Ben didn’t answer. Kendi waited. The computer terminals around him flickered and flashed unintelligible code. The air was still and a little chilly, despite Kendi’s fur coat. He waited. His legs started to ache from lack of motion and he shifted position slightly. Ben’s eyes popped open.
“How can I relax when you keep making all that noise?” he said.
“Ben, I was only—”
“Why don’t you turn into a...a blackfly or something? Then maybe I can—”
The anger roared over Kendi again, and this time he gave in. He reached out with his mind and
shoved
. Ben’s turf vanished with a thunderclap, replaced by the featureless plain. Ben’s chair disappeared as well and Ben landed flat on his back. Kendi shoved again and the Outback exploded into being around them. Thunder rumbled in the distance and uncharacteristic clouds blackened the sky.
“What the hell are you doing?” Ben shouted.
“I’ve
had
it with you,” Kendi yelled back. The wind rose. “If you want a fight, you’ve
got
one!”
A dust devil sprang out of the ground and rushed at Ben. Ben’s hand snapped up in a defensive gesture and a rocky wall shot upward in front of him. The dust devil dashed itself to pieces against the stones. Kendi stamped a powerful hind leg and the earth rumbled beneath him. Cracks sprouted and spread over the wall until it crumbled to rubble. Ben snatched at empty air, and a giant rocky hand formed out of the ground under Kendi’s feet. It grabbed for him. Kendi sprang into the air, but the hand caught his tail with a jerk that wrenched his spine. Kendi’s form blurred and he became a falcon. He left two tail feathers in the stony grasp behind him as he clawed for altitude. The hand grew an arm that grew upward right behind Kendi. He stole a glance behind him and saw the rocky fingers grasping for him. Kendi changed direction, fled sideways. The arm lengthened and hand followed him, leaving him no time to breathe or think. When had Ben learned this kind of control?
Kendi dove back toward the ground. The hand followed, its arm making a U-shape behind him. Kendi pulled in his wings and increased the speed of his dive as he headed straight for Ben. Only then did Ben realize what was happening. Kendi pulled out of his dive and shot to the left in a maneuver that left his wing muscles sore. The hand crashed into the ground where Ben was standing. A cloud of dust rose, then cleared, revealing that the fingers had spread open, forming a five-barred cage that surrounded Ben instead of crushing him. Ben gestured and the hand crumbled to dust, but Kendi’s mind was already moving. The skies opened up, releasing a torrential rainstorm. Water gushed across the rocky ground, creating a flash flood. Kendi landed on a house-sized boulder, his feathers soaked through. The raging water rushed toward Ben. Ben snapped a motion at the ground, his red hair plastered to his skull. The earth around him rumbled open and dropped away, leaving Ben standing on an island in the middle of a great sinkhole. The flood waters rushed into the pit and swirled around Ben’s island, leaving him untouched. Then Ben raised a fist in a gesture Kendi recognized as one Ara used to make. He leaped away from the boulder just in time to avoid the lightning bolt that crashed into the rock behind him. Bits of hot stone stung him, and the thunderclap sent him tumbling forward, his wet falcon feathers unable to get a good hold on the air. Desperately he changed shape again, becoming a wood duck. Was Ben really trying to kill him? He didn’t believe it.
Another lightning bolt blasted down from the sky, sizzling the air only a winglength away. Another crash of thunder boomed against Kendi’s bones, knocking him nearly senseless. He was falling. In a haze of semi-consciousness, he angled himself toward Ben’s island. With one final burst of strength, he crashed-landed on the stony ground at Ben’s feet.
Now use the lightning,
he thought, staring up at a giant-sized Ben.
Ben hesitated, looking down at Kendi. Rain poured down around them and the water swirled angrily in the sinkhole. In a flash of inspiration, Kendi changed shape one more time. Abruptly Ben was standing over an enormous leathery crocodile. Ben started to react, but then there was a flash of movement from the crocodile and he froze. The scene remained a motionless tableau—man, rain, crocodile. The crocodile’s head was tilted upward, its jaws not quite closed.
“You wouldn’t,” Ben said.
“Guh wuh,” Kendi said.
