Foundation (37 page)

Puzzled, he returned to the staircase.

“
This way, please, sir” said the blue-haired mermaid.

“
I thought I paid for an economy ticket,” protested Trumaine.

“
First-class citizens always travel business,” she replied in a flat, final tone.

The warm smile appeared briefly on her lips like the sun on a cloudy March day.

“
This way,” she said.

The chairs in the business class were at least twice as large and comfortable as in the economy class; they were spaced out so widely a man could stretch out almost completely before touching the next row. Trumaine realized there were no corridor seats in here, only seats with a view.

The green-eyed beauty showed him to a plush corner decorated with a blue rose in a blue holder.

“
Here you are,” she said.

“
If you need anything during the flight, don’t hesitate to reach out for your buzzer.”

Her fingers pointed at the “buzzer”—no more than a shiny brass bulge in the chair armrest.

Trumaine glanced at the alabaster legs as they went back to the main hatch of the Neptune, then he loosened his tie, the collar of the shirt underneath and, with a sigh, he slumped down on his seat.

He looked out of the porthole, at the boundless stretch of the ocean that lay beyond it, then closed his eyes and fell asleep in moments.

Space was a bit like the ocean—it had no bounds. Like the ocean, it was dark and cold and forbidding, and the celestial bodies that dotted its emptiness were just like small, forgotten islands.

Earth glowed brightly against the blackness that was space, looking like a longing lover’s deep, blue eye.

A shiny object rose from the clouds, glittering in the sunlight—it was a departing spaceship.

Pushed over by massive, howling rockets, the mountain of metal ascended, barely making it against gravity, coming to the infinitude of space.

The hull of the Neptune kept growing—soon, all her portholes became visible, even the one behind which Trumaine lay, peacefully asleep. Despite the mayhem of her rockets, the ship cradled him in a padded, comfortable silence.

The spaceship kept rising until, all of a sudden, she vanished like in a deceitful mirage, leaving behind her the stretch of terrestrial space and the oblivious, slowly stirring cauldron that was Earth.

Twinkling specks of light punctured the darkness.

They grew in size and strength, becoming pulsating beacons.

Out-of-scale gas giants, planets and planetoids rolled into view, populating the cold, lost emptiness, revealing the jarring vision of an alien solar system rotating around its own sun.

The exploration of the livid harshness was repaid once and for all when, unexpectedly, a blue planet appeared.

Earth’s twin was twice as big and bright and, except for a thin and long strip of land laid across one of its meridians, it was completely covered in water. It revolved slowly, showing its lit side, a glorious day shrouded in vapors.

Sixty-some miles above Aquaria, the flimsy image of the Neptune flickered to life and became solid in moments; she thrust on, descending toward the planet. Her rockets engulfed everything in their backwash, until all was turned to a bedazzling flare of light.

Shapes emerged from the whiteness of a sunlit morning, revealing a modern hi-tech vacation house topped with a slanted roof covered with solar cells.

A channel filled with lapping water enclosed both the house and a wide patio covered in polished blue-shaded flagstones, upon which found place a couple of design deckchairs and a table.

A tanned man sat at the table, apparently having breakfast—as the light dimmed, it was clear it was Trumaine.

A grizzled stubble grew on his chin and his hair was longer than usual and wiry with salt. He had put on some weight—just a bit of healthy roundedness that looked good on him—and looked as carefree as he could possibly be.

He was now lost in the perfect oblivion of a black and thick coffee contained in a fuming cup sitting in front of him. He smelled its inebriating aroma, then took a long, deep and fulfilling sip. As he put down the cup on its saucer, it let out a silvery chink that sounded exactly like a counter bell.

As if summoned, a woman came out of the house, carrying a tray filled with the Aquarian equivalent of pancakes. She set them on the table, looking down at Trumaine.

Also tanned, Starshanna’s hair had bleached a little in the sun of the long Aquarian summer, turning the color of honey—she looked radiant and she was.

Trumaine glanced up at her, into the mysterious depths of Starshanna’s eyes ...

Yet, if this was paradise, it was still missing something; a touch of a color different from the predominant blue of Aquaria, a cheerful note that could break the pleasant sameness of a long vacation’s morning.

Starshanna was about to sit, when a buzz from the front door interrupted her. She went back into the house. When she came out again, she was holding a plastic envelope.

“
How old-fashioned—a letter!” she said amusedly.

“
A letter?”

“
It’s for you ...”

Starshanna handed the envelope to a puzzled Trumaine. He tore it, retrieving a plastic sheet covered with a fluent, thick handwriting.

He read it with a frown.

Hi, Trumaine. It’s me, Faith. Probably we won’t get any more chances to meet again, so I wanted you to know that I won’t forget you. There was one last thing I had to do. I don’t know if it was the right thing, since you told me that the past is better left behind. But I kind of hoped that, somehow, the past you thought dead, wasn’t completely gone. Not in your heart, at least.

Trumaine turned the plastic sheet around, but there wasn’t anything else on it.

“
What is it?” asked Starshanna.

“
Just greetings. From a friend ...”

Trumaine’s brow was still furrowed, he couldn’t understand that letter—what was the meaning of Faith’s words?

He put down the sheet, shaking his head.

He was about to reach out for his coffee again when, suddenly, a modulated whistle rang about.

A befuddled Starshanna and Trumaine stood slowly. They stepped to the edge of the channel, looking down at a previously unseen dolphin.

Arthur swam in circles, excitedly, frantically poking his head in and out of the water, clicking loudly.

“
What’s up now?” asked Starshanna to the dolphin.

Trumaine peered deeply into the water, trying to fathom why Arthur was acting like that.

At first, he didn’t see anything.

Then, after a while, he glimpsed a dark, quickly emerging shape. He stood back as something broke the surface with a splash:

Gasping for air, looking up with a smile at the warm Aquarian sun, Maia heaved herself out of the water.

***

Dedicated to all the people who

contributed and helped me with this project.

Thank you.

CREDENCE FOUNDATION was first developed as an original screenplay. It earned a finalist placement the same year I first submitted it, good sign that the project was in an advanced stage of development. I went through a lot of work to make it as challenging, meditative and thought-provoking as I could. I hope I have succeeded in my intent and that this book will be a satisfying read.

 

AMBUSH—the following—is being planned at the moment. I can’t say much about it. Suffice it to say that it will talk plenty about what happened to the ill-fated MINNIE-MARU. Further updates will be given in the subsequent revisions of this work—if any—and on my website:

 

http://www.worldofcredence.com

 

Happy reading.

 

(If you liked the book, even just a little, don’t forget to leave your comment!)