The Faarian Chronicles: Exile

by Karen Harris Tully

  “Didn’t you know we’re cousins?” he asked, noting my surprise. I shook my head. Did I know anything here? “Well actually, you’re pretty much related to everyone here. We all are, I mean. Except the people who’ve married in. My mom and yours are sisters.”

  He pointed out a group of women across the hall and called out, “Mom!” waving at one of them. A woman who looked very much like my mother, but softer and nicer, waved and smiled.

  “Her name’s Penthe,” he continued, pronouncing it Pen-tay I gave a small smile and waved back. It was strange to suddenly have an aunt. Lots of aunts maybe, I thought, looking around.

  The twins were nearby, busily stuffing their faces, but they looked up from their plates long enough to point at me and laugh. My dear cousins.

  I turned back to find Thal looking me up and down with a puzzled look on his face. "Okay, I have to ask. What are you wearing, anyway?” He shook his head. I looked down at my outfit: shorts, Nikes, and my biker chick t-shirt (literally, a big, fuzzy yellow chick in bike spandex, a head band, and holding a ten-speed). “You realize we’re going on patrol later, right?”

  “Oh. You mean I have to actually wear that?” I asked, pointing at his outfit and wrinkling my nose. He wore the same kind of clothes I had purposely left back in my new room: a stretchy, long-sleeved khaki t-shirt and fitted cargo pants tucked into tall, blue, and ugly Doc Martinesque boots. A stained bandana trailed out of his pocket and a nerdy, double-billed visor was stuck in his waistband.

  And then there was the familiar weapon resembling a police baton in its collapsed, travel form, clipped to his belt. Okay, that part of the outfit was cool. I’d never been allowed to take my scy with me anywhere except Sensei’s dojo and back. It was still at the bottom of my luggage.

  “What, you don’t like my uniform?” He grinned at me and struck a pose. I gave his dark blue boots with the metallic sheen a skeptical once-over. Those sooo did not go with that outfit. But then, I couldn’t imagine them going with much of anything besides maybe a ripped t-shirt and studded dog collar. Now that would be a fashion statement. I grinned at the mental image. Thankfully, Thal was unaware of the picture in my head.

  “It’s awful,” I replied with a laugh, unable to think of the words for fashion tragedy.

  “Haha, you’ll look just like me soon!” he shot back. “You wear that on patrol and you’ll be haratchi bait in no time. Bright colors are a big no-no. But your eye markings will probably help with the glare from the suns. That's why you wear those, right?” He gestured to my eyes and I realized he meant my mascara and eyeliner.

  I shook my head. “No, makeup is just for looks,” I replied.

  “Oh.” He looked confused. “Well anyway, you can go change after I show you around.” He continued pointing out people around the room. “Over there with my mom and sisters,” he paused to stick his tongue out and make a disgusted face - I guess that gesture was universal, “is our other aunt, Salme. Next to her are Great-Aunt Nico and two of her daughters. Alten, the pregnant one, is your mom’s second in command. She’s on administration-only duty until after she gives birth. And I think you already met Myrihn. She’ll be the warrior going with us on patrol today.” He made the face again.

  “Wait, what do you mean by patrol, exactly?”

  “Wow, it’s like you just dropped out of space and landed here without any idea what’s going on,” he laughed. “Didn’t you have tutors?”

  I sighed and rolled my eyes. “Yeah, but the Robot sucked the big one.” And maybe I ought to have paid more attention anyway.

  “The Robot sucked the big one?” he repeated, looking confused. “Oh, you mean the hologram. He wasn’t any good?”

  I shook my head. “And Sensei apparently couldn’t say much because of the government watching her.”

  “Your government or ours?”

  “Um…. I don’t think the American government could have known about her. At least, I hope not.” They probably would have dissected her, at least according to the movies. “Anyway, my mother gave me some books to read, but honestly, I hate reading. Maybe you could just tell me stuff that I should know?”

