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Syrene was practically trembling with excitement from the moment she boarded the Galactic Way. They were going to a new star! Ultima Thule aside – which didn’t quite count as a star – it’d be the first she’d ever set foot on beyond Etheirys!
So, naturally, she stayed right by the helm even after takeoff, eyes fixed on the view before her. She refused to miss that first view of their destination. And what a view it was! Like a kaleidoscope of color, shimmering even from this far away. It’d be enough to make the pixies jealous!
The Loporrits inform her of the reality of this landscape once they’re off the ship. Hostile environments, dangerous weather, not much that was edible.
(Not so different from the moon, but she couldn’t very well tell the Loporrits that, could she? It’d break their hearts!)
After the introduction concluded, Syrene opted to scout out the area before taking on any jobs. Besides, she suspected that someone missed the landing.
She didn’t have to go far from the base camp before she spotted a smooth boulder about the right size to sit on. It wasn’t quite as smooth as it looked – it was uneven from one pigment to the next, and the texture was slightly different as well. Something about the different properties of the minerals, she guessed. They must have all melted together to form this globe. It reminded her of those few years she’d worked at a glassblower’s shop. If only everyone there could see this!
She sat down, closed her eyes, and focused on her aethersense. She reached into herself, searching. A little deeper, and…ah, there he was. Asleep.
She nudged him gently, or whatever the mental equivalent of a nudge was. He stirred but did not wake. Another nudge, harder this time.
[Ardbert, wake up! I thought you wanted to see this!]
He stirred once more, and the familiar warmth of his presence begun to rise closer to the surface.
[Already? Figured it take longer to get there]
It wasn’t quite a voice, nor was it those words exactly, but it was enough for him to make himself heard. The overlap between their thoughts and feelings took care of the rest.
After that, Syrene sensed his awareness sharpen as he tapped into her senses, followed immediately by a burst of excitement and awe from his end of their link.
[It looks like something out of a storybook!]
[It does! It’s hard to believe it’s real!]
[Well? Are we seeing the rest of it or not?]
With their excitement still bouncing back and forth between them, Syrene stood up, picked a direction, and took off. She passed the lake of magma to the south, the sand pits to the west, the caves to the north, the grove of odd crystalline plants to the east. What would it sound like if she played her lyre in those caves, she wondered? Would all that glass and stone amplify the sound or mask it?
It took several bells’ time before she decided she’d seen enough. The weather was still clear, and she didn’t fancy the idea of getting caught in one of those glass storms Searchingway had mentioned. By the time she returned to camp, night was beginning to fall – or, at least, Syrene assumed it was. There was no sun visible through those candy floss clouds above, but they dimmed, changing from shades of pink and orange to blues and violets. Syrene sat and watched all the while, drinking in the sight of it.
Eventually, it was Ardbert who broke the silence.
[Promethea never got to see this]
Syrene hummed in agreement before moving further from camp, out of earshot of everyone there. “Nay, she wouldn’t have,” she answered out loud, once she’d found a new place to sit. “Is there a reason you’re thinking about her all of a sudden?
[Same reason as you, lately. That’s Azem’s symbol on the Key. It reacted to your crystal]
Syrene has nothing to add to that. It was impossible not to notice. So, when Ardbert spoke again, it was to change the topic.
[I’ve been wondering lately – what do you think would happen if someone took the Loporrits’ ship from one of
the reflections? Would they cross over into the Source, or would there be nothing there at all?]
After a while spent tossing that question around in her head, Syrene shrugged. “I haven’t the slightest idea.”
[Makes sense, I suppose. Not like there’s any way to test it]
“Not yet, there’s not,” Syrene replied.
[There’s a thought! Can you imagine opening that voidgate on the Source’s moon back up just to drop the ship through it?]
“Or through the gate in Yak Tel? They’d have to shrink it down to make it fit!”
Syrene swore she heard Ardbert laugh. “Call it wishful thinking, but if Promethea’s the one who made the Key, do you think she wanted all the worlds’ peoples to be able to meet one day? I think I would have.”
[Hard to say for sure. It’s a nice idea]
“I imagine we’ll find out sooner or later. Just wait – one of these days, Y’shtola’s going to tell me she’s made another breakthrough, but –”
[– she has some chore or other she’ll make you do before she’ll tell you what –]
“– it is, and then she’ll assume I’ve forgotten the last time she shared her research, so she’ll take at least ten minutes to explain it all over again, and this –”
[– time, she’ll probably have Shale talk to you for another ten!]
Now Syrene was laughing. “So you have been paying attention!” she teased.
[Can’t a man take one nap without being accused of sleeping your whole life away?]
he teased back,
Her response to that was a wicked grin. Ardbert couldn’t see it, but he knew what it looked like. “Anyroad, I’ll still do it all, because it’ll be worth it,” she added.
Her expression softened. “It’ll change everything.”
[I’ll be looking forward to it.]
His statement’s accompanied by a burst of trust and fondness. For a split second, it feels something like a warm blanket.
[Seriously, though, if you don’t get back there and pick out a mission, some Loporrit is going to walk over here,
see you talking to yourself, and assume you’ve hit your head]
…He was right. She was here to work, not to sightsee. She’d have plenty of time to look around on other visits, or while she was out gathering supplies.
Before returning to camp, she took a moment to recall the view from above the star – that first glimpse of it – and share the memory with Ardbert.
(She can’t see him smile, but she can feel it.)