There was a pause. “What?” Ben said.
“Guh. Wuh.”
“Give up?” Ben made a choking sound Kendi couldn’t identify. “Didn’t...didn’t your mother ever tell you not to talk with your mouth full?”
A laugh rose in Kendi’s belly and he snorted hard in an attempt to keep it in. If he laughed now Ben would lose his—
The choking sound from Ben intensified. Kendi could feel him quivering at the end of his snout. Ben was laughing, too.
“All right, you win,” he gasped. “Now let go of my...just let go.”
Kendi released his hold. Still laughing, Ben stepped back and adjusted his trousers. There was a small tear just below the belt line.
Kendi smacked his lips together. “Mmmmm. Tastes just like ch—”
“Hey!” Ben interrupted, and then started laughing again. Kendi started to make another remark and ended up bursting into a laughter of his own. The noise mixed with the sounds of pouring rain and swirling brown water.
“I can’t...can’t...” Ben gasped, and sat down hard as yet more laughter overtook him. Kendi’s form blurred and shifted until a koala bear lay giggling on the wet, slippery stone. The sight made Ben laugh all the harder. Kendi felt the tension that had been growing between them melt like ice in hot chocolate.
“Can you...at least...shut off...the rain?” Ben asked between laughs.
Kendi blew up at the sky. The rain stopped and the clouds whisked themselves away, revealing a perfect azure sky. A bright, golden sun shone over them, and the flood water drained away. Ben finally quieted. He scooted next to Kendi and put a hand on the damp brown fur covering his head.
“I’m sorry, Ken,” he said. “I guess I’ve been acting like a prima donna lately.”
“I’m sorry, too,” Kendi said. “I should have known you wouldn’t break your promise.”
“I wish...” Ben trailed off.
“You wish what?”
“I wish you could be human in the Dream. It’d be weird to kiss a koala bear.”
Kendi laughed again. “We’re good for hugging, though. Even with these claws.”
And Ben hugged him. It was decidedly odd. From Kendi’s perspective, Ben was as tall as a tree, his arms as thick as branches. He smelled like rainwater and sunshine. Kendi burrowed close to Ben’s chest and let Ben’s arms surround him. For a long moment he had no worries and everything was as it should be. He never wanted to move again. At last Ben set him down.
“Let’s try those codes again,” he said.
They banished the Outback and called up the computer lab. Ben lay in the lounge chair, closed his eyes, and relaxed. It was almost ridiculously easy. Koala-Kendi spoke softly, putting Ben into a deep trance. He took Ben back to the night he and Lucia had broken into Sufur’s house.
“And now you’re standing in front of Sufur’s desk,” Kendi said. “The computer is on, the data display hovering over the pad. The logarithm program activates and it generates a code. You can see the code. What is it?”
Ben rattled off a series of letters and numbers. Kendi’s own trained memory caught and held them.
“And now the computer displays the coordinates of the satellite. What are they?”
More numbers.
“And now the computer displays the coordinates of the ship. What are they?”
Still more numbers.
“And now the computer displays the communication codes Sufur transmitted to the ship. What are they?”
Ben’s brow furrowed. Kendi waited, then repeated the command. Ben didn’t respond for several heartbeats. Then he abruptly opened his eyes and sat up.
“The computer never displayed that code,” Ben said. “I never saw it.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive.”
“Shit,” Kendi said. “Meet you out there.” He shut his eyes.
If it be in my best interest and in the best interest of all life everywhere, let me leave the Dream.
Kendi felt the butt of his spear pressing into his knee. He opened his eyes. Ben was already sitting up.
“How much time do we have?” he asked.
Kendi checked his fingernail and swore again. “They’re going to space Gretchen in less than half an hour.”
“Wake up.”
A stinging slap cracked across Gretchen’s face. She shuddered and opened her eyes. The blond man was looking down at her. The lip she had split for him was almost completely healed. He slapped her twice more.
Gretchen was cold again. She managed to turn her head and discovered she was lying in the cryo-unit. “gain. Her body ached from the hit with the gravity beam. How long ago had that been? She didn’t know. Her sluggish mind wasn’t working right.
