[The White Raven, Chapter 14, Recall] [Deep Space, House Eagle Evacuation Ship] The White Raven walked the silent corridors, checking each room filled with sleeping hatchlings. They were all in slow sleep now, and wouldn’t need waked for six years. She stopped and knelt down to adjust the blankets under a hatchling that had rolled off the sleeping mat, there wasn’t enough bunks for everyone. Sleeping on the floor was not an ideal situation, but there was nothing to be done. She found one of the five older males, hatchlings nestled in his arms, and moved the hatchlings away. It wasn’t a good idea to be in physical contact with someone during slow sleep. The sleepers needed enough room to roll over in their sleep or sores could develop on the skin. She would have to stay awake during the six years and monitor everyone to ensure no health issues occurred due to the cramped sleeping areas. She found another of the older males slumped over a table, hatchlings asleep on the ground around him, the slow sleep vial was still clutched in his hand. The boy had injected himself with the slow sleep drug but had waited too long to lie down and had fallen over on the table. She lowered the boy to the ground and covered him with a blanket. All five of the older females were in the room being used as a hatchery. They each had the cradles pulled in close next to them. She moved the cradles away and lined them against the wall, turned each of the eggs over carefully, and then adjusted the sleeping positions of each of the girls. She would have to come to this room twice a day to turn the eggs, they couldn’t turn themselves. She sat down next to one of the cradles and held the egg gently and cried. This was the third time she had cried today. Guilt was tearing her apart, she had left Kata and Cala to die on Darai, and she hated herself for it. She shouldn’t have left them, she shouldn’t have let Vas insist that they stay to fight. “What good is it to be the White Raven if I can’t save my own acolytes?” she cries. The hours passed slowly, she became hungry and prepared a meal of dehydrated rations, but pushed the plate away. Did Kata and Cala have food, were they already dead, were they captured and being tortured by the enemy? “I can’t do this,” she starts crying again. “I have to go back.” She had the ship at the slowest TDS possible to conserve fuel. She could come out of TDS, turn around, and be back to Darai in a few hours. “No, you can’t, all these hatchlings are counting on you. The entire Daraian species is counting on you,” she whispers to herself. She leaves the food on the table and continues her rounds, one of the older males is missing and the search for where he went to sleep takes her mind of Kata and Cala for an hour. She finds him in a small empty storeroom, he must have got tired of all the screaming hatchlings by the time he got the ones he was responsible for to sleep, and then found himself a quiet place to sleep alone. She watches the boy sleeping for a moment and then realizes his chosen place to sleep isn’t as random as it looks. The hatch to the storeroom when closed creates an airtight seal, and there is an oxygen scrubber at this location. The boy opened the oxygen valve to trickle air in, he performed his duties and cared for the hatchlings first, but then his own survival instincts kicked in. If the hull were to be breeched, he would be the only survivor. “Wait… of course, you clever boy, that’s what the extra blankets are for. You made two beds, one for yourself, and one for your female partner, but she refused to seal herself away with you and stayed with the eggs.” This is a classic example of the dominant female not listening to her submissive male in matters of survival. So many females die in the Temple because they refuse to listen, and the males can do nothing about it, but the males are punished for the female’s arrogance. There was nothing further the boy’s partner could have done for the eggs once they were in slow sleep. She should have listened and sealed herself in here with her mate, and ensured a greater chance of survival for our species. “And I’m about to be as foolish as your partner was,” whispers the White Raven. She checks a few more rooms of hatchlings, steadily moving back towards the Bridge knowing what she is going to do, but pretending to herself she won’t. The Bridge is as lonely as the rest of the ship, lights on control panels illuminate the dark room. She could turn the lights on, but to what purpose, she lived most of her life in the dim tunnels under the Temple, this is comfortable. “I have to go back,” she whispers. “They could still be alive.” The security cameras flicker from room to room, hundreds of sleeping hatchlings lie in every corner of the ship; all of them expecting to wake on a new world, everything they knew gone. “They won’t know, I can hide the ship, find Kata and Cala, and be gone before the enemy knows I’m there.” She runs the calculations for the return trip to Darai, it won’t waste much fuel; her finger hovers above the control panel. “I’ll be a traitor, a betrayer, a criminal… but my dear precious Kata and Cala… how could I have left you behind?” She pushes the button and the ship drops out of TDS