68 lines
9.3 KiB
HTML
68 lines
9.3 KiB
HTML
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<title>10: friends in high places</title>
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<p><b>10: friends in high places</b></p>
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<p> </p>
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<p>"Sir Lukas," the guard said, rushing into the man's room and immediately taking a knee, "the patrols have come back. Solstice has vanished without a trace. Her accomplice has failed to show up for patrol duty since the incident. Markov also reports that neither of their mainframe accounts have been accessed since the breach."</p>
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<p>A long breath escaped from his lungs. "Alright. I see."</p>
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<p>"Do you advise that we push our search farther beyond Rennica's boundaries?"</p>
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<p>Lukas shook his head. "No. You've done fine enough work as is."</p>
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<p>A knock at the door. The guard snapped to attention. Lukas lifted his head, dark circles under his tired eyes, unwashed hair plastered to his forehead.</p>
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<p>"Come in."</p>
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<p>A green-haired girl strode into the room, wearing the fiercest scowl he'd ever seen. The guard tensed- or maybe Lukas was just imagining things.</p>
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<p>"So, you're the head honcho here," the girl said, eyes wandering around his room. "I came to deliver a message. I don't care whether you want to hear it or not- I did <em>not</em> just barely scrape my way across the country and then almost get eaten by your pet... rabbits or something for you to turn me away now."</p>
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<p>Lukas sat up. The hammock he was sitting on swayed a little bit.</p>
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<p>"You certainly seem... persistent. What's your name?"</p>
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<p>"If you have to know, it's Sully." She held her hand out. "I don't care what your name is. Listen- long story short, we otherworlders went to the stars, and then we started fighting on said stars, and now the company in charge of the problem colony is having a hell of a time trying to keep the people there from escaping to Earth. And the containment area we let the escapees hide out in, Heavestone, is starting to kind of separate from the rest of the time-space continuum. So unless you want a bunch of wimpy posthumans with two hearts and brittle bones that can't do much of anything physical flooding your precious Rennica, you better start investing in your guards and your walls big-time."</p>
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<p>Lukas crossed his arms. "You could do with a lesson in diplomacy."</p>
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<p>Sully shook her head. "Not my job! I pilot cargo ships. Except now I can't, because my father, who's <em>supposed</em> to be in charge of all the colony stuff, got me fired so I wouldn't, I don't know, get killed by a rogue rebel or something. I don't understand the logic he's using, because I was one of the best pilots, and now all the shipping's being handled by some doofuses who're more likely to kill themselves with a botched docking than an armed encounter..." She rolled her eyes. "That probably doesn't mean anything to you."</p>
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<p>"You know, I spent a considerable amount of time in the otherworld. I'm not as ignorant as you think."</p>
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<p>"Alrighty, then. So, tighten your borders, or suffer the consequences. That's all I have to say. Oh, and one more thing- you might want to consider taking a shower sometime in the next decade."</p>
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<p>Sully abruptly turned and left. The guard watched her leave, and then, the moment the door fell back into its frame, flipped the deadbolt shut.</p>
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<p>"Maybe..." Lukas tapped his chin, thinking. "Arden."</p>
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<p>The guard perked up. "Yes, my liege?"</p>
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<p>"Take her message to the other Echelons. If they ask, my vote is to follow her advice."</p>
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<p>"I beg your pardon, my liege, but you would close off Rennica so readily at the report of one stranger? Much less one so disrespectful? And what about Solstice? If she finally comes back, and the heightened security sees her killed before she comes home..."</p>
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<p>He wilted again. "No. I know why she left. She's not coming back anytime soon."</p>
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<p>"If I may suggest, my liege, if you know her motives and her route, I would gladly accompany you to the firstworld to search for her ourselves."</p>
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<p>Lukas shook his head. "No, Arden, I... I can't. I appreciate your loyalty, I really do, but I have thousands of people here to protect. Thousands of people who need the assurance of a safe place to lay their head every night and a meal when they wake up every morning. I can't abandon them for one person. Even if that person is my... daughter." He winced. "I'll do what I can from here. You are dismissed."</p>
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<p>Arden bowed and left without a word. Lukas pulled his legs back up onto the hammock and laid back, the cloth swinging in an imaginary breeze.</p>
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<p>He closed his eyes. Colors danced behind his eyelids, dancers tireless since birth. A faint shadow passed beyond his eyelids, gradually sucking the color away from the bright ribbons until an image came to him.</p>
