"Ashan, I am confused. What teacher do you want me to stay with?" He
folded her into his embrace, inhaled the scent of her hair. He would miss
her on this journey.
"There is much more here than we are being told. The Peacekeeper is lying.
He wants me to lead him to these people. What I do not understand is why
he thinks I am able to do this? Is the Nebari woman in my vision part of
this renegade crew? The essence at the scene of the murders was all
Sebacean, no others."
"I see.you think if you do not lead him to these people as he commands, we will both be in danger. You want me to hide away from any of the place that I studied, so that no one can tell them how to find me."
Ashan smiled at the wisdom of his young wife. He underestimated her too sometimes. "Yes, C'thha, that is my plan."
"But how will we travel?"
"Denali and Ranjaa."
"The twins? But they are free! We have not seen them for cycles! They would not return after this long exploring!"
Denali and Ranjaa were a rarity. Twin Leviathan ships, smaller than conventional ships. Unable to support a large enough crew to be used as transports, they had been set free to explore. Even the pilots were not pilots. The pilot was a symbiotic life force that had no form, it traveled in the circulation system of the small leviathans.
Their differences made them wary of rejection by other leviathans. Ashan and K'Tahli had used their combined talents to heal the burgeoning insanity in the twins, caused by Peacekeeper cruelty. Denali and Ranjaa had promised them if they called out in need, they would return. But that had been over twelve cycles ago.
"We can call them. It is our best option. A conventional transport is too easy to track. With the weaponry aboard, conventional transport ships are more apt to attract attention."
"Why can't I come with you?"
Ashan set her back from him so he could look at her as he spoke. " If the Captain had told any truth at all, and they are responsible for these deaths, I will execute them all. I do not want to have you see that side of me. I do not wish to be party to the fracture our bond would suffer if you had to witness such a thing." He paused to sigh, drained from the day's events. He put his fingertips on her lips as she began to speak. "No, C'thha. I must. Ranjaa will be able to track Denali, so you will never be alone or unable to find me. Trust, my C'thha. You must trust me."
In the uncharted territories
The two small leviathans never attracted much notice, exploring space at will. The pilots were a race of formless beings, ethereal, not visible to most races. They were not confined to a chamber, but flowed through the atmospheric and circulatory systems of the host ship. The primary communication was telepathy with the ship and its occupants. For the most part, they did not take on passengers. Denali, slightly larger and stronger than his twin, first sensed the presence in his mind of the Sebacean and his mate.
"Denali? Pilot? Please respond!"
The pilot contacted Ranjaa and the two pilots linked their minds. Now they could clearly sense both K'Tahli and Ashan.
"We need your help. We would not ask if it were not urgent."
The message was now unmistakably clear. There was never a thought of hesitation or refusal of this request. Both crafts maneuvered to a familiar linear position, and geared up for another rarity. A tandem starburst. Denali powered up first, Ranjaa close behind. At the last moment, Ranjaa inverted her position so the twins were belly to belly, a perfect teardrop curve. Before the radiance of starburst split the darkness, the pilots responded to the plea.
"Be still, friends, we shall arrive with due haste".
Ashan and K'Tahli both opened their eyes and saw the relief that mirrored their own in each other.
"You will do as I ask?" Ashan asked as he studied her face.
"I hate this!" K'Tahli answered back, turning her back on him.
He put his hands on her shoulders. He could feel the trembling, but not discern if it were fatigue, fury or concern that caused it.
"K'Tahli. I must go. You know this and you know why."
She wanted to scream at him, yell at his selfishness for leaving her behind. She knew it was not selfishness that motivated him but the need to vent her feelings fell to Ashan.
"Then go." She said, without turning. She tensed and her voice was ice.
"K'Tahli." he began.
She whirled on him "GO!" she screamed. "You made your decision, big man HAS to go KILL something!!!"
"That is not fair." He began, irritation at her attack beginning to fray his calm.
"Neither is your leaving!" she spat back to him.
He took a few pacing steps away from her and raked his hand through the top of his hair.
His jaw flexed as he ground his teeth to keep from losing his temper.
"I refuse to fight when you are being this unreasonable."
The fight went out of her as the strain of the entire situation showed in the hollow defeat of his voice.
With a choked sob she turned and ran back to him. She held him tight, not trusting herself to speak. The years she spent training, studying, apprenticing self-control were abandoning her now. All of the wise teachers and priestesses could tell her how to shield and develop her mental abilities, but none of the training prepared her for the chaos her emotions were in now.
"Shhh." He held her, stroked her hair. He took in the scent of her with each breath. Somehow in the middle of death, the clean scent of the mountains clung to her. The sweet and spicy mix that was unique to her was still there. His arms tightened reflexively as his mind raced ahead to being without her, not being there to protect her. He knew that she was not a weak woman, and would scoff at his desire to protect.
