The Fourth World: Authors Definitive Edition

  She clapped her hands and the figure started dancing and singing ‘Jingle Bells’ in a very loud, very shrill, headache-inducing voice. When it started he nearly jumped out of his skin. Then he laughed.

  “I’ll take it,” said Fintan. “Scratch that, I’ll take two.”

  ***

  He made it back to the dorms overladen with tinsel, holly, paper stars, real stars, lights and the two singing aliens.

  He got into his room and dropped them all on the floor.

  “You carried all that yourself?” asked Zack.

  “Yeah,” said Fintan. “Not sure how.”

  “Now look!” said Zack. “Your side of the room is so messy and mine is so tidy.”

  “I was wondering what the smell wasn’t,” said Fintan.

  “Oh ha ha.”

  ***

  They finished decorating the room just in time. Fintan had been careful in finding decorations that would appeal to everyone. He guessed that Ayako would like the pale pinks, and whites, which would remind her of Cherry Blossoms and the snows of Japan. For Nizhoni, he had taken white, blue, yellow and black papers and fashioned Christmas tree murals on the walls. For Zack and Heather, as well as the usual red and green, he had some American red, white and blue. Finally for Raj, he had bought some small candles, having read that Indian celebrations use little candles that they called diya.

  The aliens would be for everyone. He set them to flank either side of the door, and cranked up the volume so they were as loud as he could get them. The idea was that when people walked in, they would trigger the songs.

  Ayako was first, carrying a plate of Sushi. She didn’t flinch, just laughing as she entered. “They sound like Japanese Opera,” she said. “Except not as bad.”

  Nizhoni was next. When the aliens started singing, she moved in a blur, kicking one across the room with her right leg. It zipped past Zack’s ear. In a blur she turned and kicked the other into the door. All this without spilling a single one of the Tacos she carried.

  The statue behind her continued singing, but its singing slowed, grew deeper and stopped with a painful cry.

  “Whoa!” said Zack, checking his ear to see if it was still there.

  “Sorry,” said Nizhoni. “Reflexes, you know?”

  Ayako was doubled up laughing.

  Fintan took the broken one, picked it up and shook it. “She’s dead,” he said.

  “We still have one,” said Zack, placing it beside the door. “Raj and Heather aren’t here yet!”

  “They’re coming?” asked Ayako.

  “Yeah,” said Zack

  “They are coming?” emphasized Ayako. “They.”

  “Yes,” said Zack. “There’s more than one of them, so you use the word ‘they’”

  “That’s not what she means,” said Nizhoni. “Are you saying they’re an item?”

  “Oh,” said Zack. “Yes. I believe they are.”

  “But-” said Nizhoni.

  Immediately the door chimed and Zack answered it. Raj and Heather were at the door. Raj, stood in front, afraid to be hidden behind Heather. Fintan noted that he barely reached his girlfriend’s shoulder, and that he was standing as straight as he could. Both were beaming.

  As he stepped through the door, the statue started singing. Raj squealed and jumped into Heather’s arms.

  ***

  The dorm rule was that no girls were allowed in the boy’s rooms after 9PM. So they had a few hours to study. Fintan had figured that they’d try for a little while before breaking down into a general hang out time.

  They put their heads down and collaborated in study in a way that made him proud. By 8PM they’d worked hard for a couple of hours, and realized that it was probably time to relax.

  “Nice decorations,” said Ayako, admiring the colors.

  “Yeah,” said Nizhoni. “They’re amazing. I can’t even smell Zack. You guys have outdone yourselves.”

  She touched the multicolored trees tenderly, turned and beamed at Fintan.

  Raj was clearly enjoying himself, confidently hand in hand with Heather as they walked around inspecting everything.

  “Sorry about the Jingle Bells,” said Fintan.

  “Don’t be sorry,” the Indian boy replied. “Heather caught me and hasn’t let me go since.”

  Heather laughed.

  “Let’s do this more often,” said Zack. “It’ll make the last few weeks a lot more fun to have Friday nights like this.”