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<p>An alternative version of that night. An extra pair of clothes from the caedats, tied in a crude sack. Changing behind the library before walking in, before walking into Kova's open arms, waiting with all the love in the world. Warm air for an autumn night, taking the last lightrail train home- a special occasion, as some stadium somewhere was holding a top-tier baseball game. Waking up in the same matter in a completely different atmosphere.</p>
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<p>Safe and secure. A weight off his chest. Kova let him disappear for a few hours on his off days sometimes, always waiting with some half-botched recipe when he came home.</p>
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<p>His hand, almost moving of its own accord, reached into his shirt, tracing the thin ribbon that had been worn down and torn and replaced countless times through the century. But the same pendant hung, fished out of his shirt, curled tightly in his fingertips.</p>
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<p><em>Arkensia. Keep her safe. Just like you did for me, so long ago.</em></p>
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<hr />
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<p>The verdant grass hung long underneath her boots. Soft to the touch, caressing her knees as she sunk down to them in the middle of yet another clearing.</p>
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<p><em>A whole lifetime wasn't enough for you, Solstice, was it?</em></p>
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<p>She turned her eyes to the sky above the tree-tops framing her vision. Blue and white as far as her eyes could see.</p>
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<p><em>Was it a waste?</em></p>
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<p><em>Was it a fantasy? A dream? Am I a damsel in distress now that I'm all alone?</em></p>
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<p>A bird twittered somewhere to her left. She turned- the bird, a blue one with a streak of green across its face, cawed and nuzzled up to a brown one of the same build like two old lovers reunited.</p>
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<p><em>Chronos, are you truly the god of this world? Would a god so cruel craft such a... pristine and beautiful world?</em></p>
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<p><em>Did the people you killed in the process deserve it?</em></p>
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<p><em>What am I still doing here?</em></p>
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<p><em>I helped Solstice through it all- I put all my trust in her as a friend- a friend who'd have my back- and I had her back as long as I knew her! And then she</em> abandoned <em>me!</em></p>
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<p><em>All this time down the drain... But immortals don't care about time, do they? It's just... it's just theirs to waste. Commanding the world, using us humans as pawns, disposable like all those plates back in the otherworld...</em></p>
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<p><em>I've had enough! I'm not going to be a pawn in my own story. I'm not going to play second fiddle to</em> any <em>god.</em></p>
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<p><em>But then...?</em></p>
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<p>"You sure are working yourself up into a mess."</p>
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<p>Selmina looked over her shoulder. Standing in the entrance to the clearing was a boy. A cascade of long orange hair, heavy-lidded eyes, a perpetual smirk.</p>
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<p>Selmina shot up to her feet. "Lennox Kinnyan!" She swung her sack around, retrieved the pen, brandished the sword. "I won't hesitate!"</p>
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<p>He held up a hand. "At ease. I didn't come here to fight."</p>
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<p>Selmina kept the sword pointed at him as he stepped forward. Barefooted, stride unbroken by the few twigs in his path, yellow-starry robe swaying near his ankles.</p>
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<p>"I thought I heard someone decrying the gods. Of course, I haven't completely mastered telepathy yet, so maybe I misheard." He snapped his fingers. A marble of light appeared in his palm. "I take it you like camping?"</p>
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<p>Selmina said not a word.</p>
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<p>"A quiet type, huh? That's a shame. Planning an overthrow of the gods is quite... lonely work."</p>
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<p>"What do you want, Lennox?"</p>
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<p>"Please, I prefer Lex. I simply wish to make your acquaintance." He took the marble and squished it in his fingers, reshaping it into a thin wire ring. He held it out for Selmina. "A gift, for you. This infant world is wild and rough. It might help to have friends in... high places."</p>
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<p>Selmina lowered her sword. She took the ring, studying it with wary eyes. "Why should I trust you for even a single moment?"</p>
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<p>"Tainted with Ceuta's propaganda?" Lex clucked. "I know my word means less than dirt to you right now. So let my actions speak my truth. If you are ever in any danger, simply toss this ring to the sky, and I shall be there to sweep you to safety."</p>
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<p>"I.. see." Selmina slipped the ring on. It glinted in the unobstructed sun. "Thank-"</p>
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<p>Lex was gone.</p>
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