3.34.
John closed the door behind him as he got into the car with Emily and Peter. They exchanged greetings as he got comfortable, slinging his backpack onto the floor in front of them. He sighed.
“John, have you ever been on a Toormonda?” Emily asked.
“I practically grew up on one,” John admitted. “Enidi tricked my family into allowing me to take a trip on one that lasted from the time I was four until I turned eight. Six of my brothers and sisters from the Toormonda became members of the scout trainee class I was in.”
“What are they like?” Emily asked.
John paused to consider the question. “Aside from my memories of my family the memories of the Toormonda are the happiest I have until I started living with Olivia,” he admitted. “I learned so much and had a lot of fun with the other children. There’s not much privacy aboard the Toormondas, but I don’t think that really matters when you’re a little kid, so I didn’t mind it. I was very sad when they said that the journey was over, but also happy because it meant that I could see my parents in the flesh instead of just through holograms.”
“You weren’t completely cut off from your parents while you were journeying?” she asked.
“No. They had what you call a PHDA or personal holographic digital assistant. Those devices haven’t really changed since then, but I was only allowed to speak with them once per day,” John explained. “They were very angry with the scouts and with High Command when they found out that I wasn’t coming back at the end of the week. I guess that’s what Enidi told them to let them take me in the first place. I was a little homesick at first, I guess, but eventually I came to love it there.”
“I wish that I could go on a Toormonda,” Emily admitted. “They sound magical.”
John was quiet for a minute. “Can I borrow your phone?”
“Why?”
“I don’t have one, and I would rather use a phone than a PHDA. I know the number I need to call,” John explained.
“Sure.”
She pulled her phone out of her backpack and handed it to him. He swiftly dialed the number and put it to his ear, waiting a few seconds for the call to connect.
“Hello. It’s me,” he said. “My friend wants to go on a Toormonda ride. Can you arrange it?”
A pause.
“Yeah, that would be great. Is it a problem?”
Another pause.
“I’ll tell the principal when I get a chance. I don’t know what they’ll say. Earthlings are weird sometimes.”
Another pause.
“Yeah, I know. But Earth girls are pretty.”
He hung up and handed the phone back to Emily. She stared at him with wide eyes of amazement. “Did you just line up a Toormonda ride for me? Who exactly did you just call? How do you have the phone number of someone who can just line up a Toormonda ride memorized like that?”
John frowned. “I know the number because we’re related. He’s … it’s a weird relationship, okay? But his name is Eolai, and I’m not sure if you know him or --”
“ You know the Yonohoan ambassador? ” she exclaimed.
He frowned. “Everyone is calling me one of the Einherjar, Emily. Is it weird that I know people who are also famous?”
She calmed down when he put it that way. “I guess not. Small universe, I guess.”
“Anyway, yes, I know Eolai. And we’re related. So I called him, and he said that it would be easiest if he just commissioned one for our school. So if the principal says yes then in about six weeks we can go on a Toormonda ride with the entire class, I guess. If they get parental approval and everything.”
Emily imitated a fish for several moments before squeeing with excitement. She didn’t calm down until after they’d arrived at the school. The principal learned of the offer through the student’s gossip network before John had the chance to make the offer in person.
The adults took over the discussion from there, with John putting the principal in contact with Eolai to confirm the details of the donation and discuss matters which John and Emily hadn’t considered yet.
In the end, it was closer to two months than six weeks before the Toormonda was set to arrive.
~~~~~~~
Enidi was changing Hope for her mother when the connection request came in through the nerves which kept her in contact with the rest of the scout network of Earth. She sighed and took the PHDA out of her purse, flinging it into the air so that it could hover next to her. Many of the Mokoari tribe turned to watch at the casual display of magic, while a few of them simply nodded or scoffed and continued on with their day.
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“Hello Trewali,” she said in High-Yonohoan. “To what do I owe the pleasure.”
The leader of the Einherjar frowned at her. “Are you doing this in the middle of your village? Really?”
“They already saw me in my armor, brother. They know who I am and what I can do. There’s no outsiders here, and they’ve agreed to keep my identity secret. So what’s the point in keeping secrets from them now?” she asked.
He sighed. “I wish that you weren’t so isolated, but at the same point it’s fortunate that we put you where you are. You’re the best with small and isolated people.”
“You know it,” she agreed. “What do you want?”
