The Search For WondLa

by DiTerlizzi, Tony

  “Did you see it?” Eva asked.

  “Oh, no,” Rovender replied. “This was long before I hatched. But there remain records of it in my clan.”

  “Where do they live? Your clan?” Eva stared into the glow of Rovender’s lantern as he handed it to her. She glanced down at Muthr, who was working on the Goldfish under the pale blue glow of the Omnipod. With the sun long gone, the cool of night pervaded the land. Eva could feel the climatefibers in her tunic and jackvest warming her.

  “The Cæruleans, which is my clan, live quite a distance from here. They arrived in Orbona several generations before I hatched, during what was called the Great Migration. They traveled many light-years aboard a ship filled with passengers, led by the great king, Ojo.” Rovender handed Eva her bedroll and a blanket.

  “Where did they come from?” Eva stood, unrolling the mat. “Why did they come here?”

  “They came from many different worlds, most with just the belongings on their backs. Our village shaman was but a nymph when she arrived here, carrying only a necklace from her mother and the severed foot of her slain warrior father.” Rovender lit another lantern. He found his pouch of seedpods and offered some to Eva.

  “But why here?” Eva grabbed the seedpods and popped them into her mouth. As soon as her damp tongue touched the husk, it split open, producing several small seeds, which tasted nutty. Eva spat out the husks, as she’d seen her friend do, and put another handful into her mouth.

  “Many traveled from dying war-torn planets.” Rovender’s voice was distant with recollection. “You see, the Ojo family had the ability to reawaken dead planets—bring them out of their hibernating slumber. They picked Orbona for its climate and extreme distance from our past worlds … and past lives.”

  Eva thought of the painting she’d seen on the ceiling in Hostia’s home. The eye painted on the nose of the ship was the same as Queen Ojo’s eyes.

  “Oeeah! Look there!” Rovender pointed up into the sky. “There they are. You can even see the outer gossamer ring.”

  The dusky clouds moved on, like a colossal herd drifting away from the stars, and revealed a glittering band arcing across the heavens. Eva followed the celestial ring to the horizon, where the dark desert disappeared into the faded light. With the glimmer of the gibbous moon reflected in the ebony sand below, she imagined their camp was floating out in the middle of the universe—and her friends could not be touched by anyone … or anything.

  “It is beautiful, is it not?” Rovender took a deep breath.

  “I feel … so … tiny.” Eva took in the entire starlit expanse. “So … insignificant.”

  “Tiny—perhaps.” Rovender kept his eyes fixed on the rings. “Insignificant—never, Eva Nine. No living thing is insignificant.”

  CHAPTER 35: TURNFINS

  A chorus of soft, low hoots summoned the daylight.

  Though it was still hazy out, most of the stars had faded. With the cloud cover swept away, the distant Rings of Orbona stretched across the violet predawn sky. The chilly breeze that had prickled Eva’s face now danced off to hide from the rising sun.

  Eva blinked out the sleep as she woke and spied the source of the hooting. Three turnfins had roosted on a rock overlooking the camp. In the morning haze Rovender Kitt threw bits of old fruit at them, which they captured in their beaky maws. One of the bird creatures flapped its wings and warbled at another, trying to steal its prize.

  “Turnfins.” Rovender grinned as he finished feeding them. “I don’t know how they find you, but they just do—no matter how far out from civilization you are.” He rolled up his sleeping mat.

  “Turnfins,” Eva repeated, and stretched her long, skinny arms up into the pink sky. This spooked the birds, causing them to beat their wings, but they remained on their perch. “Too bad there’s no water nearby. They could dive in and catch us breakfast.”

  “Yes, too bad …” Rovender chuckled. He gazed up and studied a small flock circling high above them. “Though, you never know. There may be water out here somewhere.”

  “Good morning!” Muthr called up from below. “Eva, dear, how did you sleep?”

  Eva leaned over her rocky perch and waved. “I slept great, thanks,” she said. “How’s the Goldfish coming along?”

  “I worked on it through the night while Otto kept me company. He is quite friendly, this one.” Muthr patted Otto on the head. “The craft shall now run considerably better. We are currently at eighty-seven percent functionality,” she reported as she turned on the hovercraft.

