For the Love of Gelo! (9 page)

“Maybe it's an offering?” said Nicki.

“Check this out,” whispered Becky. On the ground beside the path were several tracks: four clawed toes, several centimeters deep. “Whatever made these was big. Like, apex-predator big,” said Becky. “Is ‘splitting up to explore the mysterious forest' starting to seem like a bad idea to anyone else?”

“Let me just collect one of those berries before we go,” said Nicki as she started toward them.

“Nicki, stop!” I cried. She froze.

Creeping forward, I found what I was looking for: a thin cord strung taut a few centimeters above the forest floor. A shadow passed across the ground of the clearing.

“What was that?” asked Becky, looking up. But the sky was just an empty patch of lavender. However, suspended above the edge of the clearing, we saw a net of heavy vines. It was a trap. The twins and I looked at one another.

At that instant, we heard Little Gus cry out. We turned and ran the way we had come, back toward the edge of the forest.

“Help me!” he screamed. As we approached, we saw him standing alone on the grassy plain. He was looking up in terror.

“What's wrong?” cried Nicki.

Suddenly, a big shape fell out of the sky and darted toward Gus. He dove to the ground as it swooped past. It was a huge, winged alien creature covered in red and orange feathers.

The creature shrieked and dove again. This time Pizza leaped out of the grass at it. The thyss-cat wrapped its front paws around the flying alien and pulled it down to the ground. They rolled in the grass until the alien flapped its massive wings hard enough to throw Pizza off.

“Get it, boy!” cried Gus. “Get the giant space bird!”

A bolt of energy hit the ground near Pizza's feet. I turned and saw another one of the avian creatures—practically identical to the first—crouched behind a rock. It was shooting at Pizza. The thyss-cat yelped in pain as one of the bursts of energy seared its shoulder.

“No!” screamed Little Gus. He charged the new attacker just as Pizza raced off into the brush.

The second avian squawked and shoved Gus back with the butt of its blaster weapon as he tried to pound it with his fists. “Ver'sald! Ver'sald!” it screamed over and over again. It was using the Xotonian word for “stop.”

“You speak Xotonian?” I cried in astonishment.

“You speak Aeaki?” it said, sounding no less astonished. Gus slowly stopped hitting it.

For the first time, I got a good look at the creature. It was nearly two meters tall, yet slender, so light on its feet that it seemed to weigh less than me. The body of the alien was covered with orange-and-red plumage so bright it even put Little Gus's brilliant orange head-fur to shame. It had two broad wings—articulated at the ends for grasping—and a long neck that ended in a beaked head. It wore a simple tunic woven of dried brown grass. Two beady golden eyes darted around nervously.

“You shot Pizza!” said Little Gus, now speaking Xotonian.

“
Pizza
,” said the avian, lingering on the human word for a moment, “tried to eat Ikuna.” It raised its blaster again. “You are space aliens?”

Nicki, Becky, and I looked at one another. We shrugged and nodded.

“You have come to blow us up and rob our hunting traps?”

“No,” said Nicki. “We mean you no harm. Are you Aeaki?”

“Yes, I am Hisuda of the Oru,” said the Aeaki proudly. “Are you allied with the Uji or Esu?”

“No,” I said, “we're not allied with anyone.”

“What about the Abi?”

I shook my head.

“Good,” said Hisuda, lowering the blaster, apparently satisfied. “We will crush them all.”

The second Aeaki—Ikuna, I presumed—walk-hopped toward us and cocked its head. To my eyes, the two of them were indistinguishable. Ikuna, though, seemed to defer to Hisuda.

“The blue monster-beast is still running free,” said Ikuna, glaring at Little Gus. “We should find it and kill it and take its hide.”

“No!” cried Little Gus. “Don't hurt Pizza. He doesn't mean you any harm. He just got scared and wanted to protect me. Why'd you fly at me like that, anyway?”

“Why were you touching our hunting traps?” snapped Ikuna, gesturing back toward the forest. I could see now that Pizza had taken a bite out of the feathers of its wing, leaving a bald spot.

“Sorry,” I said. “We didn't know that trap was yours.”

At this, Ikuna snorted incredulously. “The Oru symbol is painted right on it!” cried Hisuda.

“We didn't know that was the Oru symbol,” said Nicki. Hisuda shook its head in disbelief.

It was as though our ignorance of who owned which traps was the most incredible thing they'd ever heard. This garnered a much bigger reaction than, say, the fact that we had come to their planet from another world.

“We heard a great racket, and we came here to investigate,” said Hisuda. “Why did you burn up your starship?” The Aeaki pointed toward the plume of black smoke billowing into the air.

“It wasn't exactly a choice,” sighed Becky.

“And if you are not thieves and raiders, what are you?” asked Hisuda.

