R.S.V.P.
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Slimeworld & Galaxy Magazine -- All rights reserved -- |
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Chapter IX
by General (Uncle Claude) Xxaxx
& General (E.J. Gold) Nunan PFC 1st Class Ret.
“So tomorrow is the big day. Are you nervous?” Ja Mere asked coyly looking over at Woo laying awake on her bed obviously staring at the ceiling.
Ja Mere and Woo have shared a dorm room at university for two years now and Ja Mere still did not know that Woo roommate was a female voguing as a male. This being a testament to Student Woo’s voguing ability and the absorbing schedule of classes that Ja Mere was carrying. Taking a simultaneous doctorate in genetics and neurophysics presented more than enough challenge even for someone as brilliant as Ja Mere.
There was no question of Student Woo’s abilities. No freshman had ever excelled in Survival Basics with the adeptness that she displayed. Looking about the room Woo could see the evidence of her training — abilities hard won in the interest of not being terminated by the bosspersons as an xpearimintalist. There was nothing on the walls that could give any real clue to a history. In and amongst a plethora of photos and memorabilia expected on any dorm room wall was nothing that actually referred to Ja Mere or Woo. There were plenty of photographs of students and individuals that may or may not be friends. The settings were always ambiguous, no telltale signs to give times and dates of photos. Not even through reflections in a background window. This room could belong to any of the five hundred students on campus.
“Well, Woo ol’ boy, the Committee for Cross-Analysis has finally encouraged the curriculum committee to approve your jungle test. If tomorrow’s trip works out, you will return a full fellow qualified to study dragon magic.”
“Yeah, they want be to bring back three samples of flora from the jungle. I guess the assorted fauna that hitch a ride back under the skin will be for extra credit.”
Even hearing Woo kid about the various parasites, ticks and other crawly things that looked upon students as a free meal gave Ja Mere the creeps. “Don’t even kid about that. You know I can’t stand bugs. It makes my skin crawl just thinking about it.”
“You’re too much a city sissy. You should get out into the jungle at least once before you head back to Merika. You’re going to graduate and return to your hereditary position on the cownsil without even smelling the jungle once or feeling the jungle grasses between your toes.”
“If the way you smell when you get back is any indicator, I’m not missing much. And I don’t want to feel anything between my toes.”
Woo knew Ja Mere was probably visualizing the green tick she neglected to find after her previous trip into the jungle — neglected to find at least until it was gorged with blood. It looked like a gangrenous sixth toe. “Ah, Ja Mere. With the new pill form repellents that the biodepartment has developed you don’t have to worry about that stuff anymore.”
“Are you taking any of those pills with you on this trip?”
“Well, no. I’m still not sure that they don’t cause cancer. And, given the premature onset of Altheimer’s disease by two-thirds of the test class I’m not sure I want to try them yet.”
“I rest my case.” Ja Mere stated as a final argument against his venturing into the jungle.
Woo had hoped at one time to be able to take her friend into the deep jungle and share some of its mystery and fascination that it held for her with him. She was sure he would be taken by it if only he could hear a single sunset from under a full canopy of trees. In the jungle you don’t see a sunset, you hear a sunset as the night animals begin to venture forth in the evening twilight. It was like a choral group performing one of the ancient operas.
Woo was almost certain that this test was more than a simple task designed for her to display basic survival skills. The journey takes three days and the only equipment she was allowed to take into the jungle was a book of fire starting sticks and a knife or ax — depending on preference. Woo choose the knife. The majority of the freshmen and sophomore were of the opinion that the test was of one’s survival abilities. None of the juniors and seniors would talk about the test. Woo’s best guess was that this so called test has been designed to be a first exposure of her as a student to the dragons.
When asked by Ja Mere, Woo couldn’t pinpoint where this suspicion came from. It just made too much sense. Everyone knows that dragons have an uncanny sense of smell. Professor Lymbarder says that the dragons as a people rely on smell the way we rely on sight. Almost to the exclusion of the other senses. Professor Lymbarder says that the dragons sense of smell was a combination of a highly sensitive molecular and etheric sensor.
“Yep,” Woo thought to herself, not for the first time, “this trim is designed as an opportunity for the dragons to smell the new recruit — this time namely yours truly, me. I’ve passed every course in survival, escape and evasion, cover and movement . . . I’ve passed every general course with flying colors. I’ve logged almost a thousand hours in the jungle. This can’t be a test of my jungle survival skills.”
Anthropology/Eggheads (Subhead: Dragon Magic) [Encoded Cypher Five] Personal History Professor Woo: By the time that a student was assigned to the jungle test the school was satisfied that he could handle the academics — the question was could the dragons stand working with the student. The chemical substances indignant to the student was a direct measure of his history and tendencies. If a dragon smells too much adrenaline on a student that was the end of that. The shamanic work of dragons required the breaking of certain human taboos. Those students that had a tendency toward adrenaline production would not be able to pass the two guardians of taboo — convention and lurid interest. If a student was too compacted by convention to move away from consensus behavior he couldn’t hope to do well in shamanic work — by anyone’s standard. In addition if the student had any interest in the breaking of the taboo for its own sake or the temporary adrenaline hit that foreshadows a transition, they would follow the adrenaline into an ever spiraling gland indulgence that would forever keep them from the garden. It is only in the garden of clairvoyant vision that one could actually talk to a dragon. Anything other than this deep communion was the equivalent of long distance telegraphy. And that was not enough for an effective student-teacher relationship.
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R.S.V.P.
|
Slimeworld & Galaxy Magazine -- All rights reserved -- |
|