Chapter Eleven: Kai
Kai felt lighter as he walked through the courtyard. It was the first time things were actually going his way, which made part of him wonder when something was going to go wrong. He wasn’t this lucky, was he?
“Excuse me, young man?” Several people turned to look at him.
Kai sighed. No, he wasn’t. He stopped, but didn’t turn around.
“We would like to have a word with you before you go.” It was that Ralph guy.
With a sigh, Kai followed Ralph back through the now thinning crowds. The woman was also waiting and the giant hall had been cleared so that something as quiet as a sniff would echo. It had a nice echo too and Kai would have been interested in finding out what the echo of other noises would sound like, but the woman glared at him.
“While we are delighted that you have been chosen as a companion, you are not on our list of approved companions. Perhaps you would like to explain why you were here today.”
“I saw the crowd and wanted to know why they were there.” Kai shifted his gaze from the woman to Ralph. It was mostly the truth.
Ralph opened his mouth and it stayed open waiting for a fly to enter or something. “Where--what are--you never told us what you think of the Compound?” he finally asked, as if someone had smacked him in the back of the head freeing him from an overloaded thought processor.
“I’ve heard of it, it’s a company, right? Somewhere outside the city.”
“An empire of science labs and a pharmaceutical supplier. Do you know anything else about them?” Ralph asked.
Kai shook his head. He’d heard people mention it around the food kitchens and thought they provided some cure to everyone.
Ralph watched him for a moment then asked, “If the Compound was destroyed, would you care?”
“Not really,” Kai said. This answer seemed to satisfy them and he was allowed to leave for the second time with another warning not to be late tomorrow morning.
He hadn’t taken more than five steps out of the courtyard when he saw Noah making a beeline toward him. It figured. His luck was all used up.
Noah stopped when he saw Kai. “What are you doing here?” he asked, his face showing true surprise.
“I was finding a ruby like the T-Man asked me to,” Kai said. “Why? What are you doing here?”
“It’s none of your business,” Noah said. He frowned and stepped closer to the wall. “Do you have it?”
“Not yet.”
“If I were you I’d make sure I had it soon. This is very important to the T-Man and he won’t be in a forgiving mood if you fail him.”
“Don’t worry about me,” Kai said. He took a step away from Noah. “Remember we’re not friends.”
Kai crossed the street and walked past several shops before looking back. Noah was still watching him, with his head tilted to the side and a small frown on his face. For a brief moment Kai wondered what Noah was doing, but his stomach reminded him that it was empty.
He spent the rest of the day searching the dumpsters in the area and he managed to find a package of cheese, still wrapped, in a dumpster two streets away. Once he broke off the moldy ends it was pretty good. Not completely filling, but his stomach wasn’t growling every time he moved and he could loosen his belt a notch.
That night he slept in an alley between two buildings across the street from the courtyard. He didn’t want to risk the chance of being late because of running through the streets. But he shouldn’t have worried. His eyes opened every sixty minutes when the clock over a bank down the street chimed out the hour. Finally, at five he stopped trying to sleep, sat up and watched the sky lighten as the near sun began to rise.
Kai had heard that Earth only had one sun, but he preferred having two. The warmth both suns provided kept Beta Earth from experiencing frozen winters, which meant that Kai never had to worry about finding shelter or stashing blankets. There were months when the near sun and far sun did not travel together and the sky was light for the majority of their thirty-two hour day, but not today. The far sun rose within a half hour of the near sun and the city heated as it brightened.
When the clock chimed six Kai stood and crossed the street. He was going to miss the bread kitchen again, but he was not going to be late for this. The gateway was open so he crossed into the courtyard, but when he did an alarm sounded and a man in a security uniform burst out of the security room, a stun gun raised and armed.
“This is a specialized area. You are not allowed to be in here,” he said.
“I’m a bit early. I was told to come here at seven to meet that girl,” he said. He straightened up, but stayed where he was.
“I suggest you meet her outside then.”
“But I have to sign papers and stuff.”
“That’s not my concern. You do not have clearance for this area. You have to leave.”
“Look,” Kai said. This guy was not going to keep him from getting that ruby. “I’m one of the companions for that girl who’s visiting the city. I was told to come here at seven this morning and I can’t be late.”
“You need to leave!”
The man wasn’t listening.
“I’m not leaving until you talk to someone.” Kai spread his legs keeping to the balls of his feet in case the guy tried to rush him or zap him.
The man’s eyes narrowed, but he pressed the communication bug in his ear and contacted someone in the main building. Kai hoped it was someone who knew more than this guy did. At first it didn’t sound promising, but then the man’s responses changed to “yes sir” and “I’ll bring him right in.”
The man motioned for Kai to walk ahead of him. He was probably afraid that Kai would stab him in the back or something. The courtyard was different without the crowds. The walls stood taller and the stones made each noise echo as he walked to the other end.
He recognized the woman from yesterday standing in the doorway by the time he got to the huge doors.
“We’re going to have to do something to keep this from happening,” she said. They stopped by an office long enough for her to pick up a clear chip which she held out to him.
“We will connect this to the one Ms. Tobin has. You will not be able to buy anything, but you will be able to accompany her wherever she may want to go.”
Kai nodded. He’d seen cards like this on rich kids before. Some even allowed kids to shop on their own with their parents’ account, rarely full access, but normally partial access.
“Also, since you are the only full-time companion she has approved, we will require you to be with her at all times. If you leave her side, you will forfeit your pay.” She wagged her finger in Kai’s face. “Understand?”
“Sure,” Kai said.
