Mergirl: Callista's Story
By Ambassador Cara Jade
Part 2: Butterfly
For ten years, nothing changed. Mama's suicide had made a permanent schism in my family. My sisters were no longer openly hostile with me, but they never again treated me like their sister. Even Papa, my best friend, grew distant as I grew older. It was harder for me to talk to him, and we fought more. He remarried when I was fourteen, a woman named Anela Karea. But she was so unhappy and depressed, she couldn't take care of us.
We sold our little beach house, moved in with Uncle Claine on his ark and took to the high seas. Papa helped Claine in his ranching endeavor, and business was good. But after a few years, Chancellor Palpatine began cracking down in interplanetary trade and small business. Taxes rose, and the demand for tsaelke meat fell. Chad's seafaring economy suffered greatly, especially where the tsaelke herders were concerned. Claine had to take on kelpherding to make up for the business he lost. He kept his herd, though, figuring the economy would mend itself, or, if worse came to worse, we could use them ourselves. He sympathized with my situation with my sisters, and sent me off the ship as much as he could, which suited me just fine. When we docked once a month, he always sent me to the harbor for supplies. He taught me herding techniques, so I spent a lot of time with his tsaelke, or riding his aujesos.
Josef, as he got older, began to dream of the stars. He decided he wanted to be a pilot, but he couldn't get a real piloting job until he was seventeen. He treated me better than Maya or Arkna, mainly because he remembered very little about Mama, or the circumstances surrounding her death.
Arkna got married and moved to the mainland. We rarely saw her after that, except for maybe holidays.
Maya moved back to the mainland, too. She got accepted to Icari Valley University two years after Mama died. After she graduated, she moved to Coruscant and we didn't hear from her after that.
I found solace in the ocean and the calming rhythm of the tide and the moon. Most of the time, when I wasn't helping Uncle Claine or Papa, I was swimming or exploring the cliffs or the ice fields.
A month after my seventeenth lifeday, Claine called me to his side. I had been welding a hull breach in the ark's calving pen. The night before, we'd been attacked by a pack of wystoh, and they'd banged up the ship really well. We'd been repairing and welding all day.
"Callie! Come here!"
I lifted my faceplate and switched off the blowtorch, then stood up and turned around. Claine ushered me to come over, so I did. "What is it?"
"We've accounted for all of the tsaelke after last night, except for six. We're missing six of the cows, it looks like." Claine said. "I have a pretty good idea of where they are, and I'd go get them myself, but you know the cows respond better to you, and we want to get them out quickly. Would you go get them?"
I shrugged. "Sure. Did Josef send out a foo-twitter?" A foo-twitter would, hopefully, keep the wystoh away long enough for me to go after the cows.
Claine nodded. "This morning. You should be clear." he said. "Take a blaster, though. Just in case."
"You're so reassuring, uncle!" I said wryly, and headed to the weaponry closet.
Josef was in there, polishing his forcepike, "wiping off the wystoh guts," he'd told me. Josef, at fifteen, was already taller than I was, and even though I was his sister, I could tell how handsome he was. His fine dark hair hung in his eyes just a little. The green in them reminded me of Mama's eyes, and I found their warmth comforting. I had the feeling that if he ever got to the mainland, the girls there would never let him come back.
"Still some cows out there," I said as I entered, and he glanced up. "I'm going after them." I opened a rack of blasters and selected one, my personal favorite--a long blaster with an even longer range.
Josef nodded. "Be careful. Wystoh don't always go after the foo-twitter."
"Where's Papa?" I asked, changing the subject. I didn't like it when Josef played big brother.
"He and Anela are on the mainland until tomorrow."
I nodded. I shouldn't be more than an hour."
Back in the pen, Claine had saddled his aujeso colt, Orbit, for me to ride. Herding tsaelke was a lot easier on aujeso-back than in a speeder. I hopped on Orbit's back, felt his wet, rubbery hide beneath my legs. Claine handed me a coat and gloves. As I put them on, he tucked a sheathed dagger into my boot. "Just in case," he said.
"Don't worry." I said with a confident smile. "I won't need it." I tapped my heels against Orbit's sides, and he swam for the open water. The hold door closed behind me.
We were in the Arctic Circle, where we always took the tsaelke in the winter. The water was chilly, not yet frigid, but that would change once the sunset. All around me, there were icebergs. I looked around, searching for the six cows among the jagged peaks of ice. It didn't take me long to find them--they were like black cutouts in a mass of gray and white.
The amphibious creatures had taken root on an ice floe, which floated in a high circle of glistening bergs, nearly enclosed except for one narrow passage. It looked, to me, like an arena.
I urged Orbit through the passage, counting five of the cows on the floe. "Hey babies! I called. "Come up! Come on, girls!" The cows turned to look at me, recognizing my voice.
Where's the sixth? I thought. I looked around the ring, and started.
The sixth tsaelke floated near the ice wall, dipping in the blood-stained water. Nearby the foo-twitter bobbed rhythmically, a ruined entanglement of wires.
A sharp edged fin broke the water near the tsaelke's carcass.
A wystoh.
