The Lonely Whelk Read online

  Kaia gasped. “Is that normal?” she asked.

  John laughed. “Yes. It’s an effect we’re studying. It only happens to his species, as far as we know. When they come through a Door, they engage this sort of… phoenix effect. You know what a Phoenix is?”

  “It’s some kind of, um, elephant, I think, on Earth that explodes when there’s a full moon. And then a new elephant egg emerges from the ashes of the deceased elephant. Some sort of… um, religious reincarnation theory, I think.” Kaia clutched her notebook tightly to her chest. “Was that close?”

  John laughed. “It’s a bird, not an elephant, but you get the gist. So this species – they’re called Steekards – they turn into ash when they go through a Door. It’s a really weird phenomenon. Then they reappear, really tiny, but they never really disappeared in the first place. They got really small instead. And over the next twenty-four hours they expand back to their normal size. It’s a pretty painful process, I gather, so they try not to do it too much. But they really want to understand it and possibly learn to combat it, so we’ve had quite a few volunteer test subjects.”

  “Is it like travel sickness? Like, Door travel sickness?” Kaia asked.

  “No, Door sickness is an entirely different thing, and altogether unpleasant,” John replied. He clapped his hands once and then gestured to a cluster of young men and women in lab coats. “But before we go much farther, let me introduce you to a few people that you’ll be working with.” He turned to Clyde. “I think your tour is done. Head up to the main security office. Rock will likely be there.”

  “Yes, sir!” Clyde strode confidently back towards the entrance.

  Kaia turned towards the group of students John had just pointed out, and watched as he strode up behind them and stuck his head between the shoulders of two working students.

  “Hi!” he said cheerfully.

  “Whoa!” one of the students called out. “You have got to stop doing that, Mr. John!”

  John laughed. “No I don’t! It’s too fun! Anyway, I’d like for you to meet my new intern, Kaia.”

  “Hi, Kaia,” the group chimed.

  Four young adults stood around a short desk, examining a pile of papers and a series of images. Kaia tried to see what they were working on, but one of the girls covered it up.

  “This is Kenton,” John introduced the first young man on the left. “He’s the lead on the project they are working on currently – my new Door theory. I think I’ll call it…” He put his finger on his lip. “Triple Bridge Theory... or no, no, maybe One Door Cubed Theory.”

  “You can’t attach a number to it,” Kaia reminded him. “Not if in one direction you can go to everywhere.”

  “Ah, good point.” John gazed at the ceiling for a moment, and then raised one finger dramatically in the air. “I’ve got it!” he announced. The students leaned in slightly. “Infinite Bridge Theory!”

  One of the students sighed loudly. It was Boris, from class. “Everything doesn’t have to have a dramatic name,” he grumbled. “Door Theory 2 would do just fine.”

  “Quit being boring,” John said, one eyebrow bouncing up his forehead in irritation. “I can fire you for being boring.”

  Boris scowled.

  “Anyway,” John continued. “Obviously you know Boris. These other two lovely ladies are Olivia and Naytiri. Kenton is an expert in physics, Boris—”

  “I can tell her myself,” Boris interrupted. “I’m a whiz at biology, specifically Walton’s Theory of Regenerative Mitosis and the Campbelly and Restafudd Theorem.”

  Kaia nodded politely. She had aced those theories in secondary school. She hoped Boris knew more than just that.

  “Thank you, Boris,” John said. One of his eyebrows twitched. “Olivia is our primeval biologist—”

  “Do these Doors travel in time, too?” Kaia gasped. She cleared her mind and pictured a white board, and then began to frantically calculate in her head; her hand began to flap against her leg in a frenzied rhythm, like an interestingly-coloured fish that suddenly found itself transported from its warm and soothing habitat to an awful, dry place where there was no water, no food, and definitely nothing to breathe. In fact, due to the unfortunate location of one Door, this had actually happened to many fish. The fish called it Fish Hell.

  “Stop!” John slapped her gently on the side of the head. “No calculating. Don’t you dare figure it out before me. Besides, I need you to focus on what you’ll be working on. I have geniuses (not as genius as me, of course) working on time theory and I don’t need your brain to explode.”

