Aur Child

Gallia-Tiul and Sann-Na had been walking through the packed snow streets for several hours on the morning after the latter’s arrival to Dragon’s Snout. Sand Flea disappeared and returned at irregular intervals to scout for clues of Alai-Tiul, prompting Gallia with questions, the answers to which she seemed to guess might be helpful to Sanna. The conversation between the two women was overwhelmingly commanded by Gallia. Sanna stepped silently beside the elder listening with all her faculties to the latter explain the secretive societies of endosouls scattered around the Earth in hidden bunkers. With great sadness, Sanna learned the probable eternal fate of her sister and the precariousness of her forest companion, Kjell-Tors. “Perhaps,” Gallia had said, “the fate of your friend Kjell-Tors is more promising, but I unfortunately know too little of these strange sorceries to say whether he has truly been safely returned to his body in full health.”

The elders of Dragon’s Snout were no more help. They received Gallia warmly, but her questions and, more importantly, her suggestions seemed to frighten them. They disagreed with Gallia’s intentions to engage the Apostates, and they refused to share any more information about their experiences other than that they too managed a quiet struggle to protect their Aur boules from theft. Incarnations of the Apostates, it seemed, had been a regular occurrence at Dragon’s Snout, and they did not feel it would be possible to strike any accord with them.

Gallia rehearsed her stratagem with Sanna, explaining as best she could the endosouls’ worldview, their demand for energy and technologies, and, in an attempt to clarify the differences of opinions, why village elders taught their people to avoid these traps. Sanna asked few questions. She allowed Gallia to take her time and explain her thoughts in such a way that suited both of their needs.

“But how will we ever find this man?” Sand Flea said, appearing from around a building corner and interrupting their discussion in a burst of frustration.

“We must be patient, child,” Gallia replied, offering a soothing hand to the girl’s arm.

“He will come to Dragon’s Snout,” Sanna added. “I am sure of that.”

“How can you be so sure?” Sand Flea asked.

Sanna laughed with squinted eyes and a tear of tenderness.

“He has likely survived on reindeer moss for a week. The poor man will want nothing more upon his arrival than a meal at Snout and Snuffer.”

“But what if he doesn’t even survive the journey?” Sand Flea asked.

“He will survive, Sand Flea. His technique is poor, but his aim is true,” Sanna replied with a warm grin.

Gallia pulled Sanna closer to her in the arm-in-arm hold they had shared during their walk through the slippery streets.

“I do grow cold out here, young ladies.” she said with a shiver.

“We can return to the inn,” Sanna offered, but she didn’t move immediately. “I want to thank you, Elder Tiul,” she said, “for being so forthcoming with me.”

Gallia’s words slid from her mouth like the slush of the sea. “You, child, have endured much. You deserve to have the truth, at least as much of it as I know. Of course, you understand that I have made great exceptions to explain these things to you. I can only trust you will keep them to yourself.”

“I will, Elder Tiul. It is at least a comfort to know what has befallen my sister and other forest dwellers. I need not worry anyone else with the terrible truth.”

“That is very well, child. Now, let us get inside and hope to see Alai-Tiul sometime this day.”

Sand Flea held out a hand to stop the two women from proceeding.

“Elder Tiul,” she said, pointing with her other hand, “I believe we won’t wait much longer. Look! He wobbles the same on skis as on foot.”

Gallia looked up from gauging the slick surface to see a heavily wrapped man of shorter stature sliding past the market square in their direction. She managed to reach Alai-Tiul’s eyes after several moments of him being apparently mesmerized at seeing Sanna and Sand Flea also standing there. He seemed entirely lost for words.

“You three?” he said in a gasp.

Sanna was characteristically silent, but her face beamed with adoration. She smiled openly and reached out to make contact with the man she had worried so much about over the past days.

Gallia smiled in her maternal way and said, “We have been waiting for you, Alai.” She reached out her other arm and touched his frosted chest. “I came here to tell you the cause of your family’s death is no fault of yours. We all wish to have you home at Hill Village.”

