Fire Island: Book 3 of The Chatterre Trilody (Chatterre Trilogy) Read Online Free PDF Page A

looked up, she thought she could see sunlight glistening on the top of the water. “Are we still under 43 meters of water?”
    “Negative. 5.93 meters.”
    “Did the wormhole return us to Kalamar?”
    “Impossible to determine.”
    “Well, what can you determine?”
    GEA-4 remained quiet.
    If the wormhole had somehow returned them to Kalamar, then no matter how many miles she walked, it was doubtful if she could find the planet's spec of dry land before she ran out of air. Tem-aki looked at the strange waving grass and the odd swimming creatures. Having grown up on Guerreterre, where water was sold by the drop, she had always thought that in nature, it was a scarce commodity, then she'd seen the water-world, Kalamar. Now, she was somewhere unknown and surrounded by the stuff. Tem-aki decided that it was most likely that the Star Bridge had malfunctioned and returned her to Kalamar.
    Being surrounded by water made it seem common, but it was also impossible to breathe water, so she had to find a way out.
    “Is there any land nearby?”
    “Probabilities indicate that the other humanoid is on land.”
    “And that would be 534 meters away on bearing 322?”
    “Correct.”
    Tem-aki considered leaving the infernal droid behind, then changed her mind and readjusted her burden. “If I do not find another person or land in 534 meters, I am dumping you. Understand?” Twenty paces later, she stood in front of a dark, vertical wall, which seemed to keep climbing higher, even when it soared above the water. “Any suggestion on how I'm expected to get over this?”
    “Swim.”
    The droid was insane to think that anyone on Guerreterre, which had no natural water, knew how to swim, much less could do so carrying a malfunctioning droid. “Other than that?”
    “There is a tunnel to your left, but my scanners are not adequate to determine if it would get you to your objective.”
    “And that is?” Tem-aki asked, to see what GEA-4 would say.
    “The humanoid signal, which has not moved for the past three minutes.”
    “And is on land?”
    “At an elevation above water-level.”
    Vowing this was the droid's last chance, Tem-aki moved along the sheer, high wall to her left, then found the promised tunnel, which wasn't as big as the old salt mine had been, but fortunately was large enough to stand inside.
    Squaring her shoulders, Tem-aki stepped into the unknown.
    ~0~
    Cameron O’ryan knelt in front of the fire pit, which was in the ancient lava tube at the heart of what his faction called their Protected Place. He hummed the song of creating, as he carefully placed dried bits of moss in a cone shape, then added shreds of kindling. As the pyramid grew, he added larger sticks until it resembled the volcano at Fire Island's heart. Finally, he began intoning the proper incantation.
    As the first rays of dawn shone through the cracked rock into the area, Cameron lit the fire.
    The flame coughed and sputtered before it took hold.
    As the strengthening light caressed the designs which had been carved into the walls of the ancient lava tube, he sprinkled sage on the blaze as an offering of respect to the creators.
    When the flames reached high enough to meet the rays of morning light coming through the entrance to the Protected Place, he altered the ritual incantation. Now, instead of habitual praises, he murmured petitions for his tribe's health and safety as well as specific pleas for individuals who had been desperate enough to pay for his intervention. Cameron tried to sound sincere in his requests, even when the farmers' pleas for good rains for the crops clashed with petitions for good weather during the Tribe's spring-time equinox festival.
    Cameron hoped the creators were wise enough to sort out what was important and ignore frivolous requests.
    When the morning rays glinted off the rising smoke, he dropped to his knees, and offered the petitions close friends and family had entrusted to him.
    ~0~
    Tem-aki cautiously walked into