by Kim Falconer
Everett knew he was about to make a deadly deal, and so did these people. They had been sterilised for a reason—ASSIST’s internal protection protocol—and if he were discovered reversing that process, his life would be suspended. Why he’d been compelled to turn his back on ASSIST—the safety, predictability and longevity they provided—to offer medical aid to the Borderlands shocked him at first until he acknowledged his feelings. It was simply a sense of hope. As he looked around, he knew that his hope had been answered—paradise on Earth. These people never had to know what else he would get in return.
He patted the case and put both hands in the air, waving his enthusiasm as well as his lack of weapons, just in case. ‘I’m Everett Kelly,’ he said, extending his hand to the woman who greeted him. ‘Dr Everett Kelly.’
‘Regina De Luth,’ she said and introduced the half-dozen adults accompanying her.
They were all dressed in brightly coloured fabric with much of their skin exposed. Their necks were draped with decorations of blue and white stones, smaller versions hanging from hooks in their ears. They were a tattooed people, as he suspected, though none of the designs he saw in this group remotely resembled the images on…he scratched his head, trying to remember something. It seemed like it was important, but it slipped away before he could grasp it. They were nothing like Jane Doe’s.
‘Are you all right, doctor?’ Regina asked.
He wiped his brow.
‘The climate takes some getting used to,’ she said.
He shook his head. ‘I’m fine. Just not expecting the heat.’
She smiled. ‘You’ll learn to appreciate it.’
They picked up his bags and guided him back the way they’d come, over a rise and down a track that led into a moist, windless jungle. Every aspect of this land was like an alien world to Everett. The scents in the air alone astounded him. They tantalised him with their contrast to the accustomed odours of tarmac, smoke and chemicals. The richness that assailed his nostrils was unrecognisable, but he revelled in it anyway. He couldn’t imagine what the food would taste like in such a place. He took off his jacket, carefully folding it over his arm. ‘How far away is it?’
‘Our home?’ Regina smiled. ‘Not far.’
The village was nestled in a sheltered valley a few hours’ hike from the abandoned airstrip. By the time they arrived, he was so disoriented he couldn’t have said which direction they’d gone.
They crossed a high arched bridge, traversing a gorge with rushing water far below. After spending over a century in a single apartment building and the skyscraper hospital complex, this experience was like a rebirth. It didn’t matter that he couldn’t find his way out. He never wanted to go back.
Regina showed him to a cottage adjacent to a large open-air building she called the healing centre. It was comfortable, organic, with breezeways and a high-beamed ceiling.
‘Are you ready to get started?’ she asked. ‘Or do you need to rest?’
A line was forming outside the clinic. All women. All in their prime. How could that be?
‘Where is your…what do you call him?’
Regina laughed, the sound like sweet wind chimes. ‘Are you asking for our shaman?’
‘Shaman, yes. Where is he?’
She laughed again. ‘I am she.’
‘I didn’t know,’ he said. He made a show of gathering items from several bags to pack in his kit. He included the cryo-pac from his jacket as well.
‘No reason why you would.’
He felt his palms sweating and he rubbed them together.
‘I was hoping you would begin with me,’ she said. ‘That way I can lead the others.’
He nodded. She was perfect. Strong, tall, healthy. Her face was full of joy and enthusiasm. She even looked like Jane Doe, with high cheekbones and brown eyes. ‘I’ll need to set up.’
‘Of course.’ Her smile was genuine, like a caress. ‘We’re very grateful you’re here, Dr Kelly,’ she said, watching him sort through his packs. ‘There hasn’t been a child born in over fifty years.’
He stared at her, his eyes narrowing. ‘How old are you?’
‘How young am I? Seventy-three.’
He frowned. He would have guessed an unassisted thirty-five at the most. She would have had no access to longevity treatments, transplants or cosmetic work. It didn’t make sense, but it had to be true. The sterilisation protocol was enacted sixty-five years ago.
