18. THE ONLY TOMB THAT MATTERS
Whiteness blinded Quin as he stepped through; it was cold here, and snow drifted down from the skies. He was glad it was real snow this time, and not ash. The powdery white precipitation lay across the ground, cold and beautiful, with shades of blue and grey blended smoothly with the white. Rounded grey tombstones peeked through the snow at even intervals in all directions as far as the eye could see.
Stepping forward, Quin looked down at the print his foot made in the snow; for a little while, this world would know that he had been there, but then this faint memory of him would disappear, blown away by distant winds and new snowfalls. This thought had frightened him every time he came here, ever since he was a boy – not only that he would be forgotten, but that he would forget her, his mother, Rose. He wished he had thought to bring a rose to place on her grave. Sunset roses were her favourite, orange that bled into yellow on the edges of the petals; they looked like sunsets, like fire, like passion.
A lonely figure stood gazing down at a stone in the distance. Quin walked rapidly towards him, knowing that there was something he needed to say.
Grise was wearing a well-tailored suit and looked sad – really sad, not the fake kind he had used when Quin was small and trying to confide in him.
“Hello, son,” Grise said quietly as Quin approached. He held out his hand – in it was a rose. He held a second rose in his other hand. “I thought you might not have time to get one.”
Silently, Quin reached out to take the flower, and then kneeled in front of the tomb of his mother and bowed his head. He often found it difficult, on this planet of a thousand million dead, to believe that his mother’s memory would ever live beyond him. He placed the rose softly on the ground and stood, moving so that Grise could do the same.
Grise stayed kneeling longer, and as Quin gazed down at his back, for the first time he saw a small man, alone and fighting to survive and desperate to be remembered. He might be a little crazy, a mad scientist with a skewed version of right and wrong, and not have any respect for other people, but he was a sad little figure to look at. Maybe the old woman from Canaan was right: his father was not exactly as he seemed.
It was strange standing here next to him. They had been at odds for so long – and still were of course, although Quin didn’t feel angry any more – that he wasn’t sure what to say or do. He remembered when he was just joining the military how his father had looked so proud during the ceremony, but still a bit disappointed that Quin hadn’t chosen to go into science. The same thing had happened when he went to college to major in the fighting arts and planetary travel – proud, but not entirely. That was how it had been his entire life. He had always worked to please this man who didn’t care about anything but satisfying his intellectual cravings, who only wallowed in his own sorrow, and who never gave a damn for anyone else – even his own son.
Standing, Grise clasped his hands in front of him and gazed down at the tombstone.
“I decided to build Path right after your mother died,” he confessed. “I wanted to escape – to go somewhere that was far away from anything or anyone I’d ever known. Including you. You know you have your mother’s eyes, don’t you? When you were small, every time you looked up at me it was like your mother was looking up at me. That’s why I sent you away to school. You made me feel guilty for your mother’s death.”
Quin didn’t say anything.
“Thank you for fixing the planet,” Grise stated after a few moments of silence.
“Althea is dead.”
“I know. Isabel contacted me – she was furious with me because I had mentioned at one point that I would be sending you down, but didn’t tell them that the planet might explode. They probably wouldn’t have been there otherwise. I’m sorry you got hurt.”
Quin grunted and then said, “I have to arrest you.”
“I know,” Grise said. “I will come with you.”
“Before we go, did you… did you really kidnap those kids?”
“Not exactly,” Grise replied. “I went looking for kids who were lost or unhappy and encouraged them to join me. Some of them may have been… mistakes, I suppose.”
“All of them, you mean.”
“HEY!”
Quin tensed and turned to see John running towards them from the Door.
“What do you think you are doing?” he asked, gasping for air as he neared. “You’re wounded, and the tactical team is supposed to bring him in for questioning, not you!”
“I was going to. Don’t need them,” Quin replied, irritated. “What are you doing here?”
“Came looking for you. Saw the book in the living room and read the message Dad left you. That was a third book, by the way – I still have the second one.” He took another deep breath and bent over. “How many of those things do you have, anyway?”
