From snatches of overheard conversation, Chiana gathered that they were calling it "the exodus," and it was the reason the Sanctuary's spaceport was packed to capacity with Nebari. She had never visited the spaceport before, but she doubted it was usually this much fun. Most of the other Escapees – that's what they were calling themselves, and you could hear the capital-- looked about Nerri's age, and they were celebrating every chance they got. The smells of rasklak and sweat hung heavy in the air, which was blue-tinged and hazy from orliandis leaf smoke.

In one of the waiting areas, all the chairs had been pushed into a corner to make room for dancing. A young man with locks of curly black hair hanging over his eyes beat a fast rhythm on a set of hand drums. He had rolled up his sleeves and unbuttoned the front of his shirt to keep cool, or maybe to entice the group of young women who stared at his hard-working muscles. A girl Chiana's age sat nearby playing some sort of flute, and some of the dancers also sang. Most of them were horribly off key, not that it mattered. The song was a fun one, the kind you could sing off key without messing it up too bad, the kind her parents had on their old datachips.

Her feet moving of their own accord, Chiana began to drift toward the dance floor, her lips moving to the words of the song. A firm hand closed on her upper arm and a sharp tug made her stumble and almost drop her pack.

"Patience, little sister. Our transport arrives soon." Nerri let go of her arm and helped adjust the straps on her pack so it sat comfortably again.

"Not fair. We're missing the party! How come we've gotta leave so early? You know my grandchildren are gonna ask, 'Were you part of the exodus, Grandma Chi?' and I'll say, 'Sure!' and they'll say, 'So, what wild, fahrbot, fun things did you do?' and I'll say, 'I waited in line for a krastic transport while your great uncle Nerri held me back like a frelling Establishment tig!'" She folded her arms across her chest and stuck her bottom lip out in an exaggerated pout.

Nerri laughed and landed a playful punch on her arm. "Even the tigs are having fun-- look at that one over by the drummer. He's trying to look like a hard-eema, but he's tapping his foot. And every few macrots he starts staring at the flute player and smiling. Can't say I blame him. She's pretty drad."

"Ugh!" Chiana rolled her eyes. "You're kinkoid. She's a kid my age."

"Guess that makes old man tig magra-kinkoid then. Besides, you're not a kid on most planets, not from what I've heard." He glanced from the flute player to Chiana and scowled. "That's why I'll have to look out for you."

"Great! I've got the one-man Establishment on my eema. Thanks." She stuck out her tongue and then jerked her head to get her hair out of her eyes. "So, where we going, anyway?"

"Morlon."

"Morlon, huh? That's as far as you could get us?" Chiana regretted the question when she saw the look on Nerri's face. He hadn't saved much money from his work as a welder, but it was all they had. "It's ok! It's drad-- really! It'll be fun there." She hoped she sounded convincing.

"Probably not." Nerri sighed and readjusted his pack. "Look, I'll find work. We'll find someplace to stay. You can just stay out of trouble. When we get enough money, we move on. I promise."

Chiana tilted her head and regarded her brother with narrowed eyes. "What? What is it you're not--"

The sound of the spaceport chime cut through the music and noise and caused Chiana to reflexively cover her ears, wincing from the pain caused by the loud, high-pitched bell. An equally loud, artificially cheerful voice informed them that the transport for Morlon had arrived in docking bay seven.

"That's us!" With a smile, Nerri grabbed one of her hands and started jogging toward the doorway with the glowing numeral seven above it.

She let herself be dragged along and noted that the people headed in the same direction had a fundamentally different look than the ones staying behind or going the opposite way. Instead of being mostly young, they were a variety of ages, and included the only children Chiana had seen in the spaceport. There were even a few that must have been too old to walk on their own, since they leaned on their middle-aged companions. Their clothes were different too. Most of the women wore dark, baggy dresses instead of the more common laborer slacks or technician jumpsuits. Members of the scholar class often wore dresses, but these women didn't quite look like scholars. The weirdest part was the fact that the men wore dresses too.

Chiana felt suddenly out of place in her close-fitting school uniform, not that she minded a few stares. Nerri was getting curious looks too, and as they got closer to the door, she realized that of all the people boarding the transport for Morlon, they were the only two wearing pants.

She snickered and elbowed Nerri. "Looks like we're in with all the kinkoids. Check out all the men in dresses-- they're lucky they're not getting shipped off to a camp!"

"Yeah," Nerri agreed vaguely as he passed his hand over a scanner, which beeped and flashed a green light.

Chiana touched the scanner and followed Nerri up a ramp and onto the transport. She noted with disappointment that the transport didn't have anyplace nice to sit, and worse yet, that it had no windows. She had been looking forward to watching the stars go by, but she kept her complaints to herself and sat down on an empty shipping pallet near a family of dress-wearing weirdos.

The woman of the family turned to smile at Chiana in a vaguely creepy, tig-like way. "Forgive me, but you and the young man don't look like pilgrims."

