Chapter 31
Cassie
“I should have you disassembled and thrown into the vacuum of space!” The Aviarist smacked Rhea hard across the face. “What were you thinking? You weren’t thinking at all! Not a single thought in your head!” He slapped her again. Rhea dropped to the ground, curling into a ball.
Fuck you. Fuck you and fuck Prima Erum. I’d do it again!
Cassie couldn’t watch as the Aviarist started to kick Rhea, hard, so she moved. She shielded Rhea from the blows. The Aviarist’s shoes pounded hard against her side as he rained down fury on the both of them.
When Cassie stayed behind for her first real lesson with the pulsar gun, Wreeta stayed as well. Although Wreeta was much more composed than Cassie, who was still sweating and shaking from the rigorous drills S’samph had put them through.
“S’samph asked me to help. I’m closer to your size, so your shooting style will be more similar to mine.” Wreeta flexed her feathered arms.
“Wreeta is also out of practice with listening. These drills will be helpful for both of you.”
“I listen just fine.”
“That remains to be seen.” S’samph handed her and Cassie both nulls. All the firepower had been removed. Instead, they fired dyed hydropods.
“Wreeta, show Cassie the correct stance while I set up some targets.” S’samph stalked away with several wooden posts under his arm. He started to stab them into the earth while Wreeta hefted her own null.
“Can’t remember the last time I used a null,” she whistled. “S’samph would pluck my feathers out if he knew, but I actually keep my real pulsar gun in an empty barrel by the docks. Can’t have it at home with all the little featherbrains running around.”
“I won’t tell.”
“You better not.” Wreeta made a soft shrilling sound. “Do you think S’samph would lose his mind if I targeted him accidentally on purpose?”
Cassie laughed as she hefted the weight of the null in her hands. “Better you than me.”
“No, let’s make a bet. First one to hit S’samph with a null accidentally on purpose has to buy the other one a sweet at the general store.”
“No credits.”
“?rim has credits.” Wreeta’s crown feathers fluttered.
“Where is your stance, Wreeta?” S’samph’s hissing voice resonated from the distance, startling both of them out of their scheming. Cassie had never found herself so grateful for an interruption.
"Fine watch and copy, but the bet is on.” Wreeta squared her shoulders and lifted the null, aiming at the central post S’samph had positioned. “Keep your body square to the target. Watch the target, not the pulsar gun. I’m sure S’samph will explain it better.”
After watching and memorizing the stance, she lifted the null, which was heavier than expected and aimed at the central post like Wreeta had. As S’samph finished positioning the posts, he took a step over to the side of the lineup.
“Lower your arm, Cassie.”
“Here, like this.” Wreeta helped her angle her arm the right way at S’samph’s instruction and then resumed her own stance. She fired a shot at the central post. S’samph’s frill lifted.
“Did I tell you to fire, Wreeta? Take a lap.”
Wreeta cursed and muttered something under her breath while she started to jog the perimeter of the property in the other direction. This left Cassie alone in front of the central post with an aching arm. She made a questioning hand sign in S’samph’s direction but suspected he didn’t understand.
“Fire whenever you’re ready.” He gestured to the post. Cassie pressed the trigger, and her shot went wide, splattering S’samph in the arm.
The sound of Wreeta’s amused trilling filled her ears as her stomach lurched.
Unlike Wreeta, she never had any particular intention of ‘accidentally on purpose’ hitting S’samph with a null shot.
“Well. That’s one way to learn the lesson.” He wiped at the dark pink stain on his outfit and then muttered something about humans Cassie couldn’t quite catch from the distance. “If you look at me when you’re shooting, you’re going to target me.”
“Sorry!” Cassie said, but she realized the voice didn’t carry very far. She’d have to ask ?rim if there was a way to adjust the volume.
“Try again. Look at your target, not at me.” S’samph gestured to the central post again.
Cassie lifted the null gun again and fired at the central post. Her shot went wide again, but at least S’samph was able to duck out of the way before she splattered him again.
After three more wide shots, Wreeta finally returned from her lap.
“Let me help. I owe you something from the general store anyway.” Her feathery hands came around Cassie’s arms. “You’re too open with your body. Face the target and aim. I’ll show you first.”
Wreeta picked up her null that she’d left lying in the dust. She turned her body, lined her chin up with her shoulder, took aim at the post nearest to where S’samph was standing, and fired.
