 | |  | |  | |  |
A cave mouth appeared in the rock wall they were skirting, and the boat nosed into
a long subterranean grotto with lights burning in the distance. "This is fine," said
Ghynam.
"But...you said to get...the medical station's further—"
"Yes, go there. I'm just getting off here." He left the cabin and jumped off into
darkness.
He landed and rolled under a cave mouth, out of sight from the grotto, and crawled
the long distance into the Sand Caves. There he took off his fisherman's clothing and
padded to another cave mouth. He had last seen these caves twenty years ago. His
recall of their layout was perfect.
Heavy breathing ahead. He climbed over a dune to see a naked young woman lying
on the other side of the dune, panting. (There was just enough phosphorescence in
the rock to see by.) Ghynam went to the woman and checked her. She was
conscious, but looked exhausted.
"I can find you water," he said. "Come with me."
"I'm not . . . not allowed. Have to find . . ."
"You're not supposed to ask for help, but there's no rule that says you can't accept
help if it's offered. You're going to die in a day or so if you don't get water, and I
know where water is. Come on." He helped her up.
"I . . . I am ashamed, Master. I failed." Her eyes filled with tears.
"Don't waste water."
"I . . . I can't help—"
"Do I hear can't?"
"No. No, Master." She took a deep breath, stilled her breathing.
"That's better."
On the way they came to a young man, but when Ghynam checked him he found no
pulse. "Dead. Did you know him?"
The woman nodded uncertainly. "I think . . . his name was Nornti. Helfin Nornti. He
was doing so well. It seems . . ."
"Wrong, wasteful, cruel?"
She sighed and recited the lesson: "Cruelty is the left hand of kindness. Nature is
cruel; evolution is cruel; without such cruelty there would be no beautiful fish in the
sea, no beautiful birds in the air, no beautiful thinking creatures like ourselves to
see all this beauty and regret the cruelty needed to produce it."
He got up and walked away.
"Right?" she asked, following him.
He didn't answer.
After a while they came to a pool of rose quartz with a dim underwater light. It was
filled with clear water.
"Drink, but not too deeply."
"Yes, Master." She knelt and drank for a while, then stopped.
"You have good control. You have passed the last physical test."
The woman grinned. "I really begin to believe I will be Itana at last."
"If you want to be."
"Why shouldn't I? I want it more than anything else in the world. My brother died
being tested for the Itana."
She got up and they went on. Eventually they came to the check-in station.
"Hosuun, Narbi," said the young woman proudly. "I found water."
The Itana Master nodded and checked her name off on a sheet as she passed under
the detectors.
"Nornti, Helfin," said Ghynam. "I—"
The woman spun around. "That is not Helfin Nornti! Helfin Nornti is dead!"
"I, too, remember a young man and not an old one," said the checker. "Who are you,
impostor, and what do you here?"
Ghynam kicked out, not at the man, but at the heavy detector frame, and as the
Itana jumped back out of the way, Ghynam leaped over it to land his foot in the
Itana's chest. He followed up with head punches that knocked the man out. Then a
kick from the side lashed his head with fire, and he sprawled on the ground. He
caught the student's foot as she kicked again and pulled her off-balance, rose to his
knees and crawled forward, grabbed her shoulders and slammed her down, struck her
forehead with his palm to knock her head on the ground. Her eyes rolled up.
Ghynam took a moment to rip a sheet off the checker's pad. He wrote on the paper,
Brave, daring, but hasty in judgment. Ghynam. He left it on the woman's chest.
Barton Paul Levenson © 2009
a long subterranean grotto with lights burning in the distance. "This is fine," said
Ghynam.
"But...you said to get...the medical station's further—"
"Yes, go there. I'm just getting off here." He left the cabin and jumped off into
darkness.
He landed and rolled under a cave mouth, out of sight from the grotto, and crawled
the long distance into the Sand Caves. There he took off his fisherman's clothing and
padded to another cave mouth. He had last seen these caves twenty years ago. His
recall of their layout was perfect.
Heavy breathing ahead. He climbed over a dune to see a naked young woman lying
on the other side of the dune, panting. (There was just enough phosphorescence in
the rock to see by.) Ghynam went to the woman and checked her. She was
conscious, but looked exhausted.
"I can find you water," he said. "Come with me."
"I'm not . . . not allowed. Have to find . . ."
"You're not supposed to ask for help, but there's no rule that says you can't accept
help if it's offered. You're going to die in a day or so if you don't get water, and I
know where water is. Come on." He helped her up.
"I . . . I am ashamed, Master. I failed." Her eyes filled with tears.
"Don't waste water."
"I . . . I can't help—"
"Do I hear can't?"
"No. No, Master." She took a deep breath, stilled her breathing.
"That's better."
On the way they came to a young man, but when Ghynam checked him he found no
pulse. "Dead. Did you know him?"
The woman nodded uncertainly. "I think . . . his name was Nornti. Helfin Nornti. He
was doing so well. It seems . . ."
"Wrong, wasteful, cruel?"
She sighed and recited the lesson: "Cruelty is the left hand of kindness. Nature is
cruel; evolution is cruel; without such cruelty there would be no beautiful fish in the
sea, no beautiful birds in the air, no beautiful thinking creatures like ourselves to
see all this beauty and regret the cruelty needed to produce it."
He got up and walked away.
"Right?" she asked, following him.
He didn't answer.
After a while they came to a pool of rose quartz with a dim underwater light. It was
filled with clear water.
"Drink, but not too deeply."
"Yes, Master." She knelt and drank for a while, then stopped.
"You have good control. You have passed the last physical test."
The woman grinned. "I really begin to believe I will be Itana at last."
"If you want to be."
"Why shouldn't I? I want it more than anything else in the world. My brother died
being tested for the Itana."
She got up and they went on. Eventually they came to the check-in station.
"Hosuun, Narbi," said the young woman proudly. "I found water."
The Itana Master nodded and checked her name off on a sheet as she passed under
the detectors.
"Nornti, Helfin," said Ghynam. "I—"
The woman spun around. "That is not Helfin Nornti! Helfin Nornti is dead!"
"I, too, remember a young man and not an old one," said the checker. "Who are you,
impostor, and what do you here?"
Ghynam kicked out, not at the man, but at the heavy detector frame, and as the
Itana jumped back out of the way, Ghynam leaped over it to land his foot in the
Itana's chest. He followed up with head punches that knocked the man out. Then a
kick from the side lashed his head with fire, and he sprawled on the ground. He
caught the student's foot as she kicked again and pulled her off-balance, rose to his
knees and crawled forward, grabbed her shoulders and slammed her down, struck her
forehead with his palm to knock her head on the ground. Her eyes rolled up.
Ghynam took a moment to rip a sheet off the checker's pad. He wrote on the paper,
Brave, daring, but hasty in judgment. Ghynam. He left it on the woman's chest.
Barton Paul Levenson © 2009
Excerpt From
"Sometimes We Lie"
by Barton Paul Levenson
"Sometimes We Lie"
by Barton Paul Levenson
| BACK to the Leaps of Faith page |
