The Blue of Antyllus

by Michael E. Gonzales

  “She’s not coming back?”

  “No,” Le’ha said.

  “I can’t go after her right now Talme, you know that.” He looked up at Le’ha and pleaded, “Can you send someone to stop her and bring her back?”

  “This, none will do, Joe.” Le’ha said. “This is a matter of sudamine between you two. You must do it, and do it alone.”

  “When this matter with the mercenaries is over, I will go to the Fish, I will go to Vahn’Ha Poh, I will cross the eastern mountains, and I will not stop until I find her. Tell all that have heard about Nista and me. Tell them I am awake at last from my head wound and I will not rest until I find Nista.”

  ○O○

  The paste Nista had applied to Tanny’s wrist caused Tanny to experience a sort of nocturnal psychosis, vivid dreams, both real and surreal. Every night she was forced to face her many demons, and as Nista’s mother had said…she had been afraid. The biggest demon lurked in the back of her mind. It was an attitude, a perception that had existed in her family for countless generations. It was subtle to the point of invisibility, but it was pervasive and tainted everything she did, every thought she had.

  The demon was both attractive and horrid beyond any ugliness she had ever seen. It made her feel good to see herself as superior to lesser mortals. But when hit with the light of truth it fled, for fear its true nature would be revealed.

  Tanny had chased this particular demon down and cornered it. In the bright light of self-awareness, she beheld the disgusting nature of the venomous monster, and she was revolted by the sight. With great effort, she cast the filthy thing from her soul and forbid its return.

  She was a better person, a better human for this brave act. But she was, nonetheless, still human.

  She could not shake her anger at Nash for having known another woman who bore him a son. She could plainly see the flaw in this thinking; she realized how stupid it was, and she recognized her own hypocrisy ― she was no virgin. She knew it was ridiculous for her to expect Nash to have been without a life before meeting her. She tried desperately to rationalize the irrational, but she could not.

  One demon still haunted her...a green-eyed monster.

  Nash had ceased all attempts to contact her. Who could blame him? She asked herself. Tanny was sure Nash understood why she had reacted as she had, and now she was ashamed. She’d made it known that their relationship was over by her avoidance of him. But now, things were different. At a minimum she wanted to apologize for her dogmatist attitude. But now, with the realization that Nash had given up, she regretted everything.

  ○O○

  The Colony News kept reporting week after week that progress was being made in the negotiations with the mercenaries, and they had provided assurances that all the hostages were being well treated, and would be released soon.

  ○O○

  One evening, several of Tanny’s friends and colleagues, who were quite concerned for her, asked her to join them after work for dinner and a few drinks.

  Initially, she politely declined, but her friends would not take no for an answer. So, she agreed to join them at a newly opened bistro on the top floor of sector four with a marvelous view toward the east-southeast.

  The Top Four, as the club was called, was a beautiful place under a magnificent, clear dome. To most visitors, it signaled yet another stride toward normalcy. However, it only reminded Tanny of another much smaller dome she had seen.

  Dinner was delicious and the company fun. After a few drinks, even Tanny lightened up and was enjoying herself.

  One of the young women at the table did not fully appreciate the local E’meset beverage; known in New Roanoke as “Blue Yonder.” She was soon quite intoxicated. The young woman was very happy and nothing bothered her. If she had personal problems they were, at that moment, a very long way from troubling her.

  Tanny had been drinking the colony-manufactured scotch and had been warned never to mix the alcohol in the Earth beverage with the local stuff.

  She sat laughing at some inane joke and looking at a half-empty glass of Blue Yonder that the intoxicated woman was now too sleepy to pay any attention to. Tanny was contemplating downing it. What the hell, she thought to herself, it’s after one in the morning and I should be in bed anyway.

  She was about to reach for it when a woman near the edge of the dome cried out, “Hey, come look at this! The CDF and the E’mesets are leaving the city!”

