The Cloud Roost (Jekua Book 5), page 7
The other thing causing all the muscles in Makénu’s body to tense and his heart to thrash about in his chest was the loss of all that work they’d done. They had successfully rescued the Veptilos, which was great, but now what? How could they access the information on how each experiment went, and how could they perform more wherever they were going? More than anything, Makénu was worried that his efforts to find a cure for strihova were now lost at sea.
When he had expressed these concerns to Madelaine Bloom, the flamboyant woman in charge of this operation, she laughed in his face. “Oh, don’t worry your pretty little head,” she said, batting her long lashes and twirling the ends of her crimson red hair in her finger. “It’s all taken care of.”
He didn’t know what that meant, not in the least, but he also knew better than to question Madelaine. She acted syrupy sweet a majority of the time, but it was a front for how vicious she could turn at a moment’s notice. It was also a fairly typical response from her: vague and only mildly reassuring. She often spoke of things happening in the background but never deigned to give any concrete details, instead forcing her subordinates to trust that it was all under control. Maybe it was because she was a leader, feeling that she had to keep her team’s trust in her that way, or maybe it was simply her personality.
Come to think of it, Makénu wasn’t even positive that she was the leader of the Facet. He’d heard rumors of Madelaine reporting to other people above her, but he’d never heard names, and he’d of course never met them. As far as he knew, Madelaine was the one in charge. She was the only one who interacted with any of them anyway, so she might as well be.
The Facet’s sordid journey across the sea from Yuluhu to Kou Tekkis had taken place nearly two weeks ago now, and Makénu was only just starting to settle in to their new surroundings. Tano had taken to the place quite quickly, and Makénu wished he possessed his boy’s tenacity.
Their collection of ships had come to port on the northern side of Kou Tekkis, tucked away behind the island’s famous mountain range. There was no real dock to speak of, so their small vessels had floated right up to the shore. When they arrived, Tano had marveled at the fine, white grains of sand on the beach. He’d grown up accustomed to Yuluhu’s black sands and had never seen white sand before, except on television.
While they’d had the village of Goa Tonak mostly to themselves on the other island, here they had nothing. The nearest town was a place called Bonoros, further east down the shore, and beyond that was the city of Asanak. Where the Facet had set up shop, however, was far from either of them, secluded in a pocket of land between towering mountains. The roads terminated at Bonoros, and everything to the west of it was forest or beach.
Perhaps saying they had nothing was an exaggeration. To their credit, other members of the Facet had constructed a makeshift village at the base of the Vetteteo Mountains complete with housing, a cafeteria, and what was meant to act as a laboratory. The computers in the lab did not have access to Lakahlo’s servers, which was unfortunate, but it had been someone’s job to periodically back up all their files, so they were only missing documentation from the final few days of the Yuluhu lab. Everything ran off massive generators, and they had no running water, but they were making do. Half of them, the people from Yuluhu, had to drink from pouches connected to their masks anyway. Makénu was admittedly grateful that other minds had been put to building this place rather than himself.
Those great minds had dubbed their little village Garden, in honor of Madelaine Bloom. Makénu wondered if the woman might have had a say in that name. It was certainly her style to name an entire town after herself.
In Garden, Makénu didn’t have many friends. Aside from Madelaine, the only people he was particularly acquainted with were his lab partner Risia and Madelaine’s righthand man Tank, whose appearance was frighteningly similar to his namesake. A lot of people Makénu had considered friends were lost in the assault on the Yuluhu lab. Those Summoners had wreaked havoc on their base, that was true, but the Facet’s defense system—the lighthouse golem—had been the greatest harbinger of destruction. It had torn through the lab like tissue paper, and anyone left inside was long gone. He hoped that Wen and Ola hadn’t suffered too terribly.
