Authors: Arwen Elys Dayton
Tags: #Science Fiction, #Fiction, #General, #Adventure
Resurrection (33 page)
The bus was air-conditioned, and the cold air was very welcome after standing in the midday heat on the cement platform outside. Adaiz carried a small bag of belongings over his shoulder. He stared down the aisle, letting his eyes sweep over the people seated along either side.
The vehicle was only half full. There were men and women of varying ages, some sitting together, some alone. A few glanced his way, but most were looking out their windows. He could smell them, not a bad smell, just a smell of bodies, mostly clean. There was also a faint chemical scent coming from the lavatory at the back of the bus.
Adaiz showed his ticket to the driver and worked his way down the aisle. He took a seat near the back. There was no one next to him. He set his bag down and glanced out the window as the bus gave a squeaky sigh and moved into gear.
This was the state of New York, in the United States of America, planet Earth. It was summer, and Adaiz was taking this bus from one coast of the continent to the other. It would be weeks before he arrived and joined Pruit.
Though a Lucien by upbringing and by loyalty, Adaiz had a human body, and he no longer resisted this. He wanted to experience humanity, wanted to be a part of it. Perhaps he could learn something about himself and teach something to his Lucien brothers as well. True enlightenment, he felt, had room to encompass all races.
He could feel someone’s eyes on him. He turned his head to find a young woman looking at him from her seat across the aisle. She glanced away when he looked, a little shy, but he could see the beginnings of a smile on her lips. She was nice looking, he thought, with dark hair and fair skin. There was something unusual about the way she was smiling. With a flash of understanding, he realized she was flirting with him.
He felt a tingling sensation in his abdomen. There was a feeling of attraction for her and an excitement about possible contact. He turned his head away, unsure if he wanted these sensations. After a moment, he realized he did. They were part of humanity, and he no longer objected to them.
The girl was looking at him again. Adaiz turned and met her gaze. Slowly, he smiled. The woman smiled back, and Adaiz felt that nothing could have been more natural than that silent interchange.
His favorite chant from the Katalla Oman came into his mind unbidden, but the words were altered to describe the path he was now taking:
This world exists
It surrounds me
I will pass through it
And become
Awareness
Light
A point of knowing.
The cabin sat at the top of a hill in Northern California, with oak and fir trees around it. It was a large house, with an enormous common area that included a living room, kitchen, and dining room. Above this area was a balcony that lead to several bedrooms. Off the living room were double doors leading to a garage, which had been converted into a workshop.
This was a house that belonged to Eddie, left to him by his grandmother when he was still a teenager. It held his fondest memories from childhood, of the summers he had spent there with his family, daydreaming about anything he wished.
It was evening now, and a warm breeze blew in through the windows. Eddie was in the workshop with the Engineer and the Doctor, arranging the tables and equipment under the Engineer’s direction.
Callen had arrived that afternoon, bringing her fiancé, a young man in a nice suit who sat on a kitchen stool with a somewhat bewildered look on his face. Callen was standing in the kitchen, talking into a wall-mounted phone and watching the television in the living room. A national news station was on, and the commentators, as they had been for the last month, were talking about the broadcast from Jupiter. “The government of Japan announced today that it is launching a program to study and develop the mathematical formulas broadcast to Earth three weeks ago. Japan becomes the fourth country to make such an announcement, following the United States, China, and Germany. The source of the broadcast, which appears to have originated from the vicinity of Jupiter, is still unknown…”
Callen spoke into the phone, raising her voice to overpower the two other parties on her conference call. “Dad, Mister DeLacy, I know you can get the broadcast information anywhere. But Eddie knows two people who can boost you ahead of anyone else. Everyone’s expecting at least a decade to figure this stuff out. You could have a spaceship
built
within three years.” That shut them up. “Yes, a spaceship. What do you think is up there making the broadcast? Yes, Eddie knows them,” she said, answering a protest from Eddie’s father. “Three years. We’re in the summer cabin. Come out here and see for yourself.”
