“Friends.We are here to say goodbye to Barka Stevanion Narth. Although he belongs to theSenthien species of the Descendants, we will give him a Human funeral, becausehe is—a Human,” he said it in a low tone, his eyes flickering to thegroup of Jumpers to his right.
Ilooked at them as well. In the front were Julie, Sarah, and three others,probably the women from the Boolean Institute. Most of the other Jumpers lookeddown, but Julie’s eyes were on me. She narrowed them to thin slits and kept hergaze. I did not know what this nonverbal communication meant, but it gave meshivers nevertheless. Whatever it meant, it definitely wasn’t friendly.
Iturned back to Mike and realized I missed what he was saying. I deliberately letgo of my thoughts of Julie and paid attention.
“Hispath led him somewhere he didn’t plan to go. And because of it, he is now gone.Let him have peaceful rest.”
Peaceful rest? I looked at Mike, not understanding. He’s notgoing to wake up.
Perhaps it’s one of those Humanexpressions again…
“Dora.”I snapped out of my thoughts. “Would you like to say a few words, as you arethe one who knew him best?”
Fora moment, I stopped breathing, surprised by Mike’s question. Then I stepped outnext to him, leaving a few IPs between us. I did not turn to the crowd. Instead,I looked at the corpse.
Thiswasn’t Stevanion anymore.
Itwasn’t anyone.
Itwas just a body.
“Idid not know him,” I said, not having any idea what to say next. “There arepeople who knew him a lot better than I did… they are the ones who should bestanding in my place.”
Ipaused for a long while.
“Hewas not supposed to be here. He should have stayed in Uni. He should not havecome… he should not have come…”
Mynext words came in a whisper.
“Andit is my fault that he’s dead. The port mistake happened – because of me.”
Miketook a step toward me and said in a gentle voice, “It was an accident, Dora. It’sno one’s fault.”
Ilooked at the ground in front of me, my gaze empty.
“Dora,do you want to light the fire?” asked Peter from behind me.
Iturned to him and looked at him for a moment, incredulousat the question he just posed. Then I shook my head. “I can’t.”
“Doyou mind if I do it?” he asked.
“No…please do,” I whispered and took a step backward.
Peterwalked to the wooden platform and took a torch, which was already burning nextto it.
Hebent down and held the torch between the branches for some time. Then, they caughtfire, and it spread through the whole pyre with surprising speed. One person inthe crowd started singing and a few other people joined her. I didn’tunderstand the language they used, but I couldn’t have imagined a more gracefulfarewell for anyone.
Darksmoke clouds bulged up into the sky, spiraling above the fire. A sickeningsmell reached my nostrils. My throat tightened and my stomach cramped to thesize of a small stone. I pressed my lips together, closed my eyes, and used allmy willpower not to vomit.
Thenext moment, the wind changed, and I could breathe again. I shivered.
Ilooked at Peter.
“Thesmell?” I said through my teeth. “Is it because he’s Senthien?”
Petershook his head. “Nah. It’s the same for Humans. It’s just the Human body beingburned.”
Ishivered again.
Whenthe song finished, people started leaving.
“Doyou want to stay longer? A few people need to be here until the end, to makesure the fire doesn’t spread. You can stay with them, if you wish,” said Peter.
Itook a moment to answer.
“Yes,I’ll stay.”
Iturned around to see J behind me. He didn’t say anything. He just looked at me,gave me a sad smile, and then bowed his head low.
Afterforty passes, there were only a few people left. Mike was to my left, Peter tomy right. J was behind me and so was Tania.
Thefire was dying out.
“Dora,”Mike said, looking at the coals, burned wood, and ashes,“the trip we’ve planned to the city is scheduled for tomorrow.” He looked atme. “We would still like to go, because of the river. You remember?”
“Yes,Mike. I remember.”
“Iknow it is difficult right now for you, but we would still like you to join theexpedition. Could you, please, still go with them?”
“Yes,Mike,” I looked at him. “I have agreed to it. I will go.”
Iwas standing on the bridge leading to Tania’s hut, leaning on the rail andlooking down at the green vegetation below me.
Taniastepped out of her hut and walked toward me. She leaned on the rail too, makingsure she left enough space between us.
“Thedinner will be ready soon.”
“Thankyou,” I said and attempted a smile. “I… I am sorry… I do not know how to makefood.” I looked at her. “At Uni, there is a machine that does that for me. Butit is far less tasty than what you make.”
Taniasmiled gently. “Thank you. I’m glad you like it.”
Therewere a few moments of silence while we both gazed at the sun setting behind thehorizon of the rainforest.
“Howdo you feel?”
“Ifeel healthy, Tania. Thank you.”
“Yes,but how do you feel—inside?”
Itook a few moments to reflect. “I do not know. I thought Stevanion would recover.I thought he was getting better.”
Shenodded. “I understand, but I know that sometimes people appear to be gettingbetter just before death strikes. I don’t know why,” she said and shook herhead. “I just know it happens like this sometimes.”
Iwas silent.
“Dora,there was nothing you could have done. You know this, don’t you?”
Istill stayed silent. I was not sure.
“Mommy,Dora, the dinner is on the table,” said Lemony from the entrance of thecottage.
“Thankyou, sweetie, we’re coming,” said Tania.
Ipushed away from the rail and started walking toward Tania and Peter’s hut.
“Dora?”Tania said.
Iturned to look at her.
“Thereis something I think you should know. I don’t know if it will make sense to youor if it was just the fever kicking in, but…”
“Ido not understand what you mean,” I said.
“I’lljust tell you what Stevanion said and you can decide what to make of it, okay?”
“Whatdid he say?”
“Halfan hour before he died, Stevanion had a really high fever, and he was talkingin his sleep. I couldn’t understand any of it,” she said and shook her head. “Iwent
