by Dale Furse
‘That’s okay.’ His voice sounded unsteady. ‘Here do this, will you?’ He handed the ends of Mekie’s necklace to her.
Kale returned with a bag. ‘I have a surprise for you all later.’
‘What is it?’ asked Sam.
‘You’ll have to wait until later, impatient Human.’
Sam laughed. ‘Okay then, bossy Corl.’
Nell tightened her grip on the necklace. Hang on. The Bant had told Sam which necklace to give her. She peered at the giant. Black, oval orbs gazed at her. Deesc. How would he know what her favourite stones were? She strode straight up to him with the full intention of throwing the necklace at him. ‘Why, you sneak,’ she said.
‘And a good-day to you too, Dar-Nellen.’
He smiled and even though it was a green-toothed Bant’s smile, she knew it was Deesc laughing at her. Taking a different tack, she said, ‘I thought you were supposed to look out for me not follow me around just to laugh at me.’
He nodded. ‘I do look out for you as you put it. I even checked in on you on Linque. ‘
‘You weren’t much help when I was in trouble there.’
‘Oh, that,’ he shrugged. ‘I told you to stay on Corl. Anyway, you are more than capable of handling a few Phib boys.’
‘Of course, I was— am.’ Why did he have to make her look like a scatterbrain? ‘I want you to stop spying on me, and stop going around shape-shifting. It’s creepy.’
‘I thought it was good manners to let you know when I’m about,’ he said with a smug smile. ‘However, if you prefer, I can be more discreet.’
A Bant’s normal bulging eyes replaced Deesc’s black orbs, but Nell sensed it was still him. She threw him an icy glare, spun around and hurried to catch up to her friends.
They found a café for refreshments. By the time, they had finished eating; Nell’s mind had turned to the other book. Where to start?
While the others chatted, she sent her senses out over Corl for any sign of the book. The beads grew warm in her hand. She started and looked around. No one was paying any attention to her. Sam had returned to the counter and Mekie was talking to Kale about the exploration ship he was assigned to.
As Nell held onto the necklace tighter, the gems heightened her senses. She gazed down and the largest stone shifted. Maybe Deesc had put some sort of charm on the stones. If Eldoraps used charms, she hoped it was a good one. It was like looking into a tiny crystal ball. The whole planet of Corl appeared in the stone. She blinked and it was gone. Corl probably appeared because it was on her mind at the time.
Sam returned with three chocolate milks and green slush for Kale.
‘I can’t find any sense of the book here,’ she said. ‘I hope I have more luck on Gramlax.’
‘Could be,’ Sam said. ‘We’ll find out when we get there, but what are we going to do until then?’
They sipped their drinks in thoughtful silence.
‘I have an assignment to collect,’ said Kale. ‘Maybe you could go to the library.’
‘No thanks, mate,’ Sam said.
‘Nup. I got nothing,’ said Nell.
Kale stood up to leave but Mekie held his arm. ‘Wait. I know what restoration Shahs is in,’ she said in a conspiratorial tone. She had their full attention now.
‘Why didn’t you tell me before now?’ Nell said.
‘I was having fun and I didn’t want to spoil the day.’
‘Where is Shahs?’ Nell said through gritted teeth. She didn’t how long she could restrain from hitting her cousin.
‘Cay-Reace told me she is in Paler.’
‘You’re lucky I don’t throw something at you,’ said Nell.
‘Calm down Nell, she’s told us now,’ said Sam. ‘Where’s Paler, Mek?’
‘It’s not far,’ Kale said. ‘That’s where I am to collect my assignment. You can come with me if you want. A Phib I know works there. She is Physician in Training for the next year.’
Nell said, ‘I knew something would turn up.’
‘Do I know her?’ Mekie asked.
‘I’m not sure; her name is Mer-petrale.’
Sam missed his mouth and brown milk fell off his chin and onto his shirt.
Nell snorted. She couldn’t believe he remembered the girl who first waited on them at Goya’s café nearly a year ago. He couldn’t take his eyes off her then. Mekie had told them later that night that the girl’s name was Mer-petrale. Nell didn’t think Mer-petrale looked in the least memorable. She was much the same as other Phibs except for her red-blonde hair. But then again Nell wasn’t a hormone-driven teenage boy. Her eyes moved to her cousin. By the look on her face, Mekie had remembered too. Her chocolate didn’t seem to her liking as she sipped from her cup. Nell guessed she didn’t have to warn her that Sam was a flirt after all.
