by C B Williams
And instead of being impatient or resentful about her questions, Spider and Mink seemed to welcome them, and welcome the discussions, and she appreciated the developing friendship. Their friendly banter was refreshing after years of being treated as a Seer.
Grale was harder for her to connect with. He mostly kept to himself. She sensed that, like her, he was taking longer to adjust to this new life. Since she was enjoying her solitude and freedom, she decided it must be the same for Grale, so she only engaged with him if she chanced to meet him at mealtimes.
Another place she had discovered was a room full of musical instruments. It wasn’t far from the staterooms, and, surprisingly, rarely frequented. There she spent many hours reacquainting herself with the lute, picking out songs from her childhood and making up new ones.
But Perin’s favorite spot was this bench under the tree Eloch planted for her two years ago.
As his first year without Wren wound down, Perin noticed Eloch had become more and more withdrawn. It concerned her, and she began to pay regular visits to the Solar Farm to check up on him. Based on something she overheard Wren say to Eloch about how he might disappear, she decided Wren would have wanted her to be there to draw him out of himself.
She sensed the concern in the tone of Wren’s voice then. And since Perin was Eloch’s Seer, she took it upon herself to watch over him for Wren. After that first year, she began to make daily excursions to Eloch’s domain.
Every morning, after she had eaten, Perin would make her way to the Solar Farm, sit on her bench, and wait. After a while, Eloch, sensing her presence, would join her. As time went on, he would often arrive before she did, his light shining so brightly it was a beacon.
At first they said very little to each other. Or if they conversed, Perin did most of the talking. Then, with Perin’s gentle prodding, Eloch gradually began to talk about what he was learning about his power.
Within a few months, the two of them had slipped into an easy friendship, and as the friendship deepened, her Knowings and True Dreams began to be more supportive. The dreams, especially, had guided Eloch into controlling the all-consuming need he had to create. She was delighted when he had told her he no longer feared he would be devoured by that need.
Now that Wren would be waking soon, Perin was curious about how the new dynamics would play out. She understood Eloch’s devotion to Wren, but would Wren understand his friendship with Perin? Or would Wren be jealous of her?
“Good morning, Perin,” Eloch said, his deep voice interrupting her thoughts.
Perin started.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you,” he said, taking his customary place beside her.
She smiled and shook her head. “I’m fine. I didn’t notice you were there. Deep in thought,” she explained as she felt the bench shift slightly with his weight. “How are you?”
“Happy. Wren wakes up tomorrow.”
Perin smiled. “It’s been difficult, hasn’t it?”
“More long than difficult.” He looked at her. She could tell by the way his glow increased that he was studying her. “I’ve enjoyed getting to know you.”
“I’ve enjoyed it as well. And it has helped me be a better Seer for you.”
“For which I am grateful,” he said. “Your True Dreams gave me the courage to press forward, and I’ve enjoyed experimenting with what I can do.” He paused. “I think I know how to keep Wren from aging so she can remain awake.” He paused again. “You, too. Why should you age if you don’t need to?”
“Why should anybody?”
“Exactly. Then the others can remain awake as well.”
“But what about the boredom? Spider told me long flights can cause boredom and then discord among the crew.”
“Have you been bored, Perin?”
“Me? No. Everything is so new to me. I’ve been too busy learning and adjusting to ever be bored. But I’ve noticed how Grale seems more positive this morning. And dinner last night held the air of anticipation. I think we are ready to have our crew together again. If there were no Cryo sleeps, then people could get used to one another, squabble, get annoyed at people’s peculiarities, like a family who spends too much time together.”
“Hmmm,” Eloch said. “That’s something I’ve not considered. Possibly because, like you, I feel there is so much to learn about myself, how could I ever be bored? A very keen observation, Perin.”