“We came from up there,” I said pointing to Gelo in the sky, “to find three aliens. They look like me.”

“So . . . very ugly?” said Ikuna.

I sighed. “I guess. Here, let me show you something.”

I made a move for my pack, and again Hisuda pointed its blaster at me. I froze.

“I'm not reaching for a weapon. I want to show you a book,” I said. Hisuda nodded uncertainly. I slowly pulled the cyclopaedia out of my pack and opened it to Kyral's entry. I pointed to the writing. “This is about your planet. Kyral.”

Ikuna squinted at the book. “Magic spells,” said Hisuda dismissively. This Aeaki might speak my language, but apparently it couldn't read it.

“Not spells,” I said, closing the book. “They're just words that say the Aeaki and the Xotonians are friends. That's what I am: a Xotonian. So maybe—maybe you can help me?”

Before either could reply, a third Aeaki joined us. It was virtually identical to the others.

“Two more outlanders,” said the new one. In one hand-wing it held an Aeaki blaster; in the other it clutched Eromu's smaller one. Hollins trailed behind, his hands in the air.

“Hi, guys,” said Hollins to us. “Looks like we found the mysterious Aeaki, huh? And guess who woke up.”

The Vorem legionary stood beside him. He glared silently, clutching his wounded chest.

“Thank you, Aloro,” said Hisuda. Then it stared at the Vorem for a long time, cocking its head this way and that, before it spoke. “Do you all come from the new moon?” It waved toward the ghost of Gelo up in the sky.

“No,” said the Vorem. “I am Taius Sovyrius Ridian, son of Stentorus Sovyrius Ridian, legate of the Vorem Dominion. Humble servant of His Majesty Phaebus Onesius Aetox XXIII, the most glorious imperator of a thousand worlds.”

My mind was reeling. I didn't understand. He called himself Ridian! But how could this legionary be General Ridian's son? Ridian's son was killed during the invasion, and I'd seen the legate buried myself. This Vorem had to be lying . . . didn't he?

The humans gaped at me in disbelief, and I noticed that the Aeaki were no less upset than we were.

“Vorem,” snarled Ikuna. And both Ikuna and Aloro raised their blasters as though to vaporize Taius Ridian.

“Stop,” said Hisuda quietly. The other Aeaki lowered their weapons. Then Hisuda sighed and gave a bow. “Welcome, honorable Legate Ridian, to the Dominion world of Kyral.”

“A
loro, go and tell the Raefec whom we have found,” said Hisuda. Without another word, Aloro took off and flew away over the forest. The rest of us sat in the sun and waited.

Only the Vorem remained standing. The humans and I stared at him, and he glowered off into the middle distance. I was glad that two remaining Aeaki were armed.

At last Becky broke the silence. “So you're General Ridian's son,” she said to him. “Taius, was it?”

His eyes flicked toward her for an instant, then back to staring at nothing. He didn't reply.

“Well, if you ever see your old man again,” she said, “tell him he can bill me for the battle cruiser.”

“You'll pay the price, alien,” said Taius.

“Both of you, be quiet,” said Hisuda, raising her weapon. “The Raefec will decide.”

Yes, Hisuda was female. As we waited for Aloro to return, we learned that all three of these Aeaki were female. Indeed, all the hunters in their society were women. If circumstances had been different, I would have been fascinated to learn more about the culture of an alien race. But as it was, all I could think about was the fact that we were standing on a world ruled by the Vorem Dominion—with the son of General Ridian.

After that initial exchange, though, Taius spoke no more. Twenty minutes later, Nicki noticed a black speck in the distance. It grew larger and larger until Aloro landed beside us.

“The Raefec says we are to fly to Oru immediately!” she squawked.

“Very well,” said Hisuda.

“Hang on,” said Becky. “What's a Raefec, anyway?”

“The Raefec leads us in battle,” said Hisuda. “She guides us with her wisdom.”

“So basically it's like your society's equivalent of a Little Gus,” said Little Gus.

Hisuda shrugged. “Her word is law,” she said. “If she says we fly to Oru, then we fly to Oru.” The three Aaeki took off and flapped in tight circles over our heads, apparently expecting us to join them in the air.

“Um, no disrespect to your culture, but . . . we can't actually fly,” said Nicki.

The three Aeaki landed and squawked in contempt. “But you flew here from the new moon,” said Hisuda, waving at the sky.

Hollins stepped forward and tried to explain in Xotonian. “Hello. Of Gelo, we doing of spaceship. Now, today, spaceship is hot dinner. Fire. Hot dinner. Doesn't flying. Goodbye!”

Now Hisuda was more confused than ever.

“Thanks for taking charge of the situation, brave leader,” whispered Nicki in human. “Super helpful.”

