Insight Kindling

by Chess Desalls

  Ivory blinked and set down her knife. “Just a second. Did you two get makeovers or something? You look amazing!”

  Valcas sighed—his version of an eye roll. “The Fire Falls restored our eyes,” he said.

  Ivory’s jaw dropped. “This is the craziest mission I’ve been on yet—granted, my first TSTA penalty mission—but, wow.” She slowly shook her head, tilting her chin up toward Valcas, then me. “Do I look any different?”

  “Nope, you look great, as always,” I said. In a lower voice, I added, “But Ray looks really, really bad. Is he sick?”

  “He was fine on the other side of the Falls. One minute he was right next to me, helping me sense the Uproar, directing me where to build up the fires so it would be surrounded on all sides. But we weren’t fast enough. The flashy beast rose high above the flames and crashed down on our boat. There wasn’t any land for us to walk on, so we had to wade through the flame-waves while trying to keep afloat on pieces of the boat.”

  I gasped.

  “I know, miserable, right? I didn’t know just how much worse it would get. After about a day of that, the next thing I knew, Ray was yelling for us to run through the Fire Falls. Talk about an experience—I thought I was turning into a vampire or something. But, it was either face the Falls or become Uproar chow.

  “When I got to the other side, though, I felt amazing. I came through first, and was all ready to give Ray a high-five, but as soon as he came through he fell to the ground and crawled over to where he is now. He hasn’t moved since.” She shook her head again. “Being curled up like that is going to make it awfully difficult for his clothes to dry out.”

  “Well, he has plenty of time,” I said.

  Ivory cocked an eyebrow at me.

  “We found my father hiding out in one of the caves back there,” I said, pointing. “He’s convinced that there’s no way out.”

  Valcas and Ivory exchanged a glance.

  “I’d introduce you to Plaka,” he said. “But he’s not in the best of moods today. I suppose centuries of isolation would do that to you.”

  I squeezed my head with my hands. Centuries? It figured that, like Valcas, my father was an alien from another world with some crazy timeline rules. I wasn’t even going to try to deal.

  Ivory frowned. “You’re kidding, right? He wasn’t happy to meet Calla? How could anyone not be happy to meet Calla?”

  I sniffed. “Don’t feel bad for me. I still have hope and I have you guys. That’s more than he has. But Ray…”

  I walked over to Ray and placed my hand on his shoulder. “Hey there,” I said softly.

  His eyes darted to my hand, and then up to my face. He didn’t seem to know me at first, but then a hint of recognition passed his eyes. He jerked, pressing himself harder against the wall.

  “It’s just me. Calla. You should take off your shirt, at least, so we can dry it out.”

  Ray still had on the T-shirt and long-sleeve denim shirt he wore when we left the cabin at Ivory’s Nowhere. I tugged at his outer shirt, trying to help him to remove it. From behind me I heard Valcas make an unpleasant grunting sound.

  Ray dodged me and slipped both shirts up over his head. He let them drop to the floor and brought his knees to his chest, hugging them tightly. In that brief moment, I noticed something.

  Ray had a tattoo, written in plain black ink, just under his left rib: Never Forget Susana.

  RAY STAYED crouched in that same spot day after day, looking ill and pained, having little to eat or drink, and leaving only when encouraged to bathe or use the latrine.

  He refused to speak to me or Valcas. I assumed that had something to do with our transformations, because Ivory was able to get a few words out of him. Otherwise, he sat alone, appearing upset and depressed.

  When Ivory, Valcas and I weren’t taking shifts caring for Ray, we continued to explore the interior caves behind the Fire Falls. We found several more caves with water sources clean enough for drinking or bathing, as well as a couple more that could be used as latrines. Dark tunnels led to pockets of deeper darkness. There were no windows or doors back out to the other side, and we never found any other sources of light, heat or food.

  Just when I thought I wouldn’t be able to choke down another bite of raw fish or seaweed, doubting that I’d ever have warm, cooked food again, we had a visitor. The visitor didn’t come through the Falls that day. He’d already done that long ago.

