by Kate O'Hearn
‘That means she’s alive!’ Joel celebrated. ‘And Pegasus is too if he was carrying her!’
‘It may have been Alexis carrying her,’ Paelen offered. ‘We must consider that Pegasus may have been hurt and captured by the CRU. Emily would do anything to protect him. Including telling Jupiter what has happened.’
‘Emily wouldn’t do that,’ Joel insisted. ‘Not even for Pegasus! She’d know what Jupiter would do if he found out.’
‘Perhaps she did not have a choice.’
Chrysaor remained silent for most of the conversation. Suddenly, the boar squealed and charged across the roof. He ran into a small construction shed. High-pitched screams filled the air.
They found Chrysaor cornering a young boy in the shed. He looked only nine or ten years old, was dressed in filthy clothing and had a dirty face. His eyes were bright and terrified.
‘Don’t eat me!’ he screamed.
Paelen frowned. ‘Why would we eat you?’
He entered the shed and the boy screamed even louder.
‘Please stop doing that!’ Paelen cried, putting his hand over his ears.
‘It’s all right.’ Joel held up his hands. ‘We’re not going to hurt you. I promise.’
‘You’re lying. You’re going to eat me!’ the boy wailed.
‘No we are not,’ Paelen insisted, ‘though I might throw you off the roof if you scream again.’
‘That’s not helping, Paelen!’ Joel knelt down beside Chrysaor and faced the boy. He offered his silver hand. ‘I promise you, we aren’t going to hurt you. This is Chrysaor, that is Paelen and I’m Joel. Come out of there and tell me your name.’
The boy looked at Joel’s hand fearfully. ‘You’re an alien robot!’
Joel shook his head. ‘No I’m not. But my arm is made of metal. My real arm was wrecked and now I have this.’
The boy hesitantly took Joel’s silver hand. ‘It’s so cold.’
‘Yes it is,’ Joel agreed. ‘What’s your name?’
‘Frankie,’ the little boy said as he walked around Chrysaor and followed Joel out of the shed.
‘What are you doing here, Frankie?’
‘I live here.’
Joel looked around the roof. ‘Here?’
The boy nodded. ‘I live on the floor beneath this one.’
‘But I thought this building was abandoned,’ Joel said. ‘It’s unfinished.’
‘It is abandoned. But I live here anyway.’
‘With your parents?’ Paelen asked. He searched for signs of others.
Frankie shook his head. ‘No, they’re gone.’
‘Gone where?’
‘Just gone,’ Frankie said flatly. He looked back a Chrysaor. ‘Are you the ones the girl with the flying horse and lion lady were looking for?’
‘You have seen Emily?’ Paelen demanded.
Frankie nodded.
‘Where?’ Joel demanded. ‘When?’
‘Here, today.’
‘Where are they now?’ Paelen asked.
The young boy shrugged.
‘You’re not big on answers, are you?’ Joel said in irritation. He knelt down before the boy. ‘It’s really important that we find our friends. Please, tell us what you know.’
Again Frankie shrugged. ‘They were here all day and left when it got dark.’
‘Did you speak with them?’ Paelen asked.
Frankie shook his head. ‘No way! I was too scared – that lion lady would have eaten me! So I stayed hidden over there.’ He pointed to a large pile of building debris and rubbish.
‘You seem convinced everyone is going to eat you,’ Paelen observed.
‘’Cause that’s what aliens do, they eat people,’ Frankie said. ‘Everyone knows that.’
‘We’re not aliens,’ Joel insisted, ‘and we’re not going to eat you. Did you hear what the others were talking about?’
‘The lion lady was really sad. She was crying.’ Frankie’s eyes lingered on Chrysaor. ‘Can I pet your flying pig?’
‘He’s a boar,’ Joel corrected. ‘I don’t think he’d like that.’
Chrysaor stepped closer to Frankie and invited a pat. The little boy stroked his wings and the coarse hair on his snout. ‘It feels funny,’ he giggled.
‘Why was the lion lady crying?’ Paelen asked. ‘Was she hurt?’
Frankie shrugged. ‘Don’t know.’
‘What do you know?’ Paelen said impatiently. ‘What were they talking about?’
