“Oh, I mean… what do I mean?” Quinn was flailing. “What I mean is that I’m so happy it’s you who I chose to come speak to. You see, I was... um... I was wandering the Prophecy, not sure of who to turn to. I’m not even sure how I got here, really. And I finally decided that I had to speak to someone. So I made up my mind that I would speak to the next Prophet Mother I came across, and it turned out to be you, which under the circumstances could not have been a better choice.”
Of all the half truths Quinn could hear flying unchecked from her mouth, this last point was one hundred percent sincere. If she and Analel were going to get caught, she was glad it would be by Erin. While she spoke, Quinn could see that Analel had already rounded the corner and was making her way quickly and quietly toward the open entrance. Approaching on tip-toe, Quinn watched Analel mouth the words, ‘My mother!’ with a face that added, Really? As if this isn’t hard enough already?
Quinn offered an imperceptible shrug in answer, the meaning of which was clearly along the lines of, Sorry, Annie. That’s life. But she wasn’t entirely unhelpful. Taking a half step backward and to the side, Quinn drew Erin’s attention further away from Analel’s direction.
“What’s the matter, Quinn?” Erin repeated, patient as ever and with real care in her eyes.
Quinn tried to steer her thoughts away from her best friend and searched for something to say that wouldn’t sound completely contrived. “This is difficult for me to put into words,” she began, “but I just don’t think I can handle it anymore.”
“Handle what?” pressed Erin in the same gentle tone.
“Everything… Life in this place… Prophecy.”
Analel was just a few steps away from her mother now. She couldn’t believe how good Quinn was at this whole lying thing. She might have appreciated the performance even more if a series of questions weren’t tearing through her mind:
Why’d it have to be my mother?... What if she turns around?... And even if she doesn’t turn around and I do get inside, how am I going to find those Readers?... And if I find them, how am I going to get back out without being seen?
Analel’s heart raced against her thoughts as each step she took brought her closer to where her mother now stood. If she couldn’t get her thoughts under control she knew her mother would pick up on them and this little adventure would be over mighty quick. Stay calm, she told herself. Just a bit more and you’re in.
And Analel nearly was in when Erin suddenly spoke up again. “I never noticed you having any trouble before, Quinn. You always seem so well adjusted.”
Analel bit her lip till she tasted blood. It was all she could do to smother the scream that was threatening to burst out of her.
“Well, it’s always the ones you least suspect, I guess, isn’t it?” Quinn let out a forced laugh that she quickly cut short after hearing what it sounded like. Way to go, Quinn. Can you sound anymore disingenuous?
She could see that Analel wasn’t faring much better in the self control department and it looked as if her best friend’s heart had jumped out of her chest when her mother last spoke. Erin would surely pick up on Analel’s Wave patterns if Quinn’s own bad acting didn’t give them away first.
Great, she thought, not only do I have to distract Erin from Analel, I have to figure out a way to distract Analel from herself.
*****
Analel quickly ducked inside the Library entrance and flattened her back against the wall just beside the door. Her breathing was heavy and she felt like her heart might very well explode. But then she heard Quinn say something that caught her attention.
“There’s more, Mother. You see, I was meditating, and… well... there’s this boy…”
Analel grimaced. Quinn never misses an opportunity does she? Still pulling on my proverbial pigtails, just like when we were kids. She had to admit, though, she did feel calmer, and she knew that’s what Quinn must have had in mind by steering the conversation in such a direction. Her grimace changing to a smile, she thought, Thank you, Quinn, and turned her attention to the task at hand.
Inside the Library, Analel had to get her bearings, and quick. There was no telling how long even the crafty Quinn could keep her mother busy. She looked around and took stock of her surroundings. The Library was a long, rectangular room with a low lying ceiling filled from end to end with rows upon rows of shelves. The stark contrast of seemingly endless rows and cramped spaces, coupled with all the adrenaline pumping through her system from the near disaster run-in with her mother, had Analel feeling dizzy.
This isn’t working, She thought.
Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and opened them again. This time, subtle differences in the layout began to reveal themselves. The room itself was midsized, not as large as Analel’s first impressions but that made sense given the relatively small population sizes of the two institutions it represented. Even combined both the Prophecy and the Academy only numbered in the low thousands, with staffing needs being tempered by the extreme exclusivity of the former and the unrealistic standards for excellence of the latter.
She was standing in what seemed like a managerial area, a birth of space left opened so librarians would have room to perform whatever tasks were required of them. A few meters in front of her were rows of shelves filling all the available space in the room, minus the narrow walkways left empty in between the rows for access.
The Library seemed to be demarcated into halves. Rows on the left side of the room appeared to be dedicated exclusively to Wave Readers while those on the right housed Wave Cards. A larger central walkway served as the dividing line between the two sections.
The one exception to this rule was the two smaller rows in the managerial section off to Analel’s immediate right. These rows were different than the others in that they housed Reader/Card pairs, the Readers standing along the back of the shelves with their designated Cards resting flat in front of them.
