Baptism by Fire, Stacey Doss [reading rainbow books .txt] 📗

Chapter One

Arlissa sat on the front step with her arms wrapped around her legs and chin on her knees, waiting for her father. He was running late, and her worry was turning to fear. There were Merculonians in the area, after all.

The sun dipped below the horizon to her left and she was bathed in twilight. “Where are you, Papa?” Soon it’d be too dark to cross the Barrens safely. She shuddered as she thought of the men and women who had died over the years in that desolate, dangerous stretch of quicksand and marshes. Tears stung here eyes as she thought of her father joining their ranks.

She blinked the tears from her eyes and squinted, trying to see the point where their path joined the one safe trail through the Barrens. There! A tiny speck was quickly growing larger. A traveler, enveloped in dust, made his way toward her. Arlissa jumped up and took a hop-step to start running. After two steps her heart jumped into her throat and she stumbled to a stop. There was more than one coming; the dust was too plenteous, even in this drier dormant season. Who was with her father?

She tucked a strand of red-gold hair behind her ear. Three figures emerged from the dust cloud. The lithe, tall figure of her father was easily recognizable. So were the squat, square, muscular figures of the other two: Merculonians!

She spun and dashed to the house, sliding on the thick dust which coated the ground. She whipped open the door, slamming it against the house, and tore inside. The crash of the door slamming closed echoed through the house and the walls shuddered from the double impact.

A middle-aged woman, just barely taller than Arlissa, bustled into the room and stopped the panicked girl. “What’s going on?” she asked as she wiped her hands on her apron.

“Mercs, Mama Joila! Papa’s brought home Mercs!”

Joila’s face relaxed. “Of course, Honey. He’s working on some negotiations and didn’t want to get stuck in the city tonight, so he invited them to dinner.”

“What?!”

“Hush! You’ll wake Jor, if you haven’t already.”

“They’re coming to dinner

?"

“Yes. Now go get cleaned up.”

“Is Papa crazy?”

Joila’s face lost its smile. “Arlissa…”

“I don’t want them here. They’re filthy, disease-ridden murderers.”

“They are not, Arlissa.” Joila’s voice became stern.

“You don’t know; you weren’t there!” she cried as she turned to escape down the hall. Her eyes met her father’s as he walked through the front door. He’d obviously heard her outburst, because his normally crinkly eyes were cold and hard. Arlissa broke contact and ran sobbing to her room.

She threw herself across the bed and buried her face in the pillow. A soft knock preceded her step-mother’s voice. “Arlissa, please come to dinner.”

“No!”

“Honey, please. This is important to your father.”

“Leave her be, Joy.”

“But, Kerl…”

“She’ll only make things worse. Come, meet our guests.” His soft voice stung her more than yelling would have.

“He doesn’t care!” she thought bitterly as she heard them move down the hall. She buried her face in her pillow.

There had been a time when he cared about what she wanted or thought. But that was before her mother died. Now, all he cared about was the next shipment of ore. He was bringing sickness and death into his home, and he was unconcerned.

She rolled over and sat up, legs dangling off the edge of the bed. He probably didn’t even care anymore that it was the Mercs that caused her mother’s death. Now that he had a new wife, he probably didn’t even think about Abrigana Shanto T’delona anymore. Four years after her death, and she was barely a memory.

Arlissa remembered her, though, and the pain was as sharp as the day she died. Arlissa had been barely fourteen when her mama passed, and the last few weeks of her mother’s life were etched deeply in Arlissa’s mind.


They were headed home. It had been a wonderful vacation, just her and Mama, at the resort on Je’ble. Two amazing weeks were spent poolside, surrounded by lush palm fronds, plate-sized hibiscus blossoms, and chattering birds of every color. The pool was long and irregular, following the contours of the Carcoa Mountains and being fed by a cool spring which bubbled from deep underground.

Mama had not swum with her this time. In fact, she seemed slightly jumpy and distracted, but Arlissa attributed this to the argument her parents had had prior to their leaving. They didn’t typically have arguments, at least as far as Arlissa knew, so this one was a big deal. She’d almost forgotten, though, after two weeks of fun, except for Mama’s lack of focus at times.

They were going to stop at Merculon first. When she asked why, Mama had told her it was business for Papa. Arlissa didn’t understand her father’s work; she only knew that Papa needed ore that was mined from Merculon to power the shield which protected their planet. Papa was some security guy or something, but Arlissa was never quite sure because neither of her parents would share anything about their work with her. Why Papa couldn’t make this trip himself, Arlissa didn’t know. Why should he ruin their fun by asking Mama to work on the way home? They’d landed about breakfast time, so they ate on the ship before venturing out.