  “Yeah, okay. I’ll try. So… patrol. The General and her warriors are our Kindred’s guardian force. Every Kindred has some, but we have the most, probably because we’re the closest to the Great Desert.” His chest puffed proudly, like this was a badge of honor for the whole Kindred. “Anyway, for them patrol means they go out every day and kick serious haratchi butt. It’s awesome! I can’t wait to take out my first den!” He pumped both fists in the air and I was reminded of the military “Hooah!”

  “For the rest of us, patrol is when we search for signs of haratchi and destroy any eggs. We report anything we find to our warrior-in-charge that day, especially any sign of infestation or full-grown haratchi.”

  I followed his finger around the room as he pointed out the rest of my mother’s elite warriors and other various relatives.

  “And see the one who just got up and went to the kitchen? That’s Aunt Salme’s oldest, Sarosh. Her husband is one of the cooks and they’re so in love it’s disgusting. But she’s a warrior now, so I guess everything’s working out for her.”

  He proceeded to name Sarosh’s toddlers, then all of our first and second cousins (I think I counted twenty-one all together) - including the ones who were off at school, wherever that was - and who their mothers were, and third and fourth cousins twice removed, and … sheesh! I gave up, overwhelmed, and stared at him in disbelief. I’d never had so much as one cousin, let alone being related to nearly everyone here.

  He laughed at the look I gave him. “I know, I know, it’s too much to remember all at once. Anyway, the administrative offices are down that corridor,” he pointed, “including your mom’s office.”

  “The upper floors are all residences, and that door leads to Mom’s medical clinic.” He pointed again. “Mom has office hours there most days and is pretty much on call the rest of the time.”

  “So,” I tried to keep up with his explanations. “Your mom, Aunt… Penthe, is what, the doctor around here?” We were walking towards a set of double doors in the corner across from the infirmary.

  “Yep. Only doctor right now too, for the Kindred villages around here.” He smiled and nodded with pride. I wonder how that would feel, to be proud of my mother’s importance. Instead of resenting it.

  “Hey Thal, that reminds me. How do I contact Earth? I need to let Dad know I arrived okay,” I explained.

  “I don’t know. I’ve never done it myself.” He shrugged. “Your mom’s the only one I know of that contacts Earth.”

  “Oh.” I frowned, not really wanting to talk to her.

  He led the way down a corridor and some wide stone stairs that gave the impression of descending into a medieval dungeon, but the lights flicked on ahead of us to reveal an enormous train station that seemed to run under the entire compound. A large, empty pavilion spread out on either side of the tracks. Hmmm, this space would have potential if it had mats.

  “Trains come through a couple times a day, and market is held down here a few times a week. Oh, don’t mess with those,” he said when I peeked under one of several tarp-covered objects next to the tracks. “Emergency flash pods for the warriors to get to other Kindreds in case of a haratchi outbreak. So cool, but we don’t even get to touch them until we become warriors ourselves.” He gave a disappointed sigh, then led the way around the rest of the underground plaza.

  Screens of various sizes were built in flush to the walls and turned on as we approached, showing posters and train route maps that changed every few seconds. One poster showed people staring up at the sky with their hands raised, waiting for rain and wearing oxygen masks. It read: “Replant outdoors and grow oxygen and water for our world. It’s everyone’s responsibility now.”

  Another showed a forest fire and more people with oxygen masks, this time running with children and suitcases. It read: “Burning them out burns us out.” W
hat the heck? Maybe they should import Smokey Bear.

  “Next market day is tomorrow. It’ll be packed down here, you’ll see,” Thal said.

  The screens popped over to info about a public market: times, vendor contact info, goods available for purchase, etc.

  “How’d you do that?” I asked, pointing to the screens.

  “Do what?” he asked, confused. “Oh, them. They show whatever the nearest person is talking about. When there’s a lot of people around, it can get really annoying, believe me.”

  As soon as he said “annoying,” a list of rules showed up on several screens, which included everything from "no running" and "bio-scans required", to a bold-type statement at the bottom that read: EVERYONE WELCOME. NO DISCRIMINATION.

  “We’d better hurry,” he said. “I’ve got one more thing to show you.” He grinned in anticipation and started back up the stairs at a trot. We passed by the doors to the great hall and turned through a set of glass doors, into the main courtyard I’d seen through the dome from the airplane.

