The Silka
Chapter Eighteen
It was late when Kalie nudged Cola awake. The moon was setting and dawn wasn't far off. She'd spent the hours since leaving the cavern thinking and had finally decided that it was time she talked to Marc. Really talked to him, not just rationed out information as slowly as she could. "Cola," she said softly. "Wake up."
Cola opened one jewel-toned eye and regarded Kalie through it. She was missing the twins and wasn't in the best of moods.
"I'm sorry," Kalie said. "Really. But I need to talk to Marc."
"He's awake. He says he'll zap up shortly," Cola reported. "He is restless and frustrated, just so you know, Kalie."
"I know." Kalie shifted her tail restlessly, a sign of her own inner unrest. "Did we do the right thing, do you think?" she finally blurted out.
"I don't know," Cola replied quietly. "That Dinah was hurt has complicated it. He'll be much more hostile toward the idea."
"That's not our fault," Kalie said. "I didn't know this was how it would happen. None of us did! And he knows we'd die to protect her, to protect both of them. He's got to know that."
"I don't think he's actually thinking right," Cola replied. "He already knows someone planned this. I don't know what he'll think when he learns we were a part of it."
"We didn't plan it either," Kalie protested. "We just ended up involved, sort of. He's going to be so angry and I don't blame him."
"Yes, I know," Cola said soothingly. "Eventually he'll forgive us."
"I don't even know how to begin to explain," Kalie said. "It all got so complicated so fast. And they were nothing like we...like I expected."
"Who weren't?" Cola asked.
"Marc and Dinah," she said.
Cola's smile was amused. "I like them far more than I expected I would," she admitted. "They are what I hoped for."
"More than I hoped for," Kalie said, a small smile showing. "But you chose him, so..." Kalie nuzzled Cola's neck lightly. "We are cursed I suppose, like the Chinese say, to live in interesting times."
"And to deal with our own interference? Consequences can be most inconvenient." Cola's head turned toward the entry to the cave. "Here he comes now. Should I leave?"
"Not if you don't want to. If he tries to kill me, maybe you can stop him," she joked weakly.
Cola put her nose down for Marc to rub.
"Hullo, sweetie. I'm sorry we're keeping you from the twins," Marc said,
"They're safe and send you their love," Cola replied softly.
"Glad to hear it. So," he said then, turning to examine Kalie, "What do you need to speak of at this time of morning? Luckily Dinah was exhausted and sleeps deeply."
Kalie swallowed. "We didn't know it would happen this way," she said finally.
Marc turned his attention fully to Kalie. "I beg your pardon?"
She was suddenly close to tears. "We didn't know it would happen this way. We knew," she said and stopped, looking at Cola. Then taking a deep breath she went on. "We knew that you and Dinah would have to come here. It's in our memories. But we didn't, I didn't know it would be like this, that she would get hurt."
Marc's jaw fell. Then he swallowed. "You knew we'd come here? Did you arrange it so we would?"
Kalie shook her head. "No. I'm so sorry," she said. "And now I don't know how to explain it all. But if you, if we don't win here against the fleet in orbit then there's no way we'll win the fight that's coming to the Rim."
"Wait," Marc said. "Wait. Back up. Is there a beginning where you can start? How is it that a battle here is related to a battle millions of years in the future? And explain it slowly. I'm not that quick a study any more."
Kalie sighed. "It's the same battle," she said. "Here and now there is no Rift. And the Old Ones have just returned home to Earth, what's left of them, driven back here after almost destroying themselves. You and Dinah fight the the Star Lords here, and in doing so learn what you need to know to fight again in our time. If you lose here, then Earth is destroyed and neither of you are ever born. Nor are the children."
"Oh great. So I have to not change history this time," Marc muttered. "Whose brilliant idea was it to get us back here anyway? Yours?"
Kalie shook her head. "No. It was yours and Dinah's."
"That makes no sense, sweetheart. Try again."
"You and Dinah, along with McGee and Zaf, after this is over will figure out how to ensure that all of us are here, in the future. I know this like I knew I was here because it's in the memories of those who are also here, whose memories I have. But I don't have your memories so I don't know how you will do it, just like I don't know how you will win, only that you do. And that in order to do so, you will send for all the dragons to come here. And Ther'lin and Aaru as well.
