“Three, with a new one under construction. Septimus is set at the edge of proximal space, here…” he opened up an area devoid of anything, just nothing and more nothing apart from a structure similar to Saturn Station, “and Hooker Station, here,” he pointed to another area, “in the Andromeda Corridor.”
She touched her finger on Septimus Station to enlarge the image, but still nothing appeared to occupy the surrounding space.
“Principal Hardy told me Saturn Station could move if necessary, can Septimus?”
“Yes, wherever it’s needed, it’s not as big as Saturn Station. Proximal space is charted and scoured for other life forms, but Earth is the only inhabited planet. Research is carried out on planets within proximal space, and Septimus is moved to the region as required. Its constitution makes it available to median space also, but we haven’t got that far yet. Our trajectories always take us past either Saturn or Hooker stations.”
“Trajectories?”
“The way we’re going or coming.”
“What are those curly shapes all over space?”
“Albemarle waves, they were discovered more than two hundred years ago. The principality ships are too large to engage magnitude in proximal space due to the interaction with A-waves causing atmospheric problems on nearby planets. A small ship, like an automatrans, can negotiate A-waves with no problems if the pilot has enough skill. If we're in threshold, or wherever space is expansive, our sensors advise us when it's safe to engage magnitude.”
He showed Alice a region of space closer to the border of threshold space.
“This is where the fourth, as yet unnamed station will be located, but it can travel at 80% S.O.L under its own power, so it will be very useful.”
Her expression told him to explain that acronym.
“Sorry, speed of light.”
She nodded, she’d discussed light speed and its peculiarities with Patrick, but in truth, much of what he told her went over her head.
“Why is Saturn Station just a hospital? Don’t you have hospitals on Earth?”
“It wasn't originally a medical facility. It was just in stationary orbit as a base for exploring Saturn—living quarters for those studying the rings and housing laboratories for scientific analysis. Entirely by accident, they found the Moses pathogens—initially benign and just a nuisance—infiltrated cytobiological studies. Catastrophically, they found their true home and evolved a destructive potential to disrupt new cells. Moses pathogens don't survive in space, so Saturn became a medical facility.”
Ryan paused for a moment; it occurred to him he might be bombarding her with information, but rather than showing signs of tiring of the conversation, she seemed wide-eyed with fascination.
“Saturn sounds like an ideal place to get better, but it’s a long way to go if you only have a cold.”
“There are doctors on Earth too. Like your aunts. They’re medical doctors, aren’t they?”
“Yes, retired now. Auntie Mary looked after families in the principality, and Auntie Jane looked after people in the Calamities. She worked on a principality ship and Saturn Station for a time, but she wasn’t military.”
He returned to his explanation on the sectors of space already explored, and pointed out the areas he’d travelled to. She found herself smiling at him as he explained, his passion for his work evident. At times, he paused and looked to her as he described a discovery or an event, confident she would find space as fascinating a place to live as he, with something new to learn and discover each day. The way he described it, it certainly seemed that way. Eventually, he shut down the registry.
“We might need to leave, Alice. Principal Katya will think we’re lost.”
“Can we do that? I mean, can anyone get lost?”
“Not really, but we’ve been at the eatery for 3 hours.”
“Oh, my goodness, I’m so sorry. All those questions. I’m such an idiot.”
Her reaction surprised him.
“Absolutely not. I seldom discuss what I do. It’s refreshing to speak to such an interested inquirer. Nothing idiotic I can assure you and nothing to apologise for.”
She relaxed.
“Thank you, Principal Ryan. You’ve been very kind and courteous today. You’re a credit to Principal Katya.”
He grinned to himself, for a second there, she sounded just like his aunt.
Chapter 14
Principal Ryan intended returning to the Significator for a few days, thus leaving a respectable interval before contacting Alice again. But after having spent time in her company, he wasn’t sure he wanted to wait to see her again. She planned to leave for home early the following morning, and he couldn’t think of any reason to ask her to delay her departure. In the end, he elected to stay on at the Tabernacle for a day or two, while he gave the matter further thought.
