Emergence (13 page)

“So what do you think of Richard?” asked Daria, as they waited for the charaks that pulled their sleds to be fed and rested. Melissa smiled as she understood why they were called ‘ charaks,’ as after every bite of food they would utter ‘charak, charak.’ It was unseasonably warm, allowing them to sit unprotected around a small fire to talk.  

“Well, seeing as I’m his captive, I have a rather low opinion of him.”

“Ouch -- that’s kinda harsh!” cried Daria. “I mean, I heard they were a little rough with you at first, but you’re out here now, aren’t you?” She took a deep breath of air, and nodded with approval.  “Free to lean back and drink in the fresh cool air.”

Melissa couldn’t help but smile. “You’re different than the others.”

“Yeah, well, they all take themselves a little too seriously. I mean, life can’t always be about studying and crap like that.” She pointed to Richard, who was tinkering with a small metallic device. “Just look at him -- don’t you wanna just push him up against a wall, and plant a big one right on him?”

“No!” squealed Melissa. “Besides, I don’t think he’d know what to do.”

“Exactly -- that’s why you’d do it!” cried Daria, as she pushed back the thick tan hood to reveal more of her face. She was very light-skinned, and Melissa noticed for the first time the dozens of red freckles that clustered around her mouth, nose and eyes. “He’d go all red, and you’d finally wipe that insufferably smug smile off his face.”

Melissa nodded, relaxing a little, happy to talk like she did when she still lived on Imathrin, with nothing to worry or upset her.

“You ever kiss him?” asked Melissa.

“No -- almost,” she said dreamily. “About a year ago, when we were out exploring the metal ships, we got trapped in a shaft for a few minutes. We said a few things, and just as we almost got close enough . . . bam! The door slid open, my dad hugged me and helped me out, and that was that.”

“You never did anything since?”

“No,” she said with a sigh. “And I’ve tried every trick! When my father got sick, and I was upset, I purposefully cried a little more in front of him to try to get him to hug me and spend time alone with me.”

“You didn’t?” cried Melissa with glee.

“Yeah, yeah, I know, it’s lame, but it almost worked. He hugged me, and it was one of those long hugs, when I could even feel his heartbeat.” Daria sighed. “I tried a couple of more things like that, but none of them worked. He’s too important now, too focused on all the discoveries he made. Sometimes . . .”

“What?” asked Melissa.

“Sometimes I hate science. Don’t get me wrong, I love my friends and where I live. But I can understand why so many people for so long have let you Archsussa do all the hard work. I mean, to be freed of so much work, so many worries? I’ll bet if Richard and I had grown up in a world like that, we would’ve been together a long time ago.”

“Yeah, well, after the Second Apocalypse, you two might alo be dead.”

“But wouldn’t it be glorious to die together?”

Melissa was about to respond, as Daria’s tone worried her, when Vincent came and plopped himself down next to Melissa. She suddenly stopped caring about Daria, and started brushing back her hair and sitting up a little straighter for Vincent.  

“You talking ‘bout Richard again?” he asked, obviously irritated.

“No -- don’t be jealous!” squealed Daria. “What’s it to you, anyway?”

“I dunno. You sure you won’t try some glleli when we get back?”

Daria wrinkled up her nose. “You know I don’t go for that sort of stuff.”

“What’s glleli?” asked Melissa.

“You can’t have not tried it?” asked Vincent arrogantly, affecting airs. “I mean, you have
schools
up there in those levitating cities, don’t you?”

“Yeah.”

“And what do you do when you just want to get away, but you can’t go anywhere? When you just want to forget?”

Melissa was confused for a moment, then ventured; “we have sussa. It can give comfort, for times like that.”

Vincent sneered. “Well, we only have
science
. Snow and science! And there are sometimes you just want to feel warm and safe, sometimes when you don’t have a friend and you just want to feel like you belong. When we get back, and if they let you out, look me up, and I’ll let you try some.”

“She doesn’t want any of that stuff!” yelled Daria, pushing him.

“She just lost everything she knew, and is stuck with us, out here, looking at the wrong ends of a lot of guns.” Vincent laid a soft hand on Melissa’s knee. “If you ever want to feel like you’re back at home, safe, then try what I’ve got.”

“Come on, everyone!” yelled Richard. “Time to get going again -- we’ve got a long way to go.”

Vincent got to his feet, and extended a hand to Melissa. “Well, come on my Archsussa, can’t let our lord and master be kept waiting too long.”

It took a full hour to harness the charaks back into the sleds, but Melissa enjoyed the hard work. Though strong, with vicious teeth and intimidating eyes, the charaks were actually docile creatures who liked to have their lone ear massaged and scratched. Daria showed her how, and Melissa quickly got the hang of it, making one of them coo with delight. As she worked with the charak, Melissa noticed Richard’s eyes kept straying to her.

“I think he notices you,” said Daria.

“I think he worries I’ll get free. I see how he speaks to you -- he always lowers his voice, and it’s always softer and less harsh.”

“Maybe,” shrugged Daria, as they got back into the sled. “Maybe it isn’t too late for us after all.”

