Fire in the Sky (19 page)

Ujurak peeled off his gloves and
dunked his pale human hands into a bucket of warm water. He felt exhausted, but in a happy, useful sort of way. He’d spent the whole day helping Sally, and he hadn’t had to spend a moment of it trying to figure out what the right thing to do was. He was surprised to realize how much he liked not being in charge. It was much easier when someone just told you what to do, and when you knew that everything you were doing was making the world a better place, even in a small way.

He’d never thought that being a flat-face could be so satisfying.

Sally came up beside him and dipped her hands into the water as well. Their fingers brushed, and he looked up to see her smiling at him.

“I guess you have to go back to your dad now,” she said ruefully.

“My dad?” Ujurak said, then caught himself. “Oh, yeah, of course. On the oil rig. Yeah. But just for the night. I’ll come
back tomorrow.” He glanced around at the room of animals. Many of them were sleeping, exhausted by the stressful day or carefully tranquilized so they could rest. Lusa was one of the few still awake. She tilted her head at him when he looked at her.

He wished he could tell her he wasn’t really leaving. He’d pretend to go, and then he’d sneak back in and let her out in the middle of the night.

Unless…
Ujurak wondered if it would be so bad if he spent one more day as a human, especially since he didn’t seem to be in danger of forgetting his bear-ness right now. There was still so much work to do with the animals. He could really be a help to Sally and Craig and the others. And Lusa was warm and safe and well fed here. It wouldn’t hurt her to spend another day in the tent.

But he’d have to let Toklo and Kallik know so they wouldn’t come tearing in here themselves.

He was scrubbing at his hands, thinking about how to get a message to them, when Sally said, “I’m glad you’re coming back tomorrow. It’ll be pretty crazy again because our ship is coming, so we’ll be unloading supplies and then loading it with all the animals going back to the mainland.”

Ujurak’s stomach lurched. “Going back to the mainland?” he echoed.

“Yeah,” Sally said. “The ones in the best shape—we’ll get them as far away from here as possible.” She nodded over at Lusa. “That includes our cute little friend there. They’ll take her back to a forest where she belongs. I bet you’ll be
happy about that, won’t you, sweetheart?” she said to Lusa in a friendly voice. “Gosh, poor little thing. She’s probably ready to hibernate about now.”

“Yeah, she is,” Ujurak said. He barely noticed the strange look Sally gave him. His head was swirling with guilt and worry and confusion. All the fears he’d managed to push back while he was working during the day flooded through him again.

Tonight was his last chance to rescue Lusa. But was it the right thing to do? The kind humans were ready to take her back to the land, where she would be safe. Was that what Lusa really wanted? Would she resent him for keeping her on the ice instead?

Then he remembered the signs in the sky—the cloud trail and the tiny stars. All four of them had to finish the journey. Surely Lusa knew that, too. If he could only talk to her, then he could make sure she was willing to come with him. But there was no chance of that happening with Sally watching him all the time.

He looked up and realized that Sally was giving him a puzzled look. “Are you all right?” she asked. “It looked like you kind of drifted off into space for a minute there.”

“Sorry,” he said, although he didn’t exactly understand what she’d said. “I’d better get going.”

“Yeah, sure,” she said. To his surprise, she took one of his hands and squeezed it. “Thanks for your help today. You’re a natural at this. It’s like you could understand what the animals were feeling.”

Ujurak shifted uncomfortably. “I was just guessing,” he mumbled.

“Well, you should think about doing this forever,” Sally said, grinning. “We could roam the world, saving animals wherever we go. Like wildlife superheroes. Wouldn’t that be awesome?”

He looked down at her hand, still twined through his. “Yeah, it would be,” he said. “But—I can’t.”

“Oh.” Sally looked hurt for a moment. She let go of his hand and pushed her hair back behind her ears, avoiding his eyes. “Okay. I mean…you mean because of your dad? He wouldn’t let you?”