  “Okay!” Kaia scowled. Her hand stopped smacking her leg. “I was just doing a little math, is all.”

  “You are not allowed to do math without my permission.”

  Kaia’s frown deepened.

  “Okay, well, not extreme math, anyway.” John put his hands on his hips. “We won’t go any further until you promise.”

  “Just extreme math?” Kaia asked. “Up to my discretion?”

  John sighed loudly. “I suppose. But I have a say, too.”

  “Hey, are you going to finish introducing us?” Kenton interrupted. “Because we actually have a deadline, here.”

  “Oh, my apologies.” John shook his head once as if to clear it and turned back to the group. “Great. Um, this here is Naytiri and she’s…” John glanced at Kaia and hesitated. “I probably shouldn’t tell you what she does or you might start calculating again.”

  “I’m a primordial biologist,” Naytiri interjected. “We study plants and geologic formations from our respective eras in order to learn more about how different planets evolved or were created.”

  Kaia gave John a look which said, “I’m not going to do the same math twice,” smiled at Naytiri, and said, “Nice to meet you.”

  Naytiri smiled and began to skim one of her documents.

  “So here’s what’s going to happen,” John said. “Kenton, you especially pay attention. I’m going to take Kaia-kee to show her everything else, introduce her to other people, etc., and then she will be shadowing your group tomorrow. Which is good because, assuming you’re all on schedule…” he paused and gave them a piercing look. No one met his eyes. “...you’ll be doing a lot of math tomorrow and she can help with that. You will answer all her questions and explain everything you’re doing. Understand?”

  “Yessir,” Kenton replied.

  “Great.” John gave a little hop, spun around, and took off towards the center of the melee.

  Kaia gave a little wave. “Nice to meet you,” she said at the group of students, and then ran after John.

  It took Maxwell some time to calm down from the incident at the Globe. He had often gone key hunting there, but never been confronted by security. Something must have changed in the building… that’s what it was. Someone didn’t have enough to do.

  He began walking slowly towards the residential neighborhood. Soon, he would need to meet with Perla and her people, but before then, he had to come up with another plan for getting in the building. After all, that was his part of the deal.

  “I can’t believe it didn’t work! I was just going to grab a key and get out of there,” he said to Maddy.

  “Why didn’t you take one a while ago?” Maddy asked. “He wouldn’t have noticed.”

  Maxwell opened his mouth three times, as if surprised.

  “I can’t believe I didn’t think of that!” he berated himself. “Of course! If I had just taken one of the keys originally, John would have thought that he had forgotten where he hid it and gotten another one.” He slapped his forehead with the palm of his hand. “Oh well. There’s no use worrying about it now.”

  He sighed and turned down a narrow alley between two old Earth-Victorian-style houses. This whole neighborhood was built to mimic home designs used by various people on Earth and Velima, and Maxwell found it all to be simply gaudy. Too much frillery, too much colour, and too much nonsense.

  He led Maddy up to an old wooden door leading in
to the basement on their left, and knocked three times.

  “Go away!” a voice replied.

  “I can’t,” Maxwell said. “The traffic is too heavy and there might be thugs outside. I would offer to pay you, but I can’t afford a bribe.”

  “It’s ‘there might be rain outside,’ not ‘there might be thugs outside,’” the man inside replied. “We changed it last night. Come in.”

  The sound of sixteen locks being unlatched bled through the wooden door.

  “Are you adding locks?” Maxwell asked as he stepped into the cellar.

  “Perla added three last week,” said a husky but rather short man with a red beard and a hat shaped like a cartoon character. He drank chocolate milk out of a carton so small it was nearly invisible amid all of his carrot-sized fingers. He waved his other hand towards the back. “You can go on in.”

  Maxwell planted his feet shoulder-width apart, crossed his arms, and glared at the man. “Well, Ralph?” he demanded.

  Ralph sighed loudly. “Hello, Maddy. It’s good to see you again.”

  “Thank you,” Maxwell said. “You need to learn to mind your manners.”

