The Space Between Page 9

  "You do see not the beauty here?" Meledrin asked, with one perfect eyebrow raised. "How terrible your life must be."

  "Terrible?" Kim looked around again in the flickering fluorescent light. "Point this beauty out for me then."

  Meledrin looked around the carriage. "The face of the child." She gestured towards a little girl sitting on the other side of the aisle a few rows back. "Her smile, the concentration so apparent in her eyes, the line of her jaw, the way her hair outlines the delicate curve of her ear." Meledrin looked around again.

  "And the old lady over there. Her shawl. The colors are perfect -- slashes and swirls against the plain, straight lines of the seat. That young couple over there. Their clothes could not be more different, their features could not be more different, but look at the expressions they wear. That is beauty, Kim: a smile, a look, a simple, unexpected pleasure."

  Kim knew what the elf was saying but couldn't truly see it. When she turned to Meledrin to say so, she wondered if the elf really could see it. Meledrin knew that beauty was there, perhaps, but she looked with the eyes of an art critic, not an art lover or an artist. She was so emotionless that she could not possibly see it any other way.

  Kim closed her eyes. She wondered where Keeble was. The dwarf didn't like Meledrin, and she was starting to agree with him. Meledrin had seen her people slaughtered and crossed between worlds. She left a man, a good friend at the very least, in critical condition, in the company of strangers, and was separated from another companion. She had generally been thrown in over her head and hadn't shown one visible human emotion, or even an elfish one for that matter. She'd kept a couple of emotions hidden, but that was not the same.

  The trees continued to stream past the window. Farmhouses were stars in the darkness of space. Towns were galaxies.

  "Why do you think they're here, Mel?"

  "Who?"

  Kim sighed. "Who do you think?"

  "I do not know. I do not believe that 'why' is important. It does not change what is."

  "'Why?' is very important. They travelled a gazillion or so kilometers to attack Earth. All the space between here and there means they have a very good reason for doing it." She remembered the alien that had spared the witch and her granddaughter at Sherwood Forest. It had seen them, aimed, then changed its mind. "We need to talk to them, Mel," she said. "We need to find out what the hell is going on, because they aren't monsters. I know they aren't."

  "Perhaps not, but I still do not see how that changes what is."

  "Of course you don't. But maybe we can sort all this out peacefully. Maybe we don't have to kill them."

  "Why should we not kill them? They come and attack our worlds, and you wish to make friends with them?"

  "Of course I do. I left the army, remember?"

  "People are dying. People are dead. I do not feel the need to make friends with the killers."

  "Well, then maybe everyone will end up dead."

  "No. You humans on Earth will survive."

  Kim turned to look at the Meledrin, to see if she was at all bitter. But as usual, the elf showed nothing. "Just because the aliens aren't having any success at the moment, doesn't mean they won't in the future."

  "They are obviously no match for your flying warriors. Their bombs are pitiful, they damage hardly anything, and the damage is quickly controlled."

  Kim didn't agree with the elf's definition of 'hardly anything', but she let that slide. "You're talking about something you know absolutely nothing about. All the aliens need to do is find one half-decent sized rock to throw at us."

  "A rock? You are worried that they might start throwing stones?"

  "A big rock, the size of a office block, thrown from space."

  It was obvious Meledrin still didn't understand but Kim didn't care. She turned to look out the window. The English countryside continued to flash by. London couldn't arrive soon enough.

  * * *

  "Is the other side of the river really so important that all these bridges are truly required?" Meledrin asked.

  Such questions convinced Kim that Meledrin was for real. No human, even acting as some weird alien, would ever think of asking the point of television soap operas. They may ask what they were, but never why. They'd never ask about the spiritual importance of pop music, especially English pop music, with a straight face. And they'd never ask if the other side of the river was really that important.

  "Yes, it's important," Kim replied. "For humans, the other side of the river is about the most important thing there is." She wasn't sure if the elf was aware of symbolism or metaphor, but she wasn't about to explain them in the back of a cab travelling to Parliament House.

  "Where is this place to which we go?"

  "Not far. So what, exactly, do we do when we get there?" Kim asked, leaning across to close Meledrin's window against the heavy rain.

  "What is it that you mean? We go and tell them what is happening on my world, of course."

  "They already know what's happening, Mel. Their army is fighting a war on Sherindel."

  "There must be understanding between our peoples. We must forge an alliance against these attackers."

  "Well, we won't get close enough to anyone to say a damn thing. We won't even get in the door."

  Meledrin began to say something, but Kim continued, cutting her off.

  "I wasn't guarding the tree. I was just standing there. Nobody was guarding the tree."

  Meledrin looked out the window, lost in thought. "Are the Lords meeting today?"

  Kim leaned forward and tapped on the partition that divided them from the driver.

  The man opened a flap. "Yes, Ma'am."

  "Is parliament sitting today?" She probably should have checked that earlier.

  "I don't think so, Ma'am."

  "Thank you."

  "That's fine. Probably be another five minutes."

  "Do they have offices in there?"

  "Some do, Ma'am, but I don't know if they'll be there."

  "Why's that?"

