At breakfast the next morning, someone sitting near Ilika mumbled that Ashley seemed to be deeply troubled by something, but wouldn’t talk about it.
The member glanced at him, knowing they were friends.
In Ilika’s language class, the gymnastics coach, also a non-native speaker, whispered in confidence that Ashley had wandered by the gym and looked terrible. He assured Ilika he wasn’t referring to her cuts and bandages.
In the kitchen, where Ilika was slicing celery and carrots just before lunch, young Sarah appeared, opposite his cutting board, with a worried expression.
“Ashley’s in the dumps, won’t talk to me, and I can’t read her. Whatever it is, she’s keeping it bottled up inside. And Chelsea and Shawn are, you know, just into each other right now.”
Ilika nodded, finished his work, grabbed a slice of bread, and headed for the door to the residence hall.
No response came to his repeated knocks upon Ashley’s door.
He strode to the gym.
There had been no sign of Ashley since her brief appearance hours before.
Ilika stood in the recreation center lobby and sighed, then realized who he needed to ask.
He was glad to find Shawn in the clinic waiting room. Liberty came out a few minutes later.
“I’m off observation! And I can get rid of the cast and sling in another week.”
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Ilika smiled. “I’ve had acceleration black-out before, and a broken arm, but luckily not at the same time. By the way, I can’t find Ashley in any of the usual places.”
“Have you tried the hospice center? Room fifteen.”
Ilika
frowned.
“She’s not dying,” Shawn said quickly. “It’s a friend from her hometown.”
Ilika breathed deeply, thanked the young couple, and strode out of the clinic.
Ilika found the door ajar, so he knocked, then slipped in when Ashley waved.
The girl in bed looked peaceful but weak. Ilika sensed she was not fighting her approaching fate.
“Jenny, this is Ilika, a very nice man from my evaluation group.”
“Hi,” Jenny whispered without any strength or joy.
“Chelsea liked him before she found out he wasn’t interested. It’s a good thing, because she and Shawn are so perfect for each other.”
Jenny
nodded.
“Jenny, can I borrow Ashley for a few minutes? I need to talk to her about something important.”
“Sure,” she whispered. “I feel like a nap.”
Ashley kissed Jenny on the forehead, then went out with Ilika, leaving the door ajar. She spotted the nurse-on-duty, gave her an update of Jenny’s mood, and promised to be back soon.
“Take as long as you need, Ashley.”
Ashley nodded, but Ilika could sense that she intended to return soon.
They strolled into a nearby garden.
“Lots of people are worried about you, and I’ve been elected to make sure you’re okay, and getting whatever support you need.”
Ashley half-smiled. “I’m okay. I mean . . . I know my face is all torn up, and I can’t do any gymnastics for a long time, and my best friend is dying with her only dream slipping away, but . . . you know . . . I’ll survive.”
Ilika was silent for a long moment. “Somehow . . . you need to let people take care of you, now and then, or you won’t have anything to give to your
NEBADOR Book Seven: The Local Universe 206
dying friend.”
“I know. It’s just . . . I was taught that when God puts an important task in your hands, you don’t run away from it. You jump in and do it . . . and finish it . . . whatever it takes. And . . . I really believe that. It just . . . feels right.”
“I know . . . and I agree.”
“But . . . I can’t finish this one, even though it’s the most important thing I’ve ever been asked to do.”
Ilika frowned with confusion. “From what I hear, you’re giving nearly all your time to Jenny. Is there any hope of recovery, or even giving her a little more time?”
Ashley looked up at the sky. “No.”
“What more can you expect of yourself?”
Ashley sighed. “You don’t understand. I’d like to go back and be with Jenny now.” She started to take a step.
“So what if you can finish this task that God has given you, but it requires someone else’s help, and you’re too stubborn to ask for that help? Are you willing to admit that to Jenny?”
Ashley froze and started silently crying where she stood. “I’ve . . . never liked . . . leaning on anyone else. It’s . . . part of being a gymnast. You have to
. . . build your own strength . . . your own skill . . . you can’t rely on others . . .”
“But what if God has decided this task is worthy of a team effort?”
Ashley wiped her face with her fingers, slowly and carefully between bandages. She slowly sighed, then looked at Ilika again. “Jenny has a beautiful piece of music, a symphony, that she’s been hearing from . . . she doesn’t know where, but she hears it best when she can look up at the stars. I brought her here so she could record it, and Brother Chad in the music studio was helping her, but she’s only about three-quarters done, and now she doesn’t have the strength, and she can’t hear the seven voices separately anymore. How could you, or anyone else, possibly help with that?”
