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Chapter 17: A Different Nest
Bjorn stared down a narrow under-construction corridor of OI floaters stretching outward and away from Ulou. It was a wonder in the works, the likes of which he had never seen.
As per the brochure in Bjorn’s hand, at each edge of the living platform, workers dressed in HB-cloaks operated closed-in cranes and installed transparent Rand Solar shielded piping systems along the passage. Bjorn assumed the crew would stock the connected pipes with the latest breed of genetically altered grass carp, thus limiting plant growth, reducing the load on natural Cloud resources, and ensuring a solid and tight access strip. However, how well the system worked was yet to be tested.
Off in the distance, Nargis looked like a gray moth floating in blue crab soup. On the Ulou side, within the completed sections of the protected bridge-tunnel, other workers installed expansion links for the RS screen. Remote-controlled water tankers traveled to the unfinished end of the corridor and
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Back through the tunnel, they came out on the east side of Cloud, on the edge where the shadows had gathered. Nearby and hanging partway over the outer limbs of Mother Tree sat a small open-air enclosure with twisted branch flooring and grassy walls. Bjorn noted multiple rectangular gaps in the footing. Beneath them gapped a series of open-air drop chutes.The proprietor, a short, stumpy young fellow with huge ears, a long face, and a malformed internasal flap, hustled to greet them. “Welcome, Lady Achwood. How may I help you on this wet, messy day?” A nasty scar ran the length of his tail, leaving it twisted into a strange crescent moon fold.Bjorn scanned the cabin. Various climbing equipment hung from upturned stump growths: belays, harnesses, ropes, carabiners, and many other items of which he had no experience. It was all kind of surprising. Of course, workers used such tools for repairs in the upper branches of Mother Tree, but here at the base of Clo
Airbornes: Bjorn and the Floating Nest Chapter 19: Origins
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Airbornes: Bjorn and the Floating Nest Chapter 20: A Learning Experience
Bjorn spent much time with Iloy Ivan. Although soft-spoken, the squat mentor with thin skin, a glint in his eyes, and sparse growth of white bristle-like fuzz on his snout provided a wealth of knowledge. He kept a cluttered but distinguished biology laboratory rich in samples and class selections but focused on waterborne vines that originated from Below. His growth tanks included various cross-pollination experiments, some doing well and others rather sickly.Bjorn enjoyed Ivan’s classes and avoided giving the teacher a nickname—too much chance of speaking it out loud at the wrong time. Instead, he studied hard and accumulated a clear understanding of anatomy, behavior and origins, soil composition, moisture, and the many more specifics behind the why and how of living organisms. And that was in the beginning.Ivan also taught Bjorn the unique characteristics of the vines most critical to the base construction of all the nests. To Bjorn, such research was
Airbornes: Bjorn and the Floating Nest Chapter 21: Crystellia’s Mystery
Shortly after the new educational cycle cranked into gear, a new and different opportunity arose. Crystellia came to Academia. The unannounced visit took Bjorn entirely by surprise, yet when she sneaked up from the rear, he smelled her musk. Or maybe it was how she tapped him in that private place where no other citizen ever touched him."Stop doing that," he said, hurrying forward before turning.“What,” she said, winking her spiracle. “Are you not glad to see me?”“You think!” he said, hands out and palms up. Then he grinned, antennae fluttering. “I thought Koyals weren’t on good terms with Ulou.”“Things change fast in politics.” She fluttered up then back down, her contagious smile lighting his heart.“It’s well-nigh time.” Like tadpoles in a cloudy mist, unspoken thoughts darted through his mind. He had so much to say but no way to rightly order the approach. C
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As soon as Bjorn accepted the concept of Suppressed Infectious Memory, his education expanded in leaps and bounds. The more information he took in, the more his dreams opened up. By the close of the third education cycle, he had written notations, formulas, and calculations directly out of memory. His mind was a living document of his mother’s memoirs.Then active, officious interference began, and Kurg discovered a spy lurked among them. He told Bjorn as they hovered in a secluded branch near the of the same cluster of cattails where Bjorn and Crystellia had meet on that day she shared her mystery and her mission. The wind whisked moisture through the airways, and odor of spores was stronger than ever. The end looked nearer than ever.“Who is it?” Bjorn said, his face twisting into a near human sneer. “I’ll slice him into shreds quicker than sunlight sucks moisture.”“No, no,” Kurg said, his flaps arching. “
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Less than an hour after the spy was out of the way, a small but fast double topsail schooner, piloted by none other than Nalura, the OOD officer from Amera, docked on the underside of Mother Tree at the same place Bjorn and Aunt Sumia had sun-dipped for their first private meeting. Kurg, Crystellia, and Bjorn boarded. Everyone wore HB protection, but Bjorn was still glad the connection took place beneath Mother Tree. All above, rain fell in endless torrents. Sinkholes, rivers, and currents of mud ripped through Mother Tree’s root system. Only the mentally blind Cloud officials could honestly deny the reality of Clouds cry.A collection of climbing gear topped a heap near the starboard rails of the schooner and twin retractable cable rigs extended over the hull. A sense of urgency moved through the crew and the pilot. Yet things came to a bit of a halt when Bjorn saw Crystellia engage in an unexpected, for him, reunion.“Mother,” she shouted e
Airbornes: Bjorn and the Floating Nest Chapter 24: Mother Below
Even from high above the surface, Below was not the same land Bjorn remembered. In many areas, surface quakes gutted the ground as trees burned even while still standing. In one direction, torrents of wind-driven rain blinded the eyes, and from a different view, ice and snow ravaged the hillsides. Lakes and rivers overflowed their banks. Valleys flooded. And throughout the air, a wave of flaming, foul-smelling muck twisted in, around, and under, advancing a destructive ecological change. All across the open areas, worms surfaced by the tens and tens of thousands, all squirming amid yellow-tinted ooze and many spewing the seepage twenty to thirty feet from the core of each grouping. A complete disaster had overtaken the land of Walkers. Surface burned, and nasty rainfall consumed all else. Bjorn feared rescue had arrived too late. “So, it’s not a myth,” said Nalura, her brown eyes glassy with tears. “For many seasons, we knew the vines were leaking oil. We just never
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