Firmament: In His Image

by J. Grace Pennington

  I felt one knee threaten to collapse under me, and caught myself, jarring back into a more conscious state. It was then that I realized how much I was sweating, and noticed a cramp forming in my right hand. I forced myself to keep walking, rubbing my hand firmly with the other one. My mind raced to remember what this meant. I’d read about it in my books—

  Heat exhaustion. I had never encountered it, but had read about it. If not treated quickly, it could lead to heatstroke, which could be fatal. A burst of adrenaline surged through me, and I hurried to catch up to the Doctor, who was several feet away.

  “Dad…”

  A wave of dizziness swept over me, and I swayed and almost fell. Elasson darted forward and caught me, and the Doctor rushed to my side. I closed my eyes, and felt his gentle, calloused hand on my forehead.

  “Heat exhaustion,” he said quickly. “Elasson, water, we need water, quick!”

  I don’t know what he did to make Elasson understand, but I felt myself being transferred to the Doctor’s arms, and then heard soft footsteps hurrying off. I struggled to open my eyes, but the Doctor said, “No, just relax.”

  I did, and felt him lower me to the ground. I heard him digging through his bag with one hand. “It’s alright, Andi. I’m going to give you some salt, and Elasson‘s gone for water. But we have to keep going, honey. We can’t stop; we have to get you inside and cooled down. Do you understand?” I heard him fumbling with a bottle. “Here.”

  His fingers thrust two small round salt tablets into my mouth, and his voice instructed, “Suck on them slowly, let them dissolve in your mouth, and then swallow.”

  I obeyed, feeling a little better with his shadow shielding me and his arms holding me so that I could relax. But I didn’t want to open my eyes. I just wanted to rest.

  “Hudatos,” I heard Elasson’s voice announce, and moments later the Doctor was pouring a sip of water into my mouth. I gulped, letting the salty liquid trickle down my throat.

  When I had drained the little cup dry, the Doctor began speaking with a forcedly calm voice. “We can’t stop. We’re a little more than two thirds of the way to the walls, and we have to get there. We’ll help you, but you have to keep walking, okay?”

  “Okay.” I made my eyelids open, and looked into his worried face. Elasson too was bending over me, not speaking. I realized that this couldn’t have been the first time he’d seen heat exhaustion. Did he understand what was happening?

  The Doctor continued supporting me with one arm as he put the bottle of salt back in his bag. “Elasson,” he said commandingly, and the young man seemed to already know what was wanted of him. Slipping one arm around me, he helped the Doctor hold me up. “Quickly now,” the Doctor said. “You’ll be fine, Andi, we just need to get you back where you can rest in the shade.”

  “Yes sir.” I grimly straightened my legs and made them walk. Leaning on the two men made it much easier, but I still felt weak and dizzy.

  “Keep your legs moving,” the Doctor’s voice instructed. “We have to make it back.”

  XII

  We walked on, in total silence now. I couldn’t waste any energy talking. I had to just move my feet across the ground and keep my eyes on the wall, which was slowly but steadily getting closer. I forced my mind to focus on walking. My brain started to feel fuzzy, and great drops of sweat tickled down my face. I swayed as I took another step and the dizziness returned.

  “Almost there,” the Doctor grunted.

  I pushed myself to go faster, and we hurried up to the doorway. With a final effort I stepped through into the shelter of the walls, and then let myself collapse. The Doctor caught me, and yelled at Elasson, “Get Captain Trent.”

  Elasson knew who Captain Trent was, and he ran off into the crowd.

  The Doctor laid me on the sand and loosened my shirt collar. He tried to give me more salt, but I pushed his hand away. I hardly knew what I was doing; I just didn’t want that icky stuff in my mouth again. I only knew that I wanted rest, and I wanted water.

  “You have to take it, Andi,” he insisted. “Open your mouth. We’ll get you some water soon, and get you to some shade, but you’ve been perspiring too much. You’ve lost too much salt. Listen to me, Andi. Relax and open your mouth.”

