We sat in silence until the torch burned low. The skitarrit skittered in with a fresh one and left, the smoking end of the other one in one clawed hand. Nothing else changed.
I propped my leg on the stone ledge and went through my pockets. I didn't have much. I had my id plates which I never left behind, a single ration bar, and a handful of wiring couplings that I'd forgotten I had.
Vance stirred and went to the door. The guards hissed and clashed their spears. Vance backed away.
"This isn't getting us anywhere," he muttered.
"They'll come when and if they decide they want to." I put the couplings and my id plates back in my pockets. I opened the ration bar. "You want half?"
Vance sat next to me. I handed him half of the ration bar.
"Who shot us down?" I asked.
"No one knows. No one who's had an encounter with them has come back."
"Then we'll be the first. How long before Lowell sends a fleet?"
"He can't," Vance said. "He was stretching it just to get you authorized on the courier."
"So we have to rescue ourselves." I nibbled at the tasteless ration bar. "The only ships I know about are near the city. We have to find a way out of here. And then we find the city."
"It could be thousands of miles away," Vance said. "Unless you know where we are." He let that trail off suggestively.
"I don't have any idea where we are," I admitted. "And I don't have any idea how to get out of the cave, either. We have to get them to talk to us."
He stood, brushing at nonexistent crumbs. "The Eggstone could tell us, at least that was what I thought from your report."
"It isn't talking to me. It was too damaged."
"So that resource is not available." He headed for the back of the cave, searching every bump and projection on the way.
"What are you doing?"
"Finding out if they left us a way out of here," he answered.
"They wouldn't have. They're very thorough."
He shrugged. "You have a better idea?" He bent over and squirmed into a cranny.
I stroked the Eggstone and watched the guards.
Vance explored the entire cave. He didn't find anything. Not even loose stones.
Time passed. I sat on the stone with my swollen ankle and knee propped up. They didn't hurt quite so bad, but my ankle looked awful. It was mottled with bruises. It bothered me to be barefoot, but there was no way I could have put my boot back on, not until the swelling went down.
Vance finished poking around in the back of the cave. He sat on another swell of smooth stone and watched me.
"What?" He was starting to drive me nuts, staring at me all the time.
"You know how to get out of here."
"No, I don't. Why are you so suspicious?"
"Why are you sitting there so calmly?"
"Because I'm not in any shape to leave. And we're safe enough. For the moment." I shifted again.
He sighed and looked away, at the door where the guards still stood. "I hate being shut away like this. We should be able to do something."
I kicked at a rock with my good foot.
"So," Vance said, "let's make some guesses."
"There are ships out there that we've never encountered before. Unless the Patrol has and isn't telling." I looked a question at Vance.
He shook his head. "There are rumors, vague hints, nothing solid. If our ship hadn't blown up, we would have had better scans and pictures than anyone else."
"Is that why you waited too long? You wanted the glory of bringing back better information?"
His face went wooden, a mask that let nothing show.
"Sorry." I didn't want to spend time fighting with him, not when he gave me a better chance of escaping. Even if I could fly a ship by myself I couldn't navigate. I needed him for that. "If you read my report about Serrimonia, then you know as much as I do. They got everything out of me, more than I thought I remembered. If those ships are shooting everything down, then maybe they're invading and we just don't know it yet. Serrimonia wouldn't be hard to conquer. Not with just one city. And the Sessimoniss are not a high tech culture, not anymore."
"You think they've taken over the planet? Kicked them out of the city?"
"You have a better theory?"
He shook his head. "I think you're probably right. We could speculate for days about why." He paced over the uneven stone floor.
I settled back and took a nap.
They brought us more food. And another torch. Nothing changed. It could have been only hours or it might have been a week. There was no way to tell. We talked, speculating and getting wilder with each theory. With no real information, we had no basis for any of our guesses.
I slept when I felt like it. My ankle and knee got less puffy. They still looked bad but I could finally put weight on my leg again. I limped around the cave, restless at being confined. Our guards still wouldn't talk. Neither would the Eggstone.
