Playing God(106)

“We are not ready,” said Neys softly.

Praeis shook her head. “We are very close.” Both Neys and Silv stared. “I'm sorry, arms-sisters, I have been deliberately falsifying the readiness reports. I cannot now explain why. However, we do have a wave ready to go and two more that can follow in a hurry. All that's needed are my orders and the Queens’.”

Neys's ears waved uncertainly. “What if they forbid it?”

“They will not forbid it. Not to me.” Her blood sang in her ears. Res. Senejess. Her daughter and sister were out there in the country of the ones who had just broken the Confederation.

Silv's hand touched her forearm. “Task-Mother, you are not making sense.”

“No.” Praeis's nostrils clamped shut and flared open. “I am not. I must explain, mustn't I?” She laid her hand on the back of Theia's neck, but did not look at her. She kept her eyes and ears focused on her arms-sisters.

“Urisk Island, my arms-sisters. We were fighting the Getesaph for possession of that island and its four neighbors. We had four thousand of our Great Family on that island—mothers, sisters and daughters—all settled there. The Getesaph attacked and we fought and we lost and lost, and kept on losing. We were going to die, all of us. The Getesaph would have killed us all, because we would have done the same to them. I would have if I could. I had to get the Chosa ty Porath to help us. But the ty Porath wanted Urisk, and they wanted all four thousand of our Great Family removed.

“I tried to get the Great Family to move. I tried and Jos tried and Shorie tried. There were similar lands to be settled, there were other fathers that could pass along family souls. The ty Porath were ready to become near family if we gave them the island back. Think of that. One less enemy, one more family branch for our children and their children.

“But they wouldn't move, and the Council wouldn't make them, not for others, not even on the promise of them becoming near family. We'd all die bravely together they said.

“The ty Porath wanted the island clean, they wanted to take back the souls of their Ancestors that they say were stolen by our Ancestors who sailed there. All they wanted was one island, the Getesaph wanted all five. All ten thousand of us.”

“So, you gave it to them,” said Silv quietly.

“No,” said Praeis. “The Queens ordered me to give it to them. They could not, they said, be seen to be uprooting members of our Great Family, but if those same sisters died in battle, it would be quite another thing.

“I obeyed those orders. I believed it was better to lose one island than five. I served I serve, my Queens. I stood against Jos and Shorie until they also obeyed. I told the ty Porath how Urisk's defenses were laid out, where the comm towers were, how many of us were standing active, and how many were armed but at rest. Jos and Shorie helped acquire the exact details.

“And the ty Porath came in on our side, and the Getesaph fled behind their own walls. A week later, we lost the island to our erstwhile allies. Because my blood sisters and I ordered our troops to do nothing about it, we were hounded into exile. The Queens let us get away because they knew who had given the orders and that we would still be believed if we spoke before we could be killed.” Her skin trembled. Theia pressed against her, and Praeis could feel the waves of horror, sorrow, and confusion spilling off her. She wrapped her arm tightly around her daughter, and kept on speaking. “They will give their consent to this mission. They will not make me speak now.” She turned one ear toward Neys and the other toward Silv. “Are you with me in this?”

They hesitated just the barest instant. “Yes, Task-Mother,” said Neys. Silv echoed her a second later. Then, with surprising force, so did Theia.

“My Sisters.” Praeis grasped their hands. “My Daughter. We will do this. The Getesaph will pay.”





Chapter XV



CLANG!

Marjorie Wilkes, junior engineer and victim of the graveyard shift, shot straight up in her chair. She sat in one of the engineering center's side cubes, sneaking in a little study for her mid-grade exams. Outside, a jumble of shouts and curses were muffled by the calm, forceful voice of Ozone, the ship's overarching artificial intelligence, ordering everybody who wasn't already there into the secondary domes immediately. Over it all, the chief engineer, her Uncle Teige, shouted:

“Ozone, clear the dome!”

Marjorie leapt to her feet and fumbled with the door latch. Barely an hour ago they'd gotten the order to stay in the secondary domes when the shift had finished. Most of the conversation since then had centered around the question of whether this was a drill, or the Old Woman catching paranoia from her friend Commander Keale, or whether there was something ready going on over in the dome most of the crew called Pogo Town. Marjorie had been on the contagious-paranoia side of the argument. Especially since she'd spent most of the week before helping put together Keale's “extra precautions.”