‘Let’s go now,’ Nell said. A small part of her heart went out to her cousin, but she hoped Mekie would behave herself around the trainee doctor.
Nell clipped the strand of rubies around her neck and led the way to an elevator that would take them straight to the roof. The gems were warm and fit perfectly as if they were made for her neck and her neck alone.
‘Why are you getting your assignment from a restoration?’ Sam asked Kale.
‘Every explorer has to have a medical qualification.’
‘That makes sense.’ He glanced back toward the Skark Park. ‘Shouldn’t we be getting a skark?’
‘We’re going to the roof,’ Kale said.
‘There’s skarks on the roof?’
‘No,’ Mekie said. ‘Krolls.’
‘Huh?’ Sam said.
‘I said, Krolls,’ said Mekie with an air of innocence.
‘I’ve seen them,’ Sam said, defensively.
Nell smirked. Sam was finally unnerved about something. She and Mekie exchanged small smiles at his wide eyes. In the short time that Nell had taken her eyes off Sam, his expression had changed to interest. Nell shook her head. He never ceased to amaze her. No matter what he’d seen or heard in the last year, nothing fazed him. She had hoped the Krolls would, but at that moment, she doubted it.
Nell made sure she was the first on the roof. She wanted to watch Sam’s face when he arrived. She wasn’t disappointed. He bounced out of the lift, looked past her and froze, eyes bulging and mouth open.
‘Shut your mouth, Sam,’ Mekie said, hitting him on the arm. ‘Corl flies have stings.’ She laughed. Her laugh was as melodic as her mother’s.
Nell laughed too, but she thought she sounded raucous like a kookaburra next to her Phib relatives so stopped and dragged Sam over to the nearest Kroll. ‘It’s okay, they’re like horses except they fly.’ She reached up and patting its neck, she was rewarded with a bleat of delight. Tufts of black hair covered the Kroll’s smooth white body. Its face was wrinkled and long, and its legless body, was more like a huge seahorse than anything else as it floated a small distance above the floor of the roof.
The Kroll gave a little low honk. Sam backed away. ‘They’re nothing like horses,’ he said, eyes still bulging. ‘Where’s the reins?’
‘Don’t be a baby,’ said Mekie, as she mounted her Kroll and sat behind the tiny wings that flapped with such speed they were barely visible.
Sam moved in alongside his Kroll. ‘They don’t even have a back suitable for riding.’
Nell bent low next to Sam and knitted her fingers together. ‘Want a leg up?’ she giggled.
He pushed her away, jumped on the Kroll and grabbed tufts of hair on either side of its neck. ‘How do you make ‘em go?’
‘Don’t worry,’ Kale said. ‘He will follow me.’
‘He’s a she,’ Nell said, caressing the Kroll’s neck. A sharp impulse to connect with the animal flared up from deep inside her. She didn’t stop to analyse it and tried to make a deeper connection with the Kroll. A beep, no – a laugh, washed over her mind. She looked straight into the Kroll’s eyes. Of course, any Phib would tell her that she hadn’t heard the laugh, she had felt it, but Nel
l wondered if they could be wrong. Maybe Krolls were as sentient as she was. No. If they were, she should be able to connect at a deeper level. Another laugh. It wasn’t melodic like a Phib’s; it was a gurgling, honk of a laugh. Was the Kroll making fun of her for not gaining a closer connection? It was as if something was stopping Nell. Was it a block? It didn’t feel like one. She eyed the Kroll. There was something peculiar about it – about all Krolls. She petted it again. You might be weird but I like you,’ she mind-thought.
Kale turned to Sam. ‘Be careful. The females are a bit flighty.’
‘What’s new?’ Sam said.
Nell smiled. He had tried to sound flippant but the way he looked warily at his mount gave him away. He wasn’t pleased about having no control over his steed. Nell unfurled her lavender wings, which cued her feet to transform into orange talons. She fluttered in circles around Sam and his Kroll. ‘Just relax will you. It’ll be fun.’
