The Beaded Tapestry

Derringer 8

Dearest sister,

I was delighted to receive your letter,  including the attached data from your last few weeks of research.  It supports my observations of a trend towards the Flynn foundation satellite.  I have gathered as much information as is publically available from the Flynn research site but nothing to make a definitive conclusion about the effects of the anomaly. With your professional credentials you may be able to request further information.   For me, I am at the end of my access.  As I am now in the third day of stasis treatment, I am fairly certain I will have to leave off any further work until after the jump.  It has a subtle effect on me for the moment, but I feel my mental acuity is not at it’s top form.  After the jump I anticipate you will have enough new data to instruct me on the setup of the lab equipment for optimum results.  If the trends remain the same for the shift in the anomaly, I think our first target should be the area of the array closest to Proximus.  I can program the equipment to adjust for different areas of the phenomenon every six months. Any shorter time than that and the data will not be conclusive.

From what I have read there will be an official designation for the array by the time I am out of stasis.  I know there has been much debate between the scientific and artisan communities on how to categorize the phenomenon.  As there is still not enough information to place it in any type of scientific genre, I am curious if they will come up with something completely descriptive or push for a more scientific approach. Three of the members of the committee are from the Louvre so I am leaning toward a more artistic name.  Maybe that is just the artist in me but I can still dream.

The internal  humm of the ship has changed as of this morning. It has been a constant companion during the voyage and until this morning has had a calming effect on me.  That has now changed and I feel my entire system is on edge.  I don’t know if it is due to the stasis treatment or if the engines of the  Derringer 8 are also preparing for the jump. Sadly Nicolas has not taken well to the stasis injections and has already been moved to his cube yesterday.  I am surprised how quickly we have become friends and I miss his company already.  Once he was moved to his jump cube I have not been able to see him.  This is unfortunate as I did not get to say goodbye and I will not see him again till after I have set up the lab.  Even then it is possible I may not see him till we arrive on New London. The med staff has informed me that his reaction is not uncommon and as soon as he is removed from stasis at the other end of the jump he will be back to normal, but that might mean he will have to be under medical observation longer than the rest of us.

I will  write one more time before I am placed in my designated cube for the trip.  I finished my last drawing of the anomaly last night and will include that with the next letter as it still needs to be scanned for encryption.  Included you will find the color spectrum changes I have observed in the holos and also a more detailed sketch of the leaf like structures expanding near Proximus.  I do not want to do any further renditions till I am recovered from stasis at the end of the journey. Having developed a small tremor in my right hand from the injections, I fear it will effect my work for now. I would not want to taint any of my future interpretations of the phenomenon with the effects of the treatments.  As we have seen in the past, even an emotional trauma such as your accident can affect how I interpret the structure of the array. I did keep the sketches during that awful period after you lost your arm, but I will not use them for our research.  They feel wrong!! I know how you regard my unscientific notions concerning the anomaly, but I cannot change who I am. Once a Hermeticalist, always a Hermeticalist.  My art professor once described me as the most esoteric of the Hermetics and I took that as a compliment.  (I do not believe he meant it as one)  But do not worry. I will not be joining the Cultivation society when I arrive in New London.  You know how I feel about followers of the Machiavellian arts. I am too realistic to believe in that sort of nonsense.

Again I cannot tell you enough how much I miss you and wish you were here.

Love

Victoria

So I am taking a break from beading projects and letter writing today and posting an excerpt from my first book The Beaded Tapestry. I just flipped through the book and copied here the first page. I have changed as a writer since I wrote this book and am tempted to re-write the entire thing.  At least it needs a good edit. I was never  very good at past tense. Although I wasn´t going to do any editing I had to make a few corrections as I went along. Tomorrow back to letter 4 in my series – Letters from Victoria.  It is now in my sisters hands for editing.

The Beaded Tapestry Page 1

The sound of clutter being moved filtered from the front door of the oversized workshop. A women´s voice could be heard. It sounded as if she were talking to a pet or maybe a small child. “ Now Plink, I asked you a hundred times not to get into my beads. I know you think they are pretty, but look at this mess.  It will take me all morning to sort this out and I have a client coming this evening.“

A small cobalt blue tail peeked out from behind a skein of yarn.  It had small shiny scales covering it´s surface. The sound of tears falling on the scales had given the dragon his nickname. “What am I going to do with you.  The woman grinned a Plink.  She was a fortune weaver, the only weaver within two hundred miles.  This fact obviously kept her extremely busy. “Mistress Ellyna,“ a young voice from the door said.  Ellyna turned around to speak with the young girl at the door.  She looked to be around fifteen, with short golden curls lying on her shoulders.  “Yes Paige. What is it?“ “There is a carriage approaching from the north road.  I believe it is your evening appointment, Master Lenan.“ Paige replied.  “Oh dear, he is not supposed to be here till this evening.  It is not even midday yet.“  Master Lenan had asked Ellyna to perform a foretelling for his daughter who was about to give birth to his first grandchild.  The man was hoping Ellyna would see a son in his daughter´s future. “Please Page straighten up in here.  I must ready myself if I am to be os any use to him.“ Paige looked around the workshop in dismay and stared with wide eyes a Ellyna.  “Well,“ Ellyna said with a shrug. “At least make a path through  flotsam for our guest.“ With this statement Ellyna picked up her pale blue skirts and trotted toward the main house.  This day was not turning out the way she had planned.

