Arana’s Visitor
Book 1 of the Vadelah Chronicles
Preview copy of chapter 7 (first half)
© 2005 by Julie Rollins
www.JulieRollins.com
Science Fiction
February 2005 (version d4i)
7. An Unexpected Conversion
Savoring his slice of pepperoni pizza, David recounted the day to his friends.
“I thought of you when we hid in that bar, Todd,” David confessed.
Feinting astonishment, Todd cried, “You took Gyra to a what? What were you thinking?” He chuckled. “You, David Decker, of all people!”
“It was not as bad as the last time,” Gyra added.
“I should hope not!” Todd helped himself to another piece of pizza.
Debbie smirked. “How many is that now?”
Gazing up at the ceiling, Todd counted on his fingers. “Five, but who’s counting?”
“Seven, I am,” Gyra answered.
David and Debbie laughed as Todd’s face went blank.
“Well, that’s what you get when you have an alien in the house,” Todd retorted. “Say, David, when you didn’t show up, I figured you might’ve gotten stuck somewhere with Gyra.
“Seeing your backpack was still here, and knowing you’d be bummed if you missed your first session of Art History, I took it upon myself to intervene.
“I went down to school, sat in on your class, picked up your course outline, and bought your textbook.”
“Todd, I’m amazed!” David exclaimed. “Thanks, I owe you one.”
Looking over at Debbie, Todd wiggled his eyebrows. “Someone’s got to look out for you, David.”
Debbie merely yawned. “Well, I’m stuffed; thanks for dinner. Where do I sleep?”
Todd’s eyes bulged opened. “What?”
David took a deep breath. Here we go. “You can sleep in my room—”
“What? Wait a minute!” Todd protested.
“And I will sleep on the couch,” David finished.
Standing up, Debbie wiped her mouth on a paper napkin and said, “I better phone my boyfriend now—or rather my ex-boyfriend. I should have ditched him a long time ago.”
“Go out to the living room and you’ll find the phone by the sofa,” David instructed.
Debbie walked out.
“What about your rule: no girls?” Todd hissed.
Grimacing, David faced his friend. “I know, but she has no place to go. Her boyfriend told her to get an abortion or get out, and her family doesn’t want her. I promised I’d find her a place to stay. It’s too late to do anything tonight, but don’t worry. Tomorrow I’ll take her over to Mom’s and she’ll help Debbie. If Mom can’t, she’ll know someone who can.”
Todd watched him out of the corner of his eye. “So, she’ll only stay tonight? On the couch?”
“No, I’m sleeping on the couch. She’ll take my bed.”
Todd waved his hand. “Yeah, right, that’s what I meant.”
Debbie stomped back into the room. “That dirty little creep . . .”
Frowning, David asked, “What happened?”
“Before I even had a chance to talk, he gives me this line about how we should ‘cool our relationship’ and that I should move out so he can have time to think!
“But when I told him I didn’t get the abortion, he got real quiet! I explained what happened at the clinic, except for the part that would give Gyra away.
“I told Wayne if he so much as let’s out a peep, I’d tell his friends and coworkers what a cruel manipulating coward he is: using a girl and kicking her out on the street because he got her pregnant!
“Wayne got real scared then and pleaded with me. He even asked me to come back, but I told him I didn’t want anything to do with a man who would murder his own son—unless, of course, he wanted to pay child support. Oh, how he squirmed then!
“Anyway, you don’t need to worry about him for a while. I’ve got him right where I want him.” The fierce triumphant fire in her eyes faded. “He would have kicked me out even if I’d had the abortion.”
“The jerk,” Todd muttered forcefully.
“He wanted me to kill my baby and then dump me out like trash!” Debbie cried, her body convulsing with each sob.
Bowing his head in prayer, David put his hand on her twitching shoulders.
“I hate him, I hate him!” After weeping for a good ten minutes, her raspy voice lamented, “I feel like I’m never going to stop crying!”
Reaching out, Gyra placed one hand on her head, the other on her belly.
Debbie stopped sobbing. Her eyes opened, staring as if they beheld some wonder before her. Tears continued to flow from her eyes, but a gentle smile of joy lit her face.
Todd noticed the effect too.
After a moment, Gyra withdrew his fingers.
Debbie seized a purple hand and gazed up into Gyra’s eyes. “Thank you,” she said in a soft voice. Standing up, she slipped off to Todd’s room.
