Aisling Murphy's Arc

Chapter 5 of 12

That night, Aisling slept beneath the infirmary window. Moonlight fell across her blanket. She closed her eyes, and the red planet pulled her back down. She stood in the small body of a Martian child again. Above her floated the planet, rust-colored and cracked with craters. The ground trembled. People ran toward a silver disc that hovered near the city. Its underside glowed bright. Zyx knelt beside her. The tall red Martian had big black eyes and a shiny black suit. Aisling had met him in dreams before. Now his long fingers gripped her shoulder, firm and urgent. "The asteroid is coming," Zyx said. "We cannot stay." Aisling looked up. A dark rock streaked across the sky, growing larger each second. Tall black androids with copper masks loaded crates into the disc. Their beaked faces turned toward the sky. Even the machines were fleeing. "Where do we go?" Aisling asked. Her voice came out high and small, a Martian child's voice. Zyx pointed past the dome. Far off, another planet hung in the dark. It was blue and white, swirled with clouds and green land. It looked alive. "There," Zyx said. "A new world. We go together—my people and the machines both." The androids filed up the ramp. Zyx pulled Aisling toward the disc. She stumbled against him. Then the asteroid struck. The ground split. A white flash swallowed the dome. Aisling felt heat on her back as the disc lifted. Through a window she watched the red planet shrink. The city burned below. The asteroid had done what Zyx promised it would. The disc flew toward the blue world. It landed in soft grass. The ramp lowered. Zyx stepped out first and looked around. Aisling followed. Everything was green and bright. Birds sang. Zyx bent down and picked a yellow flower from a cluster near his boots. He lifted it to his face and breathed in. "Sweet," Zyx said softly. His black eyes shone. "This place is alive. We will live here." Aisling reached for a dandelion too. Her small Martian fingers closed around the stem. She smelled it. The scent was warm and real. Then she woke. Morning light filled the ward. Aisling sat up fast. Her heart pounded, but she was not afraid. She understood now. The dream was not broken sleep. It was true. Her people had not died. They had fled. They had found a living world and landed in grass full of flowers. That was why she loved the sky. That was why she loved flowers. It was in her blood. Aisling climbed out of bed and pressed her hand to the window. The glass was cool. Beyond it, clouds drifted over green hills. "I know where I came from," she whispered. "And I know what I have to do." She would go outside. She would pick flowers and look up at the sky, the way her people did when they first landed. No doctor would keep her in this room now.