Riley's Paradox, page 30
part #9 of Hearts of ICARUS Series
“I’m afraid we don’t follow,” Win said after glancing at both of his brothers.
“If Riley needs to rest for a few days before sending Bastet out again, it’s completely in Rose’s character to repeat the last dream over and over to be sure you got it. Since Rose isn’t very creative, I suspect your dreams are actually memories of things that Riley is doing while using astral projection.
“I can’t explain how Rose would know what Bastet is doing, nor do I understand how she’d send you dreams in the first place. But I still think that’s what’s happening.” The room fell silent for a few minutes as everyone considered Rikki’s theory.
Hope broke the silence. “What I don’t understand is, if Rose and Riley are unconscious like the other women the Katre-Laus dreamed about, how would Riley project Bastet in the first place? And why would she be drawn to one specific tank?”
“Those are good questions, Mom,” Rikki said with a sigh.
Charley waved her hand to get her mother’s attention. “What is it, Astéri?”
Charley’s little eyebrows were drawn down in a frown of concentration. After a few moments she tapped her lips one time with two fingers, then slowly and deliberately raised the same fingers to touch the center of her forehead. She already used both gestures for different things, but this time she used two fingers instead of one, giving Rikki the impression that these were new signs.
“This is about the baby in the tank?”
Charley indicated yes.
“Entáxei, let me think a moment, precious.”
“This is interesting,” Wilder said softly.
“It is,” Kasper agreed. “We’re getting better at understanding Charley’s signs and figuring out what she means, but Rikki and Charley have such a close bond that they always understand each other best.”
After a long moment, Rikki placed two fingers on her own lips, and said, “Talking?” Charley touched her nose with one finger, her eyes fixed steadily on her mother with an intensity that belied her age. Rikki then placed both fingers at the center of her forehead as Charley had done. “Thinking?”
Charley seemed to consider that before slowly touching her thumb to her nose.
“Something to do with the mind?” Charley immediately indicated yes.
Rikki touched her own lips with two fingers again. “The baby communicates with Riley?”
Charley hesitated, then repeated the gestures one at a time, slowly.
“She talks to Riley telepathically?” Rikki said. “Mind to mind?”
Charley touched her nose with one finger to indicate yes, then her thumb to indicate no before raising both arms up, palms flat, another new gesture meaning I don’t know. All that was missing was the shrug which she hadn’t quite figured out how to do yet.
Rikki frowned, wondering who didn’t know what. After a moment she rolled her eyes. “The baby is still in the tank, so obviously she doesn’t know a language and therefore can’t actually talk or communicate with words.” Charley tapped her nose with one finger.
“Even though she can’t use words, she can draw Riley’s attention?” Rikki asked.
Charley indicated yes again, but she was frowning uncertainly. Rikki ran all of it through her mind while considering the age of the fetus. “The baby isn’t trying to communicate, but she’s reaching out somehow and it’s caught Riley’s attention.”
Charley smiled and clapped her hands. Everyone in the room stared at the baby in surprise, wondering how she could possibly know that.
“It’s incredible that she managed to communicate that to you,” Win said, awed. “I think it’s even more incredible that you understood her meaning with just a few taps on her nose.”
“We’ve seen it so many times over the past couple of weeks and we still don’t understand how they manage to communicate such complicated thoughts and concepts with a few gestures,” Jackson said. “It’s truly amazing to watch them.”
“It is,” Hope agreed. “But what she just did is new.” The men looked at her. “Our granddaughter is, apparently, a pre-cog.”
“So it seems,” Rikki said thoughtfully. “I’m not sure that it’s new, though. This might just be the first time she’s been able to communicate it to me, or that I’ve been able to understand it. Or both.”
“Has this happened before, Tikia?” Kyrus asked Charley. “Have you known about things that haven’t happened yet?” Charley indicated yes, then pointed at him, then Kash, and finally, Kasper.
