We had stopped for the night in a small clearing. I had the Kings Falcon stand guard over us while we both slept. Kareena still hadnt come back to my disappointment. Hopefully we would be able to catch up soon. As it was, we werent that far from the edge of the colony. We were able to see some of the smoke stacks in the distance before the sun went down. We had made good time all things considered.
"Alright, I am feeling so much better now. What was that stuff you gave me?" Talon groaned out in a choked voice in midstretch.
"Its just a plant. I am not even sure what the name of it is. Kareena showed it to me when I first found her. I was really sick and she was hurt and well...we just kind of learned several things together. We had to in order to survive. There are several other plants out there that will do the same thing, including the New Willows. Those are just adaptations from the ones brought from Earth. They are quite a bit stronger than the old ones, but its easier to over dose on those. Thats why I went with this one."
"What do you call it?" He was sitting up looking at me sincerely, absently rolling up his sleeper.
"Frog Leaf Plant? I dont know, I just sort of picture the plant in my head to Kareena and she helps me find it. It is more common around water areas. Youve never heard of it?"
"Nope, I have heard of the willows of course, and some of the shisca plants I know are common pain relievers and fever reducers. Never heard of the Frog Leaf Plant." He smiled at me and snorted, waggling his eyebrows at me. "What does it look like?"
"You're feeling better, thats for sure." I launched a canteen at his head and finished packing what little I had pulled out the night before. "Lets get to the road. We still havent figured out his plan."
Talon stood up and took a swig of water before hooking the canteen to his belt. "He wants to feel important, be in charge of stuff right?"
"Yeah. Him and Chee were talking about running a business that would allow them to gain control of the colonies without seeming to be in charge. Just about any top business in any Colony does that though. I mean, you know that the Gold's run the beef exporting in the main colony. They have their fingers in every main politicians pocket and if they want something passed or vetoed, they just have to pull their strings. That part isnt really all that unique. But They specified running multiple colonies. Which is something much more difficult. I have heard several of the business getting together from different colonies to get something passed or denied, but no one was really in charge. They had some people contact some people. By the way, you mentioned that the doctors on the main colony had messed with a lot of peoples brains. What makes yours different exactly?"
The change of topic seemed to throw him off some and it took a few seconds for him to respond. "The business thing is a good point. We are going to have to do some more thinking about that then." He looked around at trees around us becoming more sparse. "And as for the mind reading thing...I am not sure. It was just stronger in my family. My dad was a reader as well, but my mom was way stronger. Her whole line was to be honest. Just more intuitive. Her family can be traced to the last of the woods back on Earth, generations ago. So maybe that is part of the reason. Who knows? They have a knack for knowing what people think, and just being natural." He shrugged. "I dont know. Im not a doctor."
I nodded at him, and pointed. "There is the road. Should we sneak into town or just go in?"
"Well, you are Chek, you can ask to speak to someone in high standing. They will know the truth, so even if we are detained, it shouldnt be too long before we are back out again." His smile returned. "Besides, you are smelly and so am I, so I dont think anyone will stop us unless its to trip us into the nearest tub."
I looked at him but didnt say anything. I hadnt had a real bath in a very long time. I normally just did a quick spit bath in the river most mornings. With the last few weeks being the way they were, I just hadnt had time to do even that. It had been years since I had lain in a tub full of hot water and bubbled soap. I wasnt sure if I was excited about the prospect, or afraid that I might fall apart since the dirt wouldnt be there to hold my various body parts together.
This line of thought brought me all the way up to the gate, and the gate guard stopped me in my tracks.
"Identification please."
I looked at Talon. Identification? Since when did we need identification? It had been a while yeah, but not that long. What is this? I asked Talon
No idea. It wasnt like this when we visited the colony the last time, and that was only a few months ago. He answered back, I could practically see the mental shrug he had given with that, even though he hadnt even shifted his weight from one foot to another.
You are getting better at this. I gave a real smile with this, since he would see it more clearly. And, if I was lucky, it would disarm the guard some.
"What do you mean by identification? Last time we visited any of the colonies, that was not needed and neither of us had even heard of a rumor of needing one."
Apparently I really did smell bad, because he glared at me.
"No identification, no entry." He clicked his heels together and marched his unhappy butt back into the gate, slamming it into our faces.
"Well that went well. You know, you are an amazing people person. I have no idea how you even do it." Talon grinned at me.
"Very funny. Now its going to be even more of pain to figure out whats going on. Cant figure anything out if we arent even able to go in there to report it." I hissed this at him as I turned around to walk back into the woods. "I am going to have to shape shift, and that always gives me the biggest headache. The only positive about this whole mess is that at least you can read my damn mind while I do it. The least you could do is-STOP LAUGHING! This is serious!"
"May be serious but you are awful cute when your mad."
Where is a rock when I need one?
"I heard that."
I shook my head and kept up the hasty march into the woods.
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