The Purlieu Experiment
Chapter 35
Copyright 2015 & 2021
Donte came over the pass and looked down at the colony of Bergen in its summer clothes. Green fields dotted with white bovines spread across the slopes and kissed the trees. All of that rested at the base of a snow-capped mountain. The scene always took his breath away. It was unexpected and filled him with longing. Libertad was beautiful, but there was nothing quite as stunning as Bergen.
He rode down to the colony and stabled his equine. The next tram to Libertad wouldn't be in for another couple of hours. He hadn't seen Saskia and Pieter since the day he returned the uniform. He walked to the Groot Thuis, simply because he wanted to have more time to digest the beauty all around. He stopped at the pond and tossed a few stones into the water, watching the ripples move out and blend into the surface. Anatidae swam on the surface, occasionally dipping their heads into the water for food. He picked up a short twig and ran it along a wooden fence, enjoying the rat-a-tat sound as it leaped from one plank to another.
When he reached the Groot Thuis, he walked into the lobby. A few people looked up and stared at him. They probably wondered why he was there. More people he had abandoned. He wandered down the hallway to the commons, unwilling to interrupt the nostalgic moment with the reality of a visit upstairs. He ran his hand over the box of word chips, thinking about his games with Rianne. He smiled.
Sitting at one of the tables, he poured chips out and began building words. There were many possibilities, but the first word he formed was Rianne. His fingers poised over the C and finally slid it to the center of the table. He slid an H beside it. He hadn't allowed himself to think about the name in the last month, much less say it. He found an I and a K. The word stayed that way, incomplete, while he formed other words. Love, baby, betrayal…he slid the last U up to the name in the center of the table.
"Chiku." He said and was surprised that he could say it without that lump forming in his throat.
He spelled out the words he wanted to say to her. "I am sorry."
A wheel creaked behind him and his hand froze over the chips. Pieter rolled up beside him. For a moment Pieter sat looking at the words on the table. Finally, he looked at Donte. His voice was quiet; gentler than it had ever been.
"No uniform. No commitment. Just come back and we'll start over."
Donte leaned back in his chair and studied his grandfather’s face. He looked older and his eyes had lost their fire. He missed that fire.
"Rianne is going to have a baby." He said, as if it had anything to do with the conversation.
"I love you." Pieter said. "I don't know if I've ever told you that. I'm sorry. I don't think I've ever said that to you either."
Donte put his finger on a chip and slid it around on the table, not looking at Pieter's face as he spoke. "Sometimes our eyes say everything that needs to be said."
Pieter was silent for a few minutes. "Yes," he finally said. "When you called me Farasi, it was like a hot knife."
Donte looked at him. "I'm sorry Papaw." He wanted to explain, but the fact was; he said it because Pieter reminded him of Farasi at the time. Whether or not he meant to say it or it was true was irrelevant. Sometimes a person opened their big mouth and said things they shouldn't. In this case it couldn't be retracted. Still, it might help if Pieter understood the source. "Farasi was always trying to force me to call him Monomi. I wouldn't. It slipped out. You are not like Farasi."
Pieter reached out and touched the C. "I was wrong. I had no idea how you felt. I should have had faith in you."
Donte stared at the chip. He couldn't believe they were having this conversation. It was amazing what a bunch of chips with letters on them could reveal.
"We didn’t talk," Donte finally said.
"I didn’t listen," Pieter countered.
Donte scooped Chiku's name off the table and put it in the box. "She begged me not to go…like Liana did."
Pieter said nothing. He was listening.
"I felt Liana’s pain, and on the beach…with Rianne, I felt Chiku's fever. I couldn't get to either of them in time." He scooped all the words from the table except Rianne. "I love Rianne, Papaw. I don't know what I would do without her. I don't think I would want to live. I felt that way with Liana." He ran a finger across the letters. "Sometimes I feel like my life is one continuous cycle of betrayal. I don’t know how to stop it."
Pieter finally spoke. "Perhaps your definition of betrayal is too loose. Perhaps your sense of loyalty is too strong."
Maybe it was true and maybe not, but it felt good to tell someone. He had never even told Rianne. It wouldn't surprise him if she knew, though.
He looked at Pieter. "Have you ever heard of a man named Niall?"
Pieter watched Donte a moment. "He was a Lochfowk spaceship commander."
Donte nodded. "I was with him when he died."
Pieter stared at him. "Where?"
"I can't say."
"They came to get you?"
Donte frowned. "Who are they? Why me? He said I was the Anialwch Connection."
Pieter looked startled. "You, Donte? But I thought…"
Whatever he thought, he apparently decided to keep it to himself. Donte persisted. "What is the Anialwch Connection?"