"Damn it," I muttered, digging my heels into Orbit's sides, urging him to head for the ice floe.
From nowhere, the wystoh's head appeared behind us, his serrated jaws locking firmly on Orbit's tail and yanked him into the deep, right out from under me. I found myself up to my neck in cold water. I gasped with the shock of it, as if all of the wind inside me ran in terror of the coldness. Also in my mind was the knowledge of a far more terrifying threat beneath me, and that was the more immediate danger.
I swam for the ice floe, just as Orbit and the wystoh crashed through the skin of the water, a mass of fins and blood and shrieks and teeth. Orbit brought his tail down on the wystoh's jaw, clamping it shut so the monster bit his tongue off. The wystoh howled in pain and lunged savagely at Orbit's neck. His dagger teeth found flesh, and bit down hard, slicing into Orbit's jugular. Orbit flailed back, and collapsed into the water, dead.
Horrified, I scrambled onto the ice floe, reaching for my blaster and hoping it wasn't waterlogged.
Luckily, it wasn't.
The tsaelke were pawing nervously at the ice, sensing the nearness of danger. The wystoh kept coming, and I cocked the blaster at the ready. The wystoh was circling now, trapping his prey.
Then, all at once, he changed course and came right at us.
I took aim, fired...again, and again. Unconsciously, I was moving closer, and closer to the edge. The wystoh jumped out of the water, right in front of me, jaws gaping and teeth flashing.
I screamed and fell back, and his teeth closed on the rifle, yanking it back into the water with him. I let go before he could take me with it. The wystoh tossed the rifle aside, almost as if he knew he was disarming me, then started for us again. He was more interested in the tsaelke, prancing and braying behind me, but I was between him and them. I bent to one knee and unsheathed the dagger Claine had tucked into my boot. I doubted I could inflict much damage, but I figured I could hold him off until Claine or Josef got the idea that something was wrong and came after me. I jabbed every time he lunged, and he would fall back a little.
But soon he grew bold and lunged closer. It got harder and harder to defend myself. The dagger blade gouged his neck and muzzle, and he hissed angrily. My hands were bloody. The wystoh lunged closer than ever, and without thinking, I plunged the knife into the top of his head, clear to the hilt. I heard the popping of cartilage as his skull cracked with impact. The wystoh shrieked and retreated, thrashing madly. Slowly, he limped for the passage, the only escape route. As he got nearer, he crashed heavily with the wall, knocking loose ice. It avalanched down, crushing out attacker--
--and blocking our escape.
"No!" I cried.
The ice and snow splashed down with a loud crash, and the five tsaelke lowed and dove into the water. I stared at the closed-off passage, and thought, How am I going to get out of this? My adrenaline rush was wearing off, and I suddenly became painfully aware of how cold I was.
And then the strangest idea came to my head. I could move the ice.
The notion felt crazy, but it seemed to fit. Even as I stared at it, imagining the ice moving of it's own accord, the smaller piece trickled down into the water.
No way. I thought in amazement. I couldn't believe it, but I imagined that the rest of the Ice would explode outward into the water--
--and it did. By some miracle, it did, loudly crashing into the water outside.
I stared at the reopened passage, shell-shocked. It was several moments before I moved again, but when I did, I looked around for the tsaelke. They were milling around the ring nervously, needing guidance. I crawled to the edge of the floe, shaking. The rough ice burned the skin of my hands and knees, leaving tracks of pink in my wake. I stuck my fingers into the water and wiggled them, making tiny splashes to catch the attention of the nearest animal.
"Hey, pretty...here girl." I beckoned. The cow obeyed me. She was our oldest, and the others usually followed her. I figured I could ride her back to Claine's ark, and the others would follow us. I grabbed the old cow's dorsal fin and pulled myself onto her back. She swam for the passage, and sure enough, the others trailed after us. I could hear their mournful songs as they communicated, and I imagined that the old one was consoling and soothing the others, after the trauma of the attack. It was comforting to me, as well.
It took us an hour to get back to the ark. When we finally reached home, it was late, dark, and cold. I was still wet from the attack, my knees stung, and I was exhausted. I was still reeling from what had happened--had I really moved the ice with my mind? Did it mean that...
"Callie!"
A bright light shone down on me, and I heard my Uncle's voice behind it. I raised a hand over my eyes and looked up. Josef and Uncle Claine stood at the stern, looking down at me. "What happened?" My uncle called down.
"Wystoh attack!" I yelled back. "We lost one, plus Orbit and your rifle before I killed him."
"Are you all right?" Josef yelled.
"I'm fine! Open the gate!"
I corralled the tsaelke, and by the time I was done, Claine and Josef were at the end of the dock, waiting for me. Josef pulled me out of the water, and threw a blanket around me. "Your lips are turning blue," he joked with a wink. I laughed quietly. He looked at my bloody knees. "And your knees look like ground meat."
"Josef, go take care of Callista." Claine said. "I'll check up on the tsaelke."
