The Sky Drifter (26 page)

“We’re coming with you, bro,” replied Pi. “And we’ll look for that girl as long as it takes to find her.”

“Exactly,” agreed Iris. With a slightly sheepish look, she said, “Sorry I doubted you.”

The relief that washed over me warmed my very core. It felt as if I had my two best friends back, and any loneliness I’d felt faded instantly away.

Before I could find the words to thank them, Pi said, “So, where do we start, bro?”

I shook my thoughts away and focused on the task at hand. “Right. What I’m thinking is that we’ve maybe been looking in the wrong place. If she isn’t a student, and she doesn’t live or work in town, then she has to be around here. I was just about to head to the engine room before you surprised me.”

“The engine room?” asked Iris in disbelief. “Wouldn’t it make more sense to go to the upper deck?”

“It would,” I agreed, “which is why I wanted to go to the engine room first. To get it out of the way so I could take my time upstairs. See?”

“Hmm, I guess that does make some sense,” agreed Iris.

“Okay, then, guys, let’s stop dawdling and go,” said Pi as he walked casually into the tunnel.

We walked the short distance together until we got to the engine room door. “Think it’ll open?” I asked.

“One way to find out,” replied Iris.

I pressed the small blue pad on the wall with my thumb, and to my surprise, the door slid smoothly open. “Well, that was easy.” I exhaled, having spoken more to myself than to the other two.

Ahead, a large room spread out into the distance. Various types of machinery, some disappearing beyond the frame of the door, some no higher than I was, stood along the walls and in various places inside. Most were veiled by darkness with some dimly illuminated by a faint green light whose origin I couldn’t see and by small yellow flashing lights on their sides.

The dark shapes of the machines, which were most likely the engines, matched the jet-black floor, whose lack of any reflection made it seem there was no surface at all, but a deep chasm, stepping out into which would mean plummeting to certain death.

“Let’s go,” said Iris in a monotone from behind me as Pi pressed his body against my back, pushing me forward.

I tentatively walked in, relieved to feel my feet making contact with the surface beneath them. There was something about that room I didn’t like at all, and the constant, irregular low humming made me nervous enough to want to leave as soon as possible.

“Hello?” I called out hesitantly. When no answer came, I said, “Well, doesn’t look like she’s in here, after all. Let’s go.”

“We can’t go yet,” said Iris seriously. “She might be hiding farther inside.”

Pi’s powerful frame nudged me forward again. “No need to push, buddy,” I whispered loudly, turning to look at him. Despite the wide grin that rose on his lips, his eyes were as serious and intense as I’d ever seen them before.

“Sorry, bro. I thought you’d started walking already.”

A sudden chill ran up my spine, and I replied, “Don’t worry. Just be careful, that’s all.” I turned back around, my brow tightening and my heart quickening.

Farther inside we walked with Iris and Pi behind me as I led the way. As we began walking past them, I realized the low humming was coming from the engines. Aside from that, no other sound could be heard in the deep room. Even our steps seemed to produce no sound. If the mysterious girl was there, I thought, she could be walking freely around, masking herself behind any of the various sized engines spread around.

“Hello?” I called out again, this time with more conviction.

The longer I spent in that room, the more nervous I became. If the mysterious girl hid in it, I wanted to quickly find her, speak with her and get out of there in the shortest time possible. If, on the other hand, she wasn’t in that room, I’d search it up and down as rapidly as I could until there was no doubt of it and then leave just as quickly.

I walked along the sides and past engines. The farther and deeper inside the room, I half-expected some imagined, terrifying creature to jump out and kill me. None came, nor was there any sign of the mysterious girl.

Soon we reached the end wall of the engine room, which was covered with control panels, each with its own blinking yellow lights. “Okay, guys,” I began, “I think it’s fair to say the girl isn’t here.”

Iris and Pi had been completely silent as we’d searched the room, standing a few paces behind me the entire time. Even as I spoke those words they continued standing side by side with creepily intense looks on their faces.

