Pendulum: An Aes Sidhe Novel

by A. Omukai

  The faerie saluted and turned around without so much as a word. He went straight for the control panel next to the airlock door.

  “I’m Captain Thornhill. If you need help with anything that Brilann can’t assist you with, let me know. You have access to my address on the ship’s communication system anytime.”

  He smiled, but couldn’t hide how busy he was. His eyes flickered impatiently, fitting the tension in his posture. Should she ask anyway?

  “Is there a way to see a roster somewhere?”

  He looked at her for a second as if he hadn’t quite comprehended her question, then nodded.

  “Ask Brilann, he will help you with info on where to find what on board. If you’d excuse me now…”

  She saluted again, then followed the little winged creature, who had already moved into the airlock and was regarding her with an annoyed expression.

  “Took your sweet time there.”

  She looked at his insignia. A fellow lieutenant.

  “Let’s go.”

  He didn’t seem offended at all, but relieved to not have to continue the conversation. His frown loosened up. He turned around again—he almost performed a pirouette in the air—and rushed into the corridor the moment the inner airlock door was open just enough to let his slender frame pass. Surely he didn’t expect her to squeeze through just yet.

  It took at least two more seconds for the door to open far enough to allow her to pass, and when she did, she could see his little figure disappear around the corner, leaving a trail of glittering faerie dust.

  What an arrogant little asshole.

  She chased him with long steps, striding through the corridor as if someone was after her. When she reached a corner, he turned around the next. When she reached that corner, she was again just in time to see his little feet in their tiny shoes disappear behind another one. He’d keep her too occupied to memorize this labyrinth, but she’d worry about that later.

  “Are you trying to escape from me? I don’t eat faeries, no worry.”

  He stopped where he was, mid-air, turned around and looked at her with squinted eyes. His little mouth opened, then shut, his face turning dark red. Then he swirled around again and sped onward, again without regard to whether she’d be behind him or not, even faster than before.

  Deirdre would not lose against this angry little man, winged or not. She had longer legs and was in great shape. Too bad he didn’t use his legs to escape from her.

  The chase went on for only two more corners, the latter of which she had guessed, because he had indeed outrun her. There he was, hanging in the air, his face displaying boredom, as if she had made him wait for hours. He didn’t even look at her. His eyes were fixated on his fingernails. When she stopped less than a hand’s breadth from him, her face directly in front of his, his eyes jerked up.

  She put as much enthusiasm into her voice as she could muster - which was quite a lot after converting her frustration.

  “Thank you very much, Lieutenant Fionnlagh!”

  He staggered, wobbling in the air, then nodded and rushed away.

  She grinned. Then she looked around.

  Deirdre sent one more look down the hallway, turned to the door and knocked.

  At first, nothing happened. She waited. Something inside stirred, but she couldn’t make out what it was. Was Brilann coming to open the door, or not? Some more seconds passed, and she was about to run out of patience, when the door opened and a face appeared in the crack.

  Deep wrinkles, a long, white beard, and of course those famous white eyes, which could see nothing in the actual world, but apparently penetrated magical structures around him.

  “What can I help you with, child?”

  She gulped. It was her first time addressing Brilann alone and directly. What should she say? Maybe not thinking at all was a good start.

  “Hello, I—”

  No, she had to restart.

  “It’s me, Deirdre MacBreen, I’d like to ask for your help with something.”

  The old man raised his eyebrows.

  “What’s that?”

  She collected her thoughts and recovered, kind of.

  “I’ve been trying to locate my friend, and I’m not able to, because I can’t find the roster anywhere, and I can’t use my personal system on the station, so I can’t get in touch with her either.”

  This had come out like a stream of consciousness, rapidly and chaotically. Should she try again?

  “Well, first, I assume the friend you’re talking about is the one that got you into trouble the first time, right?”

  “To be fair, I think it had been my fault.”

  He nodded, staring into the distance. What was he seeing out there? Probably nothing. She shoved her hands in her pockets.

  “I’m glad you said that. So you want to see the roster. Please come in.”

  He pulled the door open completely and stepped aside, so she could look inside.

  Not at all how she had envisioned the quarters of the legendary druid. This looked all too normal. The small, clean bed, a night stand, a little desk and chair. Completely unremarkable.

  “Thank you,” she said.

  He gestured for her to come inside, and when she did, he closed the door behind her. Now, standing in the middle of the room, she noticed the door on the other side of Brilann’s quarters. Actually, looking at it again, was it really a door? The longer she looked at it, the more its shape changed, the edges to blur and move. It flickered a little, like something in the distance on the road on a hot summer day, when the heat rose from the street.

  There was something else in the room that got her attention. A huge, black cat with a white spot on its chest stared at her out of brilliant green eyes. Intelligent eyes.

  “This is Sabia, my Cat Sidhe. She acts as my eyes, enabling me to see. You might have heard of her.”

