Zoraida Cordova - A Crash of Fate

A strange feeling sparked within Jules. He thought of the helplessness he’d felt throughout the day. Could he change that?

“We have to go,” Lejo said.

“Rising moons,” the young woman said, “and may the Force be with you.”

Jules stared as the two figures disappeared into the dark caves that snaked beneath the cenotes.

“What’s down there?” Izzy asked when they were out of sight.

“I’ve only been down there once, and I thought it was a pit,” he said, remembering waiting in the dark for someone to find him. “I suppose I was wrong.”

They stood there for a moment, listening to the sound of the breeze over water. He considered what might have happened if Calin had never abandoned his job. Would he have been sent instead of Jules? Dok never got involved in politics, as far as Jules knew. How long had Dok known about the “hermits” in the ruins? He was over two hundred years old and had seen his share of political upheaval and wars. If he wanted to stay out of it, he would have. Then again, the sooner the First Order got what it came for, the sooner the Resistance would leave. And then what? Black Spire would return to normal, or what passed for normal? Just when he thought he knew everything about the Outpost, he’d been surprised.

“We did it, Jules,” Izzy said. “We should celebrate. I’ll wire you half the credits I get for the job.”

He took her hand in his. “Dok can pay me. I’m not taking your money.”

She smirked and glanced down. “You’d make a terrible smuggler.”

“I wouldn’t say no to a celebratory drink at Oga’s. But I should wash first. I wouldn’t be the first person to show up there covered in dirt, sweat, and blood, but it’s really frowned upon.”

He started walking away from her.

“Wait, where are you going?”

Jules turned and kept walking backward, daring Izzy to follow. “The cenotes. The waters are the perfect temperature.”

“We shouldn’t go there. That’s where—”

“You scared, Garsea?”

Izzy and Jules shared a look. The entire reason she had returned to Batuu was gone, but he’d offered her a reason to stay. Part of him wished he could draw out the suns-set so he could always look at her bathed in those colors.

He kept walking, and he thanked the stars that she followed.

That was either the best idea he’d had all day or the worst. They might have delivered the parcel as they were supposed to, but when they returned to the Outpost, they’d have another problem: Delta, and perhaps even Volt. Salju would be finished with the repairs, and Izzy would need to find a place to dock for a few days.

But as Jules walked backward with that crooked smirk on his face, she knew she wasn’t going anywhere but with him. The path deeper into the ruins were was lined with crooked trees. Patches of grass grew taller amid boulders, and vines clung to jutting rock walls. At the center of it was the cenote, its blue surface dotted with leaves blown in by the wind. It felt like entering the past, and not just because of the deterioriating structures around them.

When she stood at the edge of the water and took in the crumbling stones and rock formations, she was overcome with a sense of familiarity. She had been there before. Not with Jules or her father. But with her mother. She squinted at the willowy trees that looked like they were bowing to the pool. She concentrated on the memory, tugging it closer. Her mother had loved to swim. When Izzy thought about swimming, she always remembered her father teaching her how to float, how to cut through the water. But before that, there had been her mother and these ruins. Izzy could see herself as she was then, scared of the black fish swimming. Her mother had laughed, but let her sit and play with the critters in the grass.

She smiled to herself and thought that Jules was the best tour guide in the Outpost. He’d helped her retrace her steps. She wouldn’t have done that on her own.

The cenote was illuminated in the colors of the suns-set. Tiny black fish swam at the bottom of the stone basin. If not for the ripples on the surface, she would have thought the creatures were floating through air. The water was that pristine.

Now that they were alone again, Izzy was faced with everything she’d agreed to. She was staying, for a few days at least. But it wasn’t worry or anxiety that made her buzz. It was Jules.

He stripped down to his underthings. She felt a blush creep up her face and turned toward the outcrop of trees. Thank goodness it was dark enough that he wouldn’t see how red her face was.

Jules bunched up his dirty clothes in his hands. She allowed herself to look at the rest of him. She told herself it was just skin and muscle and there was nothing extraordinary about it. But as she had done many times throughout the day, Izzy was lying to herself. The crystalline light danced across his taut muscles.

“My eyes are up here, Garsea,” he told her with a wink.

“I wasn’t—” She was getting flustered. Honestly, there were dokmas with more poise than she was displaying.

He jumped into the clear water, which was emanating a soft blue glow. Bioluminescent creatures cast a soft light that replaced the setting suns.

He splashed her, but she would not devolve to his level. He brushed water out of his eyes and treaded water a few paces from her. The fish directly below him scattered into the pockets beneath the ground.

“My mother brought me here once,” she told him. “She preferred quiet places like this. I hadn’t remembered until now.”

“Did she tell you how this was created?” he asked.

“I don’t think she knew. She wasn’t much into local history. My dad might have known.” She took off her jacket, boots, and socks, but did not get in the water yet. “Tell me.”

“My dad said that thousands of years ago, when the original people of Batuu lived here, there was a small meteorite that hit right in this spot. It created these basins, and they filled with water. It was sacred. They’re ruins now, but they could have been temples before, homes.”

“Why don’t more people come here now?”

“It’s too far from the Outpost. Besides, not many people like to swim unless it’s terribly hot.”

“But you do.”

“Of course I do. I was about seven when my friends and I thought we discovered this. I had no choice but to learn because this kid, Lu something—I don’t even remember him, really—he shoved me in. I had to either learn to swim or sink to the bottom.”

“I have this vivid memory of learning to swim when we lived on Glee Anselm. Back then it felt like my father and I were always waiting for my mother to come home from her trips.” She glanced at the stone, light reflecting off it. “After we left Batuu, we didn’t talk about our life here. It was like this unspoken agreement. Every time I thought of this place I thought about how we left. I didn’t want to feel that way again.”

“You won’t,” he said. He sounded so optimistic that she believed him.

Jules swam away, and everything inside her told her to jump in, to chase him. Why were the doubts louder than her heart, where there had been none when they kissed? She considered that it had to do with Damar. But as angry as she was with him for leaving her, she didn’t feel hurt to lose him. One day with Jules had been better than the past year with Damar.

What are you afraid of, Garsea? Those words tumbled in her head, and she weighed them. Fear was a fuel that usually set her into action. The fear of starving and winding up dead in space made her keep searching for jobs. The fear of becoming her mother had troubled her for a long time. Now that she knew more about her mother, she wanted to hold on to her memories of her. Her mother had still chosen Izzy, for as long as she was able. The fear of being alone had kept her at the academy, with Damar, and then with Ana Tolla’s crew. She feared losing Jules again, but this time she was in control of the outcome.