The Shoreless Sea

by J. Scott Coatsworth

  “It was the final days of the old world….”

  BELYNN SANK into a deep sleep, the world fading away.

  Sometime later, something impinged on her awareness. She opened her eyes to find herself back in the auditorium, Della staring down at her, her black hood framing her head.

  It was as if that moment were frozen in time.

  That strange mask, like a ghost that hovered just in front of the woman, stared at Belynn too. It was green, pale as the sky glow, the eyes dark and hollow.

  “What are you?”

  She signed it without even thinking.

  The strange mask tilted, expressing curiosity.

  “What are you?” she said out loud.

  “I am the intifada.” The woman swept her black cape around, over Belynn, and the world fell into darkness once again.

  KIRYN SAT up with a start, shaking his head and rubbing his eyes.

  He must have fallen asleep at his desk. He peeled a sheet of paper off his cheek and laid it on the desk, staring at the writing on it for a moment.

  “Can you hear me?”

  “Can you hear me?”

  “Can you hear me?”

  It repeated all the way down the page. That’s odd.

  The strange dream from first thing that morning came back to him. Floating in the depths of space…. Must have stuck with me.

  His neck was cramped and his back was sore. Sleeping at his desk had been a bad idea. He stretched his neck left and right, and the aching subsided a little.

  He turned to check on Belynn.

  She was still sleeping soundly, her chest rising and falling under the hand-quilted blanket from back home.

  Kiryn looked out the window at the spindle. Going by the spindle glow, it was just after five. He’d worked on his paper for a couple of hours, but he must have been exhausted. He was supposed to meet Dax for dinner at six.

  He watched his sister for a few minutes. She seemed no worse for wear.

  He looked at the door, indecisive. He’d only be gone for a couple of hours. Besides, there was something special about Dax. He could feel it.

  You’ll be okay. Decided now, he headed down to the communal bathroom to wash his face and hair and to brush his teeth. He checked himself in the mirror and dried off, excited about the evening to come.

  He’d been on a few one-nighters since he’d come to Micavery with Belynn a month before, but being gay and deaf tended to limit the pool.

  For just a moment, he wished that he were on Old Earth, with a couple trillion people to choose from. How many gay, deaf college students would there be?

  Back in his room, he pulled on a clean white cotton shirt and a pair of blue pants he’d picked up in Darlith on a family trip the year before. He pulled on his socks and his boots made from synthetic leather and checked on Belynn once more.

  She must have gone on quite a bender the night before. She was still asleep.

  He considered waking her, but she might try to change his mind about going on this date. She always worried about him getting hurt.

  I’m an adult, dammit.

  Or worse, she might want to come along.

  Decided, he scribbled out a quick note to her and left it on the nightstand. Then he pulled on his jacket and headed off to find Dax.

  DAX EXAMINED the last red carp from the bucket. It looked normal, healthy, and ready to be conditioned for brood stock. He dropped it into the wide holding tank, and the fish quickly swam away into the depths.

  Carp were one of the three fish species that the hatchery bred for consumption on Forever, along with black-stripe herring and finger-long ramies. Thirty open-air tanks lined this part of the lakeshore at the edge of Micavery, aerated with fresh water from one of the tributaries that ran down from the Anatov Mountains in the distance.

  He glanced up at the clock.

  Crap. It was already a quarter till six. If his date was on time, that only left him a few minutes to get cleaned up. He’d hoped to have time to take a shower—the hatchery was smelly work.

  Their evening together the night before had been mind-blowing and revelatory. His lips still tingled.

  He’d never dated a deaf guy before—there were so few on Forever—and he’d been worried when his friend Daria had suggested they go on a date. Well, more of a one-night kind of thing. But despite the hearing barrier, they’d made a real connection. He could feel it, and he hoped Kiryn did too.

  He filed his daily report with his boss, Chuck, including the counts of the fish he’d handled and their overall health.

