CHANGELING: Book Two in the Weaver Series Read online

  My sister grunted as our arms trembled but we weren’t done looking. Perspiration was collecting along our spine, making it tickle as it trickled down our skin. Just as we focused our gaze higher at the sky at something soaring like a kite with a pterodactyl-like head, a scent assailed our nostrils that brought to mind the odor of rain on dry earth or petrichor, possibly even ozone.

  A deep male voice barked angrily at us in Axsian, before a hand gripped one of our dangling legs and tugged. Resenting the added strain on our already overextended upper body we brought up our free leg and kicked out, adding a little juice to make it hurt. We were rewarded with a grunt of pain as our heel struck something thick and meaty with the give of flesh. The grip on our captured leg released and we unlocked our cramping hands from around the metal slats to land on our feet this time, in a crouch.

  Our unknown assailant towered over us, scowling with his hand to his right shoulder. His features were much the same as Kal’s and the other three Axsian’s we’d met. A proud nose, dark pools for eyes, and pointed teeth that brought to mind piranhas, graced the angry face hovering above us. The hue of his robe was a pale powder blue with a sash of a darker indigo.

  Since we didn’t speak the native tongue, Cass patted our leg and then shook our index finger side to side in the universal, we hoped, signal for no. I added in a head shake for good measure, surprising my sister again. Our arms felt like jelly and if it came to further fighting we were toast, but Big Bad in front of us didn’t know that.

  I thought at my twin, “Yeah, we’re so bluffing.”

  Cass blew an escaped chunk of hair off the tip of our nose and straightened slowly, eyes locked on our uninvited guest the short trip up, then answered, “Big Bad is dressed differently. No all white wardrobe and vest? What do you think that means? I don’t see any weapons or discs but he’s got folds in his kaftan that could hide things.”

  With a final rub on his injured shoulder Big Bad reached for the sash tied about his waist and withdrew a much smaller disc than the one that had adorned our discarded shirt to hold it out in our direction.

  Cass shook our head and took a step back.

  Big Bad frowned, looked down at our puke puddle then over at our balled up top. A light seemed to dawn in his eyes as he pointed to our shirt and motioned ‘no’ then pointed to his mouth and then his ear. He extended his palm again with a hopeful expression.

  His voice was low and slow as if he were afraid to startle us as he said, “Hieran…geewedan?”

  One graceful dark hand rose toward his temple as he pantomimed placing the disc there and made hand motions with the other at his mouth and ear again. Big Bad’s anime-round inky orbs shrank as his skin crinkled around the edges when he smiled encouragingly for us to take the tiny device.

  I thought, “I think it’s a translator.”

  She answered “So we trust it?”

  I snickered. “The translating device or Big Bad?”

  My sister reached out a cautious hand in answer to pluck the squished pea sized device from the depression in Big Bad’s open palm. His smile grew an inch wider in approval as he gestured helpfully to his temple again and then at us.

  I felt the cold tackiness as Cass placed the tiny bit of metal out of sight by our left eye socket. There was a strange vertigo sensation and a metallic taste on the back of our tongue and then Big Bad started speaking. Halfway through his sentence his words suddenly made sense.

  “Cunnan ge understand me now?”

  My sister and I were intrigued. Did this mean when we answered him our mouth would form words in Axsian? How did this little doohickey on our head work?

  Experimentally Cass said, “Yes.”

  It sounded like English to us and our mouth didn’t move in any way different than it would normally. Perhaps the puzzlement was evident on our face because Big Bad chuckled.

  “We are both speaking in our native tongues but we can now understand one another. I have a permanent device implanted under my skin. Axsa has frequent guests from the Galactic Alliance. It would take overlong to learn every dialect as there are thousands.”

  We watched his lips closely and he was right. Though we understood the words it was like a badly dubbed foreign film when we concentrated too hard on his mouth so we ignored the visual cues and concentrated more on what we heard. Being of two minds may have had an effect but I could swear there was a whisper of the real words Big Bad was speaking if I strained.

