Tani's Destiny (Hearts of ICARUS Book 2) (10 page)

“Yes, but we have to drill deep wells to get to it,” she said.  “Thanks to the Welfare group who loaned us some drilling equipment, we have two wells at the caves, and three at the main farming site which is now abandoned.”

“It looks kind of…barren…from here.”

“It is barren,” Astra said.  “What you see is about all there is.  Garza has rocks, dirt, and almost no indigenous plant life at all.  The farms are all hydroponic, otherwise nothing would ever grow.  The soil is hard and dead.”

“Then why do your people stay?” Tani asked.

Astra’s eyebrows rose in surprise, as though that was a question she’d never considered, which it was.  “I don’t know,” she said finally.  “I mean, now we can’t go anywhere obviously, but I suppose we should have left as soon as the first Welfare ship came.  It was just…not something we ever thought of as a possibility.  Garza is the only home we’ve ever known.”

Steel entered the room and stopped to nod at them.  Tani smiled back.  They hadn’t had a chance to finish their conversation since the infirmary, which disappointed her.  She was curious to know whatever he’d been about to tell her, but had refrained from questioning Astra.  She wanted to wait and hear it from Steel himself, whatever it was.

“You ladies strapped in?” he asked while at the same time reaching over to check their safety harnesses for himself. 

“Yes, Steel, we’re fine,” Astra replied anyway. 

“It won’t be long now,” he said after satisfying himself that they were both safe.  Then he turned and went to his seat beside Marbic and strapped himself in.  Half an hour later Khurda set the ship down on a small makeshift landing pad surrounded by enormous boulders.  Tani unbuckled her safety harness and stood up, then paused, feeling at a bit of a loss.  She didn’t know where she was going, what she was supposed to do, or even how long she’d be here.  She couldn’t even busy herself with luggage since all she had were a couple of shirts and some underwear that she’d borrowed from Astra.

“Tani, are you all right?” Astra asked.

“Sure, I’m fine,” Tani said.  “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do is all.”

“I would very much like to have you stay with me,” Astra said.  “Don’t worry, we have running water and bathrooms in the caves.  It’s primitive, but not
that
primitive.”

“Thank you, Astra, that’s very kind of you, but I don’t want to put you out.”

“You wouldn’t be putting me out, Tani,” Astra said.  “I have an extra sleeping chamber in my cave that isn’t being used.  There’s plenty of room, and I’d enjoy the company.”

“All right,” Tani said.  “Thank you, Astra, I appreciate the invitation.”

“We dragged you into this, Tani, it’s not like you’re an unwanted guest that showed up out of nowhere,” Astra said.  “If you want a cave of your own, you can have one.  There are plenty of them, believe me.”

“No, I don’t want that,” Tani said.  “I’d prefer to stay with you so long as I’m not in your way.”

“I promise, you won’t be,” Astra said, smiling brightly. 

“There’s something we must tell you before we leave the ship, Tani,” Steel said, joining them.  “It’s the same thing I was about to tell you earlier when we got interrupted.”  Tani saw Astra grow tense, and noticed that Marbic looked nervous.  Khurda had a stoic expression on his face, but she doubted there was much that could shake him.

“What is it?” she asked.

“Not long after the Xanti brought our people to Garza, they began to change,” Steel said, crossing his arms over his chest as he spoke.  Tani had a feeling that he was preparing himself for rejection.  “Either something in the mines, or in this planet itself, has changed us into other than the humans we once were.”

“What has it changed you into?” Tani asked.

“Creatures of a bestial appearance with hard flesh and, for the men, wings,” Steel replied.  “We call this aspect of ourselves
mahrac
.”

“Is it a change that effects everyone?”

“Yes, though it effects the men differently than the women.”

“Well, you don’t look at all…bestial to me,” Tani said.

“Not at the moment.  I doubt that you would enjoy remaining in the same room with any of us for long if you knew what we turn into.”