  After a long day of exploring, fishing, bathing and preparing for another long night of trying to sleep on a bed of rock, we had passed out portions of fish and seaweed—which tasted a lot like seaweed and fish, or seaweed over fish, or fish over seaweed. Today’s creative blend was a salad of small chunks of raw fish mixed with chopped seaweed.

  Ivory, Valcas and I sat huddled over our food while Ray crouched in his usual position, glaring at the leaf platter I’d set in front of him.

  Then, as if in warning, a burst of music announced our visitor’s arrival.

  I jumped up from where I sat. I couldn’t believe my ears. Had my father finally taken me up on my offer to stop by?

  The song ended with a musical flourish as our visitor neared the pool. Instead of setting the instrument on the floor, he—my father—hitched it to a belt that he wore over his tunic, under a threadbare jacket.

  I took a good look at my father, a closer inspection than I’d been able to make when I’d first met him. His skin, hair and clothing were clean, so I guessed he’d also found the various sources of water in the caves and made use of them. That being said, I didn’t know how many more washings his clothes could take. They were so thin and worn that it was no wonder he had on so many layers of fabric. I suspected he was wearing every article of clothing that had made it through the Falls with him.

  While I stood there staring, Valcas and my father locked eyes. Valcas smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. Clearly he was still hurt from the accusations my father had made against him earlier.

  “You’re just in time for dinner,” Valcas said. “Ivory, this is Calla’s father, Basileios Plaka. Plaka, this is Ivory, an Aborealian, and one of the TSTA’s best Chauffeurs. She’s also on this mission to find you.”

  My father half bowed, half nodded in Ivory’s direction and then glanced over at Ray. “And him? Such a young boy…” He looked and sounded embarrassed.

  “That’s Ray,” I said. “He’s not doing so well right now, but he’s part of our team too. He, Valcas and I are all about the same age; Ray just hasn’t had his seventeenth birthday yet.”

  My father’s eyebrows furrowed as he took in Ray. “What is his travel talent?”

  “He’s a Detail Technician,” I said. Then looking up at Valcas, I added, “From Earth.” The only full-blooded Earthling among us, I noted in my head.

  My father paled. “The poor boy.” He walked over to Ray and knelt down beside him. Ray flashed his eyes and twitched when hands were placed on his head and chest, but then the strangest thing happened. Ray calmed and closed his eyes.

  “This has been tough on him,” my father said, walking back to us. “I am to blame. Young lives are being destroyed in an attempt to rescue me. What a shame.”

  I figured it would be a bad time to bring up the fact that Valcas’ mission technically ended before any of us were assigned to restore the mission. Had we never been sent, my father would have stayed behind the Falls, alone forever. And now all of us were trapped inside with him. I didn’t know which scenario was worse.

  I decided to change the subject. “We have extra food if you’d like to join us.”

  My father took one look at our leaf plates and scowled at Valcas. “You serve my daughter raw fish and sea slime to eat?”

  I didn’t catch Valcas’ reaction to my father’s question because Ivory, who’d stayed respectfully quiet during the entire conversation, nearly choked. “Did you bring something tastier for us to eat, Healer?”

  My father narrowed his eyes and cracked a sly smile. “No, but I can
show you how to bake the fish and vegetables.”

  He reached under his jacket and pulled out several clear plastic tubes and bent each one until it made a popping sound. Slowly, the tubes produced a yellow-orange glow.

  Wide-eyed, I watched as he took up one of the platters of seaweed and fish, placed one of the light sticks on top and wrapped the ends of the leaf around it. Then, he took a second leaf and securely tied it around the first, forming a small package.

  “Wait about twenty minutes,” he said, already wrapping another platter. “This will be the best meal you’ve eaten in days.”

  Turns out, those light sticks he had with him provided more than just light.

  I USED my TSTA watch to time the next twenty minutes. When our food was ready, we unwrapped the leaves. Sure enough, the bits of fish and seaweed were warm and cooked through. Better yet, the leaves had added extra flavor.

