Rickturned around and waved, but just as he started walking again, he stopped tolook back at me. I stopped as well and so did others around me.
“Wow,you’re the new one!” Rick said.
“Rick!”Tania said, her eyebrows folded, her fists bolted on her waist. “This is Dora,”she continued in a softer tone. “Dora, this is Rick, my sixteen-year-old.”
Patricklaughed. “When you explain it like that, it all makes sense.”
“Yeah,funny!” said Rick, whose face didn’t at all correspond to his words.
“Let’smove, people, we’re making a jam!” said Peter, and we all pushed along.
Peoplewere lining up near three different trees that each had a way down to theground. I took the one in the middle, while Tania, Peter, Rick, and Patrick tookthe one on the right. My slow pace caused a delay on the tree I took, but noone behind me complained. However, this also meant that I lost track of mygroup. I continued to follow the stream of people, certain I would be able tofind them at the bonfire. A few people looked at me, obviously captivated bythe color of my eyes, but most of them didn’t stare, and for the briefest ofmoments, I didn’t feel like an outsider.
WhenI got to the clearing, some sixty people were already there, sitting in a largeloose circle. The bonfire turned out to be a large pile of branches and planksof wood engulfed in a crackling fire. In diameter, it was broader than one IP,and the flames rose up high in the air, spurting sparks and weaving smoke intoa braided river pattern against the dark sky.
Itwas magnificent.
Fora while I just stood there, transfixed by the light, the warmth, and the smellof burning wood.
Afew people passed close to me; one of them even lightly nudged me from behind. Thisbrought me back to the present. Standing at the outer edge of the circle, Iturned left and walked around until I found a wide spot between two groups ofpeople engaged in animated discussions. The area was three IPs wide, and I hopedno one would sit too close to me. I took one more look around to make sure noone was standing and then sat down, folding my legs under my body, my kneestouching the dry dusty soil.
Withinthe next ten passes, more people came to join the gathering, sitting in arandom pattern but still forming a broad regular circle around the fire.
Ifound myself fascinated just by looking at the Humans’ faces. The fine movementsof facial muscles conveyed a whole additional layer to what was beingcommunicated verbally, and I wondered if they realized how much of their information exchange went on through this bodylanguage. The Human Jumpers were similar in that way too, but I could stillclearly recognize them by their pale appearance and relatively fine build,compared to the Old Earth Humans. Zema4 had a slightly weaker gravity than OldEarth, so they appeared more fragile than original Humans. In Uni, though, Zema4Humans were considered one of the most physically robust species.
Allof a sudden, I was ripped from my thoughts, my gaze drawn to the flickeringflames of the fire in the center of the circle. At that moment, while my eyeswere locked on the hypnotic orange movements, I had another Vision.
A Vision of the man.
The man in my dreams.
I just see his face, part of it lit with a dimflickering light, the other in the dark.
His eyes reflect the flicker of the orange glowcoming from the nearby source.
Then, he looks at me.
And I gasp.
TheVision was gone. I looked up from the fire.
Everyonewas still in the same relaxed positions they had been a moment ago.
Irealized I was holding my breath, and I exhaled. I had all but forgotten aboutmy recurring dream. So much had happened since the last time I had it. And witha sad weight on my shoulders, I realized I’d missed having this particularVision—this particular dream.
I miss him, whoever he is.
Ismiled very slightly and raised my gaze toward a new group of people justcoming into the circle, only to lock onto a pair of dark eyes reflecting aflicker of fiery orange flames.
Thoseeyes were locked on mine, too.
Andthey belonged to a man.
The man from my Visions.
Chapter 8
Myheart was racing. Breathing erratically, I tried to make sense of the flood ofjumbled thoughts that rushed through my mind.
Of course—theVision.
Old Earth.
He is here!
Thevery realization had panic, thrill, excitement, and pure joy woven through it.
Helooked at me for a few moments, but then he turned his head and looked away. Amoment later, he looked back at me again.
Andhe kept looking as he walked to the other side of the circle, surrounded byseveral people. They all sat near a group of elderly men. Everyone else wasvery loud, talking at the same time, but he remained silent, his eyes fixed onme.
Andme?
Ikept looking back at him, transfixed, unable to break my gaze.
Then,without taking his eyes off me, he must have said something to the man on his right,because that man turned to look at me. He said something to my Vision man,shrugged his shoulders, and then turned away again, focusing his attention backto the group engaged in discussion.
Anothermoment passed with both of us bluntly staring at each other across the fire,and then he smiled, raised one hand, and gave a barely noticeable wave.
Notsure what he was gesturing, I turned my head and looked away. I was dizzy fromthe combination of rapid breathing and wild heartbeat.
Iused all my willpower to slow down my breathing again. Very slowly, with the deliberatetrained force of hundreds of years and a Senthien background, I gained controlover my body again.
Bythis time, all were quiet, and one man was holding the attention of the entire gatheringwith his strong but clearly aged voice.
Islowly raised my head toward the source of words, careful not to let my eyesslip sideways toward the man from my Vision.
“Thefirst time we did this,” he said, standing up and moving closer to the fire,“we were all afraid. Everybody was sitting a lot closer together than you arenow.” And he moved his wrinkly hand in a circle,