She laughed. “Only because I’ve experienced it with my handmaidens. As a blind Seer, I was constantly with people. They were always underfoot, seeing to my every need. I had no challenges, and if there were no True Dreams for a spell, I would get bored and irritable with my maidens. I relished my solitude when I was able to find it, which wasn’t often at all.” She touched her stick. “When Spider taught me how to see with this stick, I felt truly free for the first time since I became blind.”
“You know I could make you see again, Perin.”
She was touched by his offer and smiled. “Thank you, but no,” she said gently. “What if my blindness affected my ability to be your Seer? I don’t want to take that chance.”
She touched his hand. “Let’s change the subject,” she said, clasping her hands in her lap. “What are you creating today, Eloch?”
“Butterflies. There is a need. My flowers need pollinating.”
“So you chose butterflies. What about bees? We can have honey.”
“I will consider bees, but butterflies seem easier. It’s challenging to keep my world, here, in balance,” he said. “Butterflies seemed easier to control. I already have a bird species in mind that eats caterpillars.”
Perin smiled. Listening to Eloch ramble, she realized just how contented she was now.
The cold was intense. Wren’s entire body shook uncontrollably. Her eyes shot open, but for a moment she couldn’t remember where she was.
“Welcome back,” Eloch said, easing her up to a sitting position.
“Mummph,” Wren replied, burrowing her face into his warmth. “D-does this g-get any e-easier?” she asked through chattering teeth.
Mink laughed as she checked Wren’s pulse. “Sorry, it never does,” she said. “Lie back now so we can disconnect you, Wren. Sooner you’re disconnected, sooner you can get warm.”
“Then disconnect me, please,” Wren said, allowing Eloch to help her lie down again. She smiled up at him. “You’re a sight for sore eyes,” she told him as she reached up and pulled her hood back, then noticed her coilmats were much longer. “I loved it when you were able to visit me, but this is so much better. My poor frozen brain jumbled it all together.” She touched her hair. “Apparently, my hair kept growing, even in Cryo.”
“What?” Mink exclaimed. “That’s not possible.”
Wren narrowed her eyes up at Eloch. “Did you have something to do with this?”
Eloch grinned. “I missed you.”
“He moped a lot while you were asleep,” Mink said.
Eloch nodded. “I did.”
Wren squinted at him. “Didn’t you ever hang out with the others?” She looked over at Mink, who shook her head.
“He preferred his solitude.”
Wren nodded and reached for Eloch’s hand. “I was afraid of that,” she said.
“I needed the solitude, Wren. And Perin made sure I wasn’t always alone.”
“Perin?”
Eloch nodded. “She would find me and make me talk to her.” He smiled. “I’m glad The Lady Talamh sent her to us. Her True Dreams have helped me gain better control of my power.”
Wren smiled and squeezed his hand. “That’s wonderful, Eloch. You must be relieved.”
“I am. Very.”
“I must thank Perin when I see her next.”
“You’re checked out here, Wren,” Mink stated, reading the data from her scanning wand. “Go get warm while I wake the others. Eloch insisted that you be first.”
Mink squeezed Wren’s arm and rolled her eyes, “It was like he missed you or
something. Welcome back.” She glanced at Eloch. “I’m going to wake Aiko and then Wade. Wade can help me with the Nuri, but I’d appreciate it if you can be here, too, when we wake them.”
“Of course,” Eloch said.
“Why?” Wren asked as Eloch helped her sit up. “Did something happen to Genji and Kalea?”
Mink chuckled. “You might say so. I’ll let Eloch tell you the details later, but briefly, Genji’s Nuri didn’t like the idea of Cry, and it broke out when Genji was asleep. Eloch got the Nuri stabilized. Did the same for Kalea, and we had no problems after that. However, Eloch needs to wake the Nuri after I’ve awoken Genji and Kalea.” Mink shook her head. “I still don’t understand how all that works, but it does.”
Wren looked at Eloch. “Sounds like it was pretty dramatic.”
Enoch’s deep green eyes sparkled. “You could say that.”
