IGMS Issue 13 Page 4

  I heard Shandra call my name. She tugged at my arms. The fireplace had become an orange wall of flame, and I stared at it while Shandra dragged me toward the door. "It's locked!" she said. She released me and ran past the fire to the kitchen window. She slammed an iron pot at the glass. She grabbed the chair and tried that. "It won't break!" Her voice was high and her face panicked.

  I was trying to think through my own fear, but I could only stare in pain and confusion. The fire growled at the roof, then leapt out to swallow it. Orange flames turned yellow and crept across a ceiling beam toward me. Shandra called for me again.

  At the sound of my name, I snapped aware. My hands grappled at the hinges of the door, trying to wrench out the nail, but it didn't budge. Shandra dropped to her knees beside me with a kitchen knife and pried at it. I peered up at the ceiling. The fire roiled directly over our heads.

  Then a voice shouted through the door. "Amna tet!" Knuckles rapped hard on the wood. It sounded very much like the yellow-eyed sumo wrestler.

  "We're here!" cried Shandra, and pounded back. "Eshua ay arwanen!"

  "Trenet!" said the voice.

  Shandra yanked at my shoulder. "Get back."

  The door splintered. Green arms reached through, then a round face with yellow eyes. I shrank back, but Ra'nen's hand found my shirt collar and pulled. I scraped through the broken door and flopped over the man's shoulder. With a grunt, he tugged at Shandra, and she got tossed over his other shoulder.

  I thought I'd be relieved to be free of the fire, but I was Ra'nen's captive. I seriously considered jumping back in. Unfortunately, I didn't have the strength. My face sizzled, my arms ached, and I was too tired to fight.

  "Don't be scared," whispered Shandra.

  Too late, I thought, as I felt my eyes flutter closed.

  I heard voices like people were speaking gibberish through an air bubble. Someone pressed something cold to my face. I felt like I'd been through this before, but couldn't remember quite what it was I'd been through.

  I opened my eyes to find Ra'nen staring down at me. I sat up fast, and nearly cracked my forehead against his nose. A cold cloth dropped to my lap.

  "Where am I?" I asked. Yellow light leaked through wall slats. Hay dust floated like tiny fairies through the brightness. Near the ceiling, I heard a bird flutter from a corner roost. Ra'nen's barn.

  Shandra offered me a cup of water, her face smudged with soot. "Ra'nen says the shack is destroyed. It's still smoking."

  "Where's Dar'el?" I glared at Ra'nen. "What did you do to him?"

  Just then the barn door roared open and pounding feet rumbled over the floor. "Shandra!" I heard Van'el say. Shandra hopped to her feet. Van'el's hands stretched out from a crowd of green arms and hugged her tightly.

  Reisan men stood around the pair, voices strained, words spilling over others' words. Van'el murmured into Shandra's ear, and she turned to look at me, her eyes soft and rimmed with pity.

  "What's wrong?" I asked. "Where's Dar'el? What's going on?"

  Ra'nen laid his plump hand on my knee.

  "Don't even think about it," I snarled. He didn't understand my words, but he must have read my face. He withdrew his hand.

  "Karla, no one has seen Dar'el since last night." Shandra knelt at my side. "The men have been looking for him. He hasn't been home."

  "They've been looking for him?" I wiggled around, trying to get to my knees. "They're the ones who ran him off! Came to our house all pumped up on affdesfals, trying to hurt him!" I finally got to my feet and balled my fists.

  Van'el took my shoulders. "Dar'el was not hurt. He fought hard, his eyes as full of affdesfals as the others. He lost himself, almost killed Esh'al and Car'lis."

  "What?"

  He sighed. "The others came to their senses. Dar'el did not. Even I ran. I was afraid of him."

  "You're crazy. He wouldn't do that." I looked down to Ra'nen, over to Shandra, and then to the group of men who stood silently and watched us. For the first time I noticed small bandages around the tips of ears, tied to shoulders, and clinging to various noses. "This place is crazy. Everyone's lying; everyone's trying to hurt each other. The Nanayant shot me! And she tried to burn Shandra and me in her shack!"

