Page 65 of Across The Stars
Later that day (or night) I was still too restless to lay down and since Sam didn’t seem like she was waking up anytime soon, I decided to leave my quarters. According to my Buddy, Sam had been sleeping for seven hours and I assumed I’d been sleeping for four before I was roused from my slumber by steamy fantasies. Vahko had given me no means to contact him, so I didn’t know what I was supposed to do. I wasn’t hungry yet, thank God, but I needed to move my muscles. Was it ok to just wander around in an alien settlement? No one had really told me the rules, but I wanted to think they’d politely stop me if I went anywhere I wasn’t supposed to.
As soon as I stepped out of the room, Solukh was walking toward the door, a tray with two plates on it in his hands.
“About time,” he said. “You two can really sleep.”
“I wasn’t sleeping. I was keeping an eye on Sam. She’s still out, though.”
“Ah. Well, she was sneezing and coughing for hours when you two got here and then as soon as she left the commons, she started up again. Mae it really hard to tease her.”
“Really? I should have been there,” I said under my breath.
“It’s the goruk pollen. Used to bother me, too.”
“Is it bad?”
He shrugged. “It’s just a nuisance. According to her tests, she has breathing issues?”
I nodded. “She used to have asthma, but she said it got better after high school. I’ve never even seen her with an inhaler.”
“What’s an inhaler? Maybe we have something that would resemble it here.”
“It has medicine in it that you inhale to open up air passages. She didn’t tell you this?”
He shook his head. “She whines a lot. Doesn’t really say anything useful.”
We stood there in silence for a moment, both quietly agreeing that Sam was a spitfire. Then, Solukh extended the tray of food to me.
“Vahko asked me to bring this to you.”
“Thanks.” Solukh was turning to leave, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to question him on some things. “Hey,” I said, catching his attention. “I’m feeling restless. Is there a place I can go for a run?”
“A run?”
“Yeah. Like a jog?”
He searched his brain for an answer and then looked around at the metal walkways extending in all directions.
“I mean, if you want to sightsee, you’d have to leave the settlement, but it’s a little dangerous out there. If you don’t mind running in circles, there’s a spring in the middle of Sikai with a spiral going up around it. It’s a trek, but once you get to the top, it’s a pretty nice view.”
“Where’s that?”
He stepped in, pointing down a pathway leading in the opposite direction from the council and the commons.
“Head this way till the walkway splits. Then head right and keep going until you see a big archway. You’ll see writing on it, but you can’t read it.”
“What’s the writing say?”
“Firikel Ulinak. Means ‘Ascension.’ The spiral is a spiritual trek. Some people here do it every morning.”
I nodded slowly, repeating the directions in my head.
“Good luck,” Solukh said.
Well, that didn’t instill confidence.
“Do I need luck?” I asked.
“Nah.” He patted me on the back like I was his good pal. “You seem capable. Just let me know how close you get to the top.”
