The Rhoedraegon Chronicles: Book Two. Paul Sr. Alcorn
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of his now non-physical Master to that of the living, solicitously hanging on the every wish of his sister, herself a confused child who has effectively locked herself away from the world in some dream where the horror of her memories keeps replaying over and over again. It was as if they were united in their isolation.
“I’ll miss you, Marcus,” Samia whispered.
“And I’ll miss you.”
They lapsed once again into silence, slumped in their seats in the non-sound of the train, sliding through vacuum, supported in a stasis that was almost womb-like. Soon they were both sound asleep.
It was early morning when they arrived at the Bay Area Center. Marcus arranged for Samia’s belongings to be forwarded to the parliamentary complex where she was to join her parents, then took her to one of the terminal’s shops for a last breakfast together. He would go on from here to Oahu. Neither of them spoke until the shop had delivered their food. They seemed reluctant to speak as if their silence would delay the parting.
Finally, Samia smiled at her brother who was swirling his fork through the mass of eggs and toast that lay limply on his platter. She chuckled.
“What’s so funny?”
“Us.”
He cocked his head to one side. “What do you mean by that?”
“Look at us, Marcus. We’re sitting here like a couple of mourners. You’re off to start one of the greatest adventures of your life and I’m about to spend three months in the very heart of the Empire. We should be bubbling with the excitement of it all! Just think of it, Marcus! I’m actually going to be there when Parliament starts! There’ll be more parties, and all the leaders of the Empire to see, and the excitement of deciding the fate of billions upon billions of people!”
“I get the idea, Samia,” he said calmly. “It seems that you’ve recovered from your ordeal.”
A momentary flicker of recognition crossed her face then faded as she lit up again, beaming from ear to ear. “Its going to be so exciting. Aren’t you just a little bit excited? Think of it, Marcus. I will be a part of it all”
“You always have been.”
She shook her head. “Not like this time. I’m almost old enough to request a position in the Parliament itself. Another three years and I could take a seat and vote.”
He considered her curiously. “What are you up to? You’ve never been the least interested in exercising your right to Parliamentary membership before. You don’t even know what it’s all about.”
“Well, I can change my mind, can’t I? And Parliament isn’t about rules and points of order and all that. I can learn all that. Parliament is about ruling the Empire, and in a time of danger, I think it’s only right for all of the Nobility to be concerned.”
He studied her closely. “What in the world are you talking about? What danger?”
“Why, the revolutionaries, of course.”
Marcus sighed. He sat back in his chair, allowing his fork to clatter noisily on his plate and closed his eyes. When he opened them there was a new seriousness in his face.
“Samia, are you all right? The revolutionaries are not a threat to the Empire. They’re just a small fringe group of malcontents, no different than one would find in any society anywhere.”
“So? What about the beasts who captured me? Weren’t they a threat?”
“You told me they were only scavengers. You told me that the Security forces over reacted.”
“Well, I was wrong. They fooled me, but not for long. I know better now. Helson explained the whole thing to me.”
He closed his eyes and took several measured breaths, trying to recapture his state of balance. He thought of his Master, deep in the recesses of his memory. When he did speak, his calmness surprised even himself.
“So what are you going to do, now that you’ve uncovered this heinous plot to destroy the Empire?”
“You can be sarcastic if you want, Marcus, but I’m going to do something. I’m not sure what it is. Helson has friends in the Nobility who realize what a danger this whole situation is. I’ll ask him whom I should see about helping. Maybe I can work on someone’s staff, or become a member of some committee.”
“Samia, you are not to do anything of the kind. Our father would forbid it anyway. You are forgetting his bill.”
“Oh, let him have his bill! I don’t agree with it anyway, and besides, it will never pass!”
“How do you know? Have you read it? Do you know anything about what he’s trying to do?”
She glared at her brother, suddenly quite angry.
“What I have to do is clear to me, and I can’t understand why you can’t see it too”. There was no use arguing with him any further.
“I’m going now, Marcus. I’ll be at the complex if you want to locate me. It’ll save you the trouble of a tracer if you just try there first.”
“I know where you’ll be, sister.”
“Good. Have a nice ride to the islands. Send me a comm when you get the chance and let me know how the Church is treating you.”
She rose and turned. Just as she left, she looked over her shoulder at her brother and said, “You know, brother, right now I hate you!”
Marcus smiled back and watched her hurry away, all anger and self righteousness
“Yes, I know,” he said. “I love you too.”
She careened through the tables, her anger redoubled. Before Marcus could offer further protest, she was gone, marching deliberately across the concourse toward the transportation area. He watched her go, wondering where her mind was off to now. In spite of the caveats of his Master, he was worried. He was worried and he admitted it to himself without hesitation. In some indefinable way, he knew that his Master was right, that Samia had to seek her own brand of reality in her own way, but he still felt helpless. If only he could do something. If only he could help her somehow.
Then again, he had his own concerns right now. In an hour, he would be aboard another train, speeding beneath the Pacific through rock and sediment and across the great seamounts, bridging canyons miles deep, on his way to the export terminal on Oahu and the shuttle that was the first step on his journey to Rebus and the Church. Marcus had never left the planet, much less traveled a vast distances to a distant world. The unknown loomed before him like a deep, black velvet void, as unfathomable as the space he was about to traverse. Again, he sought solace in the company of his Master, but all that he received was the same message: Accept. Be. It was simply not enough.
CHAPTER THREE
Mathew, Archer and Shamreel traveled directly from the Parliamentary Complex to the Bay of Naples facility, opting for a small eight person skimmer that they could have to themselves. For Mathew and Archer it was an obvious choice. Neither wished to involve themselves with the public, even one exclusively Noble, which was possible with the right choice of public carrier. As for Shamreel, she didn’t seem to care one way or the other. Shamreel loved to travel by public conveyance where she would skitter throughout the passenger compartment, staring up at various travelers and occasionally venturing under some matron’s skirt looking for stray insects, as if they would be any there. Mathew sometimes wondered if on an earlier occasion, she had actually found a morsel in a similar location and just assumed that there might be more. He could swear that their saurian companion actually reveled in the stir she would cause strangers at such times. He wanted none of that on this trip.
The skimmer rose high into the sky on this trip, seeking thinner air for the cross country trip from the west coast to the east, saving time and energy