Return To Lan Darr (18 page)

The blade moves away, and Allan sits up like a sprung mousetrap. Asantia stands over him, one hand on her hip and the other spinning her blade.

“Asantia!” Allan squeaks out, his voice mouse pitched. He coughs and brings it back down. “Good to see you!”

Asantia squats next to Allan. Her tight leather pants creak like an old door. Her top is a similar gray-collared, long-sleeve shirt as the soldiers’, but her undershirt is white and frilly at the collar and cuffs. She wears a thick belt with two pistols clipped to her hips. “What are you doing here?” She guides her sword over her head and into a sheath on her back. Her long brown hair has been cut to her chin, and her face is thinner.

Allan clears his throat. “Is that how you say hello to an old friend?” His voice is the right deep tone this time.

Asantia smiles, revealing her shallow dimples. The firelight illuminates her skin and traces a few new scars. “Sorry, Allan.” She kneels and hugs Allan hard. “It is good to see you again.” She pulls back. “It’s been quite a year here. Not a good one.”

Allan frowns. “The soldiers? Did you see them? Are they… bad?”

Asantia nods. “No, I am with them. We’re at war.”

“With who?”

Asantia sits cross-legged. It is clear to Allan that she doesn’t know where to start. She adds a few thick sticks to the fire and warms her hands. “Dantia is mostly destroyed now. Killian Crow and his people still have the city, but we’re breaking them down.” The firelight gently flows over her skin in waves. She’s so close to Allan her knee rests on his thigh. He wishes he could feel the weight.

“I’m sorry. I…” Allan doesn’t know what to say. He pictured the reunion with Asantia going differently.

Asantia picks up on his hesitation and punches his shoulder playfully. “Don’t worry. Like I said, been a tough year, but we’re winning.”

“What are you fighting for?”

“To outlaw slavery and to end the Testing of children. We also want a council to make the laws, not just Killian Crow.”

“Democracy?”

“Yeah, boy!” She looks at him, lingering on his face for a moment. “You’re older now.” She touches his cheek gently and then pinches it. “Almost look like a man!”

Allan shrugs and blushes.

“How did you get off Earth? Not by Lorebs, you know, those balloon creatures.”

“No, by Hubbu.”

Her brow lifts up. “You’re so lucky sometimes. Not many Hubbu are left on Earth.”

Allan’s chest puffs up. “I found some. I searched that entire mountainside. They didn’t bring me here, though. I stopped at Peebland, then Katonaay, then here.”

“Oh! You went to Katonaay! I’ve heard stories. You’re lucky to be here! I forgot you have some guts in you.” Her expression is bright and full of life.

“It was hard. I had to fight my way out.” Allan suppresses his smile. “I fought a soldier. Took his club and pounded him into the ground like a nail.”

Asantia squeezes the muscle on Allan’s bicep. “You sure have grown up! You’re not a doughy boy.” Her golden eyes twinkle in the firelight. “And I’m assuming you met the Peebles?”

“Yeah, they love you there.”

Asantia laughs and scoots closer to Allan, putting her arm around his shoulder. “Look at you! Exploring the universe without me.”

“I was coming to see you.”

“I hadn’t forgotten about you. I remember our deal.”

“I didn’t think you forgot about me. I…” Allan remembers the dream he had about Asantia showing him the video of Jibbawk escaping from Plethiomia. “I had a dream that you came to see me. Jibbawk escaped, and you wanted me to come with you because you were afraid Jibbawk was going to come after me. Us.”

Asantia’s eyes open wide. “Well that’s a weird dream. I assure you Jibbawk is still on Plethiomia and may even have been eaten by a kargas or a zeiguite by now.”

Allan looks at the fire. “So it was a dream. It felt real. It’s pretty crazy to think you could visit me in a dream like that.” He picks up a stick and pokes the fire. “How did you find me this time?”

“We’re monitoring all Hubbu reactions. We saw you arrive. They thought you were an enemy scout. So did I, until I saw you through the scope. You were so cute trying to light your fire in the wind.”

