Chapter 35

"One day too late, I fear me, noble lord,
Hath clouded all thy happy days on earth:
O, call back yesterday, bid time return,...

To-day, to-day, unhappy day, too late,...

The worst is death, and death will have his day."

-Richard II, Act III, scene ii, lines 67-69,71,103

They spent half the night talking, sitting in Elizabeth's room, Will rapturous with delight, and Elizabeth almost too happy to speak. She was so glad now that she had told him she loved him – they could now share their full hearts with each other.

It was finally about four a.m. when Will went up to his room, but Elizabeth still could not sleep. She finally fell asleep around six-thirty, but had to get up again at nine. She met Will in the lobby for breakfast and he greeted her with a shy kiss. "You look beautiful," he said.

"Thank you." She was wearing a white blouse and a skirt overlaid with cherry blossoms. Will was wearing a suit. "You look dashing yourself."

The wedding was at eleven, so they ate their breakfast and then took a taxi out to the church. It was a New People's Church of Peace, which meant it was circular in shape, and housed symbols of all the major world religions: crosses, crescent moons, stars of David, etc. There was a soft sound of a gurgling stream and nature sounds, and there were meditation rooms and restoration therapy rooms as well as nursery rooms where children could play with animals and listen to soothing music. It did not have pews like a traditional church. Rather, there was a large sward of the softest green grass where the worshippers could sit cross-legged in a circle. Elizabeth and Will took their shoes off at the door along with all the other guests and then went to sit down on the grass together. Others were already sitting in a circle; but left a pathway open so the bride and groom could come through.

"I've never been to a wedding like this before," Elizabeth whispered to Will, trying to sit cross-legged in her skirt without much luck. Looking around she saw most of the other women in pants. "I wish I'd known the dress code."

"I think you're fine," he said, putting his hand in hers and smiling. "I'm going to get grass stains on my suit." Then the music started and they fell silent.

First the officiator entered, and stood in the middle of the circle, followed by the groom, who was wearing a tuxedo. Finally the bridal march blared over the speakers and Charlotte came out, dressed in a simple brown, sleeveless dress that reached down to her bare feet. She walked up alone, not led by her father or any other guardian. Elizabeth thought she looked beautiful, with her black hair tied up in a bun. Then the ceremony began.

It was short, but it involved the bride and the groom each burying a seed in a single pot of soil, and repeating lines about loving not only each other, but Mother Earth as well.

After the service was over, they finally got to talk to Charlotte at the reception, where she introduced them to her husband, Emilio. "He's a physical therapist here in New York. I got a job up here a few months ago."

"That's great," she said, pulling Will forward by his elbow. "Do you remember Will Darcy, from up in the Arctic?"

"Of course. Will, how nice to see you again." She put out her hand and he shook it.

"Nice to see you, too," said Will, beaming.

Charlotte lowered her voice and spoke aside to Elizabeth. "Are you two together now?"

"Yes," said Elizabeth, and could not help the wide smile that spread over her face.

"Oh, how wonderful," said Charlotte. "I always thought you two seemed perfect for each other."

Will was beaming. "I wanted to ask you, Charlotte. Were you ever contacted again – about examining the Vellorians?"

"No," she said, looking surprised. "Have they contacted you?"

"No," Will said. "I was just curious."

"I was so sorry to hear about Dresle," said Charlotte to Elizabeth.

"Thank you," replied Elizabeth, sobering instantly.

"Do you have any idea what happened to her?"

Elizabeth shook her head. "I'm afraid not."

After the reception they took a little tour around the city. Elizabeth took Will to the Statue of Liberty, which he had never seen before, but which Elizabeth had visited with Dresle. She could still remember Dresle asking about "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." She suddenly felt guilty for feeling so happy by Will's side. He seemed to see it on her face. He took her hand and gripped it reassuringly. "She would have wanted us to be happy," he said. "And I hope she's happy, too."

"Where do you think she is now?" Elizabeth asked, looking into his face.

"In Heaven," he said. "That's what she believed."

Elizabeth wanted to believe it too. Hadn't that been what she'd been taught all through her childhood? "I just think – some of us don't deserve heaven," she said, thinking of herself. "But if anyone does, it's Dresle."

"You do too, Elizabeth," Will said, as if he knew her meaning.

She just shook her head but did not answer.

She was feeling better once they got back to the hotel after some dinner. Will had The Great Escape on his handheld, so he transferred it to the hotel TV and they watched it until she fell asleep.

