Inheritance

CHAPTER 32

When David and Reese returned to the living quarters after their meeting with Akiya Deyir, the door to Reese’s mom’s room was open. Reese paused in front of her own room and asked David, “What are you up to now?” She was anxious and impatient, and she wished that Deyir had given them a more concrete answer.

“Homework?” he said, grimacing. “How long do you think it’s going to take for him to decide?”

“I hope not too long.”

Reese’s mom came out of her room, followed by her dad. “While you’re waiting,” her mom said, “I think it’s time for you two to come clean about everything.”

David gave Reese’s parents a nervous grin. “Hi, Ms. Sheridan.” He paused as Reese’s dad’s name seemed to escape him, but was saved when his own parents came into the corridor too. Reese had the distinct impression that the four adults had been waiting to ambush them.

“Why don’t you all come into our room,” David’s mom suggested. “We have a little more space.” Reese glanced at David. We do have to tell them about our abilities, and your dad has more info about the test results, right?

Yeah. I guess now’s as good a time as any.

Beats doing homework?

David smiled slightly. “Okay,” he said out loud, and walked down the corridor toward his parents’ quarters. Reese and her parents followed.

At 6:15 PM, Reese was seated in the dining hall with David and their families, eating a perfectly acceptable but rather boring meal of chicken, salad, and crusty bread that seemed as if it had been ordered out of a nearby Whole Foods. “I apologize for the absence of my colleagues,” Nura Halba said as he sat down with them in the nearly deserted room. “They are in discussions, and I believe they will be there all night.”

Dealing with what we told them, Reese thought. She took a sip of her water and pushed the cherry tomatoes around on her plate. She wondered how long it would take Mr. Hernandez to figure out that neither she nor David was coming to their meeting.

“That’s fine,” her mom said. “We’re grateful that you’ve allowed us to stay here on such short notice.”

Halba smiled, and he looked more Asian than ever. Reese still hadn’t figured out how she could broach that subject with any of the Imria. “Tomorrow night we’ll have a proper dinner,” he said. “Everyone on board will come. It will be a belated welcome banquet.”

“Will there be actual Imrian food?” Reese asked.

Halba seemed amused by her question. “Well, we do have to buy local. We can’t bring fresh groceries all the way from Kurra, but yes, we’ll have some Imrian-style dishes.”

The door slid open and Amber came into the dining hall alone. She gave them a smile before she went to serve herself from the dishes on the buffet. Reese glanced across the table at David. He had tensed up every time Amber was nearby, and tonight was no different. She got out of the meeting, he thought. Do you think it’s over?

I don’t know, Reese told him. When Amber came to the table, she slid into an empty seat at the end next to Halba. “Hi,” she said to everyone. “I don’t think I’ve met you all?” After the introductions, Halba excused himself, leaving a gap at the table where he had been sitting next to David. Amber did not move over to close up the space, and Reese saw David turn away from her slightly while he spoke to his sister in low tones.

“Amber,” Reese said, “are they still in their meeting?”

Amber glanced up from her meal. “Yeah. They have to talk to Kurra, and there’s sort of a time lag. It’s going to take a while.”

Reese knew David was listening, even though he was pretending not to. She could feel it across the table, his attentiveness like a charged webbing between them. She had never been able to sense his emotions so acutely when they weren’t touching, and she knew it was because Amber put him on edge.

“What do you think they’ll decide?” Reese asked.

“I don’t know,” Amber said. “I hope they listen to you guys.”

Chloe suddenly burst out, “I don’t want to do that. I’m bored.”

Everybody turned to look at the twelve-year-old, who was glaring at her mother. Grace Li frowned at her daughter. “I’m sorry. I told you that we would be here for a few days and you should bring some things to read. Maybe your brother can play a game with you?”

Even David seemed a little annoyed, but he said, “Sure. What do you want to play, Chloe?”

Chloe rolled her eyes with such vehemence that Reese thought they might pop out of their sockets. “He doesn’t want to play a game, Mom.”

Reese swallowed a laugh at Chloe’s sarcastic tone. Amber leaned over the table so she could see David’s little sister and asked, “Do you want to watch a movie or something?”

Chloe realized that everybody was looking at her, and her face turned red. She didn’t seem to be able to speak anymore.

Grace said, “That’s nice of you, but you don’t need to go out of your way.”

Amber looked surprised. “Oh! No, I mean, I can just set up the screens over there to play a movie if you want. We can get whatever’s online.”