“Cute, huh.” Allan shrugs at her babyish description of him. He’d like to point out the fact that he succeeded instead of struggled.

A tall bird-man approaches from the shadows, followed by two smaller bird creatures. Asantia stands tall and straight with her arms to her side. When the bird-man stops at the fire he picks up one leg, standing like a flamingo. The bird-man has a short and fat beak with a red swath on top similar to a puffin. His feathers are all black except for a patch of blue on his neck. He wears the same gray uniform, but has a star painted on the left chest. He isn’t wearing pants, and his powerful legs are similar to Jibbawk’s ostrich-like legs. His wings are full feathered and folded on its back. Copper bands with mounted pistols are clipped to each forewing. “So am I to assume your idle chitchat means this man is not of the enemy?” the bird-man says in a deep voice. The two smaller creatures, which have simpler uniforms, stand quietly behind it.

Allan watches with amusement seasoned with a pinch of amazement and a dash of wonder.

“Correct. He is a friend from Earth,” Asantia says with a sharp tone.

“Fine,” the bird-man snaps then moves on to more important matters. “What is your update?”

“The advance is going as planned. We’ll make camp in the mushroom forest and attack by dawn,” Asantia answers.

“Good. You will be joining us?” The bird-man asks Asantia, but then looks at Allan and sneers.

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Asantia responds.

The bird-man and his two followers continue after the army.

Asantia sits and resumes warming her hands.

“That guy is really nice. I want to be his best friend,” Allan muses sarcastically.

Asantia laughs. “Oh, he’s good, just a little grumpy like he has a thorn in his you-know-what.”

“Someone should pluck that thorn out,” Allan says, smiling.

“You volunteering?” Asantia’s eyes widen.

“Not a chance.”

When the two finish laughing, they stare at the fire for a moment. “Besides the dream, I had to come back,” Allan says.

“Oh?”

“Everyone at my school thinks I’m crazy. No one believes I came here. They think I copied a book Adam Boldary wrote about a boy named Morty. Adam’s book has a lot of creatures that live on Lan Darr, and I thought I was crazy too. When I first ended up in Peebland I knew that Adam Boldary had traveled by Hubbu. For some reason, he didn’t tell anyone about it, but instead, wrote fictional children’s books.”

“Boldary was a good man.”

“You knew him?”

“Mizzi did. So did others. He came around quite a bit. So did others from Earth. They built up schools and taught us some technologies. We learned his language.”

Allan laughs. “That I’m glad for.”

“The books he brought were so beautiful. There were so many. We copy them and pass them around. They were technical textbooks. That’s how we learned to make electricity. Though Killian Crow only lets the few privileged have it.”

“And one of his books taught you how to build your old airship?”

“That’s right.”

“Were you able to build another one?”

“What do you think?” She smiles.

“Where is it?” Allan looks around, assuming the dark night obscured her landing spot.

“Being repaired. It was damaged in a battle. But one of Adam’s books is teaching me how to make a more solid frame. It’s an original book of his. I’m layering my frame in a flexible fiberglass coating. I’ll have the lightest and strongest ship on this planet. I’m lucky to have found it before Killian did. He hordes books he finds and burns copies.”

“That’s funny. On Earth, Adam Boldary wrote and sold books for children; books with weird and wacky aliens and talking animals. I’ve met many of the creatures he drew,” Allan says, wondering about Adam Boldary’s real motives. “Looks like he was teaching us as much as he was teaching you guys.”

“Different planets need different books, I guess.” Asantia brushes a strand of hair from her face. “He also said that we have to discover and invent some things on our own. He’d say, give a man a fish and he’ll eat for one meal. Teach him how to be a fisherman and he’ll eat for a lifetime.”

“I’ve heard my uncle saying that. It makes sense.” Allan looks at the three moons. “I’m really glad I’m not crazy. I found Lan Darr again. I really did.”

“Yup. Pretty brave to come by yourself.” She points to his wheelchair. “Came with some slick wheels this time, I see.”

