The Rising Tide

by J. Scott Coatsworth

  Along the left side of the road, wood fencing marked one of the farmsteads and kept in the modified cattle that provided milk and meat to the colonists.

  The original generation ship plans had called for the colonists to be largely vegetarian. But plans had changed after the Collapse, when Forever had to leave near-Earth space in haste.

  A lot of plans were being rewritten.

  On the way, they passed traffic heading into Micavery. Some of it was on horseback and some by traxx. The machines were simple enough that the colony had been able to keep most of them running, and they provided the workhorse operations for moving goods back and forth. But sooner or later, they were going to prove inadequate to the growing world’s needs. And machines couldn’t be repaired forever.

  It was strange to see human society changing, evolving in a way that had little to do with technical advances and mechanized solutions to the world’s problems. “Do you ever wonder about what the world will be like for our kids? For their kids?”

  “You have kids?”

  Eddy laughed. “No. I can barely take care of myself. I meant in general.”

  “It’ll be different. None of them will have loops.”

  “Yeah, it’s going to make communication harder.”

  “Slower, anyhow.” He sighed. “Faster isn’t always better. Look what technology brought us on Earth.”

  Eddy nodded. “You’re right. It was a mess. Even before the Collapse. And yet….”

  “What?”

  “It wasn’t all bad.” He rarely told anyone about his past, but after what Santi had told him, it felt right. “Back on Earth, before I became a soldier, I was physically female.”

  “Holy shit, really?”

  “Yeah.”

  Santi was quiet for a long time.

  “Is that… I mean, does that bother you?”

  “No. Oh, not at all.” Santi grinned. “You’re just so handsome now. I was trying to picture it.”

  Eddy grinned. Score one for team gay. “Well, thanks. I think.” He waved at a passing farmer hauling a cart full of still-glowing corn husks. “Without technology, I’d still be female. Do you know, a hundred years ago, they were still doing transitions surgically?”

  “I can’t imagine.” Santi squeezed him gently.

  “I know. It was so invasive. I’m thankful I was able to have mine done genetically.”

  “Wow. Thanks for telling me.”

  “You’re welcome. Can I ask you something?”

  He felt Santi stiffen. “Um… sure.”

  “What happened to you?” He hoped Santi didn’t mind the question.

  “I’m not sure what you mean?”

  Eddy bit his lip. “I mean… were you abused? You seemed… almost afraid? Were you…” He took a breath. “You know. Abused?”

  Santi laughed. “No, nothing like that.”

  “Then what?” Damn, I should have kept my mouth shut.

  “I’m asexual.”

  Ahhhh. “Oh, that makes sense.” Ace. Damn. “How long have you known?”

  “I’m so glad you didn’t ask ‘How long have you been.’ That’s what most people say. Or ‘Why did you decide to be ace?’ It’s just something that’s always been a part of me.”

  “Did you ever…? Never mind. That’s rude of me to ask.” He was doing a bang-up job of it.

  “It’s okay. And yeah. A couple times. With guys, if you want to know.”

  Eddy blushed. He had wanted to know. But he hadn’t wanted Santi to know he wanted to know. “That’s… nice.”

  “Ace doesn’t mean aromantic. A lot of folks are both, but they’re not the same thing.”

  “Gotcha.” Now he felt like a complete idiot.

  He’d noticed Santiago before. Who wouldn’t? The man was ten years younger than he was and attractive in that tall, dark, and handsome way. They worked together in close quarters.

  But Eddy had been with Mitchell until recently, when things had gone sour between them. He’d only reentered the market recently, and it was a small market.

  To be honest, he wasn’t sure quite what to make of the ace thing either. He’d always had a healthy sex drive. Then again, “healthy” was subjective, wasn’t it?

  He’d always been attracted to men, and many—most—men weren’t. He understood what it was to be different.

  Eddy was still working out what else to say when the world went dark.

  COLIN KNELT over a virtual model of the world split in half like a geode. Well, a pipe-shaped geode.

