Chapter Six

 

The next morning, I’m dressed for the day in a cotton top and shorts. My head’s pounding and my mouth feels like I’ve been chewing cotton, like my shirt. I suspect it has something to do with the pineapple turpentine.

It’s also that Kayla still isn’t answering her phone. We’ve been uña y carne – fingernail and flesh, inseparable friends – for heading on three years. And now she’s not talking to me.

I’ve seen Kayla give people the silent treatment before. It’s just never been me.

There’s a knock on my door. I’m afraid it’s Tawny – I don’t have anything on my agenda, so she’s bound to have scheduled an interview or twelve – pero when I open the door, Brill and Kaliel are both standing there, in swim trunks and water shoes, towels slung over their shoulders. Mertex is with them, wearing his tunic getup, also carrying a Zantite-sized towel.

I blink then pull my hair back away from my pounding forehead. “One of you had better have brought coffee, no?”

“Hanstral, Babe.” Brill holds out two empty hands. Sorry. “I can go find you some decaf.”

A growl’s building at the back of my throat, the edginess of my need for another dose of IH spilling over into irritation. Brill knows decaf does nothing to slake the itchiness inside my blood. I know he’s worried I’ll overtax my system, pero, en serio?

“Pass.” I glance down. Then I can’t look away from those two sets of washboard abs. Brill’s got a faded surgical scar running down one side of his, from an operation when he was a niño. Kaliel has a scar too, slashed diagonally across his chest. Ni idea where that came from. He’s also got a tattoo on his shoulder of Icarus crossing the sun. Probably a pilot thing. And… I need to stop staring.

Brill already noticed.

“We’re going squidriding,” Kaliel announces. “Wanna come?”

Squidriding is a Zantite extreme watersport made famous by the Princess Squidrider tooncast. It doesn’t look like anything a real live person would want to do. “No. Y no. And I can’t believe you even asked that without bringing coffee.”

“It’s not as dangerous as they make it look in the cartoon.” Mertex straightens the folded edge of his towel. “We have safety buoys, and emergency air tanks, and sonar trackers in the harnesses. Half the crew’s going, so nobody’ll get left alone. And these squids are old – like one tentacle in the grave.”

“Geesh. Take all the fun out of it, why don’t you?” Kaliel says.

Mertex shrugs. “There should still be enough challenge for an Earthling. Few species have the air capacity or natural swimming ability of the Noble Race.” Mertex gestures at Brill. “Although for deep diving, your guys have surprising maneuverability in the water.”

Both Brill and Kaliel look like they aren’t quite sure whether they’ve just been insulted. And that’s the kind of day I don’t really want to deal with. I turn towards the sliding glass door, leading out onto my balcony, which looks out over the ocean. “You go, muchachos. I’ll watch from right here.”

Brill steps over to me. “Love ya, Babe.”

He gives me a quick beso on the cheek, and for a second, I want to hold onto him.

“Wait!” I say, then feel estúpido. If Mertex is going, how lethalriffic can it be? “Take some pain au chocolate. The hotel sent way too much porque they’re afraid of making Tawny unhappy.”

Tawny. Both Brill and Kaliel get very similar sour expressions. Yet, Brill takes a croissant. Mertex does too.

Kaliel shakes his cabeza. I forgot, he doesn’t like chocolate. He fans through the brochures on the desktop. He stops at an ad for Authentic Earth Convenience Bread and shows me the pic. “I already ate. This place has some cool options for pizza toppings, so I had leftovers from last night.”

Pizza is one of the few Earth things that has become a fad throughout the galaxy. Mamá, who is usually content to stay in Brazil, even left Earth a couple of years ago to lead a tour of the top ten places in the galaxy to have adapted it.

“We need to go,” Mertex reminds them.

Mertex steps out into the hall, followed by Brill.

I ask Kaliel, “Are you OK? After last night?”

“Yeah. I’m feeling pretty good.” He plucks the branch of flowers from the vase on the desk and sniffs it. “I got some good news.”

