A Rarefied View At Dawn David Farland (books like beach read .txt) 📖

reached the grotto where he lived with his mother Tuyallah, he raced in with Yusaf. Just as he got inside, the chick pooped. Its mess was white and stringy, with bits of yellow and gray in it. Nothing like the poop that humans made, but Bann was astonished to see how much like a person a chick could be.

"Mom, look what I got!" he shouted as he barged through the door, holding the chick out to see. Yusaf was trembling, as if sick with a fever. "It's just a temporary reaction," the muysafed had assured Bann, "from the shot."

Bann grinned broadly, giddy having his own chicken, but his mother only smiled tiredly, a forced smile that didn't even feign happiness.

"So, they're doing the chicken experiment at school," she said.

"You know about it?" Bann asked.

"We did it when I was young," Tuyallah said. She frowned and looked away. "Let's go out tonight, to celebrate," she suggested. "We'll get dinner in the market."

Bann was delighted. Most of the time, his mother fixed dinner at home. So they put the chick away, and began to walk to the market.

The evening was hot. Even in the dead of winter, it could reach a hundred and twenty degrees during the day. Little red-eared lizards--remnants of an ancient attempt to terraform the planet--would race out in front of them, shiver their whole bodies, and bury themselves in the sand.

When they reached the market, it was still too early to buy food. The baker woman had just fired up her clay ovens and was stamping the loaves with the word peace before putting them in to cook. The lamb woman was still burning her sweet-smelling saxaul wood down to coals before putting on the skewers of shish kabob.

Bann's mother said little as she walked, only greeting other women with falsely enthusiastic, "Peace in your mind, sister, and joy in year heart," as they passed. Few of them bothered to return the greeting to a woman who was of such low social standing.

Since dinner was not ready, his mother stopped at a stall and bought some cold green tea. She sweetened it with white grapes, the kind that are so honeyed that you can only eat two, which she squeezed right into the tea.

When she was done, she led Bann down a road to the far side of the sanctuary, a place where Bann had never been.

When the road was empty, his mother said softly. "I hear that you and Maya were caught up on the wall today."

"We were just walking to school," Bann said, "like we always do."

His mother took a deep breath. "Did she touch you?"

"She always holds my hand," Bann answered. "She's my best friend."

They walked farther down the road, which now switched back and dropped at a steep angle, so that they were walking deep in the shadows.

"Of course she's your friend." Tuyallah slipped her arm through his and took his hand, gripping it tightly, almost as if she were afraid to let him go.

"Did she ask you to touch her?" Bann's mother asked, "Between the legs?" she added hurriedly. "Or on the breasts? Or to kiss her?"

The thought was repulsive, and Bann wanted to shrink into the ground as he answered. "No. Never."

"Good," his mother said. "You should never do those things. Sometimes, even girls will want that. And you should never do that for them. Do you understand?"

Bann didn't really understand, but his stomach was clenching again, and he felt so uncomfortable that he just nodded yes so that he wouldn't have to talk anymore.

He saw some girls playing Baku, kicking their balls at one another and then rushing for the safe stones.

"I'm the best in my class at Baku now," Bann said, thinking that he'd like to go play with the strange girls.

"That doesn't surprise me," his mother said. "You're growing up so fast."

She kept walking down the street. It was leading down into the lower quarters now, beneath the rust-colored clouds. When they dropped far enough, the reddish fog colored everything like blood, and the smell of yicksh--the microsopic life-forms that lived in the humidity--got thick in the air. It tasted like bitter melon.

Down they walked, past switchback after switchback. The darkness grew more imposing with each step downward. Bann had heard that if you descended far enough, you could reach the violet jungles down in the valleys, where even the light of Lucien's bright sun could not penetrate the clouds.

Tuyallah kept descending the steep road, and Bann followed, unsure where they were headed, until they reached a gate. A cadre of Valkyries stood by, armed with magnetic pulse rifles to repel alien creatures, and plasma weapons to fight off any incursions by men.

"Peace to you, sisters," one of the Valkyries said as they neared, using a greeting that was common even if a boy was in the group. "Shall we escort you beyond the gate?"

"Thank you, sister," Bann's mother replied. "It would be welcome."

The droid began to open the gate. The electric motors had failed centuries ago, and the technicians here could only afford to repair equipment vital to the sanctuary, so the droid removed the gate's crossbars and pushed it open.

Bann found himself breathing hard. He had never imagined leaving the city. He'd heard too many stories of cutthroats and wildmen to feel safe outside the gates.

"Where are we going?" Bann asked.

"To visit your father," Tuyallah replied.

Bann's jaw dropped. "I have a father?"

"All boys have fathers," Tuyallah answered. "But few girls do."

"Did he hurt you?" Bann asked. "Did he force you to make me?"

"No," his mother said. "Nothing like that. I met him here, outside the city. Just once. I . . . asked him to sleep with me, to make a baby."

"Why?" Bann asked. His mind was racing furiously.

"I was curious," she said. "I'd heard that men could be so . . . alluring. And the thought of meeting a male lover excited me. I guess . . . I was foolish."

"For having me?" Bann asked.

"No," his