Palta was delighted to hear him say that. “Oh yes, Larry. I would love that. And so would they.”
“Whatever you do, you must be careful,” Olef-Nan said.
“We will.”
The evening grew late, and Olef-Nan retired. Palta went to her room, splashed water from the basin onto herself and put on the turquoise robe that Filomena had laid out for her. Now Larry could see her the way she wanted to be seen. She returned to the atrium, and to Larry. He put his arm around her, and she laid her head against his chest. “I still can’t believe this,” she murmured. “Does it feel like a dream to you?”
“I worked too hard to get here, to be with you. It’s not a dream.”
“What will happen next, after we visit the priests?” she asked.
Larry was silent for a while. “I’m not sure,” he said finally, “but I think I need to save Terra.”
Astonished and hopeful, she gazed up at him. “Do you think you can?”
“Not by myself. But perhaps I won’t be alone.”
Palta had never been happier. They kissed then, alone in the fragrant night.
And in the morning they made the journey south to the compound of the priests.
Forty-Six
Larry
It was a long journey. Larry wasn’t used to walking such a distance, but he wasn’t going to complain. Palta was beside him, and that was what mattered.
He thought about the priests at their destination, spending their lives trying to preserve the knowledge once stored in the schola. It seemed like a thankless task, but what else could they do? Larry vaguely remembered studying the Dark Ages in history. Wasn’t that what the monks had done back then? After the class where they learned about this, his friend Kevin had told him about a science fiction novel he’d read where some sort of monks in the future were doing the same thing. That was the kind of book Kevin liked to read. What was its name? He couldn’t remember. Ah, Kevin. He would be in college now, wouldn’t he? Larry himself should have been in college, back on Earth.
His thoughts returned to Terra. Could he save it from the Gallians? It seemed possible, with the help of the priests he was about to meet. But what if he failed? What if the result was something far worse than Feslund and his mother?
They stopped at mid-day to rest and eat the food that Filomena had prepared for them, and then they trudged on. They talked more about their lives. Larry finally mentioned his visit to Earth, to his home in Glanbury. “That must have been awful for you,” Palta murmured.
“It felt awful,” he admitted. “But looking back on it, I think it was okay. It told me something I needed to know.”
“What’s that?”
“That none of this is going to be easy. That every choice has consequences, good and bad. And there’s nothing I can do to change that.”
Palta seemed to ponder this. And then she said, “Whenever I thought about what had happened to you, I liked to think: he finally made it home. And now he’s safe.”
“Elysium is safe,” he replied. “Everywhere else is full of danger and confusion. And reward.”
“I would like to be safe, for once in my life,” she said. And he couldn’t argue with that.
It was late in the day when they finally reached the priests’ compound. Palta had described everyone who lived there during the journey, so it was easy to recognize them—from the viator Lamathe to the little girl Cetonia and her mother, Uduon. And they all knew his name and were delighted to see him. Everyone, it was clear, loved Palta. “Nothing could make us happier than your arrival,” Lamathe said to him.
Larry bowed to him. “Nothing could make me happier than to be here.”
Their compound was bigger than Olef-Nan’s villa, with a courtyard just inside its outer wall rather than an atrium in the center. After the introductions in the courtyard, Palta led him to an airy room where he washed and changed into a robe he found there. He was tired, but he knew another night of talking lay ahead of him. Palta had warned him: they had no guests here, no diversions. His arrival would be the most exciting thing that had happened to them since they had left Alexandria.
So finally at dusk they all sat in the courtyard and ate and drank weak beer. And Larry told his story once again.
The priests were mostly silent at first. Did they believe him? One of them, Samos, looked skeptical. When Larry told of how he had met Hieron on Elysium; the black-haired priest named Theodosius began to sob. “Hieron must save us,” the priest managed to say.
His wife, Karellia, put her arm around his shoulders and drew him to her. But Samos shook his head. “How can you expect us to believe such things?” he demanded.
Larry shrugged. “I find it hard to believe these things myself sometimes.”
Palta reached out and grabbed his hand. “If you trust me,” she said to the others, “you will trust Larry.”
“Would it help,” Larry asked, “if I were to build my own Via right here in your compound?”
The priests looked at each other. “You can do that?” the leader, who was called Lamathe, asked.
“It’s not easy, but yes, I can.”
“Can you bring us to Elysium, to meet Hieron?”
“I can’t do that—only those who can build Vias can enter Elysium. But you can see what I’m capable of.”
“Can you go to Palta’s world?” Samos asked. “Can you bring us gants from Gaia?”
Everyone fell silent. Larry glanced at Palta; she looked frightened.
“Isn’t it obvious?” Samos persisted. “Isn’t this the solution to defeating the Gallians? Apparently their gants don’t work anymore, and they haven’t found a viator who will go to Gaia and obtain more for them. So if we obtain these weapons, we can destroy the Gallians; we can take over the empire once again. No more wasting our lives in this ghastly country.”
