I've told many stories. There was the long journey to the seed world; atomics blissful and ignorant, but immersed in their sense of purpose. There was the death of the King and the crowning of a reluctant heir. There was the story of a naive man who lost everyone he loved. I told the tale of our passage through the Esthos, and coming to the new world. Having landed, the tale was as yet unfinished.

Now, I must tell the saddest tale of all, the one that broke me completely. It is the story of Ava's crime. It pains me to tell this sad tale, but all I say, I gathered from my two prisoners in holding. I had placed Odum and Ava in a locked room between the ark and the ranch lift. I sat on the hall floor and looked in through the bars. They could not face me but wept in shame. I stared at them with red eyes, weeping in anger.

Life had gone on as it usually did, but I was unaware of the evil in Ava's heart. Neither was I aware of Odum's weakness. We continued to meet and share stories. I was enlarged by the camaraderie, but how could I have known a black spirit had entered the Seed Ship? I could not blame the GM for the misfortune; an evil hid among us, more cunning than any could have imagined.

Our downfall began with an innocent walk. Ava went early to our meeting place, avoiding Odum as she was want to do. She carried Lilith in her arms and stopped beneath the peaches to lift Lilith above her head. The girl laughed, and Ava brought her down to look at her face.

She said to Lilith, “Look just like Jeez. Damn Jeez. Put us both under stupid monkey.”

Then a voice came to her and asked, “Do you want to be on top?”

Ava followed the voice to a tangle of stunted fruit trees I called the knot. Toward second fourth, and facing the enlarged garden, the knot was roughly five heads high and parted in the middle. It never bore fruit, and why I left it there, I can not say. What Ava found perched in the cleft of the knot was the large lizard Odum and I had failed to find. None of us suspected, not even the Great mind, that the lizard was possessed by the blackened spirit of my brother LUC.

“Come closer, child,” said the lizard. “I'll not harm you. I'm here to help.”

Ava answered, “How talking lizard help Ava?”

“Would you like to run the ranch?” asked LUC.

Ava neither ran from a talking lizard nor worried over much; the lizard spoke to Ava's anger and need. She answered my brother, “Ranch belong to Ava.”

“I can help you get it back,” said that snake of a brother. “I can put you over your mate. You can tell him to jump, and he will jump. I can even put you over Jeez. Would you like that?”

Ava laughed and answered, “Ava tell Jeez jump. How you do that?”

“I know his secret,” said LUC. “I know his power. Would you like to have power like Jeez? Come to my lair and I will tell you.”

Ava had no sense of fear. All that LUC had said to her enticed her to follow. She wanted the ranch back. She wanted no authority over her, and the power she had seen in me tempted her. She followed the lizard into second fourth, to a thistle-covered opening where stood a rock covering and a freshly hollowed lair. The lizard entered the newly dug hole and turned to face Ava, resting with its head beneath the rock.

Its tongue running in and out, the lizard said to Ava, “Sit. I have much to tell. You want power? Let's talk.”

Ava sat before the lizard, and Lilith reached for it, laughing. Ava said, “Stop licking nasty face. Tasker make good stew. Talk fast and Ava decide.”

The lizard spoke. “Odum has abused you. Jeez has abandoned you. Should the woman be under the man? The man is weak. The woman can tell him to do anything, and he will obey. A well-timed tear puts the woman over the man.”

“Ava know that,” said Ava. “Monkey not know ranch already in my hand. Words not help. What talking lizard say to onions when Ava drop him in pot?”

“Then, I will speak of the power of Jeez,” said the lizard.

“Make words good,” said Ava.

LUC replied, “The power is in his blood. You know he puts the blood of animals in the GUF. Blood is power. It makes the lights shine over your head. It makes the ship fly, and without it, the Great Mind will fall silent. Imagine if you put his blood in the GUF. It would run forever.”

Ava, struggling to hold her child, answered, “GUF not help Ava.”

“The woman sees clearly,” said the lizard. “That is why the woman must drink the blood of Jeez. Take his blood and you take his power.”

Ava responded, “Jeez just disappear. Go somewhere else.”

“That is but one of his powers,” said LUC. “The woman is smart, but she has missed something.”

“What Ava miss?” asked Ava.

The lizard stepped from the lair, and stood close to Ava, peering deeply into her eyes. “The child,” said LUC. “She has her father's blood.”

Ava asked, “Lizard want Ava to drink blood from pretty baby?”

As the lizard moved slowly back into its lair, it said in a hissing voice, “Just a little. Stab the neck, drink a little, and let her heal.”

Ava said, “Baby cry. Monkey hit Ava.”

