Ice Phoenix (4 page)

Terrana's world crumbled.

Her parents'
door had been left open to allow in the cool sea breeze which filtered in from the living room. Ironically, it also fanned the flames writhing inside. If hell really existed, she was looking at it. No one was getting in or out of that room alive. No one.

Despa
ir. It rose in her chest like living darkness, suffocating her. She couldn't scream. She couldn't cry. She could only watch as the fire consumed all that was in that room. Never again would she see her mum's smiling face while stirring a pot of stew, or her dad, snoring in his hammock under the mango tree. Fate was cruel, leaving her this last memory of her parents burning in their room, as the house fell to pieces around her.

A hazy figure stumbled through her vision.
Archie. Miraculously, he was still alive. But it didn't take long to realise that all was not well with him. The right side of his face was red and bleeding. His right arm hung limply at his side. Seeing her brother like that awoke her from her stupor and she limped over, slipping under his left shoulder to support him.

"
We gotta get outta here, sis," he mumbled.

"Mum and Dad ..."

"They're not coming. We need to get out quickly."

Archie's
only thought was to get his sister to safety. Choking and coughing, the two of them hobbled along the landing, towards the living room. It was the only way out now.

Fire dropped like liquid from the ceiling beams. Terrana had never seen anything like it
. They were forced to hug the wall, but as they approached the living room they could see that it was no better than the rest of the house.

"
There." Archie pointed to a narrow path between the kitchen and the living room that led to the main door. Fire licked at it, but they could avoid the flames if they were quick enough.

"
Hurry," Archie urged. "Before the fire eats up the floor."

They hobbled as fast as their injured bodies would
allow them to, biting back the pain as their bare feet came into contact with the scorching floor. They had just passed the kitchen when a whole section of the ceiling collapsed. Because she was so focused on helping Archie, Terrana didn't see it. But Archie looked up, and in that instant he understood they wouldn't be leaving the house alive.

His feet stopped moving and his arm slid off his sister
's shoulder. Then, before she could turn around and before his courage failed him, he shoved his sister with all his strength towards the door. The ceiling came down. The last thing he saw was Terrana's horrified face as she whirled around and stared in horror.

Run. Don
't come back here. You have to live.

She couldn
't reach him. The relentless flames seared her hands and face, keeping her away. Her brother was right there, under all that rubble, but he wasn't moving.

"
Archie! Archie
!" Anguish.
Why? Why was this happening? What had her family ever done to deserve this?
The cursed fire evaporated her tears before they even reached her cheeks. She collapsed to her knees in front of her brother's final resting place, unable to feel anything anymore. Her world had just died with her family. They had meant everything to her.

The gas cylinders used for cooking exploded outside the house, setting off a reaction
that brought down the rest of the ceiling. But Terrana neither heard nor saw any of it. Neither did she feel powerful arms lifting her up.

The stranger looked
around, trying to sense life in the fire. He felt none. With a sorrowful sigh, he gathered Terrana closer to his chest and walked out the house. The flames licked his body but fell away like water.

"
I came too late. I'm so sorry, child."

He could have been from the future or another planet. One thing was certain, he wasn't human. He wore a dark, knee-length skirt that was light, almost metallic in texture. Fire, water or acid could not leave a mark on it. His vest was made of the same material, distinguished from his skirt by a broad heavy belt resting on his hips.

Long white hair flowed down his back, an indication of race rather than age. By human standards, he would have appeared around thirty or thirty-five. He was also tal
l
— around two metre
s
— and his silver eyes glinted brightly in the firelight as he headed to the beach.

The sea failed to touch his boots as he walked across its surface, and when he had gained enough depth, he began to glide over the water. Despite his distance from the beach, he could hear voices coming from the houses. The neighbours had finally woken up. He glanced back, admiring the manner in which they formed lines from the beach to the burning house, throwing buckets of water into the fire. The only problem wa
s
— they were too late.

He looked away, gliding faster over the water. On this moonless night, no one saw him and the girl in his arms, or so he believed. He barely avoided the large form that torpedoed out of the water. Taken by surprise, he failed to see the tail descend. It caught him on his right shoulder and he grimaced as he felt it dislocate. He came to a dead stop in the middle of the ocean.

