Exile by S.M. Wilson

Author:S.M. Wilson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Usborne Publishing Ltd

The jungle closed around them instantly: the insects alive and noisy, the bright bursts of colour from the forest floor, and the dark creeping vines around the trees. But the thing that put his senses on alert most was the smell.

Lincoln had forgotten this. The richness. The fullness of it.

Beside him, Jesa gagged and he smiled. It did take a little getting used to. He hadn’t expected it to impact on him quite so fiercely.

After a few minutes of tramping, they reached a clearing. Reban was standing with his hands on his knees, sweat dripping from his face already. It was odd seeing him in clothes other than the Stipulator garb. The vest and waistcoat he now wore revealed muscles and definition Lincoln hadn’t expected. Maybe Reban was fitter than Lincoln thought.

Piloria was much warmer than Earthasia, but it was as if the jungle intensified the heat even more. Every breath was thick with moisture.

Storm barely even glanced at Reban on her way past – she was too busy staring at her map. “Come or don’t come,” she said blithely. “We won’t wait for you.”

There was a flicker of annoyance on Reban’s face. But he picked up his discarded backpack and started to follow them through the jungle.

Lincoln ran his hands over the wide variety of leaves as they walked on. The range was huge. Every shade of green, from the palest moss to the brightest neon, some leaves prickly, lots smooth; from the size of a fingernail to the length of their thighs. The whole time he walked he inhaled deeply, as the ground squelched beneath his feet. Searching for the familiar scent – the strong evergreen leaves that were made into the ointment.

But it wasn’t there. Not in this part of the jungle. Maybe the plant only grew in one particular place. He’d have to find out.

They trekked for more than an hour, leaves slapping constantly against his skin, until they finally emerged into the blistering sun.

This time there were no transporters waiting at the other side of the jungle.

This time there was no lake in the distance.

To their right, for as far as the eye could see, there was marsh.

Storm stepped up alongside him. “Interesting,” she said. “Probably fewer dinosaurs too.”

Lincoln pointed to the left. “But we have to go this way, to the raptor and T-rex nests.”

Reban wandered a little ahead of them, staring at the unfamiliar terrain and out of their earshot.

“No,” said Jesa sharply. “We need to find my father. I want to see him.”

Lincoln turned to her. “We will. We need to find the plants. We need to find the cure for the blistering skin plague. Your father is the only person who knows how to make it. But” – he hesitated as he turned to Storm – “we may well pass the watering holes along the way. Is it really so wrong to try and plant the virus? Would it really be so bad to have fewer killer dinosaurs around?”

Storm’s voice was the first to break the silence.

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