Chapter 34

"Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light."

-Dylan Thomas

Her tears did not last long. A sudden resolve and determination were filling her, overcoming the depression that had been creeping over her. She would find out what had happened to Dresle. She would discover what the Vellorians were hiding. The first thing she did was get rid of the media that was camped around her door. She was even ruder than usual, and told them she had no comment, and to please leave her alone. After a few days all of the reporters disappeared from her doorstep.

The next thing she did was RSVP to the electronic invitation she had received for Charlotte Lucas's wedding, to take place in New York City in a month's time. Then she called Secretary Liam's office.

"Hello?" said an unfamiliar voice, a woman's face appeared on the screen.

"Oh, hello," said Elizabeth. "This is Elizabeth Bennet. Where's Charlie?"

"He got promoted. This is Abigail, Secretary Liam's new assistant. How can I help you?"

"I needed to speak to Secretary Liam."

"How did you get this number?" asked the assistant.

"Secretary Liam gave it to me himself."

"Really?" said the assistant suspiciously. "I'm sorry, the Secretary is very busy."

"I realize that. I'll just leave him a message."

"I'm sorry, but I cannot take messages from civilians for the Secretary. He is far too busy–"

"I've been in contact with him for almost two years – ever since the Vellorians landed. I was one of their translators. Secretary Liam himself appointed me."

There was silence for a moment. "What's your name again?" she asked in an annoyed tone.

"Elizabeth Bennet," replied Elizabeth. She spelled it out.

"Ah, yes," said Abigail coolly, "it looks like you are on our list. Can I take a message for you?"

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "Yes. Tell him that I have finally worked out how to translate the Captain's log, only I need another copy of it. All mine were erased. I think it was the Vellorians who did it. And ask him again if I can see the inside of their ship. I'm going to be coming to New York in about a month."

The woman looked at her as if she were insane. "Very well," she said, once she had finished typing. "Anything else?"

"Yes. Ask him to get back to me as soon as possible."

She hung up.

Now she had time to sit down and think. The bouquet of flowers had brought on a flood of emotions – first of memories of Dresle, but then of the feelings that had swallowed her when Dresle had told her Will loved her. She had known, even from that moment, that she loved Will. It was an emotion she had never experienced before. But was she strong enough to tell him? Could she allow herself that chance of happiness? Or would she lose him the way she had lost everyone else? Her heart was so broken now, from the sudden loss of Dresle, that she did not think she could risk anymore. No, better to just stay friends with him. He was her best friend, and always would be, wouldn't he?

When Will came over that evening she told him her plan. At first she felt awkward. "The flowers are beautiful," she said. But he at once put her at ease.

"I just felt they were appropriate," he said simply. "Dresle always liked flowers."

"Yes, she did," said Elizabeth, sobered at once.

"So did they find any more evidence or clues about – the murder?"

"No," said Elizabeth. She had finally turned off the TV after the horrible repetition of last night's crime made her sick. "But I have a plan – I've called Secretary Liam, as you suggested, and his old assistant is gone. This new woman is annoying and very unhelpful, but I'm hoping he'll get back to me soon. You remember Charlotte Lucas, from the Arctic landing? She's a geneticist?"

"Yes, of course I remember her."

"Well, I got to meet with her in Maryland when we were touring the U.F.S. She's getting married in February and sent me an invitation. I want you to come with me."

Will flushed with pleasure. "Really?"

"Yes. You can be my date," she said with pink in her cheeks. "Secretary Liam told me, a while ago, that the Vellorian spaceship is being kept by the U.N. – which means it's in New York."

"Right…" said Will.

"Well, didn't you tell me you had a friend who worked at the U.N. who was one of those assigned to examine the inside of the ship?"

"Yes – Charles."

"Well, I need to get inside the ship – I'm sure the answer is there. And because I can understand their spoken and written language, I'm the only one who can figure it out. There's some reason they made me lose my memory – what did I find out about them? What are they hiding?"

"I think it's very suspicious," agreed Will.

"Well, if Secretary Liam can't – or won't – let me in to see it, I might need your friend's help."

She waited for his response. Would he tell her that it was impossible? That she was crazy – paranoid – ridiculous?

"That's a great idea," he said. "I have to admit, I've been suspicious of them from the beginning."
"Oh, come on. You love them!"

"I did, at first – but they've become more suspicious. Why won't they give a straight answer as to if any other of their race is coming, or whether they'll ever leave?"

"Dresle made it clear to me at Christmas that they never could go back."

"Really?" said Will, interested. "Why?"