and the stars re-appear. “I haven’t done anything yet, just dropping out of TDS to do a routine diagnostic test of the engines… yes… check the maneuvering thrusters….” The ship banks around until it is facing back towards Darai. “Can I betray all these hatchlings… who am I?” Her shaking finger rests lightly on the button to send the ship back into TDS, and back to Darai. She pushes the button at the same time the Com beeps, the ship drops into TDS on a course to Darai. “What was that?” The Com picked up a flash message at the moment before she went to TDS. “Whatever the message says, I’m a traitor… I’ve betrayed everyone… I’ve betrayed the Eagle.” She taps the control panel to see the message. *EVACUATION FLEET - RECALL - RECALL - RECALL* The White Raven falls to the ground and pulls her knees up to her chest, weeping. ***** [Lone Gunslinger Base, Planet Raunu] The snow was falling now and made it difficult to move around the base without leaving tracks that he was there. Jaco had found a possible human to give the message to about the drugs being smuggled onto Raunu and into the local schools. The human boy was one of the Gunslingers Chirps, and a screw-up of the same caliber as Jaco was. He had followed the human for weeks now, and the boy was always in trouble, and even worse trouble now after the incident in the woods. The human boy almost ran Jaco down on his mad attempt to escape from the Gunslinger in the woods. Jaco didn’t think the Gunslinger was actually chasing the younger human boy at all. When they reached the edge of the woods and the Gunslinger saw who he was chasing, he had turned around and rode slowly through the woods looking up at the trees. Jaco was certain the Gunslinger suspected a Raven was in the woods. Jaco waited until the Gunslinger gave up, and then made a mad dash for the Dining Cabin, he knew that was were the human boy would go and wanted to see what would happen. He had watched from outside the Dining Cabin as the boy challenged the Gunslinger over a female, only the female ended up being the hatching sister of the Gunslinger… or whatever humans called their siblings. Jaco had almost given away his position trying to stifle his laughter during the incident. He had done something similar once when he was still a Chirp. It was past midnight and cold. Jaco waited at the top of a tree outside the boy’s cabin. The boy was being punished by being made to work extra hours. Jaco thought the boy might be disgruntled enough with the Gunslingers to listen first before shooting. Jaco shivered and waited. A truck’s lights appeared on the road, the boy was finally done with his punishment for the day. “About time too, I’m almost frozen to the bone,” whispers Jaco to himself. The truck stopped and the boy got out and talked with the driver for awhile. “Oh, come on, it’s cold out here,” mumbles Jaco. The boy turned away from the truck and started walking along the path towards the cabin. Jaco started climbing down from the tree, this was the time… and then Jaco’s foot slipped and a branch snapped. The boy drew his revolver and scanned in every direction. Jaco froze in place, clinging to the backside of the tree trunk. A moment later a Gunslinger rushed out of the cabin, his revolver drawn too. The Gunslinger scanned the trees. “Does he see me? Stay calm… stay in the shadows… A Raven is silent… a Raven is patient… oh, Goddess, please don’t let me get shot.” The Gunslinger and the boy finally went back inside the cabin and Jaco used his wings to sail away from the cabin, he didn’t want to leave any tracks in the snow. He would have to wait for another opportunity. “Damn, I’m tired and cold,” mumbles Jaco. “I need to warm up.” Jaco returns to his hideout cabin and lights a small fire, there is no sense going to sleep, he knows the boy has to get up in a few hours and return to the Surveillance Range. Jaco’s head jerks up. “What? Huh? Oh, I fell asleep… still enough time.” He kicks the fire out and runs outside and onto the road. There was no sense bothering with trying to go through the woods, the cliff down to the lower Gunslinger Camp is impossible with the snow. Jaco runs down the switchback to the building he knows is their Headquarters. Nobody is around yet, and the roof makes an excellent place to watch from. Jaco climbs the ladder and moves to the center of the roof where the shadows are the deepest and sits down. He’s cold again and wraps his leather coat around him while he waits. It’s boring just waiting and he pulls his tablet out and flips it on - there’s a message waiting. He retrieves the message… yes! It’s from Pesa. Dear Jaco, We had a Red Feather… Jaco stops reading and immediately searches for news of the event. The Temple never sent him a message, but then, why should they, he was nobody. Information of the event was still sketchy, the Grackle News didn’t have any news crews at the site of the ‘Invasion Fleet’. He would check back in a while for more news and switched back to the letter from Pesa. …but don’t worry, Darai is safe. The Demonians are in bad shape but we’ve got everyone helping them. I was assigned to the Helm of a Battle Carrier, the XO chewed me out, but gave me a second chance. I’m in the Bridge Crew Quarters getting