‘How?’
‘That’s why you’re here, isn’t it? To learn the ways of the shaman? Our exchange?’
‘You prolong life without technology?’
‘Is that so bewildering to you?’
‘It is.’ He frowned.
‘We’ll make it familiar, then. Come. This way.’ She reached for his hand and led him to the healing centre. The afternoon light warmed his face. He paused, squinting towards the sun. ‘That’s west?’ he asked, pointing towards the light.
‘East.’ She corrected him as a parent might a small child.
He twisted around behind him, his mouth slightly open. ‘East?’
‘Yes. Come this way.’
He was about to say more, but let the matter go. There would be plenty of time to solve that riddle. It had to be a problem of language anyway, and not one of cosmology. That’s the only explanation. The words have been reversed, he thought.
If you’d like to think so, Everett.
Chills rushed through his limbs as he heard Regina’s voice in his head. He looked at her face, but she only smiled and urged him on.
EARTH—TIME: FORWARD
CHAPTER 44
Rosette stormed from the apartments, pounding down the stairs, her boots sounding like drums reverberating through the manor. She spouted profanities, her fists clenched and ready to strike. A group of apprentices backed into the wall to clear the path for her, tea trays tipping and saucers clattering.
Shall we explore the surrounds, Maudi? Get some fresh air?
‘Demons couldn’t get me there fast enough!’ She quickened her pace when she hit the ground floor. ‘I want to be as far away from here as possible, Drayco. Lead the way!’
He trotted ahead of her, tail lashing. And we are running from…?
‘Everyone! Everything!’
That’s inclusive.
‘Indeed!’ She knew her reaction was extreme even as she allowed the emotions to erupt. She was a volcano spewing lava, burning everything in her wake. She couldn’t hold back, didn’t want to try. It felt good to explode. Let them burn if they couldn’t move quickly enough.
As she passed the fountain, she broke into a run, screaming a war cry when pain shot through her ribs. What had happened there? She startled several apprentices who were sitting on the edge of the pool. The look on their faces made her chuckle, even in the midst of her aggravation. I’m having a tantrum, Drayco.
I’m glad you can see it so honestly.
She winced and screamed again. What in the demon’s pit happened to my ribs?
I think that was Everett’s doing. Cracked them trying to revive you. It’ll come good.
She ran out into the red desert plains, her body exulting in the physical exertion in spite of the ache in her chest. She wove a healing spell and the pain eased, reminding her how much she appreciated her body—and how much it had been through. When the sprint left her panting, she settled into a steady jog, Drayco loping beside her. The fire in her mind tempered and she began to reflect. ‘I didn’t see that coming.’
Nor I. What provoked you, Maudi?
‘You mean, what provoked me the most?’
That’s a start.
She thought about it. What was the huge provocation? It wasn’t like Jarrod suggested she had to conceive this minute, and she’d known all this year that the secret to his existence, the assurance of his continuation, lay in the spell she carried in her DNA. She just hadn’t put together what that meant for her. At some point the spell had to be passed on, and of course he would have bee
n upset by her brush with death.
Brush, Maudi?
Drayco was right. She’d been clinically dead for some time, no denying it. Jarrod would have been shaken. On one level, he was deeply in love with her, and on the other, he had his own survival instincts to deal with—if ‘instinct’ was the right word. In any case, she felt the tension in her shoulders ease. It wasn’t like she’d never thought about having a child in the future—a distant future.
When she and Grayson were in the islands of Rahana Iti, she’d briefly fantasised about having one with him. He’d be a great parent, with his sun in the nurturing sign of the Cobra, or Cancer as they called it here on Earth. He’d be protective, intuitive, giving. He might be open to it, at least he’d seemed like it before she’d died. What was she so afraid of?
She slowed her pace, feeling more fire drain from her body. Maybe she should go back and find him, take him with her for the hunt. They hadn’t talked and she felt like they needed to. ‘Do you know where he is, Drayco?’
