The Geari Wife Read online

  The Geari Wife

  THE MEMORY THIEF SERIES

  BOOK TWO

  SARINA DORIE

  Copyright © 2016 Sarina Dorie

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN: 1530994322

  ISBN-13: 978-1530994328

  DEDICATION

  To Charlie.

  CONTENTS

  Prologue

  1

  Chapter One

  8

  Chapter Two

  15

  Chapter Three

  18

  Chapter Four

  23

  Chapter Five

  29

  Chapter Six

  32

  Chapter Seven

  37

  Chapter Eight

  47

  Chapter Nine

  54

  Chapter Ten

  65

  Chapter Eleven

  70

  Chapter Twelve

  73

  Chapter Thirteen

  77

  Chapter Fourteen

  83

  Chapter Fifteen

  103

  Chapter Sixteen

  109

  Chapter Seventeen

  115

  Chapter Eighteen

  122

  Chapter Nineteen

  126

  Chapter Twenty

  142

  Chapter Twenty-One

  152

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  159

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  175

  Afterward

  188

  Glossary

  190

  About the Author

  193

  Prologue

  The Japanese word “giri,” or “geari,” originating from Earth, refers to guilt or social obligation. When the Jomon spacefarers traveled from Earth millennia ago and established a colony on Aynu-Mosir, their culture evolved in such a manner that many old customs became blended with new ones. One such example is the idea of a “geari wife,” a wife one marries out of social obligation.

  —excerpt from Meriwether Klark’s message to the publishers of The Guidebook of Colonization and Interplanetary Relationships, Fifth Edition

  The starship loomed like a tombstone on the barren plain above the Tanukijin tribe’s canyon palace. The brass rivets holding the solar sails in place and the gothic archways around doors and portholes were as alien to this world as I was. I supposed I must have looked like a picturesque embodiment of an American bride in my long gown and puff sleeves. Yet more than ever, I felt I’d gone so far native I’d never be able to fully return to my own culture. After being on the planet of Aynu-Mosir for fourteen years, I should have been happy to finally be able to depart with a handsome fiancé who would someday inherit a space station.

  Indeed, whenever anyone looked upon my visage, I did my best to smile like a star-struck, ugly duckling turned Cinderella about to live happily ever after. If only that were true.

  A commotion of natives bundled in furs made a bucket brigade-like procession down the snowy slope to the cliff palace below, handing off boxes of vaccines and provisions from the captain’s stores onboard.

  “Have a care not to drop that one. It’s full of glass vials,” Meriwether, my new fiancé, said to one of the native colonists as though the man might understand.

  Meriwether was a handsome man, of no more than five-and-twenty years. His face was unblemished and pale as the snow that plagued the planet.

  He smoothed his long brown hair from his face and secured his top hat on his head when a gust of wind threatened to unseat it. He pointed to another crate. “Capital. I see you’ve found our supply of—” He tripped over his own feet, soliciting a laugh from watching villagers. “Dear me, I’m so clumsy, aren’t I?” His façade of cheery mirth didn’t match his unsmiling eyes.

  I lingered just within the ship where it was warm, but I could observe Meriwether’s interactions outside. There was one reason I had agreed to marry Meriwether Klark, a man I thought so little of, and that was for revenge. My motivation tinted the world around me with gloom, like a dark wash of oil paints only I could see.

  The captain of the spaceship ran past me and chased after two men heaving a crate of frozen food out the door. I ducked back before I was run over.

  “Not that! That’s my private supply of beef brisket.” Captain Ford pulled at his wiry, gray whiskers in vexation as men carried off packages from the freezer. His accent was American, though more coarse than my own.

  I pretended to examine clicking gears exposed in the hallway. Two dark-haired women worked to pry the metal wall covering loose and pillage the metal out from under the captain’s nose. Such a trick would bring them honor among their tribe. I did my best to keep my face blank and not smile at their mischief.

  Captain Ford poked a finger at Meriwether’s chest. “Order them to bring it back.”

  “I will, of course, pay handsomely for everything we gift to the Tanukijin.” Meriwether fidgeted with his top hat and affected an air of sympathy that I didn’t believe for a minute. “And if you wish to ever return to this planet and be granted more of the red diamonds… .”

  He didn’t have to say more. The captain turned away and assisted the men in selecting finer cuts of meat.

  The greed of star men disgusted me.

  Once all the goods and livestock were packed up in the cargo holds, and the machines and medical supplies for the Tanukijin had been carried off, it was time for goodbyes. I had spent an intimate breakfast with my dearest family and friends in the morning, followed by a departure speech to the entire tribe in the afternoon. Now I had to say a final goodbye.

  My sister wore the Tanukijin style of dress. Felicity clad herself in loose furs that exposed her arms and legs. Her long, blonde hair fell to her waist in thick waves, wild like her nature, whereas mine was tied tight in a braid behind my head.