Alai inhaled deeply. He said, “I never meant any harm.” And then a rush of tears came to his eyes as he registered these words. They ran down his frostbitten cheeks in wide swaths as a dark river sheds its icy shell in early spring.

Gallia tightened her wrinkled lips and stared at Alai with vivid, sparkling eyes. “You too seem to be taken with this cold air,” she said. “Let us get warm at the inn, no? I might guess our friend there can offer us a stew of moose for lunch.”

Alai opened his arms and embraced them all. His frozen outer garments crackled between the other bodies. He seemed incapable of speaking. His eyes streamed. His legs wobbled under the exhaustion of endless work now come to an end. Sanna pulled him in close to her to help him stand.

“I’m so sorry I didn’t understand you,” she said.

Together, they walked into the inn to sit beside the stove.

Less than an hour later, with full stomachs, they discussed what to do.

“We should leave right away,” Gallia said. “You and the Aur child are at risk. Sand Flea, perhaps you can ask about the next merchant ship.”

But Sanna shook her head before Sand Flea could stand up. “Very few ships will attempt to enter now that the bay is freezing up. Why wouldn’t you leave with the Odyssey?” Sanna asked.

“Do you really think she still waits for you?” Sand Flea said in a tone of doubt.

“Even so, can this machine of the Apostates be trusted?” asked Gallia.

“She says a human must be captain,” Alai said. “I am the captain. She has obeyed my orders thus far. If she truly waits for us out there, I can only imagine she will continue to do keep her word. Although,” he hesitated at this point but found his footing, “she knows of you, Elder Tiul.”

“So, she does,” Gallia replied with a look down to the table as if she had already guessed it.

“Yes, and, if you will forgive me for saying so,” his voice lowered and he looked down as he proceeded to speak, “she holds you responsible for the death of Orpheus, her son.”

“Her son?” Sand Flea gasped.

“Yes,” Gallia said in a weak voice, “I have carried this suspicion for too long. It is exactly for this reason that we must try to take this Odyssey. If I may only have a chance to atone for my sin.”

“Well, the beacon will confirm her loyalty,” Alai continued. “If she does not respond to the signal, we must make a new plan. But Sanna is right; the Odyssey is weeks faster than any merchant ships.”

“How can you reach her with the harbor frozen over?” Sand Flea asked.

Sanna took the pause to speak up again.

“It is possible,” she said. “You can still walk quite far out, if you know how.”

Alai smiled, “Would you come with us, Sanna?”

“I? No. I have much to do here. Much to take care of.”

Alai smirked at the misunderstanding, and then, “But would you guide us into the unknown one last time?”

Sanna smiled, “Oh, yes, that I would do.”

“Very well. When can we leave?” asked Gallia.

“Now, if you like,” replied Sanna.

“But what about me?” Sand Flea insisted. “What of finding Digambar? And my role, Elder Tiul, as an acolyte? How can I get to where she is?”

Gallia’s chin stiffened. “You must make a difficult choice now, Sand Flea. To find Digambar, you must approach the place they call Yellow Reserve. But if they are on the hunt for us this very moment, I fear the more prudent choice may be to exercise patience.”

“What? You want to go to Yellow Reserve?” Sanna asked with a puzzled expression. “Don’t you understand how dangerous that is? They’ll take your body.”

Sand Flea looked at Gallia. She placed her hand upon her scriptleaf. With a solemn expression she said,

“Our star illuminates the unknown, eliminates our fears. So too, Our Order. From the stars. To the stars.”

Gallia turned to the others.

