******
“Kendis,” said Maggie quietly, as they headed back to the ship, “you don’t have to keep referring to me as the “Leader”, you know.” She had noticed him lagging behind everyone and had dropped back to join him.
He glanced at her, puzzled, “Um, pardon me, Ma’am, what should I call you, then?
She smiled. “Maggie” will do. That’s what nearly everyone except my children, call me.”
Kendis pondered on this. “I’m sorry,” he finally said. “It’s just that, in my village, that’s how the Leader is always addressed.” He thought about it, then gave a shy grin, shaking his head. “I’m having trouble even thinking of calling you by your given name. Perhaps I could call you “Mrs. Lowry”? Or, if that’s too formal, maybe “Mrs. Maggie”?
Maggie laughed and laid her hand on his arm. “It’s all right, son! Okay, how about “Mrs. L.” as a compromise? That’s what Jade and Alex’s friends call me anyway.”
“Sure,” he said with relief, “I can do that.”
They had almost reached the ship when he thought of a question he wanted to ask her. “Mrs. L., what is Jade’s esa? I know Alex has in-sight, and he’s a mental guide. He also seems to be developing a couple of others, too, but Jade hasn’t mentioned hers. Are they sort of like Alex’s?”
Maggie looked at him bemused, not sure how to answer him. She had seen Jade sneaking quick peeks at him when she thought no one was looking and had concluded she was interested in more than just a causal relationship with him. As far as anyone knew, Jade didn’t have any abilities.
This didn’t seem to bother Jade or any of her friends, but Maggie knew there were people who saw this as a limitation and there were even some who saw it as being…abnormal. Unfortunately, there were also people who wouldn’t associate with someone who didn’t have any abilities. She hoped Kendis wasn’t one of those.
“She hasn’t manifested any yet, Kendis. She didn’t test out for any, or for any potential when she was in school. She may never get any abilities at all. She doesn’t appear to be disappointed or unhappy about it, though,” she answered carefully. Jade hadn’t yet told her the results of her most recent esa tests but she assumed the results were the same as always. She watched to see how he would react.
He looked thoughtfully at Jade, who had reached the ladder at the ship and was frowning up at the opening at the top.
“She doesn’t really need any other abilities, you know. She’s perfect just the way she is.” He smiled, his green eyes seeming to glow in the late afternoon sun. “I think, however, that the tests were wrong about her. She does have potential and I think she’ll manifest…something, soon. I don’t know what it’ll be, but I can feel it coming.”
Startled, Maggie stared at him. “What do you mean, you can “feel” it?” she asked. Was he a precog?
Kendis glanced back at her. “Oh,” he said, “sometimes I get…I guess you’d call them hunches, and they’re usually correct. Sparrow says it’s a type of precognition. I can’t really See anything coming up, I just get a feeling about some things, a direction in which something might go.” He gazed at Jade. “And her abilities are going to show up real soon.”
He continued to study her. “She’s so beautiful,” he said so softly that Maggie almost missed it. He didn’t seem to realize he had spoken aloud.
Now she knew why he’d been lagging behind - to watch Jade.
Hmm, she thought, relieved, so he likes her, too. I wonder how long is it going to take those two to realize they like each other? I don’t know about his hunch, though. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
Their conversation ended as they caught up with the rest of the group assembled around the ladder.
“Who’s going first?” asked Rachel looking doubtfully up at the opening.
She was thinking about the ten pounds she had gained in the last four years. She sighed. She sat entirely too much now. James, her vow-mate, said he couldn’t tell she had gained any weight at all, and he kept telling her to quit worrying about it.
Well, now she was going have to lug ten pounds more of herself up a very steep ladder and even though this was a historic moment, she had a feeling her tongue was going to be hanging out by the time she reached the top. She hoped no one made a permanent image of that.
Grinning, Morgan put his foot on the first rung. “One small step for a man…” he said, half-quoting a famous ancient astronaut, and quickly started up without looking back.
Sparrow went up behind him, followed by Ro who was carrying a miniaturized Dots in a jury-rigged harness Maggie had fashioned for her. To nobody’s surprise, Alex clambered on behind her. He had offered to carry Dots, but Ro said no, Dots had carried her often enough and she was happy to be able to return the favor for a change.
Maggie shot a look back at Jade, wondering why she was waiting. She had thought Jade would be clamoring to be the first one up. She shrugged and went up after Alex, followed by Rachel. Kendis waited, watching Jade.
Jade nervously watched them go up the ladder. Tally watched her. He knew what her problem was. She was afraid of heights. She had acquired this fear shortly after they went to work for Nuisance Apprehenders, Inc., two and a half years ago.
After training, they were sent north to work in the foothills of Alden Mountains, tracking down zarbons, a pest about the size of an Earth rabbit that had arrived with the Elvwists. These voracious creatures with large, saw-like teeth, were eating the bark off the rare pine trees in that area, causing the trees to become diseased and slowly die off.
She had fallen through a foot bridge over a gorge when she hit a rotten patch while running to catch up with Tally in his pursuit of one of the ugly, scaly little munchers.