“Only one left,” Grise replied. “Good work with the planet.”
“Yeah,” John muttered. “You’re one lucky – and evil – old bastard. If I hadn’t come along, you’d be toast! And everyone else would have, too!” He straightened up and looked down at the tombstone that they stood in front of, and waved. “Hey, Mrs. Black,” he said casually. “Good to see you.” Then he turned back to Quin. “If you’re done with your family reunion, can we go now?”
The two Black men stared at him.
“What?” John looked back and forth between them. “Okay, fine. I’ll go wait by the Door. Dad, you had better not run off or I’ll blow your whole bloody planet up. After I get the people off of it, anyway.” He turned and trudged through the snow slowly. Quin and his father turned and looked back at the grave one more time.
“I really do miss your mother,” Grise said. “I’m not sure how I’ve lived this long without her.”
Quin grunted. “So you’ll come to jail then?”
“I’m considering it,” Grise replied. “She would not have approved of my mistakes – of almost blowing up Path and hundreds of thousands of people.”
“No,” Quin replied. “She wouldn’t.”
Grise took a deep breath and sighed. “Well, I suppose we had better get this thing over with. I just ask – no handcuffs, please.”
Quin nodded.
The two men walked slowly back towards the Door, where John stood waiting impatiently. He was making funny movements with his lips – trying to turn his breath into the shapes of animals.
“Let’s go,” Quin said. “John first.”
John disappeared through the Door. Then Grise stepped in after him. And as Quin moved through, he realized that he was not touching Grise, and that meant Grise might be going anywhere. And then the world faded into nothing.
19. CRUSHED AND BROKEN
It was a different world, Quin saw as he stepped through; the blues of the sky now melded harmoniously with the brilliant shades of green and brown that made up the grasses and trees. White clouds floated across the sky and the ominous greyness of the wall of the inter-dimensional space had vanished. As he stepped through the Door, Quin turned his head to look at the Door next to him, and he saw that he had chosen the correct place to follow Grise, except that Grise’s foot was disappearing faster than Quin could catch it. He had no idea where Grise would go and no idea how to find him.
He stood and stared at the two Doors standing side by side on the bridge, and cursed them slowly and silently in his mind. Grise had been in his grasp but he had lost him. John was nowhere to be seen – he had undoubtedly headed back to Grise’s house, as had been the original intention, and would soon be wondering where Quin and Grise were. Quin took a step towards the Doors and then glanced over his shoulder. He was here… why not?
Abandoning his responsibilities – temporarily, of course, he told himself – he began to jog towards Meriym’s house. The sooner he got out of sight, the smaller the chances of John coming and looking for him. He reached the house and gazed up at it, a small smile crossing his features. Then he knocked on the strange door with the doorknob in t
he middle.
Meriym opened it and a bright smile lit her face.
“You’re okay!” she exclaimed reaching out to hug him.
He winced slightly, involuntarily.
“Oh, I’m sorry!” she exclaimed immediately. “Of course you’re still wounded – how stupid of me!”
“Not stupid,” Quin said.
“Come in, please! How are you? What is happening?”
Quin shrugged. What was happening? They had saved the planet and then gotten arrested and thrown in the hospital for a day; he had chased after his father and visited his mother’s grave; and now his quarry was gone and he was standing in the only place he wanted to be in all the universe.
“Nothing’s happening,” he said.
“Oh don’t be silly! And come sit down.” She led him to the living room and the two sat down on the couch. “You fought off that monstrous bear while Kip and John did math equations or something, then you ran off after Mr. Oliphant, covered in blood and filled with holes, and then you disappeared for two days! I was starting to think you had died! Where’s John?”
“John is at home,” Quin explained.
“So…” Meriym raised her eyebrows. “What exactly happened then?”
“Grise, my father, built this planet but did a bad job so it was going to explode, so John fixed it, but we ran into a few problems called Mr. Oliphant, Isabel, Althea, Betsy, and the Bear. Then we arrested Oliphant and they stitched me up but Grise got away.” He fingered the leaf that he had in his pocket, and wondered how to change the topic.
