Chapter 14
Lyra Belacqua with Pantalaimon on her shoulder followed Nurse Chapel to the transporter room. She was no longer wearing the Bajoran-style clothing that she and Nurse Chapel had spent so much time selecting. She was back in the torn and filthy green sleeveless blouse and tartan skirt that she wore when she and Will were first beamed aboard this amazing ship of the stars from the future of Will's world.
Although Lyra's old clothes had been restored to "pre-beam-up" condition, they were far from clean, and Lyra wrinkled her nose as she put them back on. Did she really smell that bad? It was odd, thought Lyra, who never worried about being clean before.
In truth, there were many times when Lyra had been far smellier, far filthier, and was proud of it. The raid on the Costa's boat. The Battle of the Claybeds. Bolvangar. Svalbard. Cittagazze. In the past, Lyra had bragged on many occasions to Roger Parslow as well as the other kids at Oxford that there ". . . en't nobody who could make a lady out of me!"
But this time, it was different. She was going to see Will. And she so desperately wanted to be clean for him.
"Don't worry," said Pantalaimon. "Will isn't going to think badly of us because of how we smell. He likes us for who we are!"
Wearing the clothing he wore when he first came aboard, Will Parry waited in the transporter room with Dr. McCoy. Since the only other people in the transporter room with him were Lt. Kyle and Dr. McCoy, Will changed there, taking less than five minutes to do so. The only detail remaining was for Lyra to retie his bandage before they beamed back to Cittagazze.
"Is that the same bandage I was wearing when I came aboard?" said Will, pointing to the clean strip of cloth in Dr. McCoy's hand.
"No," said McCoy. "That one was thrown away. But we reviewed the transporter records and we were able to make a very close copy."
"It looks so clean," said Will.
"Don't worry about that, Will," said Dr. McCoy. "Unfortunately, you'll take care of that little detail yourself as soon as you are beamed back."
The intercom in the transporter room beeped. It was Nurse Chapel. "Is Will decent? I'm just outside the door with Lyra and Pantalaimon."
"We've been ready for the past twenty minutes," said Dr. McCoy. "C'mon in!"
The door opened and Nurse Chapel came in with Lyra and Pan. Will smiled as soon as he saw them, and went over to meet them. Though it could not have been much more than twenty minutes since they last saw each other, for Will, it seemed much longer.
"I smell really bad, Will," said Lyra softly as Will came closer. He gently put his arms around her and inhaled deeply.
"There is no way you could ever smell bad to me, Lyra," said Will. He kissed her gently on her lips.
Lyra returned Will's kiss, smiling. "And everyone says that I'm the one with the Silvertongue."
Dr. McCoy watched Lyra tie Will's bandage. The moment they were beamed back, Will's hand would begin to bleed profusely again. He wanted to give her advice, show her the correct way to do it. He also wanted to teach her how to look after her friend's injured hand properly. But for once, McCoy could agree with Spock. Such advice would be "illogical," for the children would soon forget that they were ever on the Enterprise. When Lyra was done, she, Pan and Will stepped onto the transporter platform, each child standing on a separate disk, awaiting their return to Cittagazze.
"I think it might be best if you both stand together on one disk," said Lt. Kyle. "The ship's inertial dampers are sometimes slow to react during a Light-Speed Breakaway Factor maneuver. It'll probably be a rough ride; you'll have to steady each other."
Of course, Will and Lyra needed no encouragement to stand close together, and were on the same disk before Lt. Kyle could finish his explanation. They stood facing each other and Pantalaimon grabbed Lyra's right shoulder tightly. They barely heard Dr. McCoy signal the bridge that they were in position. A moment later, Will and Lyra felt the Enterprise get under way.
"We'll find your father, Will," said Lyra resolutely. "We'll find Dust and make everything right and proper."
"And after we do," said Will. "I think you should come back to my world, with me and my father. You can't stay in your world; not with Mrs. Coulter and Lord Asriel and the Magisterium there. You can stay with us."
"Transporter room," said Mr. Spock over the intercom. "Prepare to energize in 15.3 seconds on my mark."
"It'll be quite a trick," said Lyra smiling. "Trying to explain Pan to everyone in your world!"
In the background, Will and Lyra could hear Mr. Spock, over the intercom, counting down from ten. Will and Lyra leaned in to kiss each other.
"I love you, Lyra Silvertongue," said Will.
"I love you, Will Parry," said Lyra.
"Energize," said Mr. Spock over the intercom.
Will and Lyra were beamed back to Cittagazze, and the proper timeline was restored.
Lyra realized that she was lying on her back in wet grass under a full moon. Pantalaimon was lying on her chest in bird form. To her left, she could see Will lying next to her on his stomach, the poor thing. His bandage was thoroughly sodden with blood, but she could see that he was breathing and felt immediate relief.
Suddenly, Lyra remembered. Cittagazze! She and Will had just escaped from her mother, Mrs. Coulter, and her accomplice, Sir Charles. Immediately, she felt for the pouch to her side, again, feeling relief when she found her Alethiometer was where it should be.
"What happened, Lyra," said Pan groggily. "The last thing I remembered, we were going to look at some fallen statues, or something." Pan changed from the bird into a ferret and hopped on to Lyra's shoulder as she knelt besides Will.
"Will," said Lyra, gently shaking her friend's shoulder. "Oh, Will, please wake up. We must have passed out!"
Slowly, Will pushed himself up, wincing as he put weight on his wounded left hand. Lyra helped him stand up the rest of the way. "I . . . remember seeing something over here . . . fallen statues or . . . no . . . bodies. Dead bodies!"
"Oh, Will, there en't no dead bodies or statues here! Nobody but us! We're just scared and imagining things! Come on now, Will, we have to get inside, oh we must! There will be beds to sleep in and food to eat. We'll be safe now. We got the Alethiometer back from Mrs. Coulter and Sir Charles. And after I make you a new bandage and we rest and eat, I will help you find your father. I'll do nothing now except help you find your father, I promise . . . ."
Lyra helped steady her friend, who was tired from combat and weak from loss of blood. Together, they entered the white house, which gleamed under the full moon of Cittagazze. And overhead, unseen by Will and Lyra, a shooting star flashed toward the future and home.