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Authors: Chris J. Randolph
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caste, which entailed having a long-legged bug bonded to his blowhole as a child. It caused him to grow larger and stronger than the rest of his kind, and develop a hard, silicate armor. Surprisingly, the bug was also intelligent, but his species, known as Marakhya, were shy and preferred to let their Rozom do all the talking. Jack couldn’t even begin to pronounce the Marakhya’s name, and was glad it wasn’t too friendly.
Dojer however proved to be very talkative after a short warm-up. The hulking creature was full of stories that all ended with puzzling punch-lines and him belly laughing, but which left Jack confused. Rozom humor just wasn’t Jack’s cup of tea.
The two jackrabbits were a mated pair named Ferash and Niko, and their species called themselves Kitsu. If these two were any indication, the Kitsu were a playful and almost childlike race with boundless curiosity and a keen interest in machines. They hounded Jack for just a peek at his guns and other gadgets, and when he finally caved in, the pair took turns taking everything apart and putting it back together again. This would have infuriated him, but they did a better job cleaning and maintaining his gear than he ever had.
Jack got the impression that Ferash, the male of the pair, was a dreamer and maybe even an artist of some kind before he became a soldier. He often went off alone to stare at the horizon in deep thought. Niko, his mate, let him be during those stretches and instead spent the time avidly listening to Dojer’s weird stories.
Both Ferash and Niko yearned to raise children, but thought it a mistake to bring new lives into such a troubled world.
Much to Jack’s surprise and dismay, the Kitsu were affectionate. Their extended families shared close living quarters and often slept in communal rooms, which Jack discovered one morning when he awoke to find both Ferash and Niko cuddled up against him. He shooed them away the first few times but it became more effort than it was worth. Besides, they were warm.
At least Dojer didn’t want to cuddle. Jack didn’t think he could cope with that. Or survive it.
They reached the Ark after nearly three straight weeks of travel. Dojer, Ferash and Niko stayed with Felix, hidden in one of the few nearby copses, while Jack and Kai approached on foot. Soon, they were in the vast, sprawling village that had sprung up around the underground shelter. The place filled Jack with both hope and despair. It provided a clear example of what the human race had been reduced to, as well as their ability to plod on in the face of abject adversity.
The buildings were makeshift and sloppy. Impromptu dirt roads wandered everywhere, lined with firepits, all kinds of livestock, and dirt faced refugees bundled up in whatever clothes they could find. Jack felt like he was walking through a high-school reproduction of medieval times, where the students wore costumes made out of old hand-me-downs. It was mass poverty on a scale he’d never seen before, clothed in the waste of recent prosperity.
The great artificial mound that was the Ark dominated the sky beyond the village, like a crashing tsunami frozen in place. Large metal hatches covered its surface, looking like pressure release valves or connectors for impossibly large hoses.
“Great. My people are living in an ant hill,â€
Chapter 47:
Hoosegow
All things considered, Jack didn’t mind prison so much this time. Maybe it was the human-prepared food, which he hadn’t had the pleasure of in five months. Maybe it was because there were other prisoners in shouting distance, or moaning distance in many of their cases. Maybe it was the simple fact that he wasn’t pinned to the ceiling like a defective light fixture, nor was he being tortured for information he didn’t have. Maybe he’d simply grown fond of enclosed spaces.
Regardless of the reason, Jack considered his situation just
Dojer however proved to be very talkative after a short warm-up. The hulking creature was full of stories that all ended with puzzling punch-lines and him belly laughing, but which left Jack confused. Rozom humor just wasn’t Jack’s cup of tea.
The two jackrabbits were a mated pair named Ferash and Niko, and their species called themselves Kitsu. If these two were any indication, the Kitsu were a playful and almost childlike race with boundless curiosity and a keen interest in machines. They hounded Jack for just a peek at his guns and other gadgets, and when he finally caved in, the pair took turns taking everything apart and putting it back together again. This would have infuriated him, but they did a better job cleaning and maintaining his gear than he ever had.
Jack got the impression that Ferash, the male of the pair, was a dreamer and maybe even an artist of some kind before he became a soldier. He often went off alone to stare at the horizon in deep thought. Niko, his mate, let him be during those stretches and instead spent the time avidly listening to Dojer’s weird stories.
Both Ferash and Niko yearned to raise children, but thought it a mistake to bring new lives into such a troubled world.
Much to Jack’s surprise and dismay, the Kitsu were affectionate. Their extended families shared close living quarters and often slept in communal rooms, which Jack discovered one morning when he awoke to find both Ferash and Niko cuddled up against him. He shooed them away the first few times but it became more effort than it was worth. Besides, they were warm.
At least Dojer didn’t want to cuddle. Jack didn’t think he could cope with that. Or survive it.
They reached the Ark after nearly three straight weeks of travel. Dojer, Ferash and Niko stayed with Felix, hidden in one of the few nearby copses, while Jack and Kai approached on foot. Soon, they were in the vast, sprawling village that had sprung up around the underground shelter. The place filled Jack with both hope and despair. It provided a clear example of what the human race had been reduced to, as well as their ability to plod on in the face of abject adversity.
The buildings were makeshift and sloppy. Impromptu dirt roads wandered everywhere, lined with firepits, all kinds of livestock, and dirt faced refugees bundled up in whatever clothes they could find. Jack felt like he was walking through a high-school reproduction of medieval times, where the students wore costumes made out of old hand-me-downs. It was mass poverty on a scale he’d never seen before, clothed in the waste of recent prosperity.
The great artificial mound that was the Ark dominated the sky beyond the village, like a crashing tsunami frozen in place. Large metal hatches covered its surface, looking like pressure release valves or connectors for impossibly large hoses.
“Great. My people are living in an ant hill,â€
Chapter 47:
Hoosegow
All things considered, Jack didn’t mind prison so much this time. Maybe it was the human-prepared food, which he hadn’t had the pleasure of in five months. Maybe it was because there were other prisoners in shouting distance, or moaning distance in many of their cases. Maybe it was the simple fact that he wasn’t pinned to the ceiling like a defective light fixture, nor was he being tortured for information he didn’t have. Maybe he’d simply grown fond of enclosed spaces.
Regardless of the reason, Jack considered his situation just
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