Ryan hoped he might get an opportunity to spend some more time with Alice, but she retired to her suite as soon as they got back to the Tabernacle to have a nap. Later, she visited Sarah's home and didn't return until dinner, but even then, her attention was taken by Statesman Mellor and Principal Katya. Ryan barely spoke two words to her all evening.
Well after midnight, he stood at his window, watching the moon—the same moon that Alice told him reflected like little steps across the ocean near her home. He sighed. Earth. Fine for a while— visiting with his parents at their chaotic house, a few days here and there with his aunt—it was pleasant enough, but after a while, he felt trapped, suffocated. And before long, that familiar need, that longing would come over him— the overwhelming desire to be out amongst the stars; they represented his true home. Since childhood, he'd gazed heavenwards, but now...? He ran his hand through his hair. Well, now he wasn't so sure. The heavens and the Earth? He felt torn, and all because of Alice.
Throwing on his shirt and slacks, he left the courtyard and rounded the main building. Music wafted from the direction of the Great Hall. Statesmen Mellor, sitting alone with his customary late-night bottle of spirits, spotted him and held up a glass in invitation. Ryan silently acknowledged thanks, throwing a questioning glance towards the library.
“It’s Alice,” he said, “she does this.”
“She did the same on the Significator.”
“Yes, I know, Principal Katya told me, but she doesn’t remember the next day. I spoke to her the first time and enjoyed a rather topical conversation concerning composition—a conversation she denies ever took place.”
Ryan took the glass from Statesman Mellor and walked over to the library door. Alice, barefoot and wearing only a nightdress, was seated at the piano. He couldn’t see her face, but instinct and prior experience told him he shouldn’t interrupt, so he returned to Statesman Mellor.
“She plays well. Chopin.”
Mellor nodded. “Yes, she does. She’s had tuition. I don’t believe she’s self-taught.”
As they lauded the merits of her ability as a pianist, the playing stopped. A moment later, Alice emerged from the library, trancelike, she ascended the stairs towards the suites, not pausing or even glancing in their direction.
The two men watched her until she was out of sight. Ryan swallowed the last of his drink and bade Statesman Mellor goodnight, leaving him to his solitude.
Alice was disappointed not to see Principal Ryan the next morning, but she had Principal Katya to herself at breakfast. Even though she’d given an account the evening before, she happily retold the story of her visit with the A’khet, the scenery and monumental hamburgers at the eatery.
Principal Katya walked to the shuttle with her to say her goodbyes.
“I hope my nephew wasn’t stuffy, Alice. He has no idea how to relax and shed protocols.”
“He was lovely, Principal Katya, very nice and polite.”
“Lovely? Well, perhaps there is hope for him yet. Embrace me, my dear.”
Alice kissed her on both cheeks.
“Do not leave it too long to visit us again, Alice. I am sorry to b
e so busy.”
Principal Katya watched as the shuttle lifted off, then looked for her nephew in Cloisters. His account of the visit to the monastery, typically less enthusiastic than Alice's, and delivered with, as expected, fewer words and more measured responses, left her certain he'd deliberately kept particulars of the encounter to himself.
She’d sensed Alice’s disappointment at not seeing Noah, and Principal Katya was prepared to give him a telling off, but she encountered Statesman Evesham, who advised her it was he who detained Principal Ryan on a matter regarding the next mission. It was at that moment her nephew emerged from Cloisters.
“Good morning Noah, you missed breakfast.”
“Good morning Aunt. I went to the kitchen earlier.”
“Alice said you were ‘lovely’ yesterday and ‘nice’. You are an imposter. No-one ever describes my nephew in such flowery language.”
“Aunt, as I told you last night, the day was pleasant. I did mean to farewell her this morning, but as you can see…” They looked together at the retreating Statesman Evesham.
