Seven Dreams

by English, Charlotte E.

  Serena forced an expression of grudging admiration into her eyes, and nodded. ‘Um, how do they recruit at G.A.9?’ she asked.

  Bron laughed. ‘Wanting to switch teams? Can’t say I blame you, but I don’t think it will happen. They take people young, and there’s years of intensive training to go through before you get to go into the field.’

  Serena encouraged him to chatter on in this vein for a few minutes, until she was sure his thoughts were suitably diverted from the key. Keeping her indignation hidden was the most difficult part of the task, but she was growing used to Bron. His absurdities were as likely to incite laughter as aggravation. Fortunately, she was a champion at maintaining her composure.

  But then there came an abrupt change of conversational direction. Bron leaned closer, twinkled down at her out of his undeniably gorgeous eyes and said, ‘Ah, so. One of the guys told me about a special glade on the north shore of the island. It’s got a pool that’s suitable for swimming. Do you fancy taking a look, later?’

  All Serena’s composure deserted her for a single, agonising instant. What? Was Bron actually, truly, seriously thinking of courting her? Not as Baron Anserval, in a pursuit as insincere as his persona, but for real?

  What in the world could she say? She had caught herself in a neat trap, here. The new Serena she’d so cleverly cultivated would probably accept, and as far as her goals went it would be the sensible thing to do, for she could keep him nicely distracted. But the prospect of having to spend a lot more time with him was intolerable, especially since she would have to pretend to like it as well.

  The possibility that this new pursuit was no more sincere than the last floated through Serena’s mind, but it was of no comfort to her. Pretence or not, it required the same response. She opened her mouth, summoning her resolution to say something, anything, to deflect the attack. Nothing came out.

  Nothing! Serena had not been left speechless and resourceless in a very long time.

  Just before her silence became awkward, she was saved by the approach of Fabian. His footsteps were recognisable long before he came into view; he dragged one leg ever so slightly, and his footsteps were fractionally uneven.

  ‘Hi, Fabe,’ she said brightly just before he came into the room.

  ‘Thought I might find you two here,’ he said, lifting his brows.

  Serena’s heart sank. Were people noticing when she and Bron were both absent, and drawing conclusions? Ugh. Intolerable. Worse when it was Fabian doing it. He ought to know her better than that! She couldn’t even glare at him. She could only hope, for his sake, that he was shamming.

  ‘Something weird’s happened,’ Fabian continued, oblivious to her indignation.

  ‘Something else weird, I think you mean?’ said Bron with a tentative smile. To Serena’s irritation, his manner towards her was patronising but he treated Fabian more or less like an equal. He even appeared a tiny bit hesitant around Fabian sometimes, as though he were searching for the best way to impress him and coming up short. It made no sense to Serena, but it galled.

  Fabian smiled briefly at this mild wit, and nodded. ‘Yeah, so. Tey’s here, and Egg and Iya.’

  Serena stared. ‘Here?’ she managed at last. ‘How?’

  ‘Some Lokant woman brought them.’ Fabian shrugged, as though this occurrence, and the identity of the Lokant woman in question, were of zero importance and even less interest to him. ‘I think she knows Eva.’

  Serena relaxed a little at this news. Anyone Eva knew was probably okay, and probably not here to pinch all the keys. ‘Where are Tey and the others?’ she enquired. The presence of her team was a relief; it always felt strange to be out and doing without them.

  ‘Azure Glade,’ Fabian replied. In an attempt to find their way around without getting hopelessly lost, they’d taken to naming various parts of the island after their predominant colours. The Azure Glade was characterised by glorious leaves in shimmering shades of blue, primarily azure, and its flowers bloomed a blazing white. It was one of Serena’s favourite places in Orlind; she spared a brief hope that Teyo would like it.

  ‘Onward!’ she ordered, pointing imperiously towards the door. Fabian grinned at her and ducked back out into the hallway. Serena followed, without waiting for Bron.

  ‘So, you are my great-great-great-great — how many greats? — grandmother, is that it?’

  Eva stood with arms folded, glaring at a tallish, elderly Lokant woman Serena had never seen before. Tren hovered just behind, looking uncertain, while Wrob and Ayla were vigorously interesting themselves in something on the other side of the glade, their backs discreetly turned. There was no sign of Teyo, Egg or Iyamar, to Serena’s disappointment.

