Lira looked immensely offended, and glanced down at me in an angry, dismissive way which I suspect was a disguise for guilt.
"Are you three her sisters and brother?" she asked then. "And that older one?"
"Siame is Kaoren’s sister," Rye said. He’s always very careful and correct about our relationship, and his voice wobbled a little when he added: "We are Cassandra and Kaoren’s wards."
"Sweetheart!" Sen announced happily, snuggling herself between me and the back of the couch. "Ys, Rye, Sen," she added, pointing to each in turn, ending up with: "Lira."
Lira looked like she’d bitten a lemon, but turned back to Ys: "Is it true what he said? Has Nuriath fallen?"
"Hundreds of years ago," Ys said, bluntly. "Most people died straight away. Some survivors went through the Ena to different worlds and for a long time no-one lived on Muina at all, because something would kill them. Then Cassandra came and made it possible for people to live here, and they built this settlement, which is called Pandora. But whatever happened long ago is causing the walls between the Ena and real-space to tear apart, and there are Ionoth called Cruzatch who keep attacking, and they destroyed the world we come from. They keep trying to kidnap Her."
When Ys decides to talk, she’s unsparing. I loved the obvious capitalisation on Her.
"I heard Naranezolen say that they’re running out of time. That it’s not any more about self-reliance. They need another to work with me or it will be the Tzarazatch," Lira said, distress starting to leak through. "But I don’t know for what – I’m not doing anything. Whenever they see me they chase me away. What–"
Ys, surprising me, stepped up and gripped Lira by the upper arms. "You need to stop now. Come back another time, or you’ll make Her too sick. She’ll help you if she can. She’s soft like that. See if they say anything about a big fight today."
After a moment’s offended glaring, Lira obediently disappeared. I woke myself, and struggled to sit up with Sen half-sitting on me, and weights of exhaustion attached to my whole body. The apartment door opened to show Siame, Taarel and one of the medics – Rye’s response to Lira’s appearance had been to immediately contact Siame. She’d brought Taarel and the medic, but they’d held off entering so as not to startle Lira.
"Lira’s been observing us," I said, as Ista Mezan gave me a fortifier to drink. I looked at Ys and added: "She waited until Siame left so she could talk to you three."
"Perhaps she feels a link to someone her own age," Taarel said, steadying my hand, which had started shaking enough to slop fortifier down my front.
"Did the attack–?" I began, then choked as she tipped the fortifier down my throat.
"No injuries. They’re going on with Phase Three."
Phase Three was finding all the tears into near-space in the area and putting boxes around them, since the theory was that the Cruzatch could only access real-space through the marbles or the tears, but couldn’t pass through the unbroken parts of the wall between near-space and real-space. I didn’t get any more explanation than that at the time, since I couldn’t stay awake any longer. I guess it was Taarel who changed my clothes, and she was nice enough to put me in my own bed rather than parking me in medical. I was conked out for about fourteen hours – a stretch which made Sen coming and climbing on me rather perilous for my bladder.
Of course, now I’m awake, Kaoren’s asleep, though he sent me an email telling me everything which had happened. It was a fast fight, but the Cruzatch kept coming back until the last of the nearby tears was boxed in. They’re remaining on high alert.
I don’t like Kaoren being away, but funnily enough I find Siame’s presence almost as comforting as the kids do. She’s just as habitually in-charge as Kaoren, and Kaoren’s absence means she feels free to organise me. And watching Ys stubbornly ignore her and organise herself, Rye and Sen is highly amusing.
Wednesday, October 22
Zilla
The day after we took Oriath, I spent a morning medical chatting to Kaoren, asking him questions about the battle and describing the cloud of happiness Rye had been floating around on because Kaoren had told him well done for contacting Siame so promptly. When I’m in-quarters the kids come and have lunch with me rather than sticking at the school, and we were sitting in a circle on the floor around our coffee table/dining table experimenting with the latest products of the culinary division, who spend their days in a state of bliss with a whole new world of food to play with.
I was feeling very queer and bothered and couldn’t work out why, and found that Sen and Siame were both watching me attentively, and when I asked why Siame said she could see a shadow behind me, and Sen chirped up with "Lira come now?" Since I didn’t feel the least bit like sleeping, I contacted Taarel and warned her that I was going to try expanding my senses, and she said that was okay, but told me to remember to use the scanner to record, and she stayed in-channel to watch. I managed to expand my senses fine, but that just made me feel even more queer and bothered, so I tried to create a projection of Lira, and that worked.
She was looking impatient and cross and said: "You are very dull and unnoticing," to me.
I smiled at her. "I know – I’m very bad at being alert. But is nice be able talk to you directly."
"I listened for them talking about an attack, like she said," Lira went on, glancing at Ys. "They were all very annoyed, but also pleased because they’d thought of a good thing to do. It’s something about you. I’ve been trying and trying to tell you." She was highly aggrieved, anger hiding worry.
"Did they give any details?" Siame asked sharply.
"Only that they would stop something from being called. They were very pleased."
I reached out experimentally – it’s so difficult for me to move while all expanded – and touched her hand, which felt solid and entirely normal. "Thank you, Lira," I said. "I wish I could find where you are."
I let the projection slip, and came back to myself as Siame was rapping out orders to the kids. The differences in dialect means I’m only translating Lira clearly in retrospect, but we’d all gotten the gist. Siame told us we were to go straight downstairs, to the level which is below ground and easiest to defend. There was an alert flashing over the interface – Taarel had put KOTIS staff on ready status and told the greensuits stationed at the amphitheatre to summon the Ddura immediately.
If I’d been a little less thick, if I’d realised sooner that Lira was trying to communicate, they’d still be alive. Two women and a man, Keeri Nell, Evva Nozen, and Barl Miks. The Cruzatch got them before they reached the platform. All I knew at the time was that as we came out onto the inner balcony, we abruptly shifted from a level two alert to a level five, which covers everyone in Pandora and means there’s Ionoth on the loose and everyone’s to take shelter.
Taarel came flying abruptly up to our floor, enhanced herself, and dropped us all down to the ground floor, where Bryze from Eighth was waiting. It was not as if Pandora was completely without Setari defenders – there was a Nuran, Mila, and various members of Third and Eighth – five of them not too injured to fight. And quite a lot of greensuits, and mounted weapons at certain key points. But as Tsur Selkie said later, the Ddura had made us complacent.