Chapter 13

Chris stood on the platform, no longer trying to stifle his yawns. The sun has just crept over the horizon, and he has been on his feet for two hours. Peering into the distance, trying to spot the intercontinental shuttle that was supposed to arrive in fifteen minutes, the young man grumbled furiously. Was there a particular reason to purchase tickets for so early? Didn't he get enough sleep deprivation? From time to time, he glanced over his shoulder at his companion, who relaxed his head against the back of the chair in the waiting room.

Everything indicated that the zirka was asleep, but as soon as Chris turned his gaze away, an itchy feeling rose between his shoulder blades, the feeling of a stare boring into that spot. Chris had tried a little earlier to relax in an empty chair to the left of Erzketau but changed his mind and went on pacing and stretching, just so he wouldn't feel like falling asleep. The Grinch did not bother him with a conversation, did not pester him in any way, but his silence, rare chortles, and chuckles drove him mad. It didn't matter if he was chuckling at some of his own thoughts or as a comment on Chris's distress.

Chris had every right to frown and be unhappy about the fact that he was pulled out of bed barely after three in the morning. To be honest, at first, he thought that the professor was joking when he told Chris to set the alarm so early and was seriously upset upon receiving the confirmation for the check-in on the eve of their departure. And while the entire scientific complex slept, immersed in darkness, except for the glowing squares of the windows of the medical tower, the two made their way through the rainforest. Well, at least they took green dude's gravicar. Chris wouldn't be surprised if they had to get to the bay on foot—this would be entirely in that sadist's character! Nevertheless, apparently, the reason has overpowered the urge to morally abuse students.

Arriving at the gravitation port two hours before the indicated boarding time, they took care of the luggage and even managed to watch the shuttle, which departed with their and another hundred suitcases to the South-East. After which, Chris tried to return to the dream he had in the middle of the night before the buzzer interrupted it. However, after an hour of unsuccessful attempts, he changed his tactics since he could not relax enough in the immediate vicinity of the transplantologist. He yawned for the hundredth time, checked the clock for the unknownth time, rolled his shoulders, and went into the hall.

Although it was early morning, the day would be undoubtedly sultry. Not a single leaf moved, and the temperature shown on the display bounced up by a degree every fifteen minutes. Of course, this did not mean that a hurricane could not burst down in a few minutes, bringing with it gray clouds that would overthrow a short downpour, like the one that drizzled yesterday during dinner, although nothing remained of the precipitation in the morning.

For reasons unknown to him, Chris dressed, to put it mildly, not for the weather. It was much warmer than he would have liked in his cotton shirt and light, loose trousers, and he looked with envy at Erzketau. The zirka dressed like a humanoid who was going on vacation to the seacoast in the middle of a tropical summer: a cropped-sleeve tee and knee-length shorts. The knitted fabric, unable to hide his outstanding muscles, tightly fitted his chest and shoulders, showing off the entire forearms covered with a scattering of small, dark pigmentation spots.

Earthlings called them freckles, although they had nothing to do with the humans' skin reaction to ultraviolet rays. The lizards' spotting was strictly symmetrical on the left and right sides of their bodies. Dots hardly more than three millimeters in diameter appeared in the first month after birth. It was their natural pattern, and, among earthlings, there was an opinion that it was unique for each individual like the pattern of the irises for humans.

As a piece of carry-on luggage, the zirka took only a messenger bag—more like a small tablet case, and Chris suspected that this was exactly what it looked like. The young man did not take too many things with him as well; nevertheless, he had to pack them all in a backpack. Why did he bring a snack, knowing that they would fly in the morning and that the ticket included a lunch, not to mention everything he could order on the board? Maybe he should leave the food here. Surely there should be a box for organic waste at the station installed by the management of parks and reserves. He turned his head in search of the box with its recognizable blue-green branding but had managed to find it the exact moment when out of the corner of his eye, he noticed movement in the distance. Their transport was slowly nearing the station.

Less than a second later, a melodic chime signaled from the speakers, and the dispatcher announced the arrival of the Byron's Bay – New Cairns Intercontinental shuttle. Passengers waiting for boarding gathered up and walked in discordant rows towards the platform exit.

