thoughtfully.
“I’ve found an exit now,” Ariin told her. “You can go whenever you want. I’ll check in when I’ve gotten what I need.”
“What do you need?” Khorii said. But she got no answer. Left alone in this strange time and place, she could only hope that Ariin wasn’t up to her horn in trouble. And that she hadn’t dragged her twin with her straight into even more trouble.
Chapter 2
K horii bid farewell to Akasa, who pointed out the way back to Ariin’s tiny quarters.
While on a field trip with a teacher and twenty other Linyaari younglings, Khorii had once seen Kubiilikaan as the ruined underground city it was in her time. She was curious to see what it had been like before it was a ruin. She also thought she’d go see the original Ancestors and visit with Khiindi if he was still there. The poor cat would be very upset at being abandoned. Really, she had to put her foot down with Ariin about being so rough with him. Though she had never seen any evidence of his being so, she was sure he was a very sensitive cat.
On the street outside Akasa’s house, she perceived a familiar movement in the cityscape around her. Building facades shifted colors and shapes, though not their actual sizes, with a frequency that was fascinating in its variety, baffling as to what was causing it, and slightly nauseating in that she could get motion sick without moving a step, in the same way she had done entering the wormhole.
Doorways changed from round to rectangular, arched to irised, and windows changed similarly or disappeared altogether. Colors shifted constantly, and sometimes during the shift a wall could be blue on one side, green in the middle, and yellow on the other end. The ornamental patterns on what looked like tiles wriggled like worms as they rearranged themselves. A cold, wet wind blew up from the sea, but instead of going into the towering building Akasa had pointed her toward, Khorii walked down the street to the shoreline.
“Where are you going?” Ariin demanded.
“Why are you monitoring my thoughts if I’m not being questioned or sending you questions?” Khorii countered. “I know you’re new to our customs, but that is considered rude.”
“I have to keep you from making silly mistakes, and this is one. You’re supposed to return to my cell and stay there until they come and get you. If they come for you and find you—me—gone, they’ll be very cross.”
“No worries on that account. I got the impression from Akasa that all of the Friends would be at the ball.”
“In our dreams! Besides, what if you get lost?”
Khorii sighed. “It hasn’t changed all that much, in spite of everything. The reconstruction and the terraforming on Vhiliinyar have been extensively based on historical records and the memories of survivors of the Khleevi invasion. The research teams who traveled back to pre-Khleevi eras have also consulted extensively with the terraforming crews to ensure the authenticity of the planet’s re-creation. So I’ve lived here as long as you have. Just not in this city surrounded by these particular humanoids.”
“Go ahead then, Miss Stubborn, and do what you want, but don’t ask for my help if you get in over your head tonight. I have a mission to carry out.”
“And I don’t?” Khorii asked. “I’m beginning to get the picture now. The only reason you wanted me to come is so that I have to live like you lived all those years till you escaped.”
She could feel Ariin’s chagrin. Her silly sister had actually thought she was being devious.
“I don’t mind being the decoy when it’s necessary, Ariin,” Khorii told her. “ But this is my mission, too. After all, I’ve been involved with the alien plague and the creatures it turns into longer than you have. I care about the people they’re threatening. And while I know you want to show me the misery I escaped all those years by not being you, two horns are better than one at sorting this thing out,
“I’ve found an exit now,” Ariin told her. “You can go whenever you want. I’ll check in when I’ve gotten what I need.”
“What do you need?” Khorii said. But she got no answer. Left alone in this strange time and place, she could only hope that Ariin wasn’t up to her horn in trouble. And that she hadn’t dragged her twin with her straight into even more trouble.
Chapter 2
K horii bid farewell to Akasa, who pointed out the way back to Ariin’s tiny quarters.
While on a field trip with a teacher and twenty other Linyaari younglings, Khorii had once seen Kubiilikaan as the ruined underground city it was in her time. She was curious to see what it had been like before it was a ruin. She also thought she’d go see the original Ancestors and visit with Khiindi if he was still there. The poor cat would be very upset at being abandoned. Really, she had to put her foot down with Ariin about being so rough with him. Though she had never seen any evidence of his being so, she was sure he was a very sensitive cat.
On the street outside Akasa’s house, she perceived a familiar movement in the cityscape around her. Building facades shifted colors and shapes, though not their actual sizes, with a frequency that was fascinating in its variety, baffling as to what was causing it, and slightly nauseating in that she could get motion sick without moving a step, in the same way she had done entering the wormhole.
Doorways changed from round to rectangular, arched to irised, and windows changed similarly or disappeared altogether. Colors shifted constantly, and sometimes during the shift a wall could be blue on one side, green in the middle, and yellow on the other end. The ornamental patterns on what looked like tiles wriggled like worms as they rearranged themselves. A cold, wet wind blew up from the sea, but instead of going into the towering building Akasa had pointed her toward, Khorii walked down the street to the shoreline.
“Where are you going?” Ariin demanded.
“Why are you monitoring my thoughts if I’m not being questioned or sending you questions?” Khorii countered. “I know you’re new to our customs, but that is considered rude.”
“I have to keep you from making silly mistakes, and this is one. You’re supposed to return to my cell and stay there until they come and get you. If they come for you and find you—me—gone, they’ll be very cross.”
“No worries on that account. I got the impression from Akasa that all of the Friends would be at the ball.”
“In our dreams! Besides, what if you get lost?”
Khorii sighed. “It hasn’t changed all that much, in spite of everything. The reconstruction and the terraforming on Vhiliinyar have been extensively based on historical records and the memories of survivors of the Khleevi invasion. The research teams who traveled back to pre-Khleevi eras have also consulted extensively with the terraforming crews to ensure the authenticity of the planet’s re-creation. So I’ve lived here as long as you have. Just not in this city surrounded by these particular humanoids.”
“Go ahead then, Miss Stubborn, and do what you want, but don’t ask for my help if you get in over your head tonight. I have a mission to carry out.”
“And I don’t?” Khorii asked. “I’m beginning to get the picture now. The only reason you wanted me to come is so that I have to live like you lived all those years till you escaped.”
She could feel Ariin’s chagrin. Her silly sister had actually thought she was being devious.
“I don’t mind being the decoy when it’s necessary, Ariin,” Khorii told her. “ But this is my mission, too. After all, I’ve been involved with the alien plague and the creatures it turns into longer than you have. I care about the people they’re threatening. And while I know you want to show me the misery I escaped all those years by not being you, two horns are better than one at sorting this thing out,
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