  Indeed, she had, now that he was mentioning it. She knew little about Sabia, but she had heard the name once or twice.

  Deirdre’s eyes returned to the flickering wall which slowly disappeared. What became visible instead was so unusual. She rubbed her eyes and looked again.

  The tree she thought she had spotted was still there, not a mirage.

  A dark, massive oak, its trunk disappeared in the ceiling, as if either was just an illusion. She had heard people call Brilann an oak seer which was just one of the many names for “druid”. She hadn’t expected the meaning to be so literal. What was this all about? She was a druid, too, but she’d never seen a spell like this.

  The tree looked absolutely solid, and it was very detailed with its gnarled bark, almost as if it actually existed. She wouldn’t know for sure until she had touched it.

  “So, the roster interests you. Let me show you.”

  She turned around, back to him, still baffled. Right, the roster. That’s what she had come here for, information about Maya.

  “Ship, show me the roster. Thank you. Put it on the wall.”

  Though he hadn’t specified the wall, it appeared on the one he was facing. She turned her head to look when the space over the bed turned black. A long list of names appeared on the wall, white letters on the dark background. There was the captain’s name, Brilann herself, three other officers, and the names of scientists whose specialities she couldn’t even pronounce. None of them were familiar. Interestingly, her Cu Sidhe, Cailean, appeared right next to that of the Cat Sidhe. The longer it went on, the lower the ranks of the people on it. Only the first few names interested her right now, and Maya was not among them.

  Disappointment welled up in her. She checked again, and one last time, to no avail. Her friend was not on the roster of the Tuatha De Danann. She would have to go on this mission on her own, and she couldn’t even get in touch with her to say goodbye. She lowered her head and took in a deep breath. Her eyes wandered to the cat who was still staring at her. Probably had the entire time. What now? Was there anything she could do about it?

  The cat closed her
eyes.

  “So, from your reaction, I assume she isn’t part of our crew. There are two other vessels…”

  Deirdre nodded. She knew. Asking for a transfer wouldn’t even have been possible before the event on the space station. It was out of the question now. Neither she nor Maya could change ships. To make matters even worse, her personal AI was still disabled, only the ship’s seemed to work, so she couldn’t even send her a message, and this problem would probably persist until they departed.

  “Was that all you needed?”

  “I… Yes, that was all for now. I’m sorry for wasting your time.”

  “I would recommend you go to your quarters now. The luggage should have arrived already. You and I will have a talk in about an hour. I will call you.”

  “Yes, of course.”

  The old druid nodded and opened the door again. She hesitated for a second, stared at the oak tree one more time, and stepped forward, into the corridor.

  She had an idea. There might still be a way to get in touch.

  She stood in the hallway and took a deep breath first.

  “Ship, show me the way to the bridge.”

  ” Function not available,” the synthetic voice answered.

  She sighed.

  “Where am I?”

  A transparent map overlay of the ship opened up in her field of view, with an arrow showing her current position. Turned out the bridge was on the upper deck, and she had to get to an elevator first.

  The way was marked on the map. She just had to find out which direction to turn first, and she was not the best at navigating in the first place, which was a hilarious confession to make, as the ship’s navigator.

  After trying a few steps in various directions, checking the updated map, she found out which direction was the correct one.

  She walked to the elevator, meeting no crew members on the way. When she reached it, it was already waiting for her. The doors stood open.

  She stepped inside, pushed the button for the second deck, waited until the doors closed and leaned on the wall, shutting her eyes and rubbing her temples. A moment alone, if only for a few seconds.

  Her experience had been very exhausting so far. It differed greatly from what she had expected it would be to go on board a new ship on her first day.

  Before she had time to finish the thought, the elevator car stopped. The doors opened again, and she stepped out.

  She called up the map again. Her directional arrow pointed down the corridor.

  She was already facing the bridge, all she had to do was to walk straight ahead.

  Even now, she didn’t see any crew members, but there were muffled voices, coming from here and there, through the doors she was passing by.

  The bridge itself was quite impressive.

  The spacious room was buzzing with busy people walking up and down, pursuing activities she did not know about. The commander’s seat was slightly elevated in the middle, and the helm was on the left side, two seats with navigation panels and displays.

  While Deirdre had seen the roster, she hadn’t memorised it. No idea who to look for exactly to realise her plan.

  All she knew was, she needed to talk with the communications officer, and the first person she could stop to ask for help was a young Ghillir Dhu woman, almost two heads taller than herself. The giantess stopped, saluted, and cocked her head. Her bark reminded Deirdre of the tree she had seen earlier in Brilann’s quarters.

  “Who’s in charge of the communications?” Deirdre asked.

  The Ghillie Dhu gestured towards a position deeper inside, past the helm, in front of an enormous display and next to a hologram showing the mooring and the space station.

  “The comm console is over there.”