There were a few people in the lab he’d gotten to know over the past week, but he wouldn’t yet call them friends. For now, they were merely co-workers. Perhaps that was all they’d ever be. They were nice enough, though; he felt a strong initial attraction to a man named Hataeo, but now he was sure Hataeo did not reciprocate. He was from Na Tana anyway, lacking any marring from strihova. No wonder he wasn’t interested in Makénu.
Aside from Hataeo, he’d also gotten to know twins named San and Marissa. The latter was a lab technician like him, although her expertise was in the specially-crafted suits and summoning masks that the Facet used. Her sister would then take those and run tests (that Makénu had no chance of understanding) to see who among them were most compatible with the tech. It had something to do with a person’s attunement with the Vept, stuff that Makénu couldn’t really grasp.
Regardless, he’d been informed that Tano had such an attunement, so he’d been spending a lot of his time with San. This news had delighted Madelaine, who was always eager to add another Summoner to their ranks, but Makénu was less thrilled. For the moment, though, it was keeping his son’s time occupied and he seemed to be having fun, so he told himself it was okay.
Meanwhile, their progress on using the Veptilos had been halted, so Makénu was struggling to find something with which to occupy his own time. Madelaine didn’t want to risk any accidents messing around with the crystals now that they had a new hypothesis: that it would require all six of the archipelago’s Veptilos to harness the Vept’s untapped and potentially limitless energy.
The Facet had already obtained four of the six Veptilos. A group of Summoners had snuck onto the islet near Totta Island—which was not a particularly difficult mission—and stolen that Veptilo only a few days prior. Now all that was left was to gain Kou Tekkis’s Veptilo and make their way over to Pakree for the final one. He had no idea how they planned to reach the island, which had been cut off from the rest of the world for the past eight years. Every time the question was raised to Madelaine, she deflected, proclaiming that it was all being worked out. No reason to fret.
With Tano out for the day, being fitted for a suit with San, Makénu was strolling through Garden and out toward the nearby beach. While he didn’t share the same amount of enthusiasm as his son, he too was somewhat excited by the sight of the white sands. They glistened beautifully in the sunlight, granting the world a much softer, lighter atmosphere compared to the oppressive nature of Yuluhu.
Honestly, everything about Kou Tekkis felt lighter than Yuluhu. The purple waves seemed more vibrant, the leaves of the trees were more vivid. Even the sky, which he knew logically was no different than the sky on his home island, seemed to be a brighter, cheerier blue. When he was so used to every other piece of plant life being decayed or mutated in some way, in comparison Kou Tekkis felt as if it were brimming with life.
Upon reflection, he realized that this was all normal. This was just how the world was supposed to be. It was Yuluhu that was out of the ordinary, due to years of neglect. He had been contained on that island for so long, depriving himself of the outside world, he’d completely forgotten what the rest of the islands were like.
They were stunning.
Much to his surprise, he found Madelaine and Tank standing near the shore. Madelaine was speaking animatedly while Tank stood listening stoically, looking statuesque. The image was compounded by the fact his skin was covered in a thick, gray hide. His eyes flickered and caught sight of Makénu, and he nodded to him. Madelaine glanced over, her features lighting up, and she gave him a cute wave, beckoning him over.
Perfect, Makénu thought dryly. He’d been bored, sure, but speaking with Madelaine was not exactly the entertainment he’d been seeking out.
But Madelaine Bloom would not be denied. He waved back and started in their direction.
“We’ll finish discussing this later,” she told Tank, then greeted Makénu with a cheery, “Good afternoon! How has your day been? What did you suckle down for lunch today?”
Her favorite thing to do now was ask him which disgusting nutrition pouch he’d most recently eaten. It was like she derived some sick pleasure from knowing that she was able to eat good, real food while others couldn’t. Garden’s cafeteria was equipped to cook food for those who were not from Yuluhu, and it kept stock of various nutrition pouches for the rest.
“Meat and Potatoes,” he replied.
“Oh, yuck!” Madelaine spat, sticking her tongue out. “I am pleased as a peach to not be eating those nasty things anymore.”
