But Blake and Jake waited for the next ship. And when it came, they waited again.
Waiting till the last transport was something that Swann would’ve done.
Jake told Blake to go back on an earlier flight, but Blake said, “No. If you’re here, I’m here.”
They bumped foreheads, and Jake acknowledged that Blake was right. He didn’t want to be alone on the Cadee Moon Base, but he needed to stay. It was his way of saying: I’m a Quad-de.
They were on the last transport to leave the Cadee Moon Base. Cadee had become a tiny planetoid, circling in a perfect orbit around Turco.
Quarantined
Jake, Blake, and Utz disembarked at the Altai Space Port in southwestern Mongolia on March 15, the last evacuees from the Cadee Moon Base. Upon exiting, they were directed to a room to be fitted with cold weather clothing. Jumpsuits, thin-but-very-warm coats made from high-tech materials, sturdy boots, gloves and a cap. Because so many Tizzalurians were tall, the selection of clothing was good for Jake and Dad. Utz had a harder time with his squat, short figure, but finally they were all outfitted.
They had to wait a couple hours, but at least the room had large windows overlooking the mountain valley. A couple of small buildings marked the entrance to the underground colony that had been hastily renovated for the Risonians. The pale winter sun did nothing to relieve the frigid winter air. This Chinese installation was actually in Southwestern Mongolia, which was a barren land with seemingly desert areas where the only thing green was a few shrubs or perhaps lichen on a rock. Mountains in the distance were capped with white—snow, clouds, or both. It rarely snowed or rained in the winter months. Only the summers were wet—and that, only moderately wet.
It was a cruel quarantine for the Risonians. Arid. Dry. Thousands of miles from water. The Khazkan River ran near the city of Altai, but the local Mongolians were fiercely protective of it. In their orientation session, officials warned the Risonians not to go near it, or they’d be arrested. The river drained into the Lake Khyargas, but it was a salt lake. The smaller freshwater Airag Lake might be tempting, but it was within the protected Khyargas Lake National Park, which was strictly forbidden.
Effectively, the Risonians were confined within an arid landscape. So, they fled underground, where tunnel air was treated with humidifiers. Still dry, but it brought the humidity up to barely livable levels. The swimming pools were popular, of course. But the three pools were constantly booked. And frankly, they weren’t adequately filtered and refreshed with clean water often enough, so they became stale. All in all, an unhappy place for the Risonians.
Finally, the crew from Cadee was allowed to exit the holding area. First, there was a receiving line, and Jake willed himself to be calm while they shook each and every person’s hand. Jake chafed at the formality, which did nothing but cause delays. Mom stood last in the line of officials. He wanted to hug her, but in her ambassadorial role, she was too formal and wouldn’t allow it.
“Later,” she murmured. “We’ll have all the time on Earth we need.”
“Okay, later,” he said. Then he had to ask: “Is Em here?”
Mom shook her head, “No. She’s volunteering at something because we had no idea when they’d release you. I sent her a message, though, so she’s coming now.”
“I have something for you,” Jake said, refusing to wait for a more private moment like Mom wanted. From his backpack, he pulled out a small wrapped gift and handed to her.
She looked at him quizzically before she ripped off the bright paper and pulled open the box. Inside, there was tissue paper to push aside before she saw it.
“Oh!”
She pulled out the photo that Jake had taken from Swann’s desk, the one of the three of them on a picnic. It showed Dayexi laughing up at Swann, who hugged an eight-year-old Jake.
Now, ambassador or not, Mom pulled Jake into a hug, and clung to him. “Did he—?”
Jake knew she was asking about Swann, but he had nothing to give her. At the end, he hadn’t asked about her, or sent any last word.
He just shook his head.
Mom pushed away, squared her shoulders and nodded. But she clutched the box with the photo, and Jake knew it would find a place on her ambassador’s desk, a memory of happier times.
Utz slapped him on the shoulder. “We made it.”
Jake introduced his mother. “Have you met Ambassador Dayexi Quad-de?”
“A pleasure.”
But Utz was barely paying attention. Instead, something caught his eye. Across the crowd, a tall man—Kirkwall!—waved at them. Standing beside him was his sister, Derry.
Without another glance at the ambassador, Utz trotted to them and scooped up Derry, twirling around and around. She squealed but held him tight when he set her down a moment later. He bent to kiss her, and when he looked up, he looked dazed like his world had just changed.
Jake knew that feeling! That poor Bo-See has going to have an interesting life if he’d chosen a Tizzalurian woman.
A pang of loneliness struck him, though. Utz and Derry were together, but he was still alone. Again, Jake swept the crowd in search of Em. She still wasn’t here.
The wide-open reception room was cold. Mom stepped up to the podium, and in her Ambassador role, gave a short speech about the bravery of those who had remained behind at the Cadee Moon Base and been the last to evacuate.
Jake barely listened. He searched the faces of every single female there. Still no Em. Disappointment stung him. He thought back to that long-ago day when he’d first seen her at the coffee shop on Bainbridge. That was before the rogue ELLIS forces tried to sabotage Mt. Rainier, and before they knew Em was a Phoke with family that lived in Aberforth Hills in the North Sea. It was before he went back to Rison for a frantic search and a poignant good-bye. So much had happened; so much had changed.
