Facsimile (27 page)

That brings up the other thing on my mind. “Abuelita,” I say, leaning against one of the building supports in what I hope is a nonchalant pose, “how do you know if you’re sure? Like in relationships, for instance.”

Grandmother wipes her hands on her work apron before turning to face me. “Like whether you should be dating Raid or that Keeling boy, you mean?”

There’s no fooling her. I don’t know why I even try. “Yes. I like them both, you see. I don’t know what to do about that.”

“Why do you have to do anything?”

“Well, I mean—sometimes I think I want to be with Raid, but then when I’m with Dace … ”

Grandmother moves close to me, until we’re standing toe-to-toe. “Anna-Maria, how old are you?”

“Seventeen. You know that.”

A little smile plays about her lips. “Yes, seventeen. Which means you have so much time to figure all this out. So much time. Years and years.” She takes hold of one of my hands. “As long as you’re honest and don’t make promises you can’t keep, why do you have to choose?”

“I don’t know. I thought … ” I stare at my boots.

Grandmother tips up my chin with one finger, forcing me to look into her eyes. “You are so young, nieta. With so much yet to learn, to experience. Now is not the time to decide. Now is the time to discover.”

I stare at her as those words register and I realize—as usual—she’s right. I don’t have to choose now. I can love more than one person, as long as I don’t promise them things like forever. If I’m fair. If I always tell them the truth.

If I’m willing to lose them if they find their “forever” before I’m ready to choose mine.

“Any more work that needs doing around here?” I push myself away from the support and roll up my sleeves.

Grandmother’s face expresses her approval better than anyone else’s words. “There’s always work that needs doing around here. Come on, let’s get to it. No time like the present.”

Raid is waiting with two solar bikes when I close up the greenhouse.

“We going somewhere?” I consider the dirt caked under my fingernails. I’m sure I look a mess—sweaty and smudged with nutrient fluid mixed with earth, my hair springing free of my braid and curling around my face.

It doesn’t matter, though. This is me.

And this is Raid, who still sports a greenish discoloration around one temple and eye. “Thought we might head out to check on the Selk,” he says, tossing me a helmet. “Told you I found a new entrance to the cavern system. Much easier access.”

“Yes, you told me.” I grab one of the bikes. “I was actually going to ask about that. But do we have time to get there and back before dark and still spend time with the Selk?”

Climbing astride the bike, Raid eyes me with interest. “If we put on some speed.”

“A race?” I fasten my helmet, leaving the visor up. Thinking of racing reminds me of Dace and how he’s rocketing away from Eco on the Augusta Ada. “Are you up for that?”

“Are you kidding?” Race flashes a grin. “Now, to make it more fun, how ’bout a little wager?”

“What kind?” I narrow my eyes.

“Oh, nothing bad.” Raid pops on his helmet and adjusts the strap. “Winner just gets to ask one favor, that’s all. That
must
be granted,” he adds, flipping down his visor and taking off.

I rev my engine and speed after him. The problem is he knows the way and I don’t. So of course he’s bound to win.

Just like he planned.

After we race over the hard, dusty ground for some time, my bike almost parallel to his, he pulls away in a wide spin, stopping by a circle of low rocks. “We’re here,” he says, after yanking off his helmet. “And I won.”

“Hardly fair and square.” I dismount and prop my bike with the kickstand. Hanging my helmet over the handlebars, I look around but see nothing that appears to be the entrance to a cave. “Where the hell are we? There’re no rock hills nearby.”

Raid smiles and motions for me to move closer to him. I walk forward until he throws out an arm to halt my progress.

“Optical illusion,” he says. “We’ve been traveling uphill so slowly, you didn’t notice the incline.” He takes my hand and walks me forward a few steps.

I’m staring down into an open well, similar to the one Dace and I found. This one is wider, with a gently inclined path that leads to a vegetation-covered pool.

“See that shadow?” Raid leads me down the path, still holding my hand. “That’s the entrance to another underground lake. Just beyond the curve of the passage.”

As we make our way down, I note the varied types of vegetation growing along the edge of the pool. More research for Dace. Or maybe, for my grandmother. I wonder if I can convince her to venture out into the wilderness to examine these plants.

“This way,” says Raid, pulling me into the darkness of the passageway.

He’s prepared, switching on a solar light he brought along. We only have to walk a few paces in the dark, though, before we step into a cavern.

This one boasts a wide, perfectly round skylight that rises above the lake like a dome. It must open directly to the surface.

“Have to be careful in the future.” Raid voices the thought running through my head. “Now we know some openings aren’t marked by any rock piles.”

“Good idea.” I reply automatically, distracted by the sheer size of this cavern and the width of the lake it encloses. It’s so large that I have to readjust my thinking. This is a lake—the other caves we’ve visited hold ponds. Attached to one side wall, a spur of rock juts into the middle of the lake like a stone finger. Several clusters of Selk lounge on this rock peninsula, while others frolic in the water.

“Come swim with me.” Raid holds out his hands.

“What about the wager?”

“This is it. This is what I want.” Raid grins. “What’d you think I’d ask for?”

I shake my head. “Not sure.” Of course, I thought he’d demand a kiss, at the very least. Swimming with the Selk never crossed my mind.

“You have a very dirty mind, Ann. Now—strip.”

I spare one thought for what I’m wearing under my jeans and jacket: a dark blue T-shirt and black underpants. I suppose that will do. I sit on a nearby rock ledge to pull off my boots and socks.