“Well, don’t count your doubts just yet,” Tani said, trying not to be offended by his presumption.  “You might be surprised by what I consider surprising, or even normal.”

“I understand that your people are shifters, and you’re used to that,” Steel said.  “We’re not the same.”

“No?”

“The Jasani have always been shifters,” Steel said.  “They were created that way, from the beginning.  They’re natural shifters.  We’re not.”

“That’s splitting hairs a bit,” Tani said dryly.  “Honestly, as long as you don’t change into a pack of psychopathic murderers, it doesn’t matter to me one way or another.”

Marbic burst out laughing, and after a moment, Khurda joined him.  Astra smiled, but Steel remained silent.  “It doesn’t bother you that we’re mutants?”

“Mutants?” she asked in surprise.  “Is that what you think you are?”

“Yes,” Steel said.  “What other explanation can there be?”

“Well, there’s magic,” she said.

“We have no magic, Tani,” Steel said. 

“You shift into another form but believe you have no magic?” she asked in surprise.  Steel nodded.  “How long has it been since the change began?” 

“Since shortly after we were brought to Garza,” Steel replied.  “Over four hundred and fifty years.”

“In those four and a half centuries, how many changes have you undergone?”

“Changes?” Steel asked, frowning.

“How much different are you now than your first ancestors were when they shifted?”

“As far as we know from the old stories, we haven’t changed at all.”

“Then you’re not mutants,” Tani said.  “If there was something in the air or soil of Garza, or even something in the mine that altered your ancestors, it would not have made one change and stopped there.  It would have continued changing you, generation after generation.  Not only that, but I don’t recall you saying that the Nomen suddenly became shifters, and they would have changed as you did since they’re mostly human, too.”

“She’s right, Steel,” Marbic said thoughtfully.  “Tani, what do you think caused the change if it wasn’t caused by contamination of some sort?”

“I don’t have any idea,” she said.  “But I don’t believe for a moment that magic isn’t involved.  Nor do I think that shifting is a bad thing unless you lose control of yourselves and your actions.”

“No, that doesn’t happen,” Steel said.  “Our minds remain the same in both forms.  But there’s no magic, Tani.”

“When you shift from your human form to your alter form, what happens to your clothing?”

“Our clothing?” Steel asked blankly.

“Yes, your clothing,” Tani said.  “Are you still wearing the same clothes when you shift or are they torn to shreds as your body expands?  When you shift back, are you naked?  Or are you wearing the same clothes you wore when you shifted?”

“Our clothes change,” Steel said.  “When we shift back, we’re wearing the same thing as before.”

“The only explanation for that is magic, Steel,” Tani said. 

Steel nodded slowly.  “I suppose you’re right,” he said.  “But that doesn’t change what we become.”

“Well, if it’s my reaction you’re worried about, I can promise you that it’s not going to bother me.”

“You will change your mind when you see us.” 

“If you say so,” Tani said, carefully hiding how much it hurt that he’d disregarded her promise so easily.  She turned to Astra.  “Shall we go now?”

“Yes, Tani, let’s go,” Astra said, shooting a glare at her cousin before leading the way out of the control room.  A couple of minutes later Astra had collected her bag and they left the ship.  Tani was glad to be outside again, but she couldn’t believe how dreary the landscape was. 

“How far are we going?” she asked Astra as they walked between two of the boulders surrounding the ship.

“Not far,” Astra said as they cleared the boulders.  “We’re going right there.”

Tani looked where she pointed and smiled at the rows of caves that dotted the sloped face of the cliff.  There were a few children playing here and there under the watchful eyes of several older people, but otherwise most of the people standing outside the caves were watching them.