  In the light of the rising sun, Eva could see that the purring Goldfish looked better than it had the day before. It now floated more than a meter above the sand. The tail fins had been reattached in their proper positions, and even the audio player was singing softly.

  “That’s amazing!” Eva scrambled down to join Muthr.

  Otto came up and nuzzled Eva’s left hand for a scratch behind the ear.

  “Hiya, Otto. Been watching over Muthr while she fixes this thing?”

  The water bear hooted a happy reply.

  “I had to use one of your Pow-R-drinks to clean and flush the fuel lines, but it should really enhance its overall performance.” Muthr handed a SustiBar to Eva. “After breakfast, and after we tend to your hand, I can teach you how to drive it, if you want.”

  “Whoa, really?” Eva forgot all about her food, and her injury, and crawled into the driver’s seat. A series of buttons and a small control yoke, for steering, greeted her. Brightly projected on the clear polished windshield was a display of numbers and indicators, which included hover height, speed, and wind direction. “This is going to be awesome!” Eva said, turning the yoke back and forth. She paused. “But don’t you think I’ll get sick again?”

  “I checked about your nausea with the Omnipod.” Muthr held up the device. “Apparently kinetosis, motion sickness, may be prevented if you are driving. Plus, navigation of a vehicle is always a good skill to acquire.”

  “Well, then, let’s get moving!” Rovender tossed his jingling rucksack down to the soft sand next to the hovercraft. He followed, hopping down to join Eva, and handed the beamguide to her. “Before we set out, let us check our bearings so that we can confirm we are heading in the right direction.” Rovender took hold of Eva’s hand and angled one side of the square-cut crystal so that the beams of morning sunlight entered it directly.

  With the cube acting as a prism, light projected out, spreading like a flat hologram in all directions. Eva immediately realized that what she was viewing was a detailed virtual relief map of Orbona’s surface terrain. She recognized the miniature city of Solas, nestled next to Lake Concors. Eva even saw the tiny pillars of Lacus, on the opposite shore, and the Wandering Forest beyond it.

  Rovender pointed to a sparkling dot on the map. “This is our current location, here … ,” he said, then walked through the hologram and pointed to a cluster of knobby spires rising from a depression in the ground. “And here is where, I believe, we want to go.”

  “This is quite impressive, Mr. Kitt.” Muthr’s head poked up through the projected holographic landscape like a great desert sphinx. “However, what are those blackened areas?”

  “Uncharted lands,” Rovender answered as he rubbed his whiskers. “These beamguides work simply by communicating with other beamguides buried in numerous locations. This is as far as Solas’s explorers have recorded.”

  “What’s that?” Eva pointed to a small, flat depression in the map. It was located halfway between their current location and their destination at the ancient ruins.

  “It looks like a small body of water, perhaps even an oasis.” Rovender knelt close to get a better look.

  “Well, we could certainly use more water.” Muthr rolled over to inspect it. “And it does not seem far off from our projected course.”

  “No, it doesn’t.” Rovender stood with his eyes still fixed on the landmark. He peered out into the landscape toward its direction. “I wonder if that’s where th
ese turnfins came from.”

  “Let’s find out,” Eva said, handing the cube back.

  “Okay, Eva Nine.” Rovender climbed up onto Otto. “Lead the way.”

  Rovender sat high atop Otto, enjoying his lunch and feeding turnfins, as the giant water bear trailed behind the Goldfish. Everywhere Eva looked it seemed the turnfins were about, swooping and squawking—like the holograms she’d seen of crying gulls as they followed ocean-bound ships.

  Eva navigated the craft up toward the crest of an ashen gray linear dune. “Muthr, what do you think we will find at the ruins?” she asked.

  Muthr was silent, save for her clicking eyelids, as she seemed to process Eva’s question.

  “I do not know, Eva, dear.” Muthr looked out at the horizon. Little lights flickered on the back of her head. “To be truthful, we are so beyond the limits of my programming that I have had to continually reprogram myself as we continue our journey.”

  Eva glided the Goldfish over the crest of the dune, and down the slip face. “I feel like I’ve had to reprogram myself too. No holography chamber prepared me for this.”

