by Chad Spencer
Shrugging, she answered, “They’re fun. But I like playing at your house.”
Something occurred to Jeff. “Hey, how come you never call me ‘Sirsen Jeff’ anymore?”
“I’m big now,” Denise replied airily.
Further conversation was cut off by hideous bellowing in the distance. Jeff knew that sound. “Fireflies!” he yelled. He began running toward his farm, tugging on the reins to get Lakota to trot behind him. “Hang on!” he called to Danae and Denise.
The roar of the flock grew rapidly closer. Jeff could hear that it was coming from behind them. ‘They’re going to attack Dad’s farm,’ he realized. ‘But everyone there should be ok.’ He ran faster, trying to reach the bottom of the hill before any of the fireflies discovered them in the open.
Jeff heard the whoosh of the powerful sprinkler jets on his dad’s dome. At the same time, the infuriated roars of the fireflies echoed over the hill. He was running as fast as he could, but they were less than halfway down the hill. Lakota trotted skittishly behind him. She wanted to run home; she knew what was on the other side of the hill and where safety lay. In an instant, Jeff made a decision. He flipped the reins up to Danae, who was sitting in front. “Get down to the farm,” he yelled. “Just let her run. She knows where to go.”
As soon as he let go of the reins, Lakota quickened her pace. As she passed, Jeff slapped her haunches and yelled, “Giddyup!” Not needing any more encouragement, Lakota broke into a run. Jeff glanced over his shoulder and saw some of the fireflies coming over the hill. Seeing them fleeing, the fireflies screeched. The rest of the flock responded by circling over the hillcrest.
“Jeff!” Danae screamed. “We can’t leave you!”
Lakota was already far ahead. Jeff doubted Danae could stop the horse even if she knew how. He sprinted for all he was worth. He could hear the flock gaining on him rapidly. A tar-like smell filled the air. Waves of heat billowed from behind him as he ran.
Ahead of Jeff, he could see Danae and Denise nearing the bottom of the hill. To his horror, he saw Denise fall off of the back of the horse. Lakota, not willing to stop for anything, kept running at full gallop with Danae on her back.
A quick glance told Jeff that the fireflies were almost on him. In an instant, he called his wings and tail into existence and took off, leaving the flock behind. They hurled their enraged screeches at him as he darted away. Quickly reaching the bottom of the hill, Jeff searched for Denise in the tall grass. He followed the sounds of her sobbing and found her sprawled on the ground. The softness of the long grass had broken her fall. She was unhurt. Speedily scooping her up, he leaped into the air again with the fireflies close behind.
Jeff beat his wings as hard as he could. The heat from the fireflies was scorching. He briefly wondered if his clothes would catch on fire. Denise howled in fear and clung to him. Her wild eyes stared back at the approaching fireball of a flock. Casting a look back, Jeff saw one of the beasts bearing down on them. It snapped its ragged jaws at his feet, barely missing as Jeff dodged downward. Flecks of fiery liquid splashed off of the creature, landing on Jeff’s legs, searing through his clothes and into his flesh.
‘Shield!’ he thought. ‘Shield turn on!’ But the shield that had protected him on previous occasions didn’t appear. Jeff swooped and dodged as more of the flock closed on them. Up ahead, he saw Danae reach the dome on Lakota. Its water jets whooshed as the fireflies approached.
Knowing he’d have to slow down and land to get through doors at the bottom of the dome, Jeff made straight for the top. The firefly made another attempt at snatching his leg with its powerful jaws. Jeff spiraled left, barely keeping himself from being eaten. But the firefly’s muzzle brushed his leg, searing away the leg of his pants and charring his flesh with an unbelievable, scorching pain. Nauseated, the world spun around him. Jeff almost dropped Denise.
Reaching the top of the dome, Jeff managed to aim himself at one of the empty spaces in the triangles. He made his wings disappear and let the two of them drop straight down. A jet of water soaked them as they fell. The firefly behind him screamed hideously and fell dead as the stream hit it.
Jeff and Denise fell through the latticework of the dome. Barely conscious, Jeff once again tried to make his shield appear. This time, its welcome yellow glow encased them in its safety. They hit the ground, leaving a huge crater. But they were unhurt. They didn’t even feel the impact.
