Dragon Wave

by Valerie Emerson

  “We’re working on a new crossbreed. If it takes, there’s a good chance Earth can settle this rock,” her father said.

  “That falls under the NDA, Christopher.” Her mother elbowed him. “Sweetheart, this Coraolis sounds like a nice man. We’d love to meet him.”

  “At least give me his number,” her father growled playfully.

  “And yes, of course, we’ve heard of Dungeons and Dragons. We’re so thrilled you’re playing with your friends,” her mom said. “Your father and I used to play with the survey team on Ursula. Don’t you remember? You insisted on rolling our dice for us.”

  “You were our lucky charm,” her father cut in. “I can’t think how many times you saved my bacon. And ate my snacks.”

  Julia laughed under her breath. They’d left Ursula when she was five, and she only had vague memories of what might be her parents gaming. She still had a sweet memory of watching them talking and laughing around a table with their friends.

  Her folks said their goodbyes, and the message ended. Regretfully, she put her datapad in her messenger bag. She wanted to sit there and soak in her parents’ love for the rest of the day, but she had a class to teach.

  ***

  The classroom walls were round and its ceiling provided a view of the open sky, though she knew it was a transparent bubble. It was there as a visual reminder they had no obstacles between themselves and the Astral realm. It reminded Julia of her first class as a Mystic.

  Her six students were standing in a cluster, so absorbed in their whispering they didn’t notice her entrance. She shut the door, startling them.

  “Hey, relax,” she said. “I’m Instructor Ronasuli. You’re here for Astral Orientation, right?”

  They nodded, eager to agree. Two of them glanced at each other as if hoping for a reminder of just how to unwind on demand. Julia picked out a meditation mat and sat down. The class imitated her, still not relaxed, but she figured that would take time.

  She studied them as they studied her. Their gazes slid toward her prosthetic and away again. She could get a more realistic-looking eye, she supposed, but she’d gotten used to what she had. She wasn’t going to change it to make others comfortable.

  “Let’s start by getting on the same page. All of you are Enhanced, right? You’ve been through the procedure?”

  They murmured, and two of them nodded. They seemed so shy, not to mention young. It looked like their surgeries had gone well; she didn’t see a single scar.

  “They’ve made a lot of progress since I went through.” She looked each of them in the eye, giving them an excuse to stare back. “I see you’re wondering about my eye. Something went wrong in the surgery, so they gave me a new one. It works as well as the one I was born with, so I’m happy.”

  When they realized she was giving permission to look, they stared until they’d gotten an eyeful. She went on talking. It kept her from feeling stared at. She understood why Jack was becoming more reclusive. It would wear one down over time.

  “I’m going to share a little bit about myself. I’m Julia Ronasuli, former Earth Fleet captain, now an Enhanced Human Mystic. I’ve been across the galaxy, so I’d like to think I’ve the experience to teach you.”

  “I thought she was just here to get us acclimated,” one of the women said, most likely to her neighbor. Julia heard her perfectly.

  “Name?” Julia asked. They looked at her, bewildered. “Blonde woman in the back. Yes, you. What’s your name?”

  “Honora.”

  “Honora, I’m here to give you solid ground to stand on. You’ll be learning to write in cursive with your off hand. You can do it, but you’re about to compete with people who have been lefties all their lives. Even if they’ve never done cursive before, they’re naturals with that hand. Getting you to that comfort level will take more than a couple hours.”

  Honora nodded, her face flushing magenta. Julia replayed what she’d said, wondering if she’d done something to embarrass the student. She couldn’t think of anything other than being direct. Maybe the girl didn’t like being the center of attention.

  A guy with green streaks in his hair raised his hand. “Can I ask a question?”

  Julia bypassed the obvious joke and nodded at him. “Say your name first, please.”

  “I’m Leo. You betrayed Earth, didn’t you? How can you be trusted as a teacher?”

