Read Escape from Harrizel for Free Online Page B

bring them in.”
    I lightly brush my fingertips against one of
the closest branches. It’s smooth except for its long, lined
wrinkles and feels very similar to carved metal, except for its
slight breathing. The wiry, metallic branch seems to expand
slightly and then release again at my touch.
    “These?” I extend my middle finger to one of
the light spheres. As I’m about to touch it, it zaps me with a
sharp electric current. Immediately nursing it in my mouth, Jeb
chuckles behind me.
    “Yes, you don’t want to touch those. They’re
babeebs—they don’t like to be disturbed.”
    “They’re alive?”
    “Of course they are!” he places himself at
my side. “They’re tiny organisms that live off the Gizella trees
unless another life force is closer.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “Well,” he extends his hand, signaling down
the rest of the corridor. I follow it and find the entire
plum-black wall lined with these silvery trees, dotted every four
to five feet down from one another. “We use them to light our way
around this base. But if there isn’t a Gizella tree where you need
to go—say, to your bunker—you simply scoop a few up and over, like
this,” Jeb gracefully dips his hand inches under the babeebs and
lifts them atop his head, where they hover a few inches above.
“Only one or two is sufficient. You don’t want to leave the rest of
us in the dark.”
    “And they’re on the base floor as well? Are
they outside?”
    “No—we use them solely to light the
interior. Just like your kind, we rely on the sun for outdoor
exposure,” he walks on, hands cupped behind his back. “There are
two in your room, so if you bring a few babeebs when you go,
remember to take them with you when you leave. We once found a
human coveting around forty or so! Can you believe it?”
    “Why?”
    “Who knows? But to ensure your safety and
the safety of others, there are routine sweeps of your room,
so don’t bring in anything you wouldn’t want us to find,” he
glances back with an endearing smile. This strikes me as odd, but I
keep silent. “And these, here,” Jeb gestures to the left, “are the
evibolas.”
    He points to an arched door way of deep,
sparkling blue. We stop, my eyes adjusting as I take in its moving
splendor. It’s like looking into the night sky, at the moving stars
across varying hues of the universe. Beautiful.
    A tall man, dressed similarly to Jeb, walks
through the veil, the deep blue evaporating like mist behind him.
He has short yellow hair and seems genuinely surprised to see me.
He glances at Jeb and, finding immediate comfort, walks off.
    “These are the quickest way of transport—for
Dofinikes, that is,” Jeb is quick to clarify. “ Your primary
mode is the stairs, located at each corner of the base. But for
today,” he takes a step toward the archway which has regenerated
the navy fogged shield, “they’ll serve our purpose.”
    I’m interested in asking more about the
evibolas, where else they can lead, but with the passing of the
yellow haired man, another question emerges instead, one I want
answered more.
    “How many Dofinikes are there?”
    “Hmm?” he barely glances at me. “What’s
that? How many Dofinikes?”
    “Clarence mentioned there were about four
hundred humans,” I keep my best poker face in play. “I’d imagine
there’d need to be quite a few Dofinikes to take care of us and…” I
gulp, “maintain order.”
    “Well let’s see…” his eyes roll up, quickly
counting, “there must be about the same, I should imagine. We
mainly stay up here, in the labs and hospitals. We don’t have much
interaction with the humans unless they are ill or hurt or
something is wrong.”
    “Why?”
    “Well…” Jeb exhales, tossing his hands
behind his back again, “we feel this is a gentle process for you.
Your race is rebuilding itself. I’m sure it needs as little
meddling as possible.”
    “You’re not meddling if you’re helping.”
    “Yes, I do