Second Contact

by Guerric Haché, Keezy Young

  More than anything, it was the pervasive sense of peace that told Isavel they were indeed in Elysium.

  “Is this it?”

  Isavel turned to see Hail looking around, confused. Perhaps this wasn’t what she had expected. “It is. What do you think?”

  Hail seemed to frown. “It’s very… empty. I would have thought there would be more dead.”

  Erran shook his head. “It’s hard to explain how Elysium works. I haven’t been dead here myself, but they tell me there are layers that keep things from getting too crowded. Though it can also get people separated pretty quickly if you’re not careful. I can’t walk the layers myself, so we’re stuck in this top one.”

  Zoa leaned out of the front of the vehicle again. “Uh, Isavel… I can keep going in a straight line pretty easily, but how will we know when we’ve hit the coast?”

  She glanced at the walker. “I think he’ll know.”

  Erran nodded. “You’ll know too. The land and sea are all in the same place, it’s just what’s on them that’s different.”

  “Okay.” Zoa sounded unusually quiet as she closed the door, and the hauler began to skim across the rippling grasses in a straight line, the loudest thing under starlight. Isavel rested her head against the back of the hauler’s cabin, staring up at the night sky, and the ring that spanned the heavens. Even here, after death.

  It took a while for Hail to say something.

  “Isavel?”

  Isavel looked over, and found the hunter was staring off into the distance, at the distant lights of a city that only existed for the dead. “What’s wrong?”

  “Elysium seems so...” She trailed off, looking at her feet. “Isavel, I thought you told me the afterlife was a horrible place. I know you said it changed, but…”

  Isavel nodded. “It was. I’m just glad it’s fine now.”

  The stars coldly illuminated Hail’s grimace. “ Fine. I mean, I suppose that’s one way to say it. But isn’t it… a relief? To see there’s something waiting? Something that isn’t punishment? ”

  She knew it must be a relief to Hail, of course. The woman had done some terrible things in the past, and she was constantly afraid of the judgement of the gods. What must it feel like to know she, like everyone else, could find peace after death?

  It was difficult for Isavel to imagine. There was something aversive about it to her. “It’s not a relief. I still don’t want anybody to kill me.”

  Hail nodded slowly and unsteadily, perhaps betraying a lack of understanding.

  Isavel sighed. “Hail, if someone announced they were going to beat you up, stuff you in a box, and send you off to an island with no way to return, would you gladly accept just because you’d be alive afterwards?”

  “No, of course not.” She looked up at Isavel, frowning.

  “Me neither. Just because death isn’t the end doesn’t mean it doesn’t rob me of power over my own life. It still closes too many doors. I’d rather be alive.” She tried to smile, and reached for Hail’s shoulder. “Though I do feel a bit less guilty about killing people.”

  Hail met her eyes and nodded slowly. “I understand.” She turned her gaze into the palms of her hands, though, frowning as though trying to understand something else. What more was Isavel supposed to say? She wasn’t even sure what was going through the hunter’s mind. She pulled her hand away and closer her eyes, letting the strange and gentle sounds of Elysium drift by as the hauler made for the sea.

  Every now and then she opened an eye to peer at the walker, to see if he was doing anything suspicious. He wasn’t. So far, so good.

  When they reached the shoreline she had the walker stop, and he seemed tired, curling up in the center of the flatbed to rest. From here it was easy to continue north in the real world, following the dark waterline until the eastern sky started to brighten and there were unmistakable signs of movement up ahead. On the island itself.

  Isavel blinked and peered closer, hunter’s eyes seeing far and wide in the dark. It seems almost as though…

  She tapped Hail on the shoulder. “Hail? Hail, look up ahead and tell me what you see.”

  Hail clambered up to lean against the cabin, and focused her eyes ahead of the hauler, on the moving shapes in the distance. “It’s the army.”

  “All of them?”

  Hail frowned. Her eyes were wide, a bit disbelieving. “Hard to say. It could be. I’d believe it, I suppose. But how?”

