Arrival

by S. K. Randolph

  Torgin opened his mouth to speak, but Brie piped up first. “We’ll take good care of you, Torgin. I guarantee you’ll love Myrrh and Mira.”

  Ari adjusted her bandana, tucked a red curl out of sight, and opened the apartment door as the whistle sounded and the Theran chronometer chimed the hour.

  Torgin straightened his hat, swallowed his growing sense of guilt, and followed the twins to the drop car.

  Torgin hung back as the twins melted into the burgeoning crowd of blue-uniformed citizens marching along the Avenue of Trees. I am breaking the rules. He swallowed and wiped the sweat beading on his brow. Calm down, Torgin. Scanning the avenue, he gulped. Where are the twins? A flash of copper caught his eye. He pulled his cap lower and hurried into line beside Ari.

  “Can you believe these?” She made a subtle gesture toward the trees planted exactly ten feet apart as far as the eye could see. “Why do they clip them to look identical?”

  “Excuse me?” His voice, too loud in the oppressive atmosphere, made him glance up. An older woman glared over her shoulder, her finger on pursed lips. She faced forward and continued her walk. He lowered his voice. “The symmetry is perfect, balanced, exactly as it should be.”

  Ari made a face. “Bor-r-r-r-ring.”

  “You two’d better keep it down, or somebody’ll turn us in.” Brie adjusted her step to match her twin’s.

  Torgin lowered his eyes and immersed himself in the crisp swish-swish of uniformed legs that set the cadence for the ritualistic march. Humming under his breath, he composed a complementary melody. A soft pinch on the arm interrupted. He completed the phrase and glanced up. The twins were gone. Calming his panic, he stepped from the crowd and looked back the way he had come. I almost wish I had stayed home. Again, a flash of sunlight on copper drew his attention to two bandana-covered heads disappearing into the RiaTrain station. Dodging between stoic adults, he scurried down the spotless steps, and reached for his PPP ID.

  “Put that away,” Ari hissed as he fell in step beside her.

  “How else will I get on the train?” he shot back.

  She herded him away from the crowd. “If you use your card, the PPP will track you. And guess what? We’re scheduled for home study today.” Ari’s whispered tone blistered his ears. “We went through this with you already. Have you forgotten?”

  He glowered. “My memory is exceptional.”

  Brie stepped between them. “Enough.” She directed them away from a man who had turned to stare. “The train’s almost here.”

  “I know what to do,” Torgin muttered.

  Brie squeezed his arm. “Good. I’ll signal you when to get off.”

  The long, sleek RiaTrain whooshed to a stop.

  “Come on.” Ari nudged them back into line and stepped behind a sturdy middle-aged lady. Pressing as close to her as possible, she slipped undetected through the P-Scan.

  Brie ducked through, unnoticed.

  A large woman stepped up to the scanner, blocking the twins from view. The “GO” flashed. The woman moved her ample figure forward. Sticking to her like a shadow, Torgin dodged quickly beyond the scanner, hurried onto the waiting RiaTrain, and wedged himself between expressionless adults.

  The train pulled out of the station into a dimly lit tunnel. Air hummed as it rounded a turn. Fighting the ingrained instinct to grab the clear transmitter pole at the center of the car, he clenched his fists and shifted his weight to keep his balance. I do not want my fingerprints sent to the PPP’s Central Data Depository. He stared at the floor. Another rule broken. His gaze flitted around the car. What if they catch me?

  At the next stop several passengers disembarked. He sank onto a bench beside the twins, hands folded and eyes down, the perfect demeanor for an Idronatti youth.

  “We’re the next stop,” Brie murmured. “Remember to watch for the surveillance lenses.”

  A soft whish brought the car to a halt. Torgin’s stomach tightened. Idronatti Central. What if the PPP are waiting for us?

  Keeping the girls in his line of vision, he sidled after a tall man who moved automaton-like through the doors and across the platform. A quick sidestep carried him out of the mainstream and behind a support beam. Gulping a calming breath, he climbed the stairs and hurried onto the street. His head jerked right, then left. Now what? A hand on his arm hauled him into the space between buildings.

  He pushed Ari’s hand away. “Stop pulling me around!”