  When Felicity had been kidnapped from the planet fourteen years before, I’d thought I would never see her again. And now that we were at last reunited, she’d been the one to stay, whereas I’d known I would have to go.

  Felicity kissed my cheek—the unscarred side of my face—and smoothed my hair out of my eyes. Her forearms were black with the ink of new tattoos—something that would have made our father roll over in his grave if he could see them.

  Already she was falling into the Jomon lifestyle, whereas I had taken up the off-world style I’d longed to return to. The pink dress from her wardrobe I wore was slightly large, but I didn’t mind. She hugged me again, hesitating before kissing the scar tissue over the right side of my face.

  It was hard for her to look upon, not merely because half my face was raw and shiny from the old burns, but also because she had caused the accident in which I’d received these scars. I turned my pretty side toward her so she could gaze on that instead.

  I squeezed her fingers. “When I am living in the stars, I will think of you as I advocate for the Jomon. I will fight for your cause,” I said. After all, if I failed, my own sister would be left behind to suffer the same fate I had in all the years I’d been left behind. She deserved better.

  She cupped my cheeks in her hands. “You don’t have to be alone anymore. We have the tools and supplies to install a communication device on Aynu-Mosir. You and I can use up all the captain’s subspace minutes calling each other back and forth.” Her laugh ended in a choked sob.

  I hugged her one more time. I would not permit myself to cry. She was now the younger one, the damaged sister who had lost so much. Still so young due to the slowing of time during her space travel, she was naïve and fragile. I would be the strong one and make it up to her. That was why I had to leave. It was why I had to kill Me
riwether’s father, Lord Archibald Klark, for all the vile things he had done, if not for me, for her. And if not for her, for the people of the planet who had suffered so much at his hands. For as long as I could remember, I had dreamed of murdering Lord Klark. I would make sure his cruelty never touched these people again. Nor would his son’s.

  Of course, it would have been nice to know exactly why I hated Lord Klark. There was a time when I’d known, but those memories were no longer with me. They’d been taken from me using the Jomon herb, memory moss.

  I would, of course, get them back from Meriwether Klark. I didn’t know how just yet, but I would have to contrive a way. It was a little difficult to plan on assassinating his father without knowing why I had always wished to do so.

  Taishi Nipa stood next in line to say goodbye to me. He wore his eboshi, the headdress that represented his rank. The eboshi was made of a tanuki head, a green and purple striped raccoon dog, which concealed the upper half of his face like a mask.

  He bowed to me, low and deliberate, a gesture he bestowed to few as leader. He spoke in Jomon. “It has been an honor to know you. I wish you luck in your new life.”

  “Thank you, Nipa.” I said, using his formal title. “And good luck to you and your future happiness with your new bride.” I returned the Jomon custom of bowing. It felt paltry in comparison to all I wished to say to him.

  “Ha! More like old bride,” he said with a wink. Perhaps reunited bride would have been more accurate.

  Meriwether cleared his throat from behind me, no doubt impatient for these final goodbyes to be over. I ignored him. I wasn’t going to be rushed.

  Sumiko, Taishi Nipa’s sister, waited behind them. She was alone. She was the only one who didn’t look sad out of all of them.

  Nowhere in sight was my niece. I dropped the formalities. “Where’s Michi?”

  I looked to my sister. Tears filled Felicity’s eyes and she shook her head. The absence of the niece I had raised in my sister’s stead stung me like barbs of the yellow needle bush. I opened my mouth but no words came out. She had been like a daughter to me.

  Taishi supplied the truth, as he was often wont to do. “My daughter is gaki, ne? What you call a brat, no? She couldn’t have her way and then refused to see you off.”

  “What did she ask for this time?”

  Taishi’s mouth turned up in a half smile. “Michi demanded I order you to stay.”

  I laughed to hide my hurt. More than anything I would have liked to stay and protect her, to see her grow into a young lady, but she had a mother again. She didn’t need two. What she needed was someone to advocate on behalf of her planet so she would have an adulthood. So all the Jomon would.

  Taishi circled an arm around my shoulder and hugged me to his side. “I will miss you, little sister.”

  Sumiko clasped her hands together, waiting patiently. Her usual beatific smile gave away no sign of what she truly felt. She wore layers of fur over the woven bark fiber attush robe, though such attire must have been sweltering on the ship. As soon as I was done saying goodbye to Felicity and Taishi, she drew me aside.

  Taishi turned his back, as though giving his sister privacy. Either that or he was cross with her about some matter. He spoke quietly to my sister, Felicity. What he said to her, she must not have liked, because her spine went rigid.

  Sumiko threw her arms around me and buried her face in my blond hair. Tears filled my eyes, despite my effort to be stoic. If there was one I would miss more than any others, it would be my best friend.

  She spoke in Jomon. “Don’t cry, Faith-chan. I will always be with you, ne?”

  “And I with you.” I dabbed at my eyes with my handkerchief.

  A sly smile snaked across Sumiko’s lips. “Especially since I’m coming with you on your trip.”