‘They were talking about nerds.’
‘Nerds,’ Joel repeated. ‘Are you sure about that?’
‘I think so. I couldn’t hear too good. But it sounded like nerds. They were going to get a nerd prince.’
Joel sucked in his breath in understanding. ‘Not nerds, they were talking about Nirads! They’ve gone to get Prince Tobin.’
‘What?’ Paelen concentrated on Frankie. ‘Are you sure you heard them correctly? Did they say Nirads?’
Frankie nodded. ‘It sounded like that. They were saying they needed the nerd prince to control the crew nerd soldiers.’
Joel frowned and tried to decipher Frankie’s words. Finally it registered and he snapped his fingers. He looked at Paelen. ‘CRU – Nirad soldiers! The CRU have created Nirad clones that are serving as soldiers.’
‘And Emily has gone to the Nirad world to get the prince,’ Paelen finished. ‘Of course, it all makes sense now. She would not go to Jupiter if there was still a chance of saving this world. Now all we need to do is go there to join her.’
Chrysaor squealed softly and then nudged Frankie to pet him some more.
‘What did he say?’ Joel asked.
‘That we should wait here. We may miss them in the Solar Stream and lose more precious time. Entering the Solar Stream again may draw Jupiter’s attention. Chrysaor believes it is safer to wait here as they know this tower is our meeting place.’
Joel looked incredulous. ‘You want us to sit here and wait while the CRU create more clones?’
Chrysaor squealed and grunted. Paelen sighed and nodded his head. ‘Chrysaor is correct. We are hungry and getting weaker without ambrosia. We must eat first.’
‘And you really should wear some clothes,’ Frankie added. ‘On my planet, we don’t walk around naked.’
Joel realized he was still undressed. ‘This is my planet! But my clothes were ruined.’
‘I’ve got some,’ Frankie offered. ‘But they might be too small. You’re really big.’ He paused and tilted his head to the side. ‘Are you sure you’re not an alien robot here to invade our planet?’
‘I’m not a robot!’ Joel shouted.
Frankie didn’t look convinced. ‘You sure look like one. And you friends look exactly like aliens, especially him.’ He pointed at Paelen.
‘Why is it always me?’ Paelen shot angrily. ‘Why am I always the alien?’
They followed Frankie down a flight of stairs and arrived on the top floor of the black building. It was still unfinished – just one big open space with no walls and a lot of exposed steel girders and wiring. In one corner, they discovered the home that Frankie had made for himself. He had scrounged crates and boxes and created crude furniture. There was a pile of old blankets and tinned food. Frankie had blacked out all the windows so no one would see the lights he had wired up.
Frankie’s housekeeping skills needed a lot of work, but he obviously knew his way around computers and the internet. He had set up what looked like a control centre with at least four working computers. There were others in the process of being built. Off to one side were extra screens and parts neatly laid out and ready to be used.
‘This is my headquarters,’ he said proudly, showing off his computers. ‘I’m using these to look for aliens.’
Joel and Paelen admired the boy’s handiwork. He had managed to build all this from scrap he’d picked up on the street. ‘Wow, this is really cool,’ Joel said. ‘Have you ever looked for aliens at Area 51? Can you show us how to get in there?’
/> Frankie shook his head. ‘I look all the time, but I can’t get in to their system. I don’t think they are on the internet. They must be using an internal intranet system instead. I have tracked down a few pictures taken from satellites. But I’ve never seen aliens until you got here today.’
‘We’re not aliens!’ Joel protested.
‘If you say so,’ Frankie said dubiously. He continued to show Joel his work at trying to hack into Area 51’s systems.
Paelen did not understand a word Frankie was saying, but Joel was nodding his head. They looked at the photos Frankie had downloaded from Area 51. They showed the open desert, the dry Groom Lake bed and two long landing strips with several dark, squat buildings. None of the photos showed any activity or signs of Nirads or other clones.
‘Hey, that’s great work,’ Joel said. ‘How old are you?’
‘I’m nearly ten,’ Frankie answered proudly. ‘But I’m really smart.’ He stopped to pat Chrysaor again. ‘But I don’t go to school now. I just like to play with my computers.’