Jade still remembered the sickening feeling of helplessness as she plummeted through the air, knowing there was nothing between her and the ground three hundred feet below. She didn’t know how she had managed to survive that fall. Her rescuers attributed it to the fact that the area she landed in had been cleared and it had snowed the night before, leaving it very slick.
She never actually remembered anything except hearing a piercing cry from Tally after looking up and seeing the bridge getting smaller and smaller.
From the marks, they deduced she landed at an angle in the soft, wet snow, slid for a distance, and ended up in a drift at the bottom of the gently sloping hill. She came to with Tally standing over her yelling her name, mentally and vocally. She was spread-eagled on her back and felt numb, but, incredibly, was only bruised.
Later, she thanked Mother Earth and all the gods of the universe she had worn her winter thin-suit that morning instead of just her jacket and denims, otherwise she would’ve been wet, cold, and possibly frostbitten before Tally got help to her. When she thought about it, she was also relieved she hadn’t messed her underpants.
Tally had heard her scream and immediately left off chasing the zarbon. When he realized she had fallen, he’d high tailed it around the bridge, down into the gorge, sending a distress call to the rangers at the station they’d passed two miles back. The rangers took the rescue hover-craft and finally located them in the snow-drift.
When they found out exactly from where she had fallen, they all agreed she had been extraordinarily lucky. She was sore for a week but otherwise unhurt - at least not physically. After that, she avoided climbing and high places as much as possible.
Now she peered up the ladder with trepidation, not noticing Kendis was waiting for her to go. She shuddered with the memory of that fall.
sent Tally on a private link, He butted up against her leg trying to encourage her.
“Jade? Is there a problem?” asked Kendis with concern.
Jade swallowed, her throat dry. She was angry with herself and embarrassed to tell him she was afraid.
“No,” she replied, almost snapping at him in her anxiety. “Just have to help Tally into his harness.”
She was suppose
d to get him up there, too. Maggie had also made a harness for her to carry Tally in although he had protested he could get up there on his own. Maggie had just given him one of her “uh-huh” looks and ordered him to use the harness. So if Jade didn’t go, neither did he.
She had never told Maggie about the fall.
“I can carry Tally if you want,” said Kendis.
She felt some relief at his offer. At least Tally would get to see the ship if she couldn’t bring herself to climb.
“Okay,” she said gratefully, silently kicking herself for having been short with him. Wasn’t his fault she was such a wimp about this.
She helped Tally into the harness and got him situated on Kendis’ back.
pleaded Tally.
She sighed to herself. She didn’t want to let him down but she didn’t think she could do it. She motioned for Kendis to go ahead but he stood waiting for her.
“Ladies first,” he said with a smile.
She could see he wasn’t going to budge until she went so she swallowed and started to climb, proud her legs only shook slightly.
warned Tally, She nodded mentally and kept climbing.
She kept her eyes in front, staring directly at the silvery side of the ship sliding past each rung, looking neither up or down. Especially not down. Her heart was beating very fast. She wanted to get up the ladder as quickly as possible, before her legs turned all the way to jelly.
She was doing well for a while, then, she began having trouble letting one rung go before moving her hand to the next. She knew she wasn’t being entirely rational but she couldn’t seem to help herself.
sent Tally gently.
Jade chanced a quick look up and saw he was right, she was nearly at the top.
From below her, Kendis had heard some of her uncontrolled thoughts and finally realized her problem. His heart went out to her.
he sent quietly.
Jade felt relieved as she remembered: Kendis was a lifter. She speeded up a little and soon felt his strong hands grasping her around the waist, lifting her into the ship.
“Whew! Thanks!” she gasped as he climbed in behind her and steadied her on her feet. “I’d forgotten you’re a lifter. I should’ve just had you lift me all the way up,” she added lightly with a shaky grin.
Kendis smiled at her and led her away from the hatch opening. He shook his head. “Sorry, I can only lift inanimate objects. And then only if I’m touching them. I’ve been trying but so far, I haven’t been able to move anything living.”
Jade stopped and stared up at him with surprise. “But you just lifted me up into the ship!” she exclaimed.
He chuckled. “Well, you don’t weigh much - it was easy. I wouldn’t have needed telekinesis for that.” He sobered and regarded her hesitantly. “You were frightened,” he stated.
He didn’t want to embarrass her but he couldn’t help overhearing her uncontrolled memories. “I could hear you remembering something about falling from a bridge?”
Jade blushed, cursing her inability to hang on to her shields, and stepped around to his back to slide Tally’s harness from his shoulders. She lowered it to the floor and unfastened it, releasing Tally.
Now that she was safe she was mortified that she had lost control that way. She knew everybody must have heard her. She looked around. She was alone in the hatch with Kendis and Tally. Everyone else had gone into the ship.
She sighed. Shards! I’ve got to quit losing control like that!
Tally said, stretching himself. He turned to Kendis and gave him a nod. He gave another nod and padded into the interior.
“Sorry about that,” she mumbled, looking down. “I’m not good at keeping my shields up, especially if I’m upset.”
