2015 Young Explorer's Adventure Guide Page 36

  “Rufus!” Kenna yelled.

  Rory clamped his hand over her mouth. “Shush. Ya trying to get us eaten?”

  A gust of wind scattered the fog, revealing the dark form of the creature, standing and watching them with its cat-like eyes. Its wide mouth spread from ear to ear and when opened revealed rows of small sharp teeth.

  Rory grabbed Kenna’s hand and yanked so hard it nearly pulled her arm right out of the socket. He led them to the closest building, the woolen mill. Frantic tugs found each door locked.

  “There.” Kenna pointed to a window above the main office door, cracked open. “Help me up.” Rory hoisted her from his hands to his shoulders and she stretched, gripping the edge of the casement. Rory pushed her higher and higher till she shimmied through the window. Keeping one hand firmly on the windowsill, Kenna swung her legs down and stared at the drop below.

  “Kenna?” Rory pounded on the door. “Kenna?”

  She dropped to the ground and wrenched the door open. Rory tumbled in and she slammed the door and bolted it closed. The creature gave a frustrated squeal. Kenna leaned against the door, exhaling and closing her eyes. “Do ya think he can get in?” The door rattled, the first blow nearly shattering the frame.

  “I have an idea,” Rory said. Kenna followed Rory through the mill’s office and onto the factory floor. In the dark, he felt along the wall. “Help me find the power switch.”

  She and Rory had come to the factory since they were little to sell their wool. “Here,” Kenna said and smacked the button hard. The pumps bringing the water from River Annan hummed to life, filling the boiler. With a whirr of gears and a burst of steam the machines surged into motion. Lights flickered about the two-story high room revealing spinners, weaving machines, and enormous vats of dye. Mounds of wool shifted on conveyor belts feeding the spinners, twisting the wool into yarn and finer threads. From there, the threads fanned out like spider webs to the looms, chugging back and forth, weaving the finest cloth in all of Scotland. And some from their own sheep no less!

  “Just like last night.” Rory pointed at the arm and gripper above the dye vats used to pull colored fabric from the vats and transfer them to the chutes behind. “We capture him with that.”

  Kenna grinned. Recapture the creature and save Papa. Kenna raced up the spiral staircase to the control room as the creature came barreling onto the factory floor. Below, Rory dodged behind a loom when the creature squealed and shot lightning at him.

  Kenna surveyed the wide control panel fitted with all sorts of levers and dials. It was nothing like Papa’s machine. She yanked on the biggest lever. The gripping arm did not move. She twisted a dial and the conveyor belt leading up to the vat slowed down. Spheres of lightening flickered on the floor below. Kenna raced her hands across the panel, pulling, turning, pushing every lever, dial, or button till the arm moved. Grasping the correct lever, she pushed it back, swinging the arm down.

  Rory dashed from behind a row of spinners towards the descending gripping arm. “Over here ya big oaf!” The creature squealed and began making another ball. Kenna jerked the lever down. The arm sailed in front of the creature. It ducked to the side and sidled past. Kenna shoved the lever back up, and spun the dial. The gripper lurched up too late. Rory turned to run. The lightning left the creature’s hand and exploded on Rory. The charge sizzled all over him, jolting him to the ground.

  The creature moved towards him.

  “No!” Kenna screamed. “To me!” She raced down the stairs. Its eyes focused on her. “Ya can’t eat him!”

  She tore her boot off and threw it at the creature. It fell short, but the creature came for her. Round the dye vats she led it, circling again and again till she realized it no longer gave chase. Kenna crept round the tall vat, feeling the warmth of it on her back. She took a step from the vat, looking at the curve ahead of her.

  Feet shuffled behind her and she spun around. The creature grabbed for her. Kenna jumped onto the metal stairs leading to the top of the vat. The creature followed. She backed away, inches from running out of stair. The creature cupped its hands together, working the electric light. There was nowhere to go. Kenna crouched, ready to reach for the guardrail. As the creature brought its arm back, Kenna grabbed for the rail, swinging her legs through.

