The 'Verse and Lavinia Veran

[hollypavement.livejournal.com]

This is a new fiction taking place post BDM. The new characters are inspired by Eugene O'Neil's Mourning Becomes Electra. This first part serves as an intro to the new characters. Old favorites to appear very soon.

Part One: Ashes

The ship shuddered as it broke atmo. Its captain and sole inhabitant mumbled to herself as she adjusted the cabin pressure, and checked the landing gears. She hadn’t flown herself anywhere in a very long time. What was it she was supposed to do with the green switches? the woman wondered to herself. What had Commander Veran told her about the pressure gauges? She ran over the steps in her head, tucking her untidy hair behind her ears as she did so. Once she was content that she had followed all the Commander’s directions, she allowed herself a slight smile. “All’s hao. We’re ground ready,” she announced to herself.           

She hovered mid-atmo, searching for the little cluster of houses her brother had described to her. The villages she could see ahead looked so small, so friendly, so… unfamiliar. But, here, this must be it, she thought. Correct coordinates, tucked between the tallest mountains on St. Albans. She buttoned her heavy gray military coat—Felix had warned her about the weather. Then she found a good horizontal space about kilometer outside of town, and she set the ship down with surprising grace. She waited a moment for the ship to quiet, terminated the ship’s inessential system functions, and finally pressed the switch to open the doors.           

She was greeted by a gust of freezing air; it danced around her body, wound its way through her hair. She shivered involuntarily and brought her neckerchief higher against her jaw. The area around her was inauspicious at best, and she took the first steps off her lander hesitantly. There was no one in sight, which pleased her. She knew the folks here weren’t exactly known as hostile, but she wondered if they harbored any resentment towards the Alliance. Undoubtedly many rim planets (and a sprinkling of border planets, too) were home to some who resisted Unification. But the area was barren, save a few trees and the carpet of snow. She walked towards the village slowly, trudging through a few inches of snow, and activated her organizer to check her brother’s message once again.

 

It’ll be a joy to see you again, Vin. I’m always round, but it’d be best if you came in a fortnight or so, if you have off. I’d love for you to meet Shin, and the girls. anyways, yes, I’m still writing, but it gets hard, being out of contact, and being busy with the family. We live on the outskirts of Cindergrad in a little house—I’ll send you the coordinates. I’m sure small town life will be boring for you [I read about the awards you got for the cerebral stimulation study, gong xi!] but we’ll try to make it as agreeable as possible. The girls are blazin with desire to meet a meal live doctor. Tried to explain you weren’t the sort with the stethoscope. Anyway, I hope all’s shiny with you. Good anticipations, and regards-

Felix Veran

and don’t forget your coat. you can’t fight nature, Vinnie.

Her lips twitched upwards as she reread his missive. “Shiny”. It just wasn’t a word that was used very often on Osiris. The institute she had given the better part of her adult life to didn’t exactly embrace colloquialisms in the grad students’ theses. The institute that she would never see again, she thought to herself in heavy shades of ambivalence. Bittersweet- that’s what it is, she thought. Never again to study with Nell or Dr. Gorde, but never again having to see the woman called Anvita, either. And as the institute and the woman are no longer part of my life, I ought to start speaking like a normal person, the girl concluded. 

She neared a short block of little cabins, and confirmed her brother’s coordinates. She estimated that his must be at the far end of the road, and walked past the other houses more slowly. They were curious little things. Brown and white, mostly, though some of Felix’s neighbors had taken to painting their houses with loud colors, as if to announce their presence. No house had modern security systems in place, so they either were technologically primitive, or they simply trusted one another. She thought the former more likely. And with that thought, she at last spotted the house at the end of the road: a snow-covered house, waiting for her at the end of the snow-covered lane.           

She walked steadily towards it, keeping her stride and her breath even, observing how her breath came out in clouds like those of the old-world steam engines on Earth-That-Was. She recalled her Advanced Pre-2000 History teacher showing the students pictures of old machines such as this, which she had always found fascinating. How ingenious they all seemed to be. The Ancient Egyptians, for example, who built breathtakingly magnificent structures in the deserts of Earth-That-Was before they even understood the composition of the atom! She had also studied the research of Fleming, Darwin, Fermi, L’Sige, Tian Ming, and other famous scientists, while she got her primary degrees in Chemical and Biological Engineering. It was difficult to believe that they had advanced their respective fields so immensely, given that they were raised with such simplistic and erroneous understandings of science. She paused briefly and breathed out another cloud of air. She quietly watched it as it dissipated into the freezing air. 

At the end of the road, she paused and studied the house. Old-fashioned, but charming. She solar panels clashed horribly with the crimson bricks, and looked as neglected as institute undergrads. Flakes of snow and sheets of ice covered every imaginable surface—including a sad little deciduous tree by the entrance. A small metal placard on the door read “Huan Ying” in bright, messy letters. Endearing. She slowly ascended the steps towards her brother’s door. She smoothed her hand over her uncompromising hair, and pressed the com. “Felix?” she asked the microphone, “Please come get the door. It’s me. It’s Lavinia.” Nothing but silence. “Shin? This is Felix’ sister, Lavinia, can I come in?” She heard some commotion from inside the house, and a high-pitched giggle. Suddenly a louder voice, light but serious, “Girls, come away from there. Maia, Lex, let me open it. Your aunt’s must be freezing.”

With so little overture as the sounds of a few tuneful buttons being operated, the door slid open and Lavinia laid eyes upon her sister-in-law for the first time. The woman was young, probably in her mid-twenties, at least five years Lavinia’s junior. Though the woman wore an expression of complete geniality, the young scientist felt oddly out of place in her presence. Her clothes were soft and fuzzy, comfortable and informal. Lavinia realized suddenly that her military-perfect posture, tall stature, and sleek style of dress was probably not very common around these parts. The woman seemed to think the same as her smile faltered, and her eyes traveled the length of Lavinia’s structured coat, straight-legged pants, and brass-buttoned boots, but she quickly regained her cheerful composure and addressed the visitor formally.

“Welcome to St. Alban’s. Felix is round back. Um. So would you like to come in?”

“Thank you,” answered Lavinia softly, stepping lightly through the doorway. “So I take it you’re Shin? And these must be”—she noticed two sets of bright almond-shaped eyes peering at her from behind the foyer—“my nieces? How do you do?”

The girls looked at each other nervously, but said nothing. Shin stayed wordless by the door, eyeing her somewhat intimidating guest with mingled approval and awe. Lavinia stood silent as well, thinking that she ought not press the matter.

Thankfully Felix came bounding into the room just as Lavinia was beginning to think any more silence would be improper. With his usual levity and enthusiasm, he announced his presence in his most showy baritone:

“Where is my sister? Who is this strange professional young woman?”

“Hello Felix,” Lavinia answered calmly, though nine years’ separation probably deserved something a bit less practical. “Before anything else, may I have a moment of your time? I have to speak with you about something important.”

Felix couldn’t be discouraged. “Haven’t met a strange professional young man, have you?”

Lavinia blushed, and countered, “Of course not. It’s about one of your latest articles. I have to talk to you about Blue Sun.”