Page 16 of Salvation
Chapter Six
The sweet peel of Sakura’s laughter filled the air like bells. Nick gazed at her as something akin to wonder wriggled in his heart. That was a sensation he hadn’t expected, and it lightened the mood that had dogged him since the meeting with the committee. A mood as grey as the outfit she wore…the standard color of a healer-in-training. The only break in the drab monotony of her sweater and leggings was the Day-Glo pink slash of the strap of her Hello Kitty duffle across her chest.
“Nick Bock.”
Nick jerked around to face the man who’d just addressed him. His fingers flexed around the handle of his guitar case, then relaxed. A hooded burgundy tunic and black pants, the uniform of a silent healer. Could this be their guide? “Do I know you?”
“That depends.” Hands of chestnut brown pushed the hood back to reveal the sharp features and shaved head of a Terrian man no more than two or three years older than him. “How are you, Nick?”
“You sure do get around, LaShawn.” Nick clasped the pro-offered hand. First New L.A., now Matir.
LaShawn released his hand and stepped back. “I’m here to escort you to registration.”
There seemed to be an air of aloofness floating around LaShawn, creating the illusion that he was unaware, but that was probably the furthest thing from the truth. By the way he’d just appeared like that, it was a safe bet he was far more than a silent healer. Dollars to donuts Graig had had a hand in his training.
“I think I remember how to get there.” The odds that the registration center had been moved since he was last here was remote. It’d been in the same building for four thousand years.
“And your surface skimmer is ready.” LaShawn lowered his chin and tipped his head. “Unless you know where that is too, I suggest you follow me.”
~*~
Afternoon sunlight slanted through thepatomatrees as Nick trudged up a hill behind Sakura, following LaShawn away from the sanctuary’s landing pad. Dry, thick leaves and pear-shaped acorns crunched under his boots. Between that and the lavender sky peeking through the branches, he could almost imagine he was back at Camp One in the Sierra Mountains. If LaShawn shared those sentiments he kept a tight lid on them. Certainly not the talkative guy he had been at Camp One. He wore quiet reserve like a cloak, holding himself apart from everyone else. Not better, just separate. Even when their escort, Storo Somebody-or-another, hadn’t shown up to take them to the main village, LaShawn didn’t show a crack of annoyance. He’d just beckoned to them to follow him into the wooded landscape.
Something must have happened to LaShawn in the last seven years to set him on this life path. A path he seemed comfortable with. If he wasn’t, or it’d been forced on him, he would certainly harbor some visible bitterness. But, there was no outward trace of anything other than satisfaction in the man he’d become.
Nick’s gaze was drawn to Sakura’s jauntily bouncing ponytail ahead of him. Their luke-warm relationship had turned cold again. She’d hardly glanced in his direction since leaving Cassia Cae, even when they changed shuttles three different times. It could be that she wasn’t mad at him at all, but at the situation. It had taken almost a full day and four skimmers to get here. At least they hadn’t been followed, or so LaShawn had told them.
Something long, narrow and lethal looking sliced through the air in front of him, followed by a telltale thunk as the object hit a tree. Instinct kicked in and Nick tackled Sakura to the ground.
She squirmed under him. “Get off me!” Tightly controlled panic edged her words.
“Stay down. Someone just threw a knife at us.”
She stilled, her breaths coming in short, quick pants.
“Get up, Nick,” LaShawn said. “You’re being tested.”
Loud, booming laughter erupted from the tree line. Nick rolled to his side and Sakura scuttled away. A towering male Anferthian sauntered from between the trees, smirking. “Did the little man piss himself?”
Nick gave the translator clipped to his ear a tap with his finger. “Damn thing doesn’t work. It just told me you think I’m scared.”
“It works fine, then.” The Anferthian strode toward them.
“Hardly.”
The Anferthian’s smirk widened to a full-fledged grin as he extended one hand. “Are you incredibly brave, or insanely stupid, little man?”
“First you try to kill us and now you insult me.” Nick clasped the huge hand and the Anferthian gently tugged him to his feet. “Do you test everyone like this?”
“Only Terrian healers.” He offered his hand to Sakura, but she shook her head and scrabbled to her feet on her own. “Greetings, Earthlings.” The giant laughed again. “I have wanted to say that for a long time. I am Storo Z’bel, here to guide you to your cube.”
Testing them was one thing, but what had happened to all the Anferthian formal “Great is my pleasure” stuff?
Sakura stopped brushing bits ofpatomaleaf off her clothing and stared at Storo open-mouthed. “Cube? As insingular?”
“The place, it is large. More room than two small people need.” Storo’s large hand closed over the handle of hislabu-ba, or short knife, wiggled it from the tree’s trunk and sheathed it. “Come, then. K’rona awaits your arrival.”
Storo picked up several pieces of their hastily abandoned luggage. Nick scanned the area and frowned. “Where’s LaShawn?”
