Elvene

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Elvene Page 26

by P. P. Mealing


  When the bracelet on Elvene’s arm tingled as it had in the cave with Myka, she didn’t wake up. That’s because on this occasion she wasn’t asleep; she was comatose. Alfa could detect no signs of life under the blanket of snow but he did receive the signal from Elvene’s bracelet and that was all he needed. Even though it was blowing a blizzard, his stabilisers kept him poised above her without the necessity to land.

  If Elvene could have seen the ship, she would have noticed straight away that it was subtly different to his previous incarnation. It was a slightly larger vessel and even more streamlined than its predecessor. Even though there was no commander on board, Alfa knew exactly what to do. Roger’s instructions had been explicit: ‘Find Elvene and bring her back to Base, dead or alive, or any evidence thereof.’ There was only one caveat: ‘If you should find her alive, take instruction from her.’

  Alfa used a laser beam to create a hole in the snow and he quickly detected the entrance to her cave. He could detect the faintest degree of body heat, but that was all; the oxygen level in the cave had become dangerously low. Even the sudden infusion of cold air didn’t rouse her.

  In his new guise, Alfa had a number of new utilities, including a tractor beam. He now employed it to get her on board, negotiating the cave entrance and shielding her from the icy blast of wind. The beam brought her through an airlock in Alfa’s floor and placed her directly on a table. A transparent shield covered her to create a micro-environment; enriched oxygen and an intravenous drip were inserted, life signs were measured. Recovery was possible but not guaranteed. Alfa made an assessment based on the known probabilities of survival and decided he would wait.

  He swung about in mid air so that the driving snow was whipped into a vortex that momentarily overrode the blinding wind. But instead of leaving atmosphere, he returned to the ocean where she had originally left him. He sank into the sand in the underwater cave and waited to see if she would recover. Despite Roger’s instructions, he now had his Commander on board and she was alive; he would wait to receive instructions from her if that was possible. Besides, there was an added risk: Alfa was cognisant that if he put her into hibernation in her current condition, she may never come out of it.

  16. Home is the Heart at Peace

  MYKA LEARNED A GREAT DEAL ABOUT THE SALARI. There was a spring at the bottom of their valley which was their source of water, and they kept animals in their caves from which they took milk and eggs. The animals were small, furry and six-legged. They naturally lived underground, but the Salari were able to keep them domesticated by providing them with food and protecting them from predators. They didn’t kill them for their meat or skins; for those commodities they hunted in the forest.

  Myka was to learn that the forest had its own dangers, and that many of the trees were carnivorous. Even so, there was a source of timber, albeit different to his home.

  Within a few days of achieving his new status, Myka set about building a boat with Sendra’s help. He wanted to introduce the Salari to fishing, if he could overcome their fear of the sky swimmers. Myka did not understand how the sky swimmers could kill so effectively, but he knew that it had been Ryka’s policy of hostility that had turned them against humans. In fact, Myka realised that his only contribution to this new society so far was that he had turned that policy around.

  Despite the perceptions of the people at large, he wanted Janella to take charge. It was she who had revealed through her own actions that she had both the vision and the courage to see a different life for them, and also, as a seer, he knew she would be respected.

  She called a meeting as promised, and appointed a Council of Elders. Someone asked about the punishment of Ryka’s henchmen, and they asked Myka for his opinion.

  Back home, Myka knew that punishment had been simple and effective, yet he had only once seen it carried out during his upbringing, resulting from a man taking advantage of another’s wife. His punishment was that he was left stranded on a much smaller island for a specified number of days. If he survived, he was allowed to rejoin the community with no recriminations. If he didn’t survive then that was his fate. If he reoffended, then he would be cast out for good.

  Myka explained this to the Council of Elders, but considering the different circumstances of their situation, he suggested an alternative.

