Chapter Three

Plates and glasses clinked as the ship’s staff completed the preparations for the reception. Devon had invited Flim to come, just so he knew he would have someone to talk to. Most of the other children were intimidated by Devon or by his family’s wealth actually. Even the families of the wealthy children who were scheduled to attend the reception did not have as much money as Blake Industries. In fact, Devon’s family probably had more money than everyone else on board, combined.

Devon dug in his pocket for the plasfilm sheet containing the guest list. One name had been highlighted, Jacinda Vasquez. According to the e-message Devon had received, Jacinda was very bright, but very poor. His parents’ foundation had paid for her passage on this trip. If she did well, there were plans to help her parents pay for tuition at a top off-world school, but her parents did not know that yet.

Devon pressed the girl’s name on the plasfilm sheet and a beam of soft light projected an image of her face above the sheet. Devon studied it for a moment. She was actually quite cute, he thought. The thing that impressed him the most, however, was the determined look in her eyes. She had the look of someone who you could always count on.

“Hi, Devon,” a high voice, seemingly coming from nowhere, startled him out of his thoughts.

Devon immediately recognized the voice. It belonged to Flim, the alien boy he met the previous day. He scanned the area, trying to discover where his new friend might be hiding. About to give up in frustration, Devon noticed something strange about one of the tablecloths nearby. As a waiter passed by, it did not ripple like the others. Squinting, Devon looked closer. Suddenly the part of the tablecloth hanging down began to ripple. He looked closer and started to make out the outline of a small person. The effect was totally disrupted as Flim could not hold his giggles in any longer. As he broke out into a fit of loud laughter, Flim became visible kneeling next to the table.

“Ha, ha,” he laughed, “I had you going.” Flim held his sides, trying to hold in the laughter.

“How on Earth did you do that,” Devon asked, totally shocked.

“I told you that sneaking was my specialty,” Flim answered. “Everyone from y’Lang can do it. It has something to do with us having two suns, but I’m not really sure how it works.”

“That was amazing,” Devon still seemed in shock, “that is one of the coolest things I have ever seen.”

Flim looked embarrassed, “it’s really nothing. I have to really concentrate to make it work.”

“Still, that was amazing,” Devon responded. “I’m sure we can find a way to put it to good use this trip.”

Both boys laughed with more than a little mischievousness.

The room began to fill up with children, most looking bored and snobby. Devon cringed. He knew this kind of crowd. He often had to endure events like this reception. His parents considered it part of his family duty to represent them as an educated young gentleman. Devon gave a silent moment of thanks that he had Flim here to break up the monotony.

He pulled the plasfilm sheet out of his pocket again to check the picture and then search the crowd. He did not see Jacinda yet, but she still had nearly a quarter hour before the reception officially started. As he peered at the image he was disturbed by Flim poking him in the ribs. Devon looked up to see that a surprised looking girl was watching him from the doorway. He immediately recognized Jacinda from her holo. He approached her, putting the plasfilm back in his pocket.

“Ms. Vasquez,” he greeted her, his hand extended. She took it meekly and shook it.

“That was me in the holo, wasn’t it,” She asked.

“Yes,” Devon stuttered, “I’m supposed to welcome you to the reception. My parents...I mean, the Blake Foundation sent me to make sure you had everything you needed and to make you feel at home.”

Jacinda chuckled. “It may be impossible to make me feel at home, unless you book me a smaller room. My cabin is as large as the apartment my family shares back home.”

Jacinda’s friendly manner helped put Devon at ease, “Well, I’ll see what I can do. Until then just enjoy our hospitality. I understand this is your first trip away from home.”

“Yes it is,” she agreed, “and it is terribly exciting. I can’t imagine how it would feel to be able to travel like this all the time.”

It was Devon’s turn to chuckle, “believe me, it gets boring. All these ships start to seem the same after a couple of trips.” Devon’s thought was interrupted by another poke in the ribs from Flim. The alien boy was smirking at Devon when he turned toward him.

Flim hopped forward and extended his hand toward Jacinda, “Flimitpoytrotilmas Sa’Atar, at your service….Flim for short.” Jacinda grabbed a hold of Flim’s hand with gusto.

“Wow, a real y’Langian. I’ve never met an alien before, but I’ve read all about them.” Flim exchanged glances with Devon as Jacinda continued to shake his hand. “Can you really blend in with your surroundings? I read about your chromatophores. How does it feel to change color? Does it hurt? How quiet can you do it?”

Jacinda would have continued but Devon rescued Flim with a flourish. “Excuse me, miss, but I’m sure that Flim will be happy to tell you all about it, but we need to find our seats now. Dinner is about to begin.” Jacinda blushed when she realized how silly the boys must think she was. Her chagrin quickly faded at the boys’ ready smiles. She did not feel that they were making fun of her; they just found her enthusiasm cute.

Devon led his two new friends to an elegantly set table. Each place setting was set with the ship’s finest china. The ethereal face of a beautiful woman surrounded with a flowing pattern of Celtic knotwork adorned each plate. She represented the namesake of the ship, a beautiful Celtic queen of ancient England.

