When they arrived Niri stepped out of the pod into a combined living, dining and kitchen room. Short hallways radiated out from each of the other sidewalls. The corners were each set up for a different activity. The first corner held a display screen and lounge furniture. The second corner held a small library of books and what looked like cd cases. The third corner held the glass doored transport boot with its obscure control panel. A small galley style kitchenette took up the fourth corner. An elevator was centered in the wall between the first and fourth corner. Niri went straight for the hallway between the lounge and the library. Hesitantly Annette followed.
Four doors opened out of the hall and Niri stopped in front of the first on the right hand side. “Put your palm to the panel.” Niri directed Annette to the glossy square slightly raised from the surface of the wall next to the door.
When Annette complied a composite feminine voice greeted her, “Welcome to your quarters, please state your name, age and place of birth.”
“Annette Peterson, thirteen, Earth.”
“Thank you Annette Peterson. Do you prefer a nickname?” The voice responded.
Annette glanced at Niri, “Just Annette.” The door slid open revealing a comfortably sized bedroom, larger than both the one she’d just vacated and the one in her foster parent’s quarters. Niri leaned towards Annette, nonverbally encouraging her into the room but Annette waited to see if the voice had any more questions.
“Preference noted. Voice imprint complete. Annette, I am now your personal data organization program. You may name me if you choose, or address me as Room. If you would prefer to modify my interface you may do that at any time.” The voice informed her.
Annette smiled to herself and thought of Tawny. Her room’s voice lacked all of Tawny’s personality and character. Niri poked Annette in the back. “You said you wanted to go to your quarters. Here we are.” Niri seemed more eager than Annette to see them. Annette sensed the woman enjoyed each person’s reaction. Finally, Annette stepped into the room to escape Niri's prodding finger.
It was large for a bedroom. The wall to the right of the door held a smaller version of the lounge screen centered the wall above a desk and chair. The wall opposite the door held a built in bed nook and cupboard doors. The wall to the left of the door held a bank of drawers, shelves and the bathroom door. It was everything Annette had expected for so long, but despite Niri’s eager attention all Annette really wanted to do was crawl in bed and sleep, probably a side effect of her metamorphic transformation.
AWell?” Niri blurted, over eager.
Annette turned and answered with a spontaneous yawn. Niri’s grin waned and she turned to leave, her understanding implicit. “I’ll let you get settled. And despite Angela’s eagerness to see you reaching your goals, we’ll wait until things get settled to get back to your training.”
“You could have the books delivered,” Annette offered, edging her way to the bed.
“Sleep well,” Niri left and the door slid nearly silently shut, not long later Annette’s eyes did too.
- - - - - - - - - -
Yllera had been following Tevrum and Illay for hours. Most of the last few were spent in gullies and dry washes but she thought they had been going in circles. She wasn’t surprised, of course they wouldn’t want a stranger to know the way to their secret places. What did surprise Yllera was their willingness to begin the trip during the hottest portion of the day. Yllera tried to keep her bearings by the sun but she’d never been good at that.
The second hardest thing was the silence. Neither Teverum nor Illay had said much since the hike began. Yllera could feel the pressure of telepathic communication between them but could catch none of it. All she had picked up for certain was that though they liked her they didn’t yet trust her completely.
Yllera almost panicked when, while distracted internally, both Teverum and Illay disappeared ahead of her. She raced forward and stood alone at the head of a dry wash. Thoughts that they had ditched her rather than show her their hideout and have to kill her crossed her mind until a curtain of roots parted and revealed Illay’s hiding place in a hollow cave beneath a tree. Yllera joined her and discovered the cave was far from natural the ceiling was supported by wooden post and beams. The wall opposite the opening held a door which looked like it came from a submarine with a wheel in the center to open it. Teverum opened it and stepped down through it.
“We are here,” Illay whispered. “From here your life depends on our hospitality. See that you don’t offend.”
“I get it, you’ve shown me now you have to kill me.” Yllera replied understanding, uncomfortably, how true her statement was.
