The Sky Drifter (6 page)

 Sitting up, Pi asked, “Oh, what’s
that
?”

“That, my friend, is a banana sundae. It is, however, not something you’d like. So hands off,” I warned as I slid it protectively toward me. Pi slouched back on his chair and huffed, looking around him.

I took a bite of the delicious dessert and then took out my Equinox from inside my side pocket. I turned it on before I started playing the same game Iris was.

Soon after, she glanced up, and said, “Oh, hi. How are you?”

Aware of my tendency to put my foot in my mouth, I opted on the side of caution and simply replied, “I’m okay, thanks. I like your top.”

“What do you mean?”

I looked up to see Iris glowering at me. I could almost have sworn dark clouds had begun amassing behind and above her.

“Nothing, just that it looks nice, that’s all—”

“I can wear nice things if I want to, you know.”

“I know, I—”

“And I can do so without having any ulterior motives, either. Understood?”

“Y-yes, of course,” I replied, smiling nervously and putting my hands up in front of my chest.

“Good,” said Iris, lowering her gaze back to her game.

I looked slowly round at Pi, who smiled and winked as he started eating a banana sundae.

“So,” began Iris in a much softer voice, “you like it, then?”

Resuming my last position and looking back at her, I started, “Wha—”

“My top.”

“Yes, it’s lovely,” I replied breathlessly with wide open eyes and a smile.

With a gentle grin, Iris lowered her gaze once again and said, “Good.”

Groaning deeply, Pi said, “Going to the little boy’s room. Be right back.” He scraped the chair back into some customers, who pretended not to notice. As he walked, a path cleared ahead of him, revealing the shop’s window and the street beyond.

I glanced over and saw the same girl with the red coat standing outside in the corner, her face half-covered in shadow. Before I could determine whether she looked at me, the path folded back in on itself as Pi reached the bathroom. I wondered whether she really could be following me, but came up with no reasons she, or anyone, would want to. So I decided to take another bite of my sundae and then went back to playing the game.

Two puddings and a wriggling milkshake later, we decided to go to our halls, especially as Iris wanted to get an early night so she could be up early the following day to get ready for the excursion to Brattea.

The conversation on the way mostly consisted of Pi’s new-found love of sundaes, and Iris’ explanation of just how cute the Bratteans really were. Once we reached my halls, Iris made plans to meet me the following morning earlier than I would have liked so we could get to the hangar on time.

After we said goodnight, and Iris and Pi had walked to their respective halls, I entered my quarters to the sounds of Ava singing along to the musical part of a film. I undressed and then lay on my bed with my stomach nicely full and thoughts of the long day ahead.

***

Next morning I awoke with a start. “Wh-What?”

“Good morning, Seven,” said Ava as smoothly as ever, playing a game on the large display above my desk, “Did I wake you?”

“Wh-What time is it?”

“It is 07:35, Seven. Why do you ask?”

With a sudden loss of breath, I instantly opened my eyes as wide as they could and bounded out of bed in search of clothes. The expedition vessel left at eight, sharp.

“Ava! You were supposed to wake me an hour ago!”

“I am sorry, Seven. I was distracted by the banging on the door.”

“What bang—Iris.” A new fear seized me as I desperately threw on any clothes I could find, put my boots on and dashed out of my quarters.

I reached the academy gates and ran through to the main entrance and then down the long hall adjacent to it, stopping at the very end where the elevators to the hangar were. With urgency I pressed the small blue pad on the wall, hoping the expedition vessel hadn’t left and that Iris would spare my life. I’d looked up at the clock tower as I’d run past moments earlier, and it’d indicated I had four minutes to get there.

“Come on, come on, come on,” I repeated, jerking my body up and down with impatience. Finally, the door swooshed open, and I dove quickly inside the spacious cabin, pressing the lower of the two pads on the wall to my right. Moments later, the door re-opened onto the vast hangar beyond.

