Dance of Life: The Belief Chronicles: Book One (Chronicles of a Planet's End)

by Tatiana Beller

  “Can you believe everything that’s happened?” Emily said.

  “I am waiting to wake up and realize it is a rather surprising dream.”

  Emily reached out and grabbed his hand. “I am sorry about Tom. At least, I now know what happened.”

  Tristan tensed and tried to hide it. Instead, he asked the most dreaded words he ever expected to say, "What happened?"

  “I am a genetic freak from the Sentinels. If I have sex, then the person dies. They burn up.” Emily’s voice broke as she said it. Suddenly tears were streaming down her face. “I loved him so much. He was the best.”

  “He was,” Tristan said.

  “I’m sorry,” Emily said.

  Tristan said nothing. He closed his eyes and thought very hard about what he just heard. It matched with the images Tristan saw on the screens. He would have thought she was making it up if it had been any other day. His last two days had been such that he could believe it. This is why Geoffrey didn't want her. The bastard. Geoffrey knew he would die. He handed Emily to Tristan so that she would kill him, or he would kill her. Problem solved. Geoffrey was a cold-hearted bastard. No wonder Emily didn't want to be near him.

  “Why did you come with me?” Tristan asked.

  "You and I are the same. We were both born to hurt people. The question is, who will die first. I don't want to kill you, but…" Emily playfully and very drunkenly touched his face. "I think you like women too much. I can't imagine you want me alive after what I did to Tom. So here we are… Two murders waiting to see who will die first."

  Emily raised her glass to Tristan. Tristan touched his glass to hers.

  “To the death,” he said.

  “To the death,” she replied.

  EB26392

  Journal 1

  Emily woke up the next morning in the hotel room, disoriented. She was on one bed, and Tristan was on the other. What a pair, Emily thought. She was definitely in a delicate situation and was also feeling hungover. Emily couldn't drink. She might end up doing things she would regret. It was true what Emily said the night before. She knew it would be terrible to kill Tristan, but not as bad as to kill Geoffrey. Geoffrey, she could never hurt him.

  She wondered what Tristan's plan would be. Would they be heading back to Los Angeles? She was aware that Geoffrey had let her go. Did he think that eventually, she would go back to him? She didn't think it was possible. She made a choice at that moment, and would not think about Geoffrey. She would not think about the gates, the planets, the strangers she'd met. Emily had to accept some money from Geoffrey until she found a job. If not, she would be stuck in Tanzania. After that, she was on her own.

  Tristan stirred in the bed next to hers. She looked over at him. He almost looked innocent asleep. He was like a demon, gorgeous and profoundly dangerous. He was like a spider knitting his web around those he wanted to destroy. He had hunter fantasies. She could take the money from Geoffrey and return to Los Angeles on her own. An airplane ride awaited her if she wanted it. It had its advantages. She could disappear into another big city in the United States. She could get a job and then go on with her life as if nothing had happened.

  Could she act like nothing had actually happened? Could she just go on knowing what she knew and be okay with it? She knew she could not. She was aware now what she was, and it couldn’t be forgotten. She also couldn’t erase the images she saw when she had crossed the first gate holding on to Tristan’s hand. It was complete destruction. She knew she couldn’t stay passive, knowing this was a possible future. What did Tristan have to do with that future? She didn't know, but she knew she had to find out.

  It was evident that her place was following Tristan. This meant making sure that Tristan believed that she wanted his company. He repulsed her. There was no denying that. Still, she was now involved in this mess, and she couldn't turn her back on everything. If she was going to stay with this man, then she was going to make the best of it. She picked up the phone and ordered room service.

  The knock on the door woke Tristan. He sat up, confused about where he was. Emily laughed.

  “Tanzania. You have just traveled to different planets. You had sex with a fish woman. What else do you need to know?” She asked as she went to open the door.

  “Don’t open it,” Tristan said.

  “Don’t be silly. I ordered breakfast. No one knows we are here that would want to hurt us. Just chill.”

  Emily opened the door, and the hotel staff brought the food into the room. Tristan was still unnerved. When the man left, Emily sat down and began to munch on a piece of bread. Tristan got out of bed, went straight into the bathroom and returned wearing the pants he'd borrowed the day before. He filled a cup with coffee and sat down next to Emily.

  “How long will it take your friend to get your passport and credit card?” Emily asked.

  “A couple of days. How long will it take Geoffrey?” Tristan replied.

  “Knowing the man, he probably already had it made and had a bank account in my name.”

  Tristan nodded, smiling.

  “What shall we do for several days in Tanzania?” Tristan asked.

  “We need to have fun. Life has been much too serious. I need to just be.”

  “I’d like to shoot something,” Tristan said.

  “Of course, you would.”

  “I’m not hiding who I am,” he said.

  “I know. Neither am I.” Emily said quietly.

  “I’ll go alone,” he said.

  “No, I’ll come with you.”

