Shelby and Shauna Kitt and the Dimensional Holes. P. H. C. Marchesi
agitex leaves do not require belief in order to work,” said Lendox, pleasantly. “You do not have motion sickness, Shauna?”
“Nope,” she said, cheerfully. “Never had it.”
“I noticed that you recovered remarkably fast inside the roomix. Most people take considerably longer the first time they ride in one.”
“Shauna’s like that,” said Shelby, absent-mindedly staring outside.
“Like what?” asked Lendox, intrigued.
“She never gets sick,” said Shelby, finally turning his attention back to them.
“Never?”
“Never,” said Shelby. “One time my mom and I came down with this horrible flu, and she didn’t even come close to catching it.”
“It’s not such a big deal,” said Shauna. “It was probably just one of those 24-hour bugs.”
“I don’t think so,” said Shelby. “Mr. Ivanovich who lived above us got the same thing, and he was in bed for two weeks.”
“So what?” asked Shauna, feeling her cheeks flush. “It’s possible for someone not to get a flu, you know.”
“Yeah, but mom said she can’t remember you ever having been sick – not even as a baby.”
“I wish I were like that,” lamented Marina. “I hate getting sick. I hate allergies even more.”
She blew her nose and glanced sourly at Tippy, whose little white head had just stuck out of Shauna’s backpack.
“I’m sure I’ve been sick at some point,” said Shauna, uneasily. She intensely disliked being the center of attention, and she could tell that Lendox, even from behind his sunglasses, seemed extremely interested in what Shelby had said. She tried very hard to think about when she might have been sick, but not even one instance came to mind. One time she and Shelby shared an egg salad sandwich at a deli, and Shelby had terrible food poisoning afterwards. She, however, was absolutely fine. She always told herself that she had eaten the good half, but now she wasn’t so sure. She began to think about all the instances in which she should have been sick, and was still scanning her memories when the helicopter landed on a runway.
“Is that Airforce 1?” asked Shelby, spotting a large, white airplane parked across from them.
“No, but it’s close,” said Marina, smiling. “Let’s go - you’ll see what I’m talking about in a sec.”
Marina wasn’t exaggerating. The plane was the most luxurious place Shelby and Shauna had ever been in.
“This place is like a hotel!” cried Shauna.
“A five-star hotel,” said Shelby, comfortably sitting on one of the large chairs. “You guys have to try these!”
“Very comfortable, indeed,” said Lendox, sitting next to Marina and clutching his sling bag. Shauna sat next to him, and noticed that he seemed nervous – even his voice sounded tense. Shelby and Marina, however, were too busy to notice: Marina was immersed in the list of entertainment channels, and Shelby was apologizing to the flight attendant for having accidentally pressed the button that had summoned him.
“How come we need soldiers on the plane?” Shauna asked, seeing two sitting in a corner.
“It’s just a security precaution,” said Marina, who had apparently not found a single entertainment channel to her liking. “They’re accompanying us to the base.”
“How long will it take to get there?” asked Shelby, noticing that the red-haired flight attendant was still firing disapproving glances at him from a distance.
“I’m guessing it’s about four hours,” said Marina. “When I was working on the MG planes, people talked about a secret base somewhere in Colorado. I bet that’s where we’re going.”
“Cool,” said Shelby, as the plane began to move along the runway. “We’ve never been anywhere but Chicago and New York.”
“You won’t get to do much sightseeing, unfortunately,” said Marina. “They’re keeping everything a big secret, so I doubt you’ll be able to get off the base.”
Shelby sat back and sighed. Colorado did not seem nearly as exciting now that he could not go snowboarding or mountain climbing. He did not have much time to nurse his disappointment, however, because the plane began speeding through the runway. Within moments, Shelby felt it tilt upwards and lift off. He could not get enough of looking out the window, and had the strangely persistent feeling he had flown before, though he knew he had not – they had taken the train when they moved to New York City.
Shauna, seeing that her brother was completely absorbed in watching the plane go through the clouds, turned her attention to Tippy, who seemed outraged at the amount of turbulence she was having to endure. Lendox, too, began to shift uneasily in his chair, and Marina finally noticed.
“If I didn’t know better,” she said, “I’d say you’re nervous.”
“I am,” said Lendox. “I am not accustomed to lifeless transportation. First the helicopter, now the plane. How do you do it?”
“Do what?”
“Trust something that has no soul.”
Marina looked utterly perplexed at this, but a giant sneeze overcame her before she could say anything. She glanced disapprovingly at Tippy, who looked particularly proud of what she had just accomplished.
“Oh, yes, I forgot,” said Lendox, rummaging through his bag. “I meant to give you something for your allergies.”
Marina watched eagerly to see what Lendox would take out of his bag, and stared in disbelief at the little green mushroom he gave her.
“It will retrain your system,” he explained. “Within a few minutes, your body will no longer react negatively when it senses a cat.”
Marina scanned the mushroom carefully from behind her glasses.
“You’re sure this isn’t poisonous?” she asked. “Here on Earth you’d have to be crazy to put a green mushroom anywhere near your mouth.”
“Then perhaps you should allow yourself some temporary insanity,” said Lendox, smiling. “There is nothing better for allergies than green mushrooms. Chew it first, and then swallow.”
Somewhat reluctantly, Marina chewed the mushroom, wincing at the taste. A few minutes later, however, she found herself affectionately petting Tippy without the slightest hint of a sneeze.
“I always wanted a cat,” she explained. “My dad got me a goldfish because of my allergies. I wasn’t happy at first, but I eventually loved Mr. Bubbles.”
“Mr. Bubbles?” laughed Shelby. ”I thought Shauna was the only one who came up with lame names.”
“Very funny,” said Shauna, with a smirk. “Tippy’s a good name, ok?”
“It’s better than Mr. Bubbles, in any case,” joked Shelby.
“Hey, I was seven when I named him,” protested Marina. “I have a picture of him in my laptop. Let me show you guys.”
Marina quickly retrieved her laptop from under her seat and turned it on, while the three of them waited eagerly for a picture of the famous goldfish.
“I actually scanned all my pictures last year – I was going crazy without something to do. I know it’s here somewhere,” she added, taking off her glasses and rubbing her eyes. “Give me a second – I’m feeling kind of weird all of a sudden. I’m having trouble focusing on –”
To their surprise, Marina never finished what she was saying. Instead, she jumped up, sprang towards the two soldiers, and knocked them out so violently and unexpectedly that they never saw her coming. Grabbing one of their guns, Marina turned to Shelby