Worlds Away (21 page)

If Justine listened hard with her newfound ability, she
could hear more than the Song of the Stars, or the Music of the Spheres—she
could hear something beyond. When she had time, she would have to discuss it
with other Aetherbeings.

Her skin tingled from spending so much time in the sonic
shower. She turned off the device and stepped out.

Naked, she went back to the reclining platform, crawled in
and was surprised when the foam wrapped itself around her in a form-fitting
cocoon. It felt as if she were floating, and she was able to put herself in a
relaxed state very quickly.

It was the very thing she needed, and she remained there
right up until a soft chime sounded. She assumed Yoatl had come to retrieve
her.

“Just a moment,” she said, wondering if he could hear her.
She took a one quick glance at the makeshift toga lying in the heap on the
floor. No matter what the fashion in the Gliesan System was, she was sure it
didn’t include long swaths of fabric tied haphazardly around her torso.

A few moments searching was all it took before she found a
small closet with half a dozen clothing selections. She picked the one that
looked most appealing to her—she was always drawn to darker colors; perhaps a
carryover from wearing her military uniform for so many years.

After slipping on a long one-piece outfit with baggy
leggings that seemed to produce the dual effect of looking like a jumpsuit and
an ankle-length dress at the same time, she went to the door and opened it.

Yoatl bent his head in admiration and smiled. “Perfect
selection.”

“Thank you,” Justine said, and followed him back out to the
main corridor.

∞

The hub of the aerie was bustling with activity. If the
station had over a hundred-thousand people, the majority of them had
congregated in the central area.

When they exited the spire, they were several dozen meters above
ground level, and at a perpendicular angle. They had to use a floating platform
to descend, and Justine was completely unaware of any gravitational shift as
the platform altered pitch to match the common area’s perspective; the Gliesan
technology was seamless.

The architecture of the hub followed the nature theme of the
corridor. Like a multi-layer landscape, replete with canyons, grottos, forests,
cliffs and waterfalls, it was enough to put any of Earth’s theme resorts to
shame.

“This is primarily a military outpost?” Justine asked.

“The well-being of our citizens is of utmost importance. We
have a number of permanent residents. They can be proud to call this home.
Besides, we need to set a good impression for ambassadors from other worlds.”

Although she’d read about the proliferation of alien
species, Justine was still taken aback seeing the variety for herself. While
the majority of the population was Gliesan, she spotted a number of people who
had evolved from other species. A being with four short legs, a squat body, and
a round head on a long neck sauntered past them. He had no arms, but he had a long
prehensile tail with a half-dozen ‘fingers’ on the end of it. He turned his
head and bowed to them, while waving his tail-hand.

Yoatl nodded back. “Ambassador Etrevius,” he said to
Justine. “From Beta Monocerotis. And yes, he’s a dinosaur—mammals never evolved
on his planet at all.”

“So many people…” Justine could spend a lifetime learning
about all the denizens of the galaxy, but she would have to wait for another
time. They had arrived at the restaurant.

Quickly, Yoatl ushered her in and they found their cubby. It
wasn’t a typical chair and table setup, however, and it took Justine a moment
to figure out that the space was a representation of a bird’s nest. Following
Yoatl’s example, she climbed in and sat on the floor of the nest, resting her
back against the curved wall, which was lined with a foam-like material and was
quite comfortable.

Yoatl settled himself in, crossing his legs. “I’ve taken the
liberty of ordering for us. The main entrée should arrive soon. In the
meantime, if you want water or another beverage, simply use the control panel
there to indicate your preference.” He demonstrated by tapping one of the icons
on the panel, and a section of the wall folded out. The platform held a
bowl-shaped container of liquid. “A form of wine, quite sweet, like nectar. Did
you want one?” he asked, and Justine nodded. He closed the panel and tapped the
icon again to produce another drink for Justine.

She sipped it, and found it extremely pleasant-tasting.

“Thank you,” she said, and then waved one hand to encompass
the station. “All of this is fantastic, and the explorer in me wants nothing
more than to spend the rest of my life experiencing all these wonderful new
worlds. But…”

Smiling, Yoatl said, “But we have more pressing matters, and
I promised you a story.”

