Small Steps to the Future
Chapter Eighteen: Bringing up Old Memories
Written in Collaboration with Terry
After a morning of wandering the domed city in a half-hearted search for possible apartments, made all the stranger by Evola dropping random tidbits of knowledge or feeling into his head without so much as a warning, Riya and the twins returned to the bonding complex. Andy and Cemitae were waiting for them, the former looking uncomfortable and a little surly at the sight of Riya approaching and the latter bouncing with excitement like a fiery, furry ball with wings and a tail. Riya tried to stay cheerful in the face of Andy's promise of irritability and the eminent transport to the UNIS fort. The twins helped, being rather excited, themselves. Neither kit had never seen a purely human place before, and the fort would be as purely human as you could get on Avengaea.
"Hey, Andy," Riya said lightly as they met in front of the complex gate. "Hey, Cemitae. Have a nice morning?"
"Yeah," Andy said shortly. "Was fine."
"Hi Evola, hi Evoli!" Cemitae exclaimed, still bouncing with excess energy. "Guess what!"
"Someone gave you too much sugar for lunch?" Evola suggested playfully.
Cemitae continued as if he didn't hear her: "We're going to get transported to the fort!"
Evola snorted, as if this were nothing special, but her brother looked impressed. "Really? Wow, wonder who they found to do that for us," he said, sounding rather pleased.
Cemitae, if anything, bounced more excitedly at that. "I know! Ooooh, you'll never guess! It's so amazing!"
Confused about what could have the kit so wound up, Riya glanced up at Andy. Perhaps Cemitae's excitement was catching, or maybe he found him rather amusing when he was that hyped, or it might just have been a fluke, but the cadet flashed him a brief grin. "The Trainer, Fidalites," he explained. "Cemitae's got a kind of thing for him."
"A thing?" Evola laughed. "What, like a crush?"
"No!" Cemitae exclaimed, holding still for a few seconds to give her a dirty look. "He's just so cool, that's all! And I've never met him, and I've always wanted to!"
"And now you get to," said a rumbling, amused voice behind them all: Esuro Fidalites.
Cemitae came very close to squealing.
Five minutes later, after Cemitae had fallen into an awe-struck silence, Evoli had tried to hide behind his sister, and Evola had chattered away at the giant Fire dragon as if he were her best friend, they were ready to go. Esuro herded them all into a group, curled his long, plumed tail about them, and began the spell. Riya wasn't at all sure what to expect; when they'd come to Sanctuary, they had taken a horse-drawn cart-- there were no trucks or tanks on Avengaea. It was rumored that Mullen had traveled this way, and more than once, but he hadn't exactly regaled them with his experiences Aven-side, so he, and he assumed Andy as well, were both as in the dark about magical teleportation as they had been about what it felt like to go through the portal that long week ago.
Whatever Riya had been expecting, it wasn't what he got. It was like the world around them started melting, running like cheap, wet paint splashed with water. Solid objects-- the trees, the mountain, the complex wall-- became indeterminate blobs, then simply patches of malleable color, swirled around, making new indeterminate blobs of different and reorganized colors, and finally started to solidify into something that didn't make Riya want to shut his eyes before he got so dizzy he fell over. Then, with an almost audible and certainly physical snap, everything jumped into crisp, definite focus again. Riya staggered a bit and bumped backwards into Esuro's tail, which the Fire held steady, perhaps having curled it as he did for that specific purpose. The trip had taken only the span of a few heartbeats, but it felt like an eternity. All in all, Riya thought there were much better ways to travel, and he would much rather use them than try that particular method again.
Evoli, however, looked as if he'd just been on his favorite roller-coaster, and Evola was supremely unimpressed. Cemitae looked like he'd never had such a treat before in his short life, and Andy was a little green around the gills, though not at all surprised. Perhaps Mister Military had traveled this way before.
Esuro withdrew his tail once Riya could stand firmly on his own two feet again, then motioned to the fort-- which, Riya noticed belatedly, stood before them. They had reappeared right in front of the gate, where three guards were stationed and several more patrolled the wall above. "After you," Esuro rumbled again, baring his teeth in what Riya knew to be a smile, but which looked far more threatening than one of the kits' smiles in a mouth as large as his, with teeth as sharp as his. Even though he knew the dragons to be peaceable by nature, Riya was still only too happy to oblige, though he rather felt like he was padding purposefully into a pit of snakes.
