Shared Skies (10 page)

Tables were set out around the room. Each
table was dedicated to a specific subject, all manned by students.
They were approached by a short girl about Gaiah’s age. The boots
she was wearing brought her almost to Gaiah’s height. She gave them
a big smile. “Welcome to our school. We’re serving tea and coffee
over here, if you’d like some?” Her skin-tight jeans and a fitted
jacket showed off a perfect figure, and her halo of brown curls
bounced around her face as she led them across the room to a long
trestle table.

Gaiah looked at the usual paraphernalia of a
school event. Urns of hot water, pots of coffee, colossal jugs of
milk, plastic spoons, and of course, plates of boring biscuits.

She immediately decided she didn't want
anything. The girl grinned and said, “They try to get the students
to run these open days. They feel...” She put out a soft white hand
and held down one red tipped finger. “A. it’s good for us to have
the responsibility, and B,” a second finger was moved down,
“newcomers are more relaxed and likely to ask questions if they are
talking to people their own age.”

Gaiah smiled. “Is it and do they?”

“
Absolutely not! No one in
their right mind wants to be here the Sunday before school starts.
My mother met the principal in the supermarket and volunteered me
for it. And as for the new people starting, well, there’s rarely
more than a dozen or so, and I’m sure they don’t want to be here
either. It’s just that all the adults think it’s a wonderful,
friendly, inclusive, break-the-ice sort of thing.”

Gaiah laughed. “God! It’s as if they've all
forgotten that the whole idea of school is to go as little as you
can and get out as soon as possible. There’s not much of a turn out
anyway, is there?”

“
Well, apart from the fact
that no one wants to come to an open day anyway, most people are
out on a search party for three twelve-year-olds who went missing
yesterday.”

“
Oh my God! That’s awful,
three of them?”

“
Oh, no one’s panicking
too much. They’ve done it before. Once, they slept overnight in the
local supermarket, ate their way through a fifty quid’s worth of
sweets. God knows what they’re up to now.”

Alasdair and Kaley had moved to another
table and were admiring a year ten project on recycling–a table
full of jewelry made from household rubbish. “Gaiah, look at this.”
they called.

Gaiah smiled. “See you tomorrow?”

The girl grinned back. “Yup, first day
always starts at eleven with assembly and we have short classes, so
it’s not too bad. See ya.”

Gaiah joined her grandparents. They strolled
around the hall looking at the projects and talking to teachers and
students. Gaiah also kept her eye on the door just in case either
of those two blokes appeared. Though really, neither of them had
seemed like the volunteer type.

They stopped at a long table; a year twelve
project on the nearby Craigphadraig Woods. Gaiah was intrigued by
the photos and models of the Pictish fort, which lay at the top of
the hill in the centre of the woods. It was an arena, really. A
flattened hilltop slightly hollowed with steep embankments. Tall
trees stood sentry-like at intervals around the perimeter and the
entrance was marked by a thicket at either side. Gaiah leant
forward. “Look at these weird stones, they look melted.”

The tall girl manning the table leant
forward, pushing her glasses back up her nose. “Yes, we've had
loads of scientists here, trying to recreate the conditions that
could have done this, with no success. It's really cool, and it's
here on our doorstep.”

Kaley looked at her watch and muttered to
Gaiah, “Right. I think we've put in enough of an appearance. I know
we haven’t seen Mrs. Patterson, the principal, but there’s a lot
more we want to fit in today. I think we can go.”

Gaiah had no objections to that. She looked
around for the friendly girl she'd been talking to and saw her
still serving teas. She waved at her, and followed her grandparents
back to the car.

Gaiah’s plans for the rest of the day
included doing absolutely nothing, feet up, a fire, and a long chat
with her family. That had such a good ring to it.

However, on the way home, Kaley revealed
very different plans.

Her eyes were serious and her normally
smiling face was tense.“We think the best thing to do is shift to
Gaiana now. We can meet the Ten and they will tell you all you need
to know.”

“
The Ten?” Gaiah looked at
her blankly.