The blond man grabbed her by the arm and hauled her out of the cryo-unit. Her legs were shaky and wouldn’t support her. She slumped to the ground and sprawled there. It was warmer out here. She drank in the heat and let herself shiver to warm herself up further.
“We didn’t get the signal,” the blond man said. “That means we get to space you and all the other Silent freaks. Then we’re going to slip it all the way back to S”.”
“Boomer,” said the dark-haired woman. She was standing a few paces away. “This is a bad idea. You’ve seen how dangerous she can be.”
“Shut up, Peg,” Boomer shot back. “The bitch clocked me fucking
twice
. So now she’s gonna pay for it.”
“You got nothing to complain about,” Gretchen managed. “Improved your looks.”
Boomer grabbed her by the hair and yanked her head back. The room spun crazily. It wasn’t the same cargo bay as before. This place was at least three times bigger, and the walls were painted an ugly lime green. Over two dozen cryo-units made a line of coffins across the floor in front of a cargo door big enough to drive a loader through. Gretchen’s captors must have shoved her back into cryo-sleep and transferred her over here. Wherever “here” was. Gretchen looked defiantly up into Boomer’s eyes.
“I get it,” she said. “Power trip. You’re supposed to space the hostages, but you want me to be awake for it so I can suffer, that it?”
Boomer yanked Gretchen’s hair hard enough to make her eyes tear up. “We crack open the door and I get to watch your blood boil. Should be a fun fifteen seconds.”
“What about them?” Gretchen asked. Her mind was waking up now, and although it felt as if knives were driving through her every muscle, she could move them. “The cryo-units are tight. They’ll survive in space just fine. Or are you going to wake them up, too?”
Boomer released his hold on Gretchen’s hair so fast, she dropped to the deck plates again. Her muscles screamed pain at her.
“Gonna crack ‘em open,” Boomer said. “They won’t feel it when the vacuum hits. But you will.”
Gretchen’s eyes darted around the cargo bay. There had to be a weapon, a tool, something she could use. Her gaze fell on the gravity beam holstered on Peg’s hip. Peg, however, was too far away for a surprise grab. Boomer seemed to be unarmed. Gretchen lay on the floor, feigning greater weakness than she felt.
“What’s in it for you, anyway?” she gasped, trying to keep him talking. “Why space all these innocent people?”
“Mr. Sufur’s orders,” Boomer said. “We didn’t get the signal, which means the jig is up. Sufur is either dead or arrested, and the Corridor is done for. He still wants as many of you Silent freaks as dead as he can arrange, so we get to kill you.”
“Boomer,” Peg warned. “We have shit to do.”
“I’m not Silent,” Gretchen said, getting to her knees and gasping with exaggerated effort. “I’m Silenced.”
“Silent or Silenced. Who cares?” Boomer said. “You’re still a freak.”
Gretchen got to her feet, swaying like a drunken sapling in a stiff breeze. Over Boomer’s shoulder she saw Peg tense. “You’re a shit,” she said. “No balls, either. I should know—I kicked you in them hard enough to—”
She lunged. Boomer was caught completely off-guard, and she plowed straight into him. Her momentum carried them both straight toward Peg. Her gravity beam was already in her hand, but she couldn’t hit Gretchen with Boomer in the way. She aimed for a fruitless moment, then tried to leap aside, but it was too late. Boomer smashed into her with Gretchen right behind. Peg flew backward and hit the floor with a grunt in the open doorway. Her gravity beam skittered across the tiles. Gretchen landed on top of Boomer. She kneed him in the stomach and the air whooshed out of him. Peg scrambled to her feet and ducked into the corridor outside the cargo bay. Gretchen rolled away from Boomer and her grasping fingers found the gravity beam. Boomer got his breath back and leaped at Gretchen with a snarl. Gretchen fired. The orange beam caught him square in the chest. With a scream Boomer flew backward, crashed into the wall, and slid to the floor. He landed near one of the cryo-units.
Gretchen whirled and ran for the exit, but the door slammed shut. Peg looked through the thick, round window. Her jaw was set hard as she reached down toward controls Gretchen couldn’t see. “n alarm blared, and the loader door began to grind upward.