The pod hit the post before S’samph had a chance to dodge, splattering him on impact.
His frill rippled slightly, but he said nothing.
“Now you try.” Wreeta made a series of chirps and fluttered out of Cassie’s way. Cassie aimed again and still went wide.
“It takes practice.” Wreeta fired again, but S’samph had moved well away from all the posts. “I wasn’t able to fire a pulsar accurately for several months.”
Even if Wreeta meant to be supportive, it wasn’t what Cassie wanted to hear.
She didn’t have several months. The Aviarist could arrive any day, and then where would that leave her?
Her body tensed as she loaded in another round of hydropods, but the shots were even more off target.
S’samph watched from the far end of the field but made no commentary as she tried and failed.
Finally, as she was about to load a fifth set into the null, S’samph lifted a hand into the air.
“Enough for today. Too much sun for humans is dangerous.” S’samph started to collect the target posts. “We’ll practice again tomorrow. Leave the nulls under the shade.”
But I haven’t hit a single one. The hand signs missed the camera and went unspoken. S’samph approached then with the posts under his arm. He towered over her, a reminder of just how small she was compared to anyone who might want to do her harm.
“No one without training can fire a pulsar gun true the first time they try. You are too tense. The tension makes you recalibrate your shot at the last moment. We’ll try again tomorrow.
” S’samph carried the posts off toward the awning-covered storage area where he kept all the training equipment, leaving Cassie and Wreeta behind in the sun.
“You should have seen the first time I fired a pulsar gun. It wasn’t even a null.
Lucky, I didn’t take someone out.” Wreeta twittered and shimmied her tail feathers.
“Don’t mind S’samph. He has no sense of humor, but you’ll be firing a pulsar gun in no time.
Now, if I remember our bet, I owe you some sweets. ”
“I don’t need sweets. It was an accident.”
“You should have seen his face. Worth it. And I’m a giradey good for my feathers. You won the bet.” Wreeta chirped. “Next time you want to go into town, let me know, and I’ll come meet you. Or even better, I’ll get you something during the Moons-filled Night Festival. You are going, aren’t you?”
“I don’t know,” she said.
“Well, you have to go. Everyone goes. You’re not supposed to be alone anyway, and the whole security team will be there.”
“What is it?”
“Only the best festival, okay, only one of two festivals really, but this one is the best. Usually, it’s held in Indras since they have more space. Lots of good food. Dancing. Music. Fucking under the stars, if you’re into that.”
The thought of doing something like that with ?rim sent a rush of heat through Cassie’s already flushed body.
She didn’t know the first thing about fucking anyone, but when his face flashed into her mind, her heart beat faster, even though she was already breathing hard from all the exertion in the heat.
“I will ask.”
“Good. Then I’ll get you something nice there.” Wreeta brushed a feathery hand over the top of Cassie’s head, feeling the sweat beading from her scalp. “Even here? Humans lose water everywhere. It’s amazing you’ve survived as a species as long as you have.”
As they approached the awning in the distance, Cassie realized S’samph and ?rim were already there in conversation.
S’samph’s tail lashed from side to side while ?rim tapped at his wrist nodes in a gesture Cassie had come to recognize as anxiety or discomfort.
When Cassie and Wreeta reached the shade of the awning, both S’samph and ?rim reached out to hand Cassie a hydropod without pausing their conversation.
“Nothing for me?” Wreeta asked, shifting her feathers behind her back in mock offense.
Embarrassed by the overprotectiveness, Cassie accepted both hydropods before anyone could make more of an issue out of it.
She was thirsty anyway and burst the first one between her teeth, letting the lukewarm water rush down her throat.
“Pulsar guns aren’t safe. Statistically, there are thousands of self-inflicted injuries and deaths every standard year. I can send you the reports if you don’t believe me.”
“Why are you concerned about self-inflicted injuries and deaths?”
“Many of them are accidental.”
“It’s a null. It has no pulsar capability. I’m not sending Cassie home with a loaded pulsar gun.” S’samph grabbed the null gun from Cassie’s hand and shot himself in the shoulder with a grunt as the dyed hydropod exploded on his clothing.
“But the intention is to train with a real pulsar gun eventually.”
“There’s no point in training if you can’t use the real thing.”