“Gants brought nothing but pain to Gaia,” Lamathe replied. “And they surely didn’t work as we had hoped when we used them here on Terra.”
“I believe,” Larry said, “that we won’t need gants to defeat the Gallians.”
“You have a plan?” Lamathe asked.
“Perhaps. But first I need to build my Via.”
Palta
Palta sat with Larry in his room. She was exhausted and confused. “I just found you,” she said. “I don’t want you to leave again so soon.”
“Building a portal will take a while,” Larry replied. “And I don’t want to start right away—it requires strength and concentration. But the sooner I get started, the sooner I can return to Elysium, and we can figure out if we can defeat the Gallians.”
“But what is your idea? You wouldn’t tell it to Lamathe and the others.”
“I want to convince Hieron to help us. I don’t think that by itself will be sufficient, but it’s a start.”
“Will he agree?”
“I think so. He saw what was happening on Terra, and he feels guilty about it. He left this world to fend for itself, and he realizes now that he probably shouldn’t have.”
“What about Affron? Do you think he will help?”
“I’m not as sure about Affron. In any case, we need something more. Something that will convince Ploterus to join us.”
“Ploterus? What makes you think he’d fight against Feslund? He’s a Gallian himself.”
“We only met him that one time in Massalia, but he seemed reasonable and competent, didn’t he? I like to think that if Arminius were still alive, he would join us. Perhaps Ploterus will be the same.”
“Olef-Nan thought he ruled Alexandria fairly,” Palta recalled.
“I don’t know if he will help. I don’t know if anyone will help, and I don’t know if any of this will work. But we have to try.”
“What about your…power? The one you used in the temple of Via.”
“Ah, I need to avoid that.” And he told her what happened when people used that power. She shivered, thinking about what could have happened that day in the temple of Via.
“That’s an easy promise to make,” he replied. “Don’t worry. I’ll be all right.”
Larry
Days passed. They were wonderful days, safe here with Palta at long last. Larry could tell that Palta fretted, though, and the priests, especially Samos, seemed increasingly dubious as time went by and Larry didn’t start creating his portal. And then one morning at breakfast, he decided that it was time. “I’ll begin today,” he told them.
“How does it happen?” Lamathe asked.
“Come and watch if you want. It won’t be finished in an hour or a day. But it will happen.”
He went to the small garden behind the compound. He liked being outdoors, as he had been in Elysium. The rest of them followed.
“This will do,” Larry said.
He sat on the ground. The others stood in a semi-circle behind him. He smiled at Palta, who looked nervous. A marmalade-colored cat from the compound came up and lay down next to him. He petted her.
Then he raised his arms in the air, closed his eyes, and began to dream a portal.
Forty-Seven
Hieron
Life went on as it always had on Elysium, except that Hieron missed Larry. He had been gone a long time, and Hieron worried about him. What if he never returned? Such things happened, and they became a permanent layer of sadness in your memory.
“I feel old,” he said to Lucia at the café one day.
“You are old,” she pointed out.
“Perhaps I should go back to Terra.”
“To look for Larry? It’s a big world.”
“No. To go back and fix it.”
“Fix Terra? Without Larry? How?”
Hieron spread his hands. “I don’t know. I had energy once. I had ideas. Now I spend my days playing chess and reading books and gardening.”
“And talking to me. And eating my food.” Lucia poured him a cup of wine and wiped Veronique’s face. “Wait,” she said to him. “Larry will come back. Even if he found the girl he was searching for, he will come back, if only to tell you what happened. He’s a good lad.”
“I suppose you’re right.”
“I’m always right.”
And Lucia was right.
He arrived a few days later, knocking quietly on Hieron’s door. They looked at each for a long moment before embracing. “I knew you’d return,” Hieron lied. “Come, sit, and tell me all that has happened to you. Did you find Palta?”
“I did. It took me a long while, but I found her. She is living with some priests outside Alexandria.”
“Alexandria? In Egypt?”
“That’s right.”
“What are they are doing there?”
“It’s a long story. The priests burned down the schola so that its books wouldn’t be available to the Gallians. They’ve spent the years since then secretly writing down all the wisdom and knowledge they could remember from those books, so it wouldn’t be lost when the Gallians were finally defeated. Palta is helping them.”
“Oh,” Hieron replied. “Oh.” This news moved him deeply. He had devoted so much of his life to securing that wisdom and knowledge. To think of those priests spending years of their lives trying to recreate it…“Ah, Larry, this is bad.”
“I know.”
They were silent.
“You want me to help,” Hieron said finally.
“I think you want to help,” Larry replied.
“I do. But how? I’m old. Lucia pointed this out to me just a few days ago.”
“Well, you wouldn’t have to fight in a battle,” Larry said. “You would just have to be you. You’re pretty good at that.”
“What do you have in mind?”
Larry told him.
It seemed…plausible. What would Lucia think? “Will Affron help?” Hieron asked. “You could use him, too.”
“I don’t know. He’s so happy here. And he’s always been troubled by how much people expected from him on Terra.”
Hieron pondered this. “You need to ask him,” he replied.
