Page 8 of 80% Beef 20%
Damn, that man was loud. His comment rattled through my brain, joining my chattering teeth. Why do I always overdo it?
“Honestly. What has gotten into that Rock Dweller?” TeyTey twisted so her words weren’t carried away by the wind. “Normally, he’s as calm as the spirit master guides in the Black Rocks of Nara.” Her eyes sparkled. “But around you, somethingspecialalways happens.”
I had to agree. JayJay was aspecialcase. I nodded, though she couldn’t see me, and as we flew, my mind drifted. Half popsicle, I questioned my stupid decisions. Why, while I was ill, had I thought it would be a good idea to travel off-planet for the first time? I shook that self-doubt away. I’d learned to trust my intuition over the years, and it screamed: visit Geo and bring him his dogs. Though something small niggled at me through my frozen core. Maybe there was more to life than a career. Something even better than learning to ride a hoverbike.
When TeyTey pulled through Makir’s hovery bay doors, my frozen shoulders finally dislodged from around my ears. Numb to the core, I sat in the kitchen as Charz and Pika pinged off my calves, the weight of their tiny paws unnoticed.
“Here you are, Ginger.” TeyTey placed Tern’s version of hot chocolate, black and tangy, into my swollen hands. A notification came through on her wristport, and she dipped herhead to read it. “Sorry, I really must go. YimYim cut his toe in the lazy river, and Sully’s not good with blood.”
Thank goodness she had to go. My ability to hold a conversation had vanished the instant I set foot in the warm house. I was reduced to nothing more than a hot-chocolate-sipping blob at the moment. The sugar didn’t even begin to temper my current battle with exhaustion.
TeyTey’s eyes flashed with concern. “You’re sure you’ll be okay?”
Though I was pretty confident I’d pulled a muscle in my back one of the times I toppled from my hoverbike, and my inner thighs were likely bruised, I nodded, then dug deep into my reserves. “I’ve never been better. Did you see JayJay’s face when I rocked the shit out of that course?” Always a pleaser, I couldn’t stop the words that burst from my mouth. “In fact, I’ll be linobee hunting tomorrow. I hear YimYim needs some mittens.” I went to wave goodbye, but my arm floundered, and I passed it off as a thumbs-up.
TeyTey frowned, and her forehead ridge furrowed, the glitter adorning it long blown away. Her com pinged again, and as if by instinct, she turned in the direction of her house. “No rush. YimYim will be fine. I’ll see you soon, then?” She waved as she exited through the solarium behind the house. “Don’t forget to com JayJay if you go.”
My eyelids grew heavy as I sat at the table.
3
Early the following rotation,Mayor Yurst motioned for me to sit on one of the many lounge chairs circling his massive pool.
“Come sit.” He stood with his hands planted on his hips, his pose mimicking the stupid statue of himself in the center of his courtyard. The solarium’s dome served as a personal amphitheater. When the wispy tips of his tawny ears flickered, he came across as clever and distinguished, but I’d learned otherwise.
My knees were nearly at my ears as I crouched in his strange, low chair, but I wouldn’t waste my audience with him because ofdiscomfort. “I implore you to reach out to Yagras. It’s imperative that we obtain the bloodroot fungus. It’s the only defense against the hellsna.”
“Slow down, JayJay. Have a drink.” Yurst gestured to a half-empty container of orzfoam, the fermented graneth grass drink sold at the local cantina. He sauntered to the bed-like chair and reclined with his hands behind his head.
I waved off the offer—it was much too early to drink—and stared into the pool’s still waters, searching for guidance. Were we here for the same reasons? Why was he dressed for the beach in the middle of the cold season when we were meeting to discuss Yurstille’s welfare? “Has Bonic spoken with you?”
At Makir’s brother’s name, the mayor sat at attention. “Yes, now that you mention it, he may have said something. Now, what was it again?” His upright ears flickered outward and back in again, like searching triangles.
My head throbbed. I should’ve taken him up on the drink. The entitled mayor had only agreed to speak with me, an authority on hellsna, because of Bonic. As the high commander of the elite protectors on Lorne, Bonic came from a royal line with a lot of sway.
Not long ago, I’d been a male who commanded respect without calling on friends in high places. An image came to mind of my crisp white uniform emblazoned with a hellsna on the right breast. Now, I built dwellings. I glared at the torn fabric exposing one of my knees to the opulent fountains and fruiting trees filling the mayor’s courtyard.
“Oh, I’ve got it.” Mayor Yurst bounced a little in his seat. “Something about a little tussle you had when Bonic visited his brother with his wife.”
Tussle? My head snapped toward the mayor’s greedy eyes. They were glued to a projection on the pink earthen wall where he scrolled for…statues?
It seemed like it had only been last rotation that I’d been trapped in that cave with Bonic’s pregnant mate, Ginger and Makir. My biceps throbbed and sweat beaded my forehead just thinking of the effort it had taken to push the giant boulder free. And that hadn’t even been a hellsna attack, just tremors from the giant blanting beast rising from below ground. Yet Yurst looked as if he’d put more thought into his swim trunk choice this morning than the genuine threat to Yurstille.
Mayor Yurst’s whiskers glistened with foam as he took another drink. “Hmmm… What’s Bonic’s brother’s name again?”
“Makir. He owns the hovery,” I groaned. Was this male the only one who’d stuck his hand up on election rotation?
I massaged the cramp in my leg. How could I drive home the threat to Yurst? “The only way to rid Tern of the monster is by administering the poisonous fungus.” If I could reach out to the new lead protector of the Yagras guard myself, everything would be different. But, even an annum later, my banishment—despite no longer existing in the eyes of my friends—felt like someone taking a chisel to my skull.
The mayor continued scrolling through images of statues on the wall in front of us, pausing on a jewel-encrusted gold model. “That’s a pretty one.” His eyes shone.
My usually steady voice wavered as my patience waned. “This will be a significant problem if not dealt with.” Trying to devise a plan to manage the hellsna with Mayor Yurst would unravel anyone’s patience. “Lives will be lost, damage to property and lands guaranteed.”
Yurst’s split-lip mouth lifted in a wide grin. “Nonsense. I have full confidence that Sisip and her enforcers can handle the nuisance.” Though a Tig like Sisip, sharing a species was the only thing the mayor had in common with the capable lead enforcer.
At least the humid air from the geothermally heated waters warmed the space and soothed my lungs. With a deep breath,I tried again. “It’s decimated the mantu that roam the plateaus beyond the rocky outcrop.” Yurst didn’t even flinch. “They’ve destroyed entire villages in one night on my home planet. As mayor, you will be held responsible.”
The mayor’s heart-filled eyes paused on an image, and he sighed.