"Pilgrims?" Chiana repeated, laughing. "Frell no! We're Escapees, just like you, right?"

The woman clutched the toddler at her side more tightly and edged away from Chiana, muttering something that sounded like, "And'wer, save us," under her breath.

"Excuse my sister's language." Nerri sat down near Chiana's feet and smiled at the woman. "We also travel in peace to Morlon."

Looking unconvinced, the woman stood up and went to sit on the other side of her husband.

"Ok, level with me, big brother!" Chiana hissed. "What is it with Morlon and these kinkoids?"

He shrugged. "They're leaving because they don't like the Establishment."

"Well, I'm leaving because the Establishment doesn't like me, so we should get along just fine. Why're they looking at us like we're about to bite or something?" She flashed a grin at the woman's husband and watched him avert his eyes and huddle closer to his family.

"Look, it was as far as I could take us! We have to save our money--"

"Yeah, ok, I wasn't complaining, I just want to know what we're getting into!"

Nerri sighed and looked her in the eyes. "Morlon is a puritan colony. These people, they don't like the Establishment because they think it's too lax with the Code of And'wer. They see that tig that was ogling the flute player, and they probably think he should be flogging her instead."

"They got a problem with music?" Chiana would have laughed, except that Nerri didn't look like he was joking.

"Yes, actually, but that's another story. She had her skirt tied up over her knees."

"So?" Chiana shrugged. "Who cares? Mom and Dad took us to places where food servers dress like that all the time!"

"Well, that's why these people are leaving." He dropped his voice down to a whisper. "Look, you're right, Chi, we are in with the kinkoids, they're just not--"

"Not the fun, harmless kind. I get it." She wanted to cry, but from the look in Nerri's eyes he was about to do the same, and she couldn't let that happen, so she forced a smile. "It's fine. You find work, I stay out of trouble, we get our eemas off the planet as soon as we can."

"Can you really stay out of trouble, little sister?" Nerri's smile didn't touch his eyes.

"Frell, yes! Look, it wasn't my fault Kael's dad decided to walk in the second she decided to be a little tinked!"

Nerri chuckled. "It's not just that and you know it. You're gonna have to stop taking things that aren't yours and doing everything you can to get out of work. You're also going to have to start watching your language, and you're probably going to have to get one of those dresses--"

"You first!" Chiana giggled, imagining her brother in a dress.

"There is good news!"

Those words came from behind her and she turned to see a young man about Nerri's age smiling down at her. Even in the baggy dress, she could tell he had nice, wide shoulders, not that it mattered much; with that face, he could be as scrawny as a flag pole and still make girls fahrbot over him. He wore his hair long and loose, and she wanted to run her hands through it.

She tilted her head back, looked up at him, and grinned. "Good news, huh?"

He nodded seriously and sat down beside her on the floor. "It is neither chance nor poverty that guides you to Morlon, but rather the mercy of Nay'savevyen."

Chiana shot Nerri a quizzical look over the young man's head.

Her brother mouthed the words, "Play along," and shrugged.

"Who's that?" Chiana asked. "Are you Nay'say-whatever? Is that your name? I'm Chiana."

"Chiana," the man repeated, as if her name were the most tragic thing he had ever heard. "I am Derith. Do you really not know the name of Nay'savevyen?"

"Maybe..." she bit her lip, wracking her brains for associations. "Sounds kinda like what they call the solar system, but you say it different."

Derith winced. "Yes. The blasphemers have perverted the name of our hallowed creator and used it as a mere designation."

"Lousy blasphemers!" Chiana struggled to keep herself from breaking into a grin as she met Nerri's eyes.

Her brother's mouth trembled as well, but he shook his head and mouthed, "Stay out of trouble!"

"So you do hope to learn the ways of the true Code, then?" The smile that Derith gave her made his eyes sparkle like Kaeldryn's and Chiana couldn't help thinking he'd be even more fun to kiss.

"You seem so wise!" Chiana batted her eyelashes and conceded the battle with her lips, allowing them to curve into a full smile. "Will you teach me?"

Nerri shook his head and heaved a dramatic sigh. As he looked from Chiana to Derith, he muttered, "And'wer save us!"

***

Kaeldryn deleted the file from Candra with a sigh of resignation. There was no real information yet, just the fact that Candra had visited the Sanctuary spaceport and had verified that Chiana's first designation had indeed been Morlon. Apparently, Candra was now on Morlon, searching for a man named Derith. Kaeldryn's mind raced in circles, filling in the details of Chiana's story because she needed so badly to know what had happened to her friend. She knew imagined events were a false comfort. These daydreams were as toxic in their own way as the smoke of burning orliandis leaves. Still-- even imagined knowledge was preferable to the cold void of ignorance; better to breathe poisoned air than none.

She brought a fist down toward her console keypad, stopping her hand just in time to avoid any painful destruction. Frell you, Candra! I need something more.