CHAPTER FOUR

Ryol

 

“I’m sorry to disrupt you, Mother.”

“Not at all,” Falia said, gesturing towards a chair in the center of the room. “I’m glad you’ve come.”

Sitting required less attention than standing, and a sliver of space became available in Ryol’s mind. She had no other thoughts running at the moment requiring additional attention, but not wanting to appear inefficient in the presence of her mother, Ryol opened a new line of thought, allocating the merest sliver of her consciousness towards enjoying the sunset all but submerged beyond the horizon.

Falia took a chair beside Ryol and said, “It’s unlike you to request a personal meeting.”

“There is a prospective world I would like you to see.” Ryol pushed a tightly bound wisp of thoughts to the Madam Leader, recoiling instantly at the touch of her mother’s mind. Though accustomed to the pure size of her consciousness, contact had to be minimized for the sake of not getting lost inside the vast network of thoughts only Falia could navigate.

The Madam Leader had only opened a minuscule portion of her mind, but the contact left Ryol lightheaded with the sensation of floating through unfathomable depths. A shiver rippled through her body; her skin responded with goose bumps.

“An interesting world, indeed,” Falia said. “The similarities are astounding. Probability suggests this is an Ancestor Dimension. And yet, they remain markedly un-evolved.”

“Yes, Mother. My calculations suggest another 984 years before arriving at the basic technologies that will allow them to join the Alliance. Which is to say nothing about the required cultural adaptations.”

Falia nodded, but offered no other response.

Ryol shifted in her seat. With the sun fully descended, stars emerged on the horizon to take its place. She discontinued the thought pertaining to the sunset and redistributed her focus to the current conversation. “Mother, I have a request.”

Falia tilted her head, but none of the muscles on her face shifted. “Oh?”

“I’d like to initiate contact with this world. If their Universe is structured so similarly to ours, it is possible we may find Eitr.”

“And if we find Eitr, what then?” The Madam Leader rubbed her thumb in circles across her forefinger. “The Alliance is forbidden to enter trade agreements with a world so primitive.”

“An exception must be made. If the extinction of Lenora can be avoided, we must explore all alternatives.”

“And forsake the principles that have guided the Alliance for over two millennia? If we do, are we any different than the primitives who resort to violence?”

Ryol reflected. She had difficulty masking the feeling of disappointment this conversation awoke inside her. “What if I can prove this people is indeed ready to join the Alliance? Then we would be free to trade with them.”

“My daughter, your heart is in the right place, but you know how unlikely that probability is,” Falia said, her posture slackening.

“It’s not probable,” Ryol said, “but all things are possible.”

Falia smiled and placed a hand atop Ryol’s. The warmth transmitted through the touch spread into Ryol’s chest like a blossoming flower. “I see no harm in exploring the possibility. You are free to visit this world and apply the measures for acceptance into the Alliance. Be stringent, however. Do not let your desire to save Lenora cloud your judgment. You understand that more is at stake than the security of our own world.”

“Yes, Mother.” The corners of Ryol’s lips crept into a smile.

Falia’s pupils glowed orange beneath a veneer of white, reminding Ryol of the sunrise burning through the early morning mist. A black hole appeared in the corner of the room. It hovered inches above the ground.

Ryol rose, watching the sides of the hole expand until the gaping blackness stood tall and wide enough for Ryol to walk through.

“Before you go,” Falia said in a melodious tone that soothed Ryol’s nerves like warm liquid spreading through her insides. “If the presence of Eitr is discovered, it is of the utmost importance that the people of this world do not discover its capabilities prematurely. If they do, and they are not in fact prepared to join the Alliance, it could usher in the annihilation of all worlds.”

A chill slithered down Ryol’s spine. She shivered. With the fate of so many worlds hanging in the balance, she could afford no mistakes.

Ryol nodded to her mother and then stepped into the portal.