Todd began to follow with a worried look on his face, but David seized his roommate’s shoulder.
“It’s okay,” David whispered. “She didn’t know which room was mine. If you want, you can sleep on my bed tonight.”
Todd wagged his head. “Nah, I’ll sleep on the couch.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, I’m tough. Besides, I take naps on it all the time; I’m used to it.” Todd walked out to the living room. “Nighty night!”
David threw out the empty pizza boxes and turned to Gyra. “How did you get the handcuffs off? I forgot all about them until you touched Debbie.”
“I had plenty of time to get back,” Gyra answered.
“But how did you get them off?”
“I found a way.”
“Gyra, you’re holding out on me. What happened?”
Staring at David, Gyra said, “This is not something we phantera share freely. It is one of the things that makes us hated and pursued by the mel-naharam.”
David folded his arms, waiting for an answer.
Gyra snapped his jaw nervously. “While flying back, I saw a large building under construction. A few men welding metal beams took a break and left their equipment out. I landed quietly and used a blow torch to cut the handcuffs off.”
Holding up a hand, David interrupted. “Wait a minute, you may have been able to cut through the links, but the metal cuffs would still be on your hands. Even if you could keep the flame off your skin while cutting the cuffs, the heat would have traveled through the metal and burned your wrists.”
Gyra bowed his head. After a moment of silence, he walked over to the gas stove and turned the flame on high. “Please, tell no one what you see unless it is absolutely necessary.”
David’s stomach tightened. “What are you doing?”
Gyra placed his hand in the fire. The flames licked around Gyra’s large purple fingers, but the phantera never flinched or cried out. The scaly skin didn’t even blister. After several minutes, the phantera withdrew his hand.
“Touch it.”
David obeyed. A little soot rubbed off the cool skin, but the purple hands were undamaged.
“How much heat can your hand take?” David whispered.
Gyra held up a finger and winked. “That is classified information. I showed you this secret because I trust you.”
David blushed, deeply honored. What could he do in return?
Then he knew. “Gyra, I have one more book for you. It may take you a while to read—well maybe not! Anyway, I want to know what you think of it.”
They crept out to the living room where Todd lay sprawled on the couch, eyes shut.
David slipped into his room, picked up his Bible, and returned. Giving his beloved book to Gyra, he said, “Here, I hope you enjoy it.”
“Thank you, David.” The phantera opened it. “You always bring such interesting books.”
David smiled. “Goodnight, Gyra.”
“Goodnight, David,” the phantera answered. “Goodnight, Todd.”
“Goodnight, Gyra,” Todd replied.
* * *
The next morning, David woke with a start. He had slept well enough, but a sense of urgency pressed in on him. Rolling out of bed, he headed for the door in his pajamas.
What was he doing? There was a woman in the apartment! Way to go, David. Just waltz out there in your jammies. Wouldn’t that impress her!
Throwing on some clothes, David combed his hair before peering out the door.
Todd lay asleep on the couch, Debbie’s room was still silent, and Gyra sat staring out the window, his long tail fanned out behind him.
Tiptoeing over to the phantera, David whispered, “Gyra?” He didn’t want to disturb Todd.
“Yes, David?” Gyra did not move. Though the phantera faced the window, his eyes didn’t appear to be focused on anything.
David bent over. “Gyra, what are you doing?”
“I am making connections.”
“What do you mean?” David noticed Gyra was cradling the Bible with one hand while the other held a crumpled paper towel.
“The book you gave me has so many messages, hidden and obvious,” Gyra said in a low voice. “The more I review it, the more connections I see. There are parts I do not understand.”
David nodded. “People have spent their entire life studying the Bible.”
“A phantera could spend an entire lifetime studying it, too. Do you believe what is in this book?”
David saw Todd roll over. “Come back to my room. I don’t want to wake Todd . . . yet.”
Once they were inside, David shut the door to his room.
“So, do you believe this book? Are you a member of the Way? A Christian?” Gyra pressed.
A chill ran down David’s spine. Was the phantera testing him? He didn’t know what the alien’s response would be, and he couldn’t read Gyra’s face. The big bird suddenly seemed very menacing to him—that seven-foot frame, those red eyes, the long beak with a subtle hook on the end. . . .
End of Preview