"You'll know more than your instructors," Asherah said. She wasn't flattering him.
"Yeah. I'll just have to play dumb during the classes." Steven gave her a lopsided grin. "But it would help give me a cover for some of the things I need for the search. I'd like to intern at the company Sally and Jonah used to work at, for instance. Get closer to what my parents were actually working on."
"It could get dangerous, Steven." Asherah looked worried. He had told her what Jonah had shared with him about his parents. What they had discovered had gotten the notice of some very bad people and was likely why they were now missing. Steven knew he was treading in dangerous waters.
"Perhaps. But I have the advantage of knowing the danger and I've gotten very good at staying out of sight." Steven appreciated her concern. It made him feel like he wasn't doing this all alone. Suddenly, he felt hungry and pulled his hand from hers to reach into a basket sitting next to him and pulled out a large, lumpy, green fruit. Asherah was always surprising him with something new and exotic to snack on. She regularly brought him a treat when he visited the meadow. He reciprocated with various mushrooms, figs, and honey, all of which she really loved as well. He sniffed the fruit, squeezing it gently. It smelled almost of cantaloupe. Looking at her, he took a big bite out of it and was immediately shocked by the overwhelming taste of the fruit. It reminded him of rich nectar or fresh uncapped honey. "Mmm, this is really yummy. What do you call it?"
Asherah leaned forward. "Bi'lomba Nia," she said slowly, enunciating it for Steven, who had been learning her native language for a few years. She grabbed Steven's hand and fruit in both her hands and took a bite from the fruit, wiping her lower lip as she chewed the fruit. "My favorite." Steven forgot to breathe for a moment as he watched her take another bite from the fruit in his hand. She looked at him and grinned as she dabbed at the juice that tried to dribble down her chin.
He coughed, then remembered the Elvish he had learned. "It's called sweet fruit?" He expected a more exotic name for such a strange looking fruit. Asherah shrugged her shoulders. Steven took another big bite. "Mmm. It's about to be my favorite too. This is delicious!" He grinned, wiping juice off his chin.
A smile eclipsed Asherah's face as she beamed at his appreciation. He had noticed her smile long ago and found it really attractive. When she smiled, her whole face lit up and she seemed to just radiate her joy. It was a genuine expression and he knew she meant it. Everything around her seemed to perk up when she expressed her happiness. He stared at her for a long moment, lost in that observation and she made a funny face at him, making him laugh. "Ah, I need a napkin now," he said as more juice dribbled down his chin.
Steven looked around for something to wipe his chin with when he was suddenly distracted by a beep from the laptop. Asherah wiped his chin with a napkin she dug from the basket when he forgot the dribble of juice and focused on the laptop. "Hello? This is new." His search program had keyed on a piece of data. He'd already filtered out many such keys on a daily basis, but remained hopeful that each one could lead him that much closer to his parents.
Sometimes he felt things were hopeless, especially when having to sift through so many such false notices, but Steven put a stopper on that attitude, treating each possibility as a potential lead. If he focused on the hopelessness of the enormous job he had embarked on, then the feeling of futility would never go away and he'd certainly fail in his search.
But this wasn't what he was expecting to find. While virtually all of the false positives he has had to filter out came from databases, this one was different. These were actual files that were somehow associated with his parents. He opened another command window and typed in another search algorithm to refine and confirm that search result then waited. The sun was warm on his back, still high in the sky but he hardly noticed as intent as he was on his laptop now. "Look, this is odd." Steven turned the laptop a little.
Asherah scooted over, leaned against him and looked at the readout, then looked at Steven, quizzical. "What am I looking at?" Steven looked at her, suddenly getting an enormous charge from her touch. Lately he had been finding her close presence absolutely electrifying and his chest hurt a little. He had to shake his head and focus back on the task at hand.
"Uhm..." Steven looked back at the computer and tried hard to clear his thoughts that had momentarily gotten discombobulated. "They're video files. A lot of them. From a security company." Steven's eyebrows furrowed as the search narrowed down on what he was looking for and suddenly his attention came into sharp focus. "They're from the tech company Sally and Jonah used to work for." His heart was racing, this time not because of Asherah. His godparents worked with his parents. Was it possible that those files could still be around after all these years? "The problem is, the security company doesn't exist anymore and I think the tech company got absorbed by another or merged or something. They're still there today, but different. So unless someone has recycled their old servers and recently connected them, I'm at a complete loss..." He trailed off, focused harder on the screen and typed another command, and suddenly a window with thumbnails of the video files popped up. Steven gulped and looked at Asherah. She looked back at him, her already large eyes all the wider. He licked his drying lips and looked back at the laptop.
After clenching his fist a couple of times to still his shaking hand, Steven tapped the button on the mouse pad and opened one of the video files that showed a high tech scientific lab. Amongst the sophisticated equipment, his godparents and a man and a woman were huddled around some piece of laboratory machinery staring at a monitor. The woman was decidedly pregnant.