  Deirdre nodded and smiled, then moved on.

  She strode confidently, but when she realised who was standing there on top of the console, she stopped breathing.

  Well, well, wasn’t a ship a small village? And wasn’t the figure standing there the midget who had made her chase him through the corridors just a short while ago?

  Indeed, he was. His icy blue wings gave him away, and the cold that surrounded him. She could feel it even here, two steps away. Deirdre didn’t feel at all like dealing with the arrogant fae again, but if she wanted to see her plan through, what was she gonna do?

  So there were two possibilities.

  Number one, give up, search for her quarters and wait there for Brilann to call her. Or number two, try to ask the faerie, and what did she have to lose, anyway?

  She stepped forward, but the faerie didn’t notice her right away. He was staring at the tablet he was holding in his hands. She couldn’t make out what he was reading on it. Most of the display was hidden behind his back. Standing on the console, his wings fluttered slowly, and glittering faerie dust tumbled towards the ground like snowflakes in winter, but never reaching it. It just disappeared.

  “Are you the communications officer?” She asked.

  He turned around slowly and lifted off the console. He stared at her and his eyes widened, then he nodded.

  “I am the communications officer, and who are you?”

  “I am the navigator, Deirdre MacBreen. I came to ask you for a favour.”

  The icy little man gained some altitude, closed in on her, and waited in mid-air, right in front of her face. She couldn’t read his expression.

  “So what would you want from the communications officer, jump drive Deirdre MacBreen?” He sneered.

  “Actually, I was hoping to be on board the same ship with my friend Maya, but it didn’t work out. We couldn’t meet after the speech, because the commander called me, and…” She left the sentence hanging in the air.

  He furrowed his brows in thought, then his expression lightened up, and he grinned from ear to ear.

  “Oh, you’re the girl who caused the commotion earlier. Why didn’t you tell me? That changes everything!”

  Now it was Deirdre’s turn to be surprised.

  “So, what’s the name of your friend?”

  “Maya Howell,” she said.

  He turned around, fluttered back to the console, opened a menu, and a long list of names scrolled by at an extremely high speed. It was impossible for her to read them, even just follow them with her eyes, but the faerie didn’t seem to have any such problems. The list cut off, and he pointed at a name.

  “That her?”

  “Yes, that’s her!” Her heart jumped.

  “Okay, so what exactly do you want from me?”

  “I would like to send her a message. We couldn’t say goodbye before we went on board. I was kind of busy, you know.”

  He nodded knowingly and grinned.

  “This will cost you a favour in return,” he said.

  Deirdre didn’t seem to have a choice, but she also didn’t really mind. The little guy wasn’t such a bad person after all.

  “That’s alright with me.”

  “Okay,” he said. “So, what would you like me to write?”

  4

  Tuatha De Danann

  When Brilann’s call reached her, over one hour had already passed.

  She wasn’t in a hurry. It would still take a while until the ship could depart from the station, so there was ample time to prepare.

  The call had come over the ship’s internal communications network, through a small console on the desk at the wall. Her personal system seemed to be useless on board, and she was tempted to take her necklace with the interface chip off and put it away. Then again, it might come in handy later. Better to be prepared for anything. The call had come just when she had finished unpacking her suitcase, perfect timing.

  Her room turned out to be on the same corridor as Brilann’s, which was very convenient. She could take her time, finish stowing away some of her personal things, and prepare herself mentally.

  The old druid opened the door when she came close. There had been no need to knock. He had known she was coming, who knew how. There was
still a lot she didn’t understand. She might have been the most talented druid among her peers, but she still lacked knowledge. So many things had not been taught at the druid’s circle. She didn’t even know yet what she didn’t know.

  “Please don’t make an old man wait.”

  His voice was deep and friendly.

  Had she actually done that? Maybe a little.

  “I’m sorry.”

  This was the truth. She hadn’t meant to be this late. Time management had never been her strong suit.

  “This is going to be our very first work-related talk on board of the ship, and your introduction to your duties as a druid,” he said, already moving on.

  Her eyes wandered to the mysterious, flickering wall, all on their own. The tree was not visible right now. The flickering, however, was still going on and caught her attention.

  “What is the tree about?”

  “Don’t you want to come in first?”

  This had been the verbal equivalent of stumbling over her own feet. She hurried inside, closed the door behind her, and turned her back to the wall, as to not get distracted again.

  “I can imagine you have a lot of questions, about your job and about me. Please allow me to give you an introduction first. We can talk about everything else later.”

  She would try to dial her curiosity back a notch.

  “You’ve been taught the ritual for the jump procedure, and I’ve been told you perform it very well. I’ve also been told that you have a short attention span and tend not to listen until the end. This won’t do. This is active duty, you can’t afford to miss out on anything. Listening only to ninety percent of what I say, or to all of it, can make the difference between life and death. Do you understand?”