“Hey,” he said, lifting her chin so she was looking up at him. “Relax, it’s nothing that everyone hasn’t done at least once. You were extremely agitated so it’s understandable. I don’t think anyone knew you were afraid of heights or we would have tried to think of some other way to get you into the ship,” he said.
Although he would rather not have, he turned her chin loose. “If you want to talk about it - your fall, I mean - I’ll be glad to listen.”
Jade, feeling slightly disappointed when he released her, shrugged and said, “There isn’t much to tell. I fell through a broken foot bridge a while back. I didn’t get hurt but it was an experience I can’t seem to get beyond.”
“How far did you fall?” he asked, curiously.
“Oh, it was about three hundred feet.” she answered, shrugging again.
He gaped at her, stunned. “Three hundred feet? And you survived? How long were you in hospital? Gods! The Healers must have worked overtime to put you back together!”
“Um…no. Actually, I didn’t get hurt, I was just sore for a few days.” She didn’t think the incident was all that interesting; mostly it had scared the toes off Tally and rendered her horribly afraid of heights. She was ecstatic when they were transferred to a flatter location.
She didn’t particularly like to talk about it, and since she was impatient to see the ship, she said, “Ah, can we go in? Now that I’ve managed to get up here, I’m dying to explore the ship.” She started for the inner door.
He wanted to go in too, but he also wanted to know how she’d managed to fall that far - and not just survive, but survive unscathed. He was astonished she didn’t seem to realize just how incredible that was. He could see she didn’t want to talk about it though, so he shut up and followed her in.
…And almost tripped over her. She had frozen in place just inside on the catwalk, staring in fear at the drop in front of her. It wasn’t exactly an open drop. The catwalk was about five feet wide with a five-and-a-half-foot-high latticed guard rail. Directly in front of her was a flight of stairs going down to the next level of the ship but all she could see was the column going up the middle of the ship, with a lot of open space between her and it. She didn’t see the stairs.
“Jade,” said Kendis in a calm voice, “take another look, it’s not just a drop-off. See the guard rail? It’s there to protect you, and those stairs have what seem to be very sturdy hand rails.”
Very gently, he rested his hands on her shoulders. He felt her trembling and he wanted so badly to hold her close and stroke her fear away. It hurt him to see her so afraid. She was otherwise so strong! What he did though, was turn her to face him so that she wasn’t looking at the gaping area and scaring herself silly.
She looked up at his mahogany face and collected herself. She took a couple of deep breaths, trying to calm down.
“S..sorry,” she stammered, “I guess I sort of dimmed out when I saw all that space out there.” Her face grew warm with embarrassment. She was having a lot of that today. She gave a wan, half-hearted smile. “You must think I’m the biggest coward you’ve ever seen.” She closed her eyes briefly, thoroughly disgusted with herself. Way to impress a cute guy, Jade!
He frowned and shook his head, “Not true. On the contrary, I don’t think you’re a coward at all. Considering what happened to you, I think you’re quite brave the way you made it all the way up the ladder. It was just a shock for you to walk in here right after that experience and suddenly, here’s more empty space for you to contend with.”
He gave in to an impulse, put his arms around her and held her until she stopped shaking. He gave an internal sigh of relief. At least she didn’t seem to be as terrified, now. He wasn’t sure exactly what to do. He liked the way she felt in his arms - she fit there perfectly - and he didn’t want to release her but knew they couldn’t just keep standing there.
Not to mention he was getting feelings that might soon cause him some embarrassment if he kept holding her like that. He noticed she had managed to keep her shields up this time so perhaps she would be able to handle the whole height thing, at least until he could get her somewhere that felt safer to her.
Kendis’ arms felt so goo
d around her, that Jade was reluctant to move. She was getting a feeling she had never felt with any other guy, but she knew he was just trying to keep her from getting scared again. Besides, they couldn’t remain in one spot. After all, they wanted to see the ship, so she pulled away from him. She looked up and spotted the other stairs.
“I’m okay now, Kendis. I guess we’d better find the others before they get worried.” She cast around mentally to see which way they had gone. She caught her mother’s signature from up the nearby stairs. She pointed in that direction, “They went up there,” she said, moving out from his embrace.
Kendis couldn’t tell in which direction they’d gone and wondered how she knew but took her word for it. He gave a mental shrug. She must have linked to her mother and asked where they were.
They walked over to the stairs, and he stayed on the side next to the rail so Jade would, maybe, feel a little less intimidated. She stopped when they got to the stairs.
“Um, would you mind if I held your hand going up?” she mumbled. “I hate to be such a bother, but I think I’d feel better --”
Kendis’ heart jumped. “Of course!” he interjected with a big smile. He gently took her left hand and tucked it protectively under his arm. “I don’t mind at all, and you could never be a bother to me. Just hold on to me and keep your other hand on the stair rail if you need to. I don’t want you to be afraid, I won’t let you fall.”
He was inordinately conscious of her hand grasping his bare arm. He almost told her how beautiful he thought she was.
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