Arlissa had never been to Merculon, but she’d heard hundreds of stories about how bleak and desolate it was. Still, she was excited to see this crazy planet. They were a poor race, these Merculonians, but occasionally one or two would find the means to make a trip to Sha’ilona to meet with her father, so Arlissa was familiar with the people, at least.

She stepped off the ship and found herself surrounded by various shades of black. The ground was a dusty gray-black, broken here and there by obsidian boulders speckled with diamond-like flecks. Mountains surrounded them like great rotten teeth. Even the sky was dark with angry-looking, roiling storm clouds.

She squeezed closer to her mother, frightened by the dark emptiness. “Where is everyone?” she heard her mother mutter under her breath. They picked their way across the littered ground toward a huge cave in the side of the nearest mountain to their right. Arlissa’s knees shook and she stumbled over rocks strewn across their path. The silence was eerie, and shivers skittered up and down her spine. The wind was hot and dry and smelled of sulfur. It was as if Death itself was breathing its foul breath upon them.

They were a few yards away from the yawning mouth of the cave when a Merculonian shuffled out of the darkness within. He was hunched and staggered toward them. Mama put her arm out, stopping Arlissa, and asked, “What’s wrong, Buror?”

“Sickness, Mum. Bad sickness. Come no closer.”

“Arlissa, go back to the ship and wait for me there. Tell Khaloon I’ll be back later.” Arlissa looked up at her mother’s face, saw fear and concern etched around her eyes and mouth, and decided to not argue. She turned and fled, stumbling over the loose stones scattered around the area.

Arlissa picked up her sketchbook and charcoal, and slumped into a chair in her suite. She was worried about her mother and wanted to go find her, but she was more frightened to leave. She sketched to take her mind off of her mother’s absence. Hours later, with stomach rumbling, she looked over the pictures she’d drawn. They were of open mouths full of black rotted teeth dripping blood and bony fingers reaching up from the ground to grab her. She whipped her book across the room.

Finally, her mother staggered in just about dinnertime, pale, haggard, her red-gold hair grimy and stringing down her back. Her gown was rumpled and stained. Arlissa ran to her, but Abrigana put up a hand. “Don’t, Arlissa. I don’t want you to get sick.”

“Are you sick, Mama?” she asked, voice shaking. She pressed into the wall, seeking stability in a swiftly tilting world. She had never seen her mother like this.

“No, no, Honey. But I’ve been around the sickness and I could be carrying it. Let me bathe and all will be well.” She staggered down the corridor to her suites across the way from Arlissa’s rooms.

Her mother looked no better at dinner, and Arlissa grew worried. Mama never got sick. Now, she was weak, pale, shaky, and quiet. Mama went to bed after eating only a few bites, and didn’t leave the rooms again the one-and-a-half days it took to fly home.

Papa met them when they landed. How he knew Mama needed him, Arlissa never found out; she assumed Khaloon must have called him on the comm-cell. Papa carried Abrigana to the trolley and held her on his lap as they rolled across the city. In their home, Papa laid her carefully onto the bed and nursed her faithfully and gently for three weeks until she died.

Arlissa knew it was the Mercs. They had given Mama their sickness. Mama tried to help them, and they killed her.

She shook herself. It did no good to dwell on all that. Mama was gone, Papa was remarried, and there was a new baby, Jor. The only thing that hadn’t changed in the last four years was Arlissa’s hatred of the Merculonians.

Jor! She jumped up from the bed. What if Mama Joila had him around the Mercs? He could get sick! She rushed from her room and sprinted down the hall. She just barely passed her parents’ room when she heard a whimper. She skidded to a stop and peeked in. The four-poster bed filled the room, leaving just enough space to open the door. On the other side of the bed, however, there was enough room to pass between it and the cradle which sat against the wall. She walked around the foot of the bed and looked down at the six-month-old. He was beating the air with his fists and kicking his feet against the mattress. His eyes were scrunched and two tears welled up and slithered down his soft cheeks. She reached down and picked him up, snuggling him under her chin.

“Shh, Jor. Lissa’s here.” She grabbed a cloth from the pouch hanging from the nail on the wall, turned, and laid the boy on the big bed. She quickly and deftly changed his diaper, patting his tummy when she was done. She tickled him with her fingertips then blew raspberries on his bare belly. He squealed and kicked his feet and she grabbed them to nibble at his toes. She played with him until his giggles turned to fussy whimpers. She picked him up and carried him to the kitchen.

“Are you hungry, little man?” she asked as she placed him down on the stone floor. He patted the rough stone as she mixed some mush in a small wood bowl.

She didn’t hear any talking from the adjoining dining room and wondered where her parents and their guests had gone. Probably out to the guest house behind their house. Of course the Merculonians would have to spend the night; there was no way they could negotiate the Barrens in the dark, especially since they were unfamiliar with the