Shi: A Dark Adventure into Living Forever

by C. F. Villion

  He nodded, and I turned to get what I needed. I could feel his eyes on me, following my every movement. The desire was there, coiled around me. Threatening to tighten to the point where I would lose it and give myself to him.

  I pushed it away and compartmentalized it, years of distancing myself from others finally worked as it was supposed to. It was still present but not as burning as before. My heart ached, the time I had opened myself up to it would take a long time to disappear.

  And his influence had been of such a forceful nature that it might never fully dissolve. But if I could get to a place where every glance from him wouldn’t send me into a spiral of lust it would be a win. A win I would take, if not gladly then thankfully.

  Once back at his side, we took a seat at the table so I could write comfortably and see the screen at the same time.

  “First we need the GPS coordinates of your basement, and then the coordinates of the alien landscape we want to be opened. And finally the size of the opening we want.”

  I wrote down the menu structure and nodded at him.

  “Let’s get the basement ones. How do we go about taking the coordinates for the alien side of all this?”

  We didn’t need to be accidentally opening a rift in the middle of someone’s kitchen. Our eyes met, and a little shock passed through me, I clenched my teeth and told my heart to behave.

  “That’s not a problem; I know the coordinates we need by heart.”

  “How so? I thought you hadn't been that side of the Rift for a long time?” The suspicion flared, I didn’t know much about this man. Alien, I corrected.

  “I haven’t, but this is a special place.” He looked at his hands and quickly back at me again. “It’s my family farm.”

  Forty

  “And they won’t notice if you open a rift in the middle of the farm?”

  Was this his way back home? My foolish heart suddenly jumped, and my throat closed up a bit. I was annoyed that the thought of him gone was painful.

  But he shook his head, “No, no one would notice. They have all been gone for a long time. I doubt the Man would even think of looking at the farm.”

  He looked so sad that I wanted to lean over and put my arms around him. Shit, that was going to be difficult. I sat back and crossed my arms tightly, pinning my hands down. Just in case, they acted without my permission.

  “I see.”

  “Yeah.” He abruptly stood, and I followed.

  We walked down the stairs and entered the basement again. I had my phone with me. Hopefully, I could connect to the satellites. It was a big space and far enough down that it was colder here than upstairs. The cemented floors helped and for a few years I had toyed with the idea of putting in a wine cellar.

  We walked into the spare room that would serve as our mini-plantation. It was freezing and felt cavernous. I flicked the lights on, and we waited in quiet for all the strips to flicker on.

  “We might have to replace the lights, I haven’t checked them for a while, and they aren’t as responsive as they should be.”

  Asher waved a hand in dismissal. I shrugged and turned my phone’s screen on. He did the same, and we waited while our devices attempted to connect to the satellites orbiting far above.

  He walked to the middle of the vast space and after a moment I joined him. I was watching him walk but trying to convince myself that wasn’t, in fact, the case. I could tell that my phone wasn't anywhere near able to find a satellite.

  “Any luck on yours?” I asked.

  “Yeah, it found something. Not sure if it will hold on to it but be ready to write.”

  I nodded and put my phone in my pocket and brought my notebook out, and adopted a patient posture. I could tell he was stressed out, or this was reflecting my changed attitude.

  Either way, we stood in silence, and the quiet was a blessing. After all the stress of the last two days, I was enjoying a moment not spent in chasing, or in fear of capture.

  “Ok, here we go.”

  I got jarred out of my reverie and wrote the numbers down quickly. He double-checked that I wrote it down properly, and we left the basement. Once upstairs he sank into his seat and toggled back to the app.

  All the numbers inputted he hit done, and we waited as the app applied the changes. I assumed it was applying the changes, the rift generator at this point hadn’t shown any signs of working.

  It was boring staring at nothing, so I looked around to see what Denny had gotten up to while were busy with the app and generator. I didn't see him, but I looking up at the upstairs balcony I saw the lights on in his bedroom.

  The poor boy probably needed a shower, and even more, he needed sleep. Proper, healthy sleep and not the simulated sleep of the dead. I envied him; rest seemed a long way off still for me.

  Of course it was light outside, the day had started for most people. Morning routines were in full effect, and Denny was getting ready for bed. Our systems were all messed up, and essentially we were living in a different time zone.

  The app was still working on the setup, and the generator was sitting quietly, it looked like a brick.

  “How long will it take to configure the generator?” I was getting impatient. The day was wearing on, and my immortality was slipping away slowly.

  “Eliza, some serious calculations go into this. It isn’t just like walking into the plantation. The app has to configure the exact locations of each space and the most optimum route to bring the two together.”

  I held up my hands in surrender, if he had explained the complexity better, I wouldn’t have been impatient. He glared at me for a moment longer and then looked back down at the screen of his mobile.

  At long last he sat back with a look of relief. I guess he wasn’t so sure after all of the app’s ability to configure the generator.

  “It successfully plotted a path and the size of our plantation,” He said.

  “Cool, so now what?” I asked.

  “I'll go downstairs and start the rift.” He said and stood.