With his entire body screaming in pain, Jeff rolled onto his back. Looking down, he saw that his right foot and most of his leg was completely burned off. He passed out.
From far, far away, Jeff heard a comforting voice. Warmth and gentleness streamed over him like a flood. He drifted through a hazy happiness, floating on a river of life as it carried him away.
Jeff opened his eyes. Denise’s face hovered above him as drops of water fell from overhead. She was looking down at him and sobbing. He heard angry fireflies, but it didn’t seem to matter. A great peace filled his heart.
Slowly, Jeff realized that Denise was calling his name. He smiled at her. The water stopped falling from above and Jeff heard the flock of fireflies recede into the distance. Still, he felt a great warmth—a vibrant, living warmth. It was coming from his right leg.
With great difficulty, Jeff raised his head. In a detached and hazy peace, he saw Danae holding up the stub of his leg. A happy, effervescent yellow glow flowed from her hands and covered the end of the charred stump. As he watched, his black flesh seemed to ooze into a healthy pink. Curious, he saw his leg grow slightly. In his detached bliss, Jeff thought, ‘Now that’s weird.’
Jeff watched bemusedly as a knee appeared on the end of his stump. Under Danae’s gentle stroking, the leg gradually lengthened. ‘My leg is growing. Hmm. Is it supposed to do that?’ Jeff wondered contentedly.
Soon, an ankle appeared, then a foot. Eventually, his toes re-grew. ‘No toenails?’ he wondered. But they too emerged. Jeff smiled. ‘I like toenails,’ he thought.
Little by little, Jeff became aware that Danae had let go of his leg. She and Denise were kneeling beside him, just staring at him. ‘I should stop thinking about toenails now,’ he decided.
Danae’s mouth was moving. ‘Is she talking to me? I think she is.’ Jeff concentrated as best he could. The haze seemed to clear a little.
“Jeff, can you answer me? Are you alright?”
Smiling, Jeff croaked, “I … feel … so … good.” After thinking for a moment he continued, “I like my toenails.” He was very satisfied that this was just the right thing to say. He let his head plop back into the grass.
Suddenly, everything came into sharp focus. Jeff hauled himself into a sitting position and stared at his re-grown leg. Danae hugged him tightly around the neck and said, “You saved Denise, Jeff. Eden told me you’d eventually learn to do stuff like that.”
“Eden? You know her?”
Danae nodded. “She came to me in a dream when we were on the way to this planet. She gave me these three glowing things and told me I could do things. I don’t know really how to describe it.”
“That’s ok,” Jeff reassured her. “I know exactly what you mean.”
“She said she’s been trying to contact you, Jeff. But the datacrown makes it hard. I didn’t understand why. She explained it but … “ Denise let her voice trail off.
Jeff gazed at Danae intently. “You healed my leg.”
Again, Denise nodded. “Eden taught me how.”
“It’s a secret,” Denise interjected in a hushed voice. She put her index finger to her lips. “Danae said so. Shhhh.”
Jeff climbed shakily to his feet. His new, bare foot felt the coolness of the grassy meadow.
“Let’s go to my house,” he instructed. “I need to get changed. And I guess I need to dig out my spare shoes.”
Attempting to walk nearly caused him to fall. He tottered his way to the house as Danae held his hand to steady him.
“Jeff, Eden told me I could learn to fly,” Dana expl
ained. Then she asked, “Will you teach me how?”
“Yeah,” he replied.
“It’s a secret! It’s a secret!” Denise chanted happily as she danced ahead of them.
8
“You have one new message,” Jeff’s house informed him as he entered with Denise and Danae. Jeff, who was walking nearly normally, went to his bedroom, changed his clothes, and put on a pair of shoes. Tossing his charred clothes and partially melted left shoe into the garbage, he grabbed his datacrown and put it on. When he emerged he instructed the comm panel, “Play message.”
Kent’s image appeared on the display. “Jeff! Are you guys all right? We were inside when the fireflies attacked, but we were worried about you. I’m on my way over now. I’m carrying a gridPhone, so you can call me when you get inside. Do it right away.”
Jeff called his father. It was audio only. “Jeff?” he asked anxiously as soon as he answered his phone.