  Isavel glanced at the vast strait separating them from the mainland. She grumbled. “It’s almost as if they didn’t go as far north as they said they would.”

  “What do we do?”

  She didn’t know. Who was egging the army on like this? Was it Mother Jera? The coders? The people themselves? It certainly wasn’t her. She needed to talk to someone in there, someone she could trust to be level-headed. The idea occurred to her, briefly amusing and yet completely natural. “I think we need to talk to Dendre.”

  Hail raised an eyebrow but said nothing. It made sense. Of all the leaders one might find in the city, he was perhaps among the less pious, but was in truth closest to doing what the gods had actually asked of them - protect the city. The rest of them were interpreting that mandate incredibly broadly. How much weight did his voice carry, though?

  She didn’t know. If she waited until she knew the best course of action, she might never do anything. She thumped the metal of the cabin to get the coders to slow down. “Hail, stay here and watch Erran, all right? Don’t let anyone hurt him, and don’t tell them what he is.”

  “Of course.” Hail glanced at the sleeping ghost. “Do you trust him?”

  Isavel sighed. “Not completely, but I don’t think we have much to lose.”

  “He could kill us.”

  “He could try, but I’ve killed his kind before. Try not to worry, Hail. I’ll be back soon.”

  Hail nodded, still looking worried, as Isavel slipped off the flatbed. She told Zoa to keep the hauler in place, and hurried on foot towards the slowly advancing army. People stared at her and parted for her as she moved, but where once they had done so with awe, now they did so with an edge of curiosity and murmured questions. They were wondering what she was up to. It apparently wasn’t clear to them that she was trying to save their lives; she tried to mask her frustration at that understanding.

  She kept her eyes open, moving through the crowd towards larger concentrations of the veteran city guards, until she spotted Dendre’s short, dark-haired form in a crowd of people with warrior-like builds. They smiled when they saw her approach, friendlier-looking than some of the other faces she had seen, and that difference helped her smile back. She edged past them and into Dendre Han’s line of sight, apparently surprising him.

  “Isavel? Back already?”

  She glanced around them. “If anyone got here with surprising speed, it’s all these people. When did -?”

  He shook his head. “People just started crossing. They got impatient, and there were enough boats.” Shadows of stress still marked his face. “I thought they would get themselves killed, but after the first few boats everyone decided there wasn’t any danger, so I had the guard spread out among the rest and cross with them.”

  “That’s… It was too risky.”

  “I think so.” He was shaking his head. “But apparently the bigger risk in their minds was giving the outers and ghosts too much time.”

  Exactly what Isavel wanted to do. Time to escape, if Ada got everything right. “Dendre, listen. I found out about a cache of ancient weapons that we could use in the fight against the ghosts, but it’ll take a few days for me to track them down and get them back to you. If we want to use them, we’ll need to delay the attack until I can secure them.”

  Dendre frowned at her, scratching at his beard. “What kind of weapons?”

  “Armored vehicles with big guns, I think. Trust me.”

  He sighed, and looked to the guards on either side of them. “Any piece of leverage we can get is worth
waiting for, if you ask me. You know something, Isavel? I’ve asked around, and nobody is aware of anybody ever attacking an outer settlement. There’s got to be a reason for that, and I don’t want to find out the hard way that it’s because nobody who’s tried has survived.”

  It was a sobering thought, one she hadn’t considered. If the outers had an understanding of ancient technology that surpassed what most humans did… “Can you get them all to wait?”

  He blinked. “Wait a minute - are you coming to me instead of Jera? Why?”

  “Because I think you have the best interests of the people at heart.” She crossed her arms. “And because I think you’re reliable.”

  “Hah. Strange times.” He looked around. “I’m pretty sure the guards will listen to me. I have to assume the rest of the people won’t rush in without the most experienced fighters. It’ll take some arguing, though, and I already resent the hell out of you for laying that burden on me.”

