Chapter 11
CHAPTER ELEVEN
“Why are we stopping at another planet?” I asked. “Isn’t Exostalon close?”
“Trust me, you’re going to enjoy this planet,” Gage promised as he steered the ship closer to the green and blue orb.
“It’s one of the few planets that we know you’ll be safe on,” Wayne said. He’d been on his tablet all morning, even while eating breakfast, but when I’d peeked over his shoulder, I couldn’t understand the language he was reading.
“Somehow, I have a feeling she could find trouble, even on this planet,” Zeke grumbled.
My glare didn’t affect him in any way and he continued to scowl at me. “It’s not like I try to find trouble, you know? I’ve been running for most of my life at this point.”
“That’s part of why we’re stopping here,” Preston said as he joined us. “Here, you can simply enjoy yourself. No need to look over your shoulder or keep your hand near your weapon.”
“None of you have told me where ‘here’ is yet. What’s the name of the planet?” Why were they being so secretive? I knew for certain it wasn’t Exostalon because their planet wasn’t green and blue like this one, plus, this planet was much smaller than Exostalon.
So, where were we?
“If we told you the name, it would ruin the surprise,” Gage answered. “Just trust me. Okay?”
I could do that, at least for him. I nodded. “Okay, Gage.”
He smiled briefly at me before focusing again on his piloting.
In the short time that I had been with them, I quickly recognized what a skilled pilot Gage was.
It seemed each of them had a unique skillset.
Gage was the pilot. Wayne was the tech guru.
Zeke was the security person, though I did still question his skill since he let me stay.
So, did that make Preston the brains and/or leader?
I had a feeling if I asked him that, it would only inflate his already too large ego.
So, I decided to wait and ask Wayne about their dynamic later.
He was the easiest to get information out of.
As Gage connected the ship to the docking system, I tried to look out the window, but Zeke blocked my view, he was so wide, it was impossible to see around him.
“You’ll ruin the surprise,” he whispered. Leaning down closer to me, he whispered, “Scout, when the doors open, please record Xoe so we can watch her reaction later.”
Scout chirped a confirmation, slid out from behind my ear, and hovered in front of all of us. Since when did she listen to their orders?
Gage hit a button and the door slid open.
A fresh scent, similar to the jungle room, but different, less heavy, blew around us. I inhaled deeply and wondered if there was a way to bottle this scent. I would have this scent in my room if it could to help me relax and sleep.
Zeke stepped to the side, allowing me to look out at the planet we’d landed on, and my mouth immediately dropped open as my eyes widened and joy filled me.
White and black bear-like creatures rolled around on the docks and hung from several platforms made out of a thin, green wood. The creatures approached us, looking wary, and waited patiently at the bottom of the ramp.
“Welcome to Pandemonium,” Gage said.
When I was a child, my father had told me about this planet and shown me pictures.
It was a planet made up entirely of pandas, the black and white bear-like creatures, who were surprisingly intelligent.
These pandas were smarter than normal bears and spoke a language of their own, comprised of growls and grunts.
The planet was made up of primarily bamboo, the large green stalks, that they used as building materials and also food, and water.
Somehow, they had no oceans, just fresh water sources.
They were also fully independent and while they did allow outsiders to visit, it was on their own terms. Plus, they were backed by some very powerful and scary people who would obliterate you, your family, and any acquaintance you had if you harmed the pandas.
“Pandas!” I squealed and started down the ramp.
The pandas started at my squeal, but when I reached the bottom of the ramp, they smiled and huffed in acceptance.
“Xoe!” Zeke snapped. “Be careful! They may look fluffy and kind, but they are dangerous and—”
Turning to the largest panda, I bowed low, showing my respect.
The panda grunted in approval.
Straightening, I opened my arms and grunted back.
The panda immediately pulled me into a hug, crushing me into his furry and warm body.
I was being hugged by a giant panda!
Zeke swore nearby.
When the panda released me, I turned around and said, “My father taught me all about them. I know a bit of their speech and what they like.”
A baby, or cub as they called it, fell out of one of the platforms, landed on the ground, grabbed its feet, and rolled head over tail until it bumped against my foot. It lifted its head and sneezed.