  It was an enormous greenhouse, bright, lush, and humid, with a grove of coconut palms in the center. Tropical orchids grew throughout the rainforest canopy and the enormous room buzzed with life and growth. It was an oxygen-rich paradise. The only thing missing was a pool.

  “Okay, that’s it. We’ve gotta start patrol soon. Hurry up and go change and don’t forget to grab your scy. I’ll meet you at procurement with some other equipment for you. Let’s go.” And break, I thought as I reluctantly left the courtyard and we ran off in different directions. Thankfully, I made it back to the apartment without getting lost. Score one for me.

  Entering my room, I stopped short. I hadn’t even unpacked the night before, so most of my things should have still been neatly folded in the bags that I’d tossed into the corner. Instead, someone had dumped them out into a jumbled heap and strewn them across the room. And everything I’d had out on the dresser and bedside table this morning had been moved around. Whoever it was hadn’t exactly made an effort to disguise their visit.

  I rummaged frantically through the mess and uncovered my scy with a huge sigh of relief, as its familiar tingle spread through my fingers and up my arm. Sensei had given it to me years ago, on my return to training after the avalanche.

  “It’s called a scythion, scy for short,” Sensei had said about the intriguing double-bladed weapon leaning against the sun-glazed wall one day in the training room back home. I’d immediately itched to pick it up.

  “I brought it with me, a gift from your mother for when you were ready. I wasn’t sure before, but I think it’s time for you to have it now.” She had motioned to the long wooden pole with a wicked curved blade attached to either end. “Go ahead, take it.”

  I had slowly reached out and had picked it up - and gasped. A river of energy seemed to flow up from my hand and into my body. I stared at my arm in amazement.

  She hummed in satisfaction. “What you’re feeling is the sun’s energy stored in the alloy of the handle. It may look like wood, but of course they haven’t made them out of real wood in many years,” she said wryly.

  “No showing this to anyone, not even Andi. Got it?” She gave me a hard look until I sighed and nodded. She knew me too well.

  “Good. Press the button here once.” She pointed to a single, recessed button in the center of the pole between two raised grips. I pushed it with my thumb and both blades smoothly folded into the pole. I was left with what looked like a wooden pole with handle grips in the middle.

  “Now press it a second time.” I did and dropped the thing with a surprised squeak when the whole pole collapsed in on itself down to the grips, looking something like a police baton. Sensei smiled in the closest thing to a laugh I’d ever seen from her.

  “Now extend it the same way. One press extends the pole, the second deploys the blades.” I did as she said, holding it as far away from my body as possible to avoid accidentally slicing and dicing myself with the moving blades. She smiled.

  “Don’t worry. Watch.” She reached out and held the weapon in place with one hand as she moved her other arm toward one of the blades.

  “Sensei, no!” I yelled in alarm and tried to pull the weapon away. Failing that, I dropped the scy and stepped back to watch in fascinated horror while she ran her forearm over the blade. I expected gushing blood and a trip to the emergency room, but nothing happened. The blade was still clean, and her arm unscathed. She gave me a mischievous smile and turned quickly to swing the weapon into the nearby wall. The blade cut easily into the tongue-in-groove pine and stuck there with a resounding Thwack!

  “Wha…? How?” I stammered.

  “On this setting, a DNA sensor wraps the blade in a force field if it comes too close to human skin. You couldn’t cut a person with this if you tried. The worst you could get from it is a big bruise.”

  “You mean it’s child-proofed,” I observed, trying unsuccessfully to yank it out of the wood paneling.

  She nodded. “Yep. You’ve got it.” She removed it smoothly from the wall and handed it to me. “Of course, it’s still dangerous to everything else, so please be careful.” She retrieved another scy from the equipment closet and squared off with me.

  “Now, en garde.” I had rolled my eyes. She’d been watching too many old Three Musketeers movies.

  Back in my new room, strangely enough nothing seemed to be missing. I couldn’t figure out what the intruders were looking for, but I had my suspicions about who would’ve rifled my room.