  Everyone in the club rushed to the side of the dome to look outside. Four long columns of intermixed CDF in full kit, and E’meset warriors bearing Earth rifles, were marching out the gate then turning south. The columns were followed by several E’meset carts being pulled by Elkcaw—a small but powerful beast of burden used by the E’meset for farming and construction. Now, they were pulling implements of war and stores for the march, and by the size of the stores, a very long march.

  In addition to food, water, and ammo, Tanny could see a lot of medical supplies, and those jars the E’meset kept the glowing, healing algae in.

  Everyone became very upset. Tanny listened to their comments. They were all taken by surprise at this movement. Everyone seemed to know someone out there. There were friends, wives, husbands, sons, daughters, and lovers among the CDF and no one here had been given the slightest warning they were moving out.

  A woman near her said rather loudly, “All the news reports were lies, they’re going to war.”

  Someone near her replied, “It’s OPSEC.”

  “What?” another voice asked.

  “OPSEC, operational security. They kept this a secret so as not to tip off the mercs.”

  The room grew deathly quiet as everyone watched their friends and loved ones marching off to war. An age-old Earth ritual now reborn on this new world.

  “You know,” a voice in the crowd said loud enough for all to hear. “We stand a really good chance of this being the actual war to end all war here on Antyllus.”

  There was no response. Everyone was thinking the same thing to themselves: That would be okay, as long as mine comes back alive.

  Tanny watched for several minutes, then returned to her seat, the first to do so. She hoped this would, indeed, be the last war here, ever. And she was thankful that she did not know any of the CDF marching out that gate. She picked up the glass of Blue Yonder and swallowed it in one gulp.

  ○O○

  “Did you hear?” Samantha Miller asked Tanny, who was preparing slides for the microscope. “Another oxygen breathing E’meset has entered the city.”

  “Another?” Tanny asked, feigning interest. Her head was still pounding after last night.

  “Yeah, a CDF officer brought one in a few weeks ago; she was normal height, so I guess we know what was going on there.”

  “You’re being presumptuous,” Tanny said returning to her work.

  “Oh, come on, Tanny. He took her to his quarters. What do you think was going on?”

  Tanny looked up and into Samantha’s eyes for so long without speaking that Samantha became noticeably uncomfortable. “Perhaps, Sam,” Tanny said at last, “they are in love. Did that ever cross your small mind?”

  Samantha just turned on her heels and walked away.

  Across the table from Tanny, adjusting the small electron microscope was Doctor Arjun Pandava. He had, of course, heard the entire conversation. His eyes meet Tanny’s and she instantly asked, “What?” She was still angry after seeing herself in Sam’s eyes.

  “She is right, you know?” He said in his thick East Indian accent.

  “Right about what?”

  “Another O2 breathing E’meset has entered the city. Do you know what the odds are of that anomaly appearing at all in this small population? And then stop to consider the astronomical odds on two of them entering here within the stated time frame. Either the population of E’meset with this capability is far larger than we suspect, or there is another force acting here. Are you not curious? How did this aberration come to be, how d
oes it work, and why are they only now appearing here?

  “Is this ability something we could reproduce that might allow us to go out into the blue without the restriction of the confounded respirators?”

  “I don’t suspect they are going to allow us to study them, Arjun,” Tanny said.

  “More is the pity. Regardless, I think I will find this one and ask him. Do you know anyone who speaks E’meset?”

  “Yes, I do. But he’s not speaking to me.”

  ○O○

  Tanny took dinner alone again. She was sitting in the Top Four club looking up through the dome at the stars and remembering the brief view through the dome at Nash’s place. She looked down and her eyes fell on the empty chair across from her. A pain stabbed her in the heart. She lost her appetite.

  The tram taking her back to her billet passed a large window. She looked out at the E’meset village. That ceremony they perform at the end of each day was just wrapping up on top of the pyramid.

  Tanny walked from the tram stop quietly and slowly. Her PDA alerted the door of her billet to her approach, but she didn’t hear the click of the door unlocking.

  Just what I need, she said to herself.

  At the door, something on the floor caught her attention. It was a petal from a dark red flower like the ones in the bouquets Nash used to give her. She gasped. Looking up, she saw that her door was ajar. Without thinking, she burst in and shouted out, “Nash?” She’d never given Nash the code to her door but at that moment it didn’t matter.

