Prologue
Kari Gy’at Li sat down on thevesha-benchacross from Dari Q’ana Tal. She sighed. “This might not work. We’re a long way from the silver waters of Galis.”
“Why does it matter how far removed we are from the silver waters?”
“I won’t pretend to know the answer. I only know that it does.”
Silence. Dari worried her bottom lip.
“With ourholo-communicatordown, I don’t think we have any choice left but to try this,” Kari murmured. “I’m just afraid of the potential consequences.”
“Consequences?”
“Memory loss, for starters.” Kari sighed. “Temporary memory loss is common for beginners such as yourself even while standing in the silver waters. What frightens me is the possibility that you could experience a total memory loss of recent events given how far away we are from Galis.”
Dari’s glowing blue eyes rounded. “How recent? Will I forget my beloved family? Will I forget my beloved…” She flushed. “…Gio?”
“No, nothing that bad!” Kari ran a frustrated hand through her mane of wine-red curls. “You might lose your memories of the things you’ve recently told me over the past few days—things I never want you to let me forget.”
“Such as your sister, mine Auntie.”
“That’s what frightens me,” Kari whispered. “I can’t lose my sister—not again.”
Dari stood up and poured them both a chalice ofmatpow. “I take this to mean that whilst I might lose some recent memories, you will definitely lose them.”
“Yeah. I’m the link. What we’re about to attempt is always hardest on the link.”
Dari could understand her friend’s worry. ‘Twould be an awful fate to learn the sister she thought was dead was very much alive only to lose that memory. Worse, Dari might forget the very things Kari had told her about her origins that led to the revelation in the first. “Leastways, we cannot allow for that to happen.” She handed Kari a chalice before sitting back down. “So we needs must be assured that it does not.”
“But how?” Kari asked. “I’ve been racking my brain for hours and I’ve come up with a grand total of zero ideas!”
Dari blew out a breath. Setting down her chalice, she drew her legs up and wrapped her arms about them. “There must be a way.” She absently toyed with theholo-charmwrapped about one ankle whilst giving the matter much thought. “Mayhap we could write ourselves a note of sorts?”
“Maybe.” Kari warmed to the idea. “That’s actually not half bad! But we have to be clever about it because we don’t have the kind of time left to type out a damn dissertation that we might not even remember to read.”
“Dissertation?”
“A dissertation is, uh… never mind.”
“An Earth thing?”
“Yeah.”
Dari nodded—then stilled. Her eyes brightened. “Myholo-charm!”
“What about it?”
“We needs but leave ourselves a reminder to look at myholo-charm!In fact, I have two others with me.” Dari excitedly jumped up and ran over to the few possessions she had left. “This is the one we shall use!” she said as she ran back to where Kari sat.
Turning on theholo-charmshe kept as a bracelet, Dari explained why it was the superior one to Kari. “Should we lose our recent memories as you fear, this particular piece not only holds the holograms of my loved ones, but their names and titles as well.” Her excitement was catching. “So we leave this turned on, we do… well whatever ‘tis precisely we are to do… and when we finish you’ll know to look at theholo-charm.”
Kari’s smile evaporated. “How will I remember to look at it?”
Dari’s enthusiasm went the way of Kari’s. “I would that I could figure out that part,” she muttered.
Kari leaned over and patted Dari’s knee. “Don’t be too hard on yourself. It beats the hell out of my grand idea which was nothing. Besides, I think you’re onto something. I just wish I could figure out the rest.”
The women went silent for a prolonged moment, both of them lost in thought. Dari’s lips eventually curled into a slow smile.