ready to sleep, I’ve been awake for almost thirty-six hours and can barely keep my eyes open. I have something important to ask you before I go to sleep. Tonae asked me to be his mate, and I said yes. Jaco, please don’t be mad. I don’t mean any offense, but you know they will never let you take another mate. Maybe I’m tired and not thinking right, so this is probably the best time to just say it. I like you, and wish you could have been my mate, but you can’t. I have to accept that, but I don’t want to ever lose you, so… yea… I guess I’m just going to blurt it out. You know I’m permitted to have a Mate and a Sae’Cenmae. I know it’s an old law, but it’s still used by a lot of females, and it makes sense. Please, Jaco, accept. Love, Pesa Jaco flipped the tablet off and stuffed it back into his coat. There was no point in getting angry, he knew there was never a possibility of mating with Pesa. He had gone through three mates in the Temple, he wouldn’t be allowed another. But still… “A Sae’Cenmae… that’s all I can hope for now? Just to be someone’s male consort in case they have an egg cycle outside their Mate’s cycle. Who does that anymore? That law is thousands of years old, nobody uses it; you just ask a friend to help. It happens all the time, a female can’t leave an unfertilized egg inside her, she would die.” Jaco stares at the falling snow. “Seriously? A Sae’Cenmae… she’s been reading too many books. But, if I was registered as a Sae’Cenmae I would be permitted to return to Darai. Maybe Pesa isn’t being so silly. But… how can I stand aside while someone mates with the girl I love… Yes, I said it, I love her… but I can’t… I would never be permitted.” Jaco looks up at the dark sky. “Goddess, what have I done that you punish me so? A Sae’Cenmae? How much lower must I fall before you forgive me? Please, Goddess, please. If you want me to be a Sae’Cenmae, I will, but please, I’m so alone, I’ll take any mate.” The snow flakes fall on Jaco’s face and mixes with his tears. The Daraian psychology and culture, down to their very genetic make-up, is centered around having a mate. The worse torture for a Daraian is to be alone, even so much that they are assigned a mate almost immediately after being hatched. A noise startles him. Someone is climbing up to the roof. Do they know I’m here? It’s too late to run, Jaco presses further into the shadows. It’s the human boy I’ve been following? The boy looks back over the wall and someone shouts at him and he sits down with his back to the wall facing Jaco in the shadows. “He can’t see me, I’m a shadow, I’m silent and still.” Jaco watches the human, but the boy just puts his head down and… goes to sleep? “Oh, they just want him out of the way, like me. This is it then, time to roll my dice.” Jaco pulls his Talon dagger out an lays it on the ground, then quietly gets to his knees and crawls towards the human. The human boy looks up and sees Jaco and fumbles for his revolver. “No… No… please don't shoot me, I'm on your side… friend… ally,” whispers Jaco. The boy stops trying to get his revolver out and sits up, watching. Jaco holds his coat back and shows the human his empty dagger sheath. “See… see… I left my dagger back there, I'm unarmed," whispers Jaco pointing back at the shadows. “What are you?” asks the human boy. ***** [Second Wave, Prince Malice’s Transport] Gaevin was searching for Cody. The air deeper in the ship was much fouler than at the docking tube and Mae had insisted Cody wear a portable oxygen tank and face mask. The oxygen in the tank should be nearly depleted but the boy hadn’t returned to the Dart ship to refill the tank. The oxygen scrubbers in the Dart were much smaller than the larger ship, but also more advanced and was pumping clean air into the ship. It would take awhile before any noticeable difference in the transport would be noticed, but the air was definitely better in the corridor outside the docking tube. Demonians were rotating through the docking corridor to get a breath of fresh air. The Dart was full of eggs and the corridor was also stacked with rows of eggs. The eggs might not be hatched yet, but they still needed to absorb oxygen through the shells. A typical chicken egg has seven-thousand pores in the shell to exchange carbon dioxide with oxygen. The Daraian egg has thirty-thousand pores, being a much more advanced egg and growing an advanced sentient being, but the Demonian eggs have eighty-thousand pores and the oxygen exchange is important to the development of a healthy being. Gaevin needed to find Cody and refill his oxygen tank, but that wasn’t the only reason he wanted to get away from the docking corridor. A Hatching Lounge was laboring furiously over six eggs that were sick, the initial assessment was that the eggs had been deprived of oxygen for too long and might die. That was the kind way of looking at it, he knew the Hatching Lounge would eventually come to the decision Gaevin already had and they would put the eggs down, but he didn’t want to watch that. Gaevin found Cody sitting against a wall with a very small hatchling on his lap, and others gathered around him. The Prince that calls himself Zan was sitting against the opposite wall, also with small hatchlings around