by Thomas Locke
Josef leaned forward to bring his face within breathing distance of their own. Close enough they could see the tension and the fury and the fear. “I need only stand here to know that Examiner Tirian would never, never release the fires of battle on two young men. No matter how much he might despise what you and your outpost world represent—another raw planet full of egotistical leaders who shout of battles yet to be fought, who permit children to suffer and die unnoticed. Tirian would never be one to release what has wreaked such havoc upon his home world. The lessons are too great, the wounds still unhealed. Tirian is many things, and his character is one that invites friction. That too is the legacy of my culture. But he would not do this.”
Dillon’s voice sounded as broken as Sean felt. “It wasn’t Tirian who attacked us.”
“I know this to be true. I have known this before the Counselor brought you to my school. And for this above all else, I count you as my allies.” He held out his hands. “Come.”
When they returned to the office, Sean saw the school through different eyes. The absence of windows, the locked portals, the identical uniforms, the rigidity of their training, the absence of any chance to explore the boundaries of what their talent might do. He did not agree with it. He most certainly did not like it. But for the first time ever, it all made sense.
Sean asked, “What do we do now?”
Josef slipped behind his desk. “To try to save Tirian is the basis for your current tutorial. I am expressly ordered not to participate beyond my role as instructor. I have a school to run, and new Examiners arriving who will seek a reason, any reason, to shut us down. You understand what I am saying?”
“We are on our own.”
“No, no, I am here to give you what I can. But you must see this as an opportunity to explore, to reach, and to grow.” He gave that a beat, then added softly, “Go and save my friend. Please. If you possibly can.”
35
When it came time to go meet Elenya, they were no closer to identifying what their next step might possibly be. Dillon’s interest gradually waned in the whole process. Sean resisted the urge to snap at his brother, tell him to stop checking his watch and glancing out the open balcony doors, remind him they faced a different ticking clock. Nothing would come from it.
Finally Sean gave up and headed for the shower. When he emerged ten minutes later, Dillon was gone. Sean dressed and tried to pretend that he wasn’t nearly as excited as he felt, that his own focus remained at least partly held by the innocent Examiner. But just then, as he prepared to transit back to school, it was hard to think of anything more than seeing Elenya again.
But when he arrived in the school’s transit room and saw Elenya seated on the little grey bench, he could not help but blanch.
She rose to her feet in a nervous jerk. “What’s the matter?”
“No, it’s nothing.” He did his best to smile. “Ready to go?”
“No, Sean. Tell me. Is it my clothes?”
Elenya wore an elegant version of what Sean had come to think of as Tatyana’s uniform—a high-collared shirt dress with slit sides and matching trousers. Both in a silky material that shimmered like liquid with her every movement. Their pearl-like color formed an elegant backdrop for the matching bracelet and necklace of woven gold with jewel pendants.
Sean replied, “You look nice. Really.”
“But it is not suitable.”
“These people we’re meeting, they’re . . .”
“Rustic.”
“Don’t let Dillon hear you say that, okay? You’re right. They are rustic in a way. But coming from you, especially how you’re dressed, what he’d probably hear is ‘primitive.’ And they’re not that. At all.”
“I did not mean—”
“No, no. I know that.” He reached for her hand. “Maybe we should just . . .”
But she was not ready to go anywhere. “What should I be wearing?”
“Exactly what you had on when you met me upstairs.”
Elenya blushed a flaming scarlet. “My mother would never permit such a thing. When she saw me return, she was so upset.”
Sean smiled. It was not often he saw this lady lose her composure. “I thought you looked great.”
“Then I am glad I wore it. Do you know of a place where I might buy suitable clothes?”
“There’s a shopping center three blocks from our home. But it’s not necessary—”
“Please, Sean. I want to do this. But when dinner is over, can I leave the clothes with you?” Sean’s surprise must have shown on his face, because she added, “Have I said something wrong?”
“No, no, it’s just, leaving clothes at a guy’s place means something in my world.”
“Correct. It means I don’t need to argue with my mother.”
“I’ve never done this before. Led somebody else through a transit. Well, I did once. But I had no idea what I was doing.”
“It is simple. You extend your shield around us both. Then you step, and I step with you.” She held out her hand. “Perhaps we should hurry.”
Elenya marveled at everything. Their loft, cars, trees, sunlight, more cars, stoplights, birds, clouds, pedestrian crosswalks, the people. Sean watched her more than anything else, delighting in her delight. The regal young woman seeing his staid outpost world for the very first time, and just loving it.
He took her to the mall, where the salesgirl was taken with Elenya from first glance. “I love your clothes. Are they Armani?”
“Please?”
Sean broke in. “My friend is foreign. She needs something for a backyard meal.”
“Casual chic,” the salesgirl offered. “Our specialty.”
“Right. And we need her ready in . . .” Sean checked his watch. “Twelve minutes?”
“No problem. Parents involved, right?”
“Sort of. My brother’s new girlfriend.”
“And her father,” Elenya added. “It could be tense.”