She followed Illay through the door and waited while the woman closed it behind them. Illay led down the sloping tunnel. Teverum was nowhere to be seen, though there was enough dim greenish light to see by. The walls were smooth and reflective almost glassy, the floor beneath them was rough yet still glass-like. Yllera streaks in the upper wall and ceiling seemed to have a connectivity like blood vessels, they were the source of the light. Their glow increased with every moment. The light grew brighter, and took on a yellowish hue while they stood there.
Yllera heard the sound of a shower and wondered at it, until following Illay she found Teverum vigorously slathering a greenish froth all over himself suit and all. Illay promptly joined him, lathering his back and all the places he couldn’t reach. Then while he lathered her back she carefully folded back the portions of her suit which might have admitted sand and lathered there too before rinsing herself thoroughly. The water ran down past them into a drain on the floor with a gurgling sound. Yllera thought she heard a pump start up but couldn’t tell anything for certain over the sound of the water.
“Your turn, come here,” Illay motioned as Teverum left, disappearing. Yllera joined Illay in the shower. Illay showed her the spigot that the green froth came from. Yllera began lathering herself and Illay worked on her back. Then Illay made room under the showerhead for Yllera to rinse. Then Illay led the way down the tunnel towards Teverum.
Teverum stood and waited beside another door like the first. His pack sat on a shelf to the right of the door, several similar looking packs sat to the left. Illay put her pack on the shelf next to his. A greenish mist issued from the wall engulfing everything, but especially both packs momentarily. Teverum opened the door and waved Yllera through it.
It was a long airlock. Something not uncommon to the planet. Hooks lined the walls and the hoods of survival suits hung from them. Once Illay and Teverum were inside and the door was closed, Teverum removed the hood of his suit and the attached mask. He hung it deliberately on a hook and waited for Illay and Yllera to do the same. Illay copied Teverum. Yllera removed her hood and folded it neatly placing it in the appropriate zippered pocket of her suit. For the first time Yllera could see Illay and Teverum’s full faces, and she knew they could see hers.
The native Agurians both had short cropped hair, as opposed to Yllera’s which was braided and pinned up. Yllera realized after what little time she’d spent on the planet that it might not be long before she chose to cut her hair off as well. The natives also had drier slightly darker skin, even though their suits protected them from the elements at least as well as Yllera’s. They seemed to be sizing her up as much as she was sizing them up. Finally Teverum opened the inner airlock door.
The bustling sounds of a small village, both aural and telepathic, instantly flooded the airlock. Yllera was shocked by the efficacy of the shielding which had kept those sounds mute, she wasn’t sure if Sanctuary possessed any as effective. Illay and Teverum stepped out of the airlock into the room beyond. Yllera followed hesitantly. The only way her assignment could end now was really successful or very badly.
The room beyond was smaller than it sounded, the walls were lined with small square niches filled with folded clothes and shoes. There were several benches near the niches on which to sit. A small boy sat playing with a piece of chalk and slate
in the corner near a wooden door. Teverum walked to a niche and retrieved a pile of clothes from the pocket of which he took a small piece of what looked to be candy and tossed it to the boy. Then Teverum spoke, “Mee mekwurd cehmshay. Tay speyek a shay. May duermplas prepost.” The boy raced out the door with candy in hand but leaving behind the slate and chalk.
“Tev told the boy to fetch the seer to our rooms soon,” Illay whispered in translation. Teverum began to change into the clothing and Yllera averted her eyes.
“Who exactly is this seer, and what exactly does he or she see?” Yllera asked.
Illay retrieved a bundle of clothes from a niche and began stripping off her suit. “She is a survivor of the plague. She can still see and know what makes a person. Their cells and . . . genes. Before the plague she could see even those who masked themselves. We think she cannot anymore, but because no one can mask themselves anymore there is no way to test her. “
“Masked themselves?” Yllera sat with her back to Teverum.
“Changed not only their shape and form but also the genes and cells, it was very difficult to do, back when our kind could still do it. The plague, damned be the Tanerians, took much from us.” Illay growled.