The food didn't vary. Platters of the grain were brought occasionally by the timid skitarrit. There weren't any kizzt after the first time, only the bland, mushy grain.
Vance decided to try on his own. He went over to the guards and talked at them. They ignored him. When he tried to push past the spears they hissed and showed their claws. Then jabbed at him with the spears until he retreated back in the cave.
"What were you trying to say?" I asked him.
He glared at the guards and the entrance. "I was asking to talk with the leader. Koresh'Niktakket?" He glanced at me.
"You were asking for one of their women, the breeding females. The proper inflection for the clan leader is on the last syllable." I said it for him, enunciating the harsh sounds.
He tried to imitate me. I talked him through it until his pronunciation was passable, at least to my ears. He asked me how to pronounce other words. He picked it up quickly, he had an ear for it. It also sharpened my memory for their language. The Eggstone still remained a lump.
We spent three or four days like that. Both of us were restless, pacing and trying to argue with the guards. They still ignored us. I studied their tunics for a while. They were older, lower ranking warriors. I didn't know if that was significant or not. We heard no sound from the other Sessimoniss living in the cave.
Vance persuaded me to tell him about my experiences as the High Priestess of the Eggstone. I told him, most of it anyway. He asked questions that made me think, trying to remember details that weren't significant at the time. He was trying to puzzle out their society. He finally admitted to me that he had some training in xenosociology and cultural theory. I asked him what he was doing working for Lowell. He told me Lowell had recruited him special for this assignment. I should have been flattered. I wasn't. I was angry with Lowell. He'd anticipated just this kind of trouble. He knew we were going to end up on Serrimonia, despite his warnings, despite the extra equipment. Despite his promises to me. I spent a while cursing Lowell. Vance was not impressed by my vocabulary.
The guards outside our door slammed their spears against the rock. The cavern boomed with the sound. We both looked over to the entrance.
The Koresh'Niktakket of Kishtosnitass ducked under the entrance and came into our cave. He gave me an amused blink before turning to study Vance. I watched him, growing more nervous as time went by.
"You wish to speak with us?" I finally blurted out.
Koresh'Niktakket turned back to me. "I have heard that you teach our tongue to your dreshtarrit. Why do you do this?"
"He is not dreshtarrit," I said, standing. I felt too short sitting. The Sessimoniss towered over me even when I stood. "He is much like Dresh'Nikterrit for our people. He was sent to speak with you, about trade among other things. Tell me what has happened. Our people have not heard news from your sector in much too long a time."
His eyes flickered, not amusement, he was angry and upset. I wondered if I had pushed too hard. I had no precedent here, and no help from the Eggstone.
"You push change on us, Heshk Bashnessit," he said. "You left, before Sekkitass could share your courage. You left us open to attack from those with great power. They are of your kind."
"They appear as we do?" I asked, surprised.
"Not as small," Koresh'Niktakket said. "They stand as warriors. But they use weapons that warriors would not. They degrade us. They attempt to turn us to teshkirrit." He spat his disdain for their treatment. Teshkirrit were slaves, the lowest of the low in the clan. To even hint that a warrior was teshkirrit was a deadly insult.
"Human?" Vance asked. He was trying to follow our conversation.
I waved at him to be quiet. "Their ships are not as ours. The flyers we saw are also not as ours. Tell me of these invaders."
"They are your people," Koresh'Niktakket spat. His crest was rising, flushing deep red in anger.
I shook my head. "They are not of the Empire. We are trying to find out who they are. They attack our ships as well. Many are missing."
"They are formed like you, they are your people." He hissed, his claws flexing in his anger. "You come to destroy us. You have betrayed us."
"Why would they shoot me down, if I were one of them?"
"You denied us your courage before," Koresh'Niktakket said. "We have no altar to Sekkitass here, that much you changed. But we have his priests. The old rites can be brought back. We would drink of your blood, but that is the blood of a betrayer."
"I betrayed no one," I said as forcefully as I could. I held up the battered Eggstone. "I feel your anger and your pain. I know—"
"You know nothing, human!"
