Moon 514- Blaze and the White Griffon

by Drew Briney

  His first impulse was to go into Evelia’s room. Not only did he instinctively think that it would be a fun experience to share with someone else, he remembered that she (unlike he) had a relatively large window in her room that would allow a pretty good view of their travels – and he desperately wanted to look at whatever they might be able to see. But it is 3:00 a.m., he considered, unsure whether or not she was awakened by the rumbling and whether or not she might be properly dressed if he just popped in.

  Besides, she hadn’t visited him at all the day before and she had promised to visit him (rather than him visiting her) so maybe she just needed more time alone to mull over her decision about accessing the magic woman’s memories. Still considering knocking on her door, he couldn’t stop stressing over this detail. He tried to convince himself that she was probably just feeling especially tired but he worried that maybe she just didn’t feel like visiting him – or maybe some of the crewmen locked her chambers so she couldn’t visit Blaze – or maybe something bad had happened to her. Any of these solutions were reasonable given his understanding of the situation. The only thing that kept him from just barging in to check on her the night before was his respect for her – but that decision haunted him when he considered the possibility that something might be wrong, that his inaction might have unintended consequences just because he placed too much significance on some unimportant and casual decision to have her visit him in his chambers instead of the other way around. Now, those competing concerns were coupled with the unexpected launching of the ship, which Blaze considered, in the long term of things, was relatively insignificant – Still, it would be a shame to possibly miss a view of leaving earth … just because of a small detail … a possible misunderstanding.

  As he mulled over these thoughts, he noticed his cube glowing. Although the updated cube was relatively new to him, he was surprised at how frequently he discovered new functionalities - functional cube advancements had been uncommon in his Order. While walking towards the cube, he ordered the room lighting to increase in brightness. He was wide awake now; he might as well act like it.

  The cube projected 3D lettering spelling the words “Ship News: 5” in a brilliant, metallic blue serif font with the number bolded. Blaze pinched the letters and pulled to expand the file, trusting that this interface functioned the same way as any other holographic file. It did. Thumbing through the messages, he saw that the messaging began two days ago while he had been chatting with Evelia. Surprising …I did not notice the glow yesterday, he quizzically thought to himself.

  The first announcement explained that the ship would be launching at 3:00 a.m. this very morning and that everyone should expect some rumbling noises, moving sensations, etc. – only the deck crew needed to get up early for launch. Everyone else could watch the view from the launching deck where smaller spacecraft were stored. Nice, Blaze inwardly grumbled, for everyone except me – stuck in my room with no view!

  Another message announced that a committee was reviewing footage of Dr. Boyd’s heart attack to see whether or not there was evidence of foul play. A third message linked several files where people from different Orders could meet crewmen with the same or similar specialties to discuss and learn future duties aboard the ship. Schedules were offered, directions to meeting rooms were given, and activities were announced. Curious, Blaze expanded the combat training link, expanded the subcategory for open hand and weapon mastery guilds, and found directions to the ship’s simulator and instructions for combat rules for participants. A double elimination tournament was scheduled to determine rankings within the guild and to determine who would be instructors. Dr. Boyd’s personal (albeit tentative) ranking apparently set the tone for tournament seeding if Blaze understood the brackets correctly. It also appeared that Blaze was Dr. Boyd’s personal favorite for top position but the tournament would only determine semi-permanent guild rankings. Although disappointed, Blaze was not overly surprised to see the word “pending” placed next to his name everywhere on the tournament schedule. Politics are already alive and well, he silently grumbled. A more careful review of tournament brackets suggested Blaze could fight Jerron in his second round of the tournament – if he got to fight at all.

  The message announced that the tournament didn’t start for two more days or “twenty-four hour cycles” (as the news system labeled them) but the message was dated two twenty-four hour cycles past. If they are going to be that technical, Blaze thought, why do they not distinguish that those “hours” are based upon our earthly standards that are based upon our earthly sun cycles? Sometimes pointless bureaucracy wins out and it appeared that this was one of those times, he estimated. There are more ways than one in which space travel makes time a very relative thing, he remembered reading. Days in different solar systems would undoubtedly differ in length. Blaze recalled reading a study arguing that people engaged in space travel did better if they maintained a twenty-four hour cycle of eating, sleeping, and working like they maintained on earth. Those who tried to adjust to other daily cycles inevitably suffered various health problems.

  Either way, the tournament would be starting later that same day.

  Message four indicated that Dr. Boyd’s autopsy (little more than a series of scans that could determine just about anything medical technology was aware of) determined that his heart attack was causally related to significant mental stress and could not be linked to any chemical or biological influence that suggested foul play. That was way faster than I expected, Blaze mentally noted as he came to yet another realization that some of the other Orders had apparently developed technologies that were not previously shared with Blaze’s Order.

