Conics Unfortunately: 44

Until Ellipse and the boys finally meandered out of the black hole that was the Nestor fold monitor shipping block, they had not quite made the connection between avians and trees. The shipping block had been standard, as far as utilitarian space architecture went. Except for the proliferation of potted plants, the brutalist concrete walls and metal just blended into the background.

And then they hit the passenger block.

Tejal gawped, his eyebrows twisting in horror, and his hands stiffened on the wheels of his chair. Focci tried to slither backwards, and he kept glancing at his wide, webbed hands, very obviously concerned about how clean they were.

Ellipse smiled so brightly she could probably rival a sun. “Oh. My. Heck.”

“No, stop,” Tejal groaned.

“There is grass!” Ellipse shrieked. She jumped, giddy with excitement. “And dirt! Can I take my shoes off?”

Tejal grimaced. “You’re the captain. Do what you want.”

“Is the dirt safe for earthlings?” Focci asked. He poked at a blade of bluish-purple grass with a touch so light and slow he seemed to be afraid of spearing his finger on the plant.

“I left the ends of my stumps bare on Nestor proper once or twice,” Tejal replied, after pausing to let Mouthbot translate from the tablet. “You should be fine, Ellipse.”

Immediately, Ellipse stomped onto the grass and plopped down. As she unlaced her boots and tugged her feet free, the boys meandered onto a boardwalk that wound around the still-skinny, black-barked trees and crisscrossed over a little stream. Focci peered over the side of the walkway to admire the water, and for a moment, he leaned so far forward that Ellipse worried he might slide in for a swim.

She pulled off her socks with a flourish and jumped to her feet, and she immediately regretted not visiting this station sooner. Despite its spiky appearance, the grass felt spongy beneath her feet, and the dirt sat at a comfortable neutral temperature. Even warmed metal floors did not feel so nice.

“Can we start moving or are you just going to stand there and wiggle your toes?” Tejal called.

“We can move,” Ellipse shouted. She leaned forward and peeked at the blades of blue-purple grass poking between her toes. Titan had not invested much in public green space, and the earthling fold monitor was a work of architecture and engineering, not landscape design.

Tejal’s chair clicked over the boardwalk, and Ellipse followed the sound. She kept her eyes peeled for any suspicious specifus, of course, but mostly she just oohed and awed at the young forest growing up around her. Avians perched on the branches of the larger trees, their iridescent feathers both contrasting and blending in with the purple flora, while a variety of other species sprawled on the few benches in the terminal. Ellipse even spotted a giant, grey-green siren napping on a bench near the water.

The boys stopped for a break at a large junction where a raised dirt path intersected the boardwalk and a little gazebo provided unnecessary shade from the overhead lights.

“Ellipse!” Focci sang. “Did you find anything?”

She poked her head out from between two pastel purple tree trunks. “No! Do you think I should start asking questions?”

Focci considered the idea for a moment. “Why not? I have not seen any sign of Captain Maj’s friends.”

After shooting the boys two thumbs up, she ducked back into the trees and scouted for the nearest other person. A family of saur had settled into a meadow about fifty meters further down the terminal, and when Ellipse glanced up she noticed a pair of avians dressed in Nestor business attire—obsidian jewelry over double-breasted vests that would be considered classy even on Earth.

She cupped a hand to her mouth to call out to them and then remembered that she had no idea how to ask about anyone seeing suspicious specifus hanging around. After all, she had found the other two without any outside help.

Ellipse turned back to the boys. “Hey Tejal!” she shouted in English. “What does Ami look like?”

He was too far away for her to see clearly, but she could tell by the play of shadows on his face that he was cringing in disappointment. “How do you not know that? They’re super famous!”

Sure, to a nerd. Rolling her eyes, Ellipse made an exaggerated shrug and hoped the boys could see how she bulged her eyes in exasperation.

“Fine, whatever!” Tejal rolled himself forward, right up to the edge of the boardwalk. “Ami looks like bok choy! You know, that leafy spinach-lettuce vegetable?”

“No non-earthling is going to know what that is!” Ellipse shouted back.

She could not hear it, but Focci tilted his snout up and sang something at Tejal, presumably asking what bok choy was.

“Do you know what bok choy is?” Tejal asked her.

Next to him, Focci fidged like a seal trying to flop away from a colony-mate. He must have been affronted by Tejal ignoring his question.

“Of course I know what it is!” Ellipse said. “Besides, you literally just explained it.”

“Okay so Ami looks like that except with the usual white roots. Also they’re pretty old.”

Ellipse muttered a “got it, nerd” under her breath and gave a casual salute as she pivoted around and tromped back through the trees. Hopefully the avian business people were still perched on their branch. It would be a shame if they had flown away because she had caused a ruckus.

When she returned to the avians’ tree, their perch was empty. The saur family was still around, but Ellipse felt bad asking them for anything when the children were so young they hardly came up to her knees. Instead she stomped further along, searching for someone else she could ask about Ami.

By the time she reached the end of the passenger terminal, Ellipse had asked upwards of twenty people whether or not they had seen a wrinkly, bok choy-shaped specifus. She met the boys at the far end of the boardwalk, boots in hand, and sat on the raised walkway with her legs dangling over the sides. Her feet skimmed the surface of the artificial stream, and she looked out at the garden with a sigh.

“Nothing?” Tejal asked.

She slouched over. “Nothing.”

“That’s fine. You can only look around so much right? I know you’re still worried about being caught.”

On Tejal’s other side, Focci propped himself up onto his elbows and tore his gaze away from the running water. “There is still the Nestor station to search. That one will be easier. It has the same design as the earthling fold monitor.”

“The avians let Spec Corp build a station for them without perches?” Ellipse asked. She pulled her feet up and examined them for any residual dirt.

Focci let out a short, tired note. “Sorry. Same design but with weird cement beams crisscrossing everywhere and no fold generator in the center ring.”

Ellipse scrunched her face and tried to imagine the earthling fold monitor with horizontal beams everywhere, but every design her head produced looked ugly. And sure, the specifus did not always manage to make pretty space stations, but their aesthetic sense was not totally absent.

“It’s a pretty ugly station, to be honest,” Tejal added.

Nevermind, Spec Corp apparently did not have beauty standards. Ellipse pulled her socks on and folded her pant legs around her calves. “Well, if it has the same interior plan as the earthling fold monitor, then maybe I will have better luck searching there. I know the hiding spots.”

“Hopefully,” Tejal agreed.

Except for Mouthbot, the trio was silent as Ellipse finished lacing her boots up. She stood up, brushed off her butt, and then gestured to the next terminal, which had been decorated a bit like those old hipster restaurants on Earth, with soft lighting and dark, bold colors. “Shall we?”

“At least we get a second shot with this place.” Focci flopped around to follow her. “I think we should search the forest more.”

Ellipse hummed her agreement and strolled onward, eyes peeled.