Symbiosis, page 3
They make it to Upanga with no incident and immediately step into sword strategy and spear-spinning drills. So it’s not until the girls are awaiting their turn to spar that Shuri gets the chance to broach her suspicions. She leans into K’Marah and lowers her voice to a whisper. “You will develop a hole in your lip if you keep biting at it, Little Dora.”
The other girl’s face clouds over. And Shuri knows that K’Marah knows she’s been caught. “Stop watching me so closely,” the Dora hisses back. “It’s creepy. And very unbecoming of a princess.”
“Yeah, okay,” Shuri replies. “What’s going on, K’Marah?”
The first set of girls exits the mat, and the pair in front of Shuri and K’Marah step on. The princess and her Dora are next in line.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” K’Marah says, sticking her nose into the air.
“Oh, you most certainly do,” Shuri replies. “And you’re going to tell me. I know you well enough to know that you won’t be able to keep it in now.”
K’Marah just scowls.
“You do know something about the palace break-in, don’t you?”
At this, K’Marah looks at Shuri. And she is definitely offended. And looks ready to punch the princess (which she will certainly have the opportunity to do momentarily). “Did I not almost swear on the blessed heart of Bast that I don’t know anything about that?”
“Okay, okay!” Shuri says, taking a tiny step back. “Don’t get your braids in a knot. I can just tell something’s off with you—”
“Princess Shuri and K’Marah!” a senior trainer calls out from across the mat. “You’re up next! I would advise you to cease chattering and prepare yourselves.”
“Yes, madam,” K’Marah replies with a deferent bow of her head. Then through gritted teeth to Shuri: “Will you drop it? You’re going to get us both in trouble.”
The taller girl in the current match manages to get beneath the shorter one and flip her onto her back. She almost gets her pinned for the win, but the shorter girl kicks out of it at the last second. Buying Shuri a little more time.
“Just tell me what it is, and we can discuss later,” the princess says. “We both know you are going to fight poorly if you try to hold it in …”
K’Marah’s jaw clenches, but Shuri watches her relent. “Fine,” she says. “I received—”
But she doesn’t get to say any more. Because at that moment, a siren-style alarm blares.
The citywide security alert.
“He’s back,” Shuri says under her breath.
Then everything whips into chaos.
Despite grabbing weapons—the Dora Milaje–preferred Vibranium-tipped tetela lance for K’Marah, and a curved mambele sword for Shuri—and charging out with the other Dora, the two girls don’t get very far.
“Shuri! K’Marah!” Ayo says the moment they make it through the exit. (She’d definitely been waiting.) “There you are! Put those weapons down, and you two come with me.”
“Put them down?” K’Marah says, clearly confused. “But, Ayo—”
“You heard me correctly,” the elder Dora replies. “We must hurry.”
Thus, K’Marah’s first assignment shifts: from Member of the Princess’s Royal Guard to Person Who Must Stay By Her Side No Matter What. Which means that instead of finding out what’s going on, and running into the fray to employ the training they’ve undergone—for such a time as this, no less—the princess and her junior Dora best friend are shoved into a hoverjet and whisked away to the Makao, a royal “safe house” Shuri didn’t know existed.
It’s quite annoying.
“Well, this is rich,” K’Marah grumbles once they’re in the air, voicing precisely what Shuri is thinking. “So much for that Dora Karami thing.” She looks over at Shuri, wide-eyed. “I mean … no offense, of course, Your Majesty—”
“Oh, cut it out,” Shuri says with a wave. “I’m just as frustrated as you are. And don’t get all weird now that hanging out with me is technically your job.”
At this, the princess gazes out at the buildings and trees zipping by beneath them, and a knot forms in her throat. Soon there’s something wet running down her face.
“Oh, Shuri!” K’Marah says, throwing her arms around her friend far more dramatically than warranted. “Everything will be okay!”
