by Ava D. Dohn
* * *
“They told us she would experience strange dreams and visions, and… and… and the like. We must be patient, you know, wait on the moment, like Drorli said. We just must be patient.”
Symeon had been carrying on in this fashion ever since Ishtar began reacting to the super-oxygenated fluids that were washing clean the girl’s lungs. Drorli warned them that a heightened awareness at the subconscious level might well flood the sleeping mind with hallucinogenic visions that could affect physical motor controls, thus the flailing of arms and legs accompanied by whoops and wails, sometimes even recognizable speech.
The girl suddenly jumped, her eyes bulging in fright. Symeon cried out to Eurawha, who was some distance away checking gages, “My girl?! My girl?! You said this was all normal? She’s really all right? Do you think she’s really all right?”
Hanna laughed, answering Symeon before Eurawha could reply. “Of course she’s all right, you silly goose! Everything’s fine, going according to plan.” She squeezed Symeon’s arm reassuringly, reminding him. “Drorli explained it all so well just this morning, telling us exactly what to expect, he even using those moving vision machines to describe just how our girl was making her returning.”
Hanna kissed Symeon’s troubled face. “Look, Dear, whether rumors of our immortality are true or not - something I doubt - it has been said that not one of the children delivered from the Realms Below has been damaged to the point of death since arrival here. I believe that. Your little child will not suffer such a horrid death… any death… again. That you can trust...”
“Come now!” She playfully tussled Symeon’s beard. “Put a smile on that ol’ puss of yours. We’re supposed to be celebrating Ishtar’s happy return, not fretting over nonsensical imaginings.”
Eurawha was now standing in front Ishtar’s crystal sarcophagus, staring down upon the girl while listening to Hanna and Symeon’s conversation. She matter-of-factly commented, “Not to worry. If she’s damaged, we’ll just throw her in the incinerator and start over. The main blueprint of her is already in the machines. Shouldn’t take long to make a new one...”
Symeon let out a howl of dismay while Drorli, who was standing nearby, almost split his sides with laughter. Eurawha quietly looked toward Hanna, a faint smile forming on her lips and then returned to her work at nearby gauges.
Slapping his hands on his legs, Drorli exclaimed, bemused, “That’s my girl! Quiet as a little mouse till she jumps like a hungry cat... Got you good on that one, my friend.”
Eurawha glanced over toward the other three, stone-faced sober. “Always a first time, you know...” She went back to her work.
Again there was laughter and haranguing of poor Symeon, but this time by both Drorli and Hanna.
Symeon was not in a mood to reciprocate humor. He fumed, “This is no way to speak about such a brave heroine! Ishtar faced torture and death to save me. She is a valiant warrior, and should be treated that way.”
Hanna piped in, “And spoilt, insolent, haughty to a fault, arrogant, self-absorbed, and… and just a plain brat most of the time!”
Insulted by Hanna’s rude, uncalled for accusations, Symeon cried, aghast, “How can you speak with such cruelty regarding this holy child when you, yourself, witnessed so many of the brave and wonderful things she did?!”
Hanna nodded, answering, “Your girl was certainly holy, but she wasn’t perfect. There were few of us older women who did not receive demeaning looks from haughty eyes, I being branded by them many times, myself. And if your little girl could shirk her duties to go flirting with the boys, she did it in earnest. Your little child was a royal pain in the backsides of the older men. Why, she would even make fun of them behind their backs when she was with the other young women.”
“I do not believe it!” Symeon ranted. “She was such a dear child, always getting and fetching for me. Why the girl treated me more like a father than my own sons did.”
“She worshiped you!” Hanna replied abrasively. “She treated her uncle like a god, the rest of us like duck squat. Ask Merna if you don’t believe me. Why, once the two got in a little squabble over the way one of her boys was acting, and Ishtar called Merna a ‘bitch’ right in front of her children.”
Scowling, Symeon was about to make an angry retort when Drorli spoke up. “Enough! Look, my dear friend, what your wonderful companion is merely stating is that Ishtar was not some unfathomable saint. None of you were, and may I add, none of us have been either. Feelings, emotions and opinions get in the way of us all. Ishtar showed outstanding love, faith and valor. That, no one questions. But she was also many of the things Hanna has declared. Doesn’t make her wicked, but it does show that she’s human and, at times, a very flawed human.”
Symeon still sought to defend the girl. “Have you not heard the wonderful accounts of Ishtar’s valiant efforts to save Merna and her children? Why Merna, herself, not a fortnight ago told me so. And what of her bravery and conduct before the Governor? And…”
“All those things are true, my friend.” Drorli patted Symeon on the shoulder. “That’s what helped make this child holy. Still, I have heard from other reliable sources that Merna called her a ‘pisser’ and a ‘selfish little scalawag’.” He winked at Hanna.
Before Symeon could reply, Drorli added, “It is my duty to prepare as best as may be for the delivery of your kind to this place. It can be quite difficult at times. If you recall, it took a great deal of convincing you as to where you really were after your arrival. Indeed! Hanna was brought into our world first because we believed she was more adaptable to change than you, and that she could help ease your transition.”
