Marooned - Christie Golden [74]
Now he looked up at her, and tears caught the faint gleam of light. "We are, all of us, utterly infertile. After this generation, there will be no more Rhulani."
Kes's breath caught in her throat, and sympathetic tears sprang to her own eyes. Her own people did not have lengthy life spans, but they would survive, the Caretaker had seen to that. Kes's own brush with her burgeoning fertility, and her glimpse into a possible future, complete with daughter and grandson, had told her that life did go on. There was an immortality in the faces of the children that could not be found in a long life span, and Kes now saw the pain that sat upon Aren Yashar's broad shoulders.
It took time to realize... that no families were having children."
"Aren," she breathed. "I'm so sorry."
He nodded in acknowledgment and continued. "I was a prominent politician then. We tried to keep things calm, tried to prove that it was all just rumors, but our scientists confirmed our suspicions. There is no political system in the universe, Kes, that can calm a people who know they are facing extinction. The world went mad. Cults sprang up overnight that preyed on the peoples' fears. Many were convinced that somehow we had offended some distant diety with our pride in our long lives, our beauty, our glorious wi.-igs and iridescent webbing. These cults had rites that demanded self-mutilation. The wings were clipped, the webbing, slashed. Some performed the self-mutilation rite alone, and bled to death. Others formed bands of roving cultists, kidnapping strangers in dark streets, sometimes in broad daylight, to perform their barbaric rite upon hapless victims.
He closed his eyes and turned his face away from her. But Kes could fill in the rest.
"They found you," she breathed in horror. "They found you and they tried to clip your wings and-"
"I killed two of them," Aren interrupted savagely. "They only got one before I broke free. And somehow, I managed to flee that frightened planet. And that was when I formed the Ja'in. My people were dying. I wanted to live."
Kes wiped at her eyes. Aren Yashar had always been so proud, so handsome, so secure in his power. She had assumed he had always been a pirate leader cruel, demanding, taking what he wanted. Now she understood, at least a little, why he had done what he did.
"What did the brief lives of aliens matter when your own race was dying?" she said softly. "Why live r gently, when you had no future generations to inherit your wisdom and world?"
Aren's head whipped up and he studied her in tently. He found no hint of sarcasm, and his tense posture relaxed. "You understand," he said, wonder ingly.
"I see why you did what you did," Kes countered.
"It's not quite the same thing."
"I gave the Rhulani hope again," he said, moving through the water closer toward her. "I made those who would join me strong, powerful. The Ja'in is the most important force in this sector, Kes. Did you know," and he laughed, "that there are tales told about us? Songs, even? And I am young yet! Think what a legacy I shall leave!"
He was beside her now, his arms resting on the side of the pool. Kes's eyes crept toward the multicolored, impotent wings and for an instant, she thought of a bird soaring in the sky.
Free.
"Oh, Aren, can't you see?" she cried brokenly.
"You're as much a prisoner of your own fear as I am of you! You've got thousands of years left to live, you could be doing good and helpful things for millions of people, and instead you're a pirate. You kill and you steal and you-"
She broke off, startled. Aren had placed a damp hand on her thigh, caressing it gently.
"Teach me," he whispered softly. "Teach me then, dear Kes, how to do all these good things of which you speak. This life is fast growing empty for me, and I would have you fill it in the brief time you have allotted to you. You have already done so much. You have grown so deeply precious to me, little bird. Join me, my love."
He spread out his arms, ready to help