“Oh, Quin,” Meriym said. “That sounds insane and I don’t really understand it. But I’m so happy you’re okay.”
“Meriym,” Quin began. He pulled the leaf from his pocket and held it tightly in his fist. “I…”
“Quin Black!” The door burst open and John stomped through angrily. “How the hell was I supposed to know you and Dad were coming here? And where is the old man anyway? Did you let him get away?”
Quin sighed inwardly and turned to look at John.
“No. I realized too late that he wasn’t touching either of us as he went through the Door. Then he escaped.”
John slammed his forehead into his hand dramatically. “Of course it would end this way! Travel across a dozen worlds to find the old man, fix all the idiotic problems he caused, and then he just gets away! Are you sure it wasn’t a psychological slipup on your part?”
Quin didn’t reply.
“Well, Meriym,” John said, looking at the beautiful woman sitting next to Quin. “It’s lovely to see you again.”
“You too, John,” she said pleasantly, smiling. “Would you like some tea?”
“That would be wonderful.” John wandered into the living room and fell sloppily into one of the chairs across from Quin as Meriym stood to go make tea. “Lucky there was no one in your house yet. Made it easy to turn around and come right back here.”
“We’re going to get a double dose of discipline,” Quin commented. “You should go back, stall them.”
John looked at him suspiciously and then at Meriym and then back at Quin. His eyes widened, and he grinned mercilessly. “Why, you old dog. As soon as I have my tea, I will be out of your… bald scalp, you can count on me.” He grinned widened as he stared at Quin. “I do believe that my dear old friend—”
“Meriym?” The door burst open again. This time it was Kip.
“We have guests, dear,” Meriym said.
Kip turned towards the living room. “John!” he exclaimed. “Quin!”
“Kip!” John replied. “You were amazing, helping with those calculations back there!”
“I know! Meriym says if we still can’t find my folks now that everything’s calmed down and the bad man is gone, that I can go to the big fancy school across the river! And I’m going to keep our secret sign language and only teach it to my best friends.”
“That sounds like a great plan! Maybe you can come visit me sometimes – I bet I have some pretty cool stuff I could show you.”
A smile split Kip’s face.
Meriym came in, handed John his cup of tea, and sat back down next to Quin. “Were you all right after the ruckus the other day?”
“Oh, I’m fine,” John assured her. “Quin though, as soon as we got home, just sort of fell over like a building being demolished and we had to get a crane to move him to the hospital!” He laughed as Quin glared at him and made quiet signals for him to hurry up and drink his tea. His hand clenched more tightly around the leaf.
“My!” Meriym’s eyes widened and she looked back at Quin. “And you told me you were fine.”
“I am.” Quin scowled at John again.
“Meriym,” Kip said. “I saw Kate on my way up here. She said she might need some help – another set of parents or something.”
At that moment, the door burst open again, and it was, in fact, Kate. She had in tow a family of four – a mother, father, and twin girls. Meriym stood, smiling, to greet them.
“This is the Bunting family,” Kate explained. “They’re looking for their oldest daughter, Agatha. I told them they might be able to stay here for a few nights, just so they had enough time to visit the city and ask around. Do you have room?”
“I do!” Meriym exclaimed. “Welcome! I’m afraid we don’t have a lot of space, but we do have places to sleep and can provide you with some meals.”
“That would be wonderful,” the mother said gratefully. “We are extremely hopeful about finding our daughter. We’ve heard so many other families talk about their reunions!”
“I know. I hope you find her! Please, come in and set down your bags. I just made a pot of tea.”
The family moved into the house, placing their bags against the wall and introducing themselves to John, Quin, and Kip.
“How are you?” Kate asked pleasantly, sitting down on the coffee table.
“Oh just peachy keen,” John replied, grinning. “Glad we got all that nonsense over with.”
The door opened again, and Landon strode in and sat down next to his sister.
“Good to see you!” John exclaimed. “Glad to see you’re no worse for the wear.”
