Free Homesmind by Pamela Sargent

it. I can't hide my thoughts from you forever—
    —Very well—
    —The Minds dwell here, under these mountains—
    —I know that. I can sense Their nearness—
    —This isn't Their only home, of course. There are Minds in other regions of Earth— She was trying to avoid what she had to tell him. —The Minds should have helped you, and I don't know why They didn't—
    Rulek's eyes widened. "What would have prevented it?" he said out loud in a hoarse voice.
    "They might not have heard you, but They've always been able to sense our thoughts. You were wrong when you believed that you needed your village's Net to reach Them."
    "Then why didn't They hear me?"
    "Something is wrong. Homesmind—the Mind of the skydwellers—says that It sometimes loses Their thoughts."
    The boy leaned forward. "You're still hiding something from me."
    "There's another possibility." She would have to say it quickly, or she'd be afraid to say it at all. "They might have sensed that you weren't completely open to Them."
    Rulek's hands were shaking. "Then it's my fault. That's what you're saying. I let my sister die." He covered his face.
    "No," she cried. "You mustn't blame yourself. You did all you could. Something went wrong."
    His hands dropped. "I have to know. I want to see these Minds."
    She stared at him. "But you can speak to Them now."
    "Take me to Them."
    "I've never seen Them myself."
    Rulek tilted his head. "You mean that you've lived in a village not far from here and have never come here before?"
    "I never felt the need. After all, I could touch Their thoughts from afar." She lowered her eyes. "Most of us have never traveled far from the village. Some are too old to travel, of course, and others are too young. Some villagers left us many cycles ago because they wanted to reach out and help other villages, so there aren't that many of us." She bit her lip. "Maybe more of us should have begun to travel before now. Those my age have been content to leave that to Lydee and her companions so far, and maybe we did so because we were as afraid of the rest of Earth as it seems to be of us. Perhaps we've been protected from too much. We told ourselves that our guardians would worry about us, or that other Earth-folk might see us as a threat, but maybe those were only excuses."
    Rulek stood up. "I must see those Minds Who refused to help me."
    They crept into the cave and walked through a dark corridor, unable to see. Anra sensed that the Minds were guiding her to Them; she waited, thinking that They might speak now, but heard nothing.
    Her hands suddenly hit a wall; she ran her fingers over the smooth, metallic surface. The wall began to move as she stood back, then opened to reveal a large chamber.
    They entered; the chamber's dim light became brighter, adding gold to Rulek's hair. "Look," she said, pointing. A gap separated part of the smooth, shiny floor from the wall opposite them. She walked toward the gap and gazed down a long, dark tunnel, hundreds of paces deep, understanding that it would lead them to the Minds. "That's where we have to go."
    "Into the ground," Rulek said, sounding worried.
    Taking a deep breath, she leaped into the tunnel and floated down, trying not to think of the rock surrounding her, hiding her from the sky. She covered her eyes, shielding them from the air currents as she fell. Just as she began to think she might fall endlessly, her feet touched ground; she let her arms fall as Rulek alighted next to her.
    She was looking down a long hallway. The air around her seemed thick with veils of blue and violet; lights reminding her of fireflies twinkled in the air. She turned, seeing the same corridor stretching in the opposite direction.
    She glanced at Rulek. He took her arm as they walked toward a railing circling a hole in the floor. Releasing her, the boy clutched the railing as they stared at what lay below. There stood the pillars, columns of gold and crystal; tiny lights flickered on their surfaces. Far below,