The infinity cure, p.14
The Infinity Cure, page 14
It was about the size of a tennis ball now, and its awareness was gradually growing in complexity every week. Louvin was confident most of its memory would come back in time, but it wasn’t there yet. Nevertheless, Hiroe liked its gentle energy, its dawning curiosity.
She moved on to the cafeteria and poured a mug full of coffee, inhaling its aroma gratefully. The three bathrobe-clad graduates waved to her from a nearby table.
She brought her coffee over and gave them each a hug, then sat down and listened as they discussed their future plans now that they were completely clear of aquamycosis. Two of them—Extina, a young woman, and Bitt, a man in his fifties—were planning to return to live with family in their underwater villages, while the third, a college student named Davin, was going to make up his partly missed senior year on the surface.
They finished their coffee, and Hiroe stood. “Ready?”
She led them to a portal with a bottom hatch, where the graduates took off their robes, revealing sea-foam green skin, three unmarred bodies, free of any sign they’d had aquamycosis. Hiroe paused before she put on her mask. She’d performed her short speech many times before, but it felt new every time.
“I’m privileged to be your guide on this last leg of your journey back to health. Today will, in aquean tradition, link the three of you for the rest of your lives, no matter where you are or what else happens.”
“And you!” Extina said with a smile, and the other two nodded eagerly. Hiroe’s eyes welled up. She never asked for or expected it, but occasionally the graduates included her, and it hit her every time.
In the past, her cynical self-deprecating side would have told her it must be menopause causing all these emotions, but she found she had less use for cynicism these days. Instead she simply accepted the gift they’d given her with a smile, wiping away her tears.
She put on her mask, opened the hatch, and lowered herself into the water. She held onto a bar on the side of the portal until the others had joined her, then reached up and closed the hatch.
The motion-sensor lights of the garden came on as they approached, creating the sense that their path was being illuminated just for them.
The three aqueans swam joyfully in the open water; until patients tested completely free of disease, they could only use individual indoor pools where the water could be filtered and purified to avoid spreading infection. This was their first time in the ocean that they’d looked longingly at through the windows every day since their arrival.
Hiroe swam slightly behind them, happy to hang back and let them plunge toward it. She was just a ceremonial guide; graduates knew the way to the trench, had traced the path in their imagination many times before the day of the ceremony.
They passed the spot that used to be full of only red coral; its striking color had gradually been joined by green plants as the garden’s artificial microclimates had been dismantled, but Hiroe would never forget the place where she’d found the bomb. Her chest tightened, but less than the last time she’d been out here.
After that it was a short swim to the edge of the trench. Here, if no one had invited her, Hiroe would wait at the edge while they completed the ritual, but today she would come with them.
The four swimmers paused at the edge, holding hands, looking at the opening, larger and more ragged from the bomb detonation, its darkness contrasting with the lights along the edge.
Hiroe squeezed the two hands she was holding. She met each graduate’s eyes and nodded, then dropped their hands and took a deep breath. They dove into the darkness together.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I couldn’t do this alone. Undying gratitude to Jaclyn and Stevie, thoughtful and honest beta readers who have helped me improve several novels, including The Infinity Cure!
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T.A. Berkeley, The Infinity Cure
