puppy. The creature shifted, turning slightly toward Merrell, whose back was still turned. Jacinda’s eyes grew wide as the creature reached out to touch Merrell. He flinched when
the creature made contact with his arm, but then seemed to relax, a look of contentment on his
face.
Devon leaped forward toward Merrell. His friend seemed to be under some sort of spell,
but if he could jar him, perhaps it would be broken. Devon bowled over the larger boy. The two
went down in a heap, tangled together and struggling.
The creature hopped back, just barely avoiding ending up on the ground with Devon and
Merrell. With a fluttering that sounded like leaves in a stiff wind, it scampered back into the
undergrowth, quickly disappearing, its green ruff blending perfectly with the surrounding leaves.
With a grunt, Merrell pushed Devon off of him. He sat up, scowling. “Why did you do
that.”
Devon stared at him, eyes wide. “Are you kidding? That thing was doing something to
you. I thought I was saving you.”
“Saving me? I don’t know about that.” The blush of embarrassment began to fill
Merrell’s face. “I mean…it seemed friendly enough.”
Jacinda shook her head. “Not to Devon and me. It looked like it was taking control of
you.”
Merrell shook his head. “Why would you think that? I’m strong and can take care of
myself. Just because I’m big doesn’t mean I have a weak mind.” He scowled at Devon, perhaps
more angry than he should be.
“That’s not what I meant…not at all,” Devon said. “I was just afraid that I might be
losing a new friend. I didn’t want anything to happen to you.” Merrell’s face softened, the anger draining away. “Oh, well I guess I owe you an
apology then, Devon.” Merrell scrambled to his feet and offered Devon a hand up.
Devon took his hand and got to his feet. “No worries, Merrell, I was just watching out
for you.”
Merrell still seemed unsure. “Are you sure…I mean, it didn’t hurt me.”
“But it grabbed you.” Jacinda interrupted.
Merrell shook his head slowly. “You are probably right, but it just didn’t feel dangerous.
It felt friendly.”
Jacinda stared at him in confusion. “I still don’t understand.”
Merrell hesitated, his eyes full of thought. “Well, I don’t know if I can really explain it.
I mean, I was startled when it touched me, but just as quickly I calmed down. I got this image in
my head of my home, back in New California. It was like I was looking at a postcard of one of
those fun, summer days when I had nothing to worry about. It was almost like I was back there.”
Merrell looked back at the trees where the creature had disappeared. He wore a look of
longing. “It just felt so wonderful.”
Jacinda walked up to Merrell and put her hand on his shoulder. He looked back at her,
still almost overcome with emotion.
“Are you gonna be okay?” She asked, concern showing in her voice.
Merrell signed. “Sure…I’ll be fine…it’s just been a long time since I felt that way. My
brothers and I have been away at school for so long I guess I just miss home. We haven’t been
back for three years.”
Jacinda and Devon were obviously shocked by this news. Devon began to ask Merrell
about it, but bit off his question when Jacinda gave him a warning look. “It’s okay, Merrell,” Jacinda gave his shoulder another squeeze, “You’ll get to go
home…and I bet it will be soon, with everything that has happened to us.”
Merrell smiled. “You are probably right…but that still doesn’t explain why I thought
about it. It was almost as if I had no choice.” He thought for a moment, “I think that the
creature did it.”
“Why would it do that?” Devon asked, suddenly very interested.
“If I had to guess, I’d say it was trying to tell me something. I think it was trying to
communicate.”
Jacinda’s eyes furrowed skeptically. “Communicate? Why did it sneak up on us if it was
trying to communicate.”
“Maybe it was afraid of us.“ Devon commented.
“Beep, beep.” Devon’s WristVid chirped, interrupting their discussion.
Devon thumbed a button, answering in an excited voice. “Mr. Jacobs, you will never
believe what just happened.”
“No time for that now, Devon,” Deke interrupted him. “We need to get you inside, as
soon as we can.”
“Okay, but we have to find Flim first.”
“What?” Anger showed in Deke’s voice. “Where did he run off to?”
Jacinda stepped to Devon’s side so she could be heard. “Mr. Jacobs, that is not all. We
just encountered a very interesting creature.”
“Jacinda, I appreciate your curiosity, but I couldn’t give two hoots about that. I want you
to find Flim and get back to the ship. We have rigged up a makeshift rope and we will be pulling
you up through one of the emergency exits.” “But Mr. Jacobs.” Jacinda pleaded.
“No argument Ms. Vasquez. Do as I instructed.” Deke’s use of Jacinda’s last name
signaled that he would not be moved.
Devon shrugged his shoulders, giving Jacinda resigned look. After a moment he spoke
into his WristVid, “We will find Flim and come back to the ship. I’ll let you know as soon as we
find him.”
“Good, just don’t go too far into the forest. I don’t want you getting out of range of your
WristVid. Make sure you contact me every fifteen minutes.”