  "Big target like that?"

  "Obviously. Thanks."

  The flap thudded closed again.

  "They're not meeting."

  "Yes, I heard."

  "Good."

  "Then we will just go and see what happens. Some may be there in any case; surely they have duties they must attend to."

  "Fine. There are worse ways to waste a day, I suppose." Though she'd already visited all the famous London tourist attractions.

  Kim turned away. She was glad Meledrin didn't speak for the rest of the journey.

  8: Absent Lords

  Meledrin wondered how the Lords could be so negligent to their duties. There was a war, how could they not be meeting? She listened as Kim got the information, again, out of a recalcitrant guard at the main gate.

  "So, are there any Lords in there?" Kim asked. "Are they Lording, or whatever it is that they do?"

  "Maybe, Miss."

  "What about MP's?"

  The man shrugged.

  Meledrin could not remain silent. The guard could not be trusted, saveigni that he was. "Would we be allowed to go and converse with one of them?"

  "Sorry, Ma'am. State of emergency and all. No unauthorized people in or out."

  Kim smiled at the man as if she had found the solution to their dilemma. "Well, if you say we're allowed, surely we'd be authorized."

  "Sorry."

  "We have information about the aliens."

  "Doesn't everyone?"

  Meledrin wished to help but did not interrupt.

  "Not like this. We know what's happening in Nottinghamshire."

  "Well, try going to your local member."

  "From my accent, would you think my local member might be somewhere nearby?"

  "Sorry, Miss."

  "Okay. Just checking."

  Meledrin finally opened her mouth to speak but Kim took her by the arm and drew her away before she had the opportunity.

  Meledrin whispered a Less
er Changing.

  Kim led the way back towards the river, and Meledrin followed as quickly as dignity would allow. Vehicles moved along the streets, throwing out arcs of spray, but the roads seemed to be carrying far less than their full capacity. Pedestrians either hurried by with their heads down or stared up at the sky. There were small stalls near the end of a long, stone bridge, but they were closed.

  Kim soon dashed across the street and took shelter under the arched concrete portico opposite. She sat at a small table and stared at a huge, motionless wheel with gondolas suspended from it. When a servant came, she ordered a drink, not speaking until she had taken her first sip several minutes later.

  "What do you want to try now?"

  Was that not obvious? "We find these Lords of yours and make them help."

  "They aren't my Lords."

  "What is it that you mean?"

  "I'm not English. I'm Australian, mainly. I don't have any right to ask anything of a British politician. And neither do you."

  Meledrin suppressed a sigh. "Then let us go and ask for assistance from one of your politicians."

  "Huh. That'd be like asking a school yard bully to fight Asian crime gangs."

  "Pardon?" Meledrin said. Even if she understood every word of English, she doubted she would always understand.

  "If we got to talk to an Australian politician, they'd talk big and say 'yes, of course we'll do something'. But as soon as you turn your back they'll go back to doing what they do best."

  "Then who is likely to listen?"

  "Americans." Then she shook her head, as if arguing with herself. "Maybe."

  "And why will they listen when others will not?"

  "Three reasons. One, they're the most powerful nation on Earth and didn't get there by sitting on their hands. Two, like everyone they like to be popular and the good thing about this war is that everyone on Earth will be on their side, for once. And three, according to the reports, they're copping more from the aliens than anyone else."

  "Then let us go to America." Meledrin rose to her feet and waited for Kim to lead the way.

  Kim stood and made her way to the edge of the street. "We can't go to America —"

  "Why not?"

  She sighed. "You don't have a passport. You don't have anything. You don't exist. But if you hadn't interrupted me, I would have said, we can't go to America, but we don't have to."

  "I apologize for interrupting."

  "That's okay. But now we have to find a cab."

  "To go to which location?"

  "The American Embassy. But just remember, like I said before, they may not listen."

  "Why would they not listen? We have important information."

  Kim gave a grunt of laughter. "The world is being attacked by aliens. I know it might be a bit hard to tell, standing here, chatting as we are, but pilots are flying around above us risking their lives, possibly, and shooting big, black space-bats." Kim shook her head and muttered, "Ed Wood's about to rush onto the set and yell 'cut'."

  "Who is this Ed Wood? Is he an American Lord?" And what is he wishing to cut?

  "The point is, the people in charge don't have time to listen to every crackpot that comes knocking on their door with conspiracy theories and tales of magical gateways."

  "But it is the truth."

  "The truth doesn't always matter, unfortunately."

  "Many people are dying. Surely they want every piece of information that might help."

  Kim laughed again. "You obviously don't know humans all that well. Sometimes not knowing is preferable. The existence of aliens has already upset a large proportion of the world, but at the moment it's still just a war. One that we seem to be winning. Mention magical gateways and you'll open up a whole new can of extremely smelly worms." Kim paused, chewed on her lip. "You'd think the aliens would learn, wouldn't you?"

  "Your meaning?"

  "Well, hundreds of thousands of people, maybe millions, have died, and more are dying every hour but, in the grand scheme of things, it isn't really that many at all. They keep sending the bats and we keep shooting them, apparently without a whole heap of trouble. Since the first few surprise hits, firebombs have hit a couple of places, but that's about it. There's more chance of being injured when you're hit on the head by a bullet-riddled corpse."

