hafoc | Hilltown Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Dawn Treader floated motionless in her anchorage, sheltered from any danger the Sea could bring. The glory of the stars of the cluster shone down on her. The ghostly light made her look like a ship built of spun silver. It made her look like a ship built of dreams.

Which, of course, she was.

She rocked nearly imperceptibly at a tiny breath of cool breeze. The coolness was welcome in this place that knew no winter. The water remained motionless. Nothing disturbed the reflection of the stars above. To Maggie, it looked like the little schooner was sailing free in the endless night of deep space, as Carpathia had done, bringing Maggie's ancestors to this world.

It was a night of peace. A faint splash along the shoreline-- a kirin coming down to drink, perhaps-- and the soft snores of the sailor on anchor watch only made the peace perfect.

Maggie stared across the cove. In the darkness she could make out the entrance and the sea beyond. Wind or no wind, there were swells out there; faint sparks of silver-gray glimmering across the face of the waters, a silvery line marking the horizon. And beyond the horizon, nothing. Or everything?

"You're a cold-blooded bastard, you know," she said.

"How? Why? Me? I'm not cold blooded, literally or figuratively, and you know it. I'm full of fire, I'm--"

"Okay, scratch the cold-blooded part. But I stand by 'bastard.' You are cruel."

"Ah. Much as I hate to admit it, you're right. You will never in your life meet anything more cruel than I. I am, well, as cruel as I need to be, I guess."

"I would have been better off without you."

"No, you wouldn't. You tried that once, and you remember how badly that worked out."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." She turned and glared at the dragon, lounging along the starboard rail as if lounging on the decks of schooners was the most normal thing in the world for his species. She fought to keep her focus. She would not get lost in those beautiful golden eyes this time. She would not! "I think you confuse me on purpose. I never, ever seem to know what you're talking about."

"You know. Where it matters, you hear and understand."

"No I don't, you lazy grinning lizzardy-- what the hell? Why are you wearing that?"

"The sailor hat? I like it. Never let it be said that you monkey boys and girls don't have style."

"It looks silly on you."

"Don't care."

"Looks silly. Lose the hat. And don't try to distract me from what we were talking about."

"Hats?"

"This place! And how you misled me, you bastard. You led me here."

"Isn't this what you wanted? You found the Southern Lands! The dream of all your sailors since the first tall ship dared to venture away from the shores of your Continent. You made it, Maggie. Dawn Treader and her crew reached greatness, fulfilled the great dream. And they could never have done it without you."

She sighed. "I know. And yet, it's nothing. Nothing has changed. Nothing important has, anyway."

"Ah. The greatest dream of generations of sailors. You achieved it, and you're not satisfied. And for that you blame me."

"Why not? Didn't you lead me here? I looked into those eyes of yours and I saw, I don't know what. Perfection. Some kind of greatness that I would think was great. Not this. This is beautiful, but it's just another place."

"I gave you what you wanted, or what you thought you did."

"In return for my soul."

The dragon snorted. "No, I gave you your soul too. That's part of the deal, and part of the problem. It's not easy having one."

"I should have been more specific when I asked for what I wanted."

"No, you should have asked the question."

"Which is?"

"You know what it is."

Maggie sighed again, and looked out to sea, looking for she knew not what. "I followed my dream. But I never asked whether it was the right dream."

"Exactly. So what's the right dream?"

"How the hell should I know? Dreams are your department."

"It only seems so, Maggie. The dreams are yours. And when you find the right one, you'll know it because it will change you. You create your own world as you look at it, every day. When you change, the world changes. You create a whole new one, fresh, full of infinite possibilities."

"So how do I find the right dream?"

"Maybe you don't. Maybe the search for the dream is itself the dream. Or maybe your dream finds you. But now, see something new to you. Behold!"

He waved a clawed hand toward the west. Maggie looked, and high in the sky above the Sea a light appeared. Moving with incredible speed, yet silent, it flared and guttered, shedding a greenish light, sparks, and leaving a trail of glowing orange smoke.

"A shooting star!" Maggie stared, open-mouthed. "I've never seen one. Yet they say Old Earth had them every night."

"They say."

The shooting star slowed and dimmed. Its color changed through yellow to orange to red, getting dimmer all the time. Now it trailed no smoke. As it passed overhead it made a wide sweeping turn and headed southward, down the coast. It faded to black and vanished. From somewhere high and far, two faint, hollow booms drifted down. The sailor on anchor watch snorted, and then began to snore again.

"Uh. Shooting stars. Shooting stars just don't act like that."

"No."

"Then what was it?"

"I don't know. But I think it's important."

"Great. Just wonderful. Can you at least tell me whether what I saw was from the past, the present, or the future?"

The dragon smiled at her. "What's the difference?"

#

Maggie sat up in her berth, nearly hitting her head on the sagging, snoring slouch of bedsprings above. What had awakened her?

She slipped from between the covers and stood up. She wasn't tall, but her head nearly touched the overhead of the main cabin, and this was the biggest compartment aboard. Barefoot, silent, she stepped into the companionway. As security goon, she had the berth nearest the door and the weapons locker. It made her midnight walks on deck convenient.

She climbed the three steps to the deck and looked up at the glory of the cluster. It was strange to see a midwinter sky and yet feel the warmth breathing from a summer continent!

Stars, far, and Old Earth high, and fairy kingdoms in the sky. How many years since she had thought of that childhood song? Too long, perhaps. She smiled--

And gasped, as three shooting stars trailed across the sky. Speeding blue sparks, they streaked by with incredible speed and then burned out. She'd never seen shooting stars before?

Then what was wrong? What scared her?

She took a deep breath. Probably just another of those damned, haunting dreams. Whatever frightening memory nagged her, she would remember it in the morning. Or she'd remember as much as she needed. She was sure of it.

#

Captain Joan Hardy entered a few more soundings onto the handwritten chart of the cove. She looked out the open porthole at the shore, where a breeze touched the red, bronze, and gold foliage and made it dance.

"We aren't a science ship. It isn't until now that I realize how little we really expected to find this place. Yes, we've cataloged plants and animals, and we've done some exploring without getting killed, but we're really not set up for any of this. I suppose we should think about watering and heading homeward. Are we still in earthwave contact with Hilltown?"

"Got them again last night," Manny said.

Maggie spun the dregs of her coffee in her cup and sighed. "It's a bit disappointing."

Captain Hardy looked at her, concerned. All right, Maggie was grateful that Joan took her seriously, since Maggie had suggested the course that brought them safely here, but it was a little spooky to have all your whims and moods watched and charted, as if you were the chronometer or barometer or inertial navigation system or something. "I know it is, Maggie, but what else can we do?"

"I don't know. I guess I just want to see what's beyond the next headland."

Joan smiled. "I think we can manage to explore a bit further before we head home."

"That would be nice. South along the coast, maybe as far as that volcano on the horizon."

"South along the coast it is."