  Julia considered how to answer that, but Coraolis had told her the accusations and questions would come. She’d been thinking about it for some time. Leo went on looking at her, unabashed. He hadn’t sounded angry or even accusing, so she wanted to give him a serious answer. She wanted to give her students reason to trust her.

  “That’s a fair question. I don’t feel what we did was a betrayal. We were ordered by Earth Fleet to destroy a nest of dragons and their young. I’ll go to war on the command of my superiors, but I don’t go after children…of any species.”

  Her students’ faces went still. She supposed that was hard to swallow, but she owed them the truth. She had to trust them with it, no matter what the official story was.

  “Yes,” she continued, “dragons have children. They are intelligent, wise creatures with feelings and ambitions of their own. They aren’t monsters out of a fantasy tale. When you face them out there, and you will, I want you to remember that. They don’t look like us, but they’re every bit as sentient.”

  Leo looked uncomfortable. He wasn’t the only one. She was telling them their enemy was no more monster than they were. That revelation might send shockwaves through their young psyches.

  “I’m telling you this to prepare you,” Julia went on. “Your peers are going to look at you sideways for being ‘unnatural.’ Your Instructors might too. Mine did.”

  More uncomfortable looks were thrown around.

  “I’m here to help you. They probably think we’re all here to give you the basics of astral travel, and that’s it. And, yes, I’m going to do that. But I want you to be prepared for what you’ll face after you leave here.”

  Leo raised his hand.

  “Yes?” she said.

  “What you’re saying is, they can’t trust you, but we can?”

  “I think I mean, they didn’t expect me to be on your side, but I am.” She adjusted herself to get more comfortable. “Enough heavy stuff. Let’s get you out of those bodies and into something a little more interesting.”

  ***

  Easier said than done. She remembered her own struggles her first day, which helped her talk most of them through it. Honora struggled most. Julia left the others to get used to the Astral Plane with strict instructions to stay in the classroom area, then returned to her body to help Honora.

  The girl became frustrated and shook. Her eyes screwed shut, her hands clenched so tight that if it was possible to punch herself into the Astral Plane, she’d be doing it.

  “Hey, take it easy.” Julia sat beside her and put a hand on the girl’s shoulder.

  “I can’t do this. I feel like I’m trying to hypnotize myself.” Honora pulled away from Julia’s hand. “It shouldn’t be this hard. I had surgery.”

  Julia nodded. Honora had to calm down before they got anywhere, and she wouldn’t do that under pressure.

  “Is something bothering you?”

  Honora shrugged. Agitation buzzed off her in waves. Julia could fix that, but it wouldn’t change the core of the problem. Most likely it would make everything worse for Honora later.

  “I’m taking that as a yes.”

  “Take it however you want.”

  Julia picked up a sliver of fear under the rest of the emotions. The student wasn’t only nervous, she was afraid. No wonder she couldn’t let go enough to leave her body.

  “Tell you what. I have a class to teach, but I want you to stay here. If you don’t make it today, it’s fine. I’ll work with you until you get it.”

  Honora shook her head.

  “No?” Julia frowned. “What are you saying no to?”
<
br />   “What if I don’t want to get it? What if I thought I wanted it, but maybe I don’t?”

  Julia frowned. If that was true, the system needed fixing. They put the potential Enhanced through a lot of tests, including the psychological evaluations to show that the candidates had both the discipline and the desire. They didn’t want the subject of a very expensive procedure to simply walk away.

  “What makes you say that?”

  “I keep coming this close.” Honora held up her finger and thumb with only a hair’s breadth between them. “I start to float, then there’s this vertigo and I fall. I think I want it, but what if I don’t? What if this was a mistake?”

  “I guess that was never a problem for you.” The girl continued, looking over, her voice bitter. “I always second guess myself. It’s what I do. But I didn’t do that with becoming a Mystic. It was the one thing I’ve ever been sure of, ever. Right up until I walked through that door.”

  Julia looked up at the clouds overhead. “I’ve done things I wasn’t sure of. This wasn’t one of them. Maybe you’re afraid once you leave your body, there’s no coming back.”

