“It’s a new
experience for both of you. Usually the celestial body helps to
limit energy surges in such a way as to not physically hurt the
ambassador, but in your case, she has to learn that first.”
It was an
unfounded fear. I have never felt anything but safety and
protection from Earth. She loved me, I knew that for certain. And
the very way that she slowly revealed our connection to me also
proved that she was properly in control. What didn’t make sense to
me was why she had picked me, if indeed she did pick me.
“How does it
work, Dad? Did Earth pick me?”
“Ambassadors
are born to ambassador parents in the same region of the galaxy.
But Earth is a complete mystery as no one has come forward, and I
know practically all the ambassadors. If you could remember a
face... or...something... only you can unlock the secret. Maybe
Earth did pick you. We just don’t know,” he said, sighing
heavily.
“It made sense
after we’d found you to... keep you. Sorry, love. I don’t want it
to sound like deciding over a puppy, but that’s the truth. Your
mother was so happy. She believed, and still does, that you were
sent directly from heaven for her. And I was in the position to
protect you.”
I knew this to
be true; she’d always said that, throughout my entire life. Then I
realised she hadn’t said a single word all this time.
“Mom, why are
you so quiet?”
“It’s difficult
to hear about these things, Valerie. And it’s frustrating that you
are in the centre of all of this, right in the line of fire,” she
said bitterly. “I’ll be honest. At first it was very hard to accept
the other dimension to your father, but it has given me a little
baby girl. Now that little baby is constantly threatened...” she
broke up.
“I’ll be fine,
Mom. I have the best protectors on earth. And in the entire
universe!” I said enthusiastically.
But my words
didn’t help, she only cried harder. Dad placed his hand on her leg
and squeezed. He let her cry without saying a word.
“So tell me
about the big meeting?” I asked to distract my mom.
“You’ll see
when we get there,” he said seriously.
I assumed it
would upset my Mom even further, so I left it there.
It was quiet in
the car for the rest of the way. I closed my eyes and got lost in
thought, thinking about everything my dad had told me.
The car stopped
eventually and I sat up to look around. We were in an open grassy
field, at the foot of a mountain, amongst hundreds of cars. There
weren’t any buildings and no people either. It was bushveld all
around, beautiful as ever in the twilight.
“Where
is
everybody?” I asked.
My dad didn’t
answer and kept staring up at the mountain through the front
window.
“Don’t tell me!
We’re going to climb it?” I asked surprised. I loved the veldt and
nature, but climbing up that mountain was a little crazy.
“We need to
hurry, we only have until midnight,” he answered. Then he turned to
me. “Don’t worry about Artemis; tonight will be moonless, so he
won’t bother us.”
“Why midnight?”
I asked.
“Not to
interrupt the normal daytime lives of ambassadors. Except during
extreme emergencies. And I think everyone is here, all the
triggered ones. We’re about three hundred.”
We got out of
the car, but instead of starting the climb, my dad walked round the
car to the boot. He took out a heavy bag that I recognised as their
tent.
“And this?” I
asked when he started to put up the tent. “Are we sleeping here?
And why don’t I see any other tents?”
“It’s for your
mother. She’s not allowed to go into the meeting and we’ll only be
back around sunrise.”
“Right next to
the car? Isn’t it dangerous?” I asked, nervously. Apart from the
Duncans of the world, there were natural threats as well. Who knows
what type of snakes hid around? And that was only one of the local
predators.
“We have to
obey the rules, honey.”
“Stuff that!
What rules? Whose rules? And what if we don’t obey? Are we going to
get a hiding?” I asked sarcastically.
“Oh, I’ll be
fine. Don’t worry about me. I’m used to this already. I’m going to
finish up and dive into bed,” she said, smiling at me. She looked
slightly better than a few moments ago in the car.
“No, we won’t
be punished. We obey out of respect and because we agree with it.