As she neared the cottage front door she slowed and took a look at the carriage making it´s way around the curve of the road.  Usually she preferred not to get a look at her client before she sat down for the actual reading, but the carriage caught her attention. This was not her scheduled client.  Master Lenar was a successful merchant, but he could not afford four horses for his traveling pleasure.  Ellyna unconsciously swept her dark hair back into the combs holding it back and straightened her skirts.

The carriage stopped about thirty paces from the front door and the driver and footmen descended from their posts.The woman who exited the carriage was not what Ellyna expected.  Her dress was not up to the carriage finery and neither was her demeanor.  A youth of around ten popped out behind her. He was dressed in finery but this did not stop him from running ahead of the woman and opening the gate of Ellyna´s fence by swinging on it.  Ellyna stared at the boy with his raven hair streaming behind him every time he swung the gate open. “Now Lord Ryaan you must not do that.  I have already been reprimanded about your appearance and torn clothing.  We must not have a repeat of that.“ The child jumped down from the gate but not before he gave it another push.  The woman walked through the gate and up the flagstone steps that lead to Ellyna´s cottage door holding up her plain green skits as she walked.

“Good morning Mistress.  I am here to see Ellyna the Weaver.  I have some business I wish to speak with her about.“ Stated the woman as she approached the door of the cottage.  “I am Mistress Ellyna. How may I assist you. I was not expecting anyone this morning or I would have been prepared for your arrival.`Ellyna responded looking at the woman questionably.  “This is an unexpected situation. I hope you can accommodate us.  We have come all the way from the city of Enalden.“ Ellyna started at this statement.  Enalden was the crown city of her province Armindan. If this woman was from Enalden, she must be someone important despite the presence of the carriage.

Derringer 8

Mars

Greetings dear sister,

Thank you for the letter. It arrived via the last data dump just as we traveled beyond Mars early this morning. I hoped since I woke early that I could beat the other passengers for a good viewing spot on the observation deck for my first view of Mars. I guess everyone had the same idea as the deck was already packed with people when I arrived at 0600 ship time.  I did manage to squeeze in next to a family with two small children. I could at least see the view out the observation window over their small heads.  As we passed well beyond the gravitational influence of the planet, it looked more like a small red marble floating in space than a planet over 6790 kilometers in diameter. It was still well worth the early rise. Not something to inspire artistic tendencies  but interesting none the less.  

So I gather from your letter that the regeneration of your arm is going as planned.  Slow but steady finishes the race so the saying goes. I can tell you are impatient for a quicker regrowth.  Please be patient.  Just remember what happened to our cousin David when he tried to manipulate the speed of his leg regen. He ended up with four toes.  Not a huge issue for a leg regrowth, but for an arm that could be a tragedy.

You also mentioned in your letter that there is more information on the abilities of the phenomenon.  Can you elaborate on what you meant by It can adjust to different situations? As I see nothing posted on your research site, I assume this is a new unsubstantiated theory you have been working on.  What did you mean by ‘’ the creature chooses who to help and also how much”? Are you leaning toward defining this array as a living being instead of a scientific anomaly.  Maybe even intelligent.  From all our research i never got this impression. I realize you have sent your letter over the normal data stream so you could not be more specific.  It is not the most secure, but you have my attention.  I have paid the extra fee for the encrypting account for deep space messages.   I have attached the encrypting instructions for the program with this message so you can do likewise.  That way you can send your finding with more confidence of the security.

After the Mars viewing I spent the rest of the ship day exploring the parts of the ship allowed to the passengers. There is a small exercise area on each deck and several more of the small coffee cafes. Each cafe has a different holographic program. Like the one on the level near my quarters each scrolls through different images to music. The most frequented by the passengers seems to be the one with the environmental scenes from New London with inspiration music written for the array.  There are several holos of the new population center of the planet along with some fantastic images and artistic renditions of the phenomenon. There is even one set of images from the landscapes outside the habitation area.  As the phenomenon is the main drawing point to New London, I have not often seen pictures of much else. It was interesting to see what the planet looks like. I am looking forward to doing some exploring once I arrive if time permits.  

I have returned to my room for the evening following a rather tasteless but supposedly nutritious dinner.  The food on board is not the best but as this is only for a few weeks I can deal with it.  The same does not go for all the passengers.  I sat next to a professional chef at dinner tonight.  He spent the entire meal complaining about the food and boosting about the type of meals he will create when he arrives at our destination.  It seems he has a position waiting for him planetside as the head chef for one of the top luxury facility on New London. I gather from Chef Nicholas’s description that it caters to the growing number of elite guests attempting to benefit from the effects of the array.  He had a vast knowledge of the edible flora and fauna present on the planet and I have made some notes on my wrist pad. I will send you a list a future letter as I have almost reached the data limit with the attached cryptology instructions.  

Please write back as my curiousity is peaked with your new findings.

Love always

Victoria