The Clan Chronicles: Tales from Plexis by Julie E. Czerneda

Author:Julie E. Czerneda [Czerneda, Julie E.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780756413958
Publisher: DAW Books
Published: 2018-12-04T00:00:00+00:00

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The thickness of the crowd had lessened to a trickle of aliens by the time Olsi found her way to the higher floors, where balconies offered a grand view of the levels below. She wasn’t certain what her plan was. To find a vantage point high enough to try and sniff out her companion perhaps; or find a constable to help her locate the Human.

How could they help? she wondered. I can’t even speak to them.

Her initial panic had dulled since her unexpected companion disappeared, though her urgent need to find Eladia brought the realization that she had grown close enough to the Human to care for her safety. That surprised her. Back home, she never much cared for other Tulis. There were just too many of them to care for.

Having the time to walk and think and grind her incisors calmed her, though another Tuli would be able to tell that her musk still carried a hint of fear and worry. The sudden absence of the crowd, which had reminded her so much of home, left a strange tingle to her skin. Not the bad kind. For the first time, her nose wasn’t stuffed with the smell of Tuli fur or musk, apart from her own. As she entered a zone where the lights over the vast space station dimmed and changed to create an artificial night, so did the trade.

“Hey, watch where you’re going!”

Olsi tumbled into a grav cart no bigger than her foot. A chatter of noise erupted from the tiny being manning the cart as the contents crashed to the floor. Plumes of smoke began to rise from the wares which fell and broke, and the stench of them caused the peddler to cough and squeal. Olsi made a gesture for apology and bolted as fast as she could, past a collection of furniture and onto a ramp that took her to the level above.

The two beings on that ramp jumped and hissed at her sudden appearance. Olsi froze for a moment, her nose almost touching the scaled snout of an alien with thin crests rising from nose to forehead, and a pair of thin slits staring at her from the depths of bright yellow eyes.

Despite herself, the Tuli squeaked like a pup, and cowered closer to the ramp’s rails. Scats! She wondered if these two were related to Roraqk. Not that she had met the lizardlike pirate to begin with. Thoughts of explosions and Ghika’s lifeless body on the cold, hard floor came to her mind just then.

“What’sss-s a Tuli doing up here alone?” said the Scat in front of her, a female judging by her scent. This one wore beads of diamonds and colorful jewels along her snout. A beautiful yellow gem dangled from the bright orange frill on one side of her head. “Where’s-ss your kind?”

“Loss-st, are we?” the Scat’s companion, a male smaller in size, asked. This one’s crests were less prominent, and a dull green where its companion’s shone bright red.

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