The Descent into the Maelstrom (The Phantom of the Earth Book 4)

by Zen, Raeden

  “Shut up, let’s go.”

  They searched for Nathan and Desaray. Two candidates emerged from the crowd, holding hands. For a moment, Oriana mistook them for Falcon and Ursula and her pulse quickened. She often dreamed of the Variscan candidates beating her with their fists.

  “Ho, Oriana, Pasha!”

  The twins stopped and turned. Gaia swayed along the sand, her left arm swinging like a pendulum. She wore a short silk cape over her two-piece bathing suit. She’d filled out since the first day of classes but looked fit. Three men who Oriana didn’t recognize surrounded her.

  “Those are my session mates from today’s class,” Pasha said. Lady Isabelle had been separating the class into groups of twenty to twenty-six candidates during specialized neural training sessions. Oriana’s favorites were the martial arts and telepathic tug-of-war.

  Gaia grabbed Oriana’s hand and pulled her away from the men. Oriana laughed and ran with her friend in ankle-deep water, away from the crowd.

  “Okay,” Gaia breathed, “I can’t run anymore.” She removed her cape in a smooth motion and threw it on a dry stone protruding from a jetty.

  Oriana stopped and gasped, resting her hands on her knees. When she caught her breath, she stood tall, searching. “Where’s Nathan?”

  “With Duccio.” Gaia waded into the ocean, brushing her forefingers into a rolling wave.

  Oriana seethed. Nathan brought Duccio everywhere now, even though he patronized her incessantly. He didn’t treat her as poorly as Falcon and Ursula, but still, she didn’t know why Nathan insisted on keeping him for a friend. She suspected it was because he was from Peanowera and House Rastedes, whose candidates always were bid highly for at the auction. “Why does your brother hate me?”

  Gaia ignored her, stepping farther out. When a wave neared, she turned and the water plunged around her. She winced. “It’s freezing.”

  “You just have to get used to it.” Oriana lifted off her dress, set it on top of Gaia’s, then high-stepped through a rolling wave. When she reached Gaia, the girls dived into the water. They swam out toward a sandbar. Gaia arrived there first. She took determined steps before she grabbed Oriana’s hand and pulled her down with a splash.

  “You bitch.” Oriana screamed happily. She and Gaia giggled. They reclined in the shallow water, side by side, looking up to the stars. They lingered for a bit. This was one of the many reasons Oriana liked Gaia so much. They could just be together, say nothing, and Oriana felt comfortable.

  “You never answered me before,” Oriana said. When Gaia turned to her and raised her brow, she continued, “Your brother, what’s his situation?”

  Gaia lifted her foot out of the water and wiggled her toes. “Single, far as I know.” She examined her toenails, then splashed her foot in the water. “Probably always will be.”

  Oriana laughed. “That’s not what I meant.” A gust of wind blew over her, and she felt a chill rush up her spine. She rubbed her arms. “Why doesn’t he like me?”

  “He doesn’t like anyone.”

  “Please, Gaia.”

  “He’s always been a cunt.” Gaia lifted a handful of sand before she let it drop between her fingers, splashing into the water. “But he’s my brother.” She shrugged. “You can’t choose your family, right?”

  Right, Oriana thought. Except for Pasha, she didn’t know her family. She wanted to talk about her lineage. Instead, she said, “What do you want out of this, the Harpoons, the auction, the commonwealth?”

  Gaia sprawled in the water and dunked herself, making ocean angels. She lifted her face out and spit out salt water.

  “Gaia?”

  “Survive.” Gaia wiped her eyes and nose.

  “Is that all?”

  “What else is there?”

  “I don’t know.” Only Oriana did know, at least for her. She wanted to be an aera, achieve conversion, serve the commonwealth, and help humanity find a new home where Reassortment couldn’t consume them, a place where the Earth’s heat couldn’t cook them. She sighed. The Summersets’ warnings about Harpoon candidates rowed through her mind. Don’t lose control. Don’t trust them.

  “There has to be more.” Oriana ran her forefingers through the cool water. “We can’t live underground forever.”

  “If I’m with you, I can live anywhere.”

  Oriana grinned. She didn’t have to access her friend’s neurochip to know she spoke truly. She decided she could trust Gaia. “Have you met your parents, your true parents?”

