Astra: Synchronicity (15 page)

"Will I ever see you again?"

She nodded with effort. Her forced smile made
Amii doubt her sincerity, though she wondered if there was more to
it than that. Before Nadine turned to leave, they held each other
one last time. Without another word, she grabbed her bags and
left.

The sudden solitude troubled her. The
compulsion to call Xander made her heart race every second she
failed to act on it. Nadine hadn't been gone for more than a minute
before the door chime sounded and Xander walked in.

He clenched his fists and shook them. "If I
have to spend another minute with that sodding idiot, I'll lose
it."

Amii furrowed her brow as he approached.
"Magnius?"

"Yes. He wouldn't stop asking me questions
about you."

"Why?"

"Why else, Amii…" He ran his fingers through
her hair. "Trust me, it's not your brilliant personality. I told
him to shove off repeatedly, which encouraged him more. He caught a
nap five hours ago so I had a shred of peace, but he's at it again
and I'm tired of the kafuffle."

She returned her attention to the window. The
cloud patterns had magnified and dispersed but the ship continued
to travel over the water. Tree-covered mountains began to appear in
the window. Judging by the rate of their descent, they'd land in
less than five minutes. "Have you ever been to New England
before?"

"I got my doctorate here. Feels like a
century ago."

"Why do you keep trying? After all this time,
do you ever want to give up?"

"I was blessed with a noble purpose in life,
the sort of quest it takes people a lifetime to realize." He
straightened the collar of his coat like a nobleman. "A lot of
people laughed at my dream. Even my wife had a hard time believing
an android was possible at our current level of development. But I
wanted to prove them all wrong. I've been blessed with the uncanny
gift of breathing life into the inanimate. My programming skills
today make those household robots look juvenile."

"What about everything we left on Pisa? Do
you think it was destroyed?"

Xander scratched his head dismally. "I hope
not. I stored the important gear underground so unless the PAU
hauled it away, it should be serviceable. I possess the hard data I
need to recreate my work, but it took me years to procure all the
equipment to assemble the android. The most costly part of the
project itself had been finding the best materials with which to
construct it. After all, this wasn't some mannequin I was building;
it needed to live…to breathe."

He touched the left breast of his heavy
overcoat and revealed a cylindrical metal canister in the inner
pocket. "This is all that really matters. I began with almost
enough electrum for three androids. I had to prove to the PAU that
my project was a success before they'd give me more. I probably
only have enough left for one more try. But in the name of science,
it'll have to be enough."

Without warning, he wrapped his hands around
her shoulders and pulled her in close to him. After brushing back
the hair of her right ear, he pressed his cheek to hers. "We did
it, Amii. You and me. There's a prototype android locked away
there. I had to leave it behind. Bollocks, I hope no one finds it."
He winced but the frustration faded when he looked at her. "Tell no
one. Astra isn't ready to hear the truth."

The admission struck her speechless. She had
so many questions but could not ask a single one. Such information
was dangerous and she did not want to be a liability. It had been a
miraculous achievement for him. A celebration seemed to be in order
yet felt premature. She had no idea where the future would lead
them.

"I'm not looking forward to meeting with the
President," Xander said. "I'm a bit worried it might be a bait and
switch."

"How do you mean?"

"I expect he will hand me over to the PAU for
some kind of concession on their part."

"Then why did you agree to this?"

He sighed. "I had nowhere else to go. It was
only a matter of time before the PAU found us; I always knew that.
And I've never trusted the AC. If they thought I had a functional
android, they'd take it away from me before I could blink. I guess
I'm a cynic at heart. I have a hard time believing people. But not
you. I feel like I've known you the better part of my life. It
helps that you're amazingly intelligent and there's nothing you
can't handle."

She smiled. "Nothing?"

Xander grinned in return. "Well, nothing that
I've ever run across."