When she woke in the morning, she found that Will had fallen asleep, fully clothed, beside her. She felt embarrassed. She got up to use the bathroom and changed into a fresh pair of clothes. By the time she came out, Will had woken up. "I must have fallen asleep during the movie," he said, yawning.

"Me too," she said.

"I'll go get changed and then meet you in the lobby for breakfast." He gave her a quick kiss before he left.

The tour that Secretary Liam had arranged for Elizabeth of the spaceship was at three; but she wanted to get there early to see if there was any chance of meeting Secretary Liam, or getting in to see the spaceship early. And Will wanted to meet up with his friend. When they reached the U.N. border, it was like passing into a new country all over again. Elizabeth had not experienced all the security checks and scans on her previous arrival here; but that had been with the Vellorians when they first arrived, almost two years ago now. Not only did they have a full body scan, but their phones and handhelds were subject to a technological search, which took about fifteen minutes. The electronics were each hooked up to a large screen, which scanned automatically for anything suspicious or potentially threatening. They were both asked why they were coming to the U.N. Elizabeth showed the permission slip and invitation from Secretary Liam, and Will declared he was coming to visit a friend. After they had their passports stamped, their bags and electronics were returned to them, slightly lightened. "They took my gum," said Will. "What, there's no gum allowed?"

"They want to keep the city clean," she said, but was disappointed to find that they had taken her nail clipper. "Really? As if I could have killed someone with that thing."

Will had never been to the U.N. before. Elizabeth wanted to show him the library, but was not sure whether it was open to the public. Will called his friend, Charles, who said he could meet them for lunch.

They met him at a French café, with tables outdoors under umbrellas, just like in France. "It's great to see you again, Will," said Charles, shaking his hand warmly. "And who is this?"

"Ah, this is my better half, Elizabeth Bennet," said Will, and Elizabeth found herself blushing as she shook his hand.

"So you're Elizabeth," he said. "I've heard a lot of great things about you. Will's mad about you, I hope you know." Elizabeth blushed again. "Aren't you the one who was the linguist for the Vellorian who died, Dresle?"

All Elizabeth's happiness faded "Yes," she said. "I was."

Charles seemed to sense it was a bad topic, for he soon veered away from it. He talked about the joys and trials of living in the U.N. "You know I'm no longer a citizen of the E.U. I'm a citizen of the U.N."

"Do you ever get to leave the U.N.?" asked Elizabeth.

"Oh, sure," said Charles. "I go into New York all the time. But I'm still bound to the laws of the U.N. But what are you both doing here?"

"Actually, we were hoping you could do us a favor," said Will.

"Oh?"

"You've seen the inside of the Vellorians' spacecraft, haven't you?" asked Elizabeth.

"Yes," he said. "Several times. Why?"

"Elizabeth has permission to tour the inside later today," said Will.

"Really? That's rare. You must be a very special case. Hardly anyone is allowed inside."

"What I really want to do, is find out the truth about who killed Dresle," said Elizabeth.

"And you think you'll find the answer in the ship?"

"I speak their language – I learned it from Dresle herself. And I've translated their captain's log. I know they're lying about their background and their true purpose here. If I can just find some records aboard their ship –"

"Oh, they won't let you touch anything once you're inside," interrupted Charles. "They don't let anyone touch it – a lucky few get to look inside."

"That's sort of our point," said Will. "We were wondering if you could get us access inside it, when no one else is around, so that Elizabeth could examine it, try to find out the truth."

Charles looked flabbergasted. "But that's – that's nearly impossible, man! And very illegal. I could not only get fired – I could get prison time!"

"We need to find out who the Vellorians really are," said Will in an earnest tone. "It's vital that we discover their true purpose. Most people have just accepted them as the helpers of mankind, but we can't accept that without knowing the truth."

"I agree," said Charles. "But what makes you think you'll find your answer on board the ship?"

"Dresle taught me their language," said Elizabeth, "even though she wasn't supposed to." She told Charles all about her suspicions, how all of her work on the language had been erased from her computers that night; how she had lost her memory of events. Charles's mouth opened wider and wider as he listened.

"But – you've got to tell the authorities," he said.

"None of them will believe us," said Elizabeth. "But I've got the translated captain's log on my handheld, and I'm going to give it to Secretary Liam just as soon as I can."

"But how can I help?" Charles asked.

"You can get Elizabeth access to the inside of the ship, if she's not able to get what she needs from the tour," said Will.

Charles looked torn. "You're my best friend, Will. And you saved my brother's life – I'll never forget that." He sighed. "All right, I'll help you. But on one condition – if you get caught, I'll deny I had anything to do with it."