  “How about a big party after the exams are done!” said Ayako. “Before we all go home.”

  Fintan’s stomach sank almost to his feet, but he smiled along with the others and said, “Great idea!”

  Chapter 21. Tests and Dreams

  I’m walking through the valley, and I’m an animal, maybe a bear, sometimes a mountain lion. I always hear a voice calling me, calling me. I turn to look for it, but I cannot see it, I can only just hear it. Maybe I’m in the ocean, swimming. I’m an insect like a locust or a grasshopper. There’s nothing around me, just the vastness of the ocean. I see nothing, except, a huge monster always comes out of the ocean, it looks to me, expecting something of me, I don’t know what it wants, and then it devours me.

  Fintan woke up, screaming.

  Sweat was running down his brow into his eyes, they stung.

  He could hear Zack on the other side of the room. “Nightmare again?”

  “Yeah,” said Fintan.

  “You were crying out her name, do you know that?” said Fintan

  “Whose?”

  “My mother’s,” said Zack, sarcastically. Then, more softly he added “Nizhoni’s name of course.”

  “Really, I don’t remember that.”

  “You did,” said Zack “she could probably hear it all the way from her room.”

  “Sorry,” said Fintan.

  “It’s okay,” said Zack. “I’m your friend and I’m worried about you.”

  “It’s just the pressure of the exams,” said Fintan.

  “Yeah, that’s probably it.”

  They both went quiet. Within a few moments Fintan could hear Zack snoring gently.

  He slipped back into sleep himself.

  And I’m walking through the valley, through the trees and the grass. I can hear a voice. It’s calling me. I can see the rock. The rock! It’s there. I approach it. I touch it and I-

  ***

  December came fast. Anxiety gave way to frenzied preparation, with the Friday night parties being a great release valve.

  Exams were here, and Fintan was ready.

  Cosmic History as a test was like its teacher: boring and old school. They had exam booklets and questionnaires that they had to write essays on. Fintan figured that Sinclair would expect them to use standard pencils too.

  He had been working hard at this subject. The American kids had an edge, but Fintan had been working his way up the rankings. He was confident of a top ten finish, which he hoped would keep Sinclair off his back until summer.

  He finished his paper early, and, as was his habit, he didn’t leave the exam room right away. His strategy was to do something else while waiting, and not think of the exam. It amazed him how often things that he couldn’t remember during the exam would come back to him when he was doing something else.

  He found a piece of blotting paper and started doodling. He just let his mind wander and drew whatever came to mind.

  Before long, what he was drawing was gradually taking shape. It was tall and thin, and had many layers, like strata. It reminded him of the desert mesa that he had seen on TV many times, but was slightly different in that it did not jut up from the surface like they did, but was more recessed, like it was in a valley.

  In a valley.

  He stopped for a moment, and then drew in the walls of a valley, with some trees lining the edges, and the tall, thin mesa in the center. He was never good at art, but this looked good to him.

  He stopped for a moment, drew his breath and tried to remember where
he could possibly have seen this image before.

  He noticed Zack, head down, frantically scribbling answers on his paper. The American boy stopped, and rubbed his eyes, steeling himself for the next question. He looked over to Fintan, ready to give him a nod, as if to say, ‘almost there!’ His eyes flicked downward at what Fintan was drawing. He looked away, to go back to his paper, before a moment of realization turned him back. He looked again at Fintan’s doodling and his eyes went wide with shock.

  ***

  “What were you drawing in there?” asked Zack. Everyone was filing out of the exam hall, talking about the questions and how they approached them. Students were slapping themselves on the head saying, ‘why didn’t I think of that’ or gleefully teasing their friends.

  Zack’s question caught Fintan by surprise. He stopped. “Huh?”

  “The thing you were drawing or doodling. What was it?”

  “It was nothing,” said Fintan. “What’s come over you?”

  “Do you still have it?” Zack had a worried look on his face that was beginning to bother Fintan.