To accentuate her words, she breathed in a deep lungful of fresh island air while Makénu and Tank breathed out filtered air through their respirators. The straps of Tank’s mask stretched over the single weeping sores in the middle of each of his cheeks, which had to be exceedingly uncomfortable. Makénu knew the man had no choice in the matter, but he didn’t know how he wasn’t going crazy.
Madelaine then asked, “How’s little Tannykins doing?”
That was her nickname for Tano, which Makénu despised, but again: Madelaine Bloom would not be denied. He replied, “He’s doing fine. He’s with San right now, being fitted for his suit.”
She clapped giddily, a toothy smile stretching across her face, rimmed by red painted lips. “Ahh, how delightful!” she beamed. “You must be a proud daddy today, no?”
No, Makénu thought, but said, “Oh, absolutely.” Under regular circumstances, he would have no feelings one way or the other about Tano deciding to become a Summoner. Becoming a Summoner for the Facet, however, was something else entirely. The thought still made his stomach churn. Surely Madelaine wouldn’t send him off to battle other Summoners or steal Veptilos, though. Not at his age.
Right?
“Well,” Madelaine sighed, “duty calls, I’m afraid. Lots to do if we want to bop on over to Pakree soon. Toodles!” She waggled her fingers at them in a farewell wave and scampered off, back toward Garden.
She left Makénu alone with Tank, who was possibly the last person on the list of everybody in Garden who he would want to be alone with. The enormous man’s personality was exactly as gruff as his exterior, and they had nothing at all in common.
They stared out at the ocean together for a minute. It was possible that Tank was not thinking about Makénu at all—likely, even—while Makénu, on the other hand, felt too awkward to simply break away and head back into town. He didn’t want to come off as rude.
He shifted uncomfortably on his feet, tapping his fingers against the sides of his legs. “So,” he started.
“We don’t gotta talk,” Tank interjected.
Makénu blinked. “Okay.”
If Tank really was a childhood friend of Madelaine’s, then that meant Makénu was roughly twenty years his senior, but the large man’s wrinkled face made him look like an ancient oak. Probably another side effect of the strihova. Seeing his friend still looking so youthful and beautiful probably took a toll on the man; she’d been mercifully spared by the accident, having been off-island at the time. Lucky break.
Makénu furtively glanced at Tank, briefly wondering whether that was another nickname granted by Madelaine, much like Tannykins. He decided to ask, “Do you know how we’re getting to Pakree, by the way?”
Tank huffed a humorless laugh, but did not look away from the lavender sea lapping at the shore. “Yes,” he answered.
That was what Makénu had been expecting. Naturally, Tank was privy to more information than the rest of them. The benefit of being Madelaine Bloom’s go-to guy.
“Care to, uh…share the details?” he ventured.
Another hollow laugh, and this time Tank actually looked over at him. Clear liquid dribbled from the gaping holes in his cheeks, staining the mask’s straps. His own mask obscured it, but Makénu remembered how sour the liquid’s scent was.
“No,” Tank replied simply. Then, “Ms. Bloom will illuminate y’all when she decides it’s time to.” He spoke the word “illuminate” like it was the exact verbiage Madelaine had used with him.
Makénu said, “But she…she does have a plan, right? Things are in motion?”
“You ask a lot of questions.” There was a definitive quality to the statement.
So that was that. Makénu had known it was a long shot, hoping to pry even the tiniest morsel of information from Tank, but still it was disappointing. He hated being stuck in this holding pattern, unable to make progress on the project he’d been working on for so long and also not knowing what the hell their future held. It made him feel adrift. Even his child had a purpose here, while all he could do was walk around town all day, doing nothing.
“Well,” Makénu eventually said once the tension had hit a breaking point, “I suppose I’ll be off. I was going out for a walk anyway.” He didn’t know why he was rambling about his plans. Tank didn’t care.
“Don’t go too far,” the man said, taking Makénu aback. Maybe he did care. He said, “Gotta keep a low profile.”