"It's what we were talking about the other night," she said. "When you wanted to know what was going on."
Marc sank down and then leaned back against her chest. He looked over at Cola who just blinked at him.
"So, what, you chose to join our House because you knew this? Not because you wanted to? Destiny, rather than real choice?"
"No. No more than I chose Mac out of anything other than free choice. I have memories of others pasts, not my present or my future unless someone else has a memory that I'm a part of."
She sank down, her eyes filled with sadness. "Prophecy is the recitation of history that hasn't happened yet. Time is just another dimension. It's assumed linearity is a crutch to make intelligible the passage from the then to the now, or the now to the not yet. Perceive time as always now, as something that is, like any other dimension and not a number line and you will understand. In all creation there is only the now and the not now, places where time is and it isn't.
"The one who has brought you here is yourself. You manipulated yourself."
"And what, I put the bowls and the flowers out on the table in a fugue state brought on by my own multi-time-mensional brilliance? What makes you think I can win a space battle anyway. The last one I fought I lost. Spectacularly, I might add.
Kalie closed her eyes, the fear she'd carried for so long tightening her throat. "I don't know anything about bowls or flowers. As for winning...Because Dinah is the heir. Because she will be able to give these dragons and you the genetics from the Old Ones that made them geniuses at war. She carries them. You have seen the alleles."
"Bon Dieu. Do you want to become machines of war?"
"We already are, mon ami. Ask Lev."
Marc rubbed his face with his hands. "Christ. What else should I know?"
"Christopher is here, with his siblings," Kalie said.
"All six?" Marc asked from behind his hands.
"Yes," she said. "Kella is in orbit, hiding from the armada, but they are here on the planet."
"Great, just great. No pressure, Marc."
"And Zaf," Kalie said. "Tonight, he came back to himself. You saw it happen."
"I saw something. What do you mean?" Marc asked.
"The harmonics of the song we sang triggered his mind, opening the part of it that was blocked off, that you will block off after this is over."
"I better start taking notes, I might forget something," Marc muttered.
"Whatever it is, we will help you. We have sworn it," Cola said, lifting her head.
Cola opened one jewel-toned eye and regarded Kalie through it. She was missing the twins and wasn't in the best of moods.
"I'm sorry," Kalie said. "Really. But I need to talk to Marc."
"He's awake. He says he'll zap up shortly," Cola reported. "He is restless and frustrated, just so you know, Kalie."
"I know." Kalie shifted her tail restlessly, a sign of her own inner unrest. "Did we do the right thing, do you think?" she finally blurted out.
"I don't know," Cola replied quietly. "That Dinah was hurt has complicated it. He'll be much more hostile toward the idea."
"That's not our fault," Kalie said. "I didn't know this was how it would happen. None of us did! And he knows we'd die to protect her, to protect both of them. He's got to know that."
"I don't think he's actually thinking right," Cola replied. "He already knows someone planned this. I don't know what he'll think when he learns we were a part of it."
"We didn't plan it either," Kalie protested. "We just ended up involved, sort of. He's going to be so angry and I don't blame him."
"Yes, I know," Cola said soothingly. "Eventually he'll forgive us."
"I don't even know how to begin to explain," Kalie said. "It all got so complicated so fast. And they were nothing like we...like I expected."
"Who weren't?" Cola asked.
"Marc and Dinah," she said.
Cola's smile was amused. "I like them far more than I expected I would," she admitted. "They are what I hoped for."
"More than I hoped for," Kalie said, a small smile showing. "But you chose him, so..." Kalie nuzzled Cola's neck lightly. "We are cursed I suppose, like the Chinese say, to live in interesting times."
"And to deal with our own interference? Consequences can be most inconvenient." Cola's head turned toward the entry to the cave. "Here he comes now. Should I leave?"
"Not if you don't want to. If he tries to kill me, maybe you can stop him," she joked weakly.
Cola put her nose down for Marc to rub.
"Hullo, sweetie. I'm sorry we're keeping you from the twins," Marc said,
"They're safe and send you their love," Cola replied softly.
