Ice Phoenix (6 page)

"Can I get a jumpsuit like hers?"

Baneyon almost spat out his iced, hejeuwa berry tea.
"Over my dead body!"

"Why not?
Eliksha's wearing one."

"Well, for one thing,
Eliksha's a grownup, capable of making her own decisions. Secondly, you don't have bo—, br—, besides, haven't I spent enough on you?"

"No," replied Terrana flatly, conveniently forgetting the previous week's shopping excursion when she had basked in the glory of clothes, clothes, and
more clothes! Baneyon had taken her of course, and he had waited patiently while she had been fussed over by the shop attendants who dressed her in outrageous, funky costumes that were all the rage among teenagers. Terrana had loved it. She loved being spoiled, seeing herself in other-worldly outfits, blending in with the other races on Pophusia. In the end, she had walked away with a mountain of bags. Baneyon, on the other hand, had been stuck with a hefty bill that had him moaning for two days.

"Well, you are not getting a jumpsuit," said Baneyon, leaning back in his chair and folding his arms across his chest. "That's my final answer." There came that look again. Oh how the little brat had perfected it!

"You're sending me away to a completely alien planet, to an alien school where there is
no
uniform policy. I repeat,
no
uniform policy. I am going to be teased, bullied even. At least allow me to be teased with a little respect. Buy me
cool
clothes."

Baneyon gave her a long look, hoping to discover a little guilt or remorse in her eyes for uttering such sinful
words. There was none. If she didn't leave soon, his bank balance would implode. "I'm putting you on the first ship to Pa Gumpina!"

Terrana scowled. "I sense no love from you. No love at all." Her expression changed as she recalled something. "Who was this queen that Eliksha was talking about?"

"Ah ..." Baneyon straightened. "She's the ruler of Sector Six."

"I thought all the sectors were governed by the UWIB Federation? How can there be a queen?"

"The UWIB Federation is responsible for many things in the ten sectors, but each sector has its own separate
natural
governance. The cultural differences between races across Dartkala is just too vast and too many for UWIB to effectively govern, hence each sector has its own appointed government. In the case of Sector Six, the royal family is paramount."

Terrana mulled over Baneyon's explanation. "Earlier, you called her the queen of Swiva and not the queen of Sector Six. Why?"

"Swiva is her home planet so people tend to refer to her in that manner. However, make no mistake, the queen rules
all
of Sector Six."

The day finally arrived. Terrana stared up at the fleet of junks floating in the sky, excitement coursing through her veins. Each junk was its own character — proud, dignified, carefree, and brave.
They were colourful, their sails hanging at half-mast while excited passengers walked up planks onto spacious decks.

Some junks were in the process of unfurling their sails, which resembled magnificent wings as their battens splayed out, lending shape and strength.

"Ready to board?" said Baneyon, looking at Terrana. Their eyes met.

"You promise you'll come visit me?"

Baneyon nodded. "I have some business in Pa Gumpina, so I'll be sure to stop by on the way."

"Well, guess I'm ready as can be then." She took a deep breath. "I'm not saying goodbye."

Baneyon nodded and watched her walk towards the boarding gate. He had to stop himself from calling out to her.
Let her go. She has to do this on her own
. She paused at the gate where the conductor verified her ticket. He nodded, allowing her to pass. And then she was gone.

Baneyon spun on his heels, trying to ignore the strange feeling of loss inside him. As he walked away from the departure dock, he suddenly remembered he had forgotten to tell her something. He cringed and hoped that she'd be able to figure out which junk to board.

Terrana was
not
able to figure it out and she cursed Baneyon while stumbling through the mass of people rushing to board their flights. She stopped a Mizoran, a large, gelatinous creature which had a suitcase embedded in its body, to ask for directions.

"Excuse me," she said politely, "do you know which junk goes to Pa Gumpina, stop Minda Yerra?"

"Ooo yesss I thoo. Feftenf plathfom gathe three. Baaiii."

Fifteenth platform, gate three.
Great. She was on platform two, with ten minutes left to board. She wanted to scream at Baneyon.

"Hey, are you a student at Minda Yerra?" Terrana looked around, thinking someone had spoken to her. Everyone seemed to be rushing by.

"I'm down here."

Terrana looked down. Her mouth fell open. Unable to control herself, she stuttered. "You are
a b-baby elephant."

In front of her, standing upright on its back
legs, was the cutest baby elephant dressed in a pair of blue overalls. It was no more than waist high and had the biggest, bluest eyes she had ever seen. Judging from its demeanour, the gaming pad in its hand, and the slightly raspy tone of its voice, she guessed it was male. She looked around to see if anyone else had spotted him. No, they hadn't. Good — she could throw her coat over him and run off. Her very own pet elephant!

