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‘The universe bends to project itself into the minds of those who seek. What you see is truth yet to be, as the universe bends back to reveal itself to you.’
‘I would rather be rid of this curse and not know of disasters yet to come!’ Elaine exclaimed angrily. ‘I never asked for this!’
The Praetor remained silent in her mind. She remembered, or perhaps the Praetor was projecting the image, her awareness of the hurtling asteroid that would have split the great ship in half, leaving them all dead and drifting forever among the remnants of the forgotten, mythical fifth planet. She wondered briefly what could have caused the ancient destruction of that world, but the universe did not bend forward to provide her with an answer.
‘All right, I see your point,’ Elaine admitted, sullenly. ‘So I saved the ship. Nobody even knows about that. I had to do it myself, because no one would have listened to me.’
‘I listen,’ the Praetor informed her. ‘I record all that occurs for anyone who cares to see. The University Praetor is at your disposal. Use it well during our absence. You must be ready for the Carte Blanche’s return.’
‘It will be a century before she finds her way back here,’ Elaine said, sadly. ‘She will have to overcome impossible circumstances even to manage that…’
‘That is why I accompany her to Earth, Seeker,’ the Praetor informed her.
She felt it withdraw from her mind, leaving her alone with her thoughts.
‘The first thing I’m going to ask the University Praetor after you leave,’ Elaine broadcast into the air around her, ‘is what the hell you’re talking about…’
‘Seeker?’ Elaine decided she definitely needed more information.
~~~~~
2080 a.d. - Spring
Elaine and Béla lay curled together on the long, narrow cot at Southern Depot inside a two-story brick building containing many rooms similar to theirs, having spent the last several hours waiting for Béla’s transport. Elaine’s arm hung an inch above her sister’s waist, almost touching her soft skin in the light gravitational pull.
Béla awoke to the feel of Elaine’s shielded mind. Elaine was using the Praetor from University, although it was hundreds of miles away, to help shield her mind from her older sister, so as not to overwhelm them both with her distress. She could tell Elaine hadn’t been sleeping.
"We shouldn’t leave each other like this," Béla said sadly. "We’ve always been so much closer than we are now. It hurts me to see you wall yourself away from everyone this way."
‘You’re the one who’s leaving,’ Elaine answered sullenly in her sister’s mind. ‘And I’m not ‘walled away’ from everyone; just you!’
She was beginning to lose control again, so she switched to verbal, shielding her mind once again. "Don’t you think I want to be closer to you? The only reason I’m shielded is to keep from dumping my emotions on you, okay?"
She was lying, but knew Béla would find that out soon enough. She just hoped, desperately, that she was wrong about the future on this one, very important point. If she was right, then she'd just the same as committed the murder of a sister.
Béla embraced her sister tightly as Elaine sobbed. She knew Elaine emotions were racked because of their pending separation. With the Praetor’s shielding, Elaine was protecting her from having to suffer through the emotions with her. Béla didn’t know which would have felt worse; knowing about but not being able to share Elaine’s emotions, or being overwhelmed to her very core with them.
The distant hum of the passenger carrier grew louder at it approached the Southern Depot. Elaine sat up, allowing her sister to move. She’d held her captive to her selfish emotions long enough.
"Go," Elaine told her. "Come back to me."
"I will," Béla promised.
‘I believe you,’ Béla felt inside her head.
She walked through the door to the brightly-lit station. The carrier was kicking up debris and blowing it everywhere. She turned around to say goodbye to her sister one last time, but Elaine was gone. The instant she stepped outside, she had launched herself up over the building and fled her sister, the carrier and the station, keeping the building between her and all the rest of it until she was too far away to see any of it in the distant haze.
After a time, there was dirt and scraggy grass passing beneath her, then a small copse of trees. Exhausted and heartsick, Elaine dropped down among the hardy little trees and cried herself to sleep.
~~~~~
The driving propellers had been silent for almost half an hour as the carrier drifted toward the center of the tiny hollow moon and the great ship that resided there. Béla sat quietly, still strapped to her seat. For some reason she didn’t feel like flying outside like she had during her first journey. The sudden drone of a course correction startled her.
She had been waiting anxiously for almost two years for this moment; the beginning of her journey back to Earth and her beloved Jake. She ached inside from missing him. She ached even worse for Elaine. Elaine’s mind was still shielded and Béla didn’t even know where her sister was, but knew she was somewhere far below on the vast inner surface of this suddenly alien world.
As the carrier neared the great ship, Béla finally felt Elaine’s presence in her mind. She had fallen asleep after flying herself near to exhaustion, resting in the shade of a small grove of trees. She was having a nightmare and was trapped in the image of a winged goddess being shot out of the sky and cut in half by some kind of advanced weapon. As the gruesome pieces fell, they were vaporized in a white-hot blossom of fire.
‘Peace, little sister,’ Béla sent into her mind, trying to ease her terror. ‘I promise I’ll come back to you.’
The blue-green and brown landscape surrounding the great ship vanished into darkness as the carrier entered the cargo bay. This would be Béla’s home for the next fourteen months. It would take that long to reach Deimos, then another four months to Earth after a three-week stay while they resupplied for Project Earth-fill.
Béla felt the great ship close itself in around her. In less than an hour, they would be moving toward the exit bay near Southern. Suddenly claustrophobic at the thought of being cooped up where she couldn’t fly for more than a year, she launched herself back through the closing bay doors, panicking the operator into stopping them too quickly and causing them to jam.
Béla fled her prison, flying rapidly beneath the great ship, then over the top and landing lightly on it. Balancing delicately in the light artificial gravity that leaked through the hull, she closed her eyes and expanded her mind, grasping as much of this strange, inverted world into herself as she could.
As she stood with her wings outstretched, trying to absorb as much of New Eden as possible, she felt the annoyed satisfaction of the operator deep inside the ship, as he was finally able to get the huge cargo bay doors moving again.
After a time, she felt the ‘call to quarters’. The great ship was about to get underway. Béla looked around for an entrance hatch, opened it and dropped into the ship, sealing the hatch behind her.
‘Clear,’ she sent to the Bridge Officer, who had evidently been waiting specifically for her, as the ship immediately surged forward.
The long journey home had finally begun.
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