“Glad you agree,” I joked sarcastically at their continued silence. Trying to ignore their unusual behaviour, I started toward the entrance. “Let’s go to the upper deck then. If she’s anywhere, that’s where she’ll probably be.”

Just as I was about to walk past Pi, he abruptly placed his big furry hand on my shoulder, and said, “Wait.”

Everything seemed to stand still for a moment as I looked up at him with puzzlement and he stared coldly back. I could also feel Iris’ stare boring into me.

I opened my mouth to ask what he thought he was doing when he said, “Okay.”

He removed his hand from my shoulder, standing slightly to one side to give me more room to pass. I looked from Pi to Iris, searching their steel eyes for answers to their sudden behavior.

Iris spoke in an overly sweet, sardonic voice. “Well? Don’t you want to find your precious mystery girl?”

“Yeah, bro,” added Pi, his mouth now grinning ironically from ear to ear. “I bet she’s up there right now, waiting for you.”

I heard a sound like loud whispering coming from somewhere near the entrance. “That’s got to be her,” I exclaimed in a low tone as I quietly stepped toward the sound, trying to ignore the strained tension I felt between us.

The closer I came to it, however, the more I realized it wasn’t the mysterious girl’s voice I heard but One’s. “Sure he’s in here? He couldn’t have gone somewhere a little nicer, could he?” Before I knew it, I stood across from One, his Morex friends right behind him.

“There you are, you disgusting sack of Simian crap. What the hell have you
done
to me?
Why does my face look like this
?”

“
You’re
the one who’s playing the sick joke here!” I cried, anger instantly rising from my chest.

“You’ve really lost the plot, haven’t you, Simian? Undo what you did and give me back my face!”

“I haven’t done
anything
to your stupid face, and whatever the point of this sick joke is, it’s
pathetic
!” I spat every word I spoke, growing angrier the longer I saw my face on the one whom I’d despised for so long.

I was ready for round two with him, my hands clenched as tightly as they could be, when something I saw caused me to question what was happening. Behind One, the two Morex grinned. They were enjoying themselves. Call it instinct or just a gut feeling, but something caused me to turn around and face Iris and Pi, who wore the same look of sadistic pleasure on their faces. I tried to make some sense of what was a crazy situation. If One really
was
playing some twisted, random trick on me, why was he so insistent he wasn’t? In fact, why was he so certain it was the other way around? Besides, he was a clever guy, but there was no way he would have been able to pull something like
that
off only to then deny it. What would his
motivation be? It didn’t make any sense. A thought as odd as the situation I found myself in came to mind. What if he
hadn’t
stolen my face?

“W
ell
? Don’t just look around like an idiot who’s gotten lost. Change my face back now!”

I looked away from Iris and Pi as calmly as I could and then back at One. “Before I give you your face back,” I began, “I want you to tell me something.”

“Are you
serious
? Do you think I’m
playing
with you? We’re going to break every bone in your body if you don’t give me back my face right now!”

I could see I didn’t have long before One lost whatever shred of restraint he had left, so I pressed quickly on. “This won’t take a moment, then I’ll give it back, okay?”

His gaze briefly fixed on mine, then he cried, “Spit it out.”

“I just wondered whether you’d ever
seen
your own face?”

“What kind of stupid question is
that
?
That’s
what you wanted to ask me? You’re far dumber than I thought, Simian. Now give me back my face!”

Still using a cool, soft tone, I said, “You still haven’t answered my question, though. Have you ever seen your own face?”

Growling in frustration, One snapped, “No,
okay
? It’s against my race’s custom to do so. We wear them at all times until we pass on to the next life. It’s strictly forbidden to do so.
Happy
?”

As One had spoken, I’d kept my gaze on the Morex, who looked increasingly agitated.

“One, listen to me. I don’t know what’s happening here, but I didn’t change your face, and I don’t believe you somehow copied mine either.”

“I’m losing my patience, Simian.
What
are you rambling about?”

Like little pieces from a puzzle I didn’t understand, questions emerged in my mind as I tried to make sense of what had happened. “Do you remember coming here? To the academy?” I rapidly asked.