  “You don’t have to help me. I can go try Mother Jera -”

  He raised a hand. “No, don’t bother. Much as I hate to say it, you’re right - she’s too hot for divine retribution to take the sensible approach. If you can get us better weapons, I want us to wait.” He looked her up and down. “And damn it, I think I trust you to do it, too. So that’s that.”

  He didn’t sound pleased, but he sounded earnest. She believed he’d slow them down. Anything to buy Ada a few more days. It was the best she could do.

  She extended her hand towards Dendre, raising an eyebrow at it. He laughed and clasped her forearm, seemingly absent the contempt he had once had for her. Strange - of all the people in the city, he was one of the few who seemed to respect her more as her faith wavered. She smiled and let go, leaving him to do what he could.

  When she reached the hauler again, she found Hail and Erran sitting across from one another warily. The cabin was empty, the coders clearly haven taken off somewhere. “Hail? Where did Zoa and Ren go?”

  Hail glanced at her. “They said they wanted to report their whereabouts to the senior coders. They should be back soon.”

  Isavel nodded, hoping Hail was right, and heaved up onto the flatbed. “Any trouble with you two?”

  She glanced between them, Hail’s face impassive. Erran, on the other hand, grinned a little, and this seemed to irritate Hail. “I believe he tried to flirt with me.”

  Isavel smirked, knowing full well that Erran was the wrong kind of dog to be barking up that tree. She nodded towards the ghost. “You’re walking a dangerous line. She’s a hunter, don’t forget.”

  “Oh, believe me, I can see the killer’s eyes a klick away.” He shrugged. “Just passing the time.”

  Hail flexed her fingers, a spiderweb of pearly hexagons tense across her palm. “Careful how you pass the time. If Tevoria doesn’t kill you, I might.”

  Isavel leaned back against the cabin, happy enough to listen to the two trade barbs while they waited for the coders. She slipped the locator stone from her pocket into her hand, glancing down at the gentle glow that always ebbed towards Ada, wondering just how far apart they were, in space and time.

  Chapter 11

  Ada stood next to Zhilik in the outers’ control centre, watching their chosen translation student stare at a screen and mumble strange words under her breath. Whatever she was saying sounded related to the outers’ own language, but the cavernous hollow of a thousand years and the void between star systems still resonated between the two tongues.

  “How’s she doing?” Ada tried to keep her voice down.

  “Well enough.” Zhilik glanced at her with what she knew to be light-hearted jealousy. “If Jhoru were human, she would be doing much better. Your ancestors blessed you with a great ability to learn.”

  Ada shook her head, arms crossed. “Most humans I know barely learn anything.”

  “They are not incapable - only held back by the technophage.”

  “Apparently our ancestors blessed us with that too.”

  Zhilik hissed in laughter, and Jhoru spun around to glare at him, the flecked brown fur of her brow creasing as she snapped at them. “You two, go outside or keep quiet.”

  Ada blinked and held up her hands in defeat, slinking outside the control room. Zhilik followed, keeping pace and raising his voice to a normal volume. “Are the golems keeping their distance?”

  Ada grimaced, remembering how she had almost fainted after telling the Chengdu where to drop them off. She really needed to practice more; perhaps some of the Institute’s old meditation techniques might not be entirely useless. “They’re fine. They tried to shoot me when I got too close to their new field, and while I normally don’t like being shot at, I think that’s a good sign.”

  Zhilik nodded. “Let us hope they do not decide to expand their territory. What if they attack Isavel?”

  The thought briefly itched at Ada’s brain, but she had enough memories to sooth it. “She’s dealt with them before, very competently. She’ll be fine.”

  “I see.”

  He said nothing else as they walked through the circular hall that ran around the edge of the ziggurat’s interior. She eyed his white-furred face, wondering what he was thinking about. After a moment, he decided to share.

  “The ship will be arriving in orbit around Earth in two days.”

  She knew it would come eventually, of course, but the words still felt like a heavy weight on her chest. “That’s soon.”