"Let us find shelter for the night, we will wait for the twins at daybreak."
She nodded her assent. They made a camp in the low caves near the base of the mountains. Though weary to their very cores, their need for each other was more intense than ever. They needed to chase away the death and the uncertainty.
"I see.you think if you do not lead him to these people as he commands, we will both be in danger. You want me to hide away from any of the place that I studied, so that no one can tell them how to find me."
Ashan smiled at the wisdom of his young wife. He underestimated her too sometimes. "Yes, C'thha, that is my plan."
"But how will we travel?"
"Denali and Ranjaa."
"The twins? But they are free! We have not seen them for cycles! They would not return after this long exploring!"
Denali and Ranjaa were a rarity. Twin Leviathan ships, smaller than conventional ships. Unable to support a large enough crew to be used as transports, they had been set free to explore. Even the pilots were not pilots. The pilot was a symbiotic life force that had no form, it traveled in the circulation system of the small leviathans.
Their differences made them wary of rejection by other leviathans. Ashan and K'Tahli had used their combined talents to heal the burgeoning insanity in the twins, caused by Peacekeeper cruelty. Denali and Ranjaa had promised them if they called out in need, they would return. But that had been over twelve cycles ago.
"We can call them. It is our best option. A conventional transport is too easy to track. With the weaponry aboard, conventional transport ships are more apt to attract attention."
"Why can't I come with you?"
Ashan set her back from him so he could look at her as he spoke. " If the Captain had told any truth at all, and they are responsible for these deaths, I will execute them all. I do not want to have you see that side of me. I do not wish to be party to the fracture our bond would suffer if you had to witness such a thing." He paused to sigh, drained from the day's events. He put his fingertips on her lips as she began to speak. "No, C'thha. I must. Ranjaa will be able to track Denali, so you will never be alone or unable to find me. Trust, my C'thha. You must trust me."
In the uncharted territories
The two small leviathans never attracted much notice, exploring space at will. The pilots were a race of formless beings, ethereal, not visible to most races. They were not confined to a chamber, but flowed through the atmospheric and circulatory systems of the host ship. The primary communication was telepathy with the ship and its occupants. For the most part, they did not take on passengers. Denali, slightly larger and stronger than his twin, first sensed the presence in his mind of the Sebacean and his mate.
"Denali? Pilot? Please respond!"
The pilot contacted Ranjaa and the two pilots linked their minds. Now they could clearly sense both K'Tahli and Ashan.
"We need your help. We would not ask if it were not urgent."
The message was now unmistakably clear. There was never a thought of hesitation or refusal of this request. Both crafts maneuvered to a familiar linear position, and geared up for another rarity. A tandem starburst. Denali powered up first, Ranjaa close behind. At the last moment, Ranjaa inverted her position so the twins were belly to belly, a perfect teardrop curve. Before the radiance of starburst split the darkness, the pilots responded to the plea.
"Be still, friends, we shall arrive with due haste".
Ashan and K'Tahli both opened their eyes and saw the relief that mirrored their own in each other.
"You will do as I ask?" Ashan asked as he studied her face.
"I hate this!" K'Tahli answered back, turning her back on him.
He put his hands on her shoulders. He could feel the trembling, but not discern if it were fatigue, fury or concern that caused it.
"K'Tahli. I must go. You know this and you know why."
She wanted to scream at him, yell at his selfishness for leaving her behind. She knew it was not selfishness that motivated him but the need to vent her feelings fell to Ashan.
"Then go." She said, without turning. She tensed and her voice was ice.
"K'Tahli." he began.
She whirled on him "GO!" she screamed. "You made your decision, big man HAS to go KILL something!!!"
"That is not fair." He began, irritation at her attack beginning to fray his calm.
"Neither is your leaving!" she spat back to him.
He took a few pacing steps away from her and raked his hand through the top of his hair.
His jaw flexed as he ground his teeth to keep from losing his temper.
"I refuse to fight when you are being this unreasonable."
The fight went out of her as the strain of the entire situation showed in the hollow defeat of his voice.
With a choked sob she turned and ran back to him. She held him tight, not trusting herself to speak. The years she spent training, studying, apprenticing self-control were abandoning her now. All of the wise teachers and priestesses could tell her how to shield and develop her mental abilities, but none of the training prepared her for the chaos her emotions were in now.
"Shhh." He held her, stroked her hair. He took in the scent of her with each breath. Somehow in the middle of death, the clean scent of the mountains clung to her. The sweet and spicy mix that was unique to her was still there. His arms tightened reflexively as his mind raced ahead to being without her, not being there to protect her. He knew that she was not a weak woman, and would scoff at his desire to protect.
"Let us find shelter for the night, we will wait for the twins at daybreak."
She nodded her assent. They made a camp in the low caves near the base of the mountains. Though weary to their very cores, their need for each other was more intense than ever. They needed to chase away the death and the uncertainty.