  As Kenna dangled from the railing she peered up, hearing the shrill cry of the creature and boom of paws smacking against the metal stairs. In a blur of bronze legs and yellow eyes and snapping teeth, Rufus leapt at the creature, knocking it and him into the indigo dye.

  Kenna swung her legs back onto the stairs and peered over the end into the vat. Bubbles and waves sloshed about the open tank. The bubbles stopped and the indigo color bloomed with yellow-green goo. The surface grew still.

  “Rufus?” Kenna called. Nothing below moved. “Rufus.”

  Her heart thumped loudly in her ears whilst she made her way back to Rory. Kenna knelt beside him. She shook Rory with both hands. “Rory, oh, Rory.” She pressed her ear against his chest and listened for a heartbeat. She drew in a calming breath, but the only thump she heard was the rush of her own blood. “Please be alive, please.” She stared at him long and hard, at last seeing the shallow rise and fall of his chest.

  Jumping to her feet Kenna ran out of the mill, down the road past the townsfolk standing and talking in alarmed tones pointing at a yellow-green puddle. She pushed her way through the throng gawking at the bits of Deputy Clacher and grabbed the keys from the pile. Kenna darted between the legs of a man trying to stop her. Ignoring the calls of the villagers, Kenna made for her Papa. Her hands trembled as she stuck the key into the lock.

  “Papa . . . Rory’s hurt bad,” she cried. Papa folded her in his arms and didn’t let go of her the entire way he ran to the mill. Papa would make things right. She was sure.

  …………………………

  “Is that so?” Mama muttered raking the comb through.

  “Ouch!” Kenna patted her hands to her head.

  “It would na hurt so if ya’d brushed ye’re hair.”

  “Aye, Mama,” Kenna said. “And then Lizzie paid me a haypenny to show her the airship with wings but no balloon.”

  “Did she now.”

  “Aye, and then I took her sissy and brother ta see, but there were men in fine wool suits with real airships, taking it away. All Papa got from it–”

  “Hullo?” Papa called through the door. “I’ve got someone I want ya to meet.”

  “Ouch!” Kenna swatted Mama’s hand aside and stood up from the bathtub beside the fire, grabbing at her dress, hung over the blanket pinned up for privacy.

  “The water’s so dirty, I’ll have to empty it for anyone else gets a bath. Ya dinna bathe the whole month I was gone, did ya?”

  Kenna didn’t answer. She threw open the door. Papa, and Rory with a crooked smile, stood beside the most beautiful dog Kenna had ever seen. The dog’s eyes glowed blue in harmony with the silver-colored metal of her body from the strange ship. The sheepdog glistened like a sparkling jewel in the sun. Kenna knelt beside her, circling arms around her neck.

  “She’s perfect!” The sheepdog’s tail wagged. “Her name’s Fenella.”

  A Universe of Talk

  Evan Dicken

  By day, Evan Dicken battles economic entropy for the Department of Commerce and studies old Japanese maps at Ohio State University. By night, he does neither of these things. His work has most recently appeared in Analog, Shock Totem, and Escape Pod, and he has work forthcoming from publishers such as Daily Science Fiction and Chaosium. He very fondly remembers trips to the used bookstore in his pre-teen years, where, to the occasional chagrin of his parents, he would spend his entire allowance in the fantasy and science fiction section.

  Kaela had never thought aliens would be so boring. The K’spoolp looked and smelled like old potatoes; worse, they took forever to reply to anything her father and Captain Lee said. When the aliens came aboard the spaceship, Kaela had been so excited she could barely sit s
till. As the minutes dragged into hours, her enthusiasm melted like ice cream in the summer sun. Now she had to try not to roll her eyes every time the K’spoolp asked another question about the trade agreement. This wasn’t what Kaela imagined when she had begged her father to take her on the mission.

  “In section three, paragraph two.” The biggest K’spoolp waved a pale tentacle at the view screen. “It mentions the transport of eight million tons of chocolate to our homeworld. Will the K’spoolp be required to pay for the containers?”

  “Of course not.” Kaela’s father smiled. Kaela could tell from the way his eyes crinkled at the edges he was getting fed up with the aliens, too.