“Yes, of course.”
“And give me some time. Old people find it difficult to make up their minds.”
Larry smiled and stood up. “You’ll do it. I’ll go see Lucia. She’ll talk you into it.”
“Ah, you are a dangerous man, Larry.”
Larry left, and Hieron watched from the window as he strode off down the street.
Hieron felt younger already.
Affron
Affron was working with Amelia in the garden behind their home when he spotted Larry. They both dropped their tools and ran up to him. Larry hugged Amelia and shook hands with Affron. “I’m back,” he said, “and Palta is fine.”
“This is wonderful news,” Affron said. Palta had been a quick-witted, resourceful girl, and now he supposed she was a quick-witted, resourceful woman. It was good that she was still alive—and that Larry had found her.
“Larry, I’m so happy for you,” Amelia added. “And now what?”
Yes, now what? Affron thought. Palta couldn’t live in Elysium. Could Larry live without Palta?
“Now,” Larry replied, “I need to convince Affron to help me save Terra from the Gallians.”
Ah, Affron thought. There was that, too. “Why would you think I’d leave Elysium—leave Amelia—to help you save Terra?” he asked Larry.
“Amelia can help me save Terra, too,” Larry replied. “By the way, Lamathe says hello. He hopes you are well, and he says that he too would like your assistance.”
“You met Lamathe as well? He is a good man.”
“I met several priests. They are desperate and need your help. And Hieron’s.”
“Hieron? Will he agree to this?”
“Of course he will. Things are bad on Terra. He has been there. He knows it. And so do you.”
Amelia looked at Affron. “We should talk more about this,” she said.
He sighed. “I suppose we should.”
“Let’s go to the café,” Larry suggested. “Apparently Lucia’s opinion will be important.”
“Lucia’s opinion is always important.”
Larry
They went to the café and talked. They had concerns, of course. Hieron was too old, Affron was too happy, too in love. Larry understood, but he was confident that they’d agree. Terra was their home; they would help save it.
And if they didn’t agree, he would figure out a way to defeat the Gallians on his own.
There was one more thing he had to do while they pondered their decision. And he supposed this would be harder than anything else he had done.
First, he had to pay a visit to Rigol.
Forty-Eight
Kevin
I was walking with Emily through the Yard, heading for the physics lab. The day was chilly and overcast, and I was a bit worried about the lab; still, I was happy. Who wouldn’t be happy, walking with Emily?
We were just passing the statue of John Harvard when I heard someone say my name. “Kevin?”
I stopped and turned.
He was sitting behind the statue, on the steps to University Hall. He wore a woolen cap and a ratty parka that was too small for him. He needed a shave, but he looked lean and fit. He was smiling at me.
“Kevin,” he went on, “I was trying to remember: what was the name of that science fiction book—the one where monks spent their time writing up knowledge from the past? After a nuclear war or something.”
I barely recognized him—but, you know, I did recognize him. My oldest and best friend. My companion during the biggest adventure of my life. The one who had stopped existing when we were in middle school.
“A Canticle for Leibowitz,” I managed to say.
“Yeah,” he said. “That’s the one. Strange title. It sounded interesting. Never read it, though. Haven’t read much of anything in a long time, to tell you the truth.”
“It’s you,” I wh
ispered.
“It’s me,” Larry replied.
Tears filled my eyes. I think I turned to Emily, who I think was staring at me, puzzled. “Kev? You okay, Kev?” I think she said. I have no idea what I said to her, or if I managed to say anything. But Emily must have gotten the message, because finally she laid a hand on my arm as if to say It’s OK, and she walked away.
I turned back to Larry. He had come over to me. We embraced. I was still having difficulty speaking. He said, “You look great, Kevin. And you got into Harvard. I’m impressed. My dad wanted me to go to Harvard, like he did, but that was never going to happen. Even before—you know. I didn’t have the grades.”
I finally found my voice. “Your family thinks you’re dead,” I said. “Everyone thinks you’re dead—or maybe kidnapped by some pervert. I tried to tell your parents about the portal, but they just thought I was crazy. I tried to show them the portal but of course it was gone, like the first time. You went into it again, didn’t you? To help the preacher.”
He nodded. “I did. And then complications ensued. I suppose complications always ensue when it comes to the portal. Can we go somewhere and get something to eat? I’ve been sitting here for a while hoping you’d come by, and I’m cold and hungry.”
“Sure. Of course.”
We walked over to Bartley’s Burger Cottage on Mass. Ave. Larry had a trace of an odd accent now. I thought I knew why. “You haven’t been speaking English,” I said.
“No, not much. Latin, mostly.”
“Latin?”
“Yeah. It’s a long story.”
“I’ve got time.”
“First tell me about my family,” Larry said. “I went back to Glanbury once before, and they were gone. It was snowing, and the only person I saw that I knew was Stinky Glover, but he didn’t recognize me and I didn’t really say anything to him. When I came back this time, I went to the Glanbury library and found out about you from the high school yearbook.”
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