Sterile, dark gray steel walls encased the busy space. All around, engineers and crew were busily working at their consoles or making repairs to various service ships and machinery. To my right, the five expedition vessels were lined up next to each other along the wall. They were white and blue to represent the academy’s colors, and were rectangular, but for the slope at the front, which ended in a smooth curve toward the bottom. The only entrance to each was half-way up the side, and only accessible by a ramp, which folded downward from its vertical position over the door.

Stepping off the elevator, I turned to see students walking onto the platform and into the ship as Mr. Sylva, who stood inside his cylindrical mobile earth unit, ticked them off from his list of attendance.

Waiting next to the vessel was Iris, looking angrily at me with her arms crossed in front of her. I jogged toward her.

“I am
so
sorry, Iris,” I began. “Ava was supposed to—”

“I waited ten minutes out there for you, Seven. I banged on your door so much I looked crazy!”

“I know, I’m sorry. Ava—”

“Yes, I know. She was supposed to wake you up. Why do you still rely on her to do that? Has she
ever
woken you up on time? Honestly, if it wasn’t for me, you’d never get to the academy.”

“I know, you’re right, I—”

“And why are you dressed like that?”

I looked down at myself and noticed for the first time that I’d put on an old, holey practice vest, dirty gray sweat pants and my blue boots. Feeling my cheeks redden, I replied embarrassingly, “Well, I didn’t have time, so…”

“You students there, do you wish to come or would you prefer to stay here, chatting the whole day?” came the teacher’s voice, accompanied by the whirring from his mobile unit as it turned to face us.

“Sorry, Mr. Sylva,” replied Iris, beaming. “We’re coming.” Just before walking toward the platform, she turned her head and threw icy daggers at my eyes with her own. Feeling oddly tired already, I followed her up the ramp and into the vessel.

Inside, five rows of seats, each accommodating four students, faced the front where two pilots sat behind a glass screen. The interior looked much as the exterior did with the walls colored in white and blue, though the floor was a light metallic gray. There were four long, vertical rectangular windows on either side to allow for excellent views outside, which was something I always looked forward to.

Iris sat in the front row at the far end, so I had to sit in the only seat left, which was in one of the middle seats of the third row between a skeletal Clava and a short, furry Ewi.

As soon as everyone was seated, and Mr. Sylva had magnetized his mobile unit to the floor at the front, the pilots started the vessel, which rose soundlessly off the ground, tilted momentarily left, then right, as it aligned itself with the sloping runway ahead. The large, steel door at the end slid slowly open while all the safety procedures and checks inside and outside the vessel were being done.

After everything was finally ready, a pulsating sound at the back of the vessel gradually became louder and faster until it thrust forward at great speed along the runway out of the
Sky Drifter
into the vastness of space.

Once outside, and sufficiently far away from the ship, the vessel stopped and made a ninety-degree turn. Looking out of the window, I saw just how massive the
Sky Drifter
really was. Aside from the large dome, which covered the surface where we all lived, studied, and worked, there were a total of twenty-two decks below, which accommodated the hangar, further quarters for the crew and other specialists and the great amount of machinery needed to run the ship itself. As the vessel sped away, the
Sky Drifter
was soon replaced by countless stars and the endless panorama of space.

“Approaching planet Brattea,” came a tinny voice over the intercom. “Conditions appear stable.”

As the vessel gradually entered its atmosphere, darkness was replaced by wispy, yellow clouds and a yellow-green sky. The farther we descended, the more the great expanse of the planet’s surface came into view. Dark purple spiralling trees, pointy emerald trees, short brown and orange trees, thin trees every shade of yellow, dark and bright red furry trees, all were squeezed in together to make a patchwork of swaying colors I’d never seen before.

“Told you you’d like it,” came Iris’ voice as she peered at me from behind her seat.

Realizing just how wide my mouth was open, I immediately closed it and roughly cleared my throat. Sometimes I think I could be as stubborn as Iris. I looked at her to see if she was still angry with me, but she sat as Mr. Sylva began to speak.

