The Search For WondLa (11 page)

“No, no, Eva. This is a signpost. A portent,” Rovender said as he walked around it and pointed to several more looming nearby. “Should you come across these, be wary.”

“A sign for what?” Eva craned her neck up to see the blunt tip of the spire.

“Who put it there?” Muthr asked as she joined them and inspected the towering spire. Eva could see that the signpost was more than four times the height of the robot.

“We are at the edge of the forest’s heart,” Rovender whispered, kneeling down next to the base. “See here, Eva Nine? The eyes all look in toward the center. Toward the heart.”

Eva leaned down next to where Rovender was indicating. She saw dark shiny round growths on the tips of the nodules.

“Those?” She peered at them. “Those are eyes?”

“Trust me,” Rovender said. He stood, pointing in the direction that the eyes appeared to be staring. It was into a tight copse of enormous interwoven trees. Their canopy was so dense that Eva saw nothing beyond their green-hued veil. Rovender spoke in a hushed tone. “It is told in my clan that you do not enter there unless you are pure of spirit.”

“But who put the signs here?” Muthr asked again.

“The forest did,” Rovender replied. “Now, let us continue.”

“Hold on a second.” Eva furrowed her brow. “You mean the trees did it? Or perhaps some large creature.”

“No, Eva, not the trees and not another creature,” Rovender replied.

“Well, that doesn’t make sense. So what do you mean by saying that the forest put it there?” Eva asked.

Rovender continued across the field of bracken. “I mean exactly what I say: The forest has placed warnings to let you know you are to be careful, to be considerate, while journeying through it. Do you understand?”

“Not really.” Eva stopped, and looked at the trees surrounding her. Heavy clouds, dirty with rain, rolled overhead. “I am still confused. How can a forest do anything? I mean, a forest is just land with a bunch of trees growing on top of it.”

“Agreed,” Muthr said.

“Perhaps on your planet of origin, Eva Nine—but not here.” Rovender banged a second signpost with his walking stick. As he did so, the post next to Eva also rattled. The multitude of dark nodules blinked, and the eyes rotated in the direction of the disturbance. They then peered around in unison, their gaze resting on Eva for a moment before they returned to their original position. Eva blinked in astonishment at the signpost, then looked to her guide for further explanation.

Rovender leaned on his staff. “You see, here the forests are alive. They watch. They move. They feed. They have a heartbeat. Just like you. Just like me. Just like everything.”

CHAPTER 20: WATER

This is a good
place to rest,” Rovender announced as he pulled off his rucksack. The trio had emerged from the Wandering Forest and found themselves on the edge of a vast dried lake bed. The ivory sand caked on the ground was cracked into an endless interlocking pattern that continued out toward the horizon.

“We can follow the forest edge,” Rovender said, gesturing to behind them. “It will lead us north to the shore of Lake Concors, where Lacus is located. We should be there by nightfall.”

Eva’s eyes followed the line of trees as it vanished into the horizon. In the distance, she could make out a small circling flock of turnfins. Below them an enormous rust-colored shape was steadily ambling toward them.

You. Safe.

“It’s Otto!” Eva squealed, taking off toward the giant water bear. “Muthr, come meet him. You are not going to believe it.”

The behemoth shuffled on his six legs toward Eva. She could hear him hoot and sing as he approached. She ran up to Otto and stretched her arms over his wide rugged face, hugging him. A large, pebbly tongue licked her in greeting.

“Oh, Otto! I am so happy to see you!” Eva could feel warm comfort emanate into her body from him.
Thank you for warning us about Besteel.

You. Safe. Good.

Muthr rolled up alongside them. “My word, Eva. It is the size of an elephant.”

“The Omnipod said he was a species of tardigrade, or water bear.” Eva climbed up onto the top of his giant head. “Otto helped Rovee and me escape. And he’s the one who warned me when Besteel returned to our Sanctuary.”

“Did he?” Muthr looked him over. “And how is it that you understand his calls and I do not? Does the transcoder not work on him?”

“No, he sings to me and I get ‘impressions’ in my mind.” Eva scratched Otto behind one of his heavy, floppy ears. “Pretty amazing, right?”

“Telepathic impression,” Muthr said as she rolled closer to Otto, her laser scrutinizing every centimeter of his armored body. “How interesting.”

The giant water bear caught a glimpse of the laser and pounced after it. Muthr scooted back and dropped the beam to the sandy ground, where Otto chased it as if it were a brightly glowing toy.

Eva giggled. “He thinks it’s a glowfly! Keep doing it!”

“That is enough for now, Eva.” Muthr turned the laser off. “We best get you some lunch before we continue.”

As Eva led Otto back to Rovender, Muthr rolled alongside her. She tapped the shoulder patch on Eva’s tunic.

“Why is AnatoScan disabled? When was the last time you checked it?” Muthr asked.

“I dunno,” Eva replied, petting Otto’s side. “It was bothering me with its ‘please hydrate now’ and ‘please urinate now,’ so I shut it off.”

“Shut it off?” Muthr sounded aghast. “Eva, you must leave it on. The program is designed to keep you in top shape. Stop for a second and let me reactivate it.”