  “Hold on a second, you mean we start the rift don’t you.”

  He sighed, and his shoulders slumped. I was instantly angry and suspicious again. Why was he reluctant for my help all of a sudden? Asher turned to me and sighed.

  “No Eliza, just me. I need to start the rift.”

  “Why? Why can’t I help you?” I was up and stood in front of him, blocking his path to the stairs.

  “Because you aren’t alien,” He muttered.

  I frowned at him, “What do mean by that? Surely, after all, this it is a matter of switching it on and standing out of the way?”

  He shook his head and rubbed a hand across the stubble on his chin. It was an attempt to distract me I thought, it worked for all of two seconds. But my general annoyance was enough to pull my attention back on track.

  “It requires my DNA to start the process; I need to be the physical link between the two places.”

  “Seriously?” I was dismayed, so much for me being able to do this without him.

  He turned away from me and scooped up the generator and pocketed his mobile. When he turned back, he gave me a crooked smile.

  “Yeah, so you can forget about getting rid of me so easily.”

  He walked around me and down the stairs; all I could do was sink back down into my chair. Well, of all the luck mine had to be the weirdest in the world I thought.

  Forty-One

  He was away for an hour; it felt longer. I knew it would take as long as necessary, but his revelation chafed at me. I hated the idea that I was dependent on him like this. It was irrational but who’s rational all of the time.

  Time was marching on, and I wasn’t getting any younger. Pacing was not my thing. Instead, I moved from one room section to another. It was absolutely not pacing, but it gave me the movement I craved so badly.

  I kept going back to the dining room table and looked at the Shi plants. No touching, I daren’t touch them. Asher had made it clear that they needed no
interference from me. Hands behind my back I leaned in carefully and inhaled.

  They held little in the way of fragrance but what was there came back clean. Clean and fresh, even the dirt was pleasant. A first for me, but maybe it was a trick of the alien nature of these plants.

  Which started me walking again, I still hadn’t thought much of Denny’s statement that I was more alien than human. For many years I stood apart from other humans, I didn’t believe myself better, merely different. Different was good I kept telling myself over and over.

  Then why the big fuss, Eliza? I caught my reflection in the entryway mirror; I tried to smooth the lines on my face out. Wrinkles were the last thing I needed, and that much frowning couldn’t help.

  After all the time in isolation, my thoughts were used to going their route, no interruptions from others. I craved interruption. Conversation to distract me, to annoy me even would be good.

  But Denny’s door was closed and by now he was fast asleep, something I would love to do soon too. There might not have been any way I could assist in the creation of the rift, but I would be with him for the planting.

  I chose not to dwell on how my lungs fared in the plantation; I had strong powers of denial. The door to the basement opened, and I jogged over to meet Asher at the top of the stairs.

  He was exhausted and shaking; the rift generation must have taken a bigger toll than I had thought it would. But then, he didn’t explain to me how it would work. It was another thing to add to a grown list of things not known, a list that was getting to be far too long.

  “And? Do we have a bit of alien landscape in the basement?”

  I bit my lip; our had nearly inserted itself neatly and effortlessly into my question. He nodded and moved past me to the kitchen.

  Asher opened my fridge and took out a carton of orange juice. I was about to offer him a glass, but he chose the faster route of drinking from the source. Miss Manners demanded that I politely offered him a glass regardless. I chose to ignore her this once, but it annoyed me.

  He tossed the empty carton into the bin and turned to me. An exhausted man stood looking at me; I was still resolved not to get involved with him. But it was difficult when all I wanted to do was go to him and fling my arms around him.

  A smile told me that he had caught my thought; I grimaced and walked away from him. I went back to the table where I crossed my arms over my chest and waited. He joined me before long, his body heat coming at me in a wave as he quietly came up behind me.

  “How long before we can put them in the ground?” I asked.

  He leaned over towards the plants in the case, but because of my choice of location he had to lean past me. It drove me mad; his smell and my unconscious choice of standing right in front of the damn case.

  “We can plant them now if you’d like.” He looked at me and smiled.

  My lips were so willing to return his smile and so much more that I hurt. My heart, body and soul ached. This man or rather alien had somehow managed to get a grip on me. But I bit the inside of my lip to stop any reaction. I would have to find a better way to deal with this; my mouth would be a bloody mess before long.

  “Very well, let’s get to it. The faster we put them into the soil the faster they can get healthy.”

  I turned away from him and heard the sigh that accompanied my retreat. It didn’t matter, let him sigh all he wanted, at least, my lips were still my own.

  “They don’t have to be you know. I would take good care of them.” I jerked to a stop, “And put them to good use.”

  The last said so softly that I thought I hadn’t heard it correctly. Cheeky bastard. He wished for the last and knew it wouldn’t happen. I heard him walking away with a chuckle.

  For long moments I couldn’t move, what he had done was plant images in my head that were unwelcome. Not entirely unpleasant truth be told, but I suppressed that as quickly as possible.

  Finally, I turned around and walked over the doorway leading down to my basement. Mine, and mine alone, I wanted to shout down the stairs. Pettiness was where I was hiding it seemed.

