“So maybe slow down for the really good ones,” he said. “What’s that?” he asked, pointing to a far-off massive structure.
“Zanth’Aranna University,” she said, leaning over to point out the many spires. “It’s the oldest seat of learning on Zanthar.”
Jeffrey admired the twisting curves of the spires. They resembled massive seashells that shone like ghosts in the distance.
A blur of motion caught his eye, and he left his seat to lean over hers. “What’s that?”
There was another blur, faintly silver in color. Then another.
Kat laughed. “Those are sailfish. They like to chase after our ships.”
Jeffrey goggled at the silver blurs, like bullets must look in slow motion. “They’re fast!”
“Yes. The fastest creatures on our planet.”
Jeffrey watched as the silver streaks flitted and glided around the ship. He was filled with a sense of contentment he had never achieved, even in the void of space.
He glanced at his companion. Kat’s face was wreathed with a smile so sweet, his heart ached as if it was pierced by one of the silver bullets.
Doubts began to pile up in his brain, but he turned it off.Don’t worry about after. Just enjoy this fleeting feeling while it lasts.
Before long, Kat retook her seat and pressed a button that caused a manual control stick to rise from a recessed compartment in the console. She kicked off the autopilot and engaged the stick, giving him a glance.
“Time to take this baby airborne.”
Pulling back on the stick, she guided the ship in an upward trajectory. Jeffrey watched as the surface approached, the glint of sunlight the only thing that let him know they were headed up. Suddenly they breached the waves, and Kat immediately leveled out. He wondered why for a moment, then he realized that the sailfish had followed.
They leaped all around him, in great bounds and twists, in front of the ship, above it, flipping and cavorting in a scene of such unfettered joy that he was almost moved to tears.
“Magnificent,” he breathed with wonder.
“I thought you’d like it.”
He could finally make out the forms behind the silver blurs. They were long, fishlike creatures with scales so shiny they sparkled in the sunlight. A great sail lined their back, and a massive tailfin propelled their massive bodies into the air.
Kat moved the ship higher and the sailfish fell away, going back to their home under the surface. He immediately felt their loss, once again realizing that happiness was transitory.
“Thank you for showing me that,” he said, his voice quiet, not wanting to break the reverent feeling of the moment.
She nodded, looking down at the console. He caught her stroking her stomach with a gentle touch and considered what the motion might mean.
Before he could dwell on it, she pointed out a chain of verdant islands to their right. “That’s Noruma’s Haven. It’s one of the breeding places of the giant jellies.”
Jeffrey wished that they had time to investigate, but he didn’t ask, knowing that she would chastise him to stay on task. He sighed, thinking of all the things they could be exploring if this were a vacation, or even better, a honeymoon.
“Maybe if we have time, we can stop on the way back,” she offered gently, and he wondered for a moment if she could read his thoughts.
He sat in silence as they sailed over the open ocean until she indicated a small rocky outcropping ahead of them. “That’s Storm Peskel Island.”