“I want to hear about it, but tell me while I’m getting warm. I am so cold. Ohhhhhh…” She paused and sighed when she felt the warm energy flooding her body. “Thank you.”
“All you need to do is ask,” he replied as he hoisted her out of the Cryo bed and carried her all the way to their shared stateroom. “I’ve missed holding you, Wren,” he said as he set her down.
She hugged him tight. “That’s the one good thing about Cryo. You don’t notice the passage of time. Otherwise, I would be the one who was moping. And,” she looked down at her toned body, “Grale was right. Cryo keeps you in great shape. I don’t think I’ve ever felt this fit.”
After Wren had warmed up and eaten a meal, Eloch led her to the Solar Farm. “I still feel most at home here,” he told her as they walked hand in hand. “For me, this is the true heart of the ship.”
She stood at the entrance and breathed in the rich, moist scent of growing things. “I won’t argue with you. It’s magical in here.” She looked up at Eloch. “Want to show me what’s new?”
“You know I do,” he answered with a laugh. He tugged her forward. “Come see what I’ve done with the place,” he joked.
Wren laughed and followed his lead.
They sat together on a knoll overlooking the crops. Eloch put an arm around Wren, drew her close, and fiddled affectionately with one of the coilmats that now reached to her waist. The tightness in his chest eased.
With a sigh, Wren leaned against him. “I don’t remember this hill being here before.” She straightened suddenly. “In fact, I don’t remember a lot of this landscape being here before. You’ve been busy.”
“It began with Genji’s Nuri,” he told her. “The ship’s corridors were too small for it, which added to its panic.” He glanced at her, “I had to act fast.”
She nodded. “A panicked Nuri spits fire,” Wren commented. “A panicked Nuri spitting fire in a spaceship is not a good combination.”
“Not a good combination.”
“But since we’re all still here, your fast action solved the issue of the panicked Nuri.”
His mouth quirked at the corners. “Indeed.”
“Do tell.” She shifted so she could see his face.
“I simply expanded the corridors leading to the Solar Farm so it was the only route the Nuri could take.”
“Wait. Did you say you expanded the corridors?”
“That’s what I said. And then I narrowed them again after the Nuri passed through so the only place it could go was here.”
“You herded the Nuri.”
“I herded the Nuri. And then, once it got here, I created a pig for it to hunt. The Nuri’s hunter instincts distracted it from its panic. After that, the Nuri calmed down and relaxed until Genji awoke, regained control, and shifted back into his Nuri.”
Wren absently smoothed her hand over her coilmats as she studied him. “So you can create.”
He grinned. “From the most basic materials. The pig came from the amino acids used in the protein farm.”
“And manipulate your environment.”
He nodded again, his grin widened.
“Like Entean, Spur, Longwei, and Talamh.”
“Like all the Sisters.”
“Can you make a planet?”
“I-I’m not sure, Wren. All I know is I have this constant urge to create.”
She nodded. “I knew that.”
“And when you’re not here, when you’re asleep, I feel it even more strongly.”
She looked around and studied the landscape. Really studied it, noticing the patchwork quality of natural growing things, which blended with the technology of the solar greenhouses of the Farm. She recognized the vegetation as plants she had seen on Spur, on Longwei, on Talamh, and, she suspected, there were plants from Entean as well. “So you started experimenting,” she guessed.
A butterfly landed on her hand.
“The butterfly is new, as of yesterday. Experimenting passed the time while I waited for you,” he said drily.
She snorted and looked at him. “But that’s not why you did it.”
“No. It is a need. One I can control to a certain extent, thanks to Perin’s True Dreams, but the urge is always there.”
She nodded and leaned back on her arms to gaze some more at his experiments.
“There’s more, Wren.” He took her hand.
“What’s that?”
“I can feel the ship as it moves through space, as if it was my own skin. I can sense where people are, wherever they are. I know what they’re doing.”
“Do you know what they’re thinking, too?”
Eloch shrugged. “Maybe. Possibly. But it’s not interesting to me.”