She felt the
Kearsarge
touchdown and
looked outside. Chara blazed across the pristine sky, interrupted
only by thin ribbons of high-altitude ice crystals. A blanket of
snow covered the ground, though puddles on the pavement suggested
it wouldn't last for long. At least a hundred ever-changing people
strode through her field of vision, and hovercars glided through a
busy intersection beyond the throng.

There could be no doubt they'd landed in
Northampton, the capital city. An unassuming city had been
transformed over the course of a decade into a place that had been
dubbed "The City of Dreams," completed in 2265 as a tribute to
United Europe's clout and prestige. The modern architecture
impressed her casual sensibilities. Gleaming skyscrapers with
holographic mirrored windows nearly blocked out the sun for blocks
on end. Ads sprawled across them in a living display of
technological genius. The vivid colors and array of spectacular
effects dazzled her.

He pointed toward a sandy-colored building in
the distance. "See that complex across from the park? I used to
live there. It looks exactly the same as the day I left it
twenty-five years ago."

"Why did you ever leave?"

"Love. And it turned out to be a dreadful
thing to do. Don't ever let yourself be led around by your heart;
it's a recipe for disaster."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "You don't
really believe that."

He shoved his hands in his pockets. "As
usual, you're right. I haven't loved in so long I've forgotten what
it feels like. But I'm afraid the years have left me too
acrimonious to realize love even if it socked me in the face. No
matter. I have you."

"Me?"

"Yes. We all need someone we can trust.
Someone to advise us. Or just to be able to rant to. You are all of
those things to me, Amii…the greatest ally I could ever ask for.
The day you came into my life, Astra became a much more bearable
place."

The door beeped and opened to reveal a
well-built security officer. "Dr. Adams, this is security. I'm here
to escort you to the capitol building. If you'd follow me,
please."

They walked in silence and soon reached the
aft loading bay. The rear door stood open, and part of it made a
ramp to the damp ground outside. Two officers waited there to send
them off: Lieutenant Chen and Lieutenant-Commander Martinez.

The lieutenant stuck out his hand to Amii as
she approached. "It was nice meeting you, Amii. I don't know if
I'll ever see you again so…have a good one."

She shook his hand with confidence. "You too,
Sibo. Perhaps we'll meet in our dreams."

He smiled. "I hope so."

Xander put his hand on her back and led her
outside. By all accounts, New England appeared extremely
Earth-like. The seasons were balanced; the ratio of land to ocean
was similar; New England even had a single moon. The planet was
about twice as large though and slightly closer to the sun. A day
here was 35 hours, and a year lasted 333 days. To minimize
confusion most planets had a local time system and also a universal
time scale common to all of Astra, also used by the Allied
Confederacy: 24-hour days and 372-day years.

Her first taste of the real world happened on
March 1
^st
, 2310 when she stepped off the
Kearsarge
onto the cold surface of New England into the City
of Dreams. The wind whipped her hair around her face, and the two
of them glanced up toward the glistening sky. They landed in the
heart of Northampton, amongst a sea of luminous towers and
cacophonic sounds. For a few moments she felt claustrophobic but
wonder replaced the sensation. Each building stretched upward in a
jealous competition to reach heaven. The skyline of the city
included a spiral tower, the Obelisk of Peace, and Devignés
Center—the tallest building in Astra.

Without warning, she felt someone slip a coat
over her shoulders. She turned to see Magnius behind her. She
hadn't expected such kindness from anyone, adding another quirky
facet to his personality.

"Thank you."

The security officer from earlier gestured to
a transport that just pulled out of the cargo hold. His appointment
with the President…what if this really was a trap? They entered the
vehicle at the guard's behest, and Xander shuddered after he sat
down next to her. As the transport got underway, she watched him
pick his nose and wipe his hand on the leather seat while the guard
across from them curled his lips in disgust. Xander put his arm
around her shoulders, and she could feel his pulse racing regarding
his present circumstances.