  Van'el looked down at Ra'nen. The giant Reisan pushed to his feet and lumbered toward me. "Saw no Nanayant. Only Dar'el."

  "What are you saying?"

  "Saw only Dar'el."

  Shandra came beside me. "Van'el, you don't think Dar'el started that fire, do you?"

  "He couldn't have," I said. "It started inside. Inside. The glass bulb exploded. Look at me." I stuck out my arms, the sleeves of Dar'el's shirt pinpricked with tiny holes.

  "Maybe he came in while we were sleeping," said Shandra.

  "The door was locked!"

  "Maybe he locked it afterward."

  I stared at Shandra. "Dar'el didn't shoot me in the back and lock me in. He didn't lie about the Repli-Chef."

  "Repli-Chef?" asked Van'el.

  I pressed my fingertips to my aching eyes. "Dor'is told us she smuggled a Repli-Chef in a flour sack six years ago when she came here, but the model is too new to be six years old."

  Van'el raised his brows to Shandra. "What does that mean?"

  Shandra shrugged. "I'm not sure, but it's not the only thing she lied about. And when she was explaining affdesfals to us, she mentioned me being attacked in this barn, even though I didn't mention where."

  "But why would the Nanayant want to hurt you?"

  "Why would Dar'el?" I asked, lowering my hands to look into Van'el's black eyes.

  "Not to share human girl," grumbled Ra'nen. He gripped my hips and pulled me back against himself. "Aya may varna turret tay."

  I wobbled against his gelatinous belly. "If you don't stop grabbing me, I'll varna your turret tay, all right." I stomped onto the arch of his foot.

  He howled and gave me a push.

  The group of men behind him shifted feet and exchanged looks. One of them nodded at Van'el, as though urging him to speak. Shandra saw it, too, because she touched Van'el's arm. "What is it?"

  "We do not know what it means," he said. "But we have been speaking of things since last night, and . . . "

  "What?" I asked, too irritated to be patient.

  "It seems the Nanayant told each of the others in secret that you both were to be theirs during the barn celebration." Van'el swallowed tightly.

  "What?" I asked again, able only to echo a single syllable.

  "But," Shandra flustered. "But, she . . . she said she was trying to protect us from affdesfals! She even gave you and Dar'el an elixir to help us get pregnant, to buy us some time!"

  "Well, she lied again," I said. "What a surprise." I pushed through the men and headed for the door, so much anger churning inside my stomach it was making me ill.

  "There must be some mistake," said Shandra.

  I stopped, and whirled to face her. "Isn't it obvious? She said she didn't want us here, and that showing how dangerous the exchange could be might stop the program altogether. Think about it, Shandra."

  "You mean, you think she . . . did it on purpose?"

  I looked at Van'el, who wasn't arguing. "Hoping for affdesfals," I said. "Encouraging it. Which probably has a lot more to do with that elixir she gave you than anything to protect Shandra and me."

  Van'el's gaze tightened with pain, and he looked downward. "I drank the medicine. I believed her."

  "Of course you did," said Shandra. She took his hand and kissed his knuckles. "We all did."

  "Speak for yourself," I said. I turned and kicked open the door. "I'm going to the processing station to get the money back. Then I'm going home." I stalked out of the barn and toward Dar'el's house to change into my dress

  When I reached the front door, I paused. The cascading pink flowers rustled against the roof, catching my attention. The breeze carried their scent to me. Vanilla spice. I thought of Mama Iris then, and the tea she used to brew while we talked of teaching, or childr
en, or dreams. But, did we talk of dreams? I was certain we had. I just couldn't recall whatever they'd been.

  No matter. I would be back on earth soon, and I would think of new ones.

  I made my way through the house to the bedroom. I caught my reflection as I passed a mirror, and sucked in a breath. I had twigs in my hair. Tiny burn spatters dotted my forehead and nose, and were beginning to scab. The collar of Dar'el's shirt was torn off, and a scrape across my collarbone was crispy with dried blood. Unbelievable. This place was trying to kill me, and I'd only been here a few days.

  I turned my back to the mirror and pulled at the shirt buttons. I hadn't realized my fingers were shaking until I tried to make them work. Finally the filthy cloth dropped to the floor. I stepped into my yellow dress, smoothed it up my arms, and then struggled with the tiny fasteners at my throat.

