Future Prospect by Lynn Rae Page B

of staring people.
    “Let go of me, Tor!”
    Riva’s voice echoed before the crowd closed around behind them. There were lots of curious stares, and several Pearlites seemed satisfied there had been a scene. Lia noticed a familiar face. The woman from the restaurant, Joli, smiled as she held a drink up to her mouth.

Chapter 3
    “They breathe through these holes?” Miklos, the new informationist, asked with wonder in his voice. Colan paused on the damp forest path and searched for a good place to put his feet, since it seemed the young man was curious about that particular species. He’d been full of questions all along, probably because he was an informationist in search of information. He’d been the only other settlement team member, aside from Lia, to take Wayde and Rob’s tour this morning, and Colan grew to like him because of his cheerful enthusiasm for his new home.
    “That’s right. They breathe through those holes lining each rib and coming up out of the ground. Stoma. That’s what we call them, but I don’t know what the science people say.” Wayde rubbed his chin and peered at the pale blue ribs arched above them. “The ground is so soggy they need something up here to catch the air.”
    “So they actively respirate?”
    “Yes, they are breathers. No lungs or diaphragm, more a bellows system inside there. Powered by humidity levels in the cells.”
    Lia arrived at his side and nodded, taking a deep breath as she leaned her hand against a stoma rib. Colan gave her an evaluating look. She appeared tired. She’d been groggy that morning when they’d set out, and despite her assertions the fresh air would do her good, she still seemed unwell. There were lavender smudges under her eyes, and she had lagged behind the two old shellers as well as the young man ahead. Colan found himself slowing his pace to stay near her.
    “Seems like I could take a lesson on breathing from them.” She rubbed fingertips against her temple and winced.
    “Do you want to head back?” Colan was concerned for her. They’d been walking for over an hour, and even if the linear distance back to the settlement wasn’t significant, traveling over broken ground with an incapacitated person was not something he cared to do.
    “No. This is interesting. I just wish I could shake this headache.” Lia closed her eyes and took a few breaths through her nose as if she was trying to center herself.
    “What kind of headache?”
    “The kind that hurts my head. What other kind is there?”
    Colan took his own centering breath, not willing to argue with her when she was feeling ill. It could be any number of things, but now he was worrying about it. If his theory was right, she was suffering from ocular nervosa. “Where does it hurt?”
    She reached up and gestured at the back of her skull, running her fingers from the base up to the midpoint on her cranium. Not good. Colan stepped closer to her, and she blinked up at him through squinting brown eyes. “How long has it hurt?”
    “Since I stepped off the shuttle here. It comes and goes.”
    “But it’s been painful longer each time it returns?”
    “Yes. How did you know?”
    “I think I know what’s wrong.” He tore his gaze from her and looked over at the other three men who were wandering toward a wet ravine. “Hey Wayde, you go on and we’ll catch up in a few minutes.”
    Wayde nodded agreeably. “Give her a rest, sure. Humid as all get out today. We’ll just head down along here and stop at that big growth of cockers. Last time I checked there was a woolie in the sinkhole. Miklos here will likely be interested.” The young man nodded quickly, and with a wave at Lia, which she listlessly returned, the unlikely threesome wandered away.
    “What’s going on?”
    “I think you’ve had an allergic reaction to Gamaliel. Or at least your nerve endings have.”
    Lia wrinkled up her eyebrows. “Is this another one of your mysterious ailments?”
    “Not mine. You’ll be