  He nodded, awkwardly and entirely for her benefit. “They want to send a probe down, to see if the technophage is live in the environment. If it is, they think they can burn it away.”

  She blinked. “What? They have a cure?”

  “No. Humans infected with the technophage would be killed by the burning - it is of no use for treating anyone. They simply want to ensure we do not bring any along by accident on our possessions, or in our air.”

  That made sense - they probably knew little about it, and it was certainly a terrifying weapon, even if it didn’t seem to affect the outers. “Well I guess I’m a step ahead of them.”

  Zhilik’s ears flicked up. “ You have a cure?”

  She sighed, wringing her wrists. “I think so. Maybe? I’ve been spending a lot of time with Arshak digging through the medical archives. But I’ll need fresh blood to keep testing.”

  “Of course. Let me know if I can help. I hope you succeed.”

  “Stop trying to coddle me, Zhilik. I know you’re leaving soon; it’s fine.”

  “Is it?” He tilted his head. “Where will you go next? I imagine the city will be sacked once we depart.”

  “I don’t know yet, okay? I haven’t had time to think about that. There’s too much going on.”

  Zhilik stopped walking for a moment, looking at her as though evaluating something. Then he smiled a sharp, toothy grin. “Come with me. I have been meaning to show you something.”

  “What?”

  “I would rather not spoil the surprise.”

  She grimaced. “Can’t you resist being cryptic for once?”

  “No. It amuses me greatly. Come, we should get a hauler.”

  “Is it far?”

  “Not at all, but if we walk you will spend the entire time asking me where we are going. I would prefer to avoid that.”

  She laughed. He was probably right. They found an unused hauler and got in, Ada taking control of it - she missed flying Cherry, and despite the Chengdu ’s prowess in war these haulers were the closest she could get to feeling like she was flying again. They thrummed out of the city’s western gate, the overgrown ruins soon obscuring the city behind them.

  “Which way?”

  Zhilik was hunched up uncomfortably in the seat next to her, but managed to point. “All the way to the southern shore. Then west. You will like it.”

  Ada rolled her eyes. “Sure.”

  “You said you were having a hard time thinking. It is important you think about more than the technophage. You need to think of the rest of your fut
ure. Being in a different place can help you think differently.”

  She didn’t respond. Was that true? It made a certain kind of sense. She kicked the hauler a little faster, zipping over the beach and onto the water. She followed the shoreline south; skimming the water was much faster than navigating the wilds. She veered westward with the waterfront, skipping the small bays that pocketed the shore and trusting Zhilik to know where they were going. After a few moments he pointed inland again.

  “Here. We are close. Stop the hauler over there.”

  She did. They stepped out a short distance inland. The area here was not much like the rest of the island - it was a vast woody meadow, with sparse leafy trees that didn’t match the firs and cedars and redwoods Ada was used to seeing. It was not deserted, either - small, mottled goats ambled around off to the right, at least a dozen of them, grazing on the grasses.

  She raised an eyebrow. “Did you bring me here to look at goats?”

  Zhilik’s hissing laugh was brief. “No. Come, it is not far.”

  What wasn’t far? She looked around, but saw nothing of interesting.

  Then she did. It was surprisingly sudden, given how open the meadow was, but they rounded a corner, passed a small wooded hill, and all at once Ada saw why he had brought her here. A grove of cherry trees bloomed in the middle of the meadow, tall and wild, thick gnarly trunks more massive than any she had seen. Their slow, endless rain of petals coated the forest floor in a sheet of whites and pinks, and a few of the goats were wandering between the trees, eating the petals. She couldn’t help but stare.

  “It has been a source of amusement to my people for many centuries.” Zhilik sounded confessional. “We drive off cougars if we see them too close to the goats. I am not sure what will happen when we leave.”

  The cougars would come back. Her brow furrowed. “Is that a metaphor? Are you trying to tell me I’m like a goat?”