He takes the flowers with him as he follows the others out into the hallway, looking happier than I’ve ever seen him. Well, that was cryptic.

After they’ve gone, I take another croissant, and a glass of the juice that arrived with it, and move to the balcony, where there’s a cushioned lounge chair. It’s a beautiful day, with just a few puffy clouds in the sky. The waves crash rhythmically onto the beach below. I slip off my sandals, enjoying the feel of the breeze against my legs and bare feet. No matter where I am, the ocean always feels like home.

I try calling Kayla’s phone again. This time someone answers. It’s not Kayla.

“Argvekka Spaceport Lost and Found Department.” It’s a Zantite voice.

Uh… I’d feel stupid just hanging up after calling so many times. I’m looking for my friend. If you find her, could you have her call me back?

“Look, lady, I only picked it up because it won’t stop ringing and we’re not allowed to shut them off in case the police call.”

I apologize thoroughly. I hesitate. Can you at least tell me where this phone was found?

“In the waiting area outside hanger nine. Now will you please stop calling?”

I call the spaceport’s automated number, manage to get prior flight times. Last night, a shuttle left from that hanger, heading for Skadish, which is at least in the same direction as Earth. Logically, Kayla left the planet and was still so upset that she forgot her phone.

And yet, I can’t let it go. I start calling our mutual friends, classmates from cooking school, even Chestla – who is on her home planet, Evevron, the same as that wrecked ship was from – pero nobody’s heard from Kayla. Finally, I try her brother, Stephen.

He doesn’t pick up, which isn’t surprising. He’s one of my exes, and it’s always been awkward. After the fourth consecutive call, he gives in.

What? He sounds angry. At that point, anyone would.

I hesitate. I was just wondering if you heard from Kayla yesterday.

I did, actually. She’s going back to Earth for a while because she needs her life to be less complicated.

Well, that’s that then. Her travel plans confirmed, I should be able to stop worrying.

Pero… she’ll miss graduation. Surely, as soon as she’s not so angry, she’ll realize that and turn back, right?

After a pause, Stephen asks, Did you two have a fight?

Something like that. Mira, tell her that I’m sorry and that it isn’t what she thinks. And that I’m going to be heartbroken if she doesn’t show back up here in time for graduation.

Shapes move on the water now, too far away to make out clearly, pero it must be Brill and Kaliel and the crew, tethered to animals that aren’t like Earth squids at all.

Why don’t you just tell her yourself? Stephen asks.

Because she left her phone at the spaceport. Or because she’s not talking to me. Take your pick.

The shapes are moving fast, across the horizon, arcing around the point of land that will take them out into rougher seas.

I’ll talk to her when she gets to Mom and Dad’s, but that’s going to be a while. Stephen hesitates. You’re a good friend for checking in. Sorry I didn’t answer.

Stephen’s a good guy. Sometimes I have a hard time remembering why things didn’t work out between us. I hang up and close my eyes, just lazing in the sun.

 

Who knows how long later, someone shouts. There’s a commotion on the sand down below my balcony. I don’t understand all the words, but something’s gone wrong. I dash to the railing.

Two guys are carrying Mertex, who looks only half-conscious, towards the hotel, as the rest of the crew who went squidriding race across the sand, heading for the cliff.

“What happened?” I shout down at the guy holding Mertex’s feet.

“One of the offworlders disappeared in the middle of the excursion, and this guy nearly killed himself trying to find him.” The Zantite gestures with his chin at the retreating figures. “They’re headed up top to try to get a better view.”

I suck in a breath as my chest goes cold. The only two offworlders out there were Brill and Kaliel, and now there’s only one human-sized form moving among the Zantites, keeping pace with the others. Which Brill might do, even though he could move faster, if he didn’t know the path. And Kaliel would be pushing himself to keep up.

Even from this distance, it should be obvious which one it is, given their vastly different skin tones and hairstyles, pero he’s wearing a protective suit. When distance perspective takes away the fact that Krom are naturally bigger, the two guys I’m attracted to have remarkably similar physiques.

And I may never see one of them again.