You see, it can be dangerous for your mother up there. Sometimes
when emotions run high, there are power surges and she doesn’t have
a celestial body that can help absorb the excess power. Besides,
it’s not as if we leave her all alone in the bush. The Reds will be
on watch.”
The thought of
the Reds being around put me to rest. Then I thought about the
rules.
“But what about
me? I don’t even know the rules.”
“Well, because
most of the rules are there to protect our society on Earth and
therefore Earth herself, you are technically exempt. Earth will
show you when she is in need or when something gets dangerous. It
works both ways: she can hear you and you can hear her.”
“I’ve never
heard her before, dad,” I said softly.
“There was a
time when you were very small when you did hear her. You need to
start listening again. No one can help you with that. Try your
best, dear, she might need you as well.”
Dad finished
the tent and made a little bed inside. He carried out a camping
chair, his back pack, her bag and the cooler bag. From the cooler
bag he took out water bottles and cold drink cans for the three of
us. He put mine and his into his back pack.
“Don’t you want
to put on something more comfortable for the climb?” he asked
me.
I thought about
the contents of my little bag. There was an old track suit in
there, but considering the amount of people, I’d rather die than be
seen in it in front of such a crowd. And my sneakers were
comfortable enough for such an exodus.
“I’m fine,
thanks dad.”
My mother
grabbed his hand as he turned away. “Take care of my baby, please
Hank?” she begged.
“I will,” he
said solemnly.
It was dark
already and he took out a torch from his backpack. We started the
climb up the massive mountain, weaponed against the night with the
light from a small torch. We walked in silence for the first
hundred meters or so, concentrating on the way in front of us. I
felt at home, completely at ease and relaxed. It felt right being
there, in the veldt, under the big night sky, in spite of the
dark.
“Your mother
really loves you, you know?” he continued without giving me a
chance to comment. “She was really upset the day that she
discovered my ability to...” he stopped abruptly.
“To what, dad?”
I asked curiously.
“Let me show
you instead,” he answered reluctantly.
He handed me
the torch and then bent forward to look at the spot where the light
was shining. Without touching, a few grains of sand lifted slightly
and then slowly revolved around the little pebble. The pebble rose,
spinning faster and faster, until it was only a blur to my
eyes.
It blurred for
a few seconds and then sparked and fell down, motionless but
glowing red hot. I reached over to pick it up, but he grabbed my
hand before I touched it.
“Don’t touch,
it’s still very hot.”
“Wow, dad! That
is amazing!” I exclaimed. “It’s so.... I love that you can do that.
I don’t even have words!”
“It’s amazing
on sand and stone. But on a human body...”
I shivered. It
was too gruesome a scene to even think about. And to associate such
a scene with my dad!
He grinned
slightly. “Your mother’s reaction was a little different. She found
me ‘welding’ in the garage. I can’t even remember what I was
welding. I had to tell her everything. Her reaction was also the
main reason why we waited to tell you. She really understood when
you walked out the other day, as she’d felt the same.”
I realised it
wasn’t an easy thing for him, talking about all the censure from my
mother. In some way, she blamed him. He felt alone, and I could
relate to that. At least now we could be alone together.
We pressed on,
each to our own thoughts.
An hour later
we stopped for a rest. I opened a bottle of water and looked up at
the clear, clear night sky, bright with gazillions of little
lights. To think that they were alive!
“Can they see
me, dad?”
He followed my
gaze. “Yes dear. They are looking at us, with a delay, though. Some
are many light-years away. During daytime the sun blinds them and
during the night the moon blocks some, but they can see. They are
definitely looking down on us.”
It felt freaky
being watched under a sky of eyes. I shivered. The sky had always
felt alive - because it is alive!
“Let’s rather
get going, please?”
He got up and
took the lead again, shining the way with his torch.
“This is really
going to be a big meeting. Who will be there?”
“You’ll see,”
he answered.
We reached the
top minutes before midnight, exhausted and as dried out as a Karoo
bush.