“Yes sir.” Devon deactivated his WristVid.
Jacinda huffed in frustration. “Okay, we have to find Flim as soon as we can.”
Merrell nodded. “Then we can go back to the ship.”
“No, I don’t think so. At least not yet.” Jacinda said, shaking her head.
Devon and Merrell both turned to look at Jacinda, mouths open in disbelief.
Jacinda began to make her way into the forest as she spoke. “Wait, before you say
anything. We will do what Mr. Jacobs said. We will look for Flim, but why can’t we look for
that creature too? We will contact Mr. Jacobs every fifteen minutes, just like we said we would.
We just have to take our time finding Flim.”
“I don’t know about this, Jacinda.” Devon looked skeptical.
“Trust me, Devon. Maybe these creatures can help us.”
Devon and Merrell followed Jacinda into the forest. They all called Flim’s name and
scanned the surrounding underbrush for any sign of their friend.
Tall, wide trees cast the land into deep shade. Thin, fern-like plants huddled around the
trucks of the trees. Soft, grey grass covered the ground everywhere else. Walking on the grass felt like walking in think foam. It gave under their feet and sprang back up behind them, leaving
little trace of their passage. As they moved deeper into the forest, the light grew dimmer,
blocked by the ever thicker canopy above.
They continued to call out to Flim, but got no response. Devon soon realized that if they
went much further into the forest, they may not be able to find their way back.
“Jacinda, Merrell, I think we need to turn back. I doubt that Flim would have gone this
far, and we better not get lost.”
“But Devon, we can’t just leave him out here,” Jacinda said, determination showing in
her voice.
“I wouldn’t suggest it if I thought we had any choice. But�
��”
A soft, melodious hoot interrupted their conversation. The hoot had come from a
particularly dense clump of underbrush directly in front of them.
Devon, Jacinda and Merrell all froze in their tracks.
“What was that?” A note of fear showed in Jacinda’s voice.
Merrell stepped protectively between Jacinda and the undergrowth. “Whatever it was, it
didn’t sound dangerous, but I suggest we get out of here.”
“I agree,” Devon added hastily.
“But, Flim…” Jacinda was still hesitant to leave their friend to fend for himself.
Merrell turned and took Jacinda by the hand. “We have to worry about ourselves right
now. We can’t help him if something happens to us.” He started back the way they had come,
pulling Jacinda along with him by her hand. They head the hoot again. This was enough to
convince Devon that it was wise to leave. They had gone only a few yards when they heard another hoot, but this one came from
the forest to their right. It was immediately answered by another hoot on their left. The friends
picked up their pace but were brought up short by the sound of rustling leaves coming from the
undergrowth directly in front of them.
“Flim?” Devon asked, his voice nervous. He was answered by several more hoots from
the direction they faced.
The brush moved, like a breeze was moving though it, and parted. Two of the green
creatures seemed to materialize right out of the bushes. They were undistinguishable from the
one they had seen earlier. These did, however, seem upset. Their deep brown eyes looked
almost angry.
The larger of the two creatures carried a sharpened stick and motioned for the friends to
stop. Devon thought about running for a moment, but a quick look over his shoulder revealed
that several more of the creatures had materialized right behind them.
The creature with the stick seemed to be in charge. It motioned at the others, who
quickly surrounded the children. The leader slowly approached Merrell, perhaps assuming the
he was their leader because of his larger size. The creature studied Merrell, its brown eyes intent
and intelligent. After a few moments it motioned with its stick and the circle of creature opened.
The leader scampered past the children and motioned for them to follow.
When Devon and the others didn’t follow, it motioned again and hooted for emphasis. It
seemed like they didn’t have any choice but to follow. They made their way deeper into the forest, following the leader, surrounded by at least a dozen of the green creatures.
Chapter 15
Fifteen minutes had passed and Deke had not heard from Devon and his friends. Concern
etched his face. He decided to give them a couple more minutes before really growing
concerned. Perhaps they simply forgot to check in…he hoped.
Deke waited for two more minutes and then Keyed open the microphone on his
WristVid.
“Devon, please respond. You are late for your check-in.”
He waited for a moment, listening for a response. His WristVid remained silent. He
keyed the button again.
“Devon, I repeat, please respond. Are you there?”
Deke shook his head. He hoped that they had simply gotten out of range and it was not
something worse. He tried to convince himself that they had gone out of range looking for Flim
and would be calling at any moment. Unfortunately, he didn’t manage to quite convince himself.
Deke felt that it was his responsibility to keep all of the children safe. If he went out
looking for Devon and the others there would not be anyone to watch the children here on the
drop ship. He was also still did not know the full extent of his injuries. He had not passed out
again, but he still got light headed at times. He just could not take that risk. His only choice was
to pray and hope for the best.