  He looked surprised but didn't say anything. By midmorning, Tristan had spoken to everyone and found someone willing to take him hunting. Emily followed rather submissively. She had already witnessed two men die at her hand. It couldn't be worse to see innocent animals die, could it? She got in the jeep willingly, and they took off. They would be staying overnight out in the safari. She didn't even have a camera or a cell phone to take one photo of her experience.

  She wondered what Geoffrey would be doing, and then thought that it wasn't really her problem. At first, the trip was rather pleasant. The road was making her jump all over, but there was something so profoundly beautiful about nature. The animals were beyond majestic. She saw giraffes and antelope. Everything about the journey was mesmerizing: the trees were thick at the bottom and then extending out in the top, and the dry grass extended as far as the distant mountains.

  The problem was that it was so beautiful she forgot why she was there. Emily got lost in its beauty and had tears running down her face. The most powerful emotion was that of home. She saw distant lands and people, yet this was her home. Not this country, Tanzania, or even the country, Africa. It was the planet. It was hers. She understood at that moment what the Sentinel had said about being a caretaker of her world. She knew she was one with the living entity that was the planet Earth and all of its inhabitants.

  Emily didn't notice the jeep stopped lost in her own ponderings. The first shot slammed her out of her mind. It felt like a knife going through her chest. She turned to see Tristan and the guide standing in the jeep, pointing their guns out at something. She stood up as if burnt and looked out next to Tristan to see where he was aiming. She saw a lone elephant separated from a nearby herd. The shot had missed. Without thinking, she jumped out of the jeep and making a sound like an insane woman, she ran towards the elephants.

  Most of the elephants ran off, but one rather large female turned towards the jeep and charged back. Emily realized she would get trampled if she stood where she was, so she ran back to the vehicle. The guide and Tristan continued to shoot. Emily stood her ground as the elephant approached her. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she wondered if she would get shot first or trampled. It didn't matter. She focused all of her energy into her stand and screamed at the top of her lungs. The elephant stopped and looked at Emily. Emily ran towards it, screaming, and the elephant took off in a different direction.

  She stood panting in the middle of the savanna
h, watching the elephant join her family. Suddenly she felt a hand on her arm and roughly turned her around.

  “What the hell were you thinking?”

  “Geoffrey?” Emily asked and threw her arms around him. She didn’t even bother to try to understand what he was doing there. He put his arms around her. She could feel his heart hammering against his chest.

  “You can’t stay here, Emily. I can’t lose you.” Geoffrey said.

  She pulled away. “This is still all about you, isn’t it?”

  Emily walked back to the jeep and sat down in the front seat quietly. She saw from her peripheral vision Geoffrey approach Tristan.

  “I didn’t do anything, Geoffrey,” Tristan said. “I even told her to stay behind. She ran at a charging elephant. That wasn’t anything to do with me.”

  “I’m coming with you,” Geoffrey said.

  “I plan on killing things,” Tristan replied.

  Geoffrey got into the jeep and sat in silence.

  “Did you follow me?” Emily asked.

  “Of course,” Geoffrey answered. “I can’t leave you alone with him.”

  “You are acting like a child,” she replied.

  He looked out the window and ignored her. Emily was angry and confused. The jeep started moving again. Tristan and the guide stood as the driver turned around and went after the elephants. As he was getting closer, another vehicle pulled up behind them. The driver said what was obviously a bad word in Swahili, and stopped the jeep also.

  "You had to come with him?" The driver barked at Geoffrey.

  Geoffrey was still staring out into the wilderness, ignoring everyone. He was making it rather clear that no one was moving him from that spot. The guide above took both guns and hid them under the seats. Majuto came around to the side of the car on the driver's side.

  "Nuru! What the hell do you think you are doing? What are the jail sentences for someone caught hunting the elephants? Do you have a permit?" Majuto retorted.

  "No, Sir," Nuru replied.

  "It is too late in the day to take you in, but you will go to the campsite two miles away, and I will follow. We shall spend the night there, and if you are nice to me, maybe I can forgive this incident. That goes for you too, Rahim." Majuto said and returned to his jeep.

  “You don’t have to listen to him, do you?” Tristan said.

  "Sadly, we must. Majuto is an important man and a government official." Rahim said and sat down, looking miserable.

  "You, Geoffrey, are an ass," Tristan said, sitting down grumpily.

  Emily smiled. Geoffrey sat as still as a stone statue looking out into the wilderness. He didn't move. His breathing was so shallow, it was almost invisible. Tristan poked him a couple of times but got no response. Tristan raised his eyebrows towards Emily. She laughed.

  "You are in love with a stiff, my friend," Tristan said.

  “I know,” she answered.

  Geoffrey looked at both of them and sighed. They arrived at the camp, and Nuru and Rahim began setting everything up. Emily got out and stretched her legs. She walked over to the two men and unloaded the packages with them. Geoffrey and Majuto were unloading the other jeep. Within an hour, they had set up several tents and a nice fire going. Nuru was cooking something over the fire. It was some kind of animal. Geoffrey looked at it with distaste and went to find the food he'd packed.

