An Uncertain Future (11.1)

AS RIVI FINISHED HER SPEECH SILENCE hung over the assembly. Over the years, she had given many similar speeches at many events all over the Earth. Yet, even at a convention where the Earth's top scientists had gathered to argue over and discuss new theories, her speech had reduced them to utter silence. She seemed to have that effect on people. To make them stop and think.

Perhaps it was because hearing a seventeen-year-old sounding so sure of herself in front of such a huge crowd of people was strange to them. Perhaps it was just that they seemed to view her as a celebrity or someone special, and they gravitated to her to hear her speak. Whatever the reason, it wasn't long before the crowd of children and adults burst into applause. Rivi couldn't tell if they believed what she said, but she hoped at least some of them did.

Humans could be stubborn sometimes.

Would they still applaud if I had told them all a bunch of nonsense? Rivi wondered. Smiling, Rivi walked off the stage and left the auditorium that housed the science fair at which she was speaking. She reached out with her mind and located Dan's computer. Sure enough, she found Dan standing around the corner, waiting with a silver cube already expanded. Rivi turned on her light-emitting bracelet and followed Dan through the side of the hollow cube.

"There were so many people in the building, I figured it would be better if I waited for you out here."

"You never seem to be fond of speaking to huge groups of people," Rivi observed.

"I received enough attention already; I'm not looking for more. Besides, they always seem to eat up everything you say," Dan said.

Rivi manipulated the atoms in the cube walls, causing the cube to float up into Earth's afternoon sky.

"Yes, but do they actually digest it?" Rivi asked as they left Earth's gravitational influence and floated into space.

"You give them the truth. What they do with it is their choice," Dan replied, sending Rivi a smile as he helped her set up their ship for inter-dimensional travel.

"Yeah, I know. Hey, you said something earlier about needing to get to planet Gronter. Should we head there now?" Rivi asked as they left the gravitational pull of Earth and drifted freely in space.

"We can. The healers there still need help with some strange plague that has devastated the Gront," Dan said as they folded the ship into the fourth dimension.

Rivi pictured the green and brown smoldering planet of Gronter.

"Was Entrit surprised that you came to help Earth with the blackout problem?" Dan asked as they exited the fourth dimension, within visual range of Gronter.

"No, not really. She lived down the hall from me when we were being raised by the Aunantet. She knew I would eventually hear that there was something happening on Earth. I think she was more surprised that President Harper called her, personally, to ask her for help, and suggested that she contact me for help if the job was too big for her to handle."

"He's the Democrat who was elected to office after Malcarosi finished his term, right?" Dan asked as their ship slowly entered into Gronter's cloudless atmosphere.

"Yeah. As I recall, your foster parents were ecstatic when he won the vote," Rivi replied with a laugh.

"Yes. They even sent me a message inviting me to a party they were throwing." Dan replied, shaking his head with a smile. "We were too busy helping with the cleanup after that tsunami on Punatris. Besides, I was hoping the other guy would win."

Rivi laughed as she gently touched her ship down in the middle of a Gront town that had been carved out of the mounds of lava flows. Rivi and Dan stepped through the cube wall and were greeted by the humid warm air, heated by the many volcanoes that pocked the surface of the planet Gronter.

"I don't think I'll ever get accustomed to the constant smell of sulfur here," Dan said, wrinkling his nose.

Rivi waved at a few Gront children playing with a ball in the blackened street. Like all the native citizens of Gronter, the Gront children were short and plump, with dark leathery skin. Despite the worrisome plague being managed just a short block away, the children were full of energy.

"The Gront thrive on it," Rivi explained.

"They may thrive on it, but personally, I'm glad that the some of the Herboviromenter's from Aun have agreed to bring some of their plants to the site where the healers are working. I prefer to work in an environment where there's a bit more oxygen," Dan said, pointing the way to the healer's pavilion.

The large tent the healers had set up was surrounded by large leafy green plants. The healthy Gront seemed to be giving the plants a wide berth. Rivi followed Dan into the pavilion and was horrified by what she saw. Dozens of Gront lay on cots. They were all covered in boils and milky splotches.

"What do you think this is, Dan?" Rivi asked, shocked.

"I don't know Rivi ... I really don't know," Dan stated quietly as they headed to an Aunantet comp amalgamator sitting at a metal table in a far corner of the tent.

Rivi motioned for Dan to wait a moment - she could tell that the Amalgamator was conversing with her computer. No doubt, she was trying to search her records for anything that might help with this plague. When the Aunantet comp amalgamator finally opened her eyes, she looked questioningly at Dan and Rivi. Recognition dawned on the Amalgamator's face; Rivi knew that the Amalgamator had queried her and Dan's personal computers to see who they were.

"Daniel Peterson and Rivinaig, am I correct?" The Amalgamator asked with a smile.

"Of course," Rivi replied with a nod.

"Does anyone know yet what might have caused this plague?" Dan asked.

"No not yet, but it has gotten to every city on this crisped planet. The healers are quite overworked," The Amalgamator replied.

"We've come to help," Dan explained. "I'm a healer and would be glad to help in any way possible."

"We need all the help we can get. As far as order goes ... there is none. Just pick someone and see what you can do for them," The Amalgamator stated.

Dan nodded and walked off to Rivi's right. He knelt beside one of the Gront lying on a cot. Rivi watched him for a moment and then turned back to the comp amalgamator.

"I am a comp amalgamator so there's not much I can do in the way of help here, but I'd be glad to help where I can," Rivi stated.

"Nonsense, Miss Rivinaig ... We have plenty for you to help with. Three young Gront over there that have the later stages of the plague," The Amalgamator said, lowering her voice. "I don't know if we will be able to do much for those little ones ... perhaps you could go over and visit with them - some friendly company may at least lift their spirits."

Rivi nodded and set off for the three young children. Passing between cots, she sat down between two of the three young Gront – both lay staring solemnly at the roof of the pavilion.

"Hello," Rivi said cheerfully.

"Hi," The three children stated tiredly, one after another.

"You three must be friends, huh?" Rivi asked with a smile.

"Yes," The child who seemed to be slightly older said.

In order for these children to have a later stage of the plague, they must know how the first people contracted it. I need to find out where this disease came from, Rivi thought to herself.

"What were you doing before you got sick?" Rivi asked.

"We were playing up on the mountain when some sort of mechanical object fell from the sky," Another of the children stated, rolling over to look at Rivi, his skin stretched and pockmarked with blisters.

"We went to go see what it was, and some sort of cloud came out of it ... Then we didn't feel so well ... we went home after that," The eldest child explained.

"It wasn't too long after that when the whole village got sick," the younger Gront child stated. "Miss ... do you think we are going to die?"

"I don't know," Rivi replied hesitantly. "Hey, how about I tell you three a story ... would you like that?"

The three children nodded. Rivi began her story.

She told the three young ones about a place that the Creator had made just for those who believe in him, where there was no suffering, or sickness, or sadness. Rivi watched as the children's faces lit up into smiles as they fell asleep. She continued talking until her story was ended, and gently, patting each of their wrinkled foreheads, she stood and walked slowly away careful not to wake them.

Rivi looked around for Dan and noticed him on the other end of the large tent. She smiled and started making her way around the cots headed in his direction. Rivi's smile faded though, as she got nearer and could see his face - something was wrong...