“Are you okay?” he asked, wrapping his arm around her back to support her.
“Yes,” Mia said. “The air is just thinner here, I think.” It was also unusually and pleasantly scented, like blooming flowers and sweet fruits.
“It is thinner,” Korum confirmed. “Our atmosphere in general contains a little less oxygen than you’re used to, and this particular region happens to be at a higher elevation. You should adjust soon, though, with your nanocytes.”
Mia was already starting to feel better, but now she had a new worry. “What about my parents? And Marisa and Connor? How will they adjust?” Her family was just now coming out of the ship, about ten yards behind them.
“Most humans tolerate our atmosphere well, after an initial acclimation period,” Korum said. “But don’t worry; I know your parents aren’t in the best of health, so I made sure our medicine experts were on hand.” He pointed toward a small pod that had just landed next to the ship. “They will help your family with any kind of issues.”
At that moment, two Krinar women exited the pod. Tall, dark-haired, and graceful, they came up to Korum and smiled. “I’m Rialit, and this is my colleague Mita,” said the shorter woman to the right. “Welcome to Krina.”
Korum inclined his head. “Thank you, Rialit. And Mita. I would like you to help my human companions. My charl is fine, but her relatives may require your assistance.”
“Of course,” Rialit said, turning toward Ella and Dan. They and Marisa seemed a little pale, and Connor looked like he was trying to gulp as much air as possible.
The medicine experts hurried over, holding some small devices, and, a minute later, everyone appeared to be back to normal. Korum thanked the two women and they left, their pod taking off a few minutes later.
“Wow,” Mia’s mom said, staring at the departing aircraft, “I can’t believe they run those little things over us, and we can breathe again. What did they do to us?”
“I think they created a small oxygen field around you,” Korum said. “This way, you will have a more gradual adjustment. The field will dissipate over the next couple of days, but it’ll do it slowly, so your bodies will get used to breathing our air.”
“Amazing,” Dan said. “Simply amazing.”
Mia smiled. “Isn’t it, though?”
While they were talking, Korum had started the process of creating a transport pod to take them to their final destination: his house. Mia’s sister gasped as the ship began to take shape, and Connor and her parents simply stared in shock. Mia grinned at their reactions; it wasn’t that long ago that everything Korum showed her seemed like a miracle. Now she could do a lot of the same things, even if she didn’t understand the technology behind it. Then again, most people didn’t understand how phones and televisions worked, but they could still use them – just as Mia could use her fabricator.
Once the pod was done, everybody climbed inside and got comfortable on the floating seats. “Love these things,” Marisa said, a blissful look on her face as the seat conformed to her shape. Mia guessed that her sister was already starting to feel some pregnancy-related aches and pains, and she determined to talk to the medicine experts about that. Marisa was likely too shy to say anything herself.
As their pod took off, Mia looked down at the transparent floor, her breath catching in her throat at the realization that she was actually here. On Krina.
On the planet that was the origin of all life on Earth.
Chapter 25
The flight to Korum’s house took a mere two minutes, the aircraft flying too fast for Mia to see anything more than a blur of exotic vegetation below. As soon as they landed, she jumped up, eager to see Krina up close.
“Hold on, honey,” her dad said, catching her arm as she was about to run out of the ship. “That’s an alien planet. You don’t know what’s out there in the woods.”
“He’s right, my sweet,” Korum said. “I need to show all of you a few things first, to avoid any potential issues. Stick close to me for now, and don’t touch anything.”
Exiting the pod, he led them toward an ivory-colored structure that was visible through the trees.
As they walked, Mia marveled at the beautiful vegetation that surrounded them. While green colors predominated, there were a lot more red and yellow plants than one would find on Earth. In places she could even see bright purple leaves peeking through the wide rounded stalks of grass-like growth that covered the forest floor. Here and there, flowers of every shade of the rainbow added a festive touch to everything. These flowers seemed to be responsible for the pleasant smell Mia had noticed upon their arrival.
The tree trunks were of varying colors as well. Brown was common, but so was black and white. One tree that Mia particularly liked had white branches and bright red leaves with yellow centers. “That’s gorgeous!” she exclaimed, and Korum laughed, shaking his head.
“That particular beauty is poisonous,” he said. “Whatever you do, don’t let any of the tree sap get on your skin – it acts like acid.”
“Really?” Mia stared at her surroundings with newfound caution. Her parents looked frightened, and Connor put a protective arm around Marisa, pulling her closer to him.
“There’s no need to be scared,” Korum said. “You just need to know that you can’t touch the alfabra tree. Same thing for that plant over there –” He pointed toward a pretty-looking green bush that was covered with white and pink blooms. “It likes to eat anything that lands on it, and has been known to consume larger animals.”
Something flew by Mia’s ear and she reflexively swatted at it, gasping when she felt a sudden light pinch. Lowering her hand, she stared at it in disbelief. “Oh my God, Korum, what is that?”
A blue-green creature was sitting in the middle of her palm, its huge eyes almost half the size of its three-inch body. It had only four legs, but there seemed to be hundreds of tiny fingers on each one, all of them digging into Mia’s skin. There were also tiny wings that didn’t seem big enough to propel it through the air.