  He came back and added vegetables and grains to a pot with water. He’d even brought some spices. Emily watched him from a distance. She’d found a chair and placed it at the edge of camp where she could see out into the wilderness. Majuto came to sit next to her. He patted her hand.

  “You are reckless and stupid, but very brave.” He said.

  “Thank you?”

  He laughed, “Why do you want to be so reckless? You have such a future ahead of you.”

  “I can’t hurt anyone. I don’t want to live in a world without Geoffrey.” She answered.

  “You are reckless and stupid, but very brave. Noble and kind.” Majuto said quietly. “I am not a gatekeeper.”

  “I know,” she said.

  "My mother was a gatekeeper. My daughter was a gatekeeper. The oldest one. She was the daughter of my first wife."

  Emily said quietly, “What happened to them?”

  “The same thing that happened to all the others. The Order.”

  “The Order?” She asked.

  “I thought Geoffrey would have explained. He didn’t say anything?” Majuto asked.

  “He never says anything,” she said.

  "Hmmm…. The Order is an organization that is determined to stop interstellar travel. I don't know how they found out about the gates. Fifteen years ago, the terror began. They started killing off all the gatekeepers. Geoffrey lost a dear friend, Sofia. I lost my wife, my daughter, and my mother. I tried to protect them. It wasn't enough. My wife died protecting my daughter. Geoffrey is immune to them, of course. The Order has an agenda. They want to see humanity rot in their own stink. The gates hold hope. For us who care for the gates, they are our greatest threat." Majuto said.

  “That’s terrible. I am so sorry.” Emily held his hand.

  "Geoffrey is so crucial to us. He can't be everywhere at once, and he is now too sick to even travel beyond his world on his own. We still need him, or someone like him."

  "I can't hurt him. I don't want to be alone." She said, feeling almost childish at her statement. She felt embarrassed.

  "You will never be alone. Don't you understand? There are people spread across the galaxies, and quite a few in this one, that will always have your back. Like my home, you have places where you will always be welcomed." Majuto said, and Emily felt herself fight the tears again. It made her angry to feel herself be so weak. "Why do you follow that man, Tristan? He is…"

  "I know who he is. I saw everything he does, and I saw where he takes us. It is impossible to let him go and do what he will do. I am not sure I can hurt anyone, but I think I can make him understand that there is a better way." She said.

  "Again, I repeat myself. You are reckless and stupid, but very noble and very brave." Majuto replied. "Let Geoffrey go with you. Wherever you go, let him accompany you. You might think you have no value. You might think you are not worthy of the value you have, but we need you. The future is getting dark, and we will need you more than you could imagine."

  “I’ll consider it.” She said.

  TJ56823

  Journal 1

  The tent was hiding Tristan while he was overhearing the conversation. He'd never heard of the Order, but they sounded interesting. Almost everything they discussed meant nothing to him. There was one undeniable subtext in the conversation. To Geoffrey and to many other people, Emily was indispensable. It complicated things. They would destroy him if he hurt her.

  On the other hand, there was always a price when something had value. He pulled the crystal spiral out of his pocket. He had something to do first.

  He turned to see Geoffrey standing at a distance, also listening in on the conversation.

  “Are you done cooking?” Tristan asked.

  "Nuru said he would finish it," Geoffrey replied.

  Tristan wondered if he should mention the eavesdropping. He waited a bit to see if Geoffrey would say anything but then thought better. Geoffrey never said anything.

  “I am coming with you,” Geoffrey said.

  “What?” Tristan replied.

  “I know that Emily plans to follow you. I am coming as well. You were given something by the Sentinels. I want to see what it is and where you are planning to drop it off.” Geoffrey said.

  Tristan grudgingly handed him the crystal spiral. Geoffrey nodded, avoided touching it.

  “Put it away and keep it hidden. Handle it as little as possible. We can leave as soon as you have your passport ready.” Geoffrey said and walked away.

  “Wait! You aren’t going to take it? You aren’t going to threaten me?” Tristan called after him. “Could you tell me what it is?”
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  Geoffrey smiled and walked away.

  "Damn," Tristan said, placing the item back in his pocket.

  EB26392

  Journal 1

  Emily sat by the dying fire finishing her meal. She ended up eating Geoffrey’s vegetables because she couldn’t swallow the meat. It made her feel sick, just looking at it. She was going to end up eating like a rabbit. That wasn’t a comforting thought. She looked around the fire. Tristan was sitting opposite her and was also off in his own little world. Geoffrey was sitting with the three Tanzanian men. They were laughing. Even Geoffrey was enjoying the conversation. He looked at home in the world. It was actually rather beautiful to see him interacting.

  This was somehow his home too. He was different from the man she’d met living alone in his little house in the middle of nowhere. She could see him as someone who had lived among people for a long time. He had friends. He cared about people across the globe. Not for the first time, she wondered what it would like to be Geoffrey. It hit her that she was in the best position to know if she was willing to do what she was created to do.