Ball of Silence

Ball of Silence - Chapter 9

Chapter 9

         Finally, the day of truth arrives. Vic lends me his new heatable boots to go with my cold-weather gear. With that, the crystal in my bag, and Flin and Priar's envious looks in my back, I board Vic's skimmer. My heart pounds against my ribs as the white landscape rushes past in a blur, bringing me closer to my first Rel.

A few miles behind Dokes, eternal ice covers the hills. Somewhere in that icy range, Vic and Dom Halif, the seismologist, have staged a breakdown of one of the field trucks, so they can call in Vic for repairs. I admire their resourcefulness and hold my breath as Cleves's military perimeter computer gives Vic permission to proceed.

After less than an hour of flight-time, we rendezvous with the field trip. I see them from the skimmer: three humans, seven Rels, and their equipment.

We land close to the party and, with wobbly knees, I climb out of the skimmer. A blue sky smiles at us, but it is definitely colder and more windy here than at the coast. The air smells fresh and dry.

One of the humans approaches us, Dom Halif, I presume. I have no eyes for him, though, and stare at the Rels behind him. I can't see them clearly yet; they are fifty yards away.

Vic and Dom greet each other, then Dom stretches out his hand.

"Hi, I'm Dom Halif."

I shake his hand. "Very nice to meet you. Jaiah Sufford. I'm very grateful that you made this meeting possible."

"Oh, no problem at all, it's quite exciting for all of us. Hriff is very anxious to meet you," Dom says, stabbing his gloved-thumb behind him.

I look over his shoulder and hold my breath. One of the Rel is scurrying towards us. My eyes pop out of their sockets. The Rel wears a form of footwear and leggings on its four legs spider-like. I thought the Heelith would be, well... naked. I didn't expect the Rels to be clothed. But, hell, it must be cold for them too in this environment.

As the Rel comes closer, I have great difficulty in not staggering backwards. It wears clothes about its body too, a flexible fabric padded with insulation. A cap crowns its head.

The Rel moves elegantly and effortlessly over the ice on its four legs and has two hands hugged to its torso while it walks. The front two extremities are antennae and are constantly in motion. They test the air and sometimes touch the snow. Protective sleeves also cover the antennae, except their very tips. They extrude from behind the eyes and reach forward of the head. The two wings are folded over the back and lie smoothely on the body cloth it wears.

Two huge facetted eyes dominate its face, tiny feathers cover the rest of it and its mouth is a beak with two insect fangs that look like an extra set of jaws attached to its sides. The beak, the feathers and the wings let it resemble a bird, the fangs, legs, eyes and the antennae make it look like an insect. Depending on the light, the eyes glitter in all the colors of the rainbow. They are beautiful. The black feathers shimmer so black they are blue and the beak is a flaming orange. Rel feathers, even more than human hair, come in all sorts of colors and their beaks too. Only one thing is for certain, the beak never has the same color as the feathers. Rel wings are the stuff of legend. Since humans hardly ever meet them in their natural environment, humans rarely see them fly. Scattered reports say the wings are enormous, nearly transparent and shimmer in all colors of the rainbow. Folded up on the Rel's back, they look black and leathery to me.

Sitting jauntily on the head of the Rel in front of me, just behind the antennae roots, is a green cap, something so ordinary on something so alien.

The Rel stops beside Dom and looks up at me. I think there is curiosity in the way it tilts its head to the side.

"Hello," the Rel says.