Excursion #teasertuesday

Kolya woke with a start. For a second he was lost, then he remembered the bed. Mari was gone, though. He sat up fast, and saw across a narrow aisle Jadzia lay sleeping. At his feet a girl was sitting, a small girl, younger than he was. “I thought you’d never wake up,” she said, and took her hand from his toes. “Don’t you have shoes?”

“No. Do you?”

“Of course. Mom said I can’t go out alone. Let’s go play.”

“I don’t think I should.” Jadzia would be furious. She’d been nice so far, but going out alone–

“You don’t want to sit here, do you? We could go to the galley. I want food.”

At her mention of food Kolya’s stomach twisted and growled. The girl crowed.

“See! You’re hungry too!” She clapped her hand over her mouth and looked around, then leaned towards Kolya. “Mom works graves,” she whispered. “I’m supposed to sleep but I’m not tired.”

“I don’t think–”

“Jam,” the girl said. “I’ll get me a big slice of bread with jam. No, toast. Toast with jam, and chocolate milk, and chocolate cake.”

“…you get cake?”

“I have cake every single night.” The girl hopped off the bed and tiptoed past Kolya. “Mom’s lunch is soon. I have to get my cake before she can catch me. Are you gonna come?”

He shouldn’t, he knew he shouldn’t, but…cake. Chocolate cake. Kolya bounded out of the bed and almost fell on Jadzia but caught himself on the bunk above her. He froze, waiting, but she didn’t wake up.

So hungry–

“Wait!” he whispered as the girl slipped out of sight. He had to shuffle; the abused slippers had never fit well and now they wanted to fall off. “You said you couldn’t go alone!”

“I said I’m not supposed to,” her voice came back. “I will if I have to.”

The room was a big dorm; there might have been fifty women sleeping in the stacks of bunks, but no one was awake to stop them. Kolya hurried after the girl into a dimly-lit corridor. The girl sniffed.

“Main-day gets full lights.” She poked Kolya in the ribs. “You’re skinny. Like Jadzia. Mom says that’s not healthy. What’s your name?”

“Kolya. What’s yours?”

“Hilde. I don’t like it. Mom says I will when I’m older. I wanted to change my name to Penguin but she wouldn’t let me.”

“Penguin is pretty,” Kolya said. On the walls every third light was on, but they were white and on the floor he could faintly see colors. He looked up and saw…windows?

“Mari said you’d never been in hyperspace before,” the girl said, stopping when he did. “Well, that’s it. Pretty boring.”

“It’s…beautiful.”

“Chocolate cake is beautiful. Hyperspace is just colors. Try drawing it. Mom’ll say it’s a mess, and Mari will ask why you didn’t stay in the lines and Tim will say it’s time to learn how to multiply. And a penguin is a bird. They’re not really pretty, but they are interesting. They can’t fly, but they swim like…like ice.”

“Does ice swim?”

“Well, no, not on its own.”

“Do you live here?”

“Just for now. We’re going to the frontier. Mom says there’s land and room to breathe and she’ll get us a house. I’m going to get me a dad. He’ll toss me up in the air and I’ll flop around like a penguin because I can’t fly either.”

“They make kids work in mines on the frontier planets.” If Jadzia found out she might send Kolya with–

“Do they? Not me. My mom won’t even make me do math if I pout just right.”

“I can’t pout right, then. That never worked for me.” Not that he’d tried much. Givenni would point out that the people who hired Kolya weren’t going to mind a nice red handprint on his face, and might even get inspired, and Kolya would straighten up and do what he was told.

“You have to stick out your lip. Like this.” Hilde made a face at him. Kolya laughed. Hilde poked him.

“Mom says you fainted because you were hungry and Jadzia’s a fool to–” she clapped a hand over her mouth. “I’m sorry!” she said through her fingers. “Mom says–”

“It’s not Jadzia’s fault.” Mostly. “She fed me. Lots. But I threw up.”

“Once I was too little,” Hilde said, turning back to walking, “but I pouted and Mom took me on a big ride at a fair. I threw up all over the midway.”

“At a fair?”

“You know, a big party with fun rides and crazy stuff. It was huge.” She waved her hands. “One circle went this way, and the other went this way, and our car kept going upside down.”

“That sounds awful.”

“It was the best day ever. Mom won me a giant purple dog with a green tongue.”

“Dogs can be purple?”

“No!” Hilde poked him again. Kolya rubbed his side. She kept hitting the same spot and it hurt. “Not a real dog. You don’t know anything.”

“I bet you don’t know how to make someone–”

“Hilde!” A man had come around a corner. Hilde ducked behind Kolya, who froze, but the man shook his head.

“It’s no good; I saw you.” He smiled at Kolya. “Don’t be so scared, girl. Hilde, come out and introduce me before your friend faints.”

“Don’t worry, she does that.” But Hilde stepped from behind Kolya and waved at the man. “Kolya, this is Tim. He teaches me math and yells at me when mom doesn’t. Tim, this is Kolya. She faints and throws up and she doesn’t know anything.”