  ‘Let’s not dwell on the timeframes,’ said the newcomer with a theatrical shudder. ‘But I most certainly am your direct ancestor. Isn’t it marvellous? I have been wanting to meet you for the last age. Don’t call me grandmother, though! Gracious, how lowering. Mae will do.’ She smiled.

  ‘Then why are you only just making your appearance?’ Eva’s voice was thick with suspicion, and her body language spoke of a total rejection of the connection. Why might that be?

  Mae made a careless, dismissive gesture and gave a short laugh. ‘Business, business. There was an anomaly in the Enarior Cluster. They let the anteropticon drives overrun again, would you believe it? It took me a few oras to sort that one out, and when I next looked in on you, there you were all grown and married and quite, quite busy, I think.’ She smiled.

  ‘What is an ora?’ said Tren. ‘Same question about the — the drives, too.’

  ‘Yes, sorry. An ora is a unit of time, like a year, you understand? Only it’s not fixed, the way yours are; it’s more relative. You see, worlds like yours are awfully small, all things considered, and your perception of time is very narrow. No offence intended, dear, we all do the best we can with what we’ve got.’ She began to speak more rapidly, gesturing occasionally in her enthusiasm for the topic. ‘But the worlds all have different ways of measuring time, and often different timestreams altogether, and they are so vastly different sometimes that we couldn’t settle on anything so simple as a week, or a year. So an ora —’ She broke off as Eva cleared her throat, and smiled a little sheepishly. ‘Ah... a discussion for another time, perhaps.’

  ‘First we need to clear up the question of who you are, and what you’re doing here,’ Eva said coldly. Mae began to speak, but Eva held up a hand. ‘I don’t want to hear any more about my ancestry. Even if you are my infinitely-great grandmother, I don’t choose to acknowledge any Lokant as family.’

  Mae considered Eva carefully and seriously, her congenial smile gone. ‘I ought to have stepped in sooner,’ she decided at length. ‘Perhaps the Enariors could have waited. Only, you can’t always trust someone else to do the job right, can you?’

  Serena had heard Eva utter a similar statement once or twice, but her cold demeanour remained inflexible.

  Mae rolled her eyes and sighed. ‘I have a lot to say to Limbane when I see him,’ she muttered.

  That got Eva’s attention. ‘You know Limbane?’

  Mae wrinkled her nose slightly. ‘You shouldn’t judge all of us by Limbane’s standards, dear, and certainly not by Krays’s. Although, it doesn’t hurt to be wary. Some of us will stab you in the back at a moment’s notice. But we’re like humans in that respect, aren’t we?’

  ‘Yes, and my human family weren’t up to much either,’ said Eva shortly.

  Mae nodded slowly, a hint of sympathy creeping into her eyes. ‘I see.’

  Eva’s scowl deepened. ‘As I was saying. What are you doing here? Since you brought the rest of Serena’s team with you, I don’t think it is merely a social visit.’

  ‘Ah! No! Yes, exactly,’ said Mae incomprehensibly. Serena received the impression that Mae, for all her apparent breezy confidence, was a little unnerved by the demands of this meeting. Having tried a bit too hard to impress her descendant, she was now becoming flustered.

&
nbsp; ‘This is weird,’ said Fabian in a low voice, right in Serena’s ear. She nodded her agreement.

  ‘I don’t think we should be watching, anyway,’ she whispered back, with a swift feeling of guilt. So absorbing had this strange meeting been, she had been entirely too slow in remembering her manners.

  Serena stepped forward. ‘Where are the rest of my team, incidentally?’ she enquired.

  ‘They went looking for you,’ Tren replied. ‘They went in the direction of the — oh, no, hang on. Here they are.’ He pointed.

  Teyo appeared from between the trees edging the glade. He was clad in his favourite dark green trousers, enormous boots and loose shirt, though the pleasant heat of Orlind had encouraged him to leave off his fur-lined coat. His mid-brown hair was more tousled than usual, as though he had been fidgeting with it, and Serena detected the unmistakeable signs of strain around his eyes and mouth. But he smiled when he saw her, and some of his apparent tension dissipated.

