Vil’ja drew a deep breath. “Your people have driven the Devils away. For that I thank you.”
She shuddered inwardly when she thought of the Devils. Even though her father, her teachers, and every other adult she knew all claimed that the Rift War was now a thing of the past, Vil’ja had no closure. She still feared and hated the [382] Devils and everything they had done. The war the crystal beasts had started had taken Mother from her. In a way, it had taken Father as well.
“You’re very welcome,” Burgess said. “By the way, what’s your name?”
“Vil’ja,” said the girl, flushing with embarrassment at her own atrocious manners. She thought the members of the honor guard were beginning to look impatient. Father appeared ready to slink away and hide, with or without her.
“And what was your question, Vil’ja?”
With an effort, Vil’ja gathered her jumbled thoughts before speaking. “Ending the Rift War meant sealing the Rift, which meant placing Aerth beyond our reach. How can your people and ours really know each other across such a great distance?”
“That’s a very good question, Vil’ja,” Burgess said as she slowly removed the bracelet from her wrist. “And I don’t know if I have an answer. All I can say is that the question is the reason I had to come among you.”
“Even though you can never get back?”
The Aerthean’s eyes glistened with moisture. She nodded. “Even so. Now hold out your hand.”
Vil’ja quietly did as Burgess asked. The Aerth woman placed the stone-and-shell-beaded bracelet into the palm of her hand and gently closed the girl’s rough, gray fingers around it.
“This is a piece of Earth,” the envoy said. “Actually, it’s a whole lot of small pieces of Earth. Every one of these pieces tells a story of its own.”
“Are they yourstories?”
“Some of them are,” the Aerth woman said. Vil’ja started trying to return the bracelet, but Burgess pushed her hands back, gently’ but firmly. “I doubt I’ll ever be going back there, Vil’ja.”
“Will you tell me some of those stories?” Vil’ja asked.
[383] “I would be happy to do that a little later on, Vil’ja. If you will make me a promise first.”
Vil’ja held the bracelet and nodded.
“Someday I want you to return the bracelet to where it came from,” Burgess said.
The girl blinked in confusion. “To Aerth?”
“To Aerth,” the woman replied, this time coloring the revered place name with a fairly good mid-southern latitude Oghen-Neyel accent.
“But without the Rift, a voyage like that would probably take a megajillion oghencycles,” Vil’ja said.
The Aerth woman’s smile turned almost playful. “Maybe even a gigajillion. But you Neyel are clever, patient people. It seems to run in the family. So if your generation doesn’t find a shortcut to Aerth, then your children or your grandchildren almost certainly will. Or theirs will. The Neyel and my people won’t remain isolated from each other forever. The universe simply isn’t big enough to allow that.”
“You’re here,” Vil’ja said, conceding the point. “I guess that proves you’re right.”
The Aerthean woman placed her hands on Vil’ja’s shoulders. “Believe it. Your people will find Aerth, Vil’ja. It’s only a matter of time. And my life’s work is to prepare everyone for the day when that happens. We all have a lot to learn. Myself included.”
Then Burgess nodded to her one-armed escort, and within moments she and the squad of troopers around her departed, the entire group quickly vanishing into the crowd as it resumed its course for the Great Hall of Oghen.
“Let’s go,” Father said to Vil’ja long moments later. His tail twitched spasmodically behind him as though he didn’t know what to do with it.
Vil’ja ignored him. Standing stock-still, she held the bracelet in the flat of her hand and let the morning sun dance across its homemade beadwork of colorful, unfamiliar [384] stones and weird, alien shells. Every one of these pieces tells a story of its own.
Vil’ja looked heavenward again. The largest of Oghen’s moons was visible, and Holy Vangar lay beneath the horizon, out of sight. She concentrated instead on the section of the sky where the teachers had said that Milkyway—and Auld Far Aerth—could be found.
Clutching the bracelet tightly, she decided that one day she would contribute a story or two of her own.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
MICHAEL A. MARTIN, whose solo short fiction has appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction,is also coauthor (with Andy Mangels) of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Mission: Gamma, Book Three—Cathedral; Star Trek: The Next Generation, Section 31—Rogue;and the forthcoming Star Trek: Starfleet Corps of Engineers #30and #31 (Ishtar Rising Books 1and 2).Working with Andy, Martin has also coauthored Roswell : Skeletons in the Closet; Roswell : Pursuit;and Roswell : Turnabout(the last of which is forthcoming).
Martin was the regular cowriter (also with Andy) of Marvel Comics’ monthly Star Trek: Deep Space Ninecomic-book series, and has generated heaps of copy for Adas Editions’ Star Trek Universesubscription card series. He has written for Star Trek Monthly, Dreamwatch,Grolier Books, Wildstorm, Platinum Studios, and Gareth Stevens, Inc., for whom he has penned several World Almanac Library of the Statesnonfiction books.
[386] Martin lives and works in an ancient house in Portland, Oregon, surrounded by his wife, Jennifer J. Dottery, their two boys (James and William), and much love and laughter.
ANDY MANGELSis the co-author of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Section 31—Rogue; Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Mission: Gamma—Cathedral;and a number of upcoming Star Treknovels, e-books, and short stories, all written with Michael A. Martin. The pair have also written Roswelclass="underline" Skeletons in the Closetand Roswelclass="underline" Pursuit,with Roswelclass="underline" Turnaboutforthcoming. Flying solo, Andy is also the author of Animation on DVD: The Ultimate Guide,as well as the best-selling book Star Wars: The Essential Guide To Characters,plus Beyond Mulder & Scully: The Mysterious Characters of The X-Filesand From Scream To Dawson’s Creek: The Phenomenal Career of Kevin Williamson.
Mangels has written for The Hollywood Reporter, The Advocate, Just Out, Cinescape, Gauntlet, Dreamwatch, Sci-Fi Universe, SFX, Anime Invasion, Outweek, Frontiers, Portland Mercury, Comics Buyer’s Guide,and scores of other entertainment and lifestyle magazines. He has also written licensed material based on properties by Lucasfilm, Paramount, New Line Cinema, Universal Studios, Warner Bros., Microsoft, Abrams-Gentile, and Platinum Studios. His comic-book work has been published by DC Comics, Marvel Comics, Dark Horse, Wildstorm, Image, Innovation, WaRP Graphics, Topps, MVCreations, and others, and he was the editor of the award-winning Gay Comicsanthology for eight years. He has also written DVD supplemental material and liner notes for Anchor Bay. In what little spare time he has, he likes to country dance and collect uniforms and Wonder[387] Womanmemorabilia. He lives in Portland, Oregon, with his longtime partner, Don Hood, and their dog, Bela.
Visit his website at www.andymangels.com
ABOUT THE E-BOOK
(SEP, 2003)—Scanned, proofed, and formatted by Bibliophile.