Pilgrims Page 10

  When he caught up, Jake said, “What was that about?”

  “None of your business.”

  Jake said, “Fritz. I think Swann said something about him. Was that your twin brother?”

  Utz whirled around, fists up, ready to fight.

  Jake skipped back and held up his hands in a peace gesture. “Okay. We don’t have to talk about it.”

  The First Sail

  January 17

  The next morning dawned hazy and smoggy, presumably from some distant volcano spewing ash into the air.

  Mitzi surprised them by joining them on this first sail. She and Utz seemed to have a truce of whatever had caused the argument the night before. She didn’t smile much, but she was efficient in helping get them on-board.

  Captain Bulmer had chosen an older sailboat because he said she was more seaworthy than other vessels. She needed a new coat of varnish on her decks, but of course, no one was going to put the effort into that. The sails were relatively new and without patches as on other boats.

  With Mitzi’s help and advice, Captain Bulmer had the sails singing as they tacked out of the bay into open water. Captain Bulmer was tall, but not as tall as most Boadan sailors, so the tiller wasn’t at a comfortable height. Still, it was doable, and besides, they only had a short sail to their destination. Just outside the bay entrance was one of the smaller, unnamed islands in the Jewel Island chain.

  Despite differences from Earth’s sailing boats—a different way of rigging the lines, a sharper keel and designed for taller people—she handled beautifully. Jake loved the way the ship cut through the waves and leaned into the wind. When they stopped and threw over an anchor, Jake was sad to stop sailing. But they had work to do.

  Dad cheerfully pulled on his tank and mask, while Captain Bulmer just stripped to swim trunks. When Dr. Mangot came up from the cabin, Jake thought again that she’d probably been a stunning woman in her youth. But now, in a swimming suit, Dr. Mangot just looked middle aged. And tired. She wasn’t holding up well under the stress of their mission.

  Utz and Mitzi handed out nets attached to a long stick, and then Mitzi demonstrated how to twist the net at the last minute to scoop up the starfish. When everyone seemed clear on the nets, Utz and Mitzi dove in first, followed by the adults.

  Jake was the last to jump in, and he reveled in his native seas. He bobbed back to the surface, but then he zipped his legs together and kicked underwater. The water was clear, with visibility up to twenty or thirty feet.

  Warmth embraced him, and Jake captured a mouthful of water. Salty, of course, but a different flavor from the Gulf shores of Alabama or the cold Puget Sound waters. There was a freshness to the water, like it was, well, clean. Slowly he blew the water back out. He could swallow some without a problem, but he shouldn’t drink lots of it because he wasn’t a full-blood Risonian. His mom could swallow water all day without problems because she had a salinity gland to rid her body of the salts. It was part of the Risonian nose ridge system. It was also one of the things that Jake had failed to inherit. Still, it was a joy to taste his home waters again. It was like a favorite food rediscovered.

  The shallows near the island brimmed with seaweed that hid small creatures. In several areas, the umjaadi female starfish clumped into small colonies. Jake used his net to scoop a starfish, letting the sand dribble away. He dropped it into a catch sack held by Utz and turned back to pick out another female. They wanted maybe a dozen breeding pairs.

  Within thirty minutes, the team had captured a couple dozen starfish of varying sizes. Jake’s largest one was a lighter maroon color, with brilliant yellow tips. The others were darker, almost black with the yellow-tipped legs. Utz said the lighter ones were healthier and kept releasing some of the almost black ones.

  Jake scooped up another starfish when the planet shook. The starfish drifted out of his net, but Jake barely noticed.

  The quake vibrated the water all around him, which probed his insides until he quivered all over. It was more disconcerting than a quake on land because on land, only the ground under your feet shook. Here, the world shook all around him. Though it wasn’t a big quake, it still left Jake rattled. He’d been confident that they’d find the starfish and return quickly to Earth.

  For the first time, he admitted the risks: I may not get off the planet in time. I might die here.