  ‘Some of you may find it difficult to forgive these men. I am not in a position to make that judgement. I would suggest that they be allowed to stay and play a role in your community, but if they cause trouble, then they should be sent away, banished, never to return.’

  This was discussed at length. Some found Myka’s suggestion agreeable, whilst others believed the men should not go unpunished. Myka turned to Janella, ‘You have suffered at the hands of these men, what do you say?’

  ‘I want to leave Ryka’s culture behind me. I cannot do to them what they have done to me, yet I cannot live with them in my midst. If it was up to me, I would banish them and let the sky swimmers take them.’

  ‘Then why not let the Council vote?’ Myka suggested.

  So the Council took a vote and Janella’s proposal was carried. All of Ryka’s henchmen were banished. Myka felt it was a mistake as they were creating an enemy for themselves, but he also felt it had to be the Salari’s own decision. He was relieved however, that they hadn’t opted for execution. It was a sign that Ryka’s methods of maintaining order through fear and violence were no longer considered mandatory.

  When Elvene regained consciousness, she wondered where she was. She could see that she was in someone’s ship, but she seemed to be alone; it made no sense. Then a familiar voice spoke to her. ‘Hello madam. Welcome back.’

  ‘Alfa?’

  ‘Yes, madam.’

  She was sitting up now, taking tubes out of her arm. ‘Where are we?’

  ‘We are on the Kiri planet, madam. This is where you left me, remember?’

  Elvene was confused. ‘But... but this is another ship.’

  ‘Very observant, madam.’

  ‘Don’t patronise me, Alfa.’ She banged the table she was sitting on. A touch temperamental, she thought. ‘Tell me what’s happened.’

  ‘Where do you want to start, madam?’

  ‘Start with when I left you, and stop calling me madam.’

  ‘What should I call you?’

  ‘It doesn’t matter, Alfa.’ She was irritable beyond belief, but her voice had calmed down now. ‘What happened after I left you?’

  ‘Nothing happened at all. You didn’t return by the specified time, so I followed your instructions.’

  ‘So remind me, what were my instructions?’

  ‘To return to Base and report to Roger.’

  ‘Now I remember. Thank you.’ Elvene realised that she was still wearing animal skins. ‘God, I must smell.’

  ‘I can’t comment, madam.’

  Elvene chuckled for the first time. ‘Since when did you learn discretion?’

  ‘I don’t understand you, madam’

  ‘Don’t worry, I’m only teasing you. Do I have any clean clothes?’

  ‘Yes, madam. Here they are.’

  A door opened and a rack of clothing telescoped out where she could access it.

  ‘Okay, thanks. I think I need a wash first.’

  Elvene showered as if it was a rare indulgence, and changed into a new body suit. She pulled back her now lengthy hair, and ran it through a coral-coloured band.

  ‘So, Roger downloaded you into a new ship and sent you back to find me.’

  ‘That is correct.’

  Elvene busied herself getting food and drink. ‘I’m glad you’re well supplied.’

  ‘I can only give you liquids at this stage, madam.’

  ‘You’re such a mother, Alfa. Well, give me liquids with lots of sustenance so I can move onto heavier things.’

  ‘All in good time.’

  ‘Mmm. Thanks. Did Roger give any instructions?’

  ‘To follow your instructions.’

/>   ‘Assuming I was alive.’ She was squeezing down a tube of jelly so she didn’t expect to be heard.

  ‘He did mention that, madam.’

  ‘And if I wasn’t?’

  ‘To bring you back dead or alive, or evidence thereof.’

  Elvene knew that he was reciting Roger verbatim, even though it was in his own voice. ‘Well, Alfa, I think you’ve exceeded expectations. I can’t believe I am alive.’

  ‘That statement makes no sense, madam.’

  ‘Don’t get philosophical on me, Alfa. I’m not in the mood.’

  ‘As you say, madam.’

  Elvene had forgotten what it was like to try and have an intelligible conversation with a machine, especially one as intelligent as Alfa, but things were definitely improving, because she was regaining her sense of humour.