him. Both boys were passing an oxygen mask from hatchling to hatchling. Cody’s eyes were blurry and unfocused, he was starting to suffer from oxygen deprivation. Gaevin kneeled and stared at Cody holding his mask against a hatchlings face. “Cody, what are you doing?” Gaevin asked gently. Cody tried to focus his eyes on Gaevin and replied, “Honor and Sacrifice.” Gaevin removed his own face mask and pressed it against Cody’s face. “You have a golden heart, son, but you have to take care of yourself first or you won’t be able to help them.” Cody’s eyes slowly came into focus. “Did I do it wrong?” “No, just take one breath for every breath you give to a hatchling,” says Gaevin. “You’re almost out of oxygen, come on, we’ll take the hatchlings with us while we re-fill your tank.” Gaevin notices a bandage around Cody’s hand. “Did you cut yourself?” asks Gaevin. Cody points at Prince Malice. “We’re blood brothers,” says Cody. Gaevin sees the bandage around Malice’s hand and nods. Cody shared blood with a Demonian, he will enjoy a healthy life now, and likely never be sick again. “Thank you, Prince Malice,” says Gaevin. “Call me Zan,” says the Prince. “Cody’s my best friend now, and he didn’t need Demonian blood, his blood isn’t weak like yours. And you should take those glider wings off him, they must hurt.” Gaevin helps the hatchlings up and starts herding the boys towards the docking tube corridor. “What do you mean about his blood, and why do you think the glider wings would hurt?” asks Gaevin picking up one of the hatchlings too weak to walk. Zan rolls his eyes as if Gaevin should already understand. “Daraian blood wasn’t weak a million years ago, and those fake wings get in the way of his real wings,” says Zan. Gaevin is about to ask what Zan means by real wings but they turn the corner into the docking tube corridor and he is distracted; everyone is kneeling on the ground and crying. The six eggs the Hatching Lounge was working on are covered with black cloth. Zan kneels and starts crying with the others, and Cody kneels next to his friend and puts an arm around his shoulders. If only adults could make friends as easily as hatchlings can. Gaevin takes the empty oxygen tank and quietly walks past the weeping Demonians and jumps through the docking tube into the Dart ship. Mae is monitoring the oxygen scrubbers and turns to greet her mate. “Did you find our wayward little bird?” asks Mae. “Yes, he was giving his oxygen to a group of hatchlings,” replies Gaevin. “He is a special little bird.” “Prince Malice said something strange.” “Oh?” “When you gave Cody a bath, did you notice anything unusual about his wing blades?” asks Gaevin. “He wouldn’t let me in the bathroom while he bathed,” says Mae. “Why? Is something wrong with them, you fit his Hawk glider wings on.” “No, I didn’t,” says Gaevin. “He wouldn’t take his shirt off to let me fit them over his wing blades, the glider wings are just strapped to his back, he couldn’t fly with them right now.” “Oh, well, I’m sure he’s just shy,” says Mae. “I’m not so sure, we need to try to get him to let us see his wing blades,” says Gaevin. Mae takes the empty oxygen bottle and hooks it up to the oxygen outlet, and then turns back to Gaevin. “What are you thinking, you old War-Bird,” says Mae. “It’s what Prince Malice said,” says Gaevin. “Our little eagle may be more unique than anyone suspected. Remember that Vid-Special about Prince Malice and Prince Mischief?” “Yes, I wanted to watch the new Swan Vid-movie, but you insisted on watching that boring science special,” says Mae. Gaevin grins. The evening Vid time was often a running argument about what they would watch. Mae wanted to get a second Vid-Screen but Gaevin thought that was foolish extravagance. “They said on the Special that Princes Malice and Mischief are an evolutionary leap forward; Malice with his superior intelligence, and Mischief with his natural ability to TDS,” says Gaevin. “And everyone has assumed that is what the Eagle would be also; a leap forward. But, have you noticed he can’t do simple math, or pretty much any other subject most Daraians are instinctually hatched with?” “Yes, the poor dear,” says Mae. “We just need to be patient with him.” “No, I don’t think he will ever be able to do math,” says Gaevin. “At least not at our level. We aren’t going to get our wings back by going forward, they will just continue to evolve away. I always thought that sounded stupid. We need someone that is an evolutionary leap backwards to a time when we had wings.” “I’m not sure I know where you are going with this, dear,” says Mae. “He has one primary instinct, to fly,” says Gaevin. “He watched me fly the Dart and memorized the controls. He understood what they did, but when he flew he never looked at any of the readouts, because he couldn’t read them, it was all instinct.” “You think the Goddess brought us a prehistoric avian?” asks Mae incredulously. “Look at his appearance, his bone structure, his unusual size,” says Gaevin. “He’s huge for a six-year old, and you’ve said it yourself several times, there is something different in his appearance than any other Daraian.” Mae puts her hands over her mouth. “Oh my, you think he’s hiding real wings under his shirt.”