Moon 514 || Blaze and the White Griffon

3 || Part 2: the Magic Woman

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Last revision: (2/15/2013)

“It sounds like he was dictating it for editing.”

“Exactly,” she answered excitedly, “but because of an interruption, he inadvertently sent the transcription into database archives instead of into his personal files.  The recording was made over a month ago … can you believe the database is really almost finished?” she ended with sincere disbelief.

“And Dr. Boyd has been planning on leaving most of us here to die,” Blaze grumbled, not even trying to conceal his growing unhappiness.  Not to mention he used several contractions, he quietly castigated in his own mind.

“But it sounds like he is going to take you with him,” Evelia soothed, “and it sounds like there are other people in other units here,” she added with a touch of disbelief mingled with curiosity.  “Only a couple of months from completion.”

A quick but not overbearing knock on the door interrupted their conversation.  Evelia swashed away the screen of Dr. Boyd’s memo, tucked her hologram pad underneath a small blanket on the shelf, and motioned Blaze to silence with her finger.  As she opened the door, she nearly gasped in surprise: Dr. Boyd was standing opposite to her, offering a genuine smile.

“Evelia – I am glad I happened to catch you home.  I hope I am not intruding but I have a small item of business I would like to run past you … oh Blaze!  Good to see you,” he blurted in his own surprise.  Then, turning back to Evelia, he continued, “actually, this works out quite well.”  Pointing to Blaze, he added, “I just spoke to Blaze yesterday about the possibility of joining a new team.  Top secret, highest security clearances, and utmost confidential,” he said in his characteristic manner – by avoiding contractions, Dr. Boyd was known to speak in incomplete sentences, a nuance that few really noticed but a nuance that deeply bothered Blaze: if the Order was going to insist on linguistic purity, its chief leader ought to be the exemplar, not the exception – regardless of his advancing age. 

“Space exploration,” he began again.  “I know this is something that the Order has taught its little children ceased with the Third Holocaust but it is a living, breathing, viable technology that we possess.”

Evelia all but fell backwards with surprise.  Blaze mentioned earlier that his visit with Dr. Boyd was top secret and he mentioned his feelings about being invited onto an elite team but he had failed to mention this exotic detail – proof that he can keep a good secret, she mentally noted. 

Dr. Boyd barely noticed her surprise and didn’t skip a beat.  “I have been on three trips myself and our special team in charge of exploration has performed a number of other trips besides that.  In roughly two months, we are making an extremely significant trip and will be in need of a larger crew.  I am hoping that you will join us.”

Blaze’s temper, still smoldering after listening to the misfiled memo, was now brimming over – though by looking at him, you would never have guessed it.  All of a sudden, the “special team” and the “extremely significant trip” meant a whole lot more to him than it had the day before and he felt indignant that anyone would be so brazen as to invite someone else on a mission to colonize a new planet without being informed that they would never return and that everyone you left behind would likely be exterminated by forces they didn’t even know existed and were therefore completely unprepared to defend against.  Still, keeping a poker face was crucial in this situation and Blaze was bright enough to recognize that fact so he said nothing and revealed nothing.  He simply looked at Evelia as if he was excited to have her invited on the trip with him.  Truth be known – but for the memo – he would have been excited to have her with him on the trip – or maybe he was excited to have her with him on the trip – he still didn’t know if he would be going – and if he was going to go, he didn’t know what the terms or circumstances might be.

“Yes, sir,” Evelia all but exploded with enthusiasm – whether well faked or sincere, Blaze couldn’t tell but he guessed the former.  “Well,” she began amending her first statement, “at least, I expect that the answer is yes – if I was to be responsible, I suppose I would have to say that I would like to think about it but based on my first impulse, I would have to say that my answer will be yes.”

“That sounds great,” Dr. Boyd replied, giving her an eye less full of caution than Blaze would have expected.  “I will expect a definitive reply in a few days.  Until then, give no word of this to anyone – agreed?”  Although his voice betrayed no tone of ominous pretensions, Evelia heard the veiled threat loud and clear – intended or not.

“Yes, sir,” she heartily agreed.  “I presume that Blaze is excepted from that requirement though … is he not?” she pressed.

“Of course,” Dr. Boyd answered, “He is under the same injunction as you though.   You are the first two new recruits that I have spoken to at this point in time.  As I speak to others, I will let you know but even then …” he seemed to hesitate a little, “even then,” he repeated, “keep the conversations to an absolute bare minimum.  Word of this cannot get out without causing a great deal of unwanted consequences,” he warned.  Again, a veiled threat was received with full understanding by Evelia and Blaze who now received Dr. Boyd’s statements with a great deal more context than Dr. Boyd would have ever dreamed that they would hear.

As Dr. Boyd turned around and left the room, Evelia closed the door behind him in as casual a fashion as she could muster under the circumstances, nearly shaking from stress.  She turned her eyes over to Blaze.  He couldn’t tell from her look whether she was ecstatic, horrified, or whimsical.

“Looks like we will be spending more time together no matter what happens,” she observed without any clear emotional expression.

But that didn’t matter.  Blaze accepted from her comment that at least something was going well in his life – even if everything else seemed to be falling apart all at once.  At least he would be spending more time with Evelia.

“What are we going to do?” he asked, hoping Evelia would have some insight better than his own stupor of thought. 

But he was disappointed.

“I have no idea,” she answered, twirling her hair with her right finger and looking down at her foot as she tapped the tip of her toes to the ground.  Then, as she looked up, Blaze could see for the first time a clear look of fear and uncertainty that mirrored his own heart.  Fighting aliens was one thing; fighting false paradigms and incorrect beliefs is something entirely different.

But he was game. 

That is, so long as Evelia came along.

 ***

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