“That’s why you were so hurt that first day at Bean’s,” Rikki said softly. “Why I couldn’t stop you from crying until you fell asleep. You already knew they were supposed to be your daddies.” Charley touched her nose to indicate yes.
“Oh, Tikia,” Kyrus said sorrowfully. “I’m so sorry.”
Charley smiled at her Ata, then pressed her fist over her heart and tapped it a couple of times before pointing at him.
“I love you too, Charley,” Kyrus said. “Very much.”
“Have you known other things?” Rikki asked Charley, who frowned a moment, then indicated no, then yes twice.
“You’re not sure, but you think you’ve done it before.” Charley clapped her hands and smiled.
“I don’t know if pre-cog is the right label to put on this,” Rikki said, “but I do know that I believe her.” She looked down at her daughter, braced herself, and asked the question they all wanted an answer to.
“Charley, are there two babies?”
Charley frowned before she raised her right hand, painstakingly folded all but one finger down, held it up for a few moments, then used it to tap her nose once.
She then carefully straightened a second finger so that two were now up while the others remained folded. She used her other hand to tap the second finger she’d raised, then tapped her nose once with a finger, then once with her thumb.
Rikki took a long breath. “There’re two babies. One is out of the tank. That’s the solid yes.”
Charley tapped her nose with one finger, indicating yes, her expression solemn.
“The other baby is still in a tank. That’s the one you’re not sure of since she hasn’t been born yet.” Charley indicated yes again. “Is the baby in the tank Layla?”
Charley indicated no. Rikki leaned over to kiss her forehead. “Thank you, Asteri. You’re brilliant.”
Rikki turned to the Katre-Laus. “After all you’ve heard tonight, I bet your heads are spinning. Would you like to know what I think?”
“Yes, Rikki, we’d like that very much,” West said.
“Entáxei,” Rikki said. “Sorry, I mean, okay. I think that Riley has been out of hibernation for about three weeks, and that she’s the mother of the fetus in the tank who, I also believe thanks to Charley, is not Layla.
“From what I could tell while Charley and I were in a lab, and from your dreams, I think it’s safe to say that these babies are grown in batches, for lack of a better word. I think that Rose was removed from hibernation in an earlier batch than Riley, and that Layla was successfully created in a tank using an egg taken from her.
“Since Rose’s daughter, Layla, has already been born, she could be almost anywhere right now, though I think she’ll be there, where Riley and Rose are. Rikki’s daughter is still inside one of those tanks, so even if they plan to move her at some point, they won’t be doing it until she’s born.
“If we knew how long that baby has been in a tank, we’d know how much time is left. Has it been since my dreams started two and a half weeks ago? Or when your dreams started two weeks ago? Or when your dream showed you the embryo in the tank the first time over a week ago? The differences in each of those time frames is significant in terms of the baby’s development, so it’s an important question.”
“How long does it take for a baby to mature in one of those tanks?” Win asked.
“About thirty days,” Rikki replied. “Give or take a day or two. I don’t know how long I was unconscious before waking in that cell, but I know it was long enough for them to harvest my eggs. I kept careful track of the number of days after I woke up, so I know that I was conscious for exactly thirty days when they gave me Charley. They told me she’d been born that morning, and I believe that’s true.”
“Then we have either one week, two weeks, or three weeks to find Riley, Rose, Layla, and the baby still in a tank,” Win said, rubbing his temples in an effort to ease his growing frustration.
“I’m sorry but yes, I think that’s right,” Rikki said. “That’s a big problem all by itself because if you get there too soon, the baby will still be in the tank. I don’t know what would happen if you took her out early.”
“I hadn’t thought of that,” West said, his face a shade paler than normal.
“If it becomes necessary, how early could we safely remove her?” Win asked.
“Klanaren gestation is 280 days, just as it is for humans,” Jackson answered. “If it’s condensed to thirty days in a tank, then one day in a tank would equal a bit more than nine days of normal development.
