Idols. Margaret Stohl

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СКАЧАТЬ the impossible. I feel him relax, letting the sun warm him, even as it fades away.

       Enjoy it while we have it, what little we have.

      Coming from Lucas, this sunset means everything.

      I tilt my face toward the last bits of shared warmth, toward Lucas and the sun. “I hope you’re right.”

      “I am.” He touches my cheek again, his voice growing low, urgent. “Dol—”

      I need you. He doesn’t dare say the words, but I feel them. They are as real to me as the cold evening breeze on my face.

      He needs me like food and water. Like sunshine and rain. Like—

       Like Ro and I used to need each other.

      I push that thought out of my mind and lean toward Lucas. He takes my face in both hands, holding on tight, as if I were as solid as the red desert rocks that surround us. A sure, steady thing. An incontrovertible fact, or a long-held truth.

      With a look, I ask permission to be closer to him. Closer than physically possible.

      He nods, and I go in, looking for one moment in particular. I find it burning bright in his mind, and when I reach for it, in a flash I am back in the cave when we first met.

      But this time, I am Lucas. This time, I see us—the story of us—through his eyes.

      I don’t see the details clearly, but the feelings are so powerful they almost drop me to my knees. I see the moment he first looks at me and feel the shock—then a flood of warmth.

      The explosion of intense curiosity, wonder, and attraction.

       The shared ocean of us.

      I don’t know what else to call it.

      I have wanted to go there for a long time, but only now had the courage to ask.

      And this is now my favorite memory, his love at first sight.

       It’s not just a gift he has. It’s a miracle.

      He is more certain of me than I am of myself. Which makes me only more certain of just one thing.

       Lucas needs me.

       Lucas needs me now, and I need him.

      He kisses me so hard it feels like I might break open. And as I kiss him back, I wonder if that might not be such a bad thing. If sometimes, some kinds of breaking can fix things.

      Everything.

      His kiss pushes me back against the rock and my body dissolves into his. In his arms, it feels like the sun is rising and setting all at once—and then a wave of warmth comes over me and I can no longer think of anything at all.

      Only Lucas.

      Because I really am the luckiest girl in the world. And even when I fall out of the sky he catches me.

      GENERAL EMBASSY DISPATCH:

       EASTASIA SUBSTATION

      MARKED URGENT

       MARKED EYES ONLY

      Internal Investigative Subcommittee IIS211B

      RE: The Incident at SEA Colonies

      Note: First recorded response from Perses, establishing first contact. Perses says “hello.”

      Note: Contact Jasmine3k, Virt. Hybrid Human 39261.SEA, Laboratory Assistant to Dr. E. Yang, for future commentary, as necessary.

       HAL2040 ==> FORTIS

       Transcript - ComLog 05.16.2042

       HAL::PERSES

      //lognote: {PERSES communication attempt #251,091};

      sendline: salve mundus;

      return: . . . . . . 01110011 01100001 01101100 01110110 01100101 . . . . . . .;

      //translation note:

      message received: salve (binary);

      sendline: γειά σου κóσμο;

      return: . . . . . . γειά σου. . . . . . salve . . . . . hello;

      return: . . . . . . 01101000 01100101 01101100 01101100 01101111 . . . . . hello;

      com protocol handshake exchanged;

      uplink established;

      comlink access granted;

      sendline: Hello;

      return: hello;

      sendline: Who are you?;

      return: who . . . . . you . . . . .;

      return: you . . . . . me . . . . . i;

      return: i am . . . . . . . nothing;

      return: i am . . . . . . . beginning and end;

      return: A and Ω;

      sendline: . . . . . . . . . . . . alpha and omega?;

      sendline: query: Beginning of what?;

      return: life. home. new home.;

      sendline: query: End of what?;

      delayed response;

      return: . . . . . . life. home. new home.;

      comlink terminated;

      //lognote: comlink terminated by PERSES;

       3 RHUMBA OF RATTLESNAKES

      “Are we interrupting something? Snake, anyone?”

      I pull away from Lucas as Ro thrusts a pointed stick with a dead snake speared on it between us, his face streaked with dirt and grime. Tima is only a few steps behind him, stumbling and tired. Her hair is still covered with dust. She looks like a gray ghost.

      “Interrupting? Yes,” says Lucas, though in his mouth the word becomes a curse. “As a matter of fact, you are.” I feel the warmth inside him dissolve at the sound of Ro’s voice.

       СКАЧАТЬ