  Heart pounding in a sudden panic, Jake whirled to check on Blake. The quake had shaken his scuba regulator out of his mouth, but he was calm enough to just grab it and return it to its place. Blake, the Navy man, wouldn’t panic, even if Jake wanted to. Somehow, that steadied Jake.

  They all paddled back to the boat—Jake desperately trying to control his shifting emotions. Of course, he should’ve expected that quakes would start coming faster and would build in intensity. He just hadn’t thought about being underwater when it happened.

  He heaved out onto the boat’s deck which rocked gently with the waves. It was too similar to the quake’s rocking, and it took Jake a minute to find his sea legs. The best of the netted starfish were placed into a dozen prepared glow star globes and sealed inside. It would be the easiest way to transport them, and they should be fine in the globes for a year or two.

  Jake swiped his hands on his shorts and wished for a shower to remove all the ocean’s salts from his skin. He hesitated, wanting to talk about the quake; he wanted to be reassured that, “Everything is fine.”

  Instead, he forced himself back to the business at hand, the only thing that could really get them off-planet faster. “Females are easy to catch. How will we catch the males?” he asked the team.

  Dad, Captain Bulmer, Dr. Mangot, Utz and Mitzi just shrugged bleakly at him. They were all just as agitated by the earthquake as he was.

  “We’ll sleep on it,” Dr. Mangot said. She looked even more tired, with dark circles under her eyes now.

  Worried, Jake stepped forward, and before she could stop him, put his palm on Dr. Mangot’s forehead. He frowned. “You’re hot. You’re running a temperature.”

  Daughter of Tizzalura

  Utz stepped off the lodge’s porch barefoot, holding his shoes in his hands. He’d need them when he reached Marasca.

  A voice startled him. “Where are you off to so early?”

  Spinning, Utz located a shadow under the deep overhang of the porch. Jake was in a lounge chair.

  “Marasca, if you must know,” Utz said.

  “What?” Jake sat up.

  “I have to see someone,” Utz said. He turned and walked toward the path.

  Jake shoved up and strode across the porch. “When will you be back?”

  Utz knew that Jake was worried about him taking the space craft and not returning. If he abandoned them, they’d be stranded—forever. “Don’t worry. I’ll be back. 24-36 hours at the most. Find those starfish. We need to get off-planet.”

  An angry growl erupted, and Utz glanced back over his shoulder. In the dark right before dawn, it was impossible to read Jake’s facial expression. But his voice said that he wasn’t happy.

  Utz shrugged. It wasn’t his job to make the Earthlings happy. He was becoming used to their ways, and he still needed to please them enough so they’d help him get established on Earth. But first, he had business to take care of. That quake yesterday had scared him; a deep worry was settling into his chest and making it ache.

  Mitzi had pushed hard for him to take her to Earth, and she was right. They were engaged, which meant she was supposed to be his future. But she wasn’t the future he wanted. They had bitter words that night on the beach, but in the end, they both knew it was never going to happen. She helped them search for starfish yesterday as an apology.

  When she left them at the dock, the sun was glinting off the water. She stopped to touch his hand, and he looked up.

  “Good-bye, Utz Seehafer.” Her face was lit with the golden light, and she looked lovelier than ever.

  He shook his head in sorrow. “Good-bye, Mitzi Adams.”
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br />   There was so much more they both should’ve said. But after a moment of silence, she turned and trotted away down the beach.

  He didn’t expect her to help them again.

  He didn’t expect to see her again.

  It was one more thing to mourn, but he didn’t have time to do that, yet.

  As they had fished yesterday, his plan had hardened in his mind, but he wasn’t in a hurry to make it happen. The earthquake, though, and Mitzi’s good-bye had finally shaken him out of his inaction. He woke this morning feeling the urgency and realized he had to do something right away. So, he was heading to Marasca and would make arrangements with his cousin Ancel Fallstar to smuggle Godzilla and Derry, as the shark’s caretaker, to Earth. She had to make it off-planet. One last night in Marasca, the city of his childhood, wouldn’t hurt either.

  Utz laid in a course for Marasca, then set the ship to auto-pilot and set a timer for two hours. He’d wake up far enough outside of the city to bring it in manually.