  Maxwell entered the room, casually ignoring the other individuals seated on boxes, crates, and the floor. One young woman appeared to be homeless. That was Fox. She wasn’t actually homeless, they all knew, but she made more money in a day peddling as a blind homeless woman than most make in a year. Lord J stood idly in the back of the room, sipping something out of a wine glass. He dressed in gentleman’s clothes and typically wore a hat. No one quite knew what he did. Twelve-year-old Tink sat on the floor in the back, counting money, and nearby Godfrey lay bundled up in old blankets. He was snoring. Tink was the group’s best pickpocket, and Godfrey counted cards. There were other members of Perla’s crew, but she kept her various cells separate, as far as Maxwell knew.

  “Where’s Bad Face?” Maxwell asked. “And Perla?”

  “They’re on the way,” Lord J replied.

  “Maddy,” Maxwell said. “You can sit right there.” He gestured to an empty crate.

  Fox sniggered. “Still got old Maddy following you around. You know you oughta just dump her.”

  Maxwell scowled at Fox. “Maddy is a valuable asset. It’s too bad I can’t say the same about you!”

  “Bad Face!” Ralph called from the other room.

  Fox stood up as Bad Face entered the room. “Hello there, hunk!” she exclaimed. “Come sit over here, by me.”

  The large man with an over-sized belly and a massive tattoo of a pink rabbit on one bicep ignored her, heading instead for Lord J. His skin was a medium brown, and massive scars crisscrossed his entire face, which scowled as if ready to murder every living thing he could find. One eye was entirely missing. He was Perla’s bodyguard and assassin. Lord J handed him the half-empty wine glass without a sound.

  “Hello, my friends,” came a woman’s voice from the doorway. Everyone turned.

  “Perla!” Maxwell growled. “It’s about time you got here.”

  She turned towards him, frowning. “Have you done as I asked?”

  “No. The keys have been removed.” He gulped, wishing he had thought of a new plan.

  “One thing!” Perla stated angrily. She strode forward, stopping directly in front of him with her hands on her hips. “I asked you to do one thing! Well, so be it. I have an additional task, then, to replace the one you failed to do. But first...”

  She turned to gaze at the group seated around her.

  “You’re all out.”

  The group gave a resounding, “What?”

  “Out, I said. I only need Bad Face and Lord J for this mission.”

  “And me,” Maxwell interjected.

  “Of course,” Perla said noncommittally. “And you. Everyone else – out.”

  Grumbling, Tink and Godfrey pulled themselves up off the floor. Tink gathered the money she had been counting into her pockets rapidly as she stood.

  “Seriously? You don’t need me?” Fox demanded. “I was looking forward to this!”

  “There has been a change in plans, and I am telling you to go. Please dismiss Ralph on your way out the door.”

  Fox sighed loudly and stomped her way out of the room.

  “What about—” Maxwell began, intending to ask about Maddy’s involvement.

  “Hush.” Perla held up her hand, listening for the sound of the closing door. When it became silent she turned to the three men remaining.

  “There has been a complication. My son, Clyde, has taken a job at the Globe. We must avoid him at all costs – firstly so that he does not recognize me, and secondly so that he is not injured. Maxwell, did you bring the wig I requested?”

  “Yes!” Maxwell reached into his knapsack and pulled out a wig.

  “Where is it?” he asked. “It’s not here!”

  Perla frowned.

  Maxwell looked over at Maddy and laughed. “Oh there it is, you silly girl.” He reached over and removed the wig from her head. “Maddy was wearing it,” he said to Perla.

  “I see.” Perla scowled at him and rubbed her forehead. She reached out and took the wig. “Thank you. This is hideous.” The black wig was a mess, filled with twigs and crumbs, and sorely in need of a comb. “But I suppose it will do.”

  “Now,” she continued, turning her attention away from the wig. “You all have your assignments, but there is still one flaw: getting into the building. I have a potential solution.” She faced Maxwell. “Do you remember our cousin, Louise?”

  “She had nice hair and made good cinnamon cookies,” Maxwell replied.

