Page 132 of Sky Song
Cricket's empty cup disappeared as if by magic. “Thank you, Rosamma.” She nearly forgot the woman was even there. “I don’t know what we would have done without your kindness.”
“You would have managed, I think. You’re resourceful,” Rosamma smiled, the expression a little cagey and strangely feral on her pale elvin features. She looked alien and nothing like Ren, much less like Ren’s twin sister. Yet her manner was completely human, womanly, and very compliant, a trait no doubt resulted from a lifetime of dependency. Where Ren’s human looks hid his Tana-Tana nature, Rosamma was his mirror reflection with her weirdly pronounced alien features and a perfectly human perception of the world.
“Lyle’s going to try and steal a spaceship. It’s strange to even say it seriously. And yet… I hope he knows what he’s doing.”
“Oh, he does, I imagine.”
They fell into silence.
“How do you feel about leaving your home, Rosamma?”
“I feel good about it, actually. Ren and I have talked about leaving for a long time. He’s always wanted to start a new life away from Meeus, even before he met Paloma.”
“And you? Do you want to start a new life, too?”
Rosamma lowered her eyes and went to pick at the fringe on her shawl. “My life won’t change much, just the surroundings.”
“I see. I’m sorry.”
Rosamma shrugged and her bangles jingled. “I have a good life. I’m grateful my brother and I have made it this far, and I try not to complain. Tana-Tana twins never survive, you know.”
“I’ve heard something like that. Is it true?”
Rosamma nodded. “Oh, yes, very much true. But we’re half-breeds, and we were able to survive because of our human blood.”
Cricket wrinkled her nose. “Half-breed is such a harsh term.”
It made Rosamma laugh. “If I weren’t one, I wouldn't be here.”
Cricket reached for the plate of small seed muffins that looked freshly baked. Now that the day had progressed, she felt more awake and hungry. “Ren is very protective of you. He wants you to stay together.”
Rosamma dropped her eyes once more, and her thin pale lips turned downward. “It isn’t a matter of wanting it - our biology dictates it. We have to exchange energy. Do you know what it means?”
“No, I don’t know.”
Rosamma drew her shawl tighter around her bony shoulders as if it was getting colder in the room, where in reality the sun was warming up the apartment very nicely. “Tana-Tanas generate an energy field. Like a body’s circulatory system, there’s a constant exchange of their energy with the outside world before it’s absorbed back into the body. It’s natural, and it’s what makes Tana-Tanas so attuned to all the living beings around them.”
“Is this how you knew about Lyle? About him not being well?”
“Yes, I… Forgive me for laying my hands on his skin. Sometimes I act on impulse, without thinking. I’m sorry.”
Cricket squeezed Rosamma’s thin forearm warmly. “Don’t apologize. You did nothing wrong.”
A childish, tremulous smile was her answer. Poor Rosamma, so fragile that even her smile, alien as it was, tuggedat heartstrings with its puppy-like quality. “He is unwell but he is strong. His spirit keeps him strong, Cricket. For you.”
Rosamma’s words worried Cricket and consoled at the same time, and she blinked away unbidden tears. “Thank you for your kind words. I truly hope Lyle helps you and your brother fly away together.”
“I hope so, too. If not for me, Ren would have found a way to leave by now. The hardest part of my weakness is being tied so tightly to Ren.”
“How are you tied to him?”
“You see, Tana-Tana twins aren’t separate beings; they are halves of one. That is why they don’t survive past birth - no one can live with only half of their organs.”
Cricket couldn't help but stare at Rosamma. “That is… horrifying.”
“It is, isn’t it? Well, we’re onlyhalfTana-Tana, so we have our own organs.” Rosamma smiled. “Except for the energy circle. Unfortunately, Ren and I share one. When the energy leaves my body to saturate in the outside world, it then enters Ren’s. And vice versa. We depend on each other to complete the circle.”
In all the books Cricket had read, none said anything at all about Tana-Tanas having an energy circle. It only showed how little people on Earth knew about the nation that came to reside side by side with them. They thought they knew it all, they studied alien habits and physiology, and wrote books and encyclopedias, but in reality, they only knew what the aliens allowed them to see.