"I'm from
Nipponia," he said. "This will be my first year at Minda Yerra."

"Oh!" said Terrana, disappointment washing over her face as she realised that she couldn't carry out her dastardly plan.

"Are you going to Minda Yerra?" asked the elephant.

Terrana looked at him dejectedly before nodding. She noticed he had fingers on his hands instead of big elephant toes,
and ... he wore sandals.

"I'm going too. I can take you to the platform if you like, but we have to run."

In the end, pragmatism overrode her disappointment and she smiled. "I'd appreciate it."

It was dash and dodge as they raced between people and luggage vans, trying to reach the elevator chutes before the crowds rushed in and smothered them. Finally, after much huffing and puffing, they reached the fifteenth platform and the elephant grabbed her hand, pulling her towards a giant black junk with silver sails.

"That's it!
Dartkala's Arrow
!" the elephant shouted above the noise. "That's our junk!"

She was magnificent. Sails billowed out like a king's cloak as crewmen scurried up and down her masts, readying her for departure. She wasn't as large as some of the other junks, but she was much more streamlined. Just by looking at her, Terrana knew she was a fast ship.
A junk in the skies, a ship in the void.

Terrana and the elephant leapt onto a bright, orange disk at the edge of the platform and began to rise, leaving behind the madness of boarding time. They were met on the deck
by a bald, Cubeyon lady wearing glasses.

"Finally!" she huffed. "I was about to place a call for you two!"

"Sorry, we didn't mean to be late," said the elephant, his face full of genuine remorse. His ears flapped. The lady's expression softened.

"At least you are not the last ones," she said. Her face scrunched up and she pointed at the deck below, from where they had just come. "He is!"

Terrana and the elephant peered over the junk's rail and saw a fair boy running across the platform. He was extremely agile, leaping lightly over luggage vans and people. He landed on one of the orange discs, and in no time he was standing next to them looking as relaxed as a turtle on a beach. He was a head taller than Terrana, with long silver hair tied back loosely. His long eyes were of the palest green, and he had pointy ears. When he smiled, Terrana's heart went
thump
and she found herself blushing.

"Hello, Mrs. Baldy!" he said. "I bet you were worried about me!"

"It's Balda!" snapped the lady. "A second later and I would have pulled the plank!"

"What? And leave your favourite entertainment behind? Mrs.
Balda
, your life would be so boring without me."

Terrana
could tell he was truly incorrigible.

"Get!" barked Mrs.
Balda. "All of you.
Get
to your cabins!"

Not knowing where to go, Terrana just followed the little elephant as he led her down below deck. The fair boy had run off somewhere, probably to search for his friends.

Going down the stairs for Terrana was like diving into the sea. A new and exciting world opened up to her. Never before had she seen so many races converge in one place, walking, crawling or flying about excitedly as they headed to their cabins. Many of them were older students who seemed at home on the junk, while the younger ones looked just as lost and open-mouthed as she was. A few of them gave her strange looks, but for the most part they ignored her.

The junk was spacious and elegant, reminding her of houses from the Japanese Edo era on Earth
. Her father had shown her a book of architecture once, and the ship was typical of the wooden structures with sliding paper doors.

The elephant came to a sudden halt, causing Terrana to nearly trip over him. He seemed rather dismayed. "I'm so sorry," he said. "I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Mikin
Daxtia. I'm from Nipponia."

"Terrana Lee ... Ondur." Saying Baneyon's last name was strange but, if she wanted to fit in with the rest of the students from UWIB, she had to use it. "Thank you, for bringing me here."

"It was no problem at all," said Mikin, looking embarrassed. His little trunk wriggled and Terrana could have sworn he turned a shade of red. She smiled. He was adorable! She wanted to wrap her arms around him and squeeze him tightly but she didn't think he'd appreciate that.

"Is this your first year at Minda Yerra?"

Terrana nodded.

His face brightened. "Since we're both first years, maybe we're in the same cabin. Let's check our tickets." He pulled out a shiny white coin from his pocket and rubbed it. A tiny projection of the junk appeared and an automated voice spoke.

"Deck E, cabin five. Seat J. Occupation eight out of ten."

Mikin's face fell. "That's the bottom deck. It's always the last place to be served and the view isn't great either. Which seat did you get?"

As Terrana removed a blue coin from her pocket, Mikin's eyes widened in amazement. "You have a blue coin? B-but how?"

Before she could answer, an attendant swooped down on them.
"Oi you! Nipponian! You need to be in your cabin now!"