“Anything?” Chloe said, sounding doubtful.

“Sure.” Amber glanced at Chloe’s parents. “Well, anything your parents say is okay.” She got up and went over to the screens that showed the view outside. The sky was darkening toward twilight, and across the field the eucalyptus trees moved in a gentle breeze. Amber touched the wall and the screens went black. A moment later she had pulled up an Internet movie rental site.

“You can get that here?” Chloe said, scrambling out of her seat.

“Of course. What do you want to see?”

David’s parents traded wry glances, and Grace stood. “I’d better make sure she doesn’t pick something she’s not allowed to watch.”

Chloe chose Blue Moon, a movie about a high school cheerleader-turned-werewolf-hunter who falls in love with both the leader of the pack and the high school football star. Reese finished her dinner as Amber set up a viewing area in front of the screen. She did something that caused some of the tables to lower into the floor out of the way, and then dragged some cushions into the dining hall, returning several times with blankets and pillows. By the time she was finished, Chloe was chattering with Amber about the actor who played the alpha werewolf.

The parents left as the movie began. “We’re going for a walk,” Reese’s mom said, dropping a hand on her shoulder. “Call us if you need anything.”

“I will.” Reese pushed her plate aside and looked at David. “What are you gonna do?”

He made a face. “I don’t really want to watch that movie, but I’m supposed to stay with Chloe.”

“Oh.” Reese glanced over at his sister; she was reclining in a mound of pillows as the movie began. Amber was walking toward the door behind the buffet that led into what Reese assumed was the kitchen. “It could be worse,” Reese said to David. “At least it’s not vampires?”

He briefly grinned. “I don’t mind vampires.”

She smiled at him. “Good to know.”

Amber emerged from the kitchen carrying four bowls, spoons, and a quart of ice cream. She set it all down on the table near Reese. “Want some?” she asked, peeling off the lid.

“What kind is it?” Reese asked.

“Salted caramel from Mitchell’s.” Amber began to scoop some into a bowl and called over her shoulder, “Chloe, you want some ice cream?”

“Yes!” Chloe replied.

Amber glanced sideways at David but didn’t say anything to him as she prepared a bowl for his sister. As she carried it over to Chloe, Reese picked up a spoon for a taste. “Wow, this is good,” she said, and reached for the scoop. “David, you should have some.”

When Amber returned, she eyed Reese’s bowl. “You took a lot.”

“You don’t like to share?” Reese said.

Amber gave her a look that made Reese blush, but she didn’t respond aloud. Instead, she scooped ice cream into two bowls and slid one across the table to David. “You’ll love it, I promise,” she told him. Then she went to put the ice cream back in the freezer.

Reese ate her ice cream in silence. David didn’t touch his. Amber emerged from the kitchen, grabbed her bowl, and went to join Chloe in the nest of pillows to watch the cheerleader-werewolf-hunter discover that she had been chosen to lead a ragtag group of fellow students in battle. Reese could still sense David’s resistance, as if his hackles had been raised. She didn’t know what to do about it. We can leave, she told him. I’m sure they’ll be okay.

I’m fine.

Over on the cushions, Chloe and Amber burst into giggles. David’s gaze flickered toward the corner of the room where the girls were sprawled in front of the big screen.

Your ice cream’s melting, Reese thought at David.

He looked at the bowl that Amber had set near him. Chloe giggled again, and Amber whispered something back. David picked up the spoon.

Reese asked, Do you want to go watch over there? It’ll be more comfortable.

He shrugged. Go ahead.

Reese went over to the corner to rearrange some of the pillows, pulling them slightly apart from Chloe and Amber in case David changed his mind. She made herself comfortable and focused on the movie while she finished her ice cream. A few minutes later David joined them, dropping down beside her. “Next time we are not watching a chick flick,” he said.

Chloe squealed. “It’s not a chick flick! There are werewolves! And fighting!”

Her point was lost when the cheerleader-werewolf-hunter kissed the pack leader. “See?” David said, pointing with his spoon.

Amber laughed. Chloe gave him a dirty look. “Fine, next time you pick.”

“Good,” he said.

Reese reached out and touched his elbow. Thank you.

The tension inside him was still there, but it had lessened. You owe me, he told her.

For what?

For making me watch this movie.

She smiled.

Sunday dragged by, as if every minute before the summit was weighted. Reese felt as though she was going crazy with impatience.

