New To Beven

Chapter 10

With a mostly glowing report from Tyler--he'd recommended a few lessons on interpersonal relations--I proudly paraded my way back to the home dome and Nate. My baby bro had done it! And I wasn't crazy. Now if only Leigh and the others could get off their crazy horses... I shook my head.

The sun grazed the horizon. A warm breezed brushed my face and arms. I sighed. It'd been a ...  long ... day. My gaze roamed the landscape, bronze and coarse from dry grasses to sandstone pillars. As always, the Cragged mountains loomed from over the northern hills.

I passed the mess dome, my arms swinging, and spotted Ruby at a table out front. She was practically breathing the same air as Leigh. They talked in hushed tones over half-eaten food. At one point, Leigh moved condiments around into definitive positions. Fine, they were making plans, and Ruby kept Leigh from breaking into Ric's office and un-confiscating the cloaks.

Cloaks that would soon be in my brother's hands.

I stepped into the home dome, cool and dim, except where Nate sat at his work table, not taking notice of my triumphant arrival. Humph!

"How goes it, Ghost Face?"

He nearly fell off his stool. "Steph! Back so soon?"

I raised a brow. "I've been gone for hours now."

"You have?" His squinted eyes checked his armband. "Oh, wow. What took you so long? Was there a problem with the cloak? Are you hurt?"

I stretched my fingers wide, hands tamping the air, and motioned him down, back onto his stool. Finally shucking the bio-cloak of feathers, feeling safe to do so here, I collapsed into my favorite barrel chair.

Growing somber, I began, "Nate," then stretched my mouth discouragingly into my cheek. With him leaning in, wholly anxious, I couldn't resist. "Honestly ... its suspension is a little loose and the transmission makes a grinding noise."

He dragged a hand over his face and groaned. "Steph."

I beamed at him. "You did it! I just got done talking to Tyler then Ric. They agree. And before you ask, the doc ran a few scans with his brain tester thing. There are no harmful effects."

At first he stared, processing, then leaned back, mouth making a little o.

"What?" I asked. "Are you surprised?"

He shook his head, gaze unfocused. "Has he told the other team leader, that Leigh woman?"

"Not that I'm aware of." I narrowed my gaze, in confused thought.

"I've heard her questioning my work experience," he explained. "She is suspicious that my proposed modifications will weaken her powers. I need to make adjustments in secret, before she can object."

"Can I at least tell Dan?" Maybe he was still strong enough to go through the shift. "Is that cloak ready?" I nodded toward the one on his table.

"Almost. I just need to confirm the connections... " He stretched to great lengths, retrieved the bird cloak from where I'd deposited it, and then proceeded to compare it with his current work.

My head turned a touch, expectant, but I was pretty sure he'd forgotten about finishing his sentence. Oh, well. I probably would have only understood one out of every three words of his high-tech, computational babble anyway.

So instead, I moved to stand, but the effort that required was entirely not worth it. Collapsing back, I rested my neck on the brim of the chair and sighed, quickly drifting off, the familiar sound of my brother tinkering being my lullaby.

***

Not a nose dive; more like a beak dive, slicing through the air, skimming the land. Wind howling. A massive, black paw swipes, and crashes down, clawing at my wing. I squawk and tumble. Standing over me, Dan's amber eyes spark, attached to a body nothing more than skin and bones, of a puma. I look to the side and not far away is Nate, broken, under the glare of a half-dozen unrecognizable Guard members. 

Enough! I snarled. 

My eyes whipped open as I straightened, and uncoiled like a spring jammed in a chair. With heart racing and breaths stuttering, I stared, unfocused.

I began to notice things, like the cracking film of dried drool at the corner of my mouth. Or how tightness pulled my neck one way. A rusty spring, I griped inwardly. Groaning, I tried stretching out the crick, but it refused to give without an agonizing fight. One hand went to the problem area, tentatively kneading, and the other jabbed into a pocket where I wrapped fingers around metal. I clicked the small multi-tool open and close.

There came rustling from across the room. My gaze darted in that direction.

Yet again, or still, Nate was hunched over his table, the work light illuminating the curve of his back. At least I was pretty sure it was him. I couldn't see his head beyond the pile of tan and beige hides. He must have gotten all the cat cloaks in the settlement.

Ric must have wanted my brother to start the upgrades immediately. Singed animal hair and melting solder, bitter and metallic, drifted up my nostrils. I sneezed.

Nate jerked up. "Steph?" He blinked, a tad blurry-eyed, his blue gaze seeming to forget how to see things at a distance.

"Yeah, it's me," I dropped the one hand from my neck and sniffled. "Questioning whether I should start taking antihistamines."

He grunted.

"Isn't it nighttime or something?" I squinted at the half-covered window beyond him.

A shrug and twist of his mouth. "It's possible," he said.

"You should get some sleep."

He leaned over the work table again, sinking back behind the cloaks. "Did enough of that in the hospital."

Immediately, my brain conjured an image of Dan, still confined in a similar situation and then the tray of semi-edible food. My stomach twisted and curled in on itself, deciding his food seemed far more appetizing now. That made it fairly obvious I hadn't eaten in some time. Probably the same could be said of my brother.

I clambered out of the chair, nearly toppling, but I shot out a hand and braced against the wall. Briefly closing my eyes, I steadied and then thoughtfully took steps toward the snack box, snagging a few breakfast bars.

At my brother's side, I slapped one on the table near his good arm, which was attached to a constantly moving hand, hurrying over circuits as he muttered.

"Eat," I ordered.

Absent-mindedly he gripped the bar and brought it to his mouth.

"Ah, ah, ah!" I reached out and unwrapped it for him.

"Thanks," came around his first bite.

"Don't mention it."

I considered my barrel chair but then glared at it for the ache in my neck. My arms reached up and stretched out in defiance. A breath burst from the lungs, and something broke loose. Mmm.

With a check on my armband for the time, I confirmed the late, or rather, extremely early hour. Following another groan, I scrubbed my face. Not much I could accomplish at this hour, but I certainly wasn't interested in more sleep, with those earlier images branded on my eyelids.

I watched my brother for a moment, considered offering a hand. After all, he was one arm short, though his hand still appeared capable. Plus, I remembered how my attempts at help usually turned out. My blunt fingers tended to impede rather than assist. A sigh slipped past my lips. I'd leave him be, for now. Eventually, I'd force him into his cot. Until then ... well, the mess dome was always open and I could go for a hot cup of Jan. A tickle in my nose suggested some fresh air would do me good, too. I pinched my nose to prevent another sneeze.

"I'm going out," I said, most nasally.

A limp wave from a distracted mind bade me farewell; being sister to a mad scientist summed up in a gesture. It went both ways when I was working on a project, and he'd be the one shoving food in my hand. Ah, yes, food. I made my exit.