Steven's mouth ran dry. "Are those?" Trailing off again, he pulled out his sketch pad and looked at a rendering of his parents he drew from his last dream that was taped to the underside of the cover. It was a detailed drawing of his parents that he had dreamed about so many times. He looked back at the couple in the video. He held the drawing up next to the computer screen, comparing the two. The surveillance video was rather fuzzy, but the similarities were remarkable and left little doubt in Steven's mind. "Asherah, that's Mom and Dad!" Steven bounced with excitement, overwhelmed by the discovery.
"Is that really you?" She pointed to the woman's belly.
"Yes? That has to be. Wow. They're real. They're really real!" Steven was at a loss of words. He'd never seen them except in his dreams, not even a picture, and yet there they were, in the flesh. "They worked with my godparents. That has to be them."
He had been searching for so many years and hoped to find little snippets and hints of information about them. Vague leads was all he had really expected and he was certain he would have to follow cold trails from those leads. But this was far above and beyond anything he had ever hoped for. Actual videos of his parents. He fast forwarded through several of the videos and they all featured his parents working fervently on whatever project was occupying them. Steven typed a command to retrieve those files to his computer up in the tree house and also a copy of them to the laptop he was currently on. "This is just... spectacular, Asherah." He was stunned.
Asherah wrapped her arms around his shoulders and hugged him tight. "Oh, Steven, I'm so happy for you." She was positively effervescent and it was infectious. Steven got even more thrilled over the discovery. This search had been an obsession of his for so long and yet, until now, seemed an act of futility that was no end of consternation for him. Now he had a result. A fantastically significant result.
Steven looked over at her as she put her head on his shoulder and her hair tickled his cheek. He was exceedingly pleased with the turn of events too, and even more pleased to have someone like Asherah to share it with. No one was as close to him as she was. He tried to get serious, and patted her hands. "Okay, this was about fifteen years ago. We still don't know where they are today." The thought sobered him a little. He had just stumbled across a remarkable lead, but the trail was still fifteen years old.
"You'll find them. I know you will." She kissed h
is cheek and squeezed him in her embrace. He sighed and shook his head in amazement. For a while he was beginning to give up hope. This little discovery has vindicated for him all the sneaking around that he had to do, and justified all the breaking into networks that he did. He expected to find obscure bits of information, not extensive videos. But there his parents were, completely oblivious that anyone was recording video of them, working on whatever project they were working on - perhaps even the project that resulted in their disappearing! Finally he had a solid lead to continue his search. Steven looked at the equipment they were using and decided identifying that gear would be the prudent thing to do. That may shed some light on just what it was they were doing.
"Yeah. I really am going to find them." Steven was even more convinced now as his confidence level started returning. He turned to Asherah, reflexively putting an arm around her and embracing her tightly. He kissed the top of her head and they sat there soaking the moment in while he looked at the video. After a while, Asherah's closeness became more apparent to him and his chest hurt again. Could she tell that his heartbeat got faster? But he didn't mind anymore.
After a long moment he pulled back and became transfixed by her large eyes. Steven never quite noticed before, but looking into her eyes was like looking into pools of liquid moonlight. A wave of vertigo briefly washed over him. She was crying for him, happy that he was finally making progress. He smiled, tenderly wiping her tears away. She held his hand and smiled as he gently stroked her face.
"You're crying," Steven observed.
Asherah nodded. Steven instinctively kissed her wet cheek and he could tell she was blushing under her fur. "I can't tell you how happy I am," she said softly as Steven pulled back to look in her eyes again. "I've hurt with you all this time and now I am so..." She lost her train of thought.
His heart was suddenly pounding in his ears and he felt intoxicated by her closeness. She leaned forward almost imperceptibly, and without another thought Steven leaned the rest of the way, hesitating briefly, then kissed her deeply. He found it remarkable how soft her lips were. Asherah caressed the side of his face with her hand, then took a sharp breath and pulled away a little, her eyes wide as she gazed deep into his eyes. Her face filled with wonder as she shook her head. "You're real," she whispered. She touched his cheek with her hand again and gasped, her eyes wide. "You're really real."
Before Steven could respond, she kissed him again hard, holding his head with both of her hands as he instinctively wrapped his arms around her. Steven heard a noise, almost like a buzzing that seemed to permeate the air around him. He felt it coalesce around them, like an energy that filled the air with a cyclone. Then he heard something else, or rather saw something, or perhaps felt it. His senses were all getting mixed up and supercharged and it was like a river of memories and experiences were flooding in. But it was as if a whisper washed over him, softly immersing him. It was Asherah. Steven felt a tingling all over, as if electrified and he knew she was feeling similar. He experienced her experiences as well, like some sort of feedback loop. She was in his head, and his heart felt like it was going to burst. The back of his head started hurt a little, but not a bad pain. It was more of a pressure. Something seemed to pop and quite suddenly the ground below them heaved violently, breaking their kiss and leaving them both breathless, looking at each other. "Did you feel that?" Asherah asked.
"Mmm hmm." Steven felt the aftershocks reverberating through the ground that he sat on but he couldn't break his gaze from her. He was seeing her with more than his eyes now. Whispers in his head that were clearly her thoughts and experiences. It was a dizzying experience but it seemed so perfectly natural. She grinned at him and caressed his face again. Reaching up, she kissed him again. Softly, with less urgency this time. Steven felt a surge of joy coming from deep within him and he knew it was from her, mixing with his own joy. "What was that?" he asked, breathless, his eyes still closed as she nuzzled his cheek.
