Our party struggles up the other side of the gorge, following an invisible path through vines and around massive tree trunks. The cart becomes mired in deep mud and after a struggle, we abandon it. Etch assures us that his camp will provide all the amenities and comforts we need. We tear the cart apart and hide the pieces the best we can. English makes certain to stash as much shine as possible in his pack. I see Theo doing the same with pouches of tobacco.
We crest the other side and face a vast forest sloping toward a faint ribbon of blue — the ocean. Etch stops. “The camp lies at the end of the forest by the sea. We have another day’s ride.”
Theo pulls out his tablet and the image of the woods bursts forth. The blue dot marking the vessel that Troll showed us is blinking. Clearly, we have found the people we were searching for.
Etch eyes the tablet. “That’s a nice antique Theo. I have a companion who will love to examine that. It has historical significance.”
Clouds form and a drizzle greets us. Samuel grumbles, “Better be dry where we’re going Etch.”
“Samuel, we have a nice dry cot waiting for you.” Etch chuckles.
“That’d be nice.”
Theo turns Silius around, looking north across the gorge. “Oh my earth,” he mutters. A thin column of inky smoke streams from the distant horizon. “Do you think Thresh found the village?”
Bets grunts. “Everything we touch goes to shit. Why’d you expect those poor people to go unscathed by us?”
“Worse for us, that means Thresh is on our trail,” English says.
“We must move swiftly. We will be safe near my vessel.” Etch motions for us to go forward.
My leg’s numb, which worries me worse than the former pain. More disconcerting is the lack of emotion I’m feeling about everything. Thresh is probably destroying that wonderful town and has my daughter, who may be witnessing the carnage. But my soul’s as unresponsive as my leg.
The day’s a blur to me. I have a wicked fever and find myself phasing in and out of the magpie, my faithful companion since we were at the village. I try to draw strength from somewhere deep inside myself, but there’s nothing there.
Light wanes. However, we approach a white light, similar to noon-day sun, shimmering through the tree line. “We are here,” Etch announces. “There is a protective field around our encampment. I will deactivate it. Follow me through the gap. Do not deviate from the path or you will regret it.”
We follow him in a single line into the trees. Blinding light sears my eyes. The roar of crashing waves nearly knocks me off Phineus. I’ve never been to the ocean and the sensation is glorious. All the pain and worry well up from some kernel deep inside me and I sob uncontrollably. Out of the bright light and salty air appear two impossibly handsome people — a man and a woman dressed in strange, green clothes. They help me off of Phineus and the man touches my bare shoulder with a strange metallic object. I drift into a delicious sleep.
“Hello, Amy. You made it.” Dream Fromer’s sitting in the sand next to me. His boots are off and I see his strangely human feet, toes wiggling. My emotions are now completely unimpaired. “Fromer, I demand that you tell me where you took Wenn and father. And how do I get Eliza back?”
“Foremost, about your little girl, I’m sorry that she’s in the hands of Thresh. You and Eliza will be reunited in time. That’s all I can tell you for now. As for Wenn and your father, I was responsible for their departure before the fall of your village. If they’d stayed, they both would have died. They are far away on the other side of the mountains, but safe for now.”
“I hate you. You’ve destroyed my life and dragged all these poor people in with me.”
“Amy, do you really hate me? You’re looking for an outlet for your anger. Thresh and her allies are to blame for this. I’m here to help the best I can. Let me try to explain what’s going on. Please walk with me.”
I walk effortlessly in this dreamscape, marveling at my surroundings. The waves wash on the beach, white foam curling in emerald pitch. We turn away from the water and there she is, the Fuerst. It stretches into the distance, its black surface gleaming in the moonlight. It looks a little like the shiny carts we saw in Troll’s compound, with a large window in the front and thin wings extending along its sides. Along its belly are large cylinders arranged in neat, concise rows. A pipe with stair steps hangs underneath the ship’s right wing.
Fromer puts his thick hand on my dream shoulder. “What do you think of Etch’s vessel? Etch and I have long been friends. I used to command the crew of this ship when I was young. It’s difficult to explain how this ship travels through space. But it can allow us to travel between here and almost any of those stars.”
“The moon as well?” I ask.
“Of course we could.” He smiles sadly. “Although we might not want to go there right now.”
“Why’d the lights go out — on the moon?”
“A war has broken out in space, including the moon. The people living there have abandoned the surface, for now. I’m afraid the fighting will spread to here soon.”
“What’s the fighting over?”
“What are all wars fought over? Resources, power, access. There are two factions, who you will unfortunately meet in time. One government, now called the Institute, has been in power for more than a thousand years and was responsible for the exile of your people on earth. The other is a group of folks called the FRT that want to bring down the Institute and impose their own rule on space. The FRT has long been my nemesis.” He growls. “The only thing protecting earth and your people from both of them is fear of a contagion that may have winked out a thousand years ago.”
“Troll told us that some bad people, terrorists, released something that destroyed most of the machines.”
“Yes, Amy. The circumstances are murky at best. Some people released a horrible substance on earth that did not kill other people. Rather, it killed the technology on which they depended — a clever ploy that was far more damaging than any could ever imagine. Maybe the terrorists wanted earth to return to a simpler condition. Whatever their motive, the weapon consumed communications and power networks on the planet. It worked like the infection in your leg, spreading quickly. The rest of the humans and other creatures, including my species, in space decided it would be much too dangerous to allow anything from the surface back into space. So, the entire planet and its survivors, including your ancestors, were quarantined indefinitely.”
“Does this infection remain?”
“That’s a good question. It hasn’t affected this ship or the various gadgets that Etch and his companions have been using, thankfully. They wouldn’t last a week without their technology.” He laughs. “Troll scanned you and your friends when you descended into its compound. The only reason Troll allowed you in was because you were not contaminated. I’d guess the weapon, whatever it is, still exists dormant on the planet. But where and to what extent — that’s an unanswered question.”
“Why do people want to come back here to earth?”
“Some of the reasons are mundane — recolonization, development, and exploitation of the planet’s considerable resources. However, there are a few people out there that have discovered a miracle here on the surface. Would you like to climb into the Fuerst to see more?”
“Sure, but what has it to do with the miracle?”
“Let’s see.” He leads me up the steps into the ship. It’s dimly lit and cramped. Padded, black benches line the walls. We walk forward through a small doorway into a large room with a single seat. The beach and waves are visible through the window in the front. “How does this room make you feel, Amy?”