Though I tried more than once to strike up conversation, V’x did not speak again until K’eel returned about an hour later. K’eel carried a bundle that she dropped in the middle of the platform. She wordlessly paced the edge of the platform, twittering to herself. V’x appeared to be dozing, but twitched nervously each time K’eel came near.
After a few laps around the platform, K’eel stopped and turned to me. “And what have you learned?”
I shrugged. “That I don’t know anything.”
K’eel fluffed. V’x raised her beak and blinked at me.
“What do you need?” asked K’eel.
“Well, I don’t know,” I said. “Are we here for the night?”
“Yes.”
“Do you have a blanket or something. I’m going to freeze.” I rubbed my eyes. They were beginning to itch. “How long does this stuff last.” I wiggled my blackened fingertips at her.
“There are blankets and more cream there.” K’eel indicated the bundle. “And food.”
“Are there paper and pencil?” asked V’x.
“Yes. You make take notes,” grumbled K’eel.
“Good,” I said. “I’m sure I’ll want to write things down.”
K’eel raised her crest, then laid it down. She sat. “Now we wait.”
V’x put her head back down. K’eel shut her eyes and began to doze. After a few minutes, I got up and walked around. The sun was low in the sky. The sun would set in another 45 minutes. “So when do they come out?”
“What?” muttered K’eel.
“The Keepers. Before or after sunset?”
“They appear right at sunset and patrol until sunrise,” said V’x.
“So, soon then,” I said.
“Yes. Perhaps you should rest now,” said K’eel, shutting her eyes again.
“Where to they come from?” I said, pressing on.
V’x rose and stood beside me. “From there.” She pointed in a direction opposite the white wall.
“Has anyone ever been out there?”
“None who have returned have ever seen anything unusual. In the beginning, many flew that way never to return.”
“Then I’ll watch that way.” I dug through the bundle to find the blanket K’eel said was there. I came across a small crock of black cream first. V’x help me apply it around my eyes, and the itching diminished immediately. I dug a little deeper and found the blanket. This was a woven blanket, unlike the feather blanket I slept beneath the night before. It was scratchy, but warm. I wrapped it around myself and found a comfortable place to sit and observe in the direction we expected the Keepers to come from. V’x joined me, fluffing up so that I could warm myself further in her feathers.
Then we waited. And the sun dropped lower.
A light breeze shook the leaves. K’eel was snoring. My eyelids grew heavy. The sun’s light dimmed.
V’x trilled softly. She trilled again, louder, and nudged me. I blinked. The sun was gone. V’x was pointing. I squinted. There was a reddish glint on the horizon. It vanished. Then another. And another.
“Is that them?” I whispered.
V’x trilled and nodded.
Dark specks took form. Some were in the sky, others on the ground kicked up dust. They approached rapidly. Astoundingly rapidly. They were overhead almost instantly. Soundlessly, they passed over – about twenty large black boxes. There were no obvious windows or doors. No wings. No warp engine pods. “Whoa.”
K’eel cooed uncomfortably.
I turned back to watch the ground vehicles. Though slower than the aircraft, they were already nearing the stand of trees that the Vr’ak’l called home. I estimated there were at least 15 of these craft. They diverged into several different directions, most heading past our bit of forest. Two approached and slowed to a stop. I stood, craning my neck to see what was happening below.
Ramps opened on the sides of each of the vehicles. From these came men that looked like astronauts in black spacesuits. They moved around. They were doing something with long handled tools.
“What are they doing?” I whispered.
“I don’t know,” whispered V’x. “We can look there in the morning.”
“Night vision goggles,” I muttered. “I need night vision goggles.”
Read Chapter 22.
Go back to the beginning.
Penny Higgins - Storyteller • Artist • Scientist 