Dream Walkers

Chapter 4

Once in the city Allison looked around. Going by the height of the sun above the horizon she reckoned that Khylus would set in about two hours. She walked through a shopping centre and along a covered side walk. Boarding isn't for another three hours. I would have thought the lift off would have been earlier. The Window for Earth starts about now so they're leaving at the end when if anything goes wrong they'll have to wait till tomorrow.

She walked away from the covered areas and across a large square, planted with trees and flowerbeds. Sound was muffled inside the cool suit: she could hardly hear the sound of her footsteps as she walked over the stone paving between the closed flowers.

Making sure her thoughts were private she worked through the possible answers to the natural question 'why are you going to Earth?' Dad said I was to pretend I'm one of my cousins, but wouldn't a lie be felt even though I hid my thoughts? Ha! But I could tell part truths! As I'm Allison Suddings Reelig I just leave the 'Reelig' off the end, like Dad said. And I can say that I'm going to be studying Earth culture, as it's true.

She felt better after having unravelled one problem. She continued to walk around the centre of Upling, along more covered walkways and through tree lined shopping areas, surrounded by the single story, white buildings.

She was half way across another square, named Sky View, when her ear thermometer began a slow bleep. "Oh boil it!" My Body's overheating, but the cool suit doesn't feel light enough to be dry! Allison hurried into a shower unit that was a little farther along the row of trees. After pressing the switches a few times, she began to be anxious. The shower does not work! Scorch it! She was shaking as she tried the controls again, just to make sure. "I must not panic," she told herself, as the bleep of her ear thermometer increased in speed.

Coming out of the unit, she spotted the temperature and humidity sensor on the outside of the shower. The thermometer was registering an air temperature of 73°C, not only that, but it had faded down from 85°C and the humidity was already passing the 95% mark, with a flashing arrow pointing upwards to the higher marks.

"Oh scorch it!" She turned to look for confirmation of her fears at the southern sky, which was rapidly turning yellow with jagged grey streaks. These increased quickly, becoming billowing storm clouds, even as she watched. She looked around, scanning the buildings around the square. She noticed that the grove of syelow trees, which shaded a seating area, were opening their leaves silver underside up, in a typical umbrella, forecasting hot rain. As the sky darkened with the developing storm, Allison saw farther up the mall the flashing green light of a refuge, just as the low wail of the hot rain siren sounded.

Despite a sudden, throbbing headache and her skin being rubbed sore in several places by the cool suit she ran. The air whistled through the cooling breathing grill with each of her breaths and was still burningly hot, barely having time to be cooled by the heat exchanger. Her terror of hot rain only added to the urgency of the continuous bleep telling her she was close to collapse. Desperately she raced the storm, aware only of her breaths and her feet hitting the ground. Too slowly the green light came closer. The first hissing of the hot rain made her speed up. She ran flat out, gasping for breath as she neared the doors.

The outer doors of the eating-place swished open at her approach and she hurriedly took refuge in the outer porch; the outer doors swished closed behind her, shutting out the hot rain, now hissing in torrents. Quickly pulling off the mask and hood she stood for some time under the cool fans, as her ear thermometer slowed its alarm. When it finally stopped, Allison decided to go into the restaurant for breakfast.