“I do love my chair. Though, I would rather use the mechanical legs Mizzi made, if I had a choice.”

“I’ll bet. Well, I gotta go. We’re breaching the wall tomorrow.”

Allan lowers his head. It took a lot of time trying to get here, to find Asantia. Instead of finding her, exploring the universe with her, he lands in a war zone. A war that Asantia will fight in. “I hope I will see you again.”

Asantia grabs Allan’s shoulders and pulls him face to face. “You will see me again, Allan Westerfield. I’m not dying on that field tomorrow. We’re liberating Dantia so it will be safe for everyone. The next time you see me it will be over a JooJa drink in a cafe on Canal Street Five.”

Allan’s arms wrap around her and they hug.

Asantia retrieves a few small bags from a pocket. The bags are filled with Hubbu pollen. She hands the colorful bags to Allan. “You have to go home. It’s not safe here. Killian Crow is more ruthless than ever now. You know which color gets you to Earth?” Allan nods.

Asantia stands, stares at Allan for a long moment, then walks off, disappearing into the darkness that surrounds the small fire.

Allan shuffles the bags of Hubbu pollen like playing cards over and over in his hand, staring at the pollen. So purple goes to Peebland, pink goes to Katonaay, blue goes to Lan Darr, yellow goes to Bileen, and orange goes to Earth. The colors can be mixed as well. He can make brown and green and various shades of all the colors. He wonders where green would take him, and if he doesn’t like that destination, he can come home now that he’s got all the colors at his disposal. He doesn’t have to go home yet if he doesn’t want to.

But he’s tired. “I’d rather travel with someone else,” he mumbles. “I need some proof that all these worlds exist. I need a video camera.” But the thought occurs to him that even a video wouldn’t suffice. Some people will still say he made it up. He sighs. Maybe he’ll go home to Rubic, to school, to everyday life, to Earth, and forget these dangerous places exist.

Allan lies back down and rests his head on his backpack. At least on Earth he won’t be enslaved or lost or go hungry. And he’ll have family there, and friends. These thoughts warm the inside of Allan more than the fire does.

He’ll rest a bit before he decides anything.

Chapter
19

Reasonable Ruse

Laura stares as the streetlights fly by in a never-ending rhythm. She is cuffed to the armrest of a madwoman’s Jeep and is now an accomplice to kidnapping. If you can call loading a full-grown woman into a Jeep, kidnapping. Is it called
adult napping?
She glances over her shoulder. The flower woman, Morna, is still unconscious. The cuts on her arm should have clotted, but it is hard to see in the dark.

Alice drives with a lead foot, mumbling to herself. Her plan has clearly gone astray.              

Laura croaks, “Can I have some water?”

“No,” Alice snaps.

“Are you okay? Did you get hurt when you fought Morna?”

Alice glances at Laura. “You’re a good actor, you know. Pretending to care about me.”

“I didn’t…”

“Such a smart brain on you, manipulative and creative. Dangerous combo, girl.” Alice grunts, sounding like a barn animal. “Eeh, fine. Have some water.” She opens the console between the seats and pulls out a water bottle. “You drink half of that. Leave the rest.” She tosses the bottle in Laura’s lap.

Laura gulps. The cool liquid paves a path of satisfaction down her throat and into her belly. “Thank you.”

Alice takes the freeway off-ramp a little too fast and blows through a red light. The buildings on either side of the street are large and silent. Surely there are a dozen cameras eyeing the dark, recording their every move.

Alice checks her phone’s GPS and turns down a side street. A wholesale flower warehouse is at the end of the road. The building is huge. A sign directs delivery vehicles to the back.

Alice follows the signs at dangerous speeds.

The back door is as solid as a steel column.
No glass door to shoot out,
Laura thinks.
The roll-up door looks just as strong. Alice will never get inside.

Alice stomps on the gas pedal and heads straight for the roll-up door.

Laura’s eyes widen and her breath is caught in her chest. Right before impact, Laura snaps her eyes closed, and she screams.

BLAM! KRRPeeeeeKK!