"Fair enough," said Will, and they shook hands.

"But you won't get caught," continued Charles. "I know all the back ways and where all the cameras are hidden."

"Thank you so much, Charles," said Elizabeth.

"Just be sure you text me if – or when – you need me."

After some more cordial words they parted.

"You didn't finish your lunch," said Will. "Did you want to take it to go?"

"I'm too excited to eat," she said. "What did he mean about your saving his brother's life?"

Will blushed. "It wasn't a big deal. His brother's a football player, and we went to see some of his games. Well, at the end of the game he came out to meet us and I noticed one of his eyes was dilated and the other wasn't."

"Strange. How did that happen?"

"Well, sometimes eye doctors can dilate a pupil during an exam, but he certainly hadn't had an exam. It was a sign of a brain stem infarction – a type of stroke. So they had a helicopter fly in and take him to the nearest hospital, where they operated."

"That's amazing, Will! You never told me that before."

He shrugged modestly. They talked more as they walked hand-in-hand through the city, to the place where Elizabeth was supposed to go for the tour of the Vellorians' ship.

It turned out to be a huge grey windowless building which had many underground levels. Will was not allowed in, so he told Elizabeth he'd meet her back outside when she was finished. Once inside the building, Elizabeth was thoroughly scanned again, and her electronics taken away from her until she came back out. Then she was given a level-G security badge, reading "Guest." There were only about six other people, and they all seemed to be ambassadors or government officials from other countries. The U.N. official/tour guide led them down many stairs to a huge underground dome, with a roof at least six hundred feet high. Within stood the large white globe Elizabeth had seen two summers ago in the ice of the Arctic. It rose straight up 'til it almost touched the ceiling. This time, however, she could see the door open in the side. There was a ramp leading up to it.

"Watch your step going up," said their guide. He was a round, middle-aged man with tan skin and a turban on his head. One by one they filed in and he followed.

It did not look as if they were in a spaceship at all. Automatic lights from a source Elizabeth could not see lit up. It was like a great white hall that curved to the right and then toward the centre of the ship.

The tour was rather uneventful for Elizabeth, since she had virtually memorized the inside of the ship from the photographs Secretary Liam had sent her. The difference was now she could see it in close detail. There were words inscribed here and there which she could now read, such as: Rules for the gymnasium, 1. Always wear appropriate clothing, 2. Exercise for at least sixty minutes at a time, 3. Wear heart monitor to record heart rate at all times, then place it back in its carrier. Or, in another room, Warning – high levels of radiation below. She almost gave herself away at one point by answering a question before the guide had a chance to. They came to the very same utility closet where the captain and two others had lost their lives.

"And what happened here?" asked the New Zealand ambassador.

"A gas leak that caused an explosion," said Elizabeth, and then realized her mistake as they all looked at her.

"How do you know that?"

"Well – I assume," sputtered Elizabeth. "I mean, obviously flames destroyed a huge area. It must have been caused by a gas leak."

She was relieved when the guide nodded his head. "Yes, that is what our scientists assume happened," he said. "We believe this was the cause of their captain's death. Shall we move on?"

The whole tour took about an hour, but the part that interested Elizabeth the most was the central control room. There was writing on the control board as well as on the walls. It took all her self-control not to touch it or speak out some instructions in Ashtauz. Instead, she allowed herself to be ushered out.

Will was waiting outside for her, reading. They did not speak of it until they were far away, and then Will asked her how it went. "It was great. I got to see some of the details that I hadn't been able to see from the pictures. I think the console may be voice-controlled – if I can speak instructions to it, maybe I can find out more."

"That's great! I'll text Charles," said Will.

It was about ten minutes before Charles wrote back. "Midnight. On Second and Elm."

"Second and Elm? What does that mean?" asked Elizabeth.

"I think they're street names. I was walking around while you were inside, and noticed it. There's an old abandoned warehouse on Second and Elm."

They decided to walk around the U.N. until it was getting dark and they were hungry. They ate at a Thai restaurant and then decided they needed somewhere to wait until midnight. Will suggested a hotel. "We have a pass for one night," he said.

All the hotels were run not by private contractors, but by the U.N. itself. All the rooms were the same, and had two queen beds and a TV. Will showed his pass and they were given a room, free of charge.

