Silent Dances (53 page)

surrender.
As though
we
have any control over this
!
Tesa thought wildly.

Only Maltese kept his nerv
e
.
Taking adv
an
tage of the confusion
,
he t
ri
ed to push through the esco
rt,
brushing against Flies
-
Too-Fast in his
effo
rt
to break f
re
e
,
but the yearling
re
cove
re
d quickly
an
d kept his
place
.
The hum
an'
s a
tt
empted escape only enraged the Aquila
,
who
mob
be
d him, blocking his view
.
The blond c
ri
minal
'
s sled wobbled
wildly but he m
an
aged to con
tr
ol it, though he could do nothing but
hover impotently in place
.
When the t
an
gle of Aquila bodies clea
re
d,
Tesa buzzed him
,
hitting his field hard with her last stone.

He faced her,
his face conto
rt
ed with rage
.
She hovered her

258

own sled, her knuckles white as she clung to her spear. A Ripper was

one thing
.
Could she kill a man?

Suddenly Thorn soared up behind Maltese,
flying as close to the bigger

sled as he da
re
d
.
The sky cleared of avi
an
s for a moment
,
and Thorn
fi
re
d on the renegade
.
Tesa could see the Falcon
'
s protective field
shiver where it was struck
.
Maltese spun
,
dropped his shield
,
fired on
Thorn, then snapped his field up again
.
Thorn
'
s shield didn
'
t shiver
-

it blinked off, then rose again in a second.

It must'
ve been hit too many times
,
Tesa realized, her hea
rt
sinking
.

These shields aren
'
t
as
strong
. If he'
s hit again ...
The cruel gri
n on
Maltese
'
s face told her the same thing had

occurre
d to him. And he had to know Tesa had no energy weapon.

Thorn kept firi
ng at Maltese
,
forcing him to keep his shield up. But then

the Aquila and the esco
rt
crowded in again, and the biologist was

forced to stop
.
Maltese dropped his shield and fi
re
d at the biologist
,
but Thorn's sled was too fast, and he was under the big sled befo
re
the

shot went off. Maltese's shield snapped up for the second it took him to

locate Thorn.

Tesa pulled up her spear and rushed the man
, knowing he'd dismissed

her when he
'
d determined that she was weaponless. His shield

dropped as he p
re
pared to fire again
,
then she was on him
,
but at the
last second
,
Tesa could not thrust her spear into the m
an'
s back.

Instead,
she hit him hard with the shaft
,
sending the Falcon sprawling

across his sled
,
grabbing for its hand g
ri
ps. She smacked him again
,
and he rolled onto his back
,
leveling his weapon at point
-
blank range
.

Then Rain dropped onto him, spearing his shoulder with her good

foot
.
Maltese fired.

The shot went wild, hitt
ing the power cell of Tesa's sled with sufficient

force to sho
rt
it out
.
Befo
re
Tesa understood what had happened
,
her
sled was gone and she was falling. And falling.

Skydiving,
she thought dazedly
.
Without a power pak. Without a
-
gravs.

I'm falling!

Then she screamed,
and kept on sc
re
aming until she realized that

wasn't going to help.

Spread
your wings
, my friend,
something said to her
.
Didn't I tell you to

watch for
lightning?

Tesa spread her arms an
d legs, feeling the wind tug at her. It felt like

sound
.
Her body steadied and stopped its sickening

259

SILENT DANCES 259 tumbling
.
It hardly seemed like she was even

moving now. When had she dropped her spear
?
When had she lea
rn

ed to fly?

Thorn watched Tesa plunge toward Trinity
,
knowing he could not save

her. His small sled wasn
'
t designed for that kind of acrobatics
,
to
catch such a large object in free
-
fall. One pa
rt
of him was aware that
the Aquila had pounced on Maltese befo
re
he
'
d even fired at Tesa
'
s
sled, that he w
as
being to
rn
, literally
,
limb from limb
,
but that didn
'
t
even affect him.

How many times do I have to lose you?
his mind c
ri
ed out as he sent his
sled diving after her, vainly t
ry
ing to close the distance between them
.

Tesa would land on the camp's knoll, and even in the lessened gravity

she would hit like a meteor. Thorn pushed his sled.

Suddenly a dark body rocketed past him. The young Aquila Tesa had raised

was falling, her wings folded tight for speed. Then,
beneath Tesa was a

mass of white wings
.
Somehow,
the escort
had gotten under her
,
and
Thorn could see Taller and Sailor jockeying into position to cushion

her, to slow her fall. He felt no hope for their brave a
tt
empt
.
Tesa's
weight, even in T
ri
nity
'
s gravity
,
would be too much for the Grus.

They would only inju
re
themselves t
ry
ing to save her.

Thunder flew over Tesa.
The raptor stretched her wings, her taloned foot

slashed out
,
grabbing Tesa by the w
ri
st. She backwinged desperately,
and Thorn could see her calling. Above Thorn a mass of Aquila were

still har
ry
ing the two p
ri
vateers who were t
ry
ing to descend and
surrender. Then suddenly bronze bodies were dropping past him
,

converging on Tesa with the same ferocity they had their hated

enemies.

