She Who Sees Through Darkness

Part Eighteen

The roof shook as Payaa touched down. She folded her wings neatly against her side and stepped forward, toes pressed flat against the metal. Her six-inch-long talons curved like a dinosaur fossil's in a museum. The wyverns eyes flickered all over her, yellow with brown veins surrounding round pupils, sizing her up, evaluating her. The snake-like diamond scales covering her whole body glimmered in the sun.

This isn't a game, Katrina. My whole family lives here. We rely on the scientists for everything. Please cooperate with me. We can take this slowly, but we need to do what they say. They will punish us if we don't.

"The saddles!" Dr. Harper ordered. Two security officers stepped forward, each carrying half of a tangled mess of nylon straps and carabineers. One tossed her a rock climbing harness.

"Put it on," he grunted, and slapped Payaa on the neck. "Down!"

Katrina slid it on, chafing at the weight of authority. She'd never been one for taking orders from anyone she didn't already respect, especially orders as fundamental as 'wear this'. Worse, she felt like a hypocrite. Scorn bubbled up in her throat as Payaa knelt, letting them snap the harness together, running bands around her wings, cinching it tight around her neck, tightening the strap around the belly. Why the hell do you always need to be the tough one?

She was no better than Payaa—she should open her mind, leave her memories out to air, and be thoroughly ashamed of herself. But the thought of re-experiencing that shame sent her stomach churning. Best to let it lie. She had a future to think about, now, and that remembrance prompted her to keep her thoughts away from the wyvern. Some things in her head were for no one to see.

You don't have to show me that much if you're not comfortable with it, Payaa suggested, the tone of her thoughts a rich tremor that signaled no gender. Katrina couldn't bring herself to view the sentiments as harmless when they came from such a large creature. Since we're joined together, though, it would be a good idea to be friends. Where are you from? What do you do for a living?

"I'm from New York," Katrina said out loud, grounding herself in the feel of spoken human words. Sounds echoed strangely in Payaa's ears. Katrina had to bite her lip to keep her senses focused on her own body. "I'm a lawyer. What about you, huh? What do you do all day?" She knew it was a stupid question.

I'm from here, Payaa said. They're not keen on letting experiments leave. The border is ringed with missile launchers, and we've all got radio chips that track our movements. And I suppose you could say I'm a stay-at-home mom. Images flashed between them—a dozen little wyverns, hard black eggs, Veick's sharp yellow gaze—

Katrina felt her heart flutter. Attracted to a wyvern. How much had this creature changed her? The easy warmth in Payaa's thoughts unnerved her. The fucking June Cleaver of dragons.

What makes you so hostile? Payaa demanded, pain making her thoughts sharp.

"Katrina!" Dr. Harper shouted. "Mount up! We'll all have frostbite by the time you get up in the air!"

"You want me to do that now?" Katrina shouted in response, her voice amplified by the large volume of air in her new lungs. "How the hell do you expect me to just climb straight up there and fly? I've got no training—"

"Open your mind to her! There's not a person in the world who can teach you flying better than she can."

Payaa slid forward and lowered her head. Katrina didn't move. If Payaa could still keep her heart open, still try to trust strangers after a lifetime as these psychos' test subject, what was Katrina's excuse? One of them was weaker than the other, and Katrina didn't want to open her mind and find out for sure. Besides, she had good reasons to keep her thoughts hidden. Important ones.

"Tayamlaa!" Kyle shouted, doubling the 'a's as a smaller, slimmer wyvern landed on the deck besides them and pressed her face against his.

Then Tayamlaa's words echoed in Payaa's head, as if contained in a large, round chamber. No emotions, memory, or senses came along with them. How are you, sister? It felt like normal conversation, albeit conversation no human could hear.

I'm fine, Payaa replied. Katrina knew it was a lie.

This is so . . . new, Tayamlaa said. And yet. Her head darted at Kyle, who laughed, dodged, and vaulted up onto Tayamlaa's shoulders.

"Not without the safety harness!" Dr. Harper shouted, but Katrina could hear the pleasure in her voice.

This is so cool! Kyle's unspoken words slid along the same channel Tayamlaa's had. Katrina nearly jumped out of her own skin

If you would open your mind to me and let our thoughts mingle, Payaa told her, then I'd let you use the mind-link and communicate as we do.

"Think I'll stick to texting," Katrina muttered.

Tayamlaa dropped off the roof. Katrina's breath caught—and then Tayamlaa rose up again, the grey-pink membranes of her wings spread wide. Kyle laughed on her back. No harness held him in, and yet not a drop of fear touched his face. Part of her envied him. But she wasn't him. Priorities. Priorities. Playing nice with a wyvern is not my priority.

Why do you lash out me for trying to be nice to you? Payaa's thoughts went to Veick. He could be the same way, but at least she knew why. The woman they'd given her for a pilot was a mystery to her. Katrina, we need to make this work, and it won't if you're determined to martyr yourself. Just give me something. You don't need to open up completely for us to fly. You're a dedicated athlete, you'll pick it up. Memories, Katrina's memories, flashed through Payaa's mind: long roads, honking cars, the pounding of sneakers on asphalt.

Katrina clenched her teeth. If Payaa had gotten that, what else had she seen? Furiously, she imagined her brain was a vacuum, sucking in and holding everything that was hers.

"Ms. Harris! Mount up!" Dr. Harper shouted.

Time to put up or shut up. At least Payaa couldn't say anything without Katrina's mouth.

Katrina stepped forward and crumbled, burying her head between her knees. Her heart was already racing. She began hyperventilating, trying to force herself into unconsciousness. A woman she'd known in law school had been prone to panic attacks, and Katrina had always been a good actor. She heard the scientists shout and watched them run over through Payaa's eyes.

You'd rather do this than fly with me?

My thoughts are mine, Katrina thought as Garyali jammed a tranquilizer into her neck. You have no right to me.

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