‘And you live here alone?’ Paelen asked.
Frankie shook his head and pointed at the pile of blankets. ‘No, my friend John lives with me.’
They all concentrated on the pile that they thought were rags. It was breathing.
‘Don’t worry about John,’ Frankie said. ‘He’s drunk most of the time. But he does help me live. He’s taught me how to scrounge stuff and sneak into places. Without John, I don’t know what I would have done.’
‘What about your family?’ Joel pressed.
‘I told you, they’re gone,’ Frankie shot. ‘I live here with John.’
‘So it is just the two of you in this building?’ Paelen asked.
Frankie shook his head. ‘No, there are others. But they’re on the lower floors. Everyone knows John and I live up here. We help get them money, so they leave us alone.’
‘Money?’ Paelen said as his interest peaked. ‘How do you get money? Do you steal it?’
‘Not really,’ Frankie said hesitantly. ‘I’m really good with numbers, so we go to casinos and I count cards for John. I can tell him what’s coming. But we can only do it in the really small casinos. The big ones have rules and won’t let kids in – but some of the smaller ones do as long as they’re with adults.’
Paelen frowned. ‘What is counting cards?’
Joel explained. ‘It’s a way of cheating. Some people can look at multiple decks of cards and calculate what cards are coming next. Then they know if they should bet or not. Casinos don’t like it and stop card counters.’
‘But they don’t stop me,’ Frankie said, ‘’cause they don’t think I can do it. But I can.’
In the light, Paelen was able to get a good look at Frankie. He was very small for his age and very round, with bright-red curly hair. He had huge brown eyes and a freckled face. There was something about him that reminded Paelen of himself when he was younger. Perhaps it was how the kid had been living off his wits outside of society, just as he had on Olympus.
Frankie walked over to a box of clothing. ‘This is John’s stuff. I don’t think he’d mind if you borrowed some.’ He rifled through the box and managed to find a clean but badly mismatched polyester check suit. ‘This is John’s best suit. He’s saving it for a special occasion.’
Joel looked at the hideous outfit and shook his head. He could only fit his silver arm through a bold patterned short-sleeved shirt that clashed badly with the checked suit trousers. He used a T-shirt to fashion a crude sling to help hide his arm. ‘Well?’ he asked. ‘How do I look?’
Paelen fought to keep back laughter, but failed. ‘Fine!’ he struggled to say before bursting out laughing. ‘Though I would not let anyone from Olympus see you in that. Not if you hope to live there again!’
Joel looked down at himself and groaned. ‘I look like a used-car salesman!’
Frankie smiled brightly. ‘It’s better than being naked.’
‘I guess so,’ Joel sighed. ‘Hey, do you have any money?’
Frankie hesitated and then nodded. ‘John and me split our winnings even-stevens. He buys drink with his, but I buy computer parts. I’ve got all I need now and was saving my money for emergencies.’
Paelen looked around and wondered what the boy thought an emergency was. He had no family and he was living wild in Las Vegas with a devotee of Bacchus. How much worse could it get?
‘Frankie,’ Joel said softly, ‘we haven’t eaten in a very long time and we’re really hungry. Look at poor Chrysaor, he’s starving. Can we borrow some money? I promise we’ll pay you back.’
Frankie stroked Chrysaor’s wings again and nodded. He walked over to a pile of construction debris. After checking to see that John was still sleeping, he put his small hand in and withdrew a used mayonnaise jar filled with money. ‘Take it, get food for …’ He struggled with Chrysaor’s name. ‘Get food for Chrysler.’
The winged boar came up to Frankie and gently licked his hand.
‘Thanks, Frankie,’ Joel said. He counted out fifty dollars. ‘That will get us started.’
17
The journey through the Solar Stream seemed to go on for ever as Emily impatiently waited to get to the Nirad world. She hated leaving Las Vegas without knowing what happened to her friends. But with Alexis refusing to wait for them on the rooftop, her plan was to get there, convince the prince to join them and get right back to Vegas before the sunrise.
They emerged from the Solar Stream into a dark cave. This was the entrance to the Nirad world. Since the fight with the gorgons, Emily hadn’t returned, although she had been invited many times. But the memory was still too fresh and the pain of losing her Nirad friend, Tange, too great.