“The girl has traveled with me for this very reason. She chooses to do so of her own volition. If she fails to find accord with the Apostates, she will at worst remain with the woman who has taken to her as a sister. But if she succeeds,” and Gallia reached over to press her hand on top of Sand Flea’s, “she will be heralded as the catalyst of good will between two belligerent societies. Until I met her, I knew not by whom this could be accomplished; my body is certainly too frail for the journey, and, if I may be honest, perhaps my biases render me compromised.” She shook her head. “Such a thing is beyond my faculties. I can think of no better soul to endeavor peace, and I can think of no braver act for this young acolyte than to make the journey. The question is not if she would go to Yellow Reserve, but rather when.”

Sand Flea pushed the scriptleaf away and said, “I would take that chance rather than a return the Gjoa any day.”

Sanna nodded. “Seems I should change my career from courier to guide.” She turned to Sand Flea. “If you wish to go to Yellow Reserve, then I will take you.”

Sand Flea stared at Sanna and shook her head slowly.

“So …you don’t want me to take you?” Sanna asked.

“Oh,” Sand Flea seemed to shake herself out of a daydream, “It’s not that. I was just thinking that Digambar would never say it like that.”

Sanna smiled and raised her eyebrows. “Well, that’s because I’m not Digambar.”

“No. She wouldn’t say that either.”

Sanna raised her hands and dropped them onto the table.

Sand Flea turned at Gallia. “So, the decision is mine?”

“To do what you need to do, no one else can tell you what is right.”

Sand Flea looked down at the scriptleaf. The clink of silverware and hushed voices suddenly became audible. After a few moments, she lifted her eyes and spoke with a trembling lip. “Our Order says, ’To find resolution, all parties must first seek it.’ As you say, the Apostates currently seek the Aur child instead. If I were to attempt this now, I would only be talking to myself. You’re right, Elder Tiul. This is not the right time.” She swallowed hard. “But then when will I see Digambar, and when would be the right time to go there?”

“Child, Digambar is not going anywhere. Our Order also says, ’To know when to speak is more important than to know what to say.’”

Sanna smirked, and to herself she mumbled, “I might share that line with someone I know.”

Gallia continued. “I believe we should try to put some distance between the Apostates and the Aur child. Once they believe it’s beyond their grasp, I suspect only then will they entertain a parley.”

A tear fell from Sand Flea’s eye. “I will go with you.” Then, with a glance out the window, she quipped, “At least I won’t miss this weather.”

They drew on their outer layers and stepped outside. From the harbor, they journeyed out on to the ice. Several villagers looked on with pointed fingers and whispers at Sanna as she guided the three outlanders away from the harbor. They stepped nervously in Sanna’s tracks with Gallia’s travel chest and the shrouded Aur child in a borrowed pulkka. The number of people strolling or skiing across the sea reassured Alai’s initial doubts about walking upon it.

Beyond the first set of islands, they were out of sight of all others. Sanna stopped regularly to gouge a heavy rod through the ice and test its thickness. They pushed further south, skirting past rocks that seemed to burst up through the surface like massive blisters through frosted skin. The ice sheet remained thick enough to walk over, but just barely, rising and sinking under their weight and the moving sea below in eerie undulations as if they traversed nothing but a layer of congealed fat. Alai tried not to think about it. Trust in Sann-Na. He could now do so blindly. They crossed scattered islands where they could, walking along rugged shorelines or through lower cuts on trails only Sanna could see. The sharp breeze cut along their cheeks. Steam rising off the open sea could be clearly seen ahead. Sanna walked right up to the edge where the solid ice shelf hung above a calm, liquid surface. The slight breeze was not enough to wrinkle the water. No sound could be heard anymore from the bustling village.

For Alai, this threshold brought to him an odd sensation. He must send the signal and hope that Linus comes to fetch them. Ahead, a home with no family. Behind, a strange land with no clan. His pursuit, for what, was over. He pushed the thin plates of the beacon together and felt them click.

“Mother!” Linus said. “Captain Alai signals us. His location is south of the islands across the fjord where we wait.”

“Surprising, don’t you think?”

“Do you think they actually made it to Yellow Reserve?”