“Sort of.” Ujurak felt bad lying to her, but what else could he say?
“Sorry, I’m actually a bear”?
He could just imagine the look on her face if he said that.

“Well, he can’t control you forever,” Sally said, tossing her head.

“It’s not just that,” Ujurak said. “I have these…friends…they need me. We’re—it’s kind of a responsibility, uh, thing. It’s hard to explain.”

“Ah,” Sally said with a smile. “It’s complicated, huh? I’ve heard that before.”

Ujurak nearly laughed. He wondered what Toklo would say about this conversation. “Yeah,” he said. “Complicated.”

“Sure, okay,” Sally said. She looked away again. “Maybe you can tell me about it tomorrow.”

I’ll be gone tomorrow,
he thought. He gazed into her dark, laughing eyes and wished he could tell her the truth.

“Well, good night,” she said. She headed toward the front flap and he followed her. Outside, they stopped and looked at each other awkwardly for a moment.

“I’m going this way,” she said finally, crooking her thumb at the sleeping tent and smiling.

“Right,” he said. “And me this way.” He pointed out at the oil rig.

“See you tomorrow.” She waved and turned away.

“Bye.” He watched her disappear into the sleeping tent. He wanted to run straight to Toklo and Kallik, but Craig was nearby, talking to someone in a firebeast, and Erica was outside the main tent, gathering snow in a bucket. He waved to both of them and started walking toward the oil rig.

It was much colder now that night had fallen. A pale moon glowed overhead, lighting his path toward the gloomy tower out on the water. Ujurak glanced back several times until he saw that Craig and Erica had gone inside again. Not many people were still out and about. He figured he was far enough away that no one would notice him doubling back.

He trotted in a wide circle around the tents, keeping an eye out for any people. He saw no signs of Toklo or Kallik either; hopefully they were waiting for him well out of sight.

Ujurak snuck behind the tents and found a pair of big snow vehicles parked and empty. Both were unlocked. Carefully, he opened the first door and crawled inside. He rummaged through the stuff in the back, looking for tools that would help him free Lusa. Even if she decided not to come with him, he at least had to give her the choice to be saved.

He found a long black stick, and when he pressed a button on the side, light poured out one end. Startled, Ujurak dropped it and had to search for it under the seat.

Flashlight,
he thought as he hefted it in his hands again. It was strange how he somehow knew the right word for it, and yet he’d been surprised by what it did. He hit the button one more time and the light went out. This could be useful, especially with the feeble human eyes he had to work with.

He also found a pair of enormous clipperlike things with sharp edges. He turned them over, gently touching the blades to see how sharp they were. He was pretty sure Lusa’s cage had a lock on it that needed a key. But perhaps he could break it using something like this instead. He lifted the clippers and realized how heavy they were. He’d have to move carefully while he was carrying them.

After that he waited, hiding inside the firebeast, until he was sure that everyone would be asleep. The moon was high in the sky, which was packed with glittering stars. His weak human body shivered as he climbed out into the freezing cold again. He couldn’t wait to have all his fur back.

Snow crunched under his boots, no matter how lightly he tried to walk. But there was no sound from the sleeping tent, and all the lamps were off inside the main tent. Ujurak crept around to the front and ducked through the flap.

A few of the animals stirred sleepily. It was very dark inside the tent, and Ujurak wished he had his bear’s eyes. He pulled out the flashlight he’d found inside the snow vehicle. He pointed it at the floor and hit the button, shading the
light with his other hand.

The tiny warm beam guided him between the cages and tables until he found Lusa’s cage. She woke up as he moved toward her and blinked blindly into the light.

“Sorry,” Ujurak whispered, turning the light back down to the floor. “Lusa, it’s me. It’s Ujurak. You know me, right?” He remembered communicating with his bear friends in their own language the last time he was a human. But the growls and rumbles he needed felt buried farther down in his mind than before, and he didn’t have time to dredge them back up. He felt sure that Lusa would understand him even if he didn’t speak bear to her right now.