Analel’s actions became more purposeful now that she began to decipher the meaning behind the floor plan. The main storage sections of the room were self evident. More interesting was the smaller section to her right. It appeared to be a CheckIn/Check-Out center where Prophets being paired for upcoming Prophecy sessions with specific Academics would have their Readers waiting in the Check-Out row, their Academic’s Card waiting along with them. A second row would be used for CheckIn of Reader/Card pairs for those Prophets and Academics who had completed their sessions.
Behind the CheckIn/Check-Out rows was a desk, a lone console switched off being the only item occupying its surface. Analel starred at the blank console and thought - Because why should any part of this be easy. At first she wasn’t even going to bother with it, but after venturing a second look at the sea of Readers and Wave Cards before her, she shrugged, thinking, Probably won’t hurt to try.
Weaving around the CheckIn/Check-Out rows, she quickly made her way over to the desk and grabbed either side of the console with both hands, as if it were a witness she was about to interrogate by shaking it down for all the information it was worth.
Here goes. Closing her eyes, she projected a Wave Thought, barely managing to bar her self-doubt from creeping in and corrupting it before it could be sent. To her astonishment the screen hummed to life and a bird’s eye map of the Library appeared before her.
Go figure. Now, how to find Kelerin? She concentrated on his name, allowing the letters to fill her mind. The bird’s eye image on the console dove down into the Check-Out shelves, flying along the aisles and slowing down slightly before turning and coming to rest before a specific Reader/Card pair. The Card was glowing blue with a catalog number superimposed on top of it. All the other images remained digital skeletons of a dull, greenish hue. A message appeared above the flashing card:
Yes, thought Analel.
The view on the screen quickly panned upward returning to the original bird’s eye view, only, Analel could still see one blue square marking the pla
ce where Kelerin’s Wave Card sat, along with the catalog number listed next to it. A list had also begun at the upper right hand corner of the screen with Kelerin’s Card number in the #1 slot and a flashing #2 waiting for instructions.
Analel thought of her own name. Once again she found herself flying along the aisles, the virtual tour leading much deeper into the Library this time around than where her first query had taken her. The view eventually came to rest at another glowing square, its catalog number as familiar to Analel as her own name. Another message appeared above the glowing image:
Analel thought, No. A new message replaced the old one:
Analel thought, Yes, not quite knowing what to expect. She gave a start as the tile below her feet lit up the same pale blue as the Wave Card on the screen, then the next tile lit up, and the one after that. About at the same pace as Analel was figuring out what was happening, a glowing path formed from where she stood, leading off into the Library. A smile spread across her face. For the first time since she and Quinn had conjured up this scheme it was beginning to look like it just might work.
Quickly, she followed the glowing path to the first location. It didn’t take long. Stepping around the corner of the desk and straight into the Check-Out row, Analel could see a section of shelf lit up directly above the last glowing floor tile. When she arrived, the path beneath her feet disappear with the exception of the last tile on which she stood. Not a second had passed before a new path danced out in front of her, leading back down the way she’d come and turning off in a new direction at the aisle’s end.
Grabbing the Wave Reader next to Kelerin’s Card, Analel was only mildly curious as to which of her Prophet Sisters had been chosen to duel with Kelerin instead of herself. She didn’t dwell on the question long, some mysteries being better left unsolved. Improvising on the spot, she reached across the aisle to the side she presumed designated for CheckIn, and left the unknown Prophet’s Reader there on its own.
Halfway there, she thought, and darted off along the newly lit path.
*****
Outside, Quinn had her hands full desperately trying to stall Mother Erin from taking that first step into the Library, which if taken, would also prove to be the first step in a long and excruciating disciplinary process for both Analel and herself.
“I’m sorry, Quinn. I’d love to discuss this further, really I would. But right now I do have to be going. Perhaps we can meet later for a walk along the Bridge.”
“But Mother Erin, I need to talk this out with you!”
It was hopeless. Erin was halfway into the room, her head turned back to Quinn, excusing herself with one last apology, when suddenly, a voice called out from a few steps behind the two of them, a note of urgency in its tone. “Mother Erin! Mother Erin, please wait!”
Quinn saw Erin retreat back outside the door frame and her heart paused mid beat, daring to hope that this new distraction might buy the extra time Analel needed to finish up and get out of that Library.
What is taking you so long, Annie?
The distraction came courtesy of Mother Elaina, who was walking as quick-stepped as her cloak and her dignity would allow her.
“Mother Elaina?” asked Erin. “What is it?”
The new Prophet’s face told a story of sympathetic uncertainty, as if she still wasn’t sure whether or not she should be relaying the message she’d come all this way for. However, on her arrival there was no hesitation. “It’s Jonas,” she said. “He’s back.”
Quinn saw Erin’s expression change for the first time since the Prophet Mother had removed her hood to reveal herself. The look of assured serenity was replaced with one of someone profoundly affected by their emotions, only exactly how, for good or bad, Quinn couldn’t quite tell just yet.
Looking down and searching her feelings, Erin asked, “He’s alive?” clearly addressing herself with the question more than Elaina, or anyone else for that matter. Facing Elaina again, she asked tentatively, “So the Race is over, then?”