To Shuri’s shock, this burst of tenderness from her friend cracks something inside her. Now she really starts crying. (And thanking Bast for the soundproof partition between the small passenger cabin where she and K’Marah are seated and the cockpit space hosting Ayo and their pilot.)
“Someone snuck into the palace two nights ago,” the princess says. “While everyone was sleeping.”
K’Marah doesn’t respond, so Shuri surges forward.
“And no one will tell me anything. I just keep getting shushed. ‘Not now, Shuri.’ ‘This isn’t the time, Shuri.’ ‘Stay in your room, Shuri.’” As she talks, Shuri’s despair morphs to anger. “I’m first in line to the throne! And I know that the intruder was trying to get into the vault of relics—”
“You know that how, exactly?”
“Oh …” Should she tell the truth? Might as well … “I accessed the security footage captured during the ‘home invasion,’ as they say in America. And let me tell you: The rhetoric is accurate.”
“Got it,” K’Marah says. “You were saying?”
“It just seems so … unfair.”
“And a bit cruel, if you ask me,” K’Marah replies.
“Cruel?”
“Absolutely. If your mother and brother know you as well as I do—and I would hope that’s the case—they would know that keeping this kind of information from you basically amounts to cruel and usual punishment. You practically fall to pieces when you don’t know something—”
“Oh, shut up.” But Shuri smiles and wipes her face. “And here I thought you were going to say something of merit.”
“Whatever, Princess. You’re only mad because it’s true.”
The girls lapse into silence, both a bit more relaxed now. They are crossing over the baobab plain and passing the Sacred Mound. Shuri sighs a circle of fog on the window, wishing above all else that she and K’Marah could just go to her lab.
“So, ummm … where exactly is this ‘Makao’ thing we’re being whisked off to?” K’Marah asks.
“Your guess is as good as mine. We could be headed to that base in London for all I know. Clearly nobody tells me anything these days.”
“Henny reached out to me,” K’Marah blurts, seemingly out of nowhere.
The words take a few moments to register in Shuri’s brain—there’s more jostling around in there for her attention than usual. But once they do? Her head whips right so fast, it’s a wonder it doesn’t fly from her shoulders.
“Say what?”
“I was trying to tell you at Upanga. But then the siren sounded and we got rushed out. He sent me a message—”
But that’s all she gets out. Because there’s a crackle of static before a voice comes over the intercom: “Prepare for landing, ladies. We have reached our destination.”
* * *
The princess outright refuses to exit the hoverjet.
“No way,” she says, shaking her head. “I am not going in there.”
“Oh, where’s your sense of adventure, Princess?” K’Marah asks, face alight with excitement.
In front of them looms a structure Shuri’s only been to once. And it was for a thing she’s not very keen on being forced to remember: Baba’s burial.
“Nope,” she asserts again, staring up at the Necropolis. Wakanda’s city of the dead, and the final resting place of every person to carry the mantle of Black Panther. “Not happening.”
Multiple hundred-foot-tall stone slabs jut out of the ground at an angle—almost like the wind tried to blow them over but gave up. In fact, seeing the telltale Stonehenge-style slanted boulders, which are shaped like spearheads, reminds Shuri of the question that would always pop up anytime she thought of the mysterious burial grounds: Where had the stones comes from, and how had they been erected?
She’s almost tempted to ask … but then remembers that the adults want her and K’Marah to go in there.
Wherever in there actually is. She certainly doesn’t see a building.
“Shuri—” K’Marah begins. But the princess cuts her off.
“Nope.” She crosses her arms. “No way.”
“You will be safe here, Your Majesty,” Ayo says. “There is a space specifically designed for such a time as—”
“Such a time as what, Ayo?” says Shuri, frustration boiling over. “K’Marah and I don’t even know what’s going on!”
At this, Ayo sighs and rests her hands on the princess’s shoulders, then locks her in a gaze Shuri can’t seem to break. “I know this is a lot to take in, Shuri. But unprecedented times call for unprecedented measures,” the Dora says. “The moment we have a handle on the situation, I will tell you everything you’d like to know. You have my word. For now, you and K’Marah will be safe here—”
“Wait, you’re leaving?” K’Marah cuts in.