Eva stopped, letting out a noisy sigh and rolling her eyes.

“Oh, come now. It is not that bad,” Muthr said, turning the shoulder patch on.

Rovender approached them as they neared his temporary camp. He greeted Otto with a scratch under the chin between his barbels.

Eva’s tunic reported in a cheerful tone: “Heart, lungs, brain activity, and other functions are within healthy margins. However, fluid intake is low, Eva Nine. Please consume fluids immediately. Thank you.”

“Just take a break and rehydrate, all right, dear?” Muthr said.

“Okay, okay,” said Eva, flopping down next to Rovender’s rucksack. She opened her satchel and pulled out her hydration kit. From it she plucked one white hydration tablet and then placed it in a round metallic mesh infuser. The infuser had a thin chain attached to it, which Eva now held as she spun the infuser in the air, like the holograms she’d seen of ancient hunters using a bolas. The tablet within began to hiss, and she stopped, catching the mesh ball in midair. Eva hung the infuser inside of her drinking container, like a tea ball, as water began to trickle from it.

“Well done,” Muthr said. “You properly started the reaction required to pull the moisture from the air and did not lose a single drop.”

Eva looked up at her and smiled. She had practiced making water uncountable times in her Sanctuary, but this was the first time she’d done it in the wild. She glanced over at Rovender.

He stared at Eva, then at the partially filled bottle, mouth agape. “You pulled water from the air?” he said. “Eva Nine, I am impressed.”

“See? I couldn’t do that if I had just hatched,” Eva said with a grin as she rummaged in her satchel, producing a Pow-R-drink tablet. She dropped the tablet into her drinking container, where it stained the water blue.

“Eva, may I see the hydration infuser?” Muthr asked. “I will go ahead and collect more water for you while we rest here.”

“Sure.” Eva pulled the empty infuser from her container and handed it, along with her hydration kit, to Muthr. The robot rolled out into the open plain and began filling bottles. Otto followed her, seemingly curious about Eva’s robot caretaker.

Rovender pulled out some voxfruit from his pack and began peeling it. He eased down next to Eva, offering a piece to her. “Try it,” he said, “you might like it.”

Eva took the fruit and sniffed. It had a citrusy scent. She aimed her Omnipod at it. “Initiate Identicapture, please,” she said.

Eva watched Rovender eat as he glanced at the hologram of the voxfruit rotating over the device.

The Omnipod chirped, “This could be a species of chlorophyte plant known commonly as a Volvox. If so, it comprises a community of microorganisms. There is more information, including life cycle, ecology, and human importance. Shall I continue?”

“Wow. For once you sort of knew what this was,” Eva said. “Is it poisonous?”

“Negative,” the Omnipod replied.

“Will it walk away?” she asked.

“Whether the plant that produced this fruit is sentient enough for voluntary locomotion is undetermined at this time. More data is required.”

Eva looked over at Rovender.

“It isn’t going anywhere,” he said.

“Hey, I don’t know,” she replied. “The spinach on my planet doesn’t walk around and eat birds.” Eva peeled back the translucent rind and plucked out one of the berries within. She sniffed it, licked it, and finally nibbled off a piece. The voxfruit was tangy yet sweet, reminding Eva of the taste of gooseberries. She popped the whole berry into her mouth, savoring it.

Rovender smiled as green fruit juice ran down his whiskered neck. He wiped his whiskered face with the back of his large hand. “Well, Eva Nine? Are you dying yet?”

Eva giggled and ate her entire voxfruit. “It’s different from the fruit we grew in our greenhouse,” she said, “but I do like it more than nutriment tablets.”

“How do those taste?” Rovender took a drink from the water he had collected at the Sanctuary pool.

“Like … like nothing,” Eva said. “I think they’re just starch.”

“Why eat them, then? Where is the pleasure?”

“Because I have to,” Eva replied. “Just like you.”

“Bluh.” Rovender popped another berry into his mouth. “Sure, I eat because I
have
to. But I also eat because I
want
to. It is one of life’s few pleasures.”

Atop Otto’s large back, Eva and Rovender watched the trees at the forest’s edge creep about in a great gigantic herd. Just below, Eva could hear the crunch of the sandy grit under Muthr’s knobby rubber wheel. Instead of riding alongside Eva, the robot had chosen to roll next to the giant water bear, scanning the surface terrain and listening to the data stream from the Omnipod. Eva could hear the device reporting in its chirpy tone, “This plain is, in fact, a salt flat created from a dried lake bed and likely extends to the shoreline… .”

Even though she was out in the open flats, and a considerable distance from the forest edge, Eva somehow felt a comfort radiating from Otto. Of course, it was also reassuring to have Rovender and Muthr with her. As she rode along, Eva began weaving a braid from some of the fibers that had come loose from her tunic and the top of her sock.

“What’s that you’re doing?” Rovender was cleaning the scab from the rope burn around his ankle.

Eva looked at him sideways. “Something. You’ll see.”

Rovender peered up at the horizon as the dim sun began to sink. Clouds were converging into a mountainous thunderhead over the great lake. “It may rain tonight,” he said. “I can smell the air changing.”

