Ascending (The Vardeshi Saga Book One)

Chapter Three

Awakening a full twelve hours later, according to the quaint analog clock on the bedside table, I knew two things immediately. The first was that every muscle in my body was excruciatingly sore. The second was that sometime today I would walk into a room with Vardeshi in it. That thought propelled me out of bed—and into a fuller understanding of the extent to which yesterday's tests had taxed my body. Moving more cautiously, I pulled on jeans and a sweatshirt from my duffel bag, then took a few minutes to unpack its remaining contents into the chest of drawers and closet provided. When that was done, I headed downstairs. I didn't hear any voices as I passed the other bedrooms. I made for the dining hall, thinking of that omelet bar and a juice station I thought I'd seen.

Stefan found me at the same table where I'd eaten the previous day. "You're hungry," he said—approvingly, I thought—surveying the assortment of plates and cups spread out in front of me.

"Starving," I agreed. "Will you join me?"

"In a coffee, at least." He went off to the espresso station and returned a few moments later with a double espresso in a tiny cup.

"So when do I meet them?" I asked between mouthfuls of omelet.

He smiled. "Hans certainly didn't exaggerate your enthusiasm."

"Does he often exaggerate?"

"Never, that I've seen. But his description of you sounded too good to be true. I think he expected some hesitation on your part. We all did. After all, you're a civilian, even if you do speak Vardeshi, and we're proposing to send you into real danger. Hans thought we would have some persuading to do. Instead, it seems to have gone the other way. You've persuaded him that you're ready for Vardesh Prime. Now he's trying to win over the other Council members."

"Does that mean I did all right on the tests?"

"Apparently you did very well." I felt an intense rush of relief, which subsided a little when Stefan qualified, "For a civilian, that is. In any case, you did well enough to keep your name on the short list for the homeworld. Pending success in the real test, that is."

"The real test?" I asked, although I was fairly sure I knew what he meant.

"The Vardeshi themselves need to meet you and give their approval. They have final say over who visits their planet. If they don't like you, it doesn't matter if you can recite Vardeshi Shakespeare. You're not going to Vardesh Prime."

"So when—" I started.

Stefan raised his hands. "Sometime this afternoon! That's all I know. They're meeting with half a dozen people before you, and more afterward. It all depends on how long those earlier meetings run."

"Who?" I asked eagerly. "Who's 'they'? How many of them? And when are they landing?"

He gestured to a glass door cleverly inset into the panel of windows near our table. "Actually, if you'd like to step outside, we should be able to see it. They're scheduled to touch down any minute now." I was out of my seat before he had finished speaking.

It was the most profoundly surreal moment of my life thus far, standing on the terrace of a converted Swiss hotel, espresso cup clutched tightly in one hand, the other shading my eyes as I stared up into the brilliant autumn sky. For a very long time nothing happened. I started to wonder whether anything would. Could all of this—the private plane, the endless tests, the beautiful facility—be some kind of incredibly elaborate hoax? My eyes began to water. The glare was so bright I had to look down.

Stefan, beside me, seemed totally unconcerned. He took out his phone and read through some notifications, sent a few texts. Finally he looked up and pointed. "There it is."