A Forest of Stars - Kevin J. Anderson [237]
But now, with the shimmering safety net of the thism gone, Osira’h could see and think more clearly along those other paths. The strange message was louder, easier to understand. It awakened the faintest memory in her, something from long ago—hands that had held her, cared for her.
Like a crackle of distant thunder, the urgent sensation came again, pulling at Osira’h in a way she had never before experienced.
Osira’h could not simply delay and ask the Designate about this when he returned from the funeral and ascension ceremonies on Ildira. She must find her own answer. Now. She had to know what it was…who was out there.
The girl applied her mental training to solving the problem. Udru’h and the advisers had taught her how to use her mind, and Osira’h needed her skills now more than ever. She summoned the telepathic strengths she’d inherited from her mixed parentage—one hand able to touch thism through her Ildiran genes, the other grasping at a telink capability carried over from a human green priest. Only she could control that combined power.
Surrounded by comforting blazers, Osira’h sat up in her bed to look around the well-lit chamber and at the darkness outside the windows. Out there. She followed the call, sensed the longing…close, personal.
It was coming from the breeder camp. The answer was clear, and obvious. Someone nearby, someone who had almost given up hope.
Osira’h went to the window, but she could see little in the illuminated compound. Security lights dazzled the barracks, driving back every scrap of night. She had to go outside and see. This stranger wanted something so badly that she was able to yank Osira’h‘s heartstrings like a leash.
Before departing, the Designate had sternly told her not to leave the residence, forbidding her to go out to the camps. With a thrill at her surprising independence, Osira’h made up her mind. She dressed quickly in a plain outfit, quietly slipped past the unsuspecting house guards, and hurried out into the well-lit streets.
Overhead, stars shone like diamonds against black velvet, a myriad of tiny lights. Accumulated soot and ash from the recent grass fires had gathered in the gaps between buildings, and the smell tickled at her nostrils as she walked. There weren’t many guards in the breeding compound, and all the human families had gone to sleep in the communal barracks. Osira’h easily avoided being seen.
She had never questioned what went on in those buildings. The Designate assured her that everything was necessary, that she herself was the culmination of many generations of research and interbreeding experiments. Ultimately, her abilities would justify everything.
Now Osira’h saw the shape of a woman hiding in a corner of the fences. She hesitated, fearful for just an instant. Sensations came from this stranger, clear and unusual: Her body was sore; her head hurt from crying. Her eyes were raw from staring at the Designate’s residence. Searching for her.
As she drew closer, Osira’h felt a connection with this prisoner…with this human female.
With her mother!
Osira’h froze as the realization slammed into her, thoughts ricocheting from this green-skinned woman who lived behind the fences, worked on labor projects, bred with Ildiran kiths, and gave birth to other children.
Osira’h hurried forward, as much confused as excited. Her mother was thin and wiry, her eyes haunted and surrounded by shadows, her cheeks sunken—but her eyes lit up like a sunrise when she saw the girl. “My Princess! My daughter!” Tears sprang to her eyes as the girl came forward to stand on the opposite side of the fence.
“Why are you here?” Osira’h asked. “You’re my mother. You shouldn’t be in the breeder barracks. Why aren’t you helping to train me along with the Designate?”
Nira extended a callused