Even that first day, Jake had known that Em was special. Where was she?
Polite applause brought him back to the present. He shivered, but he didn’t know if it was from the cold or from worry about Em.
The group of people broke apart. Dad had his arm draped across Mom’s shoulder, and they strolled toward him. She stopped him, though, and Dad leaned over to listen to something she said. He looked up startled. “No. Not possible.”
Mom grinned and nodded. “Yes.”
Jake strode to them and asked. “What?”
“Are you telling everyone?” Dad shrugged. “Do you want Jake to know now?”
Rolling his eye, Jake said, “You have to tell me now.”
Mom’s grin got even bigger. “Yes. But you’ll understand when I say that this can’t be shared outside the family.”
Jake nodded and waited.
“I’m expecting. You’ll soon have a brother or sister.”
Shock sent a shiver over Jake. “Wait. Is this another test tube experiment?”
Mom sobered and Dad slipped his arm back around her shoulder. “No. Not a test tube.”
Jake was stunned. It meant that Risonians could marry Earthlings. It meant—
“Jake!”
From across the room, he saw her.
Her face was red and chapped from the cold outside, as red as the cap she wore.
Em.
His heart gave a funny leap. Her thick jacket was unzipped, revealing a black shirt underneath. And gleaming against the black was the amber mermaid necklace. She still wore it. Even under all the winter gear, he could tell that she was thinner, but her smile was as brilliant as ever.
My siren, he thought with satisfaction. At times on this long trip, he’d wondered if he had just dreamed her.
He pulled a gift for her out of his backpack, and hid it behind his back. He couldn’t take his eyes off her as they walked toward each other.
Em took off the cap and stuffed it into a pocket. Her dark hair was full of static electricity in the dry air, and it stuck up randomly.
When they were a pace apart, he brought the gift from behind his back. It was a p
aper rose, a tiny origami masterpiece, made for Jake by one of the other engineers who’d stayed behind on Cadee.
“A rose from Jake Rose.”
Her delighted laughter lifted his spirits even more.
“And something else,” he said. Shyly, he pulled a Valentine from his coat pocket. While traveling back to Earth, Valentine’s Day had come and gone. He’d had little else to do, so he’d made five Valentines. Dad, Utz and the other passengers voted on which one to keep.
“Keep it funny,” the engineer had told him.
The sappy sweet one lost. The too casual, just-friends Valentine was the worst rated. The winner had an attempt at humor, the best he could manage because Earth humor was still difficult for him. He still went back and forth about giving it to her since Valentine’s Day was a month ago, but he decided that something was better than nothing.
Em pulled the Valentine out of the envelope. He had hand-cut a red paper heart and typed the words in a fancy script.
Em read, “You’re the best thing alive!” She looked up, puzzled, obviously wondering what the inside would say. Slowly, she turned the page and read, “Except for wolkev. And they’re extinct.”
She giggled. “You do like your wolkev.”
Jake beamed. Getting a small laugh was a triumph—as always. “I’ve got one growing in a pot!” he said. “When they release it from quarantine, you’ll see it.”
“How long till it’s big enough to have fruit?” Em asked.
Jake thought about his brief stay on Earth. A moment from a history class with Coach Blevins came back to him. They were talking about the Pilgrims, the first European settlers of America. Coach quoted one of the Pilgrim leaders who said, “We knew we were Pilgrims.”
All the Risonians gathered here in the desert compound, they knew that they were Pilgrims. They had come to a new planet to start fresh, to find new ways of embracing life.
“Five years till the wolkevs have fruit,” he told Em.
Soberly, she said, “We may still be here at Altai in five years.”
“You’re right. But eventually, they’ll have to share Earth with us. We’re here, not there. And that changes everything.”
Em took his hand and pulled him over to a large window. “Look. They have beautiful sunsets here.”
But Jake looked at her instead, with a glad heart. They’d been born a galaxy apart, and yet here they were together. Life was indeed a journey, a pilgrimage of the heart.
And he bent to kiss her.
Read More: THE BLUE PLANETS WORLD SERIES
The Blue Planets World Series
Earth finally receives a message from space:
“You only live on land. Allow us to live in the seas.”
Rison will implode soon. They desperately need a new blue planet, a water planet for their aquatic species. Will humans be able to open their hearts and their world to an alien race?
ENVOYS - Prequel
A lonely doctor. A desperate alien race. Which blue planet will survive?
Envoys is the prequel to the exciting science fiction trilogy that pits the planet Rison against Earth. Rison has avoided all direct contact with Earth, till now. Blake Rose joins the First Contact team on the Cadee Moon Base. The first Risonian he meets, the mysterious Dayexi Quad-de, calls him an idiot—and thereby, stops the delegations from destroying each other. As the Navy team’s comparative anatomy expert, Blake examines the Quad-de family and reports a startling fact: the Risonians can breathe under water through gills in their armpits. The Risonian delegation finally reveals the reason for the meeting. Because of their scientist’s arrogance and errors, Rison will implode soon. The aliens have one simple request: allow us to live in your seas. If you like epic science fiction, join Blake Rose as he struggles to look into the future and decide if aliens should be allowed on Earth.