  As Blaze wondered whether or not that might be a final exoneration, he read further into the message where Vardn was requesting information to determine if anyone was knowledgeable about telepathic influences upon the body. Influenced by Jerron, the ship’s pilot was fishing for evidence to see if the magic woman caused Dr. Boyd’s death. Jerron had already produced a series of Dr. Boyd’s journal entries describing the magic woman’s control over a “griffon-dragon-thing.” To sort everything out, a series of evidentiary hearings were scheduled to begin the day after the simulator tournaments began – meaning that Blaze would miss the first couple of rounds or more. If nothing else, the message explained why Jerron killed the magic woman: he believed she caused Dr. Boyd’s heart attack. Briefly, Blaze considered the possibility that the magic woman could have caused his death but quickly determined that it wouldn’t have been on purpose – it would not have made any sense given her long term plans, he concluded. And now that she was gone, Blaze didn’t know how her plan could work without her help.

  The last message should have been the first. It gave a link to the calendar of events for the entire ship, including work schedules for the various guilds, social events, educational seminars, and just about anything else anyone on board would like to know. A map of the ship was included alongside the calendar. Were Blaze free to roam the ship, he might have found these last links the most exciting but as he was prisoner for at least a couple more days, he found the information more annoying than anything else – it was a reminder that he was no longer a hero – he was a prisoner.

  He briefly considered blasting his way out of the room, making his way to the deck, and demanding a public hearing where he could explain what had been going on with the magic woman and where he could be exonerated of any wrongdoing. The warrior inside began to boil and all of a sudden, he wasn’t feeling like being passive any longer. He had seen the soldiers on the battlefield. He had seen their weapons and their technology. He knew he could take the ship by force if he wanted to.

  He just wasn’t sure if he wanted to … yet.

  If nothing else, he should probably talk to Evelia about that first; someone as unscrupulous as Jerron might use her safety as leverage to keep Blaze under control. Better to be patient, he concluded. This was the constant problem of having a vulnerable companion – especially
one caring for a small baby.

  And so his rambling thoughts brought him full circle to standing by her door, fist curled and ready to knock. He hesitated, rehashing the concerns he had been thinking about earlier and just gave in. He knocked. No one answered. He knocked a little louder. No one answered.

  “Open,” he commanded the door – and it opened.

  Despite the low lighting from the luminescent plants, Blaze immediately recognized significant changes in Evelia’s room. Nothing was in disarray – things were just different. A large portion of one of Evelia’s walls had been covered with a live vine. That wall was now only sparsely covered by a few major branches – but the vines were still present. Weaved into chords of various lengths, the vines were wrapped around furniture legs and what little décor was to be found. Subconsciously cataloguing these and other modifications, Blaze intuitively determining that he liked the changes. At the same time, he consciously felt dissed that Evelia apparently spent the day before redecorating her room instead of visiting with him.

  Then, he checked his feelings as he noticed several vines wrapped around Evelia’s legs – who now lay crumbled on the floor at the foot of her bed.

  AT FIRST GLANCE, SEVERAL THINGS were immediately and noticeably different about Evelia. Her characteristic light olive colored skin now carried that hauntingly familiar quality of subtly glowing – and glistening. This was particularly evident because she was sparsely dressed in her whitish swimsuit. Although it was particularly modest for a swimsuit – it had one of those stretchy, strapless tops with large ruffles all around and it had a matching bottom with ruffles around the waist so that it looked more like a skirt than a swimsuit bottom – Blaze was startled to see her dressed like that and immediately felt uncomfortable as if he had walked in on someone who hadn’t finished dressing. Without thinking, he found himself looking away from her, subconsciously checking to see if anyone else was present. As he did, he caught a view of the window. Already, he could see that the view of the earth was less than spectacular: he had waited too long – it was now so small that it was only barely identifiable.

  Looking back upon Evelia, he could discern that she was breathing. Although shallow, her breaths were steady. Blaze then noticed Elayuh and felt relieved that she seemed to be happily sleeping. Maybe I should just go back to my room, he considered, all of a sudden feeling a bit like an uninvited voyeur. Or maybe I should make sure she is okay, he reconsidered. While there was nothing about the room that Blaze couldn’t dismiss as relatively trivial, he couldn’t help but feel strangely about Evelia’s skin. Just like the magic woman’s, he remembered without any effort at all, and it is shiny too … And while that didn’t seem to offer any rational reason for being worried about her, something inside of him began to feel deeply concerned.

  Blaze! an excited voice echoed inside his head. He recognized that voice but it sounded somewhat different when he heard it within his mind compared to when he heard it out loud. His eyes shifted to Evelia’s eyes to meet her beaming smile. It worked, huh?

  Blaze didn’t answer. Surprise should have been written all over his face but all that surfaced was a blank stare. He couldn’t decide whether he should be happy she was okay or extremely stressed that she was speaking to him telepathically. Conflicted because part of him wanted to try silently speaking back to her while another part of him wanted to pretend that didn’t just happen, he answered her vocally, “Evelia, are you alright?”

  I am great! Did it work? Can you hear me?

  Now, Blaze was feeling more awkward because he was looking straight at his crush and speaking to her vocally but she wasn’t responding in a normal way. But then, her enchanting, charming smile quickly calmed him and he couldn’t help but want to make her happy so he answered.