  Honora started to shake her head, then stopped. “Maybe,” she admitted.

  Julia figured Honora couldn’t be much older than eighteen, which meant she’d impressed the recruiters. She wouldn’t have made it through the screenings otherwise. “I know it’s hard to hear, but time can only move forward. The only way to go back would be to invent time travel.” She put her hand on Honora’s shoulder and, this time, the student didn’t jerk away. “Everything we do marks us, for good or bad, and that mark is permanent. Once you make peace with that, I’ll be honored to teach you.”

  Julia stood, went back to her mat, and got into position. “If you need to talk, whether you stay at the Academy or not, just ask. But I’m telling you, you’re missing out if you don’t see the Astral Plane at least once. There is nothing like it.”

  ***

  She found her students clustered like when she’d first walked in. They were so enthralled by their surroundings they didn’t realize how long she’d kept them waiting. It didn’t hurt that time worked differently in the Astral Plane. It didn’t have the same ‘weight’ as in the physical world.

  She felt bad for delaying, just as she felt guilty for leaving Honora alone. She hoped her last student would join them. She’d meant what she said. If Honora never saw the Astral Plane, she was missing out.

  But Honora was just one of six students, and the others needed her attention too. She had them stand in a semi-circle so she could talk to them. “I have three rules for you during this class. One, stay in the limits of the classroom. Two, no goofing off. Three, do exactly as I say. If I tell you to get back to your bodies, you go. No stopping for questions, no hesitating. Just go.”

  “What if we can’t figure out how?” Leo asked.

  She smiled. “You won’t have to worry about that. Your spirit wants to be in your body. All you have to do is give it permission.”

  In response to that, their Astral bodies flickered. She waited for them to regain balance, then continued. “Now, all through the Astral Plane is what we call ether. You can’t see it, except for random streaks of color. It looks and feels like nothing, but it makes up everything.” She scooped a handful of ether, and her students gasped as she stretched it between her hands like taffy. “It takes the shape you will it to have. Try it. Grab a handful and see what it’ll do for you.”

  “What if we grab too much?”

  Honora hovered next to Leo. Her Astral body flickered, but she was present! Julia smiled at her but didn’t make a big deal of it. “Honora, glad you’re here. Did you hear my safety lecture?”

  “No, ma’am.”

  “Come here, and I’ll go over it with you. Everyone else, carry on. If you find you have too much, just open your hands and let it go.”

  Honora floated over smoothly. She was smiling, even if she seemed nervous.

  “It feels natural once you get used to it,” Julia told her. “I’m glad you made it.”

  “I think I am, too.”

  “Listen, I’m not here to tell you what to do, at least not outside of class.” Julia laughed to herself. “I don’t mean to single you out, but you need to hear the safety rules just like everyone else. It won’t take long, then we’ll get on to the fun stuff.”

  The catchup session didn’t take long, but by the time they were done, the students had started treating their ether like clay. Leo had made a tiny octopus, and its little arms were waving around. The others watched him, their jaws slack.

  Julia approved; he’d found his way to that on his own, which was at least a sign of a good imagination. She gathered everyone around to see how he was doing it. The octopus wasn’t alive. It was moving because Leo expected it to, taking its cues from his subconscious. She helped him bring that will to the surface, and soon his octopus was doing cartwheels up and down his arm.

  Others imitated him. Julia made sure their projects stayed small, but otherwise let their own imaginations set the limits. She had to duck when a tiny fairy with a spear whizzed past her, only to vanish into the ether before its creator could call it back. Instead of mourning its loss, Honora made another one, then had it spar with a tiny frog-person conjured up by her neighbor.

  It warmed her heart to see them take to the Astral Plane. Already they were manipulating the ether as if they’d been born to it. They made butterflies and angels, then monsters of various descriptions. Each new creation was met with shouts of approval, and then another student would riff off the new creation to make the next thing. Julia hung back and let them play, knowing that as they did they were learning, as well as bonding with new friends.