  While we ate, my father detached another item from his tunic belt: a small bowl, which he dipped in the pool. He sprinkled in cooked bits of seaweed and fish, and then placed another light stick inside until the water boiled yellow-orange.

  “This is for Ray,” he said, removing the light stick and tapping it dry. “The mental sickness he has right now is causing him physical pain. This broth will help to soothe his mind.”

  I nodded and took the bowl from him, not quite understanding what he meant, but happy to help out Ray in any way I could.

  Ray’s eyes opened slowly as I lifted the bowl to his lips. He sipped and sighed. To my surprise, he continued to drink the broth, alternating between sip and sigh until the bowl was empty. Then he drifted off to sleep.

  I rinsed the empty bowl in the pool and handed it to my father. “That’s the most he’s eaten since he came through the Falls,” I said. “Thank you so much.”

  My father gave me a slight smile. “If it’s all right with you, I would like to stop by every day and cook for him. It will take time, but he will mend.”

  I nodded. “Of course it’s all right with me. We need your help.” Then, I blurted out, “Do you know how long I’ve been waiting to meet you?”

  He sighed. “I’m sure I am not what you expected.” He glanced over at Valcas. “But it’s good to see both of you alive and well.”

  Valcas looked at me and smiled. This time his smile reached his eyes, and I was pretty sure it hadn’t gone unnoticed by my father.

  “And now we shall have music,” my father said, clapping his hands together. He pulled out the instrument he’d brought with him.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  “A miniature baglamas, something I found at a gift shop while visiting Greece.”

  I studied the baglamas while my father played. The bottom of the instrument reminded me of an avocado sliced in half, from top to bottom. Its long and slender neck held four strings. I was surprised at how such a simple instrument produced such rich, exotic music.

  The feeling must have been contagious. Just when I thought the evening couldn’t get any better, Ivory and Valcas stood up to dance. I clapped along with the beat of the music, enjoying every minute of it. At some point, the thought crossed my mind that we might be disturbing Ray, but when I looked over at him I noticed that his lips were drawn into a peaceful smile.

  Accompanied by the baglamas, my father began to sing a song about life and celebration, friendship and healing, and valor and strength. I’d never heard anything like it.

  The light behind the Falls faded sooner that I would have liked. My father put away the baglamas, reattaching it to his belt. Then he gathered up all of the light sticks we’d used for cooking and placed them in a pile in the middle of the room. The soft glow of light spread through the room, offering comforting warmth.

  Valcas sat down next to me and curled his arm around my waist. My father’s eyes flickered toward us, and then he quickly looked away. I wondered what was going through his mind while watching his longtime friend and daughter being all cozy. Had Mom been there I would have blushed, but since I didn’t know my father well, it didn’t feel strange or embarrassing in front of him.

  I looked over at Valcas. I don’t know whether it was the effect of the yellow-orange light casting a glow on his face, but I could have sworn he was blushing. I narrowed my eyes, wondering whether my father was more like a father to him, something besides a best friend and healer.

  My father cleared his throat. Addressing Ivory he said, “Sadly, there is no known way to exit the Fire Falls alive. The problem, of course, is the outer layer of fire.”

  “Yeah, I was afraid of that,” replied Ivory. “Have you tried to escape?”

  He frowned. “Out of desperation, when I thought solitude would drive me mad, I ran back through the Falls. I made it through each of the layers—the cleansing layer of water, the healing layer of balm, and then the purification layer of fire. But once I reached the other side, I was burned so badly that I was convinced there was no chance I would survive. So, I did the only thing I could do to stay alive—I ran back inside again.

  “In all these years, no one else has passed through. I’ve been here all alone. I’ve searched every cave and tunnel. There simply is no way out.”

  “But what about Mom?” I said. “She’ll never get to see you again.”

  My father sighed. “Ah, Doreen.” A gleam of sadness darkened his eyes. “I have no hope of seeing her again, but at least the Uproar won’t attack her. Everyone it wants, everything it needs is right here.”