Lusa hooked her claws in the side of the cage and gazed back at him with bright eyes. He reached through the bars and stroked her soft head. She nudged at his hand with her nose, then licked his fingers.

“I’m getting you out of here,” he promised, scratching behind her ear. He crouched and studied the lock on her cage. As he’d expected, it required a key—he’d seen a ring of keys on Craig’s belt earlier, so he guessed that those opened most of the cages. But he hoped he could snap the lock off with the clippers.

“Stand back,” he said to Lusa, waving his hands at her. She tilted her head again, then slowly took a few steps back until she was pressed against the far wall of the cage.

Ujurak braced the clippers around the curved silver hoop of the lock. He leaned into the handles with all the force he could muster.
Boy, a bear’s strength would be
really
useful right now!

A long anxious moment passed as he grunted and strained. Suddenly there was a loud
SNAP!
and the lock broke in two. The heavy pieces went clattering to the floor with a noise that sounded deafening to Ujurak.

“Quick!” he whispered, swinging the door open. “Lusa, hurry!”

The little black cub darted out of the cage and gave him a grateful look. He started to lead the way out of the tent, then realized she had turned toward another cage.

“What is it?” he whispered, hurrying back to her. She had her nose pressed to the bars. Inside, the old male polar bear was sound asleep.

Ujurak was torn. If Lusa wanted him to rescue the old bear, he had to do it—but he was afraid that someone might have heard the noise of Lusa’s lock breaking. What if flat-faces were heading for the tent right now? He didn’t want to risk having to fight them off.

Then Lusa sighed a little and turned away from the bear’s cage. She bumped Ujurak’s leg with her nose and padded away toward the entrance.

Confused but relieved, Ujurak followed her. As they got to the door, he switched off the flashlight. Outside, the moon would be enough light for them, especially once he turned back into a bear.

Ujurak slipped out of the tent first. He turned to hold the flap open for Lusa and then jumped as someone shone a flashlight into his face.

“I knew it!” said Sally’s voice. Ujurak lifted his hands to try
to block the light from his eyes. “I knew I saw you sneaking around. What are you
doing
?”

“I, uh—” Ujurak started. Then Lusa nosed her way out of the tent and nearly crashed into him.

Sally gasped and the light fell away from his face. “That’s the black bear!” she cried. “It got loose!”

“Actually, I freed her,” Ujurak admitted. He could sense Lusa’s nervousness in the way she was shuffling her paws and making small noises deep in her throat. He reached down and rested his hand reassuringly on her head.

In the moonlight, he saw Sally’s mouth drop open. “You’re crazy,” she said, taking a step back. “You can’t just—but she’s—how—”

“Sally, this is Lusa,” Ujurak said. “She’s one of the friends I mentioned before.”

Sally looked too thunderstruck to speak.

Ujurak was about to go on, when suddenly a light came on in the sleeping tent. He heard voices calling to one another and clattering that he was sure came from those sticks that made animals go to sleep.

“I’m sorry I can’t explain,” he said to Sally. “We have to go. Lusa, run!”

He shoved Lusa toward the ice field where he hoped Toklo and Kallik were still waiting. She pelted past Sally and scrambled up the slope. Her small black body stood out against the snowy backdrop, lit up by the silver moon.

Ujurak threw off his coat and shirt as he felt his body changing. His arms grew thicker and brown fur sprouted
from his skin. His hands reached toward the ground, shifting into massive paws with thorn-sharp claws on the end. He shook off the work boots and pants as the last changes rippled through him. He was a bear once more.

Sally had her hands pressed to her face. He dipped his head to her, feeling waves of regret washing through him, and then bolted after Lusa. Behind him, the voices turned into shouts, and he heard flat-faces running across the snow toward Sally.

He dug his paws into the snow and ran faster. Above him, he could feel the warm glow of his mother’s constellation gazing down at him. This was his path, and he would follow it where it led…now and forever.