When they did come back Deke planned on having a bit more than harsh words for Flim
for running off. He knew Flim had a wild streak. Deke had been accused of that more than once
as a child. But he would never have believed that Flim would run off like this, but he obviously
had. Deke cursed himself for letting Devon and the others go outside. He should have done it
himself. What had he been thinking? Those kids were in danger, and it was all his fault. If they did not make it back before nightfall, they would be in great danger from the bowzers.
Chapter 16
The creatures surrounding Devon and the others watched them with interest. They grew
especially interested when Jacinda began speaking to Devon.
“Where do you think they are taking us?” She asked.
“I’m can’t be sure, but I guess wherever they are taking us must be safe from the
bowzers. They must have learned how to deal with them…or they wouldn’t be there.” Jacinda
began to say something else, but stopped when the creature leading them stopped and cocked his
head, as if listening for something. He sniffed the air, turned and motioned at two of the
creatures that were accompanying them.
Those two disappeared into the trees, all but invisible among the foliage.
“It’s no wonder we didn’t see them creeping around earlier. Those feathers blend in to
the leaves perfectly. They must have been watching us the whole time.”
“I don’t think those are feathers.” Merrell spoke up for the first time since they had been
taken. “When the creature touched me it didn’t feel like feathers.”
Jacinda turned to him, a question in her eyes. “What did it feel like?”
Merrell’s brow furrowed in thought for a moment. “This is gonna sound weird…but it
felt like it feels when you are rolling around in the grass.”
“Huh? What do you mean?” Devon asked.
“Well, have you ever rolled around in grass? You know how it is kinda soft, but scratchy
at the same time? And, it didn’t feel warm, like our hands.” “I guess…but how could that be?” Devon glanced at Jacinda, looking for any help she
could offer.
Jacinda simply shrugged. “Don’t ask me, on the mining colony we didn’t have grass, so
I’ve never rolled in it.”
Merrell grinned sheepishly at Devon and Jacinda. “I know this sounds crazy, but I don’t
think they are…like us. I think they’re, plants, maybe.” Even he did not seem convinced by his
own argument.
“Maybe that is why they don’t talk,” Devon added. That would make sense.
Their conversation was interrupted by a hoot from the forest just ahead. Two of the
creatures emerged from forest, approaching the one who had led Devon and his friends here.
One of the approaching creatures was much larger than the others. As it neared the group it held
out its hand. The creature who had led the children reached out and grasped the offered hand.
They each closed their eyes and a low thrumming resonated through the clearing. The two
creatures stood unmoving in the late afternoon sunlight.
Jacinda started to say something but a pointed look from the other newcomer silenced
her. A few more minutes passed as Devon, Jacinda and Merrell traded shrugs and confused
expressions. The creatures had made it obvious that this meeting, or whatever it was, should not
be disturbed.
What did they expect from the children? Why had they taken them? Would they be
safe? Where was Flim? All of these questions weighed on Devo
n’s mind. Right now it did not
seem like these creatures were ready to give them any answers. Five minutes turned into fifteen minutes and then into a half an hour. Devon felt the urge
to ask how long this would take, but remembering the look that Jacinda had gotten from one of
the creatures convinced him to hold his tongue for now.
Abruptly the communing of the two creatures ended. The larger one hooted so loudly
that it almost sounded like an elephant trumpeting. At this all of the creatures, except for the two
newcomers, disappeared into the nearby forest.
Jacinda shook he head. “I’m sure they are not gone. I’ll bet they are all still creeping
around close by. Dumb creepers.” She crossed her arms and harrumphed in irritation.
The large creature stepped forward and eyed the children. He towered over them, bigger
than most adult humans. Devon watched the creature as it looked them over. He thought that
despite its fearsome appearance, it had kind eyes.
The creature stepped closer to Devon and put out its hand, just as it had earlier. He
glanced over his shoulder at Jacinda and Merrell, who shrugged, as unsure of what he should do
as he was. This close to the creature his nose detected the rich, earthy aroma of moss, like a
damp forest. The smell was somehow comforting.
Swallowing his fears, Devon grasped the creature’s hand. It felt just as Merrell had
described, soft yet scratchy, like deep, dry grass. The creature’s hand closed gently around
Devon’s. This time Devon both heard and felt the thrumming. It filled his chest with a giggly
feeling, like the feeling you get when you swing a little too high and your heart flutters in your
chest.
Suddenly images tumbled into Devon’s head. He saw a huge forest that made this one
look like a garden. He saw oceans at sunset with the waves sparkling like fields of jewels. He
saw clear, cool nights filled with meteor showers like fireworks. Devon even saw things that he could not understand, but made his heart sing anyway. The strongest image he received was of a
vast range of mountains covered in smoke. Several large peaks glowed with the red of lava and
belched smoke and ash into a dreary, gray sky.
Devon’s head was filled with so many images that he had trouble sorting them out. It
Devon Blake and the Starship Crash Page 8