Pieter looked away. ""Folklore. Nothing but folklore."
If he thought it was all folklore, he'd never seen the underground network. What he needed was documentation. "I need to look at the files on the Baigh."
Pieter frowned. "The Baigh? I thought you already went through the files on the Moeder. Wouldn't the information be the same?"
Donte shrugged. "Apparently not, but the information I got was from the library, not the files."
Pieter rolled his chair back. "It would be dangerous for you to search through the files on the Baigh."
"Why?"
"Pieter glanced around the room and rolled closer to Donte, speaking in a quiet voice. "Only The Parliament and The Fontalo know what is in those files."
"What is The Fontalo?"
Pieter sighed in exasperation. "Let it alone, Donte."
Donte wasn't sure whether he meant he should let the investigation alone or his questions. He chose to do the latter. It would be far more dangerous not to know what he was up against.
When Donte didn't say anything more, Pieter relented. "I can't help you, but maybe Quade or Rianne could."
Donte scooped the last letters off the table and held them in his hand. "If it's dangerous, I don't want Rianne involved."
Pieter looked at him; some of the old fire in his eyes. "Are you making decisions for her now?"
Donte smiled and dropped the chips into the box. "Not if she finds out."
Pieter chuckled. "Bring her here. We can protect you better here."
"How?"
Pieter looked at him. "There are ways. I am not at liberty to say." He slowly rolled his chair away and then stopped. He turned around and looked at Donte again. "Unless you are the next ruler."
Donte stood and shook his head. "I don't even know what's happening. How do I know where to pledge my allegiance?"
Pieter nodded. "Fair enough. Go to the Baigh and find the information you need…then come back and take your rightful place."
Pieter knew more than he was willing to reveal. If he thought it was dangerous to read the files on the Baigh, why didn't he simply tell what he knew? Maybe he wasn't sure. Apparently, he wasn't ready to accept the idea that his grandson was The Anialwch Connection. Why?
Donte visited with Saskia and Donica for a little while and then took the tram to Libertad. He walked from the station and it was dark when he arrived at Quade’s house. Rianne sat at the kitchen table reading a book. She looked up when he entered and abandoned the book as she stood. "Donte!"
He folded her into his arms. "I missed you."
She hugged his neck. "I thought it was going to be another long lonely night."
He released her and placed a hand on her stomach.
How are we tonight?"
She put her hand over his. "Much better now that you are here."
"Are you eating enough?"
She made a face. "Who wants to eat when it's just going to come back up?"
"It must be a girl. They are so finicky about food."
She giggled. "I'm so glad you're home."
He held her close again for a moment. "How would you feel about moving back to Bergen?"
She pulled back and looked up at his face. "You talked to Pieter?"
He nodded. "What do you think?"
She smiled. "I miss the mountains and the people."
For a few minutes they leaned on each other in contented silence. She looked up at him. "How was your trip?"
He kissed her. "Strange."
She took his hand and led him to the table. "Tell me about it while I fix us a hot drink."
He sat in a chair and watched her put water on the stove, all the while wondering how much to tell and where to start. When he didn't speak, she glanced up from the kettle.
"I'm listening."
"I know. I don’t know where to start."
She smiled as she sat in the chair across the table from him and folded her hands. "This man from Lochfowk came and took you with him."
He smiled. "And my mate told me she was going to have a baby."
She propped her chin up with her hands and studied his face. "And you left with him for three long days. Where did you go?"
He leaned back in his chair and lifted a foot to his knee. "I was instructed not to disclose the location."
She nodded. "I see. So, what did you do?"
He gave her a wry smile. "I watched an old man die."
She searched his face. "Who was he and what did he tell you?"
He wanted to tell her everything – not because he needed to tell someone, but because this was Rianne and she would tell him everything she knew. He hesitated and decided on slowly feeding the information.
"Dad said you served on the Baigh."
She nodded. "While you were in Nyumbani."
"Have you ever heard of a man called Niall?"
She sat up straight and nodded again. "He has been in hiding for over 30 years. No one knows where he is." She regarded him with suspicion. "Except you? Is he the man you saw die?"
"Yes." He hesitated again. Giving her information might put her in danger. On further thought, simply being associated with her might put her in danger. Better she knew what she was facing.
Slowly, he told her of the bizarre conversation. "What is the Anialwch Connection and who is The Fontalo?"
She shook her head. "I don't know, but I'd like to find out. I can get to the files, but I don't have a password.
"I do. Would the files of the Baigh be available on the Moeder?"
"Not if they were his personal files. Do you know what the name of his file was?"
Donte put his foot down and stood. "The Purlieu Experiment."
