafy acquisitions and began sorting the ones he needed. “Thank you all very much.” 
            Nine of the collectors left to either take their edibles to the commons to prepare them for storage, or to return to the community. Jahira remained behind. 
            “How are all of the experiments going Medic?” Jahira asked. 
            “Great! The properties of the organisms on this planet are fascinating. It will certainly take much longer than the remainder of my lifetime to determine all the possible applications of even a few of these plants.” He replied as he adjusted the position of several beakers to move them away from the heat source. 
            “Um, I was wondering, could I ask you a question?” Jahira said. 
            “You just did,” Medic replied with a smile; “and yes, you can ask another.” 
            “I was wondering if Magnar had come to see you at all, or if you’d noticed anything wrong with him?” 
            “No, he hasn’t come to see me or talk to me. I really haven’t spent that much time around him to notice if something was wrong. What have you noticed?” 
            “Well, he’s just been acting odd. He’s very distracted, more irritable than normal, and he looks horrible.” 
            “Hmm, I’ll make a point to pay more attention.” 
            “Thanks. Well, I’ll let you get back to work.” 
            “Alright, take care Jahira.” 
            “You too Medic.” 
            As Jahira walked out the exit door of the laboratory, she was nearly knocked over by a man running full tilt down the hallway. 
            “Hey!” Jahira said, steadying herself against the wall as she identified her assailant. 
            “Is Medic in there?” Corvus asked. 
            “Yeah.” Jahira replied shortly, still a bit miffed. 
            “My wife’s sick, I need Medic.” Corvus turned without apology into the medical lab and Jahira wanted to follow him to see what the problem was, but didn’t want to be rude. So, she made her way to the ramp, exited the ship, and turned toward the settlement. 
            Medic and Corvus passed her at a jog as she was walking down the beaten path between the ship and the closest dwellings. She didn’t run after them but she did pick up her pace. When she approached the sod house where Medic slept, she saw Medic kneeling beside Sidra who was sitting in the dirt with her back against the wall of Medic’s home. Corvus was at her side and holding her hand. Medic listened to Sidra’s heart and lungs, checked her pulse, and asked several questions. She had apparently vomited several times since she woke up. Medic asked Sidra and Corvus to return to the lab with him so that he could run a few more tests to rule out the various possibilities. The worried couple followed him back into the ship. 
            “What do you suppose is wrong with her?” 
            Jahira jumped at the voice, she hadn’t heard anyone approaching, and turned to see Magnar. 
            “I don’t know.” Jahira replied. “She said she threw up; maybe just some bad food?” 
            “Let’s hope that’s all it is.” 
            “Hey, do you have a minute to talk?” Jahira asked tentatively, deciding to take advantage of this rare opportunity. Magnar was present, and they were alone. 
            “Sure.” Magnar replied with just as much hesitation. 
            “Jahira! There you are! You’ve got to come see this!” Tala was running through the maze of dwellings toward the pair from the direction of the river and waving at them to join her. 
            Jahira sighed and moved to follow Tala; Magnar did not move. 
            “Are you coming?” Jahira asked after she glanced behind her and realized that Magnar was not following. 
            “No, I’ve got some other stuff to do, you go ahead.” Magnar replied and turned to head deeper into the orchard. 
            Jahira frowned and was about to follow him, but Tala, who had just reached Jahira’s side,  grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the river. 
            Tala led Jahira across the stepping stones that had been placed in a narrow section of the river and up the other side to the east bank where ground was being broken for a new dwelling. So far the settlers had only built on the west side of the river, but apparently someone decided they needed a bit more privacy, or a bigger yard, or who knew what else. Tala walked up to the edge of the large square of bare dirt that had been exposed when the builders removed a section of the thick topsoil for the walls of a sod house. Rylan and one of his assistants were already in the shallow hole kneeling beside a long piece of grayish-white substance and were carefully brushing dirt away from the find. 
            “When we pulled up this section of ground, there was a skull underneath!” Tala spoke in an awed whisper. 
            “A skull?” Jahira repeated in disbelief. 
            “Yeah, Rylan’s blocking it right now, but it looks almost human!” Tala replied. 
            “Almost human?” Jahira repeated after Tala again, not fully able to form a coherent thought. 
            “Can you believe it? There might be people already here! Or maybe there just used to be since we haven’t seen any, and the probe didn’t either, but whatever, isn’t that crazy!” Tala’s voice was growing louder in her excitement and Rylan gave her an irritated look. 
            Tala apologized but giggled when Rylan looked away. 
            “That is amazing!” Jahira said in a low whisper. “Why do you suppose we haven’t seen any signs of people? It must not have been that long ago if some of the bones are still that close to the surface, right?” 
            “Who knows? It’s kind of exciting though don’t you think?” Tala replied. 
            “Yes; a bit unnerving though.” 
            “Well, yeah, a little bit. But we haven’t seen anyone, maybe they don’t live nearby, or maybe they’re friendly.” Tala responded. 
            “Maybe you could take your discussion elsewhere.” Rylan said, not glancing up from his work. 
            “Oh Rylan, you don’t need silence to dig!”  Tala replied. 
            The two women did back away a bit, but it didn’t matter much anymore. Word had spread quickly and a crowd was gathering around the site. General Thayer worked his way through from the back of the throng and Rylan looked pleadingly at him. 
            “General, could you please keep everyone away, this is the most important discovery that we’ve made! I don’t want it to get damaged, and there may be more remains near this one.” 
            “Yes, it is an important discovery and that is why the entire community deserves to be a part of it.” General Thayer responded, though he did raise his voice and ask the crowd to stay out of the digging area to allow Rylan and his team room to work unhindered. Rylan appeared only slightly mollified and glared at the crowd anytime dirt fell into the square of bare earth from someone who leaned in to close. 
            Spectators came and went throughout the day, and by evening a good section of torso complete with a spinal column and rib cage lay exposed against the dark soil. Rylan finally stopped working several hours past sunset. He staked a piece of the plastic sheeting that was being used for roofing over the work site and went to his tent to rest for a few hours. 
            The next day revealed arms, legs, long-fingered but recognizable hands, and wide feet. Rylan took numerous still pictures and videos of the skeleton and claimed that the lay of the body indicated that the spine had been severed near the base of the neck and both had remained in that position long enough to have been covered over many years rather than purposely buried. Jahira felt a sudden chill at this revelation. 
            The skeleton that was excavated was initially laid out for observation in the laboratory aboard The Last Hope. It had the same basic structure as a human but the proportions were different and there were more bones than a human skeleton; some that neither Medic nor Rylan could find a place for on the body that they felt confident about. The skull had a larger cranial surface than a human skull, but did have two eye sockets, a nasal cavity, and upper and lower jaw similar enough that it didn’t resemble the stereotypical idea of an alien. 
            Unfortunately none among the survivors specialized in archaeology so further insight into the life or people that left these remains was limited. A new work crew was formed and digging continued along the east bank of the river, but nothing else was immediately discovered. The idea of living there, however, was abandoned. 
            Meanwhile, neither Medic nor Rylan could find space to work among the constant crowd of observers, so J.D., as the settlers were now referring to the creature initially designated John Doe, was moved to the commons since no one used the space much anymore.  
            Curiosity eventually died down when no additional remains were found and the skeleton didn’t do anything but lay there. People moved on to the new worry of several community members falling ill since that first case which had been reported over a week ago now. Sidra, the first victim, had improved with the help of a few native plants which Medic had prescribed. The fact that she was going about her normal activities did much to alleviate the panic that might have overwhelmed many of the settlers. 
            There had been a few casualties over the last year, two people died from a reaction to an apparently poisonous plant, three from complications of illness or injury that they’d been dealing with on Earth and had been exacerbated by so many years in cold sleep, and one simply of old age. However, they had not yet had to face a viral or bacterial epidemic. 
            Jahira took heart in the fact that Medic seemed completely unruffled and had neither quarantined the individuals that he’d examined nor called for any special measures to prevent the spread of the bug. In fact, he seemed to have a bit more spring in his step. Perhaps he too had found someone to love? That thought was worth investigating. Jahira decided to watch more closely over the next few weeks as Medic made his usual rounds. 
            She observed him standing in doorways asking after each citizen’s health. He checked on supplies in each household, and was occasionally invited inside to share a meal, but he didn’t seem to linger overlong with any one person. Perhaps he was just happy. 
            Jahira wished that she could say the same for herself. It’s not that she was miserable by any means, just confused. She was still concerned about Magnar but she was having difficulty even finding him lately, let alone talking to him, and she didn’t know what to do about Trevelyan. He had made it very clear that he was interested in a permanent attachment, but Jahira wasn’t sure that was what she wanted. She liked Trevelyan, and given her limited choices he was one of the better ones, but something made her hesitate. It was getting more difficult to keep their relationship casual and Jahira could tell that Trevelyan was getting frustrated. Thinking of the whole issue was giving her a headache and she thought perhaps she should get more of Medic’s restorative tea. 
            Jahira didn’t find Medic in the settlement so she walked out to the ship, boarded, and took the ladder to the main level. When she arrived at the lab the door was closed. Jahira couldn’t remember the door ever being closed before and stood there for a moment not sure what to do. She noticed Rylan examining the skeleton in the commons across the hall and was about to go in and ask him when the door slid open. 
            Sidra and her husband Corvus walked out smiling and Medic followed them as far as the hallway, also smiling, before he stopped and waved goodbye. 
            “Jahira, how are you? Come on in.” Medic waved her into the room and followed her toward the first table. 
            “It looks like Sidra is doing well.” Jahira commented. 
            Medic’s smiled widened as he responded, “Yes, she’s doing very well.” 
            Jahira frowned, feeling like she was missing something.  She opened her mouth to ask but Medic got his question out first. 
            “Was there something I can help you with, or are you just visiting?” He asked as he cleared his data screen and moved a few slides around. 
            “I was hoping for some more of your famous tea if you have any dried leaves available.” Jahira responded. 
            “I am actually out at the moment but I asked the gatherers to get some more today, it has been in high demand of late. Are you not feeling well?” 
            “Oh, I’m fine, just a little headache.” She replied. 
            “Hmm, any nausea?” Medic asked his question with a smile, which seemed inappropriate, but Jahira just shook her head. 
            “OK, well I will probably have more the day after tomorrow if that will work for you. Or you could collect some of the leaves yourself. You’re welcome to come in and use the dehydrator. You could try making a tea from the fresh leaves though the taste is not as pleasant.” 
            “I’ll try that, thanks.” Jahira responded. “So, how are the rest of your patients if I may ask?” 
            Medic appeared to be thinking about how to respond when they both jumped at the sound of a shout from across the hall. Rylan came running into the lab, heading for a specimen on his desk, and yelling “They could fly! They could fly!”  waving his arms about as if to demonstrate his point. 
            “What are you talking about Rylan?”  Medic asked. 
            “The skeleton, the bones that we couldn’t fit, I don’t know why I didn’t see it before!” 
            “I’m still not following.” Medic said. 
            Rylan paused and took a breath. “The additional bones that we discovered with the skeleton are for wings! I have been working on the dissection of this avian species and when I returned to the native’s remains it just clicked. The bones are nearly a perfect match to the bird, but much much larger. Whoever lived here before, they could fly.” 
            “Are you sure?” Jahira asked. 
            “Yes, yes, come look.” 
            Jahira and Medic followed Rylan across the hall and helped him pull more tables alongside the one on which the skeleton rested. They watched as he arranged the bones and then showed them the arrangement on his avian specimen as compared to the person. It was quite convincing. 
            “That’s amazing.” Jahira said. 
            “Truly. I do wish that we could find more so that I could compare and learn more about them.” Rylan commented. 
            Rylan took more pictures and made several notes on his portable data screen as Jahira walked around the tables studying the layout of the wing bones. 
            “What do you think they looked like?” She asked. 
            “Well, I’ve been running a variety of simulations based on bone density, height, and skeletal structure, but they’ll be dramatically different with wings. Of course, the models look more human than the species may have actually been since I programmed skin like ours as the outer layer.” Rylan brought up several images on his data screen of the possibilities. They all just looked like distorted humans and Jahira felt that somehow that didn’t fit the type of being that she imagined in this place. 
            “Hmm, well, I guess we’ll never know.” She said. 
            “There’s still quite a bit of planet that we haven’t explored.” Medic said. “Perhaps we just haven’t encountered them yet.” 
            “But all of our readings indicated that we’ve landed in the most hospitable region, we haven’t noticed any signs of an intelligent species, and Rylan said it was too cold to survive on the third continent.” Jahira stated. 
            “True, but much of this continent is thick forest with mountains to the north, and we haven’t done much exploring on the continent to the south. It would be fairly easy to hide if they wanted to avoid us.” Medic replied. 
            “Or they may have died out long before we ever arrived. There are so many possibilities that it’s not even worth guessing until we have more information.” Rylan replied. 
            “Yeah, I guess I’ll leave you to it. I’m going to try to find some of those tea leaves.” Jahira said as she walked toward the door. 
            The two men waved goodbye and resumed their documentation of the skeletal remains. 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Chapter 28 
            A cool breeze was blowing from the north, causing the long grass to ripple like waves on the sea as Sidra and Corvus walked back toward their home. Corvus placed his arm protectively around Sidra’s shoulders and rubbed her arms as goose-bumps appeared on her flesh. Sidra leaned into his embrace and smiled. 
            She was going to have a baby! 
            Even after hearing her baby’s heartbeat, which Medic assured her was supposed to be that fast, it seemed so surreal. Aside from feeling a bit nauseous if she didn’t eat as soon as she woke, she didn’t feel that different. Not as different as she thought she should feel anyway. It was just so hard to believe. 
            There was no ultrasound equipment aboard the ship that Medic felt would be safe for the fetus, who would have thought they would need it? So, there was no visual evidence of the little person growing inside of her. Sidra thought that it might be easier to believe it she could see the little peanut. 
            Corvus kissed the top of her head where her chestnut hair was finally growing out after the weekly shavings she’d endured in the shelter on Earth. The tickle of the short strands against the tips of her ears made Sidra frown. She’d hoped that Medic would know some procedure to choose the baby’s hair and eye color, as well as a few other minor genetic adjustments, like her parents had done, but he’d said he could not. Not only did he lack the training and equipment, but he claimed that it was too late, that those decisions had already been made. 
            Oh well, Sidra thought, I’m going to have a baby! 
            Medic had warned her that she was not very far along and though he was optimistic considering she’d gotten pregnant in the first place, there was still a chance of losing the baby. Therefore, he cautioned her not to begin telling people until there was a bit more certainty for survival, but she had to tell Cass. Besides, Cass had been complaining of some of the same symptoms lately, maybe they would have babies together! 
            Sidra slid her arms around Corvus’ waist and squeezed. For the first time since their arrival on this planet, she was genuinely glad that she had come. 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
Chapter 29 
            Magnar inched his way deeper into the hollow that had become his personal hell. He moved each limb separately and painfully until he felt his fingertips brush against a smooth hard surface and he curled his body into a fetal position against the dark inner trunk of the ancient tree. He had discovered the spot on a solitary expedition not long after that first drink and had returned regularly in an attempt to maintain some shred of dignity. 
             Magnar had discovered that he had a small window of time in which he could function normally before he longed for another draught from the silver pool. It took nearly two weeks that first time for the whisper of Amara’s voice to return when he knelt at the shore of the pond. He’d spent an entire night just lying in the grass and listening until he’d finally dozed off near sunrise. When he did wake a new voice, one that he could not understand, chanted to the rhythm of his pounding skull. When he tried to move away from the pool the voice and the pounding rose to a pitch that brought him to his knees. He had crawled back to the shore, lowered his face into the pool, and drank deeply. One of the other citizens had discovered him lying there a full day later and shook him awake. When he’d opened his eyes his head was no longer pounding but there were now two voices that were not his own whispering in the back of his mind. 
            Each time that he abstained, the pain returned more quickly. Each time that he drank a new voice joined the chorus in his head. Magnar eventually settled into a routine. He had two days of relative normalcy, so long as he was not within the central field that held the ponds. After those two days he would spend most of an evening on the shore of the pool listening to Amara’s soft voice. At dawn he would fill his canteen before returning to his hollow and here he would wait as long as he was able before taking another drink. Each time he tried to resist, assuming that if he could wait long enough the pain and the unfamiliar voices would go away entirely, but each time he proved too weak and would end up downing the canteen and falling into a dreamless oblivion. The next day he was rewarded with a clear head, but burdened by a guilty conscience.  
            He was currently on the fifth day from his last drink and he barely felt in possession of his own body. His very marrow ached and seemed to strain toward the orchard, his head was a dance of foreign voices shrieking in unrecognizable tongues, but all apparently commanding him to return and drink. Magnar was not sure why he continued to resist but some part of him wanted to fight the voices that he had come to believe were fighting for his soul. 