“Yes. And start with how there are humans here, in the
stars.”

“Very well.” He took one more sip of his nectar wine. “I
hope this answers most of your questions.”

Taking a moment to gather his thoughts first, he began:

“According to the report Naila filed, you have accessed some
basic history of the galaxy, correct?”

Justine nodded.

“Let me give you a bit of background on the Grace, the Xtôti.
A million years before the Mass Emergence—which is what we call the era when
the majority of systems began to discover light-speed travel—the Xtôti home
system was destroyed when their star went supernova. They were unable to
evacuate their system, and the tragedy decimated their population. The
survivors were those who were at the edge of their system, or in other solar systems:
namely, Aetherbeings. Some speculate that the supernova may have been caused by
experiments. We only have scattered accounts of what happened at that time. You
must remember, this was a million years before most of our species began to evolve
into sentience.

“There is a theory that those Xtôti who were in the system
at the time of the supernova became the Grace. Slowly, over time, as each Xtôti
who was outside the system—and who had not ascended to the Grace—reached the
end of their life cycle, their numbers dwindled, leaving only the Grace to remain.”

Yoatl paused as a chime in the back wall sounded, and he
touched another icon on the control panel. A length of the wall folded down out
formed a long, narrow table. Several dishes of food slid out from inside the
wall, and the smells wafted up to Justine’s nose. Her stomach growled with
hunger.

She couldn’t identify the type of food Yoatl had ordered for
them, and gave him a questioning look.

“It’s called
biantha.
A vegetarian mash baked in a
crusted bread container, which is also edible. Try it.”

Justine did so, and the flavor exploded in her mouth.
“Delicious,” she said. “Tastes like a pot pie.”

Yoatl took a bite before continuing his story around
mouthfuls of food. “The Gliesans discovered Sol System by accident
twelve-hundred-and-seventy-nine years ago.”

Justine gaped. “You know that exactly?”

“Yes.” Yoatl nodded. “The Galactic Law of non-interference
had been in place since before the Gliesans Emerged. One of the ways that was
enforced is through the star beacons themselves. Somehow, the Xtôti were able
to ‘lock’ those beacons orbiting developing worlds. They are completely masked;
our computers can’t even detect them in the galactic grid. Any radio signals
you send out are dampened at the outer limits of your system. You are, for all
purposes, invisible to us until you Emerge.

“One Gliesan scouting ship, however, had been monitoring a
lone Xtôti—even back then, they were rare. I do not blame the pilots for being
curious. The Grace were so much more than celebrities; they were—are—like gods
to us. So, when the Xtôti traveled to your system, temporarily activating your
star beacon, the Gliesans recorded the location of your beacon. I’m certain
they had no intention of breaking Galactic Law, but were rather ‘star struck’,
as it were, and did the unthinkable: they followed the Xtôti to Sol System.”

“They remained near your beacon while the Xtôti went to your
planet. No one knows what his purpose was. However, there was a noticeable Aether
event on your world several days into the visit, and the Gliesans raced to
investigate. If the Xtôti were in trouble, they would try to help.

“Even though Aetherbeings cannot survive on a planetary body
for long, the Gliesans took the risk and landed at the location where they’d
detected the explosion. There was no sign of the Xtôti, but a small village had
been irradiated by Aether. If left unaided, they would all die. The Gliesans
are a very compassionate people, and though they knew their actions could be
subject to penalties, they offered to take the afflicted villagers away to save
their lives.

“Those humans,” Yoatl said in conclusion, “were members of a
Mayan tribe near Copán, Honduras.”

“The ‘Song’,” Justine interrupted. “One of my friends who
came with us to Centauri, Yaxche, was the keeper of an ancient story called The
Song of the Stars. It contained the key to unlocking the power of Kinemet, but
the story in it told of a time when the ‘gods’ abducted their people.”

Smiling, Yoatl said, “I’m certain it would have seemed so to
them.”