“What is interesting to you, Eloch?”
“Creating this ship. Transforming it into something more, something alive. Making it a part of myself. Expanding into the ship. Understanding it. Manipulating it. Making something that wasn’t before.”
“Ahhh.”
After a period of silence, Eloch reached out with his other hand and pulled her close. “You’re quiet. Am I frightening you?”
She curled into him and wrapped her arms around him. “No. Never. I’m trying to understand. Taking it all in.”
“I am as well,” he said. “Especially now the fear is gone.”
“So,” she said after a while. “It appears to me the Valiant has become your planet. And the more you,” she paused, “mold it? Manipulate it? Create it? the more it will take on your personality. Just like Spur. Or Entean.”
They were quiet for a while.
“I suspect there will be more and more of Entean and Longwei in my personality,” he said, stroking her back. “I feel myself battling between Entean’s gentleness and Longwei’s passion. I’ve noticed I’m more short-tempered.”
“You are a creature of Entean, Eloch. You can handle your temper.”
“I think I can, too. But there have been times over these past three years when I haven’t wanted to. Grale can be very confrontational.”
Wren snickered. “I can see how he might be annoying after a while.”
Eloch snorted. “Not the word I would have used.”
“And you can create life,” she said, getting back to the business at hand. “You made prey for the Nuri. And the butterfly. And this landscape.”
“If there is a need, it appears I can.”
“There was a need for the butterfly?”
“To pollinate the flowers. And birds now, too. To keep the butterflies in balance.”
“Birds, too? Interesting.”
“Yes.”
“Hmmm. I haven’t heard any chirpings.”
A bird chirped. Wren looked at Eloch, who smiled lazily. “Show-off,” she snickered.
He waited for Wren to absorb what he had been absorbing during the many months she was asleep.
“What about us? Not you and me, per se, but Genji, Aiko, Wade...you know, the others?”
“I think,” he said slowly, “I am beginning to feel toward them as one of the Sisters would feel toward their inhabitants. I love them. I care about them. I
wish them to thrive. I will do all within my power to maintain them.”
She nudged him, “Even Grale?”
“Even Grale,” he chuckled.
She nodded. “This shift in your focus, this must make me your Champion.”
Eloch shook his head and covered her mouth with his own. “You are so very wrong,” he told her between kisses. “Not my Champion, Wren. You are my heart. Without you, I am lost.”
“Then I must make sure you are never without me.” Wren leaned into him again. “You know, Eloch,” she said after a while, “you seem lost, a little unfocused. Not like the you I’ve known since we met.”
Eloch stirred. “I am beginning to understand why the Sisters have Champions,” he told her. “It is because Champions help Them concentrate Their attention outward. It is so simple to disappear into the making.”
“Longwei—”
“Longwei has a Champion now, and before, She had her priestesses. It’s the same thing.”
“Are you afraid of disappearing into creating? Is that what you’re telling me?”
“It’s a possibility,” he replied slowly. “I felt myself slipping into that state of mind, but Perin kept me from going there.”
“I really must thank that woman,” Wren said and lapsed into thought. “Well,” she said, sitting up. “We’ve got five years together before my next sleep. I’m pretty sure we can sort this out. For now, I want to read all the vid-messages from Mouse that have piled up. And tonight we should have a big celebration now we’re all awake and together again.” She turned to him, “Think you can manage creating some Entean Ale and Longwei Ferment?”
He grinned. “Always up for that challenge.”
“Good.” She lifted her face to his. “And I want more of this,” she said, kissing him. “A lot more.”
“I’m up for that challenge as well,” Eloch said, returning her kiss. But before it could deepen, he stilled. “The Nuri need wakening. I must help Mink.” Eloch drew Wren to her feet. “Before we go,” he said, “there’s one other thing for you to think about. I know you just woke up, but I’ve been thinking about this for the past three years. I know I can keep you young and strong, Wren. Maybe you won’t need to go into Cryo again.”
