Singing began, and before she had a chance to dread it, Yana was asked to sing her song of the debacle of Bremport, for one of the boys from Harrison’s Fjord had been there, too. Whether it was all the “warm” or not, Yana just lifted her head and sang her song, and this time she had no trouble meeting the eyes of the parents of the lad lost when she had nearly died, too. This time she knew she eased their hearts, and that eased hers, too. Maybe there would come a day when the awful nightmare of Bremport would be no more than the words of a heart-sung song.
Eventually, torches lit their way to their accommodation. Yana was so weary, it took her two attempts to get one boot off. Sean’s chuckle and her immediate supine posture told her that he would take care of her, so she helped as much as she could as he undressed her, and shoved her under warmed fur robes. The last thing she felt was his arms pulling her against him.
She had dreams that night, of wandering amid teeth, down tongues that were white, through bones that were like rib cages, yet she wasn’t afraid in that dream, merely curious as to what she would see next. And throughout the sequence, which repeated, she kept hearing murmurous voices, like singers distant and unintelligible. Yet she knew that the song was joyful and the tune uplifting, with the odd descant of what sounded very much like a purr.
As they entered the cavern, Bunny said to Krisuk, “So this is the place where Satok speaks to the planet.”
“No. This is the place where he tells us what the planet says.”
“But he doesn’t give anyone else a chance to talk to Petaybee?”
“Oh no,” Krisuk said bitterly. “He wouldn’t do that.”
“What I don’t understand is why, if your people have been in communication with Petaybee all their lives, this guy can suddenly come and shut them up,” Diego said. “I mean, so maybe he gets his bluff in on the people ‘cause they don’t get around much and he’s a smooth talkerokay, I can accept that. But how does he shut the planet up?”
Bunny scarcely heard his last words. As she picked her way forward in echoing darkness, she suddenly felt as if she couldn’t draw a breath, as if something inside her, a presence that she always had with her, was walled away from her, withering. The sudden terrible loneliness of being without that presence was crushing. She backed away, stumbling toward the sound of Diego’s voice.
He was still talking when she reeled against him, clutching at his jacket. “Bunny? Bunny! What’s wrong?”
“Dead,” she said. “It’sdead. Outgotta getout!”
Alarmed, the boys helped her out of the cave. She sat down on the path, gulping to get air in her lungs. After a dozen deep inhalations of the cold wind she looked up at Krisuk.
“How can your people stand to go in there?” she demanded.
“Why? What’s wrong?”
“It’s dead, that’s what! Somehow that bastard has killed part of the planet.”
“How could he do that?” Diego asked.
“I don’t know.”
“I don’t much like the place,” Krisuk said, “and everybody else is uncomfortable there, too. I hear the songs about the joys of singing with Petaybee, and I remember when I used to love to come here, and I don’t understand it. I sort of put it down to Satok’s charming personality.”
Bunny shook her head. “It’s more than that. I’m surprised you didn’t feel it, too. Diego, did you?”
“Maybe,” he said, frowning thoughtfully. “When I was a kid one time, a ship hauled a derelict back to our station. They put it in the cargo bay. I wanted to see what it was like and I snuck in. I couldn’t get out of there fast enough. Was that what you felt?”
“I don’t know. Maybe.” Having escaped the suffocating sensation in the cave, she was too drained to describe it properly. The wind and icy rain were oddly comforting.
“I’m going back in there,” Diego said suddenly. “Krisuk, maybe you should stay with Bunny.”