"I know your people are dying. I know you are living in caves, like beasts. Tell me what has driven you to this. Let me help you."
"What help can you give us? You, one weak human."
"Tell me what help you need and I will give what I can."
His crest settled part way, the red fading. "We are reduced to hunting skraggit at night, skulking and hiding."
"Are there more of your people? Or are those here all that are left?"
"We do not know. We have been scattered. They hunt us, as beasts of sport."
"With what weapons?"
He hissed, his crest rising again. "They are your weapons! Energy fields that kill over distance, those that do not disable." He spat at me again. "Sekkitass is waiting for you." He stalked out of the cave. Our guards took up their position again.
I slowly let out my breath, relaxing muscles tensed for a fight I couldn't possibly have won.
"I caught one word in ten," Vance said.
"They think the Empire has invaded them. They look like us, except not as short." I frowned.
"You are pretty short," Vance said. "They aren't from the Empire. Those ships were like nothing I've ever heard about before."
"That was pretty obvious," I said sharply. I was flustered and upset over the thought of me going to Sekkitass. The Eggstone's memories had been clear enough about that particular rite. I'd managed to avoid it before by running away faster than they could catch me.
Vance watched me, his eyes narrowing. "Why are you upset now?"
"Because they just threatened to sacrifice me to their other god. I barely escaped it before. I was hoping that was one tradition they had changed."
"Sacrifice?" he asked, incredulously.
"It was in my report."
He shook his head. "Lowell must have edited parts before he gave it to me."
"Unless you want to die by public flaying and being skinned alive, we'd better come up with some kind of a plan. We have to convince them we're worth more alive."
He swallowed hard. "You're serious."
I didn't bother to answer.
"How can we convince them of anything if they won't talk to us?" he asked.
I limped back to my rock and sat. This time I wasn't going to get away. I was stuck. I had no more answers. I scratched my head, watching the dried blood flake away. I was dirty, bruised, and battered, and at the end of my rope.
Vance sat next to me. "There has to be a way. I'm not planning on dying here."
"I've tried everything I know to do." It came out whiny. Which depressed me even more.
"You've done more than anyone else. How's your head?"
"It aches."
"Sleep for a while. I'll try to think of something."
I lay down and let him tuck the blanket around me. I held onto the Eggstone, even though I doubted it would do me any good.
Nothing had changed when I woke. I was groggy, hungry, dirty, and still tired. Vance sat against the far wall, under the torch, scratching on the rock with a small piece he'd pilfered from the torch stand. I stumbled past him, still limping and in pain. My knee ached, my ankle throbbed, and my head hurt. I ducked into the primitive bathroom and did what I could to relieve some of my discomfort.
The bucket of water was full again. The skitarrit had left another platter of grain, cold and congealed into a gluey mass that turned my stomach. I drank water and made myself eat some of the grain. I could only choke down a few bites.
Curiosity woke again as I watched Vance scratching the rock. I shifted over so I could see what he was doing. He had a complicated diagram on the floor that made no sense to me. He glanced up and grinned. His black hair wasn't sleek and smooth now. It was tangled and matted. He had dirt and grime on his face.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"Ven-Shui diagrams. Interrelationships and cultural trends corrected for new data."
"Now say it in a language I can understand."
"There are still ration bars in my pack," he said. "Better than cold grain, but not much."
I grimaced. "I'm not hungry." I would have been ravenous if there was anything edible handy.
"The Sessimoniss culture has changed, as I'm sure you're aware. I'm trying to figure out a way to get them to listen to us."
"By scratching complicated diagrams on the rock. It isn't going to work." I scooped up another handful of water from the bucket and drank it. "Whoever the invaders are, they offered deadly insult to the Sessimoniss. They hunt them like animals because they don't make good slaves. They've offended their honor and pride."
He sat back, rubbing one hand along his chin. His dark eyes watched me, thinking. "So if we can convince them we aren't the enemy, they might let us live." He raised his eyebrow.
"Possibly. We have to convince them the Eggstone isn't dead, that it can still help. And that we're necessary to that help." I stroked the surface of the Eggstone.
