Fractal

by Rachel J Mannino

  “I’m fine,” he murmured into her hair. “I hurt my leg when I landed, but it’s fine. Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

  “No.” Her lips whispered over his skin and the flash of heat that followed seared him to the bone

  He held her for a few minutes, and then he pulled away and cupped her face with his hands. “Are you sure you’re all right? Nothing hurts?” He examined her from head to toe

  “No, I’m okay,” she replied. “A little shaken, but fine.”

  Varick brushed a lock of chestnut hair away from her face. A surge of protectiveness filled his chest and squeezed his heart. He almost lost her to that beast. The thought terrified him for more reasons than his ingrained fidelity to the Vadana; reasons he didn’t want to think about or admit. He stroked her cheek with his thumb

  “I should go to the escape pod. I need to get our survival kits and see how badly the pod is damaged. Stay close to me. I’m not sure what other animals live here.”

  Anna swallowed and took a deep breath. He took her hand, and they walked to the bank of the river. The pod lay on its side in the middle of the water. Varick probed the rocky riverbed with his sword, but the river was only deep enough to come to his knees. He waded through it to the escape pod, and rooted around

  He sloshed through the water back to her. He held two kits in one hand, and a few tools they would need in the other. “It looks like the first sun is about to set. We need to find some shelter.” He jutted out his chin in the direction the rocky plateau. “Let’s check the outcropping over there to see if there is a place we can stay.”

  She gave a slow nod of acknowledgement and followed him toward the pile of rocks. They traced a path around the massive boulders, heading downstream by the river. As they hiked the vast terrain, individual boulders appeared less and less, replaced by a wall of solid rock. They rounded one corner, and the ruins of a thin, massive spike of rock that had fallen onto the plateau lay beside them.

  The spike must have been as tall as the plateau once, both of them rivaling the height of mountains. Round at the base, the spike had the same layered texture as the wall beside them. Varick gaped at the rocky bridge as they passed beneath.

  The plateau itself displayed various tones of red and orange. He scanned the base of it, looking for some form of shelter. Right after they passed the rock bridge, they came upon a cavernous break in the plateau, more than twice his own height. Twilight approached with one sun gone, and he couldn’t see far into the cave.

  He handed Anna the survival kits. They stuck out of her arms at odd angles. “Stay here until I make sure it’s safe.” Varick gripped his sword and prepared himself

  He surveyed the entryway of the cave, and took one of the handheld lights and pressed a few buttons. The tool elongated on both ends, and it lit up on either side of the handle. With the light in his left hand and his sword in his right, he entered.

  The light revealed a cavernous, rounded out shell. From the scraping, and pockmarks on the wall, it must have been the home of the beast they had already met. Satisfied the cave was empty, and more than adequate for shelter, he jogged to Anna. “This will do quite well, Your Majesty. Come in, and I’ll start setting up camp for you.”

  Varick took the kits from her and handed her the light. He pulled the force field generator from one of the kits. He rotated both ends, and set it down in the center of the door. He turned some of the dials in the center, and a light-blue wall shimmered in the doorway.

  “This will protect us from any intrusion. You must be very careful not to go near it. It delivers a powerful electric shock.” He leveled a very serious and sober look in her direction. “Come.” He gestured to the center with one of the survival kits. “You’re tired. We should rest.”

  They relaxed on the floor of the cave; the orange dust and packed dirt still held the heat of the hot, dry day, warming him through his thin pants. He opened one of the metal kits and extracted a fire cube. He squeezed the sides, and fire sprang out of the top. Varick set it on the ground and the fire grew until it roared beside them.

  “We’ll stay here for three days?” Her voice sounded hollow in the darkened cave.

  He nodded, and she sighed

  Anna stared into the flames for a few minutes, wringing her hands. “When will we be able to contact the other escape pods?”

  He grimaced. He had been hoping she wouldn’t ask. “I’m not sure we can, Your Majesty. The communication panel was smashed when the animal slammed into us. I don’t know that it will work at all.”

  Her eyes went wide with alarm. She clutched her arms until her knuckles went white

  His eyes darted away.

  “You can’t fix it?”

  “I know almost nothing about ship mechanics.” He produced a helpless shrug, and glanced at her through his eyelashes. Her anxious expression made him reverse course. “I’ll try tomorrow.”

  She went back to staring at the flames. The color drained from her face.

  He closed his hand over hers, and she jumped. Her head snapped up. Something stirred between them as his warm, calloused hand scraped the delicate skin between her thumb and forefinger.

  “I’m sure they’re both fine, and we’ll see them again soon. It will do you no good to worry about them now. They are in the care of my best men. We need to take each challenge as it comes. Right now we need to rest.”

  Anna smiled, and Varick’s mood lightened. He couldn’t stand to see her so upset

  “I know you’re right. I wish I could just stop worrying about them. I’ve taken care of them both for so long, I can’t imagine not worrying about them.”

  He squeezed her hand, before he pulled away and propped himself up. The firelight flickered, casting a warm glow on Anna’s face and catching the auburn streaks in her hair. He could still see her, in his mind’s eye, running across the desert and standing boldly in front of a deadly beast while it tried to run her down. At every turn, Varick was presented with a new facet to her. So much of her life and experience remained a mystery.

