The Creative Fire: 1 (Ruby's Song) by Brenda Cooper Page B

went quiet again. Maybe he could only manage one sentence at a time before he had to rest.
    Marcelle answered. “When C-pod started to stretch—that’s what they said, it stretched—the roof tore. We knew there was another level, but we didn’t know they were so attached,” Marcelle looked up at the ceiling, “or for sure that it was above us and not beside us.”
    Marcelle hadn’t even seen it. It wasn’t her story to tell. But Onor kept his mouth shut.
    Owl Paulie had gotten the strength to talk again. “My brother went there.” Pause. “To other levels.”
    Wow.
    Ruby leaned in, eyes wide. “How?”
    Owl Paulie’s breath sounded shallow and fast. “There’s a test. They keep it from us, like everything.” A break. “Can’t have gray crap infect the ship. But you might get there that way.”
    Ruby’s brows wrinkled deep. “A test? That easy?”
    Owl Paulie said, “If we don’t know what’s possible, we don’t reach for it.”
    Marcelle crossed her arms and leaned back. “How come you didn’t take it?”
    “I didn’t believe him.” A pause. “Ask Ix about Laws of Passage.”
    It sounded too easy. “Did you ever see your brother again?” Onor asked.
    Owl Paulie nodded. “Once. He came back and told me he was okay. He was dressed in blue.”
    A stop while the old man’s labored breathing ate any possibility of more words. When he could go on, he said, “He gave me a scrap of blue material and told me to tell someone one day.”
    “Did you?”
    The old man winced. “Hugh didn’t believe me.” He looked at Ruby. “Do you?”
    She was leaning forward, close to Owl Paulie’s ear. She whispered, “I don’t know what to believe anymore. After yesterday.”
    “Tell me your story . . .” Owl Paulie took a sip of water and coughed, almost choking. When he could breathe again he said, “What you saw. Tell me.”
    This time Marcelle was quiet and let Ruby talk. Onor listened closely when Ruby told the part about Fox. She wasn’t telling him everything, or any of them everything. Even though her voice sounded higher and thinner as she blew past the parts she didn’t want to talk about, she didn’t miss a beat. She was good. If he hadn’t known her story was true by being there, he still would have believed it. The way she told it, the danger felt imminent, and the hole in the floor sounded bigger than the one he’d seen.
    When Ruby finished, Owl Paulie sat back in his chair and said, “Now I know why Hugh likes you. You have a gift for storytelling.” Another pause. “Will you write a song about the sky falling?”
    A smile played across Ruby’s lips. Onor felt a sexual twist at the way she returned Owl Paulie’s look, an adult look, almost but not quite predatory.
    The inside speakers came on and repeated the earlier message, the recorded voice loud enough to buzz Onor’s ears. After silence returned, Onor looked back at Owl Paulie, ready to ask him if he knew if his brother was still alive. The old man’s head had tilted to one side. His eyes were closed. His breath was shallow and regular. In sleep, he looked even frailer than when he was awake.
    Ruby glanced at Marcelle. “We’re going to take that test. Right after we finish the last-years.”
    Marcelle grunted. “You think it’s real?”
    Ruby nodded.
    Marcelle furrowed her brow. “Should we ask Ix?”
    Onor couldn’t help himself. “Maybe we should learn a little more. Ix is probably busy right now anyway.”
    Marcelle’s reply came quick. “Ix is a computer. It can do anything it wants all at once.”
    “So? Maybe I want to learn more before we jump into this test. Maybe it’s a myth.”
    Ruby glared at him, then softened and let out a long sigh, brushing fire-red strands of hair from her eyes. “Adiamo?”
    “What about your aunt?” he asked.
    “Tomorrow.”
    Good enough. He could already taste another day of Kyle’s cooking.
     
    Onor stood in the doorway and frowned. So many people filled the game bar;