“What about Vincent; what’s his deal?”

Daria shook his head. “He’s the younger brother, and lives in Richard’s shadow. I think all the attention focused on Richard has made Vincent bitter. He was never into glleli when we were younger.”

“Is he . . . is he seeing anyone?”

Daria grinned from ear to ear, and Melissa blushed. “You like him, don’t you! Well get in line -- he’s got a lot of girls hunting for him. It’s just none of them ever caught him.”

They rode on, pressing the charaks hard, crossing over dozens of dunes. More than once Daria commented on how long it was, and was amazed Melissa covered all that distance on her own in such a short span of time.

Melissa herself was amazed at how long it took, but instead of reveling in her strength, she was impressed by the dedication of Richard and his scientists.
No matter how cold or tired they get, they still press on
.
And they do it not for more power or wealth, but simply to learn more, to understand more. I can see why they prefer to live alone, and why they would never ally themselves with Toby. Daria can’t be the only one who has dreams of the life on the Levitating Cities
.

Finally they arrived at the spot Melissa knew to be the resting place of the first vessel she explored. Only a small hump of metal could be seen, as the snow had once again smothered its form. Melissa offered to move it with her sussa, but Richard smiled wryly, and said; “I think science can do it just as well.”

As Richard rifled through the supplies, Melissa couldn’t help but scan the skies for her mother’s platform. Daria came beside her.

“I heard you have your own platform. Can you see it?”

“No,” said Melissa wistfully, “and I’m kind of glad I can’t.”

“Why?”

“Because it would make it all the harder to leave it again. Richard isn’t going to let me go. He’s going to squeeze every last bit of worth out of me, then throw me in a cell and lose the key.”

Daria squeezed Melissa’s hand. “I’ll see what I can do. Sometimes I can change his mind.”   

Richard came back with a bright-copper metal tool. He fiddled with some buttons on the top, and aimed it at the buried vessel.

“Witness my latest invention!”

“Oh great,” said Vincent snidely, coming beside Daria, “another wonderful invention from the glorious mind of my brother. Oh, please show us your intellectual magnificence.”

“Why’d you even come along?” demanded Richard, lowering the tool. “I mean, you have no interest in these planes -- no interest in science at all!”

“Maybe I want to be around to see you finally look the fool.”

“The fool?” demanded Richard.

“This cute Archsussa showing you something you’ve never seen. I think it’s hilarious.”

Melissa blushed, as all she heard was that Vincent thought she was cute.

“Can we get on with it?” yelled Daria. “It’s too cold and we’re too far from base for this kind of bickering.”

“Fine,” spat Richard. “Now stand back!”

A beam of cloudy yellow light fanned out from his tool, almost to the exact width of the vessel. The snow melted quickly where it touched, becoming white vapor. After a few minutes, most of the vessel was revealed, and Richard turned it off.

“That’s amazing,” said Daria, as she came to his side to examine the device. “How did you come up with something like this?”

“I knew at some point we would need to quickly excavate one of these vessels, and wouldn’t have the manpower to do it.” He walked to the side of the ship, where in large black letters was written:
Arial
. “At least we know the name of this ship. Let’s go inside, and see what our heathen has led us to. Guards; establish a perimeter, and radio me if anyone comes near.”

“Yes sir!”

“Come on, Daria. Let’s take a look.”

“Oh I’ll just wait out here,” yelled Vincent with scorn.

“Come on,” said Melissa, grabbing his hand. “No need to be the outcast.”

The four of them went inside the ship, and Melissa remembered it well. In her mind, she could see the hlenna spinning in the chairs, laughing uncontrollably. And she remembered sitting at the terminal with Asil at her side.

“Do you think we can turn them on?” asked Daria.

Richard pressed a few switches. “No, looks like there’s no power-flow.” He hooked a wire from the large metal box into a port under one of the screens. “This should do the trick though.”

The screens came to life, and Melissa cooed with delight. “You made it work! What can it do?”

“It can teach us.
Arial
; state your name.”

“A . . .” said a voice faintly from somewhere around them. “
Ari . . . Arial
.”

Melissa suddenly became scared, but Daria calmed her down. “It’s like our radios, except this is a machine mimicking a human’s voice.”

“And each ship had its own name for its system,” said Richard. “Now,
Arial
; where are you from?”

“
This ship was built in the Curungghal shipyards, orbiting the moon Mankla
.”

Richard nodded, impressed. “None of the other systems I’ve come across have been able to say this much. Their mechanisms had deteriorated too greatly.”

“What will you ask it?” asked Daria coming closer to him.

Richard thought. “Why are you here?”

“
The Arial was damaged, and crashed
.”

“Why were you near this planet? State your mission objectives.”

In an instant, the screen changed, as several images flashed as the Arial spoke.

“
Mission objectives: travel back in time to destroy Novan. This is to be accomplished with the three Buiron Devices. Detonation of only one will merely cause global devastation and knock Novan off-axis. Detonation of all three will obliterate Novan entirely. Target coordinates should place reentry at one-thousand years before any significant technological development, to minimize risk.”