“Long story short: We have no ride,” said Becky to Hisuda, “thanks to Junior here.” She threw a thumb toward Taius Ridian. Taius opened his mouth as though to reply, but instead he just glared dangerously and said nothing. He looked like he wanted to murder everyone present.

“But the ground on Kyral is not safe for travel,” said Ikuna, hopping from foot to foot and glancing about nervously. “Many things want to eat the Aeaki.”

“Well, then, maybe we could, like, ride on your backs,” suggested Little Gus.

At this, all of the Aeaki hooted with pure derision.

“You cannot! The aerodynamics are all wrong. Aeaki cannot fly carrying a bunch of stupid
dead weight
!” said Hisuda, meaning all of us. Becky was on the verge of taking offense at this description, but Nicki calmed her.

As we gathered our belongings to leave, I turned toward the
T'utzuxe
. Its wreckage still smoldered.

“Cheer up, Chorkle,” said Hollins, patting my i'arda. “She's up in spaceship heaven now.”

“But without the ship's sensors,” I said, “we have no way to track Kalac's distress beacon.”

“Enough talking!” chided Hisuda. “We cannot waste any more time. Walking will take long enough as it is.”

“No. We can't leave without Pizza,” whined Little Gus, scanning the horizon.

“Gus,” I said, eyeing the Aeaki's blasters, “I'm not sure we have a choice.”

And so we set out through the forest toward the Aeaki's home, a city they called Oru. A breeze rattled the odd geometric leaves as we walked.

According to Hisuda, Oru was the capital of a mighty nation of the same name. Our Observers had seen only scattered signs of civilization on the surface, but just as Core-of-Rock was concealed, perhaps their great city would be too. If Kyral was a world of the Dominion, though, I worried what would happen to us when we got there. Would we be turned over to the Vorem?

Hisuda took the lead, and I walked behind her. Next came Taius, a scowl locked on his sharp face. He didn't talk, and the Aeaki asked him no questions. In fact, I got the distinct impression that they wanted as little to do with him as possible.

From time to time, I saw him check the small technological device attached to his belt, which now appeared to be working just fine. I cursed myself for not taking it from him when he was unconscious. Once he caught me looking at him and turned away in disgust.

Becky and Hollins walked right behind Taius, watching his every move. Next came Nicki, who kept stopping to discretely bag and tag specimens near the path. Little Gus somehow managed to be even slower than her. He kept lingering to gaze out among the trees, hoping for a glimpse of Pizza. Ikuna took up the rear, repeatedly prodding Gus and Nicki to go faster.

I jogged ahead so that I could speak to Hisusda out of Taius's earshot. Her weird hopping gait meant that in order to keep pace with her, I had to alternately run and then stop and wait.

“Hisuda, are there other Vorem on this planet?” I asked her.

“Sometimes,” she answered cryptically.

“Do you think your ‘Raefec' will hand us over to them?”

“She keeps her own council. I have no idea what the Raefec will decide. Now stop asking me questions—it is causing you to walk even slower.”

Behind me, Little Gus thought he saw something in the forest. “Piiiiiiiizzaaaaaa!” he called out.

“Be quiet!” scolded Ikuna.

“But he's out there somewhere,” said Gus pitifully.

“Yes, and worse things too. The ground is not safe,” squawked Ikuna. “Not safe!”

“Please, can't we just go look for him?” asked Gus. Ikuna shook her head. She was not swayed by his emotional appeals. I joined Little Gus as he lagged behind the others.

“Don't worry,” I said, trying to comfort him. “Thyss-cats are tough, wily creatures. They're survivors. Pizza can always follow our scent.”

“I'm worried he'll have nightmares,” said Little Gus. “Before he goes to sleep, I like to sing to him. Jazz standards mostly. A few show tunes.” Then he added quickly, “Please don't tell anybody I told you that.” I nodded and kept on walking.

A sheer bluff now rose from the forest floor ahead. Up close it was composed of crumbling gray stone covered with tangled clumps of blue vines. I could see now that its face was practically hollow, completely riddled with caves. It stretched upward a hundred meters into the sky, just above the tallest tops of the trees.

“Behold Oru,” announced Hisuda. She puffed her bright plumage with pride. The humans and I looked at each other. Had we arrived? None of us saw a city anywhere.

“Oh, it's really beautiful,” said Nicki, trying to be polite. Inasmuch as Hisuda's beaked face could express any discernible emotion, she seemed to frown.

Little Gus kicked a little rodentlike skull—the ground all around us was littered with the bleached bones of tiny animals and what looked like guano. “You guys remodeling or something?”

“Oru is not
here
,” said Hisuda with disgust. “Up. Above.” And she took off from the ground, beating her great wings up to the top of the bluff. She circled once and then landed beside us.