Suddenly, a huge dark shadow appeared in front of them, followed by the shadow’s owner, an immense creature that, to Tani’s eyes looked just like the gargoyles found on ancient buildings of Earth.  Its features were humanoid, but exaggerated, with an extra-large jaw, huge pointed teeth, a bulbous nose and heavy brow ridges.  Its flesh looked much like the reddish rock around them, its arms and legs, like its facial features, extremely large.  Its leathery wings were enormous, which, Tani thought, made sense considering the size of the creature itself.  She was amazed that something so big and apparently heavy could fly at all. 

Tani made a point of studying the creature from its bald head to its bare, oversized clawed feet, then back up again slowly, glad that it was wearing what appeared to be a leather loin cloth around its waist.  When her gaze reached its black eyes, which required that she tilt her head back since it had to be eight or nine feet tall, she shrugged lightly.  “Was that supposed to scare me, Steel?”

The gargoyle shifted into the more familiar form of Steel who was looking at her as though she were a puzzle he couldn’t quite solve.  “No, Tani, it was not my intention to scare you,” he said.  “I just wanted you to see what I meant about our appearance.  You cannot deny that we are ugly.”

“Actually, I can, and I do,” she said.  Steel’s eyebrows shot up and she shook her head.  “I have a different interpretation of that word than you do, obviously.  To me, people who are cruel, or evil are ugly.  You could be the most beautiful creature in the Thousand Worlds, but if your heart is black, then I will see you as ugly, regardless of your outward appearance. 

“This alter form of yours is not
ugly
to me, Steel.  You are a man who cares about his people, who worries about their safety and well-being.  Because of that, I see your alter form as strong, solid, and capable of protecting that which you honor and cherish.  I don’t know why you’re so determined to make me see you in a negative light, but I will not pretend a reaction or opinion that is not my own.  I’m sorry if that disappoints you.”

Steel nodded, though he appeared confused.  He took a slow step back, then another before shifting back to his
mahrac
form.  He watched her for another few moments, then his wings snapped out and he leapt into the air.  Tani watched him as he flew away, gaining altitude slowly but surely, not taking her eyes off of him until he was too far away to be seen.

“Thank you for that, Tani,” Astra said.  “I appreciate your words more than I can say, and I think that Steel will as well, once he’s had time to think on them.”

Tani nodded, politely hiding her doubt.  They walked in silence for a few moments before she turned to Astra.  “Do you shift into…well, that looked like a gargoyle to me, but I know Steel used a different word.”

“
Mahrac
,” Astra said.  “It’s an old word for
monster
, and while I don’t know what a gargoyle is, I like the sound of that word better.”

“Gargoyles as living creatures are pure myth,” Tani said.  “They were an architectural affectation once used on ancient Earth to camouflage rain spouts.”

“Well, I still like that word better than
monster
,” Astra said.  “We women shift into something similar to the men, but while they become large and strong, we do not.”

“No?”

“Physically we remain about the same size, but we don’t develop wings.  Our flesh does become harder, less easily harmed.  But that comes with a cost.  We become denser, heavier, and our legs aren’t strong enough to carry us very far.”

“That’s unfortunate,” Tani said.  “It seems to me that nature would provide females with a means of escaping danger and protecting the young.”

“We were not created by nature,” Astra pointed out.

Tani nodded, watching the children idly as they crossed the narrow valley toward the wall of caves.  “What about the children?  Do they shift?”

“No, not until puberty,” Astra replied.

“How many children are there?”

“There are only twelve here now, all under the age of six,” Astra said sadly. 

Tani’s eyes widened in horror as she understood the implications of that statement.  “The Nomen take children of
six
to work in the mines?”

“Yes,” Astra said, nodding.  “Of those left with us, two of the youngest babies died not long after their mothers were taken by the Nomen.  We’ve been lucky enough not to lose any of the others.”

“Astra, I’m so sorry,” Tani said, blinking back tears.  “I wish we’d known about this sooner.”

“We tried to get help but nobody listened.”

“Do you have a record of the requests you sent, and where you sent them?”

“I’m sure Khurda does,” Astra said.  “Why?”