  He shucked his work clothes, threw them into the cleaning bin in the modest bathroom that sat in one corner of the giant facility, and grabbed a washcloth from the sink to lather himself up. He washed his body as well as he could manage in under a minute.

  He also scrubbed his short-cropped blond hair.

  When he was satisfied that he had the worst of the fish-stink off, he rinsed with sink water and dried off quickly.

  “Hot date?” Chuck entered one of the two stalls and closed the door behind him.

  “Something like that.” Dax pulled on his pants and then his socks and boots, kneeling to lace them up. “Do you think the fish know there’s a whole world above the surface?”

  “Don’t know that I’ve ever given it any thought.” The sound of streaming water came from Chuck’s stall. “I suppose when they hit the plate, but by then it’s a bit late to do anything about it.” He chuckled and came out of the stall, leaving the toilet to digest the waste. “Why?”

  “I don’t know. Just something that crossed my mind.” He buttoned up his shirt.

  Torry popped her head into the bathroom. “Dax, you have a visitor. I think he’s a little funny….”

  “He’s deaf. Don’t be a jerk.” He opened his locker, pulled out his carry sack, and slammed the door shut.

  She scowled at him. “Sorry. I didn’t mean anything by it.”

  “No one ever means it.” He pushed his way past his coworker. People like Torry would never understand.

  His sister, Naveen, had been deaf. They’d developed their own special way of communicating. She’d been three years older than him. They’d been inseparable—always the two of them against the world.

  When she had died in an accident on the streets of Thyre at the age of ten, it had almost killed him too.

  Kiryn and his sister had their own language. He’d seen them talking on campus before, fingers forming words at a dizzying pace.

  He’d have to learn how to speak it if this was going to be more than just a fling.

  He really wanted it to be more.

  Kiryn was waiting for him outside the hatchery, his back to the door, staring at Micavery. The city spread out from the waterside on the left up into the hills on its broad peninsula on the right. The lake’s waves lapped at the shore at a sideways angle as they followed the world’s rotation.

  The central city and business district were almost dark, but up in the hills, luthiel lanterns lined the streets, lit each night by the Lamplighter’s Guild, and night ivy and red ferns provided a red and green counterpoint to the golden glow of the lamps.

  He cleared his throat.

  Kiryn didn’t respond.

  Dax wanted to kick himself. He was out of practice.

  Of course Kiryn couldn’t hear him.

  He stepped forward so he’d be in Kiryn’s line of view.

  Kiryn turned to him and smiled.

  Damn, he was cute. Dax mimed, “Hi.” Then he pulled out a sheet of paper and handed it to Kiryn.

  KIRYN TOOK the paper from Dax’s hand. The poor guy looked nervous. It was sweet, really.

  Kiryn was nervous too. He hadn’t done any real dating—just sex. It was his first month away from home, and he’d been determined to play the field, to see what would happen.

  But there was something special about Dax. It was the little things he did and how he did them. The care to speak to Kiryn in a way he could understand. He read the n
ote: Come with me?

  He grinned. So it was going to be a mystery date. “Sure.”

  Dax’s mouth dropped open. “You can talk?”

  Kiryn laughed. “I’m deaf, not mute.” He knew his words weren’t perfect—soft u’s and s’s were a bastard—and neither was his lipreading. But he could get by.

  Dax laughed too. “Well, okay.” He gestured for Kiryn to follow him.

  Kiryn had so many questions for him.

  Why did Dax work at the hatchery?

  What was he studying in school?

  Where did he come from?

  What were his parents like?

  They would have to wait until they could see each other face-to-face.

  Nightfall had passed through Micavery a few moments earlier, the light swept away by a tide of darkness as the spindle above and the trees and bushes and grass lost their glow.

  The hatchery was on the southeastern edge of the city, not far from town, positioned to allow the easy release of fish into Lake Jackson. They walked back into town past a couple of lakeside restaurants that were doing a booming business as diners enjoyed the nightfall.

