Nikanatedanniell

Chapter 27 Liam's a what? Apart again

Nikki woke to the sound of laughter. She looked for the source and was momentarily confused. It's pitch dark in here. Am I still in the cave? No it's too warm and this is not a sandy floor. Oh that's right I'm in a stone house with no windows. Crud, I don't remember where the lights are. 

Just then the door flew open. Debby bounced in with a welcome light ray and shouted. "Wake up sleepyhead. Breakfast is ready and you are the only one in bed."

"Here," she continued and handed Nikki the clothes she had left at the ride court. "Jessa brought them. She thought you might want them. My costume was all wrecked so I washed all the paint off." She made a deep, long sigh, "it was fun while it lasted."

Nikki smiled and dressed. "Thanks," she said both to Debby and Jessa who had just walked in.

"You are welcome," Jessa said and turned the lights on. "I brought your shoes too. You had a rough start to last night so we let you sleep in. Did you have a bad dream? You were moaning."

"I was? Sorry. I did have a short dream at first. It was, I do not know, it seemed like something I should know. I do not remember it now."

She slipped her shoes on and followed her friends to the kitchen. The only light in the short, narrow hall was from the rooms it connected. She hesitated to shut the light off behind her, but did it out of courtesy. The brightly lit kitchen and living room area was larger than the den. Hall entrances divided it and there was a door in the corner of the back wall. There was one window in the kitchen that let in a small amount of light. Most of the light came from ceiling and floor lamps. Nikki studied the halls and their doorways. They were roughly hewn and looked newer. The color was lighter and they were plastered instead of solid rock. Iosha saw her scrutiny, left the table where the others were sitting and stood by her.

"My home is made of four separate dwellings. Some friends and I built the connections out of rubble we found. Fortunately for hiding, two dwellings did not have windows. For the other dwellings, I was able to find windows that look opaque from the outside and clear from the inside. The bathroom is through that hall. It has a window."

"Thank you, this place is remarkable. Thank you for those cookies. They were delicious."

"You are most welcome," he said with a bow. "They are an old family recipe."

"Old family recipe?" Nikki asked. "Now I remember, Liam, you made them on the Banta. You said the same thing."

"That is because they are related," Debby said with a hint of exasperation. Then seeing the blank looks on Jessa and Nikki, she added. "Not to be insulting, do not you two have eyes?"

"What do you mean Squeak?" Nikki asked.

Debby rolled her eyes, "aye, they act the same, they sound the same, they have the same eyes and ears. They have the same cookie recipe. They are related."

Nikki looked over at Liam and back to her host. The same sly smile crept onto both faces topped off by the same deep blue eyes. "Liam is Páji?"

"Of course," Debby stated. "Who do you think made all that fuss at the spaceport?"

Nikki stared at Liam. He smiled and nodded. "But," she stammered, "you could have been killed."

"I was not. I move fast." Then due to the horrified look Nikki still had he added, "we had to make sure the Eye of Angels was safely past Inspections. Only a serious distraction would do. I volunteered because I knew I could create one safely."

"Debby," Iosha cut off Nikki's response, "you have both beautiful and sharp eyes. Not many others have noticed."

Iosha escorted Nikki to the small table set for six. Nikki smelled a conspiracy as she took the only seat available. Iosha and Niel sat at the ends, Jessa and Debby were sitting across from each other at Niel's end and Liam was sitting across from Nikki.