“You’re not. You’re just stupefied. I believe the cure for that is a late night snack with good friends…and family.”
It was a graceful peace offer. As Ekatya led the way to the door, she said, “Do you think my crashing the Caphenon was the catalyst for all of these changes?”
“I think Fahla has her own plan. And whether you believe in her or not, you’re a part of it.”
That was exactly the kind of statement that made her uncomfortable around Lanaril. But then she entered the warmly lit, glassed-in room and saw Lhyn smiling at something Salomen was telling her. Andira stood behind them, filling two glasses with the fruit drink, and turned to hand one to Lhyn.
Andira and Lhyn were alive because of a bond she didn’t understand. She owed her current happiness to that bond, and so did Salomen.
She remembered Dr. Wells saying You’re asking me to take a leap of faith, and wondered if she was capable of making that same leap. Wells had done it in minutes. It wasn’t just their bond that had saved Lhyn, it was also Dr. Wells and her willingness to set aside doubt and take a chance.
Lhyn was certain that a Shipper was actively involved with this planet. The existence of a powerful, pre-existing race was already accepted fact, so was it much of a leap to think that perhaps one of them really was here?
But accepting that also meant accepting the idea that this advanced alien might be responsible for her bond—and for what had happened to Lhyn.
Suddenly, she had much more sympathy for Lanaril and her crisis of faith.
Stopping her with a light touch on her arm, she said, “I’m not comfortable being a part of any plan that I didn’t have a hand in creating. But I didn’t have any control over our tyree bond, and I would never give that up now. So perhaps I can keep an open mind.”
“Faith is not a blind belief,” Lanaril said. “It’s an open mind and a willingness to learn. I’ve learned a great deal tonight, and much of it about you. It seems you’ve learned quite a bit as well.”
“Words for Fahla,” Ekatya said with a small smile.
Lanaril looked startled, then broke into a brilliant answering grin. “We might make an Alsean out of you yet.”
“I can think of worse things. Lanaril, I’m sorry about…” She gestured toward the deck. “I’ll probably never understand your faith in Fahla, but I know something about questioning one’s trust and ideals. I hope you find the answers you’re looking for.”
“Thank you. Of course, if I do, I’ll just find new questions to ask.”
“Lhyn can help you with that. She has a limitless supply.”
“Now those are words for Fahla.” Lanaril hesitated. “Lhyn was right. We need to look forward, not back. I would like to put our…misunderstanding behind us and not look back at it. Your future looks bright to me, and you have an extraordinary bondmate walking that path with you. I hope I can walk it as well, from time to time.” She held up a hand.
Ekatya offered both of hers and enjoyed Lanaril’s surprise. “Considering that I’m the one who owes you the apology, those were very kind words. Right now my path is leading me there.” She pointed across the cabin to Lhyn. “But you’re welcome to walk it with me.”
They crossed the polished floor together, and Lhyn looked up with a smile that grew as she saw them side by side. Ekatya could almost hear her thinking, Good. It’s about time.
Three days, she mused. They were three days into an eighteen-day bonding break and already some of her firmest beliefs had been turned inside out. What was it about Alsea? Every time she came here, it seemed that the person she had been before was not…enough, somehow. She was more here, as if the Alsean air unlocked parts of her that otherwise stayed closed and still.
Reaching Lhyn’s side, she wrapped an arm around her waist, picked up a piece of grainstem-sweetened bread, and let the conversation flow over her while she thought about Lanaril’s words.
She could not share Lanaril’s or Andira’s faith in Fahla. But she had faith in herself, and in the women in this cabin, and in Chief Kameha and Colonel Micah and Salomen’s family downstairs. She had faith in Dr. Wells and Commander Lokomorra and the rest of her crew, somewhere overhead keeping guard on Alsea.
Perhaps the important thing about faith was not who it was for.
Perhaps the important thing was simply to have it.
GLOSSARY
UNITS OF TIME
piptick: one 100th of a tick (about half a second).
tick: about a minute (50 seconds).
tentick: ten ticks.
hantick: 10 tenticks, just shy of 1.5 hours (83.33 minutes). One Alsean day is 20 hanticks (27.7 hours) or 1.15 days.
moon: a basic unit of Alsean time, similar to our month but 36 days long. Each moon is divided into four parts called ninedays. One Alsean moon equals 41.55 stellar (Earth) days.
cycle: the length of time it takes the Alsean planet to revolve around their sun (13 moons or approximately 17 stellar months).
GENERAL TERMS
bondmate: a life partner.
dokker: a farm animal similar to a cow. Slow moving and rather stupid, but with a hell of a kick when it’s angry or frightened.
dokshin: vulgar term for dokker feces.
Eusaltin: the smaller and nearer moon of Alsea.
evenmeal: dinner.