  “Of course, I’ve met them,” Gaia began. She paused when Oriana turned. “Why do you ask?”

  Oriana bit back tears not caused by the salty air. Why didn’t her parents visit? What were the Summersets hiding?

  Gaia put her hand on Oriana’s shoulder. “You’re my best friend.” Oriana twisted to her. “You know that, don’t you?”

  Oriana knew. She felt as if she could tell Gaia anything, but this secret was different. It was hers, and Pasha’s.

  “You can tell me.”

  Oriana looked down and swallowed her anger and frustration. “I don’t know my parents.” She stared into Gaia’s eyes, and the words tumbled out of her. “I’ve never met them. My developers won’t talk to me about them.” She felt as if the weight of the commonwealth lifted off her. “Do you know who they are?”

  “No, no I don’t.” Gaia held Oriana’s hand. “Why would I?”

  “Nathan knows.”

  Gaia massaged Oriana’s hand. “My friend, you can’t believe anything Nathan tells you—”

  “Ho, Oriana!”

  The women swiveled toward the shore.

  Nathan waved wildly, standing beside Duccio, Pasha, and Desaray near the jetty.

  “Come on,” Oriana said. She pulled her hand from Gaia’s and dived back into the water. Gaia followed.

  When Oriana reached the shore, she swiped her hair away from her face. Nathan wrapped a towel around her, then kissed her cheek.

  “Hey princess,” Duccio said, “I didn’t know Harpoon Champions hung out at the beach.”

  He lifted bottles of Loverealan wine in each hand. Six empty glasses hung from a chain around his muscular neck. He was as big as Pasha and Nathan combined, but ugly, and cunning. Nathan gave him a look that said Shut up, and Duccio laughed. At least Gaia was with him tonight. He didn’t act as mean around her.

  Gaia put on her cape and handed Oriana her dress. “He’s such a loser sometimes, just ignore him.”

  They built a bonfire and shared a bottle of wine and Phanean cheeses. Then Duccio said, “Beach fight!” and Desaray hopped on Pasha’s back, Gaia on Duccio’s. They splashed into the water and grappled until Gaia got a good hold of Desaray and slung her off Pasha’s shoulders.

  “I tried to call you last night through Marstone,” Nathan said. “Couldn’t reach you.”

  “It’s my fault, I told the lady and the lord about what you said.”

  “Does that mean you can’t talk to me?”

  “They won’t allow me to speak to you through Marstone. They say you’re a bad influence for me, so close to the exams.”

  “What do you say?”

  “I hate them.”

  “The Summersets have been around a long time.”

  “They haven’t produced a champion in sixty-four years.”

  “That’s better than ninety-nine percent of the houses out there who’ve never produced a candidate worthy of the first bid.”

  Desaray fell in the water again, then they switched so the girls held the boys on their shoulders. Oriana hoped Pasha would just punch Duccio in the nose, but Duccio was too strong and her twin brother splashed in the water.

  She turned back to Nathan. “The lady yells all the time and acts like she’s some great developer, but she’s not close to being on Lady Eulalie’s level, or … even their developers.”

  Oriana nodded to Gaia and Duccio. Desaray screamed, and Duccio sent Pasha airborne, again. She wished her parents had sent her to one of the top houses in the
Northeast, even more than she wished they would visit her. Then she remembered what Gaia told her about Nathan and wondered what it meant. He’d been her friend from the first day of classes. She didn’t have a good reason not to trust him.

  “Nobody develops the way the Variscans do,” Nathan said.

  “What if we don’t end up in the same territory?”

  “We will. We’ll make it happen. The top two bids have gone to the RDD for the last fifty years.”

  “I guess you’re prepared to lose to a girl.”

  “I’m not losing to Ursula Dearborne,” Nathan pushed her hair away from her neck, “but then again, I don’t think you will either.”

  Oriana looked down at the sand, then back into Nathan’s eyes. “So, what do you know about my lineage that I don’t?”

  Nathan broke her gaze and turned back to the ocean. “I shouldn’t have said that to you.” He threw a seashell.

  Oriana moved around him and straddled his legs. “Tell me.”