One such shuttle could carry onboard eighty to one hundred passengers. It glided at an altitude of two to three thousand meters and covered about five hundred kilometers in an hour. Thus, and, judging by the landing data, he and the lizard will have about thirteen hours of flight since they are far from their destination – the coastal airport city of New Cairns—by 6,300 kilometers of the Indian Ocean. Plus, a stop in Jakarta to recharge. Upon arrival, they will need to drive for about 250 kilometers along the seaside to the South, and then... then Chris did not understand and did not want to wonder whether they would swim or wander through the wilderness of the Hinchinbrook Island National Park, where they will spend about two weeks of this forced vacation.

Sitting in their seats, all the travelers listened to the pilot's welcome speech, received flight attendants' instructions for behavior on board, got the network access passwords, and plunged into their gadgets, or a doze, and some of them – in their own thoughts. Chris looked around the cockpit finding the light beige interior nice and warm—studied the neighbors who were sitting across the aisle and talking enthusiastically, the sweetly smiling steward standing at the passageway while counting the passengers of his compartment with his eyes. Having finished with the inspection, Chris snapped on his belt and looked in front of him, directly at the scientific coordinator, who was looking serenely out the window. Feeling Chris's gaze, Erzketau looked inquiringly at him, as if knowing that he wanted to ask something.

"I still don't understand why we didn't take personal aircraft." Chris brought up a point that they have discussed previously more than once. The zirka's stare slightly hardened as if saying, "How many times do we have to do this?" Chris threw his palm up and forward, and quickly continued his thought, "I get that it is easier to get lost in a crowd, that personal air-cars are easier to track, but you refuse to clearly explain to me how we can be sure that the staff is definitely not involved in this case. Any employee of the research institute in a position higher than the cleaner has access to orders and other primary documentation, right?"

"Chris, I'm sorry, but I don't have to explain to you all the specifics of our security service. Just take it for granted – we have checked and excluded everyone. Furthermore, we trusted you in keeping the exact place of our stay a secret from the student body. You don't have to worry about anything else." Tau grunted, propping up his temple on a palm. "If you need an even more compelling reason, how about an environmental one? Why spend such a mass of energy if this way of travel has already been planned? Why add to someone's car, no matter yours, mine, or the one owned by the research institute, adding considerable care, work, and accelerating wear, if the public car designed for such long journeys will still go to the given location?" Despite all the work and ecological education that the zirks have instilled in new generations of humans for decades, the attitude of the earthly race to frugality and care for the external environment was still far from ideal. The Universe couldn't fail more than entrusting this particular planet to this particular race.

"Were you a monk before becoming a scientist?" Chris asked, squinting, not really hoping to get an answer.

Oh no, Tau thought to himself, his past reality proceeded quite differently from the monastic path and way of life. He turned to the window again but occasionally cast glances at his companion, who calmed and sat still only after the shuttle undocked from the platform.

After fidgeting briefly, Chris decided that this was the best opportunity to reclaim his stolen sleeping hours. All talks and actions can wait. The green one can wait too; Chris will still get his questions answered, if not today, then tomorrow. Now he will sleep, and the first thing he needs to do when he wakes is to shame his professor. Because the Grinch had obviously forgotten to think about the ecology and economy when he booked the first-class seats for their flight, with only ten people in the compartment, where the back of the seat could unfold, transforming into a double-seat, where you could order snacks at any time and however much you want, and use unlimited wireless communication.

Tau watched him with a smile as Chris drifted off to sleep. He simply could not deny himself the pleasure of buying tickets for two seats, located one opposite the other. In the research center, he did not have a legit opportunity to observe this guy so closely and freely. In addition, this whole adventure with the trip added an incredible supply of excellent mood if it were not seasoned with a pinch of tar, namely, the primary reason for the trip together with Chris.

Going to Australia, Tau left at least three dozen specialists behind who were supposed to take control of the entire local information network and monitor, twenty-four hours a day, the incoming and outgoing data flow in order to identify something even remotely related to Newman and the planted flash drive. Another two dozen of his men were engaged in a private investigation of the incident, and the news that they reported to Tau pleased him less and less each day.