Josef nodded and helped me to my room. He left me alone so I could change into some dry clothes. Once that was done, I padded to the kitchen, where Josef was waiting with a medkit and a mug of warm jeru tea. I accepted the mug gratefully and sipped it, letting the warm, syrupy liquid flow through me and banish every chill in my body.
Josef sat in front of me, producing a bottle of disinfectant and examining my knees. "Hmm....looks just like what we had for dinner tonight." He said, mock-serious. I laughed, and tilted my head back. Josef smiled. "So...how'd you kill him?" He asked. He always loved to hear my stories.
I smiled and sat forward. "Jabbed the knife into his brains. Poor dumb thing didn't have a prayer."
Josef laughed again, and began clean my knees. "Ouch!" I yelped as he dabbed the skin with the disinfectant. "That stings."
"Good," he replied without looking up. "That means it's working."
I sat back quietly and sighed. After a moment of contemplation--whether or not I should divulge the other events that had occurred in the water--I said, "Josef, can you keep a secret?"
"Sure."
I sat forward again, leaning close, conspiratorial. "I can do it." I said.
Josef just stared at me, not understanding. "Do what?"
"Use the Force. I have it. All these years I've dreamed of being a Jedi...now I can! Now I can, and I can get away from here, and make everything right again. Papa can be proud of me, then."
Josef looked at me. "I--I'm happy for you, Callie, but I wish you wouldn't leave. I know things have been especially hard for you since Mama died, and I'm sorry for that. I never blamed you for it, you know. I never once thought that it was your fault that she did it. Even when Maya and Arkna tried to convince me, it didn't seem right. I couldn't believe it."
Suddenly shy at the thought of being caught in a tender moment, he averted his eyes and finished cleaning my knees. I wiped my eyes of their mist and only flinched a little.
For a week or two, nothing happened. Things went business as usual, and I began to worry that my experience would disappear into oblivion without anything being done. But I was wrong--one week later, I had a dream...
I was floating in the sea, near the ice floes. The water was freezing, wild, and bloodthirsty. It crashed around me and slapped me in the face, stealing my breath. Several times I was sucked under, and everything became as silent as death for endless heartbeats.
I looked around desperately for help, for Papa, or Josef, or Claine in his ark. But I was all alone, helpless. I tried to swim for the ice floe, but my arms and legs were frozen solid. I began to sink, my arms outstretched and unable to move. I tried to scream, but the saltwater filled my lungs. I wondered what had happened, why I couldn't swim.
A hand closed over mine, warm and firm. Large strength was behind it, because I was lifted bodily from the water. The contact of skin on skin melted the dystrophy of my muscles, and suddenly I could move with a fluidity matched only by water itself. I rose from the cold water wrapped in a blanket of warmth, until I stood on the surface.
A man stood in front of me, holding my hand. He was old, his face lined and wizened. White hair haloed to his shoulders and fuzzed his chin and under his nose. His warm brown eyes sparkled like muddy topaz underneath dark black brows.
The sky grew light around us and the wind calmed, but the sea did not stop its rebellious churning. We stood about a foot over the water, hovering like we were on an invisible platform.
The man stared at me frankly as I stared back. His expression was that of pleasant surprise, like he'd just happened upon me on a midday walk. He tilted his head to the side, as if to regard me from a different point of view. "Are you ready, Callista?" His voice was wry and heavily accented, a rich, friendly brogue.
The light intensified, and before I could answer, I was back in my bed on Claine's ark, sitting up and gasping. I wiped my forehead and raked my fingers through my sleep-disheveled curls. Taking a deep breath, I looked out the window. It was light already. I'd slept in.
"Blast," I muttered and threw off my quilt. In seconds I was dressed and heading for the kitchen. Anela was there already, clutching a mug of coffeine and staring at the holoproj unit. I tripped down the stairs, fumbling with my boots.
"You're late," Anela said over her shoulder.
I rolled my eyes. "Are they still here?" I said, grabbing a sunfruit.
"Brigam's waiting on the skiff."
Without another word, I left the room and ran for the hold. I bit my lip, knowing that Papa was going to be angry.
I could see Papa's stern look as I tramped down the spiral staircase. He stood on the driver's side, arms crossed. "You're late, Callista Galexi. Kelp doesn't adhere to your sleeping schedule, young lady."
"I'm sorry. I didn't know it was so late. You should have gotten me up." I replied as I jumped into the skiff. Papa sat beside me and put the speeder in gear.
"I've sent Josef and Claine on ahead to start gathering the kelp." We pulled out of the hold and rocketed over the water in silence. Claine and Josef had corralled the wander-kelp in a shallow bay a few miles from the ark. Josef straddled our mare, Milla, and rode her back and forth across the mouth of the bay, monitoring the kelp to make sure they didn't escape. He waved as Papa and I approached. Papa slowed and allowed me to jump into the water. My job would be to catch the kelp in the water and bring them to Papa and Claine for shearing.
We worked for hours in the sun, shearing the kelp. Claine and Papa gathered enough of the leaves that we could make deliveries to three of our clients, rather than the usual one or two. It was, without a doubt, a good harvest.