After breakfast, she called Julian to tell him the whole story as she had promised she would. He was so shocked that he didn’t speak for what seemed like an entire minute. Then he asked her to say it all again so he could record it. When they finished talking, Reese went to look for David, only to run into him leaving the ship with her dad. They were both dressed to work out, and she asked in surprise, “What are you guys doing?”

“We’re going for a run,” her dad answered. “You want to come?”

“Uh, no. Have fun.” She watched them leave together, feeling weird about the whole thing.

It’s just running, David assured her as he stepped into the elevator.

She retreated to her room and stared at the screens depicting the field outside. She wanted to know what her dad was saying to David. She wondered what Amber was doing. She worried about whether Julian was going to be assaulted by CASS goons, and she texted him to find out if he was all right. The fourth time she texted him he replied: Dude I’ll call you if I’m abducted.

Lunch brought a brief moment of excitement when Dr. Brand joined them, but when Reese asked whether Akiya Deyir had made any decisions, Dr. Brand only said, “He’s still thinking about it.”

All afternoon Reese pretended to do her homework, while David and Chloe sprawled nearby in the heap of cushions that had been left in the dining hall after their movie night. Finally, an hour before dinner, Nura Halba asked them to leave the room while they prepared for the meal. “Should we get dressed up?” Chloe asked excitedly.

“Only if you wish to,” Halba said. “It’s not formal.”

Reese stood in front of her narrow closet for half an hour, trying to decide if she should wear the single skirt suit she had brought to wear to the United Nations. At the last minute she only changed her shirt, swapping her old blue tee for the new one that Diana Warner had helped pick out at Nordstrom. She heard her mom knocking on the door and opened it to find everyone already assembled in the corridor: David, dressed in an untucked black oxford shirt and jeans; her parents, looking disturbingly like a couple; David’s parents waiting with Chloe, who had put on a pink skirt and white blouse.

“Okay,” Reese’s mom said with a nervous smile. “Let’s go.”

In the dining hall, every Imrian on the ship was waiting. Reese was startled when the door slid open and she saw all two dozen of them standing there, dressed in strange clothing that Reese knew had not originated on Earth. For the first time, they weren’t wearing their intelligible-to-humanity outfits, and Reese now understood why they had done so in the first place. Some were dressed as colorfully as Akiya Deyir had been the day before in his violet coat; others wore garments that seemed made out of metal mesh or other synthetic fabrics that rippled like feathers when they moved. Only Amber and Dr. Brand were dressed like humans, and in comparison to the other Imria, they almost looked plain.

The meal began with small dishes of pickled berries that resembled cherries but tasted like olives. “We brought these from Kurra,” Nura Halba explained. He was seated with Reese and the other humans, and Reese wondered if he was growing tired of acting as their interpreter. “They’re traditionally offered at the beginning of every ceremonial meal. They’re called buru.”

The buru were followed by sliced cabbage and carrots served in a cold, tangy broth. After that, platters of grilled squid were brought out, speckled with remnants of charred chilies. Whole sea bass were served too, and Halba filleted them at their table, removing the heads and stripping away the delicate bones before plating portions with a bit of bright green, garlicky sauce on the side. The final course was a sweet, many-layered pastry that reminded Reese of baklava, except this was filled with something that tasted like red bean paste.

At the end of the meal, Akiya Deyir stood while servers walked around the dining hall, placing small glass cups shaped like eggs before each person and filling them from black pitchers. Reese sniffed hers; it smelled like wine. Halba said, “It’s called kurun. It’s drunk at the end of the meal as a toast.”

“Tonight we would like to welcome our guests to our home, temporary though it may be,” Deyir said. He was wearing a crimson tunic that flowed into long tails like his jacket, with trousers the color of steel. The sleeves of his tunic extended over his hands like petals, and he wore a ring that resembled a vine on his left hand. “Nu nig tukum’ta. It is no coincidence you are here; we are glad of your company.” He raised his small glass of kurun and said, “Welcome. Sude silim. A blessing and a greeting.” All the Imria stood, and Reese scrambled to stand with them. They said in unison, “Sude silim,” and then sipped from their cups.

Reese followed their example, lifting her glass to her lips. The kurun was sour and lukewarm, and not anything she would ever want to drink on a regular basis, but as it left an unexpectedly hot trail down her throat, she felt as if it had marked her internally. She was no longer entirely human, and the taste of it was like fire in her stomach.