Michael Siemsen - Exigency

“And you believed all of these experiments were wrong?” Aether guessed.

“Wrong? Wrong as with rules?”

“The testing, the farmers… You thought it shouldn’t be done? That Threck had to change?”

Eeahso signed confusion. “No. Why change?”

“Forget it. Continue. How did all this lead to your exile?”

“One of my experiments was to determine if Threck could have two Infected Worms inside, thus becoming doubly smart. This was not unheard of experiment. Our leader, Amoss, attempted to insert kee fungus directly into several of us, with no effect. Long before me, Threck had gone to lay in the Tree Circle, but the Infected Worms disregarded anyone already imbued with kee fungus . I continued to the logical next step: I consumed Infected Worms.”

“And you were caught.”

“Caught? This was not in secret. I announced my plans and performed the experiment before Amoss and others in my group. Only after many days passed without success signs did Amoss inform others. The council reacted as if I had killed someone, and Amoss put stop on all experiments with kee fungus or Infected Worms. Days passed without event before I was forced to leave—I, the one to absorb blame and punishment for all of the group’s members, for all of the group’s actions.”

“Well,” Aether replied. “Your new group really got them back, didn’t they?”

Eeahso considered this unironically. “Yes, but the outcome for all is bad.”

“You believe the Threck council will have you hunted down and killed. How do you think they would respond if I—if Orange People—went to them and explained that you weren’t involved? That it was only Skinny responsible, and that you executed Skinny for this offense?”

The layer of water on Eeahso’s skin and cloak had mostly evaporated. She was growing antsy and distracted once again. “I don’t know if Threck believe things Orange People say.”

“Assume they do. Would it matter? Would they still need person to blame, to present to the population in same way they did with you and your group’s experiment?”

This idea seemed to strike Eeahso, her eyes bulging as her arms signed newfound recognition, her thirst and discomfort forgotten. “Orange People are smarter than Thinkers! This is remarkable ability, seeing all choices—”

“Yes, fine, what is the answer? I need to return to my tasks.”

“This is what they will want most,” Eeahso said with enthusiasm. “A liable wrongdoer. This is truly wise thinking, connecting past acts to present context.”

“So if we drop Skinny’s dead body on Threck City’s theater stage, that will be enough?”

Shock and confusion returned to Eeahso. “This would not be effective. This would only confuse… Dead body from the sky like rain…” She glanced at the nearby skimmers. “What holds the flying things off the ground? What carries it—”

“Obviously, we would not drop the body on the city and fly away. I meant that if we give them Skinny, explaining what happened, as I said before, they would accept this and peace with Orange People could resume?”

“And me,” Eeahso added. “It is possible, peace.”

Minutes later, Aether stepped up to Pablo, squatting before compression bags filled with linens. Aether watched Pablo’s eyes shift from the bags, to Aether, to Eeahso as she arrived at Aether’s side. Spellbound, he stood up.

“I have a task for you,” Aether said, and Pablo’s eyebrows snapped up. Aether turned to Eeahso. “This one is called Pablo. He is going to experiment on you.”

Warm wind gusts surged at the team’s backs, intensified by the cliff edge behind them, then streaming over the peninsula’s flat surface, before returning to the open air of a large bay. On a low pile of non-toxic branches and bark, Angela’s body lay wrapped in a white cotton sheet. From the crew’s perspective on slightly lower ground, she appeared as a glowing giant, stretched out across the island’s northeast mountain range as the sun set somewhere beyond.

Aether tried to remain present as a jumble of thoughts and worries and emotions assaulted her brain. She tried to listen intently as Pablo read the words everyone had sent him, but she kept thinking that the current sentence was the last, and that Qin would then light the pyre, and Angela would begin to burn away to nothing. Aether wished they’d buried Angela, but Tom had insisted she didn’t want it—that she’d always been terrified of being eaten by little things. She’d alluded once or twice to her ashes.

Aether wondered if she’d be able to sleep. She thought about tomorrow, returning to Threck City. She wondered what Minnie was doing at that very second. And John and Ish, too, of course… of course… Because, of course, all of them were still alive, and doing things.

Zisa snorted out a sudden laugh and sniffed as Pablo read Qin’s prepared words. “‘… or complained about the sappiness of any of our tributes, and if she could right now, she’d probably shoot a horribly inappropriate M to only Pablo’—to me —‘to make me laugh at the worst possible moment…’”

Aether stroked Tom’s back as he wept quietly beside her. She glanced behind him to the unnatural glow from their camp, down the hill. What was Eeahso up to? Aether had warned her that if she touched anything, they’d boot her off the cliff, and Eeahso appeared to believe it.

Tom had taken to conspicuously ignoring Eeahso’s presence. He’d never been the violent type, even under the worst duress, but Aether didn’t feel good about leaving the camp with both Tom and Eeahso there. More importantly, she needed Tom with her in Threck City. He was the one that established first contact, built a rapport with key individuals, and knew from experience what verbal pitfalls to avoid. In less than twelve hours, she and Tom would audaciously request help— tremendous, unmerited help—from people who may currently wish them all dead. And for this feat, she would rely on a delicate, grieving, potentially hateful Tom.

Aether felt Tom’s back shift and tense. The pyre had been lit.

The team watched in silence as the flames quickly grew, stoked by the blustery wind. On Aether’s left, Qin joined Zisa and Pablo, standing arm in arm. Aether curled her hand around Tom’s waist, pulling him tighter to her side, as she wrapped her other arm around Qin’s back, joining all five into a single line. Angela’s sheet caught, and the flames rose madly into the air.

As Eeahso predicted, Skinny’s mud-soaked carcass lay undisturbed in the pit where they’d left it, the entire area deserted by Seekapock. Eeahso had confidently proclaimed the clan would be in the undersea fortress—a site she’d persistently branded as safe haven to her flock.

Later, substantiating the Threck exile’s third presumption, the city’s harbor was abuzz with activity. Four colossal afvrik floated in a line along one of the artificial jetties, their amber-hued shells lying motionless above the surface like a string of sandbars.

Aether slowed the skimmer and veered right toward the assembled Threck as they waited to board. The maneuver certainly caught their attention. Arms whirled and flailed like the cilia of a giant Threck hand. A dissonant, seabird chorus rose from the crowd as Aether swung the skimmer left, zoomed over the walled fish enclosures, and landed in the wide dirt field outside the southeast city gate. The alarm whistles were already blaring.

“Here we go,” Aether said to Tom, and he sprang into action while Aether kept an eye on the gate and harbor.

With a look of abject disgust, Tom unclipped the tie-downs, freeing Skinny’s limp body, and kicked it toward the edge of the pad. A runny mud streak traced the path. The flaccid heap did not exactly fall over the edge as much as pour , piling up a short distance below with the sound of splattering vomit. It was difficult for Aether to reconcile the blob in the dirt with the first non-human, intelligent lifeform she’d met.