  “Let’s just forget it.” Nathan’s shirt whipped around in the salty wind. She reached behind and pulled it off. “Hey,” he said.

  She held it up over his head. “I can’t forget, it’s all I think about. From the first day, the instructor, the candidates,” she looked again to Duccio, who was posing as if he meant to lift the world, “your buddy, they treat me worse than a tenehound bitch. Why? What did I do?”

  Nathan caressed her arms, grazing her lips with his on the way up to grab his shirt. She let him have it.

  “It’s not you,” he said.

  “Then what is it?”

  “Forget I said anything.” Nathan dropped the shirt in the sand and kissed her, caressing her lower back.

  “You can’t place a massive wager,” she said between gasps, “and tell me later on it didn’t matter.”

  Nathan moaned in reply and kissed her again.

  Oriana pulled back. He wrinkled his brow like a wounded puppy. “Does this not matter either?” she said.

  Nathan closed his eyes, groaned, and turned away.

  Oriana caught his cheek and pulled his face to hers. “Because if it doesn’t, just tell me, be honest, and I won’t talk to you ever again, I won’t—”

  He kissed her, more ardently than before. “That honest enough for you?”

  “I wish it was …” Oriana paused to catch her breath. She searched his face. He looked at her, biting his lip. Whatever secret he was keeping, it was big. “You’re no fool, Nathan Storm,” she ground against him and whispered in his ear, “so what made you bet so much on me?”

  Nathan’s face was sweaty now, and he struggled with his words. “Your … parents …”

  She bit his earlobe. “Tell me.”

  “… were supreme scientists.”

  Oriana stopped cold. “Were? Does that mean they’re …”

  The sea breeze lifted her hair and gown, cooling her sweat. She shivered and crossed her arms. Nathan put his hand on her waist. She turned away, his touch no longer lenitive, his presence no longer desired.

  “I’m so sorry,” he said. “I thought you knew that much.”

  Oriana looked at Nathan over her shoulder. “How did you find out who they were?”

  He turned toward their friends. “Gaia told me.”

  Gaia? Oriana felt like she’d been stabbed in the chest. “Stay away from me.” She started walking. Nathan moved in front of her, but she stepped around. “Stay away!”

  She jogged, then sprinted down the beach between the dunes. A flock of telltale, tattletale seagulls swirled around her on her way into the woods.

  A yellow light shimmered through tree trunks that seemed as dark as night. Oriana sprinted through the forest as if it were part of a Harpoon simulation. When she could no longer move her legs, she hid behind one of the massive trunks and sank down it, the taste of tears in her mouth. How could she be such an idiot? How could she let Nathan use her this way? Did she really think he cared for her, as a woman?

  She leaned on her knees and breathed hard.

  Twigs snapped on the other side of the tree.

  Oriana felt a hand on her triceps. She whipped around. “I hate—”

  “—being lied to,” Gaia said. “Who wouldn’t?”

  Gaia told me. “You, you.” Oriana stepped back. Gaia moved closer. “You knew!”

  “How is it my fault your boyfriend’s using you?” Gaia’s voice was low, intense.

  “That’s not it,” Oriana said. “You knew my parents were supreme scientists, didn’t you?” Gaia pressed her lips together and looked away from Oriana. Her silence was thunderous. “My parents were elite.” Oriana wanted to scream. “You lied to me.” She twisted her mouth. “You’re all using me for fortune and a higher valuation in the Harpoons—”

  “What would you do if you were me?” Gaia stepped forward, her hand outstretched.

  “You don’t deny it?” Oriana stared at Gaia’s hand, then into her lying eyes. “How much did Nathan offer you?”

  “Please, try to understand.” Gaia lowered her voice. “I can’t go to the Lower Level—”

  “Don’t touch me.” Oriana slapped her hand. “I hate you, I hate you all—”

  Gaia backhanded her.

  Oriana rubbed her cheek, her mouth wide. Gaia told me. She was too angry to speak. She pushed Gaia with all her strength.

  Gaia flew, landing hard upon an exposed tree root. She grunted and squirmed, grabbing her back. “Damn it, Oriana!”

  The world seemed to spin around Oriana. She rested her hand against the tree trunk for balance. She looked into the forest’s yellow light, thinking about the Summersets. Don’t help them. Don’t trust them. She wished she’d listened to her developers.

