“We should know one another better before you head off into the stars,” Alia says to Maria. She has been awake for about a day and the two sit outside of the IBF on a bench next to a lake. The back of the IBF is like an enclosed park and the lake has a path around it for walking that leads out into a wooded area for hiking. They were both brought here through the service entrance when they were patients in the basement. Their overseers were sure that no one else was enjoying the park when the patients of the basement occupied it, and both Alia and Maria normally saw it for the hour or so before the sunset.
Maria smiles at Alia. “Why?”
“Doesn’t it feel like we are sisters in something?” Alias says and she leans closer to Maria. “We are friends with an alien.”
“You really trust him now, after everything?”
Alia shrugs, “It seems like we run the basement now. Like Eakran is our tool to use. His plan is to help us make the world whatever we think it should be. He’s not a threat anymore.”
“So you’re ready to make the world over? I don’t know you very well, but you seem like a great person. That said, this all sounds like a lot of responsibility. Knowing an alien hasn’t exactly made things easier for me.”
Alia nods. “I know, and no, I don’t have a vision for the world, but I know that men like Eakran don’t normally listen to women like us, so when they do things that change the world, they don’t consider people like us. We can make sure they do.”
“How?”
“Eakran worships the ground you walk on. I see it. He fears you and he respects you. You can have anything you want from him.”
“He’s the same with you…” Maria starts.
“He’s guilty about me, same with Aile. You found him and you brought a ressurected Darker to him. You changed his universe. You’re the reason all of this is happening in his eyes.”
Maria shakes her head. “It sounds like a lot. I just want to go to space.”
“I’m sure you will when you ask him. But why are you going?”
Maria thinks for a moment and then she says, “It was so nice Alia. And I want to know that it’s really there.”
“And what do you do after that? When you’re deep in space, far away from the only thing you have ever known. It’s not like going to Europe, Maria. Why do you want to go? Answer that beyond just proving you’re not crazy. You’re not crazy Maria.”
The two watch the water ripple under the wind.
“How did you end up here?” Maria asks.
“I’ve been a curiosity my whole life. I never knew my parents. I don’t know if I have any relatives. Every foster parent I ever had thought I was crazy and so I was put into places like the IBF, but the motel versions, no fancy doctors with expertise. Eakran found me and my friends at the motel and the rest is history. I used to think that I was there because I wanted to be. I thought I was strong enough to will life to my whim, and things did happen the way I wanted to sometimes. Somethings are hard to take credit for. But ultimately, I’m just lucky to still be alive. Something up there is looking out for me. It feels like you’re my sister in that.”
Maria nods. “I agree with that. I can take that to space, find the secrets of the universe and bring them back to people who won’t have access to them otherwise. You heard what Eakran said about that Consortium thing. Sounds like rich people making deals with aliens and leaving average people behind.”
“That’s a purpose,” Alia says with a smile. “I wish I could go with you, I can’t imagine what you’ll see out there. But I have to find out what I can. Put some things into perspective. I used to have this vision that scared me shitless. It was all these black and brown people being herded onto spaceships all sad and I’d assumed that the aliens had come to abduct us and enslave us or something. But lately when I stare into the sun, the picture is bigger, and we’re fleeing destruction that we caused ourselves. We’re like refugees. I don’t know if its real, I’ve learned not to trust it as truth anymore, but the world isn’t what we think it is. That Consortium should worry us. Eakran is worried. They represent all of us to the rest of the universe and we don’t even know what that means.”
“We can show everyone the truth,” Maria says.
“And we will.”
They enjoy the reflection of the clouds in the lake. They move slowly. Alia can see clearly.
“Keep your eyes out for a machine that knows everything,” Alia says. “It would be made by a Bromeris. That’ll make sense if you find it.”
Maria nods and they go inside to the basement.
PRL Serials 