  His voice cut through the fog in my mind, and I let him put the salt in, but then I gagged. He put his hand over my mouth. “Swallow.”

  I tried, but my throat was too dry. It refused to cooperate.

  “What’s going on here?” I heard the Captain’s voice demand. “Gerry, I sent for you to come right away—” He stopped abruptly, and I heard a thump as his knees hit the ground. His hand rested on my shoulder. “What is it?”

  “Get her to the tent,” was the Doctor’s only response. “Then I can deal with the reason you sent for me. Elasson, water; we need water, lots of it.”

  He must have made some hand motion to accompany his words, because when I opened my eyes slightly I saw Elasson hurrying off again.

  “Andi!” Crash was pushing his way through the crowd. None of the people around him paid any attention to him or me or the situation. “My word, Uncle, what happened?”

  The Captain was already lifting me off the ground, and my eyes closed again.

  “Take him to the girl,” the Captain ordered Crash, and began walking towards our tent.

  I heard the Doctor’s voice, farther away, as we moved off. “Elasson, follow them.”

  My mind was confused for the next hour or so. I have vague memories of Elasson pouring sips of water into my mouth and the Captain giving orders. I know that at some point the Doctor was there, rubbing a water-soaked cloth over my arms and face. Then his face faded into Crash’s, and Crash was the one who was rubbing and giving me water. Then I succumbed to the weariness and fell into a deep sleep.

  When I awoke, Crash was still sitting there, and I saw Elasson standing on the far side of the room, looking more curious than worried. Crash leaned forward when he saw my eyes open. “Andi? Can you hear me?”

  I took a deep breath and spoke slowly. “Yes. What’s been happening?”

  “Uncle says you were in the beginning stages of heatstroke,” he said, the edge to his voice revealing more of his worry than his words did. “Apparently it’s not uncommon around here.”

  “What do you mean?” I tried to sit up, but he laid a restraining hand on my shoulder.

  “No, Uncle says you have to rest.”

  “But—” I protested.

  “No buts. And you can’t worry Uncle right now—he has a lot on his mind.”

  “Like what?” I reluctantly lay back down on the makeshift bed.

  “Like somebody else with heatstroke.”

  “Whales?” I asked.

  He shook his head while handing me a wooden bowl of water. “Not one of us. A little girl, one of the natives.”

  I stopped in the middle of a drink, and choked a little. Could it be Nama? “Is it the girl who was looking at my hair when we first got here?” I asked breathlessly.

  “Yes.”

  I sat up, pushing his hand away recklessly. “I have to see her.”

  He held me by the shoulders. “Cut it out, Andi. You can’t help her, and you’ll be in danger too if you don’t rest.”

  I refused to lie down again. “She likes me. She won’t be afraid if I’m with her.”

  “She’s not afraid, Andi. She doesn’t even know what’s happening.”

  I stopped struggling. “It’s bad?”

  “She’s in a coma now.”

  I fell back, breathing hard. My mind raced.

  “Let her come here,” I suggested at last. “The Doctor can take care of both of us at once, and when she wakes up she’ll like to be with me.”

  “Get Doctor Lloyd, Elasson,” Crash instructed, and the young man stood up and hurried out of the tent.

  Leaning closer to me and speaking in confidential tones, Crash began telling me more about what had happened. “Basilius is upset with us. For some reason he
doesn’t like us trying to save the girl.”

  I was immensely indignant. “Why? Why should he care?”

  “The Captain thinks it’s because we’re keeping the parents and the girl’s older brother from their work. He’s obsessed with keeping everyone on track—they all have to either work in the gardens, bring water, gather salt, build, weave, carve, or sew; nonstop. I get the feeling that—deaths like this are common.”

  His voice broke, and his face was angry. “I understand it; I know that if he doesn’t keep them working, they’ll die, but they are dying! How can a life like this even be worth living? I don’t know what they are and I don’t care, but I know they shouldn’t be living like this. They shouldn’t! But they are. It’s not right.”

  He fell suddenly silent, as if embarrassed that I’d caught him in such a passionate outburst. “Here comes Uncle,” he muttered, and stumbled out of the tent.