Bending down, I picked the cub up and hugged it. “Hello, cub.” I grunted softly at it and cooed.
The cub cooed back and then made the most adorable roar.
Every single panda present roared back.
Oh. My. Stars! I had just been accepted by the pandas!
“Best. Day. Ever,” I stated softly.
“We’re not taking a panda on our ship,” Preston said sternly.
I gasped and spun to face him. “Don’t you dare say something so tragic! The pandas can never leave here. This is their planet and they cannot survive away from it.”
He tilted his head to the side, a curious expression on his face. “How did you know about this place?”
“My father told me about it. Apparently, he and Mother had visited here a few times on their way to and from diplomatic visits to other planets. He made sure to take pictures and to instruct me in how to interact with them.” Bouncing the cub in my arms to make it laugh, I said, “He had promised to bring me here for my birthday and wanted to guarantee I was safe when we visited.”
Unfortunately, the Exostalons had ensured that they never got the chance to bring me here.
“Come on!” I said and smiled at them, shoving my sadness down. “Let’s go play!” Turning to the largest panda, the clear leader, I grunted and whined.
The leader dropped to stand on four paws and huffed.
Without waiting for the others, I slung the cub onto my back, ignoring the pain of its little claws digging into me through my shirt, and climbed onto the leader’s back, clinging on tight like the cub was to me.
The leader waited until I was steady and began walking. The rest of the gathered pandas followed behind, but instead of walking, they all grabbed their feet and rolled head over tail after us, herding the Dragonkin behind me.
“Scout, record everything!” I ordered happily. I knew without a doubt that this would be one memory I remembered for the rest of my life.
The pandas led us deep into their planet, to a village where dozens of pandas lived. There were several houses, though none had a door, but at least it provided them shelter from the weather when they needed it.
Several cubs rolled over to investigate.
Wayne squatted down to scratch one cub’s ear and it became smitten with him, rolling onto her back and making a mewling sound.
Zeke was immediately inundated as at least seven cubs started climbing him. He held perfectly still, not even grimacing despite their claws no doubt snagging him through his clothes.
“Who do you think built these shelters?” I asked as I sat up on the leader’s back.
“We did,” Preston answered as he took the cub from my back and cradled him in his arms. The cub fell asleep after releasing a huge yawn.
“You did?” I asked.
He nodded. “We stopped here during one of their rainy seasons and noticed that most of them were curled up against the bamboo stalks, but there wasn’t that much coverage from the rain. So, we built these structures as well as a few dozen more where the other large congregations of them are.”
“The pandas are very resourceful and can use some tools, but for some reason, they never considered building a shelter like this. Once we built it, they threw a huge party and played until the sun rose,” Wayne added.
These male Dragonkin continued to surprise me. The more I got to know about them, the more I felt myself falling.
Leaning forward, I grunted at the leader so he would turn his head to look at me. When he did, I raised my arms and said, “Wheee!”
The leader made a bleating sound and started off at the equivalent to a horse canter.
“Where are you going?” Gage asked, trying to set the cub in his arms down so he could follow me.
“To fly!” I yelled back.
“What?” Zeke shrieked and started trying to dislodge all of the cubs from his shoulders, back, and legs.
We came to a huge clearing with a small pond or lake with crystal blue water, surrounded by pandas on their backs, looking up at the sky or to the right.
On the left side of the clearing stood a large catapult made entirely out of bamboo with a line of pandas waiting patiently beside it for their turn.
As we entered, the panda running the catapult pulled the lever, and the panda inside of the catapult’s bucket gave a roar of confirmation before he sailed through the air, screaming as he flew.
On the right side of the clearing was a large net with a bullseye with rings of different colors painted on it.
The panda that had been launched hit the bottom ring of the target with his back, and stuck to it.
The pandas laying on their backs and those waiting in line cheered, barked, and roared for their friend.
A large panda by the net stomped two times to indicate his friend had scored two points and I realized as I looked in the direction he faced, there was a panda keeping score by scratching a bamboo stick with a sharpened rock.
The panda by the net picked up a large spatula, stuck it between the panda and the net, and peeled him off.
The panda rolled down the net and I noticed a strip of his fur had stayed on the target.
“You’re not going to do that,” Zeke said sternly.