“Thanks!” Landon replied. “Feeling great, and hoping that Kate and I can help these kids find their families.”
“How’d you get snagged by Grise, anyway?”
“He came and promised me a job that would help me take care of my family, but then he wouldn’t let us contact them or send the money – but I kept it and I learned a lot, so at least I have something to show for it all. Not sure if it was worth it.”
“It doesn’t matter now,” Kate said. “We’re back together and Gilead and I are getting married. Landon is going to be my best man.”
“Congratulations!” John exclaimed.
The family sat on the floor in front of the fireplace. Meriym returned to her seat next to Quin. The room now buzzed with chatter as John and Kate talked, Kip made friends with the twin girls, and the mother and father relaxed in front of the fireplace.
Quin looked around the room and watched as everyone chatted about life, the changing winds, and other uninteresting topics. Everyone seemed relaxed, and even John didn’t seem like he was going anywhere anytime soon. He was pleased that things had turned out so well, given the circumstances that had brought these people together. He was starting to feel overwhelmed, though – so many people, so much noise; it wasn’t mixing well with the pain.
Quin stood and excused himself, and headed out the back door of the house.
The weather still amazed him; the strange sense of weirdness was gone, the gloom and darkness vanished. In its place were real birds and animals, healthy growing grass, trees that would soon turn into forests… even the river now flowed with water. The buildings still stood, despite the massive earthquakes caused by the moving of the planet, and he realized how fortunate it was that so few people lived here, so they hadn’t had to suffer from volcanoes, tsunamis, or other geological phen
omena caused by the event. He hoped no one had been injured, and decided that he should ask, so that he could put it in his report. After breathing the fresh air for a few minutes, he turned to go back inside, but his path was blocked. Meriym stood in the doorway.
“Quin,” she said. “What are you doing?”
“Looking,” he said, gazing into her eyes.
“At what?”
“You.”
She blushed and came down the steps, not looking him in the eye. “Well, I can see that.”
He smiled, never having felt so happy before.
He opened his hand to reveal the crushed and broken leaf. “For you.”
“Where is this one from?”
“From the flower I placed on my mother’s grave.”
“Oh.” Her eyes widened as she looked up at him.
“I can’t promise you anything,” he said, looking down into her eyes. They were green, like the grass and the trees – they belonged here, on this world. “I can’t be here all the time.”
“I don’t need anything,” she replied.
“I don’t have any hair.”
She laughed, and stepped forward, fitting into his arms as if she had always been there. “I have plenty.”
He bent down, and their noses touched.
“Quin!” John bellowed from the door. Then he caught sight of the pair. “Oh. Oops. Well, you have five minutes before Drake’s men get here and we get arrested again. Make it quick!” The door slammed closed behind him.
“Arrested?” she gasped.
“Doesn’t matter,” Quin said, and bent down and kissed her quite firmly. It was about time, after all. And the leaf that he had held onto so tightly slid from his grasp and floated to the grass – and although it lay crushed and broken on the ground, Quin had never felt so whole.
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Acknowledgements
I’m not sure I can say thank you enough times to my parents, so they get to be in the dedication and the acknowledgements. Nancy and Peter Sieling are going to get sick of reading about how awesome they are, but I would be remiss if I didn’t tell the whole world. Thanks Mom and Dad.
Zoe Cannon also deserves a huge helping of thanks. She painstakingly edited my book, in addition to piecing together my cover, which looks brilliant. A fantastic writer in her own right, Zoe has been a huge asset in the production of this book, and I couldn’t have done it without her.
Evan. Evan Sieling is an amazing human being. This book would not be here if not for his encouragement, support, and hard work. From the first time I called him, panicking about cover designs, to the incredible soundtrack he pieced together for my book trailer, Evan has been cheering for me all along. I couldn’t have done it without him, nor would I have wanted to.
Finally, I would like to say thank you to Bernice Tozier has let me live with her (again), allowed me to use her electricity and internet, and simply been my biggest cheerleader throughout the whole endeavor.
Thank you, everyone. I couldn’t do this alone.
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