Page 66 of Cozy Prisons
“Let’s wait until morning,” Daxus said, sounding a worried rumble. “It’s the middle of the rest period. You should sleep for at least four more marks.”
She shook her head. “No more sleeping, only moving.”
Closing the bag, she grabbed another. Two bags were all she could carry, so she needed to be more picky about what went into the second bag.
“We need to wake everyone up, too,” she said as she dumped her collection of data crystals into the second bag. “We have to leave!”
Daxus grabbed her hands, forcing her to stop moving. “Nataly, calm yourself. You’re being illogical.”
It was hard, but she kept herself from screaming at him that he was wasting time.
“I’m not being illogical,” she gritted out. “I can’t explain it, but we’re in danger. The entire village is in danger. Everyone needs to leave, and we don’t have much time.”
“You think we’re all in danger?” he questioned. His tone was completely neutral, so she couldn’t tell what he was thinking.
“I don’t think, I know,” she answered. “It’s the same way I knew about Grace’s baby, or when Riff was going to collapse at work and fall into a processor unit. I don’t know how I know these things, but I’m right. I saved Grace and Riff back then. I can save everyone here right now! I need you to believe me.”
“Are you sure you didn’t have a nightmare and you’re mistaking it for reality?” Daxus asked.
“No,” she said with a violent shake of her head. “I wasn’t dreaming. I woke up and knew. I don’t care if you don’t believe me, but I’m leaving and I’m taking the humans with me. I know they’ll believe me. You can stay here, but anyone still here by daybreak will be dead.”
Daxus sounded a loud startled rattle. “Dead! How?”
She rolled her eyes. “I don’t know, but it’ll happen.”
The moment the words left her mouth, she realized she was being selfish. She’d focused on packing her important things and not giving everyone else time to do the same thing.
Dropping the bag, she jerked her hands out of Daxus’s hold and rushed to her workbench. Grabbing one of the orbs, she sent out a quick emergency warning.
“Something bad is about to happen. Everyone needs to pack only essentials and go to the pond beyond the landing area. That is a minimum safe distance. Go now!”
She found an information square integrated with the village’s system and wrote out the message and designated it to flash on every screen.
“What have you done?” Daxus said as her Ident screeched with the emergency warning.
“Saved everyone’s life,” she answered, tossing the information square down and going to grab her bag again. Daxus moved in front of her, sounding a worried rumble.
“You’re not acting rationally,” he said.
“I’m acting rationally based on information I can’t explain,” she countered. He didn’t move, and she realized she was going to give him more thanI have a feeling. “This is important to me. If I’m wrong, then the only damage is some lost sleep. We make our own schedules anyway. We can all simply sleep in tomorrow or take naps. But what if I’m right? Remember when you said my gift was simply an excellent ability to see patterns no one else noticed?”
“Yes,” he said. “But—”
She held up a hand, cutting him off. “What if I’m seeing a pattern I can’t consciously explain, but my driving need to leave is my subconscious trying to keep us all alive? If we ignore it, everyone could die. Doing as I ask has a small degree of consequences. Not listening to me could lead to the end of us all. Are you willing to risk that?”
Daxus was silent for a moment, then sounded a rumble of agreement. “Very well, I’ll go along with this if you agree to one thing.”
“Sure,” she said. It didn’t matter what he asked for; she was right.
“If nothing happens, then you’ll talk to Falkilm and explain everything that’s going on. You’ll explain all the things you’ve been feeling and experiencing."
She had to admire his maneuvering. In the middle of what he probably thought was a psychotic break, he was bargaining for her to get help. She could see how good he must’ve been at his job as a mediator mavin.
“I agree,” she said. “Now, can we start moving?”
He seemed to relax a little and started purring again. “Yes, we can do as you wish. Let me—” his words were interrupted when his Ident sounded an immediate request for conversation that only Palathum could send out. If he didn’t answer promptly, the Ident would start the meeting anyway, even though he hadn’t “answered” the request.
He grabbed his Ident from beside the bed, and she went back to packing. Her information square chirped as she finished closing the second bag. She grabbed it and wasn’t surprised to see Grace’s face.