“What?” One frowned in anger, though seemed to be searching his mind.

“You can’t, can you?”

“
Enough
!” barked one of the Morex fiercely.

One shook his head as though to wipe his confusion away, and cried, “Shut up, Simian! You’re not getting inside my mind!” Turning to face the Morex, he began, “Let’s get hi—” but before he could finish, the one closest to him had brought his fist crashing down onto One’s face, sending him flying back to the ground in front of me.

All of a sudden, there was a loud bang behind me, and I turned at once just as Pi withdrew his fist from the deeply dented engine next to him. The savage look in his eyes filled me with sadness as the friend I’d known for so long was not the one who stood there then.

“What do you think you’re doing?” cried One at the Morex, who like his companion, gazed ominously at him from under its prominent brow. “Have you gone crazy, too?”

I backed slowly away from Iris and Pi, who with their hard, aggressive gazes, no longer looked like the friends I’d known.

“One,” I began tentatively, trying to help him to his feet.

“Get your dirty Simian hands
off
me!” he spat, scrambling to his feet and raising a hand to his bloody lip. “Well?” he shouted at the Morex who’d attacked him. “Explain yourself, you lumbering idiot!” His two goons growled menacingly in response.

“One,” I started again, walking closer to One as Iris and Pi began slowly moving toward me.

“Well don’t just stand there looking constipated. Apologize! What’s the
matter
with you?” he said to the Morex. He continued ignoring me.

“Listen to me!” I cried, backing up into him.

“I said don’t
touch
me!”

I turned sharply around and grabbed hold of his collar with both hands. “Shut up and listen!” The look of angry disbelief on the face that stared back at me brought a strange, dizzying sensation to my senses as suddenly it felt as though I stared at a living, nightmarish mirror. “Something’s happening with your goons, with Pi and Iris, too. Can’t you
see
that?” A sudden wave of frustration washed over me at One’s stubborn blindness of the situation.

He abruptly pushed me away with his hands, and cried, “I couldn’t care less about your stupid friends. That’s
your
problem. And don’t talk about mine. They’re none of your business.”

I looked beyond One to see the two hulking Morex still grinning with apathetic pleasure.

Turning his back to me again, One faced his goons, and said, “I’ve had enough of this. Apologize right—”

Once more a powerful blow struck him on his face, and he stumbled backward. As I grabbed him to stop his fall, the two Morex started gruffly guffawing under their breaths. I swiftly turned my head to see Iris and Pi standing right behind me, wearing twisted, empty grins as they stared blankly at me.

I backed away to an open space between them and the Morex, dragging One under his arms, to put some space between us, until a moment later I felt the hard side of a control panel on my back.

“Get up,” I said in a low voice as One groaned.

What made them all behave that way? I didn’t know enough about the Morex to be shocked, but I’d never seen them behaving like that toward One before. Iris and Pi, though. What was
happening
with them? As much as I tried to guess, I just couldn’t understand, my mind hitting a wall again and again. The one thing I did understand was what my eyes were seeing—the raw, unbridled hostility that flowed from the four beings in front of me revealed their imminent intent.

“Get up, One!” I cried as I shook him.

“I’ll…Kill you for this,” he mumbled, slowly regaining his senses, as I helped him to his feet. He stood next to me, his boisterous, complacent attitude tempered.

“Looks like we’re going to have to fight our way out of here,” I said.

Bringing a hand to the side of his head, One winced. “You have a talent for the obvious, Simian.”

WITHOUT WARNING, ALL
four charged toward us. The slower stone Morex were behind Pi and Iris, who thrust her leg toward One as Pi almost took my head off with a savagely fierce swipe, which ripped out most of the control panel behind me. I was fully aware of Pi’s enormous strength, and knew that a single hit from him would be enough to kill me so, seizing the only opportunity I’d probably have, I dived forward from my crouch toward the incoming Morex. I managed to avoid its solid fist as it came crashing down onto the floor in front of me. I jumped and rolled off its mossy back and landed behind it. I turned just in time to see One uppercut the other hard on the jaw as Iris lay by the wall.