Emergence (15 page)

It warmed her to finally hear her name from his lips, though she wasn’t sure if it was concern for her or greed for knowledge that lay behind his words. “I’ll be fine.”

She concentrated, focusing on the ribbon of white that lay beneath the fabric of creation. Carefully, she spoke the words she heard her mother use, focusing all her power with each syllable. From the farthest corners of their eyes, a thin line appeared, slowly opening to reveal the past. As it opened like a great eyelid, they passed through, and bore witness to what appeared to be gods fighting each other.

Three figures hung in space, as Melissa did. Ten ships darted around them, hurling great plumes of energy Melissa never imagined could have existed. Even from their faraway vantage point, the space around them burned and Melissa had to create a shield.

“Those must be . . . Overmen.”

The ships put up a valiant fight, struggling to keep the Overmen off-balance. They launched not only great bursts of energy, but brilliant rods of metal that flew faster than the eye could see. The bolts struck the Overmen through their bodies, and it was the only thing that seemed to bring them pain. But the Overmen eventually brushed them off, and together they fatally damaged the ships, sending them listing in space, venting plasma. In a wink the vessels vanished, racing back through time as a result of their failsafe devices.

“We should leave now,” said Richard anxiously. “I wouldn’t want to face them.”

Melissa knew she should leave, but against her better judgment remained. In an instant the Overmen saw her, and came near.

“Melissa . . .”

“Be silent, Richard. Let me handle this.”

They orbited Melissa, examining her up and down. They were dark beings, obviously humanoid, but with bodies that shifted under the dim light of the void. Their eyes were at once blue, then red, and they all seethed with unimaginable power. She could feel something scan her mind, and though she was stronger and wiser than ever before, she still could not prevent it.

“What a curious aberration,” said one.

“Yes indeed,” said another. “Even we can have ramifications on our timeline.”

“Back off!” shouted Melissa. “I can defend myself.”

They both laughed. “Oh my, you are a willful thing, aren’t you? Well, don’t worry. We have no desire to eliminate such an integral key to our past.”

One drifted close to her and said; “once you figure out what you are, then you have a hope of finding out what you will be.” He opened his hand, and Melissa felt herself being pushed back through the ribbon with Richard. “Now back to where you came from. Never again dare to venture this far into your future, or we will kill you, ancestor or not.”

After their return to their proper time, Melissa hung in space for a while, high above the Iquitian sky, looking down on a world with a new perspective. Richard clung to her waist, though his grasp was softer then it was before. For the first time since they left, Melissa was aware of how close they were. She could smell his thick, musky scent, and feel his heart beating at her side.

“I never imagined that one day I would see our world like this.”

“Nor I, Richard.”

He pulled himself level with her, and said; “I was so wrong about you, Melissa. Wrong about you and sussa.”

“Oh, Richard . . .”

He kissed her, and she kissed him back, feeling only tremendous warmth in the cold vacuum of space. Tenderness and passion suffused his touch, rendering his cold and clinical demeanor.

“Shall we return?” she asked, disappointed they needed to return, as the pocket of air she kept around them was dwindling fast.

“Yes but . . . let me do this.”

Richard threw the box he held far away from them, down towards the planet. After a few seconds it grew white-hot, before exploding in the upper atmosphere.

“I’m sorry, for how we treated you,” he said. “Will you stay with us, and be our Archsussa?”

Melissa was shocked. “Why this change?”

“I am looking down on the world for the first time in my life, and it is not with the help of science. The mighty beings we saw, these Overmen, seem to function with a kind of sussa. If it is they who eventually dominate all of creation, then why shouldn’t we work together now?” He kissed her again, on the lips. “You have done what Toby never could; made me have faith in an Archsussa.”

As Melissa led them back down to the surface, a great part of her felt vindicated, while a small part felt anxious and concerned. A great deal of responsibility was being thrust on her for the first time in her life, and she was unsure of how to feel. And as much joy she felt at being in Richard’s arms, feeling his lips on hers, it somehow felt hollow. When they returned, Daria seemed to echo her concern in her dour expression.

“Did you two have a good time?” she asked pointedly, her arms crossed about her chest.

“Yes!” cried Richard. “Wait ‘till you hear all that we saw -- it was utterly amazing.”

As Richard led Daria off, she looked back at Melissa with sadness and anger. Melissa couldn’t help but sigh, as things were getting very complicated for her. As they moved further away, they could be heard to bicker, and Melissa sat down in the snow and wished things had gone differently.

Why did I leave her behind? Why do I need to steal Richard from her?
The fatigue from opening the portal was taking its toll, and she had to sit in the snow. She could only conjur a small firesphere to keep herself warm, and she knew she wouldn’t be able to keep it going for long.
Because I can. Because I am more powerful than they are, and I should take what I want
.

“So, was it really all that wonderful?”

She looked behind her and Vincent stood, tall and proud. She was surprised that she didn’t even hear his footsteps.

“It was . . . enlightening.”

He sat down beside her, and absently made a few snowballs. “You alright?”

