Sojourn Sol (Eternal Sol)

by Landsbury, Morgan

  She turned to the children, before they reached the gates and said, “We will be visiting one ride, the snake handler as well as two booths, and then we will retire for lunch. The bo—

  “I'm sorry for interrupting, Sister Athenea, Miss, but shouldn't we put it to a vote so that we can all enjoy ourselves instead of visiting the rides and booths that you want to see?” The woman looked like Aygan had just slapped her in the face.

  “We will follow the itinerary as ordered. You will be allowed to go to Mani's Holodeck, and the Sister Lotus boutique.” Clearly, Sister Athenea was looking for some new decorations for her uniforms. She had flowers that she wore on her hair and tiny decorative knots, even little creatures that scampered around her head. No matter how hard she tried, though, she couldn't make herself look beautiful.

  Aygan smiled when she mentioned the hologram booth, and as he walked into the gate, he waited for Henny to cross before he opened it and allowed her inside.

  The merchants put on a macabre display, walking the crowds with holographic dioramas featuring replicators that could generate their signature products, and trying to chat up students and sisters. They wore black and they were often found wearing silly masks with twisted smiles or glitter and holographic lights all over their bodies. The more flamboyant their costume, the more business they got. They passed one woman at a booth who had managed to make her entire body into a metallic sliver to show off her perfect frame. One man had made a hologram that seemed to extend his body to nine feet tall, with a mane of red hair streaming out on all sides and down to his feet.

  It was strange to say the least because there was no uniformity, just a mix of attractions as diverse as the planets in space. Henny followed closely behind the sister, while still keeping track of where they were going. Aygan was walking beside her.

  “So, what's your favorite attraction, Henny.” They grew up together, there was no need for any introductions.

  “The exit,” she replied curtly.

  “Have you ever been to the holodeck?” She hadn't, but she wasn't willing to admit it, and she was curious to see what he was leading to, so she stayed silent. “There's a tiny door in the back that leads to the exit. You should go there with me so that we can see the rest of the carnival.”

  That piqued her interest. “Really? Oh wow, that would be amazing,” she whispered. She walked a little closer to him and he grabbed her hand.

  “I'd love to show you around a little bit.” Aygan stopped for just a second and got a little too close to her. His lips were beautiful, she had to admit, but they weren't Tamil's. She giggled and pulled him on.

  “Come on. Let's go on the snake handler.” She turned to him and added, “I want somebody to sit next to, you know. I'm a little scared of heights.”

  They made their way to the long line, which stretched nearly a quarter of the way across the meadow. It would take them a while to get to the ride, but it could hold dozens and dozens of people so it wouldn't take too long. It wasn't really a ride so much as a hovering train nearly as long as the school itself, and it was painted like a snake.

  They strolled slowly, while Henny watched Aygan, eager to get in the sack.. She was actually looking forward to the snake handler. It was one of her favorite rides, so when they made it to the gate, and the handler let them in, she ran to the nearest car, which seated two people and climbed over to the window seat. She was going to take advantage of the situation as best as she could. She loved the window seat, and she knew that Aygan would want to sit there, which made it even funnier.

  He got as close to her as he could and waited for the ride to start. She was shaking just a bit deliberately. “It's gonna be OK,” he whispered in her ear. “This ride is perfectly safe.”

  “I don't like heights,” she replied meekly.

  “If you want, we can switch seats,” Aygan said hopefully.

  “Oh no. That's OK. I can turn away if I get scared. You don't mind do you?”

  “No. No. Not at all.” He paused for a second and looked down.

  “What is it?” She looked over.

  He paused for a moment. It made him seem a little troubled, which made him seem a little bit more endearing. “Oh, nothing. I wonder if it's going to start soon.”

  The train shot off, nearing the speed of sound. Aygan scooted a little closer to Henny who was trying to suppress her screams. She grabbed his hand and held onto him, screaming for real as the train made its way higher and higher. The train was in a vertical position and she was stuck to the seat from the force of the gravity.

  “Are you alright,” he asked softly. He put his arm around her shoulder and she cuddled a little closer to him.

  “I'm scared,” she said.

  “It's gonna be alright.” He held her a little closer and then, when the train went as high as it could go safely, it dropped faster than a jet and they both started screaming like little children. Aygan was cuddling a little closer than she thought, and she realized that he was clutching her in fear.

  When they had fallen, the exhilaration was still shooting through her, and the way he cowered in terror on top of her, flinching when they finally landed, she realized that she was strong. She could do this.

  They made their way off the ride, holding hands behind the Sister's back. Henny looked behind her and saw the twins eyeing them. Ara whispered in her Sister Fancy's ear and they both laughed hysterically. They were just children, but there was something infuriating about the way they were taunting them. A child's playing at romance can be quite dangerous.As they approached the entrance Henny gasped at the sight of a 20 foot holo of a globe covered in ocean water. Every year, the holodeck had a different theme. This year, they would be entering into a world filled with water, where they would be riding the waves. Henny turned to Aygan and whispered, “How will we know where to go,” in his ear.

