Page 14 of Uprooted
“Maybe he’s just a dick,” she says in a loud whisper.
He clears his throat. I dig my elbow into her side. She just needs to keep it together a little longer. Soon we’ll be at the muradome and she can lose her shit in the privacy of her own room.
“Identify yourselves.” He barks an order at us without looking back.
“Elowen Carson and Brisa Mitchell,” I answer for both of us, not giving Bri a chance to make some snarky comment.
A jolt forward throws us back in our seats. Captain Cranky jerks the porter around anything in our way, not caring to make it a smooth ride for us. We leave the base and I get a full view of the landscape for the first time. It’s so beautiful I could cry. If I weren’t seeing it in real life, I would think it was genAI. It’s so pristine it can’t possibly be real. The colors— everything looks bright and vibrant.
We head in the direction of the rolling hills in the distance. I turn and watch the huge metal gate close behind us. I settle back into my seat.
No more anticipation. We finally made it.
Bri laughs, “Where are we? Is this real?” She knows exactly where we are, but I know what she means. It’s hard to believe we’re here, and it’s beyond my wildest dreams.
“You’re on j’Tilak,” our driver says.
“That was a rhetorical question,” Bri says and rolls her eyes.
A wide field surrounds the base. I watch the terrain with my face pressed against the plexi, trying to see everything. All too quickly the porter rises up to ascend a hill and I feel like I’m a roller coaster. My stomach drops to my feet. From up here the view extends. In the distance giant trees rise up, their branches fanning out, forming a dark green canopy. A wide glittering river winds through the valley below. Golden grass covers the ground like suede with the occasional patch of brown.
We take a sharp turn to the left and speed our way down toward the outcrop of trees. Bri slides across her seat and holds the bag as far away from her as possible as it sloshes from the erratic turns and bumps.
“Careful with that,” Mr. Sourpuss instructs, his eyes briefly landing on her from the rearview mirror.
“I’m trying!” She rechecks the seal on the bag, her frustration simmering near the surface.
“Be nice,” I tell her through a clenched smile. “We’re guests here.” A lifetime of diplomatic training kicks in. These first few hours are crucial. My mom’s voice rings in my head.You can only make afirst impression once. It’s not unheard of for a newcomer to break some cardinal rule and wake up on a prison planet. It can usually be ironed out after a few weeks, but I get the feeling Bri wouldn’t take kindly to being locked up for any period of time.
She returns the fake smile. “I am.”
The sky turns dark when we get to the tree line. We are now under the shade of the canopy. Wood creaks over the porter’s gyroscopes.
I can hardly believe my eyes when a massive tree pulls a thick root out of the ground and heaves it forward. I smack Bri’s shoulder and point to the massive tree that leaves behind a deep trench in its wake.
“Holy shit!” she says and leans over to see. We’re moving too fast to see the tree make any progress. Broad trunks block our view as we continue on our way. Our driver could have at least slowed down so we could witness this for the first time.
We ride in silence for a while, completely overwhelmed with everything around us. I’m desperately watching the forest around us, hoping to see more movement, when I notice a very large shadow shift. A second later a two-legged reptilian creature the size of a small house lets out a roaring bark and jerks its head in our direction.
Three green eyes focus on us, pupils contracting into terrifying slits, tracking our movement. Its elongated snout is slightly open, displaying rows and rows of razor-sharp teeth. Its muscles are bunched up under green camouflaged skin, ready to pounce. Before it can make a move, our porter picks up speed and continues on uninterrupted through the trees.
“What was that?” A shiver creeps down my spine.
“That is a very angry female Allometradon. Did you notice her hatchling?” The driver doesn’t sound very concerned. “We were safe. There is no way she could have gotten to us. These porters are mostly impenetrable.”
Bri and I share a look when it hits us both that he said “mostly.”
“All I saw were teeth. I’ve never seen anything like that before.” Bri’s voice is a little shaky. Unease settles into the air as Bri and I silently wonder what else we could encounter on our drive to the pod.
The large white dome comes into view—home sweet home. It’s bigger than any other research facility I’ve ever seen. It’s the size of asmall town, rising three or four stories tall. The porter circles the dome and slows as we turn into the cargo bay.
Bri and I step out, her small bag still in hand. Again, she looks around for a place to throw it away. A Tilak with the worst haircut I have ever seen approaches us. He looks self-conscious about his appearance and tries to smooth down the clumps of hair sticking out in every direction.
“I’m sorry, ma’am. You can’t bring that in the pod. All personal items are required to be checked in ahead of time.” Bri rolls her eyes at his comment and holds the bag out away from her body, threatening him with it.
“I don’t want to keep this. I’ve been trying to find a place to dump it since we landed,” she unleashes on the unsuspecting Tilak, her frustration finally boiling over. She desperately looks around for somewhere to put the container.
“Here, I can help you with that,” a deep voice says from behind me. I spin and smack my face directly into a white shirt covering a hard chest. I look up and a friendly blue face smiles down at me.
