Bones in the Sand by Julie Steimle (books to read to get smarter txt) 📕

Jennifer scowled. She didn't like Zormna implying that she was stupid.

"But what about all those other bones? Are you saying they didn't exist?" Jennifer asked, still pressing on that point.

This topic had become an irritation to Zormna, so much that she glowered at Jennifer. "For the last time - yes, they really existed. Yes, they look a lot like us in that they are bipeds and have hair. But no, they aren't our ancestors. I am telling you an historical fact. When the Arrassians first came to Partha - that's Earth in case you forgot - these humanoid species were already here. But because they couldn't compete with us humans and because it tends to be human nature to destroy anything in our path, all those other hominids went extinct like the dodo and we lived on. End of story."

Jennifer sulked, not willing to accept it. "I still don't see why it has to be like that. I don't want to believe that humans came here and destroyed a whole race of - "

"We do it all the time, Jennifer. Why else is there an endangered species list?" Zormna loudly closed her encyclopedia and put it back onto the near shelf. "Face it, Jennifer. You can't change something that happened ten thousand years ago, whether you like it or not. History is history. And human history is ugly."

Still not satisfied, Jennifer pressed on, feeling distaste in her mouth. "Ok. Ok. But what about the truth? Why did your people keep all this such a secret then and let everyone else believe in the evolution thing?  - if what you are saying really is the truth..."

Zormna laughed sarcastically, rising. "Yeah, right. Have Parthans looking around for Arrassians in space? No way. We set up that ridiculous myth so the people here would be satisfied with it and they would leave us alone."

Jennifer scowled. Her cheeks felt hot. "Your people didn't make up evolution. Darwin did!"

Laughing again, Zormna headed to her kitchen to get something to drink. "Charles Darwin? No. I think he only wrote a book about natural selection. What was it? Origin of the Species, I think. He didn't think up evolution. That theory has been around long before him. But we promoted his book to encourage the idea of evolution to keep your nosy noses out of our business."

Jennifer stood up and sullenly followed her. "Then why are you so upset then when Mr. Zeigler teaches evolution in class? If he's doing you a favor then you should be thanking him for it."

Zormna sulked, leaning her back against the kitchen counter. "Because I can't stand stupidity."

Choking on the irony of it, Jennifer shook her head. Thing was, Zormna had been peevish in Biology since that first day. When in class, Mr. Zeigler seemed to feel it but didn't say anything. He just kept watching Zormna make remarks under her breath. And Jennifer noticed.

After getting snacks, they studied well into the afternoon.

After another hour or so, the telephone rang in the kitchen, a sound that both girls had never heard in that house before. It had an old tinny sound to it - and no wonder. The phone was an old rotary dial with the old-fashioned façade of wood and receivers. Up until then, both Zormna and Jennifer had thought it was decoration.  Zormna walked over to it and picked the receiver off the hook, cautiously lifting it to her ear while wondering what the phone number was and for that matter who knew it. If anyone ever called her, they used her cell phone number. This phone clearly was the one her great aunt had used, therefore it had been her number. For a tremulous second, Zormna thought it might be her great aunt's killers calling to harass her. "Hello?"

The voice on the other end sounded cold, which made Zormna's stomach sink. But it said, <<Is Jennifer there?>>

Recognizing the voice, Zormna sighed. "Yes, I'll get her."

Zormna placed the receiver on the counter and walked into the living room.

"Who is it?" Jennifer asked, watching Zormna's facial expression lighten as she approached.

"Your dad. He wants to talk to you." Zormna sat down on the couch, remembering now that Jennifer's parents had been on polite speaking terms with her great aunt when she was alive, though they had not knowns her lineage....

Rising while looking puzzled, Jennifer walked to the kitchen and picked up the conical-shaped receiver, while speaking into the phone 'trumpet'. "Hello?"

Zormna listened to Jennifer's one-sided conversation. It was easy to grasp what Jennifer meant by her 'what's and 'but's and 'why's. Jennifer hung up the telephone after a few minutes of groaning, and dragged her feet back into the living room.

"I have to get home," she said. Her face said the rest clearly enough.

Zormna nodded and stood up. "So we'll have to finish this at school?"

A smirk returned to Jennifer's lips. She nodded. "Yeah, at school. In the library. They can't ban me from school."

Agreeing with a mischievous glint in her eye, Zormna opened the front door and let Jennifer out. It was still snowing, and the sun was starting to set. It was better that Jennifer got home before dark anyway.

It was getting dark. Jeff stared across the table, stirring his soup around in his bowl, thinking. It was also getting quiet as everyone ate - too quiet.

"Aren't you going to eat your soup?" 'Aunt Mary' asked, peering over the saltshaker and the water jug on the table. A middle-aged woman with dyed brown hair and fair skin, she was quiet and inspective. They weren't actually related, as the title aunt was just for alibi. But for the sake of them all, most of the household had been pretending to be family. Despite all that, Jeff hardly looked related to any of them as he was the only one with black hair and dark eyes - even though they were blue. He honestly seemed like another animal, which is what the FBI thought about him. The FBI believed Jeff was just manipulating an ordinary American family - and they all knew the government agency had plans to 'safely liberate' them as soon as they were able.