  "Perhaps they are slow to learn."

  "Perhaps they're stubborn. Perhaps they have so many bats they can afford to just keep sending them."

  "I do not understand." Meledrin paused as a strange look passed across Kim's face. "What is the matter?"

  It was a moment before the woman replied. "Well, this planet of yours, Sherindel, is nowhere near ours. We know that. So what are the odds that these aliens coincidentally attacked our two worlds at the same time?"

  "I do not understand what it is that you are saying, Kim."

  "The aliens know that Earth and Sherindel are linked in some way. That suggests they know more about us than we think. It also proves that this isn't just some random attack by evil alien hordes."

  "I do not think that you can make judgements like that with the limited information available."

  "Look, something's going on, and we have to tell someone. And soon."

  "I was under the impression that is what we have been attempting to do."

  "Yes, I know. Come on, we need a cab."

  They waited by the side of the road for several minutes before Kim waved at a passing vehicle. It pulled over and Kim climbed into the back. Meledrin followed a moment later muttering the words of Action. Kim's words had finally sunk in. An enemy without end. But according to the woman that piece of news paled into insignificance against the realization that the aliens knew about the gateway in the Ohoga tree.

  She rolled down the glass window. The rain was slackening. It was enough to be an annoyance, but the cool breeze helped. She worried about her people. She worried about Palsamon.

  She took a deep breath, belatedly hoping that Kim wouldn't notice. "What is love, Kim?" she asked, schooling her face to calmness and watching row after row of buildings file past. She had heard humans everywhere talk of love but was not sure she understood.

  "Love? It's... Well, depends on the type of love, and who's defining it."

  "You are defining it. You are defining all types."

  "Well, love, I suppose, is intense positive feelings one living creature has for another living creature."

  "That is it?"

  "Yes. Basically."

  "Intense positive feelings?" Meledrin shook her head. It had to be more than that. The concept seemed to dominate the lives of humans.

  "Yes. I mean, that's the general definition." Kim sighed. "Look, Mel, tell me what brought this question on and I might be able to do a better job of explaining."

  She wished Kim would stop calling her 'Mel'. It was not dignified. "It does not matter. I was merely wondering." She did not know, and Kim obviously could not explain. She gave it no more thought.

  Meledrin climbed out of the cab when it eventually pulled over to the side of the street. Lesser Changing.

  "So, where are we going?" Kim asked the vehicle's driver as she handed over paper money.

  "Down there."

  "Where the crowd is?"

  Meledrin turned to look as well. A large group of people were gathered in front of a building. Many of them appeared to be men. That was another thing she could not understand.

  "That's it, Miss."

  The driver smiled and chatted with Kim as if they were equals. He showed no deference at all. It was all Meledrin could do to hold her tongue. Instead, she tilted her head back so the rain could massage her face. They didn't really have rain on Sherindel. Not like here. There, it was never much more than a mist. The difference pleased Meledrin, but she was unsure how long that feeling would last.

  "Come on."

  Meledrin allowed herself to be drawn to a small dry area in the doorway of a building.

  "You'll catch a chill standing there like
that, you idiot."

  "A what?"

  "A chill. A cold? You know running nose, sneezing, that kind of thing."

  "We do not have such things on Sherindel."

  "Well, this is England, Mel. I reckon you'll find out what a cold is."

  Meledrin shrugged and sighed. Shrugging was hardly dignified either, but humans used the action often, and it did convey quite a lot. "Now, what action do we take?" Meledrin leaned back against the cold bricks of the wall while Kim looked about. The young human seemed at a loss as to what to do. "Are we not going to see the Lords?"

  "Yes, but..."

  "But what? The operator of the vehicle indicated that we must go in this direction." She pointed down the street. The crowd was quite large.

  "All right, let's go then."

  Meledrin watched as Kim dashed from the protection of the doorway and ran down the footpath as if all the dwarves in the world were after her. Meledrin waved Lesser Action and followed at her usual pace. Her long strides kept her close. The rain was an inconvenience, perhaps, but not worth losing one's dignity over. Though by the time she caught the young woman, standing in another doorway, Meledrin was starting to wonder. Her dress was clinging to her body, revealing her breasts almost as if she were naked. Indeed, even as she joined her companion she noticed a man ogling her from a window nearby. She stared at him until he looked away.

  Kim continued to dash from scant cover to scant cover while Meledrin followed not far behind and worried about what she might say to the Lords of the United States. She had never met any humans before Kim, and she was discovering that reading about them could not prepare her for what she needed to do. They were so unpredictable. They did not seem to have any guiding tenets as a race, with each one viewing situations from a totally individual perspective. So, with no real grasp of what drove humans, she had no point from which to start. Did she appeal to their greed or their compassion? The riches of the world they would have access to, or the riches of elfish culture? She decided that, in either case, she would not mention the dwarves. The little men would be of no attraction to anyone, either in the way they lived their lives or the way they destroyed the land.