"I've seen that file. It does require a password, but nobody on the Baigh knew what it was."
"Would it be dangerous for you to look?"
She shrugged. "I can't imagine why. We don't need to tell anyone that we looked, do we?"
"Do you feel up to going?"
She smiled. "As long as you are with me. Do you know that my stomach feels much better when you are with me? As soon as you leave, I feel sick again."
It had been a phenomenon with Liana and Halisi. Since none of them had ever talked to each other, there had to be a reason for it. Up until now he simply thought he kept them distracted, but apparently that wasn’t the case.
"Then let's be together all the time."
She stood and went to the stove to check on the progress of the hot drinks.
Donte walked up behind her and caressed her arms while he kissed the back of her neck. "I love you, Rianne." He slid his arms around her waist and drew her back against his chest.
She leaned her head back and closed her eyes. "I wonder what your destiny is…and mine."
"And our children," he said as he kissed her cheek.
"What’s going on in here?" Quade’s voice interrupted their private moment.
Donte stepped away from Rianne and smiled at his father.
Quade pulled out a chair at the table and sat down. "It's about time you got back. Where have you been? I contacted the Baigh and they said you had never arrived. I was getting concerned."
Donte pulled out a chair and sat opposite from him. "Rianne and I were talking about my experience."
Donte repeated the story as Rianne poured them all hot drinks. She joined them at the table and listened, all the while watching Quade. When Donte finished, Quade looked at Rianne.
"What do you make of all this?"
Rianne shrugged. "I don't know. I've seen the file and I know who Niall is, but otherwise, it's all a mystery to me."
Quade turned his cup around on the table, his expression reflective. Finally, he looked at Donte. "I've heard of the Anialwch Connection. It's a prophesy. The Parliament returns and the colonies unite in a fight for freedom. The colonists turn against the Mascots – all except for one, who leads them to freedom." He was silent a moment. "He said you were the Anialwch Connection?"
Donte nodded. "Papaw was confused by that but he didn't say why."
"Because the Anialwch Connection is supposed to have the gene of the feline, the aves and the camelus."
Donte frowned. "Bergen, Libertad and…what else?"
"Anialwch."
Donte felt relieved. "Then they were wrong. I'm not The Anialwch Connection." He glanced at Rianne. "Unless…"
"You exchange vows with Celyn?"
He shook his head vigorously. "Absolutely not. I was thinking about the white aves."
Quade and Rianne looked at each other before Quade turned back to Donte. "Tell us about the white aves."
They both listened intently as he related Celyn's visions to the events of the white aves that he saw in the desert, the white strigiforme in Lochfowk and finally the white accipitridae in the mountains of Lochfowk.
Quade sat for a long time sipping his hot drink, obviously deep in thought. Rianne and Donte waited, sensing he knew far more than he had revealed so far.
Finally, he looked up at Donte. "Tomorrow we need to go look at those files. This all fits together, but there is a piece missing. Maybe we simply don't know all the facts."
"You mean you think I am The Anialwch Connection after all?"
Quade nodded. "I know you are. The visions and the aves leave no doubt. Maybe I don't remember the story correctly. How does Celyn connect with the white aves, and who is The Fontalo?"
"He said that I spoke all the tongues, but I'm not the only one. You do too, Dad."
Quade looked at Rianne. "And Rianne."
She shook her head. "I don’t speak the language of Nyumbani or Lochfowk very well – or Anialwch, for that matter."
Donte lifted his brows at her. "You seemed to be getting along well enough with King Neirin."
Rianne met his gaze. "Donte." Her tone scolded him, but her eyes teased him.
Quade looked at each of them in turn. He shook his head and chuckled. "But you speak it, all the same." He stood. "I'll contact the Moeder and request an airship in the morning to the Baigh. I was going to stop by the hospital tonight anyway."
After Quade left, Donte turned to Rianne. "How did it turn out between Dad and Akira?"
Rianne stood and picked up their cups. "She's working at the hospital and has her own cottage. Beyond that, I don't know." She placed the cups on the counter and turned to him. "They are together all day at the hospital. I suspect he's going to see her tonight."
Donte chuckled. "I wouldn’t be surprised." He stood and reached for her. "Let's go someplace where we won't be disturbed."
Rianne smiled; her eyes twinkling with humor. "Right now?"
He scooped her off the floor into his arms. "Right now."
She put her arms around his neck and lay her head on his shoulder as he carried her up the stairs. She sighed.
"You’re so strong. You can carry two people up the stairs at once."
He laughed. "And here we have an entire family climbing the stairs on only two legs."
She giggled. "I missed you so much."
Soft Science Fiction