Claine whooped emphatically as he lifted another mass from my hands. I smiled. He hadn't been so excited since the last time Pekkie Blu and the Starboys had come to town. "How many more you got, Callie?" He asked me.
I looked out at the bay. "About eight, maybe ten," I replied. It was impossible to tell exactly when all I was looking at was one huge mass of leaves. I was, of course, guessing.
Claine smiled. "Maybe our luck's changing, eh?" he said, rapping his knuckles on the wooden deck of the skiff. He smiled and winked, then tossed his sun-bleached hair back and started shearing the kelp.
I dove back into the water to retrieve the next kelp. When I came up for air, Josef was fighting for control of his mare. The splashing of the kelp had spooked her and she was bucking madly. She threw Josef into the water and took off for the open water. I swam as fast as I could for Josef through masses of floating leaves, afraid he had hit the jagged rocks that surrounded the bay.
As I drew nearer, though, his head broke the surface, sputtering and coughing. I reached his side and grabbed his arm. "Are you okay?" I said, maybe a little too loud.
"I'm fine! Go get Milla!"
I nodded and dove under the water, following the spooked aujeso. Once out of the cove, it was worlds easier to see where I was going. Milla was about thirty meters from me, out of sight of the cove, and getting farther away. I swam harder, trying desperately to close the distance. I knew Claine couldn't afford to lose another of his aujeso, after the wystoh attack the week before where we'd lost Orbit.
Slow down, baby! I thought, semiconsciously directing the thought right at her.
It was impossible that she heard me, but she slowed anyway, then stopped. She idled calmly in the water, a polar opposite to her previously frantic state.
Thank you, I thought, exhausted. I approached her and surfaced, grabbing her reins. "What ya thinking, sweetheart?" I said, patting her wet hide. "You're running me ragged!" Milla hummed softly, like she was pleased with herself. "Yeah, I'm sure." I said with a laugh, and pulled myself onto her back.
As I did, I heard another sound--a boat motor. I turned around and shaded my eyes against the glare of the sun on the ocean.
A boat was coming at me. Fast. It didn't look like it was about to stop.
I waved my arms. "Hey!"
It kept coming. I dug my heels into Milla's sides, but she didn't move. What the-- I looked down, and to my dismay, Milla was dipping her head into a pod of water plants, munching away. "Come on, girl...there's a boat coming at us. Fast. You know what'll happen if you don't move? The boat'll hit you and Uncle Claine will have to put your hide to new use. Does the word 'luggage' mean anything to you!" I urged her again, but she didn't move.
"Come on!" I yanked the reins hard and jerked her head upward, digging my heels in with new intensity. Finally, she took off, and swam out of the boat's path. We had just barely enough time to get out of the way. The boat passed, splashing us in it's wake.
Then it slowed.
I caught up Milla's reins and turned her around. There was a man wrapped in brown robes standing on the deck, staring at me. I urged Milla closer. "What the hell are you thinking? Why don't you watch--" I froze when I saw the man's face. The white hair, the wizened features...this was the man from my dream. I clamped my mouth shut.
The man chuckled, like he was expecting my outburst. "I'm sorry, I didn't see you. Didn't mean to frighten you, or your creature. What is he, anyway?"
I was too stunned to speak. I sat staring at him like an idiot for several seconds, until he leaned closer. "Is something wrong? You didn't have any difficulty speaking a few moments ago."
I shook myself. "Huh? Wha--no. No, it's just...I've seen you before."
"Have you? What's your name?"
"Callista. Callista Nogati."
"Ah. And Callista, why, praytell, would you dream of me, someone you've never met? Furthermore, someone who almost killed you?"
I pulled back on Milla's reins. "Maybe that's why. Perhaps my dream was warning me of strange men in strange clothes on strange boats."
The man chuckled. "Very good." He said, amused.
"And you are you? You're not from around here."
"You're right. My name is Djinn Altis. I'm a Jedi Master."
That caught me blindside. I almost fell off Milla's back. Djinn Altis saw this. "Does that surprise you?"
"No--uh, yes, actually. A little. Yes." I said.
Djinn Altis nodded. "I think I know why. Could you come on board for a moment?"
Papa would be furious to know that I'd boarded a stranger's boat, but I didn't feel apprehensive at all. I knew I could, in fact. I tied Milla's reins to the hull's ladder and climbed up to the deck. I stood in front of him, facing him, staring him down. He was my height, but showed no signs of old age in his stance. His posture was straight and proud, like he was indestructible. He held his hand out, as if to shake mine. I looked at it apprehensively, and he laughed. "Suddenly you're nervous? It's all right, I won't hurt you."
I slipped my wet hand into his. Djinn Altis reached out and touched my forehead. Suddenly, I felt something inside my head probing and reaching. I saw things--memories, visions, light, electricity--surrounding me and engulfing me.
Then I was gasping and shaky on my feet. If not for Djinn's hand around mine, I would have fallen. I opened my eyes, stared at him. He was looking at me, his hand withdrawn. His eyes sparkled, like he knew something. "Very good, Callista. Have you ever heard of the Jedi Knights?"
My heart leapt into my throat, then belly-flopped into my heels. "Yes. Yes, sir, I have."
