its own. Bark feels something familiar in the scene .
The activity on the ground surrounds a cave entrance at the bottom of a cliff.
“Playtime?” Onethian rubs his muscular hands together like the idiot he can be sometimes.
“You could try being a little more serious,” the Senator says, displaying a rare moment of resistance.
“I could,” grunts Onethian, “but I’m not going to.”
“Shall we take a look?” Bark remembers that he’s the Captain.
Onethian and Sahrin return to the winch. The ship soon starts to move again, swaying slightly in the wind as it descends. When the bottom of the hull reaches the treetops, Bark calls for the winding to cease. Thead finds a space among the branches, and lowers the ladder to the ground.
A short walk across the sand dunes separates them from the site of Kali’s discovery. They set out, and are about to descend an incline when they notice below them the three people that they had seen from the ship. The strangers are watching the same area that has caught their own attention.
As Bark expects, Bryce, Reina and Tommy fail to see the new arrivals, who are now standing directly in front of them and inspecting them with great interest.
The visitors and the locals are in the same space, but like two signals traveling down one wire, they are out of phase with each other. They are in different versions of the same world.
“They’re a strange color,” says Sahrin. She looks at Reina’s dark coffee-colored skin, and then at Tommy, who is an even darker shade of the same color. Bryce is more her own color. “I like her,” she says, looking back at Reina. “She’s gorgeous.”
“She’s impressive, yes, but this one’s dress sense is winning the battle for my attention. Just look at this,” Bark says, nodding towards Bryce, who is shading his eyes against the sun as he peers down into the encampment. Had he known that his grip on fashion was being questioned, he wouldn’t have been able, let alone motivated, to defend himself. As usual, he was in jeans, tired runners and a torn denim jacket with a big yellow smiley face on the back. “Shocking,” says Bark, feeling suddenly pleased with his own choice of a loose red and purple striped silk shirt, burnt orange tights, and embroidered canvas boots. Bark can always be relied on to dress for an occasion, even one that has little chance of happening.
“Could you tell what rank he was?” asked Bryce.
“What rank who is?” says Thead. The local’s speech warbles slightly, as though he is speaking under water, but it can be understood.
“Remember,” says Onethian. “They can’t hear us.”
“I know that!” snaps Thead, who has a problem with Onethian and his unending helpfulness. “I wasn’t talking to him, I was talking to us. Even you, if you’ve got anything sensible to say.”
“A general, I think, I don’t know. Do you want a turn?” Reina handed Bryce the binoculars.
“They’d be handy,” says Bark.
“We don’t need more crew,” Sahrin says.
“The glasses, not the locals.”
“Oh, the glasses… yeah, I guess.”
“It’s guarded all the time, and now that there are more soldiers, we’d never get in, no way,” said Bryce.
“Did you hear that? They want to get in there,” says Onethian.
“It’s not as though we want to get in, anyway, right?” said Reina, suspecting that Bryce might be missing his soldiering days.
“Nah,” replied Tommy, watching a bird in a tree and at the same time feeling relieved that neither of his friends were sounding serious about going down there.
“These people appear to have the advantage of a bit of local culture,” the Senator says. “And if they’ve been watching this place for a while, they might have some useful information.”
“That may be,” replies Bark, “but I’d prefer that we rely on our own judgment.” The others agree, and begin to move down the hill.
“But why don’t you stay, Senator, and see if their
The activity on the ground surrounds a cave entrance at the bottom of a cliff.
“Playtime?” Onethian rubs his muscular hands together like the idiot he can be sometimes.
“You could try being a little more serious,” the Senator says, displaying a rare moment of resistance.
“I could,” grunts Onethian, “but I’m not going to.”
“Shall we take a look?” Bark remembers that he’s the Captain.
Onethian and Sahrin return to the winch. The ship soon starts to move again, swaying slightly in the wind as it descends. When the bottom of the hull reaches the treetops, Bark calls for the winding to cease. Thead finds a space among the branches, and lowers the ladder to the ground.
A short walk across the sand dunes separates them from the site of Kali’s discovery. They set out, and are about to descend an incline when they notice below them the three people that they had seen from the ship. The strangers are watching the same area that has caught their own attention.
As Bark expects, Bryce, Reina and Tommy fail to see the new arrivals, who are now standing directly in front of them and inspecting them with great interest.
The visitors and the locals are in the same space, but like two signals traveling down one wire, they are out of phase with each other. They are in different versions of the same world.
“They’re a strange color,” says Sahrin. She looks at Reina’s dark coffee-colored skin, and then at Tommy, who is an even darker shade of the same color. Bryce is more her own color. “I like her,” she says, looking back at Reina. “She’s gorgeous.”
“She’s impressive, yes, but this one’s dress sense is winning the battle for my attention. Just look at this,” Bark says, nodding towards Bryce, who is shading his eyes against the sun as he peers down into the encampment. Had he known that his grip on fashion was being questioned, he wouldn’t have been able, let alone motivated, to defend himself. As usual, he was in jeans, tired runners and a torn denim jacket with a big yellow smiley face on the back. “Shocking,” says Bark, feeling suddenly pleased with his own choice of a loose red and purple striped silk shirt, burnt orange tights, and embroidered canvas boots. Bark can always be relied on to dress for an occasion, even one that has little chance of happening.
“Could you tell what rank he was?” asked Bryce.
“What rank who is?” says Thead. The local’s speech warbles slightly, as though he is speaking under water, but it can be understood.
“Remember,” says Onethian. “They can’t hear us.”
“I know that!” snaps Thead, who has a problem with Onethian and his unending helpfulness. “I wasn’t talking to him, I was talking to us. Even you, if you’ve got anything sensible to say.”
“A general, I think, I don’t know. Do you want a turn?” Reina handed Bryce the binoculars.
“They’d be handy,” says Bark.
“We don’t need more crew,” Sahrin says.
“The glasses, not the locals.”
“Oh, the glasses… yeah, I guess.”
“It’s guarded all the time, and now that there are more soldiers, we’d never get in, no way,” said Bryce.
“Did you hear that? They want to get in there,” says Onethian.
“It’s not as though we want to get in, anyway, right?” said Reina, suspecting that Bryce might be missing his soldiering days.
“Nah,” replied Tommy, watching a bird in a tree and at the same time feeling relieved that neither of his friends were sounding serious about going down there.
“These people appear to have the advantage of a bit of local culture,” the Senator says. “And if they’ve been watching this place for a while, they might have some useful information.”
“That may be,” replies Bark, “but I’d prefer that we rely on our own judgment.” The others agree, and begin to move down the hill.
“But why don’t you stay, Senator, and see if their
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