It seemed a long time to wait. Will was watching the news, and Elizabeth read Vellorum: A Visual History by Arjen which Will had given her for Christmas. She was still mystified by all the drawings, which were so lifelike that they seemed as if they would spring to life from the page. Elizabeth was especially interested by the images of life in the city: citizens dressed in dark blue, grey, red, green, purple, gold, white, or brown depending on their rank. There were brown-robed men and women pushing wheelbarrows or pulling weeds, while the blue-uniformed soldiers protected the streets. Red-robed scribes walked along with their noses in books and purple-robed matrons led little children out to play in the gardens. The scene looked idyllic to Elizabeth; but she remembered what Dresle had told her about her home city. This made her even more determined to find out the Vellorians' secrets. She was restless and could not sit still. Finally she said to Will, "Do you want to go for a walk? It's only eleven, but we can walk around until we meet Charles."

"Sure," said Will, getting up at once. He seemed relieved. "I can't stand it stuffed up in here."

They got their jackets (for it was still cold in February) and went for a stroll. They soon reached Second and Elm but did not loiter, afraid of drawing attention to themselves. Finally midnight struck and they made their way in the dark to the old abandoned warehouse, where Charles was waiting for them.

"What are we doing here?" Will whispered as Charles let them in.

"This is a little-known employee entrance. It's an underground tunnel." He led them down an old service elevator. "I found it when I was exploring down here one day. I think only a couple other people know about it. It's been unused for years."

"What were you exploring in here for?" asked Will.

Charles looked sheepish. "I use it for smoking. There's no cigarettes allowed in the U.N. – no tobacco."

Will looked amused. "Really? No smoking?"

Charles took out a pocket torch and shone it into the dark tunnel. Sure enough, cigarette butts were littered across the floor. "It's about a half a mile this way. Come on." The tunnel did not seem very long – Elizabeth was so excited she nearly flew there – and at the end was a trapdoor by which they entered a dark hallway. At the end was a door. They went through it and down some steps, and then they were in a huge domed underground room where the spaceship stood.

"I leave you here," said Charles. "I can't risk getting caught here. You two know how to get out by yourselves."

"Yeah, we'll be fine. Thank you, Charles," said Elizabeth.

He gave her a wink and then left. "You'd better hurry," said Will. "We only have a short time. I'll stand outside the ship and watch to see if anyone's coming. I'll come warn you if they do."

"Thank you, Will," she said, and raced inside the open door.

The lights inside turned on automatically as she entered. She did not waste time looking around – she went straight to the control room. She knew precisely where it was from the pictures and from the tour earlier. She went over to the console. There were words written, some of which she did not understand. But she could comprehend some words, such as Fuel gauge, Accelerator, and Journey Log. She cleared her throat and spoke some words aloud in Ashtauz.

"Request information," she said. There was no response.

"Show flight records." Still nothing happened.

"System on." Nothing.

Maybe she needed a special key or code word. She looked around at the console. Then she remembered what the translated front title of the Captain's log had said: Navigation Log of Ambrosian Journeyer 341. So she tried that in Ashtauz.

"Ambrosian Journeyer 341." At once a blue light began to flow above the console, as if it were a screen. "Access Records," she said, and lines of words appeared on the screen. She had some trouble reading them, for her vocabulary was far from complete and she had trouble with the scientific words. She saw at the bottom what looked like "See list of visual records," so she said that out loud. Another list came up – it said Archive and seemed to have a list of numbers on it, beginning with 1,619. No, they must be years, for they went in chronological order all the way to 1,684. Sixty-five years, Elizabeth thought. The length of time they were on the ship. She used her hand to scroll down to the last date.

"Show most recent entry," she said. The screen disappeared, and in its place a hologram appeared. Elizabeth gasped. Before her appeared all eight of the Vellorians, including Dresle, who looked so vibrant and alive that Elizabeth even put her hand out as if to touch her; but she touched only air. They were having a discussion in their native language, and Elizabeth found she could understand them. Quickly she got out her handheld to record what they were saying.

"We need to decide on a plan," said Laufa.

"I just want to leave this damned ship. We've already been two days sitting here," said Arjen.

"People are gathering outside," said Svaltu. "We must observe them first from here to see how they behave."

"If we'd landed in a habitable place, it would have been easier," said Esma.

"I landed in a place where there was no society so we couldn't be claimed by any one country and fought over," said Marco. "The land formation is completely different now from what it was when we left – I think our country has been destroyed completely – and the big body of land has broken into large pieces."

"And what happened to the layer of water that surrounded the atmosphere?" asked Dresle. Elizabeth jumped to hear her speak – it was as if she had come back to life.