            
 
 
 
 
 
Chapter 30 
            Jahira tucked her hands under her arms to ward off the chill from the breeze that swept across the field as she made her way from the ship toward the dancing forest to the west.  It was growing steadily colder and a few people had resumed sleeping on the ship due to the long and sometimes frosty nights. Jahira continued to curl up in the bedroll in her tent that she’d staked slightly away from the main settlement along the edge of the silver grove, but she had added an extra blanket and she pulled both over her head to keep her nose from getting cold at night. She hated waking up from that feeling. 
            She had also followed the trend of cutting down her lifesuit and removing the hood so that she could use the upper body as a jacket; she wore that now but hadn’t thought it was cold enough to need the gloves. 
            It warmed slightly once she reached the shelter of the forest and began her search. Fortunately, the plant that she was looking for seemed to be a hardy little variety that continued to thrive through this autumnal weather.  This plant, which could be identified by its vibrant blue branches, had been heavily harvested. The bushes on the outskirts of the forest were stripped nearly bare. Fortunately she didn’t have to venture very far to find several still thick with leaves. Jahira picked quickly with frequent glances into the trees, filling her flight suit pockets with nervous energy. No one had spotted any of the Shi cats within several miles of the settlement, but she was still wary of being out by herself. As she filled a third pocket she was sure that she heard a moaning sound coming from deeper in the forest. She zipped the last pocket, rose quickly to her feet and quick-stepped back into the field as shivers chased up and down her spine. 
            Once out from under the eerie foliage she felt much more relaxed, but didn’t dawdle on her way back to her tent. Jahira glanced to her left at the grove of silver trees and marveled at the colors and the phenomenon of the alien vegetation. The silver trees which beckoned to her from the horizon were another mystery that the new residents could not unravel.  Now, during the third season on Empyrean, the orchard glowed with red fire atop evenly spaced silver standards and rich golden fruit hung heavy among the leaves. The settlers still had not discovered any means of cutting one of the trees or removing anything but the fruit. The leaves changed color but remained otherwise constant in size, shape, and orientation. The leaves never fell to the ground.   
            When the survivors had arrived the thick leaves of the trees had been yellow and the sweet red fruits had sustained them in the early weeks of their adjustment. After six months the red fruit had begun to shrivel, sending many into panic mode despite the fact that several other food sources had been discovered. Within a week any red bulbs which had not been picked from the branches were absorbed back into the trees. Meanwhile the leaves graduated from yellow to a deep green hue. The following week buds began to form on the stems that had previously held the red fruits and at the end of seven days bright blue orbs hung in place of the red. The same miracle occurred six months later changing the grove to its current red and gold. 
            As Jahira approached the orchard she noticed that the copper-winged insects still flitted through the leaves, though they seemed more methodical in their movements than they had in the warmer weather. She followed the flight of one in particular and noticed that it was plucking the tiny silver hairs from the leaves of the trees and attaching them to one of the branches. It appeared to be making some type of cocoon. 
            As she continued, Jahira tested her memory of the names of the various birds nesting among the branches and felt pretty good about remembering all but two of the species that she observed. As she neared her tent she realized that her headache was gone and decided that the walk combined with a little time to herself did even more for her than the tea would have. She thought she would try hanging the leaves in her house to dry instead of going to the ship to use the dehydrator. She wanted to rely as little as possible on the technology still available on board the starship. 
            As Jahira rounded the last curve of the grove and could see the odd assortment of structures that formed Polaris she caught sight of Sidra talking to three other women that Jahira had noticed coming and going from Medic’s clinic. They all seemed to be doing very well. They were smiling and talking, certainly not acting ill, then Sidra placed her hands on her abdomen to either side of her belly button and Jahira stopped in her tracks. She gasped as everything clicked and couldn’t believe she hadn’t realized sooner. The illness spreading through the settlement was pregnancy! All of the patients were female and Medic had asked if she was feeling nauseous, she couldn’t believe it! Jahira had never known anyone who had been pregnant so it had never occurred to her that that could be source of the mysterious outbreak, and Medic had suspected her because of her headache! Was that all there was to go by? She tried to recall any of the symptoms that Medic had described. 
            He had encouraged any residents to come and see him if they felt nauseous, vomited, felt overly tired, or experienced frequent headaches. Jahira tried to imagine how she would feel if she discovered that she was pregnant, and decided that she was infinitely relieved that things had not gone quite that far with Trevelyan, despite his obvious desire. 
            She continued toward her house and stopped when she noticed Trevelyan leaning against the frame of her tent. She wondered what to do now. Maybe he hadn’t seen her yet. She couldn’t talk to him right now, what if she slipped and he figured out what was going on? What if he’d already figured it out and that’s what he wanted to talk about? What would she say? She was about to duck behind the wall of the nearest house when Trevelyan spotted her and waved. Jahira closed her eyes for a moment and tried to focus on acting normally. Her headache suddenly returned with a vengeance, but she opened her eyes, smiled, and waved as she walked toward Trevelyan. 
            “Where have you been? I’ve been looking all over for you.” Trevelyan said as he took her hand and led her inside. 
            “I went to see Medic to get some tea leaves. He was out so I picked some myself.” 
            “You went into the forest alone?” Trevelyan asked with a frown. “I really wish you would’ve found me first so I could go with you. I don’t want you out there by yourself.” 
            “Yeah, I know, I should’ve done that.” Jahira pressed her fingers to her temples for a moment. 
            “Are you alright?” 
            “Of course, why do you ask?” 
            “You just seem a bit distant.” Trevelyan shrugged when Jahira did not respond and tried another approach. “What kind of leaves did you pick?” 
            Jahira took the leaves from her pocket and showed them to Trevelyan. 
            “Bluestem? I thought you said you were feeling alright.” 
            “I am, I just had a little headache, but it actually went away while I was picking. I’m fine.” She didn’t mention that it had come back twice as strong, or why. 
            “That’s one of the symptoms Medic mentioned. Is that why you went to see him? Are you sick?” Trevelyan took one of her hands in his and felt her forehead with his other. “Should we go back and see him now?” 
            Jahira fought down her rising panic and tried to appear unconcerned. 
            “No, really, I’m fine. It’s only a headache. I haven’t felt nauseous or experienced any other symptoms that he mentioned, honestly.” Jahira said this with enough conviction that Trevelyan relaxed. 
            “Ok, but if you do please tell me and we’ll go see him together.” 
            “Of course,” Jahira lied. “Now, what brought you to my doorstep?” 
            “I just wanted to see you. I feel like we keep missing each other lately, so I just waited, and it paid off. Here you are.” 
            “In the flesh.” Jahira replied, trying to sound flippant. 
            “Which is something else I would like to see more of,” Trevelyan responded as he ran a hand up Jahira’s arm and along the back of her neck. 
            Jahira experienced an involuntary full body flinch when Trevelyan leaned in to kiss her and Trevelyan dropped his hand and pulled back frowning. 
            “Something is wrong. What is it?” 
            “Nothing, I…” Jahira could tell that Trevelyan was not going to give in so easily this time and didn’t know what to say to prevent more questions. Then it dawned on her. 
            “I think I’m a little spooked. When I was talking to Medic, Rylan came running in and told us that the people that used to live here, the skeleton that we found, it had wings. They could fly! I just kept getting startled by all the birds flying around and the leaves fluttering while I was picking and I think it’s got me on edge. Sorry.” It was actually not a lie, and during the retelling Jahira realized that probably accounted for a good part of her uneasiness in the forest. 
            “The skeleton had wings? How did he find that out?” 
            Jahira relaxed and launched into the full story, exaggerating the details in order to drag out the telling, and finally convincing Trevelyan that he should really go and see for himself. She knew that he wouldn’t go without her so she feigned a keen interest in seeing the specimen again to encourage him. She sighed with relief when they walked out of her dwelling and she spent the entire walk trying to think of ways to keep Trevelyan preoccupied for the next few weeks. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Chapter 31 
            Krrnarr completed the consolidation of his supplies into one pack and swung the load onto his back. He secured the additional strap around his waist just above his belt, checked the knots that held his knife and spear, and then looked up and out across the sea. He had spotted the mountains to the south five sleeps ago and it had taken every ounce of his patience to wait and allow the currents to carry the llarro, and consequently its passenger, closer to the land. 
            Krrnarr had spent every waking moment of the last five suns either fishing or pacing. This morning he’d noticed a slight shift in the current and was relieved to finally have a reason to part ways with his island. Krrnarr spared one last glance back at the two smaller packs still secured to the hide of the llarro. He’d taken what he needed, but left some provisions. Perhaps the next season The Sacrifice would find the same llarro and know that one of The People had at least made it that far. He didn’t fully acknowledge his hope that Allnall was still out there somewhere and might yet find her way. Krrnarr turned his face toward the south, the bright sun of The Warm Land heating his insulated coat, and dove into the clear balmy salt water. 
            Krrnarr swam primarily underwater to avoid contending with the waves and to buoy the load on his back. He surfaced periodically for air as well as to check distance and direction. It was difficult to keep his pace steady when what he really wanted was to swim as hard as he could until he felt solid ground beneath his feet. Krrnarr distracted himself by observing the myriad of vibrantly colored marine life that inhabited these warmer waters. 
It had been many sleeps since he’d last caught a glimpse of the fish that he had grown up with, and as a result had discovered several new and tasty varieties. There were a large number of sea worms, fortunately none so big as the one that he and Allnall had watched swimming below them from the back of the llarro, but the worms here had bright spots or stripes covering the length of their bodies. The variety in the cold waters that he came from was a solid luminescent blue-white, like so many of the life forms that Krrnarr had known all of his life, until now. 
            As he drew closer to the shore the floor of the sea seemed to move as thousands of long tendrils waved back and forth with the pull of the water. Krrnarr was beginning to have some difficulty moving in one direction himself. He swam down and stabilized his movement with one hand along the bottom as he continued to kick toward the land. He used his free hand to clear a path through the thick weeds until he reached a point where it was shallow enough to stand. 
            Krrnarr placed his feet on the sandy floor of the sea and stood. His head and shoulders rose above the surface of the water and he stared ahead, trying to memorize the vision before him. The silvery waves lapped against a light brown shore which sloped gently upward until it met a thick wall of blue-green vegetation. The tangle of weeds and bushes grudgingly gave way to a forest of dark trunks which were capped with fluttering deep purple leaves. Far in the distance he could see the jagged snow-capped peaks of mountains piercing the clouds. He continued to stare straight ahead as he moved forward, stopping when his feet touched hot dry earth. He had made it to The Warm Land. 
            Krrnarr stood on the shore for a long time trying to absorb the reality of his arrival to the land of his ancestors. He had made it so far, but still had so far to go. According to Ellall he must cross the distant mountains and continue for many sleeps after through another forest of the living trees before he would reach the Allarra grove. She believed that the hunting would be good, and there were several rivers running out of the mountains and across this land filled with water that he could drink. 
            His first priority was to find some of that water. Krrnarr had two full bags, but it hadn’t rained since he’d spotted the mountains from the back of the llarro. He didn’t notice any channels running into the sea along the visible shoreline. He could see a good distance to the right, but to the left was a small peninsula that blocked his view. He decided to cross the peninsula to scout out the shore in that direction.  
            As he walked Krrnarr marveled at the warm sand shifting beneath his feet and the size and the heat of Allorkan pulsing in the sky. He had left his home on the warmest day in four seasons and it was still cold enough for an infant to freeze to death if left out unprotected. He had been so warm for so many sleeps now that it seemed impossible to see snow on the distant mountains. 
            Krrnarr reached the peninsula and crossed through a narrow arm covered with shrubs and tangling vines to the opposite shore. He was rewarded by the sight of a small stream which he followed inland to a spring of cold, fresh water. Krrnarr drank his fill before submerging his empty water bags one at a time until each one was bulging and sealed in turn. The full water bags added a fair amount of weight to his load and Krrnarr considered leaving behind some of his ice-gear, then glanced up at the peaks on the horizon and decided against it. 
            Ellall had shown him and Allnall a vision of the mountains from her Memories, but it didn’t help him much now. That vision was from above, from the perspective of his ancestors who had flown over the range in their escape. Krrnarr had no such advantage and would have to find his way on foot. The sun was well past its zenith and nearing the western horizon. He wouldn’t make it far before sunset, but he had no desire to waste time in reaching his destination. Krrnarr squared his shoulders and hiked through the tangle of brush and into the towering forest. 
             When the sun began to set, Krrnarr found an old tree with roots that formed barriers higher than he was tall to settle for the night. He drank a bit of water and ate a large portion of fish for his evening meal. He was looking forward to something other than fish, but thought he should finish off what he had in his pack since he did not know how long food lasted in this heat. He curled up with his head on his pack and his hand on his hunting spear and fell quickly to sleep with a smile on his face. 
            Krrnarr woke, blinked a few times to set his lenses against the light, and looked around in awe. The whole world sparkled in the morning sun. The shafts of light from the sunrise shifted across the forest floor as they penetrated the moving canopy over his head and each time the light touched a root, a bush, or a rock the illuminated object would reflect a dazzling array of color. The temperature was still comfortable for Krrnarr, to whom a hard frost was like a summer rain; he sat and enjoyed the show as he consumed his morning meal. 
Krrnarr eagerly resumed his journey toward the mountains and was overwhelmed with the sights, sounds, and smells that bombarded him. There were birds singing and flying everywhere, so many plants that he did not know, leaves falling from the trees, his own feet scuffling through the carpet of the forest, and the occasional scurrying of a local inhabitant disturbed by his passing. He was afraid that he would not be able to remember it all. But would it matter? If he failed in his quest, if he could not find the grove or did not return to his people, there would be no one for him to pass his memories on to. No, he would not think like that. 
            Look how far you’ve come, he told himself; but the thought echoed hollowly in his lonely mind. 
            At the beginning of this journey he had been focused on simply reaching The Warm Land. It had seemed like a dream, like a mythical place that he had heard stories about for so long that he only wanted it to be real. He’d never in his heart been convinced that he would make it; but here he was, hiking through the legendary living trees. Now it seemed that anything was possible. He must believe that he could reach the grove; that he could climb The Silver Mountain; and he must trust Arruvell to show him how to bring his people home. 
  
 
 
 
Chapter 32 
            The winter’s first snowfall drifted silently through the dark sky blowing hither and yon before eventually coming to a stop on Polaris. The thick heavy flakes had been falling for two days and two nights, covering the settlement’s trampled grounds and outlying pits of refuse with a pristine blanket. Sidra shivered in front of the tiny fire that danced in their earthen hearth, glancing up occasionally at the tarp roof that was beginning to sag under the weight of the snow. 
            “I think that we might have to follow the General’s advice after all and spend the winter aboard the ship.” Corvus stated, his eyes also staring above them. “That roof isn’t going to hold and it’s already getting cold. I don’t want you or the baby…” 
            His words were cut off as Sidra barreled into him, hugging him as she covered his face with kisses. Corvus laughed when she let him up for air to skip around the tiny room as she gathered their belongings into woven baskets. 
            “I guess I don’t have to ask how you feel about that idea.” Corvus said. 
            Sidra beamed at him over her shoulder. She could barely contain her excitement. Rylan had said that winter would last a year. A whole year with no sand in her hair, no bugs crawling into her bed, and unlimited access to her personal data screen. It was a dream come true; and if the timing was right her baby would be born in that perfectly safe and sterilized environment. Sidra decided at that moment that winter was absolutely her favorite season.  
Chapter 33 
            Enough sunlight remained to allow weekly hunting trips aboard the Eagle and Falcon, but the herd beasts that had become the settlements primary source of meat and materials had crossed the channel that separated the northern and southern continents and were now moving into the southern mountain range. It was difficult to spot them, and even more difficult to catch them in the narrow mountain passes. Not to mention that they were now out of range of a single day trip for the two smaller jets. 
            It was assumed that the animals were headed south of the main mountain range to spend the winter. Beyond the mountains there was a large fresh water lake which boasted the sum total of liquid between the mountains and the southern shore of the sea. These mountains were formed by the collision of continental plates, but the solitary giant still further to the south appeared to be a dormant volcano. Beyond the lake was a dry and barren region seemingly devoid of life and no flight crew had ever traveled that far. 
            Considering the distance, General Thayer didn’t feel confident that the community would be able to depend on the herd beasts as a source of food through the winter. If they were moving that far away, neither the sun nor the weather was reliable enough to insure regular trips to the distant hunting grounds.  Therefore, Jahira was taking the Eagle for an extended trip to scout the forests and mountains to the north for additional herds or different beasts that might be moving in the direction of Polaris and could sustain them through the winter. The two aircraft hunting method and regular citizen tours had kept the pilots from venturing much beyond the approved half-day radius so Jahira was excited to see some uncharted territory. 
