Read Online A Wizard of Mars, New Millennium Edition by Diane Duane - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Diane Duane
Ads: Link
coming along?”
“Funny,” Nita said. “I was going to ask whether it was possible you might go anywhere that I could come along.”
Kit stared at her. “What?”
“I was late because I was waiting for you! I hung around Tom and Carl’s for half the afternoon!”
Kit looked stricken, as if this had never occurred to him. “But you said you were going to talk to the fish.”
“I was!” Nita said. “But I didn’t go there to talk to the fish! I went there to blow some time until you were going to turn up after school— which you never did! Oh, no, you just heard the word ‘Mars’ and forgot all about everything else, and ran straight off here!”
“Come on, Neets, you know I—”
Would you two ever just take it to telepathy, Ronan said silently, or else save it for later? She’s starting to run out of steam again.
At least the hissing was dying down. “Why?” Mamvish was saying to the sky and the Earth and whatever else might have been listening. “ Why do I keep coming out to this dust speck of a not-particularly-interesting world out at the farthest possible edge of all that’s bright and beautiful to talk to these idiotic creatures who make a pt!walnath look assertive and a Zabriskan fontema look smart? I ask you.”
Then she fell silent. Mamvish looked around her, a little guiltily. “I’m sorry,” she said, “very sorry. They’re just so—”
“Clueless?” said Darryl. “Lackwitted? Like you called them the last time you lost it?”
“Dim?” said Ronan. “Pitiful? Like you called them half an hour before that?”
“All right, it’s not kind to describe them so,” Mamvish said, sounding contrite. “They’re as the One made them. If they won’t be saved, they won’t. I just keep hoping they’ll change their minds. Though I’m starting to wonder why I bother.”
“Because you’re a wizard?” Nita said. “And it’s what wizards do?”
Mamvish swung her huge head in Nita’s direction... and then froze. Both those eyes suddenly went forward and trained on Nita with tremendous directness, and Mamvish’s nostrils flared. “Cousin,” she said. “Are you carrying what I think you’re carrying?”
Nita held up the plastic bag. “You mean these?”
Mamvish suddenly lurched toward Nita as singlemindedly as the Komodo dragon had. Nita hurriedly scrambled down off the boulder, headed for Mamvish, and started to carefully empty out the tomato bag onto the stones. “No, no, it’s quite all right,” Mamvish said. “I don’t mind a little roughage...”
Nita dropped the bag and the tomatoes as Mamvish lumbered forward. A second later, the tomatoes and the bag were gone. So were some of the stones— deafeningly crunched up, shattering and splintering. Everyone stared. Mamvish’s eyes rotated in her head in opposite directions in what Nita very much hoped was delight, and the shimmer under her skin ran suddenly tomato-red.
“You are my friend! ” Mamvish said, using the Speech-word thelefeh, which was a much closer and cozier usage than hrasht, or “cousin.” Nita was charmed, and began to see some use in having carried that bag halfway across the planet. “And this is unquestionably one of the best worlds in this whole part of the galaxy,” Mamvish said, straightening up after a moment. The place where her jaw jointed pulled back and back into what her species apparently used for a smile; Nita started wondering if Mamvish’s head might actually come apart. “Thank you so much for bringing those: I didn’t think I was going to have time to get any, this trip. Do forgive me; I missed your name—”
“You didn’t miss it,” said a voice from behind her. “She was late.”
“Stow it, Ronan,” Nita said. To Mamvish she said, “I’m Nita.”
“And of course I know you, thelef’, ” Mamvish said, lowering her head so that one of her eyes could look into both of Nita’s. “We’ve spoken often
“Funny,” Nita said. “I was going to ask whether it was possible you might go anywhere that I could come along.”
Kit stared at her. “What?”
“I was late because I was waiting for you! I hung around Tom and Carl’s for half the afternoon!”
Kit looked stricken, as if this had never occurred to him. “But you said you were going to talk to the fish.”
“I was!” Nita said. “But I didn’t go there to talk to the fish! I went there to blow some time until you were going to turn up after school— which you never did! Oh, no, you just heard the word ‘Mars’ and forgot all about everything else, and ran straight off here!”
“Come on, Neets, you know I—”
Would you two ever just take it to telepathy, Ronan said silently, or else save it for later? She’s starting to run out of steam again.
At least the hissing was dying down. “Why?” Mamvish was saying to the sky and the Earth and whatever else might have been listening. “ Why do I keep coming out to this dust speck of a not-particularly-interesting world out at the farthest possible edge of all that’s bright and beautiful to talk to these idiotic creatures who make a pt!walnath look assertive and a Zabriskan fontema look smart? I ask you.”
Then she fell silent. Mamvish looked around her, a little guiltily. “I’m sorry,” she said, “very sorry. They’re just so—”
“Clueless?” said Darryl. “Lackwitted? Like you called them the last time you lost it?”
“Dim?” said Ronan. “Pitiful? Like you called them half an hour before that?”
“All right, it’s not kind to describe them so,” Mamvish said, sounding contrite. “They’re as the One made them. If they won’t be saved, they won’t. I just keep hoping they’ll change their minds. Though I’m starting to wonder why I bother.”
“Because you’re a wizard?” Nita said. “And it’s what wizards do?”
Mamvish swung her huge head in Nita’s direction... and then froze. Both those eyes suddenly went forward and trained on Nita with tremendous directness, and Mamvish’s nostrils flared. “Cousin,” she said. “Are you carrying what I think you’re carrying?”
Nita held up the plastic bag. “You mean these?”
Mamvish suddenly lurched toward Nita as singlemindedly as the Komodo dragon had. Nita hurriedly scrambled down off the boulder, headed for Mamvish, and started to carefully empty out the tomato bag onto the stones. “No, no, it’s quite all right,” Mamvish said. “I don’t mind a little roughage...”
Nita dropped the bag and the tomatoes as Mamvish lumbered forward. A second later, the tomatoes and the bag were gone. So were some of the stones— deafeningly crunched up, shattering and splintering. Everyone stared. Mamvish’s eyes rotated in her head in opposite directions in what Nita very much hoped was delight, and the shimmer under her skin ran suddenly tomato-red.
“You are my friend! ” Mamvish said, using the Speech-word thelefeh, which was a much closer and cozier usage than hrasht, or “cousin.” Nita was charmed, and began to see some use in having carried that bag halfway across the planet. “And this is unquestionably one of the best worlds in this whole part of the galaxy,” Mamvish said, straightening up after a moment. The place where her jaw jointed pulled back and back into what her species apparently used for a smile; Nita started wondering if Mamvish’s head might actually come apart. “Thank you so much for bringing those: I didn’t think I was going to have time to get any, this trip. Do forgive me; I missed your name—”
“You didn’t miss it,” said a voice from behind her. “She was late.”
“Stow it, Ronan,” Nita said. To Mamvish she said, “I’m Nita.”
“And of course I know you, thelef’, ” Mamvish said, lowering her head so that one of her eyes could look into both of Nita’s. “We’ve spoken often
Similar Books