"I have no idea," said Laufa. "These are some of the things we must find out, once we leave the ship. Which makes me think … Christoph, when we leave the ship, I want you to try every language you know on these people. It is highly probable that one or other of their languages descended from ours."

"But we don't know how long it's been, since we left."

"I can approximate that," said Esma. She went over to the console and began pressing some buttons. "We've been travelling close to the speed of light for sixty-five years. That means it's been approximately … 7,000 years since we left."

"But everything has changed so much since then – look at the continents – the missing layer of water – the language could be totally unrecognizable by now," said Christoph.

"Can't we go back home – I mean – 7,000 years ago?" asked Dresle in a pleading voice.

"Impossible," said Esma coldly. "No one can travel back in time. We've just gone forward because we traveled so fast that time slowed down around our ship. It's only been sixty-five years for us – it's been 7,000 at home."

"No. I'm afraid we're stuck in the present time," said Laufa, in response to Dresle. "But we have to be extraordinarily careful. We have no idea what has happened here for 7,000 years. Our descendants may have devolved into mere savages –which means, most likely, that we lost the war. In which case these men could be anything – brutal and savage, or intelligent. In which case we must be very careful what we tell them. The first key is, if they do not understand our language, do not by any means teach them ours. Our anonymity will be our greatest weapon."

"Weapon? Why would we need weapons against our own people – or our descendants?" asked Dresle.

"Aren't you listening?" snapped Svaltu, and her tone made Elizabeth angry, even though it was only a recording and in the past, and Dresle was dead. "We have no idea how savage they may have become in the last 7,000, or what catastrophe happened to split up the land like that."

"But it's clear they've built great cities and spread over the whole Earth," said Darius.

"That makes it all the more dangerous," said Laufa. "What if they decide we're a danger to them, or try to force us to build weapons or starships for them? We need each to swear, on our very lives, that we will tell no one that we come from this planet, and teach no one our language – unless we find things to be otherwise."

Laufa raised up his hand and swore, and the others followed his lead. "Now we need to decide how to present ourselves once we leave the ship. Svaltu?"

"Yes, thank you, Laufa. I advise that we keep our true identity a secret; that we do our best to search all the books and records we can in order to discover how much they know about our society, and to devise how we may best hold sway over them. That is the best way we can get control. Then we shall be safe, for they will not destroy us if they think we are superior beings. We may have to even pretend we are extraterrestrials, if our technology surpasses theirs. If they have myths or stories about aliens we must take advantage of that."

"Pretend we're aliens? Why would we have to do that?" asked Dresle.

"If they discover we're from 7,000 years ago, don't you think they will do experiments on us, maybe even force us to teach them 'time travel,' which of course doesn't exist the way they may see it?," said Esma.

"But if we say we're alien, won't they experiment on us still?" asked Arjen.

"It depends," said Svaltu. "If they believe we are from another planet, they will be more careful around us for fear we might send for an army to come take over, or we may fly away for help. We have to read in their scrolls and records what they believe about aliens."

"They're setting up some advanced equipment outside," said Marco. "I would say they are far from savages."

"All the more reason to deceive them," said Laufa. "If they are an advanced society they will have astronomy and theoretical physics. They'll know it's possible that there are other life forms amongst the stars."

"But there's nothing," said Dresle. "Didn't we search for thirty-two years and finally have to turn around and come back because there was no one else out there?"

"Don't be ridiculous – we only went one way. We probably just didn't go far enough or in the right direction," said Esma. "The universe is infinite."

Just then Elizabeth was jolted to reality by Will's voice, as he appeared in the corridor. For a moment he seemed so foreign to the circle of the Vellorians standing before her, speaking Ashtauz, that she thought he must be an hallucination. Then she felt his hand on her shoulder and jerked back to reality.

"Elizabeth, you have to go now!" he said in a frantic voice. "Please!"

"Will? What's – what's happening?"

"Guards are coming – I heard them. You have to go – escape back down the tunnel."

"But what about you?"

"I have to stay here and distract them, so they don't notice you're gone."

"Will, I can't! I can't leave you!" she cried, suddenly understanding the full weight of the situation.

"You have to! What if the Vellorians found out you were in here? You'd go the same way as Dresle. Well, they won't care about me so much. They'll think I was just snooping around."

Elizabeth knew he was right. But still she could not tear herself away. He pushed her from him. "Go down the back entrance – and turn this off before you go."

It was easy to speak the words – Cease transmission and Shut down all systems. But it was another thing entirely to leave Will alone there by himself to be caught. Yet she knew that every word he said was true. She leaned in and kissed him, said, "I love you, Will," and ran.