Don’t. Okay?
All right, Rimi thought with a mental sigh. Ask Columba for food, or I’ll go find some for you.
“Do you have any snacks?” Maya asked quickly. “Please?”
“What did you have in mind?” said Columba.
“Cookies. Crackers. Fruit. Bread. Anything like that.”
“Sapphira cooked up a batch of spice bread last night. Wait here and I’ll get you a loaf,” said Columba. She left the apartment.
“What’s with the burps?” Travis asked when the door had closed behind Columba. “That’s my department.”
“Rimi made me!” Maya said.
“Whoa. Weird. How does that work?”
“I don’t know.”
It is gas teased in a particular direction , Rimi thought.
“Eww!” said Maya.
“What? What did she say?”
Maya told him.
“She can tease gas? Who knew gas had self-esteem problems?” Travis said, and then Columba was back with something the size of a loaf of bread, wrapped in cloth.
“All right,” she said. She went to the kitchen, unwrapped the bread, and sliced it on the bread board, then brought out a plate and some cloth napkins. The slices were rich, moist, and dark brown, and they smelled like ginger and cloves and nutmeg.
“Thank you,” Maya said as Columba set them on the table in front of her. Now she felt her own hunger.
“You’re welcome. I could use a snack myself.” Columba grabbed a slice and bit into it. Maya and Travis helped themselves.
“Have you been to Sviv?” Maya asked Columba.
Columba made a face. “It’s on my list of least favorite places to visit. That’s why I volunteered to host you two today. Much less evil.”
“What’s a sva nut?” asked Travis.
“The only thing that makes Sviv worth going to. They’re these nuts as big as your hand. You can slice them like you slice bread, and they’re these big, delicious, nutritious, buttery-tasting slices of, well, they’re kind of like macadamia nuts in texture and a little in taste. They’re like elite travel rations. One nut can keep you alive a week.”
“Benjamin said they were going there for medical training,” said Maya.
“Yeah, I admit Svivani doctors are good to know when you have medical emergencies.”
“How can they doctor people from another planet?”
“Their senses are all geared toward understanding other organisms, how circulatory systems work, muscles, stuff like that. They were champion predators before they civilized themselves. They could always tell the sick prey from the well prey. As a consequence, some of their prey animals evolved into fast, intelligent people, too. They share the planetary government now. So anyway, the Svivani have these extended senses, and they can tell things about plants, too. By now they have huge lists of how plants will act to strengthen or weaken body systems. Some of that they can teach and some they can’t.”
The power picture chimed. Columba put down her napkin and went to tap it. Noona’s voice spoke. After a short conversation, Columba turned to Maya. “Your company has come. They’re in the tea room now.”
EIGHT
Maya wrapped an extra piece of spicebread in a napkin and tucked it into her backpack. She stood up, and so did Travis.
“Do you know where the tea room is?” Columba asked.
“Nope,” said Maya.
“I’ll get you both down there, and I’ll get Travis out afterward,” Columba said.
“What’s the tea room?” Maya had heard of the tea room on the first day of school—a fairy had escaped from it and come to Maya’s room in the middle of the night, and that was how Maya got involved with the Janus House people in the first place.
“It’s one of the places where we entertain travelers,” Columba said. “We have several, with different atmospheres and refreshments, depending on what the travelers need. The tea room is for people who can process Earth air and food.”
“Ah,” said Maya. They went down the stairs to the tunnels under the apartment complex.
Columba turned down a dark corridor off the
All right, Rimi thought with a mental sigh. Ask Columba for food, or I’ll go find some for you.
“Do you have any snacks?” Maya asked quickly. “Please?”
“What did you have in mind?” said Columba.
“Cookies. Crackers. Fruit. Bread. Anything like that.”
“Sapphira cooked up a batch of spice bread last night. Wait here and I’ll get you a loaf,” said Columba. She left the apartment.
“What’s with the burps?” Travis asked when the door had closed behind Columba. “That’s my department.”
“Rimi made me!” Maya said.
“Whoa. Weird. How does that work?”
“I don’t know.”
It is gas teased in a particular direction , Rimi thought.
“Eww!” said Maya.
“What? What did she say?”
Maya told him.
“She can tease gas? Who knew gas had self-esteem problems?” Travis said, and then Columba was back with something the size of a loaf of bread, wrapped in cloth.
“All right,” she said. She went to the kitchen, unwrapped the bread, and sliced it on the bread board, then brought out a plate and some cloth napkins. The slices were rich, moist, and dark brown, and they smelled like ginger and cloves and nutmeg.
“Thank you,” Maya said as Columba set them on the table in front of her. Now she felt her own hunger.
“You’re welcome. I could use a snack myself.” Columba grabbed a slice and bit into it. Maya and Travis helped themselves.
“Have you been to Sviv?” Maya asked Columba.
Columba made a face. “It’s on my list of least favorite places to visit. That’s why I volunteered to host you two today. Much less evil.”
“What’s a sva nut?” asked Travis.
“The only thing that makes Sviv worth going to. They’re these nuts as big as your hand. You can slice them like you slice bread, and they’re these big, delicious, nutritious, buttery-tasting slices of, well, they’re kind of like macadamia nuts in texture and a little in taste. They’re like elite travel rations. One nut can keep you alive a week.”
“Benjamin said they were going there for medical training,” said Maya.
“Yeah, I admit Svivani doctors are good to know when you have medical emergencies.”
“How can they doctor people from another planet?”
“Their senses are all geared toward understanding other organisms, how circulatory systems work, muscles, stuff like that. They were champion predators before they civilized themselves. They could always tell the sick prey from the well prey. As a consequence, some of their prey animals evolved into fast, intelligent people, too. They share the planetary government now. So anyway, the Svivani have these extended senses, and they can tell things about plants, too. By now they have huge lists of how plants will act to strengthen or weaken body systems. Some of that they can teach and some they can’t.”
The power picture chimed. Columba put down her napkin and went to tap it. Noona’s voice spoke. After a short conversation, Columba turned to Maya. “Your company has come. They’re in the tea room now.”
EIGHT
Maya wrapped an extra piece of spicebread in a napkin and tucked it into her backpack. She stood up, and so did Travis.
“Do you know where the tea room is?” Columba asked.
“Nope,” said Maya.
“I’ll get you both down there, and I’ll get Travis out afterward,” Columba said.
“What’s the tea room?” Maya had heard of the tea room on the first day of school—a fairy had escaped from it and come to Maya’s room in the middle of the night, and that was how Maya got involved with the Janus House people in the first place.
“It’s one of the places where we entertain travelers,” Columba said. “We have several, with different atmospheres and refreshments, depending on what the travelers need. The tea room is for people who can process Earth air and food.”
“Ah,” said Maya. They went down the stairs to the tunnels under the apartment complex.
Columba turned down a dark corridor off the
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