  Egg and Iyamar were dressed so much alike, only the flame-bright flag of Egg’s hair and Iya’s icy blonde locks differentiated one from the other. This was odd. Last time she’d seen the two of them, hostilities had been high; but wasn’t that Egg’s second-favourite black coat Iya was wearing? She made a mental note to ask Teyo about it.

  Leaving Eva, Tren and Mae to their discussions (or squabbles), Serena went straight up to Teyo and collared him in a bear hug. ‘How’s it going, deputy?’ she said when she released him. His smile was infectious, and she found herself beaming in response.

  ‘We’re all very glad to see you,’ he laughed. ‘Poor Egg and Iya have had ample opportunity to see how awful I am at doing your job.’

  Iya winced in sympathy and shook her head at Serena, but Egg instantly said, ‘Too right, Tey, not that you didn’t try hard. Was a good effort.’

  Serena laughed. ‘We missed you as well. Let’s hear the news.’

  The team went into a tight huddle as they rapidly brought each other up to date with their various ventures. Serena was pleased to observe that Iyamar, while quiet, was by no means silent, and she took her place in the group with no sign of discomfort. Her quarrel with Egg certainly seemed to have eased.

  They had mostly completed this process when they were interrupted by a strident voice from somewhere behind. ‘Well, Team Carterett!’ hollered Mae. ‘What a charming picture you make! Such congeniality among a team of colleagues is just what I like to see. Especially in one I’m planning to hire.’ She strode up to the group and stopped, smiling, right in their midst.

  ‘Oh?’ said Serena carefully. ‘What’s the job?’ She glanced around for Eva, and spotted her with Tren a few feet behind. They were rapidly on the approach.

  ‘I need those keys from Ylona,’ said Mae without preamble. ‘Imagine my delight to find that my clever grand-daughter has exactly the right sort of people in her employ! I want you to get them back for me.’

  Serena glanced uncertainly from Mae to Eva, who had drawn level with the group by this time. Eva merely gazed back at her, her expression revealing nothing at all.

  Tricky. Was Eva in support of this plan? In accepting Mae’s assignment, would they be working with Eva or against her? Since Lady Glostrum held two of the keys, it was an important question.

  ‘What, exactly, is all this about?’ said Serena.

  Mae blinked. ‘What?’

  ‘The keys, and the floating riddles, and the bubbles. What’s it all for? Where does the door lead?’

  Mae frowned. ‘We’ve already discussed this.’

  ‘Not that I recall. I can’t and won’t commit my team to any more assignments relating to these mysterious keys until I get some answers.’

  Mae cast Eva a brief, annoyed glance. ‘A joint attack, darling? Beautifully conducted, I admit.’

  Serena raised an eyebrow.

  ‘I said the same thing,’ said Eva, her lips quirking.

  Serena grinned. ‘Well, how about it?’ she said to Mae. ‘I think we’re all getting tired of being used as Lokant puppets.’

  Mae chewed upon her lower lip, her eyes narrowing. ‘Couldn’t you just trust me?’ she said, rather plaintively.

  Eva laughed. ‘Trust you? No one in their right mind would trust a Lokant.’

  ‘Well!’ said Mae with a touch of asperity, ‘I don’t find it at all difficult to trust you lot.’

  ‘You’re in the stronger position,’ Serena pointed out. ‘It’s not so hard to trust people from that vantage point. But I don’t think there’s much trust involved when you won’t confide in your colleagues.’

  Mae sighed. ‘I’m fighting to keep some important secrets hidden, precisely because they’re too dangerous to be spread around.’

  ‘Then you’ll have to trust us not to spread them around,’ said Serena with a sweet smile.

  Mae pointed a finger at Serena. ‘You, young person, are far too glib for your own good.’

  ‘Thank you,’ said Serena modestly.

  Fabian turned around and walked away. ‘I’ve had enough fun in the wilds of Orlind,’ he called back over his shoulder. ‘Let me know when something worthwhile comes up.’

  Egg rolled her eyes in disgust and followed Fabian. ‘Yeah, I think we’re done here,’ she said, pulling Iyamar after her.

  Teyo merely stuck his hands into his pockets and stood, stoic but deeply unimpressed, his brows slightly raised and his expression somewhere between incredulous and exasperated.