  Soon they were among the dark two-story wood-frame buildings of the city center.

  Here and there, some of the bars were open.

  At one of them, the Silver Moon, a man stumbled out in front of them and fell down in front of a planter before losing the contents of his stomach.

  Dax frowned and pulled Kiryn onward, toward the village green.

  When they reached the center of town, Kiryn stopped, his mouth dropping open.

  He’d never been to the green at night.

  The wide round lawn was dark, but the giant oak tree that stood at its center, wrapped in night ivy, glowed with dim silver light from the spindle above, turning the world an enchanting monochrome.

  Lamp poles stood at regular intervals around the edges, burning luthiel, creating a golden circle.

  It was beautiful.

  He turned to Dax and grinned to show his approval.

  “Come on.” Dax enunciated the words clearly for his benefit. He pulled Kiryn through the empty green, across the grass to the white tower that stood on the far side. It was surrounded by a low red fern bush, the night plant glowing with its namesake color.

  The antenna had once been the main point of contact between Micavery and Transfer Station. His teachers had taught him all about it.

  Now it stood abandoned, a relic of a time that seemed less and less relevant to the current day.

  Sometimes Kiryn wondered why they had to learn such ancient history. There were so many more interesting things in the modern world.

  Dax looked around. Seemingly satisfied that no one was watching, he slipped his fingers under a metal panel on the side of the antenna. He pried it open and beckoned for Kiryn to climb inside.

  Snipping a piece of red fern, Dax followed and pulled the hatch closed behind them.

  The little branch lit up the inside of the tower with enough of a glow to see by, revealing a metal ladder set into the wall. Kiryn flicked his fingers toward the heavens. “Up?”

  Dax nodded. He clambered up the ladder, and Kiryn, after testing a couple of the rungs to be sure it was safe, followed the receding pink glow.

  So far, this date wasn’t turning out at all like he expected, and he kinda liked it.

  They reached the top, and Kiryn emerged onto a wide metal catwalk that went all around the tower, just underneath the main dish. He looked out as he emerged and gasped.

  Dax’s grin said it all.

  The whole city was laid out below them. They were probably a hundred meters above the ground, and from here Kiryn suspected he’d be able to see all the way to the Anatovs in the daytime.

  Micavery was a treasure of sparkling jewels on black velvet, the golden luthiel lanterns lining the streets as they wound up into hills dotted with the windows of businesses and homes.

  He wanted to ask Dax so many questions, but he was choked up. No one had ever done anything like this for him before.

  His imperfect voice suddenly seemed inadequate to respond to such a beautiful gift.

  Dax sat with his back to the tower and opened his carry sack, pulled out a bottle and a cloth-wrapped packet. Then he brought out a small notebook and handed it to Kiryn.

  Kiryn always carried one, but he was pleased that Dax had thought about it.

  Dax opened it, scribbled something inside, and held it out to Kiryn. Do you like it?

  I love it, he replied the same way. Where’s the school?

  Dax pointed.

  Kiryn could see the round form of the Schoolhouse, wrapped in night ivy. Above them, the spindle glowed a subdued silver to match the school.

  Thank you for bringing me up here. Writing was such a clumsy way to communicate, but it was what they had.

  Dax nodded and handed him the bottle.

  He took a sip. It was cool water.

  Dax’s grin said You were expecting something else? He opened the cloth packet, pulled out a sandwich, and handed half of it to Kiryn.

  Kiryn grinned. “Thanks.”

  They ate without communicating except at the most rudimentary level. Dax’s hand sought out his, and they looked out on the quiet city while they ate.

  A couple of lake gulls flitted by, swinging around to land on the railing, watching the food avidly.

  Kiryn pulled off a crumb of bread and tossed it over the edge, and one of the gulls leapt after it.

  Dax shook his head.

  “What?”