            There were two other reasons that she was eager for this trip. The first was that Jahira had been working hard to find every excuse that she could to be away from the settlement, and when she was not working she stayed close to her quarters. Though she was not happy about the general lack of privacy she was thrilled with her accommodations. She shared a room with three older women who were not officially wed and who did not spend much time outside of the room. It gave her the perfect excuse not to be caught alone with Trevelyan who was even more insistent that they announce a formal commitment. He had been thrilled to discover that so many women were becoming pregnant, and though he hadn’t come right out with it, Jahira knew that he wanted her to have his child. It was getting more difficult to keep Trevelyan at bay. 
            The second was that Magnar was her co-pilot. 
            “Just like old times huh?” Jahira said as she and Magnar strapped into the right and left seats of the Eagle. 
            “Yeah, brings back memories.” Magnar replied with a wink. 
            Jahira was happy to see Magnar in a good mood for a change. Actually, she was happy to see him period. She’d started to worry that something had happened to him and would have mentioned it to General Thayer if she hadn’t noticed him coming and going from the dancing forest every now and then. He seemed to be doing better now that they were aboard the ship, which seemed odd, but whatever, it was good to have him back. 
            “So, do you want to make a straight shot as far as we can or wander a bit?” Jahira asked. 
            “Let’s make it as far as we can. If we see anything promising we can explore more carefully tomorrow.” Magnar replied. 
            “Sounds good.” Jahira plotted their course and prepared for take off. 
            They were both preoccupied with the take off procedures for several minutes, but once they were in the air without the familiar flight script, Jahira became a bit uncomfortable with the silence. There were so many questions that she wanted to ask but she didn’t know how Magnar would respond, and she didn’t want to set him off when he was being tolerable. So, she waited in silence for him to initiate some conversation. As she waited she wracked her brain for neutral yet comment-worthy topics when Magnar finally spoke. 
            “So, how are things going with you and Trevelyan?” Magnar asked. 
            Jahira groaned, after all her effort he would have to ask that. 
            “Hmm, not that well?” Magnar said with a smirk. 
            “It’s hard to explain.” Jahira replied. She didn’t really know where to start so rather than explain she fired back. 
            “Where have you been the last several months? I’ve barely seen you?” She asked. 
            Magnar clenched his jaw briefly, and then stretched his lips in a pained smile. 
            “I’ve been hiding.” He said. 
            “Hiding? From what?”  Jahira asked, startled by the response. 
            Magnar seemed to struggle with his answer and finally shrugged. Jahira waited, but he said nothing more. 
            “What kind of answer is that?” Jahira finally asked. 
            “Ok, how about ‘It’s hard to explain’.” Magnar replied glancing at Jahira out of the corner of his eyes. 
            Jahira tried to be annoyed, but failed and burst out laughing. 
            “Fair enough, let’s just enjoy the view shall we?” Jahira said. So, she didn’t know any more than when she’d started, but the silence was no longer tense, that was enough for now. 
            The morning passed quickly but with no new discoveries to speak of; the northern portion of the continent was thickly forested all the way from Polaris to the distant mountain range. It was virtually impossible to see anything clearly through the dense, waving foliage and Jahira kept imagining that she was seeing something dart out of view just before she could get a good look. Probably just her peripheral vision picking up flashes of the thin layer of snow that covered the ground or the movement of the leaves, but it still made her uneasy. 
            It was nearly mid-day when Jahira spotted a clearing ahead and pointed it out to Magnar.  He nodded and as they drew closer she noticed that he had his eyes closed tightly and his fists were clenched.  
            “Magnar, are you alright?” Jahira asked. 
            He did not seem to hear her. 
            “Magnar,” She spoke with a bit more volume and reached out to touch his arm. As her fingers brushed his arm Magnar snarled and snatched her hand in a vice-like grip. Jahira did not try to pull back, she did not move at all, nor did Magnar for several heartbeats. 
            Jahira glanced out the window and noticed that they were passing over a single silver pool in the middle of the small clearing. The two pilots remained locked in position for what seemed an eternity. Jahira did not know what to do. A few minutes after they’d passed the pool Magnar relaxed his grip and opened his eyes. 
            “Sorry about that.” He mumbled, visibly trying to regain control of himself. 
            “Yeah, no harm done.” Jahira replied carefully as she pulled her hand from his. 
            She said nothing more and the silence went unbroken until the Eagle approached the foothills of the northern mountain range at dusk. At that point Jahira began directing her co-pilot to bring the ship up to a good viewing altitude and hover. They needed to find a place to stop for the night and Jahira wanted to get a broad perspective of the land.  
            The mountains ahead of them were steep and rocky; they appeared young in geological terms, with little growth even below the tree line. The peaks were jagged and snow-capped, with a few of the largest mountains actually jutting up through the clouds so that they looked like a passage to heaven. On some of the mountains Jahira noticed veins of color weaving through the blue-grey rock; they were rugged and beautiful silhouetted in the last rays of evening sunlight and Jahira marveled once again at the good fortune of finding this planet. 
            “It’s really beautiful isn’t it?” Magnar commented in a quiet voice. 
            The sound of his voice as well as the comment surprised Jahira. 
            “Yes, it is.”  She dared a glance in his direction and he appeared fine again, fairly relaxed, just staring out the window and Jahira decided to test the waters. 
            “You mind telling me what that was about back there?” 
            Magnar cringed slightly and it took him several seconds to respond. 
            “I just get really bad headaches once in a while, a ‘migraine’ I think from what I’ve been reading, and it hurts to move or even be touched. They just sort of hit me unexpectedly sometimes.” 
            The explanation sounded valid enough, but Magnar never looked at her as he spoke and fidgeted a bit in his seat. She thought he was lying, but had no idea why he would. 
            “Oh, well, I guess I’ll know for next time.” Jahira said. 
            “Yeah,” Was all the reply that she received from him. 
            Jahira didn’t press the issue and once she’d located a small clearing she began to descend and prepare to land. The landing site was relatively even with a downward slope to the east so the early morning sun would not be obstructed and the ship could add to the power storage in the solar coil. Once the landing legs had set their position the two pilots ventured outside to arrange the solar panels. About an inch of snow covered the ground and Jahira looked around in wonder at the sparkling carpet that stretched for miles in every direction, completely pristine.  She felt a little guilty as she kicked through the snow and sullied the picture perfect landscape. 
            Jahira and Magnar arranged several small solar panels so that they would catch the full morning sun and connected the lines to the outer power strip near the cockpit. They worked as quickly as possible in the cold and climbed back aboard shivering. 
            “Man it’s cold out there!” Magnar exclaimed, rubbing his hands along his arms. 
            “Yeah, I’ve gotten used to a hot cup of tea when I get in, but no such luxuries here.” Jahira replied nodding toward their small stack of dried meat, fruit, and canteens. 
            “It’s nice to be away though.” Magnar said. 
            “That it is. Are you hungry?” Jahira asked. 
            Magnar just shrugged. Another change that Jahira had noticed was that Magnar had grown quite thin since their arrival, and that was saying something considering the meager rations they’d endured for so long. 
            “Well, I am. Besides, what else is there to do?” Jahira said. 
            “Good point. I guess I’ll join you.” 
            “Gee, don’t sound too excited.” 
            They each took a piece of fruit and some dried meat, which they washed down with plenty of water. Then Jahira took out a stack of thin rounds of something that resembled giant but flimsy crackers. 
            “One of my roommates has been working on a recipe for bread-making using the grains from those yellow plants to the west of us, zea plants I think someone named them. She hasn’t found anything like yeast yet, so they don’t look that impressive, but they actually taste really good. I guess her grandmother was quite the cook, and she remembers a little bit.” Jahira handed a piece to Magnar and watched him take a bite. She was only slightly gratified by his nod followed by a “not bad.” She ate two herself, wrapped the rest, and then pulled her sleeping roll from an overhead compartment. 
            “Well, I’m going to turn in. Lights don’t bother me so stay up as long as you’d like.” Jahira said. She had hoped to reconnect with Magnar during this trip and was disappointed in the lack of communication throughout the day. She just wanted to close her eyes and be done with his strange behavior. 
            Jahira’s breathing quickly became deep and regular. 
            Magnar waited as long as he could to be sure that she was asleep before he rifled through his pack for one of the carefully wrapped vials in the side pocket. He unstopped the small dose of silver liquid that he had begun to consume daily in order to appear normal. The voices came on quickly if he missed a dose and he wasn’t lying to Jahira about the migraines, he just hadn’t explained their cause. Any time he got near a pool his head would pound as if his brain was trying to break through his skull, but if he didn’t go to them and gather a regular supply his entire body felt as if someone were trying to skin him alive; not to mention the voices. He couldn’t understand what any of them were saying, but he didn’t think that would help his cause if he tried to explain the situation. 
            After downing his draught, Magnar slept fitfully for a few hours and was awake again long before sunrise, as had become his habit. He hated these early mornings when everyone else slept peacefully leaving him alone with his thoughts. On the ship he’d started spending most of his time on the data screens and had actually learned an amazing amount of the history of Earth, along with whatever subject happened to strike his fancy on any given day. When he was able to distract his mind with the processing of new information, there seemed to be less room for the battle of the voices. 
            He had no such reprieve this morning for he didn’t want to wake Jahira, and the smaller vessels had much less memory. Besides, they held primarily flight data and old clips and logs from various planetary explorations, nothing too interesting. It was too cold and too dark to wander outside. So Magnar sat, and he waited, and he listened. 
            The following morning dawned clear and perfect, promising good weather and good visibility. Jahira and Magnar wasted no time getting on their way. Jahira could barely contain her excitement, she was eager to see the mountains and they could easily make it all the way to the northern coast today barring any unforeseen detours. Magnar was quiet and still seemed distracted, but she was determined not to let that dampen her spirits. 
            “Are you ready?’’ She asked once they were both strapped in to their respective places. 
            “Hmm?” Magnar mumbled. “Oh yeah.” 
            Jahira started on her checklist and was halfway through when she realized that Magnar had not started his own. 
            “Magnar?” Jahira asked tentatively at first, and then with more force, “Magnar!” 
            “Jahira, we need to go toward that mountain.” Magnar said softly, pointing out the window toward a massive peak on the northeastern horizon. 
            “And why do we need to do this?” She asked. 
            “We just do.” 
            Jahira had half a mind to refuse unless he gave her an explanation, but it really didn’t make that much difference. They were here to explore after all. So, she shrugged and plotted the course once she’d completed her checklist. 
            The Eagle shot into the pink and yellow rays of dawn and soared over the first small, frosty peaks of the vast mountain range. Jahira glanced occasionally at the viewing screen, but the image was no more than an alternating blur of grey and white. So, she primarily kept her eyes straight ahead and soaked in the amazing view. 
            As they drew closer to the enormous mountain looming above its neighbors, Magnar began shaking his head ever so slightly. Jahira tried to ignore it at first, but he was soon pressing his fingers against his temples. 
            “Magnar? Are you ok?” Jahira asked. 
            He did not respond. 
            She continued on course and when they were approximately a half mile from the peak, Magnar doubled over and moaned. 
            “What the…?” Jahira mumbled under her breath and changed course to head slightly east and north. She watched the snowcapped peak jutting into the clouds on her left, and her co-pilot with his head pressed between his hands to her right. She was infinitely grateful for the clear skies. 
            It was nearly ten minutes before Magnar lifted his head, fingers still pressed against his temples, and leaned back against his seat. 
            “Migraine?” Jahira asked quietly. 
            Magnar nodded slightly and then winced. 
            “Are you sure you’re up to this?” Jahira asked. “Maybe we should just head back.” 
            “No!” The vehemence in Magnar’s voice made Jahira frown. 
            “Ok, we’ll keep going, but I may need your help at some point.” She stated with a hint of sarcasm. 
            Magnar took a deep breath, letting it out slowly, opened his eyes and blinked carefully. 
            “Sorry. I’m better now.” He said. 
            Jahira sighed and settled into her daydreams. She no longer felt the euphoria that she had woken with, she’d let him get to her after all. 
            The remainder of the day continued normally, with a light snow passing over, but nothing to cause a problem.  They cleared the mountains by late afternoon and Jahira noticed the forest below them was covered with a much thicker blanket of snow than they’d seen on the leeward side. She wondered how deep it was and was thankful that they’d brought the winter gear. She was studying the viewing screen when Magnar spoke for the first time since the mountain. 
            “Hey, I see the ocean.” Magnar said, pointing out the front window. 
            Jahira looked up from the viewing screen and sure enough, on the horizon the silvery waves glinted in the late afternoon sunlight. 
            “We should probably take her down for the night. The beach looks big enough for a landing.” Jahira said. 
            Magnar just nodded. 
            Jahira took the Eagle down just east of a small peninsula and let the gear settle into the foot-deep snow before she shut down the engines. Both pilots donned parkas, gloves, and snow shoes and Magnar opened the hatch. It was a short jump from the belly of the ship to the top of the snow so they didn’t bother with the ladder. Magnar went down first. Jahira stayed on board and handed down the solar panels, then jumped down to help Magnar hook them up. 
            They continued the evening in silence and Jahira drifted to sleep wondering if she should have asked someone else to join her on this mission. 
  
                        
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
Chapter 34 
            Magnar lay in his sleeping roll wide awake. He was trying to make sense of what he’d experienced today. He couldn’t explain why he’d told Jahira to go toward that mountain, but he had felt an irresistible pull to go there. Then when they’d gotten near it, a hundred different voices began screaming inside his head. He’d felt a brief but nearly uncontrollable urge to push Jahira out of the way and land the Eagle directly on that peak, but he’d resisted. It had taken every shred of willpower that he possessed, but he’d resisted. 
            The compulsion had passed several minutes after they’d changed course, but he couldn’t shake the lingering feeling that he should take the ship now, while Jahira slept. The rational part of his mind couldn’t believe he was even considering the idea and he felt as though he were walking a fine line between self-control and total insanity. Magnar spent a restless few hours tossing and turning to strange and vivid dreams before he finally gave up. He sat in the corner of the ship with his fists clenched alternately plotting to tie Jahira down and fly the Eagle into the mountains and then talking himself out of it. Several hours after sunrise Jahira began to stir and Magnar breathed a sigh of relief. 
            Jahira woke slowly and as she opened her eyes she became aware of a tingling sensation on the back of her neck. She sat up and looked behind her to find Magnar awake and staring toward her but with a faraway look in his eyes. 
            “Good Morning,” Jahira said moving her hand back and forth, palm outward to try to attract Magnar’s attention. 
            Magnar blinked, took a few seconds to focus and asked, “What did you say?” 
            “I said ‘Good Morning’.” Jahira repeated. “How long have you been awake?” She asked already beginning to feel irritated that Magnar’s odd behavior hadn’t disappeared while she slept. 
            “Oh, hours. You ready to get started?” Without waiting for a response Magnar jumped up and began pulling on his parka. 
            “What time is it? Have the panels had enough time in the sun?” Jahira asked. They had closed the doors between the cockpit and the back passenger/storage/sleeping unit so she was not able to see the position of the sun through the front window. 
            “The sun has been up for three hours and twelve minutes, but it did start clouding up about thirty minutes ago.” Magnar replied. 
            “Ok then.” Jahira said softly as she stowed her sleeping roll and began pulling on her parka and snowshoes. They made quick work of the panels, Magnar seemed full of energy this morning, and had a quick bite to eat before settling in to head back south. 
            Snow had begun to fall while they were eating. The flakes had started out heavy and wet, but as the wind picked up the colder air had caused them to change consistency as they swirled into the forest.  Jahira was slightly concerned about visibility. 
            “So I’d like to head slightly east and south over some of the smaller mountains since we didn’t see much in the way of critters on the way up. I also think this way will give us less trouble if the wind picks up any more.” Jahira pointed out a route on the map that she brought up on the viewing screen and Magnar plotted a heading. She didn’t mention that it would also steer them away from the site of Magnar’s odd behavior from the previous day. 
            “Are you ready?” Jahira asked. 
            “Green and go.” Magnar replied. 
            “Gear up, thrusters ready, and let’s do this.” Jahira engaged the engines and the Eagle cruised low over the nearest trees before Magnar pulled up. 
            “Hopefully we’ll see something today.” Jahira said as they glided through the blowing white curtain. 
            “What do you think we’re going to see in this?” Magnar asked. 
            “Good point.” Jahira replied. 
            “This is still too far for hunting anyway isn’t it?” Magnar asked. 
            “I suppose it is.” Jahira replied. “I guess I just don’t want to go back with nothing to show for the trip, you know?” 
            “Well, we’re getting better maps of the area at least.” 
            “I suppose.” 
            They had just cleared the first two waves of rocky peaks when Jahira spotted something on the screen. 
            “Hey! Magnar, look!” Jahira exclaimed, pointing to the screen. 
            There was definitely movement. 
            “Can you tell what it is?” Jahira asked. 
            “Well, not that I would know even if I could see it clearly, but no, I have no idea.” Magnar replied with a sarcastic edge to his voice. 
