CHAPTER TEN

MELISSA

Died?

Mel stared at Jahle. She hadn’t spent much time with him, but she never pegged him for a joker.

“What do you mean died?” she said. She tapped behind her ear. “Is the translator messing up?”

“Died. No longer among the living. Passed on into the Great Unknown. Yielded to the embrace of the moon. Died.”

Right. That kind of died.

“You seem very chatty for a corpse.”

Jahle performed another irritating shrug. “I am dead. To these people. I no longer exist to them.”

Mel shook her head. “You… you… what? You brought them medicine.” She jerked her thumb at the tent Ketug had disappeared into. “If that’s what the disease looks like, then they should be singing your praises. Why didn’t they touch the bag when you gave it to them?”

Jahle sighed. When he spoke, he sounded out each word as if speaking to an infant. “Because I am dead.”

She shot to her feet. “You keep saying that! But you’re not dead! You’re right here! Can you just freaking tell me what’s going on?”

Jahle studied her. “An Ennoi is only an Ennoi through other Ennoi. When we are no longer considered Ennoi by our own people, we cease to exist to them.”

“What?”

“They will not acknowledge my name. They will not see me, even though I am right beside them. I no longer exist to them.”

“You…” Mel felt her face grow hot. “You helped them, and, and, and…”

He reached out his hand and placed it on her cheek. Despite the heat from her anger and the fire behind her, his hand seemed to scorch her skin. She trembled under the contact. The intensity in his eyes sucked her under.

Why am I defending this guy?

He’s the bad guy!

Yet she knew she didn’t believe it any more. When it mattered, when it really mattered, he came through. Not just for her, but for the Water People.

And the Water People are treating him like dirt.

“It’s not fair,” she mumbled, embarrassed by the strength of her reaction.

“It is not,” he said, his voice gentle. “But it is the way it is. Endure. I do not wish for them to consider you deceased on my account. We need their help, as much as they need ours.”

Mel’s reply was eaten up by a cry from behind her. Jahle immediately stepped away from her, and backed away. She turned to see Zayef emerge from the tent. She stumbled to Mel and threw herself into the dust in front of Mel’s feet. Mel stepped back.

Zayef raised a tear-stained face to Mel. “Thank you,” she said. “My son has awakened. He was near death, and your gift has spared his life.”

From the other tent, a voice rang out. The translator in her ear remained silent; the song was wordless, but the melody wound itself upward into the quiet of the cavern, and echoed off the walls.

“Wh-what’s going on?” Mel blinked.

“The old Ennoi woman sings a song of jubilation,” Jahle replied.

“The medicine worked? That fast?”

“Ennoi are hardy. When we are not weak from starvation. The children will rest, and they will heal.”

Zayef stood and brushed off her tattered gown. “Tonight, we will celebrate.”

The elderly Ennoi woman stumbled out of a tent, lugging a giant pot. Soot stained the underside, and it left smears on Zayef’s clothing as she helped the old woman carry it.

“Come,” Zayef called. “Join us.”

Mel shot a glance at Jahle, but he merely shrugged. She followed the Ennoi women to one of the vehicles to the side of their camp. The women dropped the pot beside one of the trucks.

“What are these?” Mel asked.

“Transportation,” the elderly Ennoi replied. She pulled down a spout from the side of the vehicle and water began to dribble out. The old woman scowled. “We will need to find more water,” she told Zayef.

Zayef sighed. “We are not ready to move on yet, Olex.”

Olex’s scowl deepened. “We might have no choice.”

“Jah-” Mel caught herself. “Er, from the tents I assume you are nomads?”

“We are.” Zayef thumped the side of the vehicle. “We move from area to area with these. This is a water truck. It can extract water from the water table beneath, but this area is running dry. Seismic shifts have cause many issues for us.”

Like at the camp pumps.

Mel studied the four vehicles with interest. They had treads instead of wheels, and were heavily built, reminding her of construction equipment more than vehicles. While the paint chipped in spots, the machines shone. She noticed the water truck had a gauge on the side, when Olex tapped it. The dial jumped, but returned to its initial position.

The old woman pursed her lips. “When the children are stronger, we should journey back to the Water Extraction Plant.”

Zayef grunted. “We will have to see. It is far. It might not be running any more. Plus, there are so few of us.”

The women stood in silence while water gurgled into the pot. When it was half full, Zayef turned the water off. Olex and Zayef hauled the cauldron back to the fire. Jahle sat on the ground a short distance away, leaning against the ruins of a building. His eyes were closed, and Mel felt a jolt of sympathy for him.

Olex pulled protein bars from the packs and began breaking them into pieces before throwing them into the pot. With a grunt, she hobbled away to a tent. She returned with a bag, which contained small jars. Zayef pulled the bag from Olex when the old woman approached the cooking pot.