My heart squeezes, and shock narrows my vision. Por favor, let it be Brill in that suit.

I know that’s feo, that if something did happen out there, Brill, who has Krom book lungs and blood that contains natural antifreeze, would have the better chance of surviving in the frío airless ocean. Pero, he’s mi vida. And Kaliel’s not.

I stumble back through my room, force my uncooperative jelly-legs to stabilize as I race out into the hallway and down the stairs. I spot Mertex in the lobby, sitting up in a chair, holding a wadded-up shirt to his forehead. It’s soaking through with azure blood. He’s more alert now.

“Who?” It’s all I can manage. Please don’t let it be Brill.

Mertex closes his eyes. “We got separated between the troughs in the waves, and by the time I circled back, he was just gone.”

My heart is hammering in my chest. “He who?”

“Kaliel.”

“Gracias a Dios.” I’m still upset and worried, pero the raw panic is gone. Brill is safe. And I’m relieved that Mertex doesn’t know a word of Spanish, so doesn’t realize what I just said.

“He was wearing a flotation vest, but those currents are strong. He could be anywhere.” Mertex sits up straighter, drops the wadded-up shirt onto the plush carpet. There’s still an open greenish-blue gash on his forehead, pero the bleeding’s stopped. “I’m going to join the search party.”

“Me too.” I offer Mertex both my shaking hands to help him up, and he takes them in one of his. He’s not putting all his weight behind it, pero it still nearly pulls me over when he stands.

“The helicopter should be on its way. It’ll take us down between the teeth.”

That sounds ominous. “Right.”

Mertex gestures down at my feet. “You’re going to want heavy duty shoes. And long pants.”

I turn towards the staircase. “Don’t leave without me, por favor.” One hand on the railing, I look back. This is a different side of Mertex, one capable of taking charge in an emergency. I gesture at his wounded forehead. “I guess you proved you’re not a coward.”

Mertex blushes green. “I fell off when my squid flipped through the wave to get back to where Kaliel went down. After I was under, I stayed down too long thinking Kaliel’s dive suit would be easy to spot, and when I came up in a panic, I hit the oxygen generator at the back of the buoy rig.”

I laugh. “Pero, you stayed under. That’s the important thing.”

A voice from the doorway says, “If you say so.” Fizzax is standing there, his recording device in his hand. “Vaveskkent, Mertex. Another missing offworlder report? It’s like you miss seeing me or something.”

I race up the stairs before I can get drawn into the conversation.

 

By the time I change and get back downstairs, Mertex and Fizzax are waiting by the helicopter. Brill is with them. He’s changed out of the protective suit, is wearing his standard jeans, tee and leather jacket combo. His hair is still wet.

Fizzax asks Brill, “…and when the swell subsided?”

Brill shrugs. His irises are deep gray. “He was gone. He’d been tugging on the tubes, like he wanted to access the oxygen supply. But they’re mounted into the rigging, uan it’s not like he was going to use it to dive. Revwal?”

He’s asking for agreement, pero Fizzax ignores it – or doesn’t know the word.

“Mr Cray,” Fizzax says. “You had a fight with Johansson last night. And out on the water, no one remembers seeing you for at least five minutes before he disappeared.”

“Just what are you implying?” Brill asks, though it’s obvious.

Fizzax doesn’t expect us to find Kaliel. And since squidriding is supposed to be relatively safe, it looks like Kaliel’s disappearance might have been foul play, even murder. Because Brill stormed out of the bar last night, and no one saw him and Kaliel resolve their differences, Brill’s just become Fizzax’s prime suspect. Dios mio!

If we don’t find Kaliel, I could lose them both.

My heart is thudding in paniterroration. A noise escapes my throat. “Mnrhpn.”

Fizzax looks at me, his expression embarrassed, appropriate given our discussion last night. Mercy won’t be involved if these guys decide Brill killed someone.

“Come on, Fizzax,” Mertex says, gesturing towards the helicopter. “We’re in the middle of a search and rescue mission. If we find the guy soon enough, you can just ask him what happened.”