Free Sister of the Sun by Clare; Coleman Page A

struck a tiny bowl. Sparks flew...
    He yelped in surprise. The weapon sailed across the floor of his shelter. But still there was no blast of thunder.
    He began to laugh at himself for his fear. Retrieving the thing, he held it once more on his lap. There was a secret here, one that would take patience to discover. This time he forced himself to watch carefully as he pulled back the head and let the beak strike. Once more, sparks jumped in the bowl.  
    Despite his surprise, he managed to hold on to the weapon. He produced sparks several times, but that was all he could achieve. Something was lacking, and only the foreigners could tell him what it was.  
    He lay back and wondered how he could get the answer.
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    FIVE
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    The next morning Tepua stirred at dawn. This was a quiet time, when the only sound was the distant roar of waves pounding the reef. She sat up in the gloom, waking in the house that had just been built for her. Using material brought from every part of the atoll—rafters, cord, sheets of thatching—the structure had been hastily erected. Compared with the open, airy Tahitian houses, it felt low and cramped. But the furnishings were the best her people could offer—mats, fine baskets, stools of polished wood. In the air Tepua smelled the tang of drying leaves and the subtler scents of the building's lashed, wooden framework.  
    Her attendants still lay sleeping in a row, one stretched out beside the other. Tepua could sleep no longer, not on this morning. Her thoughts turned to the welcome news brought last night by the tahunga . Under his treatment the foreigners showed signs of improving. She had hope now that their gods would relent and take away their sickness.  
    Eager to see how the strangers were faring, Tepua rushed outside before her yawning servants could rouse themselves. On the expanse of coral sand in front of her doorway, her paddlers also lay asleep. They jumped up from their mats when they heard her approaching and raced to launch her pahi .  
    The first rays of sunlight touched the beach. She stopped a moment to gaze out at the foreign vessel, anchored beyond the underwater reef flat. With its wide, red-painted hull, the boat seemed utterly out of place there. Lagoon water lapped quietly, disturbing the reflection of the bare mast and its stays. She could see nothing of the sailors and assumed that they were sleeping beneath the thwarts.  
    Tepua glanced about her, noting that the shore was almost deserted. What a change from yesterday's commotion! Yet she knew how fast word of the remarkable arrival could spread. Soon the waters would be teeming with canoes. If she wanted a quiet visit with the strangers, then she must go to them now.  
    Guards stood waiting to join her on her pahi . They held their spears upright, the ends resting lightly on the ground. "Stay here," she told the men.  
    "The kaito-nui said we must remain with you," the leader of the guards insisted.  
    "Then where is he? I will have him change your orders."
    The guard looked first at his companions and then down at his feet. "Paruru's hand touched the foreign vessel," he said in a low voice. "A priest sent him away—to make sure that he took no taint."  
    Tepua scowled. She had not heard anything about this from Faka-ora. "I admire the priest for his caution, but with Paruru gone you must take orders directly from me. No warriors. I do not want the strangers frightened again." She turned, signaled to a brawny paddler, and was carried through the shallows onto the waiting craft.  
    " Ariki !" the warrior captain cried from shore. "We do not know what weapons these foreigners have. Let us follow you in our own canoe. We will not approach unless you need us."  
    Tepua sighed. The strangers had shown no signs of hostility since yesterday's unfortunate event, yet she knew that the man's advice was sensible. "Launch your canoe," she told him, "but stay near shore.