Prophet's Journey by Matthew S. Cox

Author:Matthew S. Cox [Cox, Matthew S.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781950738007
Publisher: Division Zero Press
Published: 2019-08-18T06:00:00+00:00

21

That Didn’t Take Long

Althea woke to Teal’s hand on her shoulder, shaking her gently. She yawned, trying to stretch, but still couldn’t move. Sunlight filled the area from ample holes in the walls as well as where windows had once been.

Teal took the blanket and folded it before stuffing it in the pack. Partially due to being tired, partially out of protest, Althea didn’t bother trying to sit up or move. The woman turned the warmth emitter off and left it on the floor to cool. She filled another cup of water, then pulled Althea up to kneel, letting her drink.

“Want more?”

“Yes, but that’s a small bottle. We should make it last.”

“It’s a genesis canteen.”

Althea stared at her.

“You don’t know what that is, do you?”

Althea kept staring at her.

“Of course not. That normal dress of yours throws me off. I keep forgetting you’re still a Scrag. It makes water from the air. Little more complicated than that, but I’m sure you don’t want to hear about a reservoir of liquid hydrogen.”

“No. I’d rather hear about you untying me.”

Teal laughed. “Yeah, yeah. Give me a minute. Do you want more water?”

She shrugged.

The woman took that as a yes, so she hit a button on the top of the canteen, which activated a thin stream of water that took a laboriously long time to fill the cup. Watching it made Althea have to pee, but she tried to ignore the feeling.

After feeding her the second cup of water, Teal packed the canteen and cup in her satchel, added the warmer, then hefted the backpack over her shoulder. At long last, she untied Althea’s ankles and took hold of the tether. Althea struggled to her feet, begrudgingly following Teal outside. She shot a scowl off to the sky at still having her hands tied behind her back, but didn’t think begging, screaming, or nagging would help.

It didn’t bother her to make water next to someone. Among Scrag tribes, sometimes the boys would get into competitions to see who could throw water the farthest. It did, however, bother her that the woman wouldn’t untie her to make water. She considered that quite mean, but her powers still refused to work on this woman.

Soon after they resumed walking toward the rising sun, it occurred to her that Teal had not eaten, had anything to drink, or made water. Althea kept glancing up at her, confused, then hanging her head.

“What? Why do you keep looking at me like that?”

“Are you gonna eat?”

“I don’t need to eat as often as a human does.”

“Do you eat?”

“Yes. My body takes raw materials out of food and uses it to repair itself just like yours does. We’re more efficient at it so I only require one or two meals a week… unless I’m hurt.”

“You should let me go. If you’re made of”—she pondered the word and forced it out in a slow, deliberate pronunciation—“tech-no-lo-gy, The Many is gonna do stuff to you. He won’t let you take me away from the Badlands.

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