  On the table in the kitchen sat a bouquet of blue, purple, and dark red flowers.

  “Nash!” She almost screamed his name.

  A voice came from around the corner in the living room, “No ma’am, I’m sorry, but it’s not Captain Rastaban.”

  Tanny did not recognize the voice, and so she slowly stepped toward the living room to peek inside. As she did, her eyes fell on a half-naked youth adorned in beads and arm bands and sporting a highly-decorated loin cloth. His hair was rather dark and as he stood, Tanny was shocked to see an E’meset male close to two meters tall. His skin colors were somewhat muted, and his features were soft.

  Without a trace of an accent he asked, “You’re Doctor Eltanie Austrini, I hope?”

  “Ah…yes. Who the hell are you and how did you get in here?”

  “I’m sorry, ma’am. I am Day’Ka Cansan Esat. I’m Nash Rastaban’s son.”

  Tanny dropped her satchel and her hands flew to her mouth. She staggered over to a chair and sat down.

  “I am sorry if I scared you. Locked doors are not an obstacle to me, and I just don’t think sometimes. I’m sorry.”

  Tanny’s hands were still at her mouth and her eyes were nearly as large as E’meset eyes. Her mind was a-whirl and she could think of nothing to say. The seconds ticked by.

  “May I sit down, ma’am?” Day’Ka asked.

  Tanny did not answer. Day’Ka was clearly confused and embarrassed.

  “Again, ma’am,” Day’Ka said, not knowing what else to do, “I’m sorry. I’ll go now.” He made for the door.

  “Wait!” Tanny said. “I…uhm…please, sit down.” Day’Ka returned to the chair and sat. Tanny stared at him for several seconds before she spoke again, “Please understand, your presence here comes as quite a surprise to me for several reasons. You being inside my home is first, you being Nash’s son, second, your command of English third, and…Nash told me you were a teenager.”

  “Ma’am, to respond ordinatim—that’s Latin, it means—”

  “It means in order, the order in which I asked the questions…do proceed.”

  “Well, as I said, ma’am, locks do not hinder me. At least, not Earth locks. You see, E’meset are very strong, even we half-colors.

  “I am my father’s son. I have been a secret from those here at New Roanoke. You obviously know why.

  “I speak English, French, German, Spanish, and Latin all with a slight English accent because my teacher is an Englishman. Sir Gawain says I’m gifted. Says I learn exceptionally fast.

  “And as for my age…well, being half E’meset, I have matured at a rate somewhat more advanced than my Earth counterparts.

  “But I still feel that my level of maturity has not advanced commensurate to my education. I tend to be a rather overly emotional, even childish, individual. My unwelcome and unwarranted entry into your home is an example.”

  “What did you say your name is again?” Tanny was still wide-eyed.

  “Day’Ka Cansan Esat. I’m told my mother called me Day’Ka Fahan which means little Day’Ka. Dad calls me ‘Skippy’. I have no idea why.” Day’Ka looked down and shook his head. “I’m sorry; I become rather verbose when I’m nervous.”

  “All right,” Tanny said, “let’s just take a deep breath and relax.” She did just that. “Okay, Day’Ka, you came here to see me and you brought flowers. Why?”

  “My father asked me to bring you this bouquet of ceenanin, illohtae, ka ninein E’likaia.”

  “Your father?” Tanny looked up and away as she fought back tears. “You take them back to him and tell him I don’t want them.”

  Day’Ka’s face displayed utter shock at this reaction. “Ma’am, I can’t do that.”

  “And why not?”

  “Ma’am…he’s out there, in the blue, with the CDF.”

  “What?”

  “I thought you knew?”

  “No…no. I…didn’t.”

  “But, Dad said he loved you. He told me to bring you the flowers and get to know you. I got the impression you two were halo vat.”

  Tanny’s brain turned to mush. She could think of nothing to say. She sat, her eyes staring through Day’Ka.