  He cleared his throat and sniffed at the sour smell our bodily waste had created when a breeze from our ‘skylight’ shifted the air currents in the holding cell. That was our final determination of what this pinkish gray cavern was—a place to stash uninvited or unwanted visitors until they could be properly dealt with.

  I took over our mouth to say, “So is this how you treat all of your guests?”

  Our eyebrows rippled in surprise as Cass reacted to the brief hijack of our body but Big Bad mistook the facial expression for querulous attitude on our part.

  He tugged uncomfortably on his sash with what seemed like a nervous tick and answered haughtily, “Earth is not a member of the Galactic Alliance. You have no representation or standing with the governing body in this Universe. We acted in accordance with Axsian law. You have not been mistreated and will be sent home forthwith with your memory corrected.”

  Cassandra stood straighter like a sun starved sapling reaching for light on a forest floor and snapped, “No, we will not be going home and no you may not tamper with our mind. My sister and I demand to see Kal.”

  Big Bad gazed around the holding cell with an amused expression on his face. “I see no one accompanying you. Perhaps an introduction is in order. My name is Pez and I am a member of the Guild of Discovery. One of our tasks is to facilitate relations between planets in… difficult situations. There is no reason this has to be an unpleasant or lasting experience for you. What is your name?”

  I could feel our lips slide across our parched teeth haltingly as Cassandra gave an incredulous smile. “Your name is Pez? Does your head flip back and eject square candy?”

  It was Big Bad’s turn to look confused. Cassandra waved a hand as if to brush her comment away and straightened our face before saying, “My name is Cassandra and my twin sister’s name is Silver. We are chimera.”

  My spirit soared at her open admission of my existence. I hadn’t picked up in her thoughts any hint of my sister’s words before they left our lips. Perhaps I wasn’t the only one learning new skills. Maybe we could forge a new path here and be ourselves? It was freeing.

  I took over for just a second to wave a hand and chirp out in a lower pitch, “Hi!”

  His nose wrinkled in between his eyes as he considered our introduction. It was apparent Pez from the Guild of Discovery had no idea what to make of us. He came to a decision and his tone suggested he was going to skip over what he didn’t understand and proceed according to procedure.

  “Would you permit a medical examination?”

  Cass cocked our head to the side before saying pugnaciously, “Depends.”

  At the end of his patience but trying to fake tolerance, Pez settled back on his heels and clasped his hands together at his front before asking, “Your decision depends upon what, exactly? You do realize we do not have to be polite…we could just do whatever we like and then erase the memories.”

  I laughed out loud at that and fired back, “Yeah right! Just try it, Pez. I don’t even know if your machinery’s ever encountered someone like us. We could break it.”

  One of those curious premonitions or hunches was nagging at the back of my mind, nudging us toward the conclusion that whatever they tried wouldn’t work. I shared that feeling with my sister. Resolve hardened our spine. Cass pinched our lips together as she bit the inside of our cheek, waiting impatiently for Pez to respond to my taunt. A grim humor stole over his face as he looked us up and down.

  It didn’t take very long.

  When his night dark eyes came bac
k up to ours Cass pursed our lips and cocked a hip. We were decidedly sassier on Axsa than we had been on Earth. Maybe it was the recent near death experience or the eight years of captivity ending in a torture session before we were rescued, but we were through with being afraid and it showed.

  Pez didn’t seem that frightening as he sighed in a disgruntled way before asking in a bored, exasperated tone, “Fine, what are your terms of cooperation?”

  My sister held up our hand, ticking off our requirements with a finger pointing skyward for each, “No anal probes, no needles, no memory wipes, and we get to see Kal after.”

  He dusted his hands off as if we had dirtied them with our uncooperative nature and said primly, “Yes to the first three. What is it with you undeveloped planets and body cavities? Never mind…I do not really want to know. Kal may be out of my ability to deliver. I can promise to ask but that is all I can offer.”

