Alien Freak - Calista Skye Page 0,75
eye each.
The Abbot has taken a liking to my Elder bracelet, and now we’re figuring out how to use it. Puf the alligator may not have been right about everything.
“This is a better size,” he says and shows me a rock the size of an orange. “Now observe.”
He adjusts the bracelet around his forearm, which is as thin as a garden hose. “I will use both focus and intent.” He throws the rock high into the air and stares at it with his big, single eye. It shatters with a hard crack and sends a hailstorm of sharp fragments over us, forcing me to spin away and crouch.
“Hm,” the abbot says. “Not enough intent. I wanted it to explode much harder than that. This is tougher than it looks, Averie.”
“Tell me about it,” I reply. “I think I can do the focus. Sometimes. But the intent is harder.”
“One more,” the abbot says and picks a new rock. “Does this bracelet ever need a charge? Or fuel or something?”
“I honestly don’t know,” I confess. “I never asked.”
“Let’s see now.” he tosses the rock higher up, and I squint and put my hands over my face, ready to close my fingers tight when it explodes.
The rock makes a little pop, but only a smaller piece breaks off, and it falls to the ground almost intact. The smaller piece falls to the ground as a tiny drop of water.
“Not the best focus that time,” the abbot says. “Yes, truly it is a challenge to use this weapon.” He takes the Uncertainty Bracelet off and hands it to me.
“I think it has to do with the uncertainty,” I suggest, putting it back on. “It does something different each time. Anyway, you use it better than I can. After just a couple of days of practice, too.”
“Oh,” the abbot beams, “I’m used to projecting both focus and intent. Both are important to the warrior. Especially when using a weapon. But I wonder if there may be a third element here.”
A soft bell in the distance tells us that it’s time to eat again. These guys may be small, but they eat like nothing else I’ve ever seen. Every ninety minutes they gather around the table for a full, hot meal. The food is good, too. If I don’t control myself, I’ll be as round as a beach ball a month from now.
“Ah, the Clubmans’s Second Lunch is ready,” the abbot says. “Good, good. I was starting to feel a little hollow, to be honest. Shall we?”
We walk together back to the convent. It’s a white tower as tall as any skyscraper on Earth, but built exclusively of carefully cut stones. No mortar or concrete has been used, no rebar or steel at all. The huge stones just rest on each other, much like the Pyramids of Egypt. Except this tower is much slimmer and taller than those, with hardly any taper. Each floor is about two thousand square feet, and they claim that nobody has counted all the floors.
There are only about three hundred monks, all male and of all ages. As far as I can tell, I’m the only female on the planet, and I have no idea how they procreate. I also have no intention of asking them about that. I suspect the answer might be TMI.
We gather around stone tables outside the tower. All the monks sit around it with closed eyes, meditating, being very quiet. When the food is served, they immediately break into happy chatting as they dive into the meal.
“... he actually has twenty mistresses now, one in each city. And they are all cousins…”
“... and apparently, the president’s own son is the worst drug dealer in town…”
“... she was guilty as heck, of course, but who’s going to accuse the most famous actress on the planet of murdering her own offspring? It would be six hundred counts of first degree murder. That species has big broods…”
“... he has sired a hundred children by now, and they say he’s shooting for a thousand. Imagine the succession strife when he dies…”
“... the queen only likes it from behind, and by six males at a time. Not taking turns, mind you – all six at the same time…”
“... but the real reason is that he owns too many slaves who all want him dead…”
Yeah, these guys are the worst gossips I’ve ever met. They seem to keep track of everything that goes on with the rulers of every society in the