It hadn't been a shar
k
— the tail had assured him of that. He eyed the water warily, ready to defend himself if necessary. It was circling beneath, moving really fast, and it disturbed him to feel the intense fury emanating from it.

He shifted the girl slightly and she groaned. He looked at her with obvious concern in his eyes; shock had set in and her pulse was dangerously weak.
He needed to get her to a hospital right away. But first, he needed to rid himself of the threat in the sea.

Puddy broke through the surface quietly. The stranger spotted him and tensed, preparing to attack. They remained still for a few long seconds, facing each other. A startled look crossed the stranger's face. "You know this girl! You are trying to protect her."

Puddy swam closer. When he was only about a metre away, he released a sad and curious sound. Years of friendship had created an unbreakable emotional bond between him and Terrana, and his call acted as a life-thread, reaching to her in the darkness.

She heard it, a safe and familiar sound in a world gone drastically wrong. It was an anguished voice, pleading for her to come out, and she couldn't ignore it. She still had someone to love, one very important friend who had not left her.

The soothing sound of the sea filled her ears as her sight returned. Stars twinkled in the sky and she could see the Milky Way running clearly through the night. Someone was carrying her.

"Puddy?" she mumbled through burned lips. Her hand fell from her side and would have dropped into the sea had not the stranger shifted her slightly. He was kneeling on the ocean, cradling her to his chest.

A wet, familiar beak placed itself in her palm. Puddy made little sad noises.

"
Puddy," she whispered. She tried to turn over and cried when her body refused to move. Her burns were excruciating. Puddy nudged her palm gently, as if trying to tell her it was okay; that she didn't have to move to see him.

"They're gone Puddy ... they're all gone. The fire ... took them. Why did ... it take them?"

Puddy nudged her palm gently.

"Archie ... pushed me away. He pushed me!"
She choked, overcome by emotion.

The stranger looked around. He was worried because he couldn't shake off the feeling that he was being watched. "I'm sorry, child. I must get you to a hospital."

"Let me go."

She was obviously delirious, he thought.

A low, mournful cry came from the dolphin and, surprisingly, it began to pull away. Terrana's fingers clutched empty air and she called out his name. He resurfaced a few metres down, releasing another cry. The stranger also rose to his feet.

"Please, I must see him," Terrana whispered hoarsely. He acquiesced and, applying as little pressure as possible, he shifted her so that she could see the dolphin. Puddy was still there, waiting for her.

"Please, put me down. I can swim."

"Terrana," he said her name for the first time, "it's time to say goodbye." It pained him to say that. He could feel her trembling in his arms and he sensed she wasn't going to give up.

"Put me down!" Already, she was trying to break free from him. It could only have been delirium that blinded her to the pain because she shouldn't have been able to move, not with her wounds.

Puddy wailed; a sad sound that moved even the stranger.

Terrana went very still, her expression shocked. "No," she whispered. "You can't leave."

The wail was his last message to her. So deep was the emotional bond between the two of them, his cry had told her that this was the last time she would be seeing him. He was leaving the lagoon. The silver silhouette of her friend rose into the air like a bird springing for freedom before re-entering the water with barely a splash. Even when the water had stilled and all signs of him had disappeared, Terrana continued to stare at the spot she had last seen him until darkness swallowed her again.

The stranger breathed a sigh of relief. He had spent a lot of energy trying to shield her from the excruciating pain of her burns, and now that she was unconscious he could concentrate on getting her to a hospital.

"
Is she going to be okay?"

"
She was dead for six minutes, sir. We can't be sure."

"
About what exactly?"

"
Cerebral hypoxia. Lack of oxygen to the brain. In humans, total deprivation of oxygen to the brain from anywhere between four and six minutes will result in irreversible brain damage."

"
When will you know?"

"
We'll know for sure once she wakes up."

"
And what if she is ... brain damaged? Can't we re-grow her cells?"

Pause.

"We could, but she may not be the same person again. Her memories could be lost. Also ..."

"
Also?"

"
Brain cell recovery in human intervention is not covered under the United World of the In-Between Medical Convention Act."

