Moon 514 || Blaze and the White Griffon

4 || Companions in Conundrum

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Last revision: 2/15/2013 

Companions in Conundrum

“But if we try to meet her and she does not believe us, she will tell Dr. Boyd will she not?”  The question was obvious but the answer was not.  Neither of them had been able to sleep the night before; both of them had thought about it; neither of them had any answers.

“That depends on what she is really like,” Evelia answered, “and given what we know about her, it seems like she would be pretty trusting.”

“But would she be trusting of us … or him?” Blaze retorted with unveiled frustration.  “I do not pretend to understand politics,” he confessed.  “You are a better judge of character than I am – what is your best guess as to what she will do?”

“Hmmm,” Evelia nearly sighed.  “The database entry says that she can give information telepathically.  I suppose …” her voice trailed off.  “I guess we really cannot know for absolute positive but I suppose that if she can speak telepathically, she can hear telepathically – and if she can hear telepathically, that means she can read minds does it not?  Dr. Boyd seems to think so and he knows her better than either of us.”

“Maybe – but maybe she can only hear whatever you speak in your mind.  Dr. Boyd did not seem so sure but either way, what does it matter?”

“Well,” Evelia responded, feeling encouraged despite the slightly pessimistic response of her companion in conundrum, “if she can read our minds, she will know that we were not lying and that she needs to be careful of Dr. Boyd.”

“Okay – that is a good thought – but will that change anything?  That will also tell her that there is nothing we can do to help her – we know nothing about space exploration – and that if we do anything to challenge Dr. Boyd’s plan, her chances of getting home are not so good.”

“Oh,” Evelia groaned, now more discouraged by Blaze’s pessimism than before.  She paused for an uncomfortably long time before offering another thought.  “But what if she just has a good heart?  What if she just wants to do the right thing?”

“What if the right thing is getting back to her family – if she has a family – or her people and letting our violent race go extinct?” Blaze questioned in return.  “What if we just talk to Dr. Boyd about taking everyone with us?  Do you …”

“Really?” Evelia interjected.  “Did you hear him threaten me yesterday?  Did you not understand his warning about telling the others?  He has no intent to help them.  He is letting nature take its inevitable course remember?  No, we either fight Dr. Boyd on our own, with the help of the Order, or with the help of this magic woman we have never met.”

Inside, Blaze knew Evelia was right.  And he wanted to agree with her – whatever the subject matter might be.  But he also did not want Evelia to be right in this thing.  He wanted yesterday’s paradigm back.  He wanted hope.  He wanted to venture outside the Order for survivors, for good people.  That was gone now.  The survivors were planning on exterminating the Order – which was larger than Blaze knew about even at this moment – and Dr. Boyd was going to take the only couple dozen healthy people alive to another planet to start anew.  In theory, the idea seemed innocuous – it seemed almost exciting.  But somehow, the tone of Dr. Boyd’s voice and the tone of his journal entry somehow precluded the rosy interpretation Blaze wanted to put into this situation.  Deep inside, his instincts were screaming for him to listen to Evelia’s counsel – despite his mental misgivings and despite the unpleasant realities that her counsel entailed.  A fight was brewing and the only help they had was a bunch of people who would have a very hard time accepting the truth or a total stranger from another planet – another solar system. 

“Some people in the Order will believe us; some may be wise enough to offer some good ideas,” Blaze began with a very pondersome and somber voice, “but this magic woman – whatever her real name is – this woman will know about the natives; she will know about space exploration and she will probably know details about Dr. Boyd’s plans that we will have to know if we have any hope to stop him from condemning all of our friends and family to an inevitable death.”  He paused for a long time, deep in thought – so deep that Evelia didn’t dare interrupt him.  Then, lifting his head out of his hands, pushing his elbows away from his knees, and looking at Evelia very intently, he asked the only question that really mattered: “Are you willing to entrust an alien woman we have never met with information that will irrevocably place all of our lives in danger?”

“Do we have any other real choice?” she queried, crossing her legs, placing her head in her hands, and looking up at Blaze with blank eyes.  Blaze pushed aside his feelings for Evelia, pushed aside his crush, pushed aside his every desire to just spend time with her and hang out – to forget his troubles.  Hundreds of lives depended on him now – he couldn’t let them down by being distracted by personal interests.

Meeting her gaze for a very long time before answering, he finally acknowledged the inevitable: “I guess not.”  Then, as he watched Evelia bite her lower lip and raise her eyebrows with a look of anticipation, he added, “It sounds like Dr. Boyd has visited her at all times of the day – but who knows how often he visits her – and it sounds like the trip there is very dangerous.  Can you look up our exact location in relation to various ponds and lakes around here so that we can get our bearings before setting out?  It might take a few days but I will look up medicinal plants around Borneo, update my database, and get some supplies if you …”

“I can do better than that,” Evelia interrupted.  “I traced the source of the transmission last night.  It looks like Dr. Boyd has some affinity for that outcropping he mentioned in his journal entry … at least, I hope it is the same one.  I looked at the satellite imagery before the Third Holocaust and the source of the transmission was located at an outcropping overlooking a small lake or pond – just like the transmission described.  If this is a special – or sacred – place to the magic woman, it seems likely that she will visit it often.  It sounds like she was performing some sort of ritual there when Dr. Boyd first met her so I am guessing she goes there often – and the transmission said that Dr. Boyd met her there on at least a few occasions so all we have to do is …”

“Make sure Dr. Boyd does not know that we are missing and make sure that he does not find us there,” Blaze finished.

“Right.  I’ve been thinking about that too…”

“No contractions,” Blaze impulsively interrupted, suddenly, but only briefly regretting that he had taken apprentice.  “Sorry, I guess that is not so important right now.  I …”

“Right,” she started again, “Fifteen years ago, there was an illness that swept through the Order – I barely remember it – but I looked up the symptoms, looked at some combinations of herbs that mimic the rash, and got some information that will get us quarantined for at least a couple weeks.  That should give us time enough to meet the magic woman.”

“There is a good reason you are so highly regarded,” Blaze blurted before he could stop himself.  “You are brilliant.”

Evelia smiled.  This was going to work.

“Oh,” she added, “I also found where they keep the complete database.”

 ***

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