Creature Worlds: Solar Slick Read Online Free PDF Page B

pretty much anything. “Hey, you know, I do remember my dad taking blood samples from me a few times. He said something about my blood being the key or something. I never knew what he meant.”
    Tigg grinned at me, sauce dripping down his chin. “Minka! That’s it. The cure for shifting. That’s what it is.”
    “What?”
    “Think about it. You can control your shifts. Your parents came here looking for a cure, for some reason figuring they could only obtain it on Earth. And all the while, there you were under their noses. You were the cure. Or at least your blood was.”

Chapter 7
    “If they found a cure for my father’s shifting, then why didn’t he use it?” We’d retired to the sofa after Tigg’s announcement. The food I’d eaten sat like a lump in my belly.
    “Perhaps it wasn’t complete. Maybe that’s what your trip to the city was about. It was obviously important enough for him to risk exposure. Your blood’s probably the key, but maybe they needed to add something else to the mixture in order for it to be effective on him.”
    Memories of a laboratory in the city flashed in my mind. Though the visits had been quick, I recalled rushing into a lab with my mother. And now that I thought about it, dad had come in with us the last time. My parents had a bunch of laboratory stuff here, but if they required anything more high-tech they’d have to go into the city. Perhaps they were working with someone there? Someone who knew our secret?
    An idea suddenly came to me. “What if they didn’t want to just control the shifts? What if they wanted to stop them all together? For him and me?” Exactly how I felt about that I wasn’t sure. Being half Ventillian was who I was. If an opportunity presented itself to stop the shift, would I?
    Tigg pondered my suggestion over before he replied. “I suppose it’s possible. You did say being here was dangerous for you both.”
    “Then why stay? Why not take our family back to Zenet and live there?” I demanded, as though somehow Tigg knew the answer. Being kept in the dark felt like a betrayal. Why hadn’t my parents told me what was going on?
    “I don’t know, Minka. This was your mother’s home. I can’t know their reasons for taking such risks.”
    Reflectively, I put my hand on my belly. Hadn’t my first thought been to have the baby on Earth despite Treox being the best chance at life it had? Even now I selfishly thought that somehow I’d make it work. Is that what my mother had thought? Was being on Earth so important?
    “Tigg, what if the baby can shift?” My question came out in a whisper, as though I was too afraid to say it aloud.
    Tigg reached over and his hand joined mine on my belly, our fingers twined together. “We will be safe on Treox.”
    I snatched my hand away and jumped to my feet. “But what if I don’t want to live on Treox? It’s too damned hot and full of giant bugs. I hate it there!”
    Tigg flinched as though I had struck him. I immediately felt contrite. Had this been an argument my parents had had? Did my father finally relent and come to Earth despite his fears? “I’m sorry,” I said. I sat back down on the couch and Tigg took me into his arms. His hand stroked down my back comforting me.
    “We’ll figure things out, Minka,” he said, his voice calm and gentle.
    “I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I’m not usually so emotional.” To my horror I actually felt a tear slip down my cheek.
    “Hormones, my love.”
    “I don’t think we’ll solve anything else here. The file was a good start, but I think we should go into the city and visit that lab.”
    “What are you up to?” Tigg asked. “I know you’ve got questions about what your parents were trying to do, but we’re here to clear your name. We can’t afford to get side-tracked.”
    “If there’s a way to stop the shift then I need to have it. Even if I don’t ever use it then I want it for the baby. It’ll be his or her choice whether or not