The Cries From Dead Worlds

Chapter Thirteen: Eye of the Storm

"How long have the Linking Books been gone, exactly?" Six asked.

"Over a week. Our time," he answered tonelessly, eyes closed. "The only ones left are the ones to D'ni and Tomahna, they were kept in a separate place, the one you arrived in."

She blinked at him. "You're only bringing this up now and not earlier, because…"

"It's a delicate issue," he answered slowly.

"Eh?"

"We have two suspects," Sunny said, moving so he could lay his head down on the armrest. "Gehn's loyalists and the D'ni."

That caused a cringe. "Okay. Yeah. So, you guys wanted to handle it internally."

Sunny nodded. "Moe, Curly, and I pushed to inform you when we heard you were visiting Katran and Atrus. We only told Katran a couple of days ago."

"I have questions," Six said.

"I imagine so," he said.

"How strong are the loyalists?" she asked.

"Until recently, I had assumed they were slowly disappearing. Growing rumor has suggested that this is not the case. Can you wait two days for more answers? Moe and the others should be present," he said.

There was no time to reply, Katran had returned carrying a covered basket. She smiled at the two of them, softening a little as she saw Sunny not quite napping on the couch. "I think it's time we left," Katran said.

"Yeah," Six agreed.

Sunny opened his eyes and lifted his head. He squinted at the D'ni clock on the wall. "I apologize. I've had a long day," he said.

"We understand," Katran said.

"Absolutely," Six said. "Get some sleep, kid."

Sunny showed them to the door. Sorry to see them go.

2

The first thing that met their ears on their return to Tomahna was the sound of a screeching baby. Atrus was waiting for them in the Sun Room with a red faced Yeesha in his arms and a miserable looking Reilly at his feet. He looked both taxed and helpless trying to calm her.

Katran rushed forward to take the baby girl from Atrus' arms. Six covered her smile with her hand. Yeesha waved her little fists in the air as she was transferred between her parents.

"I don't know what the problem is. She was sleeping just fine and then she just started crying!" Atrus said, his usual calm exterior cracked.

Six found ED-E hovering the doorway that led to the rest of the property, she couldn't stop herself from sending him an amused look.

"!#!"

Atrus must have heard because he nodded and said, "Yes, ED-E tried playing music, but that did not seem to work at all."

Katran opened her mouth and tried a lullaby that sounded Rivenese in origin. Her gentle voice could barely be heard over Yeesha's bawling. The woman continued to sing as she walked away, ED-E quickly moving out of the way to let her pass.

Atrus ran a hand through his hair, taking a calming breath. Six gave him a sympathetic smile.

"Can infants have nightmares?" he asked her.

"Anything relating to children under the age of five aren't my strong suit," she replied.

"Yeesha isn't hurt and she isn't hungry, I checked. She certainly didn't need attention. A nightmare is the only other thing I can think of. What could such a small child be so frightened of?"

"Given who her parent's are, I wouldn't put it passed her to have an active imagination. Children who have them tend to have higher than average nightmares. Of course, she could have just missed her mommy."

"Maybe so," he agreed, relaxing a little. He paused and stared out the window deep in thought.

Taking that as her cue to leave, she went out with the intention of taking a late night walk in the desert.

"My friend, wait a moment" Atrus said.

She stopped and raised her eyebrows in silent question.

"Something has come up in Releeshahn. Both Catherine and my own presence has been requested." He hesitated for a moment, but Six could guess what he was about to request. "Can you look after Yeesha tomorrow afternoon?"

"You sure this is a good idea?" she asked. "Got anyone else up for the task?"

"Not on short notice," Atrus said.

"Well I guess ED-E, Reilly, and I will manage," she said, already sensing the coming disaster.

"I have already written out everything you need to know," he said like that completely averted every problem with the plan.

Six raised an eyebrow. "Written it down? Are we talking a list or have you made a first draft of a parenting book?"

"It's a few pages," he insisted.

"Small print? No spaces?"

He didn't answer verbally. Atrus walked into his office and returned with four pages of stationary filled with his usual handwriting.

"Okay, dad, I'll study before I go to bed," she whined jokingly.

He chuckled to himself and disappeared into his office. Six checked that the ink was completely dry before folding the papers and putting them in her pocket. She left Atrus alone to head out into the desert.

She could smell moisture in the air. All signs pointed towards coming water, a semi-rare blessing in the desert. Atrus had once written to her that rain had been so rare when he was growing up that he had been about a decade old before he saw his first rain cloud, it left blue flowers in its wake. The story was a strange one, though she had never said that to him. It was clear that he held it dear to his heart as one of his favorite memories involving Ti'ana. Monsoons should have brought a little rainfall around June and July every year. A decade long drought really was quite something. The settlements nearby their home must have been suffering something awful. It was amazing they got visiting traders at all.

Still, the omen of coming rain now was a little odd for the time of year. Not unheard of, just odd.

When Tomahna was only a vague warm light in the distance she stopped and looked up at the sky. The stars were so clear. There were a few places in the Wasteland where the sky was visible from lack of pollution, Vegas not being one of them. Atrus had once sent her a book on constellations. She had studied it enough to know that their stars were different. Different time, different dimension.

Six tore her eyes away from the sky to look around her surroundings. ED-E hadn't chosen to follow her, and Reilly was probably sticking close to Yeesha. She was well and truly alone.

She checked the ground around her carefully before sitting down, stretching her legs out in front of her. Deciding to check her instincts, Six looked down at her pip-boy to test the air. She did her best to ignore the big flashing message that the device couldn't connect to Vault-Tec. Connecting to the network had never been a big help in the past so it didn't really bother her. The only big loss was the lack of radio.

Movement in the corner of her eye.

Her hyperbreeder was drawn and pointed in the general direction of the disturbance. It was dark, but her eyes were keen. Whatever it was, it was no coyote and definitely not a person. It was a thin, hunched over creature with long arms and bright, bright eyes.

If there was more to it, she didn't see it. The thing gave a high-pitched shout of alarm when it spotted her and raised its arms. In the very next moment a storm fell on her.

End of Chapter Thirteen

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