  The other gull stared at them plaintively until Dax relented and threw a piece of his own sandwich to the bird, who snatched it up greedily.

  In two minutes, they were surrounded by a whole flock of noisy birds.

  “That.”

  Kiryn laughed.

  Dax shooed the birds away and brushed off his hands. He picked up the pad and scrawled out, I want to learn.

  Learn what?

  How to talk like you do. With your sister.

  Kiryn stared at him. No one had ever asked him that before. Why?

  Dax looked away for a moment, pain evident on his face.

  Kiryn squeezed his shoulder. “Sorry,” he said. With the pencil, he scribbled out, Did I step in it?

  Dax picked up the pencil. Don’t be. I had a sister who was deaf.

  “Had?”

  Dax wrote out his reply. She died a long time ago.

  So sorry. What was her name?

  Naveen.

  This back-and-forth with the pencil was tiring.

  Kiryn wondered what it would be like to lose his sister. Belynn was such a huge part of him, even if she annoyed the hell out of him sometimes.

  He shuddered and hoped he’d never find out. He took the pencil and pad again. What do you want to know?

  Dax’s grin returned. For starters, how do you say “kiss me”?

  Kiryn read it and laughed. “Like this.” He mimed kissing his right hand and then kissing it to his left, and puckered his lips.

  Dax grinned and leaned forward to kiss him gently.

  When he pulled away, he scribbled something on the paper and handed it to Kiryn, watching his expression anxiously. You asked.

  Kiryn nodded and pulled him close to kiss him again.

  BELYNN WOKE in a puddle of sweat.

  Her dreams haunted her.

  Earth like it once was. Visions of poverty and deprivation and war in equal measure. One image stuck with her—a dirty-faced child all alone on a city street, crying with her arms outstretched for someone who would come.

  Belynn hugged her knees close to her chest, wondering if Earth had really been that bad. Her mothers had told her stories, but Andy had never been there, and Shandra had been a little girl when she’d left the mother planet.

  Grandpa Trip had told her stories, too, full of light and beauty. Fishing on a wide blue lake. Camping under a hundred thousand stars—though even then she’d suspected there were a lot more.

&n
bsp; Nothing like her dark visions.

  Then again, Earth had been a vast place, especially compared to Forever. It was hard for her to envision the scale of it, or to adjust to the idea of an open blue sky above that stretched as far as she could see.

  Belynn looked around, trying to remember where she was. This wasn’t her dorm room.

  The ramshackle bookshelf by the window, stuffed with books and notes and covered with drying underwear, answered the question. It was Kiryn’s room.

  He must have brought her here after the speech. After whatever had happened to her. Della’s eyes burning through her soul….

  Where are you, big brother? She slipped off the sweat-damp bed—sorry for that, Kiryn—and her feet touched the cool floorboards.

  There was a note on the bedside table.

  Gone to see Dax. Home later. mm.

  The last was their own private language, a written version of the sign that meant “I love you.”

  She smiled weakly and searched for her boots. He wouldn’t be feeling so warm when he saw what she’d done to his bed. At least it was only sweat.

  She would clear out of here and return to her own room, leaving a note apologizing. She could always wash the sheets tomorrow for him.

  She couldn’t find her boots anywhere.

  Belynn dropped to the floor, hand on the windowsill, and looked under the bed.

  There you are. Kiryn must have slipped them out of the way when he brought her back here.

  She reached for them and froze.

  The dorm room door swung open, the hinges creaking loudly. The squeaking drove her crazy, but of course it never bothered Kiryn.

  At that moment the sound saved her life.

  Two pairs of feet clad in black boots entered the room, presumably attached to whole humans.

  Belynn closed her eyes and reached for her brother.

  Kiryn!

  Chapter Three: Visitor

  GORDON PEERED over the edge of the low wall.

  Seven figures in long robes stood in a circle in the middle of a wide roof. They were waving their arms in some sort of incantation, circling something he couldn’t see from his vantage point.