            “I’m going to see if I can move in closer.” Jahira slowed their forward acceleration and then took a wide turn with the nose angled down so that she could move into the pass and come in behind their previous location at a lower altitude. She continued down the narrow passage watching out the window as Magnar watched the screen. 
            “There.” They said simultaneously and Jahira stopped the craft and hovered. 
            “It’s on four legs whatever it is.”  Jahira said. 
            “Yeah, but it doesn’t look like the guys we’ve been hunting.” Magnar replied. 
            “That hair looks thick; I suppose it’s colder in these northern mountains.” Jahira stated. “It doesn’t seem to notice us.”  
            “The wind has picked up; it might be blowing too hard for it to hear us down there.” 
            “Well, let’s take a few pictures. At least we know they are here, whatever good that might do us.” Jahira said. 
            “Maybe they taste better.” Magnar replied. 
            “I wonder what they eat?” Jahira asked, glancing around at the barren snow covered rock. 
            “I’m betting on snow.” Magnar replied. 
            They took a few pictures and logged a memo with date, time, and location. 
            “I only see the one.” Jahira said, glancing out the window. “We should probably move out.” 
            The radar showed some more intense weather moving in their direction and Jahira could see some dark clouds on the horizon. She was beginning to feel anxious. She switched to instrument control and continued more slowly so that she could navigate at the lower altitude. The snowfall was turning into sleet and the winds were now howling through the mountains. 
            “It’s getting a little rough. We’re going to need to pull up in order to go through that storm. It’s coming in too fast to get around it.” Jahira said. 
            She was flying manually and watching the instruments, she couldn’t see a thing out the window. Besides, if she focused on the panel in front of her she could pretend it was a training exercise instead of the real thing. That helped to keep her calm. 
            The noise inside the cockpit was deafening under the force of the hail which pounded against the hollow metal cylinder that separated the pilots from the elements. 
            “We’re about halfway. I need you to check wind speed and direction.” Jahira said, not looking up from the radar. 
            When Magnar didn’t respond she glanced over and saw him curled over with his head in his hands, his fingers pressing into his temples. 
            “Magnar, this is really not the time for a headache.” Jahira yelled as she fought to keep the craft level and monitor Magnar at the same time. 
            “Magnar!” She yelled his name, but still got no response. 
            “Magnar, I need your help!” Jahira shouted and moved to shake his shoulder. 
            Just before she reached him he lashed out, knocking her arm away and causing her to pull the yolk hard with her other hand. The nose of the jet dipped sharply and the craft was caught in a downdraft. 
            “Shit! Shit!” Jahira quickly recovered her balance and tried to correct their position but the Eagle had already moved into the loss shear, where the winds were gusting at incredible speeds as the downdraft from the storm came in contact with the land and were forced out in parallel lines to the ground. Before she could react, a second stronger gust that must have matched or exceeded their current flight speed caused the jet to slow suddenly, the nose dipped again and all that was left to do was pray. 
Chapter 35 
            Krrnarr crouched on the rocky ledge, waiting for the approaching animal to get close enough for a throw with his stone-tipped spear. He was used to hunting in tight spaces, or in the water, so this was a whole new experience. It had taken him several attempts before he’d finally outwitted his first of these hairy mountain creatures. The meat was good and the hide was thick. He didn’t need the warmth, but it was easy to sew and made comfortable bedding. The beasts did not have a layer of fat under their skins like the cave lizards, which he thought must be why they had such heavy coats. The People did not have this layer of fat either, yet their hides were sleek because of the hollow hairs which kept them insulated in all kinds of weather. 
            Speaking of weather, Krrnarr was not too impressed with the legends of the warm land of the shining sun thus far. He’d spent most of his journey across this land beneath the snow and grey skies. He had to admit it was still much warmer than his home; he had only a pair of boots, short leggings, and his belt on now in spite of the wind.  It was also good to be back in his element. He’d been awed but unnerved by the dark moving forests and was constantly on edge from the fluttering of leaves and birds overhead as well as scurrying of creatures through the brush at his feet. He did not know which were dangerous and which were benign, so all had been potential hazards. Now, he was back among the rocks and the snow; the quiet barren world that he was used to. It made him feel a little closer to home. 
            The beast was lumbering into striking distance, but Krrnarr was no longer fooled by their ungainly appearance. The creatures were astoundingly agile and could climb the steep rock faces like a child scrambling up a cave ladder.  He’d discovered the hard way that he had no chance of chasing down one of the beasts, and had little hope of trailing one up the mountains. He’d had to stake out their watering holes and wait for one to pass through the deeper snows where its short legs were a hindrance, and before it could get back to one of the nearly invisible paths up and down the rocks. 
            That is where Krrnarr waited this day, on a ledge above the path to a watering hole where the snow had drifted deep just below him. The animal was still too far for a throw, but Krrnarr was poised and ready. He nearly fell off the ledge when he noticed the largest and strangest looking bird he’d ever seen approaching quickly from the north. 
            Krrnarr knew a moment of panic as he watched the flight and thought perhaps one of The Marked had discovered him. He edged along his vantage point and moved behind a rock outcropping so that he was not directly visible. He watched the approach with a pounding heart until he realized it was definitely not one of his ancestors. But then what was it? As it drew closer he saw that it was the same shimmering color as an orranllo. The thing was flying unbelievably high and fast, and in mere heartbeats it had caught up to his position and surpassed him. Suddenly the great bird turned sharply, headed back the direction from which it had come, and then turned again to fly low through the pass and directly toward him. Krrnarr’s heart pounded in his ears. 
            The strange beast slowed as it approached, and finally stopped directly above his prey. The animal that was to have been Krrnarr’s victim was snorting and scared but it could not run; it had finally reached the drift. It would have been in perfect position for a kill if not for the interruption. 
            The silver bird hovered in place for many heartbeats. Krrnarr wondered if he should step out, perhaps it was waiting for him, but then again perhaps it was hunting him. How could he know? He waited and eventually the thing began to fly slowly forward again. Krrnarr pressed himself deeper into the rock as the bird flew past him and for a moment he swore that he could see people inside the clear eyes of the strange creature. 
            He strained his eyes but the bird was going so fast that he couldn’t be sure of what he saw. He was just about to turn back to his prey when the front of the bird suddenly dipped. It seemed to correct slightly before shooting straight toward the ground. The beast dove and then flipped.  It continued to spin and flip through the passage until one wing careened off the side of a mountain, causing the body to slam into the rock face directly across the pass. The bird finally fell to the ground. 
            The whole event was so bizarre and had happened so quickly that Krrnarr didn’t know how to react. A part of him felt that he should continue on and leave the beast to its fate. Then he thought what an incredible story this would make if he ever saw his people again. He could share with them the image of a new discovery, or better yet prove the event with a souvenir from its hide.  He debated for a long time but in the end curiosity won and Krrnarr began to track through the pass to the place where the bird had gone down. 
            The going was slow through the deep snow. The wind howled through the gap and the sleet blowing into his eyes didn’t help the situation. However, finding the silver bird was no problem. When he arrived at the crash site he could see half of the body and one wing jutting up out of the snow from a good distance. Krrnarr approached carefully, not sure what to expect from the half-buried monster. It wasn’t moving and the exposed wing appeared to be severely damaged. So, it was wounded, which may be a good thing or may be very bad. If it was like a cave lizard, wounded was bad. It didn’t look like it could go anywhere though with half of its body entrenched in the snow. 
            Krrnarr approached the nose slowly and saw that the clear eyes were still open. He could definitely see something inside. It didn’t look like one of The People, not even one of his ancestors, but it did look like it was trapped inside the bird, tied with some sort of line. It was not moving either. Krrnarr circled the silver beast and prodded the body in several places. The hide was like rock, hard and impenetrable. It made a strange sound against the tip of his spear. When the thing continued to remain motionless after a full circle of the exposed body and multiple pokes, Krrnarr felt confident that it was dead. Now he had to figure out how to cut it open. 
            He could not pierce any part of the body with his knife or spear but there was a section along the belly of the creature that was already split. Krrnarr began to work on this area and found that he could slip his knife into the center crack and by moving his knife the crack opened a little wider. He set to work inserting and wriggling his knife all along the center split until he had a space big enough for the handle of his spear. He repeated his previous actions, this time with the thicker butt of the spear and opened the crack wide enough to fit both hands into the opening. He had no success trying to pull the hide apart, but if he pushed with both arms upward against the top edge of the opening he could shift it slightly. Krrnarr alternately pushed upward on one side and then pushed downward with all his weight on the bottom. He finally created a space wide enough to fit his body through. 
            Krrnarr stood looking at the hole for a long time, wondering what would happen if he entered. Would it close behind him and trap him? Perhaps this is what it had been waiting for. He decided to take a few small precautions and dug around at the base of the mountain for a good sized rock to wedge into the hole. He found one that looked about right and hefted it over to the belly of the creature and shoved it into the crack, pushing until it felt secure. Next he looped a line around a finger of rock sticking up through the snow and let the line out several body lengths before securing it to his belt. He hoped that if the thing tried to fly away he would have enough time to pull himself back through the opening. Finally Krrnarr took his spear in his left hand, his knife in his right, and climbed into the silver monster. 
            From the rim of the opening he jumped lightly into the hollow belly and looked around. It did not look like the inside of any animal he’d ever seen. The walls were smooth, except where many hooks jutted out. These hooks held a startling variety of unfamiliar items. There were no organs or bones or any kind of living tissue that he recognized. It was more like a cave. When he turned toward the clear eyes he could see snow falling once again outside and a strange looking shelf of smooth silver covered with bumps and carvings. Behind this shelf were two very odd looking beings tied to shiny silver ledges. 
            The beings were shaped much like The People, with two legs, two arms, and with eyes and mouth in similar shape and distribution. They wore odd coverings on their bodies and except for tufts off the tops of their heads, the parts of them that were exposed were completely hairless, like a cave lizard. One of the beings had skin as dark as the deepest caves and the other a color like the belly of a fish. One of the eyes of the silver bird was shattered as if a rock had been thrown against ice and the pieces were covering the shelf and the pale being. This one was bleeding in several places. The dark one had a small cut over one eye, but otherwise appeared uninjured, though its eyes were closed and it was not moving. Both were breathing. 
            Krrnarr moved toward the one that was bleeding and began to brush the shards of ice from its body. He growled and drew back his hand to see that he’d been cut. He carefully picked up one of the shards and looked closely. It did look sharp. He pulled the edge along the tip of one finger and a line of red blood welled immediately behind tiny point. They were very sharp. Krrnarr resumed his task of freeing the pale one, but with more care this time as he removed the clear shards. He cut the lines that held the being in place, and then slipped one arm under its legs, the other behind its head. He carried the pale one to the opening that he’d made and carefully deposited his burden in the snow. He returned and freed the dark one, setting it carefully beside the other outside the great bird. He risked one last trip to collect several of the larger sharp pieces that had broken from the eye of the bird , these he wrapped carefully in a piece of hide and strapped the package to his belt. 
            Krrnarr climbed out of the belly of the strange creature feeling quite brave. He had escaped unharmed and freed the trapped beings. Now he needed to get them to a pool to stop the bleeding. 
            Krrnarr had spent several sleeps in a nearby cave during a particularly fierce storm. He had discovered a silver pool deep in the cave, and when he’d emerged just one sun past he’d discovered a fast flowing river where the mountain inhabitants came to drink. So, he’d decided to stay another sun and hunt since he did not know the next time that he would cross a watering hole. That had been just this morning but already seemed like many sleeps ago. 
            The beings were nearly the same body length as he was, but much lighter, so Krrnarr strapped one to his back like a cave lizard and carried the other in his arms. The cave was not far but the pale one was already turning blue from the cold. He wondered who these creatures were and why the creator had not provided them with fur to keep them warm if they were to survive in this climate. Then he thought perhaps they were from a place far to the south where it was truly a warm land and they did not need fur. Perhaps they’d been captured and taken north, but why? He would have to wait until they woke and hope they could answer his questions. 
            Krrnarr trudged through the snow, sinking deep into the drifts from the added weight, but made it without incident to the cave. He gratefully set down the pale one and then unstrapped the dark one from his back. He arranged both carefully and covered them with the thick hide from his first kill in the mountains. He had left his pack and provisions behind when he’d gone out to hunt, planning to return with another kill and process it here in the cave before continuing toward the Allarra grove. He dug through his pack now for an empty water bag and carried it with him deep into the cave to the silver pool. Krrnarr arrived at the pool and filled the bag. He dipped his hands under the surface as well so that his small cuts from the beast’s eye were healed, and then returned quickly to the rescued beings. 
            He applied silver to all of the cuts that he could see on the face and hands, then sealed the bag and set it aside to apply more at a later time if needed. Krrnarr didn’t know what else he could do for them, but he did know that they would all need food at some point. He decided to resume his interrupted hunt. 
            Krrnarr returned to the cave just before sunset with two animals. One large and one much smaller, probably a mother and suckling that had come down for water at dusk. He felt guilty taking a female and child, but his charges would need meat to regain their strength, and they would need warmer coverings for the snowy mountains. 
            The two that he had rescued remained asleep under the hide and he wished that he could make a fire. He’d found nothing like a vrrmefurr since he’d left the third continent, but until now he had given the issue little thought. It was not cold enough for him to be bothered by the lack of heat, and he was used to eating raw meat. The People often ran out of flames before the end of the Season of Ice and spent many sleeps in the dark cold caves consuming raw lizard and cave crab.        
            Krrnarr lay his burdens outside the mouth of the cave and quickly skinned the animals. The hides he carried to the back of the cave and spread out to scrape later. He returned to gut and section the beasts. The hunks of edible meat he placed along the wall of the cave, the pieces that he did not plan to use he carried far from the cave and threw into the snow. Krrnarr had not encountered any creatures except the hairy ones that he hunted, but it didn’t hurt to take precautions. He hoped that the entrails would be enough to satisfy any predators and that the smell of people in the cave enough of a deterrent. Krrnarr cleaned his own hide with handfuls of snow before returning to the cave. He curled up on the rocks a safe distance from the sleeping forms under the hide and slept. 
            As sunlight crept into the opening of the cavern, Krrnarr woke and checked his charges. The pale ones cuts had all healed and looked well. The dark one’s single laceration hadn’t closed, but had stopped bleeding. Krrnarr thought this odd since the pale one had clearly sustained greater visible injury. He shrugged and applied a bit more silver to the open cut above the dark ones eye. 
            He thought for a moment about what else he could do and decided they should have some water. So, he retrieved a water bag and returned. He knelt between the two beings. He placed his hand behind the head of the dark one and dribbled a thin stream of water into its mouth. He repeated this process with the pale one; neither stirred so Krrnarr set to work on the hides. 
            Using one of the large shards that he’d taken from inside the silver bird, Krrnarr scraped both skins clean and then scrubbed them several times with handfuls of snow. He followed this process with an application of ground brains mixed with liquid from the silver pool. He would feel more confident if he had some salt water to work with but he’d followed the same procedure with his first hide and it was holding up well. He cleaned the hides with more snow before moving them to an open area of the cave to finish curing. 
            Krrnarr found two small shelves in the rock face and he stretched a gut line between them. He secured either end of the line with a large rock.  He then cut the meat of the two mountain climbers into strips and hung the pieces as he worked. Krrnarr ate as he went so he did not notice the passing of the day until he was finished and realized it was nearly sunset again. He went outside to scrub down with clean snow and when he returned to the cave the dark one was stirring. Krrnarr quickly moved to its side with meat and water. 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Chapter 36 
            Jahira slowly regained consciousness. When she tried to move everything from her hair to her toenails ached and a moan escaped involuntarily from her lips. She waited several seconds before she tried to move again and not only did it hurt but she was trapped. She suddenly recalled her last moments of awareness in the aircraft and realized that she must still be strapped in the Eagle. 
            She was having trouble opening her eyes and was starting to panic before she finally managed two small slits. She forced herself to blink and the world slowly came into focus. It was dark and cold. Jahira pushed herself up on one elbow and could see a faint light at the end of a dark tunnel and moaned again. She was dying. She must feel trapped because her body was not functioning but her mind had not let go. She wondered when the sad events of her life would flash before her eyes, which she closed again while she waited, resigned. 
            Jahira felt something against her lips and her eyes flew open. A thin stream of water trickled into her mouth and she swallowed involuntarily. After that first drink, thirst overtook her completely and she drank greedily until the water stopped flowing. She wouldn’t feel thirst if she was dying would she? Jahira stopped drinking and looked down. She saw that her hands rested on top of a thick white fur, and this fur covered her legs. Jahira looked up and realized that the light and the tunnel was actually a cave entrance leading to the snowy world where they had crashed. How did she get in cave covered by a fur? Magnar. Magnar must be ok; he must have found shelter and covered her. 
            Oh, the drink! Jahira turned her head expecting to see Magnar sitting beside her and flinched. 
            Something was beside her, and it was holding up a piece of raw meat. 