“
Yes.” Alasdair answered.
“Gaianans are loosely grouped into ten clans. People change clans
several times in their life, if they marry or move jobs, or
whatever. Every ten years, each clan elects a leader and they rule
for ten years. When I say rule, I just mean that mostly they do the
Earthways business decisions and things. Gaiana pretty much runs
itself, but the Ten are the ultimate decision makers in times of
trouble, like now.”

They reached the cottage
and Gaiah slowly got out of the car. She wasn’t at all sure how she
felt about this idea of meeting more Gaianans. Moving this whole
thing outside her grandparents was making it horribly real. She
knew she was dawdling as she went to the loo, took off her coat,
and re-made her bed. Her brain was carefully trying to avoid the
thought that she was about to travel through other dimensions to
her home world.
I’m not sure I’m up for
this, will it hurt? Hardly–they do it all the time. What if I get
lost? Oh, God, I feel sick.
She was just
starting to tidy her wardrobe when Kaley called her.

“
For Power’s sake, Gaiah.
We have no time. Come on!”

Gaiah walked on leaden legs into the
kitchen. Her index finger tasted of blood as she pulled off slivers
of nail down into the cuticle bed. She wished this could be put off
a while. Kaley looked at her. “Sorry, but we really have to rush,
my dear.”

Gaiah sighed, “Right, I’ll just get my
jacket.”

Alasdair and Kaley’s burst of laughter
startled her.

“
Dimensions, Gaiah,
dimensions! This house is our door. Give me your hand.”

As Gaiah reluctantly took her grandmother’s
hand, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She shivered as
Alasdair took her other hand. She exhaled noisily. Right! She was
ready and braced, to be spun, twisted, whatever, through the
dimensions.

“
Hurry up Gaiah. Follow
me.” Kaley tugged at Gaiah's arm.

What the..?
Gaiah opened her eyes. She had felt nothing, no
time had passed and yet, here they were. Standing in the middle of
a cavernous hall. It was as if someone had taken Paddington
station, tripled its size, polished all the glass brilliantly and
shone a diffused Mediterranean sun through it. Figures moving at
the far end didn't take any notice of their arrival.

“
We won’t change to
Gaianan clothes. We won’t be here long enough.” Kaley gestured to a
long wall, lined with cubicles and shelves of clothes. She turned
to hurry Gaiah on. “Oh Powers! Look at you. In all the confusion, I
forgot I’d be seeing you in your Gaianan form. You are absolutely
beautiful.”

Gaiah had just noticed the same thing about
her grandparents. They were the same, but different. Longer,
more…flowy. Not transparent, but ethereal and their blue eyes were
almost iridescent. She moved towards them as if she were walking on
air. It required no effort at all. Looking down at herself, she saw
that she too was long and elegant. She held her hands out. They
were longer, softer and more… flowy–that was the only word.
However, her nails were still chewed and ragged. At that moment she
made a firm decision never to bite them again. They looked gross on
her elegant Gaianan hands.

Her grandparents embraced her with tears in
their eyes.“Welcome home, Gaiah.”

Chapter Eight

“
We’ll go straight through
to the conference hall and meet the others. They already know we’re
here.” Alasdair waved at a pad on the wall, and a tall door, set
seamlessly into it, slid open. On the other side was a huge, high
chamber.

Gaiah stared. Alternating panels of carved
wood and coloured glass were held together by thin, arcing struts
of gleaming metal. But it was the small group of people standing
around an enormous table that demanded her attention.

Their clothes, a kaleidoscopic intensity of
colour, were almost overwhelming. They all wore trousers and tunics
in a soft, fluid material. As she stepped into the room, the low
buzz of conversation stopped. They all faced her, stood still and
clapped. Their flowy hands sounded like gentle waves on a
shore.

Kaley took her hand and Alasdair put his arm
around Gaiah and announced, “I present to you the melding’s child
of Nia Shaman of Gaiana and Andrew Hansfort of Earth. I give you
Gaiah!”

The gentle waves became thundering surf. One
by one they embraced Gaiah, and names blurred with faces as each
one introduced them self.

A tall, good-looking man with smooth, ebony
skin. “Ay-lun of Clan Silva.” His blond Gaianan hair was braided
back from his face and ended in a plait which he had looped in his
belt.