Read ENVOYS free at:
MimsHouse dot com / More-BLUE
SLEEPERS - Book 1
A rogue militia. A diabolical sabotage.
Is an alien teen is the only hope for either blue planet?
Sleepers is the first book of an exciting science fiction trilogy that forces a dying world to beg for refuge on Earth. A test-tube baby, fourteen-year-old Jake Rose is half human and half alien. He’s lived on Rison with his mother, Dayexi Quad-de, who is now the Risonain ambassador to Earth. She’s tasked with finding Risonians a new home on Earth in a peaceful manner. Jake accidentally discovers that Earth’s elite ELLIS forces are tying to sabotage Mt. Rainier in hopes of an eruption that they can blame it on the Risonian aliens. Can Jake stop them in time or will they ruin the Risonians chances at a refuge on Earth? If you love thoughtful science fiction like Ender’s Game, you’ll love this provoking book from Darcy Pattison.
SIRENS - Book 2
He’s an alien. She’s not quite human.
Can they survive an epic battle under the sea?
Sirens is the continuing story of Jake Rose, a teenager who is half-alien and half-human. When aliens beg for refuge on Earth, they ask only for a home in the seas. But what if Earth’s oceans aren’t empty? The undersea civilization of the Phoke, the mermen and mermaids, comes out of hiding to take a place at the negotiation table. They’ve been infected by a Risonian water-borne illness and demand a medical mission to Rison to find a cure. Jake is devastated when he learns that his girlfriend, Em, is a Phoke, and she’s infected. When a rogue General orders his troops to attack the Phoke, the stage is set for an epic underwater struggle. If you like stories of the fantastic blended with scientific possibility, you’ll be fascinated with the underwater culture. Come cheer for Jake as searches the cold North Sea for Em.
PILGRIMS - Book 3
A deadly microbe. A race against time.
Who will survive?
Pilgrims is the thrilling conclusion of an epic science fiction trilogy that pits Risonians and Earthlings against inevitable implosion of a planet. A small team from Earth travels to Rison to find the cure for a water-borne disease that threatens the Phoke, the mermen and mermaids of Earth. In a rush against time, they must deal with the politics of desperate men and the tricks of a dying planet. Jake battles with his mixed heritage as he pushes for the team to find the cure for the disease. Em’s life is in the balance, and he won’t stop until he’s got what the doctor needs. Will they find the cure and escape in time?
For more on THE BLUE PLANETS WORLD SERIES go to:
MimsHouse dot com / More-BLUE
About the Author
Translated into nine languages, children’s book author DARCY PATTISON writes picture books, middle grade novels, and children’s nonfiction. Her work has been recognized by *starred reviews* in Kirkus, BCCB, and PW.
Three books have been named National Science Teachers Association Outstanding Science Trade Books: Desert Baths (2013); Abayomi, the Brazilian Puma (2015), and Nefertiti, the Spidernaut (2017).
The Nantucket Sea Monster: A Fake News Story is a December 2017 Junior Library Guild selection. She is a member of the Society of Children’s Bookwriters and Illustrators and the Author’s Guild. For more information, see
darcypattison.com/about OR mimshouse.com
Join our mailing list:
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THE BLUE PLANETS WORLD SERIES
Envoys (Prequel – short story)
Sleepers (Book 1)
Sirens (Book 2)
Pilgrims (Book 3)
OTHER NOVELS BY DARCY PATTISON
Liberty
Longing for Normal
Vagabonds
The Girl, the Gypsy and the Gargoyle
Saucy and Bubba: A Hansel & Gretel Tale
The Aliens, Inc. Series – short chapter books
Book 1: Kell, the Alien
Book 2: Kell and the Horse Apple Parade
Book 3: Kell and the Giants
Book 4: Kell and the Detectives
Copyright © 2017 by Darcy Pattison.
All rights reserved. No part of this publicat
ion may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
Mims House
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Little Rock, AR 72202
www.mimshouse.com
Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.
Publisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication data
Names: Pattison, Darcy, author.
Title: Pilgrims / by Darcy Pattison.
Series: The Blue Planets World.
Description: Little Rock, AR: Mims House, 2017.
Identifiers: ISBN 978-1-62944-069-9 (Hardcover) | 978-1-62944-038-5 (pbk.) 978-1-62944-068-2 (ebook) | LCCN 2017913111
Summary: A small team from Earth travels to Rison to find the cure for a water-borne disease that threatens the Phoke, the mermen and mermaids, of Earth.
Subjects: LCSH Extraterrestrial beings--Fiction. | Mermaids and mermen--Fiction. | Diseases—Fiction. | Interstellar travel--Fiction. | Life on other planets--Fiction. | Refugees--Fiction. | Science fiction. | BISAC JUVENILE FICTION / Science Fiction
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