Chapter 46 Message for the Future

When I come to, I’m on the floor with Yasen and Zumi over me.

“Your heart has stopped!” My lover caresses my face, and looks into my eyes, not knowing what to think. I give in to his love and hold his hand.

“I will restart it in a second. Is that kriber still chasing us?”

“No.” Yasen answers. “Surprisingly, your ship does not require a qualified pilot to operate. It responded to me after you fell down, and I managed to break away from the pursuit. I flew it to where Leozarit is. Actually, I managed to land the ship right by. Get up, we need to go get her.” The ederi pulls me up in one powerful motion, and I stand, shaking and hurting, and look at the screen.

Here I should have persuaded him otherwise, that I was the only one who could operate this ship… Only I didn’t. Besides, there is no time for that. A copy of Arileot 14 is right in front of me. It is perched over the precipice on a huge, flat rocky platform.

Leozarit is inside. How is she going to meet me? What am I going to tell her? Hi, Mom, these human-looking guys need you for some genetic material? And by the way, where did you disappear when I was ten years old?

I’m distracted by a loud moan. I turn around and see Zumi kneeling over Verba. In all the commotion no one noticed that he laid there motionless. I remembered that his hand was on my shoulder when I took the blast from the bomb. He darn well knew he should not have touched me!

“Come on, Demi!” Yasen pushes me towards the exit. “Let’s go get her!”

Immaul is still hanging in the air, looking at Verba, then at the screen.

“He’s dead.” Zumi says quietly, and somewhat calmly. Somehow I expected a deeper sorrow over the loss of a steward and a friend.

Too many things are happening at the same time, that’s why when Immaul says “Verba made contact with Leozarit.” I disregard that as static, because how could it be, really, since he is here, dead?

‘Oh! No!” Yasen looks at the screen, and then runs down the hall all by himself.

Now I see him on the screen, rushing towards the ship by the precipice. It lifted off unexpectedly and is already about ten feet in the air. Yasen’s figure is dwarfed by the huge ship as he moves closer. Then ship goes straight up and disappears in the clouds.

I want to see his face and the screen zooms in. The leader is grief-stricken to the point where he drops to his knees, with tears streaming down his face.

Other ederi come to the screen to watch the tragedy. Leozarit flew away. They stand in grave silence. They are mourning their dream.

“I need to talk to you.” Zumi says to me with just his lips.

He leaves the body of his beloved Verba, and takes me outside. We walk out to the other side of my ship, away from grieving Yasen. It’s all rock, possibly granite, under our feet. My lover, fast and flexible, like a cat, leads the way, until we’ve climbed the rocks between two huge, vehement waterfalls. The long, shiny curtains of water block us from everyone on the ship. The air is fresh and the views are fantastic.

A third waterfall not far away from us streams down into a bottomless precipice. I can feel the healing energy coming from the water. It feels really good despite not meeting my mother, and the loss of a friend, all of that happening so fast.

The tears sparkle on Zumi’s eyes, as he looks into the distance. There is a strong presence of someone I cannot see.

“It was brave of Verba to perform the transfiguration. But he always wanted to be a part of the Prophecy. We at the Northern shores actually believed in it this whole time. We believed in it when the council wrote a law prohibiting the ederi from merging with other species, and we believed in it even when Kallitris wiped out 90% of the planet.”

“So, Verba died for this Prophecy?” I ask, still not getting it.

“I did not “die”. I transfigurated to persuade Leozarit to leave.”

I look around to see where this voice is coming from when Verba suddenly appears in front of me. His image is transparent and somewhat sparkly.

“I knew your mother’s hostile state of mind, and saw her killing all of you with the Faith Star. I had to protect Izumrud and his child. There was only one way for me to influence Leozarit – to abandon my body to be that much stronger in spirit.”

Suddenly I get the feeling that my ship is off the ground and accelerating. It’s hard to explain how I know that – Arileot 14 is a part of me, and I can say, that I know him. I look up and it is truly already way up in the clouds. Allright, if Yasen was trying to impress me with how well he had learned to control my ship, he has achieved his goal and the joke is on me. Time to get back!

But Arileot 14 does not come back. Dumbfounded, I stare in the sky for a sign of a friendly return. What comes out of it is anything but friendly – it’s a destroyer with an angry kriber inside. Apparently, the sight of the ship had alterted them to our presence. I can’t really see the kriber, but his state of mind is reflected in a ball of fire flying towards us really fast.

“Run!” Zumi shouts.

But there is nowhere to run. A sickening feeling of fear washes over me, and I just push the ederi off the rock, and jump right after him.

The ball flies into the precipice, and the heat wave goes over the rocks. It would've fried us if we did not get out of the way! The destroyer disappears. Just like that. We sit between the rocks, hugging each other, waiting for more attacks. They do not come. Soon, the waterfalls fill the air with more freshness and moisture and it is quiet, but for the calming sound of water.

“He will be back! We need to get out of here and run to your ship!!” Zumi tries to get up and out from between the rocks.

“Maybe in all this commotion you did not notice, but Yasen and company have left us here.” I answer.

“Wait, what?” Zumi looks around, while searching for Yasen with that extra sense of theirs that allows them to see each other’s minds.

“Let’s go!” I pull my lover from between the rocks, and we run back to where the ship was, jumping from rock to rock.

The views from here are still cool, don’t get me wrong. But it is hard to accept the empty platform where Arileot14 just was. Zumi is trying to make psychic contact with Yasen, to no avail. The more he tries, the more despondent he looks, as if he keeps on hitting the door that is locked.

It should not be locked, that door. The ederi can make psychic contact with each other regardless of distance. So it’s not that. The door was locked on purpose. Yasen can hear Zumi, but he is not answering. He has made up his mind. It’s over. Somehow this is not obvious to my beautiful friend. His face is sad and concerned, as he keeps on requesting his leader to talk to him.

I feel his pain of rejection. The pain he is not ready to accept.

“I can’t believe Yasen left us here to die!!! Why?” He finally moans. “I do not dare to imagine he found out the truth?!”

Yes, he did. And he probably realized it would be best to just…let go, if you will, save them all the embarrassment, explanations, shame, and a possible execution for breaking the law. Let the kribers take care of an ederi, pregnant from an alien, right?

Izumrud’s frustration intensifies, and he looks at me with his all-seeing eyes. I do have a crush on this amazing creature. His kind may be a failed experiment, but sure are admirable in their desire to get back their glory despite all odds. This time, though, they have lost all around.

But I’m determined to save him, and our unborn child. We will go to exile – to Ashtarma, to Earth, anywhere where I can ensure the safety of my lover. Hey, I still have friends. I just need to figure out a way to get a hold of them…

Then Verba appears to me, transparent, yet powerful. He seems to be getting stronger by the minute.

His presence, enhanced by forces unknown, has a calming and reassuring influence on me. Frankly, I have no idea, why. We’re in danger, and it cannot be ignored. What can a ghost do? But Verba nods knowingly, then disappears right before Zumi can notice him.