“Students, we will be landing shortly. When we do, exit the vessel one by one in an orderly manner and then stand together just outside it. As we set off, you will follow me closely, making certain
you pay special attention to all above and below you as you walk, and respect your surroundings. You will find that nothing here on Brattea will harm you, and so you shall not harm its inhabitants, either.”

Soon after, the vessel landed in a small clearing. From outside, a whirring sound could be heard as the platform lowered and then rested on the ground before the door opened. The smell that drifted inside as we stood was musty and earthy. Something about it made me think it was as old as time itself.

I walked off the vessel and onto the patchy red and brown grass below. I breathed in as deeply as I could and exhaled. My lungs felt cleaner and my mind lighter than they had in quite a while.

As clean as the artificial air was aboard the
Sky Drifter
, it just couldn’t compare to fresh, clean air. My mind spinning slightly at the sudden change, I felt ready for the excursion ahead.

I LOOKED AROUND FOR
Iris and soon found her speaking with a Syreni girl who, like the Arcus, were generally considered an empirically beautiful race. They were covered head to toe in deep blue scales and their hair was as yellow and bright as any star. Their large, green eyes were half as big as their elongated heads and blinked from left to right.

Upon seeing me, Iris excused herself and then walked chirpily toward where I stood.

“So?” she asked, looking excitedly around her. “What do you think?”

Not wanting to annoy Iris further, and being honest with myself, I replied, “It’s lovely, Iris. You were right.”

Beaming, she said, “I knew you’d like it here!”

Having been first off the vessel, Mr. Sylva, who’d now stepped out of his mobile unit and was now standing with his roots deep inside the dark earth below, said, “Gather round, students.” Once everyone had finally drawn closer and formed a semi-circle around him, he continued. “Students, you will now follow me closely, paying attention to all below and above you, making certain you respect your surroundings. You will find that nothing in Brattea will harm you, so you will not harm anything, either. Now, find a partner with whom to walk and follow me closely, so you don’t get lost.”

With that, Mr. Sylva turned, his many roots—which looked like long, curly toes at the end of his two feet—plunging in and ripping out of the soil as he walked.

As instructed, everyone got in pairs. Iris interlocked her arm with mine. We all walked behind Mr. Sylva closely enough not to lose him, but far enough away so as not to be hit by the falling clumps of earth in his wake.

He led us into the thick gathering of trees along a narrow, leafy path. The deeper into the perpetual forest we walked, the dimmer the light from above became. The dead leaves underfoot, with their bright reds, oranges, and yellows, contrasted with the dark soil beneath them.

“Isn’t this beautiful, Seven?” asked Iris, interlacing her fingers under her chin.

Right and left of us, the ancient forest planet creaked and groaned and whispered. While those far from bothered me, I felt as though there was something else out there. That somewhere in the depths something watched me.

“It’s lovely, Iris,” I replied, keeping my thoughts to myself.

As we walked, we came across strange beings we’d never seen before. From either side of the paths we followed there would occasionally be a certain species of plant, which had three long purple and pink spirals, reaching up from the ground. These particular plants mimicked every sound they heard around them in a slightly nasally, high-pitched tone. So when Mr. Sylva first walked past the first few of their kind we came across, they mimicked the churning sound of the earth he created with his feet.

Once we all heard this, we stopped and stared in wonder at them as they mimicked our chattering voices.

“Please ignore them, students,” began Mr. Sylva. “They feed off attention, and these appear healthy enough as it is. Please, follow me.”

Farther on, we encountered others of their kind, though this time they were a deep shade of red with bright yellow spots all over them. These, unlike the last, made what on my native planet we call “raspberry” sounds with every step we all took. There being around six or seven of them on either side of the path, the peace and tranquillity of the forest quickly turned into an orchestra of wind instruments. We giggled helplessly through Mr. Sylva’s continuing, repetitive advice of, “Please ignore them, students. They feed off attention, and these appear healthy enough as it is.”

The farther we walked, the thicker and damper the air became until it weighed down on my shoulders.