Jeff took an obliging scoop and sipped from his spoon. It was cold enough now, though he wasn't exactly enjoying it. His mind was occupied. He felt uneasy for some reason. His stomach churned.

"He's probably just mooning over Malay again," 'Aaron', one of their 'college boarders' said, winking at the others. Aaron was attending classes at the local community college, but he was no student. He had a Norwegian look to him, blonde and fair. He just wasn't tall. The FBI suspected him to be an enforcer working within the 'nefarious organization' they assumed Jeff was a key member of. They just had no proof yet.

The others at the table snickered into their bowls of soup. Jeff didn't even hear it. He was lost in his thoughts, staring blankly across the table.

"Or maybe it's Zormna this time. They looked awfully cozy on that motorcycle the last time I saw them together," 'Eric (a redhead and the other 'college boarder' whom the FBI suspected was holding the family hostage) said, winking at Aaron and 'Alex', Jeff's pretended older brother who was the tallest and blonde as the sand of beach. Jeff and Alex only seemed similar in the way they carried themselves. They had grown up in the same neighborhood after all. Not that that FBI knew that. They believed Alex was from Missouri where they assumed Jeff had met him and began using him.

Jeff didn't even seem to hear the remark. He kept stirring his soup.

"Say, Jafarr, what's your next little project with Zormna anyway?" Aaron asked, grinning at him.

"What?" Jeff blinked his eyes, hearing is real name. He had barely heard that last word.

"He's really spacing it," Alex murmured, peering into Jeff's eyes to see if he was ok.

"I said," Aaron leaned forward and smiling at Jeff, "What's your next project with Zormna?"

"Oh." Jeff sighed then took a sip of his soup. However, he didn't answer Aaron.

"Is something wrong?" 'Uncle Orren' asked Jeff after another few minutes of silence. The middle-aged man had dyed his hair to appear like an average American rather than an Arrassian like all the others in the room. It had certainly convinced the FBI. His American accent was impeccable, as was his wife's. But he didn't expect the FBI to remain in the dark forever.

Jeff nodded slowly. "I was just thinking." He looked at Uncle Orren and asked, "Orrlar, doesn't it seem a little too quiet to you?"

Uncle Orren stared at Jeff in surprise. "What do you mean? Too quiet for what? Too quite in here? Of course it is quiet. Those FBI can't listen in to us. Your security system has scrambled very listening device they have. M's last update was that they still suspect nothing about the rest of us - so it is going to be quiet. They're just watching the houses for odd behavior now - unless you are talking about the People's Military."

The People's Military was like the SS or the KGB, always looking for political threats. And they had killed a great many people connected to them.

Jeff shook his head. "I don't know. I just have this achy...no, dark feeling that it is too quiet, like something is up and we missed it. I dunno. Maybe I'm losing it."

Alex shook his head with dread, peeking at Eric and their pretended uncle. They were the only ones who knew Jeff best besides himself. "Wait a second. You're saying you're having bad feelings about something? Like a premonition?"

Shrugging, Jeff dug into his soup again. This time it was cold. He dropped his spoon into his bowl. Putting his elbows on the table, his knuckles pressed against his closed mouth, thinking harder. Jeff lifted up his head and said, "I keep getting this low achy sort of feeling, like something is coming and something is happening that we need to aware of."

Uncle Orren glanced at Eric. Eric nodded back. Alex went a little pale. Usually Jeff's premonitions were spot on.

But Aaron huffed and rolled his eyes, wiping up the remains of soup inside his bowl with his dinner roll. "Maybe it is something that you ate - or rather, something that you didn't eat. You haven't been eating much since Zormna moved into her house."

Jeff just waved Aaron off, who was always skeptical about Jeff's spiritual gifts as well as his leadership skills. Jeff was, after all, the de facto leader of the rebellion, despite being only eighteen. "No, it's not that. She's fine. The security system we set up is better than here...let alone the pentagon. She schooled me on security measures." He sighed, shaking his head tiredly. "Besides, as long as we keep tabs on Agent Sicamore's parents then we don't have to worry about Zormna's safety. She's better on her own anyway. The McLennas were at the end of their... ability to...."

The entire room nodded. The McLenna family were born enemies to Zormna's family line. Expecting them to peacefully allow Zormna to live with them was like expecting a tiger not to eat a pet lamb - though Zormna was hardly a lamb. She was more like an anaconda.

"Then what is it?" Alex asked.

Jeff just shook his head. He rose from the table. "That's what I have to find out."

He left the table, marching out through the kitchen and into the living room. They could hear him head straight into the study and close the door.

"I dunno, Orrlar. That kid sometimes creeps me out," Aaron muttered, tearing apart the remains of his bread, munching on it.

Heavily shaking his head with a glance to where Jeff had gone, Uncle Orren murmured, "No. It isn't creepy. It's his mother's blood. You can't beat Seer Class intuition, and that kid is full of it."

"Yeah, full of it," Aaron replied, rolling his