She looked away again, pushing curiosity out of her mind as Merovy came back with an armful of clean rags.
“Where is it?” Merovy asked, looking away into the forest of equipment displays.
Tor took the rags from her. “I’ll take care of it.” She carried them back through the store to the place where Fate waited, still talking to Capella Goodventure. Tor grimaced, feeling vaguely guilty for having left her trapped there so long. The spilled juice had spread in a lurid stain across the floor. She sighed, wishing she had asked for a bucket too.
She opened her mouth to call out to Fate, to let her know rescue was at hand. Just then Capella Goodventure picked up an electric drill lying in a puddle on the table, gesturing animatedly, her face filled with disgust. “… another example of something that no one needs—” She reached for the power switch.
“Don’t—!” Tor shouted.
Capella Goodventure turned, frowning, her hand still moving.
Tor leaped forward, reaching Fate first, dragging her aside. They collapsed in an awkward heap, as the Goodventure elder pressed the drill’s switch.
Capella Goodventure’s scream was high and shrill as the current from the drill grounded itself through her body into the pool of juice. The drill flew from her spasming hands, and she collapsed on the floor.
“Tor!” Fate gasped, as Tor rolled off her. “What happened, what is it—?”
“It’s Capella.” Tor crawled forward, squatted down beside the Summer woman’s motionless body. Capella Goodventure’s gray-blue eyes were wide open, staring up at her in unblinking accusation; her face was empty, her lips were rapidly turning blue. “Oh, gods.” Tor swore, feeling for a heartbeat, for a sign of breaming; not finding them. She pushed her fingers into Capella’s mouth, pulling her slack tongue forward; lifted her chin to clear the air passage. She took a deep breath, put her own mouth over the other woman’s, forcing air down into her lungs, counting; sat up, leaning on Capella’s chest, pressing, pressing, over her heart. Another breath into the other woman’s lungs, more heartbeats, another breath. Dimly she was aware of Fate behind her, still calling, “Tor—? Tor—?” She was aware of the crowd gathering, of Danaquil Lu keeping them back from her. Another breath, more heartbeats, repeating it again and again, but still no response, still the empty eyes stared at her, unforgiving. “Come on—” she whispered. Another breath, more heartbeats. She shook Capella Goodventure’s unresponding body, leaned on its heart again, again, forced air in through her open lips. “Come on, you self-righteous old bitch, you can’t be this easy to kill! Come on, damn you, ruin my day!”
She forced another breath into the other woman’s lungs. A tremor ran through the body under her; it took a sudden, shuddering breath on its own, and the eyelids flickered. Someone was back, behind the staring eyes, looking up at her in amazement, and then in sudden outrage.
Capella Goodventure took in another hoarse, painful breath. “What … what are you doing? Get away from me—!” Her hands rose, flailing.
Tor sat back, away from her. Other hands were around the Goodventure elder now: Danaquil Lu, some of her own kin.
“I … touched that thing—” Capella Goodventure’s eyes focused more clearly, filling with horror, as someone lifted her head.
“She saved you,” someone, a Summer, said. “The Winter saved you. You stopped breathing.” The man who had spoken turned to Tor incredulously. “I think she was dead. How did you do that—?”
She shrugged. “It’s just rescue training. I learned it a long time ago. The offworlders taught it to people who worked on the docks. In case somebody had an accident like that …” She saw the Summers look at each other with sudden speculation. She looked back at Capella Goodventure, seeing no gratitude in the other woman’s eyes. “It doesn’t always work, though.”
Capella Goodventure frowned, meeting her stare.
“Do you think … could someone show us this?” another Summer murmured, avoiding Capella’s eyes.
“It was one of the Winters’ ‘improvements’ that nearly killed me,” Capel|a snapped, gesturing at the fallen tool.
“It was ignorance that nearly killed you,” Tor said flatly. “There was nothing wrong with the drill. You turned the thing on when it was wet. If you knew anything at all about electricity you never would have done that. And you wouldn’t owe your life to a Winter.”
Capella pulled free of the hands that held her, sitting upright on her own. “I am grateful to you, for that,” she said, with obvious difficulty. “It would not be fair to deny you the thanks you deserve. But if we used the tools we have always made, ourselves, and kept the ways that have always been our salvation, such a thing would never have to happen. And there would have been no need for your ‘offworlder training’ to save me.” She looked away again, her cold gaze glancing off the faces of her kin.
Tor looked back at the cluster of Summers, seeing their guilt and embarrassment. “I’ve seen heart-and-breathing work on drowning victims, too.”
The Summers looked back at her, then. Every one of them.
TIAMAT: Carbuncle
“Oh-oh-oh! Oh no! You win!” Ariele Dawntreader pressed one hand over her mouth, smothering her ecstatic giggles as she watched the sapphire stone clatter and sing down through the labyrinth of the gaming sculpture and out one of its random openings into her brother’s lap. “You have to give Elco heart-and-breathing!” She looked around the circle of their laughing, pointing friends at Elco Teel Graymount, as he flopped back onto the carpet with a bloodcurdling scream and began to twitch. He lay still, eyes staring, arms spread, while the young Winters around him snickered and poked each other, making noises in Tammis’s direction.
Ariele could see her brother blushing, Merovy’s eyes on him as she sat beside him, clutching his hand. Even though she was some kind of cousin of Elco Teel’s, Merovy always looked like a fish out of water when Tammis brought her to one of these parties. Ariele couldn’t wait to see how she reacted when the red stone landed in her lap, or the blue one.
“Come on, Tammis,” Ariele called, unable to resist goading him. “Capella Goodventure’s dying. You saw Tor Starhiker give her heart-and-breathing. Show us how it’s done!”
He pushed up from his place beside Merovy with a peculiar grimace and stepped over legs and bodies until he reached Elco’s side. He kneeled down, looking into Elco Teel’s wide-eyed stare and expectant grin. He hesitated fora long moment, with reluctance showing in his own eyes. Ariele wondered what he was afraid of—or if it was only the memory of seeing the real thing that stopped him. He leaned over, lowering his face toward Elco Teel’s.
“No, no!” voices sang out. “Not like that—!” “Do it—!”
He sat back, looking at them over his shoulder. “That was how she did it!” he said, annoyed, but knowing that wasn’t what they wanted. Finally he swung a leg over Elco Teel and sat down on top of his stomach. The act of leaning forward forced his own hips back until their bodies seemed to be joined like two lovers. Whistles and clapping crescendoed around them as he put his hands against the sides of Elco Teel’s face, and his mouth over Elco’s mouth.
He tried to end it quickly, raising his head; the cheering and laughter turned to mockery and protest. Ariele pushed to her feet. “Get off, Tammis, I’ll show you how it’s done!” She started around the circle; stopped as Elco Teel’s arms abruptly trapped Tammis in an embrace and dragged him back down for a deep, wet kiss. She watched Tammis’s body quiver, but to her surprise he didn’t fight it the way she’d thought he would. She glanced at Merovy, saw the other girl staring at the two boys, her face confused and half-frowning.