‘Stay close.’ Mekie urged her Kroll in behind Kale’s.
They flew high above the green landscape punctuated every now and then with deep gorges. At first, Sam clung to the tufts of hair either side of the Kroll’s neck, but after a while, he relaxed, let go and enjoyed the ride. He clapped his hands. ‘This is—aargh!’
CHAPTER EIGHT
NELL WHIRLED AROUND. SAM TUMBLED TOWARD THE GROUND. ‘Sam!’ She flapped her wings faster than ever before and plunged head first, shouting at herself for not watching him more closely. ‘Stupid, stupid, stupid.’
He fell fast. Just below him, a dead tree waited, the top of it pointed and sharp. Nell gasped. She willed her wings to speed up and thrust through the air but in her mind’s eye, she was more like a misfired arrow instead of a dart.
Closer, closer. She flipped her body and spearing feet first, she spread her wings and stretched her legs. Her talons snapped at Sam’s shoulders. She missed. Crap. The dead wood reached up for her friend. She tried again.
Her talons made contact. ‘Got you.’ Arching forward, she flung her legs backwards and with Sam trailing behind her, she swooped into horizontal flight inches above the broken branch.
The other two had caught and calmed the female Kroll.
As Nell put him back on the nervous animal and with her heart rapidly pumping adrenaline through her veins, she rounded on Sam. ‘Why did you clap like that? You should know better than to scare an animal. The poor thing is still shaking.’ The veins in her neck were going to explode.
He hung on to the Kroll’s tufts of hair and the colour slowly returned to his face. ‘It’s still shaking? What do you think I’m doing? If it was a bloody horse, I could have stuck my seat. How was I supposed to know they could move so fast? You should have told me they shy at anything.’
Nell wanted to say that Kale had warned him the females were flighty but tears stung her eyes. She spun away from him and flew beside Kale. ‘Let’s go,’ she said. Her dearest friend in the world was nearly killed. She should have made Sam understand just how skittish female Krolls were compared to horses.
Mekie talked to Sam behind them. ‘I thought you were dead,’ she said, her voice breathless.
‘So did I. Aren’t you mad at me too?’
‘No. How were you to know Krolls don’t like sudden loud noises?’
Heat roiled through Nell’s blood again. She was still seething when they neared the restoration, but couldn’t understand why. Was it because she was still mad at Sam for almost killing himself or was it because Mekie was so nice to him? No. As soon as the thought popped into her head, she dismissed it. She was glad they were getting along, of course she was. They were her most important friends in the world – no – universe and she loved them, both of them.
Flying high over a range of tree-studded mountains the crystal air helped clear Nell’s head.
The city of Paler came into view. Unlike the city of Kafir, Paler’s stone buildings were low and sprawling with the streets twisting and turning as if they hadn’t been planned at all. Grassland dotted with the largest trees she had ever seen encompassed the three sides of the city while a beach of pebbles hugged the remaining side.
‘Wow, an ocean,’ Nell said.
Kale shook his body as if he’d just come out of a rainstorm. ‘Yeah, that’s why Phibs like to live here. Nobody knows how old Paler is, but it is thought to be the first city ever built on Corl by Phib designers.’ He looked from one end of the city to the other. ‘It’s ugly, isn’t it?’
‘I think it’s beautiful,’ Nell said as she followed the Krolls onto a manicured patch of lawn in front of a long, two-storey building.
‘Me too,’ Mekie said, sliding off her Kroll.
‘I think it looks downright medieval, but cool,’ Sam said.
***
Mer-petrale waited for them at the front desk. The pastel-pink dress she wore made her bronze skin gleam. A long, white bib-apron protected her front, and her mane of strawberry-blonde hair, pulled back in a high ponytail, shone as if strands of gold silk sat amongst her hair strands. Her smile was dazzling as they approached, although it seemed forced to Nell.
‘Welcome to the Paler restoration,’ Mer-petrale said when they stopped. She waved an arm around the long room. ‘This is the narthex.’ Nell followed her gaze. The floor extended for some distance to their left and half-walls of okfor brick divided the room into separate sitting areas. ‘Choose any seating you wish while you wait for Kale,’ Mer-petrale continued.
Nell blurted, ‘But I—’
‘This is Nell,’ Kale interrupted. ‘The one I told you about.’