"Glad to hear it. So," he said then, turning to examine Kalie, "What do you need to speak of at this time of morning? Luckily Dinah was exhausted and sleeps deeply."
Kalie swallowed. "We didn't know it would happen this way," she said finally.
Marc turned his attention fully to Kalie. "I beg your pardon?"
She was suddenly close to tears. "We didn't know it would happen this way. We knew," she said and stopped, looking at Cola. Then taking a deep breath she went on. "We knew that you and Dinah would have to come here. It's in our memories. But we didn't, I didn't know it would be like this, that she would get hurt."
Marc's jaw fell. Then he swallowed. "You knew we'd come here? Did you arrange it so we would?"
Kalie shook her head. "No. I'm so sorry," she said. "And now I don't know how to explain it all. But if you, if we don't win here against the fleet in orbit then there's no way we'll win the fight that's coming to the Rim."
"Wait," Marc said. "Wait. Back up. Is there a beginning where you can start? How is it that a battle here is related to a battle millions of years in the future? And explain it slowly. I'm not that quick a study any more."
Kalie sighed. "It's the same battle," she said. "Here and now there is no Rift. And the Old Ones have just returned home to Earth, what's left of them, driven back here after almost destroying themselves. You and Dinah fight the the Star Lords here, and in doing so learn what you need to know to fight again in our time. If you lose here, then Earth is destroyed and neither of you are ever born. Nor are the children."
"Oh great. So I have to not change history this time," Marc muttered. "Whose brilliant idea was it to get us back here anyway? Yours?"
Kalie shook her head. "No. It was yours and Dinah's."
"That makes no sense, sweetheart. Try again."
"You and Dinah, along with McGee and Zaf, after this is over will figure out how to ensure that all of us are here, in the future. I know this like I knew I was here because it's in the memories of those who are also here, whose memories I have. But I don't have your memories so I don't know how you will do it, just like I don't know how you will win, only that you do. And that in order to do so, you will send for all the dragons to come here. And Ther'lin and Aaru as well.
"It's what we were talking about the other night," she said. "When you wanted to know what was going on."
Marc sank down and then leaned back against her chest. He looked over at Cola who just blinked at him.
"So, what, you chose to join our House because you knew this? Not because you wanted to? Destiny, rather than real choice?"
"No. No more than I chose Mac out of anything other than free choice. I have memories of others pasts, not my present or my future unless someone else has a memory that I'm a part of."
She sank down, her eyes filled with sadness. "Prophecy is the recitation of history that hasn't happened yet. Time is just another dimension. It's assumed linearity is a crutch to make intelligible the passage from the then to the now, or the now to the not yet. Perceive time as always now, as something that is, like any other dimension and not a number line and you will understand. In all creation there is only the now and the not now, places where time is and it isn't.
"The one who has brought you here is yourself. You manipulated yourself."
"And what, I put the bowls and the flowers out on the table in a fugue state brought on by my own multi-time-mensional brilliance? What makes you think I can win a space battle anyway. The last one I fought I lost. Spectacularly, I might add.
Kalie closed her eyes, the fear she'd carried for so long tightening her throat. "I don't know anything about bowls or flowers. As for winning...Because Dinah is the heir. Because she will be able to give these dragons and you the genetics from the Old Ones that made them geniuses at war. She carries them. You have seen the alleles."
"Bon Dieu. Do you want to become machines of war?"
"We already are, mon ami. Ask Lev."
Marc rubbed his face with his hands. "Christ. What else should I know?"
"Christopher is here, with his siblings," Kalie said.
"All six?" Marc asked from behind his hands.
"Yes," she said. "Kella is in orbit, hiding from the armada, but they are here on the planet."
"Great, just great. No pressure, Marc."
"And Zaf," Kalie said. "Tonight, he came back to himself. You saw it happen."
"I saw something. What do you mean?" Marc asked.
"The harmonics of the song we sang triggered his mind, opening the part of it that was blocked off, that you will block off after this is over."
"I better start taking notes, I might forget something," Marc muttered.
"Whatever it is, we will help you. We have sworn it," Cola said, lifting her head.
