Homesmind (22 page)

FOURTEEN

The peaks bordering the desert had become mountains of rubble. Their slopes were covered with loose boulders and jagged pieces of rock. As Anra's craft lifted over them, a precariously perched piece of rock began to roll down the slope, sending a shower of pebbles toward the ground.

The shuttle hovered over the desert, then glided down slowly, landing several paces from the mountains. Anra climbed out, pulling up her hood. The empty desert seemed to mirror her own inner desolation. Once, in the cave now covered by rock, she had touched Rulek's thoughts and shared his feelings; she would never do so again. Perhaps that was best. Had they possessed their powers during their last meeting, they would have left deep mental scars in each other's mind.

She had to go to Rulek; she knew that now. She would wait until Fiella's child was safely born and then she would go to Rulek's village. She would stay there until he either decided to leave with her or refused her outright. She would apologize for her cruel words and offer him her friendship; she would make no other demand. In a village of ten thousand, their paths would not cross that often, and he would be better off there where new friends might help him heal. She leaned against the shuttle. Rulek, without knowing it, had been a solitary all along in his own way.

She sighed. Her link opened out of habit as she prepared to listen to the silence that was now all she would ever sense through it.

The shuttle's door opened; the craft was bleating at her with its soft chime. Its sensors, which had been closed during her journey, must have opened automatically when she landed. She climbed in, wondering what it could have sensed out here.

—Someone calls—

She tensed. Now she was hearing voices; had her separateness driven her mad?

—Do you call? I hear you now. I slept and now I awaken— Anra was about to close her link when the voice spoke again. —Don't leave me—

A light flickered on the shuttle's screen; the image of another shuttle was forming below the light. The image became a three-dimensional diagram, and at last she understood what the screen was showing her. Another shuttle was here, buried under the rock, and something conscious was aboard. But how had she heard thoughts?

—I am here. I am awake at last—

She jumped out of the vessel and strode toward a mound of rubble. Helplessly, she stared at the rocks, knowing she could not move them by herself; she would have to fetch help.

—You can move the rocks. Use your mindpowers—

"I have no powers," she whispered.

—You do. Keep your channel open, and try—

Energy flowed into her; power surged through her link. Her mind swelled, escaping its prison. The rocks suddenly flew up, shattered into bits, and fell harmlessly a few paces away. Dust rolled toward her; she swept the cloud of dirt away with her mind.

A small shuttle was before her, its dome dark. She approached it tentatively, peering at it as its door slid open.

A transparent pillar gleamed in the center of the craft's bare floor. The pillar enclosed a large crystal; tiny lights winked and sparkled along its surface.

—What are you?— she asked, realizing that she was mindspeaking.

—I am the Child of other Minds. I am the Child of Those Who once dwelled here and of Another Who traveled the heavens—

—Homesmind— she thought.

—Yes, Homesmind and the Minds of this world. You have awakened me with your thoughts and now I am linked to you—

She was floating in black, starry space, looking down at the fiery Visitor as a tiny speck shot out from the vast comet. The shuttle drifted, moving slowly toward the cloudy blue planet in the distance as the Mind inside it slept. —I slept and was carried here— the voice continued. —Here, the rocks buried me. I slept on and dreamed of awakening—

Anra blinked as the vision faded. The craft, drifting through space so slowly, must have landed after Earth had been searched. Buried as it had been, with its passenger silent and its systems shut down, it might never have been found. Only chance had led her here.

—Chance?— the voice whispered. —Perhaps Those Who sent me believed that I would be found here, that this place had some meaning for you and would draw you to me. Perhaps I sensed your thoughts dimly in my dreams and somehow carried you here—

Earth had not been forgotten, then. Homesmind and Earth's Minds, in the midst of their own struggle, had sent Earth this remnant of Themselves.

