chest oozed fluids.. At last, she gathered enough breath and whispered, unable to manage a normal volume, “He will get you. The Gray Man…will…get…” and then collapsed onto her face and stopped moving.
Nalia recalled how stupid she had felt, how ignorant, how…betrayed. She swore that she would not be taken in again. She swore that she would not blindly trust someone in the future. One time was enough. They were lucky to be alive and she did not believe in relying on luck. Surely she had used up her whole supply by now. They had packed up their temporary home and gone out in search of another, on the run again.
No, she would not be fooled again. The Gray Man had been stepping up his activity lately, trying to find her and her father, and she would not allow someone to jeopardize that. She was more than willing to kill a few people that perhaps did not need killing if it meant that she would protect her family from the ones that did need killing.
The conversation between Dr. Walt and the stranger seemed to be winding down for now. Dr. Walt acted as if he trusted the stranger immediately, but then, he was not a warrior. He was a scribe, a librarian, a thinker. He trusted too much and too easily. This man was from his home world, so Dr. Walt would want to trust him, especially considering the only other person from his world who was here in Gythe.
Turning to Nalia and Rindu, Dr. Walt said, in Kasmali so they could understand, “Nalia, Rindu, please let me introduce to you Sam Sharp. He is from my world, the world from which the Gray Man also comes. I think he can help us and maybe we him. He will join us at our camp. Let’s hurry before the showers come.”
7
Sam was astounded. Dr. Wicket! Here, in this world. Now he could get some answers. It was enough that the man could speak the same language as him, but more than that, the doctor was an expert on his theories about vibrational energy use. The same theories that Sam researched to find a way to get here the second time. If there was anyone in both worlds that could help him, Sam knew it was this man.
“Please, call me Walt, or Dr. Walt, if you insist on being formal” the scarecrow-like man said to Sam. “People here don’t even know what a doctor is. They think ‘doctor’ is my first name.” He laughed.
“Ok, Dr. Walt it is. I have a lot of questions to ask you, the first of which is where are we? Or should I ask ‘when are we?’”
Dr. Walt looked into Sam’s eyes, “Well, that’s the question, isn’t it? Let me see if I can give you the short version.”
He opened his mouth to speak, but before he was able to make a sound, he stopped. His eyes lit up and he looked past Sam, toward Skitter. His mouth dropped open and he put both hands in his shaggy hair and pulled it back out of his face. “Is that a hapaki? A real, live hapaki?” He was now goggling at the furry creature hungrily. A jolt of fear entered Sam’s mind from Skitter. Fear he was about to be eaten.
Sam looked behind him and, for the first time since Dr. Walt’s arrival, noticed that Skitter was still in the same spot, motionless. Skitter? Sam sent. Are…you…ok?
Fine, the sending came, but Skitter still didn’t move, except for the trembling Sam could clearly see. Feelings of terror filtered into Sam’s mind from his friend.
They…not…harm , Sam sent. Excited…see…you. Can…communicate or…hear…thoughts…any…these? Sam asked his friend.
No.
Looking into his friend’s large green eyes, he sent: No…worry. Friends. Relax. Skitter didn’t move, but the feeling of tension eased a little bit. That would have to do.
“Ummmmm, hapaki?” asked Sam. “You mean Skitter there? He’s my friend.”
The doctor, still not taking his eyes off Skitter, continued: “Your friend? Ah, oh, ok. We’ll talk about that in a moment. Yes, indeed, hapaki. The word is from Old Kasmali. That’s an ancient language, you know. It’s different than the
Patti O'Shea
Bonnie Vanak
Annie Winters, Tony West
Will Henry
Mark Billingham
Erika Janik
Ben Mikaelsen
James Axler
Tricia Goyer
Fern Michaels