‘Hi,’ Nell said, confused at Kale’s interruption. She shook Mer-petrale’s hand and sensed the young woman had put up a strong block. It wasn’t as if Nell was going to try to read her. The would-be doctor had no reason not to trust her. Nell narrowed her eyes. At least she hadn’t until now.
‘G’day. I’m Sam. Nice to meet you.’ He held out his hand and smiled one of his silly crooked grins, not even trying to hide the admiration in his eyes. Mer-petrale took his hand and this time, her smile was genuine.
‘We’ve met before,’ Mekie said without even offering her hand.
‘Nice to meet you all.’ Mer-petrale looked at all of them, but her eyes lingered on Sam.
‘I told them they wouldn’t be allowed to see Shahs,’ Kale said. ‘But I thought you might like to show them around a little while I collect my assignment.’
She glanced at Sam. Nell rolled her eyes. Mer-petrale was making sure he was watching her.
‘They may see Shahs,’ said Mer-petrale, shrugging as if it wasn’t a big deal. ‘Follow me.’ She spun on her toes as if she was a ballerina and pulled something blue out of her pocket. She held it to her ear and said, ‘Be ready to open the viewing screen of 62433.’
Nell raised her eyebrows to Kale in a query about the communicator. It appeared to be an old-fashioned twai. He shook his small green head and mistaking her question, whispered, ‘She told me yesterday that Shahs couldn’t have any visitors.’
‘Well, I guess she changed her mind. Come on.’ They caught up and followed Mer-petrale down a hallway.
All the white doors to what Nell supposed were the patients’ rooms, had large black squares on them, but no names or numbers. In the second hall, Mekie elbowed Nell and nodded toward Sam. He had moved alongside Mer-petrale, turning his head every now and then to grin like a clown at her. Dork. She was only a little miffed. He had always flirted like that. But she could almost hear poor Mekie seething. Nell guessed her cousin wasn’t used to anyone being so blatant. Well, she had better get used to it. Nell doubted her neighbour would ever change.
‘I’ll meet up with you later,’ Kale said, and veered down another hallway.
‘Do you like her?’ Mekie whispered as they continued on their way.
‘She seems okay.’
‘Well, I don’t.’ Her top lip rose in a slight snarl.
‘You’re just jealous.’ Nell tried to sound friendly, but she wondered if she was happy th
at the young physician had come between her cousin and her best friend.
The end of the hall was a T-junction with a small room ahead. In the centre of the space, a Corl nurse sat behind a white metal desk. She had the same washed-out grey skin as Nadar had when Nell first met him. The wall behind the desk and the one to the right side had black squares in white doors like the previous rooms had, but the window to Nell’s left was the size of a picture window and there was no door on that wall.
The nurse stood up as soon as the group came into view. ‘Hello, Mer-petrale, I’ve been expecting you.’ Her cold, grey eyes scanned the group with Mer-petrale as her hand hovered over a rectangular panel on the side of the desk. After touching an indented blue button on the bottom of the panel, the nurse looked to her right. A clear glass picture window replaced the black square. Nell stepped closer.
A female of uncertain age sat on an unmade bed, rocking, with her arms crossed over her chest. She looked toward the window. Her brown eyes appeared glazed and unfocused. Shahs appeared blind. Her black hair was cut so short that her white scalp could be seen in places. Nell wondered if her hair was normally curly or straight. Her skin, clear of freckles, was sallow. She stopped rocking. Nell sent her connection out wishing her father had let her practise with him more often. She felt the slightest touch of a connection. Shahs wasn’t blocking her, she was trying to let Nell in, but her mind was too weak. Nell hissed a breath. In less than a blink, Shahs turned and stared with unseeing eyes at the door in front of her again, rocking harder and faster. Her jagged nails dug into her arms.
Did Nell imagine the contact? Was Shahs lucid? Nell shook her head. She was sure Shahs’ eyes had darkened and focused on her during the brief connection. But there was no way of telling for certain. Nell wished her father had let her practice connecting without touching more often. She could do so with Sam but needed someone used to blocking. She glanced at Mekie. Of course, her cousin would make an ideal practice partner. She turned away from the window. ‘Is she always like that?’ she asked the nurse.