  “Why is it after you?” I asked.

  “I’d always assumed that it was nothing personal, that such beings of chaos hunted and destroyed anyone or anything that sought to restore order to the worlds or their inhabitants. My mission was to heal others, and I knew beings of chaos did not like that. However, I now suspect that a particular person put the Uproar up to it, someone with authority over it.”

  “Who would do that?” I asked.

  “I don’t know. At first, I thought it may have been your uncle, Al Winston. He and your grandfather were upset that your mother was with child because of me. Now that I see the young woman you have become, I can understand their anger and resentment.” My father lowered his head. “But from my travels, I’ve concluded that the person—or, rather, agency—that wants me dead is the TSTA.”

  I gasped. “Why would the TSTA want you, or worse yet both of us, dead?”

  “Because,” he said, “you and I are the last two living Remnant Transporters.”

  THE BAKED fish and seaweed that I’d eagerly consumed churned in my stomach.

  I cringed, remembering my earlier conversation with Valcas—how the TSTA wanted to control travel talents, and Commissioner Reese’s strange question: “Miss Winston, do you believe that you are in charge of preventing death?” Was there an underlying meaning to his question? Had he known that I had the potential to become a healer like my father, that there was more to my talent than being able to transport silhouettes? Was that why the Commissioner had been upset that Valcas was still looking for my father even though his sentence had ended? And why I’d been forced into what was essentially a death mission?

  Something didn’t add up.

  Ivory gave my father a knowing look, as if she’d solved the puzzle that remained a jumble of misshapen pieces in my head. “Your suspicion helps explain the TSTA’s obsessive concern over why the accused committed their infractions,” she said. “Not that I gave up any of that information.”

  I squinted, trying to remember the details of Ivory’s hearing before the Commissioner. “He gave you a choice of three million dollars or the mission for a single first-time infraction. Wasn’t that harsh?”

  “Maybe, maybe not. What I did was worse than creating a daily reminder,” she answered.

  My father frowned. “An overwrite?”

  Ivory lowered her eyes. “I had to. To protect someone I love.”

  “Huh?” I was completely lost.

  Ivory’s hematite eyes bored into mine. “Have you seen a dail
y reminder destroyed?”

  I nodded, remembering Valcas tearing the photo of us into pieces, which were then set on fire at the hearing. “Yes, one of the daily reminders that the TSTA had charged me with was resolved at the hearing.” I looked over at Valcas. “The Commissioner let him destroy it.”

  Valcas frowned as I explained. “Valcas tore the daily reminder—a photograph his past self had written on—into tiny pieces, and then one of the bailiffs brought over a plate and a lit candle. After the photograph was burned, Commissioner Reese dropped the charge.”

  Ivory crossed her arms. “The tearing and the fire are more than ceremonial. Those acts deleted the reminder from his past version’s memory and freed him of the reminder. Amazing how that works—officially destroying just one copy of the daily reminder is enough to destroy all of them.”

  “Oh,” I said, looking at Valcas, wondering whether he’d carried any of the memories of the White Tower with him before the TSTA hearing. No wonder he’d been surprised when he caught the glimpses of what I’d recorded about his past self inside the travel glasses.

  Valcas still frowned, but his face was otherwise blank.

  I turned back to Ivory. “So, what did you do? Destroy a daily reminder on your own?”

  She nodded. “Yeah, there are other ways of destroying daily reminders. I did something called overwriting, meaning that I destroyed a daily reminder by obliterating what was written and then writing something else in its place.” She looked away. “Like I said, I did it for someone else, not the person who created the original daily reminder, but yeah, for someone else.”

  My father laced his fingers together. His face was solemn. “That is brave,” he said. Then, as if my ongoing confusion blazed like headlights on my face, he explained, “Ivory’s action counted as a double infraction. Technically, she’d created a second daily reminder; and, her knowledge about the original daily reminder counted as a failure to report its existence.”