Forever Young

Chapter Twenty-four. An Edible Plant?

"I don't really know. It just seems to be a hothouse for growing this one particular plant. They seem to have developed some special method because they have covered the soil with this powder. I took some so that Leitus and Lars could take a look at it." 

"Can I see?" 

"Sure." 

Janik removed the wallet from his hip pocket, opened the flap of the pouch, and allowed Erika's long slender fingers to remove a dust sample. Their hands touched but she seemed oblivious. Her attention was riveted on the powder. 

"It's like talc, no crystalline form, and it doesn't seem to burn or irritate the skin. I don't suppose we'd better taste it though. It may not be a fertilizer, but something like tarbaryl." 

"What's tarbaryl?" 

"It's an insecticide my Dad uses in the garden at home. He always wears gloves when he uses it and showers after applying it to the plants. I hope it isn't anything like that, or it may be the end of your wallet." 

"But I've nothing else to put it in." 

"What about your snack-pack?" 

"Gee! I never thought of that." 

"Here, Erika, hold on to my wallet whilst I empty one of my sandwich bags." 

Janik was carrying a small rucksack that contained the two lunches prepared by the ship's cook.  As he was busy unbuckling, Erika noticed the photograph. She was beautiful. A brunette with dimpled cheeks and smiling eyes. 

"Is this your girl friend then?" She queried, handing the open wallet back to Janik. 

"No such luck." 

"Who is she?" 

"She's a married woman." 

"What?" 

"Don't get so excited, Erika. She's my sister, Marie," chuckled Janik. 

"I didn't realize you had a sister." 

"Oh yes. We were... are very close. Our parents were lost at sea in a boating accident when I was eighteen, and Marie was twelve." 

"I'm sorry to hear that." 

"It was a long time ago. We had a tough time at first, but they left a sizeable inheritance and we were able to hire a domestic. I made sure that Marie finished her schooling and did my best to keep her out of trouble." 

"Did you succeed?" 

"I think so. She seems to be happily married, and just before we left I heard that I may soon become an uncle." 

"That's wonderful. You know I really envy you." 

"You do? That's hard to believe." 

"Well I do. I was an only child and would have loved to have a brother or sister?" 

"Which would you have preferred?" 

"A brother I think." 

"Why?" 

"Maybe then I would have a better idea what makes you guys tick." 

"I could tell you," said Janik unable to resist a flirtatious grin. 

"I'm sure you could, but now you have opened the knapsack, let's have lunch."

They ate lunch in the pleasant shade of one of the willows. The chicken salad sandwiches and raspberries were up to the high standard they had come to expect whilst on board. Things would change once they headed up-country, but for now, they had no complaints. Her hunger satisfied, Erika was ready to return to her studies, but Janik had other ideas. He felt it was time to soak up some rays. In another eight weeks, winter would be upon them, and in these northern reaches, they would be seeing very little daylight, so why not take advantage of the sun while it lasted. Erika agreed but remained in the cool of the shade whilst Janik ventured into the blistering sun. 

*****

Erika watched enviously as Janik stripped to the waist, revealing a firmly muscled, dark brown torso. She would have loved to join him but the thought of revealing her body caused her to refrain. Early in her teenage years, she had developed a figure that most women would have died for, but she was unable to deal with the unwanted attention it brought from hormone-laden males. As a defence, she had resorted to wearing loose fitting clothing at all times, and avoided all situations that might involve skimpy dress.  

As Janik snoozed in the mid-day sun, Erika surveyed the buildings. From her vantage point, she could see that the main building was M-shaped. The long East-West corridor they had followed made the top of the M. There were two wings extending to the north at either end of the building. The eastern one contained what she thought was a tanning facility and the other was the recreation centre. She could clearly see the massive window of the library in the middle section. About a hundred yards to the north of the recreation centre lay another, unexplored building. She thought that before returning to the library, they should check it out. 

Fifteen minutes passed. It was time to go. Erika called out to Janik but there was no response. He could not be aroused, no matter how loudly she shouted. Erika pushed herself up, brushed the remnants of lunch from her pants, and headed towards the slumbering male. Looking down, she couldn't help but think of last night's conversation. Was this her idea of male beauty? She definitely found him attractive. His dark skin and long black locks, worn in a ponytail, set him apart from the pale skinned Darsians who typically cut their blonde hair extremely short. Maybe not an ideal, his ears were too big, but she couldn't deny the thrill she experienced on shaking his naked shoulder. 

"Come on Janik. Wake-up. Wake-up or you're going to burn."  

Janik stirred.  

"Here, put your shirt on." 

Janik stood up, and struggled into the tight fitting garment. 

"Maybe we should take a look at that building over there before going back to the library," suggested Erika, pointing to the one storey redbrick building on the right.  

"That's okay by me," replied Janik. 

 Their path took them by a slightly sunken oval amphitheatre. An asphalt  path, with weeds pushing through innumerable cracks, edged the perimeter. Why a path leading nowhere? At both ends of the field stood strange H shaped structures. Janik waded through the waist high grass to investigate, every step raising a cloud of insects. He found that the two vertical metal poles stood about six paces apart and were joined by a horizontal bar that Janik could just touch if he jumped with outstretched arm. Were they huge antennae of some kind? 

Erika waved, beckoning him to join her on the path to their destination.  Janik was the first to notice that there were no windows except for a small one next to the entrance.  

"Do you really want to go in there, Erika?" 

"I'm not sure. Do you think it's going to be another morgue?"