Pruit was unpacking her small bag in the bedroom she and Eddie would share. The Engineer was going to build her an Eschless Funnel ship, and Eddie and Callen would ensure he had the help of Bannon-Delacy. Securing that help would be easy, once the aerospace company realized it would get full access to the Engineer’s knowledge. Broadcasting the Eschless data to Earth had been a teaser to ensure their interest and support.
The ship would be ready in three years, the Engineer promised her, and it would take only a few months to reach Herrod. She would arrive home long before the Lucien attack, with a fully built ship and plans to build more. The Kinley would have an edge, the ability to threaten the Lucien enough to stave off the attack, and even, perhaps, to move the entire Herrod population somewhere else.
In eight years—five years after she returned home—the transmission from her ship would arrive on Herrod and arrive on Galea, the Lucien capital, as well. The transmission was heavily encrypted. It would take the Lucien a few years to decipher it, but they would eventually have access to all the Eschless Funnel data as well. Thus, the Kinley would not have an opportunity to become aggressors and turn the tables on the Lucien. It would be a level playing field, and the two races would have to learn to coexist.
Later that night, the Engineer and Doctor were busy beginning work in the Engineer’s shop, and Callen and her fiancé were huddled in the kitchen, strategizing about the upcoming visit of Callen and Eddie’s fathers. Eddie snuck Pruit out of the house alone.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“You’ll see,” Eddie said, a hint of a smile in his voice.
He was holding her hand and leading her through trees and tall grass. The night was warm despite the late hour. The moon was nearly full and bright enough to cast distinct shadows. After ten minutes, they made their way out of the trees and, in a few moments, came upon a wide road. It was midnight, and there were no cars.
“This is the Pacific Coast Highway,” he said, pulling her across it. “It only leads to good places.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’ll see,” he said, putting a hand over her eyes as they reached the other side.
“What is it?”
“Stop asking questions!” He was laughing now.
He guided her down a short hill; then Pruit felt rocks beneath her feet. There was a rhythmic sighing sound in the air that she could almost recognize.
“All right,” he said and removed his hand from her eyes.
Stretched out before her was the nighttime expanse of the Pacific Ocean. It was blue black, under a sky of slightly lighter color, and there was a wide swath of moonlight across it. She was standing on a low outcropping above the water, and the breakers lapped against the sand a few dozen feet below, almost at her feet.
“The ocean…” she breathed. It was the first time she has seen an ocean in person. Even on their flights, the oceans had been obscured, by night or by clouds. Now, finally, here it was, water forever. “It’s beautiful.”
They sat together on the large rocks, watching the tide go out. Eddie leaned back and looked up at the sky. Despite the brightness of the moon, hundreds of stars were visible, for they were far from cities.
He took her hand and kissed it. Pruit wondered about love. Was it possible to love two people so different as Niks and Eddie? She leaned over and kissed him gently. Perhaps it was.
She lay back against the rocks and thought of Herrod, of its domed cities, of the Sentinel and her family. She would see them again. Soon. And there would be hope.
“It’s going to be a new world,” Eddie said softly.
Pruit looked at the stars. Within a generation, they would be within reach of three very different worlds. “A new universe,” she said.
She was experiencing a strange physical sensation. There was a nervousness in her stomach, coupled with elation. It was a feeling she had never quite encountered before, at least not in this magnitude.
Eddie saw the look on her face. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “I feel…strange. Like a weight has been lifted and the future is open. Like…like there’s no longer a set path before me. Instead, there are possibilities, and they are limitless.”
Eddie laughed and put his arms around her, pulling her close to him. “Pruit,” he whispered, “you’re happy.”
She smiled, looking out at the horizon, where the ocean met the sky, feeling his warmth, feeling the life within her and the life ahead. She kissed him and whispered back, “Maybe I am.”