  “Yes, it is working but,” he paused, still feeling awkward and not knowing what to say, “could we just talk normal? You accessed her memories, right?” She was nodding her head, parroting his own gesture. “So … what is going on? Why are you dressed like that? Not that you look bad … but…” If Blaze normally lacked eloquence, he was announcing it with a bullhorn now.

  But she understood. She had reviewed all of his memories the day before. They were in the first batch of information that the magic woman had shared. If Blaze held any secrets from Evelia before, there were none left. She experienced most of his life and memories the day before and understood him very deeply now – in some ways, she may have understood him better than he understood himself. If their bond of friendship had only began to bud over the past several days, she felt like they had been friends for a lifetime now – but she also understood that he knew none of this and couldn’t feel quite the same way – yet.

  “Oh Blaze, it’s everything wonderful!” she oozed with emotion. “I feel energy flowing through me constantly. I feel the energy of plants, of oil on my skin, of air around me, of braided vines around my ankles. It was your energy that awakened me. I can feel you – I can sense your feelings. I can sense the excitement of the crewmen in the rooms next to us. I can feel it all!”

  Blaze said nothing in return. She hadn’t answered all of his questions yet and she undoubtedly had a lot to say so he just stood in front of her like a motionless hologram while she continued to lean on the floor, her torso propped up by a single elbow. Overflowing with excitement, Evelia was happy to continue sharing her thoughts and feelings to Blaze. Besides, she was more than aware that he liked her more when she was enthusiastic about something so he would be happy to hear what she was excited about.

  “She left me with a basic understanding of her magic. It’s – sorry, I’m sort of used to her contractions all of a sudden … and I did it again – they seem so deeply ingrained ... You know how thoughts speed through your mind much faster than you can explain them –reviewing her thoughts in my mind is sort of like cramming months of information into one day. I know it bothers you so I will try not to use them but …”

  “No stress. Do not worry about it,” Blaze interrupted. “Just keep talking,” he finished with a forced, pretty meager smile.

  This is stressful to him, Evelia observed, but that won’t last. Her observations about Blaze came with greater patience and less anxiety than usual. She was now perfectly relaxed around her companion and she would stay that way for many moons to come.

  “It is sort of like knowing everything about a sport but never practicing it except that it feels like I’ve already experienced the sport even though I haven’t.” She paused, realizing that her efforts to avoid contractions were a little splotchy and realizing that despite Blaze’s effort to let them slip, enforcement of grammatical rules had become deeply ingrained in his psyche – as they had in hers – to such a degree that it might take years for him to fully give that up – even if they both felt like this little piece of red tape was a vestige of whatever they felt was wrong about being taught so many lies. For some intangible, inexplicable, illogical reason, both of them felt that the contractions represented those lies very well – but old habits die very hard – unless those years are telepathically condensed into one day’s worth of information from an alien. Thoughts blitzing their way through her mind like never before, Evelia had to consciously gather her ideas before continuing.

  “I have been practicing,” she confessed. “I’m not good at anything yet but I can do some simple things,” like speaking in your mind, she added quietly in his mind with a flirtatious tone of voice. “And I can move energy around the room.”

  Feel! she added with her mind by accident, falling victim to her unbounded enthusiasm. Focusing with all of her mind and body, Evelia directed the energy in her private chambers to circle around herself and her old – but now new best – friend. Although not as sensitive to the change as Evelia, Blaze immediately felt animated and sensed that his mood was improving. Sensing his awareness of what she was doing, Evelia oozed with satisfaction and dropped one of those genuine smiles that naturally fell across her face when she was overflowingly happ
y. As Evelia smiled, she remembered how Blaze felt when he saw smiles like that in the past and that made her smile even more.

  “I cannot do much more yet but I think that I might be able to influence someone else’s thoughts and I have some ideas about how this might help us get out of our house arrest,” she added with a slight tone of mischievousness. “Are you game? Can I try?”

  Briefly, Blaze’s mood darkened. This was his entire concern about the magic woman. Sure, it was useful that she could control people but ultimately, that may have led to Dr. Boyd’s death – and while Blaze didn’t feel especially burdened over the scientist’s death, the idea of controlling someone until they died of a stress induced heart attack was naturally revolting to his soul. Besides, something about mind control just felt wrong. But then again, if the power was used by someone who could be trusted, maybe it wasn’t a bad thing to learn – and Evelia could be trusted. On the other hand, if the magic woman was now somehow controlling Evelia’s mind, Evelia’s trustworthiness wouldn’t matter – because it wouldn’t really be Evelia in control.

  Blaze felt that familiar feeling.

  When in the presence of the magic woman, Blaze had felt calm and trusting. It was only when she was gone that he felt stressed about her. Now, in Evelia’s presence, he noticed that he felt the same way. In his room, he had stressed about the idea of Evelia learning about the magic woman’s magic and her culture. In her room however, his skepticism seemed like a flat pebble skipping on the top of motionless waters – it never sank very deeply while it was moving.