Eye of the Ocean Book 3 Ji'jin Station

Eye of the Ocean – Book 3: Ji’Jin Station
The nine-tone spiral on the revolving break post had the white just ahead of
the violet. A spur for Cici to have taken the gamble of circling around - and she
had the bag again. Mirwin was down and slow about getting up. On his knees as
Cici set up the kick, to his feet as she sent the bag flying. The striped bag hit the
post hard, splitting a seam and showering sand before landing on the moss. Violet
moved ahead of black. Ulanda's color didn't even show a third of the way above
the base after four sets of ten to twenty breaks each, one set per day and
stopped by lunch.
Mirwin picked the small bag up and slapped it against his thigh as he walked
towards her, emptying the rest of the sand, much of it sticking to the sweat on
his legs. No body hair and even that on his head was naturally short and curly, a
blue-black except for the tips which he had bleached white. His skin was almost
as smooth as a Zimmer’s and only a little darker. He had a birthmark like a
thumbprint at the base of his spine and he was ticklish there. Wearing just shorts,
his shirt had been discarded after the first break. Proud of his muscles, he had
the tendency to puff up if he thought himself watched. He was puffing now.
Rolling his black eyes, he grinned as Heana loudly challenged the validity of
the scoring point with the ti'Linn referees. The Security Second's color was third
on the post.
“It's not as though it’s going to make a difference to her ranking,” he said, but
said it quietly as though imparting a confidence, and watching the woman out of
the corner of his eye. Her protest had been disallowed but she was still arguing in
a rapid-fire sequence of ticking sounds.
Eunni shook her head in amusement, but her hands were signing privacy to
the couple of others who had started over to join them. “Garm has agreed to a
meeting in half an hour,” she said. “If you're absolutely starving, I'll bring
something to you at the bath house.”
“Absolutely starving,” Mirwin said. Reaching up, he pulled a ribbon leaf from
the tree and started wrapping it around one finger, releasing the musk scent to
compete with whatever it was he'd been rolling in. The deflated bag was forgotten
at his feet.
Important enough for a change in lunch plans, but not to interrupt a breakgame?
Ulanda checked - no flags waited for her, just Garm's tightly focused
attention. She turned away at the same moment Mirwin released the curl of leaf
to spring towards her face in a spiral.
“Who is the meeting with?” she said, as she walked towards the bathhouse.
Mirwin followed close, pulling at the ties to her girdle with little tugs as though to
guide her.
“Rilla,” Eunni said.
Ulanda pulled away from Mirwin's playing to get a puzzled look when he saw
the anger directed at him. His color was high from running, flushed to pink.
Laurel Hickey www.2morrow.bc.ca