  Just as he’d planned, when he woke, the sun was just above the eastern horizon. The volcanic smog was so bad that he could only see a smudged pale-gold ball. He chewed his bottom lip and tried to decide where to land. He wanted to be secretive about this visit, but in the end, he realized it didn’t matter. Worrying about gossip was pointless. He had little time, so he needed to be efficient.

  He circled the city once and almost wanted to weep. The white marble city was beautiful, even with volcanic ash trying to obliterate every bit of white. The architecture was classic Risonian, with square edges, deep overhangs and exacting proportions that lent the city an elegant grace. The city climbed the slopes of a small hill, and at the top lay his father’s palace, a prize wrested from the last incompetent ruler who fell beneath his father’s knife on the fight floor. Utz had lived there for the last three years and made many fond memories playing in the palace and the city.

  But today, he needed Derry, not his father.

  Utz landed the space craft in a green area beside the bay where the great white sharks swam. He leapt out, locked the doors and strode toward the laboratory. When he entered the lab, his knees went weak at the sight of Derry, sitting on a stool and looking into a microscope.

  She looked up, and her face lit up, bright eyes glowing. “You came back.”

  Utz was beside her instantly. Soberly, he said, “I came back for you.”

  Utz helped Derry out of the hover car, watching as she put her good foot down first and heaved upright. When she was steady on her feet, he tucked one of her hands into his elbow and led her forward at a stately pace. The palace was beautifully and tastefully lit with soft down lights that created a calm, peaceful cocoon around the gardens.

  “You’re sure I need to meet him?” Derry asked. Her face was pinched with concentration as she tried to walk without limping.

  Utz pulled her a bit closer. “No, you don’t need to meet him. I want you to meet my father. Just as in happier days, I’d insist that I meet your father.”

  She nodded and tried to pull herself even straighter. Instead, her foot caught on her skirt and she tripped, almost falling except for Utz’s support.

  Utz wished he could turn and run away from this meeting. But Seehafers didn’t avoid something just because it was difficult.

  Guards smoothly opened the front door. Utz wondered if they’d be loyal to the King right up to the end. Habit was carrying most people through these last days.

  Utz and Derry swept through the front hall and into the library. It was just after lunch time; Utz had carefully planned this so he’d find his father reading alone, as he always did after eating.

  King Seehafer turned from the fireplace and shut down the book on his view screen. “Utz! I thought you were in the Jewels.”

  Then he caught sight of Derry. “Oh. Hello.”

  Derry curtsied, careful to maintain balance.

  Utz said in a stony voice, “Father, I present Derry Rudak, daughter of Professor Raymond Rudak, Tizzalurian professor of linguistics.” She had no titles, but he had to add something to her name.

  King Seehafer stepped forward and took her hand. “Greetings. It’s not often I meet a daughter of Tizzalura.” Tilting his head and looking from one to another, he asked, “Why are you in Marasca?”

  Derry looked sideways at Utz, and at his nod, she said, “I’m studying comparative anatomy at Marasca U. Utz offered to show me the great white sharks from Earth. That’s how we met. Did you know that the male had—when I counted—about 3200 teeth?”

  Utz cleared his throat.

  Derry looked crushed and apologized, “But you don’t need to hear that. I’m sorry, sir. I get enthusiastic.”

  King Seehafer chuckled, “No, it’s interesting. Tell me more.”

  “This isn’t the right time,” she protested.

  “Did the female have the same number?”

  “Only 2800. But she’s smaller. Weighs about 12% less than the male. I don’t know if that’s normal, or they’re just different here on Rison for some reason.”

  The King looked up at Utz, amused. “I see why you like her.”

  Utz froze. Did Father really like Derry, or was he just toying with him? Either way, he forced the words out. “Yes, I do like her. I’m taking her with me to Earth.”

  The King froze. Groping behind him, he reached for the sofa and sat. “You’ve decided. You’re leaving.”

  Utz knelt and took his father’s hands. “Yes. I must. I want a future.”