  ‘Last chance, Mae,’ Serena said softly. ‘At this point, I don’t see why I shouldn’t give all the keys to Ylona and let her do what she wants with them.’

  That got Mae’s attention. She turned pale and shook her head vehemently. ‘No! No, you mustn’t do that.’ She sighed deeply, swaying a little, and gave a single nod. ‘Very well, but it won’t be easy to explain. It’s no simple matter.’

  Serena waited.

  Mae chewed a bit more on her lip. ‘I think it’s better if I show you,’ she said at last.

  ‘Oh? How is that possible?’

  ‘It’s a secret.’ Mae grinned. ‘This isn’t a good place. Find me somewhere private, and I’ll show you everything you need to know.’

  ‘The airship?’ Tren volunteered.

  ‘But do you mind if Bron...?’ Serena said vaguely.

  ‘If Bron what?’ Bron himself stepped forward from somewhere and flashed Serena a dazzling grin. ‘Didn’t see me there, did you? I’ll teach you that trick sometime.’

  Serena sighed. ‘I suppose it’s too late to keep you out of our hair.’

  Bron nodded gravely. ‘Much too late. Shouldn’t have borrowed my ship.’

  ‘It’s not your ship, though, is it?’

  Bron acknowledged this perspicacious sally with an ironic bow.

  Mae adopted a steely expression. ‘Mr. Bron understands, I’m sure, that if any sensitive details should escape through his agency, I will be obliged to hold G.A.9 responsible.’ Her tone left no doubt as to how unpleasant that would prove to be.

  Bron gave her his most charming smile, and another bow. ‘Yes, ma’am.’

  Mae’s curious, bouncing congeniality abruptly returned, and she smiled radiantly upon them all. ‘Then that’s settled! Shall we go?’

  Later, Serena’s team assembled with Eva, Tren, Ayra, Wrob, Bron and Mae in the airship’s largest cabin. Mae had brought some kind of construct, the likes of which Serena had never seen before. It was boxy and sharp-edged, and blinked with strange lights. It looked nothing like the Irbellian engineering she was used to, not even the most sophisticated examples.

  ‘Are we all ready?’ said Mae. ‘If you need to use the facilities, now would be a good time. There will not be an opportunity until much later.’

  Nobody moved.

  ‘Very good!’ said Mae brightly. She took a spherical, shining thing from a pocket and inserted it into the boxy thing. Some more lights flashed, and a whirring sound began to emanate from the top of the device.

  Mae did some other things which
Serena didn’t understand, pressing various buttons and running her fingers over the device in a manner which looked utterly futile to Serena. But finally she nodded, and said, ‘Good. We’re ready. Take a seat, everyone.’

  Serena looked around, but there were no seats left. Teyo caught her eye and instantly began to rise, but she gestured for him to stop. It was typically considerate of him to offer her his seat, but she had a better solution. She perched on his knee instead, patting his head gently in appreciation.

  ‘Thanks,’ she murmured.

  ‘You’re quite heavy,’ Teyo whispered back, surprising a laugh from her.

  ‘I’m sure it won’t be all that long,’ she replied in a soothing tone.

  Teyo merely grunted.

  Something was happening with the boxy device. Colours whirled through the air directly above it, gradually forming into an image: a man’s face. He bore the pure white hair of a Lokant, but he was reasonably young; if he was human he would’ve been somewhere in his forties, Serena guessed. With a start, she realised she had seen this face before. His had been the visage that had appeared in the Dream of Orlind, when she had found the key. The image expanded until his entire body could be seen, and continued to grow, spreading to comprise several other Lokant figures. The vision expanded until it filled the room, and then something peculiar happened. Abruptly, Serena was no longer viewing the images as external visions; they were inside her mind, and as vivid and absorbing as though she stood in the same room with these people.

  The chamber was as strange to her eyes as the device: the walls curved oddly and glittered with faint colours, constructed from some strange, pale, crystalline material she’d never seen before. The peculiarly-shaped furniture was wrought from the same pale, glittering stuff and seemed to grow out of the walls. The Lokant man whose face had first appeared stood in the centre of the room, surrounded by six other Lokants who looked younger than he. He was casually dressed in loose trousers and a shirt, and his feet were bare. No formal audience this, then.