The Silver Ship and the Sea by Brenda Cooper

been where I can tell him. I cannot walk safely through town. You are his sister. He is a key, and he must heal. And you are the vehicle that can help him, only you.”
    Jenna wasn’t given to long conversation, but this was more cryptic than usual. “A key? To what?” Kayleen asked.
    Jenna put her finger to her lips and nodded toward the gate. Of course. Data pods could send conversation to another node in our defenses, even record it. Probably everyone was busy, but you never knew who listened to what. Then Jenna said, “Artistos needs Joseph to make the data network strong.” She nodded vigorously as she said this, as if I should be getting more from her words than I was.
    I glanced at Kayleen, but she looked as puzzled as I felt.
    “Paloma comes. Heal Joseph.” Jenna faded quietly into the sharp thick underbrush.
    “Thanks for killing the paw-cat,” I said to her retreating back. I knew she heard. Her hearing was as altered as ours.
    “What did she mean?” Kayleen asked. “A key?”
    “I’m not sure.”
    Paloma rounded the corner toward us, bringing Kayleen and I welcome bottles of cold water. Her presence stilled our conversation for the moment.

4
The Silver Ship and the Sea
    Tom and Nava were already at the breakfast table when Joseph and I got up on the first free morning after eighteen days of straight dawn-to-dusk hard labor. Sunlight streamed in the kitchen window, promising a bright fall day. I sat down, reaching for a plate of toast and goat cheese. Tom’s eyes sparkled, as if he had some great secret. He smiled at me. “I thought we’d go out and spread your parents’ ashes. Get out of town for the day, take a ride. Interested?”
    Nava’s lips turned down in a fine hard line. “I need you here. We haven’t ridden the whole perimeter since the quake.”
    “Paloma has.” Tom frowned. “We declared today a personal day. This is something personal that needs to be done.”
    Nava stood abruptly and started taking plates to the kitchen.
    Tom nodded at Nava’s back, his mouth as thin a line as hers, then he turned to me and I watched the hard line of his jaw relax as he smiled. “Do you want to go?”
    I had other plans. I needed time with Bryan and Kayleen, time to assess choices, to figure out how to heal my brother. As soon as Nava declared it a free day, we’d planned to get together. But Tom clearly wanted us to go. A private but ceremonial mourning for Therese and Steven might be just what Joseph needed. I glanced at Nava’s stiff back as she stacked dishes in the sink. “Sure, I’d like to go.”
    Joseph twisted his hands in his lap, and then looked over at me. “I’m ready. I mean, I’m ready to scatter the ashes.”
    “Where would you like to take them?” Tom asked.
    Joseph answered, “To the sea. Therese liked it there.” It startled me that he didn’t choose the mountains, Steven’s favorite haunt. Perhaps he wasn’t ready to see the High Road yet.
    “All right,” I said. “They’d want to be together, and Steven would have been willing to go to the sea to be with her.” A hard lump rose in my throat.
    Tom brightened at our answers. “I thought you’d pick the water.” He spoke up, for Nava’s benefit. “We can check on the spaceport as we go. Make the trip useful. Let’s saddle up some hebras.”
    Nava turned toward him, her green eyes cool. “I think you should take more people. The plains aren’t safe.”
    He returned her look, cool for cool. “We’ll be okay.”
    She frowned at him, but didn’t say anything else.
    Joseph and I dressed carefully, wearing long, loose pants we could tie around our ankles through the Grass Plains, and light coats against the sea breeze over thin shirts designed for the hot plains. We tied the funeral urns to our belts using the white ribbons and packed water and food. I left a note for Kayleen and Bryan.
    Joseph and I jogged to keep up with Tom, passing fresh-cut hay fields. Tom carried a light pack and wore his stunner