“And?”
“There is no ‘and’.”
“I know all about it being a pleasant day, Noah, but what about those things you didn’t tell me. About A’khet and Alice. Details.”
He hesitated.
“I told you almost everything, Aunt.”
“Almost, Noah?”
He drew her to a sofa.
“I wanted to give further consideration to an event I witnessed,” he said, glancing around to be sure they wouldn’t be overheard. “I thought I would try to make sense of it myself before speaking to you.”
“And have you made sense of it?”
“Not really, Aunt, she called me ‘Martin’.”
“Martin? As in her uncle—Martin?”
“I assume so; it was just the once. She ran up the steps of the sanctuary—the ones that lead to the uppermost terrace—with the energy of a child. The entire episode seemed so natural," he continued. "It was as if she was recreating a scene from her past. When she reached the top, she turned, held her hat in one hand and her other arm out to me and called, ‘Come on Martin, you old slowcoach'. She didn't comment on it afterwards, only asked if I thought Alexis Langley had ever visited there.”
Alice and Alexis Langley. One person? Two different personalities? A memory like this surfacing shouldn’t be extraordinary, but Principal Katya knew from Dr Grossmith’s reports that Alice possessed no memory of Alexis. So to behave as Alexis, this development should be reassuring, particularly as it took place at the sanctuary. But Principal Katya felt oddly unreassured, and she knew those steps. Very steep for the uninitiated.
“Then the A’khet are correct.”
“It would seem so...” but he hadn’t given up all his secrets.
“There is something else, Noah?”
“Yes, Aunt—A’khet didn’t…A’khet didn’t…” he couldn’t form the phrase. A tingling sensation rose in his throat. He wanted to say A’khet didn’t address Alice as Alexis Langley at any point during their visit, but more importantly, it appeared Alice was a holder of Knowledge. He played out the words in his head, but they were lost before they ever reached his lips.
Principal Katya watched and waited; she recognised the power that robbed him momentarily of speech.
“I understand, Noah, what you saw, what you heard, was for you alone.”
She reached over and took his hand.
“I find myself fond of her, Noah.”
“I can see that Aunt,” his voice now released from the paralysis.
“And you? To go to so much trouble to be alone with her?” Principal Katya fixed him with a wily grin, but he would have none of it, at least none he was prepared to admit.
“What trouble? You sent me.”
“Oh, did I?” she said, pretending innocence. “So I did. You should do it again, and next time I will remember that I sent you.”
Alice’s disappointment at not seeing Principal Ryan before she left got swept away when she arrived home to hugs and kisses. Mary and Jane sat with her, letting her have a few mouthfuls of coffee before insisting they hear all about the ball and her time at the Tabernacle.
But first, Auntie Jane produced a welcome home gift from the parlour. On Alice’s hand, she placed a young lorikeet, grey and yellow, still with baby fluff around his chest. He cocked his head from side to side and whistled a little, then climbed up Alice’s arm and kissed her face.
“He’s hand reared, so you can teach him to speak,” Mary told her. “We thought he might be a special friend seeing as your other friends either live in space or have other work to do.”
Alice was overwhelmed.
“He’s a darling! Thank you so much!”
The little bird picked up pieces of her hair and drew them through his beak, making little pecking sounds as he went. He found her ear and babbled before going again for a strand of hair, accidentally pecking her earlobe and drawing blood.
Alice put him back on her hand and gave him a strawberry, while Jane examined the small puncture wound. It hadn’t hurt, and the incident gave the small bird his name.
“I think I shall call you Pecky,” she told the bird. He looked at her, taking the berry from his beak and squawking as loud as he could. The three women had no idea if he was approving, but it made them laugh.
After introductions to Pecky, now occupied with rocking himself to sleep on Alice’s shoulder, attention returned to the ball. The aunties were delighted it hadn’t proved so fearsome after all, and Alice showed them registry images of her standing with Patrick at the foot of the stairs.