“Hi, Dad. We’re ok. We just came in.”
“That’s a relief. I was really worried. I’m on one of our horses near the top of the hill. Do you need me to come over?”
“No, we’re fine. We’ll come back after dinner. I think Denise wants to play with Duke.”
“Ok, son. But bring the girls back before sundown, ok?”
“Sure Dad.”
“And by the way, I want you all to be sure to carry your gridPhones from now on, especially when you’re out of the domes.”
“Sure Dad.”
“I’m going up to the Ellsworth to get some long-range scanners and loudspeakers. Tomorrow you and I are going to set up an early warning system on both domes that will blare out a signal when the fireflies are in the area. I can even have the houses’ computers call us on the gridPhones and warn us that way as well.”
“That’s a great idea, Dad.”
They said their goodbyes and hung up. Not waiting to be asked, Denise yelled, “Duke! Duke! Duke!” and ran out of the house.
This time Jeff chuckled. “For someone who just about got eaten, she’s pretty happy.”
Smiling, Danae explained, “She told me while you were in your room that now she knows everything will be ok because whatever happens, you’ll fly to save her.”
Embarrassed, Jeff mumbled, “Well, it’s not like I’m some kind of superhero. I mean I got my leg burnt off. If it hadn’t been for you, I’d be in pretty bad shape right now. Can you teach me to do that?”
Danae shook her head, “I don’t think so. Eden told me that it was my special gift. She said a couple of the others would be able to do it.”
“What others?”
She shrugged and answered, “I don’t know. She didn’t say.”
“What else did she give you?”
“She said I would have the gift of sight. But I don’t know what that means. I can already see.”
Jeff shrugged. “Something tells me we’ll find out eventually,” he replied.
Danae appeared a little frightened by that thought, but she continued. “Eden also said light would be my servant. I don’t know what that means either.”
Shrugging again, Jeff answered, “Let’s not worry about it now. But I think we’d better not tell anyone else about this. I think if I said anything, my dad and your mom would think I went nuts when I was by myself for so long. Maybe I did.”
Smiling, Danae teased, “Is this a different kind of nuts than usual?”
Jeff laughed, surprised. Danae didn’t usually joke with him like that. With false indignance, he retorted, “Ten million comedians out of work, and this girl has to try and be funny.”
“That was a lame comeback,” she mocked.
Grabbing one of the cushions off the back of his couch, Jeff bopped her gently on the head. Giggling, Danae ran out of the house. Jeff tossed the cushion aside and trotted after her.
He found her watching the horses with Denise. “So,” he began, “can you make wings and a tail?”
“I … I’m not sure,” she answered. “How do you do it?”
“It was kind of automatic for me,” he told her. “I was being chased by a seasnake, and I really, really wanted to get away.” Danae’s eyes grew huge in fear. Jeff smiled, “Don’t worry, this story has a happy ending. I lived.” She hit him on the shoulder, briefly reminding him of Harriet.
Jeff said, “There was a moment when the seasnake was coming at me that I remembered an AR program I used to play in with some of my friends on the Ellsworth. It gave you wings and a bird’s tail and you could fly around. Just as the seasnake was getting near me I remembered how it felt to have the wings and the tail. And then I just had them. I didn’t really think about it. I just reacted.”
Under Jeff’s direction, Danae tried to imagine how it felt to have wings. “I just can’t do it, Jeff,” she complained. “I don’t know how. Isn’t there any way I could try the AR program too?”
“I guess so,” Jeff told her. “There’s power to that part of the ship now. And I got the main computer back on line. My datacrown says the ship’s not overhead right now, so I can’t connect up to its computer and see if the AR suite works. It’ll be back on this side of the planet in about an hour.”
“Can I have one of those datacrowns too?”
“Sure,” he answered. “The datacrown says the ship’s manifest lists three cases of them. That’s ninety datacrowns. Oh, Arvix just contacted me on my datacrown. He says dinner’s ready.”
The three of them went to the house to eat. After dinner, Jeff walked with the girls back over the hill while they rode Lakota. “There’s a horseback riding program in the AR suite too. That’s how I learned to ride.” He paused. “The Ellsworth is overhead now. The AR suite works. Tomorrow we’ll go up there and I’ll teach you to fly and ride. Then we’ll see if you can do it for real.” Danae nodded.