"That is me." Asherah put her hand on the back of his head and held him tight as the surge continued washing over him. Steven tried to say "Wow," but his lips wouldn't work right. He felt the accumulation of five years of attraction rushing through him and saw himself from her eyes over all those years and was simply stunned by it all.
They spent the rest of the afternoon in that embrace, saying nothing but strangely not needing to. For the first time, Steven felt a distinct connection with her that transcended anything he had experienced before, like a part of her was in his mind and most definitely in his heart. For a while he wandered in her memories of their time at the meadow, melding with his own memories, as if they were two eyes of the same head, both seeing from different angles but forming a single image. Vertigo washed over him again, but just as quickly there was a sudden rush of calm and contentment. She sang softly, the ballad they had worked on. It was a love ballad, and he realized that it was their ballad now.
As the sun started to wane in the sky, Steven suddenly remembered that he had to get back home. They looked at each other and he kissed her again, this time soft and short. She grinned and stood up, helping him up. She knew that he had to return and helped him as he grabbed up his laptop which had long since shut itself off, and put it in its bag. He turned and looked at her, desperately wanting to stay. He was afraid all of a sudden but couldn't tell why. He didn't want the moment to end, nor did he want to leave her.
Asherah seemed to sense his reticence and fear, and Steven could tell she knew his thoughts. "It's okay, Steven. I'm here." She put her hand over his heart, then caressed his face. "And here." Her touch soothed him. "We are part of each other now." Her lips didn't move with that last sentence but he heard it all the same. He stared at her in wonder. So many questions and so little time.
Steven smiled wistfully, not fully understanding what she was saying, but he did feel her distinct presence, like a whisper that he could just about hear, and he knew she would miss him too. He backed up a few steps, unwilling to break their gaze, then finally turned and walked out of the meadow. Her presence remained with him as he walked away and his fear melted away. He didn't even notice as the tropical plants and sun faded away to a gray dreary day and several inches of snow.
The trees closest to the meadow had lost all their snow as the tectonic disturbance had shaken them. Steven waded through several piles as he left the meadow and he shrugged into his jacket almost as a second thought. He was different, no longer Steven, but something more. He looked up at his tree house as he walked by and remembered his discovery. His parents were now a fact and his relationship with Asherah has become something more than he could have ever imagined. They had always been soul mates, the very best of friends. But now it was more. So very much more than he thought possible. He had been in parts, and now he was whole. He had trouble digesting it and felt so overwhelmed, but at the same time at perfect peace. Asherah was there with him. He closed his eyes and could feel her heartbeat distinct from his own. Vertigo hit him again and he leaned on his walking staff as it consumed him, then faded like a massive ocean swell. Life for him would no longer be the same. But at the same time, he couldn't imagine life being any different.
As Steven recovered from the vertigo he began jogging through the forest, letting its brisk, wintry energy flood him and clear his mind. As he ran, he heard her singing within his mind, a haunting song that sounded distinctly Celtic. It was a song she had sung for him often but now had a new meaning for him. Her voice filled him with peace and comfort and blended with the energy of the forest, and he found himself at a comfortable sprint. Before he knew it he was climbing up into the treetops and racing through the canopy of the forest, dodging the dislodged snow as he jumped from treetop to treetop. He felt invigorated with energy that was more than what he was accustomed to, and somehow Steven knew it was coming from Asherah, as if she was adding her own energy to him. He was at a complete loss as to how this was happening but he accepted it nonetheless and sent his own energy back to her as the tre
es lent their own strength to his flight through their canopy. Branches reached for him as much as he reached for them and physically lent their energy to him as he sprung off them into the next trees. The trees seemed to make way for him as he traveled through them, increasing his speed far beyond anything he had known before. The forest came alive in a way that he had never before experienced, even in the dead of winter. There was more to his connection to Asherah than he ever thought possible and he was determined to ask her about it tomorrow when he returned to the meadow.
Laurence stood patiently as he held his hand on the wall scanner. The scanner glowed as his palm was scanned. Automated guards manned their secure facility that was located deep within what used to be a salt mine, a plethora of weapons and sensors that eliminated human error and operated without mercy. Accidents do happen, of course. But the alternative is not acceptable given the critical nature of their mission. The scan is thorough, not just collecting palm print information, but also other biometric inputs such as the minor differences in heart beat at preset points of his hand, internal translucence readings, sweat markers, and a range of other options. If it's not his hand, it's not him. He smiled at that thought.
A heavy mechanical click intruded on his thoughts. Laurence had entered a secure and heavily fortified chamber just to get exhaustively identified and once the identification was confirmed, a heavy cylindrical door opened in front of him. As it rotated, a passage was revealed. He walked through quickly since it only stays open for a short moment before closing. Getting stuck in the door would result in maiming at best or a death sentence at worst . It will continue to close regardless of what is in the way.
Crow - The Awakening Page 11
