Gillian Anderson - The Sound of Seas

The Standor turned and hurried forward.

“All speed to Aankhaan!” she shouted to a crew member on an open platform outside the control room.

“All speed!” a femora-sita shouted back.

His eyes settled briefly on Caitlin. “We have to warn them about the Source!”

Mikel Jasso got back in the cab of the dead truck. Sunlight scintillated brightly but evanescently on the liquefying surface of the ice sheet. It sparked, then died, flashed somewhere else, then vanished. Thousands and thousands of beads of light appeared as the thin coating of water spread.

“What is going on?” Dr. Cummins asked thickly. “Is it still that portal you opened?”

Mikel watched through the windshield. “Possibly,” he admitted. “The ice should have muted it.”

Dr. Cummins looked out at the nearest column of light. “Maybe this is what it looks like muted. These tiles—is that what’s causing this?”

“I assume they are, but—”

“But what?” Dr. Cummins hugged herself as she waited for his answer. Without power, the car was cooling very quickly.

Mikel did not seem to notice. “You’re right, I think,” he told her.

“God, if only that warmed me! What am I right about?”

“The intensity of the light is the same in all the locations, and the other tiles are still buried,” Mikel said. “This is what the muted light looks like. The question is, will it stay muted for long? The surface of the ice is melting.”

“So the tiles are burning through?” Dr. Cummins asked.

“Perhaps.”

Dr. Cummins made a sour face behind her muffler. “‘Possibly,’ ‘Perhaps,’” she said. “Is there anything we can pin down?”

“If you’ll allow me one more qualified answer, Dr. Cummins, I believe this is true: we are being held here in order to witness this.”

That caused her to pause. “Held here by whom?”

“What I witnessed in the pit was brilliance to smoke, luminescence to death,” Mikel said. “What we’re seeing on the surface is the reverse—smoke to light.”

“Which is scientifically impossible,” she said.

“As far as we know.”

“No,” Dr. Cummins insisted. “Smoke does not unburn. There has to be another explanation. I’m guessing that wasn’t smoke.”

Mikel considered the possibility. “You may be right. It could be that we’re thinking too small, too local.”

“You lost me,” Dr. Cummins said as she tried the engine again.

“It will start later, I’m sure of it,” he said.

“Glad you’re so confident. But we only have about twenty minutes until we start to lose fingers and toes.”

Mikel opened the door.

“What are you doing?” Dr. Cummins yelled.

He hopped down, splattering the truck with water. “There’s warmth out here,” he said. “Actually, it’s more than that—the air is soothing, almost comforting.”

The glaciologist eased from the truck more gingerly than her companion and turned around. “Holy crap. You’re right. Dr. Jasso, what is this?”

“If I had to guess? Rebirth,” he said.

“Of what? Of Galderkhaan? Of its people?”

He shook his head. “I don’t think so.” His eyes slowly followed the column of light into the fair blue sky. “I think it’s a lot bigger than that.”

Mikel began walking forward.

“Dr. Jasso, I wouldn’t!” Dr. Cummins said.

Mikel half turned and smiled. “It’s what I do,” he replied. “I have to know what’s there.” As he moved closer he said, “I have a connection with something on the other side. Something I have felt before.”

Less than a minute later he was inside the dome of light, invisible to Dr. Cummins, with nothing but static on the radio.

Impulsively, Standor Qala put her arm around Caitlin to steady her as the airship surged forward. Her embrace also had the effect of comforting her at a time when she suddenly felt more helpless and afraid than at any time in her life.

“You will need the tiles of the motu-varkas to return home, yes?” the officer asked.

“If they still exist,” Caitlin said. The wind felt good on her face, though it bore a frightening hint of eternity: the abyss in which they would find themselves when they reached Aankhaan. Either they would likely perish in the blast or be stranded in a dead world.

“What caused this to happen?” the Standor asked.

“Deceit, mistrust, arrogance,” she said. “I cannot tell you more.”

“Because you’re afraid I’ll interfere,” Qala said.

“It’s too late for that,” she said. “The process has already begun. I felt it before. I feel it now.”

“How is that possible? To have felt it before.”

She regarded the officer. Qala looked proud, tall, majestic in her uniform, in her command. “Where I come from, I am like a physician,” she said. “Galderkhaani tried to burn and cazh with souls in my time in order to transcend. To stop them, I had to come here… in spirit.”

“Using the tiles?”

“I believe so,” Caitlin said. She smiled. “The motu-varkas seems to like me. To want me.”

“The tiles are wise indeed,” Qala replied.

Caitlin felt a surprising response to that—a longing, a stirring, a closeness she had not felt in years.

Qala tightened her grip around Caitlin’s shoulder. “What would we find if we turned out to sea?”

“Eventually you’ll reach land, a great deal of it,” Caitlin replied. “Most of it warm, hospitable, green, with rivers and lakes filled with freshwater. Soil where you can grow things, instead of in the clouds.” She looked up. “I believe this airship could make the trip, Standor . In my time, others have.”

“You will not be there,” she said.

“I pray not,” Caitlin replied. She studied Qala. “That—that wasn’t directed at you,” she added quickly. “You’re a wonderful soul.”

Qala bent and kissed Caitlin. Caitlin kissed her back, hard. She was surprised but also grateful: until now, she hadn’t known whether the act was part of Galderkhaani life. The kiss endured long after it ended; it had not only felt natural, it felt right.

Though it isn’t my body , Caitlin reminded herself. Maybe this body is different. Except that her brain liked it too. Maybe even more.

As the airship plowed swiftly toward Aankhaan, the air became more turbulent, the skies less inviting. There was a taste of ash in the wind. While Qala went to the forward command post, Caitlin retired to the sleeping cabin to be with Jacob, who was still firmly present in Vilu’s body.

There was nothing Caitlin could do, nothing she and Jacob needed to talk about. They did what they often did, just enjoyed each other’s company. She felt a surprising calm, aware that with maybe only a short time left to them she had to enjoy it. Seated in the hammock, they made up a silly game that involved naming the vials they had seen in the physician’s rack. They ranged from Violetamins to Silversand, after which they created backstories for each substance. Ruby Pebs used to be Queen Ruby Pebbles, ruler of the Quarry Folk who was ousted by the abrasive Green Salters. Pink Wood grew in the Pink Sea that took its color from the setting sun. Caitlin savored every moment, every laugh, as though it would be the last they would ever share.

Engaged with commanding the ship, Standor Qala did not appear until the skies blackened with bloody omen. A dusty, rusty smell accompanied her entry into the cabin. Already, Caitlin could feel the pull of the tiles in the main tower as well as those in the smaller columns that were built in a line to the sea.