  He’d loved those when he was a kid. His father had bought one for him at a county fair, and when they’d cut it open, it had been full of purple crystals.

  His new “geode” was far more intricate, stretching out for about fifteen meters, the world in cross-section.

  He was looking at a spot out toward the end of the current build-out—past Darlith, past the open space that was starting to fill up with forest and estate homes—for a new settlement. “The Eire,” he was calling it, a nod to his own and Jackson’s roots in that beautiful green country.

  They’d decided to keep most of the human population concentrated in cities, centralizing the burden on Forever’s recycling systems and leaving wide swaths of the biosystem mostly untouched and self-regulating.

  This town, as he envisioned it, would eventually stretch all the way around the world in a ring, allowing them to house thousands upon thousands of future colonists.

  He supposed he should stop calling them colonists. The colonization period was long over. They were the natives now, or would be, once the next generation grew into their own.

  Forever’s first homegrown generation.

  Andy’s kids were being called Liminals, kids born here, on the cusp of the greatest change to ever befall the human race. He supposed it applied equally to the whole new generation.

  Colin felt old, thinking about them, about how this would be their world in a way it could never be his. It wasn’t the first time.

  He could look young, here—he could remake himself in their image in vee space. But in the end, it was just another lie. He could refashion his body in vee, but not his soul.

  “Colin, you need to come see this.” Ana appeared, startling him.

  “Damn, I hate when you do that.” Ten years, and he still wasn’t used to this virtual world. “What is it?”

  Ana frowned. “Part of the mind—of vee space—seems to have been sectioned off.”

  “Show me.” Everywhere he went, he seemed doomed to confront system failure of one type or another.

  “It’s—”

  Then she was gone.

  The walls of his office shimmered and seemed to rust away, dissolving as if eaten by a powerful fungus, leaving Colin trapped in a silver, reflective box. He could see his own distorted face, like he was looking into a pool of quicksilver.

  Colin shuddered. “Ana, can you hear me?”

  Nothing.

  “Lex?”

  There was no reply.

  “Hello! Anyone?” His shouts didn’t echo; rather, they seemed muffled, like they were being absorbed by something.

  If he’d had a human heart, it would have been racing. This one time, he was glad he wasn’t subject to human hormones and bodily responses.

  He sat down and stared at the shimmering inside of the box where he was suddenly trapped, trying to figure out what to do next.

  Chapter Six: Cut Off

  FIRST LIGHT found Marissa and her friends at the edge of the mountains, making their way out of the broken stone labyrinth that surrounded the valley of the schoolhouse. They’d explored parts of it but had never actually left it before.

  It was Marissa’s first time out in the real world since she and the others had been rescued from Agartha. She’d spent hours as a child when she’d first come to the schoolhouse lying on her back in the tall grass. She would stare at the arc of the world as it wrapped itself above her. At the ring of mountains that girdled the world and at the lands on ei
ther side that lay beyond them.

  It was hard to make out much detail, but on exceptionally clear days, sometimes she thought she could see rivers and roads up there. She even imagined she could see people on horseback or pulling carts or riding on the mechanical traxx vehicles.

  Around the spindle, she also sometimes caught sight of people with wings—not their own, as Andy had explained—on their way from one end of the world to the other.

  Now she was finally here. Outside the schoolhouse. Away from their beautiful little prison.

  She spread her hands and took a deep breath, startling her horse. “It’s okay, Miri.” She rubbed the horse’s neck reassuringly.

  The world ahead of her sloped down toward Lake Jackson, with bands of color representing the regions. The Verge’s grasses glowed golden with morning light, dotted here and there with farmsteads and fences. In the near distance, the orchards glowed a golden green. And beyond that, the shores of Lake Jackson were more variegated, a patchwork of buildings, roads, vineyards, factories, and areas set aside for other uses.

  “It’s beautiful,” Delancy said breathlessly. Her chest heaved with the excitement, and Marissa frowned as she saw how that attracted Danny’s attention.