“It would appear to be the case.”
“Then he’s won the Mandate. He’s achieved his mission. That’s wonderful news... And he’s alive!” she repeated, no longer a question but a statement.
Elaina paused, weighing another decision in her mind. She looked at Erin and her frown deepened. “He’s here,” she said at last.
Now Erin’s expression was unmistakable. It was shock. “Here? Why?”
“I don’t know.”
Erin could see Elaina was torn on the inside. She was holding back. “But everyone’s okay?”
Silence.
“Elaina, please?”
Sighing heavily, Elaina revealed the rest. “Siera, T’leya and I were on Stormwatch. Siera was in the Box, T’leya and I were monitoring her. One of the crew members on Jonas’ ship apparently has an usual injury, which they believe we might be able to help with.”
“An unusual injury?” repeated Erin, her concern rising, “Who? Is it Jonas?”
“I don’t know, Erin. Everything just happened. Siera sent T’leya to escort them from the docking bay to the infirmary. We’re the only four who know about this.”
“The Grand Mother surely knows.”
“Obviously, but aside for us no one else is to be told about it.”
They both suddenly became keenly aware of Quinn standing off to the side. So engrossed in their conversation, it was only after she realized they’d stopped talking and were now staring at her, did it occur to Quinn that she might have heard a little too much for her own benefit.
“Oh, pfff, me?” she asked in a tone that tried to make the notion that her being there was problematic, sound ridiculous. “Don’t worry about me.” She made a zipping gesture with her fingers across her lips, turned an imaginary key and threw it away. The Mothers continued to stare. “Really, this mouth is like a black hole, nothing escapes it. Super massive, blacky, black hole.” Stop talking, she told herself.
The looks on the Mother’s faces said they weren’t quite convinced, but much to Quinn’s relief they apparently felt there was no alternative but to take her word for it. Reluctantly, Elaina turned back to Erin while keeping one eye on Quinn for the remainder of their conversation. “I felt you had the right to know,” she offered.
Erin seemed to retreat back into herself. Her eyes saw something that wasn’t in front of her. Something somewhere else, very far away. Elaina waited patiently.
“I should go see him now,” said Erin after a spell.
“I’ll go with you.”
“That’s not necessary”
“It is if you want to know where Siera placed them. I’m coming with you, Erin.”
Reluctantly, Erin nodded her agreement. Then, turning back to Quinn, she said, “Will you be OK?”
“Who me?” asked Quinn, perking up again. “Oh, I’m great. Really, really, great. Never better.” Quinn could see the Mothers looking doubtful again. “... Relatively speaking... obviously... Yeah, um... so you should do that thing you were gonna do and I’ll find my way back...” she made a sweeping motion with her hand over her shoulder, “... thataway.” Quinn flashed her brightest smile at the two Prophet Mothers and never felt more like an idiot.
“OK, Quinn. We will continue this conversation,” Erin assured her, “I promise.”
“Absolutely.”
“Get yourself straight back to the open sectors, Child,” added Elaina, sternly.
“Absolutely.”
The two Mothers walked off quickly in silence. Quinn closed her eyes, took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.
“You were GREAT!” Analel had come up behind Quinn, hugged her without warning and nearly gave her a heart attack. “I love you!” she added, then releasing her grip and planting a kiss on the crown of her best friend’s head, she skipped off down the corridor, calling back from over her shoulder, “C’mon, Quinn. Let’s go, already!”
Chapter 7: Needs
The Prophecy, Caras 1
Erin stood outside the door for what seemed like a very long time. This is where she felt comfortable. In some ways, it was just as it was during the Race. So close to each other but with a clearly defined buffer making sure their relationship never progressed beyond the amorphous state of pure consciousness.
She was Jonas’ Prophet for the Mandate Race, the great collaborative endeavor of their time. It was the culmination of what began with the Greenhouse fifty years earlier on Caras 1; the Academy lobbied and Parliament backed effort to usher in a new era that was to transform Osmosian kind into a multiple-world-inhabiting society.
Some were of the opinion that the Academy’s outwardly focused obsession toward expansion and colonization had been the direct result of a contrarian overreaction to the late Professor Ren’s revolutionary idea that the next plain of Osmosian existence was in fact not to be found out in the heavens, but rather in the internal realm of the spiritual.
Yet the Greenhouse project failed, at least as far as colonization goes, and the debate between internal and external proponents became largely a theoretical one. In practice, the Prophecy grew in prestige and gained new backers within Parliament, increasing its budget and carving out its own sphere of influence amongst the Islands at the expense of the Academy’s former monopoly in those areas.
Then, three years ago, the Academy announced it had cracked the mysteries of interstellar space travel. Expansionist ambitions, which had been cooling for the better part of a half century, were reignited again over night.
Much deliberation took place before the Mandate Race was proposed as the fairest and most feasible way of discovering a suitable planetary candidate for colonization. A year later and one hundred ships, fifty from the Islands and fifty from the Mainland, set off to find a second home in the cosmos.
Wave Mandate Page 7