“
Donnan of Clan Sun.” Hair
cropped to the skin.

“
Bevin, Clan Light.” An
impression of sweetness.

“
Pleased to meet
you…Pleased to meet you.” Gaiah shook hands, nodded and
smiled.

“
Frang from Clan
Air.”

“
Aghna, Clan Shaman.”
Gaiah smiled back at the woman whose kind eyes were bracketed by
deep crow’s feet. There were only ten people but Gaiah, distracted
by the enormity of the occasion, couldn't keep track of them. A
tall man, with shoulder-length hair neatly pulled back from his
high forehead, approached them. His clothes were more subdued than
the others–a moss green shirt over dark trousers.

“
We’d better start. Please
sit.” He gestured towards the huge, cream marble table that
dominated the room. The intricate markings around the edge reminded
her of something she'd seen recently. There was an upright,
sloping, triangular shape fixed in the middle.

Gaiah felt everyone's eyes on her. She
didn't know where to look. She examined the high-backed swivel
chair Kaley had led her to. The wooden frame of the chair was
highly polished and intricately carved; flowers and vines climbed
and encircled from every angle. She sat down on one, and felt it
mould around her. “Oh, these are so comfortable.” The seat and back
were padded with one swoop of thick gold memory foam.

“
And look,” whispered
Kaley from the seat next to Gaiah. She pressed a raised circle on
the side of an arm rest and the arms silently folded flat into the
back of the chair. “Allowing more flexibility in office working
conditions! My own invention,” she added proudly. “We sell them in
our New York shop for three thousand dollars each.”

Alasdair took the chair at the other side of
Gaiah, grimaced and said, “Well, here we go.”

The man in green stood. His narrow face had
deep grooves at either side of his mouth. “I am Gorand of the Clan
Sea and I am the elected speaker for the Ten.” His voice was low
and lilting. “We welcome you home, Gaiah. The Trinity has dire need
of a melding's child. The situation is becoming critical. For your
benefit, Gaiah, I have prepared a short demonstration.”

The windows darkened and the room dimmed. A
light shone down on the table. Gaiah’s eyes widened and she leaned
forward to look more closely at it. The table was a giant sundial.
The band marking the outside of the table was divided into hundreds
of sections, while the inner band had considerably fewer.

“
Gaianan time and Earth
time,” said Alasdair, indicating first the inner band, and then the
outer. Alasdair held out his watch.
That
was why the markings were
familiar. It was a giant replica of Alasdair’s watch, the time of
the two worlds.

A shimmering hologram appeared over the
center of the table. A planet appeared. Almost a metre high, it
hovered in perfect definition and colour. Seas, mountains, deserts,
ice caps, everything was perfectly clear. It was also perfectly
familiar, Earth hung in front of her. Gorand began. “This,
obviously, is Earth. And this,” he paused, as another planet glowed
to life, next to the slowly-spinning planet Earth. “This is Or’ka.”
It was slightly bigger, but it had only about a quarter of Earth’s
land mass. It was mostly a swirling mass of rough seas.

“
And finally, we have
Gaiana.”

Larger again, it floated next to Or’ka. It
had half the land mass of Earth. The land was spread around its
equator, in a series of long, green islands surrounded by tranquil
looking waters. The three worlds lined up next to each other filled
Gaiah's view.

“
This is what they look
like, and now, this is how they are positioned in reality.” Slowly,
Or’ka moved directly across, covered Earth, and became a
transparent purple version of itself through which Earth was
clearly visible. Gaiana moved across next and extended over them
both. Gaiana’s transparency was blue and still Earth was clearly to
be seen, as was Or’ka.

These jaw-dropping special effects were
unreal. Gaiah Turned to Kaley to share her amazement, but Kaley’s
face, with the glowing colours of the hologram rippling across it,
was set and serious.

“
Their magnetic fields are
different,” continued Gorand. Shooting lines of yellow sprang from
north to south on Earth. Or’ka, meanwhile, had a flow of red
undulating in an anti-clockwise direction. Gaiana’s flow was a
brilliant blue, smoothly circling its world in an undulating wave.
Gaiah could see all three functioning freely and independently, yet
in the same space.