  “You simply go in the right direction,” he whispered with a smirk on his face. Henny was going to have some fun with this. She had on a thick gray cloak, which was too thick for the water, but she couldn't take it off. She would have to make do. She was preparing herself, when they reached the black carbon fiber door and waited for the announcer to begin.

  “Welcome to Aquarius, the ocean planet. Beneath its surface are hidden secrets, treasures beyond imagination. Be the first to walk beneath the ocean.” Henny and Aygan waited till the twins entered so they could make their way without being noticed. The Sister waited outside rather than wade through fake water, and face real solid objects which could easily ruin her clothes.

  The entrance was a tiny beach with off white sand that gave way to soft blue water. Aygan and Henny giggled as they ran through the waves, hand in hand immersing themselves so much so that could walk easily on the steeply declining ocean floor.

  “Which direction do we go? ” Henny asked.

  Aygan pointed outwards. “Forward and then a little to the right. A good trick,” he eyed her mischievously, “would be to overcompensate to the left so we don't miss it.” The ocean was foggy more than a few yards away, so they wouldn't be able to see their way around. “By doing that, we can simply know to go more to the right so that we can find it.”

  A tiny silver fish moved past them, and Henny looked over at it curiously. It shone in the dark water, casting a glow on the sand beneath them. As they made their way farther into the ocean, more and more fish came by until they were caught in the middle of a massive school of them, and when they moved by, they grazed the couple, adding to the excitement. With wide eyes, she looked over at Aygan who was clearly miffed by the experience.

  The current was soft and simple, and the simulation didn't seem to change that very much, so they knew they would be able to make their way through easily, but they would have to be quick because they'd only have an hour, and they weren't sure what they might meet along the way.

  Henny could make out a tiny pink formation just a few yards away and as they walked towards it, she noticed that it was a flat coral path in the
shape of cobblestones. Aygan stopped and looked at it curiously. “Do you know what this is,” he asked.

  “It's a path.” She pointed down at coral. “Can't you see it's like the cobblestone in front of the sisterhood. It leads to something, and we should avoid altogether if we want to get out of here.”

  Aygan seemed skeptical. “It would help us find where we're going.”

  “No.” Henny didn't like it, and she didn't want to explain that taking the path could easily lead them in the wrong direction if they weren't careful. The simulation was full of illusions. “I want to stick to the sand. I don't want to deal with anything else but that and water; it's quicker that way.

  It took a second for Aygan to agree, but he had a goal and he knew that if he listened, he would be able to get what he wanted more easily. He followed her as she made her way to the left until the path cleared and she could see nothing but sand and water. A thought popped into her head, and it was the best idea she'd had all day. “Is the room longer than it is wide,” she asked Aygan.

  “Yes. It is.”

  “We're going to go all the way left until we hit the barrier and go straight from there. They try to make things look bigger, and since it's water, they're less likely to put up barriers on the ends. That way it looks like it goes on forever.”

  It was a simple idea, and Aygan didn't argue. He wanted to, she could tell, but he had to keep ahold of her. They walked for what seemed like an hour, until the flow of the water seemed to stop altogether. She held her hands out until she could feel the solid invisible wall, and turned right so she could make her way forward. They made their way easily to the back of the room, while Aygan tried to make small talk with her. He was putting up a front, and she was tired of pretending that he wasn't. He was beginning to become a bit of a nuisance and he was a liability.

  They turned right and began making their way through the water towards the door. Henny was beginning to get a bit anxious. She looked over to Aygan with a sheepish manner and said, “I know about your reputation you know, Aygan.”

  “It's just rumors. You know it's not true.”

  “Ceres seemed to be quite upset the other day. I heard she had to go to the nurse’s office for quite some time.”

  He went red in the face and stopped dead. “What are you talking about,” he hissed. He was clenching his fists, and she was trying to decide whether or not he could hurt her.

  “I just heard, you know, about a month back she was late and..”

  He grabbed her and pushed her up against the wall. “You don't fucking know anything.”

  She looked him dead in the eye and said, “I haven't heard anything about it since. It sounds like she got rid of whatever trouble she was having. It was probably for the best.”

  “Why are you trying to leave, huh?”

  “I'm having second thoughts, Aygan. I wanna go back with the twins.”

  “Yeah, fuck you.”

  “No.” She had a big grin on her face. She pulled out a tiny white pill, a recorder that could be used to pick up and record audio signals. He grabbed at it, but she hid it under the sand and ran at him with the full force of her fists. She slammed him in the jaw, and blood started flowing freely from his mouth, turning it red. He tried to lift up, but she let the anger run through her, exploding as fist after fist slammed into him over and over again. If she had to kill him, she would, but she would not have to. With one final blast his eyes closed and he passed out.