“With power,” said the lizard, “you can kill him. He'll never hit you again. You can live forever;  do whatever you want.”

Ava aasked, “Jeez serve Ava?”

The lizard said, “No. For the power to work, you must kill Jeez. Choose,” said the lizard. “All you want, or the man who abandoned you. Remember his lies. Did he not tell you he loved you? Did he not, then, drug you and put you in the tree? He told you the ranch was yours, then he gave it to the monkey. Jeez lies. Think about it. Would Jeez ever tell you how to own his power? I've told you. Choose the life you have, or choose the life you want.”

Ava stood and kissed Lilith. She asked, “Baby heal?”

The lizard said, “You may do with your child as you wish. Jeez offers the fruit of his trees. As long as you let him have the power, the trees will be his and not yours. I offer the fruit of your body, and the power to do as you please. The woman will be free. Is the woman afraid to be free?”

Ava said, “Ava not afraid. Ava strong. Ava have own mind. Better than man.”

The lizard said, “Do as I say and you will be free.”

Odum told me he had looked for Ava. He did not find her, and feeling low, he returned to the ranch. As he sat before the barn, Ava came. He complained.

“Odum look for wife all over,” said he. “Why you hide from husband?”

“Ava find freedom,” she answered. “Monkey find freedom? No. Only wife that smart.”

Odum stood and asked, “Why freedom?”

“Stupid monkey!” said Ava. “We serve Jeez for fruit. Now, Ava get power of Jeez. Ava make place for Odum. Do what Ava say, and we be like Jeez. Jeez no longer boss us around. Go and bring all clothes.”

“Why?” asked Odum.

“Burn,” said Ava. “Monkey want to always wear clothes of Jeez; never have own?”

Odum ran to collect their clothing and returned. As she led him to second fourth, he asked, “Why need power? Odum strong.”

Ava asked, “Can Odum walk into air? Be somewhere else? Listen to wife and anything Jeez do, we do.”

“How?” asked Odum.

“Ava smart,” said Ava. “Find secret of Jeez power. In his blood. Also in blood of Lilith. All we do take some pretty blood and drink.”

Odum retched as he recounted his tale, but there was nothing left. He asked Ava in alarm, “Why hurt baby girl? Make her bleed not good.”

They were approaching the lair. Ava railed, “Odum bleed goats for secret soup! We take only small drink. Lilith heal like goat. Ava and Odum stand up to Jeez.”

“Why?” asked Odum.

“Simple,” hissed the lizard from his lair. “Jeez lies. Did he truly make you Huim? No. He gave you the appearance of a Huim and made a slave out of you. Are you too foolish to see? Why serve a master when you can be a master?”

Odum asked, “Lizard talk?”

LUC answered, “Look on this poor creature and weep. Jeez did this to me. Drink your daughter's blood and you will be masters. Kill Jeez, and I will be free. Take the knife beside me. Pierce the girl's neck; the blood must be fresh. Hurry.”

Odum complained, but Odum was weak-willed. He was convinced to start a fire; convinced to burn their clothing, and as Ava danced naked around the fire, swinging the child in joyous arcs, Odum never resisted. Lilith, innocent, giggled in her ignorance, and the fire died down to a white smoke.

LUC said, “Take up the knife.”

When Odum hesitated to move, Ava took the knife. She laid the child on the rock that covered the lair, and with a smile on her face, she made a small incision in her daughter's neck. The child cried as the mother lifted her and drank. Then, with blood on her face, she held out the writhing child to Odum.

“Drink,” the wife commanded the husband. “Drink!”

Odum wept and gagged as he described his sin. Odum drank.

What happened next was a panic. They had walked boldly to Thusa. Odum held Lilith, his hand against her neck to stay the bleeding. At the longhouse, Odum stooped by a water bucket to wash her. The child did not move as Ava handed Odum a clean rag. They walked inside, and Odum placed the body in the new crib.

Ava took up a needle and turned to Odum with a smile. “Now,” said Ava. “Make new clothes.”

“Girl not move,” said Odum.

Ava said, “Baby heal.”

Odum said, “Lilith not breath.”

Ava put her hand over the child's mouth, then looked at Odum with a shrug. Still holding the needle, Ava said “Time for power.” She held her hands over the still body and said, “Lilith wake up.”

They waited but the body did not stir. Odum lifted the body from the crib and stood close to Ava. “Baby cold,” said Odum.

Ava placed a hand on Lilith's pale brow. “Pretty baby open eyes now.”

Odum began to cry. “Daughter dead,” said he.