By Ambassador Cara Jade
Part 2: Butterfly
For ten years, nothing changed. Mama's suicide had made a permanent schism in my family. My sisters were no longer openly hostile with me, but they never again treated me like their sister. Even Papa, my best friend, grew distant as I grew older. It was harder for me to talk to him, and we fought more. He remarried when I was fourteen, a woman named Anela Karea. But she was so unhappy and depressed, she couldn't take care of us.
We sold our little beach house, moved in with Uncle Claine on his ark and took to the high seas. Papa helped Claine in his ranching endeavor, and business was good. But after a few years, Chancellor Palpatine began cracking down in interplanetary trade and small business. Taxes rose, and the demand for tsaelke meat fell. Chad's seafaring economy suffered greatly, especially where the tsaelke herders were concerned. Claine had to take on kelpherding to make up for the business he lost. He kept his herd, though, figuring the economy would mend itself, or, if worse came to worse, we could use them ourselves. He sympathized with my situation with my sisters, and sent me off the ship as much as he could, which suited me just fine. When we docked once a month, he always sent me to the harbor for supplies. He taught me herding techniques, so I spent a lot of time with his tsaelke, or riding his aujesos.
Josef, as he got older, began to dream of the stars. He decided he wanted to be a pilot, but he couldn't get a real piloting job until he was seventeen. He treated me better than Maya or Arkna, mainly because he remembered very little about Mama, or the circumstances surrounding her death.
Arkna got married and moved to the mainland. We rarely saw her after that, except for maybe holidays.
Maya moved back to the mainland, too. She got accepted to Icari Valley University two years after Mama died. After she graduated, she moved to Coruscant and we didn't hear from her after that.
I found solace in the ocean and the calming rhythm of the tide and the moon. Most of the time, when I wasn't helping Uncle Claine or Papa, I was swimming or exploring the cliffs or the ice fields.
A month after my seventeenth lifeday, Claine called me to his side. I had been welding a hull breach in the ark's calving pen. The night before, we'd been attacked by a pack of wystoh, and they'd banged up the ship really well. We'd been repairing and welding all day.
"Callie! Come here!"
I lifted my faceplate and switched off the blowtorch, then stood up and turned around. Claine ushered me to come over, so I did. "What is it?"
"We've accounted for all of the tsaelke after last night, except for six. We're missing six of the cows, it looks like." Claine said. "I have a pretty good idea of where they are, and I'd go get them myself, but you know the cows respond better to you, and we want to get them out quickly. Would you go get them?"
I shrugged. "Sure. Did Josef send out a foo-twitter?" A foo-twitter would, hopefully, keep the wystoh away long enough for me to go after the cows.
Claine nodded. "This morning. You should be clear." he said. "Take a blaster, though. Just in case."
"You're so reassuring, uncle!" I said wryly, and headed to the weaponry closet.
Josef was in there, polishing his forcepike, "wiping off the wystoh guts," he'd told me. Josef, at fifteen, was already taller than I was, and even though I was his sister, I could tell how handsome he was. His fine dark hair hung in his eyes just a little. The green in them reminded me of Mama's eyes, and I found their warmth comforting. I had the feeling that if he ever got to the mainland, the girls there would never let him come back.
"Still some cows out there," I said as I entered, and he glanced up. "I'm going after them." I opened a rack of blasters and selected one, my personal favorite--a long blaster with an even longer range.
Josef nodded. "Be careful. Wystoh don't always go after the foo-twitter."
"Where's Papa?" I asked, changing the subject. I didn't like it when Josef played big brother.
"He and Anela are on the mainland until tomorrow."
I nodded. I shouldn't be more than an hour."
Back in the pen, Claine had saddled his aujeso colt, Orbit, for me to ride. Herding tsaelke was a lot easier on aujeso-back than in a speeder. I hopped on Orbit's back, felt his wet, rubbery hide beneath my legs. Claine handed me a coat and gloves. As I put them on, he tucked a sheathed dagger into my boot. "Just in case," he said.
"Don't worry." I said with a confident smile. "I won't need it." I tapped my heels against Orbit's sides, and he swam for the open water. The hold door closed behind me.
We were in the Arctic Circle, where we always took the tsaelke in the winter. The water was chilly, not yet frigid, but that would change once the sunset. All around me, there were icebergs. I looked around, searching for the six cows among the jagged peaks of ice. It didn't take me long to find them--they were like black cutouts in a mass of gray and white.
The amphibious creatures had taken root on an ice floe, which floated in a high circle of glistening bergs, nearly enclosed except for one narrow passage. It looked, to me, like an arena.
I urged Orbit through the passage, counting five of the cows on the floe. "Hey babies! I called. "Come up! Come on, girls!" The cows turned to look at me, recognizing my voice.
Where's the sixth? I thought. I looked around the ring, and started.
The sixth tsaelke floated near the ice wall, dipping in the blood-stained water. Nearby the foo-twitter bobbed rhythmically, a ruined entanglement of wires.
A sharp edged fin broke the water near the tsaelke's carcass.
A wystoh.
