Chapter 16
If anything, the seas were even more calm. As the sun lifted above the horizon Taggart looked out over a vast silvery pool, a celestial mirror with no reflections to concern itself with, then he turned and looked at their wake -- like an arrow in flight as straight as could be. He checked their surroundings and noted the pod was still following, now not more than a hundred yards off their port quarter, and that the Cape St George was visible again, perhaps two miles astern but simply holding position -- neither gaining nor receding.
He went below and popped a pod in the coffee-maker, then went back to the cockpit.
A warning dialogue popped on the plotter: "Weather Now Available" -- so he hit the enter key and layers of meteorological data overlaid the nautical chart so he sifted through the information, noting a mid-Atlantic hurricane had turned north and would skirt Jamaica before turning northeast. A huge high-pressure system was sitting off the Norwegian coast and temperatures inland were breaking records from Bergen to Helsinki. The forecast out to ten days showed little possibility of change, and that was bothersome.
"Since when have high-pressure systems stalled out over near arctic latitudes?" he asked the mirror-sea. "They usually don't do that..."
Heard footsteps on the companionway and turned to face the music.
Eva. His moody blue, dancing barefoot to ancient rhythms, her syncopated soul moving to the alternating currents between the here and now and a dissonant yesterday and tomorrow. Eva -- the empath. Eva, mother of the new.
She swung her hips suggestively -- her arms held in loose stasis above her head -- as she danced past the cockpit and out onto the aft deck, and once there she held onto the backstay still moving to an unseen beat. He heard a whisper of the music, saw her lips moving...I know you're out there somewhere...and the strength of the emotion is like thunder in the air...
And now the pod was arcing in -- excited atoms in a vibrating universe, and Eva calling to them -- entrancing with an ancient music all her own.
And Taggart simply didn't exist now, not in her new world order. They were responding to her now, all of them. She pirouetted and one of the females did too, coming down in a splash that soaked half the boat.
He knew the moment was coming. She would dive-in and rejoin her first circle...but no. Not today, at least not now. They came close and moved with her, conjoined inside the symphonic swirls of their beating hearts. Close, but not touching.
And it was then that he noticed she was not conscious. Her eyes closed, her breathing deep within the cocoon of sleep she had created for them. Her hands high, her body a perfect arc suspended from the stay, her breasts full, her womb sanctified by the presence of her guardians.
And even Taggart knew not to interfere.
This is something beyond the New, he told the mirror in the sea. And I love her.
"What is she doing?" he heard little Erika ask.
"I don't know...dancing to the music of the spheres, I think."
"What does that mean?"
"I don't know. Maybe she dances to a music we can neither see nor hear...?"
"Is she asleep?"
"I think so. How's your mother?"
"Sore. Is it time for her medicine?"
Taggart looked at his watch and nodded. "Better make her some tea and I'll fetch the pills."
"Can we leave up here like this?"
"Well, if she falls over she'll be in good hands."
"If you say so..."
He led Erika below and took his own meds, then got Rosa's opiates and antibiotics and went forward to the galley. Rosa was sitting at the table, her face a little gray this morning, so he helped Erika make a breakfast of bacon, eggs, and French toast before he retreated to the cockpit. Eva lay in a crumped heap on the aft deck and he ran to her, helped her sit up and get oriented, then he helped her to the shade of the cockpit.
"What happened?" she wanted to know. "Why am I up here?"
"I have no idea; in fact, I was kind of hoping you'd tell me..."
"What was I doing?"
He pointed to the aft deck: "You danced up the companionway and out to the deck. You seemed quite into it...whatever you were doing."
"I was dreaming, at least I think I was dreaming..."
"You had an audience," he added, now pointing at the pod swimming just off their stern.
"Oh yes, I remember now. One of them was calling to me. One of the females."
"And you understood her?"
Eva nodded. "Yes, I think so..."
Henry nodded. "Okay. Let's get you below, have some breakfast and take a rest?"
She shook her head. "No, I want to be with you now."
"Okay, breakfast then sit with me up here. Now...scoot! You need to eat every now and then, you know?"
"I don't want to leave them," she said, now looking at the pod.
"Alright. I'll fix you a plate and bring it up."
"No! You must not leave me!"
It wasn't just what she said that startled him, it was the frantic desperation he heard within that left him unsure of the moment. "What is it, Eva? Can you tell me what's going on?"
She slid down to the cockpit sole and grabbed his legs -- as if to physically restrain him from leaving, or even moving -- and now she seemed afraid, very afraid, yet she remained silent and said not a word...
...until...
"You can't leave us, Henry. You can't..."
"Leave? What do you mean?"
"You can't die, Henry! You just can't leave us..."
He grabbed her and held her close, then whispered in her ear: "There's nothing anyone can do to stop it, Eva, and you have to accept that. I'm trusting you to take care of yourself, and the children, after I'm gone. Do you understand?"
"Of course I understand...but can't they do something?" she said, jabbing a finger angrily at the sky.
"No, they can't. And beyond that, Eva, you have to understand that I'm not afraid -- about what happens to me, anyway. But I am terribly concerned about you and Britt, and the children, and what happens to you all after I'm gone."
"Don't be...we'll get by..."
"Getting by isn't enough, Eva. People living in mud huts and scrounging for scraps get by, but that won't be enough -- not for the demands raising two kids will place on you."
"What are you saying, Henry."
"I'm saying that your life is tied to Rolf's now. He will be taking care of you -- after. You'll be with him. Do you understand?"
"You mean, he will be my husband?"
"No, not at all. I've charged him with the responsibility of taking care of you and all the children, and you'll have two boats available to you when you need them..."
"When?"
"Yes, when. When things get bad. Rolf will know what to do, but he won't be able to help you if you move beyond his reach."
"I don't understand..."
"You don't have to understand, Eva. You simply have to trust me and do what I ask. I hate to put it so bluntly, but you will be a vital part of this family going forward, and please, try to honor what I've built for you."
"Alright, Henry. I will. But what about them," she said, pointing to the pod swimming off the stern.
"I'm not sure yet. I want them to stay with you and Britt, but I don't know if they will or not."