            Jahira fought down the bile that rose as the smell of raw flesh hit her nostrils and turned her attention instead to the thing that proffered the stringy red tissue. She couldn’t decide if it was animal or person, except that it rested on two legs and its two feet were covered in crude looking boots. The appendage that held the piece of meat ended in a very human-looking hand, and the thing was wearing some kind of belt with a knife tied onto it. The most striking difference in appearance was the fur. The creature was covered head to toe by slightly glowing white fur. Though it was not fur like the hide that covered her, which was thick and wiry. Instead it looked smooth, sleek like it had been oiled down against the body underneath. The creature’s nose was flat and well-hidden under the coat on its face, and it did not appear to have ears, though there was a slight tuft of hair protruding on either side of the things head where ears should be. 
            Jahira remembered the remains they had found at Polaris, the skeleton that had been displayed in the ships commons, and was now stored in the lab. Had she discovered one of the natives? Or more accurately she supposed, had one discovered her? But this one didn’t have wings. Well, when she looked more closely there was something on its back that she couldn’t see very well, but it didn’t look like the bird-type wings that Rylan had expected. Jahira met the creature’s eyes and thought it definitely seemed intelligent. 
            It had not moved during her brief inspection, but now that she had stopped staring it gestured again with the meat, seeming to expect Jahira to take it, and Jahira held up a hand to decline. It seemed to understand. It set the meat down and then reached for a skin bag, offering it instead. Jahira could see where water had wet the side and she took the skin gratefully and placed it against her lips. She drank deeply and felt somewhat revived but still a bit mentally fuzzy. Then she remembered Magnar, she looked around quickly and saw him lying beside her under the fur. So, this creature must have found them and brought them here. That was a good sign. It didn’t leave them to die or kill them outright. Perhaps it only wanted to help. 
            Jahira tried to collect her thoughts and decide what to do. She wondered how long they’d been here, and what had happened to the ship. She looked again at their rescuer and wondered if she could communicate with it. How do you start a conversation when you didn’t know the language? Jahira decided to start with a simple greeting so she raised her hand, gave a small wave, then smiled and said “hi”. 
            The creature just watched her and didn’t respond. She patted the hide that still covered her legs and said “thanks”, still no response. She sighed and tried to think of another approach. She pointed to herself, then to Magnar, and used her hand as a ship, making it fly through the air. 
            Krrnarr could clearly see that the dark one wanted to communicate, but he was having trouble filtering through the overwhelming amount of visual and emotional information in its mind. Either it was still very stressed from the accident, or it did not know how to focus its thoughts. Krrnarr waited, trying to decipher the specific message as the being went through a series of odd sounds and elaborate gestures. Krrnarr caught flashes of curiosity and a brief image of the silver bird in flight. He realized that the dark one must be wondering how it escaped from the silver bird. So he waited for an opportunity to send a message. 
            Jahira sighed in frustration when there was still no response after several attempts to communicate, perhaps the creature wasn’t so intelligent after all. Jahira closed her eyes and tried to clear her head so that she could think of what to do next. At that moment she saw a vision of the Eagle flipping through the air and crashing into the side of a mountain. She opened her eyes in alarm and looked at the creature in shock, mouth slightly open. The thought had not been hers, and it had been from the perspective of someone far away. 
            “Did you do that?”  She asked. 
            Krrnarr could feel and clearly read the shock on the dark ones very expressive face. He thought perhaps he had committed some error; perhaps he should not have touched this one’s mind without permission. But then he felt the alarm turn to curiosity and it again closed its eyes to calm its intense emotional signals so that he was able to project. 
            Jahira closed her eyes and the same image came, followed by a picture of the Eagle partially buried in the snow. She saw the bottom hatch being opened, and then she saw her and Magnar unconscious and strapped in the seats of the cockpit. She saw fur covered hands pick up Magnar and take him out of the ship, and then return to remove her. 
            “That is you! How did you do that?” Jahira asked as she opened her eyes again. “More importantly how do I do that?” She realized this would be an ideal way to communicate but had no idea how it was done. Well, if this beast could put pictures in her head, maybe it could get them out too. She tried to picture the ship as she had seen it from his perspective, half-buried in the snow, and asked, “Where is it?” 
            Krrnarr smiled when the dark one opened its eyes again. It was radiating excitement and curiosity, and Krrnarr could pick out a very brief and crude picture of the silver bird. The picture was fleeting and unfocused, like a child first learning to project its thoughts, but he felt immensely relieved that he had apparently not overstepped any unknown boundaries. 
            He saw the picture again almost immediately, followed by an image of the dark one and some odd looking animal standing beside the bird and realized the dark one did not know that he’d received the message. These beings must communicate primarily with their high-pitched voices and hand signals rather than direct mind contact. Then he laughed out loud when it dawned on him that the other odd looking figure must be himself as the dark one saw him. 
            Jahira felt some encouragement when it looked like the creature smiled, it was kind of hard to tell under that fur. She waited several seconds and didn’t seem to get any response, so she tried again. She was startled by the deep, growling sound that came from the creature and it took her several seconds to realize that it was laughing. What was it laughing at, her picture? What was funny about that? Maybe she’d done something wrong? 
            Krrnarr felt the confusion and once again frustration from the dark one and felt guilty about his laughter. It probably thought he was laughing at its crude pictures, not at the image of himself, so he stopped laughing. He projected the same image back, of the two of them walking to the ship, and the dark one smiled. It wanted to go to the ship. So, perhaps they had not been captured, but Krrnarr didn’t know what other explanation there could be. Maybe the dark one wanted to be sure the thing was dead. He could understand that. Krrnarr rose to get one of the newly scraped hides from the back of the cave. 
            Jahira saw the same image she’d tried to visualize, but much sharper and more focused, like a vid on a data screen playing right inside her head. She felt ecstatic. So it had seen her image! She had done it! But did it understand what she was asking? The creature rose and walked toward the back of the cave, stooped to pick something up, and returned with another of the thick furry hides like the one she was under. It gestured for her to take it, so she stood and gingerly held the apparently freshly skinned hide at arms length. 
            Now what? She wondered. 
            Her benefactor started walking toward the mouth of the cave and gestured for her to follow. Jahira hesitated until she saw another image of the two of them walking to the ship. So it understood! It was taking her to the ship! The creature carried no hide for itself, but Jahira decided it must somehow know she would be cold, and perhaps it didn’t get cold since it had its own fur coat. Jahira wrinkled her nose as she wrapped the fur, hair side in, around her shoulders and followed her rescuer out into the snow. 
            The sight that met her eyes was astoundingly beautiful. The storm that she remembered had passed. The setting sun sent fingers of pink and red crawling out across the glistening world of white in which they stood, surrounded by rugged yet majestic rock giants stretching to the sky. There were traces of blood in the snow around the entrance, and a few sets of tracks coming and going, but otherwise the view was flawless. She could not say the same for the weather. 
            It was bitter cold, and Jahira could see her warm breath condense as it hit the frigid air. She was thankful now for the fur and pulled it up a bit higher around her head, glad that she could barely smell it in the biting chill. Jahira followed behind the glistening white creature that no longer seemed to glow, but blended into the wintry surroundings. 
            Now that she could see its back she realized it had something like wings, but they were severely stunted compared to Rylan’s digital re-creations. The thick-looking fur-covered flaps extended out from its shoulder blades but seemed to be fused to the back of the creatures shoulder and upper arm, almost like a small cape but separated along the spinal column. The wings were slightly bunched and hung like a thick pleated curtain almost to the thing’s waist. They didn’t look like they could be adequate for flying, but it was hard to tell. The rest of the creature, from the back, looked very human. It had a massive torso, thick arms, and lean but strong-looking legs, and if she imagined the fur as white hair on a persons head and some kind of clothing on the body, it didn’t look too strange. 
            They trudged through the snow for perhaps a half an hour before Jahira spotted the tip of the Eagle’s wing jutting up above the next rise. She couldn’t really quicken her pace since she broke through the crust with every step. Her feet and legs were growing numb and she thought about how nice the trip back would be in a pair of snowshoes, not to mention her parka instead of this smelly hide. It was warm though, and except for her feet turning to blocks of ice, she was relatively comfortable. Her rescuer walked ahead and tapped a spear against the ship several times, alternately looking at her and then tapping again. She wasn’t sure what it was doing. The rock that she’d seen it place in the door to keep it open was still there and she moved to climb inside. 
            Krrnarr was surprised when the dark one started to climb into the silver bird. Perhaps it was braver than he would have expected, or felt safe after his demonstration that it was indeed dead. Krrnarr hesitated a moment, but decided to follow in case the dark one needed help. 
            Jahira moved out of the way when the creature started to climb in after her. 
            I really need to figure out if this thing is male or female, or better yet if it has a name. Jahira thought as she knelt down to access the compartments located on the wall of the ship, but because of the angle of the crash were currently situated below her.  
            The first thing that she did was hand off the smelly hide with a hopefully grateful nod, and opened one of the wall compartments to retrieve her parka and mittens. She pulled both on and then went to the cockpit to assess the damage. 
            The windshield was broken, as she’d seen in the visions, and half of the ship was buried in the snow. She tried several switches and voice commands but nothing happened. Since she didn’t know how long she’d been unconscious the ship may have just lost power. Perhaps if she set out the solar packs she could get some of the programs to respond. She didn’t want to take too long right now though. She didn’t want to be gone when Magnar woke up, besides the fact that it was going to be dark soon and therefore a waste of effort to unload and arrange the panels. So, she decided that she would come back again in the morning. For now she would focus on supplies. She returned to the cabin and pulled out an empty pack. 
            Jahira hunted around and loaded the pack with the emergency MRE’s, the remaining water, a med kit, and tied on her sleeping roll. She supposed she should gather Magnar’s gear too, but she wouldn’t be able to carry it all. Maybe she could ask for help.  Jahira collected all of the clothing and bedding that she thought Magnar might want and laid it out. She finished loading a second pack and after she’d donned her own she gestured to the remaining pack and then to her rescuer, simultaneously trying to picture it with the pack on.  The creature nodded and picked up the pack, swinging it onto one shoulder since the arm holes were too small to accommodate its wings. Jahira unstrapped the two pairs of snowshoes off the wall and led the way out of the ship. 
            Once they were back on the snow she strapped on her snowshoes and offered her companion the second pair. It took them, but made no move to put them on. She focused on a picture of it with the snowshoes on and it smiled but still didn’t put them on. Jahira had been feeling pretty good about figuring out how to communicate and wasn’t sure why it wasn’t working now. She tried again but it still didn’t move to put on the shoes. Jahira walked around in the snowshoes to demonstrate how she could walk on top of the snow and not break through. The creature made a sort of trilling sound and finally put the shoes down and began trying to strap them on. 
            It was having a bit of trouble and Jahira didn’t seem to be able to get the directions across by any means, so she bent down to do it herself. The creature jumped backwards as she reached toward its leg and growled. Jahira pulled her hands back quickly and looked up with wide eyes. She didn’t think it looked angry, but it was difficult to tell. 
            Krrnarr’s breath caught as the dark one looked up at him. He hadn’t noticed in the shadowed recessed of the cave, but its eyes were the most amazing color, like nothing he’d ever seen. He stared back for several heartbeats before he realized that the dark one was waiting for an explanation as to why he’d retreated from its touch. 
            Jahira saw a picture of herself moving away from the creature with a very clear message to keep her hands away. 
            Whoa, definitely male, Jahira decided. 
            She backed away and resolved to let him figure it out for himself. Several amusing minutes later, for her at least, she broke down out of pity. Jahira undid the straps and hooks that secured her own boots and redid them one step at a time as the creature followed, then they were finally on their way. 
            Krrnarr kept pace easily, more bewildered than he had been before. It appeared that the two beings had been living inside the bird. The dark one had warm clothing, and packs, not to mention these ingenious boots for walking on the snow, all stored inside. The dark one had pushed several of the circles on the silver ledge in the room where he’d found the two bodies, but he didn’t notice anything happening. Then it had tried to touch him! Things had clearly changed since The People had left The Warm Land. Krrnarr was feeling a bit impatient with the slow communication. He wanted to find out where the dark one had come from and how far it was to the Allarra grove. Then again, it was nice to have company, no matter how out of the ordinary. 
            He’d become accustomed to his solitary life, but he did find himself reaching out with his mind on occasion just hoping to find another, and now he had, though the dark one didn’t seem to know how to control its stream of consciousness.  Krrnarr wanted to block his mind briefly just for a break from the constant erratic bombardment, but he didn’t want to miss any attempts at communication. Instead he narrowed his reception a bit, so that every fleeting thought and emotion would not register, but he would still be available for any strong images. 
            The precaution turned out to be unnecessary, for there was no communication as they returned to the cave. Once they’d entered, the dark one knelt by the side of the pale one and felt its head and throat. The pale one still slept and the dark one appeared very concerned. It gave the pale one some water and talked to it in that clipped high-pitched language that sounded almost like a bird to Krrnarr’s ears. Then the dark one rose and pointed outside, but held its other hand up gesturing for Krrnarr to stay. Krrnarr complied and it was only a few moments until the dark one returned. 
            They both sat and removed their packs. The dark one pulled a brown square from its pack, tore it open with its teeth, and pulled out several small packages wrapped in some kind of clear material which made a noise when it moved. Krrnarr watched in fascination as the dark one opened several of these small packages and added some of them together. Then it just sat there. Krrnarr couldn’t fathom what it could possibly be doing. He was trying to formulate a question when the being opened one of the packages and began eating hungrily. 
            What a strange way to prepare a meal, Krrnarr thought. 
            He wondered what plant or animal the odd looking mixture came from. Krrnarr got up and walked back to his drying line, removing several strips of meat, then returned and sat near the dark one.    
            His companion offered a round piece of purple food to Krrnarr and he nodded his appreciation as he took it; the food looked strange but he didn’t want to be rude. When he took a bite he was surprised by the intense but very good flavor. He gave a low trill of approval. He offered a piece of meat to the dark one in return, but again it declined, emitting waves of disgust just as it had when it first awoke. Krrnarr tried not to feel offended; perhaps these beings did not eat the meat of the mountain climbers, though he couldn’t find anything wrong with it. 
            Jahira finished her meal quickly and sat there wondering what to do with herself. The sun had set while they ate their meal and it was very dark inside the cave now except for a small circle of illumination that surrounded her and her companion. Jahira had watched in amazement as the glow of the creature increased with the waning light and she could see the ground between them quite clearly under his blue-white luminescence. She marveled at this phenomenon and wanted to ask him about it but had no idea how to communicate such an abstract question, or how she would interpret the response. So, she just stared as he chewed chunks of raw flesh, seeming perfectly content. 
            When he was done eating, he pointed to his own pack, which Jahira had not noticed before, and she saw a picture of him lying on the ground with his head on the pack and the hide that he’d given her earlier stretched out beneath him. So, he was going to sleep. Jahira didn’t feel tired, which she supposed made sense considering she’d just woken up after sleeping for who knew how long. She gave the beast some space and unrolled her sleeping roll next to Magnar. 
            She checked on Magnar again and gave him some more water to drink, but there was still no apparent change in his condition. She thought his skin felt a bit cold so she worked on rolling him from side to side to get him on top of the hide and then covered him with the other half. She went back to the packs and retrieved his sleeping roll and parka. She laid the sleeping roll over him on top of the hide, and she placed his parka under the back of his head. Feeling like she’d done everything that she could, she took off her boots but left her parka on as she climbed into her own sleeping roll. She laid there awake listening to Magnar’s breathing, which was sometimes slow and even, sometimes quick and ragged, and wondered if he was going to be ok. 
* * * * * 
            Filled with fear, Magnar ran through long eerie shadows. His body hurt and he was so tired but he couldn’t stop running. He couldn’t see what was after him but he could feel the pursuit, like a thick fog pressing toward him. He didn’t know if he was going in the right direction but it didn’t matter anymore. All that mattered was that he kept running until he was as far away from the voices as he could get. 
            He ran for hours, for days. He ran until he thought that his heart would burst and his legs would break, until finally he saw a shaft of light ahead. He mustered the last of his strength, ran into the light and stopped, placing his hands on his knees as his chest heaved oxygen into his lungs. He felt a brief moment of joy at his success. He’d made it out of the darkness. 
            When he could finally stand he noticed that he was inside a rectangular prism of light. The shadows pressed in on all sides. He felt along the ground, brushed his hands along the walls of the barrier as high as he could reach. He was trapped, there was no way out. He realized this must be what they’d wanted. He’d been herded into this place where the blackness surrounded him and he could not escape. Magnar curled up in the small cube of light and realized that the voices were no longer inside his head, instead he could hear them screaming all around him and he prayed that they could not reach him in this place. 
 
 
 
 
 
Chapter 37 
            Jahira’s eyes flew open and she tried to scream but the sound was muffled by a hand over her mouth. It was still dark in the cave and she couldn’t see who or what was assaulting her, but could only assume that the good intentions of her rescuer had worn off. She began to struggle but it was difficult to move with the heavy parka inside the sleeping roll.  She managed to worm her arms free as she bit at the hand that covered her face. 