"Damn it," I muttered, digging my heels into Orbit's sides, urging him to head for the ice floe.
From nowhere, the wystoh's head appeared behind us, his serrated jaws locking firmly on Orbit's tail and yanked him into the deep, right out from under me. I found myself up to my neck in cold water. I gasped with the shock of it, as if all of the wind inside me ran in terror of the coldness. Also in my mind was the knowledge of a far more terrifying threat beneath me, and that was the more immediate danger.
I swam for the ice floe, just as Orbit and the wystoh crashed through the skin of the water, a mass of fins and blood and shrieks and teeth. Orbit brought his tail down on the wystoh's jaw, clamping it shut so the monster bit his tongue off. The wystoh howled in pain and lunged savagely at Orbit's neck. His dagger teeth found flesh, and bit down hard, slicing into Orbit's jugular. Orbit flailed back, and collapsed into the water, dead.
Horrified, I scrambled onto the ice floe, reaching for my blaster and hoping it wasn't waterlogged.
Luckily, it wasn't.
The tsaelke were pawing nervously at the ice, sensing the nearness of danger. The wystoh kept coming, and I cocked the blaster at the ready. The wystoh was circling now, trapping his prey.
Then, all at once, he changed course and came right at us.
I took aim, fired...again, and again. Unconsciously, I was moving closer, and closer to the edge. The wystoh jumped out of the water, right in front of me, jaws gaping and teeth flashing.
I screamed and fell back, and his teeth closed on the rifle, yanking it back into the water with him. I let go before he could take me with it. The wystoh tossed the rifle aside, almost as if he knew he was disarming me, then started for us again. He was more interested in the tsaelke, prancing and braying behind me, but I was between him and them. I bent to one knee and unsheathed the dagger Claine had tucked into my boot. I doubted I could inflict much damage, but I figured I could hold him off until Claine or Josef got the idea that something was wrong and came after me. I jabbed every time he lunged, and he would fall back a little.
But soon he grew bold and lunged closer. It got harder and harder to defend myself. The dagger blade gouged his neck and muzzle, and he hissed angrily. My hands were bloody. The wystoh lunged closer than ever, and without thinking, I plunged the knife into the top of his head, clear to the hilt. I heard the popping of cartilage as his skull cracked with impact. The wystoh shrieked and retreated, thrashing madly. Slowly, he limped for the passage, the only escape route. As he got nearer, he crashed heavily with the wall, knocking loose ice. It avalanched down, crushing out attacker--
--and blocking our escape.
"No!" I cried.
The ice and snow splashed down with a loud crash, and the five tsaelke lowed and dove into the water. I stared at the closed-off passage, and thought, How am I going to get out of this? My adrenaline rush was wearing off, and I suddenly became painfully aware of how cold I was.
And then the strangest idea came to my head. I could move the ice.
The notion felt crazy, but it seemed to fit. Even as I stared at it, imagining the ice moving of it's own accord, the smaller piece trickled down into the water.
No way. I thought in amazement. I couldn't believe it, but I imagined that the rest of the Ice would explode outward into the water--
--and it did. By some miracle, it did, loudly crashing into the water outside.
I stared at the reopened passage, shell-shocked. It was several moments before I moved again, but when I did, I looked around for the tsaelke. They were milling around the ring nervously, needing guidance. I crawled to the edge of the floe, shaking. The rough ice burned the skin of my hands and knees, leaving tracks of pink in my wake. I stuck my fingers into the water and wiggled them, making tiny splashes to catch the attention of the nearest animal.
"Hey, pretty...here girl." I beckoned. The cow obeyed me. She was our oldest, and the others usually followed her. I figured I could ride her back to Claine's ark, and the others would follow us. I grabbed the old cow's dorsal fin and pulled myself onto her back. She swam for the passage, and sure enough, the others trailed after us. I could hear their mournful songs as they communicated, and I imagined that the old one was consoling and soothing the others, after the trauma of the attack. It was comforting to me, as well.
It took us an hour to get back to the ark. When we finally reached home, it was late, dark, and cold. I was still wet from the attack, my knees stung, and I was exhausted. I was still reeling from what had happened--had I really moved the ice with my mind? Did it mean that...
"Callie!"
A bright light shone down on me, and I heard my Uncle's voice behind it. I raised a hand over my eyes and looked up. Josef and Uncle Claine stood at the stern, looking down at me. "What happened?" My uncle called down.
"Wystoh attack!" I yelled back. "We lost one, plus Orbit and your rifle before I killed him."
"Are you all right?" Josef yelled.
"I'm fine! Open the gate!"
I corralled the tsaelke, and by the time I was done, Claine and Josef were at the end of the dock, waiting for me. Josef pulled me out of the water, and threw a blanket around me. "Your lips are turning blue," he joked with a wink. I laughed quietly. He looked at my bloody knees. "And your knees look like ground meat."
"Josef, go take care of Callista." Claine said. "I'll check up on the tsaelke."
Josef nodded and helped me to my room. He left me alone so I could change into some dry clothes. Once that was done, I padded to the kitchen, where Josef was waiting with a medkit and a mug of warm jeru tea. I accepted the mug gratefully and sipped it, letting the warm, syrupy liquid flow through me and banish every chill in my body.
