Ithink I’m happy.
ButI can’t stay. I need to go. Anywhere but here.
Iwish that my Senthien were strong enough to keep my grief contained so that I couldstill stay here, in this amazing, natural, rich world.
Butit is not, because my Human has become too strong.
Aheadof me I see a tight net of lianas webbed between two large trees, making an obstacleI’d need to walk around. And the next moment, in my mind, I see J’s dark eyes,very close to mine. I see his untidy hair, one strand falling over hisforehead. And I remember him smiling. And I realize I will never see it again.
AndI cry.
Oncemore.
Tears rolling down, cooling the skin on my cheek asthey dry on the light breeze.My throat is tight and burning, and I fight hard not to sob. But I fail, and I’mhappy the birds above are the only ones to hear me.
Aftera few moments, I take a deep breath and wipe my eyes with the backs of myhands. I hold the breath and then exhale shakily. I start walking again. I hadno Vision. I have no idea whatsoever if my plan to port will work—and ifit does, I don’t know where I’m going to go. But I don’t really care.
Afteran hour, I find a short thick tree with large teardrop leaves, making anumbrella cover over its surrounding. I don’t think it will rain tonight, but Irealize I like this natural green roof on top of me. I peel soft white barkfrom the neighboring tree to cover myself and lie down.
Sleepdoesn’t come for a long while, but I keep my eyes closed, listening to thesounds of nature, trying hard to remember and keep every one of them, not on mynanoprobes, but in my memory.
Bymidmorning the next day, I reach my original porting site. I look around.Nothing here makes me think this place is different from any other place onEarth, but it must be.
Isearch for information about this place using my E-band. And as I scan all thedifferent variables in this spot, suddenly, the E-band gives me an unmistakableanswer.
Underneathme, covered by five thousand years of soil and undergrowth, lies a portationchamber. The same type that was built into all the Seedships to enableportation once the Mind was completely functional.
Ilook down at the dark, moist soil, thinking of the chamber underneath me.
Humansleft one porting chamber here before they left. Perhaps they were hoping tocome back when the time was right? I checked my nanoprobes’ data. Thecoordinates for this porting chamber were never listed in any of the porting registers.Somebody had made sure to keep it a secret.
Isit down, cross my legs, and wait. Countless thoughts cross my mind, but everysecond one is of J. Itwill pass, I tell myself, it has to. Thedeep throbbing pain inside my chest starts again and I close my eyes to fightthe tears, starting to hate this useless Human part of me.
Iopen my eyes and exhale, bringing the strong, calm, and unemotional Senthienback. I feel the muscles in my face relaxing and my face unfolds from thepainful grip of sorrow.
Ilift up my E-band and enter the instruction to generate a hyperspace field. Theicon blinks on my screen. I look around one more time, and then tap it toproceed.
Thebright daylight of the morning shifts into a purple hue as if dusk had swept in.The sounds of the forest change, the songs of the birds fade, the wind in thehigh branches distorts into a moaning howl, as the portation kicks in.
Ican feel it in the whole of my body. It hurts, as if every muscle’s coming backto life after being deprived of blood flow. I ignore the pain.
AndI leave the most beautiful planet in the universe.
<<<<>>>>
Hello there and thanks for reading “The Senthien”.I hope you loved reading it just as much as I loved writing it. “The Senthien”is the first book of the Descendants ofEarth trilogy and I am currently writing the sequel. If you’d like to knowwhen the second book will be out, please considerjoining my newsletter.
As a self-published author, your reviews are hugelyimportant to me. I would very muchappreciate it if you would leave a review after reading “The Senthien”. Thankyou!
I love hearing from my readers! Tell me what youthink of the book; is there anything more you would like to know about Dora;what’s your guess, how will the story continue? You can contact me on:
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Acknowledgments
First of all, a big thank you to myfamily.
To my husband, thank you for your constant support, forbeing there to bounce off ideas, for being my in-houseeditor, for encouraging me to finish my book and for being my tireless fan. To my children, for their cheering and support, and for simplybeing in my life and making me happy. To my parents,for their unconditional love and continuing life-long encouragement.
To my developmental and copy-editor, Sarah Kolb-Williams,thank you so much! Your constructive comments, your attention to detail andyour contagious optimism are exactly what I was looking for. It was a realpleasure working with you and I am looking forward to our next projecttogether.
To my final proof-reader, Barbara Tenner, who also read thevery first draft of “The Senthien”, thank you so much for your early commentswhich helped me to bring the book forward and for making sure the final versionwas ready to face the world.
Huge thanks to my beta-readers: Karin Brown, Vanda Pogacic,Mara Jacob and Tammy Hollister, for your tips, insightful and valuablecomments, and your support for me to continue.
For many techy discussions over pizza and wine, my bigthanks to Karin Brown, Stephen McEwen and Tom Brown. KCFC, microgenerators andE-bands are all products of those late night discussions.
Rico Leuthold and Thorsten Kramp, I very much appreciateyour IT inputs.
Big thanks to Prasanta Kumar for designing the bookcover. It looks exactly as Iimagined it. Thank you!
And last, but not least, to my readers: I am immenselygrateful that you decided to read “The Senthien”, therefore, bringing Dora andJ to life.
About the author
Tara Jade Brown lives in Switzerland with herhusband, two sons, two cats and a dog. Before becoming