In the workshop near the stables.
‘Alone?’
Students are there, chatting, watching him draw…
‘Forget it. Let’s go.’
You used to like being with people.
‘I know, Dray, but I’ve been separate now for so long.’
Kali says it will take time to adjust.
Rosette quickened her pace, fire burning in her eyes again. ‘Is everyone talking about me?’
Pretty much. Do you want to run? Kali says it’ll be good for you.
‘Blow what Kreshkali says. I’ll make that choice myself.’ Rosette felt much like she had on her first day at Treeon—lost in a strange place, overwhelmed by the unfamiliarity. Only this time there was no An’ Lawrence coming to give her a lift. She didn’t even know where her father was. She ran harder.
The Lupin comes, Drayco warned her. He offers to guide us.
‘Why would he?’ she said between gasps for air.
A few reasons. Mostly he wants to get away from something too.
‘You’re talking to Lupins now?’ She slowed her pace.
He’s talking to me. He has a nice voice.
She looked over her shoulder and spotted the young man running towards them. He was handsome, vibrant, his aura a mix of light and shade. Intriguing. ‘He’s Kali’s new apprentice, isn’t he?’
We saw him in the sewers under Half Moon Bay. Drayco stopped by her side and she rested one hand on his warm pelt; the other braced her ribs.
‘What’s he running from?’ she panted.
Kreshkali.
Rosette laughed aloud. ‘Perfect! Just the company I’m after.’ She smiled as he approached. ‘You’re the new apprentice?’ She greeted the Lupin with an outstretched palm.
‘Aye. Call me Teg,’ he said, matching her gesture.
‘Can you get us out of here?’
He cocked his head to the side and winked. ‘This way.’
She set off at a jog to match his, feeling the warmth of the sun on her shoulders and the wind in her hair. This is good, Dray.
That it is. Let’s run!
The sun was moving westward when they stopped to rest, the intense heat of the afternoon making the land feel like a cast-iron pot boiled dry. They lounged under a leafless tree, sharing Teg’s waterskin. Rosette closed her eyes and sighed. ‘I’m glad you’re here,’ she said. ‘I couldn’t face…things back there.’
‘Sometimes running away is the best choice.’
She flashed him a look, about to retort. He passed her the water; his face was soft and open. She laughed instead. ‘And it’s good to find a guide who remembered to bring refreshment.’
She’d left without a thing, not even her buck knife. She would have had to return hours ago if Teg hadn’t come along. Aside from resourcefulness, his presence comforted her. He had a calming influence. She didn’t feel like she had to talk or explain herself. With Teg, she could just be.
And he’s a demon of a hunter. Did you see how he moved, Maudi?
I did. Impressive. I can’t wait to meet him on the training ground.
They conversed more as the day wore on, mostly about the rigours of being Kreshkali’s apprentice—their common lot—and fortune. Rosette had detected the lilt in his voice when he said her name and suspected he’d fallen for her with more than a student’s admiration. She liked the idea. The dilemma it would present her mother filled her with delight. He would be hard to resist.
She stretched out her legs, leaning back on her elbows. It felt good to be in the body—an adjustment certainly, but worth the effort. The tangible world was seductive, filled with secret scents and myriad textures. She could no longer see auras as well as before, but the colours of the sky, the touch of the hot red dust beneath her hands, the feel of water in her mouth, droplets clinging to her lips, the sound of Teg’s voice, the tickle of Drayco’s whiskers on her neck—each sensation filled her with pleasure. Not so bad, having a body, eh, Dray?
Nothing bad at all, Maudi, except you have to feed it. Drayco sent her the message from a short distance away. He had a bone braced between his front paws and was gnawing at it like a child with a honey-pop.
Good advice, Drayco. But unlike you, I prefer my game cooked.
So cook it.
She looked at Teg. ‘Shall we?’ she asked.