Josef sat in front of me, producing a bottle of disinfectant and examining my knees. "Hmm....looks just like what we had for dinner tonight." He said, mock-serious. I laughed, and tilted my head back. Josef smiled. "So...how'd you kill him?" He asked. He always loved to hear my stories.
I smiled and sat forward. "Jabbed the knife into his brains. Poor dumb thing didn't have a prayer."
Josef laughed again, and began clean my knees. "Ouch!" I yelped as he dabbed the skin with the disinfectant. "That stings."
"Good," he replied without looking up. "That means it's working."
I sat back quietly and sighed. After a moment of contemplation--whether or not I should divulge the other events that had occurred in the water--I said, "Josef, can you keep a secret?"
"Sure."
I sat forward again, leaning close, conspiratorial. "I can do it." I said.
Josef just stared at me, not understanding. "Do what?"
"Use the Force. I have it. All these years I've dreamed of being a Jedi...now I can! Now I can, and I can get away from here, and make everything right again. Papa can be proud of me, then."
Josef looked at me. "I--I'm happy for you, Callie, but I wish you wouldn't leave. I know things have been especially hard for you since Mama died, and I'm sorry for that. I never blamed you for it, you know. I never once thought that it was your fault that she did it. Even when Maya and Arkna tried to convince me, it didn't seem right. I couldn't believe it."
Suddenly shy at the thought of being caught in a tender moment, he averted his eyes and finished cleaning my knees. I wiped my eyes of their mist and only flinched a little.
For a week or two, nothing happened. Things went business as usual, and I began to worry that my experience would disappear into oblivion without anything being done. But I was wrong--one week later, I had a dream...
I was floating in the sea, near the ice floes. The water was freezing, wild, and bloodthirsty. It crashed around me and slapped me in the face, stealing my breath. Several times I was sucked under, and everything became as silent as death for endless heartbeats.
I looked around desperately for help, for Papa, or Josef, or Claine in his ark. But I was all alone, helpless. I tried to swim for the ice floe, but my arms and legs were frozen solid. I began to sink, my arms outstretched and unable to move. I tried to scream, but the saltwater filled my lungs. I wondered what had happened, why I couldn't swim.
A hand closed over mine, warm and firm. Large strength was behind it, because I was lifted bodily from the water. The contact of skin on skin melted the dystrophy of my muscles, and suddenly I could move with a fluidity matched only by water itself. I rose from the cold water wrapped in a blanket of warmth, until I stood on the surface.
A man stood in front of me, holding my hand. He was old, his face lined and wizened. White hair haloed to his shoulders and fuzzed his chin and under his nose. His warm brown eyes sparkled like muddy topaz underneath dark black brows.
The sky grew light around us and the wind calmed, but the sea did not stop its rebellious churning. We stood about a foot over the water, hovering like we were on an invisible platform.
The man stared at me frankly as I stared back. His expression was that of pleasant surprise, like he'd just happened upon me on a midday walk. He tilted his head to the side, as if to regard me from a different point of view. "Are you ready, Callista?" His voice was wry and heavily accented, a rich, friendly brogue.
The light intensified, and before I could answer, I was back in my bed on Claine's ark, sitting up and gasping. I wiped my forehead and raked my fingers through my sleep-disheveled curls. Taking a deep breath, I looked out the window. It was light already. I'd slept in.
"Blast," I muttered and threw off my quilt. In seconds I was dressed and heading for the kitchen. Anela was there already, clutching a mug of coffeine and staring at the holoproj unit. I tripped down the stairs, fumbling with my boots.
"You're late," Anela said over her shoulder.
I rolled my eyes. "Are they still here?" I said, grabbing a sunfruit.
"Brigam's waiting on the skiff."
Without another word, I left the room and ran for the hold. I bit my lip, knowing that Papa was going to be angry.
I could see Papa's stern look as I tramped down the spiral staircase. He stood on the driver's side, arms crossed. "You're late, Callista Galexi. Kelp doesn't adhere to your sleeping schedule, young lady."
"I'm sorry. I didn't know it was so late. You should have gotten me up." I replied as I jumped into the skiff. Papa sat beside me and put the speeder in gear.
"I've sent Josef and Claine on ahead to start gathering the kelp." We pulled out of the hold and rocketed over the water in silence. Claine and Josef had corralled the wander-kelp in a shallow bay a few miles from the ark. Josef straddled our mare, Milla, and rode her back and forth across the mouth of the bay, monitoring the kelp to make sure they didn't escape. He waved as Papa and I approached. Papa slowed and allowed me to jump into the water. My job would be to catch the kelp in the water and bring them to Papa and Claine for shearing.
We worked for hours in the sun, shearing the kelp. Claine and Papa gathered enough of the leaves that we could make deliveries to three of our clients, rather than the usual one or two. It was, without a doubt, a good harvest.
Claine whooped emphatically as he lifted another mass from my hands. I smiled. He hadn't been so excited since the last time Pekkie Blu and the Starboys had come to town. "How many more you got, Callie?" He asked me.