  King Seehafer stared at his son without really seeing him. “But Fritz is here.”

  “No. Fritz is gone.” Had been gone for months, and still whenever Father saw Utz, he really saw Fritz.

  Utz’s head lamp shone on his twin brother, Fritz, who lay on the cave floor shivering. Frantic with fear and worry, Utz pulled off his jacket and laid it over Fritz.

  Hurry, Father! Hurry! He wanted to shout.

  They’d come underground to gather water samples from the large lake that lay under the hillside. Scientists had been gathering samples every month for a decade now, and tracking the chemicals seeping into the water to see how it was affected by increased volcanic activity. He and Fritz had turned thirteen last week, and Father decided to take them along.

  It had been exciting to dress in boots, warm clothes and headlamps. Fritz flashed the lights around their hover car until Dad was irritated and made him stop.

  They were nearly identical twins, physically hard to tell apart, and often thought the same things. But Fritz was first born, which meant he naturally got more attention. In the Bo-See, first-born inherited and that meant everything. Utz had always been secretly glad he was second-born because he wasn’t constantly scrutinized.

  Naturally, Fritz went first, leading the way into the cave. Utz felt a swell of pride in his brother. When they returned, they’d have something to brag about to their friends and classmates.

  “Slowly,” Father said. But he let Fritz choose their path through the jumbled rocks.

  The journey down, away from the light and into the bosom of the mountain, was thrilling but uneventful.

  At the lake, Utz flashed his light across the water and couldn’t find the opposite shore. Father said it took thirty minutes to row across, that he’d done it several times in search of scientific information. In the end, though, scientists had been content with water samples. Tracking the water across time, the sulfur content had gone up, and the mean water temperature had risen five degrees. The planet’s unstable core was there in the data.

  Father recorded the water’s temperature—the highest so far—and tucked several vials of water samples into his backpack. Finally, he nodded for Fritz to lead the way back to the surface.

  And that’s when the quake struck.

  At first, the floor just trembled as if a shiver of fear had run down its spine. Utz froze, looking upward and shining his light onto the cave’s ceiling. Their passage was wide and smooth. Suddenly, everything heaved and bucked in slow
motion, as if a giant serpent was passing beneath. Just as suddenly, he found himself in a heap on the ground, with his heart pounding. The cave floor was still, but dizziness swept over him in waves.

  “Fritz, are you OK?” Father called. “Utz?”

  “Fine,” called Utz.

  Fritz only moaned.

  Quickly, Father and Utz located Fritz. He lay under a large slab of rock that had sheared off the ceiling. Together, they heaved the rock aside.

  Fritz lay with his leg at an odd angle, obviously broken.

  Horror struck Utz, and he sat abruptly to put his head between his knees to keep from throwing up.

  Fritz moaned and tried to put his hands to his head. “What happened?”

  Feeling the nausea pass, Utz looked up.

  Father felt Fritz’s leg and winced. “Not good. I’ll have to get help.” He looked at Utz. “Can you stay with him while I go to the surface and call for a medical team?”

  Utz nodded. “Of course,” he said hoarsely.

  “Here,” Father said, shrugging off his backpack. “I have some first-aid supplies.” He shook his head and wiped a dirty streak across his eyes. “We should elevate his head, but I’m afraid he’s got a concussion, too. Keep him warm. Put your jacket over him and lay beside him. Keep him warm.”

  Father bent to run the back of his hand across Fritz’s forehead. “Keep him warm. I’ll be back as fast as I can.”

  Father’s flashlight bounced away, his boots thumping and echoing against the cave’s hard walls.

  Almost frantic with fear, Utz stripped off his jacket and lay it across Fritz. He lay beside him, as close as he dared, afraid to hug him lest he injure something else. I should turn off my light and conserve the battery, he thought.

  But he shivered just thinking about waiting in the dark. What if there was another quake?

  Father hadn’t thought of that! Should he try to carry Fritz and get closer to the entrance? But Fritz weighed too much for him. They both were a throwback to the old body type of their ancestor Utz Pharomond, squat, short, and muscular.