            She heard a yelp and the hand pulled away. It was a familiar hand, a human hand; Jahira sagged in relief. 
            “Magnar, you’re ok!” 
            “Shh.” Magnar hissed softly, pointing to the other figure in the cave, which glowed softly in the darkness. 
            “Yes, I know, it’s the … thing… that rescued us.”  Jahira replied. Her eyes were beginning to adjust to the minimal lighting and she could see the passive arrangement of his features. He gave no response, showed no surprise. 
            “Do you remember what happened?” Jahira asked. “We were flying over the mountains and you got a migraine.” She couldn’t quite keep the edge out of her voice as she explained. “We lost control, the winds flipped us, and we crashed. That creature found us and brought us here. I’m not sure how long it’s been, I just woke up yesterday.” 
            Magnar watched her but said nothing, no emotions nor hint of awareness flitted across his features. Jahira began to worry that he may have sustained some kind of head injury. 
            Jahira heard the man stirring across the cave and saw the glow of his massive torso rise as he sat up. Then she heard Magnar growl. 
            “Oh good grief, you could at least try to be civil.” Jahira said as she scooted her upper body out of the sleeping roll and fished her canteen out of her pack. 
            Krrnarr woke and his mind was immediately filled with an onslaught of hostile thoughts and emotions. He could distinguish the now familiar mind of the dark one but there seemed to be a whole cave full of minds, all talking, all projecting urgency and pain. Krrnarr looked across the cave and saw that the pale one had woken up; it and the dark one were talking. He’d thought that it was difficult before, trying to filter through the quick thoughts and changing emotions of these new beings, but the pale one was like trying to listen to a hundred people at once. He began to sit up and when the pale one’s attention turned to him, Krrnarr could feel its hostility washing over him, pressing against his mind like the weight of the sea on his body when he dove too deep. Krrnarr growled low in his throat as he closed his mind. 
            “What is the matter with you two?” Jahira asked glancing between the two individuals who, had they been born with a few chromosomes in either direction, would have had their hackles raised and teeth bared. 
            When her gaze returned to Magnar, whose face she could just make out in the dawning light, she stared in shock. He looked different. She couldn’t quite put her finger on the change, but something was definitely different. He was glaring across the cave at their rescuer with unmasked hatred and she groaned. Apparently animal instincts died hard. She wondered if they were actually going to fight for the status of Alpha before they’d even been introduced. 
            “Magnar, what are you doing? He rescued us. At least rein in the hostility if you can’t manage to be grateful.” Jahira whispered fiercely. 
            Magnar quivered slightly seeming to force himself to break eye contact and look down at his hands. 
            “Food.” He said gruffly, looking up at Jahira. 
            Jahira took a moment to adjust to the change in attitude and then began to worry all over after this barely articulated one-word request. She pulled out an MRE and handed it to him. He looked at it for a moment and then handed it back. 
            He pointed to the meat that was hanging on a line in the corner of a cave. 
            “You really want to eat that?” Jahira asked. Magnar didn’t respond as he stood, still looking at the meat. 
            “It’s his.”  Jahira said, nodding toward Krrnarr. “He was willing to share yesterday; I would guess he still is.” 
            Magnar walked across the cave, keeping his eyes warily on the creature that now stood with his spear in one hand and his other hand resting on the knife tied to his belt. Magnar stayed as far from the alien as he could without actually pressing himself against the cavern wall as he stalked to the line. He pulled off several pieces of raw meat without so much as an attempt at asking permission, and began devouring them right where he stood, eyes never moving from the glowing creature. 
            Krrnarr backed away from the pale one and positioned himself between it and the dark one with his back toward the cave entrance. The pale one was clearly hostile, even with his mind closed Krrnarr’s hair stood on the back of his neck, though the dark one didn’t seem afraid. Krrnarr read the dark one’s emotions as confused, worried, even embarrassed, but not afraid. The pale one returned slowly after eating its fill of Krrnarr’s kill and stood several feet from the dark one. 
            “Magnar, what is wrong with you?” Jahira hissed. 
            Magnar narrowed his eyes, never moving his gaze away from Krrnarr, who looked ready to attack at any moment. 
            “You’re being extremely rude, not to mention totally gross. You’ve still got blood on your face.” Jahira stated. 
            Magnar wiped the back of one hand across his mouth and looked down at the blood and smiled. Jahira was starting to feel seriously uneasy. 
            “Do you feel alright?” Jahira asked. 
            Magnar nodded and looked around the cavern in which they stood. 
            “Eagle.” He said softly. 
            “The ship is half buried and doesn’t have power. I need to return today and set up the solar panels to at least see if I can get the com-unit working.” Jahira replied. 
            Magnar nodded and began walking toward the mouth of the cave. 
            Jahira stood quickly, then took a moment to show their rescuer a picture of her and Magnar going back to the ship. He sent a picture back of all three of them and Jahira got the impression that he was asking to join them. She was surprised that he wanted to go; she figured he’d be glad to get rid of them, particularly Magnar, but she certainly didn’t care if he wanted to come. In truth she felt more comfortable with him than with Magnar at the moment. She nodded to confirm his request as she pulled on her boots.  She stood again to pull on her mittens, then retrieved her snowshoes from where they rested against the cavern wall. 
            “If I go outside and go to the bathroom can you two wait here and manage not to get in a fight?” Jahira asked. 
            Magnar stood and said nothing as his eyes shifted around the room. 
            Jahira sighed. 
            She hadn’t come up with a way to get the message across to the alien without a really embarrassing picture but her method had seemed to work yesterday. So she pointed to herself and then outside, but held up her other hand for him to wait. When she returned the two males were in exactly the same position, glaring at each other across the cave. Jahira picked up the snowshoes that she’d once again left leaning against the wall, strapped them on just outside the entrance, and waited for the other two to join her. 
            Krrnarr moved so that his back was to the wall and he could watch the pale one as it walked out of the cave and stood beside the dark one. He trailed behind a few steps as they proceeded, in part to keep the pale one in his sight, and because he did not have the boots that walked on top of the snow. His wide feet helped distribute his weight slightly but he still broke through the surface every few steps. 
            Krrnarr opened his mind slightly to try to glean what he could from the pale one; he was concerned about not being able to anticipate an attack from the unpredictable stranger if he kept his mind closed. As soon as he’d created a narrow channel a flood of emotions hit him so strong that it took his breath away. He immediately blocked his mind again and took several deep breaths. That would not work. He would just have to keep the pale one in sight. If he watched carefully he would notice any change, these beings bodies and faces were easier to read than their minds anyway. 
            When they reached the silver bird, only the dark one went inside and returned quickly with both arms full of smooth black rocks trailing long black lines. Krrnarr watched in fascination as the two beings set the rocks all around the bird and stuck the ends of the lines into the side of the bird. He couldn’t even guess what they might be doing. 
            The two gestured occasionally throughout the process, and Krrnarr could see the dark one growing increasingly uncomfortable. He felt so limited having to rely only on his eyes and ears to understand what was happening. The beings had apparently completed their task, for they moved to stand just outside the split in the belly of the bird and they were talking. Actually, the dark one was talking, the pale one was gesturing, and they appeared to be arguing. Krrnarr gripped his spear and crouched slightly. He opened his mind ever so slightly and was stunned at the malevolence he felt radiating from the pale one. Krrnarr inched himself forward, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible, yet available to intercede if the pale one became violent. He was stunned into stillness when the emotions suddenly dampened and the two strangers turned and began digging out the buried side of the bird. 
            Why would they want to do that? Krrnarr wondered. He watched for a time, finally decided that it was rude to stand by while others worked, and moved to join them in digging. 
            It didn’t take Jahira long at all to realize that digging the ship out by hand was going to take all winter and she wasn’t convinced that it was worth the effort. The windshield was broken and they had no spare to replace it, nor did they have any idea what the condition of the second wing might be, but they knew that the visible wing was a mess. Jahira thought it made more sense to see if the Eagle would even charge now that they’d hooked up the solar panels before they went to all the effort of digging her out, but Magnar had insisted. In fact he’d gotten so angry that he’d looked like he might actually attack her if she didn’t agree. She decided that they didn’t have anything else vying for their time at the moment, so she’d humored him. 
            Her fingers were getting cold even with the heavy mittens on, and she wasn’t making much progress anyway. She unstrapped one of her snowshoes and began scooping snow away with the curved toe. It was much more efficient, and once Magnar saw what she was doing he followed her example with his own. Jahira noticed with a mixture of amusement and curiosity that their rescuer had joined the effort. She unstrapped her second shoe and handed it to him. All three dug non-stop through the morning. 
            Around mid-day a light snow began to fall. Jahira’s arms and back burned and as the snow picked up, she sat back on her heels to survey their progress so far. She barely stifled a groan. 
            “I think we ought to call it a day.” Jahira called to her companions who were still digging steadily. 
            Magnar shook his head. 
            “We don’t even know if the ship will power up yet. Let’s let it charge today, if we get anymore sunlight, and come back tomorrow.” Jahira said. 
            Magnar shook his head again and growled. 
            What was his problem? Jahira wondered. Well, whatever it is, I definitely don’t need any more time in his company. He can stay and dig all night if he wants. 
            “Alright, I’m heading back to the cave.” Jahira said. 
            Magnar didn’t reply and Jahira visualized herself back at the cave to let the native creature know what she was doing. He had stopped digging to watch the exchange, but he didn’t respond immediately to her picture. She tried again, but he remained where he was, watching her.  Jahira’s patience was already thin from dealing with Magnar so she turned and started back on her own with one snowshoe in her hand. 
            In seconds she heard snow crunching. She turned toward the sound and saw their rescuer walking over to hand her the snowshoe he’d been using as an improvised shovel.  She wondered if that meant he was coming or just knew she would need the other shoe, and then she saw a picture of him at the cave with her. He stood by her side, once again gripping his spear and knife, while she strapped on her snowshoes. Jahira was so angry about Magnar that she didn’t bother trying to communicate on the walk back. 
            They entered the cave and sat down. Jahira pulled out the last two pieces of bread that her former roommate had made. One nice thing about the cold was that the food hadn’t gone bad; in fact it was slightly frozen. Her companion sat cross-legged across from her consuming a strip of raw meat. She wasn’t so disgusted by the sight anymore, and tried to work herself up to trying some. It was all there would be to eat in a day or two and they were a long way from any material that would allow them to build a fire. 
            Jahira began to feel calm now that they were back at the cave and she decided that she wanted to try to learn know more about her rescuer. She tried to think of what she wanted to know and what was easiest to communicate. She decided to start with a name. Jahira did her best to picture herself, pointed at her chest just to clarify, and said her name. 
            Krrnarr looked up as the dark one repeated the picture and the odd-sounding word. It was telling him what it was called! He tried to say the word, but he could tell that it didn’t sound the same. Nevertheless, the dark one smiled and he could feel its excitement. 
            In fact, Jahira was ecstatic when the creature tried to say her name. It sounded funny, sort of growly, and he prolonged and rolled the r, his tongue almost seeming to vibrate on the sound, but he tried! She nodded, pointing to herself and repeating her name, and then pointed to the alien and pictured him. 
            Krrnarr smiled at the image of himself as the dark one saw him. It was not as odd-looking as it had been that first day, but was still very different than his image as it would look from one of The People, and the dark one was now pointing to him. It wanted to know what he was called. He pictured himself and pointed to his chest in imitation of the dark one and said his own name. 
            “Krnar.” Jahira repeated. She couldn’t do the tongue thing that Krrnarr did, so the word sounded flat and almost nasal when she said it, but he smiled anyway. 
            Jahira pointed to her chest again and said her name, then pointed to his and said Krrnarr. He nodded and did the same. So, his name was Krrnarr. That was a breakthrough. She wondered if he lived in this cave, or if there were any others like him living nearby. She tried to think of a way to ask but Krrnarr beat her to it. She saw herself and Magnar shifting from one environment to another. 
            First the two of them were standing by the shore of the ocean, next standing beneath the leaves of a dancing forest, then in a cave, and finally as he had found them, strapped inside the Eagle. She thought that she could almost feel his curiosity and was sure that he was asking where they had come from. She thought the whole explanation of arriving on a starship from another planet was a bit too much right now so she decided on the silver grove. It was the only one they’d found so far which made it a pretty distinct landmark, perhaps he’d heard of it. 
            Jahira pictured the silver trees as they had looked when she last saw them with their brown leaves and purple fruit. Almost simultaneously Krrnarr jumped to his feet and began talking animatedly. It was the first time she’d heard him speak more than his name. His deep melodic voice rolling through the unfamiliar words was startling. She of course didn’t have the first clue what he was saying so she just waited. 
            Krrnarr jumped up and in his amazement began firing questions at the dark one. It just sat there, not responding, and he realized he wasn’t projecting. He’d been too astonished by the image. The colors were different than his Memory, but there was only one Allarra grove and it surrounded the five sacred pools. Krrnarr calmed himself and sat back down. He projected his Memory of the place of his ancestors. Jahira smiled and nodded, picturing the trees with the yellow leaves as Krrnarr had done. Krrnarr sent another picture of the five pools and again Jahira smiled and nodded, repeating the image. Krrnarr couldn’t believe his luck! The dark one knew where the grove was and had supposedly come from there! In his elation Krrnarr trilled at the top of his lungs. 
            Jahira flinched at the ear-piercing sound that came from Krrnarr and bounced off the cavern walls, but he seemed happy, really happy. It must be something to do with the grove. She tried doing what he had done and pictured Krrnarr in this cave, followed by him standing in the forest, and finally on the shore of the ocean. She received a mindful of images in return. 
            As if she were standing far away, she saw Krrnarr with a whole group of creatures that looked nearly identical to him standing on the top of a rocky cliff with the sea full of ice below them. Then she saw Krrnarr and another of the aliens sitting on what looked like a huge piece of ice, followed by the two on some kind of raft. Next was Krrnarr standing alone on a beach, then walking through a forest of dancing trees.  The final image was of Krrnarr sitting in this cave in the mountains. 
            Jahira quickly processed the information and realized that he was showing her not only where he’d come from but how he’d traveled here. He paused deliberately in his series of images and then pictured the silver grove again. Was he saying that was where he was going? She tried picturing him standing in front of those silver trees and was rewarded with another bone-tingling trill. 
            Jahira tried to replay her own journey by focusing on a mental image of her and Magnar boarding the Eagle with the silver grove visible in the background. She followed this image with a visual of the Eagle flying over the forests and mountains all the way to the shore of the ocean. She finished her saga with an image of the Eagle flying over the mountains briefly before it began flipping through the air and crashed. 
            Krrnarr was amazed. The dark one and pale one seemed to have deliberately ridden the silver bird from the grove. So that must be why they wanted to dig it out, to see if it could still fly and carry them back. Krrnarr was excited but also frustrated. He wanted desperately to be able to communicate more effectively so that he could ask how far it was, in what direction, why they were there, and who they were to begin with. They looked nothing like The People and Krrnarr didn’t think that the Ancestors could have evolved so drastically over the years. Even though his people had changed, they still looked like people. Perhaps Arruvell had sent them to bring him to the pools! What if he had not assisted them? Had it been another test to see if he was worthy? His thoughts drifted with the possibilities as he tried to draw some logical conclusion about this providential series of events. 
            Jahira was thrilled with the progress of their conversation, but there was so much that she didn’t know how to convey.  She was stunned that Krrnarr seemed to be traveling a very long distance from wherever his people lived and was apparently heading all the way to the silver orchard. 
            Why would he be going there? She wondered. 
            He had shown himself on the ice and several times on the ocean, had he crossed the ocean from the third continent? Rylan had claimed that it was too cold to survive there, for humans anyway, but Krrnarr did have that fur covering, and he seemed totally oblivious to the frigid temperatures here. She tried to remember how far the third continent was but couldn’t really imagine the distance. She wondered about the second figure on the ice. He had apparently started the journey with another of his people, so why he was by himself now? She tried asking. 
Jahira focused on recreating the image that Krrnarr had sent of himself with the other one of his kind, and then shifted to him alone. 
            In response, Krrnarr replayed for Jahira the day of the storm. He showed Allnall falling into the ocean and then visualized himself walking around the llarro day after day searching to no avail. 
            Jahira was sure that she could feel Krrnarr’s sadness at the memory. She reached out to touch his hand in a gesture of sympathy. Her fingers had barely grazed the soft hair on the back of his hand when he pulled it out of reach and looked at her with widened eyes. Jahira was confused and a little hurt. She pulled her hand back as well. Then she recalled his reaction when she had tried to help with the snowshoes and wondered why he was so jumpy every time she tried to touch him. He seemed so calm and open otherwise. Maybe in his culture women were considered unclean like some of the old civilizations on Earth. 
            Or maybe it’s because I really am unclean, she mused. 