  “How did you meet Hannah?” He cocked his head.

  “I—don’t even remember.” Her brow creased, her eyes focused on a rock at the entrance to the cave. “I’ve been friends with her for as long as I can remember. We are the same age. It was a very small town, so I guess we’ve been friends since we were toddlers. Hannah was adopted though. She was found on the steps of the hospital, and no one could find her parents, so a couple in town adopted her.”

  “What does ‘adopted’ mean?”

  Varick searched her gaze. He never heard of the word and it didn’t translate into Dahrelian. Surprise passed over her features. He leaned back, his palm touching the rough and rocky ground.

  “Oh, well, if a child doesn’t have parents who are alive or parents who are able to take care of them, another couple takes the child in and raises them as their own. You don’t have adoption?”

  “No, we’re trained in our schools and vocation from birth. If a child’s parents are killed, they just don’t go anywhere during the holidays. Does this adoption work out?”

  “Hannah’s the only person I know who’s been adopted, which worked out okay for her. Her adopted parents are nice, but she didn’t get along with them once she got older. Hannah’s a bit wild. She always wants to do the one thing everyone tells her not to. She listens to me more than anyone else, I suppose, and even that isn’t often. She calls me her conscience sometimes.”

  Varick smiled at that, thinking of the night he first met Hannah and her heated words with Anna. The two women couldn’t be more different, and yet they bonded to each other in childhood.

  “What about you? Where is your family?”

  He took in a deep breath. His gaze slid away from her and the firelight. “I don’t know.” He studied a darkened corner of the cave. Shadow and light met there and danced. “My father was a Guardsman of the Realm. He protected a few of the councilmen. My mother was a scientist who worked in the capital. When the s
ickness spread to the central planet, and the Council was evacuated, I lost contact with them.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  Her soft murmur tugged at a corner of his heart. He closed his eyes. “I’m sure they’re all right,” he lied. “They may still be on the planet’s surface, or they may have been on board one of the missing ships. I’ll find them.”

  “I’m sure you will. I’ll help if you need it. Just let me know what I can do.”

  Varick’s gaze slid over to hers. Her warm eyes shone like blue stars in the semi-darkness of the cave. His spirits lifted. He never discussed his parents with anyone in all the years since they went missing. He put their disappearance in a tiny corner of his mind, too afraid to go near it. Yet, this woman gave him hope. Hope for so many things to come.

  “You’ve already done a great deal for me. For all of us. Let’s figure out how to reverse the damage that’s been done and call our people home. I know I’ll find my parents then.” He spoke with more conviction than he had in years.

  “I’ll try.” Anna shrugged.

  He continued smiling at her as she rested her head on her arms to look up at him. An expectant silence filled the cave, filled with possibilities.

  Unspoken desires played through his mind. The cave was much too warm. Anna was too close at hand. He wondered, again, what it would be like to kiss her. To touch her. Here, in an empty cave when they were alone. She blushed and broke off her gaze. Varick wrestled for control of his thoughts

  “Are you hungry?” He searched through a survival kit

  “Yes, a little.” She straightened, her cheeks still flushed.

  He pulled out a small cybernetic and ordered them both a large dinner. After eating, he rose and withdrew a gossamer cloth from the kit. He rummaged around in the other kit for a while until he twisted to face her. “Your Majesty, we only have one blanket in the kits. I’m not sure where the other one could have gone.”

  “Can’t the cybernetic make another one?”

  “No, it only makes food. The cybernetics that make clothing and other objects are too large for a survival kit. I’ll give you the blanket.”

  “It’s starting to get chilly even now. Will you be all right without a blanket?”

  “I’ll be fine.” He draped the cloth around her shoulders. “I’ll stay closer to the fire. We should try to get some sleep.”

  Anna ran the light blanket through her fingers. She rose and spread the blanket on the floor of the cave. She laid down on part of it and threw the rest around her.

  With Anna comfortable, Varick slid near the fire. The cave cooled despite the warmth of the flames. He settled himself at the Vadana’s head, laying down perpendicular to her.

  The cool breeze of the night became bitter cold, and the warmth of the fire barely touched him. His body shivered, as goosebumps rose along his spine. He tried his best to make himself small. The warm Dahrelian sun hung in his mind’s eye, but it did little for him. His teeth chattered despite his efforts.

  Warmth washed over him. When he opened his eyes, the blanket covered him, and his Vadana was lying beside him. Stunned, he rolled over onto his other side. “Your Majesty?”

  “We can share the blanket. It’s too cold not to.” Her voice held an edge of finality

  “No. It would be wrong.” His chest tightened. He feared what his desires might make him do in the dead of night when he wasn’t thinking clearly.

  “I can’t lay there and listen to you freeze to death. We’ll share the blanket.”

  “Are you sure?” He searched her gaze

  Her eyes were as hard as stone. She thrust out her chin. He wasn’t going to win this argument.

  “Yes. Now go to sleep.” She punctuated her order by laying down her head and closing her eyes

  “Thank you, Your Majesty.”

  “You’re welcome. Sleep.”