A white equatorial sky hung outside the window, contrastingly shading the dark blue canvas of the sea surface floating far below. This landscape could hardly capture anyone's attention for a long time—another thing if they were traveling through a starlit night or in a thunderstorm, which was truly a spectacular sight. The zirka spent the next two hours working: re-reading the list of planned tasks, adding or adjusting items of the plan, checking the map of living and dead corals, comparing the results of last year's trip and intermediate fragmentary surveys throughout the year, chatting with colleagues, the head of the security service, Kizre, and looking through Chris's health records for the day. Over and over again, his gaze fled from the lines of reports and plans.

At first, he only raised his eyes for a couple of seconds to check whether the young man was still asleep, leaning back in his seat just a meter away from Tau. However, each time, the black eyes without pupils lingered longer and longer on the relaxed features of the young face and more reluctantly returned to the tablet in hand.

Gritting his teeth, zirka locked the gadget and put it back in the case. What's the point of not taking advantage of this excellent chance to watch as much as he'd wish without needing to fear the inquisitive glances of students, teachers, and medical workers of the research institute? It's so easy to sit and look straight ahead. Assessing the object in person without blinking, centimeter by centimeter, not through a CCTV monitor.

A high, gracefully curving line of hair that was sticking out in complete disarray, falling on a pale forehead, outlined below by straight eyebrows, not creased by thoughtfulness or anxiety. The eyes barely moved under thin eyelids with a black rim of thick lashes. It's good that Chris is asleep, but at the same time, he would like to look into his eyes long enough just to make out the pattern of the irises. Is it true that they brighten in the sun, melting with gleaming caramel tints into his warm milk chocolate, or did the photo distort the reality as usual? A straight nose, separated from pale pink lips by a relatively small notch, adding a special touch of eroticism to his face despite the distinct cheekbones and an undeniably masculine jawline.

Inaudibly sighing, Erzketau shifted his gaze lower to the sharp, frozen Adam's apple, open neck with a carotid artery slowly beating under the pale skin. Suddenly he shuddered, as if someone had poured a bucket of water on his head, goosebumps ran all over his body, and if zirks had hair on their skin, then all the hair on Tau's body would stand on end. Carried away by gazing, he almost fell into a drowsy trance himself when he felt a touch to his left leg. Exhaling slowly and instantly relaxing his stiff shoulders, he looked down. Jerking his leg slightly in his sleep, Chris straightened it forward in the aisle between their seats, pressing the zirka's leg against the cockpit wall. On the inside of his shin, Tau felt the warmth of Chris's body through the thin fabric. Not daring to move, he quickly glanced at Chris's face, but the boy slept just as peacefully, only the position of his hands shifted a bit. They were crossed on his chest when he fell asleep, and right now his right hand was thrown up to the back of his head, and the left one slipped onto his stomach, knocking the hem of his shirt askew, exposing a couple of centimeters of the skin below the navel.

It's scary to think how many times Tau saw Chris partially or completely naked, whether it was training, examination—the implantation surgery for crying out loud! How many times he touched Chris in sparring, or during examinations, or his post-surgery recovery... Yet, the feeling of this accidental touch could not match all the working moments combined. It was as if the nerve endings in his entire body had died, and only a small number of receptors remained alive in an area of ​​skin five centimeters in diameter.

Chris's body seemed to be heated to an absurd temperature and burned with incredible force. Warm waves rolled all over Tau's body, spreading from his lower leg and flowing upward, hot and painful, like when your fingers get cold in Northern winter, and then you mindlessly grab a cup of hot tea in the hope of warming up your stiff fingers. His gaze did not leave the pale milky skin peeking out over the waistband of Chris's trousers. Tau closed his eyes, thinking that it was some kind of nonsense. Any other open skin on Chris's body, the palm or neck – they're no different, all that matters is a slight shift of accents; add a note of secrecy, give your consciousness thought that people don't usually expose their naked belly in a formal setting, and that's it, the process of inappropriate fantasizing is speeding forward.

"Kri ... Kri!"