THE END
Arwen Elys Dayton was born on the West Coast of the United States to a math professor father and a romantic mother, who named her after an elf in the
Lord of the Rings
. Arwen lives in Southern California with her husband and their three children.
Adaiz-Ari (Mission Officer Adaiz-Ari) (uh-daz’ ar-ee’):
Twenty-two years old. Male. Kinley, fertilized and born in a Lucien laboratory, from stolen Kinley genetic material. Considers himself Lucien. Member of Clan Warrior and Clan Providence. Full blood brother of both clans. Raised in Lucien family, as younger brother of Enon-Amet.
Archaeologist:
Forty-eight years old. Female. Ancient Kinley. Archaeologist and member of the Kinley Earth Survey crew. Wife of the Captain.
Avani (ah-vah’-ni):
The modern language of the Lucien.
Biologist:
Thirty-five years old. Female. Ancient Kinley. Biologist and member of the Kinley Earth Survey crew.
Callen St. John:
Thirty-two years old. Female. Earth human, Caucasian. Childhood friend of Eddie.
Captain:
Fifty years old. Male. Ancient Kinley. Military pilot with training in medicine. Leader of the Kinley Earth survey crew. Husband of the Archaeologist.
Champion
, the:
The Kinley survey team’s ship.
Clan Providence:
The military organization of the Lucien people.
Doctor:
Forty years old. Female. Ancient Kinley. Doctor and member of the Kinley Earth survey crew. Wife of the Engineer.
Eddie (Harris Edward DeLacy III):
Thirty-two years old. Male. Earth human, Caucasian.
Egani-tah (e-ga’-ni tah):
A form of Opening practiced by members of Clan Providence. It involves a ritual battle in which the opponents have a full spiritual connection with each other. High masters of the egani-tah can also force this state upon their opponents during battle, encompassing an enemy within themselves.
Engineer:
Forty years old. Male. Ancient Kinley. Member of the Kinley Earth survey crew and designer of the
Champion
, the Eschless Funnel ship that brought the survey crew to Earth. Husband of the Doctor.
Enon-Amet (Mission Leader Enon-Amet) (ee-non ah-met’)
: Twenty-eight years old. Male. Lucien. Member of Warrior Clan and Clan Providence. Elder brother of Adaiz-Ari and leader of the Lucien mission to Earth.
Eschless Funnel (esh’-les):
An engine that can propel a space-faring ship at speeds greater than the speed of light. The Eschless Funnel was developed on Herrod and used to power the Kinley survey vessel that landed on Earth in the third millennium BC.
Fifth Dynasty:
2498–2345 BC
Fourth Dynasty:
2613–2498 BC
Galea (ga-lay’-ah)
: The enormous asteroid that is the primary Lucien settlement. It lies at the edge of the Kinley star system.
Great Life (or Blessed Life)
: A modern Kinley imprecation. This curse derives from the generations of Kinley who struggled to keep the race alive.
Great War, the
: The Kinley name for the ancient war between Lucien and Kinley that resulted in the near destruction of both races. Called the
Plague
by the Lucien.
Haight (hite):
An ancient language of the Kinley, at one time the dominate language of science.
Herrod (hare’-ed):
The home planet of the Kinley. It resides in a neighboring star system to Rheat, once the home planet of the Lucien.
Horus:
Egyptian god, son of Osiris and Isis. He avenged his father’s murder by slaying Seth (they have many legendary battles). He ruled over all of Egypt and at the end of his rein turned over the empire to the line of human pharaohs.
Isis:
Egyptian mother-goddess. Wife of Osiris and mother of Horus.
Jack, The:
Forty-two years old. Male. Ancient Kinley. Member of the Kinley Earth Survey crew. Specialist in numerous disciplines, including the study of atmosphere and the interaction of humans with their environment. Known as a “Jack of all trades.”
Jean-Claude:
Eighteen years old. Male. Earth human, black. A French prostitute, working in the slums of Cairo.