Devon remembered the manners that had been hammered into him at boarding school and pulled out the chair for Jacinda. She blushed at the unexpected courtesy, but took the seat. Flim flopped into the chair next to Jacinda and began fiddling with the silverware. As soon as Devon seated himself several adults joined them at the table. Devon rolled his eyes at their eagerness. He had seen it before. As the richest person onboard, there were always people nearby trying and be his friend, but he did not need that kind of friend. Despite their attempts to make small talk, Devon pointedly ignored them. Instead, he turned his attention to Flim and Jacinda.

“So, are you two looking forward to the drop to Forrestal as much as I am?” Flim and Jacinda nodded.

“I read that there are rumors of strange creatures there,” Jacinda said.

“They wouldn’t send us if they thought that there was some boogieman down there,” Flim answered.

“I heard that too,” Devon added, “but I don’t believe it. They check out these places before they let these expeditions go down to the surface.”

Jacinda’s face lit up, “just imagine discovering a new creature, especially a smart one.”

Their conversation was interrupted by a nasty laugh. Jacinda immediately recognized the laugh. It belonged to Terry.

“So, rags, I see you made some friends. I guess a freak and a thief were the best you could do.” This comment caused Flim and Devon to turn toward Terry giving him angry looks.

“I’m no thief,” Flim shot back. Terry looked confused for a moment and then frowned. “I called you a freak, he is the thief,” Terry said, pointing at Devon.

Devon was taken aback, “What do you mean a thief? I’m not a thief.” He stared at Terry in confusion.

“Don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about, Blake. Everybody knows about your family,” Terry sneered as he berated Devon. “Just stay out of my way, thief!”

Terry turned and stalked away from the table. He was filled with anger. That had not gone as he had planned. He could not believe that the little ragamuffin had made friends with Devon Bake of all people. He silently vowed to get even with Devon for what the Blakes had done to his family.

Devon, Jacinda and Flim stared at each other in confusion. Jacinda broke the silence, “that boy has issues.”

The rest of the reception went very well. Several tasty dishes were served, each made with ingredients from Forrestal, the planet they were due to land on in a few days. Devon especially liked the chilled Taga fruit. According to the waiter it could only be prepared safely by chilling it. If it was not chilled to the right temperature it could make you very sick. The best dish, however, was the last. As dessert was about to be served, the lights dimmed. The gathered guests hushed as they waited for the surprise dessert to be revealed. Silently waiters pushed floatcarts to each table. An ethereal melody began to play over the loudspeakers. The lights then began to shift from white, to blue to green, giving the room a fairy mound atmosphere. The lights dimmed to near darkness and then with a flourish each of the waiters lifted the covers from the floatcarts. Each floatcart was topped by a mound of what looked like rich loam. The mounds were crowned by gently glowing mushrooms. The mushrooms were every color of the rainbow, filling the room with a soft rainbow glow.

Jacinda became very excited when she saw what was for dessert, “I have heard of these. They are called fairy mushrooms. The only place they grow is one of the moons of Jupiter.” The waiters served each person a mushroom then replaced the covers on the floatcarts. The more adventurous eaters, Jacinda among them, began eating the mushrooms immediately. Soon, almost everyone had sampled them.

Jacinda savored the rich sweet taste. The only thing she could compare the taste to was a cinnamon muffin, but the texture was totally different. It melted in her mouth, leaving behind a nutty, almond taste.

Seeing Jacinda’s look of pleasure, Flim and Devon dug into their own mushrooms. They both smiled as the taste hit their tongues.

“Wow, I never knew mushrooms could taste so good,” Jacinda said. “I’d love for my father to taste one of these. He loves mushrooms.” She turned to the waiter, “Sir, where do you get these, are they expensive?”

The waiter looked down his nose at her, “they are very expensive, miss. Your dessert cost more than your ticket,” he answered.

Jacinda froze. She could not believe that someone would pay that much for something to eat. It seemed so wasteful to her. Now she felt guilty for enjoying it so much.

Devon noticed her discomfort and realized how much the waiter’s comment had stung her. “Don’t worry, Jacinda. The foundation paid for everything. They also made a donation to a worthy cause for the same amount that the dinner cost. We always do that. It helps us live with ourselves.”

Jacinda felt a little better, but just barely. “I guess that is ok, but it makes me feel guilty to be eating something that cost more than my dad makes in a year.”

“If it makes you feel better, I can arrange another donation. How about a fund that will help other kids from your colony to make trips like this?”

Jacinda nearly burst into tears, “thank you, Devon.” That was all she could get out. She could not imagine having so much money that she could change peoples’ lives on a whim. She thanked the stars that Devon seemed to be the kind of person who did not take it lightly and tried to do good things with it.

“Hey, cheer up,” Flim broke the tension. “We get to start getting ready for the expedition tomorrow morning. That is when the fun really starts.”