Finishing the vegetable mash, Yoatl picked up the bread
plate and took a bite out of it. “Many of the villagers had been exposed to
lethal levels of Aether radiation. In such cases, transforming a person into an
Aetherbeing is the cure. Once they cured the villagers, the Gliesans brought
them here, to Skanse Aerie, where they lived out the remainder of their lives
in comfort.

“There were several pairs of humans who had only been
partially affected, and they were otherwise physically normal. They chose not
to become Aetherbeings, and made their homes on Gliesan Prime. They were
welcomed into their society, married and had children. Over time, our numbers
grew to over six-thousand. Though our citizenship is officially Gliesan, many
of us remember our Solan roots, though we may never visit the planet of our
origin.”

Justine had finished her bread plate as well, and a moment
later, a second dish slid out from the recess in the wall. It was in a cup that
looked like the same kind of bread as the entrée.

Yoatl made a happy sound. “Ah, desert. It’s a kind of whipped
desert made from the sap of one of their tropical plants. You can eat the
utensil as well as the cup.”

Justine tasted it and smiled. It had the consistency of rice
pudding with a slight hint of syrup.

“About a century ago, several of us sought to reconnect with
our roots. We formed the Solan Society. We petitioned the Parliament for
permission to set up a spaceport in the nearest system to you, Centauri, for
when you Emerged. Historically, most systems who discover Aetherflight
naturally attempt to visit their closest neighbors.

“It was a little over ten years ago that our sensors
detected the first traveler from Sol System, Alex Manez. Ah Tabai, one of the
Solan Aetherbeings who had volunteered to become a Sentinel, had the privilege
of making first contact. It was from his ship’s computer that we were able to
find out about your history. We have all been waiting for a second meeting with
excitement.”

“Ah Tabai is human?” Justine remarked. She’d originally been
under the impression that he was a Gliesan.

Yoatl lowered his voice. “Yes. He is young and impetuous. I
do not know how he convinced Aliah to accompany him; but should they return to
Gliese, I fear they will be arrested.”

“They were only trying to help us,” Justine said.

“The Law is the Law.” Yoatl raised both of his open hands in
front of him. Then he offered Justine a conciliatory smile. “I will do what I
can for them.”

“Thank you.”

Having finished dessert, Yoatl tapped on the console one
more time, and the recess produced two small glasses of liquid, which seemed to
change color from red to yellow.

“It’s called
ljúka,”
he said as he passed one of the
glasses to Justine. “The final course.” With that, he picked up his own glass
and drank it down in one motion.

Following suit, Justine was surprised at the taste. She’d
been expecting something fruity and sweet, but the drink was slightly spicy. As
it hit her stomach, she felt a tingle go through her. Whatever the drink was, it
had the effect of reinvigorating her. Yoatl placed his empty glass back in the
recess, and Justine did the same.

“That was very nice,” she said, and Yoatl smiled. “Thank you
for the meal.”

“No thanks are necessary. It was my pleasure.”

“So,” Justine said, “what happens now?”

Considering his words, Yoatl rubbed a knuckle on his chin.
“Now comes the hard part.”

“Oh?”

“While you were resting, I received a message from the
Collection’s ambassador. One of the requirements before a system can be granted
Emerged status is that you are able to travel outside light, utilizing the
Grace. Since you did not, they have decided that Sol System has not yet
Emerged.”

Justine stared at him, wide-eyed, as she heard the news. The
Collection had not even debriefed her. “Then they won’t help us?”

“I’m afraid they will not. Not yet, anyway.” He had a pained
look on his face.

“And they won’t let me go home, either,” Justine said.

Yoatl nodded, his eyes cast down. “I’m sorry. You have been
exposed to too much of our technology.”

Feeling the frustration and anger grow in her, Justine
willed herself to remain calm. From the moment she’d escaped from Lucis
Observatory, everything that had happened had been out of her control. She’d
done the best that she could to survive, but her personal survival wasn’t
enough, especially if the Kulsat invaded and destroyed Sol System.

Yoatl said, “Every effort will be made to ensure your
comfort. They’ve assigned you permanent quarters on the station. Should you
choose to, you may request work duties, though it is not mandatory. I would be
honored if you would consider taking a position in the Solan Society.”