“We can’t be late,” Sean said.
“Okay, we’re on it.” The salesgirl pointed Sean into a chair. “Why don’t you sit there and play happy.” She led Elenya away. “Who does your hair?”
“My mother.”
“No kidding. What is she, like, a major stylist?”
“A molecular biochemist.”
“I guess that works. Your accent is wild. Where are you from?”
“Serena. I am Serenese.”
“That’s like, where, Europe?”
Elenya smiled, clearly having a wonderful time. “Further.”
“Cool. What are you, like, a six?”
Precisely eleven minutes later, Elenya reappeared wearing patterned tights and an off-the-shoulder top with a tank top beneath. Everything was a pastel mix of off-white and several shades of pale pink. She was, in a word, stunning.
Sean said, “Wow.”
“That’s what I like to hear from my guys, you know?” The salesgirl was already ringing them up. “Nothing beats the wow factor in my book.”
Sean watched the salesgirl bag four more tops, another pair of leggings, two trousers, a jacket, and two pairs of shoes besides the pink sandals Elenya now wore. “You just set a land-speed record for shopping.”
“Your girlfriend is, like, the easiest person to fit I’ve ever seen.” The salesgirl lifted the bag holding Elenya’s original outfit. “You want to wear your jewelry?”
“Leave it in there, please.”
“You got it.” She checked the total and announced, “That comes to eleven hundred and thirty-eight dollars.”
Sean tried hard to stifle his wince, but Elenya noticed. As they walked back, she offered, “I can pay for all this.”
“No, it’s okay.” He just needed to alert Dillon so his brother didn’t have heart failure when he checked their account.
But his worry must have shown, because when they crossed the main road and entered the residential section, she asked, “You and your brother are of course aware that you receive a sal
ary?”
That definitely rocked him. “What?”
“Ah.” She nodded. “As I said, Sean, there are some things you miss in jumping over all those school years. Yes. Speak with Josef. You are paid every ten days.”
“How much?”
“By my planet’s standards, rather a lot.”
“Even as recruits?”
“You are intended to be in a financial position where you are never open to bribery. Why do you smile?”
“I’ve never had any money.”
“Well, Sean, you do now.”
He shifted her bags to his other hand, took hold of hers, and said what he’d often thought since that very first day. “I love the way you say my name.”
36
When they climbed the stairs and entered the loft, they found Dillon standing in the living area. Sean suspected his brother had been caught in mid-pace. “Ready to go?”
“I guess . . . Maybe we should wait.”
“It’s time,” Sean said gently. “And you know it.”
“But you’ll tell them?”
“I said I would.”
Dillon did not appear the least bit reassured. Then he noticed Elenya. “You look great.”
“Thank you, Dillon.”
“I can’t get over you speaking English.”
“Badly,” she added. “Speaking English badly.”
“Your English isn’t the problem tonight. What are all those packages?”
“Later,” Sean said. He stowed everything under the bed except for the bag holding Elenya’s original gear, which he put on his dressing table. “Let’s go.”
As they walked the path to the house, Elenya asked, “How should I address them?”
“Professor Havilland and Carey. He’ll probably tell you to call him John.”
“If he doesn’t kick us out,” Dillon muttered. “Shout and shove and done.”
Elenya said, “I asked my father how he would handle this.”
“Her father’s the Assembly Ambassador to Lothia,” Sean told Dillon.
“He was,” she corrected. “Now he is training to become an Assembly Justice.”
Dillon stopped beside one of the mock Japanese lanterns. “So what did he tell you?”
“That we should treat this as already accepted,” she replied. “This is his favorite tactic when dealing with difficult negotiations.” She stumbled over that last word.
“That makes a lot of sense,” Sean said slowly.
“I never knew this until today. I was glad to have a reason to ask him. He said be clear on what you want. Begin from the position that they have already agreed to everything. And that your path is already harmonious with theirs. Then you simply help them arrive where they already are at some unseen level.” She shook her head. “My father is the smartest man I have ever met, and I was ashamed I needed my first meal on your outpost world to make me understand this about him.”
They started on down the path. The dusk was blanketed by heavy clouds. The still summer air was laden with the musk of pine sap and magnolia blossom.
Elenya’s eyes shone in the half light, as though illuminated from within. “Your world is very beautiful, Sean.”
“Parts of it are.”
“Do you have moons?”
“One. We call it Luna.”
From ahead of them, Dillon muttered, “Do we have moons. Oh man.”
“Lighten up there, bro.”
“How about you hold off on those questions tonight, okay?”
“Dillon.”
“I’m just saying.”
Sean pulled on Elenya’s hand, drawing her to a halt. “You go on. We’ll catch up.”
Carey chose that moment to open the door and call out, “Dillon? Is everything okay?”
Dillon glared at them and replied, “Dandy.”
Carey waited until he was climbing the front steps to say, “We’re thinking about eating on the front patio, but it’ll mean dashing inside if it rains. Is that okay?”
When Dillon slipped past her and entered the house, Elenya asked, “Did I say something wrong?”
