A Storm in the Making

Chapter 7--Dragonbirds? You're Kidding, Right?

Chapter Seven

Dragonbirds? You’re Kidding, Right?

“I’m Vincent Weatherly,” Uncle growled. “These are my two nephews, Luke and Andrew, and my niece, Storm. If you know how we feel then let us out of this damned bird cage!”

“Yeah, and what are we doing here, anyway?” Andrew wanted to know.

“What are you going to do with us?”  Luke challenged next.

“When can we go home,” I added weakly, wanting home and my own bed with a physical pain unrelated to the throbbing  that intensified the longer I stood on my feet.

I glanced at Julius. Our eyes met. What is your problem, Surfer-boy, I thought at him, totally miffed at his continued rudeness. Sheesh. Do I really look like a specimen under a microscope?

I saw the barest flicker of an acknowledgement on his face before he erased it. I was such an idiot! It should have already dawned on me. He could read minds; like Luke. Can you? I screamed at him mentally as hard as I could think.

A flash of surprise crossed his features before he turned away. The mountain ranges in the distance seemed to capture his interest suddenly.

Humph! I felt my temper burst into life again. If you’re reading my mind, Surfer boy, tell Grandpa I need to go to the bathroom.

Julius flushed under his tan as he whipped his head around towards me, appalled. What, these people here on this planet didn’t need to go to the bathroom?

Several other students and Luke as well, were suddenly coughing, clearing their throats, or snickering openly under their breath. Apparently, I had committed a social gaffe with just my thoughts. Did everybody here on this stupid planet read minds, I thought, frustrated--and embarrassed, too, even though I had no idea what I’d done.

I glanced around only to see that about half the students understood my thoughts. Worse yet, Dr. Spinner looked directly at me and he held up his free hand to silence mine and Julius’s little mind games. He could read minds, too. Sweet! I’d just embarrassed myself in front of the whole damned planet.

“Not quite the whole planet,” Dr. Spinner smiled, eyes twinkling merrily, and I cringed. “If you can’t think kind thoughts, my dear,” the gentle eyes rebuked me like the lash of a whip. “Don’t think anything at all.”

It took me a moment to realize Dr. Spinner hadn’t spoken aloud, until he did. “To answer your question, the use of the latrine must wait a little longer.”

I let my head drop onto my chest, totally humiliated. I refused to raise my eyes, even to see if Julius still watched me. I concentrated on breathing shallowly. Every minute away from the warm stone floor made the pain in my side more unbearable. I had no more mental energy for Julius or anything else. It barely registered that Dr. Spinner still spoke.

“The most pressing thing right now is your decontamination. Dardara has strange ways of dealing with even the tiniest, most innocuous, life-forms.”

“Decontamination?” “Life forms?” Uncle and Andrew both asked at once.

“Ah yes, Americans. Ever curious, you are,” Dr. Spinner chuckled to himself.

“What about the force field?” Luke asked.

Dr. Spinner, instead of answering, leaned his staff towards an open space between the columns, and I saw the twinkling of a thousand tiny lights. Then he stepped up on the platform with us.