This is the second chapter of the serial novel Pirayus. For the previous chapter, see Chapter Two or start at the beginning with Chapter One.
There was always a pain in her stomach around this time. It had been less frequent before, but within the last few weeks it came every night. Lisette rubbed her belly and went on with her work. She sat before an array of books with old drawings. She preferred books to electronic media. Lisette was drawing a map on a large piece of paper. It wasn’t a map of anything that anyone could see today. It was a picture of the past that she had pieced together from numerous historical sources. She took a pen to the page and drew a steady, straight line across it. Then the pain increased and she had to stop.
Lisette stood and walked to the window. Aside from the lamp on her desk, the room was dark. This made it easy to see the streets outside. A light rain descended on the city and its jumble of roofs, each no more than five or six stories above the street. Voices from the terrace below echoed off the slate walls. A couple of people stood beneath umbrellas with lights beneath that made them look like glowing flowers. More people sat under the awning of a cafe.
“Settie, are you okay?”
She turned and saw an older man standing in the door with a silver tray. The tray held a steaming pewter pot, a tea cup and a plate of small sandwiches.
Lisette said, “Hi Dad. I’m fine.”
“You’re clutching your stomach.” He placed the tray on her desk. “Will this help?”
“Yes.” she smiled. “It never stays for long.”
“How is your work?” He said as he traced a finger along the line she had drawn.
“I’m trying to finish before my meeting with the museum director later this week.”
“It makes me very happy to see you happy. And proud. Pirayus has a long history and so much of it is lost. The responsibility of curating that history is not a trivial one.”
“This place is my home after all. I want to understand it as I would any person I care about.”
Her father smiled and nodded, but as he was doing so the pain shot through her body and she doubled over. Lisette steadied herself on the table.
“Let me call you a doctor.” her father said.
“I’ve seen the doctor. They can’t find anything.”
“Nothing like this could simply be in your mind.”
A few moments passed when Lisette couldn’t speak. Then there was a knock coming from downstairs, from the door to the outside. Her father made an angry face that lasted no more than a second before returning to his worried look. He threw a hand in the air.
He said, “Whoever it is, they’ll go away. I’m calling a doctor.”
Lisette started towards the door as the pain subsided enough to let her move.
“Dad. Is it so hard to believe? There are lots of things that hurt our feelings so much they make our bodies hurt.”
“But not like this.”
The knock on the door repeated.
“Well if there’s anything that could do it,,,”
“Fine, let’s not talk about that if it will make you collapse,”
Lisette passed her father and went to the stairs.
“I have to get that.” she said. “I think I know who it is.”
“Well?”
She reached the foyer and opened the door. There was a man dressed in a long coat and a knit skull cap. He held an umbrella with a lamp attached to the top of its stem. The only greeting he gave was the white puff of air he breathed into the house.
“Are they ready for me?” said Lisette.
“Let’s go.”
Her father came rumbling down the stairs, shouting, “Where are you going? You can’t go out in this condition.”
“I have to.” she said.
“Lisette…”
All three let the word hang in the air. The man at the door only pointed his nose in the direction of the old man, as if to ask Lisette if she was going to respond. She didn;t.
“Lisette.” repeated her father. “I think I know what this is about. You’ve come a long way, too far to turn back now. And if your pain is what you think it is, then maybe it’s a reminder of what you left behind.”
“If you knew what I knew you’d understand.”
“Maybe so, but understanding still wouldn’t mean I’d think it’s a good idea.”
“It’s just talk.” she said, “That’s all. I’ll be back in a couple hours.”
With those words, Lisette grabbed an umbrella from the stand by the door and walked into the rain. She and the man followed a narrow passage that angled this way and that among houses that were pressed up against each other, as if for warmth. Golden light spilled out from them. At one home a man leaned against the frame of an open doorway and puffed at a cigar. He wished the pair a good night, Lisette returned the greeting, but her tall companion did not. He didn’t even look to the side.
“You’re single minded, aren’t you?” said Lisette.
“What did he mean, about your condition? You didn’t look well when you answered the door.”