He hadn’t mentioned his ability to follow her and the temple cat’s mental communications, probably out of politeness, but she knew when he listened in. She could feel it the same way she knew when someone else was in a dark room—like a wisp of wind in her mind. Drayco didn’t care, so why should she? It gave her a chance to practise her mind-shielding skills, something she hadn’t done while disembodied. At that time no one but Drayco could hear her and there’d been no need to filter. Now it took effort to let some thoughts through and keep others occult. She felt a little rusty. Teg, on the other hand, was very good at it.
‘There’s plenty of deadwood about for a fire. And…’ He pointed into the distance. ‘It looks like we’ll be having company. If we offer our mentor a meal, it might improve her mood.’
Rosette cringed. ‘Did you let her know where we were?’ she asked.
Teg shook his head. ‘Did you?’
‘I’ve been shielding.’
‘Me too.’
They turned as one to watch the falcon’s approach. It winged in from the direction of Temple Los Loma, making a beeline for them. When she was overhead, the black raptor spiralled down, whistling shrilly. It didn’t sound like a cheerful welcome.
‘We best offer her landing,’ Rosette said. ‘That tree’s all but rotten.’ She made no move to get up.
‘Thanks,’ Teg said out of the side of his mouth. He was standing before she saw him move, his left arm extended, his head tilted back to watch her descent. The falcon swooped down, stalling just above his head and landing on his forearm. For a moment they stared at each other, transfixed. Rosette took a deep breath. This was going to be interesting.
A force of energy cut the air, blowing her hair back from her face. She shut her eyes against the dust and when she opened them Kreshkali stood before her. ‘Since when did I have to go scouting the countryside for my apprentices? Didn’t any of you hear my calls?’
She stared at each in turn, including Drayco, who had stopped chewing. His dark orange eyes stared back. Rosette ignored the question and embraced her mother, holding her in an envelope of peace. ‘We’ve been playing with our mind-shields,’ she said, smiling at Teg.
‘Practising,’ Teg corrected quickly.
Kreshkali tilted her head. ‘And you’ve worked through the rage?’ she asked.
‘We’ve had a successful hunt,’ Rosette said. She had no intention of discussing her emotions as if she were an errant schoolgirl. ‘Are you hungry?’
Kreshkali eyed her. ‘What’s on offer?’
‘Roast rabbit,’ Teg said. ‘We were about to make a fire.’
‘Get on with it, then.’ She looked
at the lowering sun. ‘I want to be back before dark. We’ve plans to make.’ As Teg went off to gather wood, Kreshkali extended her arm, stopping Rosette from following. ‘Sit. Talk to me.’
Rosette obliged, returning to her spot in the red dust. She crossed her legs and tried to relax. ‘What?’ she asked. Her voice sounded sharp in her head. She took a deep breath and spoke again. ‘I’m fine, if that’s what’s worrying you. I just needed to get away.’ She tilted her head towards her familiar. ‘Dray too.’
Drayco had resumed working on his carcass.
Kali murmured an agreement. ‘And how’s the body feeling?’
‘Better now.’
‘Better than…?’
‘Before. It was awkward at first,’ Rosette said. She rubbed her arms. ‘It felt stiff and heavy. My ribs are cracked too, by the way. Very painful. I’m getting used to it now, adjusting. The hunt was marvellous.’ She brightened. ‘Teg’s lovely.’
‘Off topic,’ Kali said. ‘We’re talking about your body.’
‘It’s fine.’
‘Indeed it is.’
Kali stared out at the horizon as Rosette studied her profile.
‘What’s wrong, mother?’ she asked.
‘Nothing’s wrong.’
‘Okay, then what’s right?’
‘It all depends, Rosette, on how you view it.’
She touched Kali’s shoulder, looking straight at her. ‘Is this about the spat with Jarrod?’ she said in a rush. ‘I know I reacted strongly, but I had this huge wave of emotion and it had to break somewhere. He can take it, I promise. I’ll speak with him tonight. We’ll be fine.’