“No, Olex. I’ll add the seasonings.”

“You don’t trust my cooking?” Olex sighed. “It is a burden to grow old.”

Zayef smiled with great fondness. “You’re a brilliant engineer, but a terrible cook.”

“Pah. Ask me to build a strut that can bear a seismic load instead…”

Mel tipped her head. “Engineer?”

Zayef opened jars and sprinkled in the dried leaves and powders from inside. “Yes, the Water People are in charge of the Water Extraction, Treatment and Purification Plants. We wander from installation to installation, checking they are running efficiently. Olex was chief engineer of our tribe. I used to be a junior assistant engineer, but…” Her voice trailed off.

Mel blinked. When she heard the term nomad, she thought of tribes of simple travelers, following the breeze. Not scientists.

Zayef dusted off her hands. “It must soften enough for the children to eat. Please, rest. I want to check on my family.”

“What happened?” Mel asked Olex. “People lived here, once. Why is Geran such a mess? Why are you still here? Why haven't you left?”

From Olex's silence, she wondered if she had crossed a line, but the old woman sighed. “We are Water People. While water flows, we are here.”

“I don’t understand.”

Olex sighed. “I do not understand it myself, but I will try to explain. Many generations ago, Ennoi were all of Cadam. It was our ancestral home. But Ennoi are restless. We have wanderlust. We left Cadam to claim new planets. We settled everywhere that we could. Even on inhospitable planets.” She waved his hand around. “Geran used to be one of them, but my ancestors tamed its wildness with terraforming equipment. They cleaned the air, purified the water, fertilized the soil.”

Mel bit her lip. “The Water People… You purified water?”

Olex nodded. “The Water People maintain the water supplies. The Air People, the atmosphere. The Gardens People grew crops to feed our people.”

“So, not tribes, but… companies? Workers?”

“Families in our own way. Everyone worked in harmony to make Geran thrive. Which it did, better than most colony planets. We discovered Geran held lumi,” Olex replied. “Precious jewels of great value. The rulers of that time, the Ar’Geran, choose to harvest the lumi from the ground. They approached Cadam to become a partner in the mining business. Big mistake.”

Mel’s lips were drawn. “Partnership didn’t work out?”

“The more lumi we found, the more Cadam demanded. The more we gave, the less they did. When Geran begged them to accept a lower cut of the profits, so we could build more geothermal generators, Cadam refused. Said the initial investment was not yielding returns as expected. As if we were a monetary gamble, and not Ennoi.”

“So what happened?”

“War.” Olex paused to cough.

Mel knelt beside her. “You don’t look so good. Want to take a break? I can stir the food.”

She shook her head. “Not much story left. Geran threw its resources into funding our army. We hired Sykorians as soldiers and miners. They’re cheap labor. But we made no dent against Cadam. They were too rich, too powerful. Geran grew poorer and poorer, bankrupting ourselves to avenge Cadam’s callousness.”

The next coughing fit had Olex gasping for breath. “I think I better lie down.”

Mel helped her to her feet. “Which tent?”

The old woman pointed. “There.” Her sleeve fell back and Mel spotted a seeping wound on her forearm.

They staggered together to the tent and slipped inside. Zayef looked up in surprise as they entered. She stroked the forehead of a young Ennoi boy. She stood up and took Olex from Mel, leading the old woman to a nearby cot. Ketug lay on a second cot, his breathing shallow and harsh.

The boy’s lashes fluttered, and he opened his eyes to stare at Mel.

She gave him a half-smile and waved. “Hi,” she whispered.

The boy said nothing, but his eyelids closed again.

“My son, Eien,” Kayef said, taking her place beside the boy. She brushed his hair aside.

“He looks like you,” Mel said. “I mean the nose and the eyes. Not so much the color…” She closed her mouth, embarrassed.

“He is still immature. When he matures, he will settle into his colors.” Kayef stroked his face, and smiled fondly. “And if the moon is willing, someday he will bear horns like his father and mother. A sign that he is favored among Ennoi.”

Kayef met Mel’s eyes. Her pale yellow eyes glimmered. “Thank you,” she said. “Thank you for what you have done for my son.”

Mel’s shoulders rose, and she tucked her hands into the pockets of her jeans. “No problem. I mean, you’re welcome.”

“We are so grateful,” Kayef whispered.

“Anyone would do the same.”

Kayef shook her head. “No. Not anyone. We asked for help. We did not receive it. These trying times leave little room for a good heart to flourish.”

A good heart.

Mel smiled weakly. “I should go check on the stew.”

Outside, the cool air refreshed her. She stirred the thickening broth and stared at the ruins around.

A good heart.

A good heart who lied to her.