“I want you to get in contact with Eodar,” he said.
“Eodar’s alive?” she said, surprised.
“You didn’t know?”
“The last memory I have of Eodar was tricking his family into letting him go on the Toormonda. He wanted to become a scout like me,” she said.
“I forget sometimes that you’re older than us,” Trewali said. “Enidi, Eodar is … perhaps it’s best if I don’t tell you his full story, but he not only became a scout, but he went on to become influential beyond what anyone else in the scouts ever managed. That’s why I want you to call him. He’s beginning to wield some of that influence in this lifetime, and I want you to convince him to use some of that influence to benefit Taskforce Ragnarok.”
“What is it with that name, anyway? Rag – na – rok. So weird sounding,” she said.
“It is the name of the end of the world in one of the legends of Earth,” Trewali explained. “It is surprisingly apt for our situation, as is its term for us. The Einherjar. Spirits of dead warriors preserved through time to fight in the final battle for our people.”
Enidi was surprised at this. “Do you think they knew all along?”
“No, I think it’s happenstance. But it is beautiful in a way,” he said. “Will you talk to Eodar?”
“I suppose. Do you think he’ll hate me for the trick I played on him and his family?”
“He loves you, Enidi. Or at least he did while we were on the Toormonda together. I cannot speak to his feelings now,” Trewali admitted.
“Alright then. I’ll give him a call in just a minute. I need to give some kids a bath.”
~~~~~~
John was in third period when a device in his desk began to beep at him. He frowned, took it out, tossed the device in the air, where it began to hover. It projected the figure of a young woman in the outfit of the Mokoari tribe. Not that John could identify which tribe it belonged to, nor could the rest of the class, which turned to gape at him and his caller.
John stared at the hologram for a moment. “Is that you Enidi?”
“I knew you’d recognize me,” she exclaimed. “I’m so happy to know that you made it, Eodar! I walked into the light and joined the Einherjar before you returned from the Toormonda, so I never knew if you completed the training to become a scout or not. I’m so happy that you did!”
“My family tried to kill you,” he pointed out.
“Yeah,” she laughed nervously. “Don’t worry, I didn’t take it personally. They had a right to be upset after I lied to them about how long you’d be gone. Although to be fair if you weren’t as smart as you actually are they would have returned you pretty quickly. But I knew that they wouldn’t.”
John was quiet for a moment. “Call me John. It’s my name in this life.”
“Right, okay John. Well, I’m still Enidi. I’m living with some pretty awesome people. I wish I could tell you more about them, but operational security and all of that. We don’t want the Earthlings to know where we Einherjar are right now. Maybe someday but not now.”
John nodded. “This is a secure connection, but you’re talking to my class at school in America, you know?”
“We’re speaking Yonohoan. Do they speak Yonohoan?”
“No, but some of them have recording devices out,” John explained.
“Oh well, I’m not saying anything that’s classified, so even if it gets translated it’s not the end of the world. John, on behalf of taskforce Ragnarok, I would like to requisition as many Toormondas as you can swing with the Yonohoans. Up to fifty if you can manage it,” Enidi said.
John frowned at her suspiciously. “What do you need with Toormondas?”
“Same as ever. We’re going to load them up with kids and send them out to learn about the universe, of course,” she explained.
John’s frown deepened. “I’ll run your request past my son.”
“You have a son whose alive in this time?” she asked. “Man, the past yous must have been busy!”
John laughed quietly. “I’m only somewhat familiar with what the past mes have accomplished, Enidi, but I think you don’t know the half of it.”
“Well, I’d love to catch up, but the truth is that I shouldn’t spend too much time talking to you in case I let something important slip,” Enidi said. “Operational security. You understand.”
“I do,” John said. “Be well and bring honor to your name in this life, Enidi.”
“Be well, John, and be happy. I think I understand enough to know that your past selves have earned that right for you in this life,” Enidi said.
The connection cut out. John picked the hovering PHDA out of the air and began to put it back in his desk, but the teacher took it from him before he could.
“While the school policy doesn’t explicitly mention alien devices, its definition of a phone encapsulates whatever this is,” the teacher said calmly. “I permitted the call because it might have been an emergency, and therefore covered under the exceptions to the rule. But now that you’ve finished, you can collect this device from me after school.”
John just nodded. After all, it was the school rule.