Stretching out
in front of us was nothing less than a wedding feast, under the
open sky on the grassy plain: to the far side were tables stacked
with food; in the middle were arranged rows of set tables and
chairs; to the front was a big table, made up most extravagantly of
all, like a bride’s table.
There were
torches planted all over the entire area and big round candles lit
the paths between the tables.
Most of the
tables were occupied already, with only a few seats left open here
and there. The majority of the people were dressed casually,
looking relaxed and conversing like old friends. The hum of their
voices travelled far into the quiet night, carried by a light
breeze.
“Who’s getting
married?” I asked my dad in a whisper.
Before he could
answer, a man walked up to us, a few years younger than my dad.
“Welcome,
welcome. It’s good to see you, my friend. We’re happy that you
came,” he told my dad with a broad smile as they shook hands.
“Yes, it’s good
to see you as well, Vince,” he answered. “This is my daughter,
Valerie,” he said turning to me.
“Welcome,
Valerie,” Vince greeted me as well.
“Please get
something to drink,” he said and pointed at a table close by,
stacked with drinks. “Seating arrangements are shown on the board
next to the table.”
We walked over
and both gulped down a litre of water while my dad studied the
seating plan.
“We need to
hurry, love, it’s about to start,” he urged. I took another bottle
for the proceedings, as I didn’t know how long it would take or
what to expect. I followed him under a staring eye here or there,
but didn’t recognise anybody.
We took our
places at a table close to the front and were just seated, when I
felt a strong force pulling on me, coming from the back. I turned
in my seat to look and noticed that everybody else was looking
down.
“Dad, why is
everybody looking down?” I whispered.
“Some consider
it an honour to be in his presence. Meetings of this size are
practically unheard of; usually it’s only a few decision makers
around a table. That and, they are terrified of Alex.”
I should have
known that he was going to be here. I wondered if Lisa was also
here, somewhere amongst the sea of faces.
“Afraid?” What
a silly bunch, I thought. “Afraid of my... afraid of Alex... uh...”
It occurred to me that I didn’t know his surname.
My dad ignored
my slip and nodded.
“Why are they
afraid of him? I guess they don’t know him at all.”
“He’s a yellow
star, but not any old yellow star. He’s in the top ten percent of
all yellow stars.”
I remembered
that from my studies as well.
“And that makes
him...?”
“He’s not
merely a person of rank, you know? Alex is the new ruler of our
galaxy.” He waited for his words to sink in. “Rulers have been
known to be, well, aggressive. The core of a star is hot and they
are rather temperamental.”
Everybody stood
up as Alex walked through the tables, up to the bride’s table, with
everybody still looking down.
Suddenly the
image that I had of him was like a dim little light bulb. His
pedestal jumped from a distance slightly above my head to somewhere
in the clouds. Alex was the sun, yes, that idea I was getting used
to. But now, he was the Ruler of the galaxy as well! Unbelievable.
But somehow, on some level, I still felt comfortable with him, like
I’d known him for a long time.
“Fellow
Ambassadors, please sit down,” he said and waited for everybody to
sit before seating himself.
The sixty-four
thousand dollar question was what were we all doing there. “Before
we begin with our agenda, I would like to thank the constellation
Taurus for this feast that they have prepared for us. They will now
serve hors d’oeuvres while we proceed.”
The occupants
of four tables at the back jumped up and started dishing out food,
under the deathly silence of a few bush sounds. Then two young
girls rushed to Alex’s table, one with a glass of wine and the
other with a closed dish. They bowed before they placed them down
in front of him, not looking at him once. To me, the whole scene
felt artificial. It was only Alex, ruler or not!
“They forgot to
wipe his little nose,” I whispered to my dad.
He frowned at
me in return. “They can hear you,” he whispered back in a
reprimanding tone.
I looked up and
Alex was grinning at me. The very sight of his smile made the
audience behind me buzz softly.
“They are all
fighting for his hand, as he isn’t married yet,” my dad
explained.