  I heard a muffled thump. The sound came through the open window, so I peered outside. The door of the shed was partially open. I heard another noise like something being dragged. Definitely inside the shed. I ducked through the window and crept toward the sound.

  I pulled open the shed door. Sunlight cascaded in around me and illuminated a green figure hunched on the floor in a corner, with his hands gripped into his dark green dreadlocks.

  "Dar'el?"

  He looked up quickly. "Go, Karla. Go away."

  "Are you all right?"

  "No. I am not safe, please go."

  I watched him, thinking I should leave, but unable to.

  "Do not come closer. I am begging you," he said, his voice strained.

  "I'm not afraid." I was surprised to realize I meant it. I knelt beside him. "Van'el said you lost your temper last night."

  He pressed his elbows to his raised knees and touched the heels of his hands to his forehead. He turned away from me.

  "It wasn't your fault," I said.

  He shook his head. "I am an animal. I am no better than the rest."

  "You're no animal."

  He turned his face toward mine. "I thought I could control it. I thought I was stronger." He looked down toward his hands. "But I am weak. I let it take my mind."

  "It's built into you, Dar'el. You're Reisan. You can't expect to fight your very nature."

  "Yes I can. I am more than my nature!" He slapped his hand to the floor, but then hissed out a breath of pain.

  "Are you hurt?" I took his hand and turned it. His palm was dark and blistered. "Did you burn yourself?"

  He yanked his hand away from me.

  "You need to tend to that. And don't let the others see it. They already suspect you started the fire."

  He looked at my face again. His expression slowly clouded.

  "But you didn't," I said, eyeing him.

  He shook his head. "I do not remember. God help me, Karla, but I do not remember."

  "How can you not?"

  He continued to shake his head. "It took my mind. I was enraged, and I wanted to protect you. I remember the others afraid of me. And I wanted to find you, but I could not have you, and I was trying to think through a fog of such anger." He began trembling. I touched his shoulder.

  "You wouldn't hurt me, Dar'el. No matter how angry."

  "But I was there. I do remember fire, and I . . . I was searching."

  "You did say you wanted to protect me."

  I could tell he didn't believe me. For a minute, I actually doubted too, but it didn't last. I smiled, and cupped his face in my hands. "I trust you."

  Tears welled in his blue eyes. He placed his hands over mine and smiled, very faintly. The heat of his burned palms invaded my own skin, and I wondered how he was managing the pain. "Will you show me how to tend to your burns?" I asked.

  He nodded. His gaze was soft, and it slowly settled onto my mouth.

  I drew in my bottom lip, very aware he was staring at me. I grew warmer, and realized the heat wasn't coming from his palms, but from his eyes. Then he leaned toward me, slowly. I sensed his kiss in the air between us.

  I knelt mutely in place, caught between retreat and surrender. Would a kiss make it easier for me to leave, or harder? There was only one way to know. I closed my eyes and let it come.

  But it didn't. Moments later, I reopened my eyes to find his face inches from mine, his jaw tightly clenched. Then he turned his head, released my hands, and pushed to stand.

  "Dar'el?"

  "I am taking you to the processing station."

  "Right now?" I stood and brushed wood chips away from my knees.

  "As soon as you are ready."

  "What about your hands?"

  "I will be fine." He wasn't looking at me as he made his way to the door. "I will not risk you any longer. Gather your things and meet me out front. I will drive the carriage myself." He closed the shed door behind himself.

  I followed him out, but he was gone. I went back through the bedroom window to find my things as he told me, but only stood beside the bed, staring around the room. Nothing here belonged to me. Except for the reshka he gave me, which was laying on the chair. I picked it up, hugged it to my chest, and cast a final look to the room.

  Outside, the sky had turned milky white and smelled of rain. The carriage was waiting at the road, with Dar'el in the driving seat. "I would have liked to tell Shandra goodbye," I said, as I hurried toward him.

  "You wish to take the time?" he asked. The burgundy horse-beast whinnied.