The women are caught by the seat belts. Laura’s wig flies off, freeing her golden locks. The room seems to spin for a moment. There are numerous areas on Laura’s body that complain: her wrists, her skull, and now her neck. The pain makes her angry. Alice will pay for this.

Alice taps the gas pedal, forcing the Jeep through the metal slats. Scraping and whining fill the silent night. The sound vibrates Laura’s teeth.

Alice jumps out, negotiates the twisted metal like a squirrel, and disappears into the warehouse. The lights flicker on. Large coolers line the interior wall, worktables fill up the center of the room, and shipping boxes are stacked along the far wall next to a large spool of bubble wrap. Alice enters the first cooler and comes out empty-handed. She enters the next cooler. Nothing. She checks the third cooler and is inside longer. This time, Alice emerges with her arms full of purple Hubbu flowers. They are just as Allan had described them.

Alice wraps the flowers in bubble wrap and crams them in a box. She sets the box in the back seat and belts it in. When she tries to reverse the Jeep it lurches and the tires spin, but the Jeep doesn’t go anywhere. “Come on,” Alice hisses.

“You want me to get out and push?” Laura snaps, her brow still taut with anger from the pain Alice has caused her.

Alice drives forward then backs up. The Jeep hits an obstruction and, with more bone-vibrating grinding, leaps out of the warehouse. The Jeep spins around, burning tire rubber and drives off.

A few police cars pass the Jeep, racing toward the warehouse. They’ll arrive in time to spook curious raccoons, and that’s about it.

Even in absolute danger and in pain, Laura becomes nervously excited.
Is it possible that Allan used a flower to travel to another planet? Is this real? These are the same questions Allan must have been asking himself for months. It’s an absurd and ludicrous idea, but it has to be real.

Laura can’t wait to see Allan. She knows he’ll forgive her for her mistakes.
I’ll never steal Allan’s diary again, and I’ll always believe him no matter how crazy he sounds.

An hour later, Alice pulls into the university parking garage and parks in a spot marked with her name. The garage is mostly empty with only a few loitering cars around. The dash clock says it’s two thirty in the morning. She un-cuffs Laura. “Don’t try running.” Alice looks at Laura for a moment. “I know you won’t. You want to see where Allan went just as bad as I do.” She hands the box of Hubbu plants to Laura.

Laura takes the box. She does want to find Allan, but the morality problem still exists. If she helps Alice, she will be guilty of bringing harm and danger to Allan.
What will
Alice do when she finally gets what she wants? She has to get rid of us all: me, Allan, Morna, my mother
.
We’re witnesses to her crimes, crimes that will put her in prison for a long, long time.
Laura knows what she has to do. Stall. She has to do everything in her power to keep her from finding Allan. It’s the right thing to do. She looks at the Hubbu flowers in the box. The purple is so vivid it practically glows. The petals are so small and glassy. The pollen looks as soft as a baby chick.

Alice procures a small white vial from the toolbox and snaps off the lid. She waves it under Morna’s nose. Morna wakes with a start. “Oh, what is that smell? Like rotten cabbage it is!” She blinks tears from her eyes and sees Alice. “Arr, it’s you, ya foul beast of a woman. Have ye not found a lad ta distract ye from the shite ideas coming from between yer ears?”

“Shut your mouth. You don’t know me.”

“Aye, and I don’ mean to know ye. You’re a rotten egg, ye are.”

“You’d rather I knock you out again? Or maybe I’ll just let you taste my wrath.”

Morna doesn’t respond, but not because of Alice’s words. It is because of the gun now pointed at her.

“Get up.”

Morna pulls herself out of the Jeep. “Och.” She rubs her neck and inspects the cuts on her arm. “Did ye have ta beat me like a squirrel in a sack? I feel like a banana gone through the fluff and fold.”

Alice raises her gun over her head ready to coldcock Morna.

Morna flinches, bringing her arms up to shield her face. “Sorry, ya brute. I wonna say a thing more.”

“Start walking. My lab is in the first building.”