"
What? You've got to be kidding me! Didn't they, like, abduct several hundred humans from earth just to perform experiments on them?"

Pause.

"Those were the Empitithians, sir. Empitithia is not part of UWIB and as I and many other people recall, they were punished severely by the UWIB Federation Council. UWIB destroyed all the gates leading in to and out of their world."

"
When did that happen?"

"
Sir, aren't you a member of the UWIB Federation Council?"

"
I am ... umm, I see your point."

Two months later 

Baneyon walked quietly across the floor of his apartment, past a small fountain in
the centre of his living room. It was minimally furnished, with two large reclining chairs, a white table and some plants. Not many of his visitors required furniture.

He paused when he reached the door to the next room, which
had been deliberately kept ajar. Unable to sense any movement inside, he sighed and pushed it all the way open.

"Terrana?"

No response. She was curled up on the window sill, staring out into the city beyond. She may have been focused in that direction, but Baneyon knew she saw nothing. She had seen nothing, said nothing and had made no effort to live since the day she had woken up.

No brain damage. Even the doctors had been amazed. Motor functions intact.
Memories intact. And that had been the problem. She had remembered everything. And she had noticed
them
— how different they were. Baneyon flinched, recalling the day she had woken up, afraid and in pain. How she had to relive the fire as he gently informed her of her family's passing. But that hadn't been the most difficult part. Explaining to her
where
she was and who they were had been much more difficult. The screaming, the accusations, the rage, all followed by sedation. It had continued like that for weeks.

Give her time
, Baneyon. She will eventually come to accept it.

Why can't we just erase her memories, Degra? She would accept us then.

She's the only human to have been brought to UWIB, where she will live out the rest of her life. Erasing her memories would be erasing her.

Baneyon
was forced to agree. Erasing her memories meant erasing everything human about her. And as the only human in UWIB, that would have been considered forced assimilation — a crime.

It takes time to grieve, Baneyon. She is just a child.

Her entire
body was covered in red and green pli-gel bandages, which bubbled gently on her skin. Red worked on renewing both skin cells and flesh. Green removed the dead tissue. Her head was shaved, her hair replaced by bandages. Because of the severity of her burns, she would have to wear the bandage suit until her skin regenerated completely.

Baneyon didn't attempt to hide his presence as he walked over. With his towering frame and long white hair, he could not be missed. His
gata, a most popular form of clothing for Pophusian men, swished gently against his thighs, stopping just short of the knees. A dark, loose fitting vest worn over a stretchy T-shirt completed the outfit.

"Lunch is ready," he said, kneeling next to her. It was their daily routine. He hoped she would soon opt to feed herself so that he would not have to insert the feeding tubes or force feed her with pills.

"This time it's really good. I roasted a kantakry bug fish with caramelised root vegetables. You would like it."

Of course, he had no idea whether she would like it. But it was the closest thing to Earth
food, and he had faith that she would eat something on her own eventually.

No response. Baneyon sighed, preparing to sit down with her for the next five minutes while he taught her something new about Pophusia. It didn't hurt to educate her when he could. There was the slightest possibility that she was listening to him.

"Earth, your planet, is in Sector Thirteen, you know. Sector Thirteen isn't part of the United Worlds of the In-Between—"

"Why is it I can understand you?" she whispered
.

Baneyon nearly fell over. It was the first time she had asked him anything. She was staring at him with her one good eye. The other was behind the bandage.

"You have a language chip implanted in the Wernicke area of your brain. It helps you to analyse and put together sentences in four of the major languages spoken in UWIB."

"So, right now the chip is making me speak in your language?"

That was the thing; it wasn't — another reason why she had to be brought over. "You are speaking Kalaxtian without any help. You always could."

She looked confused, as she should have.

"That night when you dreamt you were in the school speaking with Master Drummik, you were speaking Kalaxtian. We don't know how it is possible either, but your brain is able to process the language as if it was your native tongue."

She didn't say anything for a while. Baneyon wondered what thoughts rushed through her head as she processed this strange new world. He wished she would ask him more questions; he wanted her to cry like she had done that one time — it had been a relief to watch her unburden her pain.

"The food ..." she said slowly, "smells nice."