[Chapter One](https://steemit.com/story/@anzha/the-cliffs-of-utpala)
[Chapter Two](https://steemit.com/writing/@anzha/the-cliffs-of-utpala-chapter-two)
[Chapter Three](https://steemit.com/writing/@anzha/the-cliffs-of-utpala-chapter-three)
[Chapter Four](https://steemit.com/writing/@anzha/the-cliffs-of-utpala-chapter-four)
[Chapter Five](https://steemit.com/writing/@anzha/the-cliffs-of-utpala-scifi-story-chapter-five)
[Chapter Six](https://steemit.com/writing/@anzha/cliffs-of-utpala-scifi-story-chapter-six)
[Chapter Seven](https://steemit.com/writing/@anzha/cliffs-of-utpala-scifi-story-chapter-seven)
[Chapter Eight](https://steemit.com/writing/@anzha/cliffs-of-utpala-scifi-story-chapter-eight)
[Chapter Nine](https://steemit.com/writing/@anzha/the-cliffs-of-utpala-chapter-nine)
[Chapter Ten](https://steemit.com/writing/@anzha/cliffs-of-utpala-chapter-ten)
[Chapter Eleven](https://steemit.com/writing/@anzha/cliffs-of-utpala-chapter-eleven)
**Chapter Twelve**
Kyra rose early and shuffled to the shower, bleary eyed. She was on autopilot and wanted to make it to work early so she could get to the studies that she missed because of Arjun. She needed to get caught up and be in everyone's good graces *before* she proposed running off into the hinterlands with Arjun. That would have been bad enough by itself and if she were not caught up on everything, even worse. Especially with her Mom. Her mother was going to be a challenge no matter what.
Just before Kyra showered, she had her crystal send her breakfast order to the kitchen. She wanted it ready and to be able to get out the door as quickly as possible. Kyra's mother might have held her tongue last night, but this morning was going to be a challenge and then some if her mother caught Kyra before Kyra left.
She dried, dressed and prepared herself. Then she clipped on the crystal to her ear and then sprayed the sensors onto her hair. She actually liked how it looked: her hair flashed and twinkled like a diamond. It was yet *another* cold day and she hated the cold. Such was life on Utpala, at least for Kyra. Araav probably *liked* the cold. Her little brother would have told her that just to teasingly spited her.
Kyra walked to the kitchen sure she was the first up. She had told the autokitchen to prepare her an English breakfast, sans the beans and, sadly, the tomatoes. It did have a facsimile of black pudding though, remarkably. She wondered about its veracity. She walked into the kitchen, quietly and, she thought, stealthily so as to not wake anyone.
And her mother was there.
She pushed the coffee thermoses, cleaned and dried, to Kyra as the flustered young woman sat down.
Her mother gave Kyra her flattest stare and said, "Tell Arjun thank you. I am not so sure I approve of him, but his gift was very kind and well timed, daughter. It was appreciated. Whatever he is winding you up in, we shall see about it later. For now, just tell him I appreciate the gesture. I wanted to make sure you knew that before you snuck out of the house so early."
Kyra was stunned and didn't know what to say. Her mother came around the table and gave her a fierce hug and went back to bed. Her mother didn't need to be up for a couple more hours and sleep was its own reward sometimes. Besides, the coffee might have kept her mother up, since they had enjoyed it so late and were not as used to its potency. Ersatz coffee simply didn't have the same kick.
Kyra sipped her ersatz coffee and wondered at the universe. She wondered at her world. She wondered at and about her mother. She wondered at Arjun. She wondered the quest for the shuturamurg. She wondered at her place in all of the above. She did so as she ate and felt the warmth and nourishment spread out. The black pudding replacement wasn't bad. She would have liked to have tried the real thing.
She popped up and then quaffed the last of her ersatz coffee and lamented not having anymore of the real thing. She washed up and placed the dishes to be cleaned by the bots. She gathered her things and made her way to the airlock door. She checked all her clothing and, yes, everything was charged. Then she double checked her boots to make sure Araav hadn't put anything in them: she doubted he would have. That would have been below him. His pranks were immature, but still more devious than a kauntar in the shoe or some such.
As Kyra trudged from one puddle of light to the next through the snow and ice and dodged the bots on eternal patrol attempting to remove the inconvenient form water had decided to take. While she trudged, she decided she was going to go on the expedition with Arjun. For sure. She had thought she was going to, but was equivocating over the details. Now she was certain and she started to plan. She needed to talk to Sanjay. She needed to get ahead of her studies, more than just caught up. She needed to lay up supplies for the goats. She needed more than anything to figure out how to placate her mother. The coffee stunt had worked and would have only worked once: her mother appreciated gestures, but was not someone who could be bribed.
She was still mulling the problem of her mother when she arrived at the goat barn. There she snapped out of her planning and noticed something:
The snow around the entrance had been disturbed. It was not only cleared away, but it looked like something or someone had thrashed around in the snow at the door. The doorway itself was cleared, but that was natural: the bots always made sure it was ice free and snow clear. However, around the walkway there were thrashing imprints and trackways she didn't recognize. On the door handle, there were claw marks.
She called a pair of police drones, just in case. They were armed and capable of stopping anything if needed. She nodded when they arrived and she swallowed. Her heart had kicked up a few notches and was almost racing. She feared what was inside the barn: a local Utpalan lifeform that was mangling her precious goats? No one could forget Escheria and the horrors there, but that was the horror of the parasite and infestation. It didn't stop Hollywood and Bollywood and Hong Kong from making some really horrifying Immies though.
What monstrosity would have been waiting for her? What horrific scene? Her imagination had started to run wild and scream its darkest fears and her heart started to pound even faster. She slowly pulled open the door and it creaked. Just a bit. in the cold. Just enough to add to the suspense and fear.
And a little too late...she noticed the string.
And the string drew tout.
And the massive pile of snow fell from on top of the barn.
On to her.
The police drones dodged.
She screamed. Not in fear, but in frustrated outrage.
"ARJUUUUUUUUNNNN!!!!!"
She pulled herself free of the snow and dismissed the drones. They were not needed. At least they were not *legally* needed. If Kyra had the drones stun Arjun, she would have been in serious trouble. Unprovoked stunnings were illegal. She might have been tempted right then and there to stun him even so. The jail time would have allowed her to stop herself from murdering him. He had been walking a very fine line for some time and ***NOW*** he'd crossed it.
She fished out all the snow from the back of her neck as she could, but it was already melting and running down her back. She shivered and swore and went into the airlock. She sealed the outer door and shucked her outerwear as quickly as possible. She stormed into her work area and ready to unleash all her anger in a massive blast. She was Kali and Arjun was certainly Raktabija. And he was utterly doomed.
Storming in she came and there, there sat Arjun. Serene as the scene from a painting of the gentlest pond without even the slightest breeze. She wound up for his utter damnation and ...
He handed her a cup of coffee and gestured to the pastries.
"Good morning, Kyra. And now, we're even. Or should I feed you to Goatjira, too?"