Two of my ointments I’ve tested well. A Spatter Lizard waits in my latchbag for the demonstration of the newest ointment. I hope it survives. I only tested this formula once.
Whirring outside announces the caravan of gleaming gliders. I dash to the window and stare out as they make a smooth set of landings on the front yard landing strip. There are three ships. Five judges, including George Axiom, in Axiom’s favored beach whites, step out and head to the school. They seem to gravitate to the lone woman in the crowd. She’s taller than most of the men and she carries herself regally. Unlike the men, she’s like a lovely painting in my favorite color, blue—a flowing blue dress with blue pearl buttons. Her dark hair is swept up off her neck, and she has on blood red lipstick. Intimidating, really. I wonder what job she has in her everyday life.
I know what Bea, Vesper and Armonk’s projects are, but I’ve no idea of what Radius, Jan or Blane have in store. I worry about Thorn’s. How will he lure the Reds inside The Greening, and once there, prove that he has any control over them? Will he make them do a trick? And most importantly, how will he prove they’re his special Fireseed offspring? I asked him over and over if he needed help and he shook his head defiantly every time. This is an intriguing new side to Thorn. My little brother’s growing up and it makes perfect sense that he wants to be proven competent after years of being mocked as slow.
But how will he, if he won’t talk? I fret enough for the lot of us.
Racing downstairs, I run into Vesper and we almost collide on the stairs. “From liar to slut,” she leers. Vesper never showed any sign of liking Blane, so what’s she complaining about?
It’s hard to imagine all of the horrors she experienced as a child, but she’s so bitter she’s hard to take. I can’t lie though. Vesper looks sharp as always, in a skin-tight solar-cell jumpsuit and thigh-high desert boots. She’s bound her tresses with a twisted lock of her own hair, and sandstone earrings dangle from her ears. It’s a toss-up as to whether Vesper has the better earring collection or Nevada has the superior boot collection.
“Come in, everyone, enjoy some breakfast!” Nevada has set up a deluxe smorgasbord in the parlor, where Axiom and his people are already milling about, sipping special coffee that Nevada splurged on from the north, checking their holo tablets and munching on oats with candied sea apples.
Way too hyper to eat, I huddle near Bea, who flits around, arranging her fashion line on the rack. Thorn trots in with Radius who reports that he helped Thorn get cleaned up in a nice jacket and pants. I thank Radius, who’s already flirting with Bea. The two give each other hugs and pecks on the cheek for good luck. “You make a cute couple,” I tell Bea, when Radius is distracted.
“What about you and Blane?” She winks.
I flinch. “Who told you that?”
“Word travels fast when Vesper’s involved.”
“Ack, does Armonk know?” I whisper.
“If he doesn’t, he will soon.”
My belly clenches as I glance over at Armonk. Just another thing to deal with after we find out which classmates made the finalist cut.
Blane arrives last with his holo tablet in hand and a brooding expression. He’s freshly shaven and I can’t help resting my gaze on his brown sugar freckles and soft upper lip that looks delicious enough to nibble on.
Heading to the food table, he lights up when he sees the steaming coffee. After he pours himself a cup, he seems unsure of where to sit, but he gravitates to a chair near me. I smile awkwardly at him. This seems to shift his mood and he ends up beaming at George.
Armonk comes in last, a sheaf of notes and sketches tucked under his arm and his braid strung through with narrow stone carvings. The carvings a handsome coal black, and I figure he chipped them out of Black Hills Sector rock. He and Radius have become friendly, so Armonk joins Radius and Thorn on the sofa near Bea. Armonk puts a benevolent arm around my brother. It makes me feel good that Thorn has found at least partial acceptance here at The Greening after being such a pariah back home. I don’t have to worry about him as constantly. My eyes move to Jan, by the window staring at Armonk and Thorn with narrowed eyes. Well, I do have to worry some. We’re not one happy family. Not even close.
But things are shifting in interesting ways.
George Axiom rises to the podium, as I remember him doing on that first big day. He’s wearing his trademark pastel suit with shell buttons and his platinum hair in a pouf. With the air of a proud father on his sons’ and daughters’ graduation day he begins.