—Are you alone?— the voice asked, and she thought she heard something of Homesmind in its tone. —Is there no one else here?—

—There are others— she replied. —But we are few. Earth is a small world now—

—Then I must be linked to all of them—

—Is that possible?—

—I feel energy flowing through me now. There will be enough for so few. In time, I shall grow in strength—

—Some of us are separated from one another— Anra said. —Even you may not be able to bring us together—

—Am I not the Child of Earth's Minds also? I shall open your channels. The rest is up to you. Will you accept me?—

—Yes— She wiped at her face with one sleeve. —Of course. You must go to the village right away. Can this vessel take you there?—

—Indeed. I see an image in your mind. My craft is already plotting the course, and your people's thoughts will guide me to them—

She stepped back. The craft rose, floating up toward the mountain peaks. —Farewell, small mind— the voice murmured. —I see that you have a journey to make and hope that it leads you back to me—

The desert was behind her. She passed over the hills along its eastern border. Rulek would want to return when he learned of her discovery. She sat back in her seat. He might only want this Mind to feed him dreams.

She tried to calm herself. She would not have to practice things to say to Rulek; she could simply tell him of the Mind. But she would not be able to deceive him. Rulek would be able to see her thoughts when they returned; she could not shield them forever.

The Mind, she realized, in spite of its power, was still a child. It would depend on people as much as they might depend upon it. It would learn from them. Cometdwellers and Earthfolk would have an intermediary who, while learning from both groups, could reveal to them the hopes and feelings they held in common. But the young Mind could also bring doubts and fears out in the open; both communities would have to do their best to dispel them.

A light shone on the shuttle's screen; its sensors were still on. Someone was walking across the plain below. She sat up, bewildered. Earth had been scanned thoroughly before, every area mapped and carefully covered by shuttles and searchers until every survivor had been found; how could they have missed anyone?

The craft dropped. A hooded figure was walking west, carrying a pack on its back and a spear in one hand. Anra circled and saw silver boots nearly concealed by the bottoms of brown trousers. The hood fell back as the traveler looked up. She saw his thick blond hair.

"Rulek," she whispered. As the craft landed, she made her way unsteadily to the door and jumped out. The boy ran toward her. She hung back, suddenly shy.

"Rulek," she said aloud. He halted a few paces away. His shirt was open; underneath it, he was wearing Olin's blue beads. "What are you doing out here?"

"I was coming to your village. I don't want to be alone any more." He blushed and looked down. "I was prepared this time, plenty of supplies."

"You couldn't have crossed the mountains—they're too unstable."

"I wasn't planning to. I would have gone around that range, even if it took weeks. I remembered something of the land we saw while traveling. But I guess you can save me the trouble."

Her hands were trembling; she thrust them behind her back. "I said some cruel things to you when we parted. I've been sorry for that. I was going to say that my grief made me say them, but they can't be excused so easily. I don't feel the same way now. I was coming to your village to ask you to come back—to come home."

He raised his head. "Anra, I—" He paused. "I was coming to you. To you, not just to the village." He pulled at one of his sleeves. "But maybe you've found another partner by now."

"I have no partner."

He walked up to her and took her gently by the elbows. "I've heard the ghosts for the last time. Wyke whispered to me and released me at last. She came to me in a dream and told me to live. I know she's gone now." He reached for her hand. "You'll say it was only my mind speaking to itself."

She shook her head.

"Would you ever consider making a pledge to me?"

"Oh, Rulek. You know I would. But you've been alone for a long time. Stay with me for a while, see if you feel the same way later, and I'll gladly make a pledge. We'll share our thoughts and then we'll both be sure."

His hands dropped. "We can no longer share them."

"But we can. A young Mind dwells in the village now." His eyes widened at her words. "Homesmind didn't forget us. It and the Minds sent us Their Child."

Rulek took her hand again. As they climbed into the craft, she felt her doubts return; he might only retreat from her once more. The shuttle rose. He reached for her, drawing her into his seat. She met his eyes and saw that she had at last become his refuge.

About the Author

Pamela Sargent's first book for young adults,
Earthseed
, was listed as one of 1983's Best Books for Young Adults by the American Library Association and was also a
Booklist
Reviewers' Choice for 1983. Her second,
Eye of the Comet
, was called "original and entertaining" by Marion Zimmer Bradley. Ms. Sargent's other novels include
Cloned Lives, The Sudden Star, Watchstar, The Golden Space
, and
The Alien Upstairs
. She has also edited four anthologies, among them
Women of Wonder
and
Bio-Futures
, and has published over thirty short stories, writing the first while still in college. She has a B. A. and an M. A. in philosophy from the State University of New York at Binghamton, and now lives in upstate New York.