            She hadn’t bathed in days and probably reeked. She had seen Krrnarr rub himself down with snow several times and he probably thought she was disgusting because she hadn’t done the same. Being clean sounded great, but if it came down to bathing in the snow she wasn’t sure it would be that great. 
            The whole episode resulted in an awkward breakdown in communication and the two finished their meal in silence. Krrnarr pulled a few items from his pack, laid out some tools and pieces of what appeared to be bone, and began carving. Rather than sit there and stare, Jahira decided to sharpen her knife. It was in her pack so she hauled it closer by pulling on one of the shoulder straps. The sound of the canvas scuffing across the rock was loud in the still atmosphere. She pulled out her blade and the sharpener and began pulling the knife through the v-shaped divot that was edged with crushed diamond. She heard a soft rustling and saw Krrnarr approaching out of the corner of her eye. He stopped a few feet from where she was working and squatted on his heels, watching. 
            Jahira held up her knife and told him the word, then pointing to the one on his belt. She demonstrated what she was doing by first running her finger along the edge of her own knife, then pulling it through the divot, and finally testing the blade again. Krrnarr held out his hand and pictured Jahira handing him the blade with a quizzical overtone. When Jahira hesitated he unstrapped his own knife from his belt and offered it in exchange. Jahira smiled and traded weapons with him. 
            Jahira inspected every inch of the knife. It was made with a stone blade that had been chipped to a sharp point. The blade was lashed to a bone handle with some type of thick waxy string. Jahira was surprised to see that the handle was covered with intricate carvings and she wondered if they had any particular meaning or were simply decorative. 
            Krrnarr examined Jahira’s knife in wonder. The materials were unfamiliar to him. The blade was hard like stone but it was the color of the liquid in the healing pools. He thought it was too thin to be very strong. He ran his thumb along the edge and was surprised to see blood bead across the shallow cut. It was very sharp. The handle felt soft at first, but when he put pressure on it, the material remained firm. He tested the blade on a strip of gut line and was astonished as the blade moved through the membrane with barely any effort on his part. It was a good knife. He offered it back to Jahira with a nod and she returned his own blade. 
            Jahira wanted to demonstrate the sharpening again so she placed the knife in the divot and began pulling it through, then looked up to see if Krrnarr was watching. She gasped when she felt the blade bite into her skin and looked down to see her own blood oozing from a deep cut along the inside surface of her thumb. Jahira put down the knife and looked around for something to wrap around the wound, cursing her carelessness. Krrnarr held out a piece of animal skin and she took it gratefully. She wrapped the cut tightly and in seconds she could see blood soaking through the cloth. 
            Krrnarr stood and gestured for her to follow, picturing a pool of silver. Jahira cocked her head and frowned in puzzlement. Krrnarr gestured again and began walking toward the back of the cave, so Jahira followed. Krrnarr led her down into a narrow passageway at the back of the cave, curious and surprised that there would be a pool here in the mountains, and wondered if he meant for her to clean the cut in the pool. 
            Krrnarr glanced back to see if Jahira was following. 
            The dark one would make a good hunter, he thought. 
            It had a fairly light step even in the heavy boots that it wore, and the cave lizards would never see it coming. Krrnarr led Jahira through the dark and eventually to a wide cavern whose floor was nearly covered with silver that glinted just slightly in the light emanating from his body. The dark one stood, looking unsure of what to do, so Krrnarr kneeled at the edge of the pool and dipped his own small cut in the liquid to demonstrate. He pulled out his finger a few seconds later and showed Jahira the unblemished skin where the small cut had been. 
            Jahira gasped in astonishment. She’d seen the effects of the liquid on old scars, but no one had tested it on active wounds. Medic had been wary about introducing the foreign substance into the blood stream and so had relied on a more standard approach to medical treatment. Apparently Krrnarr had no such concerns. Jahira hesitated just a moment longer and decided that the risk of infection was more distressing to her at this point. 
            She uncovered the cut as she knelt by the pool, and dipped her hand under the surface. The liquid was blessedly warm. For a moment she just enjoyed the heat as it soaked into her skin, then she gasped as the heat intensified and seemed to localize around the cut on her thumb. The wound began to pulse painfully and Jahira was about to draw her hand out when the throbbing ceased as suddenly as it had begun.  She glanced at Krrnarr, who nodded, so she pulled her hand out and gaped at the seamless skin of her thumb. She couldn’t tell that it had ever been cut except for the trace of blood on her skin. Jahira gaped at Krrnarr in amazement and he smiled. 
            Krrnarr was also surprised, not at the effects of the liquid, but that Jahira seemed not to have known what it would do. How could the dark one be living by the sacred pools and not be aware of their power? 
            The cold of the dark cave crept back into Jahira’s hand and she looked longingly at the quiet depths of the pool. Jahira hadn’t taken to bathing in the liquid like so many Polarians had, but it sounded pretty good right now. She looked back at Krrnarr and pointed to herself, then to the pool. She focused on picturing herself immersed in the liquid with just her head above the surface. 
            Krrnarr nodded in understanding and began to pull off his boots. A soak in the restorative waters was a very good idea. He began to untie his belt and noticed that Jahira was not undressing. He sent and image of them both in the pool tinged with curiosity, wondering if the dark one had changed its mind. He was surprised by a wave of embarrassment and a clear picture of Jahira alone in the pool. Krrnarr didn’t understand why Jahira would be embarrassed, especially after twice trying to touch him! But Krrnarr stopped, settled himself at the edge of the pool, and then gestured for Jahira to go ahead. He could wait. 
            Jahira was surprised herself by her sudden display of modesty. She thought she’d completely gotten over any need for privacy after the years in the compound, followed by years aboard The Last Hope. Maybe it was due to the fact that there was just the two of them instead of a whole crowd, or maybe it was because Krrnarr was, well, not human. She didn’t know what his standards of judgment were. Then she thought it was silly that she would even care. He clearly didn’t. Now she felt stupid for making an issue out of the whole matter. Well, the damage was done; if she said she didn’t want to bathe at this point he would think she was disgusting and disturbed. So, she took of her parka and boots and steeled herself for whatever his reaction might be. 
            Krrnarr watched with indifference as Jahira peeled off the many layers of unfamiliar coverings that it needed to stay warm. The heavy coat, the double layer of some kind of thick hide covering under its boots, and under the single piece of hide that covered its body were even more strips of cloth. Krrnarr blinked in surprise as Jahira removed the last coverings and he realized that the dark one was a female. Krrnarr tried not to let his surprise show, and now he was embarrassed. How could he not have realized? With all of the coverings he could not tell the shape of the body underneath, but now it was quite obvious. It also dawned on him that this was why she had been against the suggestion that they bathe together! This he understood. 
            The People were very casual about clothing, which was one of the reasons for the restrictions on touching. They had to live and work in very close quarters so it would be foolish to forbid men and women from fishing at the same time or being seen on the surface without coverings during the Seasons of Light. After all they had the fur coverings that never came off; but men and women did not bathe together. Not unless they were family or mates. 
            Krrnarr felt ashamed that he had nearly committed such an act and wondered how he could explain without further offending Jahira. He decided that he could at least give her privacy now that he’d realized his mistake, so he stood and walked out of the cavern. Two steps out down the tunnel it occurred to him that Jahira would not be able to see if he left, having no bio-luminescent coat, so he stepped back into the cavern. He kept his back toward the pool and stood there, feeling like a complete idiot. 
            Well, that was interesting, Jahira thought; definitely not the reaction that she’d expected. 
            Now she was even more embarrassed, and completely confused. It was hard for her to read Krrnarr’s fur covered face and seemingly non-existent body language so she had no idea why he’d suddenly decided to leave; and then come back but stood with his back to her. Jahira smiled when she thought perhaps he hadn’t known that she was a woman. She certainly must look as strange to him as he did to her, and she was well aware that military uniforms did nothing for one’s figure. Put a parka on top of that and there was probably little to go by as far as gender identification of a different species. Well, there was nothing to be done about it now, so she sat back and let the warmth soak into her bones. 
            
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Chapter 38 
            Krrnarr could hear Jahira climb out of the pool and pull on her clothes. He waited uncomfortably, trying not to fidget until she came up beside him and gestured for him to get in. Krrnarr moved to the edge of the pool and slipped off his shorts while Jahira stood with her back to him. Krrnarr smiled to himself as he lowered himself into the waters. 
            Jahira considered heading back to the main cavern but quickly realized that she wouldn’t be able to see a thing without Krrnarr. She thought he must have had the same realization and perhaps that was why he’d stepped back into the room while she was bathing. Well, he seemed to be considerate. That was nice. Jahira waited patiently until Krrnarr came to stand beside her after he’d bathed. She smiled at him and gestured for him to lead the way. 
            Krrnarr was relieved that Jahira wasn’t angry. Actually he could sense that her overriding emotion was amusement about the whole incident. He couldn’t help but compare how Tllomell or Allnall would have reacted in the same situation. Tllomell would have been furious and offended, probably for days. Allnall would have tried to use the confusion to make some sort of unwanted advance. Krrnarr decided that amusement was fine with him. When they returned to the main cave, the light outside was waning but the pale one still had not returned. That took Krrnarr’s thoughts in another direction. 
            Now that he knew that Jahira was a female, he wondered about the pale one and compared what he knew about them. The pale one had a much thinner face and harder lines, and was certainly more aggressive, both fit with what he knew of the male gender. He remembered Jahira excusing herself to go outside alone several times, while the pale one had simply gone to the back of the cave to relieve himself. Krrnarr hadn’t watched to know for sure that he was male; he had just decided that the dark one had some sense of decency that the pale one lacked. Now he knew. Perhaps all of the males of their people were so hostile. That may make his task more difficult than he’d anticipated. 
            It was also interesting to realize that they were traveling together, male and female leaving the sacred grove, just as he and Allnall had set out together to find it.  He wondered if Jahira and the pale one were mates, but they didn’t seem to be. He certainly hadn’t noticed any signs that the two were in union. He decided to try to find out more. Krrnarr projected a picture first of Jahira and said her name, then he sent a picture of the pale one simultaneously projecting his curiosity. 
            Jahira was a little surprised, not that Krrnarr wanted to know about Magnar, but to realize that she’d forgotten about him. She supposed she just had her mind on other matters. She visualized Magnar in her own head and said his name, which Krrnarr repeated and nodded. 
            Speak of the devil, Jahira thought. 
            Just at that moment the cave entrance darkened and Magnar rapped his snowshoes against the rock wall before stooping to unstrap them just inside the entrance. Jahira noted the amount of noise that he made as he moved about, getting water, getting food, and settling himself to eat. He ignored Jahira and Krrnarr, not even offering a greeting. His presence almost felt like an intrusion in the intimate abode. 
            “Well, did you get her dug out?” Jahira asked. 
            Magnar growled low in his throat. 
            “I see your attitude hasn’t improved any.” Jahira replied feeling the tension and irritation that had departed during Magnar’s absence creep back into her shoulders. 
            Magnar did not acknowledge her comment as he tore into a strip of raw meat. 
            “I actually just had a nice soak. There’s a silver pool deeper inside this cave and it’s nice and warm. Maybe a bath would improve your mood.” Jahira glanced at Magnar when she’d finished speaking and recoiled at his expression. He was smiling but it was not Magnar’s smile. It was forced and he looked more like he was bearing his teeth at her. 
            Without so much as a ‘see you later’, Magnar headed for the back of the cave where Jahira had pointed. Jahira watched him go, more concerned than ever. 
            Krrnarr concentrated on the emotion that he was picking up from Magnar. He’d noticed a slight change in the pale one’s mind as soon as he’d entered the cave. There was still the buzz of a thousand thoughts, but there seemed to be one projection that was slightly stronger than the others. Krrnarr tried to focus on that thread, but it would fade in and out too quickly for him to read. As Magnar headed for the tunnel that led to the pool, Krrnarr was surprised to realized the pale one’s strongest emotion was fear. 
* * * * * 
            Magnar could see what was happening, but it was as if he was watching everything from a distance. He could pick up what Jahira said if he concentrated, but sometimes there was too much competition from the voices all around him. He could see the odd creature that shared the cave, and he could feel the hostility from those others in his head whenever he got near the creature. Magnar wondered who or what it was. Jahira seemed to know it, and it had followed them to the ship. Magnar wanted to go with them when he saw Jahira and the other creature leave, but he couldn’t make his body follow. 
            He noticed that the wall around him seemed to expand and contract ever so slightly throughout the day. He tried pushing, physically and mentally against the barriers, but each time he did the walls would close in again. It was as if whatever kept him confined would begin to forget about him, but any actions on his part were a reminder of his presence. As the day progressed into evening the expansions became more pronounced and his efforts to push against them resulted in less and less resistance. He felt like he was getting somewhere. 
            He saw himself return to the cave and heard Jahira ask him a question. Then he heard Jahira mention the pools and all of the voices paused briefly before taking up some kind of chant. Magnar realized that must be why the barriers were getting weak, he’d had no silver for- well he didn’t know how many days, and his own consciousness was trying to regain control. He struggled desperately to push, to run, to break free, but after a long walk through the silent darkness he felt his body kneel and then the walls pressed in once again, nearly crushing him.    When Magnar returned Krrnarr could no longer detect the thread of fear, just the headache-causing buzz of pure hostility, so he once again blocked his mind. Magnar’s anger had appeared to diminish somewhat when he had first returned to the cave, but was now back in full force. Magnar’s eyes never left Krrnarr as he finished his meal and then sat cross-legged sharpening his knife, just as Jahira had done earlier, but in a much more ominous manner. 
            Jahira, noticing the blatant threat in Magnar’s posture, picked up her own gear and moved it so that she was equidistant between him and Krrnarr. Krrnarr thought that was particularly interesting and questioned her by projecting a picture of what she was doing mixed with his own curiosity. It took her so long to respond that Krrnarr began to wonder if she’d understood. 
            Jahira wasn’t sure how to explain. She didn’t know how to visualize the change in Magnar’s behavior, or appearance, so she considered for a while before she responded. Finally she pictured Magnar on a particularly good day, smiling, laughing, healthy-looking; and then pictured him as he was now; almost gaunt with that chilling expression he’d had when she’d told him about the pool. She didn’t know if that would get the point across or not, but she was starting to feel uneasy around Magnar. 
            Krrnarr was impressed by the clarity of these visions; Jahira was getting better at focusing her thoughts. He was also surprised by the difference between the images of Magnar. So, the pale one had changed and she was beginning to feel wary around him. In a way that made Krrnarr feel better, knowing that this wasn’t typical, but it also made him uneasy. He had only heard stories of The Marked, but according to Ellall one of the signs was a drastic change in behavior over time, with the affected individual eventually turning unpredictably violent. The Marked were the reason that The People had fled, the reason that they had been isolated for so many generations in the caves and the sea that they had lost their True wings, and the reason that Krrnarr now had to be separated from his people.  
            Magnar clearly was not physically marked, but the mark was a result of the purging, the change in behavior came from drinking the silver from the sacred pools. Krrnarr would have to watch Magnar closely. It was believed that once one drank from the sacred pools one could live off the liquid. If one hadn’t imbibed from one of the five within the Allarra grove, the liquid from any other pool would cause the individual to become violently ill.  If Krrnarr could catch Magnar drinking the silver, he would know. If Magnar did not become ill, Krrnarr would have to kill him.  He said a prayer to The One Who Knows All to continue to guide him and protect him. 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
Chapter 39 
            Krrnarr was tired. He hadn’t slept at all the previous night because the pale one hadn’t either. They had sat, staring at each other in the dark, Jahira sleeping between them, until just before dawn. The pale one, Magnar, had finally left, but Krrnarr didn’t trust that he would not return while Krrnarr slept, so he’d taken out his knife and bones and worked on his carving to keep himself awake. 
            When Jahira woke she sat up and saw that Magnar was already gone. Krrnarr was there, sitting cross-legged on his hide and appeared to be carving something. Jahira closed her eyes and focused on a picture of Magnar and Krrnarr responded with an image of Magnar strapping on his snowshoes and walking out into the still-dark night. Jahira drank some water, but didn’t feel hungry enough for raw meat just yet. She pictured herself going to the ship and Krrnarr rose to join her. 
            It was snowing this morning, thick, heavy flakes that clung to eyelashes and soaked quickly into clothing. Jahira wasn’t feeling too optimistic about the ship getting enough energy to do anything, but she had to try. Krrnarr was sinking up to his knees with every step in the wet snow and Jahira felt guilty about using the snowshoes, she wished they had another pair on board. He didn’t complain though, and was nearly as fast as she was even with her advantage. When they did arrive at the Eagle, Magnar was already on board trying to power up. 
            “Are you getting anything?” Jahira asked. 
            Magnar shook his head. 
            “Did we even get enough sunlight to have power?” Jahira asked. 
            Magnar just shrugged, but he was clearly frustrated. 