  By the time, I got downstairs he had disappeared into the Shi Room. The light was spilling from the open doorway, much more than my paltry strip lights could hope to provide.

  When I entered I understood his dismissive wave from earlier; the lights weren’t necessary. The sun coming from the rift lit the entire space. I couldn’t feel in on this side of the opening, but it reminded me of a tropical destination.

  Uncertain of the air I stood on the edge of the rift peering in and taking note of the other side. In the distance, I saw the remains of a farmhouse, outbuildings and a fence that had seen better days.

  It had to be Asher’s home; it must have been beautiful when it was in good repair. How long had it been since he had last seen it? I looked around to find him standing in the middle of a field with the case at his feet. A small area, nothing the size of farm fields on Earth. It had the look of a herb garden to it, plots carefully delineated by some wooden beams perhaps.

  The next moment he was in front of me and had me by the arm. I was off-balance and tumbled into the rift opening towards him.

  Forty-Two

  I held my breath as I tumbled into the rift opening. Any attempts to pull away from him ended in failure. He was much stronger than I was, and I ended up next to him in a very short amount of time.

  He let go of my arm, and I punched him as hard as I could before I moved back to the Earth side of the rift. I heard him laugh and then got yanked back. I was struggling, and dots of light had started to appear on the edges of my vision.

  My brain was screaming along with my lungs for oxygen. There was none on this side, and my fear of the burn was big enough that I would rather suffocate than attempt breathing the air this side.

  “Eliza, stop being stupid. Take a breath and calm down.”

  I shook my head at him and pushed away, or at least, I thought I was. My head was spinning and up wasn’t where I was expecting it. Asher let me go suddenly, and I fell to the ground with a whoosh of air escaping me when I landed.

  My body decided against instructions and took a deep breath. But instead, of a horrible burn in my lungs, I tasted the fresh air. Different to Earth, fresher than anything I had ever felt in the city.

  Asher stood over me, hands on his hips. His look said it all; I was stupid. My assumptions were groundless. More questions and fewer assumptions were top on my list of going forward with this new life.

  He reached down and took my hand, none too gracefully he dragged me back up to my feet. No other man had managed to make me feel so sexy only to be followed by embarrassment. Not at all how I prefer men to see me. Elusive, and an enigma was the way to go. Always.

  “You could have told me the air was fine,” I said.

  Covered in mud and muck, because of course the ground was wet when I fell into it. All I wanted to do was punch him again, or, at least, find a way to wipe the damn smug smile off his face.

  “How was I to know you were going to act all dumb about this?” He asked. "It is a different planet in the same system as the Man's manufacturing plant."

  I sighed he infuriated me beyond measure. There was no dealing with him, no reasoning it seemed. Choosing to ignore him I turned around and took a good look around.

  The farmland was beautiful, the farmhouse not quite as far away as it seemed from the other side. We were behind the house, and the layout of the section we stood in were herb garden style.

  Small pavers separated the different parts from each other, and some still held the remnants of stabilizing rods. I had to assume for plants that were prone to vining up things. I cast my glance wider and saw mountains in the distance and thought I heard an ocean.

  Peaks covered in white and green, with massive trees going down some of them. Just how huge I couldn’t discern, but the scale of things on this side was very different and didn’t quite meet my perceptions.

  Of course, those were based
on television and movies and not my physical experience. I was a city girl through and through; mountains weren’t part of my life. It was, however, what I thought peace personified. Now that I knew the air was safe I took in another lung full.

  “This is amazing, how could you ever leave this behind?” I asked.

  “It was easy,” He whispered.

  I turned to him and regretted speaking without thinking. His expression told me how much pain the memory brought him.

  “I’m sorry Asher. I've never seen or experienced anything like it.”

  I wanted to touch him, put my hand on his arm. Maybe hug him but I had to maintain a distance. Don’t cross over, or there would be no return. That was a precipice I couldn’t ever cross.

  “It’s okay, I understand. It was a long time ago but being here is not what I expected.”

  He was looking back at the house, had he gone in when he created the opening? There were no tracks in the mud leading to the house, but that didn’t mean anything. The rain could have obliterated any traces of that for all I knew.

  “So, any particular place you want to put the Shi?”

  I looked into the case and was amazed at how much better they looked. The plants perked up in their natural environment. It filled me with hope; we might be able to succeed after all. We had to figure out the best way of harvesting and distilling of course.

  “We have to get some tools first, but the ground, at least, seems nice and wet,” He said with a pointed look at me.

  I gave him a lopsided grin, now that I had some time I realized I was acting dumb. Didn’t mean he wouldn’t pay later for not telling me it was ok, though. He leaned in and whispered in my ear.

  “Promise?”

  He turned away with a laugh and headed towards the house. My ever-growing list of priorities shifted again. First on the list; control thoughts better. And get my body under control, specifically my lust.

  What was his range? How close did I have to be for him to read my thoughts? Distance, the key would be distance. I needed to put as much of it between us as possible; physically and emotionally.