AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He looks me in the eye. I can see sadness, but also something else. He seems genuine and heartfelt. “It’s okay. I’m glad I found you. I just hope I can redo what I missed.” He brushes my hair back and then turns to keep walking.
“Well, if you need me to vouch for you or anything, I’m more than willing to share my side of things. Well, not everything, but you get the idea.” I chuckle.
“Thank you. What about you? What were you really doing out in the middle of the jungle? And why were you going to a hunting lodge with your friends? You don’t seem like the killer type.”
“Oh, no, I’m not. We weren’t going there to hunt anything. I was actually helping my boss.” I cut myself short again. I remember what Sathior said, and how this whole trip was a secret.
“Your boss? Is he a hunter? Or he just likes the jungle?”
“Actually,sheis a fashion designer. And so am I.” I probably shouldn’t be saying any of this, but something about him makes me want to open up and be completely honest with everything.
“What kind of fashion do you do?” He asks.
“Um, I guess you call it scrap art. I piece together fine fabrics to make garments for humans. Not a lot of designers make anything for humans, and it’s hard to make things work for you when the average Kaleidian is six feet tall. So yeah, fashion for humans. That’s me.”
“So you guys were going to a hunting lodge to make dresses?” He seems genuinely confused.
“No, nothing like that. We actually came here to do some research. My boss wants to make some Kaleidian-inspired fashion, so we were going to explore the jungle and see what we could use.”
“So, you were in the jungle by yourself because you got so interested in the local wilderness that you didn’t notice you separated from your group?”
He stops to turn and look at me. I can tell this story isn’t adding up in his mind. “Something like that.”
He shakes his head and keeps moving forward. Finally, we reach a small trail in the jungle. It’s not much, but it’s at least clear of debris and rocks, meaning we can walk a lot faster than before.
“Your boss must be rich to pay for you all to come out here. You came from off-world, right?”
“Yeah. Well, she’s not that rich or anything. We’re a pretty small business. We had to pitch in for our tickets.” I can’t tell from here if he’s buying it or not. My mind races back to Sathior and her NDA. I’m already indentured to her, if I cross her, she’d own me outright.
We continue on the path for about an hour, then reach the main road. In the distance, I can hear the sounds of the city.
He stays quiet for the rest of the walk. I’m not sure if he’s just bummed about missing out on his test or if he’s just the strong, silent type. Either way, I’m a bit too nervous and tired to keep up the conversation.
Finally,we reach the town. It’s relatively small, but it has some pretty huge buildings that block out sections of the sky.
“Here, we can make a call here.” He points to a building. There’s a sign out front, but it’s in Kaleidian and I can’t read it.
Inside, there are a few other Kaleidians milling around, and a fat Kaleidian standing behind a counter. His scales poke out from his bulging gut exposing soft pink flesh underneath.
I know it’s uncouth but I can’t help staring at Kaleidians going about their everyday lives. Glimner is a melting pot, with every alien race known to the seven galaxies. Being immersed in Kalei, its lore traditions at every vantage, I wondered if this is what life on Earth was like before I was born.
Garet says something in Kaleidian, and the fat alien points to a window along the counter. He walks over to it and grabs a communicator. He says something else, which I can only assume is the Kaleidian equivalent of “thank you.”
“Here, do you know the code to reach your boss?” He puts the communicator in my hand. This one feels much older and heavier than any I’ve seen before.
“Yeah, I think so.” The buttons are all in Kaleidian, but there are numbers next to each symbol. I punch in the code for Alice’s comm. Or, at least, I hope it’s her comm.
I hold the speaker up to my ear. I can hear the bips and beeps of the communicator as it sends its signal. The handle feels a bit greasy, but I try to ignore it.
“Hello?” Alice asks.
“Hey, Alice! It’s Tania!”
There’s a pause, and I’m wondering if that’s a good sign or not.
“Oh my god! Tania! We thought you were lost for good! Oh my god, oh my god! Hey, it’s Tania!” I can hear her shouting to someone else. I hope it’s not Sathior, or she might accidentally say her name.
“What happened to you?”