Fahla: the goddess of the Alseans, also called Mother.
front: a mental protection that prevents one’s emotions from being sensed by another.
gender-locked: an Alsean who is unable to temporarily shift genders for the purposes of reproduction. Considered a grave handicap, denying the individual the full blessing of Fahla.
grainbird: a small black and red seed-eating bird common in agricultural fields. It is known for singing even at night, leading to an old perception of the birds as lacking in intelligence—hence “grainbird” is also a slang term for an idiot.
grainstem powder: powder derived from crushed stems of a particular grain, which yields a sweet taste. Commonly used in cooking; also used to sprinkle over fresh bread.
horten: an Alsean delicacy, often used in soup. It comes from a plant that, once harvested, stays fresh for a very short time and must be processed immediately. Due to that short window of time, fresh horten is very expensive and usually served only in the nicer restaurants.
joining: sexual relations. Joining is considered less significant than Sharing between lovers. The two acts can take place simultaneously, though this would only occur in a serious relationship.
length: a standard of distance equaling one thousand strides (about a kilometer).
midmeal: lunch.
molwine: the curved apex of the pelvic ridges on both male and female Alseans. A very sensitive sexual organ.
molwyn: Fahla’s sacred tree. It has a black trunk and leaves with silver undersides. A molwyn grows at the center of every temple of decent size.
mornmeal: breakfast.
probe: to push beyond the front and read emotions that are not available for a surface skim. Probing without permission is a violation of Alsean law.
raiz: honorific for a producer.
Return: the passage after death, in which an Alsean returns to Fahla and embarks on the next plane of existence.
Rite of Ascension: the formal ceremony in which a child becomes a legal and social adult. The Rite takes place at twenty cycles, after which one’s choice of caste cannot be changed.
shannel: a traditional hot drink, used for energy and freshening one’s breath. Made from the dried leaves (and sometimes flowers) of the shannel plant.
skim: to sense any emotions that an Alsean is not specifically holding behind her or his front.
Sharing: the act of physically connecting the emotional centers between two or more Alseans, resulting in unshielded emotions that can be fully accessed by anyone in the
Sharing link. It is most frequently done between lovers or bondmates but is also part of a bonding ceremony (in which all guests take part in a one-time Sharing with the two new bondmates). It can also be done between friends, family, or for medical purposes.
shek: vulgar slang for penetrative sex. Usually used as a profanity.
Sonalia: the larger and more distant moon of Alsea.
sonsales: one who is empathically blind.
tyrees: Alseans whose empathic centers share a rare compatibility, which has physiological consequences. Tyrees can sense each other’s emotions at greater distances than normal, have difficulty being physically apart, and are ferociously protective of each other. Tyrees are always bonded, usually for life.
warmron: an embrace. Warmrons are shared only between lovers or between parents and children—and only until the child reaches the Rite of Ascension. A warmron is too close to a Sharing for it to be used at any other time.
winden: a large six-toed mammal, adapted to an alpine environment. It is wary, able to climb nearly sheer walls, and the fastest animal on Alsea. Winden travel in herds and are rarely seen.
wristcom: wrist-mounted communication device, often used in conjunction with an earcuff.
THE STORY DOESN’T HAVE TO END ON THE LAST PAGE
Take it with you—on a shirt, a phone case, a mug and so much more. Choose your caste, or give a caste gift to a friend. That way, Alsea will always be there.
http://www.cafepress.com/chroniclesofalsea
ABOUT FLETCHER DELANCEY
Fletcher DeLancey spent her early career as a science educator, which was the perfect combination of her two great loves: language and science. These days she combines them while writing science fiction.
She is an Oregon expatriate who left her beloved state when she met a Portuguese woman and had to choose between home and heart. She chose heart. Now she lives with her wife and son in the beautiful sunny Algarve, where she writes full-time, teaches Pilates, tries to learn the local birds and plants, and samples every regional Portuguese dish she can get her hands on. (There are many. It’s going to take a while.)
She is best known for her geeky romance Mac vs. PC and her science fiction series, Chronicles of Alsea. Currently, she is working on the next books in the Chronicles of Alsea and as an editor for Ylva Publishing.
CONNECT WITH FLETCHER:
Website: www.chroniclesofalsea.com
Blog: www.chroniclesofalsea.com/blog/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/fletcher.delancey
Twitter: @alseaauthor
E-Mail:
[email protected] OTHER BOOKS FROM YLVA PUBLISHING
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Spinster by choice, Millicent Aberly has managed to catapult herself from her lovely Victorian mews house into a strange future full of giant space squid, Roman empires, and a most annoying centurion to whom she owes her life. Decanus Sangfroid was just doing her job rescuing the weird little scientist chick from a squid attack. Now she finds herself in London, 1862, and it’s not a good fit.
Catalyst
© 2016 by Fletcher DeLancey
ISBN (mobi): 978-3-95533-642-4
ISBN (epub): 978-3-95533-643-1
Also available as paperback.
Published by Ylva Publishing, legal entity of Ylva Verlag, e.Kfr.
Ylva Verlag, e.Kfr.
Owner: Astrid Ohletz
Am Kirschgarten 2
65830 Kriftel
Germany
www.ylva-publishing.com
First edition: 2016
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to locales, events, business establishments, or actual persons—living or dead—is entirely coincidental.
Credits
Edited by Sandra Gerth
Proofread by Cheri Fuller
Cover Design & Print Layout by Streetlight Graphics
Fletcher DeLancey, Catalyst
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