  They were having the time of their lives, but it didn’t last long. Their endurance was limited, and one by one, they began to flicker. Honora was last, and when she began to fade, Julia sent them back to their bodies.

  A few of the ether-creatures lingered. She caught one and made it stand on her palm. The tiny centurion marched back and forth, becoming more transparent with every step. It was remarkable, the pride she felt. Her students had done wonderful things under her guidance. Maybe this was why Cor had been excited to return to the classroom.

  At the thought of her partner, she let the centurion float away. Her imagination reshaped him into a winged messenger, a cupid with dragon wings. She fed it love and warmth, then willed it to find Coraolis. She didn’t know if it would. It was probably a silly romantic notion, but the idea struck her, and she had to try.

  She returned to her body and made sure everyone drank their electrolytes. Then, a sudden warmth wrapped around her shoulders like an ethereal hug. There were no words, nothing to tell her it was anything but her imagination, but she knew it was Coraolis’s response. Message received.

  They could send each other messages, then. That would be pragmatic, useful in more workmanlike affairs. A tiny part of her wondered if they should keep it a secret between the Evolved, and she decided it was a decision for the group. In the meantime, she sent Coraolis another astral ‘nudge,’ and smiled when she got a warm feeling in return.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  It only took one class to convince Jack that he was no Instructor. He knew how to get into the Astral Plane. He knew how to manipulate the ether. He didn’t have the gift that let teachers turn their own experience into knowledge for someone else. Either his students followed his example and learned from it or they were lost, and he didn’t know how to get them un-lost.

  After he confessed to the dean, he was given an easier task. He reported to the Engineer’s Annex every morning at eight. For the first week, he hovered and looked for ways to make himself helpful. After a few failures, he accepted he was the least useful person in the building and settled for making friends.

  Foremost among them was Isabel Loomis, a mechanical engineer from Earth Fleet. She’d taken one look at Jack and dragged him to her lab where she made him her own personal guinea
pig.

  He went to her of his own accord now, and only occasionally joked about being conditioned to do so. He also proclaimed loudly that she hadn’t programmed him to bring her pastries every day, yet there he was on a cool winter’s morning, juggling two coffee cups and a bag of croissants as he walked into her lab.

  Isabel was there, just as she had been when he left the night before. Either she lived in her lab or she was a robot. He bet on robot. Isabel refused to weigh in on the question.

  “Isabel, you look amazing. I know you don’t need this coffee to look awake or alive, but you still deserve a treat.” He handed over the Americano and sat in the second chair, sipping at his mocha.

  She wrinkled her nose but accepted the coffee. She was cute when she pulled faces at him, but she’d probably kill him if he told her so.

  “Are you trying to say I look tired?”

  “Who, me? No. Why? Are you tired? Have you been here all night?”

  She did look tired, but his mom had taught him better than to say so. Isabel worked harder than anyone he knew. She was a lot smarter, too. She didn’t need his commentary.

  “Not all night.” She pushed away from the desk and rolled in her chair, coming to rest next to Jack’s. “Some of us have projects to finish, you know.”

  “Hey, I have projects,” he protested. She slapped an electrode on his temple, and he groaned. It was an electrode day. His least favorite kind. “Have you considered taking a break? We could go for a walk.”

  “Ugh, but there’s so much outside out there.” Isabel wrinkled her nose again and applied another electrode to his face. “I prefer a strictly regulated climate.”

  “You only say that to try and convince me you aren’t a vampire. Just between you and me, you aren’t fooling anyone. I’ve been eating garlic with every meal, so I’m safe from the likes of you.”

  Isabel raised her eyebrows at him.

  “That means you can’t bite me,” he explained.

  “I thought I was a robot?”

  “Unless you’re a vampire.”

  “Got it. Thanks for the warning.” She slapped an electrode onto his neck, and he cringed. “What? This is completely painless. I just need some readings.”