Then she ushered him into a small room where they had him fill out a small stack of paper work. They tried explaining it to him, but the only thing Kai understood was that if he didn’t sign all those papers he would not get paid. It took him thirty minutes, because they would interrupt him to take his fingerprints and a heat signature, but when the woman finally grunted her approval and told him to wait in the courtyard, it was only a minute or two before the doors opened and the girl, Caryn, stepped out.
The sun lit up her blond hair and gave a glow to her skin that hadn’t been there before. Her white clothes and matching shoes also seemed to glow in the sun, but it may have been the reflective properties inside the cloth. She immediately spotted him, even though he was standing to the side, and when she smiled Kai felt warmth curling inside.
“I’m sorry. It looks like the doctor won’t be available this morning, but he will contact you in the afternoon. Here’s your itinerary for today,” the woman said, handing a piece of paper that Caryn placed in her pocket.
“Thank you,” she said, then turning to Kai she asked, “Are you ready?”
“Yeah,” Kai said. His voice sounded higher than normal and he tried to cover it by clearing his throat. “What would you like to do?”
??
?Have you eaten breakfast?”
“No.”
“Then let’s take care of that.” She started walking down the steps and Kai kept pace with her. “Where do you normally go?”
“To eat? I don’t--the places I go aren’t, you know....” Kai paused. The bread kitchen was no longer open and he wasn’t going to go dumpster diving with a girl dressed in white. He tried to think of the places normal people might go for a meal.
“There’s a diner several blocks that way.” He pointed toward the suns.
“It sounds perfect.”
They walked through the gate and Caryn laughed.
Kai glanced over at her.
“I can’t believe I’m here, in the city,” she said. She walked with her head bent back to stare at the buildings. “The sky is so blue! I always thought it had more of a grayish tint because of the dome we live under.”
“You don’t get out much?”
“I never get out, especially not by myself.”
“You should tell your parents to relax,” he said, he motioned for her to follow him across the street.
“I don’t have parents, I mean, I don’t know them. Everyone has parents.” She paused as if there was more she wanted to say, but then thought better of it and her mouth closed.
“Me either.”
“Who takes care of you?” she asked, her brow knitted together.
“I do.” He could see the concern in her eyes and shrugged his shoulder. They walked the next block in silence. The smell of bacon, eggs and muffins filled the air and made Kai’s knees weak. As they drew closer to the diner it took all his concentration to keep from groaning at the way his stomach twisted with each breath.
The door opened for them and they entered. A white-haired man showed them to a small table by the window and gave them menus.
“Go ahead and order whatever you want,” Caryn said.
“Really?” Was he still asleep and dreaming about this?
She nodded and returned her attention back to the menu.
The same man returned and took their orders. Kai didn’t hear what she ordered all he could think about was the list of food and how much could he eat and how much he could keep down.
“What do you want?” the man asked him.
“I’ll take your pancake special, your egg special with extra sides of bacon and sausage and a big plate of hash browns.”
“Is that all?” the man asked, his hand poised over pad.
“For now.”
Kai watched the man walk away and then jerked back to Caryn. She gave him a small smile, touched her silver necklace and leaned back in her chair. When the food was brought out there were more plates than Kai thought he ordered, but that didn’t keep him from eating as much as he could from all of them.
Kai scrapped his fork against the last plate gathering any leftover crumbs. He sighed and pushed it away. The skin around his stomach was stretched thin and he had to loosen his old belt to the first notch.
“You must have been hungry,” Caryn said. She picked up his plates, stacking them on top of each other and then added her plate to the top.
“So, what now?” Kai asked.
She walked over to the brochures displayed on the countertop, picked one out and asked, “Have you ever been to the Space Travel Museum?”
“No, but I hear it’s really popular with the tourist groups and it sounds interesting enough.”
“Good,” she said. “Then we can both see it together for the first time.” She stood and started to walk away. It took Kai a moment to push out of his chair and he needed several long strides to catch up with her once they left the diner.
They weaved through the tourists and past the shops following the signs for the museum until they reached a high fence of fancy metal bars. The fence completely surrounded the museum, but when they reached the front gate it was locked.
“It must be closed,” Kai said.
“No,” Caryn said, pointing to a sign on the gate. “It says it is under reconstruction.”
“I hope this week wasn’t your only chance 'cause there’s no way we can see it now.”
“This is my only chance,” Caryn said and she began to shake the main gate. Kai took a step back glancing up and down the street for cops. She was going to get them both arrested if she kept this up. To his relief Caryn let go of the gate, but then she turned to the security box and pressed the call button.
“The museum is closed,” said a voice from the box.
“Yes, I know,” Caryn said. “My friend and I would like a private tour.”
“I’m sorry. Private tours are not allowed at this time. Please come back at another date,” the voice said.
“Can you see me?” Caryn asked. Her body squared to the box and she held up her hand. Kai caught a flash of something gold in her palm. “I would appreciate it if you could contact your superior and ask if an exception could be made in this instance.”
“One moment,” the voice said.
They stood there for five minutes staring at the dark marble pillars at the front of the museum. Stone steps leading up to the door and the large courtyard fountain reminded Kai of the Greek temples he had been told about when he was at the orphanage. The suns were starting to heat the city and Kai could feel sweat forming on his forehead. Caryn looked completely calm standing perfectly straight. Then the front door of the museum opened. A security guard, dressed in blue, walked quickly down the steps and across the courtyard. As he reached the gate he whipped out some keys, pressed his finger to a scanner and proceeded to unlock the gate.
“The museum is honored to have you visit us,” the guard said, as he held the gate open for Caryn to pass. Kai was holding his breath and when Caryn motioned for him to join her he slowly let it out. He caught another flash of gold, but this time he was looking for it and he saw she had a gold card. She was a year younger than him and she had a gold card! He had a sneaky suspicion that he had just agreed to hang out with royalty.