Yllera nodded, she knew that much about what it meant to be Agurian. That they had once been able to do so much. “Do you know how the plague did it?”
“No, do you?” Illay grimaced trying to pull off the foot of her suit.
Yllera shook her head, brushing her cheek against a pile of softness being passed over her shoulder by Teverum. Yllera glanced at it and realized it was culturally proper to change out of the survival suit now. Yllera glanced back flashing a smile at him, he was fully clothed now. “Thanks but I do have my own.” Yllera said.
“Where?” Illay asked spontaneously.
Keenly aware that Illay and Teverum were watching closely, Yllera didn’t answer she just unzipped the long vertical zipper on her right arm and reached her left arm dramatically up to her elbow into the pocket revealed. A few moments of tactile fishing and she found the light tan linen garments she had packed in case she succeeded in making contact. All information gleaned from Agurian sources in Sanctuary’s databases informed her that it would be the least threatening outfit possible. She pulled the outfit out of her sleeve and re-zipped it. Then she retrieved a stasis loop from a traditionally placed locked pocket and set it up. When she clicked the two red sides of the connectors together an event horizon formed. She stripped down to the supportive undergarments she wore beneath her survival suit and folded the suit carefully before tucking it through the stasis loop. Then on went the linen garments, the outfit looked like a fair match to what Illay and Teverum wore. At least that much had been correct so far. Yllera unclasped the stasis loop and wrapped it around her neck before carefully clasping one blue connector with a red one. No shimmery event horizon just a plain looking cable necklace.
“Did your Factors give that to you?” Illay eyed the necklace half awed half frightened. “I’ve heard tales of Tanerians having magics like that.” The way Illay inflected the word “Tanerian” reminded Yllera that trust wasn’t yet solidly established.
“I’ll admit that the factors have >borrowed’ Tanerian technologies, but we’ve made improvements. Truth is the Tanerians themselves salivate at the chance of seeing what we have. Too bad for them that current policy doesn’t allow us to trade with non-allies.”
“So you war with them? I thought you had Tanerian garbage collectors,” Teverum asked.
“Those are individuals who have joined us. The fact is that The Tanerian Empire still refuses to recognize Sanctuary as a valid political entity. They can’t entirely block Galactic councils from accepting our help but there isn’t one single alternate that will recognize us fully,” Yllera answered quickly.
“I am not surprised, they hate anyone who threatens their supremacy,” Illay growled.
“I don’t know if they hate us, all relations are amicable so far, still. . .,” Yllera felt the need to defend the Tanerians, but suddenly realized that there might be something to Illay’s anger, “I suppose their behavior is suspect.” Yllera made mental note to include the thought in her first report.
“Come we should see the seer.” Teverum led the way out the wooden door onto a steep stairway. At the bottom of the stairs were rough rocky corridors much like the bottom layers of Sanctuary, toss in a few transport booths and . . . Yllera felt strangely at home. Open glass bowls hung at intervals along the corridors, glowing murkily. Teverum began leading them through a tangled path of corridors and downward sloping stairways until he finally reached doorway with a hand woven hanging covering it. He shifted the hanging aside and stepped inside.
Illay grabbed Yllera’s hesitant shoulder and shoved Yllera into the room. The room was dim, and more like the entry tunnel. The glassy ceiling was spider webbed with the same vein-like light sources as the entry tunnels. Thick pallets of some sort lined the walls and throw pillows rugs and blankets were thrown everywhere. Despite the randomness of the piles the room seemed well kept and on closer examination possessing of more than surface organization. When one of the piles blinked at her Yllera very nearly jumped. The pile wasn’t in fact a pile it was a very old very weather worn woman wrapped in several layers of blankets. She must be the seer.
“Sit!” A frail yet firm voice commanded, while a worn yet strong arm gestured towards a cushion set in front of the woman.
Yllera didn’t require any further information, this woman was the gate through which she must pass to fulfill her mission. Yllera sat where she was told.