They emerged from the cave in daylight. Or what passed for daylight in the Nirad world. The sky was still filled with dark, scudding storm clouds, but the air was dry and arid. The black ground was dusty and swirled around their feet in the light, warm wind.
Outside the cave, they approached lilac guards at the entrance. When they spotted Emily and Pegasus, they roared excitedly and bowed. Emily slid off Pegasus’s back and greeted them.
As the Nirads were a telepathic race, it wasn’t long before others arrived. The ground rumbled as the heavy marble-like people gathered around to greet the heroes of their world.
From the back of the gathering, Emily heard a high-pitched, familiar roar. The crowds parted and bowed as a figure approached.
‘Segan!’ Emily cried as she ran forward to greet the Nirad queen. It hadn’t been that long since Emily had seen her on Olympus, but Segan had grown taller and looked older. Yet for her Nirad size, she still remained delicate and elegant in her long pink gown.
Segan called out a sound that was as close to Emily’s name as her mouth and tongue would allow. She ran forward and scooped Emily up in her four arms. As the two friends embraced, Pegasus neighed excitedly.
Emily took one of Segan’s hands and directed her over to Alexis.
The Sphinx bowed deeply. ‘Your Majesty, it is a great honour to finally meet you.’
Queen Segan knelt before Alexis and touched the Sphinx’s shoulder. She made several soft growls. The smile on Alexis’s face told Emily that the queen had made her welcome.
Segan rose and turned to her people. She raised her four hands high in the air and made a long series of growls.
Alexis moved closer to Emily. ‘They are going to prepare a great banquet in honour of us to celebrate your return to the Nirad world.’
Emily shook her head. ‘But we don’t have time. We’ve got to get Prince Tobin and go. We have to find Joel, Paelen and Chrysaor.’
Alexis narrowed her eyes. ‘I have met your father, Emily, and I know he raised you better than this. This is your first visit back to the Nirad world after the gorgon defeat. Their queen has ordered a banquet and celebration in your honour. You will attend the banquet and you will show your gratitude.’
‘But—’
Pegasus nickered
softly beside her.
‘Pegasus agrees,’ Alexis continued. ‘We are going to ask them to help us with a very dangerous situation. The least we could do is accept their hospitality. We will attend their banquet, and then approach Queen Segan and Prince Tobin and seek their assistance.’
Emily looked over to her host. Queen Segan’s face was beaming.
She patted Pegasus’s neck. ‘I’m sorry. You’re both right. I’m just so worried about the others and we don’t have much time to spare.’
‘I am certain the others are fine,’ Alexis said. ‘Paelen is clever and crafty and Joel knows your world well. They will find somewhere to hide until we return. Right now, we must concentrate on how much to tell the Nirads.’
They sat around a huge banquet table filled with equal amounts of ambrosia and Nirad moss. Since the union of the two worlds, Nirads had acquired a taste for the Olympian food and always had plenty around. As they dined, Emily, Pegasus and Alexis watched Nirad musicians beat large drums as dancers performed for the group. Emily never knew they could dance. But despite their massive size, the performers moved with a light foot and graceful movement. Emily did notice that it was only lilac and orange Nirads who danced. The greys sat at their tables clapping their four hands and growling loudly.
Alexis sighed sadly. ‘I wish Tom could have seen this. He would have enjoyed himself greatly.’
Emily studied the Sphinx, but remained silent. She knew Alexis was grieving more that she let on. Had the Olympian Sphinx really fallen in love with an ex-CRU agent?
As the evening progressed, Emily felt more and more anxious. They shouldn’t be celebrating when so much was at stake in her world. Worry for her friends only added to her stress levels and she was desperate to get moving.
Just before the celebrations ended, Emily noticed that Alexis had slipped silently away from the banquet table. She stood and spotted the Sphinx speaking with Queen Segan and Prince Tobin.
‘I am sorry that I could not wait for you,’ the Sphinx said when Emily and Pegasus approached. ‘But I heard that Prince Tobin was planning to leave for Olympus shortly. I had to stop him.’