“Yeah. As my sister already said, we can't fly,” said Becky.

“But you Aeaki probably don't have roller coasters,” said Little Gus. “So let's call it even.”

“In fact, it doesn't look like they have much of anything,” whispered Hollins in human. He had articulated exactly what had begun to worry me. Still, there was a chance the other Oru or their “Raefec” might know something about Kalac and the others—if they didn't turn us over to the Dominion, that is.

“I think I can get us up there,” I said. I took the coil of human rope, then sprang three meters into the air and grabbed hold of a clump of vines. There are many things that I am not particularly good at: oog-ball, geology worksheets, telling all the
Vampire Band Camp
characters with similar haircuts apart. But like most Xotonians, I am an excellent climber. So I started to scramble up the side of the gray cliff.

I'm not sure what I was expecting from great Oru. Perhaps I'd unconsciously focused on the phrases “urbanized” and “cultural mecca” from the cyclopaedia (now heavy as brick in my pack as I climbed). But I had seen the pride with which Hisuda beheld her home. If not a bustling society full of flying cars and robot housekeepers, I will admit I was at least imagining . . . a city.

Instead, the totality of Oru was a few dozen huts—made of grass and garbage—surrounding a big central fire pit. It was no more than a village, and a humble one at that. The population—barely fifty Aeaki, as far as I could see—walk-hopped and flitted about on top of the table-flat mesa I had just scaled. Half of them looked virtually identical to Hisuda, Ikuda, and Aloro, with the same blazing-red plumage. The other half were smaller. Their feathers were as drab as dead leaves, with just a few fiery highlights at the tips of their wings and around the throat. I saw the same orange triangle-and-three-dots motif from the hunting trap repeated throughout the community. Oru's logo, I supposed.

As I stood on the edge of the cliff and observed the huts, a few of the locals cocked their heads to stare at me.

“Don't mind them,” said Hisuda, landing on the ledge beside me. “They have never seen anyone like you before . . . so ugly, I mean.”

“Right, I get it,” I said, gritting my ish'kuts.

Just then I noticed a little Aeaki child, all alone, peeping out from behind one of the huts with genuine curiosity. This one's feathers were neither blazing orange and red nor brown, but instead pure white.

“Who's that?” I asked Hisuda.

“Don't mind her,” said Hisuda with contempt in her voice. “She is not an Oru.” I turned back, but the young Aeaki was gone.

“Now that you have had the time to take it all in,” said Hisuda, sweeping her wing dramatically, “what do you think?” I could tell that she wanted me to be impressed.

“It's great,” I said, trying to keep the disappointment from my voice. “That's a nice tall pile of, um, garbage you've got there.” Maybe it was all some sort of elaborate cover, but the place didn't look like it had any starships to speak of. Without ships, rescuing Kalac and the other Xotonians—much less getting back to Gelo—was going to be a real problem.

“Oru is a very great city,” said Hisuda. “Only Hykaro Roost is greater.”

“I've heard of Hykaro Roost,” I said. “It's the Aeaki capital, right?”

She shook her head yes. “It was built by the gods.”

I tied the human rope to an outcropping and tossed the other end down. Slowly, one by one, the humans ascended the bluff. We had to haul up Nicki's samples separately since her pack already seemed to weigh more than she did. Once, when it bumped the cliff wall, a single sample bag fell all the way back down to the ground.

“Come on, guys, be careful!” said Nicki. “That bag was full of important dirt! I mean—whatever.”

At last, the humans all made it to the top. Taius still stood with Aloro and Ikuna, thirty meters below. He ignored the rope and started to climb, hand over hand, up the cliff. Becky and Hollins watched him the whole time.

“Anybody got a big rock?” Hollins asked quietly when Taius was about halfway up.

Becky looked around at Oru. “Well, Chorkle, I owe the Xotonian race an apology,” she said. “This place makes Core-of-Rock look like way less of a dump.”

“Thanks?” I said.

“I'm excited we're finally in the big city now,” said Little Gus, examining a heap of wet rags on the edge of the village. “I can't wait to take in the art museums. Go to the theater. How late do you think the restaurants stay open?”

“Stop making fun,” said Nicki. “It's important to be sensitive. This is our first contact with an alien culture.”

“Come on. Lighten up, Nicki,” said Little Gus. “A couple of jokes aren't going to destroy the Aeaki civilization.”

“Yeah,” said Becky, “destroying their civilization would take a strong gust of wind, at least.”

Again, everyone but Nicki laughed. Little Gus kept laughing though, too loudly and for too long. It was something he'd been doing a lot of recently when Becky told a joke.

“Good one, Becky,” said Little Gus. “You're super funny. Humor is a gift.”