Riya followed behind Andy, who had started off first, looking more at home than Riya had seen him since they arrived, and with Cemitae trotting along at his heels, often looking over his shoulder at the slowly dwindling form of Esuro behind them and tripping over his own feet or wingtips in the process. That was enough to make Riya smile, right there, despite his growing tension. The two Airs bounded after him, Evola coming up beside him and lifting her head in a proprietary sort of way, as if daring any of the humans to question her presence or insult her bonded. That helped, too; despised and civilian he might be, but he had managed to be chosen by a dragonet, and that had to count for something. Evoli settled at his other side, looking a great deal less confident, but his shyness didn't stop him from staring around him with great interest and curiosity.
They entered into the fort's outer courtyard-- this wasn't the one that held the portal; that was much further in, more protected-- where Mullen, Roset, and the rest of the cadets were all waiting, having obviously expected them. A few of the cadets shot Riya incredulous looks, possibly surprised he'd bonded at all, and quite likely because he had not one, but two dragons beside him. Adara Demes-- Miss Bitch, Riya thought maliciously-- cast a gaze of purest loathing on him, then jerked her eyes away as if he weren't worth the attention. Evola all but bristled, wings raising from her back and silver eyes gone hard when they fixed on the spiteful Grecian, but Riya let it slide off him while he looked calmly over the six cadets, avoiding the moment when he would have to meet Mullen's eyes.
::It's all right,:: his thought promised Evola softly, ::They just don't like me. I'm used to it, I don't mind, really.::
::Liar,:: she grumbled back, though she lowered her wings again and averted her glare from Adara. Her indignation was still washing over him, though, and it made him feel strangely gratified. No one had liked him enough to feel indignant over his treatment in a very long time. It was almost worth the nearly palpable dislike from the cadets.
Roset started speaking, welcoming them back, but Riya only heard the first couple words, because Mullen started speaking, at the same time. Only Mullen's voice was inside his head, so it was much harder to ignore. ::Congratulations on the bonding,:: he said, voice completely expressionless-- quite a feat when it was pure thought. ::I knew you'd do well.::
Not entirely sure what he meant, and feeling very off-balance, Riya responded, ::I only bonded one, sir, really. Just Evola, her brother just comes along with us.::
::I know,:: Mullen said calmly. ::But it is an occasion worth congratulations, even so.::
Flushing, hoping Evola didn't take that as a slight-- she didn't, but she found his concern touching and a little amusing-- Riya looked at the ground. ::Thank you, sir.::
Roset's brief speech concluded, and he made a gesture towards the two bonded young men and the dragonets. Cemitae, looking excited and rather proud, stepped forward and was immediately met by the tall, Irish Cadet and the little Asian-- Keren and Michael. Keren was crooning at the little Fire as if she'd never seen anything so cute, in some language other than Intraworld, and Michael was shyly stroking the ruff of fur on the top of his head. Cemitae, preening under the attention, started up a rumbling purr. Jason and Franco also stepped forward, but neither of them dropped to the kit's level, they just peered over their fellows curiously. Jed, from his superior height, could stand behind them and still see the dragonets just fine, but Adara remained stubbornly behind even him, glaring at Andy and quite possibly exchanging mental words with him.
::They're all ignoring you,:: Evola grumbled. ::They're all ignoring me!:: It was difficult to tell which bothered her more. Evoli looked like he wasn't sure whether he minded being ignored or not, and to Riya, it was much better than getting glared at or insulted. He crouched down to hug Evola against his thigh.
::They just don't know what they're missing,:: he told her fondly. She smiled reluctantly, and Evoli grinned. Riya gave them both a grin, willing himself to feel cheerful and light-hearted at least for now, and suggested, ::Why don't you two actually go talk to them, yourselves? I'll back off, I bet they'll be all right as long as they can pretend I'm not involved at all.::
::But that's not nice!:: Evola protested.
Ignoring her, feeling a bit more cheerful just through her concern for him, Riya rose and backed up a step, giving Evoli a nudge on the tail end with his foot. Not expecting such a thing, the dragonet stumbled forward and into Jason's curious line of sight. The little Air started up at Jason, then gave a shy smile and an even shyer, "hi." Jason glanced at Riya, who was pointedly looking at Mullen-- the captain arched a brow at him, which he returned with a bland look-- so as to not make the kid think he was dirtying himself by association with the hated civilian, then tentatively touched Evoli's head-fin, amazed by it's texture. Evola gave Riya a quick look, then scurried over to Jed to get his attentions, too. Mullen gave Riya a look of approval, and Riya was surprised-- almost ashamed, because of who the captain was and what he stood for-- at the pleasure he took in that look. It had been a long time since he'd gotten approval from anyone, too.