A great deal of progress had been made for
psions' rights in the UE, but that didn't mean their government was
beyond reproach. They'd been criticized for the continued
aggression on Pisa and toward the PAU in general. Most progressives
wanted peace, but too many federalists were mired in the past.
Therefore, nothing ever changed without a great deal of
arm-twisting.

The UE's intelligence agency was extremely
active and effective. Most people didn't realize how close New
England had come to disaster on several occasions. If not for their
questionable tactics, the UE would have fallen at the hands of PAU
terrorists. Attacks of that magnitude were rare, yet even so, Amii
worried. Would President Scheidecker have made a deal to hand over
the scientist's head if it meant a lasting peace? That was, after
all, a reasonable thing to do.

***

Magnius stared out a window in anticipation
as the
Kearsarge
descended through the atmosphere of New
England, Chara. High-reaching cumulus clouds resembled huge spools
of colorless candyfloss. A thin layer of water vapor began to
condense on the glass, obscuring his view while the ship approached
the capital city. And yet, he paid attention to none of it, fixated
on both his past and his future as though landing here was a
culmination of his entire life.

Myriad thoughts ravaged his disorderly mind
in a cyclical pattern of angst and contentment. The prospect of
hiding in the shadowy underworld of Northampton terrified him. In
ghettos the transients weren't met with suspicion, but it would be
far from the lavish life he was accustomed to. With the cash he had
on him, he could find a cheap place and stay off the streets; in
order to survive his options dwindled to none. He hoped surviving
would be worth the hardship.

His fear of Tiyuri's wrath overshadowed the
pain of his imminent divorce. If
Viva Vega
hadn't reported
on it by now, it would be in the news by the end of the day. Soon,
every soul in Astra would discover his psionic heritage. He could
face the shame head-on or he could cower in disgrace. He wanted to
be a courageous man who didn't care what others thought of him as
he forged his path through life. Instead, his fear shackled him to
a paltry existence and he wished for an ounce of ambition to reform
him.

Yet despite his hopeless future, Amii
remained. Her likeness traipsed through his head and toyed with him
the same way she did in the mess hall. Although he hadn't seen Amii
since then, she lingered like the sweet taste of watermelon on a
summer day. Smothering her with his loneliness intensified her
grasp on him. He could still see her eyes…something about those
beautiful blues remained like they'd been burned onto his retinas
with a laser. Nadine must've been wrong; she had to be a psion.

In another few minutes the ship touched down
on the landing pad near the Capitol. A transport bearing the
Presidential seal waited nearby, which the second lady and the
other VIP passengers boarded and left in. He noticed their ship was
not alone on the landing pad. Next to the
Kearsarge
sat a
larger, newer-looking vessel named
Schenectady
. The flurry
of activity outside it drew the majority of his attention. A flock
of reporters surrounded several AC officers like they were
celebrities. He didn't know what to make of the scene.

With a heavy heart Magnius walked outside the
cargo hold. The yellow sun hung high overhead, giving the illusion
that there would be an early spring. Northampton was the windiest
major city. It kept the capital cool in the height of summer but
made for an overly long winter. As he stepped off the ship onto the
rough pavement, the chilly breeze swept through him, and he pulled
his jacket around him. He had few possessions to his name, and
fortunately his weather-beaten leather jacket would allow him to
blend in with the masses.

He spotted Amii and Xander behind him. Again
an ethereal sheen enveloped her body before the effect vanished in
the bright afternoon sunlight. His head throbbed for a moment after
it faded. This time, he almost fooled himself into thinking he'd
imagined it. Perhaps it would be best not to see her again because
Amii was just the sort of lady he'd want to romance in the wake of
his wrecked marriage.

Always a man who put chivalry before his own
needs, he took off his jacket and headed toward her. She had to be
chilled to the bone in that flimsy garment. She stood staring up at
the skyscrapers around them with wondrous glee. Magnius recalled
feeling the same way about the city's famous skyline when he'd
experienced it years ago. This was exactly how he wanted to
remember her.