Even though she had just swallowed two hydropods, Cassie’s mouth was dust dry. They were arguing about her. They were arguing about her and her choices and what she wanted to do. She just wanted to feel safe. She just wanted some control. She just wanted to decide for herself.
“My choice.” She interrupted the unwanted argument. “I want to learn. I’ll feel safer.”
“If your purpose is to feel safe, it will be months before you can effectively use a pulsar gun.” S’samph’s frill had lifted high along his neck. “You can continue learning. I think it is prudent, but it won’t make you safer for some time.”
“Cassie, why do you need to use a pulsar gun if someone is with you to protect you all the time?” The weight of ?rim’s hand landed on her shoulder.
“Because I need to be able to protect myself!”
It was too much.
The gray and red haze was closing in on her. Cassie started to run. She didn’t know exactly where she was going, but she couldn’t go home. ?rim would find her there. She couldn’t go back to the clinic to deal with perfect, kind Eleri’s pity. The overturned boats from flooding season were long gone.
She found herself back in town. The workday had ended, so most everyone was congregated in the center of Laurus.
No one paid much attention to her as she ran.
They were used to seeing her around town.
Things in the Aviary had been so straightforward.
She knew who she was. She knew her role.
Now she knew nothing. And everyone thought they knew better than her about what she needed.
Cassie stumbled into the cooler alleyway between the general store and the Eon.
She was about to sit on the ground to gather herself when she noticed a figure huddling behind a collection of boxes.
A small pair of wings stuck out, and Cassie crouched beside them to get a better look at the kyrot pup.
“Are you ok?” she asked. The pup glanced up at her.
“Mama?” he asked.
Cassie shook her head, realizing it was a human gesture after the fact. “Not mama. Can I help find her?”
“Up.” The pup reached for her. Cassie lifted him into her arms. She remembered when Rhea was this small. Her first fledgling.
We’ll find her. Cassie signed the words, unable to access her device with the pup in her arms. The pup clung to her, his exhales warm against her chest. She emerged from the alleyway with the rasp of his wing claws scraping at the back of her neck.
Laurus was big for someone like her, but surely someone would know where to find the pup’s mother.
Cassie glanced around, suspecting her own minders were already searching for her.
She scanned for any pair of wings. Kyrot were clan-oriented, and they all knew each other.
If she located one, she had no doubt they could tell her who the pup belonged to.
There. Pyo was one of the few kyrot she could recognize on sight.
“Well, would you look at that?” His enormous wings lifted in greeting. “Your mother is near frantic looking for you, young Irio. Let’s take you to her.” Pyo reached out his arms for the pup, who only started to whimper and clutch tighter to Cassie.
“Mama mama mama mama!” Irio wailed and unfurled his wings in distress. A high keening sound cut through the crowd forming as a female kyrot came hurrying toward Cassie and Irio.
“You found him! Where did you find him?”
Upon sensing his mother’s approach, the pup finally detached from Cassie, allowing her to pass him over. “Hiding,” she said, as she gestured back toward the alleyway.
“He likes you. He doesn’t like anyone really, not at this age.” The female kyrot examined her with a critical eye. “You’re human Cassie, right?”
Cassie nodded. “Yes. I’m Cassie.”
“I’m Glia. The pups seem to like you. Do you like minding pups?”
She nodded again. Minding the younglings had always been one of her small joys, a privilege at the Aviary. “I do.”
“Some of us are looking for someone to mind our pups a few times a week in the mornings. Think about it. We’ll give you credits, obviously.” Glia reached out to tap her wrist against Cassie’s. “That’s my contact information. Let me know what you decide. Thank you for finding him!”
Cassie stood, stunned, as Glia carried a chirping Irio away. The little pup turned back to her with a shy glance.
The crowd around her had dispersed, but one figure remained. She knew he would come to find her. His presence still filled her stomach with confusing bursts of warmth. ?rim stood with his hands behind his back, where she suspected he was rubbing at his wrist nodes.
He held out a hand for her as she approached, and she took it.
“I was worried when you ran off.”
Cassie didn’t want to talk about it. Instead, she shifted the topic. “Glia wants me to watch her pup.”
?rim paused. “As long as you’re not alone, I see no conflict. Do you want to watch her pup?”
“I think I might.”
“Then you should. Ready to go home?”
“Ok.”
He pulled her closer, wrapping his arm around her shoulders as he led her over to his levibike.