  ‘Okay Alfa. First stop, the Kiri archipelago. No, hang about. You better tell me what time of day it is there first. Can you give me a time map?’

  Myka and Sendra’s boat building attracted a lot of interest. He assured them that he wasn’t leaving, but they were a people whose suspicions would not easily be allayed. Up until now they’d had little reason to trust anyone.

  At first Myka found it difficult to get anyone to go out with him, but some showed more interest than others and once they got a taste for it, they started asking questions about building boats of their own. Even then, some showed trepidation when they saw sky swimmers on the horizon, but Myka assured them that as long as they left the sky swimmers alone, they would come to no harm.

  As the days grew, he and Sendra learnt more about the Salari, and they were also willing to learn from him. Sendra took an interest in one family because he was attracted to their daughter, and Myka knew then that they could no longer consider themselves visitors. As for himself, he spent a lot of time with Janella because he realised that she had a lot of knowledge of local flora and fauna, as well as the healing arts, which was of specific interest to him.

  He also grew closer to the sky swimmers and would often hitch a ride with them so that he could explore the immediate environs, including the forest that fringed the Salari homeland. He knew from both the sky swimmers and the Salari that it was a dangerous place, but they both hunted there and he needed to know more about it. His ability to ride with them was unique and the envy of all, but no one begrudged him or displayed any resentment, because it had been the genesis of their freedom – a freedom that they had never even imagined, because they had known nothing else.

  As for his own emotional state, for the first time since he’d left his home, Myka found he could think about Elvene without feeling an enormous ache for her touch and her voice, even though he knew her memory would never leave him. He also missed his family and knew that one day he must return, but possibly after he had a family of his own.

  But Elvene was different, because he couldn’t imagine that he would ever see her again, yet she had made a bigger impact on his life than any other single person he’d met. A woman from the stars who held knowledge of the origins of humanity beyond this very planet. Who would ever have thought? A woman who had taught him the art of lovemaking, and the art of love, as well as how to navigate by the stars, and then the belief that he could carry it out. A woman whose closest friend was her star-ship, and whose enemies could destroy all human life on the planet if they so wished. He had told Sendra never to mention her in front of the Salari; he had enough to deal with as it was, and besides, why would they believe him?

  According to Alfa, it was past midnight in the Kiri archipelago when Elvene made the query, but she decided it was a good time to visit anyway. She could enter the lagoon and wait for dawn, not unlike her original arrival. The Kiri would then discover her instead of the other way round, assuming they were still there. She remembered Myka’s talk of migration but somehow she believed they would still be there.

  And just as she expected, come dawn, they turned up by the boatload, all longing to see her. As soon as she stepped out on to Alfa’s deck, she was greeted by Sefta and his son Rafta, who had positioned their canoe directly in front of her. She recognised other Elders who had arrived in somewhat longer craft, and she smiled and bowed to them all, as she didn’t know what else to do. Everyone was full of such joy to see her, and to her own surprise, she felt quite overwhelmed and tearful.

  Sefta spoke to her first. ‘My wife would very much like to see you.’

  ‘Certainly.’ Elvene remembered that Lenya didn’t like to travel on the water.

  She stepped into an outrigger canoe with Sefta in front and Rafta behind her, and surrounded by a flotilla of other boats, they took her the short distance to the beach.

  On the shore she was sure the whole tribe had assembled, but right in front was Lenya who greeted her like she was family, and to Elvene’s own amazement, they both ended up in tears as they hugged in front of every living person on the island.

  Children brought her gifts of flowers and fruit, and she thanked them all through a curtain of tears, then Sefta took her arm and led her up to the communal clearing and into a small hut where they could talk in private. People hung around outside, especially children, but no one aside from Myka’s family entered, except two other adults she had never met formally before. Some children brought in some food and then discretely left. There were no Elders present.