“Not for long,” Ayo replies. “I am needed in the city, but I shall return for you both as soon as possible. As I mentioned, the safe house here was made for a situation like this one. You have to trust me.”
Shuri exhales and lets her chin drop. Accepting defeat. “All right,” she says, not feeling all right at all, but not seeing any other options. “Lead the way, I guess,” she says to Ayo.
The other woman nods and turns to head toward the stones.
* * *
To both Shuri’s and K’Marah’s shock, the Makao is small but well appointed.
The entrance is tucked beneath the second-tallest slanted boulder—and thankfully a comfortable distance away from the Panther mausoleum—and after a descent down a short set of stairs and walk up a cave-like hallway (not unlike the one that leads to Shuri’s lab), the girls are led into what amounts to a small apartment. There’s a tiny living area with a state-of-the-art curved-screen television; a completely stocked kitchen; a bedroom with two large, pillow-covered beds; and a full washroom, fluffy linens included.
As soon as Ayo leaves and they hear the dead bolt on the massive steel door click into place, Shuri drops down onto the small sofa. “Well, this is certainly better than the palace bunker,” she says.
“Don’t think I realized the palace had a bunker. Though now that you’ve said it, of course it does.” K’Marah unhooks her silver neck cuff and removes the titanium plates from her shoulders and forearms. She lets the implements fall to the floor and then plops down beside the princess. “Bast, those things are uncomfortable,” she says—then immediately claps her hands over her mouth.
“Ahh … are you all right?” Shuri asks.
K’Marah lowers her voice to a whisper. “I don’t think I’m supposed to say that.”
At this, Shuri laughs.
“What’s so funny??” K’Marah balks.
But Shuri can’t stop laughing now. All of it is so utterly ridiculous. From some black-clad creep getting into the most fortified building in the nation, to her and her (semi) official Dora Milaje best friend being trapped in a fancy underground cave within Wakanda’s most sacred cemetery. Completely in the dark as to why.
“How absurd it all is, K’Marah,” she says. Then she slides down into the couch and shuts her eyes. The past few days and lack of sleep settle over her, practically pressing her down into the cushions. “Go on with your story.”
“My story?”
“Yes. About the message you received and failed to immediately share with me.” Shuri yawns. “You know: from the boy who almost wiped out the heart-shaped herb.”
“Shuri—”
“What did it say, K’Marah?”
But whether or not K’Marah answers, Shuri doesn’t know. While K’Marah continues to ramble on, she’s out like a light.
* * *
Shuri …
The voice that filters into Shuri’s mind is quiet but insistent.
Shuri! You have to wake up …
Then comes a sense of pressure around her forearm. It gets tighter …
Shuri, wake UP, please …
Tighter …
SHURI!
“Oww!” Shuri snatches her arm away from K’Marah, fully awake now …
And immediately freezes.
“What is it, Shuri?” K’Marah whispers.
But Shuri can’t speak. Because there, in front of the girls—inside their “safe house,” the door of which is standing open—is a person cloaked in a stretchy suit like T’Challa’s Panther habit, but all black.
Just like in Shuri’s dream.
Unlike the person in Shuri’s dream, however, this … creature (or is it the creature’s suit?) has a face: Large, white crescent-shaped eyes sit above an oversize mouth … full of row upon row of horrifyingly sharp teeth.
Its shoulders heave just as they did in the short security clip.
“I’m dreaming,” Shuri says. “Must be. What time is it? This is a dream, yes?”
“It’s”—K’Marah taps a Kimoyo bead to check the time—“two seventeen. In the morning. And no …” she says. “Not a dream.”
“It has to be. Because we’re in the Makao, or whatever it’s called, aren’t we? A safe house? Where no one—or no … thing—can find us?”