“If that’s the case, a baby could probably be removed three days early with some degree of safety. That would be equivalent to a baby born one month premature. A week would be too long. That would be the same as a baby born more than two months premature. That’s assuming the development rate is the same.”
“That might be a very dangerous assumption to make,” Hope said.
“That’s true, Mom,” Rikki said. “But if it comes down to whether to leave the baby behind, or take her out early, I’m not sure they’d have much choice. Waiting too long after thirty days wouldn’t be good, either.”
“Why?” Win asked.
“Because when the baby is removed from the tank, she’ll be in the hands of…,” she stopped, swallowed hard, then shook her head, unable to finish her sentence.
“There is no need to say it, Rikki,” Wilder said gently. “We understand the dangers, and we will take no chances with any of their lives. On that you have our word.” He hesitated a moment, then looked at Charley. “From what we’ve learned about you, Charley, your ability to shift has been vitally important. I wonder if you can tell us whether Layla and the new baby will be able to shift.”
Charley thought for a few moments, then touched her nose with her finger, then her thumb. She hesitated, then tapped her nose twice with her finger, and once more with her thumb.
Everyone in the room looked at Rikki, hoping she could translate that. Rikki stared into her daughter’s solemn eyes for a long moment, then sighed before looking up at Wilder. “She doesn’t know for certain, but she thinks the answer can only be yes, and I agree with her. Layla has already been born therefore she must be shifter. The same is true for Riley’s baby. If she survives, she will be shifter. Just like Charley.”
“Why?” Wilder asked with barely restrained hope in his voice.
“That’s a good question,” Rikki said slowly. “I’ve given this a lot of thought and I believe that the genetic mix they use causes something to occur during the development of the fetus that they can’t tolerate. Extreme pain is my guess, though I’m certainly no doctor or scientist, so I could easily be wrong.
“In the end, the best answer is simply that Charley was their first success.”
Everyone fell silent as they pondered that statement and its possible meanings. Win found it first.
“It’s not about shifting, is it?” he asked softly, choosing his words with care, remembering their promise to Riley. “It’s about self-healing, which goes hand in hand with shifting.”
“That’s right,” Rikki replied, hoping they wouldn’t go into that further. Neither she nor Charley needed reminders on that topic.
“Rikki,” Wilder said, “do you truly believe that Riley and Rose are on Rogan?”
“Yes, that’s what I believe,” Rikki answered, meeting his gaze steadily. “I can’t prove it, and there’s certainly a chance I’m wrong. But I learned a few things about myself when I was on Argon, and one of those things was to trust my instincts more than I ever had before. I’m not exaggerating one bit when I say that they saved our lives and prevented us from being recaptured many times.
“Right now, my instincts are telling me that my sisters are on Rogan. If you three disagree and decide to go somewhere else, I’ll understand that. But I’ll also ask my Rami, my fathers, the Dracons, and anyone else I can think of to send a ship to Rogan.”
“There are no such as things as guarantees in situations like this, Rikki,” Wilder said. “Riley is our berezi, and her daughter, is our daughter. They are the two most important people in our universe, and our instincts are telling us to trust your instincts to help us find them. That’s more than good enough for me.” Wilder looked to Win and West, both of whom nodded their agreement without hesitation.
“We will go to Rogan as fast as we can,” Wilder said, much to Rikki’s relief. “We ask only that you let us know if you receive any information that proves they are elsewhere, though I truly don’t believe that will happen.”
“Don’t worry about that, Wilder,” Jackson said. “We will definitely keep you informed of any new developments.” Wilder dipped his head in thanks.
“It took two weeks for Charley and me to get here from Argon on a passenger liner,” Rikki said. “I don’t know how long Layla has been out of her tank, or how long Riley’s baby has been in hers so far, but something inside of me is hoping very hard that you can travel that distance faster than we did.”
