was wearing thin. She
stood in a very small conference room in the largest of the
research station's laboratory buildings, squeezed in with Jidar,
Namara and Dr. Danson and a number of the geneticist's
human staff members.
She felt trapped and again wondered how the humans
could stand living in such confined spaces without access to
the sky.
"How can we be sure Dr. Faulkner abducted Dr. Abbott?"
one of Danson's underlings asked. Arilani stifled her
immediate response and deferred to her leader, who seemed
unnaturally calm in the face of this unmitigated disaster.
"Marks on the ground near Dr. Faulkner's dwelling indicate
Dr. Abbott was lifted into the air mid-stride ... as she seemed
to be running toward the next building. Because she
expressed concern over Dr. Faulkner's mental state, we must
assume she was taken against her will."
"Why? Just how dangerous is he?"
"The symbions are non-violent."
"Why is Caleb doing—?"
Danson shushed his colleagues and took up the discussion.
"We really have no idea what he's capable of in this state.
Zara told me over the radio that there was something we
didn't know, something Caleb hadn't told us, and that's my
59
Icarus Rising
by Bernadette Gardner
greatest concern right now. Whatever his secret was, that
could be why the joining went wrong."
A jumble of voices erupted in the conference room then,
and Arilani had to cover her sensitive ears. She shot Jidar a
pleading look, silently begging him to stop the commotion.
He did. His warning call echoed around the room, silencing
everyone and drawing their attention to him. "I have once
again sent out search parties, and I believe in daylight we will
have a better chance of locating them both. We will do
everything we can to bring them back here safely. Symbions
have a homing instinct, however, and I do believe eventually
Dr. Faulkner's will lead him back where he belongs."
Danson spread his arms wide, and Arilani tensed. She had
to remind herself among humans such a gesture was one
meant to invite calm acceptance. In essence the doctor was
embracing those assembled and asking for their support and
cooperation, not declaring his intent to fight as an Icarian's
spread wings would indicate.
"What we all need to do right now is get back to work. Our
purpose here is still to find a solution for the Icarian breeding
problem, and that can't stop just because we've had a
setback in our main project."
Arilani scoffed at his words, but fortunately no one in the
worried crowd noticed. As Danson's Icarian equivalent, she
knew better than he did that the joining of symbions to
humans was their last hope. Jidar and Namara had staunchly
refused to allow sperm and egg donations and would not
submit their subjects to the process the humans called
"artificial insemination".
60
Icarus Rising
by Bernadette Gardner
Centuries of dwindling population had left them with little
option. Male and female Icarians with DNA patterns that were
too similar could not breed successfully. The only way to
literally infuse new life into the dying race was to accept alien
mating material, and Jidar insisted the only way to do this
was to bring humans, joined with symbions, fully into their
society.
If Danson's project failed, there might not be another
generation of Icarian children, and their race would die off
completely in less than a century.
"Thank you all for your help," Danson said as his people
and Jidar's began to file out of the room. "Together we can
succeed."
Arilani bristled. She despised Danson's motto. Those four
words, in her estimation, would be chiseled on the death
marker of Icarus. This noble cause had gone terribly wrong,
and at the moment, she had only Danson to blame.
When everyone else had left, she remained, glaring at her
human counterpart. "You know exactly what happened at
Caleb's bungalow, don't you?"
With a quick glance into the corridor to make sure none of
the others
stood in a very small conference room in the largest of the
research station's laboratory buildings, squeezed in with Jidar,
Namara and Dr. Danson and a number of the geneticist's
human staff members.
She felt trapped and again wondered how the humans
could stand living in such confined spaces without access to
the sky.
"How can we be sure Dr. Faulkner abducted Dr. Abbott?"
one of Danson's underlings asked. Arilani stifled her
immediate response and deferred to her leader, who seemed
unnaturally calm in the face of this unmitigated disaster.
"Marks on the ground near Dr. Faulkner's dwelling indicate
Dr. Abbott was lifted into the air mid-stride ... as she seemed
to be running toward the next building. Because she
expressed concern over Dr. Faulkner's mental state, we must
assume she was taken against her will."
"Why? Just how dangerous is he?"
"The symbions are non-violent."
"Why is Caleb doing—?"
Danson shushed his colleagues and took up the discussion.
"We really have no idea what he's capable of in this state.
Zara told me over the radio that there was something we
didn't know, something Caleb hadn't told us, and that's my
59
Icarus Rising
by Bernadette Gardner
greatest concern right now. Whatever his secret was, that
could be why the joining went wrong."
A jumble of voices erupted in the conference room then,
and Arilani had to cover her sensitive ears. She shot Jidar a
pleading look, silently begging him to stop the commotion.
He did. His warning call echoed around the room, silencing
everyone and drawing their attention to him. "I have once
again sent out search parties, and I believe in daylight we will
have a better chance of locating them both. We will do
everything we can to bring them back here safely. Symbions
have a homing instinct, however, and I do believe eventually
Dr. Faulkner's will lead him back where he belongs."
Danson spread his arms wide, and Arilani tensed. She had
to remind herself among humans such a gesture was one
meant to invite calm acceptance. In essence the doctor was
embracing those assembled and asking for their support and
cooperation, not declaring his intent to fight as an Icarian's
spread wings would indicate.
"What we all need to do right now is get back to work. Our
purpose here is still to find a solution for the Icarian breeding
problem, and that can't stop just because we've had a
setback in our main project."
Arilani scoffed at his words, but fortunately no one in the
worried crowd noticed. As Danson's Icarian equivalent, she
knew better than he did that the joining of symbions to
humans was their last hope. Jidar and Namara had staunchly
refused to allow sperm and egg donations and would not
submit their subjects to the process the humans called
"artificial insemination".
60
Icarus Rising
by Bernadette Gardner
Centuries of dwindling population had left them with little
option. Male and female Icarians with DNA patterns that were
too similar could not breed successfully. The only way to
literally infuse new life into the dying race was to accept alien
mating material, and Jidar insisted the only way to do this
was to bring humans, joined with symbions, fully into their
society.
If Danson's project failed, there might not be another
generation of Icarian children, and their race would die off
completely in less than a century.
"Thank you all for your help," Danson said as his people
and Jidar's began to file out of the room. "Together we can
succeed."
Arilani bristled. She despised Danson's motto. Those four
words, in her estimation, would be chiseled on the death
marker of Icarus. This noble cause had gone terribly wrong,
and at the moment, she had only Danson to blame.
When everyone else had left, she remained, glaring at her
human counterpart. "You know exactly what happened at
Caleb's bungalow, don't you?"
With a quick glance into the corridor to make sure none of
the others
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