  The Doctor and Elasson walked in, and the Doctor hurried to kneel beside me. “Is something wrong? What’s the matter with Crash?’

  “He needed a minute,” I sighed. Then, “Dad, don’t you think the little girl could come here?”

  “I’d been thinking of transferring her here. You sure you can take it? You’ve been pretty sick yourself.” He brushed his cool fingers over my forehead. “You’ve cooled down a lot, but you still need to rest.”

  “Of course, I’m fine. Won’t the cold at night help me get better?”

  His face was very grave. “It will probably be safe for you, because you were treated before it got too serious. But I’m worried about the girl. Her system is too weak to withstand freezing temperatures. We’ll have to work hard to keep her warm.”

  “I’ll help.”

  “Thank you, Andi.” He stood up. “Tell me exactly what you’re feeling.”

  “Physically, I feel fatigued, but otherwise normal. But Dad, I feel—sad. Crash said that Basilius just lets them die. I can’t help—I’ve been thinking—”

  He held up his hand for silence. “Philosophy later. I have work to do.”

  Elasson was still standing quietly at the back of the tent, and at the Doctor’s beckoning followed him out of the tent flap.

  I settled myself back down on the roll they had fixed up for a pillow. The Doctor knew me too well to be unaware of the confusion that was in my mind. But Crash’s thoughts and feelings had progressed beyond confusion into doubt. I could see that plainly. I saw why, but I would not let my faith be shaken.

  There were two possibilities that I could see. Either God had created these people here, made them just like us, and for some reason given them such a difficult life, or—

  I didn’t want to think about the other possibility. That was the Captain’s point of view, and I couldn’t go there. I stopped. I know, God, that you are good and holy. I know that you created the universe. And you have a plan. “Lord, I do believe. Help my unbelief.” I said the words quietly, and then smiled a little.

  It helped me calm down. But it didn’t solve the puzzle. These people were obviously humans, just like us. But the Doctor always said that we were made in the image of God. That was special. From his point of view, if these inhabitants were also made in the image of God, it took away the meaning of it. I’d heard his arguments a thousand times—we knew from the Scriptures that all Creation had been cursed because of the sin of our first father. Would God condemn people on other planets, from other descendants, by the sin of our ancestors? No.

  But every part of the universe was affected by sin. And just from our observations, it was easy to see that these people were not sinless. They were just like us in that respect as well. So how did redemption come into all this? It was unthinkable that Christ would have to die a separate time for each planet’s people.

  It was a messy puzzle.

  There had to be a solution. I didn’t know what it was, but I had faith that there was one, and that it satisfied everything we knew about God and Creation from His Word. I felt like I needed to know what that solution was. I had faith to believe without knowing, but I wanted to show Crash and the Captain and August that my faith was not unfounded.

  But how?

  Just as I was thinking this, Elasson opened the tent flap and the Doctor hurried in, carrying the unconscious form of little Nama in his arms. “Andi, can you hold her for a minute so I can fix up a bed for her?”

  “Yes, Doctor.” I held out my arms and he laid the girl in my lap. She weighed so little that even as tired as I was I didn’t mind her weight. I cradled her, looking down at her long black hair and incomplete set of pearly teeth. I laid a hand on her forehead and shuddered at how dry and hot her skin was. I would have been like this if the Doctor hadn’t taken care of me.

  “Is she going to be okay?” I asked.

  He finished smoothing the little bed he had made and shook his head. “I don’t know. She’s pretty far gone. She needs water and cooling more than anything, but she can’t swallow. It’s not fun forcing it down her throat, but we have to do it.”

  “I know.” I stroked the girl’s head and listened to the dry sound of her steady breathing for a moment before handing her over to the Doctor.

  “Now that you’re feeling better, you need food. And I don’t care what you say about Elasson—you’re my responsibility and I say you eat some real food. I should have made you eat before. I’ll take him with me if you like, but you’re eating something better than leaves and sticks.”