  I quickly pulled on my hideous, but ugh, admittedly comfortable new uniform, clipped my scy to my belt and was about to hurry back to get my new equipment from Thal (ray gun, hopefully) when I realized what was missing. Meowman.

  Chapter 14: Stranger Bearing Gifts

  I’d left him on the pillow that morning, I was sure of it. Where was he? I searched the little room quickly for any sign of synthetic orange fur, under the bed and through my belongings, but no Meowman.

  I stomped down to the room Thal had told me was procurement. Shelves upon tall shelves filled the room behind the counter, stocked with basic household necessities, some completely empty. Familiar looking crates were stacked against every available wall, waiting to be unloaded, and two fifty-gallon drums labeled ‘Unscented Lotion’ and ‘Sun Block’, stood next to a shelf filled with empty glass bottles. Narrow aisles wound between the shelving units, barely big enough for two people side by side.

  “I need a lock for my door,” I demanded from the short, middle-aged man behind the counter when he looked up from restocking packs of unbleached, organic-fiber underwear from a box. I didn’t see Thal around, but no need to wait for him for this.

  “You need to fill out a work order and turn it in, specifying what kind of lock you need and why,” he replied. “Don’t forget…” he looked up from his task and took a step back. Oh right, my eyes. I hadn’t thought to wear my sunglasses - again.

  I tried to be pleasant and give him a smile, but my attempt was weak. “Can you please just give me a padlock? I promise I’ll fill out whatever you want when I’m done.”

  “What’s wrong, Earth Princess?” A taunting voice called from behind me. I spun around to see Lyta and Otrere grinning wickedly at me. “Lost your dolly?” That one was Lyta, I thought. The leader. The loud one.

  The other one, Otrere, held Meowman by the head and shook him, whipping his furry body back and forth. She was the thuggish one. The enforcer.

  “That was a gift, give it back!” I growled, making a grab for the stuffed cat.

  “Or what?” Lyta asked while Otrere held Meowman up out of reach, both of them laughing. “Nice eyes, by the way.” I could have cared less about my eyes right then.

  I made a jump for it and missed as Otrere jerked Meowman back tauntingly.

  “Come on. You have to be able to jump higher than that.”

  “You know, I thought she’d be taller,” Lyta mused.

  “Yeah, me too,” Otrere said as I j
umped again, this time grabbing the tail as Otrere jerked it back. A ripping sound echoed through the stone hallway.

  “Oops! Now look what you did, Princess!”

  “That’s gonna leave a mark,” Otrere snickered. I held Meowman’s body by the tail, while Otrere still held the head. She had decapitated him! I was so angry I dropped the headless body and took a sloppy swing at her nose. She caught my arm easily and whipped me around into a headlock.

  Lyta stalked forward, no longer grinning. Otrere had a moment to laugh next to my ear before I kicked her in the face over my shoulder with the toe of my ugly, steel-toed boot. It was a move designed more for shock and awe than to knock a person out, despite how cool it looked in The Matrix. Nevertheless, it had its intended result.

  Lyta jumped back, and Otrere released me with a grunt of surprised pain before I stepped back into her for a hip throw. The big girl swung easily over my back into her sister, leaving them both sprawling on the stone floor in a heap.

  “Come on then!” I said. “You two are so slow I can take you both!”

  “Hey!” the clerk exclaimed behind me. “What are you three, animals? Take it outside or I’m calling Alten.”

  Lyta and Otrere untangled themselves and got up, glaring at me but not advancing. Then unexpectedly, Lyta started to laugh as Otrere rubbed her jaw. I slowly stood upright in shock, slow to believe I wasn’t going to have to kick both their butts.

  “So, Earth-girl can fight when she wants to,” Lyta said finally, nodding at the clerk. She picked up Meowman’s head from the floor and tossed it to me, losing bits of stuffing all around. Otrere nodded slowly and backed off, still massaging her jaw and glaring at me as if she couldn’t quite figure out what had happened. I eyed them both with distrust, wondering what their next trick would be.