Ahh. Of course. Tank cared about Garden, about the Facet, about Madelaine. Not him.
“I’ll be careful,” Makénu said. Then he added, “Do you really think we’re in danger here?”
For a moment, Tank didn’t respond, instead adjusting his kayet’s position on his wrist. He was the only person among the Facet’s ranks who used a regular kayet, loaded with real Jekuas, rather than fitting himself into one of those skintight white suits with the diamond-studded masks. “Just don’t go too far,” he repeated.
“Got it,” Makénu said with a nod.
He turned and walked away, leaving Tank to watch the waves by his lonesome.
8
Avalanche
It was their second day on the S.S. Anu, and it had been spent largely like the first. Lots of eating, lots of lounging. She hadn’t realized it before, but it was precisely what Alani needed. Niona was one-hundred percent right. A couple days of peace and quiet, away from thoughts of crystals and the Church and Jekuas.
She sat sprawled out on a chaise lounge up on the deck, basking in the afternoon sun. There were several people chittering about nearby; she overheard two young boys discussing how to defeat a boss in the handheld game they were playing, as well as a woman talking business on her linkpad. Across the way, an elderly couple was laid up in some chairs, reading novels and sipping from long straws stuck in colorful cocktails.
Over by the railing a few feet away stood Brine. The purple, blue-and-orange-specked golem was grasping the white metal rail, clenching his fists. Alani was worried he might break the thing, not knowing his own strength. But he stood motionless, watching the waves roll by. His presence garnered some confused, some worried (some both) looks from other passengers, but Alani was glad to see him abovedeck. He’d spent most of yesterday cooped up in the cabin, and while he might not be able to partake in the ship’s food nor did he contribute to conversation, Alani enjoyed having him around. Ever since the lighthouse battle where his chest got damaged, he’d seemed so morose, which was an emotion that Alani didn’t know coral golems were capable of feeling. In truth, she didn’t know they were truly capable of feeling any emotion. She hoped that seeing him out and about was a sign that his mood was steadily improving.
Balt and Niona were nowhere to be found. Alani thought they might have mentioned going to watch something at the ship’s theater, some mystery film, but she couldn’t remember for sure. Their entire group had gone to watch a weird but entertaining movie called The Lost City of Ithos the night before. It was a science fiction movie about a group of adventurers hopping through the multiverse in an effort to track down some ancient city that had somehow become unstuck in time and space. Usually Alani found such stories hard to follow, but it had been a surprisingly good time. Even though they’d gone straight to the movie after dinner, she and Aeiko had shared a bucket of salty, buttery popcorn.
Aeiko was seated beside her now, reading something on their linkpad. Their face screwed up in concentration, bringing the linkpad closer, as if that would help them comprehend the text better.
“What are you reading?” Alani asked them, breaking the silence they’d shared for the past ten minutes. Relative silence, anyway—it was never truly silent up on the deck, with its perpetual commotion.
She assumed the answer would be something related to kayet technology, scouring Lakahlo’s servers for detailed information or schematics or something along those lines. The night before, Aeiko had spent a good amount of time examining the diamond-studded mask they’d stolen from an unconscious Facet member back on Yuluhu. As they attempted to take the mask apart, they continually stressed that summoning-based technology was not their specialty, and also the fact that they were severely lacking in tools and resources. In the end, as they’d expected, nothing of value was able to be gleaned from the mask. The only conclusion they’d come to was that the material it was made from was durable as all hell.
Their real answer surprised Alani, though. Aeiko finished reading whatever sentence they were on then glanced over at her. “Job postings,” they said, followed by a deep groan.
When she thought about it, that checked out. Given what they’d uncovered about Lakahlo Labs almost two weeks prior, Alani would have been surprised if Aeiko could simply brush it off and continue working there.
“I’m not applying anywhere yet,” they said, “but I wanted to see what sort of stuff was out there. It’s been a long time since I’ve had to go job hunting. Really not looking forward to it.”