  I succumbed without protest, knowing in my heart that he was right. He handed me my pack and ordered me to eat two bars, slowly, after he had left. “I’ll send more water,” he said, then stood up.

  “Where are you going?”

  “Whales wanted to talk to me. He’s been trying to figure out what’s making our eyes itch. And the Captain might need my help negotiating with Basilius—he’s getting upset with us.”

  “I know, Crash told me.”

  At the mention of Crash the Doctor shook his head. “That boy needs help,” was all he said. Then he turned to leave. “I’ll keep Elasson with me. You just need to stay here, eat, drink, and rest. I’ll come in to check on the girl at intervals.”

  “Nama.”

  “What?”

  I laid the back of my hand on the child’s cheek. “Her name is Nama.” I felt a tear trail down my face.

  “I’ll be back, Andi.”

  He handed me my pack and left, pulling Elasson with him.

  I didn’t have the heart to eat anything for a few minutes after they had left. But bearing in mind the Doctor’s sober directions I finally took out a bar of something—I didn’t look to see what it was. I didn’t care. All I could think about was the little girl next to me. After hydrating the bar listlessly, I ate it, still watching her.

  When the Doctor came back twenty minutes or so later, I had finished the bar, and the packaging lay crumpled on the ground.

  “Eat another one,” he instructed. “Elasson is bringing water.”

  I watched as he sat her up and then pried her mouth open gently, holding it open with one hand and reaching for the bowl of water with the other. He carefully poured a few drops between her lips. She didn’t move, but I could see her chest rising and falling as she breathed.

  He dipped a rag in the bowl of water and began rubbing her arms with it. After repeating this a few times, he laid her down, wet the cloth again, and put it on her forehead. “Can you take it off in about ten minutes?” he asked. I nodded wordlessly, just as Elasson entered with a small bucket of water.

  “Idou tode,” he said, handing it to the Doctor. He looked over at me, and I smiled reassuringly. His eyes widened. From what Crash had said, I supposed that heatstroke was looked upon as a hopeless, fatal condition in this culture. Elasson must be amazed to see me recovering.

  I laid down again and prepared to take another bar out of the pack—I was actually very hungry, despite what I’d said. The Doctor reached into his bag and pulled out the history book we’d taken from the storage
of the Apogee. “Here,” he said, “you can read if you want.”

  “Thanks.” I took the book from him without much interest, and watched him go out, followed by Elasson, who closed the tent flap.

  I ate another bar, drank more water, and listlessly looked through the book. I was usually mildly interested in history, but just now I couldn’t find much reason to care about the ancient Romans, the Crusades, Henry the VIII, the American Civil War, or even the first lunar landing in the mid-twentieth century. I didn’t even want to think. I couldn’t find the strength to reason, and I began to grow sleepy. After I had taken the cloth from Nama’s head, I tried to relax, and drifted off to sleep.

  XIII

  When I woke up, the first thing I realized was that it was no longer quite so hot, and it was darker than before. The second thing was that there was a little voice coughing next to me.

  In an instant, the Doctor was there, feeling the little girl’s skin and sitting her up. “Water, Andi,” he ordered, and I reached for the bowl of water. In my state of semi-sleepiness, my arm tipped it over, spilling the liquid onto the floor. I grabbed the bowl before more could spill, and handed it to the Doctor. As soon as the girl stopped coughing, he poured a sip into her mouth.

  She half-opened her eyes, and started struggling. The Doctor held her tight. “It’s okay, sweetheart, just be still.”

  She didn’t understand. She kept struggling and started to wail. Hurriedly, I reached out and took her in my arms. “Nama,” I whispered, “Nama, it’s me.” I grabbed one of her little hands in mine and closed it around a lock of my hair. “You’re alright, Nama. Nama.” Her name was all I could be sure she would understand, and I kept saying it. “Listen, Nama.”

  She struggled less, and then finally relaxed and closed her eyes again. I held her close and rocked gently. The Doctor said quietly, “Can you get her to drink? She needs to drink some fluids, and then we have to get her bundled up before the cold really sets in.”