“We are clearly very much found, Shuri,” K’Marah says. Then …
“OWW!” from the princess. “Why are you pinching me, K’Marah?”
“See? Totally real. You felt that pinch. What do we do?”
Panic expands in Shuri’s throat, making it impossible for her to speak.
“Shuri?”
The creature takes a step toward them.
Both girls scream—
And it takes a step back and crouches down, slapping its hands over where ears would be on a normal human head.
Which gives Shuri pause. “Sensitivity to sound?” she says, now more curious than afraid.
“Not sure …” K’Marah replies. “Should we scream again?”
“No,” the princess says. Because something occurs to her: The girls are still very much alive. She’d been sleeping, for Bast’s sake. Easy prey. And K’Marah clearly wasn’t posing any threat. “I don’t think it wants to hurt us,” she deduces.
“WE,” comes a voice that sounds like it’s been gargling gravel (definitely not like in her dream).
“Huh?” from Shuri.
“WE,” the creature repeats.
“Are you going to eat us?” K’Marah blurts.
Shuri jabs her friend with an elbow. “K’Marah! Rude!”
“We kind of need to know, don’t we?”
“We just want gem,” the scary spider guy cuts in.
“Who is we?” K’Marah says as Shuri says, “What gem?”
He looks back and forth between them as if trying to decide who to answer.
Shuri squeezes K’Marah’s hand. “We’re sorry, Mr.… what was your name?”
“Name … not important,” he says. “Need gem.”
“Forgive my ignorance, but … what gem, exactly?”
“Nebular gem,” he replies.
Nebular gem? Shuri’s never heard of such a thing. Could that be in the vault of relics? “Do you … know where it is?” she asks.
“You have,” he says, pointing right at her.
“Uhhhh …”
“Whatever it is, just give it to him,” K’Marah says. “We have far too much promise to be eaten by a monster—”
“WE NOT MONSTER!” he yells, stepping forward.
“Okay, okay!” from K’Marah.
“Can it, Little Dora!” Shuri says through clenched teeth. Then she takes a deep breath, knowing that what she’s about to say is true, but also knowing this nameless person (creature?) probably isn’t going to like it.
Lying, however, doesn’t feel like the right thing to do.
“I’m sorry.” She manages to shove past the expanding knot in her throat. “I truly don’t have what you’re looking for.”
At first, he doesn’t respond, just stares at Shuri like he’s gauging whether or not she’s telling the truth.
Then he steps back and nods.
“Princess no have on person … We will find.”
And he bounds out the open door into the darkness beyond.
THERE IS A HIGH PROBABILITY THAT WE WILL REGRET IT, BUT WHEN AYO RETURNED FOR K’MARAH AND ME—NOT UNTIL THE NEXT MORNING, MIND YOU—WE MADE NO MENTION OF OUR SPECIAL VISITOR.
This is not a decision my Dora Karami and I came to lightly, but after one hour and thirty-four minutes of debrief followed by four hours of fitful sleep in what were surprisingly comfortable beds—we decided it was the wisest choice. For one, it is as clear as acetic acid that despite our saving the nation, rescuing a cadre of girl geniuses from certain doom, AND creating the invisible dome that will keep our country safe from unwanted visitors (this one excluded, obviously), the adults still don’t trust that my Dora Karami and I can handle this sort of thing. Also apparent: He is far too much for THEM to handle—he managed to get to US while everyone in the capital was looking for HIM.
Once back inside the hoverjet, Ayo gave us a quick rundown of what was going on. “At the request of your brother,” she said (thank Bast SOMEONE finally recognized my need to know these things as a member of the royal family). Of course, some of it I already knew from my sleuthing … but here’s a full recap of what she said.
Two nights ago, an intruder managed to subvert all security measures and access the palace. (Aware of this, obviously.)
He avoided tripping any alarms until he reached a hallway where he paused for a second too long. (Was not aware of the alarm bit; did know about the pause.)