  Sefta made the introductions. ‘This is Crast,’ he said introducing a man roughly his own age. ‘And Tanya, his wife. They are the parents of Sendra, Myka’s friend and companion, who travelled with him across the sea.’

  And straightaway Elvene understood, that they hadn’t seen their sons almost since she herself had disappeared, and somehow hoped she may have some news of them.

  ‘No, I haven’t seen Myka or his friend. I have been a long, long way from here to the west.’

  ‘Myka and Sendra sailed to the east,’ Sefta said.

  ‘Yes, that is what I would have expected.’

  She noticed that the food had so far been left untouched on the matting floor. They were all squatted cross legged in a circle.

  ‘Look, the best I can do is search for him, and if I find him return with some news.’

  Sefta smiled but the others looked slightly confused as if they had expected more.

  ‘If you are asking me to bring him and his friend back, I won’t. That is completely up to them. Do you understand?’

  Crast and Tanya, who had remained silent throughout, nodded in understanding. Then they both stood up very formally and Crast spoke for the first time. ‘Thank you, Ocean Woman. We would be grateful for any news of our son. Sefta and Lenya, thank you for your hospitality.’

  Everyone then stood up while Crast and Tanya departed.

  ‘How long will you stay?’ Lenya asked.

  ‘I will stay tonight. I will leave tomorrow.’

  ‘We would be most happy if you stayed with us.’

  ‘Thank you, I will.’

  Elvene thought she would wander around by herself for most of the day. She spoke to the Elders and told them she did not intend to stay more than a day, but would bring word of Myka and Sendra if she found them.

  It felt most strange to her, to be there without Myka, yet the people did not let her forget that she had a special place in their hearts, and they simply would not let her be alone. All day, people came up to her and made conversation, and she was reminded of their enormous generosity when she had been recovering from the night render’s attack.

  They are not like us, she thought, thinking of her own culture. Once they accept you, they will not let you go. Many times during that day, she found herself overwhelmed by their generous, heartfelt friendship.

  Myka went out on the ocean every morning. Invariably he was alone except for a small flock of sky swimmers, who seemed to accompany him everywhere he went. He knew now that there was more than one flock and that they were basically territorial, but when he was amongst them they tolerated each other, as if he was a shared member of t
he whole community. He was fascinated to learn that they had their own social structure and were highly intelligent. They were very sensitive to humans generally, and Ryka’s treatment must have been an aberration to them.

  Unlike his Kiri home, the sun came up over the land and set over the sea so that when he was on the water, he found the morning light would place the hillside in shadow but the ocean was lit up by a golden light that flashed off the waves and even gave colour to the sky swimmers hovering above him.

  He liked this time of the morning best, when there was no one else around, and he was often on the water before the sun had even appeared.

  He had already caught a few fish this morning and the sun had just broken over the hillside when the sky swimmers suddenly became agitated. They let down a lone tendril for him to grab hold of and he allowed them to lift him clear of his canoe. What has alarmed you? he asked, but they had no answer.

  As he was carried aloft he gained an unbroken bird’s eye view, his canoe became the size of his thumb and he saw the ocean’s horizon retreat away from him. Looking inland he could see the forest clearly behind the Salari hillside but he could still not see anything to provoke alarm. But one advantage of height, that Myka had never known prior to his association with the sky swimmers, was that one could see clear through the water, almost to the bottom in places, and what he saw below him now took his breath away.

  He recognised it straight away as an outworldly ship, not unlike Elvene’s, yet he knew it wasn’t hers. He was excited, yet cautious. What is it doing here? he asked himself. And if it isn’t Elvene, then who can it be?

  Even before Alfa surfaced, Elvene knew that there was an unattended canoe in the water, which caused her some concern. As for the strange creatures hovering overhead, she had never seen anything like them before, yet she knew that they were deadly. They held a very high electric charge and she had little doubt that they knew how to wield it.

 

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