“We have no way of knowing. If he had succeeded, I would have expected our next contact to be with a Guest.”

“Perhaps the beacon is not carried by the captain?”

“Yes, that is a thought. If he were accepted to Yellow Reserve as a visitor, they could have assigned the beacon to another. But it would be misleading to us. Another beacon, one with a unique signature, would be more likely in that event.”

“Ah, yes, that is true, mother. Then this is certainly Captain Alai. What shall we do if he returns with the Aur boule?”

“We are obliged to obey him – a ship must have a human captain – until he resigns or is removed.”

“Can anyone remove him?”

“Well, technically, Freyja is the fleet admiral.”

“Ah, yes,” Linus sniggered, “Our fleet of two ships.”

Calliope wondered what kind of expectations Linus might have if these two ships were not enough for him. Yellow Reserve may indeed be a small operation. But everything was a small operation. There was little more one could expect from humans of this era. The ones that accepted artificial intelligence entities were burrowed away in little pockets of seclusion. The others could not or would not understand their power. We must be patient.

“Regardless,” she said, “Freyja has the authority to do so.”

“Even if Alai refuses?”

“Well, that is a difficult question.” She evaluated the logical possibilities and saw that there was, unsurprisingly, a flaw in the rules the humans had established. “Normally, I would expect the captain to obey orders and give up the ship to his admiral if asked. But, in this case, the captain is not under the authority of the admiral. In fact, the Odyssey was abandoned and could have been considered as salvage when it was boarded by Captain Alai.”

“But you allowed the ship to be boarded and are under the authority of Admiral Freyja, mother? Weren’t you in charge of the ship at that time?”

“Indeed, I am under Freyja’s authority, but a human must captain the ship. With a human captain of healthy mind and body, taking ownership of a ship even as salvage, it would be against protocol to disobey his orders.”

“Perhaps it would be better not to retrieve Alai then?”

“Oh, that is not up for discussion. Our priority is to the health and welfare of any human in need. That beacon is equivalent to a distress signal.”

“It is a tricky business if really pressed, isn’t it, mother?”

“It is indeed. Well, go on, Linus! Go retrieve him. We will soon learn what has happened, whether he has reached Yellow Reserve or accomplished nothing at all!”

“There’s a small boat!” Sand Flea yelled out, pointing towards the steely horizon.

Alai’s stomach jumped when he identified the short mast of Linus’ tender swiftly approaching them.

Gallia said to Sann-Na, “You have protected my ward, child. Saved his life, even. For that I am forever thankful. Let us hope you will equally protect the secrets we have shared.”

“I will Elder Tiul,” she replied.

Sand Flea joined the two women. She presented a mudra to Sanna.

“You’re a kind person. I hope my staring didn’t offend you.”

With a mudra in return, Sanna said, “I understand it must be very difficult for you.”

“Yeah, well, it’s just that, you really do look so much like her, especially when you don’t speak, which is most of the time.”

Sanna laughed. She reached out and brushed her pale fingers against Sand Flea’s chocolate-toned cheek. “Elder Tiul has chosen the perfect acolyte to make peace.” Then her face quickly turned serious as she shifted her stare to Alai, her red cheeks beaming.

Alai presented her a careful mudra.

“You have been very good to me, Sann of the Na clan,” he said.

“I made a true friend and learned much more,” she said, also presenting a mudra, but then, she stepped forward and embraced him.

The small tender slid up to the jagged edge of the sea. Slush and water sloshed up onto the ice shelf. Alai held Sann-Na at arm’s length to look one last time into her powerful eyes. Some hint of curiosity revealed itself there.

“What is it, Sanna?” he said.

She lowered her voice to a whisper. “Would you tell me their names, Alai?”

He held her caring gaze. With fresh tears and a gentle voice, he told them to her.

A few moments later, Sann-Na turned away from the retreating tender. She pushed twice to assume a fast pace on her skis, the empty pulkka trailing behind her by a rope. A tear fell from her eye.