“Me too! Me too!” shouted Denise.
Jeff laughed. “Sure, you too. But you have to remember, you can’t tell anyone you saw me fly. It’s a secret.”
Denise smiled and sang, “It’s a secret, it’s a secret, it’s a secret,” over and over to a tune she seemed to be making up.
When Jeff explained to his father that he wanted to take the girls up to the Ellsworth for a day in the AR suite, Kent was reluctant at first, but gave his permission. “Just be back by dinner,” he instructed. Jeff and Danae agreed.
Early the following morning, Jeff instructed Arvix to pack a lunch for three and to do the farm chores. Climbing into his shuttle pod, Jeff swiftly skimmed over the hill to pick up Danae and Denise. They flew to the Ellsworth’s front docking ports and floated their way to the AR suite.
To keep Denise happy, they ran the horseback-riding program first. She learned to ride so speedily it seemed as if she had been born to it. Danae was more hesitant. But by midday, both were riding well.
After lunch, all three entered the flying program. Jeff was glad to appear once more on the edge of the familiar grassy plateau. Walking to the top of the small hill, Jeff gave the girls what instructions he could. They took a few practice flights down its gentle slope. Again, it was Denise who learned faster.
“That kid doesn’t have any idea what the word ‘fear’ means,” Jeff joked to Danae as he watched her sail over the hill toward the cliff’s edge.
Danae smiled and replied shyly, “She trusts you. So do I.”
Flushing a bright red, Jeff mumbled, “Thanks.”
Jumping into the air, Danae flew off after Denise, who had landed and was waiting on the edge of the cliff. Jeff followed.
When he arrived at where they were standing, Jeff asked, “Are you two ready to take the big jump?” Both nodded. “Ok, but remember, don’t be scared. If anything goes wrong, just let yourself fall. Before you hit the ground, you’ll reappear up here. This isn’t real so you can’t get hurt.”
Without waiting for further instructions, Denise leaped over the edge. Surprised, Danae hesitated, and then followed. Jeff spread his wings and sailed into the sky after them. Shouting instr
uctions as they glided over the verdant countryside, Jeff guided them down to the ground for a perfect landing.
The three spent the rest of the day floating and darting through the sky. As the afternoon wore on into evening, they reluctantly left the AR suite and returned to the planet. Before leaving the Ellsworth, Jeff grabbed a case of datacrowns from a cargo bay.
On the shuttle ride down, Danae asked, “Jeff, do you remember that friend of yours that Dirk beat up?”
With a sudden rush of anger, he answered tightly, “Yes. Hugh Benson.”
“Did you know that there was someone who saw him do it?” she queried.
Nodding, he replied, “Yeah, but I don’t know who it was.”
Abruptly Danae confessed, “It was me.”
Surprised, Jeff questioned, “Why did you wait so long to tell the police? And why are you telling me now?”
Danae hung her head. “I was afraid of Dirk. I waited until we were out of the Solar System because I thought he wouldn’t find out that way.”
“Yeah but why are you telling me now?”
“I … I,” she stammered, “I wasn’t going to tell at all. But before the wormhole collapsed, I saw my mom writing a letter to the police blaming you. So I sent them a vmail. They promised not to tell who the witness was. I … I felt so bad for waiting so long. I’m so sorry Jeff. I never meant for you to be blamed. I was just scared. You’ve done so much for us, I just had to tell you.”
After a moment, Jeff replied, “Well … I guess it doesn’t matter now. All that was far away. We’re here now and things are ok. Don’t worry about it at all.”
To Jeff’s amazement, Danae hugged him. None of them said anything for the remainder of the trip down. After eating dinner at his dad’s farm, Jeff flew his shuttle back to his place.
Several days later, Kent dropped by. “How about building another dome, Jeff?” he asked.
“You want another dome?”
“Dirk would like his own place. It’s only natural. He’ll be 18 soon. He wants his own house just like you. I don’t think he’ll want a full farm, just a place of his own. I know you and Dirk don’t get along well, but I’d appreciate it if you’d do this for him. Think of it as extending a peace offering.”