"How did they know before? That you were the Priestess?"
"Besides me speaking their language? I don't know. The Eggstone gave off some kind of energy before. It's been too depleted to do that."
The guards clattered their spears on the rock. We both looked over at the door. I heard hissing. I stood and limped to where I could see what was happening outside.
Three Sessimoniss faced our guards. They were all scarred. One was missing half his left arm. That surprised me. The Sessimoniss hadn't tolerated cripples before, at least not that I'd seen. The one with the missing arm pushed his way past my guards. The other two, very young males, crowded in after the older one.
I looked at his tunic, noting the colors and gashes across it. Though it was filthy and torn I still recognized the intricate pattern. I looked back up at his face in surprise.
"Koresh'Niktakket of Keristass," I greeted him. I bowed low, the full bow of respect and honor to an equal. This was the Sessimoniss who had fought the hardest to kill me before. And the one most changed. He'd touched the Eggstone, absorbed its memories. I wondered what he wanted now.
"Priestess," he greeted me, giving me the full title. He no longer called me Heshk Bashnessit, sacred blasphemy. He bowed low, giving me honor in return.
I straightened and waited for him to explain why he had come. The young males behind him, from Keristass, shifted nervously. My guards followed them inside, hissing threats.
Koresh'Niktakket of Keristass turned on them. "I wish to consult the Priestess, as is my right as Koresh'Niktakket. You cannot deny me."
"Your clan is weak," the guard answered. "Three dreshtarrit, two skitarrit. And no terishniktassit. You should be destroyed."
"The rules have changed," Keristass answered. "Koresh'Niktakket of Kishtosnitass has decreed no more deaths. And Sekkitass no longer drinks blood."
The guard looked past him at me. "That may change soon enough." He turned around and took up his position outside the door.
Keristass studied me, his face twisted in a permanent snarl by a long scar. "You brought wisdom before, though I was too blind to understand." He looked down at the Eggstone, still cradled against my chest. "Does it speak to you?"
I wasn't quite sure how to answer so I told him the truth. "It has spoken to me once, since I put it back together. The Eggstone is weak. I don't know if it will ever speak again."
He held out his one hand to me. His poison claw was retracted. I studied his hard face for a long moment, then stretched out my own hand and placed the Eggstone in his claws. My hand rested on top. I felt it stir, weakly. The thinnest thread of emotion trickled from it. Not quite anger, not quite pain, it tasted of both.
Keristass sighed and let me take the Eggstone back. He shifted his gaze to Vance, searching his face as if seeking answers there. "You bring the wisdom of your people. Tell us what we can do to chase the invaders from our world."
Vance looked at me, lost in the growling words.
"Tell us of the invaders," I answered. "Tell us what weapons they bring, what they look like, how many of them have come." I took a step back and swept my free arm around at the rocks. "Sit, share our food. Let past enmity be forgotten." The words of the ancient ritual rose from some buried memory. I must have gotten them right.
Keristass stared, blinking in astonishment. "The words of alliance have not been spoken in many long centuries."
"Then it is past time for them to be spoken again. Your people are too few to fight among themselves. Too few for blood rites and feuds."
"Wisdom again, from a human." He took one long stride forward and seated himself.
Vance moved smoothly, offering him the platter of grain. "It is what we have," he said, his speech slow but his pronunciation correct.
"You speak as a cub," Keristass said to Vance.
"Because he does not have the Eggstone speaking through him," I said.
Keristass nodded and solemnly accepted the unappetizing mass of grain. He ate a single bite before passing it to his two honor guards. The young Sessimoniss ate it quickly, as if they were starving.
"I will tell you of the invaders," Keristass said. "They came a dreithyear past, just after the rainy season. Their ships came from nowhere. We fought beside those who had the secret of flight. They were destroyed. We saw their ships burn across the night. We gathered our warriors to fight, to protect our clans. The invaders refused to fight as honorable warriors. They sat in their ships, landed on the sacred stones of the inner court. They used weapons of the mind on us." He tapped the side of his head. "Pain here, unless we did as commanded. Many of our warriors went mad. Risskaratass slaughtered their own terishniktassit. And their young." He paused, staring into space.
