Daughter of Orion Read online

  ~~~

  If you've been keeping track of us in this story, five of us -- Par-On, Lona, Van-Dor, Dala, and I -- were already together in Gam Tol. Now, three days before the eight of us left Ul forever, the other three of you appeared. Par and I had been betrothed two years by now. Circumstances far less happy than the royal betrothal had been saw three more betrothals: Dala to Van, Lona to Sil-Tan, and Kuma to Un-Thor. I ate sacrificial gur and danced on Ul one last time.

  The betrothals gave us Tani hope. This was rife in the city even as the tremors grew ever harder and more frequent, and powdered rock threatened to bury what still stood on the mesa. Some said that Holy Light would still the tremors and seal the volcanoes. Some said that Dor-Sad would bring from the earth a wondrous artifact to heal the world. Some said that the earth-humans would come take us away in starships so that we could live on endless plains where livestock fed on grazing-plant watered by the sky.

  I myself believed that Ul was doomed, but that Grandfather would find his own way to get the Tan to the earth. Of what that way was, I had no inkling till, the afternoon before I left for the earth, Grandfather called me to him in the shelter of a still standing crystal spire.

  Tears stood in his eyes as he said, "Forgive me, Mira."

  "Forgive you for what, Grandfather? You're the wisest and best man whom I know."

  He shook his head. "I'm the man who destroyed Ul."

  "How can you say so?"

  "This world never shook before I learned to make the great crystals. It might've gone on just as it was more years than our people's numbers can count. Making and using the great crystals, though, changed the world's insides so that Nas-Ul can finish its work of destroying it."

  "I don't understand, Grandfather."

  "You don't now, but you'll remember what I said. When you're old enough to understand, you'll get from me a writing telling you how worlds end. When you read it, you will understand what happened here. When you do, please don't hate me for what I've done. Please say that you'll forgive me."

  I said it, and he hugged me. Blinking back tears, I said, "You're going to save the Tan, aren't you? You're going to find a way to send the Tan to the earth."

  He gave me a wan smile. "Some of the Tani, Mira. Tonight, the Kan Tan will tell you what he plans to do."

  Someone called Grandfather away to help save the city a few hours more. I went from him with terror, but also with hope.

  That night, after the Kan Tan had made evening sacrifice, he asked me to walk with him to the Chamber of Green Crystal, amazingly still intact. With him and me went a single crystal-technician -- Lona's mother, one of Grandfather's best. I didn't know why she was there just then; only just the other day did I learn that she'd recorded on a memory-crystal Sor-On's talk with me. Par-On and Kuma have viewed it with me. They can assure the rest of you of my repeating the Kan Tan's words exactly.

  Seated on the throne, he wore the three-spired crown as he looked down at me. "Mira, you've been a dutiful child and a good companion to my son. Your studies have shown me that some of your grandfather's intelligence has come to you. I think that you understand, better than most of your neighbors understand, what's happening to this world. In a few days, life on it will end as it shakes itself apart. No force less than Holy Light can stop tak-al Ul."

  When he said, "The Homeworld's death," it became real to me as it hadn't been. I felt what I now know as cold despair flow through me. I wanted to fall onto the dais, shriek with terror and rage, and cry all of the tears within me. Sor-On's gaze, though, sad and weary as it seemed to me, was calm and commanding, holding me to his purpose. "Yes, Kan Tan," I said weakly.

  He nodded in a way that reassured me. "Tomorrow, as soon as there's a clearing in the fall of ash" -- he used the English word -- "I'll send you and Par-On to the earth. With you will be going the three sets of children betrothed the other day."

  I felt weak with relief, but also with sorrow. "Only they, Kan Tan?"

  He sighed. "Just eight crystal-ships can make the Crossing."

  I licked my lips. "All of us going are an-i. What of the kum-i?"

  "I've saved what I can. In time, you'll find new companions on the earth. Please listen, beloved Mira. You and the seven going there with you conserve all of the an-i's bloodlines and gifts. These, as you'll learn, are far more powerful on the earth than they are here. With the books and the memory-crystals that I'm sending with you, you'll have all of the Tan's knowledge. With it, when you come into your gifts, you can be a great blessing to the earth-humans."

  "Yes, Kan Tan. What do you want us to do?"

  He gave me a sad-looking smile. "Three tasks, Mira. Remember the Homeworld. Perpetuate the People. Save the earth."

  I repeated aloud the words as he said them to me: "Ti-kel-es Ul. Ti-suv-es Tan. Ti-rem-es Ul Har." Those of you who know our people's speech know that Sor-On gave me his commands in the singular: I myself was supposed to do what he commanded. Maybe, now, some of you will grasp why I've been obsessive.

  As I thought of his commands, I found the last one puzzling. "How am I supposed to save the earth?"

  "The ones to whom I'm sending you and the other seven will teach you what you must know. I'm sending you, Mira, to the Colonel, since he asked me for you. You're to honor him as your sin-per, your foster-father, and his wife as your sin-per-a. The other children will go to other sets of parents whom the Colonel has picked for them. The Colonel and the other foster-parents will keep you safe till it's time for your Work to start."

  "Why can't I live with the other Tani, Kan Tan?"

  "You must learn to live as an earth-human, and you must stay safe. Eight strange children showing up in one place would make the earth-humans ask too many questions. The earth is dangerous."

  "I don't understand."

  "I know that you don't now, Mira. Please trust me, and please trust the Colonel. On his advice, I'm separating you children. He'll make clear to you, Mira, why separating you children is needful."

  I nodded reluctantly. "When will the Work start?"

  "Your ship will reach the earth in under a day. Already, your grandfather is using the speaking-crystals to send a message to the earth, a radio message, but it'll take thirteen point eight years to get there. Your first task in the Work is to ensure that the earth-humans hear the Message. Your experiences on the earth will teach you how to carry the Work on afterwards."

  I nodded again, though filled with doubt. "How will I ensure that the earth-humans hear the Message?"

  "The earth will teach you how. Listen, I must tell you one more key thing. Our knowledge, gifts, and great crystals are dangerous to the earth-humans. Till you start the Work, you must never speak of Ul or the Tan, display your gifts, or show the books, the memory-crystals, or the ships to anyone unless the Colonel says it's safe for you to. The ships themselves will stop working when they reach the earth. To keep their secrets out of the earth-humans' hands, Dor-Sad has rigged the power-crystals, the sleeping-crystals, the speaking-crystals, and the brain-crystals to shatter."

  Pride overcame fear within me. "I understand, Kan Tan."

  He smiled at me and kissed me on the forehead. "I know that you understand, Mira. Go put my son to bed, and get some sleep yourself, if you can. As soon as possible after morning sacrifice, you and the other seven must leave."