Read Kingdoms Away 1: Jorian Cluster Archives for Free Online Page B

topic. “Do you have time to, err, investigate?”
    “Na, I have to go to the bridge. Dad wants me
to watch some more Verging.”
    Feena exaggerated a yawn. Benny rolled his
eyes. Benny had dragged both Feena and Jo with him on one Verging
excursion. It was boring watching the adults on the bridge. The
crew stood around saying words the trio didn’t really understand.
It wasn’t as if you could feel the cruise ship verge into another
dimension. It didn’t feel any different when you were in the other
dimension.
    They said their goodbyes and Feena
determinedly went to investigate. She wanted to get Mr. Pollocks
but thought she might have to crawl in the ducts to get to
somewhere interesting, like the hydroponics gardens when the water
was like a mist in the air. Mr. Pollocks wouldn’t like that.
    Hours later, after crawling around in the
network of ducts and peeping through the grill, she checked to see
if the corridor was clear and backed out of the narrow tube. She
realized it was quite late and that her mum and dad would be
looking for her by now. The panel lay to one side on the blue
carpet. She picked it up and pressed it back in.
    She straightened her green top and black
pants and turned toward the opposite corridor, taking a few steps.
There was a strange noise ahead. It sounded like their practice
alarms but it also sounded like the battery was dying. She stood in
the middle of the T-junction and then moved back against bulkhead
panel she’d just replaced. Feena heard a dull, thumping noise down
the corridor she was facing. She looked around to her left and
right, concerned. The passage she was in was still empty. She was
about to leave and report the noise when the emergency system began
its cry of alert. Explosions and vibrations began moments later.
Further thunderous sounds and weapon fire hurt her ears; she could
see falling debris and smoke.
    Feena felt the heat on her face as she stood
up against the bulkhead of the cruise ship. All around her chaos
reigned. The once empty passage now had adults running up and down,
shouting words she couldn’t make out. Her ears were ringing from
the explosion. The overhead lights had gone from their usual
“white” to “red and blue.” Sirens sounded at all stations. Her
stomach lurched and her ears hurt. In the heat of the attack, she
looked down and saw that her best top was stained brown and red.
Her legs were wet from fright. Her pants were torn. When the urine
slid down over cuts obtained from shrapnel, she groaned. The
stinging sensation distracted her from the chaos.
    “It hurts,” Feena cried, but no one paid her
any attention. Flashes of color exploded around her and she saw
bodies flung around, and those that were not lying on the floor had
faces filled with terror. She looked around, hoping to see someone
she knew.
    “Feena,” a familiar voice cried out. She
looked around to her right and saw Mum. Feena cried with relief.
Just as she took a step towards her, she saw her dad just behind
looking at something else. The door between them slid closed,
sealing the damaged area. Her father’s screams and mother’s cries
cut off abruptly as the emergency panel closed down on her side
over the standard door, securing the undamaged corridor.
    Feena was terrified. Weapons fired again
nearby but she had frozen in fear. As the terror lost its strong
grip, she shrunk down, trying to press herself further into the
grey wall and held tightly onto one of the metal support arches
that had large, circular cutout shapes. Her fingers grew whiter
with each passing moment. Her golden eyes widened at the scene.
Smoke erupted from the opposite corridor several feet from where
she huddled, and an exit hatch exploded, crashing into the bulkhead
opposite it. She felt the warm air on her face from that direction
and did not notice the small trickle of blood coming from her
forehead. Her brown hair was matted with it. She did not scream;
she did not utter a whimper. Her small,