Roset nudged the captain's shoulder and gave him a meaningful look. Mullen seemed to sigh, but nodded, and Riya heard: ::The Colonel would like a word with you. Your dragons will be fine with the cadets, and I will watch them.::
Puzzled, a little worried, he sent a wordless affirmative and, with a glance to the twins-- they looked like they wouldn't notice him leaving, Evola in her element being adorable and cheerful, Evoli enjoying Jason's petting-- started to follow the dark officer. To his surprise, though he then realized he really shouldn't be surprised, Andy followed, giving him a mildly annoyed glance as if taking offense that his rival should be invited to speak with the colonel, as well. Riya gave the boy a shrug-- he didn't know what he was being summoned for, after all, and it was hardly his fault the man wanted to talk to him, too-- and then they were moving into the nearest building of the fort, down a hall, and the colonel was opening a door for them.
The two boys were ushered into an austere sort of office, the walls fairly bare but for a few certificates and framed badges of rank and accomplishment, furnished with only an old-fashioned desk stacked with old-fashioned papers, with a matching old-fashioned chair and several filing cabinets. The stone floor was softened by a hideous rug that could have been old African or Persian. Riya felt for a moment as if he'd walked into a replica of a twentieth-century office, but the computer, at least, was modern enough.
"Please, sit," Roset invited, taking a seat, himself, across the desk from two fake-leather chairs that were obviously meant for Riya and Andy. They did, Riya cautiously and Andy with his usual military precision when in the company of a superior officer.
For a long and uncomfortable moment, Roset looked at them both across his desk, fingers interlaced before him. It might have been Riya imagination, but he thought those dark eyes had rested in him just a bit longer than they had on Andy-- was that suspicion in the colonel's eyes, curiosity, surprise? Then Roset broke the silence by cleared his throat lightly and launched into the opening of what was obviously a prepared speech. "I first want to compliment and congratulate the both of you on your performance last night. You have made the UNIS proud by accomplishing the goals set before you to become the first of Earth's Dragonriders!"
He sounds like it was all our doing, Riya marveled. Does he even know that it's dragon's choice, not candidate's?
The colonel's voice grew more serious. "Don't forget, even though you have the right to be proud, this is only the beginning. Yes, you will still have your classes to take at Sanctuary, but I expect you, the both of you, to return here once per week for evaluation and special training. Once your companions have joined you at the city, you will resume some of the teamwork and military training you participated in on Earth."
Roset's gaze locked on Riya; it took force of will for Riya to keep from shrinking back, and he made himself look up from the colonel's folded hands when he felt the gaze on him. Once their eyes met, Roset continued, and Riya wasn't sure if the threat he perceived in the words and tone was real or imagined. "You will be expected to participate when you are called on," the colonel warned seriously. "Being a civilian, I realize that you haven't had much training, but now that you have become a representative of the UNIS and Earth, I expect you to conduct yourself in a respectful and helpful manner to the others."
Riya was aware that his fear was growing into resentment, as well, and he dropped his eyes again immediately once Roset finally released his gaze. I told Mullen I didn't want to fight, and they all know how much the cadets hate me... but they're going to make me fight, anyway, and I notice he's not warning Andy to be nice to me. God, maybe I should run away, if I can find somewhere to run to.... That was the problem: nowhere to go, especially not with two children, dragons or not.
"When your Dragons have grown enough, we will begin including them in your program as well," Roset was saying. "They will be welcome to attend other UNIS functions and drills with you as well, of course." Looking between Riya and Andy, Roset's eyes were intense-- Andy sat up straighter under his gaze, but Riya just felt cold, and like he wanted to disappear into his seat. He forced himself to look calm, though he had a very good idea of what was going on in the colonel's mind-- and he didn't even need his psionic gift to guess what it was. "Life isn't safe, here on at home," Roset continued, with the aire of a nobly paternal feudal lord, "We-- I-- want you to be prepared for the real world. As you get older and stronger; when you and your Dragons have solidified your bonds and when you, all of you, have demonstrated that your teamwork is seamless, we hope that you will have been prepared enough to face the threats and dangers that loom in the future--here, and at home."
He means Mars... I know he does....
Sitting back, Roset's tone and posture relaxed; he was coming to the end of his prepared speech, and none too soon for Riya. "Keep up the hard work, boys," he said, "You're in a new world, now, and you're going to do the UNIS and Earth proud."