Under a Starless Sky novel Chapter 56

Shen woke to find TL sitting near him. He thought he had felt something, a shudder. He thought the ship was crashing. His head was in her lap, and he was covered with a blanket. He bolted upright. The darkness unsettled him. There were pitch fueled lights about the ship. If he hadn’t felt and heard the water, he might have thought they were on a movie set, in a dark studio, or a cave. TL was stroking his hair.

“Shh, it’s okay,” TL him. “It’s just whale song.”

“Eh?” Shen asked.

The vibration came again. An eerie sound, changing in pitch could be heard and he recognized it for whale song. He laughed. The sound resonated with the ship, as if it were a sound box for a musical instrument.

“I never thought I would experience this,” Shen said.

“The oceans of origin are pretty noisy,” TL agreed. “Whale songs have changed because of noise pollution.”

“We can’t see the stars because of light pollution, we can’t hear our own thoughts because of noise pollution, we can’t see the forest because of billboards,” Shen lamented.

“And advertisements on the boards remind us to save the environment,” TL said, amused. She scooted closer and embraced him. Her leg beside him, her arms around him, she rested her head on his shoulder. “Maybe one day humans will live in the clouds and the world will recover its diversity.”

“Or diversity will live off world, and we will go there to remember,” Shen said.

“Or, like your ship, you will carry all of it, a place and world for everything and everyone,” TL said.

Erico saw Shen was up and brought food, cheese, bread, and dried fish. He also brought him a drink which smelled like, and taste confirmed, warm pickle juice.

“Glad to see you recovered,” Erico said. “Drink all of this. It’s good for you.”

“Thank you,” Shen said.

“Thank you, brother,” Erico said.

Erico departed to go back to his watch.

“Why do you seem sad,” TL said. “You’ve earned their respect. They love you.”

“I don’t deserve…”

“Because you used tech instead of real strength? Tech, magic, or strength, you risked your life for them. You saved them. That has meaning,” TL said.

Shen nodded. He offered some of his food. She shook her head. “You eat. I can taste it through you.” He continued eating. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”

“What if Jazmyne was telling the truth? What if she could get me home?” Shen asked.

“I would say it’s a bad trade,” TL said.

“You’re saying that because you want to keep me here, with you,” Shen said. He pulled free from her and stood up. “I want to go home.”

“She is not the path,” TL said.

“You don’t know that,” Shen said. “We just met the surface of her. There is a deeper psyche there to explore. There are answers in her she doesn’t even know she holds.”

“Then isn’t that true for everyone? Even you?” TL asked. She also stood up. “I know what I saw. And you’re still not thinking right.”

“Back in,” Shen directed.

“No,” TL said.

“I am giving you a direct order…”

“And I am declining,” TL said. “I will remain manifested. You need eyes on you to keep you acclimated to this reality frame, and not some underworld fantasy.”

“My whole life is a fantasy! What difference does it make if it’s hers or my own?” Shen asked.

“Everyone lives in the real world enmeshed with fantasy,” TL agreed. “The question is, will you be in charge of your reality, or will someone else be? Will you be an NPC character in someone else’s fantasy, or the star in yours?”

Lightening ripped under the boat, illuminating the water to either side of the ship bright enough it drew his and TL’s attention. Jerica called out. Erico answered. Everyone who was asleep was waken and they found a place to look over into the water. The entire sea floor was illuminated. Lights moved and danced and rippled. The entire spectrum was represented. It was a storm of lights that was taken by darkness, not complete darkness, there was still hints of light activity, then another burst of lightening would awaken the sea floor and various creatures responded. The sea floor remind Shen of 70’s disco lighting. The lightening itself was either blue, green, or red, diamonds or starburst patterns. The lightening was crisp, solid, jagged beams of light. Some of the surrounding light-scape was very clear, like looking down on Disney’s Light parade- only this was underwater world of light. Some of it was indistinct- like Monet painting. There could be seen the silhouettes of whales passing through lighted areas- assuming they were blue whales, the size of the silhouettes hinted at a scale and depths involved.

“Wow,” TL said.

“Warring Gods,” Torny said.

“Warring?” TL asked.

“In our legends of before the fall, the forces for good used blue lightening, those on the dark side used red lightening,” Torny said. “The sea remembers everything- the bad tastes linger for a millennia. The trees remember everything- the bad breath lingers a millennia.”

“It’s beautiful,” TL said.

“I’d like a closer look,” Shen said.

“That’s deeper than it seems,” TL said.