The Penny Drops (Sea the Depths Book 1) by Karmon Kuhn (warren buffett book recommendations TXT) 📕

to you? Do not give a reason, just simply request it. And a thermal suit for me. Schedule it for as soon as possible and try to throw a territorial scent so that they leave quickly. Maybe have a meal while they arrive to cover our smells and keep whoever it is from inviting themselves in.”

“I can do that,” he answered, “but you must tell me what is happening. Why did the community news say that you died? Where have you been all this time?”

“I don’t think you want to know.”

“Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.” He was fond of quoting authors in this way, and his use of a Huxley quote was effective.

“Okay, but first we need to re-arrange part of your office so that Penny and I are out of sight. And, you should stay at your table and face forward. If you talk, talk down as if you’re dictating. We don’t want anyone to draw any attention.”

He sent the communication as we moved things in the office. Then, I told him everything. The whole story as far as I knew it was short. It made me sick that so little had happened to cause so much chaos. My entire world had morphed and fallen apart, but I was able to explain the highlights in minutes.

When I finished, he sat silently and stared at the one decoration in the whole of his study, a non-distinct fishing spear hung on the wall. My heart rate elevated as I waited for his response. What if he didn’t believe me or, even worse, didn’t take my side? Before he could confirm, there was a knock on the door. He responded by first pulling a fresh piece of fish from the refrigeration slot in the wall and then blasting a territorial scent that filled the room completely in seconds.

I looked at Penny silently, and it seemed that even she could sense the barrier that he’d put up to protect us because her skin was pallid and green as if from seasickness. Although, she may have just smelled the fish.

From our hiding place, we heard the door slide open and there was a series of swishing, squishing, and crinkling noises as well as the faint odor of submission until the door audibly slid closed again. For a moment, there was just silence, and then we heard slithering back farther into the room.

I heard Moz’s seat shift as he sat back down, and I imagined him stick-straight and speaking forward as if in dictation, “There were only human suits available, Essehi.”

“What does that mean?” Penny asked.

“I’ll need to modify, Penny. I need the suit. Without it, my colleagues will be able to see and sense me too easily.”

“That is not the only challenge. How can you avoid detection when inside obstreperous technology?” Moz added.

The fabric was adaptable to different sizes, but it needed to be thick like a second skin to contain all of the technology it utilized. So, any time the material moved in the open air, it was audible. He was right to be concerned.

The three of us puzzled in silence until Moz spoke again,“I will assist you.”

“But, if you’re caught . . .” I protested.

“That is a problem for another time,” he sighed.“If I have contributed to this injustice as part of the tsez̈ø, let this be my penance.”

I lifted my chin in a sign of respect, and Penny smiled. My people were much like hers. Not all good or bad but mostly somewhere in between. Fallible, but worthy.

“What about recycling collection?” I asked.

“If I was seen with recycling containers, it would look suspicious, and I do not know that we can trust anyone else to do it,” he answered grimly.

“What if he rolled us out in a specimen cage?” Penny asked.

“A what?” We both asked simultaneously.

“A specimen cage. Whenever I was moved to a different room, they chained my shackle to a little cage that they could push around. Maybe, you could push us out in one of those.”

“I have no cage!” I could smell the indignance and horror that Moz emitted in response.

Still taken aback by what Penny had just shared, I paused. I scanned the room for inspiration. As I observed the abundance of precious volumes, I had an idea.

“A cart from the library! You take manuscripts home sometimes, correct?”

“Yes. I suppose that would make sense. I can retrieve a cart from the library for you to lie in and then cover you with books.” Moz’s answer was matter-of-fact, but the worry in the study room was palpable.

***

As Moz gathered supplies and the cart, I prepared for modification. “Penny, I think you should turn away. This will be quite disturbing.”

Penny was silent at first and then spoke through clenched teeth. “No, Natalie. You got sick before. I wanna help.”

“I don’t think that you can,” I said and placed my hand on her face. The sight of my claws on her soft cheek was unsettling, but she didn’t flinch. Instead, she rested her head against my palm.

“It’s okay. I’ll need your help sometime too.”

I looked at her for a moment and laid myself long across the floor. My lungs filled with a long breath of air, and I relaxed my limbs. And then, nothing happened. I wagged my arms back and forth and pushed a breath out of my nose to relax myself. When I finished and urged my body to modify, again there was nothing. My body lacked even the slightest stirring of change.

“Penny, it isn’t working.”

“What do you mean?” she whispered in a frightened tone.

“This has never happened before!” I answered in my own terrified whisper.

“Well . . . what’s different about this time?”

“A lot is different this time!” I answered.

“What can we do to make this more normal?”

“Food. Maybe I need to eat first. And, I think you should look away when I start the process. I’ve never changed in front of a human before.”

“Okay. That’s