“I’ve been sick lately.”
“Are you well enough for this?”
“I can put one foot in front of the other and draw a straight line. It’s all you need from me.”
The slender, jagged road let out onto a plaza. A canal lined the end opposite theirs. The water was high because of the rain. A bridge crossed the canal and next to the bridge stood a round, stout chapel. A few people stood in the chapel doorway, beneath a sign reading “Meropene Occularum.” A group of children were crouched in a circle near the railing that ran along the water’s edge. The tall man tried to tug Lisette towards the chapel, but she wandered to the kids. As she got closer, she saw that they were playing with a frog.
“Did you catch it in the canal?” she said, crouching nearby.
“Uh huh.” said a little boy. “We’re going to name it Tubby.”
“I see why. He is a big one. Where are your parents?”
The boy pointed towards the bridge. On the other side stood a woman chatting with a man who’d stuck his head out of a window. That was a common site on Pirayus. It rained so damn much that people were used to being out no matter the weather. The mother looked over and called for the children. They let the frog go and Tubby leapt into the water.
The tall man said, “Are you done socializing with kids?”
Lisette tried to stand, but found it difficult. She lost her balance and let go of her umbrella. The tall man caught her and they watched a wind take her umbrella down the plaza and into the canal, where it floated out of sight.
He said, “You have to be sure that you can do this. It’s not only about your own comfort, Lisette. You could be putting other people in danger.”
“I actually need this so that I can feel better.”
“What do you mean?”
“If you must know.” said Lisette. “It’s been a long time since I was involved in anything like this. I was just a teenager. I went to jail and after I got out I stayed away from the rebellion. Now I am what I am. I’m sure you know some of this, but one thing that no one knows is that I was pregnant. I miscarried while I was in jail. It’s not something I like talking about, obviously. But it seems like you’re not going to let me do anything unless I tell you.”
“I don’t understand.”
“You’re a man. I forgive you for that, I guess. I can’t explain it, but I think the pain I’ve been feeling lately is the memory of my baby. The Atropans killed my child and, well, maybe there’s some unsettled business. If I do this thing for you and your friends, I can settle it. Then I go back.”
“You might not be able to go back.”
“Well I can’t go on like this, can I? Let’s go in.”
They entered the chapel. The people who had been standing in the doorway followed them inside and closed the doors. The entire group climbed down flight of curved stairs and found themselves in a dim room with five other people. A young man with a bald head came out of the group and looked Lisette up and down.
“This is what you brought?” he said. “Hardly looks the part.”
“Should I go home then?” said Lisette.
“Fine. What have you got?”
“Explosives.” she said. “That makes me your great advantage. When this city was founded, people knew how to make things. Do you want to know why the government was interested in automated production? They sold it to people as a world where nothing cost anything, where we could all have whatever we needed. It was the end of poverty. But there was something else. If no one knows how to make anything anymore, that includes weapons. To build a weapon, you need a historian. I’m a historian.”
“Then you can build us a bomb?”
“Yes.”
“What kind of bomb?”
“A fusion device. It will require stealing some of the materials.”
The bald man nodded. “Leave that to us.”
#
When Lisette returned home, her father was still awake. He was sitting in the parlor and watching a news feed on his tablet. He didn’t look up when she entered.
“I know you’re mad at me.” said Lisette.
“That doesn’t matter.”
She knew at once that this had something to do with what he was watching. She stood behind his chair.
“What happened?”
“There’s been an incident on Keppler Lyra Prime. It involves a man I know.”
“You know someone in the Keppler Lyra system? Who?”
“His name is Aaron. He doesn’t know me because the last time I saw him, he was an infant. I had high hopes for Aaron, but I’m not sure what to make of this latest development. Maybe it won’t amount to anything, but I doubt it.”
“What do you mean?”
“I know it’s not like me to say this, but maybe it was a good thing that you went out tonight. Maybe it’s good to know people who are ready for the galaxy to change.”
Please continue reading here: Chapter Four
No comments:
Post a Comment