Elizabeth shook her head. "She wouldn't tell me."

Will looked disappointed. "They can't be exiles. They're a scientific expedition – just look at the crew. All of them are of the elite of society. They sure don't seem like a group of exiles fleeing an unfriendly government – for one thing, they always speak well – almost reverently – of the society they left."

"What if their planet was destroyed?" asked Elizabeth. Then she stopped, thinking.

"What is it?" asked Will.

"When they say Vellorum, they're referring to their planet. But when they talk together, in their own language, they use vellorum to refer to the Earth as well."

"Are you sure?" asked Will.

"Yes…" she said after a moment. "It confused me for a long time. But I'm sure now that's what they were saying."

"Strange," said Will. "Maybe the word vellorum means something like 'home,' and so they just use it lazily to refer to wherever they are living."

"Maybe," said Elizabeth; but she wasn't convinced. There must be a reason they're using the same word, she thought.

Secretary Liam got back to her the very next day. "He asked me to send you the document, so you should be able to access it on your handheld," said his assistant. "He also wanted to know if the pictures he sent you were not satisfactory?"

Elizabeth thought about all the photos of the inside of the ship. "Not really," she said. "I need to actually get inside, to access their files and computer screens, which no one else could do."

"Very well," replied Abigail. "In that case he says he will do his best to get permission. Please give me the dates of when you will be in New York."

Elizabeth gave her the dates.

"Thank you. He'll get back to you as soon as he can."

Elizabeth did not go back to work. She spent the next several weeks trying to fill in all the information which had been erased, using her notebook as a guide. She started by typing out a list of all the vocabulary words she knew of Ashtauz – thousands of them were still in her mind. Then she began to remake the written script using her notebook and what she had put down there. As she worked, she would listen to Dresle's music album until she cried. She would get revenge on whoever had killed her. The police still had no idea who had done it – Elizabeth was convinced that they were following leads that ended nowhere. It was strange because the security cameras all over the city must have picked up something, she thought.

In the meantime, Laufa's Green Energy Initiative had gone through, and Atlas Corp CEO David Michaels had begun distributing the nuclear fusion energy among the poorest countries already.

The flowers Will had sent slowly withered and died; but he came often to see how Elizabeth was progressing. Slowly she began to translate the captain's log. Dresle had certainly been right – the voyage had been undertaken by fifteen members originally – not nine, as Christoph's "translation" had said – and seven of them had died just as she said. But she had trouble with the scientific terminology, and she had lost a fair amount of words when everything was erased. Then something suddenly occurred to her. How had the Vellorians known that she knew their language? Well, they knew everything. But that must mean that they knew Dresle had taught her. From what she could tell, Dresle had been terrified that the others would find out – hadn't she begged Elizabeth, many times, never to reveal what she knew to anyone, in case the other Vellorians found out? Well, obviously they had found out – they had come over to her house, they had erased her memory; they had wiped all the information from her computers. What had Dresle been afraid they might do if they found out? Would they really have killed her? Elizabeth wanted to believe that they were not capable of that – especially Christoph, Darius, Marco, Arjen, and even Esma and Svaltu. But Laufa – hadn't Laufa ordered the death of the two onboard the ship who had inadvertently caused the death of the Captain? She had thought it harsh when Dresle first told her the story; but she had only half believed it then. Now she saw it written down in the log, and it became shockingly real.

"Will," she told him when she saw him that evening, "I think Laufa may have killed Dresle."

Will at first did not believe her. "They've spent so much time protecting each other. Why would they kill her now? It doesn't make sense."

Elizabeth explained what she had read in the captain's log and what Dresle had told her. "She was terrified they would find out – especially Laufa. I don't know how they found out. I told nobody but you. Did you tell anyone?"

"No," said Will. "Not a soul, I swear."

"Well," said Elizabeth with a sigh, "they found out somehow."

"I think you should tell the police of your suspicions."

"Are you crazy?" she said. "No one would believe me. Plus, if I reveal I know any more, Laufa might go for me next just to keep me quiet. He's already gone so far as to wipe my memory of that evening. To be honest, I'm terrified of him."

But before Elizabeth could get up enough courage to go to the authorities, the police came up with a suspect. His name was Wilhelm Goetner, and he was a member of the Anti-Alien Society. He had been in Oxford at the time of the murder, and even claimed proudly to have done it; but he could not answer certain pertinent questions relating to the case; such as how he had changed the security camera footage on the street, and where he had met Dresle after she parted from the other Vellorians. Nonetheless, in a highly publicized trial, he was voted guilty and sentenced to a publicly broadcast execution – the first that had taken place in England for over a century. Elizabeth and Will were both outraged.

