“In the darkness I was everything. I heard every sound and every thought. We protected all the living things, they called me their Goddess. I heard them in their dreams and in their prayers when they spoke to me.
“Mother gave them all they needed and I gave them all the love I had. They didn’t want to forget me, but they left anyway. For a better life. For a new mother. I came looking for them, but they were all gone by then. Instead I found you.” John wasn’t sure if by ‘you’ she meant him or the second wavers in general. “When I went back into the darkness again, I made a decision. I chose you over my new people. I chose the headache and the slowness and the feeling of not belonging, because it means being with you. I accept the consequences of my decision, John, but I miss her so much.”
Deep in the forest, the half crumbled down remains of the temple were covered in a thin, immaculate veil of snow. Thin, because the spot was protected by a canopy of trees; immaculate, because not even animal footprints could be found in it. The planet’s fauna gave this place a berth, maybe out of respect for its owner. Not so the flora, that tried its best to overgrow the tumbled down walls, to keep them hidden from view.
It was this place where Eugenia led John after he fed and calmed the hounds. He still understood only half of what she tried to tell him, but she wanted him so much to know who she was. So she watched him walked around the walls of her home. Examine the overgrown ruins.
He brushed away the white blanket and uncovered the marble stones beneath. The writings he discovered there were unintelligible, washed away by wind and rain. He took off the gloves and used the tips of his fingers to trace down the words. She watched his lips move with every new letter while he slowly tried to make sense of what he read, until his fingers finally became numb from the cold, and Eugenia began coughing despite her warm attire.
It wasn’t a temple, he realized but didn’t tell her. It was a tomb. Seen in the light of this new discovery, a lot of what she had told him about the darkness made sense. How she had survived he couldn’t begin to fathom, maybe the planet had kept her alive by the strange bond they had or used to have. The bond that broke the day the passage to Earth reopened. He had no idea who or what she was, but he knew now that she was more than just a crazy girl.
She sneezed, a harsh sound in the eerie winter silence of the forest. Taking her by the hand, he led her back to the house before she could catch a cold.
* * * *
Time, for lack of a better fitting metaphor, is the endless breathing in and out of the universe. It has not one direction, but curls and unfolds in a pattern too strange for us to understand or make sense of. It turns and twists seemingly at random. It exists in its own space, completely independent, oblivious even to its surroundings.
But there are places that are more perceptive, places with an underlying understanding of the universe; it is in such places where time strikes up an unusual fellowship, where it abides by other rules. In places like this, time exists not for its own sake, but as the outcome of a relationship. It acts as a protection mechanism that makes sure nothing harms the entity beneath the surface.
* * * *
Chapter 44: Echoes in Time
“This is incredible, Peter!” Luke repeated for at least the fifth time that afternoon; for more than the fifth time his husband completely ignored him. Peter gazed into space, seeing nothing but random thoughts before his mind’s eye.
“I mean,” Luke continued excitedly. “Good grief—it explains…almost everything!”
To counteract Peter’s stoic silence, Luke began walking around the table, where various soil samples and microscopes were still set up. They spent several hours examining the various samples. Then they re-examined them for a couple of hours. And in some cases they re-examined the results of their re-examination again, just to be sure. The results never changed, but their excitement grew with every confirmation of their findings.
More for his own benefit than for Peter’s, Luke ranted on, “You do remember the mayor’s speech about there having been another settlement that mysteriously vanished before we came here?! Well, no wonder no one has found any traces of them—whatever has happened to them happened over four-hundred thousand years ago. They could have built a whole civilisation in that time. Or gone extinct. Maybe even both, if they tried hard enough.”
Peter finally decided to turn the monologue into a conversation and replied, “It explains the subway station and the drawings we found in those caves.”
“And the different ages of some of the stones,” Luke added.
“The random unrelated time events.”
Luke nodded. Even those. “This whole place seems to be one big R.U.T.E.” he murmured.
What they had painstakingly found out was that the soil samples taken before the first wave settlers had come to this planet were several hundred thousand years younger than the samples taken a couple of days ago. Despite the fact that only five years and a few months should lie between them.
“So what happened?” Luke asked, yet answered his own question in the same breath. “When the wormhole connection broke the first time, this place must have got caught in one gigantic time pocket. For the settlers a couple of hundred thousand years passed, while back on Earth only a few weeks went by. Then when the connection broke a second time, five years passed on Alternearth, but mere hours on Earth.”
“We’ll have to get more accurate data to find out if the time difference on both planets stayed the same during the two events.” Peter said.
“Maybe Mayor Rochester has more information,” suggested Luke. They had to see him anyway and tell him about their findings. If the time difference was stable and the connection broke again, they could calculate how much time elapsed on the other side.