The words sounded like an explosion, and Tau jumped in his seat for the umpteenth time. Sharply turning his head to the right, he met the bewildered gaze of the flight attendant, the one who smiled particularly diligently as they departed. A young man with the name "Brandon" on his badge, obligingly bending over, immediately recoiled and stammered, stuttering, "S-sorry sir, k-kri, sorry, you looked so tense, I didn't think you were asleep, sorry."

"I haven't slept," Tau confirmed in a suddenly shrunken voice.

"Are you... are you all right? Um, can I get you something? Drinks? Plaid?" the attendant offered politely, embarrassed under a heavy dark stare. Wondering if he had inadvertently offended the passenger, he blushed and stood there, not picking up his gaze from the floor while waiting for an answer.

Tau raised an eyebrow in bewilderment, squinting at the information panel, checking the temperature on board, which was 23°, and thought to himself, Plaid!? Are you out of your mind or are you just kidding me?

"Water, please, with ice," he finally requested after clearing his throat and taking control of his vocal cords.

Tau had just now noticed how sweaty he was, which was completely uncharacteristic for him in a calm state and the given climate. He chuckled; was he really that calm? Chris, probably awakened by his conversation with the flight attendant, yawned deeply, and moved. His leg, which held the transplantology specialist in stable tension for about an hour, retreated when the young man straightened out in his seat.

"How was your nap?" Tau asked. "Hungry?"

"Nope." Chris yawned again, not able to shake off his doze, and rubbed his eyes. Squinting at his companion, he asked, "Are we in Jakarta yet?"

"No," Tau answered with an amused laugh, struggling to return the usual tranquility to his face, and took the water brought by Brandon. "Thank you."

"Is there anything else I can do for you?" asked the steward and, having received a negative headshake from Tau, turned an inquiring glance at Chris.

"Thank you, um-m-m, maybe later," he uncertainly peeked at Erzketau and, pursing his lips, quickly mumbled, "I'll go to... um..." he got up and walked past the neighbors to the lavatory.

Time always passes slowly in a confined space. When you are forced to sit in one place, listen to a lecture, wait for a medical testing result, or slice the air at a height of a couple of thousand meters without a chance to go out to get some fresh air, then at a certain point you begin to hate the minutes crawling at the speed of snails. Even if you try to occupy yourself with something useful and productive, then, after a couple of hours you no longer want any productiveness, nothing at all, and only hope to arrive as soon as possible, to pass the line, wait for order in an aero-cafe, to gobble down your lunch and to board again, fall fast asleep, and not to wake up earlier than half an hour before the landing, when the flight attendant wakes you up, lightly touching you on your shoulder, and asks to return your seat to the upright position and buckle up.

They arrived in New Cairns a little after midnight. Chris managed to fall asleep again in the evening, and now he was drowsily trudging after the broad-shouldered zirka, who, contrary to Chris's suspicions, also drowsy and disconnected from reality and work for a couple of hours. Although it was difficult to say whether he was sleeping or not with just a glance, as he was sitting in a seat with a straight back and neck, ceremoniously laying his hands on the armrests, without changing position or even turning his head during his entire "sleep".

Chris sat awake, then, and marveled since he was sure that this representative of the green race definitely had to adjust his circadian rhythms genetically so as not to sleep at all for principles' sake. Having rented a gyro-car, the two moved to the exit, right into the warm night of the Land of Oz.

1 Hinchinbrook is just ... a must-see.

https://bit.ly/33afJV2

https://bit.ly/2Hw26Hg

https://bit.ly/36i5dNo

https://bit.ly/3jbpiZB

2 Oz – an alternative hypocoristic name for Australia, which is used by non-Australians, and which the locals do not take offense at, from what I understood. If I was mistaken, please forgive me and absolutely let me know so I could correct this.

Attention, poll!

What will Tau do to Chris when he gets to Zoe's scenic fall and the bright turquoise lake it runs into?

Answer options:

A) will wash Chris's armpits to eat him clean

B) will drown the brat to make him stop seducing old Grinch

C) will ride him on his ppp

(╮ ° - °) ╮┳━┳ (╯ ° □ °) ╯ ┻━┻ Just when the f*** are they going to… FFS!??!!?!711

Want to know what will happen sooner - check out Earth9AR on Tapas! ==>

https://tapas.io/series/Earth--9th-century-AR/info