  Muthr nodded. “I have to wonder what our makers had in mind when they put us on this planet. It can be such a volatile environment.”

  “You’ve got that right.” Eva chuckled and steered the hovercraft up the next windward slope. “But it is beautiful, too.”

  “I agree, but honestly, none of our programs were accurate.” Muthr let out a static sigh. “I feel like I failed you, Eva.”

  Eva looked over at Muthr. With her head looking down at her wire-veined hands, the robot appeared to be despondent.

  “You didn’t fail. And it’s going to be okay,” Eva said, patting Muthr’s hand. “We’ll go to this place and see if we can’t find some clues, or even other humans. And, if we don’t, we’ll keep searching … right?”

  “Right,” Muthr repeated. “I just want you to know that I am so very proud of you, Eva. I believe in you. I believe that we are doing the right thing.”

  “I think so too.” Eva smiled as she brought the Goldfish up the windward slope of yet another large dune.

  “Up there!” Rovender yelled.

  Eva turned to see him standing on top of Otto, goggles in hand. He pointed toward the horizon. “The oasis is over there!”

  Eva aimed her gaze in the direction he was pointing. In the far distance flocks of turnfins circled. She steered the hovercraft toward them and pulled the throttle back, sending whorls of grainy sand swirling about in her wake.

  CHAPTER 36: BREATHLESS

  Eva watched a cluster of small wandering trees meander around a muddy pool in the middle of the dark sands of the wasteland. Like a mirror reflecting the azure sky, the surface of the pool was as flat as glass, even as the occasional turnfin approached the bank and stole a quick sip. In the dampness surrounding the large waterhole, a variety of colorful lichens and mosses blanketed the desert sand.

  “Now, Eva, dear,” Muthr cautioned as Eva parked the Goldfish in the shade of a low ridge. “Let me examine the mineral content of the water before you add a purification tablet and consume it.”

  “Okay.” Eva hopped out and threw her jackvest onto the seat. She walked over and joined Rovender.

  “One more request, Eva,” Muthr said as she opened the access hood on the side of the hovercraft. “If you could bring some water back to refuel the Goldfish, that would be good. I do not want to use up all of your hydration tablets to keep it running.”

  “No problem,” Eva said, and stroked Otto as she passed him. The water bear shuffled over to join Muthr and the Goldfish in the shade.

  “Otto does not want a drink?” Rovender glanced back over his shoulder as he walked with Eva.

  “He said he was fine,” Eva said, padding over the damp sand toward the pool. “His herd is not far off, and he’ll be rejoining them soon where there is plenty to eat and drink.”

  “Oh, I see,” Rovender said as he knelt down at the shoreline with several bottles. The large crystalline pool contained numerous rocks and sticks visible on its shallow bottom. All were coated in a fine silt. Eva flopped down and began to pull off her sneakboots and socks.

  “Oh, this is going to feel so good,” she said with a giggle, and rolled her leggings up. “The sneakboots make my feet so sweaty!”

  Rovender dipped his fingertips into the water and washed the grit off his face. The pattern of pores that composed his nose sensed the water. “Something isn’t right,” he whispered. He splashed more of it onto his face. “Eva Nine,” Rovender called. He stood and scanned the area. “Get out of the water, now.”

  Eva had waded up to her knees. “Why? What is it, Rovee?”

  “Just get out as fast as you can. Look!” He pointed to a stand of wandering trees near the pool.

  Eva saw a small flock of turnfins watching them from the nearby trees. “What?” she said.

  “None of the turnfins are in the water,” he said. “Get out!”

  Eva waded back toward shore. Behind her rose a monstrous flower bulb from the center of the pool, supported on a thick, hairy stalk. Wide-eyed, Eva stopped, turned, and watched as the bulb opened in the warm sunlight, a prodigious bloom full of speckled, spattered color. It reminded her of a gigantic exotic orchid as it released a cloud of pollen particles into the air surrounding it.

  “It’s so beautiful,” Eva said. Dazzled, she stared at its center. The banded filaments of the flower stretched like tentacles as they unfurled toward her.