"How could he have perpetrated such a clever crime?" said Will. "The man is obviously insane."

"They're looking for a scapegoat right now. The international community is in outrage. But why would he admit to a crime he never committed?"

"He's obviously delusional – possibly schizophrenic."

"We can't let an innocent man be executed – however crazy he is."

"I know – but there's nothing we can do."

"No." Elizabeth had to agree with that. There was nothing they could do.

Elizabeth did decide to tell Secretary Liam, however. He finally got in contact again in the beginning of February, five days before they were due to leave for New York.

"Secretary Liam would like to let you know that he has arranged for you to be included in a tour of the alien spacecraft on February 11th," his assistant said over the phone.

"Thank you very much. Do you have an address where I should go?"

"Yes. It's in the U.N. I'll send it to your phone."

"Thank you. Is there any chance I'll get to see Secretary Liam once I get there?"

"No. The Secretary is far too busy."

Elizabeth sighed in aggravation. The old assistant, Charlie, had been much more helpful. "Then I have some very important, confidential information to give him. Can you see that he gets it?"

"Yes. What is it?"

"First. I believe that Laufa, and maybe some of the other Vellorians, are responsible for Dresle's death."

The assistant lifted an eyebrow in disbelief, but said nothing and kept typing.

"Also, I have almost completely finished translation the Captain's log and I would like him to see it."

"Is that all?"

"Yes, for now. Thank you," said Elizabeth.

"Have a good day," said Abigail, and hung up.

On the afternoon of February eighth, she met Will at the bus station and they rode the bus together to Heathrow Airport. They both had their passports and were not taking any luggage, but they still waited three hours in the security line. Security had become much stricter since Dresle's murder. The planes were now fueled by the nuclear fusion energy, and so it was only a two to three hour flight across the Atlantic to New York City. It was earlier in the day than when they had left London, and a taxi drove them to their hotel. Will was on a different floor from Elizabeth, but they still met to have dinner in the hotel's restaurant. The wedding was the next day, so Elizabeth went to bed early, tired from jet lag, but she found she could not sleep. She turned on the TV but it was all news about the new nuclear fusion energy, with interviews of Laufa or Dr. Jørgenson.

Around 10:30 a knock came at her door. Frightened at first, thinking it was Laufa, she put on a robe and looked out the peephole. It was Will. She opened the door. He was standing there in his swimming trunks, beaming, as he held up a pair of goggles. "Couldn't sleep either, eh?" he said. "Want to go for a swim? The hotel pool is still open."

She smiled. "I didn't bring a bathing suit," she said.

"That's okay. I'm sure you can wear shorts and a t-shirt."

"All right. Come on in. Let me just change."

After she had gone to the bathroom to put on an old pair of shorts and shirt, they went down together to the pool. There was hardly anyone there: only a mother with two children, about age six and eight. Elizabeth wanted to get in slowly, because the water felt slightly cold, but after Will had pushed her in, she rose to the surface, laughing and shaking just a little from the cold. She retaliated by splashing the water straight into his face, making him cough. The children seemed to find this hilarious, and tried splashing him themselves.

Elizabeth watched Will play with the children with inexpressible fondness. It seemed as if her love for him would overflow and send the waters of the pool flooding the hotel. He glanced every now and then back at her, with a face like, "Isn't this fun?" or, "Come on, have a go with us." Soon the mother told her children it was time for bed; and, with a lot of wailing and fussing, she got the children dry and on their way.

Will swam back to Elizabeth, puffing a little and a smile on his face. "You should have come played with us. Those kids were –" but he stopped, for Elizabeth had flung her arms around his neck. It seemed to her that he had never looked so handsome, nor she loved him so much. "I love you, Will," she said, and his face suddenly flushed and his smile was more beautiful than any she had ever seen. Then she kissed him; and he kissed her back with a passion that she did not know he had. When they pulled apart, his eyes were gleaming. "I love you too," he said. "I've always loved you, ever since I first met you."

"Really?" she said.

"Of course," he answered. "But you always seemed so private and distant – I didn't want to ruin our friendship. I sent you flowers –"

"I know," Elizabeth said. "Dresle told me. I mean, she told me, the last time I saw her, at Christmas, that you loved me."

Will answered with a bright smile and he kissed her again. They sank into the water, still in each other's embrace, and Elizabeth felt as though she were floating on air, and that she would drown in the pleasure of it.