  “Then stop being such a Drotti.” Her eyes snapped.

  “He’s not being a Drotti.” Brie’s calm tone soothed his bruised ego. “Remember our first time down here?”

  “We can’t stand around gawking,” Ari barked. “A PPP patrol is due here any minute. Late-Morning Exercise is over, or hadn’t you noticed?”

  Brie urged them forward. “There’s no turning back now.”

  Ari led them between towering buildings, onto an empty street, and into a shadowed doorway.

  Torgin studied his surroundings. At the end of the street within a circular compound, five identical steel-gray buildings seemed to lean inward like co-conspirators sharing some ominous secret. Narrow slits served as windows. He didn’t see any doors.

  “What are those?” A shudder rolled through him.

  Brie and Ari exchanged glances. Brie answered. “The Five Towers.”

  His eyes widened. “You mean . . .”

  “The headquarters of the Peoples Plan Protectors,” Ari finished.

  “Is that where they take you if you do not follow The Plan?” His voice cracked.

  Both girls nodded. Neither smiled.

  He suppressed a desire to run all the way back to his parents’ apartment and lock himself inside. “Oh.”

  Brie took his hand, her eyes brimmed with understanding. “It’s alright, Torg. We only have a short distance to go.”

  Ari looked up and down the street. “I’ll go first.” Before he could object, she stepped into the open.

  “Hey, you! Stop!” A pistol-sharp shout exploded from somewhere behind them.

  Ari sprinted across the street.

  Torgin froze.

  “Come on!” Brie pulled him with her out of the doorway and raced after her sister.

  Not daring to look back, he followed, his heart pounding louder than any of the percussion sounds on his anopi. Running faster than he had ever run in his life, he dodged between buildings, down a side street, and burst into the open.

  His fear melted away. The Sun Spire, Idronatti’s tallest building, stretched upward in front of him, gleaming ruby red in the brilliant light of the sun. Trees and flowers overflowed its extraordinary gardens. The huge moat surrounding it—where building and sky above lay captive on the water’s surface—took his breath away.

  Ari pointing frantically snapped him back to the moment. “Run!” she shouted.

  He glanced back.

  Three patrolmen exploded into the open street. “Stay where you are!”

  Fear weighted his body. Panic catapulted him over a small drawbridge and across the garden. Two pairs of hands hauled him into the glass drop car on the exterior wall of the Sun Spire. The door slid into place. The car shot upward. Gasping for breath, he watched his pursuers grow smaller and smaller.

  “That was close.” Ari slapped him on the back.

  “Too close.” Torgin wiped sweat from his face with the back of his hand. “I have never been so scared in all my life.”

  “Neither have I.” Brie’s brown eyes looked even larger than usual. “That’s the first time we’ve ever been caught.”

  “We weren’t caught.” Ari’s powerful voice reverberated in the closed space. “What fun!”

  Torgin shook his head. “You are the strangest girl, Ari.”

  “Maybe.” She shrugged and pushed three numbers on the touch screen. One hundred twenty popped up on the readout.

  The drop car jerked to a stop. The doors slid open. A long, white corridor loomed in front of them, a rolling mist obscuring the far end.
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  A khaki-clad officer stepped into view. “Do not leave that car.”

  Torgin and Brie gasped.

  Ari inched around them.

  “Where do you think you’re going? Myrrh?” His cynical laugh punctuated his sarcastic tone.

  Ari slammed her foot down on his well-polished boot, gave him a quick shove, and dashed past him. “Run!”

  Brie shot after her. Fueled by terror and desperation—and the stories he had heard about those who ended up in the Five Towers—he raced after her until they reached the mist.

  “Now w-w-what?”

  The twins each seized an arm. “Jump!”

  Torgin lurched forward. With nothing but mist above him and the water of the moat rising to meet him, he squeezed his eyes shut.

  * * *

  Elcaro’s Eye gurgled as water spilled from the statue’s palms. Mira stretched and paced to the window. Twitching the cotton curtain aside, she took a moment to appreciate the beauty of her back garden.

  Returning to the fountain, she gazed into the water and whispered, “Esán Efre.”