  “Err, I’m not sure, hang on,” said Fintan, who began to fumble in his bag. He pulled out several pieces of paper, and started to inspect them.

  Zack snatched one and looked at it closely.

  “This is it,” he said. “Wow!”

  “What is getting into you? It’s not that good.”

  “Do you know what this is? Have you ever been there?”

  “I don’t know what you are talking about.”

  “I know this place,” said Zack. “I’ve been there, with Nizhoni.”

  It felt like something stabbed Fintan in the stomach. He tried not to sound too jealous. “Nizhoni?”

  “When we did our Science Project, we flew here. It’s in her reservation; it’s a special place to her people.”

  “You visited her reservation?”

  “Sort-of, we were guided to this location by an encrypted signal that we found in Nevada.”

  “You’re losing me,” said Fintan.

  “Sorry, I’ll explain the fine details later. For now, you should show this to her.”

  “Why?”

  “Because this place is special to Navajo. It’s sacred to them. She made me wait by the ships while she went there alone.”

  Fintan could feel his stomach churning and the hair standing up on the back of his neck. Why was he feeling so angry? He snatched the paper back from Zack. “You let her go alone, at night, in the desert? Alone?”

  “It’s her home,” said Zack. “She knew what she was doing there. When she’s there, you see a different side of her,” he paused. “I did anyway.”

  “What?” said Fintan, anger growing like a waking beast. “I thought you were my friend, I thought you were-”

  “What’s going on here?” said Nizhoni. She had walked up behind them. Fintan was so angry he didn’t hear her coming.

  “That’s what I’d like to know!” said Fintan, sounding angrier than he wanted.

  “Fintan’s jealous about the time we spent together on the project,” said Zack. “In my usual manner I said all the wrong things, and I think he has the wrong end of the stick.”

  Before Fintan could say anything, Zack continued. “Anyway, what is more important now is this!”

  He grabbed the paper from Fintan and showed it to Nizhoni.

  She looked at it, not recognizing anything for a moment, and then Fintan saw realization dawn on her face. Her mouth dropped open, and she seemed to stop breathing. She put her hand to her mouth.

  “See?” said Zack. “I told you it was important.”

  “Shut up, Zack,” said Nizhoni. “I need to talk to Fintan.”

  He shrugged, as if to say ‘okay.’

  Nizhoni looked him in the eye. Firmly she said, “Alone!”

  ***

  She pulled Fintan aside, pinned him to the wall and looked him right in the eye.

  “Fintan,” she said. “This is serious. Where did you see this?”

  “I don’t know,” said Fintan. “Really.”

  “Think,” said Nizhoni. “This is really important.”

  Fintan breathed deep, released it. He pursed his eyebrows.

  “I really don’t,” he paused.

  “What is it?” asked Nizhoni. She was a little softer now.

  “It’s silly,” said Fintan. “Please don’t get upset with me?”

  “Just tell me, please,” said Nizhoni. Her voice quivered a little.

  “It was in a dream,” said Fintan. “A dream.”

  Her face went still. She smiled a little, and to Fintan’s surprise a tear burst out of her left eye and ran down her cheek. She put her hand, tenderly to his face.

  “Tell me about your dreams Fintan,” she said. “All of them.”

  ***

  Fintan started to tell her, but couldn’t. There were many, and he was embarrassed to tell them all. He told her of the valley, but she was always hungry for more. There were tests to be done, and she would have to wait.

  He promised to tell her everything when the tests were all done.

  “I’ll hold you to that,” she told him, warmly. Fintan’s chest puffed out, and he felt ten feet taller.

  The rest of the testing went by in a blur. Thankfully Fintan was well prepared for all of them, and was happy with their progress.

  If anything, Nizhoni seemed much closer to Fintan now, almost protective. He wasn’t sure what to make of it, but held his tongue.

  The final test was in basic flight. Iara had drilled them heavily, and was openly expecting them not just to pass, but also to excel. The biggest surprise of the day was Zack, who literally flew rings around everyone, even Nizhoni and Fintan who were considered the best pilots.