The three walk to a red brick building. Ductwork line the sides and the windows are small. Alice, looking back and forth, stashes the gun in her pocket and walks a pace behind. The three ride the elevator to the fourth floor. Alice unlocks her office and waits for the two ladies to move past her. She pauses, looks down the hallway, then closes and locks the door.

She flicks on the lights. The room is a lab with four tables and a far wall full of chemicals and binders and glass beakers. Alice pushes Morna in between the tables to an office in the back. “Get in there and stay quiet. If you make a peep, I shoot the girl. Got it?”

“I hear ya. I can’t miss yer vile voice, just like I canna miss the reek of yer arse.”

Alice slams the office door shut and braces the handle with a chair, then tests it to make sure Morna can’t push it open.

“Put the flowers on the table, carefully.” Alice stares at the Hubbu, smiling.

Laura sees the clutter on the table and pauses. Books, papers, beakers, burners, and other equipment fill up every available space. Like frosting, everything is covered in a thick blanket of dust.

Alice sweeps the top of the table in one swoop of her arm. The racket fills the small office, making Laura cringe.

I have to stall, but how?

Laura puts the box on the table. Alice lifts out the flowers and unwraps them as gingerly as though they are glass works of art. She lays them in a neat row.

“How did lover boy say this works?” Alice asks. She touches a petal, her hand shaking slightly.

Laura shrugs. “I don’t know.”

Alice takes out the gun and narrows the space between her and Laura until they are face to face. “I know he told you everything. So cough it up.”

Laura brings her hands up and shakes her head. “I don’t know, really!”

As quick as the strike of a viper, Alice thumps the butt of the gun on Laura’s head. “Ahhhuuhh!” Laura falls to her knees and clutches her scalp. She cries for a moment then forces herself to stop. Warm blood runs between her fingers.

“How did he say it works?!” Fire lights up Alice’s eyes.

Laura sniffles then wipes her nose on her sleeve. “He said… he said they mixed the pollen with something.”

“A medium. Hrm,” Alice mumbles.

“It was sticky. It has to stick to your skin for a while.” She wiped her eyes.
Stall her. Think!
“He said, he said it was like peanut butter.” Knowing full well the Hubbu reacts when swirled in the air, her only hope is that peanut butter will dilute and render the pollen useless.

Alice raises her chin and her eyes widen. “I see. It must react to the oils. Maybe the nutrients trigger a reaction. I never thought about that.” Alice skips to a kitchen adjacent the workroom and returns with a jar of peanut butter and a knife.

“Just mix it together, is what he said.”

Alice uses the knife to scrape purple pollen off the flower buds and into the jar. She stirs aggressively. “I see a spark! The pollen is reacting!”

“They started with his face,” Laura said.

Alice scoops the sticky mess with her hand and smears thick, sticky globs of chunky peanut butter all over her face. She slides the jar over to Laura. “You coming?”

Laura nods and scoops a handful of peanut butter. She spreads it over her face.

The two women proceed to spread pollen-laced peanut butter all over their necks and arms.

Alice finishes and looks at the clock. “How long is this supposed to take?”

Laura sees that Alice is sweating. It’s causing the peanut butter to run down her brow and into her eye. She feels a chuckle come on. Her chest starts to roll with laughter, but she tries to hold it in. She fails and bursts out laughing.

Alice holds up her gun. “Oh! You’re jerking me around aren’t you! You’ve messed with the wrong woman.” Her eyes fill with anger, and her finger tightens on the trigger.

The window shatters as a can flies into the lab. Smoke shoots from the can, filling up the room. The front door bursts inward followed by a S.W.A.T. team armed for war. Red laser lights sweep through the smoke, and the officers order Laura and Alice to hold their hands up.

The smoke quickly fills the small lab and obscures everything, but not before Laura snatches a Hubbu flower. Alice disappears in the smoke and screams.

Laura starts shaking the flower above her head even as a S.W.A.T. officer reaches out to grab her. “Please, God. Take me to Allan.”

Sparks fly and the chain reaction begins.