Ilika didn’t answer, but his eyes were open wide. After a moment of thought, he said, “Let’s go back to Jenny’s room.”
Jenny awoke when Ashley touched her hand. Ilika knelt at Ashley’s side.
“Did you have a nice nap?” Ashley asked.
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Jenny nodded weakly. “Thanks for waking me. I don’t need much sleep.”
Then she looked at Ilika.
He smiled, took one more deep breath, and touched his shirt several times just above his left elbow. “Manessa, I need to talk to Arantiloria.”
Neither Jenny nor Ashley had time to be confused, for suddenly a female with purple hair appeared at the foot of Jenny’s bed.
Jenny thought the new arrival might be about her own age.
Ashley recognized deep wisdom and experience, like Sister Rebecca, maybe older.
Both could see that the visitor wasn’t standing or kneeling, but just floating, sometimes right over Jenny’s feet.
“Are you an angel?” Jenny asked.
“Yes,” Arantiloria replied. “And you’re a musician!”
Jenny
grinned.
“I think this is why we are here,” Ilika said to his training supervisor. “We need to take Jenny to a star station for medical treatment so she can finish her symphony.”
Arantiloria looked at him. “No. It’s Jenny’s time to rest, to have no further mortal pressures or deadlines, and to join the universe as spirit.”
Ilika looked confused.
“You have, my dear monkey mammal, everything you need, on your ship, to allow Jenny’s symphony to be completed.”
Ashley was silently following the conversation with big, round eyes.
“But the medical supplies on Manessa are not adequate for . . .” He stopped, and his face changed expression several times. “Not . . . in the supplies on the ship . . . in the crew!”
Arantiloria
nodded.
Ilika quickly tapped another code into his hidden bracelet. In the minutes that followed, the purple-haired angel hummed passages from Jenny’s music.
Ashley recognized them and smiled.
Suddenly the entire crew of the Manessa Kwi filed into the room and gathered around Jenny’s bed. A nurse came in also, with a worried look, but stayed near the door.
“Are you all angels, too?” Jenny asked.
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Sata, barely holding in tears, shook her head. “Just angels’ helpers, like Ilika.”
The nurse continued to listen as Ilika explained the situation to his crew, then she slipped out the door.
Mati looked at the dying girl intently. “You need . . . someone . . . who can help you . . . carry your music . . .” She paused to remember the correct word in the local language. “. . . to Heaven.”
Jenny swallowed. “It’s all jumbled up now, and starting to fade. I don’t know if I can remember it much longer.”
Mati looked at Rini and their eyes and minds locked. His heart pounded in his throat as they wordlessly shared their mutual realization of why Rini hadn’t been allowed to fill his mind with classes and other distractions. Mati scooted over so Rini could kneel closer to Jenny.
Jenny looked at Rini. “You must be an angel, you are so handsome!” she said with a sudden burst of strength, both of voice and spirit.
“No, I’m just a boy, but I think . . . I’m here because of you. I think . . .
there is a large empty space inside me . . . . . . so I can carry your music . . . to the stars . . . if you want me to . . .”
He glanced at Arantiloria, and she nodded.
At that moment, the nurse returned with Doctor Kenneth, Sister Rebecca, Brother Jacob, Rachael, Sarah, Chad from the music studio, Nancy the pilot, Liberty, and Shawn. They all found places to silently lean against the walls.
Arantiloria floated onto Jenny’s bed. “With all these good people as witnesses, are you ready, Jenny, to entrust your beautiful symphony to this helper of mine, so that your music may be played and enjoyed in Heaven?”
Jenny looked at Rini again. “Yes,” she whispered with little strength remaining.
“Then your life work is done, and done well.”
With those words, Arantiloria became a barely-seen purple cloud that drifted over Jenny, then stretched itself toward Rini.
Rini couldn’t help but close his eyes as melodies, harmonies, and rhythms began to fill his mind. He shuddered at the sheer volume of information that made up a symphony, and the vast depth of life experience that came with it, all necessary, he sensed, to correctly interpret the music.
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Mati held onto his hand and his mind, and was deeply honored that she could be his helper at that moment, in addition to a deep-space response ship pilot and engineer.
Eventually, the purple cloud faded from sight, Rini and Mati opened their eyes, and Jenny whispered, “Thank you.”
Then she died.