Tag Archives: mythical

101 \ 283

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Piloting the Arch was more like a spaceship than a boat. It was designed primarily for the journey from surface to base, but was capable of handling sustained currents. The volunteer crew was down to Claymore, Woollibee & Woollibee, Onk the electrical engineer, and a gung-ho member of lab cleaning staff who knew the building and supplies. Everyone else had boarded some form of transport – Drift X with the top targets, company shuttles for the rest. At the helm, they creatively utilized the attractive and frictionless force fields for turbo action. The mass force form physics had a weird but elegant set of controls that Leryn Onk understood well, having been in charge of levers and switches. Draig had infected them with the idea, and had enough means to a plan to act like there was one. These people were ready for this leg of adventure. It was their fuck-you after having to cower through their moment of triumph; a sanctioned joyride.

Draig enacted the parameter protocol for the nearest out of range and defensible situation. He’d always been able to ace this type of maneuver. It was a natural protector ability. As soon as they could split after the deboarding, they took their head start across the Foshani ocean, leaving no window for Foundational search opportunities.

With the approval of his compatriots, Draig was pretty sure that he wanted to lure any hostile patrols with a pointed surfacing. They were both the most valuable and the least valuable piece on the board now, and he was certain that it was important to give the others a shot at a clean getaway.

The other four joined him regularly at the peak bridge. They stared avidly into the rushing abyss.

100.2 \ 282

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The ladies had taken their first few bites of Leyga’s hearty improvised dish, when an unfamiliar yet familiar knock landed on Navann’s door. Exchanging a concerned look with her guest, the retired nurse went to answer. Isten pushed in gently through the crack, looking and smelling like he’d been camping. There was a hint of rose perfume. Spoon in hand, Leyga screamed silently. Isten, smiling calmly, was ready to embrace his mother. Navann shut the front door.

“You’d just left our apartment when I got back, and this is the first other place I checked. I’m okay! I’ve just been through a lot, but it’s going to be okay. It was important, and I’m fine. I love you. I’m back.” Once emotions settled beneath his reassuring litany, Leyga figured out that her son had grown up. Her wonder overtook her alarm, and she let him talk.

The older women took a seat, and Isten stood hovering at the edge of the table while he aired his state of being. “Some of us went and met the Strangers, and we joined thousands of people to neutralize a bioweapon held in development by the government. The Strangers are called Vedani. They wanted to do that with us, and for us – I guess some kids came up with it, both kinds of kids, and there were Aquarii that joined us.

“They’re a lot like us, more like us than the Aquarii, and really different. There were also some Aquarii there. Anyway, I’m not trying to convince you, and you don’t have to convince anyone. Everybody’s going to know.” The two listening at the table were taken aback, and coming to terms. “It was a really good trip, actually. We did it. Being younger, me and my bros were chosen for an early group to get sent homeward. I took that offer because I didn’t want to make you wait.”

Leyga’s hands were fixed around her bowl. This sank in for half a beat, and she lifted the bowl toward her son. “Do you want to eat?” The food was still warm enough.

They both laughed, and all three laughed. “Yes. Thank you.” Isten began stuffing his face.

99 \ 281

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…pppppp…
– dark – light – here –
…wwwwee…
– place – me – mind –
…eeeeee…
– know – see – why –
…eeuuoo…
I am myself in Akralnar
but I may not be
…oooooo…
me out there
it’s like looking through
a different water
I don’t belong here, I know,
but being in the being of this great one,
I can ride through it seems
Something else I feel in me
of home, other, like me,
…uuwwuupp…
a harmony I am a part of,
a rhythm
keeping me
me
…oooouu…
Hi Akralnar
you know I’m in here
and that I’m not you
…wweeee…
isn’t this fabulous?
are you learning from me?
…uuuuww…
I’m learning from you –
your home, so bizarre,
so exquisite, alike and
dreamlike, is it always
so partially hospitable,
so much
…oopppp…
that I can sense
just by being and seeing
it’s a part of me now,
this impossible thing,
realm of existence
…eeuuoo…
realm
land
plane
feel
sing
breathe
fly
grow
behold
begin
…pppppp…

98.2 \ 280

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Marine biologist Marian Waters stood gazing through a porthole onto the oceanic planetrise from their spot in orbit, one hand resting over her heart. The boy teenager came around to her, after she’d listened to the explanation nearby. She wrote three places onto the list, feeling the matte surface of the clipboard. “And we’ll get our destinations after the ship’s crew go over this?”

“We’ll get going en route, then take the time to inform. Possibly at each step.”

“Thank you very much.”

After a moment, communications expert Zarae joined Marian in front of the view. Sometimes they would wear their dresses on the same day, while they’d been below. “So, I wonder how long this vacation will last, and what state the worlds will be in when it’s over.”

“I hope to relearn how not to count time. If only for a moment.”

“Thrilling. For myself, I have a sitting ensemble picked out. I have shades, and I’m going to find a hat.”

“Hats!” Marian hadn’t thought about hats in a long time, and thought a new style might be fun, while also a wise choice.

Zarae craned her head around a tiny bit to see if she could spot specific large islands. “Do you know the current section of the Synchrony?”

“I haven’t calculated yet today. I think we might have just passed the cusp.”

“Oh – I’m sorry, you already started not counting time. I don’t blame you, I obviously haven’t, either. A nap is the prize of the moment. We’re allowing, naps, now.” A welcoming hand showed Marian back towards islands of rumpled comforters from Captain Wendel’s deeper ship closets.

“Oh, that’s excellent news. I will get right up to the minute with that.”

98.1 \ 280

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Drift X’s hold was filled to capacity for the first time since the advance rescue from Anzi on Genesee. That was when Toller had first set foot on this magic carpet that’s since taken him to planets across the stars, the way he used to get to the next town. Though he was only about a year older, he’d breached the threshold of a new age. He was a real teenager now, and the entire actual world had changed, besides finding the surfaces of other planets. He’d met people in it that not even the King, or the Queen before him knew, like the Aureny, and these scientists including the Hoopoe, another new bro; he’d discovered new sentience along its own road to self revealing. Is this always what puberty is like?

Toller was in possession of two lists – one to check, with the names, nicknames, or pseudonyms of their passengers, and the other was the one he was helping them make right now. They needed to think of small vacation towns, with a bar or hangout with a calling line. They were allowed to pick places they really liked, even expensive places, but the choice wouldn’t ultimately be theirs. They wanted people to think of as many as they could, so the right locations and routes could be chosen.

It was the original incoming group with the addition of thirty-some head researchers and assistants – the ones most likely to be targeted by enemies or scalpers, first and second names on soon-to-be-released papers. They may be getting out of this particular mess, but the root of the danger they were in was still at work out there. In the hold here, they’d improvised cargo crate furnishings, and had also deployed everything comfortable and soft in their possession for this transitional intergalactic road trip campout.