  The figure of a bald boy standing in a small room in Idronatti’s Center for Advanced Healing slowly emerged. Mira leaned closer.

  “I have so little time . . . so little time.” He studied his reflection in the mirror on the closet door—the round smoothness of his bald head, the purple crescents beneath large blue eyes, the paleness of his skin. His thin shoulders drooped.

  “Life’s just not fair.” He challenged the mirror image. “What do you think?” For a moment he appeared to listen. “Miracles happen all the time, you say. Why not for me?” Rubbing a hand over his shiny head, he gave the reflection a rueful grin. “Why not for me, indeed? Tomorrow, I’ll be fifteen, and I’m going to Myrrh . . . no matter what.”

  Turning away from the mirror, he hurried toward a woman observing him from the doorway. “Aunt Merrilea, is there any news?” She embraced him. He rested his head against her strong shoulder, absorbing her strength and her calm. Pulling away, he scrutinized her expression—her tired eyes—her sad smile. “Well?”

  “We haven’t found a donor, Esán.”

  “I know that. Did you contact the Guardian of Myrrh? Will she let me come for one last visit? Did you tell her it would be for my fifteenth Sun Cycle Celebration?”

  His aunt’s weary expression melted into a smile. “Mira would be delighted to have you come to Myrrh tomorrow. There will be three others, as well.”

  “She’ll let us explore the Terces Wood?”

  “I think she’ll let you do whatever you wish. We just have to figure out how to get you there.”

  He squared his thin shoulders. “I’m going up in the Sun Spire and through the portal like everyone else. Majeska will lead me the rest of the way.”

  She placed her hands on his shoulders, her healer’s experience gauging his health. “The Holistic Healer told me he thought you were fading, then you took a remarkable step forward. Do you know what caused the change?”

  Esán rubbed his head. “I dreamt an elderly lady came to visit. She told me I must go to Myrrh as soon as possible. When I woke up, I felt better than I have in many turnings.”

  “I see.” She held his gaze. “I have a patient who needs me in SumnerTyme. How would you feel if I were gone for a couple of turnings?”

  “Is it Deora?”

  She nodded.

  He hugged her. “I’ll be fine.”

  “Let’s tuck you in then, so you can rest up for tomorrow’s adventure.”

  Esán sat on the edge of the bed. “Thanks, Aunt Merrilea, for everything. Don’t worry about a donor. One will show up. I’m sure of it. And don’t worry about me while you’re gone.”

  She smiled. “I won’t leave until after I’ve taken you to The Borderlands. I’ll see you first thing in the morning. Sleep well.” Dimming the lights, she slipped into the hallway.

  He slid under the covers. Outside the window, the Sun Spire glowed red against the night sky. “Tomorrow,” he murmured, “tomorrow, I’m going to see Mira.” Yawning, he curled onto his side and drifted into sleep.

  * * *

  Elcaro’s Eye held his image steady. The sun, framed by the window, tinted the city in warm morning colors. Esán tossed and turned and finally pushed himself to sitting, his eyes wide and startled. “Just a dream, a really bad dream.” With a shiver, he threw back the covers, swung his too-thin legs over the side of the bed, and grinned at the SunSpire. “Myrrh. I am going to Myrrh today!”

  * * *

  The fountain’s water swirled beneath Mira’s fingertips before settling onto another scene.

  3

  DiMensioner’s Revenge

  Torgin’s feet hit the ground with less impact than a normal running step. His eyes flew open. A grinning twin stood on either side of him. He looked from one to the other. “What just happened?”

  Ari folded her arms and rocked back on her heels. “We jumped dimensions.”

  “We what?”

  “We jumped to another dimension.” Brie’s reassuring tone helped. “I know it was scary. But if we’d told you that you had to jump from one hundred and twenty stories up, would you have come with us?”

  “No-o-o!” His gaze darted from one to the other. “Will the patroller follow us?”

  “Don’t be silly.” Ari yanked off her bandana, stuffed it in her pocket, and grinned. “Look behind you.”

  Brie gave him an encouraging smile, folded her bandana into a neat square, and tucked it away.