“How much faster?” West asked, reaching for his hand terminal.
“You’ll need time to actually find them once you get there, so I think if you can get there in a week, that would be best. Ten days would be cutting it close because, again, you still have to find them.”
“Does that mean you think the baby will be removed from the tank in two weeks?” Win asked.
“I’m sorry Win, but I don’t know,” Rikki said sadly. “I’m just telling you what I feel.”
Wilder turned toward West, whose fingers blurred over his hand terminal. After a few moments he looked up. “We can’t quite make a week, but we should be able to manage eight days if we have no delays and can leave by noon tomorrow.”
“Why can’t we leave tonight?” Win asked.
“Because High Prince Garen asked us to wait until tomorrow,” Wilder replied.
“Yes, I know,” Win said with a sigh. “I just hate the idea of that baby spending so much as a single day in the hands of people like those who had Charley.” Win paled when he noticed the tears suddenly pouring down Rikki’s face. “I’m sorry, Rikki. I didn’t mean to imply that Layla, Riley and Rose being in those same hands horrifies me any less.”
Rikki shook her head and wiped her cheeks with her fingers. “I didn’t think that for a moment, Win, I promise. I’m just really touched that you already seem to care about Riley’s baby so much.”
“Oh,” he said, nonplussed. “She’s a part of Riley, just as Charley is a part of you. How could we not care about her?” Rikki could only smile, glad that her sister’s Rami were such caring men.
“Rogan has a relatively small population,” West said, glancing up from his hand terminal again. “But there are still a lot of people on it, and it’s a big planet. I’m afraid you’re right, Rikki. Our biggest problem won’t be getting to Rogan in time. It’ll be finding them once we get there.”
Rikki wiped her eyes absently as she sifted through her memories for something that might help. After a long silence she turned to the Katre-Laus. “The lab Charley and I were in was just a few miles inside the border of what Mr. Carlson once told me was an immense desert. It wasn’t a desert of white sands like you might imagine Egypt once had. I think I mentioned this before, but it was barren brown dirt and low rolling hills that went on forever. If you can get some global images of Argon, and look about thirty miles south of Ari, you’ll see what I’m talking about.”
“Ari?” West asked, changing the screens on his hand terminal as he spoke.
“It’s one of only three big cities on Argon, and where the only spaceport is located,” Riley explained. West nodded, and she continued. “In my dreams I saw a similar landscape. Brown dirt, no life at all, but flat rather than hilly. For all I know the entire planet of Rogan is like that. Or none of it. But it might help to isolate their location. Oh…and Imperial Ravens. Look for the ravens, too.”
“Ravens?” West asked. “Like the ones that rescued you and Charley?”
“That’s right,” Rikki said, nodding. “They look like the ravens we have here, except that they’re enormous, larger than Charley is even now, and quite intelligent. Without them, we’d never have escaped the lab. Mrs. Carlson called them Imperial Ravens, and she told me that they live only on Argon and Rogan. If they’re limited to certain geographic areas on Rogan like they are on Argon, that might help.”
“Yes, it might,” West said. “Thank you Rikki. I’ll search for areas with the landscape you described once we get aboard the Pharaoh. I’ll search for Imperial Ravens and their habitats, too. Maybe we’ll get lucky and learn that they’re only found in one or two areas.”
“Niha?” Jackson asked worriedly. Hope startled a little, then saw that everyone was watching her.
“What’s the matter?” Clark asked softly, reaching for her other hand.
Hope leaned into his side and squeezed his hand gently to ease his worry. Then she turned her attention to the Katre-Laus. “Years ago, when the boys were still babies, I learned that I’m a Keeper. That means I’m able to identify and pair special objects with the women they’re meant for.
“Since then I’ve given a number of objects to those women I sensed they belonged with. For the first time, I feel that I must give an object to men. Specifically, to you three.”
“What object do you need to give them?” Jackson asked.