  “We should go.”

  “Where is it?” Danny asked, his eyes still transfixed on Delancy.

  “About a quarter turn west of here. The house is right near the edge of the Verge.” She spurred Miri forward, leaving the others behind.

  She didn’t have a body like Delancy. Maybe she would someday, but for now she was still as flat-chested as a boy. If that was all Danny cared about, he could have Delancy.

  The line between the Verge and the mountains was strangely regular, a reminder that as natural as Forever looked, it was nothing of the sort. On her left, the grasses blew back and forth in the gentle breeze. On her right, the mountainous zone began, with sparse vegetation and gray rock walls.

  A faint trail in the grass showed they weren’t the first ones to ride here, along the margin.

  “Hey, wait up!” Danny’s horse galloped up next to hers. “What was that all about?”

  Marissa glared at him. “I saw the way you looked at her.” She glanced over her shoulder. Delancy was following them at a respectable distance. “I didn’t even want her to come with us.”

  “Jealous much?”

  “Should I be?” She glared at him.

  “Sorry. I was just worried about her.”

  Marissa snorted. “About her breasts, you mean.”

  He sighed. “I can’t talk with you when you’re like this.” He shook his reins and spurred his horse farther on down the trail.

  “Danny, I’m sorry—” Her voice cut off as the world went dark around her. “Holy shit,” she whispered, pulling Miri to a halt lest she stumble over something unseen.

  Her horse nickered nervously.

  “It’s okay.” Marissa slipped off the horse, taking the reins in her hand. “Danny! Delancy!”

  “Stay where you are,” Danny called. “I’m going to work my way back to you.”

  From behind her, Delancy called out, “I’m coming to you too.”

  Marissa had never seen such darkness before. There was no light, not even from the spindle. Holding her hand up to her face, she couldn’t see a thing. Her heart was racing. “Danny?”

  His voice replied immediately. “Keep talking.”

  “I’m right here. I’m standing next to Mirabelle.” She looked around wildly. “It’s so dark. Why is it so dark?” She tried to keep the tremble out of her voice.

  “It’s okay. I’m almost there.” Danny’s voice was trembling too.

  Delancy reached her first. The nickering of her horse was comforting.

  “Mari?”

  “Right here, Della.” She pulled the other girl to her, feelings of jealousy forgotten.

  “What’s happening?” Delancy squeezed her tight.

  “I don’t know. We’ll figure it out.”

  “I’m here too.”

  Danny’s voice, so close in the strange night, was immensely reassuring. “Take my hand.” They fumbled in the darkness until they connected.

  “Why did nightfall come so early?” Delancy asked, her voice sounding small.

  “This isn’t night. There’s always some light at night. This is something else.” She squeezed Delancy’s hand in reassurance.

  “Marissa’s right. If only we had loops, like Andy and Shandra. We might be able to contact someone.”

  “Well, we don’t. And I imagine normal communication channels are overwhelmed now.” She bit her lip. “There’s another way.”

  “It’s not safe.” Delancy’s voice had an edge of madness to it.

  “We can do it together. With all three of us, we’re stronger.”

  The others were silent.

  “Well?”

  “I guess. Together.” Danny sounded reluctant.

  “Do you guys have a better idea?”

  “No,” Danny replied.

  “No.” Delancy was even softer.

  “Is there somewhere we can tie up the horses?”

  “There’s a tree on the side of the path, just a little ahead.” Danny laughed softly. “I ran smack into it on the way back.”

  “Sounds good. Lead us.”

  They went single file with their horses. Danny led them ahead until they found it, and one by one they felt their way to tie up their mounts.

  Marissa rubbed Miri’s neck to reassure her.

  When they were done, they gathered in a circle a meter away and put their hands one upon another.

  “Ready?”

  “Yes.”

  “Yes.”

  Marissa braced herself for whatever might happen—snakes, cold—whatever. They knelt in a circle and put their hands on the ground.