  Pivoting slowly, he gaped. Brilliant colors exploded from flower boxes to beautiful silk scarves that danced in the sunshine to brightly painted trim on pastel cottages to the people crowding the cobblestone streets. The unexpected beauty and bustle took his breath away.

  He looked down at his blue coveralls and then at the twins.

  “We’re pretty drab, aren’t we?” Brie’s eyes sparkled. “We’ll get some different clothes before we go to Myrrh.”

  “This isn’t Myrrh?”

  “No, Drotti.” Ari smirked. “This is The Borderlands.”

  Torgin’s anger flared. “I am not a—”

  “Stop it, Ari.” Brie shot an exasperated look at her sister and turned back to him. “It’s between Idronatti and Myrrh, Torgin. When the guardians of this solar system decided Myrrh must be hidden to protect it, they concealed it in another dimension and created The Borderlands as a distraction or buffer zone.”

  “Anyone seeking Myrrh must find their way through The Borderlands first,” Ari added and linked her arm through his. “I say we go find some different clothes. Then we can look for Majeska.”

  “Majeska?”

  “You never listened to other children talk about how to find Myrrh?”

  “Not really. I was not that curious.”

  “Or you were afraid.” Ari chuckled and punched him on the arm.

  He crinkled his face into a scowl. “I just like what I know. Life should be predictable. Isn’t that what the Fathers teach us?”

  For once, Ari stepped into the breach she’d created. “I’m sorry, Torgin. My mouth gets away from me sometimes. You’re right . . . that is what we’re taught. Let’s not argue.”

  That is a first—Ari admitting she is wrong. His scowl melted into a small smile. “This is rather exciting. Tell me about Majeska.”

  “You’ll see.” Brie’s smile held a hint of mystery. “Come on. We’ll show you Worldness Way.”

  Torgin trailed after the twins, his gaze darting from one quaint shoppe to the next. The window displays of delicious-looking candy, colorful clothing, strange furnishings, and unusual plants left him gaping in amazement.

  Rounding a corner, he discovered yet another blaze of color. The Borderlands’ Outdoor Market opened up in front of him with vivid banners flying and smiling vendors competing to sell to the highest bidder. Townsfolk meandered from one booth to the next, laughing and chatting and stopping to buy. The noisy, chaotic, mind-boggling blend of color and soun
d left him dazed. Unable to process it all, he held back, shoved his hands in his pockets, and stared at the multitude of shoppers.

  “Torgin, where are you?” Brie’s voice floated over the happy buzz of the crowd.

  “Here I am. Over here.” He frowned. I certainly sound forlorn.

  She stepped from behind a tall man with shaggy hair and a full beard. “It’s a lot to take in, isn’t it?”

  He tore his gaze from the bustling market to look at her. “I didn’t know people lived like this. I don’t know how to—” He shrugged.

  Ari ambled out of the crowd. “I found Nans’ tent so we can get new clothes.” She dodged away between the booths, red hair gleaming in the sun. Brie chased after her. Afraid to get separated, he followed. Ari disappeared and re-emerged by a booth with a green awning. She stopped and waved. “Hey, I’m thirsty. How about a glass of red berry juice.”

  Torgin grinned. “I could use a drink.”

  Ari waltzed up to the counter. “Three red berry drinks, please.”

  “You from Idronatti?” A man with straggly salt-and-pepper hair peered down at her. Torgin tried not to stare at his glass eye.

  “We are.” Ari met his gaze.

  “How do ya expect t’ pay?”

  She pulled a small pouch from her pocket. Fascinated, Torgin watched her bounce it on her palm where it made a strange clinking sound. She smiled sweetly at the man. “Of course, we could go somewhere else if—”

  “Now, missy, there’s no need t’be hasty. Give me four repocs each, and it’ll get ya three tall glasses of red berry juice. What do ya say?”

  Torgin licked his lips in anticipation. Ari winked and turned to Brie. “What do you think, sister dear?”

  A broad smile spread across Brie’s face. “Four if you can tell which of us is the oldest, and three if you can’t.”

  He folded his arms. “How do I know ya won’t lie?”

  Stepping up to the counter, she pulled her braid aside. Nestled at the edge of her hairline was a tiny red star. “The Star of Truth.” She smiled. “I can’t lie.”