  Cass thought at me, “Good enough?”

  I pretended to mull it over as if we really had options and said out loud, “Done.”

  The looming bureaucrat turned at our assent and began to walk away towards a section of wall that looked just as seamless as the rest. He waved a nutmeg-colored hand in the air and the granite turned malleable, sucking inward like a wormhole, creating an oblong tunnel long and tall enough to accommodate someone of his size with half a foot to spare. Pez took a step inside the newly formed exit and waved impatiently for us to join him.

  I couldn’t seem to help the image of intestines, fleshy and glistening inside a giant beast as it flashed in the forefront of my mind and Cass mentally grumbled as we stepped forward, “Thanks for the visual.”

  “Anytime, Sister. Anytime.”

  Chapter Two: Down the Rabbit Hole

  We could see light far off like a pinpoint.

  The disturbing susurrating sound of sand came from behind us and Cassandra turned to look. The tunnel was sealing closed at our back and when Pez realized we had slowed he yanked us forward by our wrist and warned, “It would not be wise to linger.”

  As a demonstration he flicked something from his sash at the igneous swirling soup of reforming granite and it was absorbed instantly, most likely crushed to bits or at the very least sealed in.

  I thought at my twin as Pez ushered us forward again, “You may want to reorganize your top five ways not to bite it list.”

  Cass would have responded but we were both distracted by the barren clinical looking room the tunnel seamlessly led us to. She turned again and risked a glance at the wall behind us. Nothing hinted at a way in or out on the porous gray surface.

  Pez snapped his fingers or some other such rude noise and I whipped us around to say, “You’re a terrible tour guide. Curiosity denotes intelligence. If we just blindly followed you everywhere and obeyed your instructions without pause you’d be justified in your assumption of your superiority over humanity. Obviously you’re just a jerk.”

  From across the room a booming laugh carried to our ears and turned Pez’s face sour.

  The darkest colored Axsian yet, with skin so pigmented it reminded us of Malcolm and Melody’s blue black complexion, rose from a sitting position at a work station to saunter our way. His clothing brought to mind a much classier version of scrubs with a many pocketed vest thrown over the top. The cloth was done in varying shades of taupe with the pants and the vest being the darkest garments. Slicked back light brown hair hit his shoulders and his eyes had a kindness to them, though they almost blended into his dark face. This new Axsian’s overall demeanor was playful and less officious. As he drew even with our position he touched three fingers to his forehead, giving a head bow to each of us respectively.

  His voice when he spoke was fluid and melodious. “I see you are making friends far and wide, Guild Member Pez. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Sil, and I will conduct your examination today. First, before we start, let me say it is a pleasure to meet someone as curious as you. Ask any question you like while you are here and I will answer it.”

  Sil turned sideways and motioned like a flight attendant toward a dull metallic examination table. I took over to walk us past both ‘men’ but when we reached the table I gave over control to my twin since I didn’t trust myself to do something as complicated as jumping our body onto the table, gracefully at least. The floor was made from the same gray porous looking rock as the walls and it absorbed sound better than carpet. A darkly foreboding feeling coalesced as we pictured the terrible things that could be done in here without anyone to hear us scream. Sil was charming enough but was that all just an act to get us where he wanted us without a fuss?

  The alien in question approached the side of the table and hit a few buttons on its edge. Immediately we began to rise and when we were at a height that was more on a level with Sil’s standing position the table stopped gently. From one of the many pockets in his vest he produced a rectangular flat device that reminded us of a ruler only it was smooth with a screen on one side.

  Sil saw our interest and held out the tool for our review as he explained, “This will let me take a tiny amount of you, microscopically, and examine it. No pain should be experienced and please let me know if anything I do today causes you discomfort.”

  The words seemed genuine and he wasn’t afraid of direct eye contact as he smiled. We gave a head jerk in response so he proceeded to wave the device over our forearm.

