Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 68478 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 342(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68478 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 342(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
I love this place.
I know the humans complain about the snow and the cold. I know there is more rock than they are used to, and No-rah has mentioned that their old home had many more trees. But when I look around, I see home. I see snow that hugs the world like a blanket. I see spikes of color where foliage has pushed its way through the snow, reaching for the sun. I see ribbons of blue as the streams wind through valleys, and herds of distant dvisti as they churn trails in the snow, seeking food. It is all fascinating and lovely and I could spend every day exploring and learning new things. Most of the humans are content to stay in the village. A few of them hunt, like Leezh and Li-lah and Mah-dee, but most are happy at home.
But I love the adventure of exploration. I crave new experiences. I want more than just sitting around a fire and chatting. I want to see everything I can.
As I walk, I contemplate this. I want to get away for a few days, I think. Let Sessah focus on something else for a change. But where? To the great salt lake, with its long scaly monsters that swim in it? To the human cave with the flashing red light that burns at a touch? Or somewhere else?
I think of Har-loh and what she would like. She likes plants better than meat, I think. Maybe…maybe I could visit Tee-fah-ni’s fruit cave and bring her home a few things from there? It is not far from the Elders’ Cave, and the grounds are familiar, if far away. It is a long journey, but I think of how Har-loh will smile at such a thing.
And I set off in that direction, Chahm-pee chewing as he moves beside me. He likes the fruit, too. And maybe when we are there, we can see if the Elders’ cave is still tipped over.
All afternoon, I hike in that direction. The plants thin out atop the ridges, so I descend the cliffs and walk in the valleys with Chahm-pee. There are snow-cats around, and other dvisti herds, and I see the shadow of the occasional sky-claw, but they do not concern me. I am much larger than any of the small humans and it will not bother me, and Chahm-pee is far too fat to worry about the scrawny snow-cats. When the suns begin to move lower in the skies, I eat a few bites of the dried meat my mother sent along and contemplate where I shall sleep. There are two hunter caves close to me. One is but a short walk from here, but it is tiny and ill-suited for both sa-khui female and dvisti, and I will have to smell Chahm-pee make wind all night. Better to continue to the farther cave, which is larger…but it means journeying after dark.
I shrug off any concern. It is the bitter season, and I am strong. I have a knife and spear, and nothing should attack an adult sa-khui, especially not one accompanied by a large dvisti. It will be fine. But when I cross the next ridge, I see…something.
Something different.
At first I think it is my eyes playing tricks on me. A flash of light, and then it is gone. I squint up at the skies, my hand to my brow as I gaze at the clouds. Was it my imagination?
But then, there it is again. It flashes in the sky and then grows dark. It moves quickly, darting high up and between the clouds, moving like no bird or sky-claw I have ever seen before. I watch in wonder as it hovers over one of the distant cliffs, then zooms across the sky faster than I can follow. When the lights flash again, I realize what this is.
It is another human cave, just like the one Shorshie and the others came from. We have visitors from the stars. For a moment, I am terrified. Maybe someone has come to take Shorshie and the other humans away? Back where they came from? But no, they have said many times that they did not come here willingly, and Kira made sure their cave did not go back to the skies.
These people are here for different reasons. They must be.
But what?
2
MARDOK
“Ican’t believe we gotta set down here. Do you know where the kef we are?” Trakan snarls, sticking another carcinogel between his lips and lighting it. His foot taps angrily on the floor of the main deck.
“You’re the navigator,” I tell him, keeping my tone slow and unconcerned as I scroll through screen after screen of error codes. “That’s your job.”
“Kopan Keffing VI,” he snarls, and I can hear the angry smack of his fingers against his input station as he types. “Uninhabited keffing snowball of a planet, that’s what it is.”