  I gasped. “No. You can’t. Who will care for Michi? And my sister? You must stay and take care of Felicity.”

  Sumiko took my hands in hers. “My brother will take care of Felicity. Who will take care of you?”

  I glanced at Meriwether who was stumbling over his feet in the entryway. I tried not to let contempt cross my countenance.

  Sumiko snorted. “Exactly.” Though she spoke in Jomon, she lowered her voice, lest she be overheard. “You don’t love him. I don’t know why you’ve got it in your head you have to do this, but you aren’t leaving here on your own. I’m coming with you.”

  “You don’t understand. I have to do this …” My throat tightened. “Alone.”

  “So you can make trouble out there in space without any friends? I think not.”

  Meriwether placed a hand on my shoulder. “Are you almost ready? The captain wishes to depart before anyone carries off the engine.” He chuckled at his own joke.

  I looked to Sumiko and shook my head before she said anything.

  Sumiko nodded to him. “Do you expect me to keep silent and stow myself away?”

  “No, I expect you to stay where it’s safe.”

  “Nowhere is safe. Besides, if you think space is the more dangerous and that is where you will be, so shall I.” She lifted her chin.

  Meriwether looked from me to Sumiko, eyebrows raised.

  Sumiko held herself taller. She spoke in English, her words heavily accented. “I am Nipa’s sister, a Jomon princess. You will need an ambassador representing the planet of Aynu-Mosir on legal matters, no?”

  Meriwether rubbed at his smooth chin. “If I am to understand you, you wish to leave your home and come with us?” He stared off into the distance, his eyes narrowing in thought. As much as I wanted to refuse Sumiko, if he should do so, I would insist she accompany us. “Does Nipa know of your plan?”

  Taishi Nipa turned and bowed upon hearing his title.

  Meriwether threw up his hands in exasperation. “Why am I always the last to know everything?”

  “What? We’re to have one more aboard?” Captain Ford demanded, coming in from outside. “There won’t be enough food. Where are those packages of beef brisket? Tell the natives to bring them back.”

  Part One

  The Memory Keeper

  Chapter One

  FOURTEEN YEARS EARLIER

  Our manifest destiny is to overspread and possess the whole of the galaxy allotted by Providence for the great experiment of rediscovered spaceflight.

  ―John L. O’Sullivan, New York journalist, 1845

  The day I lost my sister to the Klark family is one I’ll never forget. After all the times my older sister protected me and cared for me when I was injured and scared, I can only imagine how she loathed me for my inability to return the favor when she needed me most.

  The little shack where my sister lay on her bed of straw was dark and muggy, though cooler than the jungle outside. I waved away the blood moths, the miniature insects that had congregated in the mud hut since she’d given birth to the baby. Aynu-Mosir was no planet for falling in love and having babies, but my older sister had thought otherwise. Then again, she hadn’t known terra-scaping machines would savage the land and pollute the air, nor that fighting would break out amongst the surveyors over which planet claimed which territory of Aynu-Mosir.

  The blood moths landed on the healing scabs on my face and neck, making my skin itch like the devil every time they brushed against my cheek.

  I applied a cool, wet rag that I’d dipped in the stream to Felicity’s feverish forehead. She was far too ill to appreciate the fact that I’d torn the cloth from my favorite dress—which also happened to be my only dress. Her blonde hair was stiff with dirt and sweat and her face puffy.

  When I placed another cool cloth against her neck, she moaned and turned away from my hand. If she could last another day, I was certain the penicillin I was trying to grow on a sugar melon would take and I would be able to save her from infection. Only, I didn’t know enough about the bacteria that grew in this planet’s ecosystem. What if I killed her instead?

  Outside, the baby cried weakly. Taishi whispered a lullaby in the Jomo
n tongue. Whispering was about all we could afford to do. As it was, my newborn niece’s crying would draw predators or worse, Lord Klark’s men. After the way they’d blatantly attacked the Chiramantepjin village and killed our father, there was no one I feared or loathed more than Lord Klark.

  I held a wooden bowl of water to Felicity’s lips. When she refused to drink, I admit, I shook her by the shoulders. I wasn’t patient and gentle like she had been when I had gotten hurt. Then again, I was only sixteen, and I was still learning the fine art of patience.

  “Drink this now or you won’t be able to produce milk for your baby and she’ll die. Is that what you want?” I demanded.

  Felicity muttered something unintelligible and drank from the bowl. A moment later she turned toward me and vomited up the liquid, mostly onto my stained calico dress.

  “You have to go to the ship and get some antibiotics,” she said. Her gaze remained unfocused and her head lolled to the side.

  I took her face in my hands and made her look at me, at my mangled face so she might remember what had happened. “We cannot go to the ship. There’s nothing left, remember? You have to tell me what to do for you. I don’t know how to make you well. I’m try to make—”

  “Finish what you started.” She fell back onto the bed. “Kill me and put me out of my misery.”