  Varick smiled as he settled himself beside her, his eyes wandering over the smooth skin of her forehead, her high cheekbones, down to her graceful neck. Even in the dim shadow of the fire, she was strikingly beautiful.

  He pushed away his shameful musings. Rolling onto his back, he studied the top of the cave for a while, trying to put the woman beside him out of his mind. It took a long while, but he finally drifted off

  Chapter Five

  Anna awoke very warm, almost sweating. She took her arms out from under the blanket, but the air was barely cooler. Rolling onto her back, she tossed the blanket aside. It was early morning. Varick lay beside her, asleep.

  She knew almost nothing about him. His upbringing had been so different from hers—brought up on a ship, trained as a soldier. He was foreign to her and yet as comfortable as her own skin. She wondered at that—how they could come from such different circumstances, be thrown together in time and space, and trust each other so much.

  His eyes drifted open, looking at her, but not in focus. He mumbled something.

  “What?”

  He closed his eyes for a moment. “I said good morning.” He stifled a yawn.

  “Oh,” she replied with a smile. “Good morning.”

  Varick rolled onto his side to face her. “Did you sleep well?” he asked, with his eyes still shut.

  “Yes, very well. Apparently, you’re still sleeping well.”

  He smiled, but he didn’t open his eyes. “It’ll be warm today.” He brushed off the blanket. “We may not be able to go to the escape pod until the evening.”

  “What will we do then?”

  “Stay in the shade.” He buried his face into his arm to block out the light

  She giggled at his efforts.

  “What?” he said, his voice muffled

  “You look like your trying to burrow under the ground like a mole.” She laughed.

  Varick raised his head, cast her an amused grin, and rolled onto his back again.

  “You seem to have a hard time waking up in the morning.”

  He sighed. “I was hoping you wouldn’t notice.”

  She laughed in his ear again

  He turned his head toward her and opened his eyes. “Do you wish me to get up, Your Majesty? I will do anything you ask of me.”

  Heat suffused her cheeks, and she looked away. Those words, pouring from Varick’s lips in his honeyed voice, stole her breath for a moment. “No, you don’t have to.”.

  Anna rose and stretched. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught him watching her. His eyes darted away, and then he rolled onto his side and pushed himself off the ground. He moved over to the cybernetic and ordered them breakfast.

  After they finished eating, the planet’s two suns blazed in the sky. The air became unbearable by a few more degrees every minute. They left the cave and strolled down to the river to try to keep them cool, but the water was too shallow and already tepid. The dry heat made breathing slow and difficult as they climbed up to the cave.

  Varick ordered more and more ice water from the cybernetic. They moved very little. Sweat covered every inch of her skin, and she feared overheating. The cool mountains of her childhood home seemed like a pleasant place to live now.

  “I feel a little dizzy,” she told him in the middle of the afternoon, as she bent her head over her knees.

  “Here, drink.” He handed her more ice water. Worry crept over his features.

  Anna drank the glass in three gulps, while he grabbed his scanner. He poured through maps of the area.

  “I found a pool of water next to another plateau a short distance from this cave. Do you think you can walk?” He brushed his hand over her hair.

  “Yes. That sounds amazing.” She rose, trying to control her trembling legs. Her stomach rolled. For a second, she almost threw up all over him.

  Varick tore the cape off his uniform and used it to shield her from most of the sun as they shuffled forward. It was slow and laborious trudging along the parched earth. After they passed their own plateau, open desert spread out before them. The next plateau was a thin strip on the horizon. She counted e
ach step, hoping she could make it there and the water would be safe enough for them to swim in.

  They finally reached the plateau after what seemed like hours. A pool of water rested in its shade. A sigh of relief left her lips. A small waterfall dropped off the rocks above, the source of the pool’s water. She would’ve stopped to admire its natural beauty, if she wasn’t so intent on finding relief from the heat

  “Oh, thank God.”

  She almost flung herself into the water, but he grabbed her arm. “I have to make sure it’s safe first. Just give me a quick minute.”

  The water lapped against the sides of the pool, clear and inviting. It didn’t look as if there was anything wrong. It looked only a few feet deep, and the outline of every rock and stone shone through the crystal blue waters. Still, Varick removed his scanner from his belt and held it close to the water. The urge to whine almost overtook her

  After what seemed like an eternity, his eyes flicked up at her. “It’s safe to swim. Go ahead and get in.”

  Without a word, she eased herself into the cool waters, clothes and all. She dove beneath the water and submerged completely. When she surfaced, Anna smiled up at him

  “Feel better?” His eyes devoured her waterlogged torso.

  “Yes. This is delicious. Aren’t you coming in?”

  “I don’t think I should.” He gave a slow shake of his head.

  “Why?”

  “I don’t know if Councilman Meroca would approve. You are the Vadana.” He lounged beside the pool. Sweat poured down his face

  “It’s deathly hot. I think the councilman would care more if you died of heat stroke. Who will protect me then?”

  “I don’t know if he’ll see it that way.”

  He mopped sweat from his brow. The air around him wavered as if a thin film of water covered it. Anna fought the urge to yell at him to get in the damn pond.