“Slow-poke.” Raid, already stripped down to his boxers and a T-shirt, darts over and reaches for my legs. “We don’t have all day,” he says, yanking off my jeans.

“Wait up,” I say, but Raid has already dashed to the lake and slid into its clear water. I walk to the edge and stare down, calculating the depth. Good enough.

Before Raid realizes what I’m doing, I jump in, grabbing my knees to my chest to create a great splash.

“Hey!” He sputters as I surface and swim up to face him. “Where’d you learn that?”

“From those old films my other grandmother brought to Eco. It’s called a cannonball, by the way.”

“Good term for it.” Raid reaches for me.

Hah, I see his game. Now he’ll try to kiss me.

But no. “Race you to those rocks,” he says, and takes off, all flashing arms and kicking legs.

I chase after him and we reach the rock peninsula at the same time. Clinging to an outcropping of stone, we turn to each other, breathing hard.

We lean in at the same moment. This kiss tastes tangy, like the mineral-laced water lapping silkily about us. Raid uses his free hand to pull me closer. Soaked as we are, our clothing molds to us, and I feel we’re pressed skin upon skin all along the length of our bodies. Raid groans softly, and I wrap my buoyant legs, light as flower petals, around his waist.

“Dangerous,” he whispers in my ear.

At that moment, something butts against my back. I pull away from Raid and look over my shoulder—into the face of one of the Selk.

“Oh, hell,” says Raid, with a strangled laugh. “Chaperones.”

Several more Selk swim up, surrounding us in a wide arc. Their bright brown eyes survey us with comical solemnity.

Friends. Above.

I’m prepared for the mental onslaught now. I nod and send my own greeting forward.
Yes, friends. Humans. From above.

The Selk use their tails to propel themselves backward, still keeping their eyes fixed on us.

Play.

I cast a surprised glance at Raid. “Did you hear that? They said … ”

“Play,” Raid finishes. He stares at me, his mouth twitching.

I giggle. “Play. They want to play.”

“So—you up for it?”

I nod and we both swim out into the circle of Selk.

We play—diving and gliding underwater, swimming in circles and figure eights as the Selk leap and spin around us. After a while the Selk drift away, some scrambling onto the rock promontory to rest, and some gliding off toward the other side of the lake.

Raid and I swim to the shore. Pulling ourselves onto the bank, we sit in silence for some time, holding hands as we watch the water creatures move about the lake.

When we rise to our feet I stride over to my other clothes, discarded in a darker spot of the cavern. I slip on my T-shirt, then hop as I tug the jeans up each leg.

Raid watches this procedure, amusement sparkling in his dark eyes. “I’d be glad to help, you know.”

“I can do it,” I say, and slip and fall on my butt.

Raid rushes to me, but I wave him away. “I’m fine. Just … ” I press my hand against the stone floor of the cavern to push myself up. Something digs into my palm. “Mierda, what’s this? Smooth for a rock.” My fingers close over the object.

Raid extends his hand. “A crystal or something?”

“Maybe. Help me up.”

Raid pulls me to my feet with one hand. I keep my fingers clenched around the object in my other palm. We walk closer to the lake, where the light is brighter. Standing close to Raid’s side, I uncurl my fingers.

In my palm lies a small, perfectly formed image of one of the Selk. A tiny sculpture, created from some gleaming white metal I can’t identify.

Raid and I look at each other. “Where did that … ?” he says, then falls silent and just strokes the little statue with the tip of one finger. “It’s beautiful.”

“Yes.” I look out over the lake. A small cluster of Selk glide near the shore. They bob in the water, watching us.

I hold out my palm. The rays falling from the skylight touch the sculpture, making it glitter like a star. I close my eyes for a moment to concentrate my thoughts.
Us? Also us?

There’s a flurry in the water. I open my eyes as the Selk draw closer, right to the edge of the lake. Their dark eyes fasten on the object shining in my palm.

The word that rings through my brain is so unexpected I almost drop the tiny sculpture. Instead, I pocket it and take Raid’s hand. Without another word we pull on our socks and shoes, gather up our jackets, and leave the cavern. Clinging to one another, we retrace our steps and quickly make our way to the solar bikes.

Raid grabs his helmet from his bike’s handlebars. “We should head back. It’s getting late. Don’t want to be caught out in the dark.” He gazes out over the barren landscape, his helmet dangling by its strap from his fingers.

“Right. Got a lot to do tomorrow. I need to sign up for my virtual u courses and Emie wants me to help her draft some petitions for the ’sphere, and there’s our regular work, of course, and … ”

“Ann,” Raid turns to me, his eyes searching my face. “Did you hear it? Did you hear what they said?”

I swallow hard. “I heard something. But it’s loco.”

Raid puts his arm around my shoulders and pulls me close. “I heard one word.”

We stare out over the landscape. The quiet, empty, dust-over-stone world of Eco. Our birth planet. Our home.

Them,
the Selk had said, when I asked who’d created the beautiful object in my pocket. Not
Us.

Them.

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the following people for their support and assistance in the creation of FACSIMILE:

My dedicated and innovative publisher – Georgia McBride and the entire team at Month9Books.

My agency – Literary Counsel. Special thanks to Fran Black.

My wonderful critique partners – Lindsey Duga, Steve Katzen, and Richard Pearson.

My fantastic family, especially my husband, Kevin Weavil.

All the authors of speculative fiction who have enchanted, enthralled, educated, and entertained me over the years. They opened my mind to worlds of wonder when I was a child, and have continued to do so throughout my life. Thanks, fellow authors, for teaching me to always consider “What if?”