“No. Dillon’s scared. He’s always responded to fear by fighting. Ever since he was a kid.”
“I’ll be careful, Sean.”
“Elenya . . .”
“What is it?”
He was still uncertain about it all, the tumult and the emotions and everything. But just then he was pretty certain that the right thing to do was to kiss her. Which he did.
The patio door slid open and Carey said, “How nice. Come on up when you’re done. Dinner is ready.”
Both John Havilland and his daughter knew something was up. Maybe it was the way Dillon kept shooting tight glances Carey’s way. Or how Elenya insisted on looking to Sean for guidance before answering the simplest question. Or how Sean had to offer Elenya a slow-motion guide to knife and fork. Yeah, that one definitely raised the professor’s eyebrows a notch.
Midway through the meal, Dillon announced, “I went to see Mom and Dad today.”
Sean was surprised on a multitude of levels. First, that his brother had done it on his own. Second, that he’d be so easy talking about it in front of Carey and her father. Third, that Dillon felt now was the time to discuss it. But all he said was, “You did?”
“You’re handling so much, I just thought . . .” Dillon shrugged.
“No, no, it’s great. I’m glad. How are they?”
“Okay. Well, not okay. But coping. Trying to work things out.” Dillon watched as Elenya reached over and took Sean’s hand. “She knows?”
“I know a little,” Elenya replied. “I am sorry you face this now. With everything else.”
John must have taken that as the signal he had been waiting for. “Speaking of which. Will you tell us what is going on?”
“Yes.” Sean used his free hand to push his half-finished plate to one side. “I will.”
“Does this have anything to do with our discussion the other night?”
“Actually, sir, it does. A lot.”
“Are you and Dillon in trouble with the authorities?”
“Absolutely not.”
John seemed to take comfort from the solid response. “Will you tell me where your young lady is from?”
Leave it to the professor to get right to the heart of the matter. “That is part of what we need to tell you. Actually, it’ll be easier if we just show you.” Sean rose to his feet. “Will you come with us to the loft?”
Dillon got that deer-in-the-headlights look again. “Are you sure about this?”
“I think so.”
“And I agree with him,” Elenya said. “They will need to see this sooner or later. And showing them in the beginning will make everything else move more swiftly.”
Father and daughter watched the exchange in silence.
Dillon reached for Carey’s hand and said, “I am so in love with you.”
“And you are making me so scared.”
“I know.” He looked at Sean. “Okay. Let’s do this.”
37
The loft felt crowded with them all standing around. But Sean didn’t ask anyone to sit down. John and his daughter looked truly spooked. Which was only going to get worse. Sean had intended to ask Dillon for the first demonstration, but his brother looked so scared he decided to ask Elenya instead. “Will you show them?”
Carey demanded, “Show us what?”
Elenya held to her poise, which was amazing. And despite all the fear in the room, and all the eyes on them both, she lifted up on tiptoes and kissed him.
Then she vanished.
Carey did not squeal and she did not cry out and she did not gasp. She did all three. John made no sound at all.
Elenya returned. Took hold of Sean’s hand. And waited as Sean said to Dillon, “Now you.”
“Sean . . .”
“Go.”
Dillon sighed and went. And returned.
Sean then explained from the beginning. He was terrif
ied of getting it wrong. Not for himself. For Dillon. And at the same time, he held on to Elenya’s suggestion like an anchor. Doing so stabilized him against all the unseen turbulence that gripped their loft. Sean did his best to share with people he cared for and who cared for them. People who were ready to understand and accept before he opened his mouth. He hoped. Desperately.
Sean described the childhood design that he and Dillon had made of the train station. The one where people came and went without regard to outside gravity. The crystal tubes and the glass trains. Then Carver’s arrival. And the challenge. And the Examiner. And the test. And the argument and the Charger assault and the Counselor and the attack and the school. He talked until his throat went dry, and Elenya poured him a glass of water. He drank that and went on.
Then he reached out his hand for John’s. “There’s only one way you’ll really understand this.”
“No,” Dillon said. “Wait. You’re sure?”
Sean kept his gaze on the professor. “If you want to come and see, I want to take you.”
John demanded softly, “You can do this?”
“Yes.”
“No, I mean, it’s permitted?”
“We asked. They said the rules governing contact with . . .”
“Loved ones and their families,” Elenya supplied. “The rules are . . .”
“Vague,” Sean said. “Intentionally so.”
“But it is vital you understand that you cannot ever speak of this,” Elenya added.
“Why is that?”
“Because your Earth is, well . . .”
Dillon said, “An outpost world.”
“Our leaders are contacted every decade or so,” Sean said. “One of them, at least. And so far they’ve always said no to joining.”
The professor reddened. He wiped his mouth, stifling whatever flamed there in his eyes. Then he turned to his daughter and asked, “Do you want to do this?”
“More than anything.”
Dillon made a sound then. It was as close to a sob as he could come without actually breaking down. And it was enough to erase the room’s tension. Like it had never actually existed at all.