  As he landed and exited his ship, even Iara was impressed. Zack winked at her and strode past proudly.

  Heather giggled. Raj gave her a stern look. Fintan shook his head and Ayako and Nizhoni looked like twins as they rolled their eyes.

  Testing was done, and Christmas was on the way.

  ***

  The Friday night study group had agreed on a big party to celebrate the end of the Christmas tests. All first-years were invited, as were the other members of the Starball team, on Zack’s request.

  “Are you sure?” Fintan had asked him.

  “Yeah,” said Zack. “I’m going to the tryouts next term to get on the team. It would help to have some friends.”

  “You’re certainly good enough,” Fintan said. “I’m sure you’ll get in.”

  ***

  They had rented a conference room in the exam halls, and together Fintan, Zack, Raj, Heather, Ayako and Nizhoni decorated it. They had piled the tables high with food and drinks. Everything was ready to go.

  The party was a massive success. Even Simon turned up and gorged himself on Ayako’s sushi. A gracious host, it was clear that she melted his heart, and he was extremely polite to everyone, even Fintan, although he gave Nizhoni a wide berth.

  After time the party dwindled, and Fintan’s anxiety grew. In a few hours everyone would be leaving to go home for the Christmas break, and there were many emotional ‘goodbyes’ at the party.

  Zack, Ayako and Nizhoni would be going tomorrow, and while Fintan had told them that he probably would not go home, he hadn’t confirmed. He didn’t want to be a dark cloud over the party, so he had pinned a smile on his face all night.

  His false cheer was wearing off now, and as they began to clean up, he sat in a corner, morosely watching them.

  Zack, Ayako and Nizhoni looked at each other, wordlessly. Finally, Nizhoni approached him and kneeled in front of his chair. She was smiling. Fintan figured it was for his benefit, but he found it difficult not to smile back.

  “You owe me some stories about dreams, remember?” she said. “You didn’t think I was going to let you forget, did you?”

  ***

  She had told him to tell her everything, and to leave nothing out. So he did
. He started with a dream that he had had when he was a child. He was only six years old, but he had dreamt that he was walking down a street. There was a girl on the other side of the street. He couldn’t remember her face, but she had long dark hair and a big smile. She was smiling at him. He crossed the street to find her, but when he got there, she was further away. Then he was standing at the edge of the ocean, and she was among the waves. She was reaching for him, he walked out to find her, but he grew scared. The surf was too rough and it was throwing him around like a toy. She was still smiling, but now he could see tears on her face. She vanished below the waves.

  Throughout his recounting of this dream, Nizhoni’s face was impassive, not wanting to distract him.

  “I remember waking up from that dream,” said Fintan. “In my back yard.”

  Suddenly, Nizhoni stirred to life. “Your back yard?” she said, looking worried.

  “Yeah,” said Fintan. “I guess I had sleep walked.”

  He paused for a moment. “Funny thing is, I changed overnight. I suddenly became the brightest kid in the class, which made me a target for bullies. Ireland can be a rough place if you stand out. I couldn’t help but be the best and brightest in my class. I always wondered what caused it, but figure that it was my helplessness to save the girl in my dream gave me motivation to use what I had up here,” he pointed to his forehead, “as much as possible.”

  “Did you also become obsessed with the stars?” asked Nizhoni.

  “Strange that you should say that,” said Fintan. “Yes. My first memory is of the stars, but only after that did I realize that. Odd, huh?”

  “Not really,” said Nizhoni. “Don’t discount it, if it had real effects on you.”

  He continued with the rest of his dreams, including the dreams of being an insect in the ocean, and a bear in the valley.

  “They’ve been much more intense since I came here,” said Fintan. “I can’t explain it, other than the fact that I’m under pressure here.”

  She knit her eyebrows and nodded. “Maybe.”

  “So,” said Fintan. “What do you think?”

  “I think that dreams are messages. Sometimes from our ancestors, sometimes from the spirits, sometimes from our subconscious lost memories. You should not dismiss them, but I cannot interpret them for you.”