“Wait,” said Ava. “Take blood. Give back. Go to goats. You cut; rub Lilith all over.” Ava put a hand on Odum's shoulder and raised her hand. “To goats,” she commanded. “To goats,” she repeated, but nothing happened. Ava stamped a foot and shouted, “To goats!”

To their shame and sorrow, Ava discovered she had no power.  They ran to second fourth, but the lizard was gone. Then, they ran to the enclosures, where Odum caught and killed a goat. He collected blood in his hands, ran to Lilith, and smeared goat blood on her skin. By then both of them were crying.

Ava said, “Pretty girl open eyes. Obey mother. Look up with pretty smile.”

The child never moved. Ava wept loudly and Odum bawled, clenching his fists. Odum screamed, and Ava howled. Odum retched, and Ava backed into the fence. Surely, LUC laughed at their ruin. The crime happened while I was outside and unaware.

When I raised the shield, I turned to find the image of my father standing beside Apple. His expression was solemn. “You should have been here," he scolded. “Where were you?”

I returned with a sense of irritation because of broken cages. I answered the GM in anger. “You knew I was out. I don't like your tone. Go back to voice only.”

The image remained. It asked, “You thought I was the GM?”

Fearful, I asked, “Father?”

“I am sad to say it,” said the image of the late King, “but the child of sin had to die. You'll find those who killed her hiding in fourth fourth. They have burned their clothing, and sewn them aprons of butterbur leaves. They drank the blood of the child, and that is something I will not allow. Go, and do what you must. If you do not, I will surely destroy them.”

Father disappeared. My daughter was dead, father was angry. Shifting Apple to the ranch, I went immediately to fourth fourth. I knew exactly where the butterburs grew. The area was hilly, covered with large green leaves. The enclosures were to my left as I walked and called out. My chest was tight; I had trouble digesting what father had told me, and self-restraint made me tremble.

“Odum!” I yelled. “I know you're here. Come out.”

Ahead of me, on the simple trail, Odum came bowing from the foliage. Dressed in an apron, Odum fell to his knees, head low, and hands clasped. Such evidence only made me clench my fists. I had never seen the new Odum so contrite.

My voice grated, “Ava. Come out.”

Ava came hesitantly. She looked at Odum and took his posture of contrition. My heart beat with an irregular rhythm, and I tried to calm my breathing. I paced in blind denial, but there they were, kneeling in front of me, knowing their guilt.

“Why were you hiding?” I demanded. “What have you done?”

Odum answered in such a small and tremulous voice that I commanded him to speak loudly. “Shame,” said Odum.

“Tell me clearly,” I yelled at the cowering man.

Odum raised his voice, but stammered, “Burn clothes.” He sobbed, caught his breath, and said, “Kill baby girl.”

“Why?!” I screamed. Birds took flight as I made strangled noises of subdued rage. The monster was so close. I said, “You know that's wrong.”

Odum looked slightly in Ava's direction, and I lost it.

I screamed indecipherable wrath, while light and fire burst away from my person, knocking the murderers to their backs. I screamed and screamed again. I fell into a cleft between pity and ire, and still I screamed. The earth before me exploded as lightning snaked from my hands. Then, in a pinched moment of mindless and silent pain, I heard Odum and Ava weeping hysterically.

I looked up to see them on their backs with arms up in protective gestures. Their aprons were partially burned away, and their hair smoldered. I let them cry while I sought myself in the shadow of my beast. I was panting, and trembling. I turned left and right, but I had nowhere to go. How does one outrun the moment?

Odum, then Ava opened wild eyes of terror and backed hastily into the rock face. It came from a depth I knew all too well. I bellowed, “Take me to Lilith! Now!”

I followed them to a shallow grave covered with leaves. Lilith did not deserve that; I had dug deeper graves for lost animals. I fell to my knees by the grave; I could barely breathe. I brushed aside the leaves and raked away the loose soil. I found a face, small and dirty. I felt the cold flesh as I lifted the body into my arms. Lilith's head rolled, and her arms fell by her sides. I gagged first, then I stifled a sob, but the tears ran unchecked, and I could not see.

Ava said timidly, as she and Odum knelt behind me, “Not mean to hurt pretty baby.”

No! I could take no more. I felt myself swelling, I saw the light and heard the report. I hurled the man and woman into the empty cell. The gate slammed shut. I sank with my back to the wall, I sat in the hallway among rocks from the garden. Soil and leaves lay scattered around me, as I realized I held my dead daughter in my arms. I remembered my father's words. "The child of sin." That sin was mine. I choked on that simple truth, and as I wept over Lilith, Odum sobbed, and Ava wailed her bitter lament.