Free Andromeda Day and the Black Hole by Charlie Jackson Page B

send me to the Black Hole. Once I’m there I
can find my way to Deneb and release him.” Andi spoke more confidently than she
felt.
    Clios nodded. “Okay. I will come with you,
if you want me.”
    Andi’s eyes lit up. “Really?”
    Clios shrugged. “We are trying to maintain
a resistance in these woods but we have little chance of holding out for long. If
our people truly wish to survive these terrible wars, we must act now to bring
them some hope.” She took Andi by the shoulders and held her firmly. “But I
will only come with you on one condition.”
    “What’s that?” But Andi already suspected
what it would be.
    “That we try to rescue Lydia, and the
Golden Star, too.”
    Andi nodded. “Okay. But Deneb comes first.”
    “Agreed.” The two women shook hands. Clios
gave a little shiver of excitement, her eyes filled with hope for the first
time in days. “Let us prepare for our adventure.”
    *
    Andi watched as Clios got herself ready. “We
shall make our way towards the city, and will probably be picked up not far
from the walls,” the captain said as she strapped on a belt with a knife and
other weapons attached.
     “What if we become separated?” Andi asked
nervously.
    “We will do our best to avoid that. The
Hoshaen, for all their faults, have a strong family unit. From what we
understand they keep families together in the Hole.”
    Andi laughed. “Haven’t you forgotten one
thing?” She indicated her hands and face. “We hardly look like we’re related.”
    Clios grinned, the strip of brown bone that
replaced her teeth hardly visible in the darkness. “We’ll have to camouflage
you, Andi. It will be safer that way.” She nodded to one of the other soldiers,
who came forward with a wooden bowl. “Thank you, Jarl,” she said softly. It was
filled with a dark earthy substance that slopped against the sides as Jarl
placed it on the ground.
    “This is granala,” the male Ruvalian said. “It
is a mixture of a special type of Thoume earth and a chemical compound that
turns the earth to a viscous liquid. It will make your skin green in a matter
of minutes—but it will wear off, don’t worry.”
    “How long will that take?” said Andi,
trying not to show alarm as Clios pulled her arm straight and began to spread
the horribly sticky liquid onto her skin.
    “Several days. It will gradually fade.” Clios
pushed the sleeves of Andi’s suit and jacket up so that the mixture covered her
arms up to her elbows. Then she smoothed it onto Andi’s face and neck. The rest
of her was covered and, unless her clothes were removed, her white skin would
not be noticed.
    The captain then accepted a bowl of water
from Jarl and proceeded to wash off the earthy mixture. Andi gasped as her arms
were revealed. They glowed a beautiful iridescent green, the phosphorus in the
soil interacting with the chemical compound to change the pigment in her skin. Clios
washed her face and neck, then stood back to admire her handiwork. “Only the
hair left to do.”
    “Can’t I just wear my hat?”
    “It might get taken or knocked off, and
your hair is very distinctive. Better to color it.” Clios made Andi kneel down,
and then gathered her blonde hair in one hand and began to ladle the earthy
mixture onto it.
    “Your hair is a very strange color,” Jarl
commented as Clios covered the blonde locks with a smile. “Do all Earth women
have the same shade?”
    “No. Very few, in fact. Most are dark brown
or black. Some used to be red, but that’s virtually extinguished now, too.”
    Clios finished, waited a moment and then
washed the earth off. Andi watched her wet, shoulder-length hair swing back
around her face, startled to see it a bright lime-green, very similar to
Clios’s.
    “There,” said Jarl. “You look like a true
Ruvalian!”
    “One more thing.” Clios took a small strip
of thin bark from Jarl. On one side it was smeared with a sticky substance. “You
must put this on your teeth. It will feel