A Change of Tactics by Jacqueline Lichtenberg & Jean Lorrah

Author:Jacqueline Lichtenberg & Jean Lorrah [Lichtenberg, Jacqueline & Lorrah, Jean]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Sime, Gen, Sime~Gen, Series, Science Fiction
Publisher: Wildside Press LLC
Published: 2017-01-26T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 12

Fledglings

After living for so long next to the battlefield of the Clear Springs Sime Center’s front sidewalk, Valzor seemed even more of a surreal paradise to Den than on his last rotation back to civilization. It was strange to hear Simelan spoken outside a Sime Center. At the train station, he found himself reflexively tensing when one of the renSime baggage handlers addressed him as “Sosu” in a voice loud enough to be heard by a trio of passing Gens.

I’ve lived too long out-Territory, he decided, as the Gens hurried past to welcome a young Sime woman with hugs and joyous greetings. Thanks to Reverend Sinth’s unrelenting campaign, Den had come to expect every Gen around him who was not Sime Center staff to hate or fear Simes as a matter of course. The Donor was even starting to accept having random strangers verbally abuse him for his choice of profession as normal behavior.

“But it isn’t normal and the fanatics barricading your Sime Center are not right,” Eddina pointed out when he stopped by the warehouse to ask whether she and Jannun had managed to transport the ‘Spirit of Valzor’ to the test site. “If you accept their false premise as a starting point, they’ve won the argument before it begins.”

“I know,” Den allowed. “However, Rital and I can’t ever let down our guard, because even the Gens who do support us are dangerously unpredictable. We’re not just staying alert for random accidents. We’re guarding against actual attacks.”

Eddina looked up at him skeptically. “Are you sure you and Rital aren’t getting a bit paranoid, imagining attacks and conspiracies that don’t exist?”

“I’m not sure of anything,” he admitted, “except that I’ve been assigned out-Territory far too long.” Vowing to relearn how to live a normal life, he left to pick up his transfer assignment.

* * * *

Den’s assigned channel for transfer was Hajene Nalod. Nalod had a Proficiency Rating and sensitivity slightly lower than Rital’s. His selyn draw and capacity were a little smaller, too, which made giving him transfer less personally satisfying for Den. However, channels had to have a transfer with a Donor who overmatched them every now and then: someone whom they couldn’t injure, no matter how demanding their selyn draw. Since Den couldn’t give transfer to Rital every month, he was willing enough to serve Hajene Nalod instead.

The channel was eager to take Den’s selyn, since he had been making do with not-quite-adequate Donors for several months. The rare freedom to draw to his full speed and capacity exhilarated any channel and Nalod’s thanks as they parted were heartfelt.

Low field and truly off-duty, as he never quite could be in Clear Springs, Den changed into civilian clothing and caught the shuttle bus hired for the North Nivet Flyer’s Convention. This year, the organizing committee had moved the event just outside the city limits, to a farm owned by the parents of one of the committee members, Kithra Borfin. The farm had a large pasture with a steep hill that would be perfect for flight trials.

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