something,” Hawk said. “Not sure quite what…” Maddie said softly, “Our humanity?” She smiled at us. “I felt, I really felt it, our smallness, the vastness, and it didn’t hurt.” She fell silent.
The girl was at our side again. She gestured back towards the rent in the fence and we followed her.
As we were about to step through, she touched my arm and said,
“Well, will you help the Yall?”
I stared at her. “What?”
The others had stopped and were watching us.
The girl smiled. “Last night,” she said, “they requested your help, and in return they would soothe your dreams. Well, will you accede to their request?”
I shook my head. “I… I don’t know what they want,” I stammered, and hurried through the fence and back to the car.
As we were driving back through the sector, Matt broke the silence, “What was all that about?”
Hawk turned and regarded me. I sensed Maddie’s gaze on me, too.
I said, “I thought it was a dream. That’s why I didn’t say anything. I dreamed… thought I dreamed… that I was visited by the apparition. It asked for my help, and said it would stop my nightmares in return.”
“Nightmares?” Hawk asked.
I gripped the steering wheel. “Nightmares about my daughter,” I said. “She died three years ago.”
Hawk reached out and touched my arm. Matt said, “But the apparition didn’t tell you what it wanted?”
I shook my head. “No. Nothing. It just asked for my help.”
We made the journey back to Magenta in relative silence, stopping once at a small settlement for a meal. I could sense my friends’ curiosity. I wondered if they felt I might be holding back still more from them. The atmosphere was uneasy, camouflaged by forced small talk.
A couple of hours later we arrived home and, as if by tacit consent, returned to the Mantis and checked the monitoring equipment. It was blank; the ship had not been visited in our absence.
I opened a bottle of wine and we sat in the lounge, discussing the events of the day. We agreed that we were on the brink of something vast—too vast, Matt said, for us to fully apprehend, and I was visited once again by the feeling I had experienced when touching the Column, of the smallness and at the same time of the wonder of my humanity, and I felt hope.
We discussed what we had experienced, compared our feelings, and came to the conclusion that we must be patient; that the Yall had contacted us for a reason, and that we must wait for them to make that reason apparent.
Matt laughed.
Hawk turned to him. “What?”
“I’ve been thinking,” Matt said. “It’s almost as if we’ve been chosen—chosen by the Yall. But what if we’re as deluded as all the crackpot cults back there?”
I said, “You mean, we’re just another bunch of cranks?”
Maddie was shaking her head. “I know what I felt,” she said with conviction.
For the next hour or so we drank and chatted. Matt told us about the planets he’d visited, and Hawk matched this with stories of his piloting days, though he said nothing about the Nevada run. Maddie told us about her childhood in England, and I waxed drunkenly about the beauty of British Columbia. To their credit, none of my friends asked about Carrie.
At one point Hawk said, “I’ll drop by tomorrow afternoon, go over the crate again.”
“And if the apparition visits you again tonight,” Matt said, censure in his eyes, “ask how you can help it, okay?”
I smiled. “Yes, sir.”
In the early hours, with no evidence of apparitions that night, I left them drinking and dragged myself off to bed.
In the event I spent a restful, dream-free night.
TEN
The storm season came swiftly to Magenta Bay.
On the morning after our pilgrimage to the Golden Column, I woke late and dragged myself through to the lounge. I expected to find my friends sprawled out on the couches, the worse for drink. But the lounge was empty, the debris of the night before cleared away. I made
The girl was at our side again. She gestured back towards the rent in the fence and we followed her.
As we were about to step through, she touched my arm and said,
“Well, will you help the Yall?”
I stared at her. “What?”
The others had stopped and were watching us.
The girl smiled. “Last night,” she said, “they requested your help, and in return they would soothe your dreams. Well, will you accede to their request?”
I shook my head. “I… I don’t know what they want,” I stammered, and hurried through the fence and back to the car.
As we were driving back through the sector, Matt broke the silence, “What was all that about?”
Hawk turned and regarded me. I sensed Maddie’s gaze on me, too.
I said, “I thought it was a dream. That’s why I didn’t say anything. I dreamed… thought I dreamed… that I was visited by the apparition. It asked for my help, and said it would stop my nightmares in return.”
“Nightmares?” Hawk asked.
I gripped the steering wheel. “Nightmares about my daughter,” I said. “She died three years ago.”
Hawk reached out and touched my arm. Matt said, “But the apparition didn’t tell you what it wanted?”
I shook my head. “No. Nothing. It just asked for my help.”
We made the journey back to Magenta in relative silence, stopping once at a small settlement for a meal. I could sense my friends’ curiosity. I wondered if they felt I might be holding back still more from them. The atmosphere was uneasy, camouflaged by forced small talk.
A couple of hours later we arrived home and, as if by tacit consent, returned to the Mantis and checked the monitoring equipment. It was blank; the ship had not been visited in our absence.
I opened a bottle of wine and we sat in the lounge, discussing the events of the day. We agreed that we were on the brink of something vast—too vast, Matt said, for us to fully apprehend, and I was visited once again by the feeling I had experienced when touching the Column, of the smallness and at the same time of the wonder of my humanity, and I felt hope.
We discussed what we had experienced, compared our feelings, and came to the conclusion that we must be patient; that the Yall had contacted us for a reason, and that we must wait for them to make that reason apparent.
Matt laughed.
Hawk turned to him. “What?”
“I’ve been thinking,” Matt said. “It’s almost as if we’ve been chosen—chosen by the Yall. But what if we’re as deluded as all the crackpot cults back there?”
I said, “You mean, we’re just another bunch of cranks?”
Maddie was shaking her head. “I know what I felt,” she said with conviction.
For the next hour or so we drank and chatted. Matt told us about the planets he’d visited, and Hawk matched this with stories of his piloting days, though he said nothing about the Nevada run. Maddie told us about her childhood in England, and I waxed drunkenly about the beauty of British Columbia. To their credit, none of my friends asked about Carrie.
At one point Hawk said, “I’ll drop by tomorrow afternoon, go over the crate again.”
“And if the apparition visits you again tonight,” Matt said, censure in his eyes, “ask how you can help it, okay?”
I smiled. “Yes, sir.”
In the early hours, with no evidence of apparitions that night, I left them drinking and dragged myself off to bed.
In the event I spent a restful, dream-free night.
TEN
The storm season came swiftly to Magenta Bay.
On the morning after our pilgrimage to the Golden Column, I woke late and dragged myself through to the lounge. I expected to find my friends sprawled out on the couches, the worse for drink. But the lounge was empty, the debris of the night before cleared away. I made
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