“I wonder if the random unrelated time events caused the wormhole connection to break, or if the wormhole created the events in the first place,” Peter mused quietly. He took his coat and scarf that Luke handed to him, then wrapped himself securely in several layers of wool. He had missed the spectacle of the harbingers and thus the unusually long winter didn’t occur to him as strange yet; even though Luke complained about the cold on an almost daily basis. Luke was happiest on hot, sunny days, now that they had a climate that provided them with real weather. Personally, Peter thought everything was better than atmospheric storms, just as everything was better with Luke around. He made sure to tell him that on their way through the village and was pleased to see the ever so composed botanist blush—although, he admitted to himself, that could have been the cold.
* * * *
The reason why people on Earth had put not only a vast quantity of money but also tons of research into wormhole technology, was that they had been to space and found it was hardly worth the satellites they had built. Interested to see what lay beyond, and always eager to find new homes, people sent satellites to various planets in the milky way, just to get a set of disappointing data that, according to the deLuca twins, translated into, “Space is boring!” And as there were no habitable planets in reach and not enough bling to build huge space stations to populate, scientists started looking into passageways to parallel universes.
What started out as curiosity quickly became a necessity as Earth began its rapid decline around that time. It got worse and worse, just as wormhole technology got better and manageable. But, as is so often the case, nobody saw the connection. And as mankind prepared to leave, Earth lapsed into what, had it been human, would have been called a coma.
* * * *
It was but one suitcase Elizabeth Burke packed one Sunday morning. One toothbrush she wrapped in one towel, one pair of slippers she packed next to one night gown. There was no paperwork left to be done, no friends in her life to visit one last time.
Quietly she left the apartment, careful not to wake Apple, with whom she had no love left to share after all the layers of superficial banter had been lifted. As it turned out, they had each seen in the other one the trophy wife they thou
ght they needed in their life. And while Apple still thought she needed one, Elizabeth had left this kind of life behind. It was not who she was anymore.
It hurt less than it probably should have, she contemplated. She waved to Meister Wang, who never seemed to leave his Takeaway, and hailed a Rikscha cab. She was not going back to Alternearth, but she was determined to leave Rome, the Headquarters and her old life. She was going back to Lamanai, the home of her ancestors. There, the great family estate was being run by helpers ever since Elizabeth’s parents had died. They were looking forward to have a head of house again, and Elisabeth was looking forward to make peace with her heritage. Lamanai was the smallest village, far away from what people called civilization these days. It was unprotected, but due to some unique geological features it was rarely haunted by storms. Some farms amidst ancient ruins, Lamanai was the epitome of the middle of nowhere; less people lived there than on Alternearth. To Elizabeth it sounded like the perfect place to start over.
While Elizabeth made for her own future, General Fatique stood in his office in the Headquarters like a tourist who had lost his group. He felt like one, too, he had to admit. Without Elizabeth the room seemed oddly useless. The desk was too untidy, the labels on the files in the shelves meant nothing to him and his telephone rang five times in as many minutes; people asking about things he didn’t even know they had trained staff for. Elizabeth had done more than just her duty, and although he had always felt uncomfortable in her stern, humourless presence, he absolutely needed her to manage the daily workload.
A quick knock on the door, and the head of one of the engineers, Greta, popped in, informing him of news.
“What kind of news? Is it about the chocolate party in the cafeteria again? Are they still at it?”
“They are,” Greta confirmed. “But this is about something else. Heath Rochester is here to see you. Something about the age of Alternearth—I didn’t catch the rest, he’s out of sorts a bit.”
“Out of sorts, eh? Well, that calls for immediate action. Send him in please. And would you be so kind as to go by the party and get us some cake.”
Greta nodded, her head disappeared. Heath Rochester was a calm, rational man, so whatever happened must be big. He hoped it was better news than the information that Alternearth was moving off its course. To be honest, General Fatique still wasn’t sure what to make of this particular information.
* * * *
Once they were back at his house, John tucked Eugenia in bed. She protested, albeit feebly. He flopped down on a chair opposite the bed, content in watching her drink warmed up ginger soup from a bowl. From time to time he flinched in sympathy when she swallowed the occasional piece of ginger root.
“It tastes like someone going mad,” she stated in between sips.
John agreed. “I know it is hardly your favorite dish, but it will help you get well completely.”
“Dr. Paige comes tonight,” she said, just remembering. The sudden change of subject didn’t even strike him as odd anymore. Eugenia’s mind leapt from thought to thought in a manner that was too nausea inducing to understand anyway.
“I have told her not to,” he replied solemnly. It wasn’t necessary for the doctor to check on Eugenia every day anymore. And to be honest with himself, he didn’t like the way Summer Paige acted like a mother towards Eugenia and made John feel like an intruder.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw her watch him intently before she, saddened to some degree, softly announced, “I wish I could see into your mind like I did before. It is so alone in here.”
He didn’t reply to it, but treated her to a rare, honest smile.
“What are you thinking about?” she asked. Her eyes hungrily took all of him in, as if she were scared she might miss the minutest of movements on his face. The bowl rested in her hands, completely forgotten by now.