He was the strangest Pophusian Terrana had ever seen; thin and gawky, with the biggest, purple afro tied in two large knots over his head. It didn't help that he was wearing a bright orange bodysuit either.

"Just ... just going," stammered Mikin. He looked at Terrana. "I hope we can meet later."

"Likewise," said Terrana. She felt a little sad as she watched him disappear down the stairs. He had been the first person to befriend her.

"Miss, allow me to escort you to your cabin," said the attendant politely. He even performed a cursory bow.

"Oh, I'm not sure which cabin I'm supposed to be in. I didn't rub my coin yet."

"Not to worry, Miss Ondur. Blue coins register with us as soon as you board. I shall lead you to your cabin." He led her back to the stairs, and on their way up they encountered the fair boy she had seen earlier. He looked at her in surprise, noticing the blue coin in her hand. He whistled as they passed by, watching them as they headed to the top.

Terrana found herself back on the top deck once more, staring at the main mast and sails.

"Erm, shouldn't I be down below in one of the cabins?"

"No, Miss Ondur. Your cabin is on the forecastle deck up there." He pointed towards the front of the junk and she found herself looking at an observatory-type area, constructed from opaque glass.

"How, how many students are in there?"

"Why, none, Miss Ondur. You have the deck all to yourself."

"All, all to myself?"

"Naturally, Miss Ondur.
This way, if you please."

They ascended the polished wooden steps to the forecastle and went into the observatory dome through a sliding door. From the moment she stepped in, Terrana found herself basking in the folds of luxury.

There was a whirlpool in the middle of the room, large enough to fit ten people. Pods hung from the ceiling, customisable to any body shape or size, to function as seats. There was a bar to the right, complete with pods for patrons. She also noticed transparent circular discs tucked neatly into each pod. She pointed at them.

"What are those?"

"Sensory pads, Miss Ondur. Simply place them close to your receptive organs, in this case, your temples next to your eyes and ears is preferable, and you will have a virtual helmet."

"Virtual helmet?
For what?"

"To provide entertainment.
You may wish to view movies, play games, listen to music or, you can explore what the others are doing by going into the simulated meeting rooms. The more vigorous passengers can stand on the gaming simulation pad." He pointed to a grey area on the floor to the left of the whirlpool. "If you enjoy combat games that require extreme physical movement, that is where you act it out. Very realistic."

"Oh." She wondered what he meant by extreme physical movement and planned to try out the gaming simulation pad later. Beyond the pool, she could see right out into the sky, and it was fascinating to watch the cars and ships whizzing by.

"Will I be able to see outside throughout the trip?"

"Yes, Miss Ondur. Or if you prefer, you can choose to open the blinds on the ceiling. Naturally, they'll shut automatically should we encounter solar flares or pass through reflective zones."

"Oh."

"Any request you have, Kazu will help you."

"Who's Kazu?"

"I am the ship's
computer. Any request you may have, simply ask and I will assist."
Terrana jumped. The voice sounded as if it came from an older man.

"Kazu speaks and translates two hundred and forty languages common to UWIB," said the attendant. "I shall leave you now as we must prepare for takeoff. Enjoy your trip, Miss Ondur." He bowed again and exited through the sliding door, leaving her alone.

The first thing she did was to run over to the far end of the cabin to look out. Aside from the hover cars and smaller ships flying by, she could also make out little islands that drifted on their constant path around the city. Some were private residences, others were parks filled with playing children and adults. There was a sudden lurch and Terrana looked towards the docking bay to see the final chain on the junk being released. They were moving!

A voice rang out. "This is the captain speaking. Welcome aboard
Dartkala's Arrow
. As you all may have noticed, we are now departing Pophusia and will be exiting the planet's atmosphere in ten minutes. During this time, you are requested to remain seated in your cabins until a further announcement. Enjoy your journey. Thank you."

That was it. No seatbelt sign. No demonstration on emergency procedures. Terrana snuggled into one of the pods next to the window, and for the next ten minutes she did nothing but stare out as the junk sailed through the sky. After a while she could no longer see anything but clouds, and she began to wonder whether they had reached the outer edge of the atmosphere.

Weeerrrring!
There it was, the sound of the sails spreading out. Her heart thumping excitedly, she jumped out of her pod and ran towards the entrance door. She couldn't miss this. The junk was making its transition into the In-Between. It was transforming. Her whole body trembled as she watched the sails spread slowly across the entire deck, like a dragon stretching its wings in the sun, forming an entire roof over the junk. Terrana looked on, fascinated, as the sails latched onto the sides of the junk, covering both the poop deck and the forecastle deck to create the outer hull.