Awakening on Orbis Read Online Free PDF Page B

splitting head. I made it to the bathroom just before I threw up.
    Satisfied that my stomach was empty and hoping that the others had already left to flood Murat with more propaganda, I set off to find the chow synth. I still hadn’t adjusted to the layout of the building, so every stroll was an adventure. The place was enormous. I swear it was as big as a space station, but I needed some water. Outside my room I saw a knudnik pulling a train of double-shelved carts filled with bowls and flowers. The alien deftly maneuvered the six or seven linked carts around the corner; none of them even came close to scraping the wall. It had been like this for the whole phase. Knudniks and construction-bots were everywhere. Queykay was building some sort of shrine in preparation for Ketheria’s arrival, but I didn’t care. It just meant that Ketheria would be here soon.
    I was following the train-pulling knudnik down an enormous hallway when I heard Max and Theodore coming toward me.
    “This is ridiculous. If he’s this sick, then he needs to see a doctor, Theodore,” I heard Max say.
    I was trapped. If I headed back in the direction of my room, I was certain she would see me. What would I say to her?
    “Trust me, Max. I saw him. He’s in no condition to see anyone,” Theodore said.
    The knudnik with the carts stopped, as if he, too, were reacting to their voices. For a moment I thought about crawling into the cart, but I didn’t see anything that could hide me.
    “This is stupid,” I muttered.
Just deal with it,
I thought.
    Then the wall to my right seemed to split apart as two seamless stone doors swung open. A couple of Argandians, squat knudniks with yellow, scaled bellies, waddled through the opening. The alien pulling the carts greeted them, and they continued down the hall in the direction of Max and Theodore.
    I dove inside the room before the doors swung closed.
    I waited for my eyes to adjust to the light, or the lack of it. A soft blue glow arched around the perimeter, but it was not enough for me to see anything. I groped the wall, looking for some sort of control panel that I might push into, but I found only smooth stone, cold and indifferent under my fingertips.
What is this place?
I wondered. I walked slowly toward the blue glow.
That light has to be controlled by something,
I thought. I reached out in front of me, swiping at the air for any obstacles lurking in the dark, when
BAM!
I hit my shin on something hard and sharp. The pain bolted up my leg, and when I reached down, expecting to find blood, I struck my forehead on another stupid barrier.
    “Of all the —!” I yelled, and then I was gone.
    At first I didn’t know what had happened, but the rancid smell of feet gave it away. I had
jumped.
I hadn’t tried to jump; I just did.
But how?
    The smell of feet was too much for my weak stomach, and I unloaded the meager contents of my stomach onto my boots. Embarrassed, I wiped my mouth and looked around. Thankfully, there was no one watching. I was alone in an alley, except for a bunch of garbage and busted shipping crates that gave no clue to my whereabouts. As I moved away from the smell of my own vomit, the space rippled while the light closed in, forming a single point. It meant only one thing to me.
    Space Jumpers.
    Two of them surfaced on either side of me — tall, imposing figures clad in silvery chest plates and thick leather boots. One wore a helmet that covered half of his face. Him I recognized, from my encounter last phase on Orbis 1, but the other I had never seen before.
    “You again,” the familiar one grunted.
    “For a group of individuals who are supposed to be banished from the Rings of Orbis, you sure do show up a lot,” I remarked.
    “Here, take this,” the masked Jumper ordered. “Keep it with you at all times.”
    “What is it?” I asked, holding up the smooth disc he’d handed me.
    “That device informs us that it’s just you trouncing through space,” he replied.
    “So