  In an absently curious way Sil said, “You have not introduced yourself as I have.”

  As he tapped the screen of the beeping tool and frowned, Pez responded to the physician’s query unbidden.

  “I was given two names. They claim to be more than one person although I only see one.” Pez’s tone was huffy.

  Sil set the malfunctioning or at least puzzling device on the table next to us and pulled out a new larger square tool about the size of a small slim book and slowly drifted it in front of our face without an explanation. His expression was wholly absorbed in the data he was receiving and we pictured him as a mad alien scientist on the verge of some great discovery.

  Probably not the most humble way to think of ourselves.

  Sil’s eyes popped up from his instrument, gleaming with intentness as he asked, “Tell me your names, please?”

  Guild Member Pez snorted dismissively at the question.

  A feeling stole over my sister and I, the same singularity of purpose that filled us in the infirmary right before we hit Malcolm in a fit of temper; we could admit it now that we were light years away from Maggie’s disapproval. We took a breath in as one and said together in vibrating double timbre, “Cassandra and Silver Rainbow. We are chimera.”

  Well that was new.

  Our heart beat a little faster with a twisted tangle of fear and anticipation.

  Pez made a noise of disbelief, voice shrill as he nearly shouted, “You are not giving credence to this?”

  Sil’s eye’s had never left ours as we spoke and they still held steady as he said in a fascinated dreamy tone, “This condition requires further study.”

  In our normal voice Cass asserted, “We won’t be your lab rat.”

  He shook his head as if to clear it and said softly, “No of course not…of course not.”

  Abruptly he turned away and barked at Pez, “Bring me the Agent who brought her home to us.”

  Pez just stood doing nothing until Sil’s voice hardened in anger. “Now!”

  A puff of that same ozone scent we had caught earlier and Pez was simply gone. Sil turned to us and smiled angelically—which is hard to do when your teeth are jaggedly sharp—before he asked, “Are there any others like you on your planet of origin?”

  I shrugged our shoulders and Cass responded, “Not that we know of.”

  His eyes seemed to light with excitement at our answer as they picked up and reflected back the illumination in the room. We watched closely this time as a lens flicked across his orbs, shining wetly like a saturated sheet of malleable plastic.

  Sil mumbled
under his breath and pinched his lower lip with his index finger and thumb as he considered us. After a moment he asked, “Are you amenable to staying on Axsa for a period of time? What I mean to say is, were you brought here against your will?”

  My sister dipped our head at his question before answering truthfully. “We came willingly and with the understanding that Kal would be our guardian during our time here. He didn’t seem to think there would be an issue since we’re a vector.”

  Our avid physician’s hair looked to have the consistency of straw and his roots showed black in an even millimeter close to his scalp. His eyes widened and his fingers released his lip to drop to his chin as he said, “Who informed you of your Vector status?”

  Flatly Cass returned, “Kal.”

  The way he’d said Vector had suggested it should be presented like a title with a capital ‘V’. Sil’s reaction to our mention of being a Vector made us also wonder if what he was all in a dither about was an entirely different matter. Truthfully we might have overstepped ourselves by even mentioning what Kal had described us as before he convinced us to leave Earth. Our chimerism had been plenty enough to pique Sil’s interest and elevate our status.

  It was hard to pick your steps in an unmarked landmine field.

  A gust of ozone, stronger than what had remained after Pez’s departure hit our nose. Sil turned, to address the newcomers, two Axsian’s I didn’t recognize, and a splash of warm wetness hit our cheek and chest right before the physician fell sideways like a limp tree.

  I put a hand to our cheek and came away with a reddish tacky substance that smelled like blood. Cass pushed us off the table backward, which barely landed us on our feet. She crouched down with a grip on to the lip of the table for balance. It was useless to flee because we couldn’t outrun a space, light and time bending alien. But we weren’t going to die quietly.