  Gaia stood and brushed off her arms. Oriana moved to flee, but Gaia grabbed her shoulder and spun her around.

  “Let go!” Oriana broke free.

  Gaia moved with that Rastedes agility, twisting in front of her.

  Oriana slapped her. Gaia screamed, then tugged on Oriana’s hair. “You stupid cunt!” Gaia shook her. “I didn’t want to hurt you!”

  “You’re a liar!” Oriana escaped and punched Gaia. Momentarily flustered, Gaia then regained her footing. Oriana jabbed again, but Gaia dodged. She pulled Oriana down in a headlock. The women twisted along the mossy ground.

  Twigs and roots scraped and dug into Oriana’s back, arms, and legs. Hair and limbs tangled. They rolled down the hill and splashed into a pond ringed by silver bioluminescence.

  Oriana forced Gaia’s head underwater. Gaia escaped and dunked Oriana. They screamed underwater. Oriana thrashed but couldn’t break Gaia’s grip around her neck. When they emerged, they both gasped.

  Gaia held Oriana in her arms. Oriana found she had little energy left to struggle. She knew she couldn’t die in a simulation; should Gaia suffocate her, she’d return to House Summerset, and that’s exactly what she wanted. Gaia told me.

  Oriana felt Gaia’s fingers on her face, sliding her hair away from her lips and nose. Oriana blinked the water out of her eyes.

  “Wretched girl.” Gaia shook her head. “I’ve heard some rumors about your lineage.” She took rapid and shallow breaths. “I didn’t know who to trust.”

  “You can trust me,” Oriana murmured, “you can tell me the truth.”

  Gaia held Oriana’s face and kissed her.

  Oriana opened her eyes wide, throwing her arms out of the water at her sides. She felt Gaia’s tongue in her mouth, tasted pomegranate and cheese and wine. She broke away from Gaia and turned. Her heart thundered beneath her chest, and she struggled to speak.

  “I love you,” Oriana said, finding her voice. She put her hand over her mouth. She breathed. “Not like that.” When she faced Gaia, Oriana wasn’t sure if tears or water streaked down her cheeks.

  Gaia sank into the water. Oriana eyed the bubbles and streaking water to the pond’s edge. Gaia emerged and lifted herself out and disappeared into the light.

  “Gaia, wait!” Oriana s
wam to the shoreline. “Come back!”

  Time seemed to stop. Oriana lifted herself out of the pond. She spied a shadow. “Gaia, is that you?” She took measured steps over the roots and moss. “Gaia—”

  “No.” Nathan gasped when he emerged. “My gods!” He stopped and stared. His hairy chest rose and fell with quick breaths. “What happened to you?”

  Oriana looked at her arms, covered with scrapes and cuts. She touched her head, felt scalp instead of hair. She examined her fingertips, smeared with blood. She plucked her ripped dress. One of her spaghetti straps was missing. The gown hung off her shoulder inelegantly. She sighed, thanking the gods this happened in the virtual Candidate Beach and not in the commonwealth.

  “Nothing.”

  “Please,” Nathan said, “don’t shut me out.”

  “I don’t want to talk to you.” In truth, she did want to speak to him. If her parents were, in fact, supreme scientists, they were among the highest echelon of Beimenian society. She’d hoped Gaia would help her find out more; she didn’t have any friends now other than Nathan Storm. The thought made her feel ill.

  She turned away from him and sat on the pond’s edge. She let her legs dip into it. The cool water felt good.

  “I’m … sorry,” Nathan said.

  “For what?” Oriana angled herself, looking at him from the corners of her eyes. “Being like everybody else?” She stared into the light on the other side of the pond. It looked the way Oriana imagined the inside of a star might. She wished she could disappear into it the way Gaia had.

  Nathan sat beside her and pushed his legs into the pond, next to hers. “What does that mean?”

  “Who we are doesn’t matter, does it? Only what we can do, or might do.”

  “I shouldn’t have placed that wager—”

  “Shh.” She put her finger on his lips. “You believe I can get the first bid?”

  Nathan nodded.

  She kissed him fiercely.

  “So do I.”

  ZPF Impulse Wave: Cornelius Selendia

  Zanclea City