The woman shot out a dry, root-like hand and wrapped it around Yllera’s wrist before yanking it towards the hag’s ancient and nearly toothless face. “You smell strange, like a people alien to this world. Yes briaunti I believe. You have many friends,” the woman proclaimed then she licked Yllera’s hand leaving a mucousy trail behind. “Nepask!” The woman exclaimed almost immediately throwing Yllera’s hand away. The seer spat a thick mucus, on the floor to Yllera’s left. “You are a thing which cannot be because it no longer exists!” The woman shook a thin finger at Yllera violently.
Yllera looked to back away from the woman, not knowing what she could have done wrong. Illay and Teverum blocked her path, each with daggers drawn. “Seer, what have you seen?” Illay asked reluctantly.
“She masks! It is a poor job but she puts on briaunti and Tanerian, even you Teverum. She wears all she has touched! She is true to form!” The old woman crooned.
“Are you sure?” Teverum asked gruffly.
“I have seen.” The woman rose and shuffled from the room.
Illay sheathed her dagger and sat on a pallet laughing. Teverum tossed his dagger to the floor before finding a pile of pillows to sit upon. “She, is true to breed?” Illay laughed aloud, “Tell the truth Yllera, you must speak at least a little Tanerian.”
Yllera shook her head, “ I understand a little, but I don’t speak Tanerian.”
“You’re kidding right?” Teverum responded in his accented English, “Every Agurian I’ve ever met speaks at least a little Tanerian.”
Yllera frowned, “I thought we established it on the surface, why are you asking me again all of a sudden?”
“Because it is too ridiculous that the person we’ve waited generations to find, doesn’t even speak our language, “ Illay cackled.
“Waited for?” Yllera was missing something, “Not me, I grew up on earth. Until I was fifteen I didn’t know what an Agurian was, let alone that I was one. Then someone tried to kill me and crippled my Grandmother. That’s when I went to live with the factors. You really couldn’t be waiting for me. Besides I thought Tanerian was you know, the language of the Tanerian people, the enemy?”
Illay turned serious again, “To defeat an enemy you must know them. To know a person you must understand them. How can you understand someone if you don’t speak their language. So their language is our language. And one day, perhaps sooner tha
n we dreamed we will use it to free our people.”
Yllera shrugged, “What does that have to do with me?”
“Everything, you are truly Agurian. Even more so than Tev, or I am. You will lead us to our victory. Welcome to your new home,” Illay said arranging another pallet as a sleeping place for Yllera.
“Whoa! Leading you to your victory!” Yllera blurted rising from her cushion, her hand went to the emergency escape activator stitched into her pocket.
Illay gently pushed Yllera back down to a seated position, “If you were really sent here to establish relations between your >factors’ and our people you must remain with us. You are the best token of friendship possible.”
Yllera sat stiffly, she wasn’t sure if this was what the Chief was aiming for, but boy oh boy was this going to be a doozy of a report.
- - - - - - - - - -
Chapter 8
Love hurts!
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Annette manhandled her laundry sack down the hall to the laundry chute. Niri had clearly been thinking in Annette’s best interests when she had Annette take the room closest to the main activity room, but the laundry chute at the far end was quite a drag, literally. It had been two weeks and Annette had racked up a lot of laundry. Mainly because of the Technicolor sweat and mucous Tina had claimed were only natural for the immediate post metamorphic future. Annette had woken up to four different colors of sheets the first week alone, and when her sweat didn’t eat through the seams of her jumpsuits it left embarrassing stains in every shade of the rainbow. It was great to be briaunti, but the laundry wasn’t funny. Annette gave the bag a sharp tug and managed to fling it the last few feet towards the chute.
Actually as far as metamorphoses went, Tina had told Annette that this was mild. Annette had been fortunate enough not to experience any discomfort, aside from the telepathic sensitivity which seemed to be diminishing at pace with the suppresser. It was so mild Tina couldn’t hide the taint of worry from Annette’s new telepathic sense. Tina was anxious about the unexpected possibilities, and with Tina anxious Annette couldn’t help but be.
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