            “Let me take a look.” Jahira said. 
            She checked the power gauge first; excited to see that it was working, and saw that they were fifty percent in the green. She put her earpiece in and tried the com-unit, since that was what she was really hoping for.  She tried various codes and commands but none of them sounded through the earpiece or showed up on the message board. Jahira methodically flipped each switch on the control panel one at a time, pausing several seconds before flipping each one off. She discovered that the internal cabin lights worked, for whatever good that would do them. There was no power reading on the thrusters and the cabin door was offline. None of the data screens were functioning. The Eagle had basically become a very expensive tent. 
            “Well, it’s not looking good. There’s enough power that we should be able to get online, but there’s nothing, no signals.” Jahira said. 
            Magnar glared at her. 
            “There was one channel with a little static on the com-unit. I’ll mess with it and see if I can get word to The Last Hope that we’re stranded. Maybe they can send the Falcon, or at least know that we’re not dead.” Jahira said. 
            Magnar nodded once, turned, and climbed out of the cabin where he stood face to face with Krrnarr. Krrnarr stood, loose-limbed and confident, gripping his knife in his right hand. Magnar could feel his body tensing and could sense the indecision on the part of his hosts. They wanted to attack but were wary. Krrnarr was only slightly shorter than Magnar, and outweighed him by at least fifty pounds. Krrnarr’s arms and torso were thick and heavily muscled. Magnar’s gaunt frame and brittle bones would never last in hand to hand combat. With a snarl Magnar turned and headed back toward the cave. 
            Krrnarr watched Magnar go. He was torn between disappointment and relief that Magnar had not attacked. He wondered briefly what caused the pale one to hesitate, but didn’t consider long before he turned his attention back to Jahira. She was talking to the bird. 
            Krrnarr climbed through the slit in the belly and watched. He was startled when lights suddenly shone above his head and he thought about jumping through the opening that was still held open with his rock, but Jahira, though surprised, seemed happy with the event rather than alarmed. He stared at the light for a while, trying to figure how the fire had been trapped inside the ice that surrounded it, and why the ice wasn’t melting.           
            Jahira had continued talking and pushing objects on the shelf, perhaps trying to coax the bird back to life. Krrnarr was excited now that he knew that they might be able to ride the bird back to the orchard, if it was not yet dead, and if he was allowed to join them. From what he could tell, the male and female seemed to be of equal status, and Jahira seemed to be the one that did most of the talking to the bird. If it was up to Jahira he was sure that he could go with them. Magnar might refuse. Krrnarr decided to take this opportunity to ask while Magnar was gone. He projected a picture to Jahira of all three of them in the bird flying above the mountains. 
            Jahira turned to face him, looking disappointed, and just shook her head. She had no idea how to explain that the ship was broken, and she didn’t want to tell him that she hoped another would come and get them until she knew. He’d been so animated when he’d found out that she knew where the silver trees were. She didn’t want to give him false hope. Besides, she didn’t really know how to explain the whole situation. 
            Krrnarr wasn’t sure if Jahira meant that the bird would not fly or that he could not join them. Her dominant emotion was determination, which didn’t tell him much, so he waited. It was still snowing heavily and the wind had begun to blow drifts in through the opening in the bird’s body. Krrnarr felt rather useless just standing there so, he untied his knife and pulled the piece of bone from his belt pouch that he was carving into the likeness of the silver bird as he had seen it in flight. He had his memory, but he wanted physical reminders of his journey so that he would not forget any of the details when he told his story to his people. He had a carving already of the living trees, several of the animals that he’d seen, and a depiction of the trees and mountains with the sun shining down. This had been his first sight of The Warm Land as he stepped from the sea onto the shoreline and he had etched the scene into the smooth surface of a shoulder bone. 
            Krrnarr was putting on the last details when Jahira came to stand by his side. She gasped slightly and squatted down. Jahira held out her hand as she asked to see the carving and Krrnarr placed it in her palm. Jahira held it carefully, turning it to see every surface, finally looking at him with a broad smile. 
            “That’s incredible!” She said as she held the carving out to return it to him. He took it and returned it to his belt pouch. Jahira pictured them going back to the cave and turned to go outside. 
            Snow was still falling heavily and when Jahira stepped from the ship’s cabin and moved beyond the shelter of the broken wing the wind nearly knocked her over. She tried taking a few steps but could barely stay upright. Miniature icicles sliced against the bare skin on her face and prevented her from opening her eyes enough to see where she was going. She turned and climbed back into the cabin. She communicated to Krrnarr the ferocity of the storm and visualized them waiting it out in the ship. 
            The storm must have stranded Magnar in the cave, Jahira thought. 
            She sat and pulled her knees up under the parka. She remained lost in her own thoughts and Krrnarr pulled out a piece of bone to begin a new carving. Jahira closed her eyes and pulled the hood closer around her face, trying to trap the warmth of her breath inside the parka as the world stopped in the face of the incredible force of Mother Nature. 
* * * * * 
            Magnar watched in confusion that slowly changed to horror as his hands worked against his will, first pulling the meat off the line at the back of the cave, and then rifling through the native man’s belongings. He found various tools that he removed and stowed in his own pack, as well as two lines of water bags. Magnar poured out the few full ones, and took the empty bladders deep into the cave to the edge of the silver pool. His hands pushed the sacs under the surface until, one by one, they were all filled. He returned to the main cave, quickly arranging the contents of his own pack before shifting it onto his back. Though Magnar resisted with every shred of his consciousness, his feet carried his body out of the cave and into the blinding snowstorm. In one final act of rebellion his feet turned south; away from the Eagle, away from Jahira, and toward and uncertain future. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Chapter 40 
            Jahira jerked awake and saw Krrnarr still sitting not far from her in the cabin of the Eagle, but no longer carving. She noticed that the wind had stopped howling as well. It was dark outside. Krrnarr looked over at her and smiled. She wondered how long she’d been asleep. She pictured them going back to the cave, but as more of a question. Krrnarr nodded and rose. He led the way since he possessed the built in light, and Jahira marveled at the amount of snow that had fallen. She tried to calculate how far into the season they were and figured it was still only the third month of winter, give or take a few days. How much snow could fall in nine more months? 
            When they returned to the cave Jahira thought it was strange how any place could start to feel familiar if you were there long enough. She started to take off her snowshoes, already dreaming of another soak in the warmth of the pool, when she heard Krrnarr growl menacingly. Jahira looked up, but didn’t notice anything amiss, not that she could see much anyway. She wondered if there was an animal and she pulled out her knife, which she had worn on her belt today. She moved forward cautiously. She thought she could feel Krrnarr’s anger radiating through the cavern. 
            Krrnarr was beyond livid. All of the meat on the line was gone. At first he’d thought an animal had found the cave, but then he noticed that Magnar’s pack and supplies were gone as well. He had to admit that he didn’t feel too bad about that, but he was furious about the food. Magnar had no right to it; he hadn’t even attempted to hunt in the days that he’d been awake. 
Krrnarr walked over to the line and saw that his pack was open. He growled again, the sound getting lower and longer the further he dug and realized that several of his tools and all of his water bags were gone. He wasn’t worried about the water that had been in them, there was more than a lifetime’s supply on the ground outside, but the bags were his property, items that he had cured and sealed and carried all the way from his home. He could not believe that any thinking creature would take belongings from another without asking. He was barely able to control his emotions. 
            Jahira watched Krrnarr dig through his pack and as her eyes adjusted to the darkness of the cave, she realized that Magnar’s sleeping roll and pack were gone; his snowshoes, his supplies, all gone. She sat down heavily in disbelief and that’s when she noticed the line that had held all of the smaller strips of meat was empty. Had he taken it all? Why would he have left? She simply could not comprehend that Magnar had gone off into the storm, on his own, and had left her behind. She was further astounded when Krrnarr got through to her that Magnar had stolen some of Krrnarr’s supplies as well. What was the matter with him? 
            Jahira moved woodenly through her evening routine, and though she was not tired she lay down on her sleeping roll, still unable to process the situation. Krrnarr remained silent a few feet away. He kept his hands busy with a new carving as he gradually calmed his mind and body into a state of near meditation. Both eventually drifted into a fitful sleep and woke again near dawn. 
            Jahira spent the next several days trying to get something on the Eagle to work. In the meantime Krrnarr hunted, for the food as well as the materials that he needed to replace the tools and water bags that Magnar had stolen. Every day it snowed and the ship finally ran out of power. Jahira returned to the cave and let Krrnarr know that not only would they not be taking the Eagle back to the grove, it was unlikely that any of her people would be able to search for them in this weather. He seemed disappointed, but calmly accepted the news. His composed attitude helped to keep her from panicking. 
            They discussed their situation and decided to stay in the cave for the duration of the winter. They had only one set of snow shoes and the snow was getting too deep to travel without them. Jahira knew that she could not survive on her own and was infinitely grateful that Krrnarr had rescued her, and that he was willing to help her. She felt a chill run up her spine thinking of Magnar abandoning her here alone with no one to help and no way to contact the settlement. She supposed she was helping Krrnarr in a way as well. She did know the way to the grove, his apparent destination, but it seemed a small thing compared to his ability to keep them both alive in the harsh environment. 
            Krrnarr was actively preventing their demise at this very moment and Jahira knelt beside him to watch him work, asking questions and offering to help when she could. The virtual reality programs had proven to be of little assistance in her current circumstances. She still had a lot to learn about survival. She supposed she should take advantage of the next nine months to become proficient. 
             And who better to learn from, she mused as she settled in for a long winter. 
 
Chapter 41 
            Magnar lost track of time completely as his feet trudged through hours, days, nights, and weeks of endlessly blowing snow. His body, driven by the multitude of voices that surrounded him, pushed him beyond what he would have believed himself capable. He could sense his body shivering from time to time, and though he was aware of the cold it was more like a distant memory than a bitter reality. He was allowed a few hours of rest periodically; always followed by a piece of raw meat, a handful of snow, and one drink of the precious silver. The voices, and therefore he, were drawn toward one particular mountain rising above its brothers to the southwest, the same mountain that he’d insisted that he and Jahira fly over on their journey north. 
            Magnar involuntarily followed a fairly direct path to the rock giant, and when it became necessary to deviate around various obstacles, his eyes remained fixed on that distant beacon. Magnar could not understand what the voices were saying, but he could feel the collective anticipation as he drew closer to their apparent destination. 
            It was days, or perhaps weeks, later when he actually stood at the base of the giant and saw the gaping mouth of a cave. He allowed himself a moment of hope thinking that perhaps he might be able to stop and rest, to get just a bit warmer before being forced to continue. Then he began to panic as he wondered if he would be continuing. What were the voices planning to do with him? 
            He entered the cave and his numb fingers fumbled to unstrap his snowshoes. Magnar could see almost nothing in the deep shadows; either that didn’t matter to his uninvited hosts, or they had other means of perception, for his feet continued forward, into the black recesses of the cave system. He followed a series of large tunnels that opened eventually into a moderate size cavern. His pupils were fully dilated from the trek through the pitch black tunnels and as Magnar stepped into the cavern he could see a change in the light at the back of the cave and he recognized the faint glimmer of the surface of a silver pool. Magnar’s eyes blinked a few times, and he wondered how there was any light to adjust to. His head shifted slowly to allow his eyes to scan the cavern, and he became aware of a still white shape in his periphery. 
            Though Magnar knew he did not control the movement, it was a refreshing feeling as his head turned precisely when he desired. His feet took him toward the faint white glow and stopped just short of what he at first glance took to be a dead animal. The thing lay without moving, its eyes closed, and Magnar knelt by its side, this time definitely against his will. He studied the inert form and realized the creature bore a faint resemblance to the one that had rescued him and Jahira. The body was thin, almost skeletal, and its flesh hung off jutting bones. Its coat was not thick and sleek as Krrnarr’s had been, instead the sparse silvery hairs barely covered the goose-pimpled flesh beneath.  
            Magnar’s hand reached out toward the inert form of the alien. His fingers brushed ever so slightly across a forehead marked with thick scar tissue raised in three circles and connected with a fine white line. The being’s eyelids fluttered at the touch and Magnar’s hands quickly retreated to draw out a bag of silver. He put the opening to the creature’s mouth. Barely a dribble passed over the shriveled blue lips before the papery thin eyelids peeled back revealing ice blue eyes. 
            Ahh, you’ve come at last. The words were not spoken aloud but Magnar heard them, felt them, and most surprising of all, he understood them. 
            The being began to move, slowly and deliberately, and when Magnar’s arms reached out to help, it held up one long-fingered hand to stop him. It took a long time for the weak creature to reach a sitting position, and Magnar realized that what he had taken for a hide lying underneath it was actually attached to it and appeared to be wings; they were a dull grey color, except where the alien had brushed against them as it sat up. Here a patch of gleaming white scales was revealed beneath the dust and grime that coated the being. 
            Do you have food, or water? Again the words were not spoken aloud. 
            The creature is putting the thoughts into my head! Magnar realized in shock. 
            Then he wondered why he found that so surprising. It was just one more voice among the hundreds that had taken up residence. But he understood this voice. How did this thing know his language? 
            Magnar removed his pack and pulled out several strips of the raw meat that he had taken from the last cave, as well as a water bag that he’d filled with snow after he’d licked the last of the silver from its inner skin. The creature ate greedily, washing every few bites down with a bit of the melting snow. 
            Thank you. The creature projected into Magnar’s mind, and then sat back and closed its’ eyes. 
            Magnar waited, patiently at first, but with growing unease. Had the thing gone back to sleep? What was he supposed to do now? Not that he had much choice in the matter; still he couldn’t help but wonder. Suddenly the cold blue eyes snapped open and, had Magnar been in control of his nervous system, he would have jumped. 
            What is your true name? The thought was not loud, but it was clear and insistent inside Magnar’s head. 
            Magnar heard the voices around him rise in volume and intensity but his mouth formed no response. 
            What is your true name?  The creature asked again, locking his eyes with Magnar’s own. 
            This time Magnar heard his voice reply with his own name and was startled. 
            Magnar, I know you are in there and that you can hear me. I am going to help you. To all of you listening, my name is Grrollon; I am the first and the last of the Marked. The creature paused while the voices raged inside Magnar’s skull. He wasn’t sure of the significance of that statement, but it was clear that it meant something to his hosts. 
              I will help you, if you will help me.  Grrollon stated, still holding Magnar’s gaze. I called you here because I am weak. I have lived too many seasons and I cannot make the journey alone, I must return to the Allarra grove, to the sacred pools, and the cleansing ritual must be performed once again if your souls are to be finally put to rest. You must help me get there. 
            Magnar didn’t understand what was going on. The voices continued to scream inside his head, they seemed to be arguing, and Magnar could feel his body twitching in response to hundreds of different commands as each host tried to take control. 
            Enough! Grrollon’s voice boomed inside his skull and the other voices immediately quieted to excited whispers. Grrollon again locked eyes with Magnar and spoke inside his head in a language that Magnar could not understand. Images flashed through Magnar’s mind, too quickly for him to focus on the unfamiliar sights and interpret them. 
            Finally Magnar nodded.  
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
Chapter 42 
            After six months of nearly endless snow, and with six months still remaining of the long Empyrean winter the world was silent. Even aboard The Last Hope the halls were eerily quiet as every citizen waited with bated breath, every citizen but one. Sidra, the only settler definitely not holding her breath, gripped the hands of her husband as she pushed with the waves of pressure that gave her no choice. 
            She could hear the voice of her husband, and of Medic, but their words barely registered. She was focused on the intensity of her need to push, separated by intervals too brief to allow her to disassociate from her task. She, Sidra, a woman of no great consequence was giving birth to the first human baby to be naturally conceived in four decades, a century if one included the years aboard The Last Hope, and she was determined to do it right. Everyone was counting on her. 
            It seemed like an eternity to those waiting. The tension mounted when hours passed and no announcement was made. The colonists sat in their rooms or in the commons, a few pretending to watch their data screens, while really watching the small perforations in the walls, waiting to hear Medic’s voice announce the arrival of Empyrean’s first child. 
            Finally, a low buzz through the intercom was followed by a loud wail. Medic’s laughter filled the rooms and he shouted, “It’s a girl! It’s a beautiful, healthy baby girl!” 
            Cheers drowned out the wail of the infant and the couples who would follow in Sidra’s wake hugged and cried in relief and joy. Only Trevelyan fought back tears of regret, thinking of Jahira and the child that they might have had. 
            Medic cut the umbilical cord and gently wiped the child clean before wrapping her in a blanket and handing the precious bundle to her Mother. 
            Sidra took her daughter, put the baby to her breast, and stared in wonder. Sidra stroked the downy hairs that covered her child’s head. She noticed that some of the hairs were almost white and as she inspected every inch of her precious bundle, Sidra noticed the same white down on her daughter’s arms and legs. She was so beautiful. Sidra looked up at her husband with tear filled eyes. 
            “Her name is Chava.”