“You look breathtaking,” Mary said. “That dress is perfect. To be honest, it makes all these others…” she pointed to the other women in the background, “…look drab and pointless,” then she pulled a mischievous face, a naughty little grin tugging the corners of her mouth.
“Auntie Mary! That’s mean. And flattering! Almost all those ladies, including the elderly ones, would have snatched Patrick away in a heartbeat!”
“He is very dashing, though,” Jane said. “Look at that uniform!”
“That’s a word I use, Jane. It really suits him,” Alice agreed. “And he’s really sweet. I understand what all the girls see in him.”
Mary and Jane exchanged looks.
“Did you spend much time with him?” Jane asked, making a poor attempt at keeping her tone casual. Alice knew a loaded question when she heard one, just as she knew the aunties harboured high hopes for her and Patrick.
“Only at the ball,” Alice said truthfully.
“Oh,” Jane said, clearly disappointed. Of the two, she was the worst actor; she’d imagined a romance blossoming in their time at the Tabernacle and hoped a revelation would be forthcoming. Mary was more pragmatic, but no less probing.
“Did anything happen?”
“Well, Patrick said he planned to take me somewhere special the day after the ball but was unexpectedly called away to work, even though he was meant to be on leave.” Alice shrugged to indicate she didn't understand the workings of the military.
“What a shame. Did he tell you where?”
“No, and I forgot to ask him when he said goodbye. I found out later though because Principal Ryan from the Significator took me instead.”
“Wasn’t he the unfriendly one?” Jane recalled Alice’s earlier descriptions about her time on the Significator.
“I thought so at first,” Alice admitted, “but yesterday was a whole different story. I can’t remember ever having to rethink a first impression to such a degree, and I’ve had to rethink a few.”
“Disappointing about Patrick though,” Jane secretly hoped he was going to be special to Alice. It might be just what she needed—a boyfriend. But for now, her interest transferred to where Alice and Principal Ryan visited. Travel had been a passion of hers.
“Oh, yes, sorry. Tibet,” Alice announced calmly, not expecting the chorus of surprise from the aunties
.
“Tibet!”
They stared at her, open-mouthed.
“Who invited you?” Mary was incredulous. This was a big deal. Ball forgot. Patrick forgot. Tibet?
“Don’t be silly Mary,” Jane said, recovering from her shock, “the A’khet invited her. They’re close with Principal Katya.”
“Yes, A’khet invited me, Principal Katya said her nephew, Principal Ryan offered to take me because Patrick had returned to duty.”
“Did they mind Principal Ryan escorting you?” The news floored Mary. An invitation from A'khet. Rare indeed.
“I don’t know. They seemed happy to see him. Is it important?”
“No,” Mary still couldn’t believe such an honour had been bestowed on Alice. “The Patrick family has an historic connection to the A’khet, so I would expect if anyone were to take you, it would be him. Of course, I have no idea about Principal Ryan’s family, apart from the A’khet knowing Principal Katya.”
“Principal Ryan didn’t give me any information about his relationship with them. We talked about lots of other things, not just the A’khet.”
“Well, we’ve never been there, Alice, few people have. Those admitted to the retreat in later life never leave. We hear it’s beautiful.”
“Staggeringly beautiful, Auntie Mary. I have never seen, or felt, anywhere like it apart from here.”
“Felt?” Jane echoed.
“I can't explain it; I had…warm feelings. The same as I have here.”
“The A’khet can do that.”
“I loved the scenery...” Alice sensed an echo of something that happened there, something involving Principal Ryan. Surreal and dreamlike, the more she tried to capture the memory, the more it slipped away.
Jane and Mary, now accustomed to Alice’s occasional descent into vagueness, also accepted it usually heralded an end to a conversation, so they decided to leave the rest of their questions until later. They stood, and Alice, her attention diverted by their movement, shook herself out of her reverie to take a stroll along the clifftop
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