  Rovender splashed into the water, shouting, “Eva, I don’t think …” He paused when he reached her, looking at the giant flower. “You are right,” he murmured. “It is a lovely, magnificent blossom.”

  The uncoiling filaments unrolled toward the mesmerized pair, and the powdery anthers neared them. Eva let out a deep sigh as the fuzzy end brushed against her face.

  “It’s … wonderful … ,” she said, breathless.

  “So … sublime … ,” Rovender said, and wheezed.

  As she watched from the shore, Muthr called out to them, “Eva! Mr. Kitt! I would recommend you back away immediately from this unknown plant species.”

  Otto hooted loudly and shifted back and forth in the damp sand on his many legs.

  “Stay here, Otto, dear.” Muthr wheeled over to the hovercraft and snatched up the Omnipod. “I am not sure what this monstrous bloom is doing, but it appears to have them in some sort of a hypnotic state.”

  The robot rolled out into the water toward an unmoving Eva. “Eva Nine, can you hear me?” Muthr shouted. “I need you to—oh, my!”

  Eva’s skin was tinted blue, and her eyes fluttered. She exhaled in a long gagging yawn as the air was sucked from her lungs through her open mouth.

  “Oxygen levels in this area are critically low for human respiration,” the Omnipod chirped. “Please avoid immediate area at all costs without proper breathing aids, or hypoxia may occur.”

  Muthr picked Eva up and turned back to shore. As she carried the added weight, the robot’s single wheel dug into the sediment below. Otto bounded toward the pool.

  “No, Otto! Stay!” Muthr commanded as she sank farther into the pool’s muddy bottom. “This plant is bad!” She glanced over at Rovender, who stood motionless while the flower sucked the air from his lungs. She was now up to her waist in water, her single wheel digging her deeper and deeper into the muck.

  “Remote ignition of hovercraft S-five-thirty-one, please,” Muthr commanded the Omnipod as she kept Eva’s unconscious face above water. The disturbed silt revealed a murky bed—not of rocks and sticks but of bones and skulls.

  “Ignition of hovercraft commencing,” the Omnipod chirped. “Hold for one moment, please.”

  “I do not have ‘one moment’!” Muthr said. “Get me virtual navigation of that vehicle immediately!”

  The Goldfish burbled to life, hovering toward Muthr as she guided the craft with her free hand. Water sprayed out in a fine mist as the Goldfish drifted over the surface of
the pool.

  Otto squawked loudly.

  Muthr turned her head in time to see the filaments of the flower coil around Rovender, squeezing the last breaths out of him. With most of her metallic torso now submerged, the robot hoisted Eva’s lifeless form into the Goldfish. Muthr navigated the hovercraft toward shore. She grasped tightly on to the tailfin and pulled herself from the mucky grip of the pool’s bottom.

  With the Goldfish hovering back over land, the mud-caked robot called out to Otto. “Grab her, please!”

  The passenger door opened and Otto lifted Eva from the car with his beaky mouth and carried her far from the pool. Muthr climbed into the driver’s seat and raced the Goldfish back out over the pool toward Rovender.

  He appeared lifeless, constricted in the banded tentacles of the monstrous plant. As soon as Muthr neared him, the bloom belched out more pollen, dusting Muthr’s lacquered surface. She grabbed the filamentous tentacles that held Rovender and began twisting and turning them, and ripped them from the flower head.

  As she struggled to haul Rovender’s unconscious body into the hovercraft, the plant sent more tentacles out toward the Goldfish, wrapping filaments around anything they came in contact with. With tremendous strength it began to pull the hovercraft into the water toward it.

  “Omnipod,” Muthr commanded the device as she watched the waterline creep over the tail of the craft. “I need to know what will immediately terminate the life of an aquatic plant.”

  “If it is a freshwater variety,” the Omnipod replied, “salt water may affect it, or acid rain, pesticides, lack of sunlight, or other forms of contamination. Shall I continue?”

  “How about electricity?” Muthr opened the access hatch on the dashboard.

  “It could have quite an immediate effect if—”

  “Good!” Muthr yanked out a handful of the Goldfish’s internal wiring and submerged them into the water. An electric jolt shot through the pool, causing the monstrous plant to release its grip. It retracted and sank back below the surface.