“Now I have also done my duty with this girl. She can be a real pill, will be, one that’s hard to swallow at times. My team and I have gone to a great deal of trouble to make preparation for her, and I still think we’re in for a time of it.”
He squeezed Symeon’s arm. “Stop making your child into an untouchable, holy martyr. She isn’t! Never will be! And that’s not what Mother brought her here for. She will have to earn her ‘wings’ – as some of your kind like to say – and she’s got a rough sky to fly in to do so. We’re all here to help her do that. The sooner you see her as a troubled little girl who’s done great things, the better assistance you will be to us at getting her situated in this world. Got it?”
Symeon slowly nodded, contemplating Drorli’s words. His heart so much wanted to lift the girl up as a holy saint, but his head knew differently. “I’ll try. I’ll try to remember what you say. I know it’s true, but don’t want to believe it...not now, not at this moment.”
Drorli grinned. “Believe what you want for the moment. Celebrate in the rebirth of someone you love so much. Tomorrow is soon enough to ponder deeper questions. Still… tomorrow will come. I know you will succeed at this quest. You been so outstanding at so many of the others you’ve undertaken.”
Eurawha called over just after several attendants entered the room, one of them nodding to her. “All right all, we’re ready to go. Suit up!”
She approached Hanna and Symeon. “If you want to accompany your little girl, you’ll have to get suited up. We may need to adjust the atmosphere in the travel chamber during the trip, depending on how quickly Ishtar’s new body adapts to the elements. If we need to reintroduce certain gases to stabilize her, it could make others exposed to them sick, thus the need for the suits.”
In less than twenty minutes, an antigravity machine was humming its way along a thoroughfare toward a tiny village several leagues east of Palace City. This was no ordinary village, but one specifically designed to introduce the children from the Second Realm into the dramatically different world of the First Realm. Drorli’s team went to great effort to make each new arrival comfortable after he or she awoke, and spared no expense to assist the person in adjusting to this new home.
While Eurawha contin
uously studied the gages in the cabin, all the time keeping a close eye on Ishtar who was now sleeping upon an anchored gurney, she chatted with Hanna and Symeon about upcoming events. “Of course we have secured the outer perimeters, assuring the girl’s safety. That should not be your concern. Your part is to help introduce the child into this world as effortlessly as possible.”
Eurawha paused, looking intently at the two, raising an eyebrow in doubt. “Well, do the best you can. Ishtar is an extremely bright child, inquisitive – snoopy. Trust me! I’ve studied this child’s history… better than you have, I assure you. You two will have your hands full fooling her, but try you must. She needs as much time as possible to acclimatize to her new home.”
She turned her attention to the sleeping Ishtar, carefully examining the girl’s exposed hand. “Now, the child will awake gradually, falling in and out of dream states several times, but once she does come to, her cognitive powers will spring to life. She’ll be up and about in no time, and when she is there’ll be no slowing her down.”
The machine eased to a stop. An attendant stepped out of the cab and hurried forward to undo a gate that blocked the highway. Drorli called back through a speaking tube, checking to make sure things were all right. Eurawha assured him that everything was fine, softly caressing Ishtar’s hand as she replied. The gate was quickly opened and the machine passed through. After picking up the attendant, who quickly closed the gate behind them, they sped on down the road.
Sitting back in her technician’s chair, Eurawha breathed a quiet sigh of relief. Her team had worked diligently for several years to help prepare these ‘off worlders’ – as the children from the Second Realm were often referred to – for life in this universe. It was not easy, to say the least. Technology, customs, way of life, even the very thinking processes between the two groups were so different. Eurawha believed her team had become tired… worn down… from their constant labors.
It took months of preparation to return just one person because of all the technical preparations as well as the weeks of study and investigation it might take just to understand the personality, disposition, history, and culture of the new arrival. Then there were the post arrival energies expended to make the person feel comfortable and at home, something that might take many additional months. Too, there was the choosing and training of the mentor who would journey with the newcomer until that person was prepared to function alone in this realm. Oh, all the effort it had taken!
Eurawha sighed relief again. She had been most pleased to have been personally requested to assist Drorli in this grand experiment. Still it felt good to think that this child was the last, at least for a very long time. When the rebirths were to be renewed in the distant future, Mother promised the team that she would make sure the process would be far less cumbersome and time consuming, and that many more hands were to be there to offer assistance. Eurawha smiled with satisfaction, proud to have been part of this prestigious team. And it had felt so good to be working with Drorli again after these many years.
Her eyes closed and head leaned back, Eurawha calmly reminded Hanna and Symeon. “After we arrive, you two are to hurry to Ishtar’s room, make sure the bed is made ready so that the attendants can get her snuggled in quickly. That will assure her a long, undisturbed sleep. Double-check the room to see that everything is in place just so. We’ve put our trust in you to give our girl the needed reminders to keep her believing – for the moment – that she’s still in her room in Ephesus. When you’re finished there, I will assist the two of you with final preparations.”
Slowly sitting upright while placing her hands on her knees, Eurawha smiled, looking at her two companions. “And then we shall wait…”