  I did wish, but got the distinct impression he didn't. I climbed the steps of the carriage and sat down inside, feeling I was a nuisance to be secretly rid of. In my daydreams of leaving Arway and Reisas, I hadn't imagined the part where Dar'el would be so eager to see me off.

  The journey dragged on. Wet blobs of rainfall began to slap against the carriage window. By the time we pulled into place outside the processing center, the sky was alabaster pale and quietly rumbling.

  The carriage door opened, held by Dar'el, whose dreadlocks dripped with water. His shirt was so soggy it had become transparent. "Think it'll rain?" I asked, in the hopes of lightening things. It didn't.

  Dar'el hadn't spoken by the time we stepped inside. Not even by the time we'd reached the outer office. When he did talk, it was to the scrawny male receptionist behind a lacquered half-wall. "Ragin Dar'el Karla esh tuant tet eskatay."

  The receptionist looked up. When he spotted me, his eyes slowly rose to stare at my face, and then my hair. His expression drew Dar'el's eyes to me, too.

  Dar'el softened, regarding me. He removed a small twig from above my ear, and smoothed my hair into place. He shook his head, and opened his mouth to speak, but then a door behind the desk whispered open to reveal a hallway, and he looked away. "I will explain things," said Dar'el. "Wait here for me."

  He stepped into the hallway without looking back. I watched him leave a trail of wet boot prints on the glistening floor and wondered if anyone would mind if I cried a little.

  Then I heard voices coming from another door to my left. I couldn't understand the words, but one of the speakers had a shriveled tone that seemed familiar. I glanced at the receptionist, who was talking into some kind of mouthpiece affixed to his chin. So I tiptoed toward that door.

  I listened for a moment, and wished I'd taken the time to learn some basics of their language. I turned the knob and swung open the door just a little to peer through the crack. All I could see was a stocky male with a shrubbery for hair. He waved his hand toward the other babbling voice, and produced a dosage administrator from an inside pocket of his suit. A gnarled hand snatched at it.

  "Ragin Karla?" asked a voice behind me. I turned to find the receptionist with his thin arms crossed, eyeing me. He stepped toward me, reached around my arm for the door handle, and pulled the thing closed.

  "Whose office is this?" I asked.

  He narrowed his eyes.

  "Nanayant Elt Dor'is?"

  "Please take seat," he said, sweeping his arm toward the lobby.

  "I need to speak with someone in charge about the Arway Nanaya
nt," I said.

  Then I felt the door handle turn against my back, and heard a click. The wood drew back, and I caught sight of a dark eye staring from a wrinkled, honeydew melon face. It was Dor'is!

  She gasped, and the door slammed shut. Before I could react, I heard the lock twist. "I know what you did, Dor'is!" I said, just in case she thought she could get away with it. I grabbed the receptionist's scrawny arms. "Does that office have a window?"

  He made no sound, only gaped his mouth and widened his eyes.

  "Window?" I repeated. Still nothing. "Never mind." I ran toward the main doors to find out myself. I pushed them open and stumbled out into daylight that only days ago had blinded me.

  My first step was into a puddle of rainwater that splashed my dress. I turned the corner, and spotted Dor'is extruding, legs-first, through the side of the cement building.

  "Oh, no, you don't!" I hollered. I ran across the patchy lawn toward the window, mud spraying with each step. I felt it hit my cheeks. I tasted it on my lips. When I got close enough to reach her, she was out the window and trying to escape, all hobble and hunchback. I tackled her.

  There was a feeble cry from someone through the window. I heard footfalls behind me -- several pairs of feet -- and then Dar'el's shout. "Karla!"

  "Help me, Dar'el," I said. Dor'is was struggling beneath me, less of a weakling than I'd guessed.

  "Why are you on the Nanayant?" he asked when he got close enough. He tugged me off her, but I held tight, yanking at the shoulders of her voluminous and muddy robe. She came to her feet, too, pulling out of the mud with a slurp.

  "Don't let her get away, Dar'el, she tried to kill Shandra and me!"

  "Ragin Karla?" asked another Reisan who swept in behind Dar'el. Something about the way this one held his shoulders made him tower over us all, even Dar'el, though when I looked closely, he wasn't really taller than anyone.

  "Installation Director Arness," explained Dar'el.