  Kaela wished for the hundredth time that her father had let her bring her chat prism. Although Earth was too far away for Kaela to talk to any of her friends, the prism still had a bunch of books, games, and trideos. She almost groaned out loud when she realized it was Friday: Glenda Galaxy would be on today. Kaela’s friends would all be over at Carmen Chang’s house watching on Carmen’s big trideo projector. Kaela had hoped her trip with her father would be like the show, with high-speed intergalactic chases, cool aliens, and laser-sword duels. Well, maybe not exactly like the show—Kaela didn’t think she’d want to duel any dangerous aliens like the Vex or Mantiks—but pretty much anything had to be better than this.

  “Acceptable,” the biggest K’spoolp said at last, then turned back to the view screen. “In section four—”

  “Friends.” Kaela’s father spread his hands. “Perhaps we can continue this discussion tomorrow?”

  “Acceptable,” the biggest K’spoolp said after a few minutes of discussion.

  Kaela jumped out of her chair, almost forgetting to do the bow her father had made her practice before the meeting. The K’spoolp plopped down from the benches and wobbled away, talking amongst themselves.

  “Well, that was a waste of time,” Captain Lee said as soon as the door slid shut. “Trading chocolate for engine parts. We should be asking for weapons. The Vex—”

  Kaela’s father glared at the Captain.

  “What about the Vex?” Kaela asked. She’d heard the peace talks weren’t going well, but no one had said anything about fighting.

  “Nothing.” Her father scratched at his beard, something he always did when he was nervous.

  “But—”

  “It’s late. You must be starving, Kaela,” her father said in that sweet, sticky voice adults use when they’re trying to get kids to shut up.

  Captain Lee smoothed the creases from her uniform. “I’ll have dinner sent to your cabin.”

  Kaela made a sour face. She was hungry, but that didn’t change how unfair it was that they were keeping something from her. One way or another, Kaela was going to find out what was really going on.

  …………………………

  “You did a good job today.” Her father hugged her when they were back in their cabin. “I’m proud of you, Mikaela.”

  Kaela pulled away. “I hate it when you call me that.”

  He looked at the floor then at his desk. “I know the K’spoolp are...difficult. Real diplomacy isn’t like on Gail Galaxy—”

  “Glenda Galaxy,” Kaela said. He was right, though. Glenda Galaxy wouldn’t have wasted time with silly diplomats, she would’ve just drawn her sword and said, “Take me to your leader.”

  Kaela flopped down in one of the chairs bolted to the floor. Her father’s desk was a mess, stacks of paper threatening to cover the knickknacks he always brought with him. All that junk, and Kaela hadn’t even been allowed to bring her chat prism. Why couldn’t he just keep his stuff on the computer like a regular person?

  She picked up a fat wooden doll without arms and legs and felt something rattle inside.

  “Your mom gave me that.” Kaela’s father stepped up beside her. “Twist the top.”

  Kaela did, and the upper part of the doll came off to reveal another smaller doll inside.

  “They’re Russian nesting dolls.”

  “How many are there?” Kaela popped the top off the smaller doll to find an even smaller one, and another, and another.

  “A whole family.” Her father gave a sad smile. “Do you ever miss your mom?”

  Kaela set the dolls down. He wasn’t going to distract her that easily. “I want to know about the Vex. Why is the Captain worried?”

  “Captain Lee is a military officer. It’s her job to worry.”

  “Nice try.” Kaela knew her father well enough to recognize when he was avoiding a question. “I thought we were in peace talks with the Vex?”

  “We talk with the Vex, but we never get anywhere.” He picked up the dolls, slowly slipping them back inside each other. “Real diplomacy requires more than talk. You need to understand the other person.”

  “I don’t get it.” Kaela ran her hand through her hair, which was curly like her father’s, but not as dark.

  “You have to be able to see things from their perspective.” Her father pursed his lips. “Like the K’spoolp. They focus on little details because everything in their society is neat and predictable. They get up at the same time, do the same things every day, and everyone sticks to a schedule.”

  “That sounds boring.”