  They dipped.

  Nothing. There was absolutely nothing there.

  “What the hell?” Delancy’s voice.

  “Language.”

  “Sorry, what in the hell?”

  The world lit up around them, banishing the darkness as if it had never been.

  Marissa stood, looking around at the glowing grass and sky.

  Everything seemed normal again, except that she couldn’t dip. Couldn’t touch the world mind.

  It was like someone had thrown a bag over her head.

  “EDDY, ARE you there?” Andy’s voice crackled in his head. Eddy had never been happier to hear from another human being.

  “Yeah, I’m here.” The blackout, or whatever it was, had only lasted a few minutes. But it shouldn’t have been possible at all. “What the hell is happening?”

  “We don’t know. I can’t reach Colin, Ana, or Lex, and vee space is screwed up, but now I can’t dip either.”

  “Holy shit.” Something was badly amiss. “Is the world mind… broken?”

  “I wish I knew. But we have another problem. Three of the kids have gone missing.”

  “Which ones?” He and Santi had dismounted when the world had gone black.

  Santi was calming the horse. “What happened?”

  “It’s Andy. She doesn’t know.”

  “The three oldest—Marissa, Danny, and Delancy. They left a note saying they were going to find their father.”

  “Jayson.”

  “Yeah. How close are you?”

  “We should be there in another couple hours, if nothing else happens.” He looked around. The world looked peaceful, normal. If he hadn’t just witnessed the blackout, he would have had no immediate reason to worry. “How are the other kids handling it?”

  “They’re scared.” Andy was scared too. He could hear it in her voice. “Shandra’s with them. Can you reach my father?”

  “I can try. He won’t answer you?”

  “I think we’re too far away. The world mind boosted the network signal. But now….”

  He nodded. “Gotcha. I’ll call him.”

  “Eddy?”

  “Yeah?”

&nbs
p; “Be careful.”

  “We will. I’ll let you know when we get there.” He cut the connection. “Lex, can you get Aaron for me?”

  There was no answer. Shit, he’d forgotten. What could have gone wrong to block the world mind? Or worse, to damage or destroy it? If Lex was dead, they were living on borrowed time. “Andy said three of their kids have gone after Jayson. Misplaced father longing or something.”

  Santi nodded. “Understandable.”

  “No one can reach the world mind. I’m calling Aaron, and then we’ll get on our way.”

  “Is the world ending?” Santi looked around and up at the arc of the sky.

  “I hope not. I barely got my ass off Earth the last time.” He tapped the loop three times, bringing up a list of recent access codes. It had been a long time since he’d had to place a call across the loop network manually.

  Busy flashed across his retina. Leave message? He nodded. “Aaron, this is Eddy. Things have gotten crazy, haven’t they? Andy called. They’re all right, but none of us can reach the world mind. We’re pushing on to the Olaf estate. No need to call me unless you need me for something. We’ll report from there.” Eddy tapped his loop to cut the connection. “Okay, let’s go.”

  They mounted up and set off down the dirt road at a good clip.

  “These kids, they’re Liminal ones, right? The ones with the abilities?”

  Eddy nodded. All the sheriffs knew about the schoolhouse, though Aaron and the administration had tried to keep the information out of the public sphere. “Andy says the other kids are okay, just scared.”

  “Do you think they might have done this?”

  Eddy frowned. “Not a chance. Why would you think that?”

  “There have been a lot of rumors going around.”

  “At headquarters?”

  “There… and in general. Some people are calling them witches.”

  Eddy laughed. “Hardly. They’re good kids. I’ve been up there a couple times. Andy is teaching them how to use their abilities and how to fit in with society when the time comes.”

  Santi was silent.

  “Do you have a problem with that?” Eddy asked.

  “They can do things that the rest of us can’t.”

  “Right.”

  “I’m not sure I want them mixed in with the rest of us.” He sighed. “I know that’s not the correct thing to say. But aren’t we asking for trouble?”