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Chapter 18: What Lies Beneath?
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
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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
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Airbornes: Bjorn and the Floating Nest Chapter 22: A Spy in The Midst
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. “
Airbornes: Bjorn and the Floating Nest Chapter 23: Escape
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
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Airbornes: Bjorn and the Floating Nest Chapter 25: Walkers
Bjorn’s party tracked upriver, above the treetops, while seeking the source of the river. The quakes and fire no longer advanced, and even the rain drifted away and toward the southwest slopes. No more worms appeared, sick or healthy. As the rise in terrain reached higher and further northward, they passed above groups of Walkers and newly established shelters on the hillsides and in other areas that remained above the core of damage and flooded zones. In the highest ranges of flatland, the Walkers lived on productive farms.“Someone warned them,” Crystellia said. “These shelters and farms are old and established. The beings down there aren’t refugees; they’re immigrant evacuees."Bjorn barely absorbed her words. He was putting things together in his mind, remembering events at old Perd Van’s worm farm and in the marsh near the Kabutar ship docks, including the yellow ooze beneath Mother Tree during the sun-dipping with aunt Su
Airbornes: Bjorn and the Floating Nest Chapter 26: Nests Come Down
Cupun’s friendship with Jamison felt second nature, so much so that Cupun wondered why his father still sometimes spoke of hanumans as abominations. Maybe old expressions die slowly, he thought, or perhaps such words merely linger in the mind long after the history behind the link is no longer relevant. Whatever the cause, Nukilik never used the word in the presence of Jamison. His sister’s husband was family and friend.While Adlartok trained Kallik in the methods of various weapons, Cupun and Jamison traveled beneath a prickly canopy of musty-smelling grayish-green rope-foliage growing on trees taller and thicker than any Cupun had encountered. Three grown men with arms extended and hands touching could not wrap the circumference of the sharp-barked hardwood trunks.During the journey from Jamison’s homeland, many new races had joined their group, all working to help one another. But Cupun and Jamison made too great a team to split apart. So from hu
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