  “Why would he keep this from the woman he loves?” Day’Ka asked.

  “OPSEC,” Tanny said slowly. “Operational Security, to hide their intent from the enemy.”

  Tanny heard an odd sound and looked at Day’Ka as if seeing him for the first time. He had his head down and his shoulders were shaking. “Enemy?” he said through his tears.

  “Day’Ka?”

  “I’m sorry, ma’am. I just realized…my father could be killed.” With these words, he broke down and the tears fell from his eyes in great droplets.

  Tanny got up and went to him and laid her hand on his shoulder. She fought back a different kind of tear now. “Day’Ka, he is an experienced soldier. I’m sure he’ll be fine.”

  At her touch, Day’Ka reached around her waist and laid his head on her abdomen and cried like the scared little boy he was.

  Tanny lost her fight and she too began to cry. She wrapped her arms around the boy’s head, and they both allowed their fear to express itself in the only way either knew how.

  ○O○

  It was after an hour, and a cup of hot tea, before they had managed to pull themselves together.

  “Is this your first time inside New Roanoke?” Tanny asked.

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “You haven’t seen much of your father over the years, have you?”

  “Before Fau’Paut’Us, what you call the war of liberation, Dad came as much as he could to see me. He had to keep his travels a secret, of course. But he occasionally managed PCs and V-tols. Sometimes, he came on foot or I would be taken to points in between, where we’d meet and play.

  “He told me stories of my mother and of his home, Earth. He would always tell me there were good Ukse. But until Dave and Kathy, I didn’t believe him.

  “A couple of weeks ago, I got word from him to come here. His message said things had changed. He said he had a home tall enough for me, and that I could share it with him, and the woman he was going to marry.”

  Tanny put her cup and saucer down. “Day’Ka,” she swallowed hard, “Your father and I had a spat, a lover’s quarrel. It was all my fault, and I hadn’t yet apologized to him before he left. But, yes, Day’Ka. I am that woman he is going to marry.”

  “If he comes back,” the boy said softly.

&n
bsp; “Oh, Day’Ka, don’t even say that! He’s coming back; he’s got to come back!”

  Day’Ka reached across the coffee table and took Tanny’s hand. “Will you pray with me for him? Pray to Lu’aya?”

  “I only pray to the one God, the Creator.”

  “Ms. Austrini, Lu’aya is not a name ― it is a title. We do not know a name. The title means the Creator of all things. I suspect we both worship the same God.”

  Tanny nodded. Day’Ka got on his knees and Tanny did, also.

  “How do you pray?” Tanny asked.

  Day’Ka held his arms out and said to Tanny, “Repeat my words. Voy Huve’En Lu’aya. Valo ah wha mee as may sudamine Nash Rastaban—”

  They prayed for fifteen minutes. Each word Tanny spoke seemed easier to say and more sincere than the last until, at the end, tears were once again streaming down her face. She did not understand the words, but knew they were praying for Lu’aya to watch after Nash.

  Then as they rose, Day’Ka took her hands in his. “I will translate an ancient E’meset song for you now.” He paused and closed his large eyes. Tanny listened, and as she did, she was awestruck.

  “Lu’aya watches and provides. Lu’aya leads me on safe paths to soft blue fields and cool waters and gives me calm. When I find myself in the shadow of the black mountain, I will find courage through Lu’aya, who walks with me.”

  When Day’Ka opened his eyes Tanny asked, “Where did you learn that?”

  “Ms. Austrini, it is known to all E’meset, it is the twenty-third song written by the ancient Chief, Sallow Ahmahn.”

  “Day’Ka, from now on, you call me Tanny. Where are you staying?”

  “I am E’meset, there is always a home for me in an E’meset village. I will go outside and find—”

  “No. We’re almost family. You will stay here. Though…I can’t see where you will sleep. You must be, what, six foot four?”

  Day’Ka smiled. “One point nine-five meters. I will only require a place to stretch out. We E’meset do not have beds as you do. In our homes, fresh Kalas grass is used as a pad upon which to sleep.”