“Really?” Eva followed his gaze to the massive gray clouds. “I’d love to feel actual rain fall from the sky.”

Rovender gave her an incredulous look. “Feel … rain? You never have?”

Eva shook her head. “No. I grew up underground. How could I?”

“You can pull water from the air, yet you have never felt rain. Unbelievable,” he said.

Eva finished braiding her string, leaving the ends frayed. She paused, then rummaged through her satchel and produced a small laser nail clipper. “It’s weird, I know. But isn’t the rain just like taking a shower?”

“No. But I believe it will be cleansing for you in many ways.” Rovender pulled out a handful of seedpods and began eating them.

Eva brought the laser clipper up near her head as she grasped a wad of hair. In a quick slice she lopped off one of her many thin braids. She returned the nail clipper to her satchel and pulled the hair braid apart.

“What are you making?” Rovender asked once more.

Eva wove the hair into the braid of fibers from her clothing. “I told you, you will see.” She changed the subject: “So tell me, Mr. Kitt, what are we going to do once we arrive at Lacus?”

Rovender spit seed husks over his shoulder. “I will show you where to secure a good room and a ferry that will take you across the lake to Solas. As for myself, I will likely continue north along the coastline, a region I have yet to explore.”

“Why don’t you stay with us?” Eva kept her eyes on her braiding. “You’ve been so amazingly helpful, and, despite the fact that I can pull water from the sky, we’d be totally lost out here without you.”

Rovender chuckled, his gaze drifting off into the distant clouds. “No, Eva Nine. I must keep moving. Keep searching.”

“Searching? For what?” Eva stopped.

“Solace.”

“The place where we are going?” she asked.

“No, not there.” Rovender closed his eyes. His face appeared etched with pain. “After my partner passed, I could no longer stay at my village. I could no longer stay anywhere.” He opened his indigo eyes, blinking the memory away. “And so I packed all our belongings and I left.” He patted his rucksack. The numerous items dangling from it jingled in unison. Rovender opened a pocket and pulled out a piece of jewelry. To Eva it looked like an ornate necklace made of jeweled seashells. He contemplated it as he held it in his calloused hands.

“That’s beautiful,” Eva said.

“So was my partner,” Rovender replied, and put the necklace back into his rucksack.

“So you left … to go where?” Eva asked.

“Anywhere.” Rovender looked out at the horizon.

Otto stopped walking. He shifted his weight from foot to foot and let out a low growl.

“Mr. Kitt!” Muthr looked up from the Omnipod. She pointed back over the Wandering Forest. “Up there!”

Above the treetops soared a large bird emitting a low hum.

“Sheesa! That’s Besteel!” Rovender sneered as he grabbed his spyglass hanging from his pack. He peered into the eyepiece. “He is on his glider, combing the forest.”

The giant water bear let out another low hooting sound.

“We have to take cover now!” Rovender lowered the spyglass. “He’ll have trouble spotting us in the wood.”

“Head for the trees, Otto,” Eva said aloud.
And hide us as fast as you can,
she thought to her mount. Otto turned and made his way toward the tree line, letting out a low, creaky call that sounded like branches rubbing together.

“He’s not going to make it in time,” Rovender said, grabbing his rucksack. “We need to make a run for it.”

“Hold on! Otto will make it.” Eva kept a wary eye on Besteel. The huntsman circled over the forest, then headed in their direction.

“I don’t know what Otto has in mind, but tell him not to leap, Eva,” Rovender said. “Besteel will discover us for sure.”

Muthr spoke over the whine of her motor as she raced alongside them, “Mr. Kitt, Eva, what is that?”

Several large wandering trees broke from the forest and barreled across the flats straight toward Eva and her companions.

“I have no idea. Eva, what’s going on?” Rovender asked.

Protect. Hide. Safe.

“Don’t be afraid,” Eva said. “They are here to help.”

Within moments the trees had surrounded Eva’s party. Under thick green cover, the travelers were escorted back into the dense forest. Besteel’s glider hummed as he circled over them. Everyone flinched.

“Oeeah,” Rovender said in a soft tone as he looked up through the dense limbs. “This is something I have never seen before.”

“What is it?” Eva whispered.

“Look.” Rovender pointed. “He is transporting something large in that cargo net there.”

Eva peered up at the glider as it flew out over the flats. Multiple sacks were strapped to the wings, and a hefty net swung about below it. “I wonder if he is leaving the forest. Maybe he’s going to Lacus too?” she observed.

“Not with that cargo.” Rovender peered through his spyglass.

“He is moving away,” Muthr said in her calm voice as she studied the radar on the Omnipod. “He is crossing the lake bed and is far from us now.”

As Eva and Rovender looked down at Muthr, they saw Otto strip off a sheet of lichen from one of the tree trunks with his short beak and consume it.

“And here also is something else I have never seen.” Rovender nodded down at the giant water bear.

“What? That the trees and Otto are friends?” Eva was puzzled.

“And you and Otto are friends.” Rovender pointed to the girl.

Eva furrowed her brow, confused.

“Do you not see, Eva Nine?” Rovender gestured at the greenery around them. “The forest is alive. Here it has protected one of its own. One that is pure of spirit.”