"I find myself desperately wanting to protect people from the things that have already happened to them," she said.
The time until Gidds' meeting was conveniently filled by a demonstration of the interesting patterns produced during extended bouts of kissing. And then, after a meeting and a shower, she did watch him sleep for a while, and replayed the log of the patterns they had made together, in her workroom.
For all the pain Place Sight brought him, it filled Gidds' life with wonder. And she was fitting into that, less clumsily than she had feared.
When the opportunity presented, who would not want to live such an extraordinary life? Like learning to fly, it was something Laura could not help but embrace.
Chapter Seventeen
"So this place is going to be on a river instead of a lake?" Julian said.
"What makes you say that?" Laura asked absently, casting an eye over Lira and Julian to ensure that all sensible precautions for a day out in the sun had been taken.
"Because it’s called Areziath, Unna Laura," Lira said. "River City."
"I thought river was Avez," Laura said, picking up one of the backpacks weighted down with lunch.
"Arez," Lira said firmly.
"In Old Muinan, Mum," Julian said, grabbing his backpack. "Come on—we’d better go make sure Aunt Sue isn’t still in bed."
But Sue had Nick, Alyssa and Maddy to haul her out of her Pikachu onesie and into some semblance of order.
"Come on, slowpokes!" she called, waving from further down the path. "Laura, you need to overcome this habit of always showing up late."
Laura offered her sister some rolled eyes, then said to Julian: "If you’ve managed to add Old Muinan to your accomplishments, along with beating me to adulthood, I’m going to have to seriously think about getting up earlier to make up lost ground."
"The trick is to stay up all night, Mum. Or just asking Lira."
"Ask Lira what?" Sue asked.
"What Areziath means."
"River City. According to Muinapedia."
"Hey, we weren’t going to look it up beforehand," Laura protested.
Sue shrugged. "I didn’t look at any pictures. Just checked the bugs and heat factor. Southern hemisphere, spring, but a bit more temperate than the Pandora region. If it gets snow at all, it’d only be a light dusting, and we’d be well past any spring melt."
Since this was barely more than Gidds had already told them, Laura relaxed and instead waved to the trio of black-clad Setari waiting at the docks. Zee, Mara and Alay had most likely already been involved in performing surveys of Areziath during the initial months of Muina’s resettlement, but all three of the senior Setari greeted the small expedition with bright smiles and no sign that they resented their years of training and incredibly deadly skills being wasted on guard duty at a picnic.
"All I know is that Areziath is beautiful, and an unusual example of the platform towns," Laura said, in response to a question from Alay. "Gidds thought I’d like it, but suggested I not look it up."
"Maze loves it," Alay said. "And visiting without any idea of what to expect—especially at this time of year—is an excellent idea. There’s a good deal of debate over what to do with the site…but I won’t go on. You’ll see soon enough."
"It’s so special that we had a little competition to see who got this assignment," Mara said, with a meaning grin at Laura.
To watch wide-eyed? Laura smiled wryly, finding she wasn’t bothered by their warm curiosity.
The arrival of their transport distracted her from further reflection. This was a small aircraft known as a tanz: a highly manoeuvrable vehicle that always made Laura think of the space shuttle as if designed by Batman.
It settled into the water just off the end of the dock, and they walked across the wing to board, with Laura revisiting her perennial bemusement about military transports being used as taxis for her family. That was likely not even due to Gidds, but instead because of Lira, so valuable and so potentially dangerous.
And currently sitting with her head bowed, expression distracted. Of course, she’d visited Areziath before, and knew what to expect, but she’d seemed to enjoy the idea of another visit—and the fact that Laura wanted to be surprised by what it was like.
Squeezing her granddaughter’s hand, Laura sent a text.
Laura: Feeling okay?
Liranadestar: I’m just checking on Nimenny, Unna Laura.
Laura: You’re lucky your Nimenny is so much less grumpy than my Kirr-tut. Would you like to go on another group quest with us tomorrow?
Liranadestar: Maybe.
Laura left it at that, not wanting to do anything to push the girl away from Red Exchange. Cass had noticed a sharp decrease in Lira’s nightmares since she’d started playing, and so adventures with Nimenny would not be complicated by the prospect of stealth Kalrani bodyguards.
On the flip side, Laura had to wonder if there had been a committee meeting or two about the relative dangers of Touchstones who became devoted to computer-generated water spirits. As virtual pets went, the teszen were light-years from Tamagotchi.
Literally. Literally light-years from Earth. She would never quite get over that.
The trip to Pandora’s old town was brief and direct, with the tanz dropping them directly into the amphitheatre, allowing the shortest of walks to the teleport platform. A green-suited security detail was waiting to ensure no onlookers pressed too close, but as they disembarked Zee, Mara and Alay still shifted from relaxed and chatty to alert and focused. Laura was fascinated by the change, and the reminder that these three personable and friendly women were some of the most dangerous people on the planet, quite capable of swatting attackers like flies. Their training had been intended for killing monsters in the Ena, but they were more than equal to human threats—and over-eager fans, which was all they faced now, with a ring of spectators at the upper rim of the amphitheatre waving and calling out names. Mostly the three Setari’s, ironically, but also Lira’s and—to Laura’s immense and carefully hidden amusement—Julian’s.
He might be growing into his father’s gawky, stork-like figure, but Julian’s features were even and pleasantly attractive when not quite so crimson, and he had accrued a not-insubstantial fan club. Though, as he had repeatedly pointed out, having a fan club for being someone’s brother didn’t really count.
Their Setari escort ushered them below the amphitheatre to a simple round room with an unassuming white platform in the centre. This activated as soon as they had all filed on, replacing one round room with a second, almost identical, the only visible difference a sign that switched from Pandora to Kalasa.
It was entirely impossible for Laura to make this trip without a burst of wonder at actual, real teleportation platforms, and a lurch of distress because Cass had been the one who’d discovered the function of the platforms—a development that had left her trapped in Kalasa, hunted by monsters.
Laura always looked at the wall opposite the entrance, searching for signs of the gap that had allowed Cass to escape capture, but the patch was seamless. Repairs were underway all over Kalasa since, after considerable argument, the decision had been made to restore the ancient city rather than preserve it in the fractured state in which it had been found.
Having imperfectly followed some of the debate, Laura knew there were practical reasons for making use of Kalasa, but could not help but wish it could be left untouched. A whitestone city filling a valley protected and concealed by an ancient and still-functioning forcefield, it truly was an abandoned ruin out of Forerunner legend.