Katalla-Oman:
A collection of Lucien religious teachings emphasizing the individual’s inherent ability to achieve unity with others around him and with the universe at large. Much of the Katalla-Oman is attributed to Omani, the god of wisdom.
Kinley (kin’-ly):
The human natives of the planet Herrod. During an earlier incarnation of their society, they were quite varied in genotype, with over a dozen distinct races. After the Great War, however, the tiny remaining gene pool resulted in a homogenized race, in which every member shared the same basic coloring and bone structure. The modern Kinley has copper-colored skin, hair that varies from dark brown to reddish brown, and blue, green, or gray eyes.
Lion:
Twenty-one years old. Male. Ancient Kinley. Zoologist and member of the Kinley Earth Survey crew. Named “Lion” by the Earth natives for his resemblance to this animal. Son of the Captain and the Archaeologist.
Lucien (loo’-shen:)
A nonhuman, mammalian race that evolved in a neighboring star system to the Kinley. Notable aspects of their physical appearance are their silver skin, which becomes reflective when exposed to sunlight; the triangular, slightly insectile shape of their heads; the heavy sheaf of bone that provides protection to their chests; and their two knee joints, one bending forward and the other backward, which allow their legs to absorb much greater impact than a human leg could withstand.
The Lucien originally inhabited Rheat, but after the Kinley-Lucien war, Rheat was left uninhabitable, and the Lucien society was thereafter based on the asteroid Galea at the outer edge of the Kinley star system.
Mechanic:
Forty-three years old. Male. Ancient Kinley. Member of Kinley Earth survey crew.
Mother:
The chief goddess in the ancient Kinley religion. Her name is often found in imprecations such as “Mother’s Love,” “Sweet Mother,” or “Mother-of-all.”
Nate Douglas:
Thirty years old. Male. Earth human, Caucasian. An employee of the American Embassy in Cairo.
Niks, Sentinel Defender Niks Arras of Telivein (niks)
: Twenty-five years old. Male. Kinley. Leader of the Kinley team sent from Herrod to Earth.
Old Kingdom:
A period of Egyptian history encompassing the Third through Sixth Dynasties, approximately 2700–2200 BC.
Omani (o-ma’-ni):
The Lucien god of wisdom and unity.
Opening:
A ritual meditation and mental exercise performed by Lucien. It involves expanding one’s spiritual reach to encompass the surrounding environment and sometimes the mind of another person.
Osiris:
Egyptian god. Ultimately became the god of the dead and is believed to have been the first mummy. Osiris was murdered by his brother Seth and eventually avenged by his son Horus. His wife and sister was Isis.
Plague, the:
The Lucien name for the ancient war between themselves and the Kinley. It is so called because the Kinley’s final action in the war was to release a specially engineered disease into the atmosphere of Rheat. This man-made plague wiped out the entire population of Rheat, leaving only the Lucien who lived on asteroid colonies alive.
Plaguers
: A Lucien term for the Kinley. See
Plague
.
Pruit, Sentinel Defender Pruit Pax of Senetian (Proo-it):
Twenty-five years old. Female. Kinley. Member of the two-man Kinley team sent from Herrod to Earth.
Rheat (ree’-aht):
The original home planet of the Lucien. No Lucien live on the planet in present day. It resides in a neighboring star system to Herrod, the home planet of the Kinley.
Saving Father:
A modern Kinley imprecation. The “Father” referred to is the ancient genetic scientist who mapped out the recovery of the race following the Great War.
Sentinel, the:
An elite military group charged with the ultimate responsibility for the future of the Kinley race.
Seth:
Egyptian god, brother of Osiris, whom he betrayed and murdered.
Skinsuit:
A web of cells that lives in the upper layers of the host’s skin. The cells of the suit can retreat into the host’s body or rise to the surface to provide an additional layer of “skin” as needed to protect the host from microorganisms in the environment.
Soulene (soo-leen’):
The modern language of the Kinley.