“I’m thinking about cupboards, if you must know,” he replied. Then, before she would ask more and before the bowl with the remaining soup would fall out of her hands and topple to the ground, he got up and gently placed it on the nightstand, so she had her hands free when he kissed her.
* * * *
Chapter 45: The Souldier
Her arms immediately went up around his neck. Her body, lithe and slender, pressed itself against his. John, using one hand to give himself leverage, softly pressed her back and down onto the bed with the other, until she was lying underneath him; all flushed cheeks and heavy breathing. It happened before he could stop himself, it came quite natural to both of them, as if their bodies had just been waiting for something like this to happen.
For a moment he was unable to move. He allowed himself to get lost in the woman he had grown so used to having around. If he let go now, whatever strange connection already existed between them would grow unfathomably stronger, he was certain of that. He could barely stay away from her as it was, a deeper bond frightened him to some extent. But he also knew he had no control over it anymore anyway. It was the next logical step for them to take; if he tried to fight it, he’d end up losing. A part of him was scared, a part of him longed to possess her and never let go of her again, and one part would always think of running away.
He lowered himself so their lips met again and they kissed until she gasped for air and her muscles tensed under her clothes. All the while he never closed his eyes but kept looking at her through his lashes, ever watchful.
“What are you thinking now?” she whispered when she couldn’t take his silent gazes anymore.
“Nothing that makes sense,” came the hoarse reply.
She smiled. “I will love to hear about it all the more then.”
Her fingers, distracting on his skin, traced invisible patterns on his face while he told her in great detail about what was on his mind this very moment. It didn’t make sense, not even to him. It was all about fighting and killing, passion and desire, darkness and cupboards and home. He lost his train of thought more than once, and was relieved when she finally interrupted him, “Do you know what my favorite sound is?”
“Please say it’s me,” he groaned, not too proud to beg. The words tasted of unshed tears on his tongue.
“It is you.”
This time he allowed the kiss to be hungry and sloppy. He knew he was overwhelming her, but he had been holding back for weeks, his patience was falling to pieces with every touch. Especially with her skin against his like this, her legs trapped between his and soft whimpers escaping her throat. He kissed a wet trail across her jaw up to her ear, into which he breathed, “Stop me now, or I will drive you mad tonight, woman.” As if it were in his power to put an end to this. She didn’t stop him.
* * * *
The next morning the snow was gone. Night had turned it into puddles, seemingly by magic. The mud roads of the village resembled dirty streams that aimlessly roamed the ground, ever unable to find their way to the sea. The landscape that had glistened with snow and ice mere hours earlier was now appearing in the light brown dress of late winter. The trees were free of their powdery cloaks, the white blanket was lifted off the ground. The water that dripped from the branches and formed tiny oceans on the thawing earth was the last witness of winter.
It that was only the beginning, though. The temperature didn’t cease rising. By breakfast it was so warm that the puddles on the ground began to emit a soft fog as the water in them vaporized. By noon the earth was dry again and the air damp and hot. The children swapped their scarves and gloves after school for shorts and skirts. People went swimming in the nearest lake in the afternoon. It felt like summer and it wasn’t even spring yet.
* * * *
John watched Eugenia sleep. She was tangled around his body, her skin hot, her lips slightly parted, her breathing deep and even.
Yesterday sprang back into his memory. Her declaration that the planet was her mother. The tomb she viewed as her temple. What if she wasn’t crazy, he pondered. It would mean she indeed shared a bond with this planet; or had shared until t
hat day she came back from the dead again. It would mean she indeed was the closest thing to a Goddess there could be. At one with a whole world. Able to hear people’s dreams, wishes, thoughts, fears. Maybe even able to change them.
He wondered how long she had been like this. The engravings on her tomb were precise—the girl named Eugenia Gust had died at the age of three. But there was no telling how long she had been living in what she referred to as the darkness, raised by something unnameable. Perhaps twenty years. Perhaps a hundred. The planet may have slowed her aging process, as it had done when she was back in its clutches during the last five years. In those five years she hadn’t changed at all; but when asked about it, she told him that an eternity had passed for her. Maybe she was confused or counted time differently. Maybe she was right. Whatever the time differences, there was no doubt in his mind now that she was part of the planet and it of her. Now that they were separated, there was no telling what the consequences would be. What if, he thought with a shiver, it was impossible for either of them to exist without the other? Then what was there he could do to save her?
As if to confirm his thoughts, Eugenia coughed in her sleep.
* * * *
Chapter 46: The Creature Inside
“Earth as well?” Heath Rochester exclaimed, not believing his ears.
The mayor and the general sat in the Headquarters’ conference room. They talked until their tea grew cold and the icing on their cake began to melt. What had started out as a quick exchange of information—Rochester wanted to tell Fatique about Dr. Wagner-Reyes’ findings, Fatique wanted to fill him in on what Doctors deLuca had come up with—became a long, deep discussion about the future of both planets and the fates of the settlers’, and potential new settlers’, lives.
The Second Wave Page 21