“Yeah, just tired. I probably shouldn’t have done that.” The firesphere dissolved, as she could no longer maintain it.

Vincent sighed. “I guess he’ll be the hero again when we get back. No matter all his lying, he’s come through for our people again.”

“Why are you so jealous of him?”

“Jealous?” scoffed Vincent. “I’ve got more girls than he could ever dream of, done things he can’t even imagine.”

Melissa thought for a moment, watching him as he threw the snowballs against the side of the ship. Part of her understood how Vincent felt, for she was probably just an idelfada; a copy of someone who had done great things. She knew she couldn’t tell him all about herself, but she felt sad.

“Maybe you just need to find your own path,” she ventured carefully, “try to make your own mark on --”

“Never mind,” he said dismissively with an angry wave of his hand, “don’t worry about me. Besides, this is time for you to be happy. I’ll bet they won’t be locking you up when we get back.” He got back to his feet, his fists clenched as he gazed out at his brother. “We should have a fête when we get back.”

“A fête?”

“Yeah -- with some music and song, where we all get together, all of us the same age, and forget about all the crap we put up with.” He relaxed her hands, and gazed down at her with warm eyes. “I guess you’ll be our guest of honor.”

“Oh . . . thanks!”

“Don’t thank me yet -- we’ve got to pull those two apart so we can head back, and not freeze out here.”

Melissa watched as he ran off, wondering if she had chosen the right brother.

Chapter 14

It was a struggle for her to make it back to the ship of the scientists. She had thought herself to be powerful, but opening the ribbon into the past, going above Iqui drained her to a point that she could barely breathe. She cursed herself for ignoring how it killed her mother, just so she could show off for Richard.

A boy made me this stupid?
she thought as she lay in a cramped litter, pulled by a couple of charaks and guided by one of the guards.
But he actually kissed me . . . Looking like this, as heavy as I am, he actually kissed me. I felt his heart next to mine, and for a few brief moments, it was just him and I. And I felt so light in space!

It was the memory of his kiss that kept her going until they returned. Richard came beside her often during the journey, holding her hand, asking if she was alright. And as much as she loved that, and was beginning to love him, she felt sad at the friendship she lost with Daria.

Once back, she was taken to a quiet room with a small window, a plate of food, and a large bed. As much as she wanted to eat, sleep beckoned her like never before. And no matter her training or the voice inside her mind telling her to stay awake so she could become a better Archsussa, she fell instantly asleep.

It seemed like she was asleep for only a few moments, when shouting woke her up.

“Damned you, Richard!” she could hear from just outside the door. She could tell it was Daria, and slowly she crept out of bed and closer to her door. It sounded as if they had a suite not far from hers and they were arguing with the door open. “Why do you want to use her powers now? What happened to your commitment to science?”

“What happened to your love of the Archsussa?” he countered.

“I liked them fine, until you fell in love with one.”

Melissa’s heart fluttered, her spirit danced on the ether, kept aloft by the warm thought of him. She almost squealed with glee.
He really likes me
, she thought.
A real man, not one whom I created, loves me
.

“So what if I like her? She can help us advance our scientific understanding in weeks rather than decades. What she has shown us already answers so many questions.”

They argued back and forth, becoming more heated as Melissa sat back against the door.
All I have to do is go out and claim him
. She got up, and found a basin to wash her face. As she surfaced from the ablution, she was confronted by her reflection. Admittedly it was made harsh by the artificial light in her suite, but it still was truth. She had bags under her eyes, fat, doughy cheeks, and a jowl under her chin.

I look nothing like Daria -- she is thin, and healthy, and beautiful
. They joy in her face disappeared in an instant, replaced by abject sadness.
I am so ugly! How any boy could like me, let alone kiss me . . . But he did kiss me, didn’t he? And he held my hand on the way back, making me laugh.
She shook her head and pulled herself away from the mirror, out of its seductively depressing grip that threatened to consume her whole.
I’m too tired for this.

She lay back down, and fell instantly asleep. As she slept, her mind spun furiously over what she culled from Richard’s mind. When first she reached out to him, she understood some basic concepts like what a computer was or how the images appeared on it. But his mind was filled with chemical formulas and mathematical equations, and it was too much to instantly absorb. But now that she slept, her mind processed that information, reconciling advanced theorems with basic knowledge. It was as if sussa enabled her to be schooled in math and science at a terrifically fast rate. When she woke some time later, it was with a vastly superior intellect that no Archsussa ever had before.

The next morning brought a summons from the governing council. Melissa in fact had no idea there was a governing council, and was surprised that the scientists were that organized. As Richard led her to the Council Hall, he explained that the ship they lived in was in fact the capital of a Daїra. Ten similar communities existed in a rough circle around this one, separated by wide mountains and snow, but linked by ancient underground tunnels through which they ferried people and supplies. He warned her that though Sliona may have expressed some semblance of friendship that she and the other councilors were merciless and pitiless, which is how their community was able to survive for so long.