I looked out at the bay. "About eight, maybe ten," I replied. It was impossible to tell exactly when all I was looking at was one huge mass of leaves. I was, of course, guessing.
Claine smiled. "Maybe our luck's changing, eh?" he said, rapping his knuckles on the wooden deck of the skiff. He smiled and winked, then tossed his sun-bleached hair back and started shearing the kelp.
I dove back into the water to retrieve the next kelp. When I came up for air, Josef was fighting for control of his mare. The splashing of the kelp had spooked her and she was bucking madly. She threw Josef into the water and took off for the open water. I swam as fast as I could for Josef through masses of floating leaves, afraid he had hit the jagged rocks that surrounded the bay.
As I drew nearer, though, his head broke the surface, sputtering and coughing. I reached his side and grabbed his arm. "Are you okay?" I said, maybe a little too loud.
"I'm fine! Go get Milla!"
I nodded and dove under the water, following the spooked aujeso. Once out of the cove, it was worlds easier to see where I was going. Milla was about thirty meters from me, out of sight of the cove, and getting farther away. I swam harder, trying desperately to close the distance. I knew Claine couldn't afford to lose another of his aujeso, after the wystoh attack the week before where we'd lost Orbit.
Slow down, baby! I thought, semiconsciously directing the thought right at her.
It was impossible that she heard me, but she slowed anyway, then stopped. She idled calmly in the water, a polar opposite to her previously frantic state.
Thank you, I thought, exhausted. I approached her and surfaced, grabbing her reins. "What ya thinking, sweetheart?" I said, patting her wet hide. "You're running me ragged!" Milla hummed softly, like she was pleased with herself. "Yeah, I'm sure." I said with a laugh, and pulled myself onto her back.
As I did, I heard another sound--a boat motor. I turned around and shaded my eyes against the glare of the sun on the ocean.
A boat was coming at me. Fast. It didn't look like it was about to stop.
I waved my arms. "Hey!"
It kept coming. I dug my heels into Milla's sides, but she didn't move. What the-- I looked down, and to my dismay, Milla was dipping her head into a pod of water plants, munching away. "Come on, girl...there's a boat coming at us. Fast. You know what'll happen if you don't move? The boat'll hit you and Uncle Claine will have to put your hide to new use. Does the word 'luggage' mean anything to you!" I urged her again, but she didn't move.
"Come on!" I yanked the reins hard and jerked her head upward, digging my heels in with new intensity. Finally, she took off, and swam out of the boat's path. We had just barely enough time to get out of the way. The boat passed, splashing us in it's wake.
Then it slowed.
I caught up Milla's reins and turned her around. There was a man wrapped in brown robes standing on the deck, staring at me. I urged Milla closer. "What the hell are you thinking? Why don't you watch--" I froze when I saw the man's face. The white hair, the wizened features...this was the man from my dream. I clamped my mouth shut.
The man chuckled, like he was expecting my outburst. "I'm sorry, I didn't see you. Didn't mean to frighten you, or your creature. What is he, anyway?"
I was too stunned to speak. I sat staring at him like an idiot for several seconds, until he leaned closer. "Is something wrong? You didn't have any difficulty speaking a few moments ago."
I shook myself. "Huh? Wha--no. No, it's just...I've seen you before."
"Have you? What's your name?"
"Callista. Callista Nogati."
"Ah. And Callista, why, praytell, would you dream of me, someone you've never met? Furthermore, someone who almost killed you?"
I pulled back on Milla's reins. "Maybe that's why. Perhaps my dream was warning me of strange men in strange clothes on strange boats."
The man chuckled. "Very good." He said, amused.
"And you are you? You're not from around here."
"You're right. My name is Djinn Altis. I'm a Jedi Master."
That caught me blindside. I almost fell off Milla's back. Djinn Altis saw this. "Does that surprise you?"
"No--uh, yes, actually. A little. Yes." I said.
Djinn Altis nodded. "I think I know why. Could you come on board for a moment?"
Papa would be furious to know that I'd boarded a stranger's boat, but I didn't feel apprehensive at all. I knew I could, in fact. I tied Milla's reins to the hull's ladder and climbed up to the deck. I stood in front of him, facing him, staring him down. He was my height, but showed no signs of old age in his stance. His posture was straight and proud, like he was indestructible. He held his hand out, as if to shake mine. I looked at it apprehensively, and he laughed. "Suddenly you're nervous? It's all right, I won't hurt you."
I slipped my wet hand into his. Djinn Altis reached out and touched my forehead. Suddenly, I felt something inside my head probing and reaching. I saw things--memories, visions, light, electricity--surrounding me and engulfing me.
Then I was gasping and shaky on my feet. If not for Djinn's hand around mine, I would have fallen. I opened my eyes, stared at him. He was looking at me, his hand withdrawn. His eyes sparkled, like he knew something. "Very good, Callista. Have you ever heard of the Jedi Knights?"
My heart leapt into my throat, then belly-flopped into my heels. "Yes. Yes, sir, I have."