Page 13 of Wayfinder
“Shit.” Pearl breathed. A sound that got exponentially louder when our skiff shot out of the docking bay. Her scent changed suddenly, the warm floral taking on the acrid hint of fear. “You know how to drive this thing... right?”
“Of course. Most learn how to drive a skiff while still a youngling.” I glanced over at Pearl, taking in her pale faceand tightly shut eyes. Without hesitation, I laid a hand on her shoulder, squeezing lightly. Her bones felt delicate, far too fragile for my liking. Still, I wanted to comfort her.
“It will be okay.”
“Tell that to me when we’re back on the ground,” she muttered, squinching her eyes together tightly.
“We are on the ground.”
Slowly, one bright blue eye popped open and then the other, widening in surprise.
“The skiff is designed for short-range travel,” I informed her, piloting as closely to the ground as possible. “It uses an air propulsion system, so we can gain some altitude, but it’s hard to maintain."
The scent of fear evaporated, replaced by something decidedly more floral, as she relaxed and watched the scenery whip by us.
“It’s beautiful. It reminds me of the French countryside.” The smile she turned at me was broad and happy.
“Le paysage est charmant,” I said, agreeing that the landscape was beautiful. In my studies of Earth’s language and culture, I found French the most beautiful speech.
Pearl let out a tiny, strangled gasp, causing me to turn my gaze in her direction. Shock plainly reigned in her expression. Her full lips opened and closed several times before she responded.
“Tu parles français?”
“I speak almost all your Earth languages,” I told her with a shrug.
“Even English?” she asked, rather redundantly.
“Even English,” I teased, grinning broadly.
Her pale blue eyes grew even wider, and she appeared slightly flustered. Not a common occurrence for Pearl, at least to my knowledge of her.
“Holy shit, you are speaking English. I didn’t even notice. How do you speak English?”
“My Chieftain believes that in order to properly protect Earth, we need to learn its customs and language.” I turned the skiff toward a copse of trees in the distance... something in my gut selecting the route. The AI threw up a map in disagreement with the direction. I ignored it, as I did most maps.
“When you say your ship protects Earth, what exactly do you mean?” Her shocked tone gave way to curiosity.
“We guard Earth against beings who would see the planet and its inhabitants exploited.”
Pearl issued a playful snort. “Don’t want to comment on your job performance, but you know my friends and I were abducted.”
“And rescued.” I reminded her, despite the fact her rescue remained a work in progress.
“I’ll concede torescuedwhen I’m back with my friends,” Pearl said sternly, but her eyes danced with mirth. She stared at me for a moment before glancing away as though it took too much effort to hold my gaze. “What’s that?”
I shifted in my seat to take in the view from her side of the ship. The tiny creatures were still a distance away, but their bright orange fur made identification easy.
“They’re called itocal. A scavenger species, harmless. It means that a behia herd will be nearby.”
My gaze caught on a grove of tall, purple-leaved heelia trees to the right. We needed to land the skiff undercover. Not only would the machine’s movement spook the herd, but I didn’t want to give away our location to the other contestants or anyone else who might be looking.
The skiff handled easily, sliding in amongst the trees with ease.
“What now?” Pearl asked, as I grabbed a container of water and hooked it on my belt.
“Now we’re on foot.”
Pearl didn’t seem excited about the prospect, but climbed out of the skiff on her own before I could reach her side. We headed west, skirting along the edge of the heelia trees and following the blob of bright orange moving in the distance.