  “For us, maybe, but the K’spoolp like it.” He set the doll down. “It’s easy to judge others when you don’t take the time understand them.”

  Kaela almost snorted. It was just like her father to talk about understanding aliens while ignoring his own daughter.

  “What about the Vex?” Kaela asked.

  “It’s complicated.”

  “Tell me,” she said angrily. “I’m going to find out eventually.”

  He sighed. “You’re right. It’s the peace talks, everything is falling apart. There might be another war. That’s why I brought you out here. Earth may not be safe.”

  Kaela swallowed. “I—”

  The room shook, scattering papers all over the floor. A siren blared outside their door and the lights flickered.

  The ship was under attack!

  …………………………

  Her father activated the desk projector. “Captain, what’s going on? Is it the Vex?”

  Captain Lee’s image appeared over the desk. “A Mantik ship just appeared right next to us.”

  Kaela frowned. She didn’t know much about the Mantiks, but no one really did. The Mantiks’ technology was so advanced that not even the Vex bothered them. They flitted around the galaxy like hummingbirds, traveling light years in the blink of an eye. Glenda Galaxy once found a baby Mantik in a crashed ship. When she took the baby home the aliens gave her a laser sword that could cut through anything, but Kaela was pretty sure that was all made up.

  “What are they doing here?” Captain Lee asked.

  Kaela’s father scratched at his beard.

  “Ambassador, why are the Mantiks here?” the Captain asked.

  “I invited them,” Kaela’s father said in the smallest voice she’d ever heard him use.

  “You what?” Captain Lee shouted.

  “I didn’t think they’d actually come,” he said, then turned to Kaela. “I need to speak with Captain Lee. In private.”

  Kaela crossed her arms. First the Vex, now this. She was through being left out.

  “Mikaela.”

  Kaela didn’t budge.

  “We don’t have time for this,” Captain Lee said.

  Kaela’s father shot her an exasperated look, then pressed a button on the screen. Captain Lee’s image shifted to the bedroom projector. He walked inside, waving the door shut behind him with an irritated flick of his hand.

  Kaela padded over to the door, but couldn’t hear anything. Her father must have switched on the noise dampeners. She went back to the desk projector, but the security lock was on. Although she’d figured her father’s password out a long time ago, Kaela wasn’t sure if she should use it. She swallowed; it wasn’t like she was going to get in worse trouble, right?

&nb
sp; “Ekaterina,” Kaela said her mother’s name. An image of the three of them appeared. They were on the beach near Cape Town, back before the Vex had bombed it. Kaela had been just a baby, then. Her father was dangling her feet in the ocean, smiling as she kicked at the waves. Kaela’s mother stood a little way off, looking out to sea, one hand raised to shield her eyes against the sun, her long, red-brown hair glowing in the afternoon light.

  Kaela waved the image away then touched the chat icon, making sure to turn off the video and audio inputs so they wouldn’t know she was listening.

  “I’ll take the diplomatic shuttle,” Kaela’s father said.

  “They could blow you out of the sky, and I couldn’t do anything about it,” Captain Lee said.

  “If we could open diplomatic relations—or better yet—trade with the Mantik, the Vex wouldn’t even think about attacking.”

  Captain Lee looked unconvinced. “This isn’t the first time we’ve tried to talk to them. I won’t let you risk—”

  “Won’t?” Kaela’s father stiffened. “I command this mission, and I am going to speak with the Mantik.”

  “Ambassador, I—”

  “Get my shuttle ready. That’s an order.”

  Captain Lee’s jaw tightened, then she nodded.

  The images disappeared, and Kaela had to scramble to switch the projector off before her father came stomping out of the bedroom.

  “Dad—”

  “Not now.”

  “I want to—”

  “Enough!” He whirled on her, his expression so furious Kaela barely even recognized him. “What I’m doing here is important—to me, to the world, to our people. I don’t have time to explain.”

  “You never have time!” Kaela was on her feet, although she didn’t remember standing. “It’s bad enough you leave me home alone all the time. I thought this would be different, but I’m here and you still ignore me.”