"What of their weapons?" I asked. "What do they look like?"
"Machines. Black." He held his hand up and sketched out a square. "And others, like thin sticks but not brittle. They cause pain and death with no marks. Poison in the air, that no one can smell or sense."
He stopped talking, watching me with his yellow eyes. The warriors behind him, each had less than three slashes, very young warriors with little experience, blinked warily. Vance watched all three of them intently. I wondered how much of the explanation he'd understood.
I chewed the end of my thumb. Something bothered me about his explanation. Some piece of something that I knew fit. I couldn't place it.
"They had others with them," one of the young warriors spoke. "I saw them, coming from a ship. They were those like you."
That was a surprise. Keristass hissed at the warrior. He cringed back.
"Let him speak," I said. "What of these others, like me?"
The young warrior slid back, kneeling and placing his face to the stone floor. Keristass hissed annoyance. He kicked the young warrior, more gently than I expected.
"Speak to the Priestess," he ordered.
The young warrior stayed down, his face and body still communicating the other's dominance. I waited, smart enough not to interfere.
"I was hunting," he said finally, "late at night. I was not a warrior, yet. I was not allowed to hunt. But I went anyway. They were there, by their ships. They had others, those who smelled of fear. They were not young, though they were the size of young ones. They were teshkirrit."
Slaves. That was odd. Not young, but the size of young ones? What did he mean by that?
"Tell me what they were like," I said.
The young warrior risked a glance up at me. He dropped his gaze immediately to the stone floor. "They wore odd robes, like yours."
I glanced down at my filthy shipsuit. Most of the Sessimoniss wore long tunics and nothing else. A very few wore short robes, dress like things that came to their knees. Few wore sandals, none wore boots. I shifted my one booted foot forward, my other ankle was still too swollen for me to get my boot back on.
"Did they wear boots like this?" I asked, using the word from Basic, there was no equivalent in the Sessimoniss language.
He stared at my foot. "I do not know," he admitted, cringing as if expecting a blow. "I did not linger or stray too close."
"Did they use weapons on their teshkirrit?"
"Short sticks, barely a finger width and as long as my hand. The teshkirrit were afraid."
"Mind sticks," Keristass said heavily. "They cause much pain. They cause death among the Sessimoniss."
"How many are there?"
"Each of the invaders has one, always on their person."
"And how many of the invaders are there?"
Keristass looked away. "I have not been outside since we came here for refuge." He lifted the stump of his arm. "I am not a warrior. I am Koresh'Nikatakket of a dead clan. And only because we have no terikatassnit." No higher ranking males, no warriors. "We have only a handful of young, and no terishniktassit to birth new ones. Before you came, I would have given my blood to Sekkitass, to strengthen the other clans. Now, I am useless."
"You have been very useful," I said. And meant it.
He looked up sharply, his eyes narrowed.
"We value your experience, your skills."
"You wish to know how many of the invaders sit in our homes and desecrate our temples? I shall find the answer. Keristass shall serve the Eggstone."
"And your house will find eternal glory."
He rose stiffly and bowed, a deep bow of one who served. His two young warriors scrambled to their knees and pressed their faces on the stone floor.
"We shall bring you an answer within three days," Keristass said as he stood. "Or we shall die."
I rose with him, the Eggstone out in front of me. "I am honored by your service. The Eggstone is honored with your sacrifice."
He snapped the end of his spear against the floor. The sound echoed in the cave.
"For this was I spared, to serve the god I reviled as weak." He blinked, a sideways sliding of his eyelids that signaled amusement. "Sekkitass has twisted fate strangely."
With that comment he turned and left, walking with more purpose. Almost I saw his old confidence in himself.
"Sekkitass ride with you," I called as he passed through the door. He saluted me outside, a warrior's salute to his clan leader. And then he strode away.
I sank back on the stone.
"You wanted information?" I said to Vance. "I think we may finally get some."