  “Yes, that one. Her son is a graduate student, and according to my sources, has managed to land a position within the Globe. I want you to contact him as he is leaving work today and acquire his key. Do you understand?”

  “Yes,” Maxwell replied, relieved. Now he had a plan for retrieving a key, and the rest of the day to do it.

  “We will begin at exactly closing time. You know your orders,” Perla finished. “Bad Face, stay with me. I may as yet need an assassin before the day is out.” She turned her eyes towards Maxwell menacingly. “Now get out.”

  Hazel stopped crying sometime later. She knew her face was red and her nose was red and her eyes were painted with spidery red lines – to go with her hair, she noted wryly. She was somewhere new and weird, but that didn’t mean she could act like a baby. If she did that every time she ended up in a new place, she’d never be happy! Taking a deep breath, she stood and stretched. At some point, she would need to go exploring.

  She wandered into the back room, its warm oranges and reds calming her and reminding her that this was home, whether she liked it or not. The red jewels were hidden in a box in another box inside a cupboard that was partially behind the couch. She shifted the couch forward, and pulled out the wooden box. After dialing the code for the lock, the lid popped open, revealing another box. This one was an ordinary jewelry box, and the red jewels sat on soft velvet, glittering in the light. She slipped them into her ears.

  Next, she dug around in her closet for a backpack, and filled it with water bottles and granola bars.

  “I think I’m ready,” she said. “The universe awaits.”

  As she strode confidently into the front of the shop, she began to hum. The first day she had worked up the courage to leave the shop after it moved, and to go explore the city of Anchorage, she had made up the ditty. She called it, “The Adventure Song.”

  She peered through the glass of the front door and then jumped back.

  The monkey was still there, but it was closer. It sat right outside the door, looking at her. It made a chattering noise.

  “Hi,” she said tentatively. “Are you friendly?”

  The monkey hopped a little bit closer and tilted its head sideways.

  Hazel giggled. It was really cute – which meant it was likely safe, right?

  Slowly, she opened the door of the shop and stepped out. The monkey sat on the floor, just lo
oking up at her.

  “What’s your name?” she asked, knowing full well that monkeys didn’t talk.

  It scampered off down the hallway.

  “Wait!”

  It stopped and looked back at her, and waited. She hurried after it.

  They kept up this routine for quite a while. The monkey would scamper forward, and then look back, as if waiting for her to follow. Hazel kept up a stream of one-sided conversation as they worked their way... somewhere.

  “This is a very strange place,” Hazel said. “It doesn’t feel familiar at all. It feels really weird. But I don’t really know why – it’s just my gut, I guess.” She turned and looked behind them. They had turned several times, but not gone through any doors. She wasn’t sure she would be able to find her way back if she had to. “I hope you know where you’re going,” she muttered. “Because I sure don’t.”

  She was quiet for a moment, and then her mind began to wander – to her shop, to her dad, to that strange man with the rubies.

  “When I discovered that my shop moved, I may have gone into shock for a week or so. I didn’t sell anything. I wouldn’t let anyone in.” She didn’t care whether the monkey was listening or not, but it was nice to have another living creature with her in this strange new place. “Then I decided I was being stupid and that the least I could do was to make some money.” She shrugged. “I was really mad at my dad for dying and for leaving me with a shop that I couldn’t control.”

  The monkey rounded another corner in front of her. She skipped ahead a few steps to catch up, and then stopped in surprise as she came around the corner: in front of her loomed a forest!

  A set of double doors sat propped open with trees, branches, and ferns pouring out of them. It was a beautiful, lush green and she smiled broadly with excitement. “Outside!” she exclaimed. “Apparently we are somewhere real. A real, real place.”

  The monkey dived into the foliage.

  “No, wait!” Hazel called out. “Where are you going? I’ll never find you in there!”

  The monkey poked its cute face through the branches and beckoned her to step forward. She ducked under the first branches, and then the monkey dropped down and wrapped around her neck. She smiled, thinking that the monkey was very soft. Then she frowned – it was a very cold monkey… at least, colder than she would have expected.