Tesa saw Sailor
'
s feathe
re
d back come up beneath her, but it only

added to her terror. She knew they
'
d keep struggling to break her fall,

in spite of the danger to themselves
.
Taller was beside Sailor
,
ready to
take over when Sailor tired. But it was all so useless Tesa began to

weep.

Then she felt a scaly foot grasp her wri
st and yank upward, pulling her

arm so hard it felt as though it would separate f
ro
m her shoulder
.
She
looked up to see Thunder straining to slow her fall
.
Blood ran from

Tesa's w
ri
st whe
re
Thunder
'
s talons pierced it
.
Desperately Tesa
wrapped her hand around the Aquila's leg.

260

Then
Rain was
beside Thunder, and Tesa almost panicked. The Aquila

could kill her so easily and be rid of the hated human's influence on her

child. But Rain reached and grasped Tesa's other wrist, without scratching

Tesa's skin.

Then another female clasped an ankle. Yet another reached for her other

leg, but missed. But that was okay, because Taller was under her now, his

strength slowing her still more as the Aquila held her tight, all the avians

fighting the pull of the World together.

They were moving her over deeper water, she realized, away from land.

When the Aquila finally released her, Taller slid out from under her. Tesa

twisted, trying to get her body into a diving position, but she didn't have time.

She belly flopped painfully into the water. She was stunned, but conscious

enough to kick up, and broke the surface gasping. Thorn was there, his

expression full of fear and concern. But she was unhurt. She had flown with

the Grus and heard the voice of the Thunderbird.

Thorn was signing frantically. "Are you okay? You okay?" Tesa nodded at

him, treading water. He leaned over his sled, hauling her onto it. He

wrapped his arms around her soaking body, clutching her in a frantic hug.

Tesa could feel his jaw moving as he babbled at her.

Finally, she took his face in her hands and kissed him, happily.

Huge wings passed over, startling them. It was SailorLightning! she

reminded herself-making sure Tesa was all right. "I should've known it would

be him," Thorn signed resignedly.

Lightning beckoned urgently with his head for them to follow as he sped

toward the landing pad. Thorn held Tesa tightly as he launched the sled in

that direction, but when they arrived at the pad it seemed, at first, that

everything was over.

The two surviving privateers were restrained with Szu-yi's cable and locked

in one of the shuttles to protect them from the Aquila. Tesa noted Lauren

sitting on the ground, alone, staring vacantly into space.

A crowd of Grus stood near the back end of a shuttle, so they headed there.

Tesa spotted Taller and Weaver, and Lightning's golden feathers. Thorn

hovered the sled, and they jumped off, weaving their way through the tall,

feathered bodies.

261

Tesa spied Meg
an
d Bruce, then followed their gaze
an
d
saw Szu-
yi
huddled on the ground
.
She shudde
re
d as she realized what the

doctor w
as
doing
.
The Grus that had been shot out of the esco
rt
flock
w
as
lying c
ru
mpled on the ground, her eleg
an
t head in the doctor
'
s
lap. It was Shimme
ri
ng.

The human
worked fr
an
tically to save the avi
an'
s life; she'd al
re
ady
stopped the blood pou
ri
ng out of the avi
an
's torn neck. Red mottled
the glistening white feathers
an
d Szu-yi's arms
an
d h
an
ds
,
but-the
doctor
'
s h
an
ds continued to move expe
rt
ly.

Dr. Li was
packing a small hole in the avi
an
's b
re
ast, but Tesa could
tell it w
as
useless
.
The avi
an'
s keel had to be sha
tt
ered
,
her lungs bu
rn
ed
,
her air sacs
ru
ptured.

Szu-yi'
s mouth w
as
moving steadily. Tesa gl
an
ced at her voder

through blur
ri
ng vision. The doctor was saying over
an
d over
, "
Don't
die
.
Please
,
don't die."

Suddenly Shimmeri
ng
'
s legs paddled weakly
.
The avi
an
's dulling
eyes looked up into the doctor's as Shimme
ri
ng b
ru
shed her feathe

re
d fingers against the human
'
s tearstained face.

"You're
so kind," the G
ru
s signed feebly, "so ve
ry
kind." Szu-yi
ru
bbed
her blood
-
streaked voder sc
re
en clear to
re
ad the avi
an'
s dying
words
.
Then Shimme
ri
ng
'
s h
an
d dropped bonelessly
an
d the
nictitating membr
an
e slowly e
as
ed up over the golden eye.

Szu-yi stroked the silken feathers. "
I should've d
ru
gged Lauren
,"
she
said to no one
.
Tesa
re
ad the words automatically, tr
an
slating them
for the sur
ro
unding G
ru
s. "But-
-
the psy chotherapeutics aren't
always predictable
... an
d she seemed be
tt
er
.
Then she r
an
away from
me
.
She w
an
ted them to kill her. This one flew between them
,
taking
the bl
as
t they aimed at Lau
re
n."

Tesa suddenly realized that Flies-
Too-Fast stood beside the doctor
.
The

young G
ru
s le
an
ed over to lay a black-feathe
re
d h
an
d on Szu-yi
'
s
shoulder
. "
It wasn
'
t your fault
,"
he signed to her
.
He took her h
an
d
an
d tugged it
,
indicating she should st
an
d. "Those of us that loved
her
...
have to lift her to the suns."