  She got up and retrieved the pill which she was able to identify by how it stuck out when it was implanted in the sand. She ran as fast as she could, desperate to get to the door before the simulation ended. Everyone would see what she did, and she wouldn't be able to leave the room. The sisters would chastise, and probably place her in a cell for a week.

  She kept her left hand on the wall, trying to feel for any indentation, but she couldn't find it, not until she was about to give up. She felt a tiny crack in the wall, which she ran her finger along to find that it was a door frame. One the right side, there was a circular indentation and when she put her finger inside, the door opened. The effect was stunning, like a door into another world. She could see the ocean floor spread out before her to her right, and the meadow to the left, as though reality had been chopped in two. She dashed through the door, afraid that she would lose her chance and ran into the meadow.

  Carnival trader ships are setup to be simple operations. The front face, which the customer sees is set side by side with other ships so that they form impassable lanes. The rear end of the ships is only accessible from within the ship unless a person makes their way to the other side of the field, which was prohibited by the sisterhood.

  Nobody went back there so Henny was safe from prying eyes and was able to make her way to the back of the holodeck, into a tiny hatch to the right of the door, where she was able to stow away in the cargo hold. She pulled out a tiny red pill from inside her inner pocket and swallowed it, rending her invisible for as long as she wanted then she cramped into a corner as best she could and pulled out a black pill, which she broke open to inflate a tiny black box that could replicate the food and water she would need in case the trip took too long. After that, she pulled out a tiny white headband, her cognitive console and some simple glasses, which have an earpiece and a mouthpiece which would allow her to enter the VR world.

  She wasn't scared—she was excited. No Bene'Anak had escaped for centuries, and she had come fully prepared. She'd even brought a condensed pistol in case she needed it. The black market in the school had become quite useful for her, and with a little coin she was able to get the rest of the supplies from some of the carnival workers as they were setting up camp. They wouldn't allow her safe passage, but they would give her the things she needed to make it as a stowaway. They probably thought she wouldn't make it off planet, but everyone underestimated her. So long as she acted right, nobody ever knew what she was up to. She could charm a child out of a piece of candy, and he would thank her for doing so.

  She opened a window on her glasses in order to check the sanctuary for messages. There was a red flashing light on the right lens indicating that Tamil had in fact tried to communicate with her. When she heard his message, she started to understand what it was that she was dong. He was right, she was in danger, but she was doing the right thing. She had to make her own way in order to really succeed; she knew that, and she knew that she had what it takes to make it.

  She stood in the blank, white space and cried for a while, wishing that she could really see him. She couldn't get to him, but she could explore, and they would be able to be together soon. She knew that it might be impossible to see him, but she wasn't sure she could move on if she stayed on Rhoas. Every time she went to the dining hall, he was there with her, sitting next to her, but she couldn't touch him. When she went and walked on the beach, she imagined that she could see his footprints. It didn't matter how many people were walking beside her down those halls, they were empty as far as she was concerned, and her grief was starting to make her lose her composure. She couldn't stand it; she had to leave. She didn't care where the ship took her, so long as she survived and she didn't have to stay there.

  Chapter 11

  The force surrounding the blast area was far too large. The General would have to speak with the engineering department to ensure that they were able to reduce the amount of charge placed into the explosives. A nest of hungry Banu had burrowed into the moon of Fyrion. It was believed they were terrorists, which could be handled easily, but they didn't want to damage the moon too much because it was rich in perchlorate which was necessary in manufacturing many vital goods that couldn't be replicated.

  General Espinoza was one of the most trusted military officials in the Empire. He played both sides of the aisle and found a middle ground that both could agree with in the senate. The reformists believed him to be liberals, and the traditionalists believed he was a staunch conservative. That was the way to get ahead in his world, and
he had it down to a science. Through thorough analysis of his surrounding and the people therein, he was able to discover, not only how to deal with powerful men, but also how to get what he needed from them.

  He needed more supplies for the operation, and the senate was having their perpetual budget battle. He leaned back in his soft leather armchair and looked around his simple white office. He was a minimalist, and the simple surroundings helped him think. That made it easier for him to prepare for his meeting.

  Chunli Haj was an older man who had gotten into politics later in life. He was quickly gaining popularity in his home district on the human main world of Fyrion for his moderate stance which was easier to pass onto the divided public. The man was in a unique position as head of the senate budget committee to give the general the funds he needed, and he believed that Haj would be cooperative. He had manipulated the liberal sentiment of progression to fit his own desire to expand the empire's territory and give the military more funding. All Espinoza had to do was ask the Senator to fund that specific operation.